has a petroleum reserve called Aragón, five km from the community of Puerto Angel. The deposit was going to be exploited by an English company, who brought over equipment in 1937, but expropriation of oil in 1938 by President Lázaro Cárdenas brought this to a halt. It has yet to be tapped. Until late in the 20th century, much of the population of the area lived on subsistence farming, with the only work available during the harvest season on the coffee plantations. In the 1970, the state government expropriated most of the coastal land from Zipolite to Zapotengo and made it ejido or communal land with the aim of development. During the 2006 teachers strike in the state of Oaxaca, groups supporting and opposing the strike clashed here on the main road, Highway 175. The highway was blocked by those supporting the strike to prevent those opposing it from realizing their “March for Education.” The highway was blocked with busses and cars preventing those bound for the state capital from leaving. Other recent strikes include those by taxi drivers and others in transportation who have blocked roads resulting in monetary losses for the municipality. The dispute centered on concessions for passenger transportation between Pochutla and beach communities such as Zipolite. Actions by strikers have included the blockage of roads including coastal Highway 200. The city The city is the commercial, transportation and administrative center for the area. It contains banks, supermarkets and specialty stores that serve the coastal and isolated mountain communities of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca which generally lack these things. The city is on the crossroads of Highway 175, which connects Oaxaca city with Puerto Angel and coastal Highway 200 that connects communities such as Puerto Angel, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Huatulco and Salina Cruz. It is a transportation hub filled with buses, taxis and dust. Taxis called “colectivos” (collectives) go to the area's beaches as well as pickup trucks fitted to carry passengers. There are two bus stations with first and second class buses to Oaxaca city, Mexico City and Huatulco. It is not a tourist attraction but it serves tourists as a place for banking services and supplies not available in the beach communities as well as a transfer point for buses. In the evening, the main road through town has a variety of street food. The parish church was begun in 1840 but was not