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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Nothing is normal here

By Jeremy Schwartz | Tuesday, October 31, 2006, 12:32 PM

OAXACA — Once considered the most beautiful in Mexico, this city’s main square, or Zocalo, has been the scene of pitched battles, protest encampments and gallons of spray-painted graffiti since May.

On the morning of Halloween of all times, the Zocalo began its return to normalcy with a massive cleanup effort.

Yesterday the troops dislodged the APPO, an umbrella group of protesters who are demanding the ouster of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz and who have used the Zocalo as their headquarters for months.

This morning, federal police in heavy body armor were cleaning up the square, burning huge mounds of garbage and ripping down protest signs. On the side streets under federal control, business owners painted over the scrawled graffiti that has marred this colonial city.

But despite the leisurely pace of events in the Zocalo, life is not returning to normal here. The plaza still resembles an army barracks, with hundreds of troops milling about, shaving with broken off car mirrors and standing in food lines.

A few blocks away, members of the APPO were meeting to plot strategy. They have decided to make the starkly beautiful Santo Domingo church their new headquarters and vowed to continue acts of resistance. Shopping carts filled with palm-size stones sat nearby. Meanwhile, supporters of the governor held their own march as rumors flew that the supporters would attempt to provoke the protesters.

Leaders urged calm, the one thing this former colonial jewel has lacked.

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