Oaxaca protests hit Mexico capital, violence feared

MEXICO CITY, Oct 10 (Reuters) Thousands of protesters trying to bring down a state governor marched from Mexico's conflict-torn tourist city of Oaxaca into the capital as the interior minister tried to stave off violent clashes.

Leftist activists and striking teachers have yesterday shut down the colonial center of Oaxaca for months, hoping to force the resignation of Ulises Ruiz, who they accuse of corruption, heavy-handed tactics and ignoring poverty.

After walking for days, thousands marched through Mexico City's tattered outskirts waving banners and shouting slogans to bolster their leaders' position in deadlocked talks with President Vicente Fox's government.

Oaxaca is 450 km from Mexico City.

Fox has vowed to resolve the conflict before handing power to his ruling party successor Felipe Calderon on December 1.

Fox's conservative government says it will restore order to the city of famed monasteries and leafy squares but is trying to negotiate a peaceful solution.

The Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, the left-wing alliance behind the protests, says only Ruiz's resignation will end its protests.

''We want Oaxaca to be peaceful again, but Oaxaca cannot be peaceful until Ulises Ruiz leaves power,'' said Fernando Estrada, a leader of the group at the front of the march.

Protesters carried effigies of Ruiz and one group held a black coffin spattered with red paint and the words: ''The bad government is dead.'' They set up camp outside the senate, where some tore down barriers as riot police with shields and gas masks looked on.

After hours of negotiations, Interior Minister Carlos Abascal said he made a preliminary deal that could eventually see the protesters turn over control of downtown Oaxaca to local police, as long as they are supervised by federal authorities.

Little progress was made on the protesters' main demand that Ruiz step down, Abascal said.

They had lifted some barricades over the weekend as a sign of good will in the negotiations.

VIOLENCE CONTINUES Ambushes and paramilitary-style drive-by shootings, which protesters say were ordered by Ruiz, have killed at least five activists since the conflict began.

A prominent teacher who had opposed the strike was murdered last week, his throat cut. Both sides denied responsibility for the attack.

The protests, which started four months ago, have strewn Oaxaca's streets with burnt out cars and graffiti, scaring away tourists who provide the city's main income.

Ruiz belongs to a traditional wing of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled the country for 71 years until Fox's 2000 victory and still wields almost feudal power in some of rural Mexico's poorest outposts.

Fox is anxious to avoid violence. But his party needs the PRI's support to counterbalance the leftist coalition that gained power in Congress in the July 2 presidential election.

PRI leaders have made clear they are opposed to Ruiz being forced from office.

Protesters from Oaxaca in straw hats and colorful indigenous blouses were joined by sympathizers from the edge of the city, where many Oaxacans have settled in recent years.

Reuters LL GC1112