Mexican Labor News, Vol. 2, No. 9 (fwd)

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Date: Sat, 3 May 1997 13:36:19 -0400
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Subject: Mexican Labor News, Vol. 2, No. 9

Dear Friends,
        Attached please find Mexican Labor News and Analysis, Vol. 2, No.
9.
        In solidarity,
        Dan La Botz

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MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS=0D
May 2, 1997=0D
Vol. II, No. 9=0D
               About Mexican Labor News and Analysis=0D
     Mexican Labor News and Analysis is produced in collaboration=0D
with the Authentic Labor Front (Frente Autentico del Trabajo -=0D
FAT) of Mexico and with the United Electrical Workers (UE) of the=0D
United States and is published the 2nd and 16th of every month. =0D
     MLNA can be viewed at the UE's international web site:=0D
HTTP://www.igc.apc.org/unitedelect/. For information about direct=0D
subscription, submission of articles, and all queries contact=0D
editor Dan La Botz at the following e-mail address:=0D
103144.2651@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx or call (525) 661-33-97 in Mexico=0D
City. =0D
     MLNA articles may be reprinted by other electronic or print=0D
media, but we ask that you credit Mexican Labor News and Analysis=0D
and give the UE home page location and Dan La Botz's compuserve=0D
address.=0D
     The UE Home Page which displays Mexican Labor News and=0D
Analysis has an INDEX of back issues and an URGENT ACTION ALERT=0D
section.=0D
-----------------------------------------------------------------=0D
IN THIS ISSUE:=0D
     *May Day March in Mexico: Foro and May First Federation=0D
     *FAT in the May Day March: Workers, Punks, Strikers, Women=0D
     *UFW Organizes in Mexico=0D
     *New "Revolutionary Organization of Labor" Formed=0D
     *Working Lean Conference: Academics, Unions, Workers=0D
     *On Eve of Election, PRI Bonus for DF Workers=0D
     *Human Rights Groups Denounce Continued Violations=0D
     *Social Statistics: Recovery with Hunger=0D
     *Labor Book Notes: Mexican Rural Teacher Autobiography=0D
-----------------------------------------------------------------=0D
               MAY DAY MARCH IN MEXICO CITY:=0D
          FORO AND MAY FIRST COALITION FILL ZOCALO=0D
                         by Dan La Botz=0D
     The labor dissidents, the Forum of Unionism before the=0D
Nation (or Foro group) and the May First Inter-Union Coalition,=0D
marched separately but arrived together to fill the national=0D
plaza or Zocalo in Mexico City. The dissident union leaders=0D
claimed 250,000 workers in the demonstrations, but various=0D
reporters estimated 60,000.=0D
     For the third year in a row, the opposition unionists led=0D
tens of thousands of workers to protest the government's economic=0D
policies, to reject the "official" unions' corporative control,=0D
and to demand wage increases. In a completely peaceful but very=0D
militant demonstration workers expressed their opposition to the=0D
Institutional Revolutionary Party, to the Congress of Labor (CT),=0D
and to the leaders of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM).=0D
               Workers Jeer, Boo Official Leaders=0D
     Meanwhile, in the National Auditorium Leonardo Rodriguez=0D
Alcaine, acting head of the Confederation of Mexican Workers=0D
(CTM), and Victor Flores, president of the Congress of Labor=0D
(CT), were jeered, booed, and ridiculed by their captive audience=0D
of some 12,000 supposedly loyal workers. For the first time in=0D
memory, 97-year old Fidel Velazquez, head of the CTM, did not=0D
preside over the May Day commemoration. Velazquez has been in and=0D
out of the hospital repeatedly over the last several weeks,=0D
though he recently returned to work at CTM headquarters.=0D
     President Ernest Zedillo spoke to the CT-CTM official=0D
gathering, uttering all the cliches of past presidential=0D
addresses to the state-controlled labor organizations, but one=0D
worker's chant broke the spell: Zedillo, Zedillo, ayuda mi=0D
bosillo. (Zedillo, Zedillo, put some money in my pocket.) =0D
      Throughout the "official" May Day meeting in the gigantic=0D
auditorium the workers who were not sleeping shouted out jokes at=0D
the expense of their leaders. When Alcaine reiterated the CTM's=0D
support for the PRI, the "boo" from the bleachers filled the=0D
gigantic auditorium. Alcaine, jockeying for leadership of the CTM=0D
with the coming retirement or death of Velazquez, could hardly=0D
finish his speech. =0D
     "The thousands of workers chosen for the annual occasion=0D
neither respected nor feared the old ruling class of the=0D
