Ha!Ha!Ha! 4 more Years?! He can't be serious....Oh, but he is

Oaxaca Governor Refuses to Step Down
The Associated Press
By IOAN GRILLO

November 16, 2006

His name is scrawled on buildings and streets next to the word 'murderer.' Protesters accusing him of corruption seized the state capital for five months, and thousands of federal troops have failed to resolve the standoff. Even his own party's lawmakers want him gone.

But Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz says he'll serve out his term, which ends in 2010. The slim, mustachioed politician from the once all-powerful Institutional Revolutionary Party is an unfortunate symbol of Mexico's democratic growing pains, a throwback to old-style politics in a nation that has moved on.

He has largely ignored demonstrations that have left nine people dead, calling on the federal government to restore order while he spends four days a week zipping about in a helicopter over the rugged mountains of southern Mexico, visiting 400 villages in 18 months.

Ruiz, a native of Chalcatongo village in the heart of Mixtec Indian country, defended his administration in an interview with The Associated Press.

'I have the backing of the Oaxacan people. I have their affection,' he said.

Oaxaca, Mexico's poorest state, has been ruled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party since the party's founding in 1929. The democratic changes that have swept much of Mexico since Vicente Fox's 2000 victory ended the party's 71-year grip on the presidency have passed Oaxaca by. Poverty is profound, and many of the state's 3.5 million people lack electricity or nearby roads.

In many ways, Ruiz is no different from any past Oaxaca governor. He just happened to be in office when voters decided they were fed up.

'Oaxaca was a time bomb waiting to go off,' said protest leader Flavio Sosa. 'Ruiz was just the detonator.'

Violence in the picturesque state capital has gotten so bad that the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday it was extending a warning advising against travel to the once-popular tourist destination, where protesters have crippled the economy by building barricades and torching buses.

On Thursday, Oaxacan teachers officially returned to schoolhouses after a six-month strike against Ruiz. But only a handful of the state's 13,000 schools opened with many teachers in the capital city staying away, saying they feared assaults from pro-government thugs.

The protesters accuse the governor of rigging the 2004 election by buying votes and intimidating opponents with gun-toting thugs who have been captured on videotape firing at protesters. Ruiz denies the charges, and his attorney general, Lizbeth Cana, publicly blames 'urban guerrillas.'

During the campaign, alleged ruling party militants were photographed beating to death two supporters of Ruiz's leftist rival. The state's judicial system _ which answers to Ruiz _ hasn't produced any arrests or major leads.

The protest movement's members _ who include trade unionists, leftists, Indian groups and students _ say the problem goes deeper than electoral fraud and political violence. Ruiz, they argue, is the latest in a long line of corrupt Mexican politicians who have looked after the rich and ground down the poor.

Ruiz dedicated much of his first year in office to promoting Institutional Revolutionary Party presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo, who finished third with a mere 22 percent of the vote in July. The party has struggled to survive since, and Ruiz has been left without its usual support.

Since protesters took over Oaxaca City in June, Ruiz has been unable to get to his office most of the time _ let alone walk the streets of the historic center.

Even the arrival last month of 4,000 federal police has not guaranteed him safe passage, and on Wednesday he gave his annual government report in a taped video message rather than risk a trip to the state legislature.

Last week, when Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal demanded Ruiz pacify the state or resign, the governor shot back that Abascal should solve his own problems or resign himself.

Ironically, Mexico's democratic changes may be the only thing saving Ruiz's job. In decades past, presidents often removed controversial governors; Carlos Salinas de Gortari got rid of 16 of Mexico's 31 governors during his 1988-94 term, some of whom faced protests far less severe than those in Oaxaca.

Fox, in contrast, has been reluctant to get involved, arguing that only voters can remove elected officials from office.

'The president does not install or get rid of governors. That era has gone, and is gone forever,' said spokesman Ruben Aguilar.

Many analysts predict Ruiz will eventually fall. The federal Senate has the power to remove governors if it determines they have lost control of their state. Last month, it threw out one bill to get rid of Ruiz, but another has been presented.

'Four more years of this conflict would be disastrous,' said political analyst Jose Antonio Crespo. 'The pressure will have to break this governor in the end.'