Political chaos rules in Oaxaca (Mexico)

The Arizona Republic | September 12, 2006 | Chris Hawley

[CedarDave]

Title and link only due to copyright complaints:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0912oaxacaunrest.html

[CedarDave]

A lengthy article detailing the protests, riots and takeover of the city and government of Oaxaca by militants, teachers, and supporters of presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador (described by the reporter as "liberal"). Conditions in the city are best described as anarchy (reporter characterizes as "edge of anarchy"). Militants with clubs roam the city of 256,000, raid government offices and drag out employees who refuse to leave. Barricades and torched vehicles block the streets. Captured radio stations broadcast leftist manifestos day and night. Police have fled the city, and the governor is in hiding. Downtown is covered with revolutionary graffiti.

The city is effectively under occupation of the leftists who invade government offices and beat employees during the day, and man barricades at night.

The Mexican federal government has not intervened as of yet though their is talk of a truce and negoiations, mediated by the federal government, between the state government and the umbrella leftist group that has control of the city (the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, or APPO) have made little progress.

[CedarDave]

For your PING list please.

[CdMGuy]

Is Vicente Fox still president of Mexico, or has he left town? Oaxaca has been out of control for weeks with the leftists ruining the city. Lopez Obrador has had his goons in the streets of Mexico City for several weeks now. Isn't it past time for Fox to call out federal troops and re-take control of both cities so their citizens can live in peace and go about their business? Is Fox still the president of Mexico or is he a gutless wonder?

[Prokopton]

If the 20 million or so illegal Mexican aliens were given the right to vote, would we have this to look forward to if they didn't agree with an election?

[CedarDave]

Any interference prior to the time the final election results were decided could have resulted in it being voided. However, now that the final decision has been rendered, the hands-off policy should no longer apply. The lack of action by the president has been noted by business leaders in Oaxaca with one calling him "a person of very weak character . . . and he has an erroneous idea of what democracy is."

[jjones9853]

I think they should fit right in with our leftists.

[CedarDave]

The protests there began in advance of the election; however they did much to advance Obrador in the campaign.

[CedarDave]

I think they should fit right in with our leftists.

Any inference that they are democratic (small d) should be discarded. They carry Marxist banners, shout Marxist slogans and act like Communists of past years.

[Prokopton]

"Any inference that they are democratic (small d) should be discarded. They carry Marxist banners, shout Marxist slogans and act like Communists of past years."

Go over to DU. You'll find many U.S. Democrats who fit that description.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Pity. Oaxaca is a great town up in the mountains. Last time we were there, we just missed the radish festival.

[Max in Utah]

PING

[reelfoot]

"Militants with clubs roam the city of 256,000, raid government offices and drag out employees who refuse to leave. Barricades and torched vehicles block the streets. Captured radio stations broadcast leftist manifestos day and night. Police have fled the city, and the governor is in hiding. Downtown is covered with revolutionary graffiti.

"The city is effectively under occupation of the leftists who invade government offices and beat employees during the day, and man barricades at night."

No doubt these are actually just people who have gove to Oaxaca to look for a better way of life: hard-working, decent people who believe in strong families and traditional values. sarc/off

[kinghorse]

It's part of the tradition. After the election you either give away land you don't own or let the folks raise a little hell. Then you arrest the former President. These things must be done in the proper order.

[Tzimisce]

If 20 million illegals were given the right to vote, there is a good chance they'd demand US military action for one side or the other....

[ex-Texan]

That is the point of view of the political party that won the presidential election. Another view is that Mexico is ruled by corrupt politicos in the pockets of drug cartel gangsters. Both views are true. Kidnappings for major ransom demands happen nearly every week in Mexico City. Drug money controls the military, police and covert agencies. A bit of advice: I would not visit any vacation spot anywhere in Mexico today.

[StJacques]

A ping for all of you here.

By way of general comment may I say that what we really are dealing with in the Oaxacan situation is an instance in which the Mexican Left has advanced their cause by seizing upon popular indignation over a recognizably-corrupt state government headed by Ulises Ruiz, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). And not only is Ruiz corrupt, he's also stupid, which has caused things to spin out of control.

The beginnings of this conflict back in May actually started with a teacher's union strike which Ruiz aggravated by sending in riot police, who beat up on the strikers pretty bad, seized their radio station, and jailed many of the strike leaders. But the strikers only moved into the center of the city, seized another radio station, and barricaded the area off from any further attempts by the Governor to oust them. And when that happened, the truly radical leftists were able to move in and take over the protests. And when I say "truly radical," I mean out-and-out Marxists, who fly the hammer and sickle. They are demanding the release of the jailed strikers, and some of them have been let go, but more importantly, they are insisting that Ruiz step down. Ruiz's response was to organize some paramilitary groups who killed a few strikers in hopes that they would simply give up and go home, but it only propelled the protest forward.

The Fox administration has refused to intervene in the Oaxaca situation, and my take on their attitude is that they have pretty much told Ruiz that this affair is of his making and he is going to have to fix it. But they have made clear that they are not going to stomach his use of force as a means of solving the problem. It's a situation in which Fox and the PAN party have nothing to gain -- they get very few votes in Oaxaca anyway -- and everything to lose, because they could very well face popular indignation elsewhere if they back Ruiz, who is pretty much hated throughout Mexico right now.

I believe the only way out of the Oaxaca crisis is for Ruiz to step down and for elections to be held. That will take the steam out of the truly radical protest leaders of APPO, who really have no place in a campaign anyway. It will mean that the Oaxacan state government will pass into the hands of the PRD, which is not something I find particularly palatable, but it is certainly better than mass violence running amuck in the streets. And I would love to see what will happen when the PRD tries to give these leftists what they are demanding, which is impossible of achievement anyway.

[CedarDave]

Thanks for Pinging the crew. As per usual, a local corrupt despot violently puts down legitimate grievances of a segment of the population. That segment is joined by a group of radicals who quickly take control and further polarize the situation. If Ruiz fails to see the handwriting on the wall and refuses to resign, and instead continues to escalate the situation (no doubt to the glee of the Marxists), what is to be done? At some point it would seem that Fox will have to step and have the military take control to protect life and property. Not knowing the constitutional powers of the Federal government, could he get the consent of congress and the judicary to take such action?

[Kenny Bunk]

And not only is Ruiz corrupt, he's also stupid

At what point does this become Calderón's problem?

Calling for Ruiz to step down and then declaring elections might hand this state to the PRD, who hypocritically enough, have already taken a number of elected offices there by outrageous fraud.

[dljordan]

"Oaxaca is a great town up in the mountains. Last time we were there, we just missed the radish festival."

Did you make it for the mushroom festival? :)

[Enterprise]

Bump!!