Some 70,000 teachers throughout the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca have been on strike since May 22, demanding better pay and working conditions. The fight expanded in June after police assaulted the teachers’ encampment in the state capital. Now the central demand of the teachers union and APPO is that Gov. Ulises Ruiz resign. The protesters accuse Ruiz of rigging the last elections and of repression and corruption. Ruiz is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which dominated Mexican politics for decades. Thousands of protesters have been occupying the central square, as well as radio stations and government buildings, in a standoff with the state government.

The federal government headed by President Vicente Fox, of the National Action Party (PAN), massed forces outside the city of Oaxaca in mid-October, but held off on taking military action. On October 27 pro-Ruiz thugs attacked the protesters, killing three people, including U.S. journalist Bradley Roland Will. Two days later Fox ordered the federal police to move in, supposedly to “restore order” after those deaths. Authorities have since announced the arrest of five men in the killing of Will. They include the police chief and two cops from the nearby town of Santa Lucia del Camino.

The teachers and APPO members left their encampment, but continue to protest. On October 30 thousands took part in three peaceful marches that converged on the city center. “All we want is work, hospitals, better schools, and the military out,” said Veralisa Flores, a teacher, according to the Los Angeles Times, explaining why she and her friends were marching.

Just before the police assault, the teachers had announced an agreement to return to work, under terms that included a 30 percent raise over six years. As of today, union officials report about 60 percent of schools have reopened.

About 2,000 supporters of the Ruiz government also marched to central Oaxaca today in support of the federal police. The Los Angeles Spanish-language daily La Opinión said most of these demonstrators were middle- and upper-class.

Meanwhile, both houses of the Mexican Congress voted to ask Ruiz to either resign or take a leave of absence.
 
 
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