Othón Salazar

Othón Salazar (1924–2008) was a Mexican normal school teacher and revolutionary. He was born in Alcozauca de Guerrero, Guerrero State on May 17, 1924 and died in Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero State on December 4, 2008.

The son of parents who operated a bakery, Othón worked from an early age, but also went to school. In 1942, Othón started attending the Oaxtepec Normal School. There, the teachers saw the last flashes of the Mexican Revolution, leaving them with many social concerns. He completed only the first year in Oaxtepec. He did his second year in the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College and the third at the National Teachers College. Afterwards he entered the Superior Normal School, where he studied for four years. There he specialized in social sciences to prepare him to teach civics.

In 1954 Othón was an instrumental leader in the first strike of the Normal Superior. In 1956, when leaders of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE) (National Association of Workers in Education) negotiated a wage increase which was not even half of what was initially demanded, Othón convened a protest rally. Shortly afterwards, an independent assembly elected him as representative to form the basis for the Movimiento Revolucionario del Magisterio (MRM) (Revolutionary Teachers Movement) which was formed in late 1957 and whose presence in the Federal District's elementary schools was expanding. The following year MRM was at the forefront of one of the largest teachers' struggles. The demonstrations that were organized were attended by a broad social sector. Government, in order to suppress them, as was done with the April 12, 1958 march, fostered social discontent that was simmering for years.

While authorities refused to recognize the MRM, its capacity to convene became increasingly effective and, on April 30 teachers took the offices of the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) (Ministry of Education), forcing the government to negotiate. In August, in a parallel congress, teachers in Mexico City elected Othón as their legitimate representative, but with this gesture of trade union autonomy the government's position was hardening.

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