http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/16796.php

More articles can be found here.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ght=oaxaca

Published: 06.22.2006
Mexico fears increasingly violent teacher strike could disrupt July 2 elections
REBECA ROMERO
The Associated Press
OAXACA DE JUAREZ, Mexico - Striking teachers, some armed with machetes and guns, hijacked and burned buses and blocked highways Thursday in their monthlong battle with the state government - clashes that some fear could disrupt voting in the upcoming presidential election.
The teachers blocked the roadways in an unsuccessful attempt to stop a march in support of Oaxaca state Gov. Ulises Ruiz, and continued to call for Ruiz's ouster.

The governor last week ordered police to force the protesters out of the central square in the capital, Oaxaca City, where they have been camped out since their strike to demand a salary hike began.

The march took place after about an hour delay, the Reforma newspaper reported on its Web site.

Police officials said teachers blocked the majority of federal and local highways leading into the capital in their attempt to turn back buses carrying government supporters, many of whom were believed to have been summoned by the governor himself.

The teachers burned a couple of buses in one community and some attended the blockades armed with sticks, machetes, and guns, police said.

On Monday, the teachers broke off negotiations with authorities and blockaded government offices after federal officials said they could not meet their pay demands.

Union leaders representing the teachers said federal officials told them they would have to negotiate their demands with state officials. But state officials say they don't have the money to grant a large, one-time pay hike. School systems in Mexico are a shared responsibility of state and federal governments.

Some have expressed fears that the ongoing conflict could disrupt voting in Oaxaca on July 2, when Mexicans across the country will elect a new president and congressional representatives.

Ruiz has blamed local representatives of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party of presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for aiding and fomenting the teachers' actions. Ruiz belongs to Mexico's former governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which has held political power over the state since the party was founded in 1929.

Mexican Deputy Interior Secretary Arturo Chavez on Thursday told reporters in Mexico City that federal officials had no confirmation of Ruiz's allegation, or of other reports that guerrilla groups have been involved in the protests.

Chavez said the federal government was urging teachers to restart negotiations with state officials and said he could not do anything about the teacher's demands for Ruiz's resignation.

"He was elected by all Oaxacans, he is the constitutional governor of the state, and as a result, we reiterate our call for prudence and an agreement that we can resolve these differences through dialogue," he said.