Iguala, Guerrero - The four members of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers in Guerrero (CETEG) who were arrested and released on Friday by means of an agreement reached between the national leadership of dissident teachers and the federal government, are free on bail. Their arrest relates to events other than the blockade of the Autopista del Sol, damages caused to the party headquarters, and the attack against the local [Guerrero state] Congress and the official residence of the state's Governor.
The state government even paid the 10,000 pesos [$828 USD] bail set by the judge, Leoncio Molina, and it assumed the legal defense--through the Directorate General of the State Public Defender's Office--of these members of the dissident teachers, according to the criminal case file to which Proceso gained access.
The official document states that the four members were arrested for the CETEG's peaceful takeover of the administrative offices of the Department of Education in Guerrero (SEG), a fact registered in late February in the capital, where the teachers' movement began that today has Governor Angel Aguirre Rivero in check.
It also indicates that the four teachers ... were accused by an agent of the state Public Ministry [preventive police] for crimes of sedition and rioting, not for terrorism, as stated in an official statement by the Attorney General's office.
The arrest warrant was issued by the trial judge, Leoncio Molina, who also expedited the release of the four members of CETEG and warned them that they are free "on bail". The judge also ruled that their legal status will be defined within the constitutional mandate of six days requested by the Director of Official Defense, Juan Carlos García Jiménez, in order to assemble evidence in favor of the defendants, according to the official documents consulted by Proceso.
During this period, which expires on Thursday, May 9, the trial judge will determine whether the four CETEG members are subject to criminal prosecution or to be acquitted by a release order.
Agreements Between CNTE and Federal Government
On Thursday, May 2, in Mexico City, members of the CETEG [joined by the national group (CNTE, National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers)] agreed with the Secretary of Government Affairs [SEGOB], Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, not to hold demonstrations in the capital and to return to the classroom ... [Monday, May 6, 2013].
In exchange, the federal government agreed not only to order release of the four CETEG members, but that they might be exonerated by the trial judge who leads the criminal case, said an official source. Regarding the criminal cases filed in the state court, the accused CETEG members shall present themselves to testify before the judges to ask that their legal status be defined, explained the same source consulted by Proceso.
Another agreement between the national leadership of dissident teachers and the federal government, which excluded the state government of Aguirre, was that the State Attorney General's Office will revise the previous investigations it has conducted against CETEG members for the recent violent events reported in the capital [to the status of] "consultation exercise without prosecution".
This event not only demonstrates that the law in the country is subject to political negotiation, but that Aguirre's government has been overtaken in the face of the worsening of social problems, impunity and violence that persists in the state. Moreover, it was practically displaced by the federal government that assumed dialogue with the leadership of dissident teachers to try to resolve the teacher conflict that exists in Guerrero. ... Aguirre has plunged the state's political class into a crisis of credibility owing to the lack of a strategy to resolve the teacher conflict. Spanish original
This event not only demonstrates that the law in the country is subject to political negotiation, but that Aguirre's government has been overtaken in the face of the worsening of social problems, impunity and violence that persists in the state. Moreover, it was practically displaced by the federal government that assumed dialogue with the leadership of dissident teachers to try to resolve the teacher conflict that exists in Guerrero. ... Aguirre has plunged the state's political class into a crisis of credibility owing to the lack of a strategy to resolve the teacher conflict. Spanish original