Abascal, the Fox administration official in charge of the ever-intensifying Oaxaca crisis, was interrupted and jeered by placard-carrying Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) legislators, but managed to make his point in no uncertain terms. "In the name of God, we will carry out absolutely no repression," he said.

But in the kind of hedged language that has convinced many striking teachers and allied social groups that a federal crackdown is imminent, Abascal also said the Fox administration would be within its rights in sending in federal police or military troops.

"The Constitution establishes the obligation of authorities to re-establish law and order," he told a full session of the Chamber of Deputies. "But I am not anticipating an intervention."

Abascal´s invocation of the deity in his remarks to Congress later prompted a wry response from a teachers´ spokesperson 100 kilometers away.

"He (Abascal) preaches from the pulpit with a crucifix in his right hand and a club in his left," said Omar Olivera Espinosa, spokesperson for a contingent of several thousand teachers and their supporters who are marching from the city of Oaxaca to Mexico City.

Olivera made his comment in the town of Amilcingo in the state of Morelos, where the marchers rested Tuesday night.

Abascal criticized the Oaxaca teachers and the Oaxaca People´s Assembly (APPO) for spurning recent invitations to dialogue. "The efforts that this secretariat have made have not always been responded to," he said. "We will continue to do everything within our reach."

Abascal urged strike leaders to participate in a "forum" scheduled for Wednesday, at which bankers, business leaders, clergy members, party leaders and elected legislators plan to discuss a proposed reform package called the Pact for Governability, Peace and Development for Oaxaca.

But the union leaders announced Tuesday night that they would skip the forum, saying the list of participants was stacked in favor of "interest groups."

Instead, Oaxaca teachers union leader Enrique Rueda Pacheco said a formal request had been sent to the Interior Secretariat for an "alternate table" at the forum, separate from the clergy, the business leaders and the governor.

If that request is honored, he said, the teachers will consider making the trip to Mexico City.

APPO leaders were still meeting Tuesday night to decide if they would follow suit with the teachers.

The teachers broke off talks with the federal government on Sept. 20 after becoming convinced that their demand for the ouster of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz would not be honored.

Fox and Abascal´s National Action Party (PAN) has sided with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in protecting Ruiz, though so far the PRI is the only political force openly calling for the use of federal troops to protect Ruiz´s state government.

APPO joined the teachers´ protest in June, after Ruiz decided to physically challenge the strikers instead of negotiating with them.

But the dozens of labor and social organizations that eventually united in APPO had opposed Ruiz long before his failed attempt to remove the striking teachers from their encampments in downtown Oaxaca City.

"There are robust antecedents in the authoritarian style of the previous governor, José Murat, who left behind (in 2004) a social polarization," said political scientist Alberto Aziz Nassif in his weekly EL UNIVERSAL column Tuesday.

The PRI has had such a longtime lock on Oaxaca politics that Ruiz´s 2004 victory over a coalition candidate representing all the other parties was seen not as an indication of his popularity but a confirmation of the PRI´s ability to manipulate the electoral process in that state.

"Ulises came in with a credibility deficit and started right in with repressive actions against social leaders and an attack on independent media outlets, such as the daily Noticias," said Aziz.

Only the PRD has backed the teachers and APPO in calling for Ruiz to step down, and in ruling out federal force under any circumstances.

PRD leaders said Tuesday they have called off a planned Oaxaca City meeting of their national committee that had been announced for Wednesday.

PRD secretary-general Guadalupe Acosta, who originally promoted the presence of the PRD leadership in the heart of the conflict as a deterrent to violence, said Tuesday he feared the meeting would be used as a pretext for trouble.

With talks stalled, the marchers steadily approaching Mexico City and Oaxaca kids still out of school, the crisis has turned into a kind of slow-motion waiting game.

Military helicopters circling over Oaxaca on Sunday and Monday added to the tension, as did several explosives set off in front of Oaxaca buildings Monday.

Federal Attorney General Office spokespersons on Tuesday said the bombs (which hurt nobody and did little damage) may have been the work of known guerrilla groups such as the Revolutionary People´s Army (EPR) using a new alias.

APPO and the teachers suspect the explosions were deliberate provocations by authorities to justify a federal crackdown.

"If a political solution is achieved and Ruiz leaves ... that would be a triumph of the political process," said Aziz. "But if force is resorted to, that will only aggravate the conflict. We´ll see."

EL UNIVERSAL staff writers Justino Miranda in Cuautla, Morelos and Jorge Octavio Ochoa in Oaxaca contributed to this report.