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RR RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHQU
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DE RUEHME #1133/01 1061649
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151649Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1454
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF EDUCATION WASHINGTON DC
RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 001133 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX, USDOL FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV SOCI PINR MX
SUBJECT: LEADER OF NUEVO LEON TEACHERS UNION VIGOROUSLY 
DEFENDS HIS ORGANIZATION 
 
REF: MEXICO 1049 
 
¶1.  Summary: Mission Mexico personnel recently met with Juan 
Antonio Rodriguez Gonzalez, the head of Section 21 of the 
teachers, union in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. 
Section 21 is a part of the National Teachers Union (SNTE) 
whose members are federal civil service employees.  Over the 
course of the meeting Rodriguez strongly affirmed his 
allegiance to both the SNTE and to the president of the 
national union, Elba Ester Gordillo Morales, a controversial 
figure often blamed for many of the ills of Mexico,s public 
schools system.  At no time did Rodriguez attempt to deny the 
questionable state of Mexico,s public school system nor did 
he seek to gainsay the political clout of this powerful 
union.  He did, however, attempt to put the ills of the union 
in historical and political context.  Having just returned 
from an SNTE national conference, Rodriguez discussed some 
elements of a plan of action agreed to at that event to begin 
to address the problems of Mexican public schools.  In 
discussing ways to improve the effectiveness of Mexico,s 
schools, he acknowledged an urgent need for better teacher 
training, particularly with regard to teaching English. 
Rodriguez then made a pitch for USG assistance in this area. 
Better English language teaching skills he stated would help 
teachers prepare students for success in Mexico,s always 
tight job market.    End Summary. 
 
 
A UNION LEADER STANDS HIS GROUND 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  On April 8, AmConsul Monterrey,s Pol/Econ Officer and 
Mission Mexico,s Labor Counselor met with Juan Antonio 
Rodriguez Gonzalez, the head of Section (Local) 21 of the 
National Teachers Union (SNTE) in the northern state of Nuevo 
Leon.  Rodriguez is currently about half way through a 
four-year term as the head of the Nuevo Leon teachers, 
union.  At the time of the meeting Rodriguez had only just 
returned from a conference of the SNTE,s 24th National 
Council where, according to press reports, the labor 
organization discussed such issues as way to improve the 
quality of education in Mexican public schools, a 
restructuring of the SNTE,s central executive committee, the 
union,s relationship with the GOM,s Secretariat of Public 
Education (SEP) and negotiations for a five percent increase 
in teacher salaries.  All SNTE teachers are federal civil 
service employees. 
 
¶3.  Within a very few moments of the start of the meeting 
Rodriguez declared that in addition to being a labor union 
the SNTE was also an organization with a firmly held left 
wing political philosophy.  Speaking quietly but firmly 
Rodriguez left no doubt that he was very comfortable with 
that philosophy.  As the meeting went on the Nuevo Leon SNTE 
leader asserted that the teachers of SNTE are often 
criticized and attacked politically because of their leftist 
principles.  Because of their ideals, Rodriguez declared, the 
teachers and their union are not afraid to stand up for what 
they believe and challenge right wing politicians and other 
vested interests in Mexico. 
 
¶4.  Later in the meeting, when again touching on the theme of 
standing up for firmly held principles Rodriguez 
aggressively, but respectfully, raised the subject of US 
immigration policy. Like many Mexicans across the political 
spectrum Rodriguez felt that the US should acknowledge the 
contributions to the American economy being made by Mexican 
migrants. He sharply criticized the building of a wall along 
the US/Mexico border and asserted that no matter how high or 
technologically advanced the wall was Mexicans would always 
find a way to enter the US.  Consequently, he opined, the US 
should adapt a more open immigration policy and take 
immediate steps to provide legal residence to the Mexicans 
already living in the United States. 
 
¶5.  His openly displayed leftist principles notwithstanding, 
Rodriguez showed he was prepared to listen to new information 
and factor this into his thinking.  After explaining the 
USG,s position on enhanced entry/exit border controls 
Mission Labor Counselor cautioned Rodriguez to consider the 
most likely outcome of any reform of US immigration law. 
Labor Counselor pointed out to Rodriguez that any future 
 
MEXICO 00001133  002 OF 003 
 
 
reform would most likely provide benefits to all foreign 
nationals and not just Mexicans.  Leaving aside the issue of 
foreign nationals already in the US, Rodriguez was asked to 
consider what would happen when the geographic advantage 
enjoyed by Mexicans migrants was neutralized by reforms that 
placed all migrants on an equal footing.  Rodriguez 
acknowledged that he had never considered what would happen 
to Mexicans hoping to migrate to the US when they had to 
compete for immigration benefits with people from China, 
India, the Philippines and other labor exporting countries. 
He then indicated that he would have to give the entire 
matter careful additional thought. 
 
 
THEY MADE US WHAT WE ARE 
------------------------ 
 
¶6.  When asked why he thought the SNTE was viewed negatively 
by so many Mexicans Rodriguez stated that it was unfair to 
judge the union without understanding the historical context 
that created it.  Because of its size (SNTE is the largest 
single union in Latin America) and the fact that its members 
are civil servants, teachers have always been viewed as 
easily mobilized foot soldiers by previous Mexican 
governments at both the federal and state levels.  In fact, 
Rodriguez asserted, the teachers union has received financial 
incentives to keep growing so that Mexican politicians could 
always have a large and disciplined rent-a-crowd on call. 
Over the years the SNTE and its members have been drafted as 
demonstrators and foot soldiers into countless political 
battles. 
 
