Mexico: Dozens injured as eviction drive turns violent

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Police and residents violently clashed in Mexico City as an eviction drive turned awry, with residents hurling stones at riot police, the clashes left dozens of people wounded.

Many indigenous people, who had been living in a central part of the city for decades, were evicted. The residents claim they have nowhere else to go following the eviction.

"They beat us, the police took their guns out in front of the kid," said Margarita Margarito, 30, a street vendor who, like many in the camp, is from the indigenous Otomi people.

The camp sprouted up more than 20 years ago in an empty lot beside an abandoned building. Some 100 families lived there, according to the authorities.

Margarito, who had a large gash on her forehead, said the police did not show any eviction order and men in civilian clothes meanwhile stole residents' money and belongings, she said.

Residents responded by throwing stones, swinging large sticks and rushing at riot police clustered behind protective shields, in clashes that lasted several hours. Children and police were also among the wounded.

Exploding petrol bombs ignited fires in the alleys of the tent city. It is unclear who threw them.

The city's public security ministry blamed the clashes on residents resisting an eviction order.

Some 100 riot police cordoned off the camp, refusing to allow furious residents inside to get their belongings.

The violence erupted amid commemorations and protests in Mexico City for the anniversaries of two deadly earthquakes, one last year that killed 369 people, and one in 1985 that killed more than 10,000.

The squatter camp was located next to an abandoned building that was damaged in last year's earthquake, but there was no apparent connection with the anniversary.

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Source(s): AFP