Mexican federal police stood guard outside a sect's village on Monday amid tension over the cult's week-long refusal to let 300 students attend a secular school.The community of Nueva Jerusalen, or New Jerusalem, is divided between a radical faction that sees public schools as demonic and a minority who want their children to receive the same education as millions of Mexican children.
Ultra-conservative members of the sect, founded by a renegade Catholic priest in 1973, began blocking access to the school on August 20, when the Mexican school year started, sparking scuffles that left three people injured.
Cult members destroyed two other schools in July after its "clairvoyant," Rosa Gomez, said the Virgin of the Rosary visited her and ordered their destruction because "the devil lives there."
The cult's followers are not allowed to watch television, read newspapers, own mobile phones or practice sports. Women must cover their hair and cannot wear trousers.
Police vans arrived outside the community on Monday while some officers entered the community to talk with members of the community. Dozens of coppers stood watch outside the town's gate.
"We discussed the problem, that's all," said Miguel Guerrero, commander of the operation. "We are awaiting orders. We'll stay a bit longer."
Seeking to cool tensions, officials in the western state of Michoacan proposed to bus the children to schools in neighbouring towns, but parents rejected the offer.
"We don't want our children to study in other towns. There are risks on the road," said Priscila Dominguez, a spokeswoman for the parents in favour of secular education.
"And how long will the government pay for transport? One month for sure and then they forget about us," she added, surrounded by some 100 children with signs begging to be allowed public education.
The sect says those who wish to study in Nueva Jerusalen, a community of 4,000 people, must attend the parochial school, which is not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church or the federal government.
Juan Carlos Tellez, a representative of the sect's hardliners, said the parents who favor secular schools "want to bring drugs, crime and prostitution here."
Juana Zeferino, 15, briefly attended the sect's parochial school.
"You don't learn anything in that school, just religion and how to read and write," Zeferino said. "There's no science. They say it's pornography. When school books arrive, they tear up the pages on sexuality."
But father Luis, one of the sect's spokesmen, argued that children "do learn something in our school."
Rubbing rosary beads, 71-year-old Elia Rios claimed that her mother was suddenly able to read and write when she arrived in the community in the 1970s.
"By miracle of the Virgin of the Rosary, she learned to read and write on her own. Nobody taught her," Rios said. "You can see that we do learn here."