Introduction
The Oaxaca Riots started in the year 2006 when teachers mobilized protesters so that they could demand for better pay since they were amongst the lowest paid civil servants. They evicted the teachers’ union which enhanced them to mobilize more protesters. Those who supported the strike were led by the Popular Assembly of People of Oaxaca (APPO) (Matthew, 2006, p 60). The outgrowing number of protesters called for resignation of the Oaxaca governor.
History
The teachers in Oaxaca protested demanding for better pay and improved living standards. Some of the grievances that the teachers forwarded included, the improvement of the educational infrastructure such as the construction of classrooms, laboratories, hiring of more staff and so on, which they listed down. They also demanded salary increment and legal recognition.
The demonstrators campaigned greatly for civil disobedience which led to the taking over of the television station that was run by the state. This showed clearly that no acts of violence were spared in their effort to rebel against the laws of the state. The Paramilitary was employed in the region which led to a number of protesters being killed amongst them Journalists. The riot police were ordered by the president to reign in the city after he realized that the situation was going out of hand. The Police and the military were forced to use tear gas, water cannons and bulldozers to push demonstrators out of the city. The riot was meant to be civil disobedience in nature so that the teachers would draw the attention of the government in order to address their grievances. The governor called for the use of force when he employed military power to deal with the protesters which turned the situation into a violent one. This led to detentions, bullet wounds and death amongst the demonstrators when the police tried to violently dismiss various meetings that were held within the city. When the police turned to violence rather than dialog, the demonstrators were forced to exercise their constitutional rights. There was hostility and confrontation between the teachers and the Oaxaca society.When the police provoked a fight, vehicles and buses were burnt down as a result of the impromptu barricading by the protesters. This riot was taking place around the University of Oaxaca and the police gave up since they were overwhelmed by the protectors.
When the governor sent the police to disperse the demonstrators and emphasized he was not going to resign, those who represented the Oaxaca state municipalities’ other unions, non governmental organizations in Oaxaca after it had reestablished encampments in Zocalo. It turned the city into a civil rebellious city.
There were also other anti government demonstrators who had staged a number of riots; one being the one that stormed the local radio station and occupied the Oaxaca famed Zocalo which had beautiful pictures, cathedrals, laurel trees and a market place. Barricades and military encampments were erected by the federal police. The protesters using guerrilla tactics, burning tires and rocks were ready to face this military squad. Riots continued and before things were put in order so many lives had been lost. The cathedrals, market place and pictures were reduced to ashes by the protesters.
APPO occupation within the city ended on 25 November 2006 after an offensive process was launched by the Federal Preventative Police (Vicente, 2006), they arrested all the APPO Supporters. During this time many buildings were burnt down but it was not clear who set the fire on; the protectors or the police. Those who were arrested during the riots were imprisoned in distant prisons and some claims to have been tortured while in custody.
Governor Ruiz was not evicted from his office and he remained as governor thereafter. The APPO group of supporters was staging peaceful matches to Guelaguetza grounds regularly (Peter, 2007). Failure of the governor to vacate the office and his continued use of power resulted to so many people being involved in the riots since they believed that he was the cause of all the problems which were being encountered in Oaxaca.
This protest in the city paralyzed all the activities and when the police used force the protest was extended to call of resignation of the governor Ruiz. When the police started shooting the protesters, they were joined by the left wing which gave the APPO group reinforcement to continue fighting for their rights and for resignation of governor. These other groups that joined the teachers and called for the resignation of the governor accused him of electoral fraud and for the abuse of power when he used force on the demonstrators.
The group campaigned greatly for civil disobedience but when the police force was put into use and started killing protesters, they turned into violent disobedience; burning down vehicles and buildings. The police started using teargas, water canons, and petrol bombs on the crowd which resulted to a number of protesters being injured. When the demonstrators saw the violence being meted on them they asked for the immediate resignation of governor for alleged misuse of power but he refused even when he was ordered by the Mexican Senate.
The riots took place mainly on the streets of Oaxaca and were most aggressive at the Oaxaca University since the demonstrators knew that police could not have an access to the university premises without permission (Connery, 2008). They even took advantage by using the university local radio to air the plans for the riots plans. The involvement of police led to intensified clashes between the police and the rioters which resulted to increased damage as vehicles and buildings were brought down. So much was lost during this time. The riot police were on their gears regularly since Oaxaca had turned out to be a war zone as a result of regular protests.
As a result of the riots, many teachers boycotted classes which resulted to a number of schools closed down since there were no teachers not ready to return to classrooms without their grievances being listened to and addressed. This left a number of students unable to go to school. Students remained at home until the time when dialog was sought between the state and teachers. The teachers were asked to resume their work with a promise from the government of addressing their plight.
So many stores and business were closed down during this time since the riots had become violent between the protesters and the police. Some buildings were burnt down and therefore so many business premises were shut down since they feared incurring loses as a result of demonstrations which could not be paid for by the government. Big institutions such as banks were not also spared and they also remained closed when violence intensified.
The riots have impacted negatively not only on the political statures of the city but also on the economy of the city. Before all these riots took place, Oaxaca was a home of a very thriving art scene based on the Pre-Hispanic Culture and also from galleries (Terry, 2006). It had a great art reputation that attracted sculptors, painters, writers and musicians. But after the riots, things changed drastically since the galleries closed down and most of the art students stopped coming for lectures. Artists and other groups which valued Oaxaca art started abandoning the city which made it loose the blooming market that it had gained from the beginning. Destruction of these scenes sent the city very many steps behind, much more had to been put in to build up these sites which brought revenue to the government by attracting various group of people into the city.
