Mexico - In a referendum held in Mexico City's National University (UNAM) campus 90 per cent of voters, students and lecturers, voted to end a nine-month strike which has paralysed the largest university in Latin America, reports Michael McCaughan.
The turnout was far higher than anticipated, with 180,000 UNAM members casting a vote, 60 per cent of the campus population. The strike began last April 20th, provoked by a fee rise but quickly escalated over plans to "modernise" the university, by changing admission policy, reducing the number of years one could follow a course and substituting state funding for private financial support.
The key aspect of a new proposal by the university is the establishment of a democratic university congress, one of the striker's key demands. The polling took place in an atmosphere of tension.