Nochixtlán Confirms 3 dead and 45 wounded in the attack on civilians; fascist state: teachers


Authorities have confirmed three dead and 45 wounded in clashes in the town of Nochixtlán, Oaxaca. According to dissident teachers and villagers, they were killed by police who used firearms against civilians. Earlier, in a statement, intellectuals, academics, journalists, politicians and advocates of national and international human rights rejected "the smear campaign and the brutal repression from the federal government is being applied against the teachers of Mexico".

Developing -information

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Photos CENCOS, Cuartoscuro and Twitter

Mexico City, June 19 (HOWEVER) .- About 21 dissidents, including citizens and teachers, were arrested; there are several injured, including six policemen, and confirmed that there are at least three then killed more than four hours of clashes between members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) and elements of the Federal Police, who evacuated dissident professors from the Oaxaca-Puebla federal highway and highway 190, in the municipality of Asuncion Nochixtlán in Oaxaca.

In the afternoon of Sunday, unknown set fire to the mayor of Asuncion Nochixtlán, while teachers of Section 22 did burn two buses in blocking the road Transístmica in the municipality of Juchitan. In addition, in the capital of Oaxaca, protesters set up a roadblock on the federal highway 190 Oaxaca-Mexico.

In the Mexican capital, leader of Section 22, Enrique Enriquez; the press coordinator of section 22 of Oaxaca, Eligio Hernandez and other members of the Political Directorate of the CNTE have the report said three people killed by guns fired by agents of the Federal and State Police. Two were identified as Andres Aguilar, 25 years old, and Yadith Jimenez, 28.

http://www.sinembargo.mx/19-06-2016/3056179

Google Translator

Much more at link.

Edit: Additional photo from twitter

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ClWOvsDWYAAS-jD.jpg

What is the difference between the Mexican government and the narco gangsters? The Mexican government is better funded. Bastards.

Oaxaca Journalist Covering Teacher's Strike Shot Dead

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Protesters in Juchitan set fire to buses as a barricade against incoming police on Canal 33. | Photo: Facebook / Salina Cruz Oaxaca

Published 20 June 2016 (1 hours 19 minutes ago)

Teachers strikes in Oaxaca have escalated as more armed police mobilize to the south, ending with the death of eight civilians on Sunday.
A journalist in Oaxaca was shot dead Sunday afternoon after covering the teacher’s blockade of a main highway.

Eigio Ramos Zarate, reporter at El Sur that went by the pseudonym Guillermo Parie, was shot in the neck by two motorcyclists who are still unidentified as he was photographing the holdup of a convenient store nearby.

Raul Cano Lopez, brother of the director of Hechos, another newspaper in Juchitan, Oaxaca, was also killed in gunfire. His brother said that he was just sitting at the bus stop. One unidentified person was injured.

The state agency for investigations said it has not confirmed any motive, but that Ramos Zarate had connections to someone who “supposedly committed illegal acts,” reported El Proceso.

The state of Oaxaca has been under fire during escalating strikes by the SNTE teachers union, affiliated with the CNTE, against neoliberal education reforms.

WATCH: Mexico: Aggressions Against Journalists Increased More Than 21% in 2015

(Video at link.)

The blockade of Canal 33 of a major highway that began last week was met with 900 police on Friday. Teachers called for the release of two of their union leaders, who were detained under what they call bogus claims.

At least eight civilians, according to CNTE’s latest count, were killed on Sunday in Nochixtlan, Oaxaca after clashes between strikers and police grew violent.

Violence against journalists in Mexico is among the worst in the world, with a reporter attacked every 22 hours, according to a new report. Attacks rose by 22 percent last year.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Oaxaca-Journalist-Covering-Teachers-Strike-Shot-Dead-20160620-0009.html

I saw a Reuters piece this morning about the violence in Nochixtlan. It's head line said, "Teachers and Police in deadly clash". It wasn't an even-handed fight! The cops went in and murdered people, that's what the headline should have been.

They are 8 dead, 22 missing and dozens injured by repression in Oaxaca


Published June 20, 2016


http://youtu.be/ShyJubjTR08

The CNTE published the names of the missing. Teachers remain united and mobilized despite the police siege.
Until now number 8 dead, 22 missing and dozens injured, after the brutal eviction of teachers in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, by the police.

The data were supplied by the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) and have circulated on social networks along with the list of wounded.

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In an interview with Telesur, the president of the Mexican League for Human Rights, Adrian Ramirez, he expressed concern about the missing, because in the country have a history of 43 students Ayotzinapa, whose case is not yet resolved.

The spokesman added that some of these people may be detained.

In this sense, Ramirez said that frequently arrests formalize hours after the disappearance of people when, later, will appear in high-security.

"There are a lot of people as missing and therefore the authority has to respond , " he said.

The demonstrations continue

Telesur correspondent, Fernando Camacho, said that it is anticipated that the demonstrations and roadblocks continue to demand that no repression and dialogue reiterate the request to the Government.

Camacho explained that in Oaxaca an atmosphere of great tension and outrage at the repression lived and confirmed that two journalists were killed in Juchitan.

He added that some looting awarded by the CNTE groups of provocateurs have occurred. The purpose of these is then responsible for repressing teachers said CNTE quoted by the special envoy.

Ask for intervention of international observers

Meanwhile, Daniela Gonzalez Lopez, the Observatory of Human Rights of Oaxaca Peoples chapter, denied versions that manages the Government and stressed that today more than ever the teachers and the people are united in defense of public education.

In an interview with Telesur, he condemned the repression and warned that what happened in Oaxaca violates the fundamental rights of the population and the teachers.

He also alleged that during the eviction were members of the preventive police and plainclothes snipers firing shots.

It further requested the intervention of human rights organizations, the United Nations and international observers to collect information on violations that are suffering and do monitoring for the defense of DD.HH.

In context:

The Commissioner of the Federal Police, Enrique Galindo Cevallos, acknowledged Sunday night that elements of his corporation were themselves armed during the brutal eviction of teachers in Oaxaca, whose governor Gabino Cué said there were six dead and 51 injured, plus 25 detainees figures belies the CNTE, it is greater.

The CNTE has about 200,000 members in Mexico, 80,000 of them in Oaxaca, and is one of the Latin American unions that for years has maintained its claims and fight for better social benefits.

social organizations, academics and intellectuals from Mexico and 14 other countries urged the government of Enrique Peña Nieto to not hold more demonstrations of the teachers' union and, instead, sit with the group calls "just demands" and seek solutions appropriate.

Under the premise of "raising the quality of education in the country", the educational reform of 2013 driven by Peña Nieto raises the mandatory assessment for teachers to enter and remain in the education system.

Teachers want, among other things, repeal this provision has caused thousands of unfair dismissal.

While the world is growing international condemnation against this act of violence that kills protesters.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Van-22-desaparecidos-9-muertos-y-decenas-de-heridos-por-represion-en-Oaxaca-20160620-0014.html

Google Translator

Other video at link.

Mexican teachers march against violence in Oaxaca

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The teaching continues its rejection of education reform. | Photo: losangelespress.org (Reference Photo)

Published June 20, 2016

CNTE teachers on Tuesday blocked roads in eight regions of Mexico to protest the violent actions of the police.
Teachers of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) remain determined to march against education reform led by Enrique Peña Nieto, but this time the struggle goes beyond that. They will focus on the Zocalo of Oaxaca (south) to protest the brutal repression of the Mexican police.

After a plenary by Section 22, the CNTE ordered block Tuesday roads in at least eight regions of the state, to protest the eight dead, 22 missing, nearly 90 wounded and 20 others arrested arbitrarily, according to data unofficial.

Under the slogan of resistance, concentrations teachers begin from 0900 local morning and a rally of 17 hours in the Zocalo from the 0500 local evening will take place, according to the Telesur correspondent in Mexico , Aissa Garcia.

The union also plans to take the audience "Guelaguetza" as a measure to repudiate police violence and the army.

The CNTE reported that within the protest actions contemplated also block the offices of the local and federal governments, as well as break the dialogue and political relations with the governor of Oaxaca, Gabino Cué, to hide the true death toll.

Government Position

One day after the violence, the Mexican president sent words of "solidarity" to the families of the victims of violent eviction south of the country on Sunday.

Also, Peña Nieto said the state will investigate the alleged perpetrators of the killings and disappearances of teachers, a situation which threatened the population, due to the history of the case Ayotzinapa.

The president also said he gave instructions to resolve the conflict within the framework of the law, however, is not the first time the government promises dialogue table without giving up the request of teachers to revise the articles of a reform that, in his view, it forces them to compete unfairly.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Maestros-saldran-este-martes-a-marchar-contra-la-violencia-en-Oaxaca-20160620-0024.html

Google Translator

Mexican government and the CNTE hold talks Wednesday

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The meeting will be held on Wednesday June 22 at the premises of the Interior Ministry. | Photo: Interior Ministry
Published June 21, 2016

The talks will be held with the aim of reaching an agreement to end the protests of teachers in different parts of the country.
Mexico's government said Tuesday that it is willing to talk with members of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) and the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE).

Through a statement, the Executive said the talks should be conducted within the framework of its powers and with absolute respect for the law.

In the text, the Government emphasizes that, in order to "return calm to the country 's regions" , hear the statements and arguments of the organization of educators.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday June 22 at the premises of the Interior Ministry and will be headed by the head of this agency, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong.

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Earlier, the CNTE had reported that the Secretary of Government asccedió to receive the Single National Commission Negotiator (CNUN).

" We inform national and international public opinion, that on Wednesday, June 22, 2016, the Single National Negotiating Committee will meet with Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, in the city of Mexico and the meeting will present the National Mediation Commission " reads a statement issued by the organization.

Also, the CNTE added that the names of the members participating in the meeting will be announced the same day of the meeting.

"The CNTE reiterated our willingness to work with the federal government to find solutions to the proposals we have made ​​publicly and repeatedly. In the official part, we demand a frank and serious stance" he says.

Continued education reform

Secretary of Public Education of Mexico, Aurelio Nuño, said Tuesday that "Education Reform continues and aims to provide quality education and efficiency to give children a better education."

During a press conference Nuño said that there is full openness to dialogue with all the teachers, under the provisions of the Constitution and laws.

He clarified that the dialogue on Wednesday aims to improve the situation that persists in Oaxaca and will only be political, not educational issues will be addressed from that appropriate conditions will be reached to educational dialogue, he said.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Gobierno-mexicano-y-la-CNTE-dialogaran-este-miercoles-20160621-0032.html

Google Translator

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In a statement released on Friday, June 17, the Zapatistas posed the following questions regarding the ongoing national teachers’ strike in Mexico:


They have beaten them, gassed them, imprisoned them, threatened them, fired them unjustly, slandered them, and declared a de facto state-of-siege in Mexico City. What’s next? Will they disappear them? Will they murder them? Seriously? The ‘education’ reform will be born upon the blood and cadavers of the teachers?

On Sunday, June 19, the state answered these questions with an emphatic “Yes”. The response came in the form of machine-gun fire from Federal Police directed at teachers and residents defending a highway blockade in Nochixtlán, a town in the southern state of Oaxaca and roughly 80 kilometers northwest of the capital city of that state, also called Oaxaca.

Initially, the Oaxaca Ministry of Public Security claimed that the Federal Police were unarmed and “not even carrying batons”. After ample visual evidence and a mounting body count to the contrary, the state admitted federal police opened fire on the blockade, killing six. Meanwhile, medics in Nochixtlán released a list of eight killed, 45 wounded and 22 disappeared. On Monday, the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), the teachers union leading the strike, said ten were killed on Sunday, including nine at Nochixtlán.

Teachers belonging to the CNTE, a more radical faction of about 200,000 inside of the 1.3 million-strong National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), the largest union in Latin America, have been on indefinite strike since May 15. Their primary demand is the repeal of the “Educational Reform” initiated by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in 2013.

A neoliberal plan based on a 2008 agreement between Mexico and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the reform seeks to standardize and privatize Mexico’s public education system, as well as weaken the power of the teachers’ union. The teachers are also demanding more investment in education, freedom for all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, truth and justice for the 43 disappeared students from Ayotzinapa, and an end to neoliberal structural reforms in general.

The state has refused to even talk to the union, instead deploying thousands of federal police and gendarmerie to areas where the strike is strongest — primarily Oaxaca, Chiapas, Michoacán and Mexico City, though also in states such as Guerrero, Tabasco and Veracruz.

A late night attack on June 11 against a teachers’ encampment blockading the Oaxaca State Institute of Public Education (IEEPO) by more than 1,000 police led to teachers and residents quickly mobilizing and establishing barricades and highway blockades in the early morning hours of June 12. Also on Saturday, the top two leaders of the CNTE’s Oaxacan branch, Section 22, were arrested in Oaxaca and Mexico City, and 24 arrest warrants issued for others in leadership positions.

The Nochixtlán blockade was one of those erected on June 12 and for a week had been successful in preventing hundreds of federal forces from reaching the city of Oaxaca. Dozens of highway blockades were in place by June 14, the day that tens of thousands came out to the streets to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the beginning of the five-month-long 2006 rebellion.

The CNTE controlled 37 critical spots on highways throughout the state, blockaded in part with 50 expropriated tanker trucks. The blockades were so effective that ADO, a major first-class bus line, indefinitely cancelled all trips from Mexico City to Oaxaca and federal police began flying reinforcements into airports in the city of Oaxaca, Huatulco (on the coast), and Ciudad Ixtepec (on the Isthmus).

On Sunday morning, the federal and state police attack on the people and teachers of Oaxaca began in earnest. Nochixtlán defended its blockade against a four-hour police assault, resulting in the previously mentioned nine deaths. Police took over the local hospital and forbid entry to anyone not wearing a uniform. The wounded demonstrators were treated in churches and schools, likely resulting in more deaths due to lack of necessary treatment.

The next police attack on Sunday occurred at the blockade in Hacienda Blanca, 11 kilometers north of the city of Oaxaca. There police fired tear gas from helicopters, including into the school being used as a makeshift medical center, and there were reports of live ammunition being fired.


http://youtu.be/71HcKK14VrI

After breaking the blockade, they began going door-to-door looking for people in hiding. The police advanced into the municipal boundaries of Oaxaca and heavy clashes occurred in the Viguera neighborhood at the Juárez Monument. Police again used live ammunition, wounding a young man who later died of his wounds, making him the tenth fatality of the day. Another death occurred near the blockade in Juchitán, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, when a reporter covering the protests was shot by “unknown subjects” in circumstances that remain unclear.

Sunday night, police began cutting power to various sections of the city and public transit was suspended, raising fears that federal and state forces would attempt to take the city and the teachers’ encampment in the main square (the Zócalo). As of this writing, such an attack has not occurred and around 30 highway blockades remain in place in Oaxaca, along with barricades in the historic city center. Police and gendarmerie did attack a blockade in Salina Cruz, a major port city, but it was successfully defended by teachers and residents.

Monday saw at least 40,000 people march in Oaxaca to protest Sunday’s state violence. Eighty-one civil society groups issued a “humanitarian alert due to the armed State attack on a civilian population.” Of note is that none of those killed on Sunday were teachers. Oaxaca Governor Gabino Cué claimed that teachers are in the minority on the blockades. This was an attempt on his part to delegitimize the struggle, but it instead speaks to the growing solidarity sparked by the teachers’ strike.

Also on Monday, prominent Oaxacan artists released a call for an end to state repression and a “cultural barricade against repression” was held that afternoon. The Oaxaca Minister of Indigenous Affairs resigned in protest and students took over the Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca (UABJO), including its radio station, Radio Universidad.

Teachers in neighboring Chiapas organized blockades at major points in the capital city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Nine people, including journalists, were detained at a solidarity demonstration in Mexico City. The arrested women were threatened with rape by the police and were sexually assaulted. All were later released.

The situation continues to develop and change rapidly. One thing is certain: ten years after the birth of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO), the ember of resistance has ignited again, as has the desire and brutality of the state to stomp it out once and for all.

https://roarmag.org/essays/oaxaca-teacher-strike-police-attack/?utm_content=buffer87930&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Solidarity with teachers struggling in Mexico

By Frank LaraJun 22, 2016

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Federal helicopters over Oaxaca, photo by José Carlos Dávila

Frank Lara is a 4th grade bilingual teacher who serves on the Executive Board of the United Educators of San Francisco. He helped organize the San Francisco actions for the Caravana 43 last year.

On June 19, peaceful marches and actions throughout Mexico culminated in a violent crackdown by federal and state forces in the town of Nochixtlan in the State of Oaxaca. While the numbers vary between government and independent media sources, it is believed that 8-12 people were killed, including teachers and supporters. Images of federal helicopters over a burning landscape were widespread in the news and social media.

Had this occurred in Venezuela or Cuba, this brutality would have led to Pres. Enrique Peña Nieto of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) being charged with war crimes in the Hague; a UN mandate would have been approved to invade Mexico and forcefully remove him from office! But unlike these other countries which are independent of the United States, the U.S., through its “War on Drugs” initiative known as Plan Merida has actually paid Mexico more than $1.5 billion to increase the weaponry and training of the same federal police that today are killing its civilian population. It is clear that the mainstream international media understands this relationship as little has been reported about the ongoing human rights violations under Nieto and previous president Felipe Calderón.

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The CNTE, the main organizing force, marches in Oaxaca

The most recent killings are a response to militant and widespread protest by teachers from across the country against the so-called “Education Reform Law,” which seeks to privatize education while blaming teachers for the lack of quality education. The protest are largely being led by the CNTE (National Coordinator of Education Workers), a split from the PRI-controlled SNTE (National Union of Education Workers. In a move seeking to smash the unions, similar to what was done with the SME (Union of Mexican Electricians), Peña Nieto’s government fired thousands of educators for not complying with regulations under the reform law and then arrested two leaders of the CNTE, Ruben Nuñez and Francisco Villalobos for alleged money laundering. Juan Jose Ortega Madrigal, a historical leader of the teacher union in the State of Michoacan, was arrested two days prior to arresting other CNTE activists on June 19.

Education reform “Made in the USA”

Not only are weapons exported (see “Operation Fast and Furious”) from the U.S. to help the Mexican elite kill civilians; not only is bio-enhanced corn exported from the U.S. to flood the Indigenous markets and displace tens of thousands from fertile lands; neo-liberal policies and their tactical implementation are exported as a complete package to take over the public school system. With ongoing coverage by the major news networks of Televisa (a massive media conglomerate completely aligned with the PRI) and TV Azteca, most citizens learn the same talking points put forth by the Bush and Obama administrations and by the infamous Arne Duncan as they forced privatization upon thousands of districts throughout the U.S. ¡Los maestros son una bola de flojos! “Teachers are a bunch of lazy people!” is the view presented by the elite in Mexico, similar to the teacher demonization that has taken place in the U.S. under neoliberal education reform.

New teacher evaluations are one major piece of the Mexican Education Reform Law, which was passed in 2013. Sound familiar? In Mexico, where a large section of the population still lives in rural areas, teachers have to leave their families in the cities and are often asked to move into remote areas to teach in underfunded schools with almost no resources. These “escuelas rurales” are public gem established by the Mexican revolution of 1910 to guarantee schooling for all of Mexico. But the reformers, who accuse the teachers of being overpaid, now feel that they are have to evaluate teachers, guaranteeing profits for a whole new layer of testing administration bureaucracy while trying to break the back of the union. Along with the teacher evaluations, schools are now required to adapt national textbooks and curriculum meant to bring it up to the “21st Century,” including the universal use of WiFi and other technologies which are completely inaccessible to the majority of the population.

Solidarity across borders

This is why the CNTE’s struggle has resonated so strongly with organizations fighting against neoliberal education reforms in the United States. Well-known school principal Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, issued a call for NPE activists to send letters to the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and the Mexican Consulate. “During the past few days, extreme violence has been used against teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico who were protesting governmental education ‘reforms.’ This has resulted in the deaths of at least eight people. The Network for Public Education joins with those condemning this violence.”

Dr. Michael Flanagan, Co-Director of the Bad Ass Teachers Action Team, posted a blog piece which concludes: “We must stand with the brave teachers of Mexico, and never forget those who have fallen. We are teachers, and we will educate. Our martyrs lie in the streets of Oaxaca, Mexico and they will not have died in vain.”

Actions have been held in the U.S. and across the world to stand in solidarity with Oaxaca. Many organizing the actions were brought into the street after September, 26, 2014, after the disappearance of 43 student teachers from the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teachers College of Ayotzinapa in the city of Iguala, State of Guerrero. Today they continue fighting to demand justice in Mexico, an end to U.S. intervention and arming of the corrupt and violent Mexican government of Enrique Peña Nieto, an end to the U.S.-led “Drug War,” and ultimately the removal of the PRI from power. From New York City to San Francisco, human rights organizations and social movements are organizing to bring awareness of what is happening in the sister border country.

Along with participating and organizing these actions, revolutionary socialists in the U.S. also see opportunities to expand the unity across the border. We say “tear down the border wall!” Trump, Clinton and Peña Nieto, the first two who represent racist imperial domination, the other a Yankee puppet, are willing to oppress Mexicans and those of Mexican descent for an extra buck. Today, young people are fighting back through the social movements demanding amnesty, equal civil and economic rights and access while protesting Trump and Clinton at every turn. We must connect these movements to the fight in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, Oaxaca and all of Mexico because ultimately, we are fighting the symptoms of capitalism, privatization and profit. Only socialism has led to viable independence from the talons of U.S. imperialism.

¡El Pueblo Unido, Jamás Será Vencido!

https://www.liberationnews.org/solidarity-with-teachers-struggle-mexico/

Had this occurred in Venezuela or Cuba, this brutality would have led to Pres. Enrique Peña Nieto of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) being charged with war crimes in the Hague; a UN mandate would have been approved to invade Mexico and forcefully remove him from office! But unlike these other countries which are independent of the United States, the U.S., through its “War on Drugs” initiative known as Plan Merida has actually paid Mexico more than $1.5 billion to increase the weaponry and training of the same federal police that today are killing its civilian population. It is clear that the mainstream international media understands this relationship as little has been reported about the ongoing human rights violations under Nieto and previous president Felipe Calderón.

Smoking gun and bloody hands. And Clinton will pick-up where Bloody Butcher Obama leaves off. When folks say, "Anybody but Trump!", do they even think about what they are saying? Trump is a disastrous simpleton and idiotic demagogue, no intelligent person could advocate for him to become President. But there is a real argument that Clinton will be worse. This year is a messy nightmare...

Why Are Mexican Teachers Under Fire for Protesting Education Reform?
Tuesday, 21 June 2016 00:00
By David Bacon, The Nation | News Analysis

http://www.truth-out.org/images/Images_2016_06/2016_0621bc_.jpg
A striking teacher from Michoacán demonstrates in Mexico City in front of a line of police. Canadian and US teachers have organized the TriNational Coalition to Defend Public Education to support Mexican teachers’ efforts to defeat proposals to introduce standardized testing and remove job protections, which have come from USAID and private foundations promoting corporate education reform. (Photo: David Bacon)

On Sunday night, June 12, as Ruben Nuñez, head of Oaxaca's teachers union, was leaving a meeting in Mexico City, his car was overtaken and stopped by several large king-cab pickup trucks. Heavily armed men in civilian clothes exited and pulled him, another teacher, and a taxi driver from their cab, and then drove them at high speed to the airport. Nuñez was immediately flown over a thousand miles north to Hermosillo, Sonora, and dumped into a high-security federal lockup.

"Their detention is ... a warning of what can happen to other teachers ..."
Just hours earlier, unidentified armed agents did the same thing in Oaxaca itself, taking prisoner Francisco Villalobos, the union's second-highest officer, and flying him to the Hermosillo prison as well. Villalobos was charged with having stolen textbooks a year ago. Nuñez's charges are still unknown.

Both joined Aciel Sibaja, who's been sitting in the same penitentiary since April 14. Sibaja's crime? Accepting dues given voluntarily by teachers across Oaxaca. Sección 22, the state teachers union, has had to collect dues in cash since last July, when state authorities froze not only the union's bank accounts but even the personal ones of its officers. Sibaja was responsible for keeping track of the money teachers paid voluntarily, which the government called "funds from illicit sources."

The three are not the only leaders of Oaxaca's union in jail. Four others have been imprisoned since last October. "The leaders of Sección 22 are hostages of the federal government," says Luis Hernández Navarro, a former teacher and now opinion editor for the Mexico City daily La Jornada. "Their detention is simultaneously a warning of what can happen to other teachers who continue to reject the [federal government's] 'education reform,' and a payback to force the movement to demobilize."

The arrests are just one effort the Mexican government has made in recent months to stop protests. On May 19, Education Secretary Aurelio Nuño Mayer announced that he was firing 3,000 teachers from Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Michoacán for not having worked for three days.

All three states are strongholds of the independent teachers movement within the National Union of Education Workers -- the National Coordination of Education Workers (the CNTE, or "Coordinadora"). CNTE teachers have been striking schools since earlier this spring to stop implementation of the government's education reform program. While strikes in Mexico are hotly contested, there is no precedent for firing teachers in such massive numbers just for striking.

The night of the firings, federal police attacked and removed the encampment that teachers had organized outside Mexico City's education secretariat. On June 11, the police in Oaxaca City moved to dismantle a similar encampment in front of the state's education office. When 500 heavily armed police advanced shooting tear gas, confrontations spilled into the surrounding streets, reminiscent of the way a similar strike in 2006 was attacked, and then mushroomed into an insurrection that lasted for months.

One measure could end the system of teacher training schools, which have been hotbeds of social protest for decades.
One controversial provision of the federal government's education reform requires teachers to take tests to evaluate their qualifications. Those not making good marks are subject to firing. This year, when the government tried to begin testing, teachers struck in protest.

In March, when Nuño tried to give awards to "distinguished and excellent teachers," one of them, Lucero Navarette, a primary-school teacher in Chihuahua, told him, "The results can depend on many factors and the personal circumstances each one of us live through…many don't get the result they deserve, because the job they actually do at school is very different from what comes out in the test." Journalist Hernández Navarro says educators have a tradition of egalitarianism and mutual support, and believe that "there are no first- or second- or third-class teachers. Only teachers."

On March 22 Nuño also announced a measure that would spell the end to Mexico's national system of teacher training schools, called the "normals." Instead of having to graduate from a normal, he said, anyone with a college degree in any subject could be hired to teach. Since the Mexican Revolution and before, the normals have been the vehicle for children from poor families in the countryside, and from the families of teachers themselves, to become trained educators. Returning to rural and working-class communities, teachers then often play an important role in developing movements for social justice. The normal schools themselves have historically been hotbeds of social protest and movements challenging the government.

Similar measures have been advocated by a Washington think tank, with funding from USAID.
Guerrero's normal school in Ayotzinapa was the target two years ago of an attack that led to the disappearance and possible murder of 43 students, which has since galvanized Mexico. Recently a commission of international experts criticized the Mexican government for refusing to cooperate in efforts to identify the fate of the students, and pointed to the possible involvement of officials at very high levels in their disappearance.

Firing teachers and disbanding the normals is a not-so-hidden goal of the federal education reform. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has called for abolishing the normal schools, and urged President Enrique Peña Nieto to fire teachers who get bad test results and exclude them from teaching. Similar measures have been advocated by a Washington think tank, the Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas, a project of the Inter-American Dialogue with funding from USAID.

Both organizations work in cooperation with the corporate Mexican education reform lobby, Mexicanos Primero, headed Claudio González Guajardo, a member of one of the country's wealthiest families. González instructed Peña Nieto that "Mexicans elected you, not the [teachers] union," and told him to "end the power of the union over hiring, promotion, pay, and benefits for teachers."

Oaxaca has become a target because Sección 22 proposed its own alternative education reform over six years ago, which concentrated on respecting indigenous culture and forging alliances between teachers, students, parents, and their communities (for more on the alternative reform proposals and the corporate sector's attacks on teachers, see "US-Style School Reform Goes South"). After the insurrection of 2006, the union became the backbone of the left's effort to defeat the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and in 2010 Oaxacans for the first time elected a non-PRI governor, Gabino Cué. Owing his election to the teachers, Cué agreed to begin implementing their reform instead of the federal one.

In 2012, however, the PRI regained control of the federal government. Under its pressure, Cué reneged on his commitment to Oaxaca's teachers and announced that he would implement the federal reforms instead. Protests started immediately, and have escalated since then.

With the left in Oaxaca badly divided, the PRI regained control of the state government as well in voting on June 6. The arrests of the two top leaders of Sección 22 followed in less than a week.

