In the first street demonstration that former center-left presidential candidate CuauhtĂ©moc CĂĄrdenas SolĂłrzano has led since 2000, thousands of Mexicans marched in Mexico City on Aug. 31 to show their opposition to President Enrique Peña Nieto’s plan for opening up the state-owned oil and electric companies, PetrĂłleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and the Federal Energy Commission (CFE), to greater participation by foreign and Mexican private companies. The marchers set off from the Angel of Independence, a traditional starting point for Mexico City demonstrations, but they stopped short of the usual destination, the ZĂłcalo plaza, which dissident teachers are occupying as part of a series of protests that have tied up various parts of the capital since Aug. 21. The education workers are protesting President Peñaâs plans for teacher evaluations.
Although the Aug. 31 march was relatively smallâMexico City police estimated the crowd at 8,000âthe protest was significant because of the forces and issues it brought together, with some 300 individuals and dozens of organizations joining CĂĄrdenas in the call for the action. Supporters included CĂĄrdenas’ longtime rival Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, leaders of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and members of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), which split from the PRD last year. CĂĄrdenas began his speech with a greeting to Alberto PatishtĂĄn, a supporter of the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) imprisoned in the southeastern state of Chiapas, and then expressed support for the dissident teachers. Marchers carried signs opposing the presidentâs entire “reform” agendaâwhich in addition to teacher evaluations and the partial privatization of the energy sector includes changes in the labor code and increases in the value-added tax (a sales tax known by its initials in Spanish, IVA). (La Jornada, Mexico, Sept. 1)
The Aug. 31 march was only one of the activities Mexicans are carrying out against Peña’s proposals. The PRD organized a “consultation” (unofficial referendum) on Aug. 25 and Sept. 1 with three questions on the energy proposals and three on the IVA, which Peña wants to extend to food and medicine. (LJ, Sept. 1) Morena and its founder, former center-left presidential candidate AndrĂ©s Manuel LĂłpez Obrador, are building for another street demonstration on Sept. 8. Raquel DĂĄvila Salas, Morenaâs secretary general in the Federal District (DF, Mexico City), said she expected the dissident teachers to cooperate and make it possible for this protest to be held in the ZĂłcalo. (LJ , Sept. 1)
In related news, the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) faction in the federal Chamber of Deputies announced on Aug. 31 that it would try to have DF head of government Miguel Ăngel Mancera impeached for failing to use harsher methods to control the dissident teachersâ recent protests in the capital. The small PVEM is closely allied to the presidentâs centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). (LJ, Sept. 1)
From Weekly News Update on the Americas, September 1.
