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“We are all Guerrero”: Mexico’s new popular education revolt, led by educators, takes on the state
April 26, 2013
Catalyzed by a teachers’ strike against federal education reform, a new popular movement is gaining momentum in Mexico. And in expanding its agenda to encompass long-standing grievances ranging from environmental destruction to insecurity and indigenous rights, the movement is posing a serious challenge to not only the policies of new President Enrique Pena Nieto, but the broader economic and political direction of a country ravaged by three decades of neo-liberalism as well.
In the southern state of Guerrero, two mass demonstrations this month (which drew between 50,000 and 120,000 people each, according to different press accounts) exhibited the growing strength and future potential of the popular uprising. In both instances, teachers, students, small farmers, labor union members and housewives, Mestizo and indigenous alike, jammed the streets of the state capital of Chilpancingo in a show of unity by the newly formed Guerrero Popular Movement (MPG).
Declaring the defense of public education as its first priority, the MPG has also taken stands against new mining projects, privatization of the national oil company PEMEX and increasing the 16 percent national sales tax.
In addition to the Guerrero State Coordinator of Education Workers (CETEG)- a large dissident organization within the National Union of Education Workers- the MPG’s adherents include the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Guerrero, #YoSoy 132, the Mexican Electrical Workers Union and the Emiliano Zapata Campesino Organization, among others.
Significantly, the indigenous Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities (CRAC) forms part of the MPG’s backbone. Representing more than 120 indigenous communities (with another 50 communities reportedly on the road to membership) in the Costa Chica and La Montaña sections of Guerrero, the CRAC is the leadership body of the highly-popular community policing and justice system in indigenous regions of the state, which stands as an alternative to the top-down, centralized policing system being implemented by the Pena Nieto administration and the nation’s governors.
In an analysis of the first mass protest organized by the MPG in Chilpancingo on
April 10, the anniversary of Emiliano Zapata’s assassination, Guerrero’s Tlachinollan Human Rights Center observed that the teachers’ movement and the MPG have given broad sectors of society their “own channel” to make a deep disaffection known.
“The citizens who’ve suffered grave injuries caused by unemployment, hunger, violence and theft are in the majority,” Tlachinollan wrote. “They are pushing from below in a novel movement that’s struggling against torn-up structures nourished by corruption and which allow the co-governance of delinquency.”
Guerrero’s movement is reminiscent of the 2006 teacher’s strike in Oaxaca that transformed into a popular rebellion and occupation of the state capital before it was repressed by the administration of former Gov. Ulises Ruiz with the backing of the federal government under President Vicente Fox.
After reading numerous PRI-biased MSM sources about the Mexican teachers revolt, I’m glad I finally found this one that gives real perspective about the threat of a government-controlled & -evaluated education system.
Yesterday, teachers set fire to the PRI headquarters in Guerrero & spraypainted anti-government slogans on the outside of the building. Teachers have also blocked major highways in Mexico City since their strike began two months ago.
Lessons in organization & dignity from the Zapatistas
January 3, 2012
January 1 was the anniversary of the public appearance of the EZLN, the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, in 1994. From early in the morning on December 31, 2012, thousands of families arrived carrying food, blankets and supplies in the town of “Caracol” de Oventic, located about 40 miles from San Cristóbal de las Casas, in the Mexican state of Chiapas. In Oventic, where the Zapatista Council of Good Governance is located, thousands celebrated 19 years of struggle and resistance during a political-cultural festival that lasted until dawn. Two days before, the EZLN published a communiqué explaining its next steps, following the recent massive mobilization on December 21.
What the Zapatistas achieved in Chiapas could only have been achieved with dignity, organization and discipline. On the day that the Mayans predicted the end of one calendar cycle and the beginning of another, at least 50,000 Mayan Zapatistas came out of their autonomous zones to march in silence in five Chiapas cities: Ocosingo, Palenque, Altamirano, Las Margaritas and San Cristóbal de las Casas.
This action was the largest nonviolent mobilization in the history of the Zapatista movement, even larger than the march last May when 45,000 members came out in support of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, led by poet Javier Sicilia, which demands an end to the drug war. The December 21 march demonstrated a level of discipline and coordination not seen since the initial Zapatista uprising on January 1, 1994, when tens of thousands of armed Zapatistas seized cities across Chiapas, declaring war on the government of then-president Carlos Salinas de Gortari and rejecting the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
This past December’s march came less than a month after the inauguration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, whose controversial election heralded massive demonstrations by various social movements, who see the new president as part of a corrupt media-government oligarchy. In this context, the action — the largest Zapatista mobilization in nearly two decades — carried a clear message: The other world we need to build can only be achieved by organization, discipline and daily coordinated efforts.
The tens of thousands of indigenous Mayans marched in absolute silence. Was this the resurgence of the Zapatistas? A reappearance? No. They came to tell the people of Mexico and the world that they had never gone away. They had prepared for more than 19 years to come “out of the darkness” on January 1, 2013. Since then, they have not stopped working, organizing and struggling. We saw this on December 21 in the eyes of the marching youth who were born and raised in the Zapatista struggle and are now 18 years old. We saw it in the women who marched with their babies — the future of struggle, their reason to keep fighting.
Waiting for a word
Throughout the day, observers anticipated a communiqué in each of the towns where the Zapatistas marched. Yet, they walked — orderly, unarmed and in absolute silence — without any accompanying message. Subcomandante Marcos, the spokesperson of the EZLN, was not present. Those who marched covered their faces with ski masks and carried the Zapatista flag: a black rectangle with a red star in the center and the letters EZLN.
Never before had a Zapatista action generated so much anticipation for a communiqué, the standard way the movement communicates with the outside world. On the night of November 17, the day that marked 29 years since the founding of the EZLN in 1983, an advisory appeared in Spanish on the Zapatista webpage: “Coming soon, words from the Clandestine Indigenous Revolutionary Committee.” Within a week, it disappeared. The message was republished on December 17, only to disappear that evening. Two days before the action, it reappeared. Given the back and forth, observers anxiously awaited word from the Zapatistas. What no one expected was that the first paragraph of the communiqué would come in the form of a silent march.
Finally, at the close of December 21, Marcos issued a written communiqué, which took the form of a question, a protest and an expectation:
Did you hear it?
It is the sound of your world crumbling.
It is the sound of our world resurging.
The day that was day, was night.
And night shall be the day that will be day.
Democracy!
Liberty!
Justice!
From the Mountains of Southeastern Mexico
For the Clandestine Indigenous Revolutionary Committee — General Command of the EZLN
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, Mexico, December 2012
This is a great read. I’m currently reading an in-depth history of the Zapatistas (Rebellion from the Roots by John Ross), & there are indeed so many lessons to be learned from this people’s uprising, especially now in a time of Idle No More & other global struggles.
![Mexican Anarchist Black Cross responds to state repression & expresses solidarity with political prisoners in Mexico
In recent days, following the events of the demonstrations on December 1st for the presidential inauguration of Enrique Peña Nieto, during which the police forces, both of the Federal [national] and Federal District [Mexico City] forces, brutally repressed demonstrators - officials of the Federal District government, amongst whom were the head of government of the FD and the capital’s attorney, have made statements declaring that those responsible for the clashes are anarchist groups.
Faced with this, we want to clarify:
The Mexican Anarchist Black Cross is a libertarian initiative, our work is aimed to extend solidarity with prisoners, both the so-called ordinary ones and those imprisoned for their ideas and political actions and anarchists, supporting them in their legal processes, distributing their letters and doing outreach events to publicise their situation: we organise anti-repression workshops, promote self-organization in our neighborhoods and communities, as well as knowledge of legal defense strategies, based on the idea that repression is a mechanism inherent to Capital and the State, which does not hesitate to use it to maintain the domination and exploitation which sustains this system; we also disseminate anti-prison ideas and thinking, to prompt debate on the social control nature of the prison, and its function in maintaining the capitalist system.
As an initiative, our efforts are aimed at these tasks, which have always been done in the open. All the activities that we organise and participate in are called for via our webpage or by email, and are signed.
In the mass media, it has been mentioned that amongst the detained were persons belonging to anarchist groups. Faced with these assertions it is necessary to declare that none of those detained belonged to the Mexican Anarchist Black Cross. Nonetheless we declare our absolute solidarity with all the people detained and demand they be freed immediately.
We understand that these declarations, along with the allegations of instigating the events that occurred during the demonstrations, are part of a campaign of criminalisation and persecution against anarchist groups and individuals. Marcelo Ebrard has distinguished himself by the targeting and criminalisation of anarchist groups, during his tenure as Secretary of Public Safety of the City, so this campaign is no surprise to us and we see in these statements a revenge against us because of the work we have carried out, principally in solidarity with the young anarchists that the Government of the Federal District has confined in its prisons in recent years.
We have given solidarity to these, as well as with different cases at a national level of political prisoners, and in that context we have made several reports showing the intrinsically repressive character of Federal District government, who has subverted its own laws in using them in a biased way to create and stage accusations and trials riddled with irregularities.
We denounce this campaign of persecution, that began in 2003 with accusations against anarchist groups following the October 2 commemoration march and in the last year has worsened, (not to mention that a call has been circulating in recent days from an apocryphal group for an activity in solidarity with prisoners), and continues with the administration of Miguel Ángel Mancera, who has also had no hesitation in making incriminating statements against anarchist groups active in the “City of Despair”.
What happened on December 1st is the product of social discontent. The investiture of Enrique Peña Nieto is only one part, we can not fail to see that there is a growing outrage at the current social, economic and political climate, in which the concentration of power in a narrow group of people and companies are bringing grave consequences for the vast majority of people. The police, federal and local, displayed their usual brutality against all the protesters; against anyone they found in their path, making arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests. This, coupled with the news of comrades wounded around San Lazaro, further enraged the protesters.
For us, violence originates in the political system and the state, which intends to subdue us by means of its instruments of social control, and the economic system that deprives us of the ability to have a dignified life and exploits us through appropriation of our labour. This is the originating violence and faced with it it will always be legitimate to organise. The real terrorists are those who by their actions or their silent complicity, have plunged the country into a senseless war, filling the cities of fear and death, persecuting and criminalizing poverty and assassinating whoever organises themselves and dares to stand up against it.
Through this communiqué we thus denounce the growing campaign of criminalisation of social protest, and especially against anarchist groups and individuals. Those responsible for this are the Government of the Federal District. We demand the immediate liberation of each and every one of the persons detained.
Down with the prison walls!Freedom for all!Mexico ABC
Source](http://24.media.tumblr.com/dd3d8fbe66c320d7ce2e0787dd68d288/tumblr_mfcnf7XVN91r6m2leo1_500.jpg)
Mexican Anarchist Black Cross responds to state repression & expresses solidarity with political prisoners in Mexico
In recent days, following the events of the demonstrations on December 1st for the presidential inauguration of Enrique Peña Nieto, during which the police forces, both of the Federal [national] and Federal District [Mexico City] forces, brutally repressed demonstrators - officials of the Federal District government, amongst whom were the head of government of the FD and the capital’s attorney, have made statements declaring that those responsible for the clashes are anarchist groups.
Faced with this, we want to clarify:
The Mexican Anarchist Black Cross is a libertarian initiative, our work is aimed to extend solidarity with prisoners, both the so-called ordinary ones and those imprisoned for their ideas and political actions and anarchists, supporting them in their legal processes, distributing their letters and doing outreach events to publicise their situation: we organise anti-repression workshops, promote self-organization in our neighborhoods and communities, as well as knowledge of legal defense strategies, based on the idea that repression is a mechanism inherent to Capital and the State, which does not hesitate to use it to maintain the domination and exploitation which sustains this system; we also disseminate anti-prison ideas and thinking, to prompt debate on the social control nature of the prison, and its function in maintaining the capitalist system.
As an initiative, our efforts are aimed at these tasks, which have always been done in the open. All the activities that we organise and participate in are called for via our webpage or by email, and are signed.
In the mass media, it has been mentioned that amongst the detained were persons belonging to anarchist groups. Faced with these assertions it is necessary to declare that none of those detained belonged to the Mexican Anarchist Black Cross. Nonetheless we declare our absolute solidarity with all the people detained and demand they be freed immediately.
