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News from Around the Americas | November 2006
U.S. Warns Citizens About Violence in Mexico Reuters
| An activist has his face covered as he mans a roadblock near a university in Oaxaca November 14, 2006. Activists demanding the removal of the state governor stepped up their vigilance around the university they controlled today in fear of a police raid. (Reuters) | The United States warned its citizens on Wednesday to be careful when traveling to Mexico after recent bombings and cautioned that a coming national holiday could trigger more violence.
Guerrilla groups exploded three bombs in Mexico City last week, rattling a country already nervous about unrest in the southern tourist state of Oaxaca, but causing no injuries.
An approaching holiday and the inauguration of President-elect Felipe Calderon could be catalysts for new violence, the State Department said in a statement.
"Protesters may use the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution on November 20 and events surrounding the presidential inauguration on December 1 to initiate additional demonstrations or acts of violence," it warned.
U.S. citizens should also steer clear of Oaxaca, where an American journalist was shot dead last month, the State Department recommended.
Some 15 people have died and demonstrators armed with stones and gasoline bombs have clashed with police for weeks in Oaxaca, accusing Gov. Ulises Ruiz of corruption and authoritarianism and demanding his resignation.
In September, the U.S. government warned its citizens about a wave of violence related to drug traffickers in parts of Mexico that has led to hundreds of deaths this year. |
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