MEXICO
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Weekly News Summary, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ December 8-14
Pablo Salazar Takes Office as Chiapas Governor. Guerrero Guerrillas Respond to Fox; EPR Splits Again. Oaxaca Approves Amnesty Law For Accused EPR Prisoners. Briefs
Ya Basta! The Masks of Chiapas, By Naomi Klein ~ Dec. 11
Mexican Workers Testify at NAFTA Health & Safety Hearing in San Antonio, By Martha Ojeda ~ Dec. 5
Fox Orders Withdrawal of 53 Checkpoints in Three Chiapas Regions, By Elio Henríquez and David Aponte ~ Dec. 2
Weekly News Summary, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ Nov 22-30
The Fox Cabinet. EZLN Breaks Silence, Says Adios to Zedillo. Luis H. Alvarez Criticizes "Excessive" Militarization in Chiapas. Chiapas Interim-Governor Delivers Final "State of the State" Address. Briefs
In Chiapas, The Renewed Mexican Challenge, Stratfor, Inc. ~ November 22
Weekly News Summary, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ November 15-21
Fox: General Amnesty Possible in Chiapas. PAN Officially Wins Jalisco Vote; PRI Threatens Boycott of Fox Inauguration. López Obrador Names Cabinet for Mexico City Government. Briefs
Demand that Vicente Fox End the War in Chiapas, NY Azul ~ November 25
Weekly News Summary, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ November 1-7, 2000
Fox Confirms His First Act of Government Will be Implementation San Andres Accords. Chiapas State Government to Provide Legal Aid for Paramilitary Prisoners. Six Cabinet Members Identified for Fox Administration. Briefs
Death Threats/Fear for Safety ~ October 31
Weekly News Summary, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ September 15-21
Fox and Co. face uproar over alleged salary payments. Fox announces idea to modernize the countryside with the Internet. Salazar reiterates support for the San Andrés Accords. Briefs
Weekly News Summary, MSN ~ September 8-14, 2000
Fox in Central America, announces "crusade" against the EPR. PAN loses majority in Mexico City legislature. Garzón charges Cavallo with 423 crimes, presents extradition request. PRD presents federal initiative to criminalize "forced disappearances". Briefs
Weekly News Summary ~ September 1-7, 2000
Zedillo Gives Final State of the Union Address. PRI Wins Big in Veracruz. Accusations Mount Against Narco-Generals for Torture and Forced Disappearances. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Commits suicide, Blames Media for RENAVE Scandal. Briefs
Greenpeace Releases Confidential Information on Deforestation in the Petatlan Mountains, Greenpeace ~ September 4
Environmental Activists Rodolfo and Teodoro Sentenced Under Trumped-up Charges, Just Earth Network ~ Sept. 6
Weekly News Summary ~ August 22-31, 2000
Generals Acosta Chaparro and Quirós Hermosillo Arrested for Drug Trafficking. RENAVE Director Ricardo Miguel Cavallo Arrested on International Genocide Warrant. Fox and Salazar: San Andrés Accords Will be Top Priority in New Government. Fox Discusses Border, NAFTA, and Privatizations With US and Canadian Leaders. Briefs
Weekly News Summary, August 15-21, 2000
Salazar Wins in Chiapas; PRI Rule Will End on December 8. PRI vs. PRI in Mexico State: 15 Dead, 102 Wounded in Gun Attack. Robles Wins Abortion Vote in Mexico City Legislature. Briefs
Case Of Argentinean Torturer A Headache For Mexico, By Diego Cevallos ~ Aug. 30
Outcry Over Sentences For Activists, By Diego Cevallos and Danielle Knight ~ Aug. 29
Power Of PRI Continues To Wither, By Diego Cevallos ~ Aug. 28
Interpol Detains Alleged Argentine Torturer, By Diego Cevallos ~ Aug. 24
Opposition Win In Chiapas Paves Way For Talks, By Diego Cevallos ~ August 21
Abortion Law Hints At New Ruling Party Morals, By Diego Cevallos ~ August 16
Zapatistas Mum On Upcoming Poll, By Diego Cevallos ~ August 15
Mexican Environmental Activists Await Judge's Verdict, Global Response ~ August 2000
Growing Marginalization Helped Defeat PRI, By Diego Cevallos ~ Aug. 11
8 Years In Jail For Abortion In Fox's State, By Diego Cevallos ~ Aug. 7
Paramilitary Attack in Yajalón, Chiapas, Enlace Civil ~ August 7
Weekly News Summary ~ August 1-7, 2000
Fox officially declared "president-elect," travels to South America. Sami David hurt in electoral rally in Chiapas; Salazar increases lead in polls. Paramilitary group burns homes, expels pro-Zapatistas from Yajalón, Chiapas. Briefs
A Wake Up Call in a Hotel Room in Tehuacan, Bob Hemauer ~ August 2000
Post-Electoral Mexico - A Future Full of Possibilities, by Mexico Solidarity Network ~ August 5
Handling The Military A Big Challenge For Fox, By Diego Cevallos ~ July 27
Weekly News Summary ~ July 22-31, 2000
FARP attacks police station in Mexico City. Fox considers taxing food and pharmaceutical products. Fox meets with Cárdenas. Opposition unites in Chiapas as Salazar leads polls. Briefs
"La Paz Tras el Cerco" - Peace Under Siege In Mexico, Fellowship for Reconciliation ~ July 27
Zapatistas Silent After PRI Defeat, By Diego Cevallos ~ Jul 25
Weekly News Summary,Mexico Solidarity Network ~ July 15-21, 2000
Fox names transition team. Fox seeks contact with EZLN. Chiapas governor's race heats up. Tabasco state electoral organs lack credibility: PRD. Briefs
Weekly News Summary, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ July 8-14, 2000
Upheavals in the PRI. PRD in Crisis After Electoral Losses. Who Wants To Be a Cabinet Member? PRD Hacks Open FOBAPROA CD-Rom Disk. Briefs
Ousted Party Faces Internal Divide, By Pilar Franco ~ July 16
Expulsion of US Human Rights Activist Overturned by Mexican Officials, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ July 17
International Observers for Elections in Chiapas, Mexico Solidarity Network, Alianza Civica, and Global Exchange ~ July 11
Mexico: Now, the Hard Part, Stratfor.com ~ 6 July
Chiapas and The Presidential Elections: Where Do The Candidates Stand? ~ June 25
PRI Steps Up Effort To Derail Opposition, By Diego Cevallos ~ June 16
Voters Wary Despite Strong Performance, By Pilar Franco ~ June 15
Gov't Fights Specter Of Transition Period Crisis, By Pilar Franco ~ June 14
More Police Sent To Nothern Border, By Pilar Franco ~ Jun. 14
Ambush Leaves 10 Dead In Chiapas, By Diego Cevallos ~ June 13
Weekly News Summary, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ June 8-14
Seven Police Officers Killed in Chiapas Ambush. Campaign 2000: Fox Faces Campaign Finance Scandal. "Electoral Climate" Pushes Peso Lower. Briefs. This Week in History
Weekly News Summary, Mexico Solidarity Network ~ June 1 - 7
EZLN Warns of Possible Army Offensive Following July 2 Elections. Campaign 2000: Labastida Causes Market Scare; Fox Declares Himself "President-Elect". Remaining Student Prisoners Freed on Bail. Briefs
Military Intervention Feared in Lacandona, By Hermann Bellinghausen ~ June 12
Last Clinton-Zedillo Meet Seals Close Ties, By Diego Cevallos ~ Jun. 9
Zedillo Urged To Free Conservationists, By Danielle Knight ~ Jun. 9
Sundays In Zócalo Bring Art, Music To All, By Pilar Franco ~ June 8
Proposal for EZLN Presentation to the Encuentro, by Civil Society Against War and Repression and for Democracy ~ June 9
Campaign Serves As Press Freedom Barometer, By Pilar Franco ~ June 7
Divergent Lives Of 3 Presidential Candidates, By Diego Cevallos ~ June 1
Weekly News Summary
December 8-14, 2000
Contents:
1. Pablo Salazar Takes Office as Chiapas Governor
2. Guerrero Guerrillas Respond to Fox; EPR Splits Again
3. Oaxaca Approves Amnesty Law For Accused EPR Prisoners
4. Briefs
Pablo Salazar Takes Office as Chiapas Governor
On December 8, Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía was formally sworn in to office as the 163rd Governor of the State of Chiapas, in a ceremony attended by President Vicente Fox, former PRD presidential candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, peace commissioner Luis H. Alvarez, federal and state legislators, and diplomats from 24 countries.
In his inaugural speech, Salazar made a plea for reconciliation in the state, and promised that his government would work to resolve the problems which gave birth to the Zapatista rebellion, rather than fight the Zapatistas as a legal or political problem. He committed the state to fully investigate the massacres of Acteal and El Bosque, as well as the "criminal actions" of paramilitary groups.
