Something doesn't add up in Oaxaca.
Yesterday, teachers of the dissident Section 22 of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE), clashed with federal and state police in Oaxaca city, site of a visit by President Felipe Calderón. Notably, the teachers (if that is what they are) loudly attacked the government of Gabino Cué for its "aggression," and declared it would launch a strike, blockades, "take" and occupy the government house, and so forth.
This just doesn't make sense. This rush to denounce Gabino Cué smells of a rat. For one, most of the police were federal, and were there due to Calderón's visit. To pin the tag of "depressor" on Cué seems really out of place.
Second, yesterday I watched Milenio TV, a very decent canal of live Mexican television news (if you can stand the usual sexism of Mexican TV: Weather ladies dressed like prostitutes). From these images, rather than a group of peaceful demonstrators being attacked by cruel police, the picture actually looked quite the opposite: The police were cowering behind shields, while very aggressive demonstrators were attacking them, hurling objects, and setting police and other cars on fire, and including a huge bus.
I don't mean in any way to downplay the very serious and recurrent issue of police brutality, especially from the Federal police and the EMP, the presidential guard, which has been on display far too often. In this case, the demonstrators might, for instance, well have been angered by previous police actions. But from what I saw in the televised images from Milenio, SNTE Sección 22 simply looked ready for a fight.
While their anger against Calderón would seem to stem from the recent decree that allows tax deduction for tuition for private schools - in effect, a subsidy of the middle and upper class - it seems to me the teacher union was simply too eager to take on the state government, which, as it were, only weeks ago declared it would eliminate the so-called aviadores from the state's pay rolls, or "teachers" who are teachers in name only yet still draw a salary from the state.
In Oaxaca, then, I think I smell a rat.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Mexico and the negation of reality
Early chroniclers of Mexico often noted that they had never been in a country where so often people spoke of the virtues and importance of following the law, yet that to such a remarkable degree went on to completely disregard it.
I find one parallel to this in the various interviews the past days with the PRI front runners to replace Enrique Peña Nieto as governor of Mexico: All deny the personal ambitions, as they are desperately jocking for positions behind the scenes, while they at the same time outwardly emphasize it really only is a case of what is best for the party and the state - no personal ambitions here!
Latest in the line of denial: Ricardo Aguilar, head of the PRI in the state:
I find one parallel to this in the various interviews the past days with the PRI front runners to replace Enrique Peña Nieto as governor of Mexico: All deny the personal ambitions, as they are desperately jocking for positions behind the scenes, while they at the same time outwardly emphasize it really only is a case of what is best for the party and the state - no personal ambitions here!
Latest in the line of denial: Ricardo Aguilar, head of the PRI in the state:
Q: "Would you like to be a candidate?Right.
A: "It is not a personal issue, as I have said before. At this point it will be whomever best suits the party, and best suits Mexico State."
Polls favor PRD-PAN alliance in Mexico state; vote to be held in a month
Luis Sánchez Jiménez, the very able leader of PRD in Mexico State, announced that the citizen poll to decide on a possible PRD-PAN alliance will be held in a month, between March 6-16.
The vote will be organized by Alianza Cívica and the NGO Propuesta Cívica. Sánchez Jiménez noted that a Feb. 1 IPSOS poll revealed that the mexiquenses back an alliance 45-31, with 24 undecided.
Note, though, that the vote will only be open to registered PAN and PRD members, not the society-at-large.
Sánchez Jiménez has declared the PRD in Mexico State, which supports a PRD-PAN alliance, will respect a loss in the poll. Andrés Manuel López Obrador has not made any similar promise, but on the contrary openly declared he will oppose an alliance in any case, despite all his rhetoric of listening to the "people."
The vote will be organized by Alianza Cívica and the NGO Propuesta Cívica. Sánchez Jiménez noted that a Feb. 1 IPSOS poll revealed that the mexiquenses back an alliance 45-31, with 24 undecided.
Note, though, that the vote will only be open to registered PAN and PRD members, not the society-at-large.
Sánchez Jiménez has declared the PRD in Mexico State, which supports a PRD-PAN alliance, will respect a loss in the poll. Andrés Manuel López Obrador has not made any similar promise, but on the contrary openly declared he will oppose an alliance in any case, despite all his rhetoric of listening to the "people."
Infighting among Mexican miners: Dissident miners union turns one year
A week ago, the national metal miners union, Sindicato Nacional Minero Metalúrgico "Napoleón Gómez Sada" turned one year. The union, led by Carlos Pavón, was formed by miners opposed to the leadership of Napoleón Gómez Urrutia (the son of Gómez Sada), who lives in self-imposed exile in Canada accused of embezzlement and is the nominal head of Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalurgicos y Similares de la Republica Mexicana (yes, that is the full name!), or SNTMMSRM for short.
