The striking CNTE teachers, entering their third month of protest, announced on Saturday they will hold an indefinite strike against neoliberal education reform starting Tuesday.
OPINION:
Mexico's Education Reform Is Being Imposed with Bloodshed
The relaunch of strikes will be bigger and will integrate more states and other social organizations, said the CNTE union. They will begin with a march in Mexico City.
Among their demands are dialogue with state and federal officials for the repeal of the reform, punishment for the masterminds and executers of the deadly police repression in Nochixtlan and the release of all political prisoners detained during the protests.
They are also demanding the resignation of Minister of Education Aurelio Nuño Mayer and denouncing the ultimatum of Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong to end the blockades or face their forced removal.
Mexican media has reported that blockades in Oaxaca, initiated by the teachers and their supporters, have caused shortages and turned residents against the protesters, but agricultural and state authorities said that "it's a media campaign from the government to justify the repression" in a statement on Saturday.
Meanwhile, local merchants in Oaxaca say the federal government is exaggerating when they claim that their region is suffering a shortage of supplies and food
Oaxaca has a long tradition of radical protest against the government, and many students, parents of students and other unions have joined in solidarity.