1999 UNAM strike
Encyclopedia
The 1999 strike at the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico
, the largest university in Latin America
) had its origins in the January 1999 announcement by its rector
that tuition would increase from about 0.02 dollars
to about $150 a semester. A group of students declared a strike and blockaded the main campus. The blockade lasted 292 days, during which there were violent encounters with opposition groups and faculty, and the resignation of the rector and the appointment of a new one. Action by the recently created federal police ended the strike in February 2000.
n presidents had decayed since its glory days. At the time, UNAM had a budget of about one thousand million dollars, of which 90% was provided by the federal government.
In January 1999, Francisco Barnés de Castro
, then rector of the UNAM, announced his intention to raise tuition. Attempts to raise tuition since 1948 had failed twice before, most recently in the late 1980s under Rector Jorge Carpizo MacGregor. Barnés proposed a number of reforms, including a tuition raise from about 0.02 dollars to about 150 dollars per academic year. Barnés promised the additional 48 million dollars the university would receive from the tuition increase would be used to fund more research and increase the quality of its facilities; the proposal also included a plan for tuition remission for students who signed a statement saying they could not afford the new rates.
In June 1999, the 132-member government council of the university, which includes faculty and students, modified the proposal to make the tuition voluntary. Barnés declared that the conscience of each student would dictate who would pay tuition and who would not. Strikers grew belligerent and had violent altercations with students who were still taking courses. UNAM also issued seven warrants against strikers accused of stealing computers, vehicles and earthquake
monitoring equipment.
On June 2, after three months of the strike, president of Mexico
Ernesto Zedillo
spoke about the importance of the issue and what he termed the "brutal aggression against the university that is hurting the enormous majority who want to study to get ahead". The next day, about fifteen thousand students held a rally at a stadium in Ciudad Universitaria
to support the strike and hurl insults at Barnés. The same day, female professors held banners on overpasses asking motorists to turn on their lights if they opposed the strike; thousands did so.
Strikers took their public displays to the heart of Mexico City
, interrupting traffic for hours. City residents blamed Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
, then Head of Government of the Federal District
and hopeful Party of the Democratic Revolution
(PRD) presidential candidate in the 2000 elections
, since many former student activists were members of the PRD. By the end of the semester only about 162,500, or 65% of the student population, were able to complete their work for the semester.
Consulta, a polling firm, estimated an 83% of community support to the raise in tuition before the strike, versus only 55% support after the strike began.
, who had served previously as Secretary of Health in President Zedillo's cabinet
, as the new rector. One of de la Fuente's first measures was a referendum
to determine the opinion of students on the matter.
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 their own poll in which 86,329 votes were cast, with 65% supporting a continuation of the strike.
On February 7, federal police stormed the university's main campus, ending the strike. A total of 632 people were arrested.
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
, the largest university in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
) had its origins in the January 1999 announcement by its rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
that tuition would increase from about 0.02 dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
to about $150 a semester. A group of students declared a strike and blockaded the main campus. The blockade lasted 292 days, during which there were violent encounters with opposition groups and faculty, and the resignation of the rector and the appointment of a new one. Action by the recently created federal police ended the strike in February 2000.
Background
The third article of the Constitution of Mexico states that all education imparted by the state is free. Whether this includes decentralized, autonomous institutions of higher education like the UNAM is a matter of (often heated) debate. Tuition at the UNAM is not free, and it had last been raised in 1948 to 200 pesos per academic year (tuition became 20 cents in the 1993 currency revaluation); the amount is specified in the University bylaws, and changing it requires action by the University Council (a legislative body that comprises representatives of the faculty and students, and all directors of schools, faculties, and institutes). By 1999, inflation and the exchange rate meant that tuition amounted to about 0.02 US dollars. The quality of education of the UNAM, alma mater of several Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n presidents had decayed since its glory days. At the time, UNAM had a budget of about one thousand million dollars, of which 90% was provided by the federal government.
In January 1999, Francisco Barnés de Castro
Francisco Barnés de Castro
Francisco José Barnés de Castro is a Mexican academic and consultant. From 6 January 1997 to 12 November 1999 he served as rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico , the largest university in the Spanish-speaking world.Barnés de Castro graduated with a bachelor's degree in Chemical...
