Artwork by Francisco Mora

SNTE: Órgano del Comité Ejecutivo Nacional, no. 12 [TGP, Cuban solidarity, education workers union]

Mexico City: SNTE, 1961. Item #10502

The National Educational Workers Union [Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, SNTE] was founded in 1943 as an industrial union for all Mexican education workers. It was closely associated with the Partido Revolucionario Institucional [PRI] that governed Mexico from 1920 until 2000, and is emblematic of the anti-imperalist nationalism of mid-century Latin America. The presence of three prints by Francisco Mora—a major Mexican artist, student of Diego Rivera’s, and a key figure in the legendary leftwing artist’s collective, Taller de Gráfica Popular—further demonstrates the union’s connection to leftwing anti-imperialist nationalism.

This periodical was made by the union for its membership, and issues of it are remarkably scarce. This particular issue, published shortly after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, includes three separate statements of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution (which is also the theme of Mora’s print used for the cover); an article reaffirming the union’s support for the government of Adolfo López Mateos; an article on José Martí’s educational philosophy, featuring an additional print by Francisco Mora; an article celebrating the Soviet astronaut Yuri Alekseyevich’s trip to space, also with a print by Francisco Mora; and other articles of interest to education workers. 

A document of midcentury Mexican radicalism and labor history, featuring work by a major leftwing Mexican artist. OCLC locates only two holdings of any issues, with one in the United States, as of March 2026.

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