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| "Cursed dogs of the government" "Aguirre [the governor, is an] assassin" Photo: Daniel Cruz |
Milenio: Rogelio Agustín, Mariana Otero-Briz and Carolina Rivera
Chilpancingo, Guerrero • The march commemorating International Labor Day heralded as a peaceful activity, culminated in a confrontation with stones being thrown between dissident teachers [of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers of Guerrero, CETEG] and security personnel at the governor's official residence, Guerrero House, in addition to 15 government vehicles being damaged and graffiti painted on public buildings.
Windows were broken at the State Audit Office, the Secretariat of Education of Guerrero, the Government Palace, the state Congress, offices of the city of Chilpancingo and the Palace of Culture.
At 9:00 AM, the leadership of the CEDE convened a press conference to unveil details of the mobilization. The spokesman was Minervino Morán. General Secretary Gonzalo Juárez Ocampo was not present. Regarding his absence, Morán refused say that it was the result of an internal split in the CETEG, saying that Juárez Ocampo would be in a negotiation session to be held in Mexico City.
Morán said the march would be completely peaceful.
In addition to CETEG, also participating were community police from Tixtla and Olinalá, students from the Autonomous University of Guerrero, independent unions and students from the states' nine public normal schools [teachers colleges].
The mobilization ... moved toward the government palace, where an official van was damaged and graffiti was painted against the governor, Ángel Aguirre Rivero.
Passing the local Congress, they threw stones with slingshots to break a dozen windows in the first and second floor, according to the president of the Commission of Government, Bernardo Ortega Jiménez.
Towards the center of town, passing the state Auditor General, they also launched stones and broke the windshield of official vehicles that they sighted.
At the main plaza, they shouted slogans criticizing the resistance of state and federal governments to reverse the education reform.
When the rally ended, around 2:20 PM, they initially planned to march back to their base, but instead, it was suggested that they remain, since the activities of the day had not yet ended.
Next, they went to the headquarters of the Secretariat of Education of Guerrero, where they painted graffiti and caused damage, then they moved up the street to bang on one of the doors of the governor's official residence, Guerrero House.
At first, the tactics were the same: rocks, sticks, spray paint and kicking against the large metal door. Some of the contingent managed to open the door and stepped inside the government house, prompting security staff to strike out at the protesters. This generated a missile exchange that lasted for about 15 minutes, at which time the CETEG members threw firecrackers that caused damage to the tile around the door and cornered the guards.
In this difficult moment, an official vehicle was flipped over and beaten by protesters, leaving it in a state of almost total loss.
Currently there are no injured people, and as of 4:00PM, experts from the Attorney General's Office arrived on the scene to conduct the initial investigation and assess the damages. Spanish original