workers," wrote reporter Juan Arvizu Arrioja in EL UNIVERSAL=0D
newspaper. The "official" ceremony was an utter fiasco, another=0D
sign of the deterioration of the old order.=0D
               Unity and Diversity on the Zocalo=0D
     The Foro group of unions and the May First Inter-Union=0D
Coalition failed to reach agreement on holding a common May Day=0D
demonstration. The Foro group demanded that only unions be=0D
permitted to march, while the May First Coalition called for a=0D
demonstration of the working class which would permit political=0D
organizations and community groups to participate. =0D
     Alejandra Barrales, leader of the Union of Workers of Goods=0D
and Services (FESEBES), which makes up part of the Foro group of=0D
unions said, "What was perceived as a disagreement was an=0D
agreement. The great step forward is that the Foro group and the=0D
May First group dared to march together and to talk about=0D
creating a national assembly which can create a new confederation=0D
of workers." =0D
     But the Foro group's most prominent public figure, Francisco=0D
Hernandez Juarez of the Telephone Workers Union did not agree.=0D
"The goal of the struggle in which we are involved has basically=0D
a labor union character. But in the May First Coalition there are=0D
community movements and political party organizations. We don't=0D
want to enter into a terrain where the struggle is politicized."=0D
     Nonetheless, while they marched separately and even held=0D
their own rallies back to back in the Zocalo, the Foro group on a=0D
platform in front of the Cathedral and the May First Coalition in=0D
front of the Mexico City Hall (Regente), this was clearly one=0D
enormous opposition demonstration that reached politically from=0D
some of the more conservative dissidents in the Congress of Labor=0D
to radical unionists with ties to the guerrilla groups.=0D
     The Foro group was led by the Telephone Workers (STRM) and=0D
the Social Security Workers Union, while the May First Inter-=0D
Union Coalition march was led by the National Coordinating=0D
Committee of the Teachers Union (la CNTE) and the bus drivers (or=0D
former bus drivers) of Route 100 (SUTAUR). Marching with the May=0D
First Coalition were perhaps 10,000 members of the Francisco=0D
Villa community organization, mainly women. =0D
     Some of the May Day marchers spray painted slogans on the=0D
walls and windows of buildings as they marched along: Long Live=0D
the Zapatista Army of National Liberation; End the Repression; We=0D
Demand a Solution to the Problems of the Oaxaca Teachers. =0D
     In the Zocalo, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the candidate for mayor=0D
of Mexico City of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD),=0D
expressed support for what he called the "democratic and=0D
independent unionists." Benito Miron Lince spoke on behalf of the=0D
Broad Front for the Construction of a National Liberation=0D
Movement (FAC-MLN). Several speakers alluded to the Zapatista=0D
Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and its political front=0D
(FZLN), and a statement was read by one speaker on behalf of the=0D
Peoples Revolutionary Army (EPR).=0D
     For decades the May First march was an official affair where=0D
labor bureaucrats led their dependent workers to parade before=0D
the president and promise loyalty to the state-party, the PRI.=0D
The Mexican president then gave his benediction to the captive=0D
working class, and renewed the "historic compromise" of the state=0D
with the unions. Now, that tradition is dead and a new one seems=0D
to have been born, the tradition of an independent, diverse,=0D
democratic, and highly politicized march to the national plaza=0D
not to praise the president, but to challenge the union=0D
bureaucrats, the employers and the state. Happy May Day. =0D
                              ###=0D
                    THE AUTHENTIC LABOR FRONT =0D
                      IN THE MAY DAY MARCH =0D
     Members of the Authentic Labor Front (FAT) marched with both=0D
the Foro group of unions and with the May First Inter-Union=0D
Group. Behind the FAT's enormous banner came members of the=0D
Independent Steel Workers Union (STIMAHCS) affiliated with the=0D
FAT, as well as a group of young anarchist punks all dressed in=0D
black, some of whom work with the People's Kitchen (Cocina=0D
Popular). The STIMAHCS members who wore matching red caps and=0D
chanted slogans, came from the Federal District, Puebla, Tlaxcala=0D
and Morelos.=0D
     Marta Cecilia Garcia Juarez, a 23-year old member of the=0D
People's Kitchen explained that they had joined the FAT=0D
delegation because they shared its workers' self-management=0D
