MAGISTERIAL MOVEMENT: ANTECEDENTS, CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The Mexican Teachers' Movement was a striking trend that broke out in Mexico City in April 1958, made up of primary school teachers who demanded wage demands. The protests and the strike were led by the Revolutionary Movement of the Magisterium (MRM), a union with a socialist tendency.

The violent events that unleashed these actions in the Mexican capital took place between April and May 1958. The teachers' demonstrations were joined by other Mexican union and union sectors such as workers, intellectuals, professionals, and parents and representatives.

This movement was created by a coincidence of economic, political and ideological factors during the government of Adolfo Ruíz Cortines. The actions were organized outside the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE). The movement was a manifestation of dissatisfaction with the inaction of the SNTE in defense of the teaching profession.

Background

The economic and social situation of Mexican teachers and other sectors of national life had been deteriorating for decades. In addition, the so-called Cardenista ideology (socialist education) had influenced the consciousness of the Mexican teaching profession.

During the government of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934 - 1940), economic and social measures classified as populist were taken. Lands were distributed to the peasants, the oil industry and the railroad were nationalized, and various unions and guilds were formed.

Additionally, there was greater investment in rural and urban public infrastructure. Health programs were established for the poorest sectors of the country and basic education took a great boost. However, the socialist education project did not materialize.

The public education system had been suffering from many difficulties, and the country's economy was going through a deep economic crisis.

Backward education system

During the outgoing government of Adolfo Ruíz Cortines, important campaigns against illiteracy were implemented. New educational establishments were also built, but the education system was still very backward.

The federal government's spending on education was still too low to meet the expectations of the teaching profession. Two years earlier, in 1956, the teachers' union held a series of demonstrations throughout the country demanding a wage increase.

There was discontent in the teaching profession for the SNTE's actions, for which the teachers of the IX section of the union organized a new union. Thus was born the Revolutionary Movement of the Magisterium.

This movement was led by left-wing union leaders Othón Salazar and José Encarnación Pérez Rivero. Teachers Iván García Solís, Jesús Sosa Castro, Amada Velasco Torres, Maximiliano Marcial Pérez, Paula Martínez Díaz and Amparo Martínez Díaz also participated.

The teachers refused to accept the Pyrrhic salary increase offered by the SNTE president, Manuel Sánchez Vite.

Causes

The entire country was involved in a current of popular insurrection due to the economic, social and political situation. Other Mexican sectors, such as the railroad workers, telegraphers, and doctors, were also agitated.

The Revolutionary Movement of the Magisterium not only had protest but also political motivations, and considered the moment opportune. So, in the heat of the electoral campaign for the presidential elections of 1958, April 12 of that year called for mobilization.

The teachers took the Zócalo (the Plaza de la Constitución) with the aim of achieving the salary increase and obtaining recognition within the SNTE. The teachers' movement called on the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) to grant the salary increase of 40%; otherwise, he would go on strike.

Brutal response

The government responded brutally and there was a bloody military and police repression that ended with several dead protesters and dozens of injuries. This heated up the already exalted spirits of the teachers.

On April 19, the MRM led a march to the Plaza de la Constitución in the Mexican capital; But this time, in addition to the demands, punishment was requested from those responsible for the fierce repression.

The magisterial leaders and teachers were harshly repressed again. Classes were suspended and the leaders of the MRM, ignoring the representatives of the SNTE, delivered a petition to the SEP.

The educational authorities did not agree to the requests of the teachers' movement and tried to evade the conflict. The government's attitude was considered by the teachers as a provocation: the SEP alleged that it would negotiate with the SNTE and not with the MRM, which it considered illegal.

Strike and conciliation

It was then that the exalted teachers took over the headquarters building of the Ministry of Public Education with Othón Salazar at the head. They began a long strike that lasted almost a month, during which some 15,000 teachers on the outskirts demonstrated daily.

The government tried to quell these protests with more military and police repression. But this, instead of quelling the protests, increased tensions. The magisterial struggle gained more force and other Mexican sectors joined it.

Several union leaders, including Othón Salazar, were arrested and confined in Lecumberri prison. However, government actions were repudiated across the country. Public opinion vindicated the strike and the protests of the teachers.

Faced with this situation, President Ruíz Cortines had no alternative but to give in and reconcile. On May 15, 1958, during the celebration of Teacher's Day, he announced the demanded salary improvements.

Consequences

The actions of the Revolutionary Magisterial Movement and the primary school teachers had serious consequences in Mexican political life.

The teachers who de facto imposed the right to strike confirmed their own union and political strength. Placing the government in its own backyard inaugurated a period of increased pressure for subsequent governments.

The businessmen demanded a strong hand against the strikers whom they associated with international communism, even asking the government to declare a state of siege. However, the solution to the conflict came with the government's own indecision due to the electoral campaign.

However, in the months that followed, the MRM's teachers' struggles to demand their recognition were once again repressed. On September 7, Othón Salazar and other leaders of that movement were arrested again, when they were preparing to hold a rally.

Political tint

The MRM and the teachers' movement that questioned the Mexican union system with their actions, soon acquired a more political tinge. This movement was deeply influenced by the Mexican Communist Party, through its main leaders.

One of the most important elements of the Magisterial Movement was that it exposed the corruption in the SNTE. The actions of its leaders responded more to personal interests than the truly teaching ones.

The protests of 1958 increased the discussion around the need for independence from the government and the cleansing of trade union organizations. In turn, they became more aware of the power and pressure they exerted on the Mexican state, to the point that they became more involved in political negotiations to agree on candidacies.

References

1. 1958: The struggle of the teachers. Retrieved March 20, 2018 from nexos.com.mx
2. Gloria M. Delgado de Cantú: History of Mexico, Historical Legacy and Recent Past. Consulted of books.google.co.ve.
3. The Magisterial Movement of the Ciénega de Jalisco region (PDF) Consulted of scielo.org.mx
4. Maria de la Luz Arriaga. The magisterium in struggle. Consulted of cuadernospoliticos.unam.mx
5. 60 years of struggle of the revolutionary movement of teachers. Consulted of revistamemoria.mx
6. 1958 Magisterial Movement in Mexico. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org