Mexico: Machete-wielding protesters take 5 state officials hostage

by El Universal

Sat, Apr 8, 2006 4:19PM

Radical leaders from San Salvador Atenco seized five officials from the Interior Secretariat´s office and blocked a highway after the state secretary of education failed to appear for a scheduled meeting during which residents had hoped to air their grievances.

Machete-wielding protesters take 5 state officials hostage

El Universal
April 07, 2006

Five state officials were taken hostage on Thursday by residents of a State of Mexico farming town, where a violent mutiny four years ago blocked the construction of an airport outside Mexico City.

Radical leaders from San Salvador Atenco seized five officials from the Interior Secretariat´s office and blocked a highway after the state secretary of education failed to appear for a scheduled meeting during which residents had hoped to air their grievances.

Men and women armed with machetes, stones, and metal and wooden poles prevented police from entering the center of town, where the state officials were thought to be held. Dozens more gathered outside of Atenco and set fire to tire barricades along a small highway linking Mexico City and the nearby town of Lechería, bringing traffic to a halt in both directions.

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/miami/17695.html

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