Home : Latin America : UNAM Strike
March 14, 2000
It is now more than a month since the federal police, an elite police
force set up last year with the main aim of combating internal dissent,
occupied the University City and arrested more then 800 members of the
students' General Strike Committee.
Since then the situation has been very tense. The government has not been
able to stop the movement and there have been a number of mass
demonstrations, rallies, partial strikes, etc. There are actions everyday
demanding freedom for the arrested students. This shows that the
government is far from achieving the "peace and tranquility" it expected
by using repression.
The government has also made parcial concessions to the students' demands
and at the same time has kept the main leaders of the movement in jail.
Thus, university fees have been introduced but at a very low rate of 15
pence. So the students are still fighting for their demands at the same
time as fighting for the release of the jailed student activists.
There are still 150 students in jail and they are only being released
with very expensive bails which sometime amount to two years of the
average wage (50,000 pesos which is more or less 5,000 dollars).
On the other hand the police closed all the offices which the student
organisations had in the schools and confiscated all their equipment
(loud speakers, printing presses, etc). It is clear that the authorities
are making some concessions in order to weaken the movement and at the
same time are trying to smash the organisations of the students.
Despite these diffcult conditions, on March 10th, a months after the
arrest of the Strike Committee, more than 20,000 students marched through
the northern part of the capital and sorrounded the jail where the
arrested students are being held. The students inside the jail also
organised a simultaneous march and started to shout slogans. To the
astonishment of the authorities they were joined by some of the other
prisioners.
This marched showed that the movement is far from being finished and has
the capacity to reorganise itself.
This is why the Students Committee to Defend State Education (CEDEP)
which was set up during the struggle, has launched a solidarity campaign
with the Mexican students movement, and at the same time is trying to
coordinate the different actions being organised.
The students have the support of the workers and the people who live in
the poor neighbourhoods in Mexico City, but the blow has been a strong
one and solidarity is more needed than ever. The main priorities of the
movement now are the struggle for the release of the incarcerated
students, to defend the concessions we have won and to defend the the
students organisations against the authorities.
We are organising meetings in all schools, trade union branches and
workplaces to explain the situation and raise funds for the legal defence
of the students.
We make an appeal to all trade union and student organisations in the
world to participate in this campaign. The struggle of the Mexican
students against privatisation of higher education and to defend free
access to university is not different from the struggle of workers and
youth in other countries against privatisations, cuts in public spending,
etc. We need the maximum unity and solidarity between workers and youth
from different countries to defeat our enemies.
Solidarity with the Mexican students movement!
Yours in solidarity,
Students Committee to Defend Public Education
Messages of protest can be sent to:
Gobierno de Mexico:
S.E. Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, Presidente de la Republica,
Palacio Nacional, C.P. 06065, Mexico, D.F., Mexico
Fax (+ 52 5) 515 57 29 o/or 516 57 62
C. Lic. Francisco Labastida Ochoa, Secretario de Gobernacion,
Secretaria de Gobernacion, Bucareli 99, 2do piso, Col. Juarez,
Mexico, D.F., Mexico, Fax (+ 52 5) 546 53 50 o/or 547 03 21
segob@rtn.net.mx
with copies to the newspaper La Jornada
jornada@condor.dgsca.unam.mx
and to Comite Estudiantil en Defensa de la Educacion Publica
cedep@iname.com
Info on the movement can be found here:
http://www.newyouth.com/archives/campaigns/mexico/UNAM.asp
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico/update.html
We are also appealing for financial support of any kind in order to help cover thelegal expenses which will be incurred due to the trumped up charges brought against thestudents. Mexico is a very poor country and any amount of money will help tremendously.This money can be raised publicly from the youth and labor movement as it will be passedon to the CEDEP (Students Committee to Defend State Education), and spent by CEDEP forlegal defense expenses. Approach your local student organizations and trade unions with anappeal! This is a concrete way in which we in the US and Canada can make a difference.
Cheques should be made payable to Socialist Appeal and sent to:
PO Box 2626, London N1 7SQ
(please write on the back "for Mexican Students Legal Defence Fund")
Or:
CEDEP c/o Wellred Books (make payable to Wellred)
PO Box 1331
Fargo, ND 58107-1331
(please write on the back "for Mexican Students Legal Defense Fund")
Please distribute this information as widely as possible. The fight for free,universal, quality education in Mexico and globally is a fight which we all need to getinvolved in!