Garbage pickup back and so are teachers in Oaxaca
Teachers set up protest camp in Oaxaca city’s zócalo
An agreement reached Wednesday in Oaxaca got the garbage trucks moving again, but now the teachers are back on the march.
More than 5,000 tonnes of garbage had accumulated in the streets and elsewhere in the state capital after access to the city landfill site was blocked for nine days by a community dispute.
The state government negotiated an end to that conflict in time for another: a repeat protest by the CNTE teachers’ union.
Teachers began marching today to the city’s zócalo where they intended to set up a protest camp, but decided instead to change their route and march to the site of next week’s annual cultural festival, the Guelaguetza, which the teachers’ union has threatened to boycott.
When they arrived, they were met by a barricade police had already set up. After the teachers threw rocks and other objects — including a grenade, according to one report — police fired back with tear gas and the protesters withdrew.
They returned to their original plan and marched to the zócalo and proceeded to set up camp.
The teachers’ union continues to protest education reforms, particularly the process of evaluating teachers.
Source: Quadratín (sp), NVI Noticias (sp)