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Farmers yell slogans inside the national congress in Mexico City]
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MEXICO
CITY, December 11 (News Agencies) - Protesting farmers rode horseback
Tuesday, December 10, into the Mexican Congress while others set their
sombreros on fire to demand the government do more to protect farm
products from strong U.S. and Canadian competition.
Two
lawmakers suffered slight chemical burns when a group of protesters used
fire extinguishers to break down a door leading to the Chamber of
Deputies on Tuesday, media outlets and witnesses said.
The
demonstrators, including disgruntled teachers, had been marching through
the streets of Mexico City on Tuesday under the common banner, “The
farmland’s had enough,” when about 100 protesters, some on
horseback, broke into the Chamber, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
At
first, some lawmakers talked with the protesters to calm them down, but
things got out of hand when a group of farmers and teachers from the
National Union of Education Workers tried to smash their way into the
debating hall with fire extinguishers.
Television
images also showed some farmers setting their straw hats on fire and
using them as kindling in an attempt to burn down the door to the great
hall, where 400 lawmakers were in the middle of a debate.
The
protesters were finally brought under control by congressional police
and a few lawmakers, deputy Felipe Calderon of the ruling National
Action Party (PAN).
“A
group of violent provocateurs tried to break into the hall but were
pushed back bravely by Chamber security and also by deputy colleagues
from PAN who personally barred the way to these barbarians,” Calderon
told reporters.
By
nightfall, 500 regular police took up positions around the congressional
building. The demonstrators had left the area by then.
The
protesters were part of a demonstration of thousands of farmers and
teachers who came to the capital to demand bigger budget outlays for the
agricultural sector.
Of
utmost concern to Mexican farmers is the strong competition their
products will be facing from Canada and the United States as of January
1, when tariffs are lifted to most agricultural products under the North
American Free Trade Agreement.
A
panel of lawmakers last week proposed increasing the 2003 farm budget by
two billion dollars to 3.3 billion dollars, and President Vicente Fox
recently called for 10 billion dollars to protect the Mexican market
from an “invasion” of products from Mexico’s NAFTA partners.
The
protesting farmers, however, say the proposed amounts are insufficient
and an extreme group among them propose blocking the U.S.-Mexico border
at the start of the new year.
