Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Oaxaca, Mexico: Striking teachers' perimeter penetrated by Mark in Mexico


It's not actually as exciting as it sounds. The striking teachers in Oaxaca, aware that they are beginning to grate on the nerves of the populace after causing some $40 million in economic losses (and still counting) and also aware of the bad press they are beginning to get due to the violence and vandalism throughout the city, have backed off just a bit. They have moved some of their barricades out of the streets allowing traffic to get a block or so closer to the city center. The other barricades all around the Zócalo have been opened enough to allow free passage by pedestrians. The teachers were not stopping and harrassing tourists today. There also were no gangs of armed men manning the barricades.

So, Mark in Mexico did a little exploring, camera secreted in vest pocket. I walked all along the southern barricades as well as those to the west and north. I then cruised right through the Zócalo. What a mess.

There are thousands of people packed into the city's square. The teachers have allowed the street vendors to set up, er, on the streets. You can walk around the perimeter of the Zócolo but you cannot pass through it.

Every exposed wall all around the square, with the exception of the cathedral walls, has been painted with various slogans, and caricatures. The best one I saw was, "URO - Guelageisha" with the state's governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, caricatured in a Geisha getup. The teachers and the other "support groups" use oil-based paint to make the eventual erradication of their slogans and drawings extremely difficult, time consuming and expensive. Almost all of the walls, portals, gateways and arches are in natural stone and will have to be cleaned chemically and physically using wire brushes. I have never seen, in all my time in Mexico, a sandblasting operation which is what this place really needs to have.

When the eventual cleanup takes place, the colonial architecture will all be two-toned. The bottom half of all the buildings will look like new stone while the upper sections will still have the 300-500 year-old look.

Broken windows, broken doors, smashed and twisted street lamps, parking meters gone, trash and garbage everywhere, banners hanging everywhere and every square foot of space taken up with tents, tarps, sleeping bags, awnings and people. The Zócalo, which was completely refurbished just before Christmas at a reported cost of $8 million USD, is pretty well trashed. All of the flowers and shrubs are gone. I could not get into the Zócalo itself to see if the new fountains had been damaged or not.

I walked all along the front and side of the Marquis del Valle hotel. I could not see any obvious damage from the city bus that was smashed into it. However, the hotel is built of massive pieces of stone so I imagine that the bus took the brunt of it. The restaurant all along the north side of the Zócalo has been stripped. All of the furniture is gone and the decorative wooden railings and gates that were once there are gone as well. You cannot tell it was ever the most popular restaurant on the square. I took no photos because here is where most of the anarchists, socialists, communists and revolutionary groups have set up shop. There is every "Movimiento de . . . ", "Bloque de . . . ", "Grupo de . . . ", "Comité de . . . ", and "Asamblea de . . . " that you can think of. I thought I was in Berkeley for a moment.


Mark in Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico: The striking teachers in Oaxaca, aware that they are beginning to grate on the nerves of the populace after causing some $40 million in economic losses (and still counting) and also aware of the bad press they are beginning to get due to the violence and vandalism throughout the city, have backed off just a bit. There are thousands of people packed into the city's square. The teachers have allowed the street vendors to set up, er, on the streets. You can walk around the perimeter of the Zócolo but you cannot pass through it. Every exposed wall all around the square, with the exception of the cathedral walls, has been painted with various slogans, and caricatures. Broken windows, broken doors, smashed and twisted street lamps, parking meters gone, trash and garbage everywhere, banners hanging everywhere and every square foot of space taken up with tents, tarps, sleeping bags, awnings and people. The Zócalo, which was completely refurbished just before Christmas at a reported cost of $8 million USD, is pretty well trashed. All of the flowers and shrubs are gone.
Here is a view from a southern barricade looking towards the Zócalo. The street was being rebuilt by the city but that work was halted on May 22 when the teachers arrived.


