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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2006 
Mexico's Senate Votes for Governor
 E. Eduardo Castillo, - Associated Press
| | Members of the Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) take part in a march against the Governor of Oaxaca Ulises Ruiz in Oaxaca City October 19, 2006. Seven people, mostly protesters, have now been killed in the conflict that began four months ago, when striking teachers and leftist activists occupied much of the colonial city, storming Congress and blocking hundreds of streets in an effort to oust state Governor Ulises Ruiz. The protest holds a poster with a picture of Governor of Oaxaca Ulises Ruiz and reads 'Corrupt'. (Reuters/Daniel Aguilar) |
Mexico's Senate ruled Thursday there was no reason to oust Oaxaca's embattled state governor, eliminating the last formal legal recourse for thousands of protesters who for months have demanded the resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz.
By a 74-31 vote, the Senate found that the state government had not ceased to function, even though officials have been essentially chased out of the capital city for the past five months by a coalition of leftists and striking teachers who claim the governor used fraud to win his 2004 election.
The vote left the conflict at an apparent impasse. That's because the protesters, who also allege the governor has sent thugs against demonstrators, previously vowed not to consider any offers from government negotiators unless Ruiz resigned or was removed.
Ruiz has refused to step down and senators from his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and the conservative National Action Party of President Vicente Fox supported Thursday's resolution, which allows the governor to remain in office.
The dissenting votes came largely from senators from the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, who have argued that Ruiz is provoking bloodshed and has to be removed to allow for a peaceful solution.
The Oaxaca protests began with a teachers strike to demand higher pay in May but expanded into a broad-based movement after police attacked one of the strikers' demonstrations.
Since late May, the protesters have blocked roadways, taken over government buildings and media outlets, and hijacked and burned buses in Oaxaca City. Violence related to the strike has cost at least five lives, including that of a teacher who was shot to death late Wednesday in Oaxaca. |
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