Mexico Week In Review: 03.12-03.18

[cisdc]

Mexico Week In Review: 03.12-03.18
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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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BUSH VISIT:  US MUST DO MUCH MORE, CALDERON TELLS BUSH

President Felipe Calderon chastised President Bush for doing too 
little to stem the causes of illegal immigration and for failing to 
curb the U.S. appetite for illegal drugs. Opening a two-day meeting 
aimed at easing strained relations, Calderon reminded Bush that he 
had once said that "there is no relationship the world over that is 
more relevant to the United States than the one with Mexico." 
"Unfortunately, because of the terrible events against the United 
States, priorities changed," said Calderon, referring to the Sept. 11 
attacks. "Nevertheless, I believe that it is now time to retake the 
spirit of those words and to direct our relationship toward a path of 
mutual prosperity." Calderon told Bush of the pain caused in Mexico 
by the departure of millions of immigrants, a movement that has 
divided families and emptied villages. The costs are more than 
personal, he said. "Mexicans lose in each migrant the best of our 
people: young people, working people, audacious people, strong 
people," Calderon said. "This is why we want to generate jobs for 
Mexicans here in Mexico, because that is the only way to truly solve 
the immigration issue."

When it was his turn to speak, Bush repeated pledges made a day 
earlier in Guatemala that he would work forcefully to pass 
immigration overhaul this year, as well as reduce the demand for 
illegal drugs. "I respect your views on migration," Bush said. 
"Because we're working together, I believe we will make good progress 
on this important issue. Together, we're working to ensure that we 
have a secure and modern border that speeds the legitimate flow of 
people and commerce, and stop those who threaten our common safety 
and prosperity."

Calderon's opening remarks, delivered at a lush hacienda about 30 
miles outside this former Mayan stronghold, were unusually pointed 
for a welcome speech, when presidents tend to exchange pleasantries, 
saving their differences for later, behind closed doors. White House 
officials said the frank tone was not surprising. "The fact that they 
were direct with each other in public and direct with each other 
behind closed doors is a sign of the maturity of the relationship and 
that we are partners," said Dan Fisk, Bush's top adviser on Latin 
America. "But we both have domestic dynamics that neither president 
is going to deny."

Protesting Bush's visit, several hundred protesters marched on the 
embassy, tearing down barricades and attacking police with metal bars 
and firecrackers. Around 30 people, wearing masks and dressed in 
black, led the demonstration, in which US flags were set on fire and 
banners with anti-Bush slogans were waved. A number of people were 
arrested, and others suffered injuries when officers used tear gas, 
pepper spray and baton charges.

Sources: Chicago Tribune: 03/14; Guardian Unlimited: 03/14
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CALDERON REVEALS MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY IMMIGRATED TO THE U.S.

Underscoring the complex nature of the immigration debate, Mexican 
President Felipe Calderon acknowledged that he has relatives living 
and working in the United States. "Yes, I do have family in the 
United States and what I can tell you is that these are people who 
work and respect that country," Calderon said in response to a 
question during a joint news conference with President Bush at the 
end of Bush's two-day visit to Mexico. "They pay their taxes to the 
government. These are people who work in the field. They work in the 
field with vegetables. They probably handle what you eat," Calderon 
said.

Calderon's admission confirmed what has long been rumored in Mexico - 
that the president, like millions of his countrymen, has relatives 
who've sought work in the United States. Bush, who grinned sheepishly 
as the question was asked, listened attentively as Calderon talked. 
"These are people who respect the United States," Calderon said. 
"These are people who have children, who want these children to be 
educated with respect for the land where they live and for Mexico." 
Noting that he hails from Michoacan, a farm state in Mexico's 
center-west with a huge rate of emigration to the United States, 
Calderon suggested that his relatives are no different from the 
estimated 12 million undocumented people who've gone north. "We want 
them to come back. We want them to find jobs here in Mexico. We miss 
them," he said. "These are our best people. These are bold people. 
They're young. They're strong. They're talented. They have overcome 
tremendous adversity. We're working so that they can come back to 
their country some day."

Calderon said he didn't know his relatives' legal status. The remark 
wasn't in the White House's English-language transcript, though it 
remained in the Spanish transcript released in Mexico. "It's been a 
long time since I've seen them," Calderon said. Government people 
close to Calderon, who asked not to be identified because they're not 
authorized to speak about his personal life, said the relatives were 
second or third cousins. Calderon's first cousin, Gerardo Torres, 
told McClatchy Newspapers that he believes Calderon has at least 
three-second cousins in the United States. One is married to an 
American, he said, and is in the United States legally. Two others 
also work there; Torres said he thought they, too, were in the United 
States legally.

