Villa de Etla - The Municipality

The Municipality

As municipal seat, the town of Villa de Etla is the local government for six other communities, but most people live in the town proper. These communities together occupy a territory of 17.85km2 and are bordered by the municipalities of municipalities of Asunción Etla, Santo Domingo Etla, San Miguel Etla and Reyes Etla. The municipality is located in the Central Valleys region of the state about seventeen km from the capital of Oaxaca. The municipal government consists of a municipal president, an officer called a “síndico” and four secretaries called “regidors” (for taxes, education, public works and agencies/neighborhoods). These and other officials are elected under Mexico’s usos y costumbres system. As of 2005, only 621 people out of a population of 7,637 spoke an indigenous language. Most are Catholic but about a sixth belong to another or no faith.

As of 2005, there were a total of 1691 homes almost all of which were owned by their occupants. Of these homes, 61% have running water, 95% are in areas with public lighting and 49% have public drainage. Federal Highway 190 passes through the municipality connecting it to the city of Oaxaca and Mexico City.

About seventy percent of the municipality’s population is dedicated wholly or in part to agriculture, with the primary livestock being cattle. However, only eight percent are dedicated to it full-time. About thirty six percent work in industry, mining and construction. The main handcraft is basketry. About fifteen percent are dedicated to commerce, most of which is related to the sale of dairy products such as milk and cheese. Other commerce focuses on local needs, with the municipal market and the weekly market having a primary role. The total percentage dedicated to commerce, tourism and services is 53%.

The municipality has several preschools, primary schools along with center for study at the high school level. Villa de Etla is the head of the twenty eight schools of Scholastic Zone Number 5. Preschools include Ignacio José Allende, Jaime Torres Bodet, Leona Vicario, Niños Heroes de Chapultepec, Ovidio Decroly, Porfirio Díaz and Prodei Modulo 2. Primary schools include Basilio e Zarate, Cuauhtémoc, Iep 13 General de Division Ignacio Mejia, José María Morelos, Juan de la Barrera, Margarita Maza de Juarez, Ricardo Flores Magon and Valentin Gomez Farias. Secondary education is provided at Escuela Secundaria Technica 84. Special education schools include Centro de Atencion Multipe 26 and Unidad de Servicios de Apoyo a la Educación Regular No. 19. High school level instruction is found at the Centro de Estudios de Bachillerato 6/12. All schools and other centers of instruction are public. The Basilio E. Zárate School celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2007. It is the largest and oldest primary school in the area, with a number of students receiving awards in the arts and academics. The school began with classes held at private homes and in makeshift constructions. The current building was eventually financed with support from local, state and federal governments. Maintenance is paid for by students’ parents. There are currently about 500 students from the first to sixth grades with a number receiving special educations services from the Unidad de Servicios Educativos Especiales del Instituto Estatal de Educación Pública de Oaxaca. It also has a social worker, a psychologist and a speech therapist. It recently installed a multimedia room.

In addition to the monastery complex in the main town, an excavated archeological site is another of the municipality’s monuments. The archeological zone was first occupied during the Monte Albán IIIA phase and grew during IIIB to about 2,500 people. From 700 to 450 BCE, it dominated the local area, becoming the most important site of the Valley of Etla. It was abandoned between 650–800 CE, or Monte Albán IV.