Oaxaca, Mexico – Federal police backed by armored vehicles and water cannons tore down barricades and stormed embattled Oaxaca on Sunday, seizing control of the city center from protesters who had held it for five months.
A 15-year-old boy manning one barricade was killed by a tear-gas canister, human- rights worker Jesica Sanchez said.
With helicopters clattering overhead, police earlier entered the city that was once one of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations from several sides. They marched up to a final metal barrier blocking the center but pulled back as protesters armed with sticks attacked them from behind, hurling burning tires. The air filled with black smoke and tear gas.
Some demonstrators used syringes to pierce their arms and legs, then painted signs in their blood decrying the police.
As night fell, however, protesters decided to abandon the center and regroup at a local university. They pledged to continue their battle to get Gov. Ulises Ruiz to resign, even as police tore down the banners and tents in the center that had served as the headquarters for months of often violent demonstrations.
At least eight people have died in the unrest since August.
For months, outgoing Mexican President Vicente Fox resisted repeated calls to send federal forces to quell the protests and violence in this city, opting instead to try to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff.
But after the deaths of an American and two local residents in protests Friday, Fox sent in thousands of federal police who launched the first major offensive Sunday to quell the unrest.
Protesters said they had tried to contact the Interior Department late Sunday to negotiate but were unable to reach anyone.
What began as a teachers strike in this colonial southern Mexican city of roughly 275,000 spiraled into chaos as anarchists, students and Indian groups seized the central plaza and barricaded streets throughout the city to demand Ruiz’s ouster.
Protesters accused Ruiz of rigging his 2004 election and using thugs to kill or crush political opponents. They say his resignation is not negotiable and that they won’t return home without it.
The violence has driven tourists from one of Mexico’s most popular destinations, forcing hotels and restaurants to close.
In Mexico City, several hundred supporters of the Oaxaca protests converged on a hotel where Ruiz was rumored to be staying, damaging the grounds and screaming “Murderer! Murderer!”
