Toledo denounces attack during protest in Oaxaca

Painter and sculptor Francisco Toledo and other three people denounced an attack by a group of hooded men when they were protesting against the construction of a convention center in a protected natural area in Cerro del Fortín, Oaxaca.

The artist and neighbors from nearby areas have been protesting against the construction since the early morning while construction workers and dump trucks began to arrive.

The protesters argue that a judge ordered the suspension of the construction of the convention center in the national park, under the orders of the Ministry of Tourism and Economic Development.

While they were protesting peacefully, a group of more than 15 masked men tried to remove by force, even hitting them.

Toledo explained that the protest is not against this sort of constructions, but the fact that it would destroy one of the last protected areas in the city of Oaxaca.

"The advantage of building it here is that it would be just a few steps from his hotel," expressed Toledo in regard to the Tourism minister, José Zorrilla. It would not be the same if they build it in Tlacolula or somewhere else, like in the Mezcal Route."