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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2007 
Oaxaca State Vows Violent Protests Will Not Stop Mexican Folk Festival
 Associated Press
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| | Mexican leftists riot near Guelaguetza fiesta site. (EFE) | 
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Mexico City - The government of southern Oaxaca state vowed to host a popular Mexican folk festival despite violent protests in which about 19 people were injured and 40 arrested.
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission also said this week it would open an investigation into Monday's clash in Oaxaca city, where angry crowds and police exchanged volleys of rocks and tear gas and protesters burned buses and cars.
Police were trying to keep the demonstrators from reaching a stadium where the Guelaguetza festival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors each year, is scheduled to be held July 23-30. The Guelaguetza was canceled last year due to protests by the same groups that clashed with police Monday.
"International and Mexican tourists should not be disturbed by the recent events, because this administration will guarantee security," the Oaxaca state government said in a statement.
The statement said 40 people were arrested, and 15 police and four demonstrators injured in Monday's melee.
But the Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights accused police of "brutally beating" the demonstrators and roughing up several reporters and rights activists.
The league said 22 people were detained who did not appear on official lists. It added that one protester sustained severe abdominal injuries, and dozens more suffered tear gas inhalation.
Oaxaca city, a colonial gem popular with tourists, was paralyzed by political upheaval for five months last year when demonstrators occupied the downtown. Twelve people were killed, mostly protesters shot by gunmen, before federal police retook the city in October. |
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