People of Oaxaca reoccupy zócalo

Thousands of workers, activists and members of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) have

reoccupied the city’s central square. They are demanding the release of any remaining political prisoners, the acceptance of the demands of the teachers’ union, and the departure of the corrupt state governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.

The zócalo was the center stage of massive state repression against an encampment of striking teachers starting in June 2006. In response, the teachers and supporters retook the zócalo and formed the APPO, which provided leadership in organizing popular resistance. Months of state-sponsored killings, street battles and extrajudicial arrests culminated with the deployment of federal troops who recaptured the zócalo in late 2006.

The Mexican Supreme Court agreed in June 2007 to appoint a commission to investigate human rights violations by the state forces in Oaxaca, including the murders of at least 25 APPO sympathizers.