Salazar - a former PRI senator who was elected governor by a slim majority at the head of an opposition coalition consisting of seven political parties - also called on the federal government to investigate possible corruption and misuse of federal resources by the past state administration of Interim Governor Roberto Albores Guillén. He furthermore called on the federal Congress to approve the COCOPA initiative on indigenous rights and culture, as a necessary precursor to peace.
The new governor also used part of his speech to order state Attorney General Mariano Herrán Salvati to "establish a commission to rule on the situation of the Zapatista prisoners and, if possible, grant them the benefit of freedom with a suspended sentence." The liberation of all Zapatista prisoners is a pre-condition set by the Zapatista Army for resumption of negotiations with the federal government; and all but three of the prisoners are currently jailed in Chiapas under state jurisdiction.
Three days later, on December 11, Herrán Salvati announced the formal creation of the commission, which includes representation of the Attorney General's office, the local legislature, the State Supreme Court, and the State Human Rights Commission. Herrán clarified that the government was not planning to grant an amnesty to the Zapatista prisoners, but rather to grant them freedom with a suspended sentence. He also added that neither an amnesty nor conditional freedom are currently being contemplated for paramilitary prisoners, with the exception of those imprisoned for participation in the 1997 Acteal massacre, whose cases are being examined both by the state government and by the federal Attorney General's office.
Meanwhile, as an honored guest at Salazar's inauguration, President Vicente Fox promised that Mexican society and the indigenous peoples of the country "will be witnesses to more actions" on the part of the government toward relaxing tensions in Chiapas "in the coming days and weeks." While Fox refused to specify such actions, aides said that there would be a "second stage" of military troop relocations, followed in January by the launching of an economic and social investment plan for the state.
During his speech, Fox promised to give Salazar "all the support of the presidency," and said he and the Chiapas governor would work closely together, "as allies," toward a "dignified peace with equitable development and opportunities for all." Fox also added that the federal government "is obligated to fully comply with the commitments it has made," a tacit reference to the San Andrés Accords.
The EZLN, for its part, issued an ironic communiqué saluting the outgoing state "governor in rebellion," Amado Avendaño - the 1994 gubernatorial candidate representing the PRD and "civil society," who lost the election through fraud but was recognized by the Zapatistas anyway - and recognizing the new government of Pablo Salazar. The Zapatistas said that Salazar's promises to undertake concrete actions in favor of peace, including the possible liberation of all Zapatista political prisoners in Chiapas, would certainly help create the necessary conditions for the resumption of peace talks, if such promises became reality. However, they added that with respect to the Zapatista prisoners, there are EZLN sympathizers imprisoned in Tabasco and Querétaro who must be liberated as well before negotiations can resume.
Finally, the EZLN called on international and national civil society to mobilize itself to demand that the federal government honor the three Zapatista demands for negotiations to resume: constitutional recognition of the rights and cultures of indigenous peoples, in accordance with the COCOPA initiative for implementation of the San Andrés Accords; liberation of all Zapatista prisoners in Mexico (not just Chiapas); and the full withdrawal of the federal army from seven positions within the "war zone."
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Guerrero Guerrillas Respond to Fox; EPR Splits Again
Following on the heels of back-to-back public statements by the People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARP) in Oaxaca and the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in Chiapas, the remaining major rebel groups in Mexico have also staked out public positions this week regarding the new government of Vicente Fox Quesada.
The Guerrero-based Insurgent People's Revolutionary Army (ERPI) - the largest of the myriad of rebel groups which have split away from the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) in recent years - presented the first issue (number zero) of its as-yet untitled guerrilla magazine on December 11. The 48-page magazine was distributed in text format over internet email lists, and was also dropped off at the offices of all major newspapers in the port city of Acapulco.
The magazine includes several older communiqués (from shortly before and shortly after the July 2 federal elections) denouncing "neoliberal democracy" as "neoliberal fraud," and suggesting the rebels are not yet prepared to engage in a dialogue with the federal government. The magazine also includes a reprinted essay by SUNY-Binghamton scholar James Petras, poems, and a communiqué denouncing the US economic and military assistance to Colombia and calling for solidarity toward that country's FARC rebels.
A day later, on December 12, the ERPI issued its 22nd communiqué, announcing its solidarity with all the political prisoners in Mexico. The ERPI furthermore claimed as its own all political prisoners of the EPR captured prior to January 1998 - when the ERPI split off from the EPR - including José Alfredo Durán Mata, a former member of the EPR currently on hunger strike in the maximum security federal prison of Almoloya, demanding status and recognition as a political prisoner.
Meanwhile, also in Guerrero, a new guerrilla group has emerged, the latest in a string of groups which, like the ERPI, have broken away from the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR).
The EPR, which made its first public appearance in Guerrero in 1996, was initially comprised of more than 15 small guerrilla groups, many of them descendents or holdovers of armed groups active in the 1970s. The EPR's unity only lasted a short time, and was broken in early 1998 with the separation of the ERPI (taking with it most of the group's fighters and bases of support in Guerrero), whose leaders denounced excessive ideological and strategic dogmatism and intolerance on the part of the EPR leadership.
Over the next two years, the FARP and the Revolutionary Villista Army of the People (EVRP) also split off from the EPR. The FARP has presence in and around Mexico City, as well as in Guerrero, Puebla, and Oaxaca. The EVRP, meanwhile, appears centered in the state of Mexico.
What remained of the EPR, then, appeared to consist of a reduced base of militancy in Guerrero, the eastern Sierra Madre mountains, the Mexico City area, and southern Chiapas. Now, due to continued ideological disputes within the movement's top echelons, the internal current known as the "Revolutionary Democratic Tendency" (TDR) has completely broken with the EPR, but without renouncing the name. Thus there are now two EPRs - the "official" EPR, and the EPR-TDR.
In a mountain press conference in which Comandante José Arturo and Capitán Daniel read the group's first communiqués, the new EPR-TDR explained the internal "crisis" which lead to the eventual fragmentation of the unity project which was the EPR.
As a political organization made up of many different groups espousing a variety of ideologies and interpretations of revolutionary theory, the EPR and its political wing, the Democratic Popular Revolutionary Party (PDPR), had planned a party congress of sorts to promote a more democratic decision-making process within the organization. However, said the EPR-TDR, one of the internal currents of the group "took over" the provisional leadership of the party and indefinitely postponed the realization of the democratic party congress.
When the provisional leadership then attempted to backtrack on internal reforms, trying to force acceptance of a dogmatic political ideology and an undemocratic internal decision-making process while "suppressing the internal currents by force," the internal crisis exploded. Faced with lack of tolerance and failure to understand dissent, some militants of the group "resigned," while others were expelled.
The TDR - whose leader, José Arturo, was one of the most familiar figures among the EPR's leadership in 1996 and 1997 - claimed that their ideas for resolving the crisis were met with a "lack of respect and attention" by the provisional leadership, and that the two remaining currents of the EPR then reached a mutually satisfactory accord: the creation of two separate, distinct EPR's
Unlike the other groups which have split off from the EPR, the EPR-TDR maintains a firm discourse based on socialist ideology, class struggle, and a critique of the "national and international bourgeoisie," and claims to be fighting for "a radical transformation from capitalism to socialism" in Mexico.
In a communiqué dated December 2 - the 26th anniversary of the death in combat of legendary guerrilla leader Lucio Cabañas, whose organization, the Party of the Poor, eventually became one of the core groups around which the EPR was formed - the EPR-TDR denounced the Fox government as one of "neoliberal businessmen" which assures the continuity in power of the "industrial and financial bourgeoisie."
The new group called for unity and the creation of a new "revolutionary directorate" among the various political-military organizations which have declared their independence from the EPR, saying it is essential to "overcome scientific, dogmatic, and doctrinaire interpretations of revolutionary theory," which the EPR-TDR affirms "only lead to intolerance, disqualifications, confrontations, rupture, and political fragmentation."
Furthermore, the group says it wishes to work with democratic and revolutionary organizations around the world, whether armed or unarmed, to promote an "insurgent coordinating body" to create a "common front" at the global level against neoliberalism.
END
Oaxaca Approves Amnesty Law For Accused EPR Prisoners
At the request of Oaxaca governor José Murat Casab (PRI), the state legislature unanimously approved an amnesty law on December 8 designed to benefit 61 indigenous Zapotecos imprisoned in the state and accused of militancy in the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR). The law also cancels 250 arrest warrants for others facing similar charges. Being a state law, however, the move does not benefit 26 other Oaxacans imprisoned under federal charges.
