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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2006 
APPO, Teachers Start March to Mexico City
 El Universal
| | Thousands of teachers march as they leave the city of Oaxaca, Mexico en route to Mexico City, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006. The teachers, who have paralyzed the city for months, shutting down businesses and leaving children without classes, are demanding the resignation of the state governor. They plan to march to Mexico City to protest in front of the Senate. (AP/Luis Alberto Cruz Hernandez) |
Even as the Fox administration renewed its pledge to find a peaceful solution to the crisis and insisted that negotiations are alive and well, thousands of Oaxaca protesters left the state capital Thursday afternoon on the first leg of what´s expected to be a two-week march to Mexico City.
The march kicked off amid some confusion, as leaders of the local section of the national teachers union, the primary force behind the 123-day-old strike and protest, said they were "re-evaluating" the strategy and asked their followers to stay put. But a large contingent of teachers set out anyway, joining members of the Oaxacan People´s Assembly (APPO) to form a contingent of about 4,000 heading north on the Oaxaca-Mexico City highway.
The marchers planned to spend their first night of the 466-kilometer journey in the nearby pueblo of Etla. But Mexico City merchant organizations, still reeling from a 48-day occupation of major downtown avenues by citizens protesting alleged electoral fraud, were already pleading for relief in the face of potential demonstrations far more "aggressive and provocative."
"We demand full application of the law, since we´ve seen how the APPO behaves," said the leader of the National Chamber of Commerce Lorenzo Ysasi. "The way they demonstrate and carry out protest actions is truly threatening."
But APPO leaders insist their movement is peaceful, and a "media campaign" against them is a prelude to a crackdown by federal troops on their encampments.
"If the PFP (Federal Preventive Police) enters Oaxaca, it will be the biggest political error (President Vicente) Fox could make," Flavio Sosa, an APPO leader, told EL UNIVERSAL Thursday. "The message would be that he could not consolidate democracy."
Fox had warned the day before that "patience has a limit." But in Sonora Thursday, he stressed dialogue. "My only interest is to have a dialogue with all the political forces to find the best path for the country, for removing all the obstacles," he said.
Meanwhile, Fox´s press secretary told a gathering of reporters that negotiations in Mexico City between protest movement representatives and the federal Interior Secretariat (Gobernación) were still alive. Talks had broken off after a shorter than usual session Wednesday with no new meeting date set, leading to several news reports that this avenue of negotiation was dead.
"Yesterday (Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal) made it very clear that negotiations are not suspended," presidential spokesperson Rubén Aguilar said Thursday. "The date of the next meeting hasn´t been set, but the table is still open."
All negotiations involving any combination of the Oaxaca state government, APPO and the federal government have stalled over the protest movement´s top demand, the removal of the governor from office.
Abascal met with congressmen from the PAN and PRI on Thursday to discuss the Oaxaca crisis. The Democratic Revolution Party, which has accused the PAN and PRI of colluding to protect Ruiz, was not invited. |
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