Do protests in Oaxaca complicate travel there?

September 8, 2019 8:35 PM

The wife and I are considering a trip to Oaxaca. A couple we know who goes there every Christmas holiday (the husband is from Oaxaca) has warned us that travel there outside of the biggest holidays can be disrupted by protests, strikes, etc. that happen pretty regularly there - to the point that it can be very difficult just to get from the airport to the city (or vice versa). Just looking for a second opinion: are Oaxaca protests frequent and disruptive enough that it's kind of risky to plan a trip there not during a major holiday?
posted by Mechitar to Travel & Transportation around Oaxaca, Mexico (2 answers total)

Best answer: No, not at all. Oaxaca’s a major tourist destination, and while there are big protests every year or two (mostly from teachers and student teachers) they’re dispersed throughout the state and not nearly frequent enough to be a significant consideration in planning a trip to Oaxaca de Juárez and the Valles Centrales.

Probably worth it to have travel insurance that covers trip disruptions (a good idea regardless of destination), and I personally wouldn’t be willing, from a moral point of view, to cross the picket lines when the CNTE are out in the streets, but the idea that this happening so often it’s worth reconsidering travel over is very, very, alarmist.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 10:21 PM on September 8, 2019 [2 favorites]

We saw a protest march when we were in Oaxaca last year. While it's possible they have the ability to grow disruptive, this one was not.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 7:57 AM on September 9, 2019