Crisis in Oaxaca.

• Position: On the Line - Military violence - Brief article

In May, teachers in Oaxaca, one of Mexico's poorest states, went on strike to demand better wages and school improvements. In June, the governor, Ulises Ruiz, sent in troops to break the strike. Days later, hundreds of thousands of people marched in the streets against the military violence. A coalition of students, leftists, unionists, and other activists, called the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), sprang into action.

The teachers' union and APPO took over the downtown square of Oaxaca City and added the resignation of the governor to its list of demands. Tensions between protesters and the government authorities grew over the ensuing months, and more than a dozen people were killed.

On October 27, paramilitaries affiliated with the local governing party shot and killed several activists...