*Updated May 4*
Chilpancingo de los Bravo, Guerrero -
Rioting school teachers and their supporters went on a rampage for several hours today, taking over sections of this capital city of southern Guerrero state while they indiscriminately attacked public facilities and the local headquarters of most of Mexico's major political parties.
Members of a loose knit organization know as the Movimiento Popular Guerrerense (MPG), and a radical teachers' union called the Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores de la Educación de Guerrero (CETEG), attacked and destroyed installations of the National Action Party (PAN), the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), the Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) and Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which holds the presidency.
The teachers have been lobbying - and threatening - the state legislature for weeks, demanding that it dilute if not completely eviscerate federal educational reforms approved by Mexico's national congress in December, and replace them with ones of their own design. The key reform that CETEG members are opposed to requires teachers to be evaluated by an outside autonomous agency, which will apply uniform federal standards across the country. CETEG, and some other teachers' organizations, want to conduct proprietary evaluations without interference from third parties. They maintain that in areas with substantial indigenous populations, like Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas, evaluations should be based upon standards tailored to the "unique circumstances of the region." They had demanded that their legislature enact a law so providing. Guerrero erupts as angry teachers besiege state capitol.
Yesterday the Guerrero state assembly, which includes deputies from across the political spectrum, rejected the proposal. That prompted today's march, which quickly disintegrated into a full scale riot.
CETEG and MPG members showed neither discrimination nor preference as they went about the city burning and pillaging at will. They destroyed the headquarters of the political far left (PRD and MP), the center left (PRI) and the center right (PAN). Leaders of all four parties condemned the violence, as did many prominent Mexican politicians in the federal congress.
There was virtually no response by legitimate police units, and rioters had free reign for most of the afternoon. Some local citzen militias in Chilpancingo claim they are the sole legal authority in the region. Mexico's troublesome policías comunitarias will prompt some to argue Failed State theories.
In coverage this evening Milenio network reporters on the scene said that during three hours of raging mayhem, not a single city, state or federal police officer responded.
Acknowledging the complete absence of law enforcement, Chilpancingo mayor Mario Moreno said, "We don't have the capacity to deal with a crowd of 4,000 people. I'm not going to expose 400 or 500 police officers to that kind of battle. We're asking for immediate federal help."
Guerrero governor Ángel Aguirre and state secretary of government Humberto Salgado Gómez said some of the rioters carried firearms and lobbed molotov cocktails. Both men contended that CETEG ranks had been infiltrated by unidentified "third parties" who hoped to become martyrs. "They wanted to be killed, but we're not going to give them that," said Aguirre during a nationally televised interview.
The events occurred on a day when president Enrique Peña Nieto was out of the country, on a visit to Peru. PRI administration officials had no immediate comment.
Governor Aguirre warned late today that those responsible for the destruction would feel the "heavy hand of the law." Aguirre said that state prosecutors are studying news broadcasts in an effort to identify key participants, and he promised arrest warrants would be issued within hours for some of the ringleaders. He asked federal prosecutors to do the same.
Aguirre said that 95% of Guerrero teachers remain in the classroom, and do not support either the violence or CETEG's call for indefinite work stoppages. But the union strongly disputed that claim, and said strikes are increasing throughot Guerrero and other states, shutting down many schools. Teachers in three states again form picket lines.
When the Guerrero legislature voted on and rejected most of the union demands during a special Tuesday session, it did so in Acapulco, 55 miles from Chilpancingo. The capital has become so insecure in recent days that deputies decided to meet in a city where local police are still in control.
Apr. 27 - Arrest warrants have been issued for more than three dozen persons involved in this week's violence, governor Aguirre said yesterday. One of them is for Gonzalo Juárez Ocampo, general secretary of CETEG, the teachers' union. He now says the union wants to "sit down and talk" with the government. "We'll talk with CETEG," replied Aguirre, "but the warrants won't be withdrawn."
May 1 - CETEG members and sympathizers pressed on with violent demonstrations on May Day, attacking Casa Guerrero, the official residence of governor Ángel Aguirre in Chilpancingo de los Bravo. Radical union operatives caused considerable physical damage to government buildings and vehicles, and were met with only modest resistance. None of the arrest warrants Aguirre trumpeted about last week have been executed. CETEG is plainly feeling emboldened.
May 3 - Four CETEG members were arrested on federal charges of sedition and rioting yesterday -
May 4 - and now all have been released. Authorities are trying to buy peace by placating teachers.
Aug. 25 - PRI government shows no resolve against thug teachers
Apr. 26 - A bankrupt Acapulco can't meet its payroll
Dec. 12, 2011 - Police kill 2 students during confrontation in Guerrero
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
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