Thread: Spoon-wielding women seize Mexican TV station

http://www.theglobeandmail.com

POSTED AT 1:17 AM EDT ON 02/08/06

Spoon-wielding women seize Mexican TV station
REBECA ROMERO

Associated Press

OAXACA, MEXICO — About 500 women armed with kitchen spoons laid siege to a state-run television station on Tuesday, trapping 60 employees inside for hours before broadcasting a message calling for the resignation of the governor.

The protesters accused Ulises Ruiz of rigging his 2004 election victory and of violently repressing opposition groups.

They surrounded Oaxaca's Channel 9 television station shortly before 1 p.m., and held employees for about six hours before releasing them and taking over the building. They continued to occupy it late Tuesday night, and it was unclear how long the siege would last.

Police were nowhere to be seen near the station on the outskirts of Oaxaca.

Station director Mercedes Rojas said the state had filed a criminal compliant against the protesters with the federal attorney-general's office, noting that the station has about $54.5-million (U.S.) worth of equipment inside, and that the protesters had threatened the 60 employees with violence while holding them captive.

The standoff is the latest in a wave of confrontations related to the teacher's strike that has driven most tourists out of this southern Mexican colonial city. Tensions have been on the rise since June, when state police attacked a demonstration of striking teachers who occupied the historic central plaza, demanding a wage increase.

Since then, thousands of teachers, unionists and leftists have camped out in the plaza, spray-painting buildings with revolutionary slogans, smashing hotel windows and building makeshift barricades.

The protesters also were victims of violence when at least 10 masked assailants shot out the windows of Oaxaca's university radio station, which supports the protests.

The unrest has paralyzed one of Mexico's top cultural tourist attractions, where visitors normally browse traditional markets for Indian handicrafts, hike ancient pyramids and stroll along cobblestone streets to sample mole dishes. Officials recently cancelled a prominent cultural festival because of fears that violence could injure tourists and residents.

Tourism is down by 75 per cent, costing the city more than $45-million, according to the Mexican Employers Federation. Business leaders have asked the federal government to intervene, but aides to President Vicente Fox, who represents the National Action Party, have said the problem must be resolved at the state level.

Mr. Ruiz belongs to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has governed the state since 1929.

Some more crazy stuff going on in Mexico.

http://www.localnewswatch.com

Mexican official calls protest ‘illegal‘
Staff and agencies
02 August, 2006


By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

MEXICO CITY - Mexico‘s interior secretary on Tuesday said the supporters of a leftist presidential candidate who are occupying a central part of the capital have set up an "illegal blockade" and it was up to the mayor to guarantee order.

Carlos Abascal, the top-ranking member of outgoing President Vicente Fox ‘s Cabinet, stopped short of ordering Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas to force the protesters to leave Reforma Avenue, which transverses the financial and cultural heart of this city of 20 million.

Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who finished an agonizingly close second place in the official but still uncertified vote count from the July 2 election, have blocked the avenue since late Sunday, erecting tents the length of the stylish boulevard and in the heart of the historic central plaza.

Lopez Obrador stepped down as Mexico City mayor last year and remains immensely popular here, though the street blockades have crippled traffic, hurt businesses and caused the stock market and currency to falter.

Addressing about 40,000 supporters near the tent city where he himself is sleeping, Lopez Obrador did not mention Abascal by name, but said that those who oppose him "say they support the rule of law, but actually are in favor of the rule of crookedness."

Lopez Obrador wants Mexico‘s electoral court to order a full recount of all 41 million ballots casts last month. Felipe Calderon, the former energy secretary and member of Fox‘s conservative National Action Party who won the election according to the official tally, has said that a vote-by-vote recount is unnecessary and illegal.

"We have to act with prudence even though our blood is boiling," he said. "If we are right, we have no reason to be hostile to the media."

"I respectfully call on the judges to do their work with patriotism and feeling," he said. "The decision that they are going to make is historic and we want is something fair, that they recount the votes and that way we can resolve the problem."

Calderon, who led by less than 0.6 percent, or roughly 240,00 votes, in official vote counts, accused Lopez Obrador of having "kidnapped" the capital.

Mexican stocks fell for the second day Tuesday, with the key IPC index closing 0.6 percent lower. The peso also weakened slightly, losses analysts blamed in part on the street blockades.

Lopez Obrador appeared to win a small victory when the electoral court voted unanimously late Monday to consider a possible recount while also ruling on the hundreds of challenges in individual districts.

But the tribunal also dealt an apparent blow to Lopez Obrador‘s "shotgun" strategy of citing thousands of irregularities at the 130,000 polling places, saying it would not roll all the legal challenges into a single case, but would consider each on its own merits.

Democratic Revolution candidates who made major gains in congressional and local races have threatened to refuse to take their posts in protest, a move that could paralyze some levels of government. "I will refuse to take office, if that is the strategy we decide on," said Leonel Luna, who was elected to lead one of Mexico City‘s 16 boroughs.

As the ramshackle camps of tents, tarps, lawn chairs and improvised barricades snarled commuter traffic for a second straight day, television news focused on the anger of motorists enduring hours-long commutes.

Lopez Obrador acknowledged the criticism and urged Mexicans not to turn to violence. He counseled supporters to tell angry commuters that "this is a fight for democracy that will benefit everyone."