Mexico and Central America Briefing: Teachers Break a Cordon in Oaxaca, Guatemala’s Court Threatens Ministers
MEXICO & CENTRAL AMERICA · WEEKEND BRIEFING
Key Facts
- —Mexico Teachers of CNTE Sección 22 pushed through a cordon outside the hall where Claudia Sheinbaum was speaking.
- —Guatemala The Constitutional Court gave police six hours to clear blockades, on pain of dismissal for senior officials.
- —Guatemala The trigger is a new law setting reference fuel prices, approved by Congress on 8 September.
- —Costa Rica The dollar hit a record low against the colón for a third straight session, at 447.77.
- —The catch That is a record low for the dollar, not the colón, which is at its strongest since 2007.
- —Panama Prosecutors charged 22 people over a tax-credit fraud scheme causing about US$40 million in damage.
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court told the interior minister and police chief to clear fuel-price blockades within six hours or lose their jobs. In Oaxaca, a security cordon did not hold.
Two governments in Mexico and Central America spent Friday discovering the limits of a police cordon. In Oaxaca it failed; in Guatemala a court ordered one imposed.
Both disputes are about prices. One is about pensions and teachers’ pay, the other about the cost of fuel.
Mexico: The Cordon on the Cerro del Fortín
Claudia Sheinbaum presented her second government report at the Guelaguetza auditorium in Oaxaca on Friday. Teachers of CNTE Sección 22 marched on it while she was inside.
They were stopped on the road up the Cerro del Fortín, near the Hotel Victoria. El Imparcial de Oaxaca reported pushing, blows and rock-throwing.
Accounts of who formed the cordon differ. Aristegui Noticias described militants of the governing Morena party with metal barriers.
El Imparcial described government workers and members of a transport organisation. Neither account has been contradicted by the other outlet.
The teachers eventually advanced toward the auditorium. No injuries or arrests were confirmed by any outlet.
Interior Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez was at the confrontation and met the union’s leadership. “Están en su derecho, todo mundo tiene derecho a manifestarse,” she said.
The union’s demands are national rather than local. They want the 2007 pension law repealed, the 2013 education reform and its teacher-assessment body abolished, and the public pension system defended.
Sheinbaum’s speech did not address the protest. She announced that 1.73 million people in Oaxaca receive federal welfare payments and set out hospital and rail projects for the state.
Guatemala: Six Hours or Your Job
Congress approved a law on 8 September setting reference fuel prices. The figures are 39 quetzales, about US$5.10, for diesel and regular petrol, and 41 quetzales, roughly US$5.35, for premium.
Taxi and mototaxi drivers, transport operators and residents rejected the change. Blockades followed on highways and inside the capital.
Counts differ by outlet and by day. Prensa Libre reported seven blockades persisting overnight on Thursday; La Hora listed six points on Friday, four of them in Guatemala City.
On Friday afternoon the Constitutional Court intervened. It ordered authorities to clear the blockades within six hours, under threat of removal from office.
The officials exposed were the interior minister and the director of the national police. Army and police clearing operations began after the order.
Guatemala: What Happened at Kilometre 124
The clearing turned violent in Zacapa. Prensa Libre reported injuries and heavy transport vehicles set alight at kilometre 124 of the Atlantic highway.
Two people were taken for medical treatment, one with a gunshot wound and one from gas inhalation. Others were hurt by unidentified objects.
Local sources told Prensa Libre that three police officers had been killed. The police spokesman did not confirm it, and La Hora’s separate report of the same incident records no deaths.
Treat that as unconfirmed. By late Friday police said all routes had been cleared.
Guatemala: The Political Layer
One blockade has an explicit political demand. At the Bethania entrance to the capital’s ring road, a man named in reports as Oswaldo Rocael Villalta López is collecting signatures.
The signatures call for the resignation of President Bernardo Arévalo and Vice-President Karin Herrera. He told Prensa Libre he wants not a coup but a resignation.
Prensa Libre reported that police records list six prior offences against him between 1999 and 2011. He ran a similar protest at the same spot in March 2025.
The government’s framing is that the blockades are organised. The defence ministry spoke of coordination with very dark interests.
The interior ministry says it is investigating whether politicians or criminal groups are financing them. No evidence has been published.
Costa Rica: The Record That Runs the Other Way
The dollar closed at 447.77 colones on the Monex market on Friday. That was a third consecutive record low.
This is frequently reported backwards. It is the dollar at a historic low.
That means the colón is at its strongest since the series began in December 2007. Exporters are the ones complaining.
The central bank published reference rates of 444.22 to buy and 450.06 to sell. It bought US$43.86 million in stabilisation operations to reduce pressure on the rate.
Separately, Western Union said it will wind down its Costa Rican operations centre over twelve months. The company disclosed no number of affected jobs, and some work moves to Guatemala.
The Rest of Central America
Honduras had widespread blackouts on Thursday, with the national dispatch centre warning of further interruption. Power supply is now a first-order political problem across Central America.
The migration authority cut economic assistance for deported Hondurans to 2,500 lempiras, about US$95. The cut is retroactive to January.
Panama’s cabinet approved an additional electricity subsidy of US$32 million. Development bank CAF granted a US$500 million loan for the agricultural sector.
Prosecutors charged 22 people in an operation targeting tax-credit fraud at the revenue authority. Alleged damages are about US$40 million.
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Chiriquí province. Nothing verifiable emerged from Nicaragua or El Salvador, the two Central America states whose press is hardest to read from outside.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CNTE?
It is Mexico’s dissident teachers’ movement, organised in state sections within the national teachers’ union. Sección 22 in Oaxaca is its strongest and most combative branch.
Why are Guatemalans blocking roads?
Because Congress approved reference fuel prices on 8 September under a price-stabilisation law. Drivers and transport operators say the prices are too high.
Can Guatemala’s Constitutional Court really sack ministers?
It ordered authorities to clear the blockades within six hours under warning of removal from office. Enforcement would follow separate proceedings.
Is the Costa Rican colón weak?
No, the opposite. The dollar is at a record low against it, meaning the colón is at its strongest level since the exchange-rate series began in 2007.
Sources: Aristegui Noticias, El Imparcial de Oaxaca, NVI Noticias, Prensa Libre, La Hora, La Nación Costa Rica, El Financiero Costa Rica, La Prensa Honduras, La Prensa Panamá.
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