Rebecca Barroso, 02.OCT.06
Mexico continues to suffer violent public demonstrations from perceived ‘fraudulent’ elections - The problem in Oaxaca

The U.S. Department of State issued a Public Announcement alerting U.S. citizens to ongoing demonstrations in Oaxaca, Mexico. U.S. citizens traveling to Oaxaca City should carefully consider the risk of travel at this time due to the recent increase in violence there. This Public Announcement expires Oct. 30, 2006.

Teachers, students, and other groups have engaged in increasingly violent demonstrations in and around Oaxaca City for several months, while leaders of social organizations and teacher unions demand the resignation of Ulises Ruiz as governor of Oaxaca.

The conflict has roots in what was allegedly a fraudulent election, when Ulises Ruiz, the candidate for the PRI party, was named victorious over Gabino Cué, the candidate for the Coalición Todos Somos Oaxaca party.

Apparently, the previous governor José Murat, was set on having Ulises Ruiz, his personal friend, succeed him to the office of governor of Oaxaca. Murat, being a personal friend of the president of the PRI and presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo, was able to afford all the necessary support to give Ulises Ruiz a win in Oaxaca. Ruiz was sworn to office amid public protests.

After Ruiz was elected governor, he tried to dismantle the net of social organizations that leeched off the PRI government through the channeling of heavy sums of public money. Apparently, these payments went to leaders of the organizations to keep under control all kinds of nonconformity; it was money towards oiling the machinery that guarded the social order. Some of these social groups belong to the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO for its acronym in Spanish), which belongs to the Coalition for the Benefit of All and vote for the PRD, yet, expect to receive their monies from the state government in hands of the PRI. Similarly, the teachers of section 22 who always received support from the PRI government also turned their backs on the party as well.

In short, Oaxaca is experiencing nonconformities via three different groups of people: all those trampled by the fraud at the election process; the heads of the social organizations in charge of keeping the peace who used to live off the public monies now denied to them; and the teachers who are requesting an increase in their salaries.

In June, the teachers in section 22 from the National Syndicate of Education Workers and led by Enrique Rueda Pacheco demanded a salary increase and camped out in tents as a protest in the center of Oaxaca City. Hundreds of police attempted to clear them out with tear gas and rubber bullets, while the teachers fought back with sticks and stones, forcing the police to retreat. Protests sparked statewide and nationwide at the prompt use of force and apparent complete disregard for dialogue.

A negotiation commission was formed, but it failed and disintegrated at the lack of accords. Shortly afterwards, the teachers’ movement was radicalized and they added the governor’s resignation to their list of demands.

The government implemented censorship on the local newspaper Noticias de Oaxaca and its offices were raided by members of the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Farmers (CROC for its acronym in Spanish), an organization with ties to the government.

Thanks to bad government, the violence used against the newspaper and the teachers, and the lack of political tact shown with the leaders of the social organizations in charge of keeping the peace, the discontent among the population grew exponentially and many more social, political and populist organizations joined the movement.

All groups united and joined the APPO, with their main objective being to unseat the governor. They have led marches, taken government buildings, official vehicles, commercial property and even highways. The conflict has given way to rising extremist sects. Leaders linked to guerrilla groups have sprouted and are instigating violence such as taking over radio stations, while also creating resistance commands and establishing training camps.

Ruiz, while trying to quiet the media and the teachers and trying to disband the old political alliances, only succeeded in unifying all the different groups and associations against him. A legal recourse was introduced in the Congress, requesting them to destitute the governor by declaring the state ungovernable. The Mexican Government Secretariat attempted to resolve the crisis at a negotiation table where APPO representatives gave testimony. However, in the end, neither the state government nor the federal government arrived to any conclusion.

The APPO not only took over government buildings, but has left the public schools with no classes for a long time, has closed roads and highways, taken tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and other establishments in Oaxaca City, but they also threatened to march into Mexico City in protest, promising to camp outside the Senate and several embassies, and advising they will bring children to discourage police action against them.

The government of Mexico City said they will respect all peaceful demonstrations, but urged the federal government and the state of Oaxaca’s government to resolve the conflict that has already spread to the nation’s capital, along with all the undesirable consequences it brings. There is a palpable fear that public forces will be used to impose order, which could be dangerous. The use of force was precisely the issue that exacerbated the initial problem to begin with, which started out as a salary rise request, should have been solved in less than 30 days of negotiations.

By now, however, the protesting movement is dividing. The teacher leaders have conferred among their group to see if they should go back to the schools on Oct. 2, even if the original salary increase demand is not granted. The APPO took this as a betrayal to the movement and the tension increased with the question of how far is everyone willing to go. The teachers do not want to take extreme action, but everyone else does.

The government of Oaxaca officially requested the use of federal public force to restore order. According to people close to Mexican President Vicente Fox, he will do everything possible to resolve the crisis in Oaxaca via dialogue, negotiation and political accords. However, [they say that] if in a reasonable amount of time there is no other option, he will consider the possibility of implementing force. [These same sources claim that] what Fox wants is for Calderón to start his presidency with a clean slate and to leave him without problems. If there are any political costs involved in imposing the peace, [they claim that Fox] wants to bear the brunt of those, not pass them on to Calderón.

Fox insists the government will not depose Ulises Ruiz, regardless of the fact that he’s responsible for the crisis in Oaxaca, because [he believes that doing so] would be assisting a coup. [Fox's position is that] to deliver the head of Ulises Ruiz would be to recognize that Mexican democracy is going in reverse.

[His reasoning is that] if the federal government falls victim to pressure from groups who consistently break the law, trample all rules of engagement, use violence freely to take over government property, private property, communications media equipment and offices, and tourism-oriented businesses, then it sets a precedent and the next to fall could be the incoming president, Felipe Calderón.

In the meantime, the PRI is analyzing how to negotiate a resignation from Ulises Ruiz. If he should renounce, the office of governor of Oaxaca could go to Gabino Cué, the senator who lost to Ulises Ruiz in the elections.

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I would only add (Nezua, here) that according to yesterday's broadcast of the Flashpoints Radio show (sombrero tip to commenter Arcturus), the march mentioned in the article above ("they also threatened to march into Mexico City in protest") is already a reality! 4,000 people are marching 300 miles to Mexico city as we speak. You can listen [11 MB] and form your own opinion, or check it out at the Flashpoints site, where you can stream it.

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UPDATE:
You'll notice that the mainstream press is still working for Fox, trying to conflate the Oaxaca protestors with the American image of a Terrorist, by using the ole "kneeling rocket launcher" photo, when they could choose so many images (such as ones of what most of the protestors actually look like, and not a photo so blurred that your mind can plug in a turban and a beard, or any other features your fear wants).

The Mex Files mentions that the bombs that hit the banks (as a commenter helpfully linked me to in a thread here) may be part of a government scheme to justify bringing the big guns in, which would repeat an older pattern of force used by the Mexican government against its own people.