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| Photo: Eduardo Miranda |
Proceso: Students who have seized the Rectory Tower [administrative building] of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) hardened their stance on Wednesday, after the university authorities expanded their legal complaint against the "illegal seizure" of the building on Friday, April 19.
Although the youths said they would release the building on Wednesday afternoon, they finally decided to remain because they received no response to their demand for a public dialogue with the rector [president] José Narro Robles.
In a meeting held in the Che Guevara Auditorium of the School of Philosophy and Letters, about 200 students resolved to maintain a vigil at the Rectory and form a "belt" to avoid a possible eviction by the Federal Police (PF) .
Students had agreed to hand over the Rectory facilities if Narro Robles and UNAM's lawyer undertook to participate in a public dialogue within 48 hours, and if criminal charges against them were withdrawn.
They reiterated their request that UNAM desist from criminal complaints against the five students expelled [for a similar seizure in February] from CCH in Naucalpan [College of Sciences and Humanities, a UNAM high school in the town of Naucalpan, State of Mexico] and be granted re-admission to the school.
They also demanded that any changes in curricula and programs be carried out with the participation of the student community and not via a vertical approach, as is currently done [the original complaint in the February protests].
In a statement, the lawyer for the University, Luis Raúl González Pérez, said the criminal complaint has been filed, with additional evidence, with the federal Attorney General's Office (PGR) against those responsible for the "illegal occupation" of the Rectory Tower.
According to González Pérez, he gave the protesters a document which informs them that he has asked the Public Ministry [Investigative Police] to act against those who participated in seizing the building on Friday, and for the possible theft of university property. He also warned that the university
"will not bow to demands, whatever they may be, raised through violence and the closure [of the facilities], contrary to law".In that regard, he said that return of the facility
"is not subject to any condition or any claim that would be contrary to law or the fundamental values" of the University.And as a sign that most of the university community is against the actions of the young people who seized the Rectory, the UNAM announced in a statement that a total of 115,664 university members have demanded the immediate eviction of the protesters, through the signing of three different statements.
The signatures include students, academics, employees and members of the business and administrative areas, as well as 32 university board members, students at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels, and 104 state and other alumni organizations, including most of the states in the country and three groups abroad, he said.
In a separate letter, the University's Board of Directors made clear its "rejection of violent behavior as a way to express demands and promote solutions to them", and demanded the release of the facility to return to normal.
The members of the University Board said that the actions of the occupants of the Rectory Tower do nothing but " inhibit authentic student participation" and strengthen the positions and arguments of those who want to see free, public education abolished. Worryingly, they added, certain groups take every opportunity to perform violent acts, and their actions tend to criminalize social protest.
"In our community there are the conditions for reason, tolerance, arguments and ideas to be the factors that guide our actions," stressed the directors.Also added to the requests of the thousands of students was the statement of Guillermo Soberón Acevedo, UNAM Rector from 1973 to 1981, who announced that he is in favor of using the police to vacate the Rectory.
"Is it necessary to use public force?", Soberon was asked as part of the inauguration of the Third Congress of Graduate Students held in University City [UNAM's main campus in Mexico City]
"Yes, absolutely. I think the president has already taken steps; criminal complaints have been made, and they will take their course. You cannot shirk from applying the law where it has to be applied," he replied.He also believes that federal authorities have been slow to act. "They are already delaying, they always delay," he said, and described the material and moral damage suffered by UNAM as "unquantifiable". Spanish original