World
 
|
One protester dies as Mexico police seize Oaxaca
By Pablo Perez
AFP
OAXACA, Mexico
Petroleumworld.com 10 30 06
One protester was killed by gunfire as Mexican police with riot gear, armored vehicles and helicopters occupied downtown Oaxaca Sunday, the epicenter of a five-month teachers' strike, demonstrators said.
"Jorge Alberto Lopez Beranal, a participant in the protest, was murdered by a firearm from the federal police," said Gustavo Adolfo Lopez, a protest spokesman.
Two women were also wounded by gunshots, he said.
Protesters set tires and cars alight in narrow streets approaching the downtown square in last-ditch but futile attempts to block police from retaking the city of 60,000, 450 kilometers (280 miles) from the capital.
President Vicente Fox on Saturday ordered the "immediate surrender" of Oaxaca held by a coalition of dozens of leftist groups, who advised the protesters to avoid confronting police.
However, some did not heed the call and confronted police at the barricades, resulting in about 50 arrests, protest leaders said.
Federal forces used water cannons and toppled barricades, meeting light resistance from thousands of protesters who for five months have camped out, demanding higher wages for teachers and the resignation of Oaxaca's state governor.
The demonstrators chose to strike their tent city in the downtown square that came to symbolize the protests.
"The idea is to not have a confrontation with the police. The protesters are going to fall back when the police arrive," said Florentino Lopez, protest spokeswoman, before police arrived.
"We categorically condemn the presence (of federal police) in Oaxaca. They are not welcome here," said Lopez, of the Popular Assembly of Oaxaca Villages (APPO), which has supported the protests.
A dozen soldiers in civilian clothes were held by demonstrators Sunday in one part of the city after they tried to pass a barricade on the route to the airport. APPO officials told AFP that the soldiers would be released.
Fox ordered federal police to Oaxaca on Saturday, one day after a US cameraman for the Indymedia independent news website and two Mexicans were shot dead.
Another 13 people were injured by gunshots in earlier violence, according to reports.
Since May, nine people are believed to have died during tensions between some 70,000 striking teachers and their supporters and the local government.
The teachers, backed by APPO, have been on strike since late May demanding higher pay, forcing some 1.3 million students to go without schooling.
In June the angry strikers took over government offices demanding the resignation of state Governor Ulises Ruiz, a member of the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), whom they said had gone too far in putting down demonstrations.
In recent weeks the protests largely paralyzed Oaxaca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded by Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century.
Fox's office said in a statement Saturday that protesters, who had blocked off much of the access to the city of 600,000, were "undermining order and peace."
On Saturday the Mexican interior ministry demanded "the immediate handover of the streets, plazas, public buildings and private property" taken over by demonstrators backing the teachers.
Interior Minister Carlos Abascal said it was necessary to send in federal troops to restore peace because of the "inability" of Ruiz to handle the situation.
Before the shootings Sunday the teachers agreed to go back to work on Monday, paving the way to end the lengthy standoff between the government and unions.
"We have signed an agreement, under which schools will reopen on October 30," said teachers' union leader Enrique Rueda.
Fox's administration has shown little sympathy for Ruiz, a controversial governor of the southern state, inhabited mainly by indigenous Americans of 15 different ethnic groups.
Nevertheless, Ruiz has resisted resigning, still enjoying the support of the powerful PRI, on which Fox's conservative National Action Party (PAN) depends upon to maintain a majority in Congress.
Abascal said the federal police will remain in Oaxaca for "as long as necessary" to ensure the safety of students and teachers as schools reopen.
AFP 30 0251 GMT 10 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels