SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, Chiapas—Teachers from Section 40 of the Sindicato Nacional de 
Trabajadores de la Educación (National Union of Education Workers) blocked highways at three places in Mexico’s southernmost state Feb. 8 to demand the rebuilding of classrooms damaged in last September’s earthquake and pay for teachers and other workers hired in the past three years. The blockades, which began at 7 a.m., were on one road in the state’s highlands and two places along Highway 199, which connects San Cristóbal with the popular tourist towns of Ocosingo and Palenque. They are in a “total manner,” a union leader told La Jornada, and will continue depending on whether the Chiapas state government is willing to negotiate and “if there is progress.” He said they have left long lines of stranded vehicles, with many people getting off buses and walking past the barricades to transfer to buses on the other side. Read more
