Oaxaca Paper Standoff Ends

A bitter standoff at a newspaper office in the southern state of Oaxaca ended Monday night when police and picketing union members allegedly forced their way into the building and removed journalists and press workers who had been barricaded inside since June 17.

A reporter at the paper, Octavio Velez, said Tuesday that about 100 union members and local police, hooded and wearing civilian clothes and armed with sticks and pipes, stormed into the offices of Noticias, Voz e Imagen de Oaxaca around 8:15 p.m. Monday.

Velez said the men broke windows and doors, smashed computers and other equipment, struck some employees and stripped them of cellphones, bank cards and IDs. No serious injuries were reported.

“They took us by surprise,” Velez said. He said the police were wearing masks but were recognizable by their short, military-style haircuts and boots. “They have the building in their power, the building is totally destroyed.”

But union leader David Aguilar Robles contradicted Velez’s account, saying the encounter had been peaceful and the barricaded employees had left the building voluntarily.

“These have all been pure lies,” he said.

About 30 employees of Noticias, the region’s largest-circulation newspaper, had been holed up in their building for 4 1/2 weeks, resisting what they said was an attempt by local politicians to shut down the paper in retaliation for its critical coverage.

Outside, the building was blockaded by a picket line of union members from the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants, or CROC. The union called the strike to demand a 25% wage increase for newspaper employees.

But the barricaded employees rejected CROC’s leadership, saying the union is in cahoots with Oaxaca state Gov. Ulises Ruiz of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

The newspaper, which had been able to continue producing a daily edition during the standoff, said in a statement that the eviction reflected the “sick desire” of Ruiz “to eliminate this newspaper due to its criticism of his administration.” The governor’s office on Tuesday said it had no response.

Aguilar, the union leader, offered a different version of how the standoff came to an end. After being “invited to leave” their building, the barricaded employees began insulting the picketers, he said.

Some picketers then entered the building “in order to preserve the right to strike,” he said, and removed the barricaded employees “peacefully.” “Not a single person was hit ... they left by their own feet, walking,” Aguilar said.

Asked what condition the building was in now, Aguilar replied, “Perfect condition.” He said that some equipment had been disconnected “so that no mishap occurs” and that the building’s doors were being sealed.

International human rights and media advocacy groups have expressed concern about the dispute. Mexican President Vicente Fox had indicated he would try to resolve the conflict.

The displaced employees vowed to continue publishing their paper and are appealing to the federal attorney general to intervene.

Aguilar insists that the strike is legal and that his side would prevail in what he characterized as a labor struggle.

“This is all a theater show,” Aguilar said of the employees, “but judicially they don’t have anything.”