Mexico Week In Review: 01.15-01.21

[cisdc]

Mexico Week In Review: 01.15-01.21
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Published since 1994, 'Mexico Week In Review' is a service of the
Committee of Indigenous Solidarity (CIS).  CIS is a Washington, D.C.
based activist group committed to the ongoing struggles of Indigenous
peoples in the Americas.  CIS is actively supporting the struggles
of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico while simultaneously combating
related structures of oppression within our own communities.

To view newsletter archives, visit:
http://lists.mutualaid.org/pipermail/mexico-week/

"Para Todos, Todo; Para Nosotros Nada"
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Correction: Last week's article "PRD Members Linked To Killing Of
State Legislator" was wrongly titled. It should have read  "PAN
Members Linked To Killing Of State Legislator". Our apologies for any
confusion this may have caused.
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CALDERON PLEDGES TO MEND FENCES WITH CUBA AND VENEZUELA

Felipe Calderon has been called plenty of names in his hard-fought
rise to the Mexican presidency. But there's one insult he hopes will
be reserved for his predecessor: "Lapdog of the United States."
Unlike former President Vicente Fox, whose perceived pandering to
Washington won him the ridicule of leftist foes, Calderon, a
pro-business conservative, is reaching out to Latin America's leftist
leaders as he tries to return the country to its historic foreign
policy role. But he has also said he wants to keep close ties with
Washington on issues such as the drug war and immigration.

"Mexico is essentially Latin American," he said last week while
attending the inauguration of Nicaragua's new president, former
guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega. It was Calderon's first foreign trip
since taking office Dec. 1, a message to Central American leaders who
often felt ignored by Fox. "Independently of the fact that
geographically we belong to North America," he said, "we know our
essence and our substance, our history, our past and our future are
in Latin America." Calderon has pledged to mend relations especially
with Cuba and Venezuela. Fox broke off diplomatic ties with Venezuela
in 2005 after the country's socialist leader, Hugo Chavez, called him
Washington's lapdog.

Relations with Cuba have also been strained since 2002, when Fox
asked Fidel Castro to "eat and go" during a U.N. summit in Mexico,
rather than risk his visit overlapping with President Bush's. The
Cuban leader, who later shamed Fox by playing a tape of the private
telephone conversation to the media, accused him of doing
Washington's dirty work. But Calderon, who belongs to the same
conservative party as Fox, has said he plans to maintain close ties
with all Latin American leaders, regardless of their ideologies. "My
personal opinion should not overshadow the interest I have in making
sure that Mexicans live better," he said, after narrowly winning the
July elections that his leftist opponent claims were rigged. "Because
of that, it is fundamental that I, as president, establish a
constructive relationship with Cuba and with Venezuela." He
reiterated that pledge before flying to Nicaragua, where he chatted
cordially with Chavez, Ortega's guest.

More than a new approach, Calderon has signaled a return to the
previous decades of Mexican foreign policy. For most of the 71-year
rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, Mexico
retained close ties with Cuba and other Latin American governments
while publicly keeping the United States at arm's length. That began
to change under former President Carlos Salinas, who negotiated
Mexico's inclusion in the North American Free Trade Agreement in
1994. Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive and Mexico's first
democratically elected president, went even further in embracing
Washington. His first foreign minister, Jorge Castaneda, vowed to
push for "the whole enchilada" on U.S. immigration reform, including
proposing a European Union-style system of open borders with the
United States. Fox's chummy relationship with Bush, a fellow cowboy
boot-wearing rancher, seemed to promise big things. But the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks shifted Washington's focus to the war against
terrorism. Fox later ran afoul of Bush by refusing to support the
invasion of Iraq.

Calderon has said he will continue to push for an overhaul of U.S.
immigration laws, but that it won't be the focus of his international
agenda. Among concessions he hopes to win from the United States:
Acceptance of Mexican consular ID cards as valid forms of
identification in all U.S. states; more work permits for Mexican
laborers; and U.S. investment in improving Mexico's rural
infrastructure.

