Gunmen kill leader of Mexican leftist party in Oaxaca

Jan. 24, 2007, 7:48AM

By JOSE MARIA ALVAREZ
Associated Press

OAXACA, Mexico — Gunmen shot dead a local leader of Mexico's largest leftist party in the southern state of Oaxaca where at least nine people were killed in political violence last year, police said today.

Democratic Revolution Party official Fructuoso Pedro Garcia was shot with nine bullets in the main square of Santo Domingo Morelos, a seaside town about 150 miles south of Oaxaca's colonial state capital, said state police commander Alberto Guzman.

The killing occurred last Wednesday, three days after Garcia announced he would run for mayor of Santo Domingo Morelos.

Guzman said the killing appeared to be for personal rather than political motives but would not give more details.

However, Raymundo Carmona president of Democratic Revolution's party council in Oaxaca said it had all the signs of a political killing, although he did not point the figure at any party.

The poor mountainous state of Oaxaca is governed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI, which ruled Mexico for most of the twentieth century.

Last year Democratic Revolution members joined thousands of leftist protesters who took over Oaxaca's state capital for five months to try and oust PRI Gov. Ulises Ruiz, who they accused of rigging the 2004 election to win office and sending gun toting thugs against his enemies. Ruiz denies the charges.

Armed gangs and police fought protesters, leaving nine people dead including New York journalist-activist Bradley Roland Will.

Thousands of federal police finally pushed the protesters out of the city in October and November.

While there's been little evident progress in resolving that dispute or solving the slayings, the relative calm in the top tourist destination prompted the U.S. State Department to downgrade a travel advisory for Oaxaca, saying Americans should use caution in the region instead of avoiding it altogether.