¶7.  Given this context, Rodriguez said, it is no wonder that 
the SNTE became a highly political organization that soon 
realized that its size enabled it to pursue its own agenda. 
This realization, he continued, has occasionally prompted 
some within the union to focus more on political agendas and 
principles rather than on improving the quality of education 
in Mexico,s public school system.  The SNTE is now both a 
labor union and an influential political organization.  In 
recent years, Rodriguez continued, the SNTE has turned into a 
major actor on the Mexican political scene largely because of 
the influence of the organization,s national leader, Elba 
Ester Gordillo Morales.  Often referred to simply as &the 
Teacher8, Gordillo is commonly cited as an excellent example 
of everything that is wrong with Mexican labor leaders. For 
example, she recently arranged to have herself declared the 
de facto SNTE president for life; the union is widely 
believed to be corrupt and she is regularly criticized for 
her ostentatiously lavish lifestyle.  Nevertheless she is a 
power in Mexican politics and can legitimately claim that she 
played a significant role in the election Mexico,s current 
President, Felipe Calderon, when she had SNTE quietly through 
him its support.  For his part, Rodriguez stated that he was 
in complete agreement with Gordillo,s handling of SNTE 
affairs and that he was firmly in her camp with regard to 
both her union and political activities. 
 
 
IDEAS FOR IMPROVING MEXICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  As mentioned above, at the time of the meeting Rodriguez 
had only just returned from an assembly of the SNTE,s 24th 
National Council.  During that meeting he said Elba Ester 
Gordillo had called on the SNTE members present at the event 
to come together and agree on ideas to address some of the 
more urgent problems in Mexico,s public school system. 
According to Rodriguez the attendees collectively came up 
with numerous suggestions for improving the quality of 
education in Mexico,s public schools.  One of the first 
things the National Council meeting agreed Mexico needed to 
do was adopt a new underlying teaching philosophy and more 
modern teaching methods.  Mexico,s teaching methods, he 
stated, were 50 years out of date.  The teaching methods now 
in use were cutting edge at the time they were adopted but 
they were no longer adequate to the needs of the country; 
particularly with respect to preparing students to compete 
for jobs in Mexico,s increasingly globalized economy. 
Rodriguez himself also supported additional training for 
teachers, which could help improve their teaching methods. 
 
 
MEXICO 00001133  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶9.  Moving on from the number one priority of adopting new 
teaching methods Rodriguez then shared some of the other 
elements agreed to at the National Council meeting.  Some of 
the elements agreed to were clearly intended to address 
education issues.  These elements included things like: 
increasing the operating hours of public schools to include 
evening and Saturdays; firmly resisting demands to teach a 
religious curriculum in public schools; and reorganizing the 
SNTE itself so that it can respond with flexibility to the 
challenges of providing Mexican public school students with a 
modern education.  Other elements agreed to were more 
concerned with issues related to labor rights (as perceived 
by the SNTE).  Some of these elements were: a promise of SNTE 
unity to resist the efforts of &some conservatives and 
politicians8 who wish to weaken the union as an 
organization; within the SNTE itself, the organization should 
avoid seeking to assign blame for past mistakes and focus on 
making the union focus more on education (and by implication 
less on politics); and finally remain vigilant in defending 
the rights of the SNTE as an autonomous union. 
 
 
A REQUEST FOR USG ASSISTANCE 
---------------------------- 
 
¶10.  In addition to the elements listed above Rodriguez also 
mentioned another point that he personally believed needed to 
be addressed in order to improve the quality of education in 
Mexico,s public schools.  In his view, in order to help 
Mexican students better prepare to enter an increasing 
competitive job market public schools had to help them learn 
English.  Rodriguez openly admitted that the English language 
teaching abilities of the teachers who form the SNTE 
membership was extremely limited.  He asked if there were any 
way that the USG could help him and the SNTE to improve the 
skills of teachers in this area.  Mission Mexico personnel 
offered to attempt to look into this possibility. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11.  Up until now Mission Mexico,s Labor Counselor has been 
rebuffed in his attempts to meet with SNTE members, and 
AmConsul Monterrey has had relatively little direct contact 
with the teachers union.  This meeting with SNTE Section 21 
leader Juan Antonio Rodriguez Gonzalez appears to have been a 
productive initial contact.  Following the meeting with 
Rodriguez Mission personnel learned that he writes a regular 
opinion column on the SNTE and on education issues for one of 
Nuevo Leon,s daily newspapers (El Porvenir).  Rodriguez 
openly discussed what he saw as the strengths and weakness of 
the SNTE both as a labor union and as an organization with a 
vital role with Mexico,s system of public education.  The 
leader of the Nuevo Leon teachers union was very upfront in 
presenting the political orientation of the labor 
organization with which he so clearly identified.  However, 
as indicated when he engaged in a discussion of US 
immigration policy, he did not let that orientation prevent 
him from listening to and processing new information. 
 
¶12.  This message was cleared by AmConsul Monterrey. 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American 
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
GARZA