Oaxaca Teachers’ Strike Jeopardizes Presidential Balloting in State

A conflict between striking teachers and the government of Oaxaca is threatening to envelope the southern state in crisis ahead of the July 2 presidential election, with the teachers promising a new wave of mobilizations this week.

The strike, which began as a demand for significant wage increases, has evolved into a political dispute, with the teachers now calling for the resignation or impeachment of Gov. Ulises Ruiz.

Thousands of teachers have occupied the center of Oaxaca city since mid-May, pitching tents in the main plaza. Just before dawn Wednesday, Ruiz ordered police to clear the area. At least 66 people were injured in the ensuing street battle, which saw protesters set cars on fire and police beat sleeping teachers with truncheons, according to Mexico’s national human rights commission.

The protesters later reoccupied the plaza. On Saturday, 17 people remained hospitalized, authorities said.

Most teachers in the state earn $600 to $700 per month. Many teachers complain of government corruption in a state still dominated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which until 2000 had ruled Mexico for seven decades as a virtual one-party nation.

“To start a teaching career, they evaluate you.... But in Oaxaca, many leaders and teachers get promoted without taking any test,” teacher Julio Salinas Hernandez told the newspaper El Universal. “They cash in their friendships” with officials, he added.

The strike has shuttered classrooms serving about 1.3 million children. Ruiz says his state does not have the money to meet the teachers’ demands.

In recent weeks, protesting teachers have blocked the road to the city’s airport, disrupting the region’s tourist industry. They have also blockaded fuel deposits and the offices organizing the presidential election.

On Sunday, the Mexico City newspaper Milenio quoted the head of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute in Oaxaca as saying the ongoing dispute had put in doubt whether the election could go forward in the state.

“It’s a matter that’s not in our hands, that we can’t control,” election commissioner Jorge Garcia Revilla said.

Even without the teachers’ conflict, organizing an election in Oaxaca is a difficult matter, Garcia added. A land fight involving Triqui Indians and local disputes among rival candidates have delayed federal authorities’ efforts to establish precincts in several rural areas.

“We’re hoping that everything is resolved quickly so that there is a better electoral climate,” Garcia said.

On Thursday, the federal Interior Ministry sent mediators to the state. On Saturday, the mediators rejected a demand by the teachers union that the government establish a special body to study impeachment proceedings against the governor.

The resignation or impeachment of the governor “is not part of this negotiation,” said Ismael Urzua Camelo, an official with the Interior Ministry. “We came here to resolve an education matter.”

Enrique Rueda Pacheco, a leader of the teachers union, said the resignation of the governor has become a demand not just of the teachers but also “of all the people of Oaxaca.”