Protesting farmers rode horseback into the Mexican Congress while others set their sombreros on fire to demand the government do more to protect farm products from strong US and Canadian competition.
Two lawmakers suffered slight chemical burns when a group of protesters used fire extinguishers to break down a door leading to the Chamber of Deputies yesterday.
Television images also showed some farmers setting their straw hats on fire and using them as kindling in an attempt to burn down the door to the great hall, where 400 lawmakers were in the middle of a debate.
The protesters were part of a demonstration of thousands of farmers and teachers who came to the capital to demand bigger budget outlays for the agricultural sector.
Of utmost concern to Mexican farmers is the strong competition their products will be facing from Canada and the United States as of January 1st, when tariffs are lifted to most agricultural products under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
A panel of lawmakers last week proposed increasing the 2003 farm budget by $2 billion to $3.3 billion, and President Vicente Fox recently called for $10 billion to protect the Mexican market from an "invasion" of products from Mexico's NAFTA partners.
The protesting farmers, however, say the proposed amounts are insufficient and an extreme group among them propose blocking the US-Mexico border at the start of the new year.
AFP