MEXICO CITY -- Students at the three main universities in the Mexican capital staged a one-day strike Wednesday to press demands for a greater say in university policy.
The strike virtually halted activities at the state-run National Autonomous University of Mexico, known by its Spanish acronym of UNAM, as well as at the Metropolitan Autonomous University and National Polytechnic Institute.
Antonio Santos, leader of the University Student Council, which organized the strike, said students at UNAM wanted university officials to honor an earlier promise of a student congress to weigh academic changes.
The National Autonomous University, with 350,000 students, is the largest institution of higher learning in Latin America.
In March, UNAM students struck for four weeks to protest a package of administrative and educational changes that included increased fees, stiffer entrance requirements and departmental exams.
Strikers marched through the city center and brought classes to a standstill until the reforms were withdrawn and the authorities had promised to create the congress to give students more say in university decision-making.
Wednesday, strikers at the sprawling UNAM campus in the southern part of the city peacefully occupied most school buildings to close them off to teachers and non-strikers. The demonstrators improvised road blocks to prevent traffic from circulating on campus.
The protesting students, who say administrators have delayed creating the congress, also are demanding the firing of Mario Ruiz Massieu, UNAM's auxiliary general secretary, and sports director Sergio Camacho, who they say were responsible for anti-strike violence in March.
Students from the Metropolitan Autonomous University joined the UNAM strike mainly in sympathy, while strikers at the National Polytechnic Institute were demanding formation of their own student congress.
All three institutions were expected to resume normal operations on Thursday.
