Oaxaca, Mexico: Teachers union president vows, "We won't be held hostage by anyone."

Enrique Rueda Pacheco came out swinging, finally, in response to the riot that took place early Sunday morning outside the hotel where the striking teachers were counting the votes to determine whether or not to return to the classrooms. In a classic example of blatant hypocrisy, APPO, which had been trumpeting the independence of the teachers union and telling one and all that APPO would "respect"the teachers' vote, "however it turns out", instead attacked the union's headquarters when the vote didn't go their way. There were not enough APPO thugs to get inside through the teachers who were performing guard duty and Rueda Pacheco's own bodyguards.

Rueda Pacheco's handlers had to quickly hustle him away through the hostile crowd, however, because the hijacked public radio station was calling for APPO reinforcements to arrive at the hotel to help. The APPO radio broadcasts were exhorting the APPO followers to bring weapons and Molotov cocktails to help with the impending assault.

While avoiding pointing a finger directly at APPO, Rueda Pacheco today said that the SNTE Section 22 strikers "will not be the hostages of anybody and will make their decisions independently and without bowing to pressure." Rueda Pacheco called the radio broadcasts "irresponsible".

He also denied that any of his bodyguards and other security personnel were armed. He said, "Those with the bazookas (homemade rocket launchers) were outside the hotel and were not members of the teachers union," and that they, not the teachers, "created a climate of violence."

What started the melee was an unauthorized leak of the preliminary results of the poll several hours ahead of the scheduled release of that information. When the results appeared on the daily El Universal's website, all hell broke loose. This time, says Rueda Pacheco, security will be tightened to prevent the leak of information and the announcement will be made "clandestinely" to avoid a repeat of the episode that nearly got him killed.

In the two photos below, the "But what have you done for me lately" syndrome is more than apparent. In the first photo, taken at midday Saturday when Rueda Pacheco arrived at the hotel, he's in Cool Hand Luke mode, even signing an autograph. The sign pasted on the wall should have been a warning of trouble to come. It says, "We demand the resignation of URO (the guvnor) and Rueda. Murderer (the guvnor) and traitor (Rueda Pacheco)". In the second photo, taken 14 hours later when he tried to leave the hotel, he's in a jacket and cap to protect his head from flying missiles and his bodyguards are forcing their way through the mob to effect his escape.

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TAGS: Oaxaca, Mexico, Oaxaca teachers strike, Enrique Rueda Pacheco, APPO, SNTE