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Mexico police tighten grip on oaxaca { September 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N30373695http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N30373695
Mexico police tighten grip on violence-torn Oaxaca
Mon 30 Oct 2006 11:29 AM ET
By Noel Randewich
OAXACA, Mexico, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Mexican riot police backed by helicopters and armored trucks tightened their grip over the colonial city of Oaxaca on Monday after seizing it from leftist protesters in clashes that left one person dead.
President Vicente Fox's government vowed to keep the thousands of federal police, some armed with assault rifles, in the elegant city popular with foreign tourists until full order is restored after five months of violence and protests.
Armored trucks with water cannon were deployed in the main square to stave off a possible counter-attack from activists who planned a mass march on the plaza later on Monday.
Protesters had held control of the city since May in protests aimed a toppling Oaxaca's state governor, Ulises Ruiz, who they accuse of corruption and repression.
The square's restaurants and cafes, normally filled with visitors from the United States, Canada and Europe, stayed shut while hundreds of police with riot shields and batons ate breakfast from a make-shift kitchen.
Riot police stormed Oaxaca on Sunday and steadily gained control by using water cannon and tear gas to drive back activists manning barricades and hurling rocks.
On the outskirts of the city on Monday, several dozen protesters, some with machetes and metal poles, stood behind barricades made of barbed wire, metal fencing, shopping carts and a lamppost, waiting for an expected police advance.
An eerie silence cloaked the city center. Few cars were on the streets and in a famous food market close to the main square, some stallholders packed up to go home as they had no one to sell to.
"All this trouble is because of the corrupt governor," said Beatrice Hernandez, who sells traditional chocolate and spicy sauces.
At least one person was killed on Sunday. Protesters said a man died after being hit by a tear gas canister, but the government insisted that no one was killed by police and that one youth died mishandling a small home-made explosive device.
JOURNALIST SHOT DEAD
Fox had resisted pressure to send federal forces in sooner but changed his mind after at least three people, including a U.S. journalist, were shot dead on Friday, apparently by local police in civilian clothes.
The demonstrations began with a teachers strike in May and have since escalated with more than a dozen people killed.
Public Security Minister Eduardo Medina said three policemen were seriously injured on Sunday, hit with Molotov cocktails thrown by protesters.
Oaxaca is best known for its architecture, cuisine, indigenous crafts and nearby archeological ruins, but the center has been badly scarred in the past five months. Graffiti covers almost every wall, the garbage of barricades litters the streets and many shops and restaurants have closed down.
Some welcomed the arrival of the federal police, cheering and waving white flags from doorways, and hoped tourists would soon return, helping the city get back on its feet. On Monday, one group held up a banner thanking the federal police.
Critics accuse Ruiz of hiring thugs to silence his opponents. Most of those killed in the last five months have been leftist activists, often shot dead at the barricades.
Although it is being fought over local issues, the crisis has raised concerns it could spark unrest elsewhere in Mexico.
While Oaxaca city is one of Mexico's cultural treasures, it is surrounded by rural areas of crushing poverty. Those tensions reflect a broader divide in Mexico which was highlighted in a bitter presidential election this year.
Fox has vowed to end the crisis before handing over power to President-elect Felipe Calderon of the conservative ruling party on Dec. 1.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
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