Teacher college students hijacked 20 buses in Michoacán Thursday on the Siglo XXI highway in order to participate in a protest.

The hijackers forced passengers to disembark and told bus drivers to take them to Tiripetío and the indigenous community of Caltzotzin, where they demanded the government guarantee recent graduates 2,000 teaching positions in exchange for the return of the buses and drivers. 

Teachers and students have been blockading the railways in Tiripetío and Caltzotzin for the past month, demanding jobs and the payment of bonuses and scholarships, at times clashing with authorities. 

Blockades have interrupted the transport of goods to and from the center of the country, which is causing economic losses estimated at 50 million pesos (US $2.27 million) per day.

Michoacán Industry Association president Carlos Alberto Enríquez Barajas says that regardless of whether the teachers’ demands are legitimate, “this can no longer be the way to function in Michoacán.”

In April, at least two students from the Tiripetío Rural Normal School were wounded after police opened fire on a bus they had stolen to attend a protest. 

Thus far, police have taken no action against those who commandeered the buses yesterday. Bus owners are expected to report the thefts to the state prosecutor’s office, the newspaper Milenio reported. 

Source: Milenio (sp)