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DE RUEHPE #0033 0051847
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P 051847Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY LIMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3526
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4231
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7150
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0053
RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA 0994
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JAN QUITO 0914
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 1027
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UNCLAS LIMA 000033 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR PE
SUBJECT: GARCIA GEARS UP TO TAKE ON POWERFUL, LEFT-WING 
TEACHERS UNION 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified. Please handle accordingly. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The GOP is taking on Peru's powerful 
left-wing teachers union, SUTEP, in an effort to advance much 
needed education reform.  In round one of the confrontation, 
GOP Minister of Education Jose Chang scheduled a competency 
test for teachers on December 20.  The test was stolen and 
published on SUTEP's website.  Chang re-scheduled the test 
for January 8.  SUTEP has imposed conditions for the exam, 
among them the idea that the results be kept secret.  This 
conflict will test the GOP's commitment to education reform, 
its willingness to confront vested interests that oppose 
needed reforms and its ability to manage social tension.  End 
Summary 
 
¶2. (U) The Garcia Administration is heading toward a 
show-down with the Unified Syndicate of Educational Workers 
of Peru (SUTEP) over a state mandated basic skills exam for 
school teachers.  SUTEP is a powerful organization of public 
school teachers (claiming 300,000 members) with radical 
leadership rooted in the Maoist wing of the Peruvian 
Communist Party, Patria Roja (Red Fatherland).  SUTEP has 
consistently opposed education reform under the claim of 
protecting the livelihoods of its members and regularly 
incites strikes and demonstrations.  The organization 
officially holds anti-capitalist and anti-U.S. positions. 
 
¶3. (U) Minister of Education Jose Chang was forced to 
postpone the exam, initially scheduled for December 20, 
because SUTEP had secured a copy and posted it on its 
website.  Media allegations about whether SUTEP stole the 
exam itself or was given a copy were flying around fast and 
furious for nearly a week.  Chang rescheduled the exam, with 
President Garcia's support for January 8, 2006. 
 
¶4. (U) Since 1978, representatives of the Patria Roja have 
maintained control over SUTEP's leadership.  In May 2003, the 
GOP declared a national state of emergency in response to a 
SUTEP-led teachers' strike.  Despite their effectiveness at 
getting benefits for the teachers, SUTEP strikes are a 
double-edged sword, often causing great public discomfort and 
popular anger.   In addition, there is widespread public 
dissatisfaction with the quality of public education in Peru, 
which has led many to question the effectiveness of its 
leadership and the undemocratic nature of its indirect 
election system that consistently produces a Patria 
Roja-dominated leadership.  (Note: According to a 2004 
Ministry of Education Evaluation, less than 13 percent of 6th 
grade students mastered communication skills and less than 8 
percent mastered math skills from the national curriculum. 
The study showed no change in achievement from 1998 testing. 
End Note.)  The majority of teachers do not share political 
allegiance to Patria Roja.  Nevertheless, SUTEP negotiates 
teachers' salaries and benefits and controls a large 
pension/benefits fund sustained by contributions from 
teachers' salaries.  This gives the radical leadership 
enormous leverage over the organization. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment:  President Garcia and Minister Chang are 
making a serious push for educational reform with this 
mandatory teacher testing and drawing a line in the sand with 
SUTEP.  They also appear to be moving carefully, backing 
SUTEP into the position of refusing teacher testing and 
possibly threatening a nationwide strike, both of which would 
likely be unpopular.  President Garcia told CODEL Reid that 
the GOP would stand firm.  If successful, this could become a 
beachhead for a key institutional reform.  SUTEP has several 
cards to play, however.  An all out confrontation could test 
the GOP's political will in this vital area and signal the 
extent of its commitment to stay the course of reform in the 
face of obstinacy.  End Comment. 
 
STRUBLE