MEXICO: Oaxaca's Governor Ulises Ruiz says he will not resign his post in the wake of massive protests demanding his resignation

Ulises Ruiz, governor of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, said on Monday (October 30) that he would not resign his post despite massive protests demanding his resignation. Governor Ruiz told a news conference at his office building in the state's capital that federal legislators in Mexico City do not have the authority to seek his resignation. "Tomorrow I will present a constitutional grievance against the Senate's request for my resignation. They do not have jurisdiction to do so and they are attempting against the state's sovereignty, which I will defend. I repeat, the matters of Oaxaca are to be resolved by the people of Oaxaca," he said. Leftist protesters clashed with riot police in Oaxaca on Monday, a day after the federal government seized control of the popular tourist spot to end months of violence. Trying to end the crisis, lawmakers in Mexico City asked Oaxaca's state governor Ruiz to stand down, but he refused. Ruiz's ouster is the central demand of striking teachers, leftist activists and Indian groups who have crippled the city with barricades and protests since May. More than a dozen people have been killed in the crisis, most of them protesters. Ruiz's critics accuse him of corruption and using hired thugs to crush dissent. Oaxaca city is one of Mexico's cultural treasures but is surrounded by rural areas of crushing poverty. Those tensions reflect a broader divide in Mexico that was highlighted in a bitter presidential election this year.

ITN Source | October 31, 2006

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