Teacher training college students in Oaxaca and México state have continued their protests by blocking highways and hijacking buses and delivery vehicles.

But in a rare move, police arrested some of the protesters.

Federal Police in Oaxaca arrested 53 students of the Rural Vanguard School of Tamazulapan on Thursday after students had hijacked and looted delivery trucks at the San Pablo Huitzo toll plaza on the Oaxaca-Mexico City highway.

The federal roads and bridges commission (Capufe) filed a complaint against the students in response to numerous robbery reports from motorists and truck drivers.

Students spokeswoman Yesenia López said they were carrying out a campaign in support of students of the Mactumactzá, Chiapas, teachers’ college, who were arrested for carrying out similar protests last week.

The CNTE teachers’ union reported that the students were released around 4:45pm on Thursday after paying for damages.

Also on Thursday morning, students of the Lázaro Cárdenas teachers’ college in Tenería, México state, commandeered 22 Flecha Roja buses at four different bus stations.

The students demanded the withdrawal of 42 complaints filed against them for having taken similar actions in the past, as well as the release of fellow classmate Andrés Gutiérrez Bautista, who is currently in custody.

Michoacán has also seen unrest among teacher training students in recent weeks.

Beginning in late October, students in Morelia blocked roads and railroad tracks, costing as much as 500 million pesos (US $26 million) in economic damages.

Sources: Milenio (sp), El Financiero (sp)