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Hector Vivero (Development Studies Major)
“The SNTE and the Democratic Transition in Mexico”
Sponsor: Professor Mark Healey, History
Project Description
The 2000 presidential election ended seventy one years of Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Instituiconal, PRI) government in Mexico. Faced with new political circumstances, the institutions created by the “perfect dictatorship” were forced to adapt to the Mexican Transition to Democracy. The purpose of this project is to investigate the responses of the National Teachers’ Union (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educacion, SNTE), formerly one of the most important strongholds for PRI domination. Since the democratic transition involved a decentralization of responsibilities to state and local authorities now governed by three different political parties, the SNTE faces an enormous challenge to its political power. Based on interviews and observations in three states, Hector aims to find out if the clientelist systems of control which once characterized the SNTE’s national domination will persist at the regional level.
Scholar's Photo
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Hector taking a hike in the Oaxacan Sierra after interviewing local teachers.
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Scholar's Journal
There is no question that the Haas Scholars Program is full of surprises. I just arrived to Mexico and my project suddenly took an unexpected turn. While running some errands in Mexico City, I ran into some teachers from Michoacan who were protesting in Mexico City´s main square. They were opposing the education and Social Assistance System reforms that President Fox proposed because, if approved, their access to social services would be severely limited. They were also supporting the strike of the Oaxacan teachers movement that demanded an increase in wages. After talking to the teachers, I postponed my trip to the state of Michoacan and decided to go to Oaxaca where the teachers were being brutally repressed by the police. What began as a local issue in Oaxaca became a national priority for the teacher's union (SNTE/CNTE).
When I arrived to Oaxaca's capitol, its main square looked like a campground. Initially, teachers were very suspicious about giving me information because several officers were trying to infiltrate the movement. After a while they told me about a massive protest scheduled for the following day that the governor was organizing against them. Teachers knew that the governor was recruiting volunteers throughout the state by paying $20 usd for people to participate in the march. Teachers were afraid of the possibility of being repressed again. In fact, they advised me that if I was planning on being at the main square the next day, I should bring a coke, water and something to cover my mouth and nose in case the government was to launch tear gas, as they had done the week before.
The following morning was very tense. There were teachers blocking the access to the main square on every street with buses, shopping carts and whatever they had. Some teachers were carrying baseball bats, sticks, and stones in order to defend themselves from the police who killed four teachers and took many others hostages the week before. I managed to cross the blockades with my UCB ID. I was walking around the main square when one teacher advised me to go to the union´s headquarters to ask for a teacher ID card, so that other teachers would not confuse me with a reporter. Teachers were angry with the press because they said newscasters were favoring the Oaxacan government. When I went to the union headquarters, I talked to the press director. He authorized my teacher ID card and invited me to the press conference that was scheduled for that afternoon. While waiting, a police helicopter started flying right above the union's offices. One police officer was pointing at us with tear gas launchers, but left when teachers started to throw small firecrackers into the air. I decided to go back to my hotel to be more safe. Fortunately, at the last minute, the government decided to change the march's route therefore avoiding further conflict. At 2pm I returned to the teachers' union for the press conference where I got valuable information for my research project.
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