Mexico Week In Review: 10.15-10.21 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - cisdc@mail.zzapp.org ================================================================= 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 and combating related structures of oppression within our own communities. To request free searches of our news archive or to contact us directly, write: cisdc@zzapp.org ================================================================= "Para Todos, Todo; Para Nosotros Nada" HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER ASSASSINATED Note: We condemn the assassination of our friend, Digna Ochoa. We condemn the forces that ordered her brutal murder just as we condemn the structures and conditions which she struggled to correct with her very life. Digna's work will continue! -- ed. A prominent human rights lawyer who has defended Zapatista sympathizers was killed after receiving several death threats, and a note left with her body warned that the same could happen to others, Mexico City's attorney general said. Digna Ochoa, 37, and a former nun, was found dead Friday (10/19) after being shot in the head and leg, Attorney General Bernardo Batiz said. She was working at the office of two fellow human rights attorneys when her body was found in the waiting room, on the floor, with her head leaning against a chair and her face completely covered with blood. A white powder, like a kind of talc, was scattered about the rug, the chairs and the victim's clothing. The possibility that the lawyer had struggled with the killers has not been discounted, because the headband she had been wearing in the morning had also been thrown onto the rug. A note, directed at Ochoa's Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center and presumably left by the killers, warned: "If they continue, this will also happen to another. You have been advised. This is not a trick." Batiz's office was investigating previous death threats Ochoa had received. But Edgar Cortez, the center's director, said the investigations weren't sufficient. Although Ochoa had received protection in the past, Cortez said, she left the country for work and was not given government guards when she returned in April. Ochoa had often defended rebel sympathizers in southern Mexico, including those jailed for supporting Zapatistas. "This was a person who never shied away from taking on the toughest and most sensitive cases," Daniel Wilkinson, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in New York, said in a telephone interview from New York. "She broke ground on using the Mexican legal system for defending human rights victims." He criticized prosecutors' past investigations into death threats, saying: "This failure to investigate creates an environment in which people think they can get away with killing human rights advocates like this." Ochoa's cases included those of anti-logging activists Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia, who were sentenced in August 2000 to six years and 10 years, respectively, on drug and weapons charges. Ochoa argued the drug and weapons charges were fabricated, and that her clients were really arrested for blocking logging roads to protest clear-cutting in old-growth forests near the Pacific coast. In September 2000, Ochoa was forced to leave Mexico temporarily for the United States after receiving more death threats. She said the Mexican government failed to provide her with protection and guarantees for her personal safety. She moved to Washington, DC, where she worked for the Center for Justice and International Law. Upon return to Mexico she was helping out on several cases, including those of two brothers accused of being members of a guerrilla group and detonating tin cans with explosives outside branches of Banco Nacional de Mexico, or Banamex, which was recently purchased by Citigroup. The brother's first court appearance was scheduled for Monday. The Aug. 8 bombings were claimed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (FARP). "This [murder] was the most brutal act against a human rights defender ever committed in Mexico City," said Emilio Alvarez Icaza, the city's new Human Rights Commission president. Sources: Associated Press: 10/20; La Jornada: 10/20; Washington Post: 10/21; The News-Mexico City: 10/21 CHIAPAS: ARMED PRI-SUPPORTERS THREATEN ZAPATISTA COMMUNITY As President Vicente Fox continues his whirlwind trip around Europe assuring audiences peace and stability are on the horizon in Chiapas, villagers in the troubled southern state have denounced new acts of armed conflict. Supporters of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) accused roaming, armed militants from of the former-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of destroying property and threatening residents in the community of San Manuel in the Ocosingo region. In a written statement, residents claim in a little over a month a group of about 35 armed PRI supporters have twice attacked the community, setting fires and knocking down walls. The statement also says the militants - who are allegedly members of a state-wide campesino federation - have been threatening EZLN supporters since September, accusing them of living on lands illegally taken in the 1994 Zapatista uprising. However, the villagers say they hardly have enough land to live on. "We tried to negotiate with them [PRI militants], but they did not want to accept an agreement. They left us 80 