Mex Vote Fraud Protestors Shut Down Tourist Haven of Oaxaca, Make Tourists Show ID!!
author: reading between the lines
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Little background: the main point is that the army and the police are on the people's side: The army and the police by staying out of this, are currently showing they are indeed going to be patriotic, that they are currently on the side of stopping a Calderon/Bush coup of their country, by staying out of cracking skulls against this protest action: "Protesters have taken over the center of folkloric Oaxaca, making tourists show identification at makeshift checkpoints, smashing the windows of quaint hotels and spray-painting revolutionary slogans. POLICE ARE NOWHERE IN SIGHT." ...it's non-violent: have been no reports of protesters attacking tourists, they are just shutting down the consumptive ambivalance of the tourist season and all the money flow--protestors have paralyzed Oaxaca, one of Mexico's top cultural tourist attractions, where ambivalant money dropping visitors normally browse traditional markets for Indian handicrafts, hike ancient pyramids and stroll along cobblestone streets to sample mole dishes, and importantly, support the Mexican economy. Already, the protests have reduced tourism by 75 percent, costing the city more than $45 million in just a few days, according to the Mexican Employers Federation, a business lobby. Therefore soon, Mexican business people will be on side of the Mex Vote Fraud protestors as well--as the fascist business backing of the Calderon/Bush coup of the Presidental elections will perhaps soon evaporate. In shot, smart tactics, cut out business support base for the Bush/Calderon coup. Another megaevent is already scheduled in for July 30. This is hardly letting up. It's getting bigger and bigger.
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Protesters take over Oaxaca, Mexico
By IOAN GRILLO
Associated Press Writer
OAXACA, Mexico (AP) -- Protesters have taken over the center of folkloric Oaxaca, making tourists show identification at makeshift checkpoints, smashing the windows of quaint hotels and spray-painting revolutionary slogans. Police are nowhere in sight.
It's not the tranquil cultural gem beloved by tourists from the United States and Europe. A month of protests to try to oust the governor have forced authorities to cancel many events, including the Guelaguetza dance festival.
Most tourists are staying away, costing the city millions of dollars.
The protests follow other eruptions of civil unrest and class conflict that have plagued President Vicente Fox as his term winds to a close.
Supporters of leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are holding nationwide demonstrations to demand a ballot-by-ballot recount in the disputed July 2 presidential election. [In the same area,] Federal and state police clashed with striking miners in April and farm protesters in May, leaving four people dead. [However, none of the police or army are intruding on Mexican civil rights now. That is a major change.]
Mexican vote fraud protestors have paralyzed Oaxaca, one of Mexico's top cultural tourist attractions, where ambivalant visitors normally browse traditional markets for Indian handicrafts, hike ancient pyramids and stroll along cobblestone streets to sample mole dishes, and importantly, support the Mexican economy.
The protests have reduced tourism by 75 percent, costing the city more than $45 million, according to the Mexican Employers Federation, a business lobby.
"Most of the tourists have been scared off. It doesn't look safe when you have to go through a barricade and everybody is standing there with sticks and stones," said Chris Schroers, a German who manages a restaurant in the central plaza.
"The police are not here. They don't dare to come into town." [Actually, they are showing their support for the protestors. They understand this is a Bush/Calderon coup of Mexico.]
While there have been no reports of protesters attacking tourists, many visitors, including Lorena Valles, a 43-year-old from El Paso, Texas, have felt intimidated.
Valles and a group of friends went to the city's main theater to see a play last weekend, only to find the event canceled and hundreds of protesters wrecking the auditorium.
"There were people with masks and sticks and slingshots breaking the auditorium windows and setting the building on fire. That was kind of scary," Valles said. "The people here are normally very nice."
The protest leaders, a mix of trade unionists and leftists, say their fight is not with the tourists but with Gov. Ulises Ruiz, whom they accuse of rigging the state election in 2004 and using force to repress dissent. Ruiz belongs to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has governed the state since 1929.
The movement exploded in late June when police fired tear gas and attacked a demonstration of striking teachers demanding wage increases of about 20 percent.
"We respect and welcome tourists, but it is important they understand that there is a climate of instability and the government is not meeting the demands of the people," said union leader Enrique Rueda.
However, posters around the city declare the movement is also against the Guelaguetza dance festival because "only the rich and foreigners" can afford the $42 entrance fee.
"We have seen the festival of our people become a circus that is just for whites and gringos and Europeans," said Rosendo Ramirez, 51, a spokesman for the Oaxaca People's Assembly, formed to coordinate the protests.
