|
 Hundreds of police in riot gear blocked access to the palace in
the capital's main square, the Zocalo, where thousands of protesters
had gathered in support of the students, apparently murdered after
their abduction by corrupt police on Sept. 26.
Three marches had been peaceful until they reached the Zocalo, when
the protesters incinerated an effigy of Pena Nieto. Protesters
managed to burn down the door of the National Palace during a Nov. 9
march.
A smaller group of protesters then swarmed the entrance of the
palace before police charged as they cleared the square.
Around 300 masked demonstrators had earlier sparred with police near
Mexico City's airport, throwing Molotov cocktails and fireworks. No
one was hurt in those clashes, police said.
Mexico has been convulsed by protests since the 43 students were
taken from the southwestern city of Iguala by police working with a
local drug gang and then very likely incinerated, according to the
government, which is still investigating the incident.
The marches took place on the 114th anniversary of the beginning of
the Mexican Revolution to overthrow dictator Porfirio Diaz in 1910.
The protesters included relatives of the students. Many carried
banners with slogans attacking the government such as "the state did
it."
"I'm here because I don't want anything like that to happen to my
daughter," said domestic worker Alma Hernandez, 30, who was
accompanied by her 6-year-old daughter. "By coming with me, she
knows that not everything in the world is rose-tinted, and that not
everything the government tells you is true."
The government has been plunged into crisis by the violence in
Iguala, where six people, including three other trainee teachers,
also died on Sept. 26.
Exacerbating public discontent has been a scandal over a lucrative
rail contract that has embarrassed the president.
[to top of second column] |
Earlier this month, the government abruptly canceled a $3.75 billion
high-speed rail contract awarded to a consortium led by China
Railway Construction Corp Ltd, partnered with a group of Mexican
firms including one known as Grupo Higa.
It then emerged that a subsidiary of Grupo Higa owned a luxury house
that Pena Nieto's wife, Angelica Rivera, was in the process of
acquiring, raising questions about the tender and prompting her to
announce on Tuesday that she would give up the house.
Neither she nor her husband have explained why a member of the
winning bidders from the rail consortium was also the owner of the
family's house.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Dave Graham; Editing by Simon
Gardner, Alan Crosby and Paul Tait)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
