The SNTE, led by Nueva Alianza politician Elba Esther Gordillo, began a strike May 21 to reject government-mandated performance evaluations for teachers and standardized tests for students. Despite an internal vote to suspend the strike and negotiate with the government, SNTE leaders said approximately 21,000 members would travel to Mexico City from Oaxaca to continue protests. The SNTE also announced a march in Oaxaca scheduled for June 14.
Mexican teachers' unions are a powerful political force and have shut down cities with protests in the past. Despite the apparent peaceful nature of the current demonstrations, the SNTE and CNTE actions could disrupt trade and the movement of people and could threaten security more than the 2006 Oaxaca clashes. In the ongoing campaign against reforms, demonstrations — sometimes involving thousands of teachers — have occurred in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacan and Nayarit and in the Federal District. The 2006 protests that pitted leftist groups against federal authorities were contained to Oaxaca and focused on unions' accusing former Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz of corruption. The current demonstrations are nationwide and cover a broader range of union demands.
Although the SNTE and CNTE are working together to organize the current strikes and protests, the unions are not in perfect harmony. SNTE leader Gordillo has significant influence in Mexico City because of her union's capacity for mass mobilization and her political connections to the National Action Party and PRI politicians, including Pena Nieto. The CNTE has called for Gordillo's ouster as SNTE head — although her political ties have given her the position for life — based on allegations of corruption and on her open support for the government's education reforms.
The CNTE's demands reflect the political divide in the run-up to Mexico's elections. The union rejected Gordillo's approval of the education reforms and her apparent alliance with presidential frontrunner Pena Nieto. Her alignment with conservative politicians and their initiatives puts Gordillo at odds with the teachers' unions, whose members support Lopez Obrador. This has affected Gordillo's ability to control the SNTE. Meanwhile, the protests give Lopez Obrador an opportunity to increase his visibility. He is already becoming more popular, according to national polls, as tensions rise between the poor and the political elite in Mexico. While the teachers' unions continue protesting, he can publicly show support for them and, in return, the union members will voice support for Lopez Obrador.
The unions' nationwide protests likely will increase in size and frequency in the coming weeks. The protests illustrate the overall dynamic in the competition for Mexico's presidency, with unions and university student groups already relying on mass mobilizations as a show of support for Lopez Obrador.