The amnesty law covers all crimes committed by EPR militants and those of other armed groups "motivated by the same causes for social change" between August 28, 1996 (when the EPR launched a short-lived, five-state offensive which had the highest death toll in Oaxaca) and December 8, 2000, provided that those currently imprisoned "hand over all types of instruments, weapons, explosives, or other objects employed in the commission of their crimes" within 180 days.
Many of those imprisoned in Oaxaca, however, say that would be impossible, since they maintain their innocence and insist they have no relationship whatsoever with the EPR - and they obviously cannot hand over weapons used in crimes they did not commit.
Family members of the prisoners have also demonstrated a skeptical response to the state government's initiative. "If our prisoners accept that they are part of the EPR," said one leader of the Union of Peoples Against Repression and Militarization of the Loxichas, "then they will walk free. And no one will investigate nor put on trial those who arbitrarily detained them and those who tortured them. But even then, how can they accept being a part of what they are not? But if they don't accept the amnesty, not only will they continue to be unjustly imprisoned but they will surely be accused of intransigence."
The prisoners themselves, meanwhile, have said they will decide on December 15 what position to take with respect to the proposed amnesty.
END
- Federal Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha, a Brigadier-General of the Mexican Army, was confirmed in his post this week by a party-line vote in the Mexican Senate. The PRI, PAN, and Green parties all voted in favor of confirming the general in his new civilian post, while the PRD voted against him. Together with the PRD, independent human rights groups are concerned about Macedo's designation, since while attorney general of military justice he consistently ignored recommendations and rulings from the official National Human Rights Commission and the OAS-sponsored Inter-American Human Rights Commission.
- The Fox administration, while continuing to claim it plans a full overhaul and restructuring of the country's National Security Agency (CISEN), this week included a 50 million peso boost in the domestic intelligence agency's funding for 2001. The CISEN considerations included in Fox's overall budget for the coming year total 1.08 billion pesos.
- Oscar Espinosa Villarreal, former mayor of Mexico City before the capital's first democratic elections for the post were held in 1997, was arrested this week in Managua, Nicaragua at the request of the Mexican government. Espinosa resigned his post as Tourism Secretary in the Zedillo administration, went into hiding, and fled the country after being accused of stealing 42 million dollars from the Mexico City coffers. Espinosa denies the charges and says he is a victim of "political persecution." Extradition proceedings against the former mayor are expected to begin soon.
- In his first appearance before Congress, Treasury Secretary Francisco Gil Díaz admitted that, contrary to campaign statements of President Fox, economic growth in Mexico over the next few years "is not assured" and that economic stability will depend largely on strict government budgeting. Meanwhile, Bank of Mexico governor Guillermo Ortiz said that the latest principle macroeconomic indicators of the country show a "deceleration" of the economy with respect to high growth levels in the first two trimesters of this year, and warned that the economy may have "overheated" to the point that a "cooling off" is necessary.
- Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, former presidential candidate for the
PARM party and ex-leader of both the PRI and the PRD before eventually landing in the camp of PAN president Vicente Fox, was named this week as official representative of the Mexican government for dealings with the European Economic Community. His son Porfirio T. Muñoz Ledo Chevanner, meanwhile, was appointed Mexican ambassador to France. After having committed political treason against three different political parties, some reports suggest this was simply President Fox's way of saying "thanks" to the elder Muñoz Ledo for stepping down in his favor during the presidential race, while sending him and his family to Europe before they could actually do any damage.
END
SOURCES: Milenio Semanal, La Jornada, Proceso, Milenio, El Universal, El Financiero.
This report is a product of the Mexico Solidarity Network. Redistribution is authorized and encouraged provided that the source is cited. Comments: msn@mexicosolidarity.org
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Ya Basta! The Masks of Chiapas
By Naomi Klein, The Globe and Mail ~ Dec.11
On the weekend, the man in the mask came down from the jungle and held a press conference. In the new year, he will travel to Mexico City and address Congress on the need for an Indian bill of rights. Subcomandante Marcos, voice of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, has been keeping a low profile lately. But he's back, in trademark ski mask, rifle over his shoulder, and pipe hanging from his mouth. Rumour has it he is a university professor who fled to the hills to lead an indigenous uprising in Chiapas, but Marcos has no comment. Showing his face, he jokes, would disappoint his female fans.
It's a mark of the Zapatistas' influence that the very first act by Mexico's new president was to order a partial withdrawal of troops from Chiapas. Vicente Fox also invited the Zapatistas to resume negotiations that broke down under his predecessor. Marcos told reporters he's ready to talk, but not until Mr. Fox completes the troop withdrawal and releases all political prisoners.
It's clear that Mr. Fox sees settling the Zapatista standoff as key to Mexico's stability. Less understood is how powerful the Zapatistas are outside of Mexico -- and why. How did this band of indigenous insurgents become symbols (some would say masked mascots) of the international anti-free-trade movement? Why, in the words of a report commissioned by the U.S. military, did the uprising go from being "a war of the flea" -- remote and easy to control -- to "a war of the swarm" -- ubiquitous and impossible to contain?
The answer dates back to Jan. 1, 1994, the day the North American free-trade agreement came into force in Mexico. The Zapatistas chose that day to "declare war" on the Mexican army. A communiqué placed NAFTA, which banned subsidies to indigenous farm co-operatives, within a long history of colonialism that has impoverished Mexico's native peoples. "Ya Basta!" they said. Enough is enough. The message was posted on the Internet. Dozens of mirror sites went up, translating and posting regular communiqués from the Zapatistas.
Caravans of activists hit the road for Chiapas. Groups from Cincinnati to Milan cropped up, calling themselves Ya Basta! And at every demonstration, there were more black masks: Marcos clones, multiplying. Though they were the first rebels to use the Internet, the Zapatistas are less a testament to the power of technology than to the power of language. Marcos's communiqués skip lightly from gruesome lists of atrocities to cracks about football games, to Shakespearean verse. He is a master of political metaphor, challenging his supporters to break out of staid old left thinking and build a movement fluid enough to adapt to the global economy.
The Zapatistas' goal is not to seize state control for their ideological camp, but to build an international movement that can rein in corporate power globally and restore community power locally. They call this a movement of "one no and many yeses." Like all indigenous struggles, the Zapatistas are fighting to preserve their heritage. But rather than throwing up blockades and locking out the world, they are inventing a new way to protect their land: opening the doors and inviting the world inside. In 1996, 3,000 activists travelled to Chiapas to attend a gathering "for humanity and against neo-liberalism."
The Zapatistas have taken what could have been a narrow ethnic dispute and made it universal. A Zapatista, Marcos says, is anyone who is fighting for communal space against market forces. And from behind their masks, the Zapatistas have forged a new kind of leadership and heroism, one especially tailored to an age suspicious of both heroes and leaders. Paradoxically, it is leadership without a face, heroes you have to imagine.
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Mexican Workers Testify at NAFTA Health & Safety Hearing in San Antonio
By Martha Ojeda ~ December 5
On December 12th at 9:00 A.M., The National Administrative Office (NAO) of the U.S. Department of Labor, the agency charged with enforcing the (so-called) NAFTA Labor Side Accords will conduct a public hearing at the San Antonio City Council Chambers, at 103 Main Plaza, Municipal Plaza Building. At the hearing, maquiladora workers from Mexico will testify about the massive injuries they have sustained from their work for Breed Technologies, a U.S. based multinational including crippling repetitive strain injuries and birth defects among their children.
The complaint was filed July 3, 2000 under provisions of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), the NAFTA Labor Side Accords. Complainants include workers and former workers of Breed Technologies' maquiladora factories in Mexico, the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, 22 Mexican, U.S. and Canadian labor and religious organizations, and a U.S. law school clinic. The complaint charges the Mexican government with a persistent pattern of failure to enforce its own labor laws regarding worker health and safety. On September 7th the U.S. NAO accepted the complaint for hearing.
This is the first NAFTA labor complaint that could lead to the imposition of fines. The NAALC provides for possible sanctions against a NAFTA government for persistent failure to enforce certain of its own labor laws. Monetary sanctions up to .007 percent of the annual total trade in goods between the NAFTA countries are possible for the failure to enforce health and safety, child labor, or minimum wage laws. According to NAO guidelines, after the NAO has completed gathering information, including information received as a result of consultations with the other NAOs, the submitters, companies, experts, and testimony received at the hearing, it will issue a public report of its findings and recommendations. If the matter is not resolved, the NAALC provides for ministerial consultations and other dispute resolution mechanisms, and possible monetary sanctions.
