Deadly Assault by Mexican Police on Striking Teachers Leaves 10 Dead, Dozens More Injured and 22 Disappeared. with Laura Carlsen, Americas Program, Center for International Policy
There is an urgent situation facing teachers and their union,the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educacio n (CNTE/SNTE), in Mexico. On June 19, teachers in the town of Nochixtlon, Oaxaca, were fired upon with live ammunition by the Federal Police as part of the effort by Mexican Pres Enrique Pena Nieto to break the nationwide strike by teachers against the government's privatizing "education reform" program. The peaceful demonstration in Nochixtl n was also held to demand the immediate release from prison of the three top elected union officers of Section 22 of the CNTE/SNTE, the union representing the teachers in the state of Oaxaca. These union leaders had been jailed and sent to a federal prison more than 1,000 miles away by the government on trumped-up charges. Ten people in Nochixtln were killed by the Federal Police, with dozens more wounded, and 22 disappeared. Protest organizers also informed the Deputy Counsel of Mexico that labor and community activists across the United States are demanding that the U.S. government halt all military aid to Mexico, as the weapons made available to the Mexican Federal Police to repress the teachers have all been sent by the United States under the Plan M rida. The anti-union repression against striking teachers in Mexico -- following on the heels of the so-called "reforms" imposed by the international financial institutions (IMF, OECD, World Bank, etc.) -- concerns all workers and trade unions the world over.
produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
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