Mark in Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico: The striking teachers in Oaxaca, aware that they are beginning to grate on the nerves of the populace after causing some $40 million in economic losses (and still counting) and also aware of the bad press they are beginning to get due to the violence and vandalism throughout the city, have backed off just a bit. There are thousands of people packed into the city's square. The teachers have allowed the street vendors to set up, er, on the streets. You can walk around the perimeter of the Zócolo but you cannot pass through it. Every exposed wall all around the square, with the exception of the cathedral walls, has been painted with various slogans, and caricatures. Broken windows, broken doors, smashed and twisted street lamps, parking meters gone, trash and garbage everywhere, banners hanging everywhere and every square foot of space taken up with tents, tarps, sleeping bags, awnings and people. The Zócalo, which was completely refurbished just before Christmas at a reported cost of $8 million USD, is pretty well trashed. All of the flowers and shrubs are gone.
Here is a view of a northern barricade. I'm on 5 de Mayo which was closed off and just rebuilt as a pedestrian-only promenade but is now packed with cars. It would have looked really nice and given the city two parallel promenades leading to the Zócalo from the north. I was standing a half a block south of the Camino Real Hotel when I snapped this one. You can see the sheet metal barricade in front of the white Nissan pickup.



Mark in Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico: The striking teachers in Oaxaca, aware that they are beginning to grate on the nerves of the populace after causing some $40 million in economic losses (and still counting) and also aware of the bad press they are beginning to get due to the violence and vandalism throughout the city, have backed off just a bit. There are thousands of people packed into the city's square. The teachers have allowed the street vendors to set up, er, on the streets. You can walk around the perimeter of the Zócolo but you cannot pass through it. Every exposed wall all around the square, with the exception of the cathedral walls, has been painted with various slogans, and caricatures. Broken windows, broken doors, smashed and twisted street lamps, parking meters gone, trash and garbage everywhere, banners hanging everywhere and every square foot of space taken up with tents, tarps, sleeping bags, awnings and people. The Zócalo, which was completely refurbished just before Christmas at a reported cost of $8 million USD, is pretty well trashed. All of the flowers and shrubs are gone.
The USSR was well represented. FPR stands for "Frente Popular Revolucionario", or Popular Revolutionary Front. They just got in from Berkeley, I suppose. If you look right above the banner you can see the parasol canopy over the bandstand which is in the center of the Zócalo itself. As you can see, it is just not possible to pass because the square is an impenetrable jungle of strikers and their supporters. I got this photo by weaving my way through a restaurant, staring down a surly waiter, and snapping the picture and hightailing it before the guy in the dark glasses challenged me. It is impossible to determine who is a striker and who is a tourist. I saw only 8 people that I could positively say were foreign tourists trying to make the best of a bad situation and an unwise investment. All of the other thousands of people I saw today were Mexican tourists, striking teachers or their supporters. Not good news for the poor street vendors.



Mark in Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico: The striking teachers in Oaxaca, aware that they are beginning to grate on the nerves of the populace after causing some $40 million in economic losses (and still counting) and also aware of the bad press they are beginning to get due to the violence and vandalism throughout the city, have backed off just a bit. There are thousands of people packed into the city's square. The teachers have allowed the street vendors to set up, er, on the streets. You can walk around the perimeter of the Zócolo but you cannot pass through it. Every exposed wall all around the square, with the exception of the cathedral walls, has been painted with various slogans, and caricatures. Broken windows, broken doors, smashed and twisted street lamps, parking meters gone, trash and garbage everywhere, banners hanging everywhere and every square foot of space taken up with tents, tarps, sleeping bags, awnings and people. The Zócalo, which was completely refurbished just before Christmas at a reported cost of $8 million USD, is pretty well trashed. All of the flowers and shrubs are gone.
This is the Llano park which is about 10 blocks from the city center. This refurbishmnet project is at least 3 months behind schedule. Because of the destruction of this park, the big tianguis (open air market) which sets up all around it has been moved to Macedonio Alcalá just north of Santo Domingo, trashing that pedestrian promenade as well. This park is identified on most tourist maps as "Parque Benito Juárez".


