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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2006 
Protester Shot in Besieged Mexican Town
 Rebeca Romero - Associated Press
| | Senators of the Mexican Republic assemble with the teachers and the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca, in a hotel of the City of Oaxaca, Mexico, on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006, to resolve a protest of teachers and the citizens of this city. Teachers have been demanding a wage increase and the removal of Gov. Ulises Ruiz from office. (AP/Marco Ugarte |
At least one man opened fire Saturday on protesters manning a roadblock in a Mexican city paralyzed by months of conflict, killing one demonstrator and wounding another, authorities said.
The shooting immediately fueled tensions in Oaxaca, where tens of thousands of striking teachers and leftist protesters have been demanding the resignation of Oaxaca state Gov. Ulises Ruiz.
Protesters blamed the shootings on undercover police and soldiers sent by Ruiz's government. State investigators said the shooting was prompted by frustration over months of blockaded streets and had nothing to do with politics.
Investigators said a group of four men were driving away from a bar after a night of drinking when they encountered the roadblock. After the demonstrators refused to let them pass, at least one of the men got out of the vehicle and began shooting.
Alejandro Garcia, 42, was shot in the head and died of his injuries late Saturday afternoon, hospital officials said. A second victim, 19-year-old Marco Antonio Joaquin, was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder and released.
It was not immediately clear if any of the men allegedly involved in the shooting had been arrested.
Garcia was at least the fourth person killed in Oaxaca's unrest. Two protesters have been shot to death in clashes with police. Last week, a teacher was hacked to death by attackers wielding an ice pick. Colleagues said they believed he was killed because he opposed the strike.
Oaxaca, the capital city of the state of the same name, has been on the verge of chaos since May, when striking teachers seized the leafy central plaza to demand wage increases.
The following month, police tried retake the heart of the city. Since then, leftists, students and anarchists have joined the striking teachers, building street barricades, burning buses and taking over radio and television stations.
They accuse Ruiz of rigging his 2004 election and using paramilitary gangs to attack dissidents. Negotiations between protesters and Mexico's federal government have so far failed to end the standoff. |
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