OAXACA, MEXICO–Last weekend, members and friends of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) participated in a forum with a huge group of teachers of Section 22 from Oaxaca of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE, its initials in Spanish) about PLP’s dialectical materialist analysis concerning education, imperialism and the working class alternative.
A group of comrades presented the party’s assessment that the greatest threat confronting the world’s working class is the big fascists of the liberal US financial wing of the ruling class. The role of the López Obrador government was also discussed. They showed that the imperialist and Mexican capitalists plan to carry out their megaprojects in the south of the country with the mask of this democratic and popular government. Finally, we talked about the importance of teachers having an active role in organizing and raising awareness of the communities where they work to change the system in which we live.
Teachers expressed the commitment and difficulties they face in giving a better educational alternative to their students and their communities through the Plan for the Transformation of Education in Oaxaca (PTEO) that is promoted by our union section against the employers’ plans. One teacher acknowledged that the effort they have made for 35 years has not been enough and that they must prepare for a long struggle; this reflects their understanding and confidence that their class will get involved in a long-term struggle.Another teacher said that education is related to politics and that changing education means changing the system. This understanding has emerged from the union struggle, but also from the effort that our party has made to expand the political boundaries of the immediate union struggle towards a more revolutionary struggle.
One of the teacher comrades invited the teachers to read and distribute our Challenge newspaper, participate in our study circles and join the PLP. The forum was inspiring and represents the potential of our class to lift the flag of communist revolution; they understand that it will not be a quick or simple process.