hectares of land, but very little of it can be cultivated. Each of our families is working only 45 square meters of land," the statement said. "We are making do with what we have because we don't want to fall into a conflict, but we almost don't have anywhere to live, or anywhere to work. But, we still don't want to leave here. We're going to wait, hold on and resist." The Zapatista supporters also say they cannot rely on help from the local government since it was the PRI who won the mayorship in elections that took place October 7. Violent ethnic, land and political disputes have become a common occurrence in Chiapas since the 1994 armed uprising orchestrated by the EZLN in protest for indigenous rights. Source: The News-Mexico City: 10/17 FOX OFFERS REVISION OF INDIGENOUS LAW An incident with a handful of young pro-Zapatista supporters provoked President Vicente Fox to offer to put the Indigenous Law on the discussion table again. "We will certainly put the subject on the table again next year, simply to review in all details what more could be done in that matter", he indicated. The President walked, hand in hand with his wife Marta Sahagun, towards the entrance corridor of the Hamburg City Hall, when a group of German youths - one of them with a scarf with the image of the Che Guevara shouted to him in Spanish, "Assassin!" and "Viva Zapata!" Once inside the City Hall, where he met with members of the Mexican community in this city, the Agent chief executive responded to those who reprimanded him. "We have listened to it outside, and the press has surely heard it too, and for that reason I want to address the subject of the four young people who shouted assassins to us. Surely they don't even understand the meaning of word or to whom they direct it, because we are of course not assassins and we will never make a decision that would violate the peace within the country " he said. "These young people", he added, "should try to learn more about the position our Government has taken with the indigenous authorities, including the ample opportunity we gave to the Zapatism and its leaders to travel calmly, peacefully, with all guarantees, to Mexico City, to enter the Congress of Union and to be able to express their demands". Fox emphasized the advance that the constitutional reform on Indigenous Rights and Culture represented, but recognized that it did not leave all sectors satisfied. "Without a doubt, there are some sectors and some communities that feel that the law remains restricted, that there are spaces to improve it", he commented. In a press conference later on, after a meeting with German industrialists, President Fox clarified that his Government didn't intend to send in another initiative on the Indigenous subject, but to reopen the discussion on the approved reform. "A discussion, so that those groups with a certain dissatisfaction with the result of the law have the opportunity to express themselves. It seems to me that we can carry out a second round of debate, to see if the law remains as it is or if something can be added to it, some adjustments for the greater satisfaction of all Mexico", he explained. Source: Reforma: 10/19 INDIGENOUS CHILDREN FORGOTTEN BY THE GOVERNMENT Some see education as a way to keep peace in an area ravaged by violence and poverty, if only the children in those places had access to it. Enrique Ku Herrera, a program director in the Education Worker's Union, said of the 1.2 million school-age Indigenous children in Mexico, 400,000 do not have access to education and accuses the federal government of closing its eyes to this reality. More than half of those who do receive education take classes outside or in improvised classrooms, sometimes made of cardboard. Further, some primary schools do not even offer all six grades required by law. Drop out and failure rates are also extremely high among Indigenous kids, a fact Ku Herrera attributes to a lack of government and family support. After 30 years of programs specifically geared toward educating Indigenous children, the program director said 50 percent of Indigenous students still do not finish primary school. Ku claims less than two percent of the federal education budget is spent on programs that target Indigenous students, a fact, he says, that shows the lack of importance placed on the well-being of Indigenous communities by the Education Secretariat. He added the significance of education within the Indigenous community should not be underestimated because it is the greatest chance of integrating Indigenous populations into mainstream life. Ku said a National Indigenous Education Congress is being planned to address the educational needs of the marginalized Indigenous population. In a related story, approximately 16,000 Indigenous children living in Mexico City are not allowed to attend school because they lack birth certificates, Mexican daily La Jornada reported. Assembly members belonging to the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) will file a complaint with the Education Secretariat and the Civil Registry asking federal authorities to implement an alternative strategy allowing these children to enroll in schools, PRD legislator Alejandro Sanchez said. These 16,000 comprise about 25 percent of children and youth living in the capital who do not have access to basic education, said Sanchez who heads the education committee in the city assembly. Many children acquire birth certificates later, perhaps