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| Empty entrance to UNAM administration building after student occupation ended this morning Photo: Cuartoscuro |
CNN Mexico: Early Wednesday, the masked students who held the Rectory Tower [administration building] of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) removed the banners placed at the main entrance and left the building.
Before leaving, the youth reiterated their demands as being legitimate and announced that the proposed dialogue with university authorities will begin on May 9 at 1:00 PM in the area of the campus known as The Islands.
"We decided to leave the facility as a sign of our willingness to resolve this conflict," said one of the masked youths.The students' withdrawal comes almost two weeks after they seized the building. On Tuesday, UNAM authorities proposed a date to start a dialogue with the protesters, but on one condition: they hand over the property.
On Tuesday, through a press release, the attorney for UNAM, Luis Raúl González Pérez, said that a Committee will be formed to initiate the dialogue, which will include representatives of the university administration, the College of Sciences and Humanities [CCH, a high school division of the university] and representatives of the protesters.
The first meeting of this Committee will be held on May 9. Prior to then, rules will be defined bilaterally as to the number of student representatives at the table and the date for completion of the work.
The University stressed its interest in normalizing activities at the Rectory, without going deeper into the problem.
UNAM's statement said that people who were sanctioned by the University Court have their guaranteed rights to use the resources provided by University Legislation. [MV Note: Five students of CCH were expelled for violent acts in the February protests. Last week the University Court upheld this decision.]
The hooded youths seized the Rectory of the university on April 19 to protest a proposal to reform the curriculum in the College of Sciences and Humanities (CCH), whose five campuses are a part of UNAM. Initially, the protesters called for reinstatement of the five students from the CCH campus in Naucalpan [in the nearby state of Mexico] who were accused of vandalism. After learning of the existence of criminal charges against themselves, the youth reoriented their priorities and argued that they would continue their struggle in order not to go to jail.
The demonstrators expressed their fear of a potential eviction attempt by police and, on Sunday, reinforced their barricades at the Rectory Tower, a building which, along with other parts of the campus, has been designated by UNESCO as a cultural heritage of humanity [because of its architecture and public art]. Spanish original