In return, his government is expected to offer close cooperation with
Washington in the drug war. "Calderon wants to have a very good
working relationship with the United States, but he is not going to
repeat Fox's public embrace of the U.S.," said Pamela Starr, a
Washington-based consultant on Mexico. "He's not going to put all his
eggs in that basket. Fox was burned, and Calderon does not want to
set himself up for that disappointment." Trying to maintain good
relations region-wide could be a delicate balancing act. But it is
also in Mexico's best interests, analysts said.

Source: Houston Chronicle Foreign Service: 01/15
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BORDER NEWS:  GOVERNMENT PROTESTS DEATH OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN U.S.

Mexico lodged an official protest with the United States over the
death of an illegal immigrant shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent last
weekend. The man was killed in a confrontation with the Border Patrol
agent when he was caught crossing into Arizona with six other illegal
immigrants, including two of his brothers.

In a diplomatic note to Washington, Mexico said it was seriously
worried by such incidents. It called on U.S. authorities to
investigate the death and punish those responsible. The U.S.
government has tightened security along the 2,000-mile (3,200-km)
border by deploying National Guard troops to back up Border Patrol
units. President Bush signed a law in October to build hundreds of
miles of fences along the U.S.-Mexican border to try to stem the flow
of illegal immigration.

Source: Reuters: 01/16
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CHIAPAS BISHOP WARNS OF UNREST AS AGRIBUSINESS EXPLOITS "TORTILLA CRISIS"

Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, bishop of the Chiapas Highlands, called
upon Mexico's federal government to urgently address the recent spike
in tortilla prices, invoking the possibility of a new uprising in the
restive state. "With all respect for the federal authorities, I
exhort them to find a means to resolve this grave problem for the
economy of the poor, if they truly care about the poor and they don't
want to see new social movements as dramatic as that of 1994," he
said.

Meanwhile, Mexican agribusiness leaders asked the government to allow
them to plant genetically modified corn in response to the "tortilla
crisis." The head of the National Agricultural Association (CNA),
Jaime Yesaki, said modified corn could be the "fundamental solution"
to the crisis. "We want to be at the point where we are using
genetically modified grains, in this case corn, because the main
reason is to guarantee the supply of this grain to give our people
food at reasonable prices," Yesaki said. The Mexican Senate's Rural
Development Committee, for its part, began a series of meetings this
week with agribusiness leaders on the tortilla crisis.

In recent weeks, the price of a kilo of tortillas went over 10 pesos
($0.90), after rising almost 11% in 2006 and 70% over the last six
years. Mexico uses more than 9 million tons of corn each year for the
production of tortillas. The price surge has prompted an outcry
across Mexico that led President Felipe Calderon to approve the
importation of 650,000 tons of corn. Mexico, which produces some 22
million tons of white corn (the kind used in tortillas) annually, has
had a moratorium on the planting of genetically modified corn for the
past eight years. Greenpeace said that the rise in the price of
tortillas was being used as a pretext by Mexican authorities to open
the way for cultivation of genetically modified corn. The US biotech
giant Monsanto would be the main beneficiary if the Mexican
Agriculture Secretariat (SAGARPA) authorizes the planting of
genetically modified corn, Greenpeace charged. "The experimental
fields of genetically modified corn in Mexico could cause
irreversible harm to the environment," said the group's Areli
Carreon, said.

On Jan. 17, campesinos staged a protest in front of the Economy
Secretariat and Sagarpa offices to demand action to stem the rise in
tortilla prices. Mexico's Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera has also
weighed in on the tortilla crisis, drawing criticism for his claim
that the impact on the poor had been overstated. Corn is Mexico's
most important crop, taking up 51% of the country's cultivated area
from 1996 to 2005, according to SAGARPA figures, and Mexico is the
world's fourth-largest corn producer after the US, China and Brazil.
Some analysts say the rise in the price of corn on international
commodity markets is due to strong demand for the grain in the United
States, where production of bio-fuels has surged in response to high
oil prices.