(auto-gestionario) perspective. The People's Kitchen, explained=0D
Garcia Juarez, is a collective made up of about 25 people, mostly=0D
between the ages of 14 and 28 who work with poor people,=0D
community groups and unions. Garcia Juarez said that the People's=0D
Kitchen teaches vegetarian cooking to unions and community=0D
groups, and recently served meals to street children.=0D
                    Organizing Women Workers =0D
     Women marched with the FAT delegation. The FAT has been=0D
carrying on a campaign to organize working women on the shop=0D
floor, according to Matilde Arteaga, the FAT's national women's=0D
organizer.=0D
     "We are currently organizing women in the factories," said=0D
Arteaga. "We work with the People's Kitchen (Cocina Popular) to=0D
offer cooking classes, and we start reading circles where we read=0D
basic literature on gender issues and women's rights."=0D
     The FAT is organizing such working women's groups at Frenos=0D
Hydraulicos, STINCA, and Hermanos Morales.=0D
                         Strike Goes On=0D
     Also marching in the May Day parade, Jova Cruz Aguilar, a=0D
member of the strike committee at Hermanos Morales (Morales=0D
Brothers) print shop said that their strike continues with the=0D
support of the FAT and other labor organizations. The strike=0D
began, she said, ten months ago, but for the last two months the=0D
workers have had no wages. =0D
     The workers at Hermanos Morales took their case to the Board=0D
of Conciliation and Arbitration (JCA). The board called Juan=0D
Antonio Morales Carrillo, one of the owners of the Hermanos=0D
Morales plant to appear. He told the board that the strikers had=0D
never worked for him. The workers then presented video-tapes,=0D
photographs and other materials to prove that they had been his=0D
employees.=0D
     Adrian Quesada Valle, the general secretary of the union,=0D
told Mexican Labor News and Analysis, "We are at a very critical=0D
point as far as the economic situation goes." He appealed for=0D
help from other unionists.=0D
                              ###=0D
                    UNITED FARM WORKERS =0D
                    ORGANIZES IN MEXICO=0D
     The United Farm Workers Union (UFW), a U.S. based labor=0D
union, is currently carrying out a campaign to organize the=0D
mainly Mexican workers who labor in the strawberry fields of=0D
Northern California. International attention was focussed on the=0D
campaign when the UFW, backed by the American Federation of=0D
Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), organized a=0D
march of nearly 30,000 in Watsonville, California in April.=0D
     The UFW is attempting to organize some 10,000 thousand=0D
workers, approximately 90 percent of whom are Mexicans from=0D
Michoacan and Jalisco. These workers are employed by 270 growers=0D
(or sharecroppers). The growers produce for eight cooler-shippers=0D
that dominate the $600 million dollar a year industry. Most of=0D
these workers earn about $8,500 for a nine month (March or April=0D
to December) harvest season, while corporate executives of some=0D
of the cooler-shippers may earn one million dollars a year.=0D
     At present, some 20 AFL-CIO unions are cooperating to put=0D
120 organizers in the fields. But in addition to the local=0D
organizing, the United Farm Workers has several organizers=0D
working in Michoacan to organize the workers in their home towns,=0D
before they arrive in the fields in California. There the=0D
organizers compete with anti-union propaganda on the radios, paid=0D
for by the employers.=0D
     The UFW struggle to organize farm workers in California=0D
demonstrate once more that today in North America, labor=0D
strategies must be interntional.=0D
     Those interested in more information about the UFW and its=0D
struggle should contact the UFW at 202-637-5279 or 805-822-5571,=0D
x3255. Teachers, labor educators, union activists and local=0D
officers may want to ask for the excellent pamphlet "Five Cents=0D
for Fairness: The Case for Change in the Strawberry Fields."     =0D
                              ###=0D
              REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION OF LABOR=0D
                 CALLS FOR NEW LABOR MOVEMENT=0D
     Just before May Day, a group of workers, union activists,=0D
and academics established a new labor organization, the=0D
Revolutionary Organization of Labor (Organizacion Revolucionaria=0D
del Trabajo - ORT), as widely reported in the Mexican press.=0D
     "The ORT is independent and autonomous of political parties=0D
and hopes to become an authentic expression of the class struggle=0D
of the workers, because the working class needs to regain hope in=0D
