TEACHERS CALL NEW CONTRACT "IDEOLOGICAL"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000658

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2024
TAGS: PGOV ELAB SOCI KDEM VE
SUBJECT: TEACHERS CALL NEW CONTRACT "IDEOLOGICAL"

CARACAS 00000658 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
REASONS 1.4 (D)


1. (C) Summary: The Government of the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela (GBRV) reached agreement with three teachers'
unions (but excluded six other unions) to sign a collective
bargaining agreement May 12. The agreement provides for a
15% raise, but changes the teacher evaluation system and
makes training workshops obligatory. Teachers, parents and
opposition leaders have denounced the new contract and joined
in a May 20 opposition protest that attracted several
thousand participants. The Chavez administration has met
resistance in the past to attempts to politicize the
education system, backing off from proposed,
ideologically-charged changes. Nevertheless, some pundits
are betting that an emboldened Chavez will soon seek passage
of a stalled Education Law in an effort to make Venezuela's
educational system conform to his socialist agenda. End
Summary.

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Choosing the Unions
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2. (C) President Chavez announced that the GBRV reached
agreement on a national teachers' contract during a May 12
nationally televised speech ("cadena"). Chavez stressed that
this contract raises teacher salaries by 15% for 2009.
Inflation is running close to 30%. Unlike previous teacher
contracts, the pay increase is not retroactive to the end of
the last contract, which expired in 2007. Salary increases
for 2010 are left to the discretion of President Chavez.
Three unions were part of these negotiations: the National
Union of the United Teaching Force (Sinafum),the Educators
Federation of Venezuela (FEV),and the Venezuelan Teachers
Federation (FVM),while six other unions were not part of the
discussions. Minister of Education Hector Navarro said that
only the three unions with which the GBRV engaged are
legitimate. The other teachers' unions called for a strike
during the negotiations on March 25. Navarro termed the
strike illegal as negotiations were ongoing and threatened
participants with punishment. The strike did not appear to
generate significant participation.

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Evaluations, Workshops and Ideology
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3. (C) Critics of the contract say that it includes changes
that were voted down during the December 2, 2007,
constitutional referendum. The contract makes the teacher
evaluation system more ad-hoc and could potentially be used
to give pro-Chavez teachers preferential treatment. It also
requires regular attendance at "teaching, humanistic, and
technical training," which critics believe will actually be
ideological workshops. The Catholic Church, which receives
public money for its religious education, is very critical of
the contract. Vice President of the Venezuelan Conference of
Bishops Baltazar Porras said it forces teachers to be
ideological mouthpieces. Answering accusations that the GBRV
wants to politicize education, Sinafum president Orlando
Perez "clarified" to the local media that they "are not
trying to teach students ideology, but just want to teach
them that the imperialists are trying to impose their own
culture and dispossess them of their wealth."


4. (C) FVM President Orlando Alzuru told Poloff May 21 that
the original contract proposed by the government was very
ideological, but that the negotiated contract is not.
"People are criticizing us for participating in the
negotiations," he said, "but without our changes the contract
would be much worse." FVM is the largest teacher's union in
the country, representing 82,000 of the 350,000 teachers in
the country.

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The New Education Law
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5. (C) President Chavez regularly raises the idea of
changing the education system to conform with his socialist
revolution. The most direct way to change the system would
be to pass the new Education Law, a project that has been
pending for several years. A National Teacher's Movement
Meeting held May 14-17 worked on a report to inform the
second reading of the New Education Law. (Note: The National
Assembly must approve draft laws in two readings before
passing them to the Executive Branch for promulgation into

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law. End Note). FVM President Orlando Alzuru told the local
media May 16 that the contract was not so bad, but that "the
real danger is in the discussion of the New Education Law".
He told Poloff that he thinks the GBRV will dust off and
re-open deliberations on the draft, new Education Law soon.


6. (C) Comment: President Chavez has repeatedly called for
a socialist curriculum to develop socialist citizens.
Despite local rumors of Cuban educational advisors and
anti-capitalist and xenophobic additions to the curriculum,
few significant nationwide curriculum changes appear to have
occurred so far. Teaches and parents have mobilized in the
past and successfully stalled previous efforts at wholesale
change of the education system. Many pundits believe
education remains a "third rail" issue for the GBRV.
Nevertheless, the GBRV may feel empowered to pursue education
reform again in the wake of Chavez's victory in the February
15 referendum eliminating term limits. If resistance to the
new contract dies down, the GBRV may try to pass more
significant and ideologically charged changes via the
Education Law. End Comment.

CAULFIELD