More Police Repression in Mexico

by Bertha Rodríguez Santos
Police Attack Mexico City Students Protesting the Violence in Atenco

About 200 students who were blockading a highway this morning to demand the release of the political prisoners from Atenco were once again repressed by some 300 police under the command of the “AFP.”

Students from the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH), of the School for Science and Humanities (CCH) South and the National Pedagogic University (UPN), among other adherents to the Other Campaign, were blocking the “Periférico Avenue” highway near the ENAH when they were attacked with pepper gas and clubs by members of the Mexico City police under the command of the an “AFP” officer, according to Other Journalism correspondent Erwin Slim Flores, who was on the scene.

At the moment, there is no known police force in Mexico that bears the initials “AFP.” However, the fact that it represents some new repressive state apparatus cannot be discounted.

Several people were brutally beaten, including David Jaramillo, photographer for the daily newspaper El Universal. After the police intervention, many students fled into the ENAH buildings to hide from the police. Inside the school there are currently several wounded people.

Meanwhile, it is impossible to enter or leave Mexico City, as students from the CCH South have now blockaded the Mexico-Cuernavaca highway. According to reports from Other Campaign members, all road access to the capital has been closed in solidarity with the people of San Salvador Atenco and Texcoco who were attacked on May 3 and 4.