At least two people are reported dead after Mexican federal forces stormed the southern city of Oaxaca last night, forcing protesters and striking teachers out of the city center which they had occupied for five months.
Protesters determined to keep up their fight to remove Oaxaca state Governor Ulises Ruiz announced plans for further protest marches today.
At least one demonstrator was killed in the clashes as federal police backed by armoured vehicles and water cannons tore down barricades on their way into the city. Protesters said late last night that a second had died. Authorities did not confirm that.
The protests began in May as a teacher's strike in this southern Mexican city of roughly 275,000. But the demonstrations quickly spiraled into chaos after protestors accused the mayor and business interests in the town of attacking demonstrators. Anarchists, students and Indian groups seized the central plaza and barricaded streets throughout the city to demand Ruiz's removal.
After the deaths of video and documentary-maker Bradley Roland Will, 36, of New York, and two local residents during a gun attack on a protest on Friday, President Fox sent in thousands of federal police.
Protesters accused Ruiz of rigging his 2004 election and using thugs to kill or crush political opponents.
"We are not willing to go back until we get written guarantees" for teachers' safety, said Daniel Reyes, one of the last of the striking teachers to leave the main square as police gathered around it Sunday night.
Late yesterday, protesters decided to abandon the center and regroup at a local university. They pledged to continue to their battle to force Ruiz's resignation, even as police tore down the banners and tents that had served as their headquarters for months of often violent demonstrations.
At least nine protesters have died in clashes with police in the city since August. But President Vicente Fox, who leaves office Dec. 1, had resisted repeated calls to send federal forces to quell the violence, opting instead to try to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff.
One male protester was killed during a clash at a barricade. Protesters identified him as a 15-year-old killed by a bullet, while a human rights group said he died after being hit by a tear-gas canister, and they could not confirm his age.
Protesters broadcasting over a local radio station claimed a second body, apparently a protester's, had also been found.
Protest spokesman Roberto Garcia said 50 supporters had been arrested and police were searching houses, looking for protest leaders. Police did not immediately confirm that.