Mexico mobilizes army in face of election protests

Mexico deployed police officers and soldiers across the country Saturday to ensure voters can cast their ballots in midterm elections that have been threatened in places by teacher-organized protests.

The Interior Ministry did not specify how many members of the army and federal police were being sent to protect Sunday's elections, but said the security forces would focus mainly on the southern state of Oaxaca.

"The government has launched a nationwide operation in order to guarantee citizens the conditions that will let them exercise their vote," the ministry said in a statement.

Some 1,500 federal officers arrived in Oaxaca on Saturday, adding to the 3,000 local policemen already there to ensure security during the elections.

Aggrieved teachers in Oaxaca and neighboring states have held several days of sometimes-violent protests.

Some are angry about President Enrique Pena Nieto's controversial education reforms, while others are furious about elected officials colluding with drug gangs.

In the southern state of Chiapas this week, teachers broke into the regional offices of the country's main parties, then took out furniture and documents that they burned outside.

The town of Tlapa in Guerrero state has seen fierce protests by radical teachers who have vowed to block the elections for federal Congress, governor and mayors in anger at the authorities.

The elections are a test for Nieto, whose Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is expected to maintain a simple congressional majority, despite the protests and scandals.