Striking teachers make their presence felt in Mexico City
| Mexico City
Mexico City's government offices, housed in a colonial palace, look onto the sprawling Zocalo plaza 鈥� one of the world鈥檚 largest public squares. But this week the plaza has all but disappeared under a tent city constructed by a striking teachers' union.
They are protesting a federal education reform that hinges their job security on their performance in evaluations. Thousands have taken over the Zocalo and nearby streets. Elsewhere in the city,聽teachers blocked first the lower house of congress and then the senate, forcing deputies and senators to meet in a convention center to continue their August special session, according to the聽聽(link in Spanish).聽The city estimates there are 19,000 protesters in all.
The teachers 鈥撀爉ostly from Mexico鈥檚 southern states, and who belong to a wing of the powerful union 鈥� are angering city residents with their tactics, which include marches that have worsened already stultifying traffic jams.
On Friday聽afternoon, another large block of protesting educators swarmed a key access road to the international airport.
Under heavy criticism, Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera called for calm in a聽Thursday聽press conference.
鈥淲e must avoid confrontation,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e must avoid violent encounters. At all cost we must avoid that this could escalate to other scenarios."
In a television interview聽Thursday, Senate President Ernesto Cordero said, 鈥淭hose who should be governing and maintaining the public order are not doing it.鈥�
A patchwork quilt of colorful plastic tarps, strung up every which way across the Zocalo, provides little shelter from the city鈥檚 heavy summer rains. Beneath, the teachers gather in groups, snooze on sleeping bags, or otherwise try to pass the time amid the endless rows of tents.
How long will the protest last?
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know,鈥� says Erendira Mendoza, a preschool teacher from the indigenous Mixteca region of Oaxaca who arrived聽Tuesday. 鈥淲e鈥檒l stay until we secure a solution that鈥檚 favorable to us.鈥�
Ms. Mendoza says one of the teachers鈥� primary complaints is that the education reform 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 take into account the context鈥� of their rural indigenous communities.聽The congress is currently working to pass the secondary laws that will make the reform effective.
聽Meanwhile, students across Oaxaca and states including Guerrero and Tabasco went without classes during what should have been their first week of school. Mexico鈥檚 corrupt education system underperforms across many metrics, and the southern states fall even further behind.
Eduardo Gonzalez, a lawyer, tried to weave his way through the tent city to take care of business at the city government. He was not a fan of the teachers' actions.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e obstructing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t makes me angry. Why does the government allow them to do this?鈥� 聽
