*Updated June 7*
Guadalajara -
While Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas states deal with striking school teachers whose complaints are perennial, the Secretary of Education has reported that almost 50 million Mexicans are illiterate, or lack the basics of even a primary school education.
During a forum in Palenque, Chiapas, SEP Secretary Emilio Chuayffet emphasized that Mexican law regards education as a fundamental human right guaranteed to all citizens. He said the guarantee is not being complied with, and that the federal government must address the problem.
Mexico has 15.5 million illiterate citizens, according to SEP, and more than 32 million who have not completed primary school. The latter number represents about 40% of persons over 15 years of age. Mexico has a population of 112 million, with a median age of 26.
Less than two years ago a United Nations agency recognized the previous administration's efforts to deal with illiteracy, long a plague for this multilingual nation. (Mexico: A Model In Eliminating Illiteracy Says U.N.). But much work still remains, especially in regions with large indigenous populations.
"These citizens are not equipped to deal with modern life," said Chuayffet. "There is no greater social injustice than ignorance, and a person's ability to read and write is an indispensable precondition to a modern society based on the rule of law."
The secretary told his audience that it is the obligation of government to see that "laws are enforced, so that no one interferes with the enjoyment of the basic human right to education." That statement has been interpreted as a warning by the Peña Nieto administration that its patience is running thin with striking teachers. Yesterday Mexico's Secretary of Government Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, the most powerful player on Peña Nieto's team, said that the government had not and would not negotiate with vocal leaders of a Guerrero teachers' union. Some have been arrested for illegal demonstrations.
One was released from jail in Chilpancingo on Tuesday evening after posting a $5,000 bond. He was taken into custody Friday after participating in a blockade which disrupted traffic on a major highway. But Osorio Chong told the press, "I'm not negotiating legal matters with anyone. The person who got out of jail posted his bail and is pursuing his legal rights. He wasn't freed under any kind of a deal."
About 80,000 Mexican teachers are protesting educational reforms advanced by the new Institutional Revolutionary Party government in December. One of the PRI reforms requires teachers periodically to be evaluated by an autonomous agency. Collectively, teachers have filed 551 amparos, or legal challenges, to the PRI reforms. The deadline for doing so is Apr. 15.
Referring both to the striking teachers and the so-called "community police forces" protecting them as they march, Osorio Chong said, "We'll talk with all of them, but only with the clear understanding that everything must be based on the rule of law. Nobody can take justice into their own hands. Our dialog will continue, but we'll have to proceed, just as we already did in Michoacán, in response to the circumstances."
In March dozens of local security forces known as autodefensas were taken into custody by federal troops in Michoacán. The units have no legal authority, and critics claim many are armed by and are part of drug cartels and regional crime gangs. Peña Nieto's drug war czar rejects Mexican militias.
Apr. 11 - Mexico's troublesome policías comunitarias will prompt some to argue Failed State theories
Apr. 12 - In Chilpancingo, Guerrero, members of the powerful teachers' union have almost shut down the city, blockading major roads and preventing access to the largest stores, including Wal-Mart and Soriana. The mayor of the city reported earlier this week that the situation is becoming increasingly violent. At least five people were executed in Chilpancingo early Wednesday morning, the result of ongoing territorial disputes among drug cartels and regional gangs. About 2,000 Federal Police are in the area, but their responsibility does not include municipal patrol. The mayor asked for state help. Late today, governor Aguirre said that armed autodefensas would not be tolerated at teacher protests.
April 13 -
Thousands of protesting school teachers, members of a union known as Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores de la Educación de Guerrero, marched along the famous Autopista del Sol this week. They're wreaking havoc with local commerce. An Acapulco tourist workers' union claims blockades along the four lane have cost their industry at least 100 million pesos this season - about $8.3 million USD, and money which the hard hit resort can ill afford. Some teachers have been arrested, and the Guerrero state prosecutor said yesterday that warrants have been issued for various union leaders.
Apr. 19 - Guerrero erupts as angry teachers besiege state capitol
Apr. 23 - In Michoacán an official of the powerful teachers' union, La Coordinadora Nacional de los Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE), said the group will "strike indefinitely" in Oaxaca, Guerrero, Morelos, Chiapas, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo, Puebla, the Federal District, Tlaxcala, San Luis Potosí, Coahuila, Veracruz, Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Jalisco. He claims that 75% of the teachers in his state are staging work stoppages, leaving 800,000 students, from primary through high school, without classes to attend.
Apr. 23 - The Wall Street Journal notes, Strikes by Mexican Teachers Challenge New President
Apr. 23 - With Guerrero and Michoacán on the verge of "anarchy," a respected columnist asks, ¿Dónde está el gobierno?
Apr. 24 - Guerrero on verge of civil meltdown, as teachers riot
Apr. 26 - A bankrupt Acapulco can't meet its payroll
June 7 - In an important ruling today, a federal court in Mexico City dismissed lawsuits brought by school teachers opposed to educational reforms approved by the Mexican congress in December. Because those reforms are amendments to the constitution, and not ordinary statutes, the court said it had no authority to intervene. The main reform teachers are trying to stop is one that mandates they be periodically evaluated by an autonomous agency, which will set uniform national standards for the profession. Niegan amparos a maestros por reforma educativa.
© 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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