The Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 National Educational Workers Union (SNTE) is the largest trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 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...

, with over 1.4 million members. Formed in 1949, the SNTE is composed of local sections in each of Mexico's states

States of Mexico

The United Mexican States is a federal republic formed by 32 federal entities .According to the Constitution of 1917, the states of the federation are free and sovereign. Each state has their own congress and constitution, while the Federal District has only limited autonomy with a local Congress...

. For much of its history, the SNTE has been a corporatist

Corporatism

Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...

 union allied with the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party

Institutional Revolutionary Party

The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...

 (PRI) and has been accused of having government-appointed charro

Charro (Mexican politics)

In Mexican politics and labor, a charro or líder charro is a government-appointed union boss.Mexico has a long tradition of government control and cooptation of unions and their leaders...

 leaders and anti-democratic tendencies. This resulted in a movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s in which sections from several states began demanding democratic reforms in the union structure. This movement resulted in the fall of SNTE leader Carlos Jongitud Barrios

Carlos Jongitud Barrios

Carlos Jongitud Barrios was a controversial Mexican union leader and governor of San Luis Potosí...

 in 1989. He was replaced by the current leader of the SNTE, Elba Esther Gordillo

Elba Esther Gordillo

Elba Esther Gordillo Morales is a Mexican politician, formerly affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party until 2006...

.