Fox has been a real disappointment, but this squabble is between leftists - the PRI (governorship of Oaxaca), which is the old left, similar to the Democrat Party, and the followers of AMLO (radical Marxist/anarchists, similar to the groups now taking over the Dem Party). Fox obviously held off because he thought he would be accused of stomping the left if he sent federal forces into Oaxaca, although personally, I think he held off way too long.
While the PAN government has not been spotless, it has been better and some economic reforms and privatization have been carried out. It's a cumulative process and Fox was not a very brilliant or charismatic leader, and in fact is somewhat of a flake in his personal life, even to the extent that his personal dramas (with his girlfriend, for example) impeded his ability to govern. Hopefully, Calderón will do better. He seems more intelligent and more stable than Fox, and I think that's one of the reasons the radical left is so desperately trying to keep him out of power.
Mexican police advance into Oaxaca
OAXACA, Mexico - Federal police with assault rifles and riot-shields advanced into Oaxaca on Sunday, extinguishing a barricade of burning tires and tree trunks in this normally picturesque tourist destination wracked by five months of violent protests.
Officers in bulky black helmets lined a highway just shy of a sign reading "Welcome to Oaxaca" and used fire extinguishers to douse flames at a roadblock abandoned by retreating demonstrators.
Flanked by armored vehicles, water-cannon and bulldozers and with helicopters roaring overhead, they faced a knot of protesters who yelled insults and readied piles of stones to hurl.
What began in late May as a teacher's strike in this colonial southern Mexican city spiraled into chaos as anarchists, students and Indian groups seized the central plaza and barricaded streets throughout the city to demand the ouster of Oaxaca state Gov. Ulises Ruiz. Police and state forces — often in plainclothes — have shot at protesters, setting off clashes in which at least eight people have died.
President Vicente Fox, who leaves office Dec. 1, resisted repeated calls to send federal forces to Oaxaca until Saturday, a day after gunfire killed a U.S. activist-journalist and two residents.
Protesters abandoned some barricades but fortified others, promising a street-by-street defense against the Federal Preventative Police. But Bertha Munoz, one of the movement's leaders, said that many demonstrators were peaceful.
"How can we confront them? We have already seen the R-15 (rifles) and AK-47s they carry," she said. "What do our people have? Most have just come to bring them flowers."
The Interior Department issued an ominous statement demanding that protesters give up their occupation of the city immediately, but officials said Sunday they hoped negotiations could avoid further bloodshed and hinted that police would hold off a major advance until Monday.
Protesters accused Ruiz of rigging his 2004 election and using thugs to kill or intimidate political opponents. They say they will not return home without his resignation.
The government news agency Notimex reported that a vehicle transporting federal police to Oaxaca crashed Sunday, killing one officer and injuring 12. Federal officials could not confirm the report, but protesters cheered wildly as it circulated Oaxaca.
The protesters estimated that around 4,000 federal police had taken up positions around the edges of the city. There were no official reports, however, on how many officers were sent to Oaxaca, which is the capital of the state of the same name.
Demonstrators have occupied the city's leafy central plaza since the start of the teacher's strike, setting up a sprawling tent city and covering historic buildings with graffiti. Surrounding streets were mainly deserted Sunday, and just one restaurant was open. A small group of residents and tourists sat eating and chatting quietly inside.
Late Saturday, protesters gathered to mourn Bradley Roland Will, a 36-year-old from New York who was killed during a shootout between protesters and men they claim were local officials in Santa Lucia del Camino on Oaxaca's outskirts.
Will, whose body was laid out in a white shirt and a glass-topped coffin at a funeral parlor near the square, was remembered as a video and documentary-maker devoted to the protesters' cause.
A video posted by Indymedia.org showed the last minutes of footage Will shot Friday, apparently including the moment he was hit by gunfire.
In a statement, Will's family said it was "grieving over the tragic and senseless loss of Brad's life."
"Brad's friends and family admired his brave support for the downtrodden and willingness to act tirelessly upon his convictions. We believe he died doing what he loved," it said.
U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said those who shot Will may have been Oaxaca police and Mayor Manuel Martinez Feria of Santa Lucia del Camino said five men seen brandishing pistols at the time of the shooting had been turned over to authorities. He identified them as two members of Santa Lucia's city council, two of that town's police officers and a former justice of the peace from another town.
The tense weekend standoff comes after teachers agreed to return to work by Monday; their strike has kept 1.3 million children out of classes across the southern state. It was unclear if police presence would undermine that agreement.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061029/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_oaxaca_unrest
SM- Can the title be changed to reflect police action is now underway?
"Hopefully, Calderón will do better."
Don't count on it. Obredor's followers are creating a parrallel government. And Subcommander Marcos thinks both should be overthrown.