Protesting Mexican Teachers' Vow 'This Will Not End Here' Laura Carlsen and Alfredo Acedo - CIP Americas
go to original September 10, 2013

Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto, as any head of state, had hoped that the occasion of his first State of the Union Address would be an upbeat, if somber, affair. He had prepared his list of achievements and promises with care. But this Sept. 1, the day the address must be delivered by law, was instead a reflection of a nation in turmoil.

During the entire week before, tensions mounted. Members of the National Coordinating Body of Education Workers (CNTE, by its Spanish initials) demonstrated on a daily basis, amid rumors of a government crackdown. In the tent city set up in Mexico City’s central plaza, thousands of teachers continued to sleep, eat and protest as they had for the past two weeks.

As protesters blocked legislative offices and streets, President Peña Nieto announced that he would deliver the September 1 state of the union address in Camp Marte, a military center, as if the nation were under siege. After that caused a stir, he changed his mind and took the unusual step of delivering the report to Congress on the Sept. 1 opening day of sessions and reading it the following day in Los Pinos, the official residence.

The CNTE is the democratic current within the mammoth National Education Workers Union (SNTE), Mexico’s most powerful union and the largest labor organization in the Americas. The SNTE, on the other hand, is renown for corruption and politicking. The democratic teachers have sought to challenge the iron rule of union bosses through grassroots labor organization. The CNTE groups thousands of education workers and has won elections in several sections throughout the country.

The most combative local, Section 22 of the southern state of Oaxaca, has spearheaded the recent round of demonstrations against the president’s education reform bill.

Read the rest at CIP Americas

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