Police reopen central plaza as Oaxaca remains mostly calm
Federal police reopened this city’s central square Tuesday after painting over the anti-government graffiti that had covered nearly every building in the colonial plaza during a five-month occupation by leftists and striking teachers.
Small skirmishes continued to flare in other parts of the state capital between federal police and protesters seeking the ouster of Gov. Ulises Ruiz. But more shops and restaurants began opening their doors as residents bet that the worst of the violence was over and sought a return to their workaday lives.
Riot police, who had faced down thousands of angry protesters Sunday, spent Tuesday mingling with passersby and relaxing on park benches reading the newspaper. While some lined up for food from the mess tent, others finished sweeping up the last bits of trash.
But protesters elsewhere in the city had rebuilt street barricades overnight, creating a labyrinth of detours. Burned-out buses, cars and trucks still littered many intersections, along with the occasional pile of burning tires and rubbish.
Protesters abandoned the central square Sunday evening after President Vicente Fox deployed thousands of federal police to the popular tourist town over the weekend to restore order. At least two deaths were reported.
An umbrella group of organizations known by its Spanish-language initials, APPO, grew from a statewide teachers strike this spring. Leaders are demanding Ruiz’s resignation, as well as more government money for schools, healthcare and basic utilities.
Teachers, who won their demand for raises, have voted to return to classes.
Most are waiting for calm to be restored before going back to work; union leaders are asking federal officials to guarantee their safety.
Demonstrations and the downtown encampments drove away tourists, police and most local government employees during Oaxaca’s normally busy summer season. Leaders continued to promise Tuesday that they would go home quietly when Ruiz quit.
Despite a vote by Mexico’s Congress on Monday asking him to step down -- as well as dozens of death threats spray-painted on nearly every city block -- Ruiz said Monday that he would serve the remaining four years of his term.
A scuffle broke out Tuesday between protesters and about 2,000 people marching in support of the governor. As Ruiz’s political stock continues to fall, even those who are angry at the protesters say he should quit for the sake of all.
Many of the protesters who camped for months in the central square have retreated to nearby Benito Juarez Autonomous University. A federal official in Mexico City said federal police would probably leave them alone there.
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Carlos Martinez and Cecilia Sanchez of The Times’ Mexico City Bureau contributed to this report.
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