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| (Photo: Jorge Carballo) |
Milenio: Rogelio Agustín and Carolina Rivera
Chilpango, Guerrero • After the leadership of the dissident teachers in Guerrero announced a truce for not holding mass demonstrations until May first, members of the Rural Normal [Teachers College] of Ayotzinapa blocked the Highway of the Sun at the exit south of Chilpancingo for more than 40 minutes.
It was a demonstration to demand justice for the murder of two students on December 12, 2011, organized by the student society Ricardo Flores Magón. The march was led by señora María Amadea de Jesús and Jorge Herrera Suárez, parents of the murdered normalistas [teachers college students].
Before blocking the highway, the protesters gathered in the center of Chilpancingo and began a long walk across the city heading south.
At 2:22 PM, the students entered the north-south lanes of the highway. A few minutes later, they crossed the road to close the northbound lanes. Shortly after 3:00 PM, they declared an end to the event.
Before blocking the highway, the protesters gathered in the center of Chilpancingo and began a long walk across the city heading south.
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| (Photo: Notimex) |
Five-Day Truce?
In the morning, the leadership of the State Coordinator of Education Workers of Guerrero (CETEG) announced a truce [that is, it would] not conduct mass events until the first of May, when it called a massive march to mark International Workers' Day.
Gonzalo Juárez Ocampo, CETEG's general secretary, declared in an interview with Carlos Loret de Mola that the dissident teachers would decrease their activity in terms of mobilizations. According to the ruling, the teachers will remain in their camp and wait until the first of May.
It was the last call that Juárez Ocampo answered as his mobile phone remained off yesterday morning and afternoon. The same was true of the organization's spokesman, Minervino Morán Hernández, and Antonia Morales, CETEG's general secretary for the Central region.
Ocampo Juarez's announcement was made without a consultation among all regions. [This was determined later by a reporter] questioning teachers who remained in the camp; they said that they were not informed of the truce.
Therefore, at least 300 teachers joined the march held by the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa when it passed in front of La Avispa Interactive Museum.
At all times, they accompanied the rally that the normal school students held at the site where their eviction arose on December 12, 2011, which is when their companions Alexis Herrera Pino and Gabriel Echeverría de Jesús were killed.
As they withdrew, the teachers passed before a group of police sent to prevent total blockage of the highway. At the first eye contact, the teachers challenged the police, then they began to throw stones at a patrol car, breaking its windows.
This action led the police elements to establish a security fence with their shields, which further inflamed the CETEG activists, who reacted by throwing more stones with slingshots.
As they withdrew, the teachers passed before a group of police sent to prevent total blockage of the highway. At the first eye contact, the teachers challenged the police, then they began to throw stones at a patrol car, breaking its windows.
This action led the police elements to establish a security fence with their shields, which further inflamed the CETEG activists, who reacted by throwing more stones with slingshots.
Later, when buses were used to move the police, CETEG activists returned to throwing stones, hitting some police members.
Some teachers called their companions to order and asked them to act responsibly, but their demands were not taken into account by the men with the slingshots.
The mobilization was monitored from the air by a Black Hawk helicopter of the Federal Police and on land by [Guerrero] state riot police.
Some teachers called their companions to order and asked them to act responsibly, but their demands were not taken into account by the men with the slingshots.
The mobilization was monitored from the air by a Black Hawk helicopter of the Federal Police and on land by [Guerrero] state riot police.
Meanwhile, lawyer Vidulfo Rosales Sierra confirmed that four arrest warrants have been issued against CETEG teachers. At the top of the list are Minervino Morán and Gonzalo Juárez.
Likewise, the head of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH), Raul Plascencia, condemned the violence caused by the teachers in Guerrero and stressed that there is no justification whatsoever for such displays.
"There is no justification whatsoever for the violent demonstrations, so that the authority must act always trying to establish order and, of course, if crimes are committed, to arrest those responsible," he made clear....
More Negotiations Ruled Out
Guerrero Governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero, reiterated that they will not negotiate with CETEG the 39 (sic) arrest warrants against its members, who have been "very well identified".
The Governor asserted that the events in Chilpancingo are "acts of vandalism, reprehensible, brutal, that must not be repeated", so there is already reinforcement of over two thousand agents of the Federal Police in the municipality. The Governor repeated that dialogue with the protesters has been exhausted. All that remains is to complete enforcement of the law.
Aguirre Rivero said that beyond the truce announced by the CETEG for the next five days, the state government cannot bend the law.
"Beyond the situation announced today (yesterday), what we saw were violent acts that must be punished and punished to the full extent of the law," he said.
The Governor denied that a negotiation might occur regarding the arrest warrants issued by federal and state authorities.
"I will not at any time to enter that terrain," he said.