Mexico Week In Review: 04.14-04.20

Mexico Week In Review: 04.14-04.20
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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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OAXACA UPDATE: LEADER FREED

The man who led a five-month-long takeover of the Mexican city of
Oaxaca by leftist protesters was freed from jail state officials
said. Flavio Sosa led thousands of protesters who sealed off Oaxaca
with barricades and battled police in late 2006 to demand the
resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz, who protesters claim rigged his
electoral victory and repressed opponents.

Sosa was arrested in December 2006 and charged with kidnapping,
robbery, and causing damages and injuries related to the takeover of
the southern Mexican city. The Oaxaca state government said in a
statement that Ruiz would respect the court's decision to free Sosa.
Ruiz, who stayed in office despite the protests, denies he rigged his
election win. The statement did not say why the court released Sosa,
but prosecutors had failed to convict him of any of the charges.

Source: Associated Press: 04/19

FEDERAL AGENTS ARREST BORDER POLICE CHIEF

A Mexican federal official says the police chief of the border city
of Reynosa has been arrested for allegedly protecting members of the
Gulf drug cartel. The official says Chief Juan Muniz will be flown to
Mexico City to be questioned by organized crime investigators. Muniz
has been arrested by federal agents in Reynosa, across from McAllen,
Texas, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he is not authorized to discuss the case.

Reynosa city officials have issued a news release saying Muniz was
arrested Thursday afternoon. Muniz could not be immediately reached
for comment and it was unclear if he had a lawyer. The Gulf cartel is
based in Tamaulipas state, where Reynosa is located.

Source: Associated Press: 04/18

PEMEX PROTESTS I: OPPOSITION BARRICADES CONGRESS

Leftist lawmakers erected makeshift barricades around the podium in
Mexico's lower house of Congress, where they have been camped out for
more than five days to protest the president's oil reform proposal.
They piled heavy chairs around the speaker's platform, while their
colleagues in the Senate began fasting to demand that Congress
schedule a four-month national debate on the energy bill backed by
President Felipe Calderon.

Seeking to end the takeover, senators with Calderon's National Action
Party, or PAN, and the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI,
offered to compromise and debate the issue for 50 days. "The
uninterrupted 50-day term is broad enough for everyone to be heard,"
said PRI Sen. Manlio Fabio Beltrones. But members of the Democratic
Revolution Party, or PRD, and allied leftist parties, refused. "We
won't allow a simulated debate that will force our organization to
write a blank check," Sen. Dante Delgado of the small Convergencia
party told reporters. "We are asking that the legislative recess be
used for a wide debate." The coordinator for the PAN in the Senate,
Santiago Creel, said it was unlikely Congress would be able to
approve the bill by April 30, when the legislative session ends.

Oil production in Mexico, one of the top suppliers to the United
States, is declining, and reform advocates say state oil company
Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, needs outside resources to explore for
reserves. The bill would allow Pemex to partner with private
companies for exploration and refining. Opponents claim the bill
would lead toward selling off parts of Pemex and threaten national
sovereignty. Sen. Carlos Navarrete, leader of the PRD bloc, vowed
disruptions would continue. "We have made a gigantic effort - at
enormous political and physical costs - to push for a wider debate,"
he told W Radio.

The tactics in Congress are supported by Mexico's foremost leftist
leader, former PRD presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez
Obrador, who drew more than 100,000 supporters to a Sunday rally
against the oil reform in Mexico City's central square. Last week,
lawmakers from the PRD - the second largest bloc in Congress - and
from two minor parties stormed the podiums in the house and Senate
after Calderon introduced the bill.

Mexico's Constitution bans most private and foreign involvement in
the oil industry, although Pemex subcontracts some work to private
firms. The bill would allow Pemex to pay bonuses to private companies
but not a share of the oil profits. Lopez Obrador said the bill aims
to privatize Pemex, allowing Mexico's oil revenues - which provide
for nearly 40 percent of the national budget - to go to private and
foreign companies. Calderon has repeatedly denied he plans to
privatize Pemex.

Source: Associated Press: 04/15

PEMEX PROTESTS II: OPPOSITION BLOCK FUEL TRUCKS AT REFINERY

Mexican leftists blocked fuel trucks from leaving a refinery in the
southern state of Oaxaca in the latest protest against a government
proposal to boost private investment in the oil sector. Mexican
state-run oil monopoly Pemex said a crowd of some 400 protesters
stopped trucks leaving its Salina Cruz refinery and said the blockade
would hit fuel supplies to the southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca,
Puebla and Veracruz.

Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have taken to the streets
over conservative President Felipe Calderon's proposal to sweeten oil
field service contracts with bonus fees, a move that could attract
the foreign partners Pemex wants to speed up exploration projects.
Pemex says it needs foreign partners to reach oil reserves in the
deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico in time to make up for declining
yields at shallow water and onshore oil fields.

The refinery blockade will not affect Mexico's tiny volume of fuel
exports but will further strain a domestic gasoline supply grid that
is already under pressure from infrastructure problems and
bottlenecks at ports. Mexico is the world's No. 10 exporter of crude
oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),
but a shortfall of refining capacity means it has to import around 40
percent of its gasoline.

Lopez Obrador has threatened to block highways and Pemex
installations over Calderon's oil proposal, which was submitted to
Congress last week, prompting leftist lawmakers to seize podiums in
both houses of Congress.

Source: Reuters: 04/15

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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: 04.14-04.20
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