In focus: standing their ground.WHEN: Friday, June 16, 2006, Noon WHERE: Mexico City Mexico City Spanish Ciudad de México City (pop., 2000: city, 8,605,239; 2003 metro. area est., 18,660,000), capital of Mexico. Located at an elevation of 7,350 ft (2,240 m), it is officially coterminous with the Federal District, which occupies 571 sq mi An indigenous woman protests the government's violent crackdown crack·down n. An act or example of forceful regulation, repression, or restraint: a crackdown on crime. Noun 1. on her community's teachers. Teachers from the state of Oaxaca went on strike last May, taking over Oaxaca's capital in a demand for better school conditions. Parents, children and teachers camped out in the city's center. But a few weeks later, the state governor, Ulises Ruiz, sent in 750 riot police riot police n → policía antidisturbios riot police n → forces fpl de police intervenant en cas d'émeute; hundreds of riot police → who threw tear gas tear gas, gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. in the middle of the night. One woman miscarried. Within hours, Oaxaca's indigenous community had retaken the city and called for the governor's resignation. But the standoff stand·off n. 1. A tie or draw, as in a contest. 2. A situation in which one force neutralizes or counterbalances the other. 3. A standoff insulator. adj. Standoffish. has continued since then with the murder of at least five people. Oaxaca has the country's second-largest number of indigenous people. In the 1970s and '80s, more than 100 of Oaxaca's teachers were murdered as they tried to organize their union. Since then, the Mexican government has been accused of murdering local unionists and clamping down on the press. Photographer: Tomas Bravo/Reuters |
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