By Alexandra Henao-Castrillon, Education Program Director, CoDevelopment Canada
During the last 50 years, Latin America has felt the impact of the false promise of development after agreeing to implement economic policies dictated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Instead of seeing the promised results of increasing its income, Latin America became a laboratory for neoliberal policies that particularly affect the quality of life of vulnerable communities throughout the region. While some governments dissent, others accept the regressive agenda to the detriment of public services, working conditions, and democratic spaces. Education is one of the most affected sectors, and two CoDevelopment (CoDev) partners, committed to fight against neoliberalism, can teach us how to resist: the Puerto Rico Teachers’ Federation (FMPR) and the Union of Peruvian Education Workers (SUTEP).
Disaster or opportunity? How FMPR battles privatization following environmental crises
FMPR is one of the most combative civil society organizations in Latin America, working with its members and with community groups against neoliberal government projects and against the diversion of government funds to benefit private schools. Coalition building with community groups and unions of other sectors is one of FMPR’s most effective strategies that has allowed them to fight against the privatization of essential services that often affect low-income families the most.
FMPR is carrying out a project to keep one school open for community use, a school closed by former education secretary Julia Keleher in 2018. The project provides resources for the maintenance of the school and weekend artistic and sports activities to benefit children from the community affected by school closures. This project has the support of the BCTF and has allowed FMPR to strengthen its ties with communities that later become allies in the defense of an emancipatory public education system.
FMPR has made public the effects of underfunding education and has accompanied teachers and students to protest against the government’s lack of attention to school infrastructure. Some public schools with broken air conditioning have changed the schedule because of this year’s extreme heat waves and power cuts that produce overwhelming conditions for teaching and learning.
Recently, FMPR and other unions held a commemoration of 3,000 lives lost and thousands of homes destroyed by Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 hurricane that hit Puerto Rico in 2017. They believe that the government took advantage of the disaster to privatize public services, like the electrical system that was contracted with LUMA Energy—50% owned by a Canadian company. Since then, there have been multiple problems with electricity distribution that have permanently affected thousands of public schools with blackouts and voltage problems. As FMPR and its allies believe, “the disaster is political,” and it is urgent to take action to solve the crises caused by government corruption and the poor management and excessive bureaucracy of private companies like LUMA.
SUTEP's fight against conservative government policies
SUTEP has become the strongest and most effective force for championing public education and labour rights for teachers and education assistants, confronting a government that has, for several years, attempted to advance a neoliberal agenda. The educational system in Peru has been defunded and transformed through neoliberal policies. SUTEP has been relentless in urging the government to ensure that funding for public education and sustainable investment in the teaching profession are in accordance with the law. As per Peru’s Article 16 of the Political Constitution, the state must allocate no less than 6% of the GDP to education, with a plan to improve educational infrastructure. Only 4.3% was approved for 2024. The inclusion of this article in the Political Constitution was due to the work of SUTEP.
SUTEP is part of the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers and has participated in national mobilizations against the neoliberal policies that affect the working class in Peru. In addition to organizing meetings with the rank and file across the country, and co-ordinating conferences on pedagogical themes, SUTEP does an incredible amount of work promoting and defending workers’ rights and calling for policies that ensure democratic public education that responds to the needs of the Peruvian people. Its overwhelming work ranges from lobbying members of Congress and government authorities to carrying out multiple mobilizations and protests in front of government buildings, and numerous rallies and marches in the streets of several Peruvian cities. SUTEP has even gone as far as to carry out two hunger strikes in the last two years as extreme measures to push its agenda. Thanks to their strong commitment and organizing skills, SUTEP has celebrated significant victories and continues to challenge the current and previous governments.
SUTEP has worked vigorously to expand its membership and gain formal state recognition as the sole legitimate official union to represent all Peruvian teachers at the negotiation table with the Ministry of Education. Thus, the Secretary of Gender and Equity of SUTEP has been carrying out a project, also supported by the BCTF, that aims to contribute to the strengthening of the legitimacy of SUTEP by expanding its membership throughout the country and growing the participation of women teachers in the union. In 2022, part of SUTEP’s work was to lobby Congress members to protect the progress of the gender-inclusive curriculum from conservative educational initiatives that review textbooks and ban topics related to gender issues.
Our Latin American colleagues, including FMPR and SUTEP, will continue the struggle to defend the common good, teaching us all the value of collective power. CoDev, in partnership with the BCTF, will continue to facilitate alliance-building and exchanges between Canadian and Latin American teachers to learn from each other about courage to confront repression, commitment to social justice, and working in solidarity with other social sectors to protect public services—including education—from neoliberal agendas that are on the rise across the globe, including here in Canada.