Since the 1970s, when over 100 teachers were murdered during the years when the Coordinadora was organized, the CNTE has won control of the union in Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Michoacán, and it has a strong presence in several other states. Nationally, it has become an important base of the Mexican left. It is one of the most powerful opponents of the government's embrace of free-market and free-trade policies. Weakening the union and the role of teachers in politics is therefore an important political goal for González and Mexico's corporate elite, as well as the national political parties moving the country to the right.

When Hernández Navarro calls the leaders of Sección 22 hostages, it's no exaggeration. On June 11, President Peña Nieto announced that he would only talk with the teachers if they agreed to two conditions. "The Government of the Republic repeats that it is open to dialogue only when they comply with two conditions: returning to work in the schools of Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacán, and Oaxaca, and accepting the Education Reform."

Taking union leaders hostage, firing thousands, and closing one of Mexico's most progressive institutions are serious violations of human and labor rights, and of the rule of law itself. The support the corporate-friendly Mexican reforms get from US political institutions makes it incumbent on those institutions to speak out against these violations as well. It is time to stop that support. Instead, teachers in the United States, who are resisting similar reforms, should stand in solidarity and help free their Mexican colleagues, which would give them some breathing room as they continue their fight.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36507-why-are-mexican-teachers-under-fire-for-protesting-education-reform

21 highway blockades today in Oaxaca
Food, fuel shortages reported as teacher protests continue

Mexico News Daily | Thursday, June 23, 2016
After 10 days of highway blockades, shortages of fuel, food, medications and cash are becoming evident in Oaxaca, where the economic costs of protests by teachers and allied organizations are now estimated to total 2.7 billion pesos, or US $148 million.

There were 18 blockades reported to be in place two days ago.

Today, despite talks between teachers and the federal government in Mexico City last night, there are three more.

http://mexiconewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/diconsa-400x245.jpg

They are located in all of the state’s eight regions and they have cut off the movement of goods from Mexico City and the states of Puebla, Veracruz, Chiapas and Guerrero. Transport trucks and buses have been denied passage and in some cases, such as Nochixtlán, where violence at a blockade took eight lives on Sunday, passenger cars were being allowed to pass but only after an inspection.

An employee at a supermarket in the city of Oaxaca said the store would have no merchandise within the next few days if the “panic buying” continued.

And as the summer tourist season is supposed to be gearing up, hotels and restaurants lament that sales are moving down. The city’s hotels estimate their losses so far at 150 million pesos; the restaurants, 28 million, while the biggest event of the year and a major tourist draw, the Guelaguetza, faces the possibility of being canceled.

In the rural areas of the state, whose communities are mostly indigenous, the state-run Diconsa stores are also running out of goods. Oaxaca’s 1,850 Diconsa stores serve at least 1.5 million people, many of whom have no other ready source of supplies, particularly at the low prices offered by the chain.

Social Development Secretary José Antonio Meade says that 22 of Diconsa’s 30 Oaxaca warehouses are facing shortages of corn, rice, corn flour, sugar, beans and powdered milk.

Diconsa suspended deliveries to the warehouses after some were set on fire and due to threats that others would be hijacked, said Meade.

Transportation has also been affected as bus lines have suspended service from four of the state’s regions to 36 destinations, as well as departures to Puebla, Chiapas, Veracruz and Mexico City.

Business owners have signaled the situation is critical in the coastal tourist destinations of Huatulco and Puerto Escondido where there are shortages of gasoline, fresh fruit and produce and other supplies.

Meanwhile, Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo yesterday denied that the blockades have led to shortages.

Pemex warned yesterday that lack of highway access to the refinery at Salina Cruz means it cannot guarantee the supply of fuel to its markets in Oaxaca and various locations in Chiapas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Yucatán and the State of México.

If the blockades continue, said Pemex chief José Antonio González Anaya, it will be forced to shut down.

The protest action by members of the CNTE teachers’ union and their allies is intended to press for the repeal of education reforms and the release of union leaders, now in fail facing charges related to the mishandling of funds, money laundering, robbery and others.

- See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/21-highway-blockades-today-in-oaxaca/#sthash.vhnztxDV.R2jodVcZ.dpuf

http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/21-highway-blockades-today-in-oaxaca/

The business sector is getting restless, more and more violent repression to come.

Oaxaca has become a target because Sección 22 proposed its own alternative education reform over six years ago, which concentrated on respecting indigenous culture and forging alliances between teachers, students, parents, and their communities

Well, right there is your "kiss of death". Can't have that kinda shit, not in the US Empire. The Province of Mexico has to get a handle on this; in the imperial homeland they just shoot down malcontents in the streets. I guess the Mexican provincial government got the message...

The business sector is getting restless, more and more violent repression to come.

Yep. Austerity is here. The frog is starting to boil.

http://youtu.be/yQ7PTpQBcwU

STATE TERRORISM AND EDUCATION, THE NEW SPECULATIVE SECTOR IN THE STOCK MARKET June 24, 2016 Facebooktwitterredditpinterest
From SubVersiones
Translated by Scott Campbell

The reasons why the Mexican government wants to impose the Educational Reform, even if it means killing people, as with the massacre in Nochixtlán by repressive state forces on June 19, are rooted in economic objectives guided by international financial organizations. The reform, proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with the OECD-Mexico Agreement to Improve the Quality of Education in Schools of Mexico, aims to lay the groundwork to shift education from being a State responsibility to instead being resolved in the realm of the financial market.

One of the state’s actions accompanying the Educational Reform is the issuing of bonds to the speculative market. Just over a year after the adoption of the reform, in December 2015, the first educational bonds or National School Infrastructure Certificates (CIEN) were issued by the Mexican Stock Exchange, which investors BBVA Bancomer and Merrill Lynch purchased for 8.581 billion pesos.

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When a company or state issues bonds, the investors who buy them are lending them money in exchange for the issuer – in this case the Mexican State – committing to pay the interest at fixed intervals over a predetermined period of time. These payments will be made every six months and by the states and their inhabitants.

With the educational bonds, the state aims to attract investors to this sector and, in a first stage, aims to renovate existing infrastructure and promote the development of new schools and basic services. That is, the state has converted the bonds into a given number of common stocks to attract investors to this sector that, since its establishment, is seen as another company that will have to generate profits for shareholders.

The Educational Reform is part of the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP), guided by the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). In total, 11 structural reforms have been approved: labor, the treasury, education, finance, energy, reform on transparency, political and electoral reform, reform in telecommunications and broadcasting, the new court-ordered protection law, the national criminal procedures code, and reform in economic competition. Twenty-two more reforms still need to be approved.

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According to Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics and former vice president of the World Bank, the Structural Adjustment Programs have four steps: privatization, in which the government sells companies and public institutions to private investors; the liberalization of financial markets, when controls are reduced on the entry and exit of money in the country – in order to attract investors – interest rates are increased; the introduction of market prices, when the government allows the prices of basic food, water and energy to rise; and free trade, which means removing barriers (taxes and tariffs), to foreign products that protect local producers and industries.

If the national teachers movement manages to bring down the educational reform, there will be a path to bringing down all the structural reforms that are occurring in the country’s strategic sectors, such as the energy sector. This is the assessment that teachers are making. This is precisely the fear of the federal government. The government remains closed to dialogue because it already signed all of the international agreements.

Layoffs

The CNTE argues that the educational reform is a model seeking to outsource education by replacing their positions with new contract workers without labor rights, until it turns into a privatized service. The reform is focused on recruitment procedures and teacher supervision and not on true changes to improve education and the working conditions of the teachers.

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According to María Bernardita Zamora, a history teacher in Iztapalapa, one of the poorest areas in the Federal District, and a member of the CNTE (the teachers union fighting the reform), the estimate is that with the reform 60% of the 1.2 million teachers in Mexico today will lose their jobs. So far, 4,000 teachers have been fired for rejecting the educational reform, according to the teacher.

State Terrorism

The teachers of the CNTE have been on a general strike since May 15. Since that date there has been intense plan of mobilizations by the movement, and the state response was brutal repression. In the last week barricades were erected in all regions of the state of Oaxaca, where countless acts of repression by federal and state police were recorded.

On June 18 and 19, the repression led to a massacre. Starting on the 18th, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the battles that began in Zanacatepec extended to Juchitán, Ixtepec, Tehuantepec and Salina Cruz. All barricades reorganized themselves after those failed attempts. Later, on the 19th, the focus of the repression spread to the Mixteca region in Nochixtlán, where for a week teachers, parents and the community in general had maintained barricades to keep the police out of the city of Oaxaca. The repression left at least eight people dead, 27 disappeared and a hundred injured and arrested.

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Despite this situation, the police had to retreat and try at all costs to clear the roads to advance to the state capital. The federal police managed to pass the blockades at Nochixtlán and Huitzo in order to enter the city of Oaxaca, while they received support from reinforcements who were waiting at the airport and other sites.

Hours after the massacre in Nochixtlán, about 20 blockades at the entrance to the city of Oaxaca were attacked. There was at least one person killed by the repressive forces of the state, and hundreds injured and arrested.

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On the same night, the next location expecting repression was the center of the city, specifically the Zócalo (main square), where since May 15 teachers have maintained their encampment. Electricity to this area was cut for a few hours, later being turned back on. Barricades were erected around the Zócalo. In the end, there was no eviction and the camp remains until now.

Meanwhile, the Interior Minister of Mexico issued a statement on Sunday, June 19, where he stated that photographs shared on social networks, which show federal police using firearms against protesters, are totally fake. “The actions of the federal troops are in line with the protocols established to enforce the law without violating human rights,” he said.

Moreover, a gathering of more than 70 civil society organizations issued a humanitarian alert in response to the armed State attack on the civilian population.

