Chilpancingo, Guerrero - The demonstrations in the state of Guerrero against the education reform continued on Wednesday with a march by members of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers of Guerrero (CETEG) and civil society organizations.
The Secretariat of Government Relations of Guerrero estimated that 22,000 people participated, while organizers estimate that there were 100,000 protesters. This is considered the largest mobilization since the conflict began on February 25, when the education reform was promulgated by President Enrique Peña Nieto.
The CETEG is a dissident faction of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE). Of the 75,000 teachers who are in Guerrero, 30,000 belong to this sector.
The march also involved supporters of National Regeneration Movement (Morena), school parent organizations, union workers in the state such as the Union of State Workers United Front, and members of the Tlachinollan Center for Human Rights that have joined what is called the Popular Movement of Guerrero.
Michelle, a student in the first grade of elementary school, wrote a banner supporting the dissident teachers. Her father, Juan Pablo, said he has always stayed away from protests, but that at the call of the teachers regarding the "risk of privatizing education with the law promoted by the federal government" he decided to take to the streets. The child, hidden behind her banner, said she loves her teacher and therefore supports this march.
The contingent marched to the Government Palace and the state Congress. Some protesters carried sticks and pipes. A protester went to the door of the Government Palace and, before the eyes of 300 members of the anti-riot forces of the Preventive Police, hit it with a pick, damaging the metal. The same thing occurred when the march arrived at the Congress of Guerrero.
At the start of the march, members of the CETEG accused the federal and state government of "infiltrating" the march with 100 agents, to "affect" the image of the Popular Movement Guerrero.
"Let us take care of the infiltrators. The government has put in 100 agents; we already know that. If you see one, stop him, tie him up and take him to [the Commission on] Human Rights," said one teacher over the bullhorn of a sound truck.The dissident teachers of Guerrero are against the education reform, which promotes teacher evaluation by the autonomous National Institute for Educational Evaluation. The teachers reached an agreement with Governor Angel Aguirre to promote a state educational reform that would include their self-assessment system, but this was rejected by the Congress of Guerrero last week.
Three time in two weeks, CETEG has blocked the Highway of the Sun, the main route between the tourist port of Acapulco and Mexico City. The last time, last Friday, the teachers were evicted by the federal police.
On Tuesday, the dissident teachers in Guerrero announced that they would only accept a dialogue with the federal government and rejected the governor Angel Aguirre as an interlocutor.
Meanwhile, a coordinator of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities [CRAC] [community police], Eliseo Castillo Villar, on Tuesday night, called for its members to participate in the march on Wednesday, but to not carry their weapons and adhere to the rules, otherwise they risk sanctions and even being killed.
After meeting in private on Tuesday afternoon with the governor of Guerrero, Angel Aguirre Rivero, in his offices in Acapulco, the coordinator of community police issued the warning and required that they participate in the mobilization in a peaceful manner. Spanish original