The United Steelworkers (USW) condemned Sunday night’s assault by heavily armed federal riot police on striking members of the Mexican Mineworkers’ Union at the Cananea copper mine near the U.S. border.

Last night at about 10 pm, hundreds of police surrounded the mine and used tear gas to dislodge workers who were occupying the entrances.  The union office was also assaulted.  Local media reported a number of fires in the town.  The police had warrants for the arrest of several union officers, but it has not been confirmed if any had been arrested.

In the past few days, the Mexican Government had moved several police units to the Mexico-Arizona border as part of what it called a border security exercise ... more