Teachers union reaches agreement with Mexican government as blockades spread
As protests and barricades in support of striking teachers spread across Mexico, the National Organization of Educational Workers (CNTE) and the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are maneuvering to bring the growing movement under control.
Yesterday morning, the CNTE announced an agreement with the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto to continue negotiations aimed at bringing a weeks-long teachers’ strike to an end. The CNTE and the government also scheduled a publicity stunt meeting between the government and victims of the recent massacre in Oaxaca. On June 19, police fired on a demonstration in the rural village of Nochixtlan, killing 13 teachers and supporters and wounding dozens more.
Adelfo Alejandro Gomez, a leader of CNTE Section 7, announced the government negotiations would “give way specifically to the theme of justice for the recent events in Asuncion de Nochixtlan, Oaxaca. There has been a willingness on both parts to attend to and resolve all of the harms caused by the repression exercised by the federal police.”
In reality, there is no willingness on behalf of the Mexican government to bring justice to the friends and relatives of those killed demonstrating against the right-wing education reforms. The government's response has thus far been first to lie about the killing and blame the attack on the teachers themselves.
The CNTE's agreement is aimed at instilling illusions in the Mexican state as it works in conjunction with Wall Street to privatize public education through the right-wing Pact for Mexico austerity program. The massacre of June 19 was not a misunderstanding, it was a calculated maneuver to defend the interests of Mexico’s ruling class. The agreement will allow the government to hold a photo-op meeting next Wednesday, posing as sympathetic to family members of victims.
The Mexican government made clear it has no intention of repealing or revising the education reform. Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa yesterday, Peña Nieto told the media that his government “will not give in to any provocation” by teachers. Trudeau Teachers union reaches agreement with Mexican government as blockades spread - World Socialist Web Site: