The government has announced 4,000 Federal riot police have "taken" the city of Oaxaca and are removing the barricades. One youth's life has been lost. Armored vehicles and helicopters were used, along with water cannons and tear gas; the police apparently met modest resistance, as many chose not to use Molotov cocktails, etc. Some damage has occurred, vehicles scorched and shattered, but there seems to have been no major armed violence.

Meantime, approximately 70,000 teachers have returned to the classroom. But some of the more militant demonstrators insist they will continue to act until Gov. Ruiz is removed from office. (He ordered the original July attacks on the demonstrators, which seems to have turned what was a traditional summer demonstration by educators and their supporters into a more radical occupation of the downtown central square area and subsequent escalations of violence.)

We'll hope things settle down, and I would not put it past the Federal Senate to use the occasion to "help" Mr. Ruiz out of office for inability to govern (in accordance with the Mexican Constitutiton, which considerably centralizes power into the hand sof the Federal government.)

Don't go there yet; watch a week or two.

BBC Article