Translated by Noah Burton
Dissident teachers from the Democratic National Executive Committee of the National Union of Education Workers (CEND-SNTE) confirmed that they will continue the fight against Enrique Peña Nieto’s education reforms in national and international courts. Artemio Ortiz Hurtado, secretary general of the group, declared,
"To fail in this battle would be to leave labor and educational rights for dead."Ortiz Hurtado said that, following the filing of
“thousands of appeals with the courts, we are going to follow up on every single file, and if federal judges don’t accept these appeals, we will go to the Supreme Court. We are prepared to present evidence and prove that this reform is detrimental to public education.”Directors of the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE) confirmed that next week they would renew negotiations with the Secretariat of Government Relations [SEGOB] on education reform.
Francisco Bravo, secretary general of the dissident teachers of Section 9 of the Federal District [Mexico City], reported that representatives of the dissident teachers nationwide will come together April 25-27 for a national education congress. They hope to
“come to a consensus on an alternative plan for education that, once approved by delegates, we will present to the federal government.”Ortiz Hurtado said that members and supporters of the dissident CEND-SNTE will resume protests this week in Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Morelos, Nuevo León, Durango, and Sinaloa.
“We’re calling on teachers and society as a whole to unite and demand repeal of the amendments to the 3rd and 73rd Articles of the Constitution.”In Chihuahua, Juan Díaz de la Torre, secretary general of the of the SNTE, called on teachers to
“make the education reform your own, don’t look at it as a threat to your labor rights.”Díaz de la Torre was leading groundbreaking ceremonies for two SNTE construction projects. He maintained that to achieve the goals of the recent legal changes to education, teachers need to make the reform their own, declaring:
“We are committed to the spirit of reform.”... Regarding the change in tone of the SNTE regarding the education reform, Díaz de la Torre stressed that it is not contradictory to back the reform while at the same time working to highlight the function of teachers in society, "so that it is recognized by everyone". He emphasized that as "head of the teachers union", his job is "to ensure that everybody stands with teachers".
MV Note: Díaz de la Torre was recently elected head of the union after the arrest of Elba Esther Gordillo on embezzlement charges. She had opposed some of the reforms. Díaz de la Torre is generally seen as a "charro", 'cowboy', that is, a lackey of the Peña Nieto government.Spanish original