Tixtla de Guerrero, Mexico--Mexicans headed to the polls Sunday for midterm elections as protesters burned some ballots in the troubled southern state of Guerrero amid threats by radical teachers to block the vote.
The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto deployed troops and police this weekend to patrol the streets, skies and seas of Mexico to ensure people can cast their ballots.
Despite the deployment, masked protesters and parents of 43 students who were allegedly killed by a police-backed drug gang last year snatched election material in Tixtla and burned it, preventing at least three polling stations from opening.
"As long as they don't deliver our sons, there won't be elections," said the father of one of the 43 students, whose parents refuse to believe they are dead and have vowed to prevent the elections.
The deployment of federal forces followed daily protests spearheaded by a dissident wing of a teachers' union that has stormed election offices, burned thousands of ballots and ransacked headquarters of political parties in Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas states.
Federal forces are focusing especially on Oaxaca, where the teachers blocked access to a state oil company facility, causing fuel shortages, until authorities stepped in.
"Mexicans want to and have the right to vote in peace. The government will take the necessary action within the law to guarantee this," said Pena Nieto's spokesman, Eduardo Sanchez.
Other violence is also a concern in regions plagued by crime and drug gangs.
At least 10 people were killed on Saturday in Guerrero when rival factions of a self-defense militia clashed in a village, though authorities suggested the fight was linked to an internal feud and not the elections.
AFP