According to Martha Ojeda, Executive Director of the San Antonio-based Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, "At the hearing, the workers of Breed s Auto Trim and Custom Trim maquiladoras in Valle Hermoso and Matamoros will provide powerful testimony of injuries and illnesses related to indiscriminate and unsafe exposure to chemicals, and from repetitive motion injuries." The factories produce leather-covered steering wheels and shift knobs for automotive makers including General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler, BMW, and Mazda.Workers required to use toxic chemicals lack adequate protective gear, and the factories lack adequate ventilation systems. As a result, workers suffer chronic skin and eye irritations, dermatitis, rashes, headaches, nausea, respiratory difficulties, chronic sore throats and coughs, dizziness, fainting, memory loss, and high rates of miscarriages and birth defects in their children, including spina bifida and anencephaly. Chronic hand, wrist, arm, and back pain, permanently diminished mobility, carpal tunnel syndrome, and cuts and gashes are also endemic.
For More Information: Martha Ojeda -- 210-732-8957 (office), 210-240-1084 (cellular)
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Fox Orders Withdrawal of 53 Checkpoints in Three Chiapas Regions
By Elio Henríquez and David Aponte, La Jornada ~ Dec. 2
President Fox ordered the Mexican Army to withdraw the 53 checkpoints it has been maintaining in Los Altos, the North and the Cañadas of Chiapas, several official sources reported yesterday. Since yesterday morning, Mexican Army forces who had been located in different places in Chiapas received instructions to lift their camps and highway checkpoints and to assemble in their barracks, noted a communiqué from the Department of Government in Mexico City. The document, signed by the head of the department, Santiago Creel Miranda, and the commissioner for the Negotiation of Peace in Chiapas, Luis H. Alvarez, noted that "the purpose of this action is to reiterate the government's full readiness to meet, in the shortest possible time, with representatives of the EZLN, and in that way create a favorable climate for renewal of negotiations for a solid and lasting peace in Chiapas."
General Carlos Enrique Adán Yabur, commander of the 31st Military Region with headquarters in Rancho Nuevo, municipality of San Cristóbal de las Casas, explained that the control points, which had been set up at different times in order to enforce the Federal Firearms and Explosives Law, were withdrawn Friday afternoon and evening. Adán Yabur reported that the order which was received was to withdraw the control and search positions, known as checkpoints, but he denied any other kind of mobilization. He said that the positions located in Guadalupe Tepeyac, Vicente Guerrero and Nuevo Momón, in the municipality of Las Margaritas, as well as the one at Rancho Nuevo, had already been lifted.
According to Federal Highway Police sources, the checkpoint which had been located in the military region of Rancho Nuevo - the one closest to San Cristóbal - was "dismantled" at 9:00 PM, and "the only thing they [the soldiers] said was that they had orders to assemble and to allow free transit." At that hour, the soldiers began turning off the lights and other equipment which they used 24 hours a day. Another town which the soldiers left was Amador Hernández, where last August there was a confrontation with rocks and sticks between EZLN sympathizers and military police, leaving seven slightly wounded.
Adán Yabur refrained from commenting about any repositioning, since he had no knowledge in that regard, and he reiterated that the above-mentioned positions were the ones which had already been eliminated, which does not mean that the Army has taken new positions. In the country's capital, the Coordinator for National Security, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, confirmed the withdrawal of troops in the conflict zone in Chiapas.
Prior to entering the Bosque of Chapultepec in order to participate in the banquet being offered by the head of the Executive for his guests at Castillo Palace, the official said: "Yes, I am aware of this, Don Luis H. Alvarez (Commissioner for Peace) and Santiago Creel (Secretary of Government) have commented on it." In another interview, Aguilar Zinser noted: "In effect.it is taking place at this moment (the withdrawal). We already have reports of the withdrawal of positions that the Army has been occupying." In his role as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Fox established the repositioning of troops on the eve of the EZLN's stating its position regarding the new administration the PANista has headed since yesterday, stated Fox government officials initially, who requested anonymity.
Meanwhile, the Enlace Civil organization indicated that troops are gathering around San Quintín - 25 kilometers from La Realidad, where the EZLN will be holding its press conference today - in Maravilla Tenejapa and in the 31st Military Region headquarters in Ocosingo. Just this Tuesday the Commissioner for the Negotiation of Peace in Chiapas, Luis H. Alvarez, released the news to La Jornada of the imminent withdrawal of troops in Chiapas, because the presence of troops in the state is excessive. Alvarez indicated that, since chiapanecos feel "harassed," the Army would be withdrawn to positions where "social peace would be guaranteed, but they would not act as an additional element in disturbing it."
After President Fox presided over the parade presented to him by the armed forces in Campo Marte, the Under Secretary for National Defense, Mario Palmerín, was questioned on the issue. He confined himself to responding that it is an issue that "belongs directly to the General Secretary" Ricardo Clemente Vega García. Yesterday, during his inaugural speech, President Vicente Fox reported that his first government act in legislative matters would be sending the Congress of the Union next week, "as a legislative proposal, the document drawn up by the Cocopa which summarizes the San Andrés Accords," which were signed by the previous government and the EZLN, but which the head - until last Thursday - of the Federal Government had refused to ratify.
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Weekly News Summary
November 22-30
Contents:
2. EZLN Breaks Silence, Says Adios to Zedillo
3. Luis H. Alvarez Criticizes "Excessive" Militarization in Chiapas
4. Chiapas Interim-Governor Delivers Final "State of the State" Address
5. Briefs
President-elect Vicente Fox Quesada publicly named the four dozen members of his cabinet this week in three separate Mexico City ceremonies. According to Fox, the cabinet will be divided into three strategic areas: "economic growth with quality;" "social policy and human development;" and "security, order, and respect." Each of these areas will be coordinated by a presidential advisor.
The so-called Economic Cabinet includes the following portfolios: Economy (formerly the post of Commerce Secretary); Treasury; Foreign Relations; Transportation and Communications; Agriculture; Tourism; Energy; Environment; and Natural Resources.
The Social Cabinet includes the portfolios of Health, Labor, Education, and Social Development.
The Security, Order, and Respect Cabinet includes the Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Navy, Comptroller General, Secretary of Public Security, and the Secretary of Agrarian Reform.
The Economic Cabinet was the first to be presented to the public, and was clearly considered the most important of the three areas by the Fox transition team. During the presentation, the president-elect defined the top priorities for this element of his government as: establishing better credit for more Mexicans; creation of more jobs and higher wages; improved opportunities for work in the countryside; development opportunities for rural communities; creation of a solid middle class; growth of domestic savings; creation of greater opportunities for foreign investment; support for small and medium-sized industries; and promotion of tourism.
The promise of the new administration, said Fox, would be to guarantee "sustainable and qualitative" growth, implying a more equitable distribution of income, the eradication of corruption, and an "intense fight" against poverty.
Several days later, during the presentation of the Social and Human Development Cabinet, the president-elect said that the role of the Social Cabinet would be to ensure that the results of macroeconomic growth "are reflected in every household." The priorities of this element of his administration, he added, would be to provide quality social services to the population; create incentive programs to reward individual efforts of Mexicans; create improved adult education programs for those who never completed elementary school; professionalize agricultural workers in the countryside; improve access to dignified housing and primary health care; and promote the participation of women in development programs.
Finally, with respect to the Security, Order, and Respect Cabinet, Fox said its task would be to "build solid but transparent institutions...that will contribute toward achieving a true democracy in Mexico; a true state of law and order; respect for the law; and peace and tranquility in every home, in every family, in every state, in every municipality. Our government will be absolutely committed to enforcing the Mexican laws as steps toward achieving peace and justice."
Some of those appointed to cabinet-level positions in the Fox administration were considered obvious choices for their designated posts ever since the president-elect created his transition team in July. For example, Santiago Creel will become the new Interior Minister; Jorge G. Castañeda will be the Secretary of Foreign Relations; Carlos Abascal will be the Labor Secretary; and Luis H. Alvarez has been appointed coordinator of governmental peace efforts in Chiapas.
Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, another top Fox advisor and who, like Castañeda, represents the "ex-leftist" element of the Fox team, was likewise named to the newly-created post of National Security Advisor. He will be entrusted with coordinating the entire realm of national security, military, and intelligence policy for the Fox administration.
Also, as was expected, there are few ideologues of Fox's PAN party represented in the cabinet, and in fact there are relatively few politicians of any stripe. Most are either career bureaucrats or career businessmen, with a heavy emphasis on neoliberal economists and representatives of Mexico's most important private sector enterprises.
There were, however, a number of surprises in the cabinet appointments, mostly in the areas of economics and military affairs, and a few of them created a great deal of controversy.
Speculation had been swirling for weeks regarding the portfolios to be given to Fox's top economic advisors, Eduardo Sojo and Luis Ernesto Derbez, and whether or not one of them would be appointed Treasury Secretary (generally considered the most important cabinet-level position). In the end, Fox appointed Sojo "Executive Coordinator of Public Policies" in order to direct the activities of the economic cabinet, and Derbez as Economy Secretary (a new post created out of what was formerly the position of Commerce Secretary).
