Mexico Weekly News and Analysis

MEXICO SOLIDARITY NETWORK
WEEKLY NEWS AND ANALYSIS
NOVEMBER 24-30, 2008

1. World Festival of Dignified Rage
2. Plans to drill for oil in Chiapas
3. Noose tightens around Garcia Luna
4. First official break with ACE
5. MSN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS (Contact MSN@MexicoSolidarity.org)


1. World Festival of Dignified Rage

Subcomandante Marcos and Lieutenant Colonel Moises reported Friday on the progress of the First World Festival of Dignified Rage. The Festival is scheduled for Mexico City December 26-29, Oventic December 30-January 1, and San Cristobal de las Casas January 2-5. The Mexico City festival will include hundreds of booths set up by political organizations, collectives and solidarity groups. Presentations in Mexico City are organized around the four "wheels" of capitalism (exploitation, dislocation, repression and contempt) with the mornings dedicated to the impacts of capitalism and the afternoons dedicated to alternatives. Comandantas Susana, Miriam, Florencia, Hortensia and Everilda, Capitana Elena, Comandantes David, Tacho, Zebedeo and Guillermo, Lieutenant Colonel Moises, and two children – Lupita and Tonita – are scheduled to be present in Oventic. A Zapatista communiqué said, "Entrance to all of the activities of the festival are free and open for anyone who wants to come and find out about the dignified rage that is organized in Mexico and the world."

2. Plans to drill for oil in Chiapas

Energy Secretary Georgina Kessel announced plans this week to begin drilling for oil in the Lacandon rainforest. Citing a study conducted by Pemex, Kessel estimated by 2021 Chiapas fields could be producing 500,000 barrels a day from 17,000 new wells. Kessel also announced the construction of a bio-energy plant to produce biodiesel from the jatrofa curcus, a hardy plant that can be grown in marginal soils. Experts predict the facility will require at least 7,500 acres of mono-culture production. The plant uses technology developed in Colombia and is financed by at least US$800,000 in federal and state funds. Two previously funded bio-energy plants in Cintalapa and Huehuetan consumed about US$500,000 in state investment, but both plants are now abandoned, due in part to the lack of a market for the relatively expensive bio-diesel. Some communities participating in the federal ProArbol (Pro-Tree) program are reportedly receiving seeds to plant jatrofa curcus instead of trees.

Kessel's announcement is part of an ambitious resurgence of Plan Puebla Panama, now renamed the Mesoamerica Project, that contemplates four regional development engines: tourism, minerals, oil and bio-energy. Plans include construction of a controversial highway linking San Cristobal de las Casas and Palenque. Canadian mining companies have been particularly active in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas region. The plans are generating substantial community-based opposition from indigenous communities and environmentalists.

3. Noose tightens around Garcia Luna

The law enforcement noose tightened around Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna this week as the Federal Attorney General (PGR) interviewed his former personal secretary, Mario Velarde, for possible links to drug cartels. Velarde's name surfaced during interviews with a protected witness code-named Felipe who accused several high ranking officials of selling information to the Beltran Leyva cartel. Velarde is the only official questioned as a result of Felipe's testimony who is not currently under arrest, though he remains under investigation. President Felipe Calderon went out of his way to publicly defend his Security Secretary. The President's speech was heavily criticized across the political spectrum, including by Manuel Espino, former President of the PAN and a rival of Calderon.

In related news, about half of Mexico's federal, state and local police have failed evaluations this year that include psychological, toxicological, socio-economic and medical exams plus a lie-detector test. The highest failure rates, between 60 and 89%, were registered in states where drug cartels are particularly active, including Baja California, Sinaloa, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. The evaluations included 56,000 police, of which only 42% received a passing grade.

4. First official break with ACE

Following increasingly militant demonstrations by teachers and supporters, the State Institute of Public Education of Oaxaca announced plans on Friday to work with Section 22 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) to produce an alternative to the Alliance for Quality Education (ACE). The agreement to open negotiations followed a mass demonstration by Section 22 and the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) commemorating the second anniversary of police repression in the state capitol during the 2006 popular uprising.

Meanwhile, dissident teachers in Guerrero reported modest progress in negotiations with state education authorities, including the controversial question of inherited teaching posts. And more than 800 teachers in Morelia blocked state office buildings on Tuesday. Opposition to the ACE, approved earlier this year by President Felipe Calderon and SNTE "President for life" Elba Esther Gordillo, has been increasing since the opening of the school year in August with strikes and demonstrations centered in Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca and at least ten other states. The position taken by Oaxaca state authorities represents the first break in official government support for the controversial ACE.

5. MSN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS (Contact MSN@MexicoSolidarity.org)

STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM:
Mexico Solidarity Network study abroad programs are accredited at the undergraduate and masters level by the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, one of Mexico€™s most prestigious public universities. Hampshire College is the US school of record and provides official transcripts.

Fall 2008, September 7 – December 13: Study in Chiapas, Tlaxcala, Mexxico City and Ciudad Juarez, focusing on the theory and practice of Mexican social movements, including indigenous movements, campesino organizations, and urban movements. The 14-week, 16-credit program includes intensive Spanish language courses and alternative study options for native Spanish speakers.

