Saturday, October 28, 2006

Fox sends federal troops into Oaxaca

Fox orders federal forces to Mexico's Oaxaca crisis
28 Oct 2006 13:44:20 GMT
Source: Reuters


MEXICO CITY, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Mexican President Vicente Fox ordered federal forces to be sent to the conflict-torn city of Oaxaca on Saturday, after gunmen shot dead three people including a U.S. journalist.
The president's office said in a statement the forces would arrive in the city during the course of the day. It did not specify whether federal police, soldiers or a mixture of the two would be involved in the operation.
On Friday, at least two prolonged shootouts against protesters killed three people, including U.S. independent journalist Brad Will.
Nine people, mostly protesters, have been killed in a conflict that began in Oaxaca five months ago, when striking teachers and leftist activists occupied much of the colonial city, storming Congress and blocking hundreds of streets in an effort to oust state Gov. Ulises Ruiz.
The conflict has escalated with increasingly frequent drive-by style gun attacks against the protesters' barricades.

No comments: