Teachers from the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) entered the facilities of the Secretariat of Education (SEP) in Mexico City this Wednesday, marking a further intensification in their standoff with federal authorities. The approaches by the Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela, and the Secretary of Education, Mario Delgado, who sat at a negotiation table with union representatives on Tuesday, were of no use. The teachers continue to raise their demands less than 10 days before the start of the World Cup, which will be inaugurated precisely in the Mexican capital.
Read more Petro and the insistence on electoral fraud
The third day of protests has resulted in several damages at the entrance of the SEP building, graffiti, and spraying by several officers against the demonstrators. There were also some small fires that authorities have been controlling. At least one police officer received medical attention for intoxication, according to various media reports. Claudia Sheinbaum’s government has consistently condemned the violent acts that occurred during some of the demonstrations but maintains that it will respect the teachers’ right to protest.
Despite this intensification, the teachers’ demands remain the same as those that led them to set up the first sit-in a year and a half ago, following Sheinbaum’s arrival in government: among them, a 100% salary increase and the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law to return to a solidarity pension system. Another clear request in recent days has been a meeting with the president, “because it was she during her campaign process who said she would repeal the ISSSTE law.” “It was not the Secretary of the Interior, it was not the Secretary of Education,” they stated this Wednesday.
Amid the conflict, there is a strong argument from the authorities, who maintain the impossibility of financing all the demands. “There are demands that can be met and there are demands that the budget does not cover,” admitted President Claudia Sheinbaum last March when teachers threatened to boycott the sporting event. This argument was reiterated this Wednesday by Icela, who assured: “What can be addressed, yes; what cannot be done is due to lack of budget, not lack of will.”
The first two days showed the strong union mobilization of the teachers. On Monday, they declared an indefinite strike after three sit-ins of 24, 48, and 72 hours during which they threatened a definitive stoppage. The contingent from Oaxaca was responsible for starting the protests a week ago, with a march from the Angel of Independence in Mexico City to the Zócalo, which could only advance to the surrounding streets due to the strong police cordon blocking access to the square. They set up their camp there last Monday, which they extended through the center on Tuesday.
Tuesday left a media image with teachers taking over several roads in the capital, attacking statues of footballers decorating the streets near the Angel of Independence. The teachers requested a direct meeting with Sheinbaum, although after the dialogue table they stated they did not have a concrete date to talk with the president. “We want to hold the federal government responsible for anything that happens to any of our mobilized comrades across the country,” said one of the members during the meeting with federal authorities, where they also emphasized that their demands “are just.”