MEXICAN teachers’ union CNTE rejected police allegations on Monday that unspecified “radical groups” were behind violence in Oaxaca, with very few teachers involved.

Federal Police Chief Enrique Galindo claimed that things had initially gone smoothly on Sunday when officers reopened a main road blocked by protesters.

Traffic flow resumed for about two hours, following dialogue between unarmed police and pro-CNTE demonstrators, until the crowd swelled to about 2,000, some armed with petrol bombs and firecrackers.

When officers confirmed gunshots, Mr Galindo ordered armed police to move in, saying: “It was a radical change of scene. It was practically an ambush.”

Oaxaca state prosecutor Joaquin Carrillo said later that seven civilians had died of bullet wounds, none teachers.

CNTE put the death toll at 12, with 10 dead in Nochixtlan, one in Hacienda Blanca and another in Juchitan, insisting that the fatalities were teachers and social groups supporting them. The union also said that 20 were missing.

It identified Andres Aguilar Sanabria, 23, and Santiago Jimenez Aylin, 28, as trainee teacher students among those killed by police gunfire.

Police added that at least 21 people had been arrested.

Social media users reported that dozens of the injured were left untreated after the police seized the hospital in Nochixtlan and only allowed injured police access.

Wounded demonstrators were reportedly treated inside a nearby church.

The union denied the presence of “radical groups,” insisting that police had infiltrated their movement.
It demanded that Oaxaca Governor Gabino Cue resign.

“This movement is not going to stop,” said union member Juan Garcia as several thousand teachers and activists marched in Oaxaca city, chanting: “Murderers!”

Another clash between demonstrators and police took place in the port city of Salina Cruz, also in Oaxaca, where another group of teachers were blockading a road that connects the state with its neighbours on the Pacific coast.

Local media reported dozens of injured protesting teachers and dozens of arrests, but authorities have not commented.

The union is resisting education changes that President Enrique Pena Nieto is imposing on teachers, as well as the recent arrests of several CNTE leaders.