Napoleón Gómez Urrutia has been hailed as a hero standing up for miners right by his backers, which include Andrés Manuel López Obrador, though the reason for his exile is an arrest order for having misappropriated about 55 million dollars from a trust fund for the miners, following the privatization of the historic Cananea mine in 1989. Carlos Pavón as recently as Sunday accused him of fomenting destabilization and violence in Mexico through shock groups, and held Gómez Urrutia responsible for the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster of February 2006.
Gómez Urrutia, unlike his father (whom the new dissident union is named after), has notably never worked a day as a miner but has lived his entire life in extraordinary luxury, to the chagrin of dissident workers. Yet he is also reviled by the infamous Grupo México, which also owns the Pasta de Conchos mine, where 65 workers died in a 2006 explosion. Grupo México has yet to find it worthwhile to retrieve their bodies, most of them still buried there, although they are the largest mining company in Mexico and the third largest in the world.
Carlos Pavón, formerly the union's secretary for political affairs, therefore set up a dissident union last year, and argues that the new union, now with 6,500 members, is to reach 10,000 shortly.
However, another dissident miner group, Alianza Minera Nacional (AMN), was already in existence, claiming 14,000 members, and AMN has in turn accused Carlos Pavón of betrayal and dividing the opposition to Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, whom the Mexican government has sought for years to be extradited to face charges.
As for Napito, or "Napo the Second" as Gómez Urrutia is often referred to, his days as leader of the Mexican miners may be coming to an end. The union leader certainly won't go quietly; nor should one expect the infighting among his dissidents to end anytime soon.
Napoleón Gómez Urrutia has been hailed as a hero standing up for miners right by his backers, which include Andrés Manuel López Obrador, though the reason for his exile is an arrest order for having misappropriated about 55 million dollars from a trust fund for the miners, following the privatization of the historic Cananea mine in 1989. Carlos Pavón as recently as Sunday accused him of fomenting destabilization and violence in Mexico through shock groups, and held Gómez Urrutia responsible for the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster of February 2006.
Gómez Urrutia, unlike his father (whom the new dissident union is named after), has notably never worked a day as a miner but has lived his entire life in extraordinary luxury, to the chagrin of dissident workers. Yet he is also reviled by the infamous Grupo México, which also owns the Pasta de Conchos mine, where 65 workers died in a 2006 explosion. Grupo México has yet to find it worthwhile to retrieve their bodies, most of them still buried there, although they are the largest mining company in Mexico and the third largest in the world.
Carlos Pavón, formerly the union's secretary for political affairs, therefore set up a dissident union last year, and argues that the new union, now with 6,500 members, is to reach 10,000 shortly.
However, another dissident miner group, Alianza Minera Nacional (AMN), was already in existence, claiming 14,000 members, and AMN has in turn accused Carlos Pavón of betrayal and dividing the opposition to Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, whom the Mexican government has sought for years to be extradited to face charges.
As for Napito, or "Napo the Second" as Gómez Urrutia is often referred to, his days as leader of the Mexican miners may be coming to an end. The union leader certainly won't go quietly; nor should one expect the infighting among his dissidents to end anytime soon.
Aristegui's back at MVS
Well, not quite, though soon: In a joint communique, MVS Radio and Carmen Aristegui announced that the journalist will be back at the radio station the coming Jan. 21.
The joint statement, which can be read here, referred to demands from its listeners for her reinstatement, and moreover to its code of ethics, noting that an ombudsman would be appointed who will evaluate the station's content based on this code of ethics, which MVS radio had accused Aristegui of breaking. No apology was offered to Aristegui, which she had previously demanded.
I wonder if we'll ever know more about what led to her dismissal: Was any pressure coming from the presidential office of Felipe Calderón, or was this simply an independent decision by the company?
In any event: This is wonderful news.
The joint statement, which can be read here, referred to demands from its listeners for her reinstatement, and moreover to its code of ethics, noting that an ombudsman would be appointed who will evaluate the station's content based on this code of ethics, which MVS radio had accused Aristegui of breaking. No apology was offered to Aristegui, which she had previously demanded.
I wonder if we'll ever know more about what led to her dismissal: Was any pressure coming from the presidential office of Felipe Calderón, or was this simply an independent decision by the company?
In any event: This is wonderful news.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)