Fausta's Blog

Strikes by Mexican Teachers Challenge New President

Teachers in Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest states, are defying Mr. Peña Nieto’s administration by opposing the education measure signed into law in February, which for the first time requires teachers to be evaluated by an autonomous body. Those that fail the evaluation can be dismissed.

Last week, tens of thousands of teachers, some armed with metal bars and Molotov cocktails, marched in Guerrero’s capital, Chilpancingo. They again blocked for hours the highway that connects Mexico City with the Pacific port of Acapulco, hurting a key economic and tourist hub. The demonstrations have been held sporadically since the overhaul bill was signed.

Since this is affecting some 42,000 students, parents are holding lessons in parks, public squares and restaurants, which in itself may be hazardous,

Initial plans to start the lessons Monday were put off for fear of reprisals from striking teachers, and the parents association is working with state authorities to guarantee safety for the classes, he added.

The lessons would be conducted like summer-school workshops, with hundreds of children expected to attend the first classes, Mr. Castro said. The idea is to teach grade-school students mathematics, Spanish and other basics, and the parents association is trying to get local education authorities to give credit for completed work.

For now,

Mexico consistently ranks near the bottom among the members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in education indicators such as average years in school and student skills, including reading.

The photo in the WSJ article is captioned, “Protesting teachers on Thursday forced their way into the Congress building in Chilpancingo where lawmakers were debating education legislation.”

What I see is masked men breaking into a door. Thugs hired by the teachers’ union? Or are they really teachers?

Enrique Peña Nieto likes Obama’s immigration plan, but O’s sending Biden to the inauguration,
Mexico’s President-Elect Praises Obama on Immigration: ‘We Fully Support Your Proposal’.

It’s probably a good idea that Obama’s not going; you wouldn’t want to appear to be favoring the PRI.

Who’s going?

Obama congratulated Peña Nieto on his electoral win, noting that Biden will be leading the U.S. delegation to his inauguration ceremony early next month.

“We only send the vice president to inaugurations if your county is at the very top of the list,” Obama said, eliciting a chuckle from Biden.

Let’s hope Joe doesn’t add a new gaffe to the list.

The UK’s Daily Mail has this today,
Is the U.S. sending Seal Team Six to capture top drug cartel kingpin? American military ‘plotting military operation similar to bin Laden mission’

It’s an extraordinary story in many levels, not the least of which is this,

Mexico’s Procesor magazine (English translation) reported that a new plan to get Guzman was hatched by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who felt the only way to catch him was through a military raid.

But when Calderon was turned down by Mexico’s army and naval forces, he turned to the U.S. government, which has made catching or killing Guzman a priority.

Sources told Procesor that the U.S. has grown increasingly more frustrated with Mexico’s failure to bring Guzman to justice – especially after a joint effort by U.S. agencies provided the information needed to catch him.

The original article on Proceso is based on unnamed sources in the US and Mexican military. Apparently the mission has been delayed because the US insists on going alone, which the Mexican Marines and Army flatly rejected. Felipe Calderón will soon be out of office as Mexico’s new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, is scheduled to take office on December 1, 2012,

And then there’s the fact that the politicians in Washington are running for re-election. Who’s going to want to stir another hornet’s next now?

In all, color me skeptical.

UPDATE,
Linked by The Mex Files. Thanks!
(“The far right-wing Latin American website”? Hah!)

Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. The week’s big story: the PRI’s back in power in Mexico.

ARGENTINA
“Do as I say, not as I do”: Kirchner tells Olympic athletes to avoid ‘stupidity’

BRAZIL
Women and the labour market in Brazil
Amazons at work
A revolution in the workplace meets little resistance

Iranians’ anger at Ahmadinejad over Brazilian snubs
The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is facing domestic political embarrassment after enduring a series of damaging snubs on a visit to Brazil, Iran’s erstwhile close ally.

COLOMBIA
Parliamentary immunity in Colombia
Monkey business
A much-needed judicial reform misfires

Colombian officials order preventative evacuation after volcano erupts

CUBA
Read the full report on Castro, Inc.: A Global Conglomerate

Cholera outbreak in Cuba kills two, dozens hospitalized

New Cuban exile Dr. Darsi Ferrer to Cubans: ‘Take to the streets and reclaim freedom’

The real Che was no hero, via M.

Castro political police arrests ten Ladies in White to prevent them from attending church services

ECUADOR
Leaving the oil in the ground may cost too much
Ecuador’s plan falters
The Yasuní initiative seemed to break a deadlock: it proposed the world should compensate Ecuador for not extracting oil from a biodiverse national park. But the money is not rolling in

Diane Feinstein, US senator calls to prosecute Assange

Julian Assange defies police to stay at Ecuador embassy
A member of the WikiLeaks founder’s defence fund says Julian Assange is refusing a police summons and will not be leaving the Ecuador embassy in London until he hears about his asylum bid.

