<nettime> UNAM seized by police;hundreds arrested,Feb 06

[florian schneider <fls@kein.org>]

From: Alvaro Reyes <areyes@law.upenn.edu>

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> I just spoke to a friend who has been active in the strike, but was not
on campus this morning when the police seized it. The attack took place
while the strike general council (CGH) was meeting in the Che Guevara
auditorium. Presumably, most members of the CGH were among those arrested.
My friend estimated that the number arrested was perhaps 1,000, but had no
reliable information.

> I believe it's important, wherever possible, and as soon as possible, to
organize solidarity actions with the jailed students, and with those still
carrying on the struggle from the streets. And I don't trust the "no
reports of violence".

-Aaron

>  Mexican police raid university campus, rounding up strikers
  
>  February 6, 2000
>  Web posted at: 10:34 a.m. EST (1534 GMT)
  
> MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Hundreds of Mexican police raided Mexico's main
university campus on Sunday, tearing down barriers and arresting strikers
who have occupied it for nine months. 
  
> Mexican television showed images of federal police on campus, rounding
up strikers, including top leaders. The Televisa network said 300 people
had been arrested. There were no reports of violence. 
  
> It was not immediately clear if police had full control of the
260,000-student National Autonomous University of Mexico and whether the
strike, one of the Mexican government's most frustrating dilemmas, was
over. 
  
> Efforts to negotiate an end to the strike, directed by a small core of
radical students, had repeatedly failed. But officials were reluctant to
take the campus by force because of fears of violence. One of the darkest
moments in modern Mexican history was a 1968 massacre of striking
students. 
  
> The strike began in April with students opposed to plans to raise
tuition, which had been just a few cents, to the equivalent of $140. 
  
> The university backed off those plans, but strikers refused to end their
occupation of the campus, pressing a six-point agenda to reverse academic
changes and give students more power. 
  
> The strike has been marked by sometimes-violent demonstrations which
tied up Mexico City's main streets. Clashes occurred between students for
and against the strike. 
  
> Some of the worst violence occurred Tuesday when anti-strike students,
backed up by university security forces, took control of a
university-affiliated high school. Strikers returned later in the day and
retook the school, injuring 37 security guards. Police then raided the
school, arresting 250 strikers. *
  
> Strike leaders added to their list of demands the release of those
arrested. The university, meanwhile, obtained arrest warrants for 430
people involved in the strike. 
  
> [Photo caption: Thousands of striking students and their supporters
march in Mexico City on Friday]
 
> * It was the University's police and thugs controlled by them -- mostly
men over 30 -- and not students, who attacked the high school. Many of the
thugs were hired off the street for that particular job. 




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