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OSCAR LEÓN, TRNN
PRODUCER: On Friday,
September 13, a force of
an estimated 3,000 anti
riot police cleared El
Zócalo Plaza in
downtown Mexico City.

CROWD: Solutions, solutions. We don't want repression.

A public place that tens of thousands of teachers had
occupied for five months now, opposing an "Educative
Reform" allowed, and among other things it would impose
nationally standardized evaluations of teachers that would
lead to their automatic firing if they receive negative ratings.

JESUS SANTOS, TEACHER AT EL ZÓCALO: Our struggle has
been a peaceful one. If we have affected anybody in any
way, we sincerely apologize, but you have to understand
that our struggle will propel us to the future. We are fighting
for our society and its rights, but above all, for an education
that is free for everyone.

PROTESTER: State officials hoard all the money, and Carlos
Slim is the richest man in the world, while you teachers
make 8,000 pesos ($608) a month, even less than that!
There is too much inequality in Mexico. We cannot allow it.

PROTESTER: Tell me why the authorities haven't showed up
right here and faced us, faced us here! No! I tell you why:
now they are comfortably hiding in their offices, so they can
keep stealing our money and our lands! We wont allow that!

LEÓN: La Jornada newspaper reported 32 arrested and an
unknown number of injured teachers, according to their
report. On Thursday, the federal government emitted an
ultimatum to all those occupying El Zócalo, warning them all
to leave the next day. And on Friday before sunrise, the
teachers held a general assembly to discuss whether they
will leave or stay and resist. For more than ten hours they
debated. A small group vowed to resist as much as they
could.

In just a matter of minutes most of the teachers cleared the
occupation, while some prepared some barricades on the
plaza to face the thousands of cops surrounding them on all
sides. According to La Jornada, around noon the police
asked all the surrounding business and offices to evacuate
and close their doors. Soon after that, a perimeter was
established to prevent people going in and out of the area.

Around 4 p.m. the federal government gave a last warning,
and some of the remaining teachers left the plaza facing
imminent threat. Others armed themselves and faced the
riot police.

Thousands of riot cops marched towards El Zócalo. Small
groups of teachers with rocks and sticks attempted to resist,
but it was an asymmetrical battle and in a matter of minutes
the police had seized control of the national monument in
the center of the city.

Once in control of the plaza, following a script that has
become familiar to many cities in the world, the riot police
tore the occupation camp down and arrested those who
dare resist the government and its policies, even if they are
teachers.

Since assuming power, Enrique Peña Nieto had faced
opposition from many different sectors, which he has met
with a heavy hand, criminalizing unions and student groups,
all of which have faced police brutality and arbitrary
detentions. Amnesty International reported the detention
and violation of human rights of a number of independent
journalists. AI called the Mexican government to respect the
freedom of the press.

Some of the detainees are charged with "disrupting public
peace" and even "attacks to the nation". Beatings and
inhumane treatment were reported by detained teachers and
journalists.

In Xalapa, Veracruz, near the Caribbean coast, Sin Embargo,
an independent newspaper, reported that police armed with
electric knives evicted 300 teachers who had occupied
Plaza Lerdo. There was an unreported number of injured
and detained.

And on Saturday 14th, some teachers and their families
blocked the ports to demand the liberation of their
colleagues and relatives. They too were met with police
force.

Enrique Peña Nieto has rejected the calls to negotiate with
the teachers, refusing any talks with those who, according to
him, "broke the law".

The Mexican president has promised the reform will not
privatize education but will only modernize it.

IVONE ACUÑA, SOCIOLOGIST: Mexican educational reform
is a very complex issue, because it has to deal not only with
technical issues but mainly political problems, technical
issues like improving the students' level. It is also necessary
to train the teachers. There is the problem with the
evaluation test for teachers, which is being resisted by them.
There is a problem to get funding for schools and to improve
the teachers' pay.

LEÓN: After five months of strike, the teachers have not been
able to gain a concrete political victory.

In an article by Revolución Tres Punto Cero, they note that
only 24 hours after the eviction and a night of work by a
battalion of janitors, El Zócalo looks like nothing just
happened. After being evicted, the strikers struggled to
regroup and count their wounded and missing members.
However, they later established a new base in a monument
dedicated to the Mexican Revolution. In a historic irony, after
evicting the teachers from all around the country, city
workers now started to construct balconies and stages to
celebrate Mexico's Independence Day.

Reporting for The Real News, this is Oscar León.