1999 UNAM strike
This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. (April 2011) |
The 1999–2000 strike and shutdown of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico, the largest university in Latin America) had its origins in the January 1999 announcement by its latest rector that tuition would increase significantly and graduation requirements would become more restrictive. In response, a large group of students declared a strike and blockaded the main campus to the point of institutional paralysis. The blockades intensified and eventually led to the university's closure, during which there were violent encounters between opposition groups, students, guards and faculty. The crisis led to the eventual resignation of the university's rector and appointment of a new one. Along the way, bloody conflicts resulted in serious injuries and even fatalities on the unlawfully occupied campus.[1] Eventual action by the recently created federal police finally ended the occupation during February 2000.
Background
The
In January 1999,
Strike begins
A group of students quickly organized a protest, on the grounds that thousands of students would have to see their studies interrupted unable to afford tuition. With the support of the community, UNAM was shut down temporarily by the protesters during part of February and also part of March 1999. Ultimately on April 20, 1999, this group referred to itself as the Comité General de Huelga (CGH or "Strike General Committee") and declared a continuing, if not permanent, closure of the university.
In June 1999, the 132-member government council of the university, which includes faculty and students, modified the proposal to make the tuition increase voluntary. Barnés declared that the conscience of each student would dictate who would pay increased tuition and who would not. Strikers grew increasingly belligerent and had violent altercations with students who were still attempting to enter the campus to try to resume classes. Meanwhile, UNAM issued multiple warrants against strikers who were accused of stealing computers, vehicles and earthquake monitoring equipment.[2]
Public opinion
The strikers took advantage of the situation to resist additional graduation requirements such as tougher examinations and time limits for graduation. When this resistance became more widely known among the general public, community support decreased and the press adopted a less supportive stance towards those who perpetuated the blockades.[2]
On June 2, after three months of the strike,
Strikers took their public displays to the heart of
Consulta, a polling firm, estimated an 83% of community support to the raise in tuition fees before the strike, versus only 55% support after the strike began.[4]
New rector appointed
In November 1999, Barnés resigned his position as rector of the UNAM. He had given in to some of the demands of the CGH; the CGH, however, kept extending the closure and making new demands. One of these demands was open admission for all students graduating from university-run high schools (some measure of which existed, but was contingent on a number of conditions including a sufficiently high GPA). In January 2000 the Junta de Gobierno appointed Juan Ramón de la Fuente, who had served previously as Secretary of Health in President Zedillo's cabinet, as the UNAM's rector. One of de la Fuente's first measures was a referendum to determine the opinion of students on the matter.[5]
De la Fuente indicated that 125,000 votes (out of a student population of around 333,000) would be sufficient to give him more bargaining power to negotiate with the strikers. Around 180,000 students cast votes, 87% voting in favor of ending the strike. In spite of results showing overwhelming support to end the strike and return to classes, the CGH did not recognize the outcome. The CGH held its own poll in which 86,329 votes were cast, with 65% supporting a continuation of the closure.[6]
End of the strike
On February 1, 2000, students and workers opposed to the strike clashed with CGH and their supporters. This incident occurred when 200 students attempted to enter an UNAM-owned and run high-school, not on the main campus, to try to restart classes. 400 federal police officers were sent to open a way through the barricades, which they accomplished with many injuries, and even some fatal ones.[7]
On February 6, 2000, federal police stormed the university's main campus, ending the takeover. A total of 632 people were arrested during that ultimate day of violent clashes.[8]
Footnotes
- ^ "Dozens injured with possible fatalities in clash between strikers, students and guards, Feb. 2 2001" New York Times
- ^ a b c Preston, Julia (1999)University Officials Yield to Student Strike in Mexico June 8. Retrieved on February 14, 2006, from The New York Times site
- ^ a b Preston, Julia (1999) Mexico Student Strike in Capital Jarring the Entire Country June 25, 1999. Retrieved on February 14, 2006, from The New York Times site
- ^ Preston, Julia (1999) Mexico Students to Continue Strike at Empty Campus July 12, 1999. Retrieved on February 14, 2006, from The New York Times site
- ^ Preston, Julia (2000) University, Mexico's Pride, Is Ravaged by Strike January 19, 2000. Retrieved on February 14, 2006, from The New York Times site
- ^ Preston, Julia (2000) Big Majority Votes to End Strike at Mexican University January 21, 2000. Retrieved on February 14, 2006, from The New York Times site
- ^ Preston, Julia (2000) Big 15 Are Injured in Mexico City as Students Clash Over Strike February 1, 2000. Retrieved on February 14, 2006, from The New York Times site
- ^ Mexican police storm university February 7, 2000. Retrieved on February 14, 2006, from the BBC site
References
- UNAM's Economic Research Institute, Roberto Rodríguez Gómez: "10 years later: the economic background of the 1999-2000 takeover & shutdown of the UNAM".
- La Jornada: "Temporary shutdowns at UNAM increase in frequency, March 25th, 1999".
- Octavio Rodriguez Araujo "El conflicto en la UNAM (1999-2000). Dos concepciones sobre la universidad pública".
- UNAM Revista de Sociologia, Miguel Armando Lopez Leyva "Los movimientos sociales en la incipiente democracia mexicana. La huelga en la UNAM (1999-2000) y la marcha zapatista (2000-2001)" .
- Yolanda de Garay, "(2002) Historia de un movimiento estudiantil 1999 - 2001, Edición Digital, UNAM".
- Archivo Historico de la UNAM (AHUNAM): "Hemerografia y Registro Fotografico Sobre el Conflicto Universitario de 1999-2000".
- Alan Eladio Gómez: "People's power, educational democracy and low intensity war : the UNAM student strike, 1999–2000, M.A. Thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 2002.