The cherished post of Treasury Secretary, meanwhile, was handed to former Salinas advisor Francisco Gil Díaz, currently the director of the Avantel wireless phone company.
While many expected the Education portfolio to be given to Rafael Rangel Sostmann, the director of the Monterrey Technological Institute (Mexico's most important private university system), it was instead placed in the hands of Reyes Tamez Guerra. Rangel Sostmann was meanwhile appointed to direct the National Education Council. Tamez Guerra supports "facilitating the development of private education" and, during the 1999 strike at the National University (UNAM), openly declared himself in favor of charging tuition to the students in the UNAM system, even though public education in Mexico is constitutionally considered a right to be provided free of charge.
The appointments of the Defense and Navy Secretaries, meanwhile, caused more than a minor incident of discontent among the armed forces. Fox jumped ranks to appoint General Ricardo Clemente Vega García as Defense Secretary, even though he had only received his stars as Division General one year ago and was not previously mentioned as a "pre-candidate" for the post. The designation was strongly opposed by fifteen senior generals, who met in emergency session with Fox prior to the official announcement and urged him to reconsider. In the end Fox stood fast, appointed Vega García, and the army eventually fell into line.
A similar case occurred with the appointment of the Navy Secretary, since Fox decided to give the post to Vice-Admiral Marco Antonio Peyrot González. It marks the first time in history that a Vice-Admiral, rather than an Admiral, has been named Secretary of the Navy. Sources within the armed forces have since strongly suggested that Peyrot González be promoted to Admiral, with or without merit, simply in order to avoid embarrassment among senior officers.
Perhaps the most controversial designation, however, was that of Attorney General, given to Brigadier General Rafael Macedo de la Concha. Macedo de la Concha is currently the Attorney General of the Mexican Armed Forces. In that capacity, he was responsible for initiating the prosecution of Generals Humberto Quirós Hermosillo and Mario Acosta Chaparro on drug-trafficking charges this year. However, he refused to prosecute them for human rights violations, including torture, murder, and forced disappearances, even though ample evidence exists of the generals' roles in such crimes during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Macedo de la Concha is also responsible for the incarceration of Brigadier General José Francisco Gallardo, accused of corruption in 1993 (and subsequently sentenced to 28 years in prison) after opening calling for the establishment of a human rights ombudsman to oversee the actions of the Mexican Army.
Other interesting cabinet appointees included Alejandro Gertz Manero, who will be Secretary of Public Security; and Mariclaire Acosta, named as "Ambassador for Human Rights and Democracy."
Until now, Gertz has held the position of Secretary of Public Security at a local level in the Mexico City government of Rosario Robles. He is the only significant cabinet member in the upcoming Fox administration considered close to the PRD.
Mariclaire Acosta, meanwhile, was the president of the independent Mexican Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights until joining the Fox transition team shortly after the July 2 elections. Considered a leftist, Acosta came under heavy fire from others on the left end of the political spectrum after signing an open letter just prior to the elections announcing her support for the "pragmatic vote" in favor of Fox. Her post - that of Human Rights Ambassador - was invented by the Fox team and it is as yet unclear whether or not it will be merely symbolic. The position is apparently unrelated to the official National Human Rights Commission.
Appointees To The Economic Cabinet
Coordinator of Public Policies: Eduardo Sojo Garza Aldape
Treasury Secretary: Francisco Gil Díaz
Economy (formerly Commerce) Secretary: Luis Ernesto Derbez
Secretary of Foreign Relations: Jorge G. Castañeda
Secretary of Transportation and Communications: Pedro Cerisola y Weber
Energy Secretary: Ernesto Martens Rebolledo
Agriculture Secretary: Javier Usabiaga Arroyo
Secretary of Tourism: Leticia Navarro Ochoa
Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources: Víctor Lichtinger
Commissioner for Northern Border Matters (Border Tsar): Ernesto Ruffo Appel
General Director of National Finance: Mario Laborín Gómez
Director of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (FONATUR): John McCarthy
Director of the Foreign Commerce Bank: José Luis Romero Hicks
Appointees To The Social And Human Development Cabinet
Secretary of Public Education: Reyes Tamez Guerra
Health Secretary: Julio Frenk Mora
Labor Secretary: Carlos María Abascal Carranza
Social Development Secretary: Josefina Vázquez Mota
Commissioner for Social Development: José Sarukhán Kermez
Commissioner for Peace Negotiations in Chiapas: Luis H. Alvarez
Director of the Office for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples: Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz
President of the National Education Council for Life and Work: Rafael Rangel Sostmann
Director of the Office for the Attention of Mexican Migrants in Other Countries: Juan Hernández
Director of the Office for the Promotion and Social Integration of the Disabled: Víctor Hugo Flores Higuera
Director of the National Sports Commission: Nelson Vargas Basáñez
Presidential Coordinator for the Citizen Alliance: Rodolfo Elizondo Torres
Coordinator of Advisors for Planning and Regional Development: Carlos Flores Alcocer
Director of the Citizen Studies Commission (against discrimination): Gilberto Rincón Gallardo
Appointees To The Security, Order, And Respect Cabinet
Interior Minister (Government Secretary): Santiago Creel Miranda
Secretary of Defense: General Ricardo Gerardo Clemente Vega García
Navy Secretary: Vice-Admiral Marco Antonio Peyrot González
National Security Advisor: Adolfo Aguilar Zinser
Attorney General: Brigadier General Rafael Macedo de la Concha
Secretary of Public Security: Alejandro Gertz Manero
Agrarian Reform Secretary: María Teresa Herrera
Human Rights Ambassador: Mariclaire Acosta
Comptroller General: Francisco Barrio Terrazas
Head of the Presidential Guard: José Armando Tamayo Casillas
Additional Presidential Appointees
Presidential Spokesperson: Martha Sahagún
Personal Secretary of the President: Alfonso Durazo Montaño
Presidential Legal Advisor: Juan de Dios Castro
General Director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS): Santiago Levy Algazi
Director of Mexican Petroleum (PEMEX): Raúl Muñoz Leos
Director of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE): Alfredo Elías Ayub
Director of the Light and Energy Commission: Alfonso Caso
General Director of the National Water Commission: Cristóbal Jaime Jaquez
President of the National Culture Commission (CONACULTA): Sari Bermúdez
Director of the Presidential Office for Governmental Innovation: Ramón Muñoz Gutiérrez
Coordinator of Image and Public Opinion: Francisco Javier Ortiz
Director of the National Lottery: Laura Valdés de Rojas
Director of the Puebla-Panama Plan: Florencio Salazar Adame
Director of the National System for the Integration of the Family (DIF): Ana Cristina Fox
General Director of the Social Security and Services Institute for State Workers (ISSSTE): Benjamín González Roaro
END
EZLN Breaks Silence, Says Farewell To Zedillo
The Chiapas-based Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) broke five months of silence this week and issued two communiqués accompanied by a letter of presentation signed by rebel spokesperson Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.
Published on November 30, the first communiqué announced a press conference to be held on December 2 in the Zapatista community of La Realidad, in the southeast corner of the state of Chiapas:
"The Zapatista National Liberation Army," said the rebels, "will publicly express its position regarding the new federal government led by Mr. Vicente Fox, and also of the war in the Mexican Southeast.
"For these purposes, the EZLN is convoking a press conference to be held on December 2, 2000, in the indigenous community of La Realidad, municipality of San Pedro de Michoacán, Chiapas, at 4:00 pm.
"In order to enter the place where the press conference will take place, the press will not require special accreditation, just identification from the medium in which they work.
"Police dressed as reporters will not be allowed to enter, nor, by decision of the community, will those from the television station that destroys indigenous schools with its helicopter."
The television station referred to in the last paragraph is Televisión Azteca, whose reporter Lolita de la Vega descended uninvited on La Realidad in a helicopter two years ago. On takeoff, the winds from the helicopter rotor ripped the corrugated tin roof off of the community schoolhouse, injuring at least one child.
The second communiqué is addressed to outgoing Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, and consists of a farewell letter blasting the six-year term of Zedillo as a "nightmare" not only for the Zapatistas but for the entire country. Like the other communiqués, the letter was published in the press on Zedillo's final day as president.
"Six years ago," writes Marcos, "I wrote to you in the name of all the Zapatistas to welcome you to the nightmare. Many now believe that we were right. Throughout this administration, your rule has been a long nightmare for millions of Mexicans: assassinations, economic crisis, massive impoverishment, brutal and illegal enrichment of a few, the sell-out of national sovereignty, public insecurity, strengthening of ties between the government and organized crime, corruption, irresponsibility, war...and bad jokes."
