* ZAPATISTAS CLAIM ELECTION WAS RIGGED; MARCOS BACK IN CHIAPAS; OTRA TO CONTINUE
* MEXICO FACES OVER 400 SOCIAL CONFLICTS: PEACE GROUP
* CHIAPAS: ROADBLOCKS IN SOLIDARITY WITH OAXACA
* IMMIGRATION NEWS: HOUSE PASSES MORE ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILLS
* BORDER NEWS I: MORE INDIGENOUS MIGRANTS SPEAK NO SPANISH
* BORDER NEWS II: BOEING SECURES US CONTRACT
* FARMERS: FOX ABANDONED RURAL MEXICO
* MEXICO THIRD IN WORLD OIL PRODUCTION
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.
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"Para Todos, Todo; Para Nosotros Nada"
ZAPATISTAS CLAIMS ELECTION WAS RIGGED; MARCOS BACK IN CHIAPAS; OTRA TO CONTINUE
Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) spokesperson Subcomandante
Marcos stepped into Mexico's election crisis by claiming the July 2
presidential vote was rigged against the left-wing opposition
candidate. Marcos has long been a fierce critic of leftist runner-up
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador but, breaking a long silence over the
disputed election, he backed Lopez Obrador's allegations that the
conservative ruling party stole the vote. Marcos had predicted Lopez
Obrador would win the election, which has sharply divided Mexico
between left and right. "We were not wrong. Lopez Obrador won the
most votes among those fighting for the presidency. Although it was
not with the margin he had forecast, his advantage was clear and
resounding," Marcos said in a statement. "Where we were wrong was in
thinking that resorting to electoral fraud was a thing of the past,"
he added.
On Thursday (09/21), Marcos unexpectedly returned to Chiapas,
arriving in San Cristobal De Las Casas which Zapatista forces briefly
seized 12 years ago. Why he headed to San Cristobal de las Casas was
not clear. Marcos waved to a small group of supporters, but did not
speak to reporters upon arriving.
Marcos has announced that the Zapatistas will resume the Other
Campaign's national tour on October 9, picking up where he left off
after May 4th police violence in Atenco led to a temporary
postponement. Marcos will begin in Sinaloa, then travel to Baja
California Sur, Baja California Norte, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila,
Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas,
finishing in Mexico City. Several Zapatista Comandantes will travel
from Chiapas to Mexico City to work on the broad-based movement to
free 29 Atenco residents who remain in prison as a result of the
police violence.
Sources: Reuters: 09/19; Associated Press: 09/21; Mexico Solidarity
Network Weekly News Summary: 09/04-09.17
====
MEXICO FACES OVER 400 SOCIAL CONFLICTS: PEACE GROUP
SERAPAZ, Advisory Service for Peace, registered 432 social conflicts
in Mexico, mostly stemming from economic causes, drug traffic,
homicides, and migration. It also mentions the increasing demand for
water in the country, murder of journalists, the July 2 elections,
reforms to the Radio and Television Law, and the clashes in Texcoco,
Atenco, and Oaxaca.
Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Chiapas are among the Mexican states with the
largest incidence, while the text reports they are difficult to
handle in isolation, because they are part of complex systems and
involve large social sectors. After establishing the Social Conflict
Observatory in Mexico, SERAPAZ from January to June monitored an
increase of the problems month after month.
Faults in the mining sector's protection system caused a fatal
accident on February 19, where 65 workers died and 11 were injured.
SERAPAZ also found incorrect treatment and solution of each conflict,
for example in the mining case, the government did not recognize the
mining union leadership, which increased the political, legal, and
social confrontations. According to the research, the governor of
each state played an important role in most conflicts, while workers
or employees grouped in a union played the major role in one of five
conflicts. The most notorious cases SERAPAZ said, related to drug
traffic, with possible complicity between authorities and criminals,
and generalized impunity in the country.