A lot of funds were used by the government in an effort to fight the protesters. Military forces both from the government and also the private sector were involved and funded by the government to ensure that they removed the rioters out of the city center which was the main area where they held their meetings. To rebuild the destroyed buildings also had a lot of impact onto the economic situation of the city.
During this time, those who were involved in protests together with the police were involved with other aspects of torture such as kidnappings. The teachers and other movements which were involved in the riots kidnapped those who they deemed as traitors because they failed to support them. This was meant to be a lesson to the rest so that they could all join hands to fight for their rights. People were robbed of their personal properties as a result of the violence and those who resisted were at times killed.
There was massive destruction of property in the city most of which were tourist attraction centers. This consequently reduced the number of tourists who were coming to Oaxaca not only because they had nothing of importance to visit, but also due to the insecurity which had gained roots in the region. Historical grounds and some of the places which were greatly known of their culture were destroyed by the demonstrators as they rioted against the police.
Dozens of people were killed by the riot police even though some of them were not supporters of the riots. Journalists and other civilians caught in the middle of the riots were not spared by the police who did not care who was who. At the same time so many people were arrested as a result of the riots (New York Times, 2006, p 13). Those who were arrested especially the leaders of the APPO claimed to have been tortured by the military while under custody (Alex, 2006). This called for more violence from the rest as a sign of solidarity.
During the course of the violence, so many buildings were burnt down including four government houses and others which belonged to individual owners. The teachers’ building was brought down by the police in an effort to disperse them.
The riots in Oaxaca caused a lot of political tension since most protesters were calling for the resignation of Governor Ruiz who they believed was in power through rigging of elections. The pressure to resign became more especially after he directed the use of force to disperse the protesters. It is at this time that the police destroyed the local mobile radio station that was owned by the teachers. The students who were allies of the teachers started broadcasting from the university station (NY Dairy News, 2007, p 10). A number of those who supported the riots took over the governance of a number of commercial and government stations. Some of the stations were shut off from the air by state.
To start with, the teachers staged a walk out while demanding for a better pay and better working conditions. The call for the resignation of the governor was called off after the police allegedly killed one demonstrator; this also encouraged others to join the teachers in the protests. Despite the fact that some teachers agreed to return to work, some demonstrators vowed to continue with the demonstrations until the resignation of Ruiz from the governor’s post. The stand off and the use of power has caused a lot of political tension in the city but it is believed that the condition will be back to normal soon. The riot by the teachers paralyzed all the processes of learning as students had to remain at home till the end of the riots.
The political situation of Oaxaca resulted in some unprecedented economic tension in Oaxaca as all businesses came to a stand still. The banking institutions were also not spared and remained closed for a number of days (New York Times, 2006, p 15). Local and foreign investors had to withdraw since they feared greatly if the riots were to continue. More also, tourism being a leading revenue earner for the government was greatly affected affecting the income the government was earning affecting many other sectors of service provision, tourists were unwilling to visit the area even after riots for the fear that the same will happen in future.
In conclusion, the riots started as a simple teachers strike but soon spread to other groups which quickly turned to be chaotic as other groups such as anarchists, students and other groups from India seized a plaza and barricaded most of the streets asking for the resignation of the governor.
When the police force was employed to help calm the situation, it worsened it as the protesters also turned against them and caused a lot of chaos in the city. This resulted into a political instability in Mexico as these group tried to involve neighboring cities into these protests. The riots ruined both Mexico’s political stand and its economic status as a city. Initially so many people visited Oaxaca due to it unique culture and other aspects but the issue of this made the climate unfavorable for those who used to visit the place.
Riots lead to the formation of a social movement APPO which was meant to work against the government. This was formed when the government started using force on the teachers instead of seeking for a lasting solution peacefully. They said the use of violence as misuse of the governor’s power since he was the one who ordered the riot police to take control which resulted to the death of one of the protesters. The killing of one of the teachers by the police was the main thing that led to the teachers ordering for an immediate resignation of the governor and this attracted other groups such as the west wing which saw that there was need for his resignation to join the movement thus forming the APPO.
The Massive destruction was mounted by both demonstrators and the police since they burnt buildings, cars and other properties some of which were personal properties while other were public (Ron, 2007). Schools were also closed temporarily since there were no teachers who were willing to teach without their grievances not being met. This affected greatly students since they lost much of their times.
The economic status of the city was also affected greatly since business and stores were closed since the owners feared to incur loses as a result of riot and also there were no people who were coming to the city since everyone was living under fear.
Conclusion
So many lives were also lost as a result of these riots since police killed many people. Even those who were not involved such as journalists were killed since they shot at random killing anyone within the locality. Today, Oaxaca is tying to gain back its reputation and the city is slowly recovering from the political crisis that it had faced. Business, schools and the tourism sectors which were the most affected areas are recovering slowly.
References
Peter L., A Walk in Oaxaca, 2007. Web.
New York Times, 2006, 6-9 People Killed in Oaxaca Riots, p 12-13.
Terry G., Violence Betrayal Bakunin, 2006, Commentary. Web.
Alex J., Bloody upraising in Oaxaca, 2006, Web.
Connory C., Oaxaca a year later, 2008. Web.
Matthew J., Oaxaca: The spirit of Mexico, 2006, Willy and son: New York, p 56-76.
Vicente F., Mexican Government Clashes Oaxaca, 2006. Web.
NY Dairy News, 2007, Oaxaca, p 10.
Ron Mader, Greening Tourism, 2007. Web.
New York Times, 2006, Mexican Forces Move to Retake Oaxaca, p 15.