Ramirez says the checkpoints were set up to weed out agitators. But he concedes the group has no control over many protesters, including some anarchists and communists who have come to Oaxaca to join the movement.
Thousands have camped out in the city center, sleeping under tarpaulins. Speakers declare the revolution has arrived, while dozens hold political debates.
Business leaders have called on the state to intervene, but state Interior Secretary Heliodoro Diaz says authorities have to tread carefully to avoid antagonizing the protesters.
Hotel and restaurant owners are lobbying the Fox administration to help resolve the crisis. They also want the government to declare Oaxaca a disaster area and release federal funds normally reserved for areas hit by earthquakes and hurricanes.
Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, has played down the problem, saying "it is annoying, but no more."
Some analysts say Fox is hesitant to get involved because he himself is under fire from supporters of Lopez Obrador who claim the presidential election was tainted by fraud. Lopez Obrador lost to conservative Felipe Calderon of Fox's National Action Party by less than 0.6 percent, according to official vote tallies.
Some fear the tensions might explode if federal troops are sent in.
"There is rising social conflict in Mexico and the government appears impotent and unable to confront it," historian Lorenzo Meyer said. "If the government doesn't learn how to control these conflicts, they will only get worse as time goes on."
 link to hosted.ap.org
related:
19.Jul.2006 10:50
Disruptive "Element of Surprise" Events Scheduled on Mex Vote Fraud: 3rd megamarch July 30
Watch and learn. Such techniques may be useful someday--if the U.S. ever wakes up to take back its electronic vote fraud from the one-party state elites.
There is no "roll over and die Gore or Kerry" down in Mexico when faced with systemic vote fraud: on Sunday more than a million people, according to local police, marched through streets of Mexico City from all over the country starting their march on Wednesday; they demand a full recount of votes. "Vote by vote!" --- PRD's Camacho claimed demonstration was biggest ever staged in the Mexican capital--between 1.3m and 1.5m--and said marches would continue to escalate until the authorities ordered a recount of the vote. The next demonstration, scheduled for July 30, would likely involve protests in all of Mexico's main cities as well as in the capital city, he said. --- Mr Camacho would not give details of what the civic resistance would entail--although he stressed that it would be "within the confines of the law", but said it would also be "disruptive. We want to maintain an element of surprise".
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/342802.shtml
13.Jul.2006 16:06
Mexico Vote Fraud's Death by a Thousand Videotapes; Obrador reveals tapes, audio, photos
author: Al Giordano and John Ross
...nation has been divided almost exactly in half along political, economic, geographical and racial lines, split between the industrial north and the impoverished, highly indigenous south. According to fraudlent IFE, each have won 16 states, split north versus south-- although southern states supporting Lopez Obrador, who won capital of Mexico City as well by a million votes, constitute raw electoral majority or 54% of population, even by IFE "standards". --- Wednesday (June 12th), Obrador is calling upon supporters from all 300 electoral districts across Mexico to start national "exodus" for democracy, converging on Mexico City on Sunday, July 16th for a mega-march likely to be largest political demonstration in Mexican history. --- "THE GORE THAT NEVER WAS:" Obrador, day after day, reveals more IFE, PAN, and PRI collusion fraud videotapes, pictures, transcripts--on Saturday in Zocalo (that NO U.S. or WORLD PRESS deigned to mention in articles then), on Monday, and once more on Tuesday. --- Replays phone conversations of PRI Governors in power talking with Calderon's PAN party arranging to rig post-vote count, "in the wake of Obrador win." Obrador blasts professional vote fraud organization of Mexico, the PRI, in his fraud net, by replaying conversaion of PRI governors in power "as per agreed, if this occurred" to "sell" their vote counting capacity to look the other way on Calderon/PAN fraud, and to actively repress Obrador votes. --- Even Mex corporate media covering these videos. --- Independently, 500 citizens lock down IFE regional building with "IFE/PAN prisoners" in it, where they claim (on notarized oath) they witnessesed PAN/Calderon people entering IFE with ballot boxes long after election to conduct vote rifling on IFE premises as a "re-write" fraud, implying that IFE/PAN soon see full recount and want to rig that as well. --- The Mexican "Florida" continues.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/342501.shtml
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It's just plain delicious to have large scale rebellion over election fraud so close to home ; it will be very entertaining to see how the corpo-media try to spin this , or try to just ignore it. 24/7 coverage of the invasion of Lebonon will most likely provide the necessary distraction for the time being , but if Mexico blows up big time it will be difficult to ignore.
I for one will enjoy watching the corpos squirm after their arogance in calling the election for Calderon so prematurely !