Morelia, a quiet, colonial city, became the epicenter of the Mexican student movement June 12, when representatives from more than 30 universities created the National Student Coordinating Committee (CNE). This is Mexico’s first permanent, non-partisan student organization on a national level.
A spinoff of the massive student movement at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), currently on strike for free education and administrative reform, the CNE already had some momentum behind it. Lively discussions of affordable education, Zapatismo, and national mobilizations filled the weekend summit. Its often contentious debates were not about whether to support these issues, but how.
Three working groups of about 100 people each hammered out the principles, structure, and a plan of action for the new confederation. Its central concern is defending free higher education at UNAM, and winning it back at the nation’s other schools, but the CNE’s charter of principles shows it plans to fight on various fronts. It refers directly to the Zapatista movement in Chiapas and a proposal to privatize historical and archaeological monuments. The document calls for an educational system that is free at all levels and oriented toward the benefit of the entire nation. It redefines the educational process “as the formation of social critics, with ample bodies of knowledge and a spirit of committment to historical struggles and society’s immediate needs.”
More than just discussing the big issues, the CNE agreed to an organizational structure and a plan of action. It formed committees responsible for press, culture, finance, and outreach tasks, and agreed on a series of mobilizations in June in defense of public education. These include roundtables, debates, education of the public, and a day of action June 30, in solidarity with student movements across Latin America. In Mexico, this mobilization is planned to include one-day strikes in educational institutions, marches, rallies, and highway blockades for 2-3 hours. Members also voted to take proposals back to their constituent assemblies regarding a national work stoppage, a march across the country, a national plebiscite on various political issues, and the creation of a larger front against all forms of privatization. (In addition to education and historical and archaeological sites, the proposed privatization of electricity has been a dominant political issue in Mexico this year.)
The working groups, held in a theater, an auditorium, and a student residence, were often raucous debates, typical of the rough and tumble democracy that seems to come naturally to many Mexicans. In the discussions on the CNE’s organizational structure, one young man argued for mandatory CNE dues from each university, accidentally using the word “cuotas” to describe these contributions. Since “¡No a las cuotas!” is a rallying cry for free education at UNAM, the motion was shouted down without so much as a vote.
The other two working groups, lasting until midnight and dawn, respectively, also had their tense moments. The visiting civilian delegation from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) managed to calm things down, dropping into discussions to make statements of solidarity. In each forum, the two ski-masked women interruped talks for a brief speech in broken Spanish about the importance of unity, and the shy but brave five-year-old girl that accompanied them flashed the victory sign to the crowd. Each time, the pep talks calmed the students’ discussions, which remained more respectful afterward..
Though an overall success, the weekend meeting had its problems. Various sessions started hours late, including Saturday’s plenary, since contingents from UNAM and other schools arrived at noon instead of 10 a.m. They also faced an unfriendly welcome from local authorities. One student was arrested for shopping at a pirated cassette stand, so dozens of conference participants surrounded and pounded the Judicial Police’s truck, yelling for his release. Though noone incurred serious injury in a brief shoving match with the cops, this reporter’s camera lens was smashed by one officer who apparently didn’t like photography.
The event’s organizers showed logistical brilliance, however, by feeding and housing the hundreds of out-of-town participants, all on a shoestring budget. They ate, slept, and talked politics late into the night in student houses named after revolutionary heroes such as Vladimir Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, Che Guevara, and Mexicans Lucio Cabañas and Genaro Vazquez.
By Sunday, June 13, the weekend’s work was done. For those returning to Mexico City, another long wait for the buses to leave provided a chance to share raunchy jokes, yell pep chants from each university, and pass around bottles. In the middle of an intense student strike, such moments of relaxation and camaraderie were welcome. The next day, a focused student movement would resume the national fight for public education with new fire.
For links to the CNE’s Manifesto and Declaration of Principles (in Spanish), see http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Mesa/9813/indexcne.html