Teachers opposed to Mexican education reforms on Monday closed nearly two-thirds of schools in the southern state of Oaxaca, and blocked some roads and shops, in a day of protest against an overhaul the government insists is unstoppable.
Largely peaceful protests spread to the western and southern states of Michoacán, Guerrero and Tabasco, as well as Mexico City, where a march on the main Reforma avenue was planned. That rekindled memories of teachers’ demonstrations before the reform was passed two years ago.
However, in Tabasco police with shields and batons used tear gas to disperse teachers blocking a motorway toll booth. Mexico’s federal police chief vowed to use “rational force” wherever needed.
While Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto has made liberalisation of the energy sector the cornerstone of his plans for economic growth and prosperity, it is his plans to improve the country’s nearly century-old public education system that he is now billing as the most transformational.