Today, June 19, we are witnesses to the extremely violent actions of the Mexican State to repress the teachers and organized society in resistance in various areas of the state of Oaxaca, including the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Nochixtlán and the city of Oaxaca. As a result of excessive use of force, at least six people are dead and dozens wounded and detained.

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Similarly, they say that:

So far the whereabouts of detainees, or the total number of injured and dead are not known. Medical care has not been guaranteed and the civilian population has had to create emergency care sites to meet the overwhelming need of those injured.

Among other points, the statement by civil society organizations denounces the constant criminalization of social protest in Oaxaca. Among the main instances regarding this, it is worth noting:

In May 2013, the arrest of five teachers from Oaxaca: Damián Gallardo Martínez, Lauro Atilano Grijalva Villalobos, Mario Olivera Osorio, Sara Altamirano Ramos and Leonel Manzano Sosa.
In 2015, criminalization and smear campaigns by the media against the teachers have been constantly increasing, along with the process of dismantling the IEEPO (Oaxaca State Institute of Public Education) that happened in July, leaving thousands of teachers in particular risk of not receiving their salaries.
In October 2015, Juan Carlos Orozco Matus, Othón Nazariega Segura, Efraín Picazo Pérez and Roberto Abel Jiménez García were arrested and dozens of arrest warrants against members of Section 22 (the Oaxacan branch of the CNTE) were issued.
In April 2016, Aciel Sibaja Mendoza, finance secretary of Section 22 was arrested.
In May 2016, Heriberto Magariño López, another leader of Section 22 was arrested.
Finally, on June 11, Francisco Villalobos Ricardéz, secretary of Section 22, and a few hours later on June 12, Rubén Núñez Ginez, secretary general of Section 22, were both arrested.
Similarly, various United Nations officials have issued urgent appeals to the Mexican authorities, voicing their concern about human rights violations reported in some of these cases, in particular, arrests without an arrest or search warrant, the use of torture during the subsequent arbitrary detention, and other violations of the rights of detainees.

Political Prisoners

On Saturday, June 11, 2016, at approximately 11pm, more than 1,000 police violently removed the teachers of Section 22, who belong to the CNTE in Oaxaca, the state with the highest concentration of teachers affiliated with the CNTE, 83,000 of the 200,000 in all of Mexico. The teachers were in an encampment in front of the Oaxaca State Institute of Public Education (IEEPO).

The police attacked the teachers from various positions, firing tear gas canisters directly at the teachers. Meanwhile, the teachers reorganized immediately, together with neighbors and anarchist youth, resisting with stones and barricades. After the repression, the teachers went to the Zócalo, where their encampment remains at the moment.

The eviction came after a team of special forces on Saturday afternoon arrested Francisco Villalobos Ricárdez, Organization Secretary of CNTE Section 22, in the city of Tehuantepec in southern Oaxaca, for the theft of books in 2015. Those books are distributed to students for free and are considered property of the Ministry of Public Education. During the theft one person was injured, according to the charges filed against the secretary. Early Sunday morning, the same day as the repression in Oaxaca, Secretary General Rubén Núñez was arrested for the alleged use of illicitly acquired funds. Altogether, seven CNTE members have been detained. Another 24 members of the CNTE in Oaxaca have arrest warrants out against them.



In a press release, the CNTE said that the government has publicly shown that today’s teachers are treated as the worst offenders in the country as several of them are held in maximum security prisons, as they represent a threat to the government of Enrique Peña Nieto and by not allowing the passage of a reform that was dead on arrival, as it is being buried in Oaxaca.

Negotiating Table

The teachers’ movement is calling for an immediate start to negotiations, but the government refuses to open up such a space. Isabel García Velázquez, a teacher and member of the CNTE political commission in Oaxaca from the Coastal region, said:

We are willing to have a national dialogue on education because we have a proposal. An alternative education model is needed in the state of Oaxaca, one that respects the customs, the culture and that is evaluated according to how we live. But they want to impose a reform exclusively in accordance with their own policies. It will not be possible here in Mexico, not here in Oaxaca.

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https://itsgoingdown.org/state-terrorism-education-new-speculative-sector-stock-market/

Solidarity with the struggles in Mexico

To the just demands that come plating Mexican teachers, Peña Nieto's government has responded unleashing a brutal repression against them and the wider popular movement that is ready to fight from, especially in Oaxaca.

These fierce attacks against those who dare to question and oppose the proposed and misnamed "educational reform" which uses measures and pursues similar to those used against teachers of our country objectives, are inserted into a broader framework of attacks the whole working class and popular sectors in Mexico. The bourgeoisie and their governments act exactly the same anywhere and country, whether Mexico, France, Greece or Spain, for instance.

The current capitalism in its imperialist phase of monopoly concentration, has long exceeded the idyllic image of a democracy guarantor of rights and freedoms. In their daily actions, he shows how the bourgeoisie has no doubt impose by whatever means their anti-popular and anti-labor policies, resorting to terrorist and murderous actions without a qualm.

We denounce the significant silence or complicity handling, maintaining the bourgeois media.

In this scenario, no doubt that the only possible way out for the working class and popular sectors is grouping forces to be able to demolish to its foundations the perverse and decrepit capitalist system and start building Socialism-Communism. It is not possible any feedback, or better change management within capitalism. Only the revolutionary path can ensure the emancipation of the oppressed and exploited.

The Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain expresses its solidarity with the Mexican teachers and other sectors in struggle in the country, as well as strong support for the work done by the comrades and the Communist Party of Mexico.

The communists demand that the Mexican government the immediate cessation of all aggression against the working class and Mexican popular sectors and the immediate withdrawal of police forces and the army of the areas where the working and popular struggle develops. The government of Peña Nieto will be directly responsible for all the victims that have caused among the people and those that may occur.

Similarly, the PCPE makes a call to organize a strong response by the working class and popular sectors of our country to express the solidarity of the people with the struggle of Mexican teachers and rejection of the brutal repression that is being developed in Mexico against the workers' movement.

LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE OF MEXICAN MAGISTERIO!

Long live proletarian internationalism!

http://pcpe.es/index.php/internacional/item/2147484833-solidaridad-con-las-luchas-en-mexico

Google Translator

June 29, 2016
Resurgence in Left Politics in Mexico Following Oaxaca Teachers Strike Massacre

John M. Ackerman is a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Editor-in-Chief of the Mexican Law Review and a columnist with both La Jornada newspaper and Proceso magazine. Blog: www.johnackerman.blogspot.com Twitter: @JohnMAckerman

transcript
Resurgence in Left Politics in Mexico Following Oaxaca Teachers Strike MassacreSHARMINI PERIES, TRNN: It’s the Real News Network. I’m Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore.
As the heads of state of the United States, Mexico, and Canada meet in Ottawa, Mexico’s president, Pena Nieto, continues to come under fire at home for the repression of protests that began in Oaxaca last week and is continuing across the country today. Last week, federal police killed about nine protesters, and the violent nature of the repression of those protests continued today. Negotiations between the government of Pena Nieto and the striking teachers union ended with no agreement, except that the shooting of the protesters would be investigated. The teachers’ main demand, though, is that they want the government to reverse the controversial education regulations that had been introduced, but that issue has not yet been addressed.

With us to discuss the latest development in Mexico and its relation to the so-called Three Amigos summit in Ottawa is John Ackerman. John is a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM, and editor in chief of the Mexican Law Review and a columnist with both La Jornada newspaper and Proceso magazine. So good to have you with us, John.

JOHN ACKERMAN: Good to be with you, as always, Sharmini.

PERIES: So, John, in an article that you had published in the Toronto Star this week ahead of Nieto’s visit, you clearly spelled out the direct responsibility that the president of Mexico has for the behavior of the authorities that were present at the strike. Therefore, the nine people that were killed. Is the world leaders meeting with him aware of this direct responsibility? Are they even going to mention it during the visit?

ACKERMAN: It’s really fascinating how the doublespeak of the international press, international press, of course, with the Real News excepted. All the government has to do--and this is not just in Mexico, but generally--all the Mexican government has to do is claim that somehow this was a, a conflict, a clash between two sides, and that was the cause for the deaths, and for the, you know, the New York Times, for Reuters, for all the international agencies to immediately pick that up. And that was the headline last Monday. CNN: Clash Between Teachers and Police Claim Nine Lives.
But thanks to, to God and thanks to internet we have other sources of information. And over the last two days the information has come out very clearly that this was a one-sided massacre by federal forces against teachers. And not only teachers. It’s very interesting, because only a few of the actually dead were teachers. Many of the wounded were. This was principally a teachers movement. But most of the other dead were community members who came out in support of their teachers. Now, this is very important because this speaks to the deaths of the connection between the teachers movement. It’s not just a union movement for higher salaries or specific union issues. This is a community effort in defense of this long tradition of, you know, critical education and the role of teachers within their communities, particularly in the southern part of Mexico.

So we’ll see whether, actually, Obama and Trudeau say anything about human rights in Mexico. It’s doubtful. But here we do have a smoking gun, because even in the Ayotzinapa case, for instance, in which the 43 students were disappeared, it was very clear the federal police and the military were very close to the area and perhaps even participated directly in the violation of the human rights and the disappearance of these kids. But this time we have direct evidence that these are federal police forces at the service of Enrique Pena Nieto, using American-made weapons, tear gas and rifles, to violently repress a teacher, a peaceful teachers protest.

So perhaps now they won’t say anything, but this should wake up, I hope it’ll wake up, at least some of the more conscious advisers to Trudeau and Obama, or in the respective legislatures, to really take a stop here and think about whether it makes sense to fund the Mexican military and security apparatus anymore.