Source: http://www.ww4report.com: 01/20
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GOVERNMENT CUTS DEAL TO REDUCE TORTILLA PRICES

Mexico's government struck a deal with producers and retailers to
reverse a surge in the price of tortillas that has pushed up
inflation. Soaring U.S. demand for ethanol fuel made from corn has
pushed the grain to its highest prices in a decade. Mexico is widely
considered the birthplace of corn, but imports millions of tons from
the United States every year.

Economy Minister Eduardo Sojo said corn flour producers, such as
market heavyweight Gruma, agreed to limit the price of their product
to 5 pesos (46 cents) per kilo. "This agreement is an expression of
commitment to act with a sense of responsibility with the goal of
guaranteeing that the problem of unacceptable rises in tortilla
prices be resolved," he said.

The shares of Gruma <GRUMAB.MX>, which controls most of Mexico's corn
flour market, plunged 5.34 percent to 33.5 pesos after the
announcement. The government says unscrupulous players in the
tortilla industry have used high corn prices as an excuse to
overcharge clients. While Mexico cannot directly fix corn or tortilla
prices, the government has tried hard to persuade companies to sell
their products cheaper.

Mexico also announced a tariff-free quota for 2.85 million tons of
yellow corn and extended its quota for white corn imports to 750,000
tons, in the hope more supply will bring down prices on the Mexican
market. The quotas and the agreement hold until April 30. Convenience
stores and supermarkets, including Wal-Mart de Mexico, agreed to cap
the price of tortillas at 6 pesos per kilo in their stores. Mexico's
Bimbo, the world's No. 3 bread maker, will reduce the retail price of
its corn tortillas to no more than 8.50 pesos a kilo.

Source: Reuters: 01/18
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REPORTER SAYS COVERAGE OF PRIEST ABUSE CASE SPARKS THREATS

The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that
Mexican reporter Sanjuana Martínez has been threatened for her
coverage of allegations that a Catholic priest sexually abused dozens
of boys in Mexico and the United States and that two cardinals sought
to protect the priest. Martínez told CPJ that she began receiving
death threats in September 2006, when she began covering the case
extensively for the Mexico City daily La Jornada and the daily news
program "Hoy por hoy" on W Radio. Martínez also wrote a book about
the case, Manto Púrpura (Purple Cloak), which was released in
December.

Two lawsuits filed in California in 2006 accuse Cardinal Norberto
Rivera of Mexico City and Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles of
covering up charges of sexual abuse against the Rev. Nicolás Aguilar.
The abuse allegations date back two decades. Last week, church
leaders in Mexico asked the Vatican to defrock Aguilar, The New York
Times reported.

In September, Martínez told CPJ, unidentified men began making
nightly telephone death threats to her home in the northern city of
Monterrey. The frequency of the calls lessened, she said, but the
threats have continued.  Since Manto Púrpura was released by
publisher Grijalbo Mondadori, Martínez said, threatening e-mail
messages have been sent daily to an author's account publicized in
the book. In the unsigned messages reviewed by CPJ, the writers
threaten to assault and kill Martínez because of her coverage of the
Aguilar case.

Martínez told CPJ that on several occasions she has also been
followed by vehicles without license plates. Martínez said she has
not filed police complaints because she fears authorities might be
corrupt and work against her. She said she has begun publicizing the
threats in hopes that the exposure would be a deterrent.  Aguilar has
denied the abuse allegations, and both cardinals have denied that
they sought to protect the priest, according to press reports. Hugo
Valdemar, Rivera's spokesman, accused Martínez of trying to
intimidate the church with a "monumental lie," according to Mexican
press reports.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that
works to safeguard press freedom around the world.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Press Release: 01/17

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The above articles were originally published and copyrighted by the
listed sources. These articles are offered for educational purposes
which CIS maintains is  'fair use' of copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

end: Mexico Week In Review: 01.15-01.21
--