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| Dissident teachers surround Guerrero Congress last night Spanish original includes photo gallery |
Milenio: Notimex [Mexican News Service]
Chilpancingo, Guerrero • Following the signing of an agreement between state congressional deputies and teachers of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers of Guerrero (CETEG), shortly after 6:30 AM this morning, the teachers freed the legislature building.
They also freed all four lanes of the Highway of the Sun, where they had been protesting since yesterday evening. Earlier yesterday, they had freed the north to south lanes, but after seizing the facilities of the state Congress in the afternoon, they returned to take over the road. The blockade caused vehicles heading towards Acapulco to have to use alternate routes through the capital city, as did those coming from the port to Mexico City.
The agreement was signed after 5:00 AM between deputies of the PRD faction, the Citizen Movement [MC] and Labour Party [PT] [all leftist parties] and the CETEG policy committee headed by its leader, Gonzalo Ocampo Juárez, so that at 6:00 AM, they freed the legislature´s facilities.
At 3:00 PM yesterday, thousands of teachers stormed the Congress, broke windows, broke down doors and retained at least 23 deputies, employees and reporters, who left at 6:00 AM on Friday.
The agreement between deputies and teachers was that they would allow lawmakers to carry out the analysis and discussion of the initiative to reform the State Education Law, proposed by dissident teachers and presented to the full Congress by PRD deputies.
The block formed by PRD, MC and PT will seek consensus with members of other political parties [primarily PRI] in the Congress for a discussion of the proposal, so that it can be approved, but not contrary to the federal constitutional reform in education. The teachers agreed to not interfere with the work of the legislators.
This morning PRI deputy, Hector Astudillo Flores, said his faction of deputies will attend the session of Congress to discuss the initiative when it is convened by the Governing Board, but only as long as security is guaranteed in the legislature. Spanish original