Continuing its ongoing spat with the Jalisco government, the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) has scored a notable victory after going to bat for three student activists who were detained by state police while allegedly trespassing on a controversial residential development on the northern perimeter of the city.
Workers at the site of the Iconia mega development claimed the student protestors—Javier Armenta, Iván Cisneros and José Alexis Rojas—were armed during their January 5 nighttime incursion.
But the trio said all they carried with them were spades and pickaxes, since their aim was to “plant trees” in protest of a controversial project that will see construction of multiple high-rise towers with around 1,800 apartments, a 350-room hotel, offices and parking for more than 7,000 cars.
The UdeG, backed by Rector Ricardo Villanueva, declared “a state of emergency” following the arrests and set up a “protest camp” outside the official residence of Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro to demand the immediate release of the students.
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