, then rector of the UNAM, announced his intention to raise tuition. Attempts to raise tuition since 1948 had failed twice before, most recently in the late 1980s under Rector Jorge Carpizo MacGregor. Barnés proposed a number of reforms, including a tuition raise from about 0.02 dollars to about 150 dollars per academic year. Barnés promised the additional 48 million dollars the university would receive from the tuition increase would be used to fund more research and increase the quality of its facilities; the proposal also included a plan for tuition remission for students who signed a statement saying they could not afford the new rates.
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, on April 20, 1999 this group formed the Comité General de Huelga (CGH or "Strike General Committee") and declared a strike of students at the university. Only basic research groups were allowed to continue their activities although many groups of students continued gathering to take courses off-campus.In June 1999, the 132-member government council of the university, which includes faculty and students, modified the proposal to make the tuition voluntary. Barnés declared that the conscience of each student would dictate who would pay tuition and who would not. Strikers grew belligerent and had violent altercations with students who were still taking courses. UNAM also issued seven warrants against strikers accused of stealing computers, vehicles and earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
monitoring equipment.
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 turned their backs on the strikers.On June 2, after three months of the strike, president of Mexico
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
spoke about the importance of the issue and what he termed the "brutal aggression against the university that is hurting the enormous majority who want to study to get ahead". The next day, about fifteen thousand students held a rally at a stadium in Ciudad Universitaria
Ciudad Universitaria
Ciudad Universitaria , Mexico, is UNAM's main campus, located in Coyoacán borough in the southern part of Mexico City. Designed by architects Mario Pani and Enrique del Moral, it encloses the Olympic Stadium, about 40 faculties and institutes, the Cultural Center, an ecological reserve, the Central...
to support the strike and hurl insults at Barnés. The same day, female professors held banners on overpasses asking motorists to turn on their lights if they opposed the strike; thousands did so.
Strikers took their public displays to the heart of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, interrupting traffic for hours. City residents blamed Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano is a prominent Mexican politician. He was a former Head of Government of the Federal District and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revolution .-Biography:...
, then Head of Government of the Federal District
Head of Government of the Federal District
The Head of Government wields executive power in the Mexican Federal District.The Head of Government serves a six-year term, running concurrently with that of the President of the Republic....
and hopeful Party of the Democratic Revolution
Party of the Democratic Revolution
The Party of the Democratic Revolution is a democratic socialist party in Mexico and one of 2 Mexican affiliates of the Socialist International...
(PRD) presidential candidate in the 2000 elections
Mexican general election, 2000
General elections were held in Mexico on 6 July 2000. The presidential elections were won by Vicente Fox of the Alliance for Change, who received 43.4% of the vote, the first time the opposition had won an election since the Mexican Revolution...
, since many former student activists were members of the PRD. By the end of the semester only about 162,500, or 65% of the student population, were able to complete their work for the semester.
Consulta, a polling firm, estimated an 83% of community support to the raise in tuition before the strike, versus only 55% support after the strike began.
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 strike 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 FuenteJuan Ramón de la Fuente
Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez is a Mexican psychiatrist, academician and politician who served as Secretary of Health in the cabinet of President Ernesto Zedillo and as rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico from 1999 to 2007.De la Fuente graduated with a bachelor's degree in...
, who had served previously as Secretary of Health in President Zedillo's cabinet
Cabinet of Ernesto Zedillo
Members of the cabinet of Ernesto Zedillo .* Chief of Staff** : Liébano Saénz* Minister of the Interior** : Esteban Moctezuma** : Emilio Chuayffet...
, as the new rector. One of de la Fuente's first measures was a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
to determine the opinion of students on the matter.
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 their own poll in which 86,329 votes were cast, with 65% supporting a continuation of the strike.
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 a UNAM-owned high school to start courses. 400 federal police officers were sent to open a way through the barricades, which they accomplished with no injuries.On February 7, federal police stormed the university's main campus, ending the strike. A total of 632 people were arrested.