"When you came to power," continue the rebels, "you had the freedom to choose how to confront the Zapatista uprising. What you chose and did is now history. In your capacity as Supreme Commander of the Federal Army and with all the power bestowed on the federal executive, you could have chosen the path of dialogue and negotiation. You could have reduced tensions. You could have honored what you signed in San Andrés. You could have achieved peace. You did not."
Instead, "you chose to follow the double strategy of faking a disposition to negotiate while continuing the path of violence. Thus you tried to repeat the history of the Chinameca treachery (February 9, 1995); you squandered billions of pesos trying to purchase the conscience of the rebels; you militarized the indigenous communities (and not only those of Chiapas); you expelled international observers; you armed, trained, equipped, and financed paramilitary groups; you persecuted, jailed, and summarily executed Zapatistas (remember Unión Progreso, June 10, 1998) and non-Zapatistas; you destroyed the social framework of the Chiapas countryside; and following the slogan of your bastard son, the paramilitary group 'Máscara Roja' ('we will kill the Zapatista seed'), you ordered the massacre of children and pregnant women in Acteal on December 22, 1997."
Later, following another reprimand for the Acteal massacre and asking "what have you not done to finish off the Zapatistas?," Marcos rhetorically poses the question, "were the Zapatistas in fact destroyed?"
Answering himself, the rebel leader replied: "Not only did you not destroy the Zapatistas, but they proliferated throughout the world. Do you remember the times when you had to abandon events in other countries, secretly and through emergency exits, while the Zapatista solidarity committees protested your policies in Chiapas? Is there a single ambassador or consul who has not desperately reported the actions which international Zapatistas carried out during Mexican government activities or in Mexican government buildings in other countries? How many messages from international organisms were received by your foreign relations desk protesting the failure to comply with the San Andrés Accords, the lack of dialogue with the Zapatistas, and the militarization in Chiapas? And when you ordered the expulsion of hundreds of international observers, did solidarity actions around the world actually diminish?"
After other rhetorical questions regarding Zedillo's feeble attempts to restrict the Zapatista movement to "four municipalities in Chiapas," the communiqué continues: "Thus have been these six years, Mr. Zedillo. Having had the choice to choose between war and peace, you opted for war. The results of this choice are clear: you lost the war. You did everything you could to destroy us. We did nothing but resist. You are going into exile. We will stay here."
Finally, say the rebels, "it is clear we were right when, six years ago, we Zapatistas welcomed you to the nightmare. But, now that you are leaving, will the nightmare end? Yes and no. Because for us, the nightmare with you ends today. Another one may follow, or we may finally see the dawn. We don't know, but we will do everything possible for the future to flourish. But for you, Mr. Zedillo, the nightmare will only continue.... Wherever you try to hide, there you will find Zapatistas."
END
Luis H. Alvarez Criticizes "Excessive" Militarization In Chiapas
Luis H. Alvarez, recently designated Commissioner for Peace Negotiations in Chiapas by president-elect Vicente Fox, publicly committed himself this week to act "with prudence, patience, and serenity" while seeking to restart the stalled peace process with Zapatista rebels.
In his first statement since being appointed to the post - and before the publication of three rebel communiqués on November 30 - Alvarez stated that the five-month silence of the Zapatistas was "understandable," since "they have been victims of [government] trickery" and were justifiably "waiting for concrete actions to show that the new government will behave differently."
Several days later, in an interview with the La Jornada newspaper, Alvarez reflected again on the silence of the EZLN, suggesting that "within the guerrilla movement there are well-founded doubts about whether or not things will actually change, regardless of the cancellation of the argument about the democratic legitimacy of the authorities; I suppose that the indigenous sectors and their leaders are analyzing this situation, but having been victims of so many deceptions, they are going to wait until they see clear signs which indicate that they are dealing with a government with different characteristics and a different disposition."
Responding to this possibility, Alvarez said that "nothing will change with words alone," and committed himself and the Fox administration to a series of concrete actions in order to re-establish the path of dialogue in Chiapas.
Alvarez sharply criticized the "excessive" militarization in Chiapas which is "harassing" indigenous communities, and said the army will be pulled back to positions which "guarantee social peace, but do not constitute an additional element to disturb it."
He also said the San Andrés Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture should be respected, and announced his support for the concept of indigenous autonomy, a key Zapatista demand included in the 1996 accords.
Alvarez also suggested that the situation of political prisoners in Chiapas will be reviewed case by case, and said there may be "special treatment" given to certain prisoners due to their "particular history" of participation in the conflict. He did not, however, indicate that the Fox administration plans to free all the Zapatista prisoners, another key Zapatista demand for re-initiation of peace talks.
Meanwhile, the appointment of Alvarez, a former senator of the conservative PAN party who served on the Commission on Concordance and Pacification (COCOPA) from 1995 to 2000, was applauded by current members of the COCOPA as well as by the governor-elect of Chiapas, Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía. All say that Alvarez has an immense familiarity with the conflict in Chiapas and possesses the moral authority to achieve renewed dialogue with the rebels.
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Chiapas Interim-Governor Delivers Final "State Of The State" Address
The fourth interim governor of Chiapas since the 1994 Zapatista uprising, Roberto Albores Guillén (1998-2000), delivered his final State of the State address to the local legislature on November 28. Albores will hand the reins of government to opposition coalition leader Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía on December 8.
In his address, Albores said he was satisfied to have left Chiapas in a better condition than when he was appointed (in January 1998, in the aftermath of the Acteal massacre). He also took credit for a supposed "reconciliation" in the state, apparently the product of the interim governor's State Agreement on Reconciliation which in fact only managed to reconcile elements of the PRI party in the local legislature which unilaterally approved the accord.
Although Albores is considered responsible for ordering the violent military takeovers and deconstruction of autonomous municipalities in 1998, and is accused of protecting and financing paramilitary groups, he tried to paint a different picture during his last speech to the legislature.
As opposition deputies listened in disbelief, Albores said that his unilateral remunicipalization plan fulfilled key parts of the San Andrés Accords; that his government worked against, not for, the paramilitary groups; that he demonstrated a "clear commitment to the protection of human rights;" and that all of his actions as governor were undertaken in order to "fulfill the demands expressed by the EZLN."
In related news, Chiapas governor-elect Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía, who will soon succeed Albores, appointed Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) councilor Emilio Zebadúa as state Interior Minister this week.
Zebadúa, whose family hails from Chiapas although he himself was born in Mexico City and has never lived in the southeastern state, served on the IFE since the democratizing electoral body was founded in 1996.
In accepting the designation, Zebadúa said he hoped to assist governor-elect Salazar and Peace Commissioner-designate Luis H. Alvarez in creating the conditions necessary to re-establish dialogue between the federal government and the EZLN. Zebadúa was the first person named to Salazar's state cabinet, and the remaining executive appointees were expected to be revealed on November 30.
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- After having insisted they would boycott the December 1 inauguration of president-elect Vicente Fox Quesada unless a vote recount was held in Jalisco to possibly overturn the results of that state's gubernatorial elections (held on November 12 and officially won by the PAN), the leaders of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) put a 180-degree spin on their declarations this week and said they would in fact attend the inaugural ceremonies, "for the sake of governability."
- According to the designated coordinator of Vicente Fox's so-called "Economic Cabinet," Eduardo Sojo, the president-elect has devised a way to open both the petrochemical and the electric energy industries to private investment without receiving the approval of Congress. According to Sojo, the measure is an "administrative" one which only requires the approval of the administrating councils of the state enterprises, whose directors are both Fox appointees. Sojo added that the measure will be applied in a "parallel" fashion to a congressional initiative which, if approved, would have the same effect.
- Roberto Madrazo Pintado, outgoing PRI governor of the state of Tabasco and whose name is virtually synonymous with electoral fraud in Mexico, has formally begun his campaign for the presidency of the formerly-ruling party. So far his main rival appears to be outgoing Interior Minister and former Oaxaca governor Diódoro Carrasca Altamirano, although the head of the PRI-allied National Campesino Confederation (CNC), Heladio Ramírez, has apparently also thrown his name into the ring.
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SOURCES: Milenio, La Jornada, Milenio Semanal, Proceso, El Universal, El Financiero.
This report is a product of the Mexico Solidarity Network. Redistribution is authorized and encouraged provided that the source is cited. Comments: msn@mexicosolidarity.org
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In Chiapas, The Renewed Mexican Challenge
Stratfor, Inc. ~ November 22
Summary
During his election campaign, Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox said he could settle the six-year-old indigenous rebellion in Chiapas peacefully in 15 minutes. However, Fox will have to move quickly after his Dec. 1 inauguration to prevent violence in Mexico's poorest state from escalating.
