Altavista Arkive

Altavista Arkive

Described as 'the bastard daughter of the Public Education System in Mexico' by its current principal, the Altavista Co-Operative Federal High School was established in 1967 following student demands to continue on from their secondary school studies. After several demonstrations and continuous social disobedience, the Altavista Secondary School was occupied by students & teachers. Amongst those integral to this project were a group of 'refugee' educationalists; active members of the Mexican Communist Party who had graduated from the Teacher Training Rural Schools established during the 'socialist education' period of L√°zaro C√°rdenas in the 1930s. These teachers, survivors of an armed attack on Madera military base in 1965, remained resolutely committed to these long standing revolutionary principles. Altavista continues to this day to be regarded as an expression of co-operative models of education and has struggled in the face of an often violent political context, to maintain itself as an open and self-organised space.


. Diego Salvador Rios, along with Altavista teaching staff and members of MayDay Rooms worked with historical material associated with the Altavista High School. These materials were gathered together over the last few years by Diego, as part of a Praxis Laboratory, and seek to connect political and educational struggles in Latin America with world-wide libertarian educational initiatives and contemporary activist debates. It aims to build on experiences and studies, and to link these to material processes already underway at MayDay Rooms. This process was continued at Altavista High School, Juarez City in 2015.