Mexico: The Great Political Divide

Members of Mexico's National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), a nationwide teachers' union, held several protests in Mexico City on June 7 as part of nationwide educators' union demonstrations against education reforms. CNTE and the National Educational Workers' Union (SNTE), the two main unions behind the demonstrations, appear poised to continue nationwide protests despite claims of negotiations with the government. 

The protests come as the Mexican presidential race narrows into a competition between establishment-oriented Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Pena Nieto and leftist Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The ongoing demonstrations could destabilize Mexico's already polarized political environment, deepening the divide between leftist and conservative voters and institutions. The unions involved in the protests are sympathetic to Lopez Obrador, and the continuation of the nationwide protests could help the left politically and affect security ahead of the July 1 presidential election.