Oaxaca state vows violent protests will not stop Mexican folk festival

[struggle4progress]

Source: The Associated Press

Published: July 17, 2007

MEXICO CITY: The government of southern Oaxaca state vowed to host a popular Mexican folk festival despite violent protests in which about 19 people were injured and 40 arrested.

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission also said Tuesday it would open an investigation into the previous day's clash in Oaxaca city, where angry crowds and police exchanged volleys of rocks and tear gas and protesters burned buses and cars. ~snip~

But the Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights accused police of "brutally beating" the demonstrators and roughing up several reporters and rights activists.

The league said 22 people were detained who did not appear on official lists. It added that one protester sustained severe abdominal injuries, and dozens more suffered tear gas inhalation. ~snip~

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/18/america/LA-GEN-Mexico-Oaxaca-Unrest.php

[noel adamson]

1. Is this the same story??

This story from Oaxaca appears to describe events in the same place at the same time and contain references to similar events (burning buses, tear gas etc.)but seems profoundly different in more than just political perspective.

http://www.narconews.com/Issue46/article2735.html

I would trust almost any other source before I would trust a privatized propaganda outlet like AP...

[struggle4progress]

2. Thanks for the link!

Events in Oaxaca will continue to deserve attention

[Tempest]

3. The story behind the story

Heard on a Pacifica radio report from the area:

The government hijacked the festival from the indigenous people and made it into a tourist attraction for gringos, charging them $40 to get in.

The people who have celebrated the festival for centuries can't afford to attend and want it open to everyone. They have been told they can't celebrate the festival on their own because it'll cut into the profits the government is trying to squeeze out of the tourists.