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Violence returns to Mexican city | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Left-wing protesters and riot police have again clashed in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca. | |
Some of the several thousand of protesters hurled rocks and fireworks, vowing to retake the city centre a day after police moved in to restore order. | |
Striking teachers and leftist activists have been demanding for months that the governor of Oaxaca state, Ulises Ruiz, be sacked for abuse of power. | |
Mexico's federal lawmakers have called on Mr Ruiz to step down. | Mexico's federal lawmakers have called on Mr Ruiz to step down. |
Senators unanimously approved a resolution calling on him to "consider resigning from office to help restore law and order" in Oaxaca. | |
The Senate's motion came hours after a similar measure was approved by the lower house of the congress. | |
Calls for Mr Ruiz's resignation have been at the heart of a drawn-out protest by Mexican teachers and left-wing activists, who accuse him of crushing dissent. | |
"Murderers! Murderers!" chanted the demonstrators, as they rallied near the police cordon in the central square of the state capital. | |
Governor Ulises Ruiz has faced five months of protests | |
"The mood is very tense. We're standing with the protesters in front of police barricades and they have lit bonfire, are tossing fireworks," Mark Stevenson, an Associated Press reporter, told the BBC. | "The mood is very tense. We're standing with the protesters in front of police barricades and they have lit bonfire, are tossing fireworks," Mark Stevenson, an Associated Press reporter, told the BBC. |
One policeman was reportedly injured by fireworks and taken to hospital. | |
Police used water cannons to extinguish the fires. | |
Over the weekend, some 4,000 riot police entered Oaxaca, removing demonstrators from the city centre. One man was reported to have died in the operation. | |
Mexican President Vicente Fox ordered the action on Saturday, a day after unidentified gunmen killed three people, including a US journalist. | Mexican President Vicente Fox ordered the action on Saturday, a day after unidentified gunmen killed three people, including a US journalist. |
Interior Minister Carlos Abascal said it was necessary to send in troops to restore peace because of the "inability" of Mr Ruiz to handle the situation. | Interior Minister Carlos Abascal said it was necessary to send in troops to restore peace because of the "inability" of Mr Ruiz to handle the situation. |
Schools shut | |
The protests began in May, virtually paralysing the city. | |
The teachers initially staged the walk-out to demand higher pay and better working conditions. | The teachers initially staged the walk-out to demand higher pay and better working conditions. |
However, after police attacked one of their demonstrations in June, they extended their demands to include a call for the governor's resignation. | |
The teachers were then joined in their protest by left-wing groups. | |
Thousands of schools have been closed since the strike began, leaving 1.3 million children out of school. |