Student Protesters Agree to Start Talks

Striking students who have shut down Latin America’s largest university for more than two months have agreed to start talks on settling the dispute amid growing signs of public and government opposition to the walkout. After a rancorous marathon meeting, students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico voted to meet with university officials for their first formal talks since launching the strike April 20 over proposed tuition hikes. “We are right, and we are not afraid of dialogue,” the striking students said in a statement. Last month, the university agreed to make the fee hike--from about 2 cents per year to about $200--optional. But the strike has continued, shutting down lecture halls, labs and administrative buildings on the Mexico City campus.