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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2006 
Mexican Congress Calls on Oaxaca Governor to Step Down
 Pablo Perez - AFP
| | The Mexican Congress demanded the resignation of Oaxaca state governor Ulises Ruiz, pictured at a press conference, after five months of violent demonstrations against him in the tourist region (AFP/Mario Vazquez-Mvt) |
The Mexican Congress demanded the resignation of Oaxaca state governor Ulises Ruiz, after five months of violent demonstrations against him in the tourist region.
But an angry Ruiz vowed to take the legislators' demand to the Supreme Court, saying they were out of order by calling for his resignation.
Hundreds of riot police controlled Oaxaca's central square Monday, where a day earlier a tent-city protest was cleared, but thousands of demonstrators defied security measures in other parts of the city insisting on Ruiz' ouster.
Ten people have been killed since the protest movement began in June over the city's tough handling of a teacher strike demanding higher wages.
While President Vicente Fox said Monday that "peace and tranquility has been restored," Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal insisted that some 4,000 federal police and military would remain in Oaxaca until complete order is restored.
Abascal said the federal forces would also ensure the safety of students and teachers as schools, shuttered by the protests, reopened.
Both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate on Monday passed non-binding resolutions demanding Ruiz's resignation.
The Senate resolution was unanimous and backed even by Ruiz's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). It called on the governor to "consider resigning from office to help restore law and order" to the troubled region.
The resolution fell short of actually firing Ruiz, but was worded more strongly than the Chamber's earlier statement, which passed by a two-thirds majority. Both put great pressure on the governor to step down voluntarily.
Only the Senate has the authority to remove a governor from office.
Protesters in Oaxaca broke out in cheers when the resolutions were announced. "Like it or not, Ulises is already out," they chanted at one point.
"Because of the corrupt (local) government, we've got the federal police out on our streets. Obviously, we can't do anything with them here, but the people are united and the governor has to leave," said car mechanic Eric Carreras, 28.
In a strong statement of his own, Ruiz challenged Congress to a legal battle, saying he would raise a "constitutional controversy" before Mexico's Supreme Court.
The members of the Chamber of Deputies, he told W Radio, "have no authority ... to make such demands that violate Oaxaca's sovereignty."
The streets of Oaxaca were calm on Monday but residents were wary of venturing outside and many shops remained closed. Public transport was suspended.
With the city's main square taken over by riot police, some 15,000 demonstrators regrouped on the outskirts of the city and at a university campus, manning barricades and vowing to resist the federal police.
Police set up road blocks leading into the city to prevent many protesters from joining the demonstrations and made 80 arrests throughout the day.
Mexican police with riot gear, armored vehicles and helicopters moved in on Sunday to seize back control of the city center, toppling barricades erected by thousands of protesters these past five months.
President Fox ordered federal police to Oaxaca on Saturday, one day after a US cameraman for the Indymedia independent news website and two Mexicans were shot dead.
Another 13 people were injured by gunshots in earlier violence, according to reports.
The US State Department on Monday said it was "deeply saddened" by the death of US cameraman Brad Will, but that it was up to Mexico's government to deal with unrest in Oaxaca.
"Any time you have a resort to violence which results in the death of a citizen, whether it's an American or any other nationality, that's a source of concern," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Opposition groups say as many as ten people have been killed in Oaxaca since the protests began in June, in clashes between some 70,000 striking teachers and their supporters and the local government.
In recent weeks the protests largely paralyzed Oaxaca, a popular tourist destination and UNESCO World Heritage Site founded by Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century.
The teachers have been demanding higher pay, and the protest has forced some 1.3 million students to go without schooling.
Before the police action Sunday, the teachers agreed to go back to work this week, paving the way to end the lengthy standoff between the government and unions. |
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