More or less. That was the answer that Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly got when she visited Oaxaca and asked people if the city had gotten back to normal after the social upheavals that paralyzed the once-renowned tourist mecca last year. Her report is a nuanced one that portrays a city struggling to regain its bearings and revive its economy.
Bottom line: if the city can avoid further upheavals, tourists will find their way back for the food, the art, the colonial landmarks and the pre-Columbian ruins.
Meanwhile, blogger Jill Freidberg reminds Connolly (and the rest of us) that the upheavals in Oaxaca were symptoms of political and economic distress that have not gone away. Read her perspective here.
Oaxaca is high on the list of places I wish I had visited. May get there yet.
But while we enjoy Mexico's charms as a place to visit, we need to remember how deep and profound are its political and economic problems. Millions of Mexicans take huge risks to cross our borders because their own country offers them so little.
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