The students who maintain the occupation of the rectory [administrative headquarters of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM] issued "a political pronouncement of the emergency assembly" held last Monday in the School of Philosophy and Letters at UNAM. They claimed that this is not an isolated incident but
"shows an overall social picture and its particular expression in our university, because, as (the rector [president] José) Narro says, 'the lack of respect for the law is part of the origin of multiple problems of our society. '"
MV Note: In 19th century Mexican history 'pronunciamientos', pronouncements, often made by 'popular assemblies', were ubiquitous declarations regarding the illegitimacy of the ruling powers and of the intent to overthrow them via a rebellion. Such declarations continue to be a common expression of protest against "the authorities".In the text, read by a professor of the School of Sciences and another from the School of Social and Political Sciences, who preferred not to give their names, there was no position stated regarding the decision made yesterday by the University Court regarding the final expulsion of five students from the CCH in Naucalpan
MV Note: CCH is the College of Sciences and Humanities, actually a high school division of the university, located in the nearby town of Naucalpan, in the State of Mexico. The five students were expelled for a similar violent occupation of offices on that campus in February in protest of curriculum changes. Later that month, CCH students occupied CCH main offices on the UNAM campus in Mexico City, where the present occupation is occurring.
The pronouncement criticizes the 75 deans of the UNAM campus as being
"united in a holy alliance to relentlessly pursue the student movement, crying to the heavens" to defend the rectory building.It added that the deans, administrators and board members are not the defenders of the university but are designing a curriculum influenced by neoliberal and first world education systems.
It is emphasized that students rarely resort to institutional means because communication between authorities and young people doesn't exist, because "students don't make decisions in this university" and because [the decisions made] are not representative.
"So that the only ones who used the 'democratic' structure of UNAM are the deans, the university board, governing committees, and of course, José Narro, who gets himself re-elected (who clearly doesn't consider [the rule] 'effective suffrage, no reelection' applicable in the university)."
MV Note: "No re-election" refers to the battle cry of Francisco Madero and his supporters, in 1910, in their opposition to the continuous "re-election" of the dictator Porfirio Díaz as president. This opposition led to the first phase of the Mexican Revolution and the resignation of Díaz.It concludes that
"the only reason that students appear as 'violent', and the authorities are presented with 'intelligence, legality and prudence', is because they have all the resources, media and channels, and because they occupy each place in the 'organization chart' of the university. What would the authorities be without such means! Hand over the administration of these channels to the students. It is certain that the students would never ever appear as violent."Spanish original