We understand that these declarations, along with the allegations of instigating the events that occurred during the demonstrations, are part of a campaign of criminalisation and persecution against anarchist groups and individuals. Marcelo Ebrard has distinguished himself by the targeting and criminalisation of anarchist groups, during his tenure as Secretary of Public Safety of the City, so this campaign is no surprise to us and we see in these statements a revenge against us because of the work we have carried out, principally in solidarity with the young anarchists that the Government of the Federal District has confined in its prisons in recent years.
We have given solidarity to these, as well as with different cases at a national level of political prisoners, and in that context we have made several reports showing the intrinsically repressive character of Federal District government, who has subverted its own laws in using them in a biased way to create and stage accusations and trials riddled with irregularities.
We denounce this campaign of persecution, that began in 2003 with accusations against anarchist groups following the October 2 commemoration march and in the last year has worsened, (not to mention that a call has been circulating in recent days from an apocryphal group for an activity in solidarity with prisoners), and continues with the administration of Miguel Ángel Mancera, who has also had no hesitation in making incriminating statements against anarchist groups active in the “City of Despair”.
What happened on December 1st is the product of social discontent. The investiture of Enrique Peña Nieto is only one part, we can not fail to see that there is a growing outrage at the current social, economic and political climate, in which the concentration of power in a narrow group of people and companies are bringing grave consequences for the vast majority of people. The police, federal and local, displayed their usual brutality against all the protesters; against anyone they found in their path, making arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests. This, coupled with the news of comrades wounded around San Lazaro, further enraged the protesters.
For us, violence originates in the political system and the state, which intends to subdue us by means of its instruments of social control, and the economic system that deprives us of the ability to have a dignified life and exploits us through appropriation of our labour. This is the originating violence and faced with it it will always be legitimate to organise. The real terrorists are those who by their actions or their silent complicity, have plunged the country into a senseless war, filling the cities of fear and death, persecuting and criminalizing poverty and assassinating whoever organises themselves and dares to stand up against it.
Through this communiqué we thus denounce the growing campaign of criminalisation of social protest, and especially against anarchist groups and individuals. Those responsible for this are the Government of the Federal District. We demand the immediate liberation of each and every one of the persons detained.
Down with the prison walls!
Freedom for all!
Mexico ABC
Thousands continue to march against election fraud in Mexico
July 22, 2012
Thousands marched through Mexico City’s center on Sunday to protest what they called the “imposition” of the candidate of the old ruling party as the country’s new president.
Protesters carried signs accusing presumed President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto of electoral fraud and Mexico television giant Televisa of being a “factory of lies.” Opponents say Pena Nieto’s party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, won the July 1 election through vote-buying and overspending, including paying major media outlets such as Televisa for favorable coverage.
“Mexico didn’t vote for fraud. Mexico wants a country that is honest and democratic,” said marcher Marlem Munoz, 26, who studies dentistry at Mexico’s National Autonomous University. “What happened in the elections was a total mockery directed at the Mexican people.”
The PRI has vehemently denied the charges and on Friday accused losing leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of trying to “disqualify the entire electoral process with lies.” Televisa also has denied charges of being paid for positive coverage.
Mexico City authorities did not immediately release an official crowd estimate, but the march appeared to draw far fewer people than similar protests before the election with as many as 90,000 participants. A July 7 march, the first after election, drew 50,000. The events have attracted people from a new student movement, “I Am 132,” and leftist groups supporting Lopez Obrador.
Thousands protest Mexico’s president-elect
July 7, 2012
Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Mexico City Saturday against the presidential election win of Enrique Pena Nieto, accusing him and his party of widespread vote-buying.
The marchers claim Pena Nieto, from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), “bought” his way to victory by handing out gift cards and securing paid favorable media coverage from the country’s two main TV networks.
“Out Pena, Mexico without the PRI!” the protesters chanted as the massive crowd made its way down the Paseo de la Reforma — a main thoroughfare in the capital — to the Zocalo, the city’s giant downtown square.
Mexico’s independent election authority on Friday ratified Pena Nieto’s victory in the July 1 vote, saying he bested his nearest opponent, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, by more than six percentage points.
But many in this country of 112 million have refused to accept Pena Nieto’s victory, which marks the return to power of the PRI — the party that ruled for seven decades until 2000, amid accusations of rigged elections and repression.
“We would look really bad if Pena Nieto would take office and we did nothing,” said Mara Soto, a 21 year-old student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
