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Wednesday, November 29, 2006

UW students leave Oaxaca
Political unrest cuts short study abroad

By CHRISTINE FREY
P-I REPORTER

Violent protests in Oaxaca, Mexico, have prompted the University of Washington to end its study-abroad program there a week early.

All 17 students are scheduled to board a bus today and leave for nearby Puebla. Nine students will fly to Seattle Thursday, and the remaining undergraduates will remain in Mexico to travel on their own.

They had been living in Oaxaca with families and studying at a language institute since September. The program was scheduled to end Dec. 8.

UW officials decided to evacuate the students from the area after this weekend's violence in which protesters set fire to government offices and more than 40 people were injured.

Nine people, including a U.S. journalist, have been killed in the violence there in recent months. Protestors are calling for the removal of the Oaxaca state governor.

"In our estimation, the situation is tense enough that we didn't want to take a chance," said Tony Geist, chairman of the Spanish and Portuguese department.

President-elect Felipe Calderon will be sworn into office Friday, and turmoil is expected in some parts of the country, he said.

Geist has been monitoring the events there since Mexican President Vicente Fox sent federal police to the area at the end of October.

The areas of unrest occurred away from where the students lived and studied, he said. They were also away from Oaxaca for part of the month on a study travel break, he said.

No UW students have been hurt. One returned home earlier this fall.

Students have been removed from countries in the past because of weather conditions such as floods or because of volcanoes, said David Fenner, director of international programs and exchanges. But he could not recall a recent time when they had been evacuated because of political unrest.

About 1,750 UW students traveled abroad last academic year.

The university has sent students to Oaxaca for about 12 years. The program runs only in the fall, and Geist said that he expects students to return there next year.

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