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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2006 
Mexico Protest Shows Sign of Splintering
 Rebeca Romero - Associated Press
| | Members of the Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) march Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006, in Mexico City. The protest movement is a coalition of the striking tecahers, leftists, students and Indian groups that came together to demand the resignation of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz, who is accused of rigging the 2004 election to win office and sending armed thugs against his opponents. (AP/Guillermo Arias) |
A protest movement that has besieged Oaxaca showed increasing signs of splintering Saturday, as demonstrators stopped teachers from voting on whether to end a five-month old strike.
About 100 protesters from the leftist Oaxacan People's Assembly surrounded a hotel in the center of the city where the vote was scheduled to take place Saturday morning, holding signs calling teachers union leader Enrique Rueda a "traitor" and "sellout."
Rueda, who has called for an end to the strike, insisted the vote would go ahead later Saturday.
The protest movement is a coalition of the striking teachers, leftists, students and Indian groups demanding the resignation of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz, who is accused of rigging the 2004 election to win office and sending armed thugs against his opponents.
Protesters in this touristic colonial city 220 miles southeast of the Mexican capital have blockaded streets, chased police out of the center of the city and taken over radio stations since late May.
Five people have been killed by police or armed groups. The unrest has scared away tourists, costing the city more than $300 million in lost earnings, according to local business associations.
On Thursday, the federal Senate voted that there were no grounds to remove Ruiz from office. On Saturday, about 1,000 protesters marched to the Senate headquarters in Mexico City to condemn the decision, saying it could to lead to more violence.
Ruiz has repeatedly called on the federal government to send in the army to restore order but President Vicente Fox's administration has so far refused, saying it prefers to negotiate with the protesters.
On Friday, Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal repeated an earlier offer to have local police under federal command patrol the city. The protesters have not yet responded. |
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