[URBANTH-L]NEWS: Protesters pour into Oaxaca

Adam Henne ahenne at uga.edu
Mon Nov 6 12:32:35 EST 2006


I'd like to note also, if folks haven't heard, that one of the casualties of this recent violence is a US activist and independent journalist, Indymedia reporter Brad Will. You can read more here...
http://tinyurl.com/yah6we (NY Times article)
http://friendsofbradwill.org/
http://bradwill.blogspot.com/ 

thanks, 
adam
---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2006 22:02:04 -0500
>From: "Angela Jancius" <jancius at ohio.edu>  
>Subject: [URBANTH-L]NEWS: Protesters pour into Oaxaca  
>To: <urbanth-l at lists.ysu.edu>
>
>Protesters pour into Mexico's violent Oaxaca city
>By Frank Jack Daniel
>http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1641422006
>Reuters, Sun 5 Nov 2006
>
>OAXACA, Mexico (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of protesters trying to oust a 
>state governor marched on Sunday in the Mexican tourist city of Oaxaca where 
>demonstrators clashed with police last week in a deepening conflict.
>
>Soldiers searched cars for weapons and riot police unrolled razor wire in 
>the city centre as a security measure for the protest by opponents of Gov. 
>Ulises Ruiz, who is accused of authoritarianism and corruption and refuses 
>to resign.
>
>"The people are demanding the Oaxaca governor goes, even though there is 
>blood. The people are ready to die," said protester Esther Guzman, a 
>teacher.
>
>A five-month-long local conflict in Oaxaca spiralled into a national problem 
>when President Vicente Fox sent thousands of federal riot police to expel 
>striking teachers and leftist activists from the street barricades they had 
>built.
>
>Federal forces backed by armoured vehicles with water canons clashed with 
>protesters throwing gasoline bombs last week. At least one protester was 
>killed in clashes, bringing the death toll since the conflict started to 
>about 15, mostly activists.
>
>On Sunday, one youth was wounded when gunmen opened fire on a university 
>campus occupied by students. The campus contains a protester-run radio 
>station.
>
>In Oaxaca city's leafy central square, police donned body armour in fear of 
>clashes with marchers. The army checked cars on highways into the city, 
>apparently looking for firearms.
>
>Before the crisis, Oaxaca was popular with visitors for its Spanish colonial 
>buildings, Indian cultures and thriving art scene. But in the hills beyond 
>Oaxaca city's wide valley, villagers live in grinding poverty, with poor 
>schooling, few jobs and bad health care.
>
>Fox has vowed to resolve the Oaxaca issue before fellow conservative Felipe 
>Calderon takes office on December 1 but Gov. Ruiz, from the opposition 
>Institutional Revolutionary Party, refuses to step down.
>His opponents, a loose coalition of teachers, Indian groups and leftists, 
>also vow not to give in and enjoy the support of a large part of the mostly 
>poor population of rural Oaxaca.
>
>A prolonged crisis in the state will be a challenge for Calderon, who 
>already faces protests from supporters of his leftist rival Andres Manuel 
>Lopez Obrador who claim the conservative won July 2 presidential elections 
>fraudulently.
>
>"Many different leftist currents are converging here, from the centre-left 
>of Lopez Obrador to the most radical," said Isaac Torres, a member of a 
>human rights group affiliated with the Zapatista guerrillas.
>"If Calderon doesn't moderate his policies he will face problems," he said.
>
>Lopez Obrador supporters organised massive street marches and camped out in 
>central Mexico City for much of the summer to reject the July election 
>result.
>
>(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. 
>
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-----------------------------
Adam Henne, doctoral student
Dep't of Anthropology
Baldwin Hall
University of Georgia
Athens, GA  30602
http://ahenne.myweb.uga.edu



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