Mark in Mexico Oaxaca Teacher's Strike Burned Bus Juarez University 07/25/06 Oaxaca, Mexico: The striking teachers in Oaxaca, aware that they are beginning to grate on the nerves of the populace after causing some $40 million in economic losses (and still counting) and also aware of the bad press they are beginning to get due to the violence and vandalism throughout the city, have backed off just a bit. There are thousands of people packed into the city's square. The teachers have allowed the street vendors to set up, er, on the streets. You can walk around the perimeter of the Zócolo but you cannot pass through it. Every exposed wall all around the square, with the exception of the cathedral walls, has been painted with various slogans, and caricatures. Broken windows, broken doors, smashed and twisted street lamps, parking meters gone, trash and garbage everywhere, banners hanging everywhere and every square foot of space taken up with tents, tarps, sleeping bags, awnings and people. The Zócalo, which was completely refurbished just before Christmas at a reported cost of $8 million USD, is pretty well trashed. All of the flowers and shrubs are gone.
Here is the burned out bus parked inside Benito Juárez University. All of the news reports said that the bus was 200 meters (200+ yards) inside the university when it was burned. It is really only about 75 yards from the street. The bus had been commandeered by students and driven inside the university the day before it was burned. The police here did not have enough power to either retrieve the bus or stop it from being burned. It was a city-owned bus, paid for by the people of Oaxaca and will have to be replaced by them.



Oaxaca Teacher's Strike Pray For Peace 07/25/06 Mark in Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico: The striking teachers in Oaxaca, aware that they are beginning to grate on the nerves of the populace after causing some $40 million in economic losses (and still counting) and also aware of the bad press they are beginning to get due to the violence and vandalism throughout the city, have backed off just a bit. There are thousands of people packed into the city's square. The teachers have allowed the street vendors to set up, er, on the streets. You can walk around the perimeter of the Zócolo but you cannot pass through it. Every exposed wall all around the square, with the exception of the cathedral walls, has been painted with various slogans, and caricatures. Broken windows, broken doors, smashed and twisted street lamps, parking meters gone, trash and garbage everywhere, banners hanging everywhere and every square foot of space taken up with tents, tarps, sleeping bags, awnings and people. The Zócalo, which was completely refurbished just before Christmas at a reported cost of $8 million USD, is pretty well trashed. All of the flowers and shrubs are gone.
Oaxaca Teacher's Strike Pray For Peace 07/25/06 Mark in Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico: The striking teachers in Oaxaca, aware that they are beginning to grate on the nerves of the populace after causing some $40 million in economic losses (and still counting) and also aware of the bad press they are beginning to get due to the violence and vandalism throughout the city, have backed off just a bit. There are thousands of people packed into the city's square. The teachers have allowed the street vendors to set up, er, on the streets. You can walk around the perimeter of the Zócolo but you cannot pass through it. Every exposed wall all around the square, with the exception of the cathedral walls, has been painted with various slogans, and caricatures. Broken windows, broken doors, smashed and twisted street lamps, parking meters gone, trash and garbage everywhere, banners hanging everywhere and every square foot of space taken up with tents, tarps, sleeping bags, awnings and people. The Zócalo, which was completely refurbished just before Christmas at a reported cost of $8 million USD, is pretty well trashed. All of the flowers and shrubs are gone.
On the city's south side, in front of Plaza Oaxaca, I found this freshly painted plea. I had seen a banner hung in front of the baseball stadium a few days ago with the identical message and thought it was interesting. This sign had just been painted - the paint was still wet when I spotted it. It says, "We kneel and pray and ask for God's intercedence for peace in Oaxaca and Mexico." At the far right of the sign is this: "What are you going to do about what you see? The anger, the fear, the poverty, the violence . . ."

Good question.

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