years after they are asked to present it at schools, by which time they may be too old for the grade level corresponding to their age. There are more than 590,000 Indians living in the capital, according to the official. Eleven percent of those are underage, and 18 percent between the ages of 6 and 14 would be in school if they had birth certificates. Sanchez said the worst part is most Indigenous children become trapped in a cycle of marginalization and end up working menial jobs, where they are often exploited by unscrupulous people. To address discrimination against this group, the legislator proposes the establishment of 31 care centers specializing in the needs of Indigenous children. Each center would have an average capacity of 60 kids and districts with large Indigenous populations would be urged to collaborate with the Education Secretariat to meet the required education levels for children at risk. Source: The News-Mexico City: 10/12,16 CHIAPAS: GOVERNOR CALLS FOR TIGHTER BORDER SECURITY At the same time President Vicente Fox is touting Mexico's unconditional support for the war against terrorism, the governor of Chiapas is continuing his months-long campaign of asking the federal government to provide more surveillance of the nation's southern border. Governor Pablo Salazar Mendiguchia said the state doesn't have the resources or the personnel to guard Mexico's porous 600-mile border with Guatemala, the point of entry for "many migrants" and possible terrorists on their way to the U.S. "We don't want to wash our hands of responsibility, but the state government by itself does not have the capacity to guarantee the security of such an extensive border. We need help from all levels of government - city, state and federal," he said. In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel said security would be tightened at all entry points into national territory, including airports, in addition to other unspecified strategic areas. Furthermore, earlier this year at the behest of its northern neighbor, President Vicente Fox committed Mexico to participating in an immigration control plan (Plan Sur), which included stepping up surveillance on the country's border with Guatemala to impede the entrance of migrants on their way to the U.S. The U.S. Naturalization and Immigration Service reported a 25 percent drop in migrant detentions prior to the terrorist attacks. However, Salazar affirmed a lack of security isn't the only problem facing Mexico's southern border. Corruption among federal police officers who collect bribes for granting foreigners access to national territory, he said, adds significantly to the difficulties of ensuring border security. But, the governor stopped short of calling for a militarization of the southern border. "A greater number of officers strategically stationed along the border and a government-led fight against corruption is more than enough," he said. Source: The News-Mexico City: 10/19 POVERTY INCREASED 300% DURING 90s The rate of poverty increased 300 percent in Mexico between 1994 and 2000 to include more than 40 million people, of which 26 million live in conditions of extreme poverty, the director of the National School of Social Work (ENTS) said. In a press release issued by the National Autonomous University, Carlos Artega said only if the different political sectors work together "will Mexico overcome political pragmatism and be able to solve the problem of extreme poverty." Artega said 20 million Mexicans live on less than 240 dollars a month and are "only able to purchase one third of the basic food basket and have no access to meat, dairy products and fruit." According to the professor, at the beginning of the year, 15 percent of Mexicans earned less than 60 dollars a month and one third lived in "moderate poverty." The layoff of 96,000 people in the first trimester of this year is another factor that seriously hurt Mexican families. Another problem in combating poverty in Mexico is the lack of government involvement, he said. "Combating extreme poverty has been left to private initiative, civil society and philanthropists, risking the return to charity and altruism," he said. For all these reasons, Artega argues for the adoption of a labor policy, which would not only provide compensation, but would also have macroeconomic elements focusing on social development. In addition, "we must also create agreements between economic agents and social actors, as well as increase workers' salaries, enabling them to improve the conditions they live in," he said. Artega said millions of young people are the most vulnerable to unemployment "because they don't have access to the labor market, even if they have university degrees." "Poverty is the most explosive problem" in Mexico, he concluded. Source: AFP: 10/18 CAMPESINOS DEMAND END TO GM IMPORTS Campesino organizations from Chihuahua to Chiapas called on President Vicente Fox's administration to block genetically modified (GM) corn allegedly being imported from the United States. Referring to World Food Day as "World Food Sovereignty Day," activists said the government should impose the same import restrictions utilized by Japan, South Korea and the European Union to protect the genetic diversity of corn in Mexico. "While other countries supervise and enforce the importation of food, Mexico throws its doors wide open," said Victor Suarez of the National Association of Commercial Businesses (ANEC) at a Mexico