The World - News from Oct. 19, 1988

A protest against Mexico’s first nuclear power plant turned into a pitched battle as ecologists fought ruling party supporters outside Congress in Mexico City with sticks, stones and bottles. Tempers flared after about 60 supporters of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party were evicted from the Congress gallery during a debate on the $3.5-billion Laguna Verde project in Veracruz state. As they left the building, they were jeered by about 300 environmentalists staging a sit-in to dramatize their demand that the government scrap the plant. Several people on both sides were injured during an ensuing battle.