PERIES: And this is particularly ironic because in a place like Canada, where if, for example, the RCMP were to open fire on teachers protesting in Ottawa, it would be headline news. And in this case, the president of Mexico, with the same responsibility, arriving in Ottawa [in this very little] shoutouts. But there was some shoutout, as some of the footage we have shows. What was that all about?

ACKERMAN: Yeah, well, this is very important. There are lots of Mexicans in Canada. There are lots of Canadians from civil society who are aware of what’s actually happening in Mexico. Government, we’ve pretty much given up on government solidarity with civil society in Mexico. Enrique Pena Nieto plays a key role in North American integration and defense in this increasingly complex world, as they say in their studies about this.

So Pena Nieto plays that role, and they’re not going to criticize him. But from society this is very important. And not only in Canada, as they were, I think you’re showing that footage about how there was a group of protesters who were shouting for five minutes straight, “Pena Nieto, you’re an assassin,” as he got out of his motorcade. And he heard that, and he was definitely, I don’t know I’ll say moved, but affected by that.
And that’s very important, for civil society to shout out, to really make Pena Nieto aware that internationally he is not completely living in a world of impunity. Internationally there’s been other shows of solidarity from Argentina, from Spain, and most important unions from Spain, from Podemos itself, and England and France, and throughout South America there’s been solidarity. We’re sort of reviving these international networks which really started to consolidate around the Ayotzinapa case of the 43 students. Which, by the way, are still missing. There is absolutely no progress on where these 43 students are after almost two years.

That’s why it’s so unbelievable that now the Pena Nieto administration will actually be able to get to the bottom of what happened in Nocixtlan and this massacre, first of all because the police are directly under their orders, and second of all, because they’ve shown to the international community and to the Mexican people that they are not interested in independent human rights investigations, but just one coverup after another.
And so this civil society solidarity once again is really the key point here, and it’s really important for people to visit us in Mexico. Come do factfinding missions, read about what’s actually happening in Mexico on the social networks. Please don’t get lost in this media spin which ends up protecting Pena Nieto simply because of the fact that he is a friend of the neoliberal foreign policy of Obama and Trudeau.

PERIES: And tell us more about the political resistance that’s going on in Mexico against the Pena Nieto government lack of response to the disappeared students, as well as these recent developments in terms of protests that the teachers have launched against neoliberal policies, education policies. But there’s more of a groundswell going on in Mexico. Tell us more about that.

ACKERMAN: Yeah. Well, this is the good news. Mexican civil society is very active. It always has been. And in this particular case of this massacre at Oaxaca and within the larger protests against the so-called education reforms, which are not education reforms, these are labor reforms designed to basically fire the most critical and experienced teachers.

But particularly with this massacre there’s been an incredible groundswell, as you mentioned, of protest and mobilizations. Just this last Sunday on the 26th of June, over 200,000 people filled, flowed to the streets of Mexico City. This was a march principally organized by the new opposition party, the [Morena] Party, the left-wing party. It’s sort of similar to Podemos, although I think it has a lot more potential and depth and strength than Podemos does. They brought out hundreds of thousands of people to the street on Sunday. The teachers union also participated in this and other marches, and also the Ayotzinapa parents were calling people to come out in the streets on this Sunday 26th.

So we had all downtown Mexico City [reforma], all the way down [the socalo] to [name inaud.] full of people who are very much aware of what’s actually going on. Now, the government, it’s very interesting. The media, for instance, claimed that there were only 17,000 people on the streets this Sunday, which was actually a ridiculous number which was given by the local police. These local police work for the local government, which is of the old left, the PRD, and who was very much interested, basically, in covering up this incredible insurgence of this new left-wing politics and this alliance that is developing.

This is the really new thing, politically. A real alliance, or at least a rapprochement between the social movements and this new party, where we’re really trying to construct in Mexico a movement party, a party movement called [Morena], along with the teachers and the social movements, which would be something similar to or at least have the same function as [Mas] in Bolivia, or the similar institutions and parties in Ecuador or Venezuela, or the [inaud.] in Brazil.
This is what we’ve been missing. Our left-wing parties have gotten very quickly bureaucratized, and they haven’t had their roots in social movements, and this is a great opportunity to change that and to actually change Mexico through that strategy as well.0

PERIES: All right, John, looking forward to hearing more about the formation of this party, and good to have you with us today.

ACKERMAN: Wonderful as always, Sharmini. [Spanish].

PERIES: Saludo. Thank you for joining us on the Real News Network.
End
DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=16639

Mexican teachers demanding annulment of educational reform

The mobilizations against the educational reform continued Thursday in several cities in Mexico. Parents, teachers and youth of the country demanded the annulment of the legislation because it violates workers' rights and seeks to privatize education services.

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http://www.telesurtv.net/multimedia/Maestros-mexicanos-exigen-anulacion-de-la-reforma-educativa-20160707-0076.html

Google Translator

Mexican teachers announce new protest actions

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Protests against education reform by the Congress have three years in development, but the last month and a half southeast of the country intensified | Photo: EFE
Published July 10, 2016

They will remain on the streets to protest education policies of President Enrique Peña Nieto and request the release of imprisoned union leaders, a month of events Nochixtlán in (Oaxaca).
Mexican teachers agreed further actions against the educational reform of the Executive, during a meeting with social organizations and section 22 of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) in the state of Oaxaca.

One of the activities is scheduled for July 17 called "live Mexico City convoy" and a national mobilization for July 19, the date on which a month of protests in Nochixtlán, Oaxaca is met, which resulted eight dead and dozens injured.

The group warned that in Oaxaca will not stop the protests if union leaders prisoners are not released.

In context

Protests against education reform have three years of development, but in the last month and a half, especially the South East intensified in states like Guerrero, Chiapas and Oaxaca, where is Nochixtlán. In this Oaxacan city, 13 people were killed on June 19 in an operation that the Federal Police and the State Police conducted to dislodge the roadblock of teachers.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Maestros-mexicanos-anuncian-nuevas-acciones-de-protesta-20160710-0023.html

Slaughter of Nochixtltán: one month investigations without progress

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The CNTE demands justice to a month of the slaughter. | Photo: El Universal
Published July 19, 2016

Mexicans complain that government agencies involved in the investigation have not given information about the case.
After a month of brutal repression by police officers against members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) in Nochixtltán, Mexico, is still unknown who were the shooters that killed at least 13 people and they left around 100 injured.

Last June, the members of Section 22 of the CNTE, who are protesting for several months, stepped up their protests following the arrest of its leaders, Francisco Villalobos and Ruben Nunez Ginez. After these actions, the 18th of that month the Federal Police implemented an eviction operation.

One day after about 800 federal and state police conducted an operation to remove roadblocks in the federal highway 190, Oaxaca-Cuacnopalan, and the height of Nochixtlán, where villagers, teachers and members of social groups resisted and they were brutally assaulted .

subsequent actions

- June 29: The Standing Committee of Congress created a Special Commission to this case led by Senator Mariana Gomez del Campo.

- July 6: The Attorney General's Office reported that took over the investigation into alleged crimes of state and federal character.

- July 7: Undersecretary for Human Rights of the Secretariat of Government (Interior Ministry), Roberto Campa, traveled to Nochixtlán to talk for more than five hours with the victims and their families and promised to send medical teams next week, made that did not happen in time and generated disagreements.

- July 17 : municipal and agricultural authorities as well as social organizations and a representation of teachers, began a march-caravan bound for the city of Mexico and along the way made ​​a rally in Nochixtlán, denouncing breaches again by the Interior Ministry .

So far, none of the institutions involved in research have provided information or statements about the case.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Masacre-de-Nochixtltan-un-mes-de-investigaciones-sin-grandes-avances-20160719-0011.html

CNTE in Mexico continues protests against education reform

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These demonstrations came a day before the dialogue table is reinstalled with the Secretariat of Government. | Photo: @linea_caliente
Published July 25, 2016 (7 minutes ago)

CNTE teachers announced that they will continue in the streets during the holiday period to reiterate its rejection of the educational policies of the Mexican government.
Teachers of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) of Mexico continue their demonstrations Monday in different parts of the capital against education reform.

As part of the activities organized by the teachers for this holiday period, educators gathered outside various metro stations and in other parts of the city.

Also, other dissidents of educational reform promoted by President Enrique Peña Nieto, gathered on Avenida Cien Metros and Montevideo, like in Xochimilco.

It is expected that all day teachers perform other mobilizations in Mexico City.

Lock Chiapas airport

Meanwhile, the CNTE of Chiapas announced the blockade on Monday of "Angel Albino Corzo" International Airport, as part of their protest actions.

Through its Facebook page, section 7 Chiapas reported that its State Assembly Standing activity was prescribed from 0600 local time (11H00 GMT) on Monday.

So far, no incidents were reported in the place and magisterial spokesmen said they do not expect any kind of repression by the police, however, they remain alert against a possible eviction.

The teachers also continues with roadblocks and demonstrations throughout the state.

These activities are carried out one day before the dialogue table between the CNTE and the Interior Ministry, where they will discuss the political issue is reinstalled.
>> Mexican Masters not cease protests against education reform


IN CONTEXT

The Coordinator meets Monday 72 days of strikes, sit-ins and demonstrations against education reform.

Protests against this project led by Enrique Peña Nieto have three years of development, but in the last month and a half, especially the South East intensified in states like Guerrero, Chiapas and Oaxaca, in the latter happened the slaughter of Nochixtlán.

