US Embassy in Mexico warns about travel to Oaxaca state

MEXICO CITY – The United States Embassy in Mexico has warned its citizens about travel to Oaxaca, a southern state convulsed by protests in recent weeks.

The message was issued after eight people were killed in a weekend clash between protesters and police in Nochixtlan. The embassy tells government employees they may only travel by air to the beach resort towns of Huatulco and Puerto Escondido.

That excludes the state’s scenic capital, also named Oaxaca, popular among tourists who flock to its rich culinary and craft offerings.

Foreign tourists were scarce in the capital this week. Hotels complained of cancelled bookings, sidewalk cafes that grace the city’s central square were empty.

Members of a radical teachers’ union have taken over the square and closed many of the state’s highways to commercial traffic.