The destiny of Oaxaca now rides on Cue's shoulders

The destiny of Oaxaca now rides on Cue's shoulders "This is how they managed the state, as 'my personal business,' " said Marcos Leyva Madrid, the head of Educa, a nonprofit institution that seeks to educate residents about civic rights.

Oaxaca, a rugged region in Mexico's southern indigenous heartland, is a tourism magnet with its majestic colonial churches, unique gastronomy and colorful Indian feel coming from the 16 indigenous groups in the state. But poverty afflicts the majority of the state's 3.3 million residents, contrasting sharply with its significant mineral riches and generating land and social conflicts.

The destiny of Oaxaca now rides on Cue's shoulders. But more is at stake than just the events in this southern Pacific coastal state.