Source: Prensa Latina: 09/18
====
CHIAPAS: ROADBLOCKS IN SOLIDARITY WITH OAXACA
Hundreds of campesinos from various social organizations, members of
the National Front of Struggle for Socialism (FNLS), held 13
intermittent blockades of roads in Chiapas, in support of the Popular
People's Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO). The state leadership of the FNLS
said in a statement that the blockades were held today from 8 in the
morning to 1 in the afternoon, in the regions of Centro, Fraylesca,
Altos, Selva, Fronteriza, Norte-Selva, Costa and Soconusco.
The protesters were said that these actions were held "to demonstrate
our support and solidarity for the heroic struggle being waged by the
Popular People's Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO)". They also condemned the
"state terrorism" that APPO has been subjected to by the state and
federal governments, through "paramilitary commandos, which have
assassinated and wounded the social activists with impunity." "We
demand a halt to the government repression against APPO, the
immediate compliance with its legitimate demands and the
unconditional freedom of the political prisoners, unjustly jailed
during this valiant struggle which is an example for all the people
of Mexico," said the FNLS statement. In a second point, they declared
their support for the "national movement which has been struggling
for the defense of the popular will, of political rights, and respect
of the vote which was fraudulently stolen this past July 2. We firmly
reject any intention of the State to use repression against the
vigils which have been established in Mexico City."
It also said: "We are ready to shut down all the roads of the
ultra-right led by Felipe Calderon, who has been spuriously imposed
as president of the Republic by Vicente Fox, the PAN and the dark
sect of El Yunque, supported by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE)
and the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation
(TEPJF), as well as by the business oligarchy, the monopolies of
radio and television, the ultra-conservative church, and various
complicit political parties." The statement explained that today's
blockades were intermittent, and did not seek to interfere with the
population, "but serve as a warning that we can undertake them in
permanent manner in the event that the current ultra-right government
continues its repressive actions against the Mexican people..."
Source: http://ww4report.com: 09/18
====
IMMIGRATION NEWS: HOUSE PASSES MORE ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILLS
On Sept. 21, the House of Representatives voted 328-95 to approve HR
6094--the "Community Protection Act of 2006"--an anti-immigrant bill
which would allow indefinite detention, overturning the Supreme
Court's June 2001 Zadvydas v. Davis ruling. The bill would also allow
non-citizens to be quickly deported if the government believes they
are gang members, and would bar suspected gang members from obtaining
political asylum. The same day, the House voted 277-140 to pass HR
6095--the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006--which would
authorize state and local police to enforce federal immigration law,
expand expedited removal, limit appeals and lawsuits in immigration
cases and revoke the Orantes injunction, which protects Salvadorans
from expedited removal. A third bill, passed unanimously, would
impose a 20-year prison sentence for creating or financing a tunnel
under the US border.
The Senate is due to consider these measures during the week of Sept.
25. On Sept. 22 the Senate was debating a border fence bill approved
by the House on Sept. 14. It is possible that proponents of the
enforcement bills will seek to attach them to Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) appropriations bills which have already passed both
houses and are being reconciled in committee. Advocates are urging
people who support immigrant rights to contact their senators
immediately to express opposition to these bills.
Source: Immigration News Briefs: 09/23
====
BORDER NEWS I: MORE INDIGENOUS MIGRANTS SPEAK NO SPANISH
Inching along the dusty field under a broiling sun, Simon Santol
tossed garlic bulbs into buckets and chatted with the other
stooped-over Mexican workers. The conversation wasn't in Spanish.
Instead, they spoke Santol's native Triqui, or Mixtec, Zapotec or
other languages indigenous to the poorest regions of Mexico. Many of
the workers can barely get by in English or Spanish. "It was hard at
first," the 28-year-old Santol said in halting Spanish. "We would
look for someone who spoke our language and Spanish. Now I have
learned a little Spanish. Grace of God."
Immigrants who have not adopted Spanish or English can struggle to
find housing, jobs and fair interest rates, advocate groups say.
