Federal police held the central square, but schools and most businesses remained closed and residents tired of five months of paralyzing strikes looked on in dismay as protesters used debris, stones and sandbags to block recently cleared streets.

Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz, whom they accuse of oppressing dissent and rigging the 2004 elections. Many residents, including several thousand who marched in protest yesterday, just want to return to life as it was before the strikes began in May.

A New York journalist was fatally shot Friday during a gun battle in Oaxaca. Bradley Will, 36, of the East Village, had been covering the unrest for Indymedia.org, an independent Web-based media organization.

In a sign that tensions had diminished somewhat, the columns of riot-shield-carrying federal police who had blocked access to the central square began allowing residents and business owners to pass through it yesterday.

"We feel like we have been born again," said Gilberto Ruiz Fernandez, manager of the Azteca Shoestore, which has been closed sporadically during the conflict.