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| Members of community police march towards state capital Photo: Cuartoscuro |
CNN Mexico: Laura Reyes
The teachers' conflict in Guerrero combined itself on Monday with the demands of the community police of the municipality of Tixtla, whose members, for the first time, entered the state capital of Chilpancingo armed in order to demand the release of one of their "commanders" and a teacher arrested last Friday in the operation to free the Highway of the Sun.
CRAC [Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities] "Commander" Nahum Santos Bartolo was arrested Sunday night by soldiers because he was carrying a firearm. His arrest came after leaving a meeting of dissident teachers; he is also a teacher.
The arrest has been considered by the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CETEG) as an assault on the teachers' union, so that both groups came together to demand his release, which the government granted on Monday afternoon.
However, the pressure increased when the armed civilian group and the teachers stationed themselves in the building where the teacher, Martín Durán Torres, is being held. ... Some protesters entered the court where Dúran Torres made his statement and then seized the Plaza of the First Congress of Anáhuac in the central square of Chilpancingo.
At least 100 armed members of community police from El Troncón, in the municipality of Tixtla, marched on Monday to demand release of their two companions. At the entrance to the state capital, a contingent of some 2,000 teachers from CETEG were waiting to show support to demand the release of the "commander" Bartolo Santos.
Also at the entrance to the capital, Mexican Army troops and the State Preventive Police installed a road block where, for a few hours, they prevented demonstrators from entering the center of Chilpancingo. After negotiation and dialogue, the government of Guerrero decided to release the community "commander".
The director of Government Relations of Guerrero, Moses Alcaraz Jiménez, met with protesters and went with them to the offices of the Attorney General to free Santos Bartolo, who was handed over to the community police.
In a statement, the state government reported that Santos Bartolo was arrested on Sunday for carrying a weapon that can is to be used exclusively by the Army, and on Monday a judge set bail for his release.
This is the first time that armed members of the community police have entered the state capital, Chilpancingo. Unlike self-defense groups that have emerged since last January, the CRAC community police have been recognized by the state government since 1995.
However, its members are prohibited from carrying firearms outside their jurisdiction. CRAC is present in seventy-seven communities located in the regions of the High Mountains and the Costa Chica of Guerrero.
The protests ended in the center of Chilpancingo at about 8:00 PM on Monday. During their actions, some teachers damaged two patrol cars by painting them. ... Spanish original