Under the assumed premise of raising educational standards in the country, the educational reform of 2013 raises the mandatory assessment for teachers to enter and remain in the education system, as well as to access better wages and to aspire to top positions . Teachers want, among other things, repeal this provision has caused thousands of unfair dismissal.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/CNTE-de-Mexico-continua-manifestaciones-contra-la-reforma-laboral-20160725-0016.html

Google Translator

Mexicans march held this Thursday against EPN #RenunciaYa

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Mexicans march Thursday against President Enrique Peña Nieto. | Photo: Letras Libres
Published September 15, 2016

#RenunciaYa And #MotivosSobran using hashtags, Mexicans call for the march on Thursday against the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Just in remembrance of the 206 years of the Grito de Dolores, act that started the War of Independence of Mexico, users of social networks in that country will conduct Thursday a march in the capital to demand the resignation of President Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN).

With the hashtag #RenunciaYa, they called this demonstration, scheduled to begin at 1700 hours at the Angel of Independence and conclude in the Zocalo.

The march will happen 13 days after the submission of the fourth report of the management of government Peña Nieto.

>> Teachers reject agreements between the Mexican government and CNTE

"The idea is that every citizen find a reason why Enrique Peña Nieto must give up the presidency of Mexico," said Ixchel Cisneros, executive director of the National Center for Social Communication (Cencos). "For that reason hashtags that are used you are #RenunciaYa and #MotivosSobran "he said.

In the case of Cencos, focused on the defense of human rights, the reasons for the resignation of EPN are "serious human rights violations, which may well be grounds for the resignation of a president, not only in Mexico but In other countries".

"We want the presidential figure revalorize, because in the time that has been at the forefront EPN has made impermissible things," said Cisneros. "We can not let something like that happen again," he said.

>> Peña Nieto and his failed GPS

Reasons for #RenunciaYa


The September 26 marks two years after the disappearance of the 43 students of the Ecole Normale Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Ayotzinapa in Iguala, Guerrero.

So far, the Attorney General's Office (PGR) has recorded 168 people by organized crime, local police arrested 130 of Iguala and Cocula and made 651 thousand expert performances and conducted 850 search actions, according to local media.

PGR theory indicates that the 43 students were arrested by police in Iguala, delivered the cartel Warriors States, those who have killed and cremated in the dustbin of Cocula. However, other studies cast doubt on this version.

Relatives of the 43 normalistas still maintain the hope of finding them alive.

Missing, insecurity

A report from the National Public Security System (SNSP) reveals that in Mexico there is an average of 56.1 murder victims a day.

And it reiterates that the tragic disappearance of 43 rural students in September 2014 revealed a crisis of epidemic proportions disappearances. According to official figures, more than 27,000 people are still missing, almost half of them since Peña Nieto came to power in 2012.

Mexico is one of the most dangerous places those who practice journalism.

As for torture between 2013 and 2014, the number of complaints of torture and other ill-treatment at the federal level doubled from one thousand 403 165-2000, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Very few cases are investigated.

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Photo: Revolution Tres Punto Cero

Poverty is increasing percentages

According to the National Council for Evaluation of Social Development Policy, the growth of the population in poverty increased from 53.3 million in 2012 (the year he was elected Peña Nieto) to 55.3 million in 2014; It is reflecting more than 46 percent of the total population.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) identified 6.1 million Mexicans in 2,457 municipalities in extreme poverty with food shortages.

gasolinazo

Prices of gasoline in Mexico in August recorded its strongest growth in 18 years since November 1998.

Last September 1st Mexicans woke up with a new gasolinazo, the second so far this year, according to an announcement from the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP).

For specialists this, apparently small increase, it is a new blow to the pockets of Mexicans and contradicts the assurance given by President Enrique Peña Nieto earlier this year not to increase them.

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Corruption: serious illness of Mexican society

Last year, in Mexico there were more than 30,000 acts of corruption per 100,000 inhabitants.

The cost of corruption in Mexico is five times greater than that recorded worldwide. The Organization of American States (OAS) warns that while the average loss for these acts in the world equivalent to two percent of the world GDP in the Aztec nation is up to 10 percent.

One of the biggest scandals in the current government involved EPN's wife, Angelica Rivera, who in 2012 signed the purchase of a ticket by buying and selling a residence in Lomas de Chapultepec valued at seven million dollars.

The family also has another property in Ixtapan de la Sal, a heavenly city of the State of Mexico, where Peña ruled between 2005 and 2011 and which are related to companies that have been favored by their government.

An investigation by the British newspaper The Guardian, indicates that the first lady is using a luxury property in Florida bought by a company Pierdant Group which, apparently, will make offers to get lucrative government contracts.

These businesses Peña Nieto Family has raised suspicions in Mexico. The journalist who reported the information was dismissed radio program where he worked and has been sued.

Donald Trump's visit to Mexico, the straw that broke the glass of water

In the Mexican journalist Jorge Ramos "the straw that broke the glass of water" in the Mexican people opinion, was the visit to Mexico of the Republican candidate for president of the United States, Donald Trump.

"The blame for Donald Trump's visit to Mexico is President Enrique Peña Nieto and nobody else. Of course, his friends and advisers give ideas. But the executive power lies precisely in decision-making. Peña Nieto stood pechito for punch and bully Trump shattered, "said Ramos in his column The Trompada.

Donald Trump expressed "great respect" the Mexican people, but reiterated to President Peña Nieto, the need to build "a wall to put a stop to immigration" in the common border.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Mexicanos-realizaran-este-jueves-marcha-RenunciaYa-contra-EPN-20160915-0001.html

Videos at link.

Mexico: Demanding justice for the death of two other normalistas

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Funeral of two students from the Normal School Raul Isidro Burgos Rural, Ayotzinapa. | Photo: Nodal
Published October 7, 2016

The normalistas died in the assault by a group of armed men who also was traveling on public transport
The Federation of Socialist Peasant Students of Mexico (FECSM) and students, teachers and parents who participated in the funeral of the two students of the Normal Rural School Raul Isidro Burgos, Ayotzinapa, shot dead last Tuesday, demanded justice for young people and complained that the State intends to end that school.

The assault was perpetrated on a passenger van in Chilpancingo Tixtla-road by a group of armed men who also was traveling on public transport.

Students in Normal Ayotzipana killed were identified as Jonatan Hernandez Morales and Castro Philemon Tacuba, both fourth year.

The FECSM said that hours before his colleagues, along with other travelers, will result dead and others wounded by gunfire, state police repressed the teachers of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers in Guerrero (CETEG) on the streets of Chilpancingo.

'Counting our dead in Ayotzinapa increased to two and that fills us with pain, sadness and anger. Two companions who came for a dignified our Normal school to have a decent job, and killed their dreams', the statement of the FECSM.

The two young normalistas killed in Urvan van returning to Normal located in Tixtla, after performing their social service in a primary of Oaxaca.

official version of the crime

The murder of two other normalistas Ayotzinapa, a robbery occurred in the public transport route Chilpancingo-Tixtla, according to the version of the state government.

Apparently accuracy made the state government for the doubts that arose among students and parents that really were an assault.

The total balance of this episode is four killed, including the two normalistas.

In a statement and press conference they offered Coordination Group spokesman Guerrero, Roberto Alvarez Heredia, and the state attorney general, Xavier Olea Pelaez, explained the official version of events.

The assailants boarded the transport unit as passengers near the dump, on the beltway to Tixtla, threatened the driver to be stopped; They fell users and asked them money and other things to carry.

To pressure them fired in the air. The two normalistas resisted the assault, and shot them.

At the press conference the prosecutor said that the crime was committed with a .22-caliber weapon.

He clarified that the case will investigate the Attorney General of the State, considering criminal offense.

In context

Rural Normal School Raul Isidro Burgos is an educational institution of higher level for young people who are in the town of Ayotzinapa, a small village in the state of Guerrero (Mexico). It is part of rural schools system implemented in 1920, when Moises Saenz (1888-1941) was Secretary of Public Education.

The draft rural normal had a strong component of social transformation, which have been a hotbed of social movements.

On September 26, 2014 dozens of students from the school normalista began a demonstration against the discrimination suffered by the distribution of seats in favor of urban schools by the local government.

municipal police stopped the protest and fired at them. Six students were killed, at least 25 were wounded and 43 disappeared.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Mexico-Reclaman-justicia-por-muerte-de-otros-dos-normalistas---20161007-0004.html

Google Translator

A "robbery"! Right. Murder by death-squad is much more likely.

A "robbery"! Right. Murder by death-squad is much more likely.

The dedication and refusal to being cowed of these young people shames anyone in this country with the pretension of being an 'activist'with the exception of those in prison. Perhaps BLM might forge some if the crucible gets hot enough.

The dedication and refusal to being cowed of these young people shames anyone in this country with the pretension of being an 'activist'with the exception of those in prison. Perhaps BLM might forge some if the crucible gets hot enough.

Agreed,

Oaxaca Ingobernable
Posted by WORLD REVOLUTIONARY FRONT IN DEFENSE OF LIFE AND HUMANITY on OCTOBER 6, 2016

El Enemigo Común
Since June of 2016 — ten years since the uprising that for more than six months this state in the south of Mexico participated in — professors and communities from the eight regions of Oaxaca returned to the streets.

Their main demand is the repeal not only of the educational reform, but also of the whole package of structural reforms better known as the “Pact for Mexico,” which the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto—under the influence of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank—has been trying to impose since 2013.

With these reforms, which seek to privatize education as well as sectors like agriculture, health care, telecommunications, and energy, the Mexican government is directly threatening not just the teachers union but also the people of Mexico in general. Therefore, the movement is not limited to the teachers: “This stopped being a teachers’ movement and it is now a social movement. Why? Because we the people are the ones being most harmed by this in every aspect. For this reason all of the communities are organizing in order to raise our voices,” explained a woman from the Oaxacan town of San Pablo Huitzo.

