Alejandro Alvarez, author and global economist from National Autonomous University of Mexico, addressed current Mexican issues Monday, Oct. 30.

Mostly dealing with the strike in Oaxaca and how that affects Mexico and the United States, Alvarez spoke for about 40 minutes to a crowded University Union Ballroom.

Peter Baird, an assistant professor in the Bilingual Multicultural Education department, said the reason for Alvarez’s visit is because there are a lot of things that are happening in Mexico that need attention.

“Also because what we’re getting in the news is not always illuminating,” Baird said.

Alvarez began his talk with an analysis of what’s going on in Oaxaca.

“It’s maybe the poorest state in Mexico,” he said. “Since May of this year, there has been a teacher’s movement that really has become a political crisis in Oaxaca, and a national challenge in the country.”

It’s not just a national problem, he said, since many Oaxacans come to live and work in California.

“Oaxaca has a record of people migrating to the United States from Mexico,” Alvarez said. “Extreme poverty, social polarization, diminishing of resources in Oaxacan public schools, and the social discontent with the government rule explain to you why the Oaxacan people have become so angered and so well-organized to resist these conditions.”

According to the British Broadcasting Channel, the problem began on May 1, when teachers in Oaxaca handed in a document listing their grievances and demands. When they got no response, they went on strike.

“When I came to Sacramento last Thursday, I found this photograph in the newspaper,” Alvarez said, holding up a copy of the Sacramento Bee with a front page article about the teachers’ strike. “It’s really not precisely showing what’s going on in Oaxaca.”

“It’s not the chaos, or the anarchists, or an uprising. It is a social movement that has come out after years of punishment and murdering and police brutalities of the Indian community in that area,” Alvarez said.

During the question-and-answer period, he responded to a question about the consequences of being out of school for such a long time.

“I watched a man on television who said, ‘Just imagine the disaster for children, being out of school all these days,'” Alvarez said.

“Well, you know what? All of these days, the children have had the biggest lesson in life, in relation to resistance and dignity,” Alvarez said, drawing applause.

Students received the presentation with enthusiasm.

“I think it was really informative to find out what’s really going on in Mexico,” said junior Joaquin Castaneda. “Especially with the privatization of a public education through International Monetary Fund policies, which are spearheaded here in the United States.”

“Americans blame immigrants, but they don’t understand that the policies that we have globally are affecting the immigration that we’re experiencing at the moment,” Castaneda said.

“It’s really empowering to see professors, especially those of latin descent, coming here to campus and giving us such an objective and entrenched view as to what’s going on in Mexico and how that affects us here in the United States,” Castaneda said.