Oaxaca, Mexico – Authorities on Sunday arrested a soldier accused of opening fire on a street barricade in this southern Mexican city, killing one demonstrator and wounding another.
Investigators have blamed the shooting on a drunken argument that had nothing to do with the teachers’ strike that has paralyzed Oaxaca for months.
But protesters who have blockaded the city’s streets to call for the ouster of state Gov. Ulises Ruiz said the shooting was proof that state authorities have sent undercover police and soldiers to attack them.
According to a police report, the soldier and three other men were driving away from a bar around 2 a.m. Saturday when they came across one of the roadblocks. After demonstrators refused to let them pass, investigators say, the soldier climbed from the car and began shooting.
Alejandro Garcia, 41, was shot in the head and died later in a hospital, while 19-year-old Marco Antonio Joaquin was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder and released.
