Global Exchange Election Observer Illegally Deported from Mexico for nytcamer; Sat, 29 Apr 2000 03:26:08 -0400 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - Ted Lewis Dear Subscribers, I am sending you news of a case that touches me personally and affects the work of Global Exchange and the numerous Mexican organizations with which we work. The actions of Mexican immigration described below are an affront to Mexican civil society and their efforts to build credible electoral institutions and carry out credible civic observation of the presidential elections. The New York Times reported this story as follows: MEXICO: U.S. OBSERVER DEPORTED The New York Times April 27, 2000 By Sam Dillon Ted Lewis, the director for Mexico of the San Francisco human rights group Global Exchange, was detained by immigration agents in Guadalajara and deported. Mr. Lewis was organizing 40 foreign professors to study election conditions before the July 2 presidential balloting. The autonomous Federal Electoral Institute had approved his credentials as an election observer. Sam Dillon (NYT) ************************************************************************* The Times story is accurate, but lacks context. Below I describe the incident in more detail. Following that you will see Reuters, AP and Knight-Ridder stories covering the same incident. The reason we have delayed sharing this information with you (the expulsion happened more than two weeks ago) is because we wished to give immigration authorities time to rescind their action and to begin issuing proper visas to election¹s observers. Because, to date, no action has been taken to rectify my expulsion and no visas have been issued -- even though the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) has authorized such visits since October of 1999 -- we now feel that it is necessary to widely publicize the following information. --Ted Please read on: Ted Lewis' account of his illegal expulsion from Mexico: On Sunday, April 9th, Ted Lewis traveled to Mexico on Mexicana flight # 975. He arrived Sunday afternoon at the Guadalajara international airport, a stop over before his final destination of Mexico City. Mr. Lewis presented his passport, passed through customs and was issued a FMT visa for a thirty-day stay in the country. He proceeded to the waiting lounge and later to the "people mover" vehicle to return to the plane for the remainder of his journey to Mexico City. At approximately 15:30, he was approached by Mexicana Airlines personnel who requested that he return to immigration. He was escorted to the immigration desk where "Mantes C. Garcia Raymundo" showed him a short one page document that simply said: "We have information that Tedford Pierce Lewis will attempt to enter the country on April 9th. His entry should be rejected." Mr. Montes Garcia said the order in question was signed by Luis Nava of the INM. Mr. Montes Garcia also told Mr. Lewis that he would be sent back to the U.S. on the next possible flight. Mr. Mantes Garcia then handed the document to Raul Ruiz, who identified himself as supervisor for Mexicana at the airport. When Raul finished reading the document, Mr. Lewis asked him for the paper saying, "I suppose this is mine." Mr. Ruiz gave it to him. At that point Mr. Montes Garcia grabbed the document from Mr. Lewis with such force that it tore in half. Mr. Lewis told Mr. Mantes Garcia that he had no cause to be so rude and asked him upon what legal grounds was he rejecting Mr. Lewis' entrance to the country. Mr. Mantes Garcia replied that he didn't know and that he was simply carrying out an order from his superiors. He also threatened to call the police if Mr. Lewis did not do as he instructed, immediately. Mr. Mantes Garcia then requested Mr. Lewis' FMT, which Mr. Lewis surrendered under protest that the action had no legal basis. Mr. Lewis asked repeatedly for the use of a telephone. When this was refused Mr. Lewis asked if he was under arrest. Mr. Montes Garcia said no, but that Mr. Lewis was not permitted to leave the immigration waiting area because that would be considered Mexican territory. Mr. Lewis explained to Mr. Mantes Garcia that he thought Mr. Mantes Garcia and his agency were making a serious mistake. Mr. Lewis pointed out that though he was travelling as a private U.S. citizen, he had been approved on March 24th as an observer for the presidential electoral process. Mr. Lewis explained that due to an apparent communication failure between INM and the IFE, the Mexican consulates around the world had not been provided with the proper application forms for elections observers, despite January edict of the IFE general council approving the presence of observers. Mr. Mantes Garcia simply repeated that he was only carrying out orders and did not have