How Mexican teachers unions are pushing the presidential frontrunner left
LĂłpez Obrador is signaling his support for the thousands of communities fighting privatization across Mexico
As Mexico moves closer to the July 1 Presidential election, candidate AndrĂ©s Manuel LĂłpez Obrador (commonly referred to AMLO) is signaling his support for the thousands of communities fighting privatization across Mexico. LĂłpez Obrador hails from the Juntos Haremos Historia coalition — a center-left coalition of National Regeneration Movement Party, The Labor Party and the Social Encounter Party. He is the former mayor of Mexico City and widely considered to be the frontrunner. LĂłpez Obrador has found a significant ally in the Oaxacan teachers of SecciĂłn XXII, who are pushing the candidate to take a more left-leaning position on privatization and reject controversial education reforms.
On May 12, LĂłpez Obrador announced in a speech in Puebla that he rejects privatization programs of previous administrations. "Privatization policies are over,” he declared. “Water will not be privatized; health services will not be privatized.”
The announcement represents the culmination of resistance to the controversial reforms, according to the teachers of Oaxaca’s SecciĂłn 22 of the National Union of Education Workers (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la EducaciĂłn, or SNTE) and The National Coordinator of Education Workers (Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la EducaciĂłn, or CNTE).
The teachers' decision to pursue an agreement with the LĂłpez Obrador was made in Februaryduring the V Political Congress of SecciĂłn XXII. Eloy LĂłpez Hernández, SecciĂłn XXII’s General Secretary, announced the decision “to influence this electoral situation by orienting the conscious and reasoned vote towards the bases, to the parents of family and society in general, to being guarantors of the popular will in favor of the alternative project of nation" that LĂłpez Obrador's campaign represents. Carlos Barriosa, a member the political section of SecciĂłn XXII, is using a Continue reading: How Mexican teachers unions are pushing the presidential frontrunner left | Salon.com: