U.S. Warns Travelers About Oaxaca City

08/25/2006

Aug 24, 9:32 PM (ET)

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. citizens were warned Thursday that increasing political violence in Oaxaca City, Mexico, might make the mountain resort too risky to visit.

The State Department said the unrest, which began in May as a strike by a local teachers’ union, has grown and spread. It said the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City has reports of robberies and assaults in normally peaceful areas of the city.

Two people have died in the turmoil.

Oaxaca is a historic city in southern Mexico, west of the Yucatan Peninsula, that is popular with tourists. Protesters in the city said Thursday they were willing to enter negotiations to end the monthslong conflict. They insist, however, that the state’s governor must step down before the trouble can end.

The department advised U.S. citizens with plans to go to Oaxaca City to consider “carefully the risk of travel at this time due to the recent increase in violence.” The announcement remains effective until Sept. 24.