any information as to why Mr. Lewis was being denied entry. At approximately 18:30 Mr. Lewis boarded a plane to San Jose, California. On April 10, back in San Francisco, Mr. Ted Lewis approached Ambassador Carlos Tello, Consul General of Mexico, who expressed surprise and concern about the treatment shown to Mr. Lewis by immigration officials. Ambassador Tello contacted Jose Angel Pescador, Undersecretary of Population, who agreed to contact Mr. Montes Garcia and Luis Nava. On Wednesday, ‹three full days after the incident‹, thee Counsel General of San Francisco received Mr. Montes Garcia's "version" of the incident. The document, which itself is clearly a fabrication constructed after the events took place, contains numerous inaccuracies. A. The documents in question were at no time presented to Ted Lewis. B. Ted Lewis did not refuse to sign anything. Mr. Montes Garcia perjures himself on this point. In fact Ted Lewis was given no document. He was shown a communication ‹ described above‹ from Luis Nava, but as was mentioned previously, that memo was torn from Ted Lewis' hands by Mr. Montes Garcia when Mr. Lewis expressed the intent to retain it. C. Ted Lewis never mentioned anything about the Federal Electoral Institute until after the above mentioned memo (not the falsified document signed by Mr. Montes Garcia) was shown to [him]. At that time, all he said was that the arbitrary and illegal actions being taken against him were all the more egregious in light of the fact that: 1.) The IFE had established that elections observation could begin in January, 2.) That Lic.. Fernando Zertuche Muños Executive Secretary of the IFE had approved Mr. Lewis' application to be an elections observer on March 24 [see attached] and that 3.) INM had, thus far, failed to supply the San Francisco consulate (or any other consulate for that matter) with the necessary forms to process applications. Mr. Lewis also told them the fact that in 1994 and 1997, the IFE procedure had been that election observers enter the country with an FMT that was later turned in for an election observer visa at an IFE/INM module inside Mexico. Mr. Lewis also mentioned that the IFE had told him that thirteen other applications for FMVEs were in limbo due to the failure of the INM to issue the required paperwork. Nevertheless, Mr. Lewis did not seek to enter the country as an election observer. He did tell the officials that he planned to visit the IFE on Monday April 10th to pursue the visa matter with them. 4.) Mr. Lewis never told any immigration official that he was going to visit the "Centro Miguel Agustin Pro, la Academia de Derechos Humanos, or "La Comision Mexican Para la Defensa de Derechos Humanos." This is an outright lie, though an interesting one because it textually repeats a list that INM had typed on to an FM3 for human rights observation that was issued to Lewis last year. Note: The regulations issued from the IFE for the year 2000 electoral process, specifically state that an election observation visa can be obtained from within Mexico after entrance with an FMT visa. ************************************************************ Mexican vote watchdog says observers' entry blocked MEXICO CITY, April 26 (Reuters) - Mexico's independent election body said on Wednesday the government is blocking the entry of foreign election observers, lending new weight to complaints from non-governmental organisations. "It's worrying on democratic grounds," Jaime Cardenas, an advisor at the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), told a news conference. Government agencies "are putting up obstacles to our work," he said. Cardenas said IFE has provided observers with papers and documentation that are not being honoured by Mexican immigration authorities, locking the observers out of the country ahead of the July 2 presidential election. The IFE allegations come on the heels of charges by U.S.-based NGO Global Exchange and Mexico's Civil Alliance that the Latin American nation is intimidating international observers by throwing up immigration snags. Global Exchange Coordinator Ted Lewis said in a statement issued on Tuesday he was detained and deported from the airport in the western city of Guadalajara after entering the country to meet with IFE officials. Lewis added that the regulations from the IFE state that election observation visas can be obtained from inside Mexico after entering the country on a tourist visa. The National Migration Institute, the government agency in charge of immigration issues, however, denied it was hindering election watchdog efforts. "What foreigners do in Mexico will never be restricted for political reasons, if it's legal," said institute spokeswoman Angelica Rendon. "If the IFE says that (Lewis' deportation) is illegal it is