The mess continues

There are so many threads to the issues it is hard to take it all in.  All I can say is at least people are actively involved unlike other places.  Imagine if people mobilized this way in the US... but I digress.

Things continue to intensify.  Parents are going on hunger strikes, changing locks on the doors to schools and complaining about all the money they have had to shell out already for supplies and uniforms.  There are marches and blockades - the airport again - both anti and pro.  The public is aware and involved.

from LAHT

Mexican lawmakers’ approval of a measure subjecting teachers to a comprehensive regime of evaluation represents a triumph over “pressure and group interests,” President Enrique Peña Nieto said Monday.

The legislation, part of a package of bills needed to implement the educational overhaul Peña Nieto promulgated in February, passed the lower house of Congress Sunday night by a vote of 369-69 with four abstentions.
Teacher evaluation is “transcendental for achieving quality in education,” the president said, adding that he expects the Senate to take up the measure soon.

Members of the militant CNTE union, which represents a third of the country’s public school teachers, have mounted a series of protests in Mexico City against what they describe as a “punitive” teacher-evaluation scheme.

Demonstrations by teachers temporarily forced senators and representatives to abandon the legislative chambers and continue their deliberations at a nearby business center.

CNTE members also besieged the headquarters of Mexico’s two national television networks and briefly shut down the main road into the capital’s international airport.

“Democracy respects minorities,” but minorities must in turn respect democracy and institutions, Peña Nieto said Monday.

Acknowledging that a “good part of those who oppose” his schools overhaul come from poor, marginalized states such as Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero, the president said his 2014 budget proposal will include extra educational funding for those regions.

 From McClatchy

President Enrique Pena Nieto, facing a sudden downturn in his political fortunes, vowed Monday to forge ahead with a sweeping restructuring of the state despite a slumping economy, promising that “the great transformation of Mexico is possible.”

Pena Nieto called on legislators not to back down in the face of surging civil unrest against proposals that he said would improve schools, put the economy on sounder footing and unshackle the nation’s energy potential.

“Let’s be audacious and dare to make the great leap in our development,” Pena Nieto said in an annual address to the nation. 

Pena Nieto hailed the Chamber of Deputies for approving a proposal late Sunday that would take away control of school jobs from powerful unions and require teachers to face evaluations. The Chamber last week suspended the vote as tens of thousands of striking teachers flooded the capital’s streets.

The 47-year-old leader delayed his speech for a day and issued it in the safety of Los Pinos, the presidential residence, rather than brave a journey across the city to the National Palace. Teacher protests have shut down major boulevards, and led to clashes with riot police.

“Education reform will advance. I say it with all conviction,” Pena Nieto said, adding that it was part of his government’s broader efforts to reduce entitlement and economic advantage enjoyed by a minority of Mexico’s 118 million citizens.....

The question these days is if Pena Nieto overplayed his hand in the past month, piling on reform proposals too quickly. Just as he announced a watershed proposal Aug. 12 to open the state oil industry to foreign investment, striking teachers began to congregate in the capital. They’ve since been joined by leftists opposed to relaxing a state grip on the national oil company and a smattering of anarchists.

How long will this go on?  The confluence of issues could get out of control and oaxaqueños are worried about a repeat of 2006, the year of conflict and collapse.  The economy has still not recovered.   Something has to give at some point.  Again, think about all the issues involved: education, workers rights, oil, taxes, poverty, corruption and of course, the whole cartel thing.  It's ugly and hard to see a positive resolution. 

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/02/201019/dont-wobble-on-reforms-mexican.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/02/201019/dont-wobble-on-reforms-mexican.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/02/201019/dont-wobble-on-reforms-mexican.html#stor