Unlike many Mexican presidents, Calderon and his family don't come 
from Mexico's elite. His father was a staunchly Roman Catholic 
teacher and politician who co-founded the conservative National 
Action Party after the Mexican Revolution of 1917 and was persecuted 
for fighting for religious freedom when Mexican law severely 
restricted the clergy and the church.

Bush didn't address Calderon's revelation, which came at the end of 
their news conference. But earlier he pledged again to persuade 
fellow Republicans to support a revamping of immigration law that 
would include provisions for workers to remain in the United States. 
"Amnesty's not going to fly. There's not going to be automatic 
citizenship. It just won't work. People in the United States don't 
support that and neither do I," Bush said. "Nor will kicking people 
out of the United States work. It's not practical. It is not a 
realistic solution. ... And so therefore there's got to be a middle 
ground, a reasonable way to deal with the 12 million or so people 
that have been in our country for a period of time."

Source: McClatchy Newspapers: 03/14
====

CHIAPAS MARCH TURNS UGLY

Members of an indigenous group opposed to the long-quiescent 
Zapatista rebels beat two reporters from alternative media outlets as 
they were covering a rally in Chiapas. There also were initial 
reports that La Jornada newsman Hermann Bellinghausen had been held 
by the demonstrators for several hours, but the newspaper's directors 
told EFE that Bellinghausen denied that version of events.

Reporters that had been in the area confirmed that two of their 
colleagues, Alonso Luna Giron from Enlace Civil, and Carlos Vazquez 
Guzman of Promedios- Chiapas, were beaten by the indigenous who were 
staging a demonstration in the municipality of Ocosingo. Members of 
the Organization for the Defense of the Rights of Indigenous and 
Campesinos, or OPDDIC, which is engaged in land disputes in the area 
with supporters of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), 
were taking part in the rally. At one point during the demonstration, 
members of the OPDDIC launched verbal attacks against the journalists 
filming the rally and physically assaulted two of them.

Francisco Vazquez, legal representative of the local community group 
Promedios, confirmed that Vazquez Guzman was covering the OPDDIC 
march and said he had received reports that the journalist had been 
attacked, along with another cameraman, by demonstrators who accused 
them of belonging to the EZLN.
In a note published in La Jornada, Bellinghausen reported on presumed 
training activity being conducted by OPDDIC members, who supposedly 
possess AR15 and M16 assault rifles.

Source: El Universal: 03/09
====

OAXACA UPDATE: HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF BLAMES GOV'T FOR ABUSES

The Mexican government was an accomplice in the killing of 20 people 
in last year's conflict in the tourist city of Oaxaca and permitted 
torture and illegal arrests, a rights watchdog said. In a report on 
the conflict in which leftist activists tried to bring down Oaxaca's 
governor, Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said federal, 
state and municipal officials were responsible for human rights 
violations. "Authorities and public officials ... either by action or 
omission caused rights violations," including the right to life of 20 
people, Jose Luis Soberanes, head of the autonomous state agency, 
said on presenting the report to the Senate's rights commission.

During the six-month conflict in the city, famed for its colonial 
architecture, exotic food and indigenous culture, protesters set up 
hundreds of barricades and chased police from the downtown area to 
try to oust state Gov. Ulises Ruiz. In response, death squad-style 
groups, including men identified by local media as police officers, 
toured the city at night shooting at protesters. The clashes 
escalated, leading to the fatal shooting of a US activist journalist 
and the occupation of the city by federal riot police. Police finally 
regained control of the city after fierce street battles and massive 
arrests. Soberanes, Mexico's highest rights official, said police 
used excessive force, threats, illegal arrests and torture to take 
back the city from protesters, and blamed the government for badly 
managing the crisis.

Sen. Alejandro Gonzalez, a member of President Felipe Calderon's 
National Action Party (PAN), told Reuters lawmakers were awaiting the 
results of the government's own internal investigation, which he 
hoped to see before the end of 2007. "If the investigation reflects 
the issues raised in the National Human Rights Commission's report, 
we must take action. We don't want more impunity," Gonzalez said. The 
watchdog recognized that the protesters, who accuse Gov. Ruiz of 
stealing an election, corruption and heavy-handedness, had also 
exceeded their right to legitimate protest in some cases. Soberanes 
warned the conflict had not been resolved and could flare up again if 
social, economic and political issues were not resolved in the state, 
one of the poorest in Mexico.

Source: Reuters: 03/15
====

HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS CRITICIZE GOV'T PERFORMANCE TO OAS

Mexican human rights organizations confronted their government during 
three hearings at the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC) 
of the Organization of American States in Washington. Rights 
advocates testified before the commission about torture, attacks on 
journalists in Sinaloa and arbitrary detentions in Oaxaca.

