Mexico Week In Review: 01.07-01.13

[cisdc]

Mexico Week In Review: 01.07-01.13
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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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CHIAPAS: ARMY, PARAMILITARY BUILD-UP IN ZAPATISTA STRONGHOLD

The Zapatistas and their supporters in the southern Mexican state of
Chiapas are experiencing the worst onslaught by state forces in the
last 10 years, although most people are unaware of the fact,
according to reports from a research center working in the area. On
Monday (01/07), in the area under Zapatista influence, "we rescued a
wounded Indian grassroots supporter of the guerrillas who had been
shot by paramilitaries. The situation is serious," Ernesto Ledesma,
head of the Chiapas-based non-governmental Center for Political
Analysis and Social and Economic Research (CAPISE), told IPS.

According to CAPISE, which has had brigades out for the past five
years, monitoring military movements in areas held by the
barely-armed Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), in recent
weeks there has been an increased presence of uniformed soldiers who
are acting in concert with paramilitary groups. Also, agrarian reform
institutions have initiated an "irregular" distribution of land that
had been occupied by indigenous people when the EZLN rose up in arms
for two weeks in January 1994, according to CAPISE. Title deeds to
about 250,000 hectares are being distributed, but Zapatista
sympathizers are being excluded, Ledesma said. "Around 30 Zapatista
communities are under enormous pressure from the military, the
paramilitaries and the authorities, with the intention, we presume,
to undermine the strength of the EZLN. This has not happened since
1998," said the head of CAPISE.

The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center has also been
reporting, for months now, that the situation in Zapatista areas is
serious, because of the increasing presence of the army and of
indigenous groups opposed to the guerrillas. An anonymous source in
the government of conservative President Felipe Calderon told IPS
that the reports from Chiapas came as a complete surprise, and stated
that the executive branch has no harassment strategy towards the
EZLN, who have not fired a single shot since the second week of 1994.
The authorities in Chiapas, headed by Governor Juan Sabines of the
leftwing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), have not reported
any changes in the situation in the area, while lawmakers and social
activists have lost interest in the once-famous guerrilla group.

Ledesma said that he traveled through jungle and valley areas in
Chiapas, and with the help of several companions rescued a wounded
indigenous man who had been shot and pursued by groups that he
identified as paramilitaries, in a conflict over land. "A deliberate
concerted action between paramilitaries (who are also indigenous
people) and the police, army and authorities is taking place here,
the purpose of which is to attack the Zapatistas," Ledesma said. "The
situation in Chiapas is serious and violence is on the rise. The
public should know this," Ledesma said.

Earlier reports by the Fox administration, confirmed by several
researchers, indicate that the EZLN is in administrative and
political control of 15 percent of Chiapas, the country's poorest
state, which has a total area of 75,634 square kilometers. In that
area, where government social programs are inoperative, there are
about 100,000 mainly indigenous people, who live in dire poverty, as
do most of Mexico's roughly 10 million Indians. About 5,000 poorly
armed men constitute the military forces of the EZLN. But Zapatistas
have forsworn all offensive action. CAPISE says that indigenous
self-rule in the Zapatista area is a reality, and that their own
health, education and development programs are in place. But these
achievements are increasingly threatened by the military and
paramilitary presence and by pressure from indigenous campesino
groups opposed to the guerrillas.

Source: IPS: 01/10
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CHIAPAS: 'WIDESPREAD' VIOLATION OF MIGRANT'S HUMAN RIGHTS "

Chiapas has a "significant" place in the human rights violations of
migrants, where the principal institutions accused of these abuses
are the police, said state ombudsman Juan Carlos Moreno Guillen. In
an interview, the president of the State Commission on Human Rights
(CEDH) said that "Chiapas is the port of entry to Central America,
and all the people who are going to seek the American dream enter
through there. "It is obvious that we have a significant place in the
violation of human rights, but attending to them is not our place,
but rather pertains to the National Commission on Human Rights
(CNDH)," he said. Nevertheless, he added that "we help when we
initiate complaints for the violation of migrants' human rights, and
even though they may involve local authorities as the alleged
perpetrators, the CNDH is the one that receives the complaints."

The ombudsman recognized that there are all sorts of cases, serious
and minor, against undocumented people who enter through the southern
border, from extortion to humiliation, "but we do not do more than
initiate the investigations." He said also that the devastation of
the railway infrastructure by the tail end of Hurricane "Stan" in
October 2005 forced undocumented people to modify their route.
"Annually," he said, "about 200,000 are caught in the state, the
majority from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, although they
also come from other nations, and because of their anonymous
condition, they are vulnerable to attacks."

According to the official, the Federal Preventive Police (PFP), the
State Preventive Police, and the municipal police are, among others,
the groups that catch undocumented people and are the focus of
complaints of abuse against them. He argued that as an issue of
immigration under federal jurisdiction, the local human rights
government group has no power to investigate and make
recommendations. Nevertheless, he recognized that they will have to
pay attention to the state, federal, and municipal authorities, and
above all, train them on human rights issues, since it seems that
they do not realize that people have fundamental rights. For that
reason, he said that many institutions "cannot respect something they
do not know about." The ideal thing is for the Central American
nations to have an improved standard of living to avoid so much
immigration and with it the human rights violations against
undocumented people.

Source: Notimex: 01/06
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GUERILLA ATTACK, ANTI-NAFTA ACTIONS

On the morning of Jan. 3 a unit of 15 masked people armed with AK-47
rifles set fire to three backhoes belonging to the Constructora
Torreblanca, a construction company building a highway in the
southern Mexican state of Guerrero. "No to the gas price increase!"
and "Join the armed struggle!" were some of the slogans the group
painted at the site, in Tixtla municipality, about 15 kilometers from
Chilpancingo, the state capital. The company had the slogans removed,
and news of the incident didn't become public until Jan. 5. No group
took responsibility for the action, although the Popular
Revolutionary Army (EPR), the Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent
People (ERPI) and other rebel groups have been active in Guerrero in
the past. [It is not clear from news sources whether the company is
linked to Guerrero governor Zeferino Torreblanca Galindo.]

