Teachers from the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE) clashed with capital police and elite Federal Preventative Police at blockades of the federal Government Ministry and the central offices of the national TV network Televisa in Mexico City May 31. The blockades were called to protest the reform now pending in Mexico's Congress of the State Workers Social Services and Security Institute (ISSSTE). Televisa was chosen as a target because the CNTE says its reportage has mis-represented their cause, and to demand that their statements be given air time. The protesters also demanded the nationalization of Televisa as well a halt to the proposed semi-privatization of the ISSSTE.
A series of protests and street blockades against the ISSSTE reform have been held in Mexico City in recent days by the CNTE as well as the union representing teachers at the national university, STUNAM. (La Jornada [2], May 31)
The CNTE is a dissident current within the National Syndicate of Education Workers (SNTE), Mexico's giant teachers union.
See our last posts on Mexico [3] and the teachers struggle [4].