Mario Solorzano of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and 
Protection of Human Rights (CMDPDH) declared that 80 percent of 
criminal confessions obtained between 1990 and 2004 were extracted 
under torture. A report co-authored by the CMDPDH and the Human 
Rights Program of Mexico's IberoAmerican University cited cases of 
rape and other rights violations in San Salvador Atenco in May 2006, 
and arbitrary arrests and torture in Jalisco in May 2004. The 
governor of Jalisco at that time, Francisco Ramirez Acua, is now 
secretary of the interior. The report also notes that while torture 
is recognized as a basic human rights violation, it is defined and 
punished differently in each state. "We still don't have a unified 
set of criteria to define torture," observed Florentin Melendez, 
president of the IAHRC.

Heading up the Mexican government delegation was Deputy Secretary for 
Foreign Relations Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo. Representatives from the 
Interior Secretariat, the armed forces and the federal Attorney 
General's Office were also present. Gomez conceded that the country 
still struggles with its authoritarian past, but said President 
Calderon is dedicated to human rights. "Mexico is a budding 
democracy, still marked with the fingerprints of authoritarianism," 
Gomez said. "President Calderon is committed to human rights, via 
transparency and greater scrutiny."  Melendez praised the political 
will of the Mexican government, and its admission that torture 
persists. The government has pledged to reduce the practice of 
torture through improved training of police and prison officials.

Rights groups, meanwhile, are calling for structural changes, for 
example allowing judges to determine verdicts through direct oral 
questioning, rather than the "inquisitorial" manner of closed- door 
judgments based on written materials. Issues of press freedom were 
also on the agenda. "Next to Iraq, there are more assassinations of 
journalists in Sinaloa than anywhere else in the world," said Eva 
Guerrero, from the association of journalists known as "7 de junio." 
There are on average five such murders in Sinaloa every year, and 
press intimidation is pervasive - 40 percent of journalist killings 
in Mexico occur in Sinaloa. The government defended its record, 
focusing on the landmark 2002 freedom of information law, and the 
recent lifting of criminal charges for libel.

Source: El Universal: 03/08
====

ARMS TRAFFIC FROM US TO MEXICO GROWING

US weapons smugglers are supplying assault rifles and other powerful 
weaponry to Mexican drug and human traffickers operating along the 
common border. Federal agent Thomas Mangan, spokesman of the US 
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, told Arizona daily East 
Valley Tribune that the traffickers use people without criminal 
records to buy the weapons. These people then carry the arms Mexican 
territory hidden in their cars, where they are sold for three times 
the original price. Mangan said they are working with Mexican 
colleagues to stop the illegal trade and trace the weapons already in 
use.

Source: Prensa Latina: 03/12
====

GMO I: GREENPEACE DEMANDS PRESSURE TO HALT GM RICE EXPORTS

The international ecological organization Greenpeace called on 
Mexican President Felipe Calderon to pressure his U.S. counterpart 
George W. Bush to halt exports of genetically modified (GM) rice to 
Mexico. Greenpeace, which says GM rice harms human health, made the 
call in a statement ahead of Calderon's meeting with Bush on Tuesday 
in Merida, a city in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatan.

A dozen protestors rallying outside Merida's La Ermita church told 
Xinhua that they would press Calderon to tell the United States that 
it must not export food judged unfit for human to other nations. Last 
week, Greenpeace said that transgenic rice type LL601, created by 
Bayer, was being sold as own-brand rice from the Soriana company in 
the northern city of Monterrey and in two Mexico City locations: 
Chedraui supermarket and the city's wholesale market. "If rice must 
be imported from the United States, let it be normal...without the 
transgenic varieties that our nation has not authorized for human 
consumption," said Gustavo Ampugnani, Greenpeace coordinator of the 
anti-transgenic campaign in Mexico. Ampugnani said that Mexico's 
health authorities knew about the situation and had taken no measures 
to protect citizens. According to Greenpeace data, Mexico imports 70 
percent of the rice it consumes, due to a 1999 rice crisis triggered 
by the increase of U.S. subsidies from 12 billion to 21 billion U.S. 
dollars.

Source: Xinhua: 03/12
====

GMO II: GOVERNMENT HALTS US RICE SHIPMENTS OVER GMO ISSUE

U.S. rice shipped to Mexico has been stopped at the border where 
Mexican government officials have asked for certification that the 
grain is free of genetically modified material, an official with the 
USA Rice Federation said. "As a condition of entry the Mexican 
officials were requiring a statement that the rice was GMO free," 
said Bob Cummings, the groups vice president of international policy. 
"We're trying to learn what authority in the Mexican government 
issued that document." Three separate exporters of U.S. milled rice 
told Cummings their shipments were stopped, he said. At least eight 
rail cars have been stopped at Laredo, Texas. After contamination of 
the U.S. commercial supply last year, a number of countries, 
including those in the European Union, have required certification 
that U.S. rice contains only trace amounts.

Source: Reuters: 03/14

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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: 03.12-03.18
--