order to fully enter into the struggle for the leadership of the=0D
country," said Raul Alvarez, a leader of the new organization. =0D
     "We need to recover our union organizations and extend them=0D
to thousands of workers who are unionized and have contracts, but=0D
without the least respect for their labor rights," he added.=0D
     The ORT, said Alvarez, calls for opposition to any attempt=0D
to modify the Federal Labor Law (LFT), and supports democratic=0D
labor union organizations. Alvarez said the workers need an=0D
apolitical organization which can fight for their needs.=0D
     "We need a unionism which is democratic, united and=0D
revolutionary, and which can assimilate the new political=0D
struggles, because the old ways of doing politics in the labor=0D
movement are completely obsolete, and do not help the workers in=0D
any way."=0D
     The leaders of the new organization also called themselves=0D
"Marxist-Leninists." Marxism, they said, remains the method for=0D
understanding reality.=0D
     In the May Day parade in Mexico City, the new organization=0D
distributed its newspaper "Workers World: Organ of the=0D
Revolutionary Organization of Labor." The new newspaper, however,=0D
also carried the header "Corre la Voz" (Spread the Word), which=0D
has been a newspaper of the Party of the Democratic Revolution.=0D
     In adition to Alvarez, otther leaders of the new=0D
organization are: Manuel Perez Vazquez, Raul Miranda, Carolina=0D
Verduzco, Ramon Felix, Lilia Cruz, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Luis Rojas,=0D
Rodrigo Garcia and Antonio Martinez.=0D
                              ###=0D
          WORKING LEAN CONFERENCE BRINGS TOGETHER=0D
         AUTO INDUSTRY RESEARCHERS, UNIONS, WORKERS=0D
     A conference called "Working Lean: Labor in the North=0D
American Auto Industry" brought together scores of researchers,=0D
union representatives and workers in Puebla, Mexico during the=0D
last week of April.=0D
     Organized by Steve Babson of the Labor Studies program at=0D
Wayne State University in Detroit and Roberto Juarez Nunez of the=0D
Autonomous University of Puebla in Puebla, the conference=0D
involved Canadian, Mexican and United States academics, unions=0D
and workers in discussions of changes in work organization.=0D
     "This conference brought together the three countries=0D
participating in the North American Free Trade Agreement=0D
(NAFTA)," said Babson, "in an interesting mix of academics and=0D
labor. So this conference was analytical, but different from the=0D
aims of most academic conference on new work organization. Most=0D
conferences of this sort address management problems or do pure=0D
research. The explicit focus of this conference was the impact of=0D
change in work organization on work and workers, rather than on=0D
productivity and competitiveness."=0D
     Among those participating in the conference were among=0D
others: Benedicto Martinez of the Authentic Labor Front (FAT);=0D
Robin Alexander of the United Electrical Workers (UE); Ron Blum=0D
of the United Auto Workers (UAW) research department; Jorge=0D
Carrillo of the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana; Harley=0D
Shaiken of the University of California at Berkeley; Peter=0D
Schnall of Cornell; and Lauri Graham of the University of Indiana=0D
at Kokomo, author of On the Line at Subaru-Isuzu.=0D
     Babson said he would like to see the conference result in a=0D
systematic and sustained effort to bring together workers, unions=0D
and researchers from all three countries. "We would like to pair=0D
plant from the United States or Canada with plants in Mexico and=0D
focus on studies meaningful to all of those involved," said=0D
Babson.=0D
     Brad Markell, program manager at the Industrial Technology=0D
Institute in Ann Arbor and a member of United Auto Workers Local=0D
14 who was involved in the conference said, "We hope we can take=0D
on the MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] people about=0D
lean production." MIT has been one of the principal academic=0D
proponents of lean production models.=0D
                              ###=0D
     PRI ANNOUNCES BIG BENEFITS INCREASE FOR DF WORKERS=0D
          ON EVE OF MEXICO CITY MAYORAL ELECTION=0D
     Mexico City Regent, appointed mayor, Oscar Espinosa=0D
announced a 400 percent increase in benefits to 39 sections of=0D
the Sole Union of Workers of the Government of the Federal=0D
District (SUTGDF), on the eve of the first election for Mexico=0D
City mayor. The SUTGDF represents some 110,000 Mexico City and=0D
Federal District workers. =0D
     The workers will receive 100 million pesos in benefits in=0D
