Federal, state and local forces clash with
teachers and supporters on Morelos highway: Dissident teachers call for international support
by Johnny Hazard
published Oct. 20, 08
As the teachers’ strike in Morelos, south of Mexico City, nears the two-month mark, supporters in the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE), the best-organized dissident faction of the national union, installed a human blockade in front of the national office of the Department of Education in Mexico City.
CNTE spokesperson Artemio Ortiz Hurtado said: “Not even with force can they convince us that their reforms are to improve the quality of education. What this is about is open privatization, where neither teachers nor parents are considered.” He went on to state that the CNTE will denounce “all repressive acts against Mexican teachers, but especially those of Morelos. Toward this end, we will look for contact with various social organizations and groups of intellectuals and ask that they join with us in international expressions of protest.”
Ortiz Hurtado spoke in the aftermath of an attack on Thursday, Oct. 9, by 2,000 forces, including state, federal and local military and police forces with tanks, against parents who had blocked a highway in Xoxocotla (40 miles south of Cuernavaca) for 11 days in support of striking teachers. There were 16 arrests, ten injuries, reports of warrantless house-to-house searches (Twin Cities style) and the disappearance of at least five residents. This was the third such police/military action in Morelos during the week.
Teachers in Cuernavaca and other communities remain camped out in the plazas of their communities, though there is talk of a negotiated settlement to unblock certain Cuernavaca streets and sidewalks at the request of storekeepers.
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