Tired of what they call political paralysis and corruption in the local municipal seat of Tezoatlán de Segura y Luna, in Mexico's Oaxaca state, the Mixtec indigenous community of Yucuquimi de Ocampo last month declared itself to be a "free municipality" under its own "autonomous" self-government. Since then, the state and central government have had the community flooded with troops both from the army and newly created National Guard [8] force. On Sept. 24, local residents clashed with National Guard troops. The following day, local followers of the Agrarian Indigenous Zapatista Movement (MAIZ [9]) marched on the state capital to demand withdrawal of the troops from the community. The Zapatista rebels in neighboring Chiapas state have issued a statement [10] in support of the "free municipality." (APRO [11], ADN [12], Imparcial [13], Imparcial [14], Oax., RiOaxaca [15], Pagina3 [6])