1997, compared to 20 million in 1996. Some of this will be direct=0D
cash payments, some money for bonuses, scholarships, or=0D
seniority.=0D
     Espinosa told the workers they should remember that they had=0D
their jobs thanks to the efforts of the Institutional=0D
Revolutionary Party (PRI), its president Ernesto Zedillo, and the=0D
PRI's assemblymen. Raul Quintana, head of the SUTGDF, told=0D
Espinosa and the workers that the union supported completely=0D
Zedillo and his program.=0D
                              ###=0D
                    HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS=0D
               DENOUNCE CONTINUED VIOLATIONS IN MEXICO=0D
     Several human rights groups continued last month to denounce=0D
human rights violations in Mexico such as the use of torture,=0D
including torture of children, and official tolerance of "white=0D
guards."=0D
     The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of=0D
Human Rights (CMDPDH), a non-governmental organization,=0D
criticized the Mexican government federal and local police for=0D
the continued use of torture. Mariclaire Acosta, president of the=0D
organization, said that the existence of the Zapatista Army of=0D
National Liberation (EZLN) and the Peoples Revolutionary Army=0D
(EPR) are used as a "pretext" for military operations.=0D
     The organization Brigades For Human Rights Observers for=0D
Peace (Brigadas Pro-Derechos Humanos Observadores Por la Paz)=0D
warned about the presence of white guards acting against street=0D
children. The organization said this could lead to the=0D
"Brazilianization" of Mexico, an allusion to Brazilian death=0D
squads which murder street children in Rio and other cities.=0D
     The Tabasco Human Rights Committee (Codehutab) reported that=0D
two minors, Reinaldo Ramirez Mendes, 9, and Jose Lopez Gonzalez,=0D
11, had been tortured by police authorities in Tabasco to force=0D
them to confess to a robbery. The police held the children's=0D
heads under water, among other tortures.=0D
     At the same time the non-governmental Human Rights=0D
Watch/Americas criticized Mexican authorities for tolerating=0D
armed groups operating outside the law in rural areas, known in=0D
Mexico as guardias blancas or "white guards." Human Rights=0D
Watch/Americas criticized the Mexican government for failing to=0D
carry out international agreements made to protect human rights.=0D
     The Human Rights Watch/Americas report, "Unkept Promises,=0D
Official Responsibility for Rural Violence," held the Mexican=0D
government responsible for the growth in violence in rural areas.=0D
     Responding to the human rights groups, the Mexican=0D
government expelled Georgina Porter, a member of the Unitarian=0D
Universalist Service Committee based in Boston, from Mexico. This=0D
is the government's fifth deportation of foreign human rights=0D
activists. The Miguel Augtin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, a=0D
Roman Catholic organization, denounced the government's action,=0D
as did the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues.=0D
                              ###=0D
SOCIAL STATISTICS=0D
[This column gives a brief summary of studies reported in the=0D
Mexican press. These studies and reports frequently give=0D
contradictory information on investment, employment, poverty and=0D
other matters. We simply call these reports and studies to your=0D
attention, and do not take responsibility for contradictory=0D
statements.-Editor]=0D
               ECONOMIC RECOVERY WITH HUNGER=0D
Foreign Investment in Mexico=0D
     Total foreign investment in 1997 is expected to equal that=0D
of 1996, according to Jaime Zabludovsky, Under Secretary of=0D
Commerce. Foreign direct investment is expected to be between 8=0D
and 9 billion dollars. (Yadira Mena, "Esperan inversion=0D
extranjera directa de '97 igual a la de '96," LA JORNADA 23 April=0D
1997.)=0D
     The Workers University bulletin reports that more than 70=0D
percent of the foreign investment in Mexico in recent months was=0D
of a speculative character, while direct investment represented=0D
only 29 percent of the total. The Workers University bulletin put=0D
speculative investment at 14 .4 billion dollars and direct=0D
investment at 5.9 billion dollars. (Yanireth Israde,=0D
"Especulativa, 70% de la inversion extranjera en Mexico," LA=0D
JORNADA 27 April 1997.)=0D
Banks Overdue Loan=0D
     Mexican banks overdue loans amount to 530 billion pesos (8=0D
pesos=3D1 dollar), according to the Bank Fund for the Protection of=0D
Savings (Fobaproa), Antonio Castellanos y Efe, "Cartera vencida=0D
de la banca privada: $530 mil millones," LA JORNADA 29 April=0D
1997.)=0D
Inflation=0D