Navigating the legal system is tricky -- sometimes it's difficult
just to communicate. But with worsening conditions at home and
relatively rosy reports from family or community members already
here, the United States is attracting more indigenous immigrants --
people who primarily speak a local indigenous language of Mexico, a
country that is Latin America's Tower of Babel. Its government
recognizes 162 living languages, plus some 300 dialects. It's
impossible to say exactly how indigenous people have crossed the
border. Many are here illegally and would rather not be counted, and
immigrant population estimates tend to focus on nationality, not
language. But estimates put the number of Mixtec speakers in the
United States from Oaxaca alone at 100,000, mostly in Oregon and
California's Central Valley.
The stream has grown since the North American Free Trade Agreement
opened Mexico to U.S. crops in 1994, straining Mexico's farmers, some
experts say. "Now corn sent by the United States is real cheap,
there's no return for us," said Leon Ciovasquez, spokesman for the
Indigenous Front of Binational Organizations based in Fresno, Calif.
"There's no point in continuing."
One mark of their growing numbers is seen in Oregon's courtrooms.
James Comstock, who leads Oregon's court interpreters service, said
that five years ago, his office only handled an indigenous-language
case once every few months. Now, he said, there are two or three a
week. He finds interpreters where he can, but some local qualified
residents are undocumented and can't be hired. Some interpretation is
done by telephone relay through Mexico. And still there are snags.
Comstock recalled a woman whose baby was put in state care. "She
spoke no Spanish at all," he said. "It was like talking to a wall.
She just didn't understand."
On Oregon's farms, about 60 percent of the Mexican workers are from
indigenous populations, estimated Ramon Ramirez, who heads a farm
worker union. Ramirez, who has sent indigenous-language-speaking
organizers into fields to hear the immigrants' problems, said many
have no idea of their rights. They didn't use banks back home and
usually don't here, he said, making them potential targets for
robbery. Car dealers can charge them "outrageous" interest, he said.
The linguistic isolation and a tradition of mistrust and shabby
treatment back home have led many to form hometown-based groups.
"Each group usually has a leader, someone the rest can go to," said
Daniel Quinones, whose job with the Oregon Employment Department
includes monitoring labor law compliance for immigrant workers. "We
know they exist, we hear about them, but most (outsiders) have never
been there," Quinones said. "It's their own little culture." Many of
the garlic pickers take their problems to Rene Sandoval Perez, 57, a
labor contractor who stays in the field with his workers. Contractors
hire and manage the workers for landowners who may never meet them.
"If someone is having trouble talking to a landlord, he can call me
and I can say, 'Yeah, he is a good guy,'" Perez said. "We can try to
get them to the right doctor. I get the checks from the owner and I
give them directly to the workers, `Juan this is yours, Paco this is
for you.'" But many indigenous workers are migratory, taking their
chances from job to job, where there may or may not be a Sandoval
Perez. Many of the garlic pickers head south. Others stay here to
pick hops.
Ramirez's union, Northwest Tree planters and Farm workers United,
works with the hometown groups. A low-wattage union radio station is
scheduled to go on air Nov. 20 -- Mexican Revolution Day -- with
indigenous-language broadcasts detailing labor rights and other
topics for farm workers. A nonprofit law center has also distributed
tapes and other materials in indigenous languages, outlining workers'
rights. Indigenous families also often form their own networks --
legal or otherwise -- to aid their migration, said Guillermo Alonso
Meneses, who follows migration at the Colegio Frontera del Norte in
Tijuana, Mexico. Some even have their own immigrant smugglers. "Ten
or 20 years ago you didn't see that," he said.
In related news, remittances from migrant workers in the US to their
Mexican families increased by 22% in the first six months of this
year to a total of US$13.4 billion, according to the Bank of Mexico.
Total remittances during the 5 ˆ years of the Fox administration
total US$82 billion, exceeding every source of foreign exchange
except petroleum sales.
