Day 11 – Revolting Oaxacans

February 24, 2010

Crafts for sale on the Zocalo

The sun was beating down on the Zocalo, where the Indian craft sellers – mostly very small women – sat in the shade given by the huge Cyprus trees planted by the local authorities a few years.

I joined a random assortment of travellers from the hostel, including Amy from Melbourne, Stephanie from the States, a guy from Denmark and his girlfriend, for a wander around this beating heart of Oaxaca, which today saw, among the trinket stalls and people selling boiled corn on the cob, a number of angry men protesting against the government.

Oaxaca has had more than its share of run-ins with the the central administration in recent years – the city saw riots erupt a few years ago when police turned on striking teachers.

But today only a handful of people seemed interested in the People´s Festival being staged on the Zocalo. It was time to find an internet cafe and catch up on writing this and a few emails.

The Hostal Pochon gang met up again for lunch then we wandered through the market; the place of the bad dinner the night before. It was hot, sticky and dark with flies buzzing around the butcher stalls. I didn´t feel like hanging around fending off attempts to sell me more whicker hats (I´m on my second now) so headed back towards the hostel for a nap.

I got as far as the San Domingo Church, where a wall of protesting students blocked the way. This was more like. There must have been a couple of thousand students, converging on the church. The guards outside the adjoining museum hastily shut the doors, presuambly fearing some soert of invasion. A few tourists looked out, bemused, from the other side of the metal bars, wondering for a few minutes how they were going to get out.

A big banner with the face of Che Guevara was laid on the floor. I was relieved to see Che´s flowing locks on something other than a T-shirt worn by an bearded American backpacker.

The protest, so I could make out, was about the government closing down teacher training posts. It was just the latest issue which these proud and indignant Oaxacans had siezed on, driving yet another wedge between them and the Mexican government they seem to despise so much.