Oaxaca Politics

Taking first place nationally in terms of number of municipalities, this state located on the Pacific coast in southeast Mexico, is politically and administratively organized into a whopping 570 municipal dependencies, each with its own president and administrative center.

The current governor, constantly accused of electoral fraud, has earned the permanent and visceral condemnation of the opposition parties, which have actually joined forces in more than one occasion, accusing him also with charges of corruption
and further electoral crimes in the year 2007 during the municipal state elections.

However, the situation reached its worst during 2006, when a large group of teachers and others working in the sector of Public Education organized into the "Popular Assembly of the Towns of Oaxaca" or APPO, and demanded governor Ruiz to step down. Some of the charges against him, for which there is still no evidence to this day, were related to corruption practices and misappropriation of funds, which led, in 2006, to educational strikes all over the state led by teachers, affecting children on the way as the crisis lasted for nearly six months. In addition to the strikes, those supporting the protest movement took matters in their hands and turned to violence as they shut streets, looted shops, took hold of a radio station and a toll booth, and joined into a mutiny hoping to be heard by the national government, which in fact responded by sending the Federal Police in order to recover control over the state.

The balance after months of chaos and violence reported many injured, costly damages to commerce, educational setbacks and millions lost by the tourist sector, as the news spread beyond national boundaries and put Oaxaca in the black list for visitors.

Even if public school schedules and activities eventually returned to normal and streets have recovered a certain level of safety and normalcy, some of the protestors still insist in their fight to overthrow governor Ulises Ruiz, who keeps trying to run the state.