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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2006 
Oaxaca Citizens Replace Police Services
 Olga Rosario Avendaño - El Universal
| | Policeman Andres Quevedo Martinez is frog-marched through Oaxaca by members of the Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) after they took over government offices in the state capital September 7, 2006. The APPO were demanding the state governor's resignation. (Reuters) |
Citizen defense fills the security gap in strife-torn city.
Oaxaca - Locals in the tourist town of Oaxaca have launched citizen defense networks and have taken the law into their own hands to make up for the lack of security caused by the almost four-month- long teachers' battle with the state government.
The virtual disappearance of police from the streets due to the hostility of demonstrators who accuse them of spying on their movements has led to these spontaneous means of protection.
Citizens´ solidarity in taking action has increased in proportion to the surge in crime that is a direct result of the absence of authority, however much state officials claim to have the situation under control.
A tragic witness to that was a thief who last Friday tried to rob a taxi driver and was seized by some of the victim´s co-workers. They doused his hands with gasoline and set them on fire to teach him a lesson.
The head of the Taxi Drivers Union, Esteban Martínez García, said that attacks against workers in this sector have been increasing in recent weeks "due to the lack of security in the streets and the state of siege in which the city is living."
He said the thief wielded a knife to rob the taxi driver of his day´s earnings, but the driver managed to call his co-workers for help over his car radio.
The same day Miguel Ramírez López allegedly tried to sexually abuse a young girl in front of La Merced market, but salespeople there responded to her cries for help and rushed over to grab the presumed rapist.
They tied his hands and feet, beat him and finally handed him over to Red Cross personnel to look after him.
In the Aleman neighborhood on the city´s south side, another four thugs were surprised while mugging a married couple and met a similar fate.
The phenomenon of people actively defending themselves is also reflected on store fronts and private homes, where shopkeepers and locals have hung out blankets scrawled with messages like "Everyone against crime" or "Resident vigilante."
Many buildings are watched and guarded by people ready to blow whistles in case some criminal incident takes place, and stores close at 8 p.m. to avoid looting.
Some criminals cover their faces to be taken for militants of the Popular People´s Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO), which supports the protest begun by teachers last May.
Comprising some 300 organizations, including the state branch of the powerful teachers union, APPO has been pressing for the resignation of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz.
APPO members have occupied a number of public buildings, which has turned daily procedures with the state government into a genuine obstacle course.
Last Thursday, a state government official was beaten and exhibited publicly as a criminal by APPO members.
Several human rights organizations have prepared a preliminary report on the conflict in which they show that owing to the deterioration of the social fabric "some people have left the city and some consider obtaining weapons as a safety measure."
At least two people have died in the unrest growing out of the teachers´ strike in Oaxaca, and the U.S. State Department recently issued an advisory for people considering travel to the state´s picturesque colonial capital.
Oaxaca City is a magnet for tourists thanks to the elegance of colonial buildings such as the 16th century Santo Domingo Convent, for which it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. |
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