Mexico Drug War Violence Has Turned Teaching Into High-Risk Profession Laura Poy Solano - La Jornada
go to original June 12, 2014

Teachers in Guerrero and Michoacán declare that given the lack of public security prevailing in the region, teaching has become a high risk profession. They claim that population displacement caused by fighting between organized crime groups "is frequent." In some areas, "it is possible to count up to five families per week by school district. There is a marked decline in school enrollment."

Teachers in the municipalities of Coalcomán, Apatzingán, Buenavista and Tepalcatepec in Michoacán, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, stated that colleagues who "told parents that we don't give up, that we have nothing to do with that [drug violence], provoked the wrath of the people who go around here, and they have been executed."

In the region, they confirmed, "the exact number of victims isn't known, but it can be clearly determined by checking each municipality; others have requested a change [of schools] given the risks they face."

They relate that it isn't just educational activities that are affected by the growing migration of students and families, because when organized crime "sends out their messages that there will be clashes, we safeguard the children all day until the rumor goes around that now there's no danger."

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

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