Oaxaca demo reaches Mexico City

They accuse Ulises Ruiz, governor of the southern state, of rigging elections and using brutal force to put down protests.

The protesters have been involved in a bloody struggle with security forces in which five people have died since May.

Mr Ruiz has denied any responsibility for the violence and has refused to step down.

The demonstrations started as a demand by teachers for more pay - but it has since become a much wider campaign.

The demonstrators have walked from Oaxaca City, waving banners and shouting slogans.

They carried effigies of the Oaxaca state governor, Ulises Ruiz, and coffins - one with the words "the bad government is dead" written on it.

By marching to the country's capital city, the protesters believe they can pressure the Senate into forcing Mr Ruiz to quit.

President Vicente Fox says he wants the dispute to end before he leaves office in December.

But the BBC's Duncan Kennedy, in Mexico, says it is not proving easy to pacify the teachers and their demands for political as well as economic changes.