DATE=2/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=MEXICO - UNIVERSITY (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258925
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Mexico City, officials say there are now
745 militant students behind bars as a result of the
retaking of the campus of the National Autonomous
University of Mexico, known as UNAM [oo-`nahm], on
Sunday by federal police. An additional 251 militants
who were involved in a clash at a high school last
Tuesday remain in jail. As V-O-A's Greg Flakus
reports from our bureau in Mexico City, supporters of
the UNAM strikers plan more public protests.
TEXT: There has been mostly positive reaction to the
government decision to recapture UNAM and arrest the
leftist militants who had kept it closed for more than
nine months. A poll in the Reforma newspaper's Monday
edition showed 61-percent approval of the action, with
29-percent voicing disapproval. The Mexican stock
exchange rose five-percent Monday. Some financial
experts say President Ernesto Zedillo's decisive
action made investors, both foreign and domestic, more
confident in Mexico.
Federal police, meantime, continue to occupy the UNAM
campus while an assessment of damage is carried out.
Televised images show garbage piled high in many
areas, valuable equipment destroyed and walls covered
with spray-painted graffiti.
UNAM Rector Juan Ramon de la Fuente has called for the
release of all arrested students who are not charged
with serious crimes. The parents of 77 minors
arrested on Sunday are gathered outside the jail where
they are being held, demanding their immediate
release.
/// WOMAN (SPANISH) ///
One woman called on Mr. de la Fuente to come to the
facility in person to tell the prison commander to
release the students.
/// MAN (SPANISH) ///
A man on the scene said the students should be
released because, as the rector himself said, there
are no charges against them. He said the parents
demand the release of their children who are innocent
of any crime.
Federal officials, however, say the matter will be
handled case-by-case, which could take weeks. Already
denied bail are militant leaders Alejandro Echevarria,
known as "El Mosh" and Alberto Pacheco, known as "El
Diablo." Witnesses have accused them of inciting
violence on several occasions and they are also
charged with theft of public property.
In an address to the nation on Sunday, President
Zedillo said the militants had, in effect, privatized
the university by taking it over and using it for
their own interests. He called on the university
community to come together now to rebuild the
institution.
But the discord over UNAM is far from over. Hundreds
of students who sympathized with the strike, backed by
several leftist political groups, plan protests on
Tuesday. They have also called for a nationwide
strike to demand the release of all students who were
arrested within the past week. (Signed)
NEB/GF/TVM/gm
07-Feb-2000 18:14 PM EDT (07-Feb-2000 2314 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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