Translated by Julie Kawamura
In recent weeks, after series of demonstrations and blockades carried out by the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE) against the education reform, thousands of Mexicans have expressed annoyance and frustration via social networks aimed at the poor efficacy of institutions responsible for public security, which are meant to suppress and dissuade teachers that have obstructed free transit through the city, and on three occasions, impeded travelers’ arrival to terminals and boarding of flights at the Mexico City International Airport.
In that sense, some protesting citizens have demanded from the federal and Mexico City governments a crack down and suppression of the teachers, given their constant impositions on life in the city. In many cases, those same citizens, who in the past cautioned that the return to power of the PRI [Party of the Institutional Revolution] meant a return of the repressive State and expressed their rejection of police brutality, now demand the implementation of authoritative practices against the teachers of the CNTE.
Article 6 of the Constitution protects the right of citizens to demonstrate for ideas, provided that they do not attack the rights of someone else, provoke crime, or disturb public order. One thing is for certain; although, the teachers have demonstrated legitimately, the governmental institutions have not been able to channel and find solutions to the teachers’ demands. On the government’s behalf, security forces have been limited to only suppressing protests and blockades, leaving aside the implementation of effective negotiating actions that permit the possibility of breaking-up demonstrations without having to resort to the use of force.
Nevertheless, the United Nations Organization’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights recommends the implementation of techniques that minimize the necessity of resorting to force and training regarding the behavior and dispersion of crowds, including solutions for conflict and stress management and techniques of persuasion, mediation, and negotiation.
According to the academic James Greenstone, police training should consider crisis management and negotiation abilities, since not doing so ignores the need for these conflict management abilities. In that context, a chasm exists between recent sociological research and actual police practices, which causes a repressive and reactive approach to prevail over a preventive and proactive one.
On the other hand, Otto Adang, professor at the Police Academy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, having researched this phenomenon in depth, suggests that a
“friendly but firm agreement based on communication, negotiation, and early intervention”is much more effective than limiting oneself to repressing protests and waiting for violent situations to occur in order to justify the use of force.
It is worth remembering the positive conflict management carried out last April by the commander [known as] Spartacus of the Federal Police’s Coordinator for the Restoration of Public Order, for which he achieved the release of the Autopista del Sol [Highway of the Sun], previously blocked by teachers of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers in Guerrero. He established contact with the directors, dialogued with them, and asked them to hold a consultation with their members to deliberate and allow the freeing of transit, thereby demonstrating his fortitude, civility, and willingness towards negotiation and agreement.
Nevertheless, we should not lose sight that maintaining order is not exclusively the responsibility of police operations, since it also depends on government decisions, unsatisfied needs, the economy, education, and the creation of opportunities, among other factors. As long as inequality, poverty, exclusion, and unemployment continue to reign and social discontent is a constant, we will continue to be witnesses to demonstrations and blockades that will continue to be deterred by a repressive approach. In reality, what is important is the preservation of public order, in peace and with strict adherence to the law. Violence only generates violence. Spanish Original
*Simón Vargas Aguilar is President of Education and Training with Values, Inc. and analyst regarding issues of security, education and justice.