FALKLAND ISLANDS
Britain files White Paper officially pledging to defend Falklands
The British government tabled a White Paper on Thursday officially pledging to defend the Falkland Islands and declared there would be “no weakening” in the country’s resolve.

MEXICO
Travelers run for cover as cops kill cops at Mexico City airport

THE KINGPINS: The fight for Guadalajara.

A Left-Wing Comeback in Mexico’s Presidential Elections?

Mexico Campaign Bypasses Drug War
Country’s Defining Problem Gets Few New Ideas From Presidential Contenders in Sunday’s Election; ‘Calderón’s Victory’

Profiles of Mexico’s Presidential Candidates

Sharyl Attkisson double-taps Eric Holder on CBS News: perjury, cover-up and retribution confirmed

NICARAGUA
Quite a haul: Coast Guard unloads $48 million in seized cocaine
In ongoing operations, the Coast Guard — working with other Caribbean nations and other U.S. agencies — seized 3,800 pounds of cocaine on the high seas.

The seized drugs were obtained through three different stings — off the coasts of Nicaragua and Colombia — across Caribbean waters.

PARAGUAY
Imperialists Gang Up on Paraguay
After the small democracy constitutionally removes its president, Chávez and Castro call it a coup. Canada recognizes the new president; the U.S. is missing in action.

Paraguay’s impeachment
Lugo out in the cold
Why did Paraguay’s Congress mount a constitutional putsch against the president? And what happens now?

Mercosur suspends Paraguay over Lugo impeachment

PERU
Cocaine Expansion in Peru Raises Fears of Global Spread

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Police Hit with ACLU Lawsuit

URUGUAY
Uruguayan drug legalisation
Thinking the unthinkable
A bold, if fuzzy, proposal

The week’s posts:
Border security for pu**ies: The Sir Robin border patrol strategy

In Silvio’s podcast

Happy in Haiti

At Real Clear World,
Mexico: The PRI’s back

At Hot Air,
Venezuela and Iran prepare for war?

Enrique Peña Nieto will be Mexico’s next president, and

In other races, exit polls suggested that the PRI would pick up at least one more governor’s post, giving the party control of 21 of Mexico’s 31 states.

In the megalopolis of Mexico City, Miguel Angel Mancera captured 60 percent of the vote, allowing the left to continue to run one of the largest and most complex cities in the world.

Mexico Restores Ex-Ruling Party to Power

Enrique Peña Nieto, a telegenic former governor of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, won with about 38% of the vote versus 31% for his closest challenger, leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, according to a partial vote count by Mexico’s election agency.

Josefina Vázquez Mota, Mexico’s first major female presidential candidate and a member of President Felipe Calderón’s National Action Party, or PAN, trailed with 26%.

The final official result might vary slightly, election officials said.

Ms. Vázquez Mota conceded defeat, but Mr. López Obrador said he would wait for final results in the coming days to decide what to do. Associates said he would likely contest the results in court, alleging that the PRI broke campaign spending limits and had favorable coverage in the media.
…
The return of the PRI, which ruled Mexico for 71 years through an extensive patronage system that Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa dubbed “the perfect dictatorship,” marks a stunning comeback for a party that nearly fell apart after it lost its first presidential election in 2000. After a third-place showing in 2006, the party has united around its new face: Mr. Peña Nieto, a 45-year-old former state governor.

Even in victory, the party was supported by only four in 10 Mexicans. In his victory speech, Mr. Peña Nieto told cheering supporters that the PRI had been given a second chance at power, and must show voters that it can govern better than in the past, when it was dogged by corruption scandals. “We have to show that we understand Mexico has changed,” Mr. Peña Nieto said.

Sr Peña-Nieto will succeed as president if he is willing to “de-PRI” the PRI. The question is,can he?

While the 45-year-old presents himself as part of a more-
democratic generation of leaders, many PRI governors continue to rule their states like “fiefdoms” and won’t take easily to centralized control, said Enrique Krauze, a historian and author of “Mexico: Biography of Power.” Pena Nieto also faces the threat of protests from an anti-PRI student movement and supporters of second-place finisher Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

“Pena Nieto has proved during these months that he has political instincts, that he’s a political animal,” Krauze said in an interview in Mexico City prior to yesterday’s balloting. “But he won’t have an easy ride now in the sense that he’ll
have to fight both inside and outside” his party.

While the PRI will control at least one house of Congress, amending the Constitution – a step required to end Pemex’s grip on oil production, as Peña Nieto promised – would require at least a two-thirds majority.

Cross-posted at Real Clear World.