City news conference. Suarez claimed 1.2 million of the 6 million tons of corn annually imported from the United States is genetically engineered. Last month, the government revealed GM corn had been found growing in the state of Oaxaca. The United States has been targeted as the most likely source of the genetically altered grains. The Fox administration still has not announced how it will respond to the discovery. While Mexico has placed a moratorium on the cultivation of GM corn, imports of the grain go unchecked by border authorities. The vast majority of corn imported from the United States is destined for livestock consumption. But campesinos who have spent years experimenting with new seeds have no way of distinguishing a GM grain of corn from a conventional one. Miguel Colunga, of the Chihuahua Democratic Campesino Front (FDCCH), said he was concerned by the unpredictable health and environmental effects of genetically engineered agricultural products. But he is more immediately worried the introduction of GM corn would deepen the growing dependence of small-scale farmers on the world seed market, which has come to be dominated by a handful of companies. While 20 years ago, not a single seed company held 1 percent of market share, currently the top 10 seed firms control 30 percent of the 24.4 billion dollar commercial seed market, according to Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI). In the GM seed market, the concentration of corporate control is staggering. Monsanto Company - now a part of Pharmacia Corporation - alone accounted for 94 percent of the total area sown to GM crops in 2000, said RAFI spokeswoman Silvia Ribeiro. Yet the dangers of dependency on GM seeds go beyond monopolistic control of the market, said Ribeiro. Monsanto's genetically engineered seeds - Roundup Ready soybeans, corn, cotton and canola - carry a gene resistant to the Roundup herbicide, also sold by Monsanto. "The most important consideration is to create dependence," said Ribeiro. "What they want to do is sell more chemicals." Source: The News-Mexico City: 10/17 MEXICO, U.S. BISHOPS SHAPING IMMIGRATION STATEMENT Roman Catholic bishops from Mexico and the United States are working together to shape a joint pastoral statement spelling out problems involving migration between the two countries. "We want to influence public policy. We want to make people constantly aware of the issue," said Bishop John Manz of Chicago. "The movement of people is an international issue and we want to face that together." The four bishops and their staffs from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Mexico met in San Diego to begin preparing a draft statement in response to Pope John Paul II's "Ecclesia in America" in 1999, in which the pope urged a more unified America. "He said the church has to be one in all of America, in the sense of the continent," said Bishop Renato Ascencio Leon of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. "Until now, we haven't had a concrete vision that includes both those who leave and those who arrive. This is the first time we are thinking in this very special way." The bishops heard testimony from migrants, those seeking asylum, refugee experts, politicians, lawyers and church social workers. That testimony will help form the basis of their joint statement. A migrant from Oaxaca, Mexico, told of facing hunger, thirst and beatings as he tried for months to cross into the United States. A Chaldean asylum seeker from Iraq sobbed as she told of escaping her country because of religious persecution, only to face jail time in Mexico. The bishops next meet in Mexico in December, and a draft statement is to be completed by next summer. All 400-plus bishops in the United States and Mexico will vote on the final version. Many of the speakers also expressed concern about the status of migrants since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "We are united against terrorism," said Roberto Martinez, U.S.-Mexico Border Project director. "We don't want this to turn into a war on migrants. We are concerned now about the expanded powers of search and detention." Source: Associated Press: 10/19 ZAPATISTAS MUST TRAVEL WITHOUT MASKS Zapatista leaders including Subcomandante Marcos will have to leave his trademark mask behind if he visits Honduras, migration officials said. Organizers of a Latin American Indian Congress planned for next month have invited Marcos, who has refused to be seen in public without his ski mask. On Sunday, congress organizers said Marcos will leave his jungle hideout in Mexico's southern Chiapas state to attend the congress. But a spokesman for the Zapatistas called such a trip "highly unlikely." Gustavo Maldonado, sub director of Honduras' migration office said that Marcos was welcome in Honduras if he has a Mexican passport and no ski mask. "The Mexicans only need their passport to enter our country," he said. "The problem is that Marcos is not considered Mexican, and we assume that he doesn't possess an accredited passport. As a result, the guerrilla would not be able to legally come to Honduras." Source: Associated Press: 10/16 QUOTE OF THE WEEK "By sky, by sea, by land Osama bin Laden they are looking for you bin Laden The terrorist that the CIA trained That was the biggest mistake of the American government." ================================================================= 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-10.22.01-18:36:11-27502