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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?

From a governmental standpoint, your question makes sense. But from a political viewpoint it would be sheer suicide. The Left has been working very hard to goad the Fox administration into a violent reaction to give them a cause célèbre around which to mobilize support. Fox has been very adroit in my opinion, in recognizing that the Mexican people will see the radical left for the nuts they truly are if they are permitted to continue in their rage against anything and everything in the world. Slowly but surely popular opinion has turned against Lopez Obrador and the PRD over the course of his protest against the election. We are now seeing rifts develop within the PRD which may threaten to split their party in two if they do not come back into the mainstream -- and there have been indications this week that PRD, PAN, and PRI legislators are working out a modus vivendi in the national legislature -- which shows that even among the Left in Mexico there are serious questions being asked. Throw the Oaxaca situation into the mix and you've got inmates running the asylum in full view of the rest of the country. The more the Left perpetuates the ingovernability of Oaxaca, the more the rest of Mexico gets an opportunity to see them for who they really are.

Don't underestimate Fox's political savvy here. The man is no fool, as I have learned quite well over the past few months.