Strikes Paralyze 2 Major Universities

Simultaneous strikes at two major Mexican universities kept more than 400,000 students from classes. Tens of thousands of students walked out on most campuses of the National Autonomous University of Mexico to protest measures that would end virtually free higher education at the country’s largest and oldest university. The strikers, some of whom occupied buildings, vowed to continue their protest until officials revoke a plan to raise tuition--which now costs less than two cents--to about $63 a semester. Meanwhile, an additional 150,000 students had a day off when 12,500 workers at the National Polytechnic Institute began a two-day strike over unmet salary and benefit demands.