In contrast to the experience of 2006, during which the resistance was mainly concentrated in the city of Oaxaca, in 2016 blockades were established in practically the whole state. What has not changed is the government’s response to the protests, which continues to be characterized by brutal repression. To this date, hundreds of people have been injured and more than ten assassinated by elements of the police and the government’s gendarmerie.

https://i0.wp.com/subversiones.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Megaproyectos-de-Oaxaca12-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2016/10/06/oaxaca-ingobernable/

Mexico Army Systematically Hiding Figures of Civilians It Kills

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Soldiers of the Mexican Army during a security operation in Tijuana, Mexico. Aug. 2, 2015. | Photo: Reuters

Published 2 December 2016

An investigation showed that for the last four years, the Mexican army won't give figures of civilians killed by them.
Since President Enrique Peña Nieto took office in Mexico, the army has stopped reporting on the number of civilian deaths at the hands of the military, according to an investigation by local media outlet Animal Politico.

"They don't mention dead civilians anymore, they've disappeared from official speech and there's simply no way of exactly knowing those figures," report Animal Politico. Since the beginning of Peña Nieto's administration, which began in December 2012, the military has refrained from informing the public about these figures, it claims.

The latest official statistic provided by the military states that between 2006 when Mexico's drug war began up until August 2012, 3,000 people were killed by the military including 56 civilians who were not involved in drug trafficking.

When asked about compensation provided to the families of victims, the army acknowledged it had provided compensation to the families of 12 victims between 2008 and 2011, but left out figures for the current administration.

From the Peña Nieto administration, the military does however recognize 32 payments between 2013 and 2014 amounting to US$7.8 million, according to Animal Politico.

But this figure fails to take into account a a raft of abuses, such as the 22 people who were killed on June 30, 2014, in Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, 15 of whom were executed. The military personnel involved in the incident were not charged with any crime.

The Mexican military has refused to release official figures despite the Institute for National Transparency and Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data requesting it do so on multiple occasions. In contrast, the army publishes statistics on the number of personnel killed in its own ranks. According to the army, 489 members of its ranks died between Dec. 1, 2006 and Oct. 31, 2016.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Mexico-Army-Systematically-Hiding-Figures-of-Civilians-It-Kills-20161202-0023.html

Video at link.

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32 Bodies, 9 Severed Heads Discovered in Mass Graves in Mexico

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Clandestine graves are seen at Pueblo Viejo, in the outskirts of Iguala, Oct. 7, 2014. | Photo: Reuters

Published 25 November 2016

Officials said they will continue the search for more clandestine graves in the area.
Authorities in Mexico have exhumed 32 bodies and nine heads from at least 20 secret mass graves in the violence-ridden southern state of Guerrero.

The discovery was made in the town of of Zitlala, an area plagued by drug violence and cartels. Officials said they will continue the search for any additional hidden graves around the area.

The bodies and human remains were exhumed by experts from the attorney general of Guerrero and forensic personnel. They were already transferred to the state’s capital Chilpancingo "to initiate the necessary investigation," authorities said.

State security spokesman Roberto Alvarez told AFP the graves had been discovered following an anonymous tip, which led to the discovery of a kidnapping victim. He also said four heads were found "inside a cooler."

"It is worth mentioning that, of the 20 graves, only in 17 were human remains found, and so far none have been identified and there are no detainees who can be alleged to have been responsible," he added.

Guerrero is probably the country's most violent state, riddled with deadly clashes between rival drug cartels and gangs.

Over the past decade, Mexican authorities have found countless human remains hidden in secret mass graves across the country. According to human rights organizations, the experts almost never manage to find the identity of those found.

A couple of months ago the government said a total of 27,659 people have disappeared since 2007, in addition to over 100,000 killed in connection to drug violence.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/32-Bodies-9-Severed-Heads-Discovered-in-Mass-Graves-in-Mexico-20161125-0005.html

Video at link.

236 normalists in Chiapas, Mexico arrested during protest

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Parents and teachers began to focus on the facilities of the State Attorney General, headquartered in the capital, to demand the release of young people. | Photo: The Journey

Published 4 May 2017 (12 hours 54 minutes ago)

"The detention is unjustified, so we demand their immediate and unconditional release," said one of the youth's parents.

Police in Chiapas, southern Mexico, detained 236 normal students accused of alleged vandalism while conducting volanteo actions in Tuxtla Gutierrez, one of the youth's parents said.

The parents, who requested anonymity, reported that the detainees on Thursday afternoon, men and women, belong to the Coordinator of Student Normalists of Chiapas (Cenech), who participated in the three-day fight day held in Tuxtla Gutierrez By the chiapaneco magisterium against the educational reform of the Mexican Government.

"The arrest is unjustified, so we demand their immediate and unconditional release," added one of the parents who said the students were moving in three buses.

Probably, the government accuses them of looting an Oxxo store last Wednesday in the municipality of Ocozocoautla, adjacent to Tuxtla Gutierrez, added the father of family.

The Secretary of Security and Citizen Participation confirmed the arrest of 144 men and 92 women, who were allegedly caught looting vehicle units of various companies, at the height of "La Carreta"; While other groups were aboard pre-hijacked buses.

This new case of arbitrary detention in Mexico reminds the 43 students of the Normal Rural School Raúl Isidro Burgos de Ayotzinapa, disappeared since September 26, 2014, when they were attacked in Iguala, Guerrero state, by the local police. In the fact they were 10 normalists wounded, three dead and 43 disappeared. Since that night no one knows his whereabouts.

Parents of 43 of Ayotzinapa held on Thursday May 4. sit until a response from the Attorney General's Office of Mexico on the whereabouts of their children.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Detienen-durante-protesta-a-236-normalistas-en-Chiapas-Mexico-20170504-0075.html

Google Translator

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Parents of the 43 of Ayotzinapa will transfer demands to the IACHR

http://www.telesurtv.net/__export/1489046526556/sites/telesur/img/news/2017/03/09/manifestantes_por_el_caso_ayotzinapa_26-02_reuters.jpg_1718483347.jpg
"Live them!" Is the watchword kept by parents. | Photo: Reuters

Published March 9, 2017

"The IACHR is the appropriate forum before which the Mexican State has to account for the meager progress in the investigation and search of our children," say the representatives of the students.

The Assembly of Parents of the 43 disappeared normal of Ayotzinapa, locality of the Mexican state of Guerero, decided to transfer its demands to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR).

Since the Attorney General's Office (PGR) "does not offer guarantees of answers to the questions they raised at the meeting on February 9th," the parents decided to cancel the meeting that was scheduled for Thursday with the body.

On February 9, members of the Assembly of parents met with the Attorney General of the Republic, Raúl Cevantes, and the Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong.

At the meeting the dialogue was re-established and a compromise between the parties was signed.

Through a statement, they reported that the demands of the Ayotzinapa case will be taken to the hearing that the IACHR granted them for next March 17 in the city of Washington, United States.

"The IACHR is the appropriate forum before which the Mexican State has to account for the meager progress in investigating and seeking our children," said the representatives in the text.

According to the official version, rejected by relatives and questioned by international experts, the young men were then handed over to a cell of United Warriors who killed them and incinerated them in a garbage dump in Cocula, before throwing their ashes into the river.

The IACHR's follow-up mechanism has already been twice in Mexico, as part of its six scheduled visits this year.

http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Padres-de-los-43-de-Ayotzinapa-trasladaran-exigencias-a-la-CIDH-20170309-0006.html

Google Translator

Videos at link.

Mexico Rights Groups Slam Police Brutality One Year After Oaxaca Massacre

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Archive photo of the police clash with teachers on strike in Nochixtlan, Oaxaca. | Photo: Reuters

Published 18 June 2017 (23 hours 57 minutes ago)

The town of Nochixtlan, Mexico, still demands justice for the violent police crackdown that left at least 10 dead.
Residents and human rights organization in Mexico have criticized the lack of justice after the killing of at least 10 people in Nochixtlan, Oaxaca, one year ago, in a case they condemned as police brutality and an attempted cover-up by the state.

The Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of the People of Oaxaca, the National Human Rights Commission and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights visited the area and talked to some of the survivors of the violent incident, resulting in damning findings.

"The lag in the equal enjoyment of human rights, in particular economic, social and cultural rights, has historically generated a clamor for social justice that has not been properly addressed," the organizations said in a statement.

Santiago Ambrosio, president of the Victims Committee, said the investigation by the Attorney General's office had not produced names of those responsible.

"Are we not children of our own people? If we have the same origin, why does the government put us against our own people?" Ambrosio said to Mexico's La Jornada newspaper.

According to eye-witnesses, at least 10 people were killed and hundreds injured during violent repression of protesters on June 19, 2016, in the municipality of Nochixtlan, in the southern state of Oaxaca.


About 800 policemen attempted to evict more than 500 teachers from a road blockade on the Oaxaca-Puebla highway. Gunfire erupted, leading to clashes that lasted approximately four hours, and people were bombarded with tear gas and other crowd control munitions.

"Any use of force by the authorities that causes wounded or dead should be investigated in a thorough, diligent and impartial manner to determine the administrative and criminal responsibilities that may occur, including the responsibility of the superior officers who participated directly in the facts," the organizations said.

Villagers say unidentified men in civilian clothes opened fire from several buildings against members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers, or CNTE, teachers’ union. The demonstration was part of a national strike against the neoliberal education reforms implemented by the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto beginning in 2013.

Human rights organizations blamed state security officials, whom they accused of human rights abuses, excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial executions. Victims and relatives of those killed have repeatedly accused the government of attempting to engage in a cover-up.

The event was the most violent confrontation between civilian protesters and federal police since the force was instituted in 1999. No police were killed in the clashes.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Mexico-Rights-Groups-Slam-Police-Brutality-One-Year-After-Oaxaca-Massacre-20170618-0016.html