Troops, Protests, Threats and Violence Overshadowed Sunday's Elections Agence France-Presse
go to original June 7, 2015

In Mexico, up to 40,000 security forces have been deployed to Southern States ahead of Sunday’s elections. Adam Raney reports from Nuevo Leon. (Al Jazeera English)

Mexico braced on Sunday for midterm elections following a week of violent protests and threats by radical teachers to block the polls in impoverished southern states.

The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto deployed troops and police this weekend to patrol the streets, skies and seas of Mexico to ensure people can vote.

At least 10 people were killed on Saturday in Guerrero state when rival factions of a self-defense militia clashed in a village, though authorities suggested the fight was linked to an internal feud and not the elections.

The deployment of federal forces followed daily protests spearheaded by a dissident wing of a teachers' union that has stormed election offices, burned thousands of ballots and ransacked headquarters of political parties in Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas states.

Federal forces are focusing especially on Oaxaca, where the teachers blocked access to a state oil company facility, causing fuel shortages, until authorities stepped in.

"Mexicans want to and have the right to vote in peace. The government will take the necessary action within the law to guarantee this," said Pena Nieto's spokesman, Eduardo Sanchez.

Read the rest at GlobalPost

Photo: Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Related: Mexico Is Having Its Most Depressing Election in Recent History (VICE News)

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