MEXICO CITY -- Representatives of at least 500,000 bus and truck operators in Mexico from some 50 associations announced Friday a 24-hour strike on Monday to demand a reduction and freezing of the price of diesel this year.

The representative of the National Confederation of Urban and Suburban Transport Operators, Mario Hernandez, told Efe that the suspension of service will start at midnight Monday in at least 23 of 31 states, immobilizing about a million vehicles.

He stressed that the protest will be a "technical strike" since aside from it being carried out peacefully, he said that "there will be no blocking of highways, bridges, ports or airports."

The leader of some 25,000 passenger-transport operators said that the measure seeks to pressure the federal government because of its "lack of the sensitivity" in responding to the request.

"The prices of fuel go higher every day" and it's impossible to cover all the costs, the leader said.

Joining in the protests are such organizations as the National Farm Workers Corporation (CNC), the Autonomous Transport Operators Alliance of the Mexican Republic, construction trucking services and the Streetcar Alliance of Mexico, among many other organizations.

These groups ask that the price of a liter of diesel, currently at 7.53 pesos ($2.00 per gallon), be reduced to 6.31 pesos per liter ($1.55 per gallon), its value in January 2008.

"We ask that this price be maintained all year and that starting in 2010 the price of diesel and gasoline be adjusted according to the annual inflation index," Hernandez said.

The leader said that since January last year, the authorities began a price increase on fuels with the intention of equaling prices in the United States.