2006 Oaxaca rebellion

2006 Oaxaca protests
2006 Oaxaca protests
	APPO barricade and graffiti in central Oaxaca, June 2006
Date	May–November 2006
Location	Oaxaca, Mexico; 17°04′24″N 96°43′36″W / 17.0732°N 96.7266°W
Caused by	Low funding for teachers and rural schools; Police attack on striking teachers on 14 June 2006; Allegations of political corruption against Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz;
Goals	Resignation or removal of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz; Improved funding for education; Release of political prisoners;
Methods	Strikes; Sit-ins and encampments; Barricades; Occupation of radio and television stations; Mass marches;
Resulted in	Protests suppressed by federal police; Governor Ruiz completed term
Parties
Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO); Oaxaca teachers' union (Sección 22); Student groups;	Oaxaca state government; Federal Preventive Police (PFP); State and local police;
Lead figures
	Flavio Sosa; Enrique Rueda Pacheco (teachers' union); Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (governor); Vicente Fox (president); Ardelio Vargas (PFP chief);
Casualties
Death	At least 17–27
Injuries	Hundreds
Arrested	Over 160

The Mexican state of Oaxaca was embroiled in a conflict that lasted more than seven months and resulted in at least seventeen deaths and the occupation of the capital city of Oaxaca by the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). The conflict emerged in May 2006 with the police responding to a strike involving the local teachers' trade union by opening fire on non-violent protests. It then grew into a broad-based movement pitting the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) against the state's governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Protesters demanded the removal or resignation of Ortiz, whom they accused of political corruption and acts of repression. Multiple reports, including from international human rights monitors, accused the Mexican government of using death squads, summary executions, and even violating Geneva Conventions standards that prohibit attacking and shooting at unarmed medics attending to the wounded. One human rights observer claimed over twenty-seven were killed by the police violence. The dead included Brad Will, Emilio Alonso Fabián, José Alberto López Bernal, Fidel Sánchez García, and Esteban Zurita López.

Despite the intensity of the protests, Governor Ulises Ruiz refused to step down. The Federal Government, headed by then-president Vicente Fox, deployed officers from the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) in October 2006 to retake the city of Oaxaca.