Analysis
On Nov. 17, Amnesty International reported very worrying signs that an already volatile situation in Chiapas is rapidly deteriorating. According to the human rights group, federal security forces have mobilized, paramilitary groups are threatening to attack displaced indigenous people, and indigenous communities sympathetic to the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) are resisting army patrols.
Low-intensity fighting since early 1994 between the EZLN and Mexican security forces and paramilitary groups has caused thousands of casualties among Chiapas' inhabitants. Many have also died in religious clashes between evangelical Christian Indians and Catholic Indians, in land wars between rich landowners and poor peasants, and in local political conflicts between leftist groups like the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the traditionally dominant Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI).
Fox has several important advantages that favor his efforts to settle the rebellion in Chiapas peacefully but he also must overcome daunting obstacles on the road to peace. As the first non-PRI president in 71 years, Fox can legitimately claim to represent a true democratic transition in Mexico. Moreover, the August election of Pablo Salazar as the first non-PRI governor of Chiapas boosted this legitimacy. Salazar will be the 167th governor in the 176 years that Chiapas has been part of Mexico.
Like Fox, Governor-elect Salazar, who takes office a month after Fox's inauguration, was the candidate of the pro-business National Action Party (PAN) and locked in his victory by forging alliances with other political parties including the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD). Salazar has a record of being willing to negotiate with the EZLN. In addition, Fox should benefit from the EZLNs weakened popularity and a relatively strong economy that probably will grow 6 percent in 2000 and 2001.
However, some of the obstacles in his path include a recalcitrant Zapatista leadership that has remained oddly silent since Fox's July election, powerful local interests allied traditionally with the PRI and a military establishment likely to resist the new government's efforts to demilitarize Chiapas. Fox also faces stiff opposition from the EZLN and indigenous leaders on the issue of economic policy. Fox supports free-market solutions for Chiapas, while the EZLN has an economic vision that stresses collective work and communal land ownership.
During the election campaign, Fox said that as president his first action on Chiapas would be to submit a bill to Congress to approve and enforce the San Andres peace accords, signed in 1996. These accords would have endowed the indigenous communities of Chiapas with political and economic self-determination, but were never submitted to Congress for approval because a majority of the Mexican political establishment viewed the self-determination sought by the EZLN as secessionist. Fox also pledged to build social and economic infrastructure and attract maquiladora industries from northern Mexico to Chiapas and other impoverished southern states to create tens of thousands of assembly jobs.
In addition to seeking enforcement of the San Andres peace accords, Fox probably will seek to reduce the military presence in Chiapas. During the election campaign he promised to exchange jobs for soldiers in Chiapas. Military officials say only 19,000 soldiers are in Chiapas and Tabasco. However, according to the Chicago Tribune, other sources estimate up to 50,000 soldiers are now in Chiapas at an annual cost of $500 million or nearly 22 percent of the military's $2.3 billion budget. The fact the military leadership has never served a non-PRI president may hinder efforts by Fox to scale back the army's presence in Chiapas.
According to Raul Benitez-Manaut, a researcher at the National University of Mexico in Mexico City, the PRI has functioned as the son of the military since 1929. Until 1946, all Mexican presidents were military officers. The military supported the president of Mexico and the PRI-dominated political order in return for complete autonomy. With the all-powerful PRI a shambles and a new political order in Mexico still taking shape, many in the military fear the loss of their privileged status. These fears have increased in recent years as senior Mexican generals have been arrested for drug-related corruption.
Chiapas is the greatest and most immediate political challenge confronting the new Fox administration. If Fox fails to end the simmering rebellion in Chiapas, the violence will probably escalate and spread to other poor southeastern Mexico states, such as Guerrero and Oaxaca. To achieve a lasting peace, Fox must do two things that are anathema to the traditional political and military establishment in Mexico. First, he must grant the indigenous communities of Chiapas a significant degree of self-determination that goes against the traditional political order that includes the PRI, PRD and his own PAN party. And second, Fox must demilitarize Chiapas, a move that many traditionally independent military leaders will perceive as an infringement of their traditional autonomy.
If Fox can achieve a deal, any backlash probably will come from the military and from traditional local PRI caudillos. Local and regional military commanders with ties to local PRI strongmen, landowners and paramilitary groups will try to stir up trouble to block demilitarization and greater self-determination for the indigenous people of Chiapas.
However, Fox must push forward, since ultimately Mexicans and the international community will view his success or failure in finding a peaceful solution for the conflict in Chiapas as a litmus test on whether he can govern the country effectively as its first non-PRI president.
(c) 2000 Stratfor, Inc.
504 Lavaca, Suite 1100 Austin, TX 78701 Phone: 512-583-5000 Fax: 512-583-5025 Email: info@stratfor.com
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Weekly News Summary
November 15-21, 2000
Contents:
1. Fox: General Amnesty Possible in Chiapas
2. PAN Officially Wins Jalisco Vote; PRI Threatens Boycott of Fox Inauguration
3. López Obrador Names Cabinet for Mexico City Government
4. Briefs
Fox: General Amnesty Possible in Chiapas
Just two weeks after the federal government suddenly recognized the existence of "armed civilian groups" in Chiapas, and then engaged in a serious of bungled and fruitless actions against them, president-elect Vicente Fox Quesada has begun to speak of the possibility of a general amnesty in Chiapas which would supposedly include members of armed paramilitary groups as well as the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).
On November 20, Fox said that it was "quite probable" that his government would promote a general amnesty in Chiapas, though he refused to go into details, only suggesting that in the case of political prisoners he would review each case in order to help "remove all the obstacles" toward a resumption of dialogue with the EZLN.
On the same day, outgoing Chiapas governor called on the national Congress to approve a sweeping amnesty law specifically covering the actions of anti-Zapatista paramilitary groups in Chiapas, similar to one approved by the Chiapas state legislature in 1998.
That law, the Amnesty Law for the Disarmament of Civilian Groups in Chiapas, specifically excluded the EZLN - whose members are theoretically protected from prosecution under the 1995 federal "Law for Dialogue, Reconciliation, and a Just Peace in Chiapas" - and granted a full amnesty to all members of "armed civilian groups" who turned in their weapons over a 120-day period.
Albores' call was backed by local PRI deputies (who maintain a majority of seats in the state legislature), including the representative of the state legislature in the COCOPA, Fernando Correo Suárez.
"We don't believe that the reach of the Amnesty Law is broad enough to pacify the state," said Correo, "but it is definitely an important starting point, especially for all those who felt themselves affected by the EZLN and decided to form self-defense groups."
Federal legislators in the congressional Commission on Concordance and Pacification (COCOPA), however, disagreed. Senator Felipe de Jesús Vicencio Alvarez (PAN), while recognizing he didn't know what Fox was specifically referring to when he spoke of a probable amnesty in Chiapas, said "I don't believe he will proceed in terms of a general amnesty, absolutely not." He added that such a move would be wholly unjustified, as it would guarantee impunity for paramilitary groups after five years of paramilitary action against civilians.
Senator Demetrio Sodi de Tijera (PRD) agreed with Vicencio, but went further, suggesting that Fox's statement only means that the president-elect "continues to lack an understanding of the conflict in Chiapas." He added that since the EZLN has not asked for and does not seem to desire an amnesty, the measure would only serve to grant impunity to paramilitary groups.
Meanwhile, the COCOPA has asked the federal Attorney General for "all information" related to last week's bungled attempt to arrest members of a paramilitary group in the Chenalhó town of Los Chorros, which resulted in no arrests and no charges being filed (except for one which didn't stick), while provoking a great deal of anger among both the paramilitary groups and local civilians.
In related news, a military and legislative commission made a quick visit to military installations in Chiapas on November 15, reportedly in order to analyze the possibilities of carrying out a partial military withdrawal from some of the positions currently held by the Mexican Army.
The military installations under inspection included the hydroelectric dam of Chicoasén; the air bases of Tuxtla Gutiérrez and Copalar (Comitán); and the two counterinsurgency installations of Euseba and San Quintín, each located near the Zapatista civilian stronghold of La Realidad.
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PAN Officially Wins Jalisco Vote; PRI Threatens Boycott of Fox Inauguration
On November 19, the State Electoral Council (CEE) of Jalisco validated the official victory of National Action Party (PAN) gubernatorial candidate Francisco Ramírez Acuña in that state's November 12 elections.
The CEE gave Ramírez Acuña 1,024,883 votes to 971,242 for Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Jorge Arana Arana, and 118,122 votes for Raúl Vargas of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).
The PRI, however, refused to recognize the victory of Ramírez Acuña, citing what it considered massive electoral fraud on the part of the PAN, the party currently in power in Jalisco. The PRI is currently planning an appeal of the CEE decision to the state and federal electoral tribunals.