Sources: Associated Press: 09/18; Mexico Solidarity Network Weekly
News Summary: 09/04-09/17
====
BORDER NEWS II: BOEING SECURES US CONTRACT
Boeing has won a US government contract to develop security equipment
for monitoring the 7,500 miles of borders the US has with Mexico and
Canada. Sensors and cameras are among the equipment to be developed
by the firm to detect illegal entry into the US. Industry experts
estimate the three-year Department of Homeland Security contract is
worth $2.1bn to Boeing. Boeing's tender includes plans for 300 radar
towers along the borders. The first part of the contract to be
announced is a $67m deal to cover just 28 miles along the Mexican
border with Arizona.
America has been spending vast sums on securing its borders since the
11 September attacks five years ago. More than one million people
illegally enter the US each year - primarily from Mexico - and
reducing this number has become a key political issue. Homeland
Security secretary Michael Chertoff said that the department was
looking to build "a 21st century virtual fence". The Boeing project
involves partnerships with companies including Unisys. It will
include tracking sensors and communications equipment allowing border
patrol staff to keep a closer watch on the borders. The system will
work together with cameras, developed by an Israeli company, which
can spot people from 14 kilometers away.
Source: BBC News: 09/21
====
FARMERS: FOX ABANDONED RURAL MEXICO
The Mexican National Farm Federation denounced the suffering caused
to Mexico´s primary crops during the Vicente Fox administration's six
years of complete abandonment thereof, favoring instead business
sectors and transnationals. Farm leaders pointed out that in this
period only two percent of the national rural population received
anything, while the rest sunk into poverty. They descried that NAFTA
bestowed benefits on only 300,000 rural businesspeople and
marginalized more than 29.7 million farm workers, planning to leave
almost 10 million acres fallow in the next few years, despite its
importance to the national economy.
Official statistics reveal Mexico sent 6.824 billion dollars in food
exports to the US rose in 2005 a 15.8 percent increase- and increased
crops destined for Canada, Europe, Asia and Central America. However,
Mexico no longer grows enough food to feed its people, and has
increased imports of corn, grain, beans, rice, and wheat. The farmers
say Fox has left a countryside poorer, more unemployed, with high
migratory rates and without investment, all have which caused a loss
of food sovereignty and an augment in transnational power.
Source: Prensa Latina: 09/19
====
MEXICO THIRD IN WORLD OIL PRODUCTION
Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) oil company is now third in world crude
production as it reached 3.7 million barrels per day (mbd) this year.
The Mexican entity slightly surpassed its own average in 2005,
identifying it as a leader in the energy sector, according to a
bulletin edited by the PEMEX Social Communication and Information
Management.
Ahead of PEMEX are the Saudi ARAMCO and National Iranian Oil (NIOC)
of Iran, occupying the first and second places, respectively. The
2006 Statistical Yearbook of PEMEX recognizes Venezuelan state-run
PDVSA in fourth place, followed by Exxon Mobil of the US, the British
BP, Kuwait´s KPC and the consortium Royal Dutch Shell of Dutch and
British capitals. The list of the first ten is completed by
PetroChina and INOC of Iraq. As for the output per country, Mexico
holds the sixth place, ahead of Norway, the United Arab Emirates,
Kuwait, Nigeria, Canada and Venezuela.
The first place is held by Saudi Arabia with a volume beyond the 9.3
million barrels per day, followed by Russia, which also goes beyond
the nine million mark, the United States with 5.1 million, Iran and
China, with almost 4.0 million barrels per day each. As for total
sales, PEMEX went up from eighth to seventh place worldwide, boasting
revenues of over 86 billion dollars in 2005. The PEMEX yearbook also
indicates that referring to primary distillation of hydrocarbons, the
Mexican company was 12th in world ranking with an average of 1.5
million barrels per day.
As for proven crude reserves, Mexico holds the 14th place with around
15 billion barrels, while Saudi Arabia is first with over 264 billion
barrels. The source estimates Mexico has 54 billion barrels of oil
equivalent yet to be discovered, of which around 60 per cent is
thought to lie in deep waters and the rest in land or shallow waters.
Source: Prensa Latina: 09/20
====
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: 09.18-09.24
--
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