The government has begun a policy of gradual increases in gasoline
and energy prices, leading to fears of dramatic increases for
staples, as happened in late 2006 and early 2007 before the
government and industries agreed to a price stabilization plan that
generally held tortillas at about 8.5 pesos ($0.78) a kilogram. But
the price of tortillas has now risen to 9 pesos a kilogram in the
southeastern state of Chiapas, according to Mario Coutino Fonseca,
president of the Cornmeal and Tortilla Consulting Council of Chiapas,
and the price of tortillas may go up by 20-30% nationally.

The upward pressure on prices comes just as tariffs end on corn,
beans, sugar and powdered milk from Canada and the US under the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In the last minutes of Dec.
31, in an unusual cold spell, some 100 campesinos began a 36-hour
anti-NAFTA protest shutting down three of the four lanes on the
Cordoba-Las Americas international bridge, which links Ciudad Juarez,
Chihuahua, with El Paso, Texas. In Tuxtla, Gutierrez, capital of
Chiapas, at least 10,000 campesinos marched on Jan. 2 to protest the
change. Organizers said that since NAFTA started taking effect in
1994, the resulting damage to rural production has forced more than
300,000 Chiapas residents to immigrate to the US.

Source: Weekly News Update- Nicaragua Solidarity Network Of Greater
New York: 01/06
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CALDERON DEFENDS NAFTA DESPITE PROTESTS

Mexican President Felipe Calderon defended a regional trade deal even
as farm groups were mounting protests against an expected flood of
cheap U.S. agricultural goods since all tariffs ended January 1. At
the start of the year Mexico lifted 14 years of protection for corn,
beans, milk and sugar under the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) that took effect in 1994. The regional trade pact groups
Mexico, the United States and Canada. The move will allow the United
States, the world's biggest corn producer, to sell more to the
country that claims to have discovered the grain.

Some Mexican farmers say competing against highly subsidized U.S.
goods could put thousands out of work on top of about 2 million
Mexican farm jobs lost over the last decade. But Calderon said
increased trade integration with the United States and Canada was the
only way to strengthen Mexico's economy. "The free trade agreement,
negotiated almost 15 years ago, has its pros and cons, but overall it
has benefited the country," Calderon said in a speech. He said that
instead of loosing jobs, Mexican farmers could benefit from the trade
deal. "There are more, and better-paid, jobs than in 1994 in the
sectors linked to the treaty," said Calderon. "Countries in the
region now buy almost five times as many Mexican farm products than
in 1994," said Calderon. "We are the second largest providers of
agricultural goods to the United States and the third largest to
Canada," he said.

But farmers complain they have not received enough support from the
government since NAFTA was signed and say they will continue protest
marches this month against the trade opening. Congress last week
urged the president to consider revising the treaty to protect
farmers.

Source: Reuters: 01/07
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TRIBE FACES MODERN THREATS

Urban development in Mexico threatens one of the country's last
remaining independent indigenous tribes. The Seri have resided for
centuries in the state of Sonora off the Gulf of California. The
tribal villages of these ancient people, Punta Chueca and Desemboque,
lie directly in the path of a huge tourist development that will see
hotels and apartment complexes spring up all along the coastline.

Semi-nomadic, hunter-gatherers, the Seri vigorously guard their
culture against Spanish and Mexican influence.  As northern Mexico's
coastal desert region develops, bringing new, modern influences, the
traditional life of the Seri is at risk.  Guillermo Palma, Seri
fisherman, said, "Then the life of the community began to move. Our
own customs and the customs from outside began to blend. The impact
of what has entered here becomes more visible, clothing, food and
even the way people speak, all have changed a lot."

Conflict between the Seri and the outside world dates back to the
Spanish colonial era. Spain made several attempts to exterminate the
tribe and failed.  Change has come slowly to Punta Chueca. The
changes started with the introduction of electricity in the 1990's.
As tourist developments begin to encroach on the Sonoran coastline,
the cultural clash of the Seri with their Mexican neighbors is likely
to intensify. Tourist developments in Puerto Libertad, to the north,
will end the isolation of the Seri. A new coastal highway is under
construction. Even more United States tourists are expected to crowd
in. That is likely to spur further developments of hotels and resorts
along the pristine coastline.

Mexico's National Commission of Protected Areas works with the Seri
to conserve this area.  Ana Luisa Figueroa, director of National
Commission of Protected Areas, said, "Sometimes I always question,
what's the best. I mean, if it's our running and rushing for things,
and in that respect, I always invite any agency that works with
marginalized communities or isolated communities or indigenous people
to think really twice before acting. I think that they deserve our
best in terms of getting the best of both worlds. But we have to ask
before if what we are offering them is our best, or the best that we
have."

Aside from its breathtaking natural surroundings, Punta Chueca offers
noting in the way of attraction. Most of its houses are shacks made
from concrete, cardboard, and even piles of rubbish.  There are few
visible indicators of the traditional Seri culture outdoors in the
village, apart from some traditional symbols on the school building
and a structure made of twigs and adorned with ribbons nearby.  The
Seri are divided about how they want to interact with the world
outside. Some want to bring in tourists and visitors as a source of
revenue, while others are content to stick with the old ways and
remain isolated.

Source: CCTV.com: 12/28/07

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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: 01.07-01.13
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