"They should beat me with votes, not with fraud," said PRI candidate Arana Arana following the CEE's certification of the election. Juan Enrique Ibarra Pedroza, the PRI's representative before the CEE, added that "the PRI, with the backing of nearly a million votes, does not recognize nor will it recognize the electoral results."
The CEE also said it saw no need to re-open sealed electoral packages to conduct a manual recount of votes. Such a recount had been requested by the state legislature.
Shortly before the certification, national PRI president Ducle María Sauri threatened a boycott of the December 1 inauguration of president-elect Vicente Fox (PAN) on the part of PRI legislators and party leaders, unless the CEE ordered a recount.
The official PRI position in favor of a boycott was supported by most internal currents of the PRI, including dissident sectors who usually find it hard to agree with the party leadership.
"The panistas have shown themselves to be a bad copy of what the former PRI mapaches were," said Fausto Félix, of the PRI's "Critical Current." "Now the system 'crashes' for them, now it is they who refuse to open the electoral packages; if they think they cleanly won the election, there isn't any reason for them to act in this manner," he added.
[Mapache literally means "raccoon," and in Mexican politics is traditionally the title reserved for those who take part in electoral fraud.]
Members of the "Democracy 2000" current agreed, adding that "The shameless resistance of the ultra-right sectors of Jalisco to respect the electoral process for governor requires us to support the warning of our National Executive Committee that our legislators may not attend Fox's inauguration ceremony as a protest gesture."
Meanwhile, the CEE also certified the electoral results at the municipal and legislative level. With respect to municipalities, the PAN officially won 50, including the capital Guadalajara and the resort municipality of Puerto Vallarta. The PRI took 66, while the PRD only won control of six local governments, the Green Party (PVEM) three, and the Democratic Convergence (CD) one.
The PAN won a narrow majority in the state legislature, taking 21 of the 40 seats. The PRI won 16, while the PRD only won 2 and the PVEM 1.
END
López Obrador Names Cabinet for Mexico City Government
Fifteen days before taking his post as "Head of Government" in Mexico City, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD) announced the names of his sixteen cabinet members this week. Nine are women, seven are men, and most are militants of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).
Those who will hold top secretariats in the local government cabinet are:
José Agustín Ortiz Pinchetti (Government)
Leonel Godoy Rangel (Public Security)
César Buenrostro Hernández (Public Works)
Laura Itzel Castillo (Housing and Urban Development)
Jenny Saltiel Cohen (Transportation)
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (Environment)
Raquel Sosa Elizaga (Social Development)
Asa Cristina Laurell (Health)
Alejandro Encinas (Economic Development)
Julieta Campos Egurrola (Tourism)
Carlos Manuel Urzúa Macías (Finances)
In addition to the above, Bernardo Bátiz Vázquez was named as Mexico City Attorney General; Bertha Luján as Comptroller General; María Estela Ríos González as Legal Advisor; Ana Lilia Cepeda de León as city government spokesperson; and Octavio Romero Oropeza as Chief Clerk.
Only Godoy and Bátiz must have their appointments approved by president-elect Vicente Fox before they can assume office, as their responsibilities include dealing with issues of both public and national security.
The biggest surprise in the cabinet nominations was the noted absence of a number of important figures from the Mexico City PRD, many of whom were earlier considered shoo-ins for cabinet posts in the López Obrador government. These included Ramón Sosamontes, Marcelo Ebrard, and René Bejarano, as well as current Public Security chief Alejandro Gertz.
Gertz had reportedly been asked to stay on in his post under the López Obrador administration, and it is now rumored that he may be on his way to a cabinet post with Vicente Fox in the federal government.
Eleven of the new city cabinet members are militants of the PRD, including ex-federal deputies Leonel Godoy, Alejandro Encinas, Octavio Romero, Ana Lilia Cepeda, and Laura Itzel Castillo, as well as former party leaders Raquel Sosa and Asa Cristina Laurell.
Four are considered "non-partisan": José Agustín Ortiz Pinchetti (a former councilor of the Federal Electoral Institute), Julieta Campos, Bertha Luján, and Carlos Manuel Urzúa.
Future city Attorney General Bernardo Bátiz, meanwhile, has a political history rooted strongly in the National Action Party (PAN) until 1992, when he left the PAN to help form the Democratic Forum. According to Bátiz, the PAN at the time had sold out its principles to become an ally of the Salinas government.
END
- Between November 11 and 12, approximately 600 indigenous residents of the Loxicha region in southern Oaxaca gathered in Tierra Blanca Loxicha for a "Forum Against the Militarization of the Loxichas." Considered by the government to be a "stronghold" of the rebel Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), the Loxicha region has become a territory marked by fear and terror following four years of militarization and counterinsurgency activity on the part of the federal army, the judicial police, and paramilitary groups. At the conclusion of the meeting - marked by dozens of denunciations regarding assassinations, torture, and disappearances in the zone carried out in the name of national security - the participants adopted a resolution calling on the federal government to: demilitarize the indigenous regions of Mexico; adopt the COCOPA proposal for implementation of the San Andrés Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture (signed between the Zapatista Army and the federal government in February 1996); review the judicial processes against 85 political prisoners from the Loxichas, accused of membership in the EPR; and to disintegrate state-sponsored paramilitary groups. The signers of the document included six federal deputies of the PAN party, who had attended the meeting in order to "see first hand what indigenous reality is like."
SOURCES: Milenio Semanal, La Jornada, Proceso, Proceso Sur, El Reforma.
This report is a product of the Mexico Solidarity Network. Redistribution is authorized and encouraged provided that the source is cited. Comments: msn@mexicosolidarity.org
END
Demand that Vicente Fox End the War in Chiapas
NY Azul ~ November 25
To National and International Civil Society
To Human Rights Organizations
To Grass Roots Organizations
To the Men and Women of New York
President-Elect of Mexico, Vicente Fox, proclaimed that he could resolve the war in Chiapas in fifteen minutes. We, the men and women of Amanecer Zapatista Unidos en la Lucha (AZUL), reject a quick-fix solution to a centuries old problem of injustice and violence against the indigenous communities of Chiapas! We, as Mexicanos, immigrants, students, and workers, call to action our community in New York and communities in solidarity across the country and the world to demand an end to the violence in Chiapas on the first day Fox takes office on December 1!!!.
President-elect of Mexico, Vicente Fox, has promised to quickly restart peace talks with the zapatistas and "negotiate" implementation of the San Andres accords after he takes office. Before that important step can take place, Fox must first move quickly to dismantle the immediate danger that is at the center of the conflict in Chiapas: the growing military and paramilitary presence in communities throughout indigenous regions, and, the rapidly increasing displacement of hundreds of families fleeing from the violence of army occupation and paramilitary attacks.
Across Chiapas, impoverished and isolated indigenous communities remain surrounded by an estimated 70,000 soldiers and by hundreds of additional paramilitary forces who harass and violate struggling families every single day in all indigenous regions. The daily reality is this: people are dying by direct military or paramilitary attacks and because of the inaccessibility of basic needs. More than 20,000 people have been displaced in the last few years due to the on-going low-intensity war being waged by the government of Mexico, a low-intensity war with long-term, high-intensity repercussions.
We the men and women of AZUL extend an invitation to all zapatista organizers and supporters to come together at Mexican consulates throughout the U.S. and the world on Friday, December 1, 2000 to keep Fox to his promise and demand in one voice:
The immediate withdrawal of the more than 70,000 Mexican soldiers surrounding indigenous regions in Chiapas
The immediate dismantlement of paramilitary groups
The release of all detained indigenous leaders
The immediate relocation of the more than 20,000 displaced indigenous men, women, and children of Chiapas
The final implementation of the San Andres Accords.
The agreement to all EZLN demands and conditions to enable a return to dialogue with the government
Join us in this open challenge to Mr. Fox because although it will take more than 15 minutes to bring real justice to Chiapas, it takes less than 15 minutes to decide to take action and demand the rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, and less then fifteen seconds to pull on a mask, pick up a sign and yell YA BASTA!!
If your community is organizing a local action, please let us know. Contact us at ny_azul@hotmail.com.
Demand that Vicente Fox End the War in Chiapas
Friday, December 1, 2000 at 5:30 p.m.
Consul General of Mexico
27 East 39th Street , New York
Friday, December 1st Actions & Events:
*Austin, Texas:
National Zapatista Student Alliance, Zapatisa Council, MECHA, Radical Action Network & Others
Protest at the University of Texas in Austin followed by a rally @ Mexican Consulate
*Sacramento, California:
Zapatisa Solidarity Coalition
Protest & Vigil @ Mexican Consulate
8th & J Streets
11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
*San Francisco, California:
La Raza Centro Legal, Global Exchange, S.F. Zapatista Committee, Day Labor Program, INS Watch & others
Noon Protest @ Mexican Consulate
Flood Building @ Market & Powell
*San Diego, California:</