Spring 2009, January 25 – May 2: Study in Chiapas, Tlaxcala, Mexico City and Ciudad Juarez, focusing on the theory and practice of Mexican social movements, including indigenous movements, campesino organizations, and urban movements. The 14-week, 16-credit program includes intensive Spanish language courses and alternative study options for native Spanish speakers.

Summer 2009, June 7 – August 1: Study Mexico's most important social movements in Chiapas, Mexico City and Tlaxcala. The eight-week, 11-credit program includes intensive Spanish classes and alternative study options for native Spanish speakers.

Summer 2009, June 14 – July 25: The Border Dynamics program focuses on UUS-Mexico border dynamics viewed through a third world feminist lens. The six-week, 8-credit program is Spanish immersion.

Fall 2009, September 6 – December 12: Study in Chiapas, Tlaxcala, Mexico City and Ciudad Juarez, focusing on the theory and practice of Mexican social movements, including indigenous movements, campesino organizations, and urban movements. The 14-week, 16-credit program includes intensive Spanish language courses and alternative study options for native Spanish speakers.

CHICAGO AUTONOMOUS CENTER (3460 W. LAWRENCE AVE.)
ESL and Spanish Literacy classes: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings, and Saturday mornings. Classes utilize popular education strategies to increase conversational English capacity and basic reading and writing skills in Spanish.

Cultural events and political workshops:
For a full schedule of cultural events and political workshops, contact the Mexico Solidarity Network at 773-583-7728 or visit http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/communityforum

SPEAKING TOURS:
Contact MSN@MexicoSolidarity.org to schedule an event in your city.

January 5-16, 2009 (New England): Dr. Thomas Hansen, co-founder of the Mexico Solidarity Network, holds a doctorate in rural development from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City, where his academic work focused on the theory and practice of social movements. He has 25 years of experience working in Mexico, Cuba and Central America. Tom will speak on one of three topics, depending on the venue:
- Dynamics of Mexican social movements
- Zapatismo
- Role of "new social actors" in social movements, with particular emphasis on US-based university student.

February 8-21, 2009 (Mid Atlantic): Border dynamics. Veronica Leyva, a native of Ciudad Juarez, will speak about maquiladoras, immigration and struggles for land along the border, with particular emphasis on the Lomas de Poleo struggle. Veronia is the MSN staff person in Ciudad Juarez. She worked for seven years in maquiladoras and six years as a labor/community organizer before joining the MSN staff in 2004.

February 15-28, 2009 (Mid Atlantic): Edith López Ovalle is a 25-year-old artist and a member of Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio (HIJOS) where she Works with the Committee on Art and Politics. HIJOS is a member of the Otra Campaña and works around questions of human rights, particularly the death and disappearance of social actors. The parents of most of the members of HIJOS were political prisoners, and many were killed or disappeared in the 60s, 70s and 80s. HIJOS is a multi-national organization founded in Argentina and with chapters in Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Chile and Mexico. HIJOS works at the cultural level with innovative public events like "escraches" that draw attention to human rights violators. In "escraches," protestors hold vigils or demonstrations in front of the homes or offices of human rights violators, calling public attention to their illegal acts in front of neighbors and fellow workers. HIJOS also renames streets, replacing the names of known human rights violators with dissident heroes. For more information on HIJOS, see www.hijosmexico.org.

March 22 – April 4, 2009 (Midwest): Immigration dynamics, featuring migrant workers from the Midwest.

March 29 – April 11, 2009 (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio): Jorge Santiago is the former Director of Desarrollo Económico y Social de los Méxicanos Indígenas (DESMI) where he spent much of the past three decades developing economic alternatives in Chiapas indigenous communities. Jorge was active in the Diocese of San Cristóbal from 1970 to 2000 under the leadership of former Bishop Samuel Ruiz. Jorge has traveled extensively in Latin America and Europe discussing alternative indigenous development in Chiapas, and he is a leader in the solidarity economy movement. He was born in San Cristobal and has lived in Chiapas most of his life. Jorge will talk about alternative development in indigenous communities and the broad historical context of the Zapatista movement.

April 5-18, 2009 (California): Patricia Hernández is a member of the organizations Educación para la Liberación de Nuestros Pueblos (OZELNP) and Espacio de Encuentro de Mujeres tejedoras de resistencias. Both organizations are adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona and members of the Otra Campaña. Patricia is a sociologist with a specialty in gender and education. She will talk about her work in Zapatista communities as an education promoter and the role of urban activists in the Otra Campaña.

ALTERNATIVE ECONOMY INTERNSHIPS:
Develop markets for artisanry produced by women's cooperatives in Chiapas and make public presentations on the struggle for justice and dignity in Zapatista communities.

Interns are currently active in: New York City; El Paso, TX; Salt Lake City, UT; Rochester, NY; Albuquerque, NM; Washington, DC; Chico, CA; Stonington, ME; Minneapolis, MN; Berkeley, CA; Grand Rapids, MI; Salem, OR; Santa Cruz, CA; Chatham, NJ; Rutland, MA; Chicago, IL; Corpus Christi, TX; and Houston, TX.

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