because it doesn't have sufficient information on the issue." Rendon said Lewis was trying to gain new entrance to Mexico, even though he had been deported on at least two previous occasions. "Ted Lewis is someone who performed on various occasions activities that are not permitted," she said*. Lewis' group has been accused by the Mexican government of promoting "revolutionary tourism," organising visits by foreigners to the southern state of Chiapas to meet with Zapatista Indian rebels, who took up arms in January 1994. The government has expelled dozens of foreigners in the past two years for allegedly engaging in political activities while in the country on tourist visas. Rendon said foreign observers who have registered their visits adequately have entered Mexico without problem. The IFE expects some 1,000 foreign observers for the July elections, in which ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate Francisco Labastida is squaring off against the centre-right National Action Party's Vicente Fox for the nation's top job. [*Note from Ted: I was never deported from Mexico prior to April 9, 2000. Also, the INM has never informed me of any activity I have performed in Mexico that was "not permitted".] **************************************************************************** Mexican watchdog group allege attempt to restrict vote observers The Associated Press April 26, 2000 By Johanna Tuckman Mexico City--Mexican watchdog groups on Wednesday accused the government of obstructing foreign electoral observers in the run-up to the July 2 presidential election, citing a U.S. observer who was deported on arrival in Mexico. "We are very worried that the Interior Ministry, via the immigration authorities, is putting obstacles in the way of foreign observers. This is bad for democracy," said Jaime Cardenas, a top official with the independent Federal Electoral Institute. The institute is responsible for organizing the election and monitoring fairness, and has built up a reputation as one of the nation's most impartial institutions since becoming independent of the government in 1996. Cardenas spoke at a news conference called by non-governmental organizations to protest the recent deportation of Ted Lewis, who heads the Mexico programs of the San Francisco-based human rights group Global Exchange. "The (supposed) legal justification was that he had lied by entering the country as a tourist," said Cardenas, who insisted Lewis was entitled to change his immigration status once inside Mexico. Rogelio Gomez, coordinator of the Mexican watchdog group Civic Alliance, said the incident proved the government is seeking to keep international observers out of the country before election day. The Institutional Revolutionary Party has held the presidency for the past 71 years with the help of elections often tainted by accusations of foul play. This year most analysts consider that blatant fraud is unlikely, but concern remains about more subtle ways of influencing voters. Angelica Rendon, spokeswoman for the immigration agency, denied the government was seeking to control foreign observers. She insisted Lewis had abused the tourist status during previous trips to the conflictive state of Chiapas, and consequently "has no right to be in Mexico." Knight Ridder-Tribune News Service Friday, April 28, 2000 Voters start to think unthinkable: Mexico without PRI president By Ricardo Sandoval MEXICO CITY‹--With opposition candidate Vicente Fox apparently taking the lead in a tight race for president, Mexicans are starting to think about the unthinkable: Mexico without a president from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for the first time since 1929. "Since I've been able to reason, I never imagined any other party in power besides the PRI," Ana Maria Vega, a 31-year-old secretary, said during her lunch break in a Mexico City park. "It's scary to think beyond the PRI. But what's important to me is change." The perception that Fox and his conservative National Action Party (PAN) could win -- or alternately, that the PRI could lose for the first time after seven decades in power -- is crystallizing in the wake of Tuesday's debate among six presidential candidates in the July 2 election. At least for TV viewers, Fox cleaned the clock of PRI nominee Francisco Labastida and the others, and looked presidential enough in the process. This is raising questions about how the transition would work if Fox won -- and what the PRI will do in the closing weeks of the campaign to try to keep from losing. Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive and Guanajuato state governor, is said to be worried that it may be difficult to separate the PRI from the government it has owned for so long. And that confusion of the two in the minds of many Mexicans is one stratagem the long-ruling party is expected to use. "For millions of Mexicans, the PRI and the government are one and the same," said Sergio Aguayo, a professor at the College of Mexico and a congressional candidate for the Party of the Democratic Center. "It may get bloody trying to separate the two." According to Fox campaign insiders, one of Fox's key fears is that political instability could hinder Mexico's growth and disrupt the all-important trade relationship with the United States. "A transition of power is all new to Mexicans. We have no experience in this," said Adolfo Aguilar Zinzer, an independent senator who has been advising Fox. "That's why Fox has given the green light to his team to build bridges to other opposition leaders so when it's time to make the transition, he can say his administration represents a broad base of Mexicans. That makes it harder for the PRI to disrupt the exchange of power, because it won't be just one party it is attacking." On May 8, leading Mexican pollsters are due to reveal their post-debate surveys. Political analysts predict the polls will show a move by more Mexicans into the Fox camp. Before the debate, Fox and Labastida were tied in the polls. "A PRI in second place will fight like a wounded tiger," Aguilar said. Manuel Camacho Solis, a former high-ranking PRI leader who bolted the party to run for president as the candidate of the Democratic Center Party, said that "the PRI has a big deck of cards it can play." He predicted that those will include trying yet again to make poor voters in the countryside think they owe their thanks to the PRI for things that at least technically were done by the government. "The party will never directly say it, but when the president says that the government is taking care of pregnant women, poor women will respond by thinking that they owe their health to the PRI," Camacho said. In the past the PRI has gone so far as to dole out everything from free lunches and vitamins to farm equipment to lure votes - especially from rural Mexicans. Mexican election officials say they have not seen anything so overt in this campaign, though. Still, even some PRI stalwarts have begun thinking the unthinkable, said Camacho, a former foreign minister who failed to get the PRI's presidential nod in 1994. "The PRI actually fears losing now. It's never been in that position," Camacho said. "But Labastida is still a very strong candidate. I've seen what the party can do when it gets mad at you. I don't expect fraud, but we'll see more media manipulation and the spread of disinformation." At the same time, election monitors say they have noticed that broadcasters, whose owners are considered political allies of the PRI, suddenly are giving more positive airtime to Labastida and running negative stories about Fox and other opposition candidates. "It's clear that the media has selected its candidate, and it's a return to the days when the PRI controlled what people saw and read in the media," said Jaime Cardenas, an adviser to Mexico's Federal Elections Institute, the independent agency that will supervise the vote. That institute filed complaints with the government over a loss of airtime for its own media campaign that tells Mexicans that their votes are free and secret. Broadcast industry leaders said the elections agency's spots hadn't run because of technical troubles. Election officials also report that Mexico's interior ministry has been dragging its feet in distributing the documents to embassies and consulates worldwide that will allow foreign observers to enter Mexico to monitor the election. More recently, Ted Lewis of the San Francisco-based Global Exchange human rights organization was booted out of the country, the election¹s institute complained. Lewis, who had made more than 50 trips throughout Mexico, had been accredited by the institute as a monitor, but was turned back at the Guadalajara airport for not having a proper visa when he arrived from San Francisco. "The timing of these events has created a worrisome atmosphere around the election," Cardenas said. But analysts say finessing this election will not be so easy as in the old days, when no opposition presidential candidate could convince enough Mexicans not to fear the PRI. "I've always voted PRI," said Miguel Pena, a 34-year-old owner of a traveling carnival. "I deal with government bureaucrats all the time for work permits, so I always thought I needed to vote for the PRI to protect my business. "But Fox looks strong, so I may do what I've always wanted to do and vote for someone else." (c) 2000, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Global Exchange http://www.globalexchange.org ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-04.29.00-03:26:08-5148