     Inflation grew by only 0.58 percent in the first half of=0D
April, this is the lowest level since December 1994, according to=0D
the Bank of Mexico. ("Inflacion de 0.58% en la primera quincena=0D
de abril," LA JORNADA 25 April 1997.=0D
Employment: Maquiladoras, Construction, Manufacturing=0D
     Employment in maquiladoras rose 18.4 percent in the first=0D
two months of 1997. The Mexican Institute of National Statistics=0D
(INEGI) reports that there are now 824,710 persons working in=0D
maquiladoras. (Claudia Luna Palencia, "Aumenta un 18.4% empleo en=0D
maquilas," REFORMA 30 April 1997.)=0D
     In the first two months of 1997, the construction industry=0D
employment grew by 9.6 percent, according to the National=0D
Institute of Statistics (INEGI). (Roberto Gonzalez Amador,=0D
"Crecio 9.6% la industria de la construccion; repunte del=0D
empleo," LA JORNADA 25 April, 1997.)=0D
     Manufacturing employment rose 4.5 percent in the first two=0D
month of 1997, according to the National Institute of Statistics=0D
(INEGI). ("INEGI: aumento 4.5% la occupacion en la manufactura,"=0D
LA JORNADA 29 April 1997.)=0D
Wages=0D
     The minimum wage lost 75.5 percent of its purchasing power=0D
between 1976 and 1997, according to the Senator Porfirio Camarena=0D
Castro, also head of the consumer goods commission. The minimum=0D
wage is the basis for most other wages in Mexico. (Laura Gomez=0D
Flores, "El salario minimo perdio 75.5%, de 1976 a marzo:=0D
Camarena Castro.)=0D
Hunger=0D
     More than 8.5 million Mexicans (out of a total population of=0D
92 million) in ten rural and urban areas "suffer serious and very=0D
serious malnutrition" according to Adolfo Chavez, the subdirector=0D
of the National Institute of Nutrition. (Andrea Becerril, "Hay=0D
8.5 milliones de desnutridos en 10 zonas del pais: INN," LA=0D
JORNADA 24 April 1997.)=0D
     About four million Mexican families suffer malnutrition,=0D
according to the National Commission on Food (CNA). ("Mal=0D
alimentadas, casi cuatro millones de familias," LA JORNADA 30=0D
April 1997.)=0D
=0D
Children's Smaller Stature=0D
     Malnutrition is leading to a reduction in the size of=0D
Mexican children, according to the Secretary of Public Education=0D
(SEP) and other Mexican agencies. One out of every three Mexican=0D
children suffers from malnutrition, more than 7 million according=0D
to Mexican health agencies. Investigators found that Mexican=0D
children beginning primary school measured on the average 116.8=0D
centimeters in March of 1993, and only 115.1 centimeters in 1994.=0D
(Ivonne Melgar, "Disminuye estatura de ninos," REFORMA 27 April=0D
1997.)=0D
Infant Mortality=0D
     For every 1,000 birth in Mexico, 17 babies die of=0D
preventable diseases, according to the National Action Program in=0D
Favor of Infancy 1995-2000. (Roberto Garduno E., "De cada mil=0D
ninos, 17 mueren por enfermedades prevenibles," LA JORNADA 26=0D
April 1997.)=0D
LABOR BOOK NOTES=0D
Salvador Sotelo Arevalo. Historia de mi vida. Autobiografia y =0D
     memorias de un maestro rural en Mexico, 1904-1965 (Mexico:=0D
     Instituto Nacional de Estudios Historicos de la Revolucion=0D
     Mexicana and Secretaria de Gobernacion, 1996) Introduction=0D
     by Martin Sanchez and Adonai Sotelo. Notes, Photographs. 159=0D
     pages.=0D
     The autobiography of Salvador Sotelo Arevalo (1904-1988) is=0D
a fascinating account of 61 years in the life of a rural school=0D
teacher in Michoacan, from his birth in 1904 until his=0D
retirement. The book deals with his experiences in the Mexican=0D
Revolution, as an immigrant worker in California, during the=0D
Cristero Rebellion, during the years of president Lazaro=0D
Cardenas, and then in post-revolutionary Mexico. As a boy, Sotelo=0D
was an admirer of the local indigenous peasant leader Miguel de=0D
la Trinidad Regalado, known as El Indio Regalado, a fighter for=0D
agrarian reform and a lieutenant of Emiliano Zapata. After=0D
Sotelo's hero was murdered and beheaded, Sotelo vowed to dedicate=0D
his life to agrarian reform. Sotelo's autobiography is a vivid=0D
and moving account of the rank and filed teachers who worked to=0D
fulfill the promise of the Mexican Revolution in the villages,=0D
and who became the spokespersons for the demands of the rural=0D
peasants and laborers. One of the most fascinating aspects of=0D
this book is its treatment of religion and the church. This is an=0D
excellent piece of testimonial literature which would be useful=0D
in Mexican history classes and should be translated into English.=0D
 END MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS, VOL. 2, NO. 9, 2 MAY 1997=

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