OAXACA CITY, Mexico — Parents and children gathered early Tuesday in front of the Enrique Rebsamen Primary School after the governor over the weekend ordered teachers to end a four-month strike that has ballooned into a chaotic leftist rebellion.
Handwritten signs were posted at the school: "Welcome to class. Bring your children with confidence." When the bell rang at 9:05 a.m., about 150 students went to class.
But the teachers were still missing.
As pressure grew from all sides to settle the simmering conflict, Gov. Ulises Ruiz launched a public relations offensive Tuesday to declare that peace was near. "It's always darkest before the dawn," he told Televisa.
Teachers union leaders were meeting late Tuesday to talk about returning to class.
Oaxaca's statewide teachers strike has spawned a protest movement that is demanding Ruiz resign for a number of alleged abuses, including a heavy-handed police crackdown on strikers in June that increased the dissidents' ranks.
Continuing civil unrest threatens the impending departure of Mexican President Vicente Fox and adds to the troubles of his successor, Felipe Calderon, who already has his hands full trying to convince some in the country that he won the July 2 election fairly.
Dozens of protesters armed with poles and rocks swarmed the stately courtyards of the historic El Camino Real hotel on Sunday. They searched guestrooms after one of the radio stations seized by protesters reported that Ruiz was there. He wasn't.
But two lawmakers were being interviewed at the hotel by TV Azteca, and the network showed them being hustled out a back door, their departing car pelted with rocks. The crowd scattered at the sound of gunfire, and two people were reportedly hit and wounded.
Oaxaca's 70,000 teachers stayed away from 14,000 schools on May 22 to demand higher wages and better working conditions. The strike has since attracted a collection of farmers, unionists and Marxists with similar demands who have taken over the capital's main plaza and blockaded City Hall and state offices with protest camps.
Tourists in the popular colonial city have all but disappeared, and scores of businesses have closed their doors since protesters chased police and local officials from their downtown offices. Two demonstrators have been killed.
Hours before the invasion of the El Camino Real hotel, which is temporarily closed, the U.S. Embassy extended a travel advisory on Oaxaca for another month.
