These organisations are calling for different protest actions nationally and internationally.

To support this initiative you can:

1) Protest outside the Mexican Embassy in your country.

2) Donate to the resistance against the liquidation decree of Luz y fuerza and in support of the Electrical Trade Union and their families.

Send your donations to the account: BBVA Bancomer 0168715246. To do so, please contact: C. Martin Esparza on the phone +52 55 5546 3200, or send an email to sme1014@gmail.com

3) Write a letter addressed to the Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico, demanding his government respond to the demands put forward by the National Assembly for Popular Resistance and the Social Congress.

You can send a personal latter or ask your union or organisation to write one. You can forward the following sample letter of you can write one with your own words:

Please write to:

Felipe Calderón, President of the Republic: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx

Government Offices: gobierno.digital@funcionpublica.gob.mx

Mexican Congress: administrador@congreso.gob.mx

Javier Lozano, Minister for Labour and Social Security: javierlozano@stps.gob.mx

Please copy the letter to: sinmexel@sme.org.mx to let them know you ar supporting their actions.

Please also copy info@latinamericasolidarity.org

Sample letter:

Felipe Calderón Hinojosa

President of Mexico

Los Pinos, Mexico

Dear President Calderón:

We are writing to express our support to the Mexican people on the day of National strike this March 16. We are deeply concerned about your government issuing a decree liquidating the company and dismissing some 45,000 unionized workers. We are also concerned about the economic situation of millions of Mexican that live under the poverty line and lack the basic rights of free healthcare and education.

We therefore strongly urge that you listen to your people and take action in their following demands:

Popular economy:

• Tax reductions and cutting fees for public services and food.
• Salary increase and the implementation of a national program of employment, housing and provision of food.

Labour rights:

• To give a solution to the demands of the Electrical Trade Union SME and the Cananea Mining workers, UNT and CNTE.
• Respect union autonomy
• Respect the National Labour legislation and respect the Mexican Constitution.

Social rights:

• Increase the budget for education, science and culture.
• Universal healthcare system and health cover
• Stop privatization of oil, water, mineral resources and electricity.
• Solutions for people affected by environmental damage

Food sovereignty:

• The creation of an emergency program for food sovereignty and the eradication of starvation in the countryside.
• Respect to the autonomy and rights of the indigenous peoples.

Impunity and militarisation:

• Resignation of president Felipe Calderón
• Freedom to all political prisoners
• Punishment to all human rights violators
• For the return of the military personel to their barracks and not to the streets

We look forward to your response in favour of the Mexican people.

Sincerely,

(Your signature)  ________________

This is the full communiqué produced by the National Assembly for Popular Resistance regarding the National Strike

Translated by CLASS

Because the people can no longer stand the current situation, on March 16, 2010, starting at 12hrs, hundreds of thousands of black and red flags (symbol of strike in Mexico) will fly over school, popular neighbourhoods, rural communities, electricity plants, workplaces, everywhere we are, to express our rejection to those who are destroying our country and continue to violate our constitutional rights.

• It is them, or it is us! Big corporations and their politicians have brought our people to the limits of survival and confrontation. In the last three years the number of people living under the poverty line jumped from 40 million to over 50 million; between 7 and 8 million young people lack education or employment, our income has been reduced in a 30-40%

• The average economic growth of Mexico is the lowest in Latin America and the worst in our recent history. We all know that the current social crisis will only become deeper in the coming months or years if we don’t say ENOUGH to those in power.

• As long as they continue in power, we won’t be able to end this social crisis, on the contrary, this will only deepened, together with State Terror that in the name of the so-called “war against organised crime” is militarising our country and works towards implementing a civil-military dictatorship to serve the interest of the United states.

• We are conscious of the challenges we face, so over a thousand civil and social organisations, unions, political and community organisations, started to build a common space, a plural Social Congress, with broad representation, that aims to draft a Project of Nation that really represents the people, as a base of a new Constitutional Assembly.

• As it was the case in the times of the war for Independence, the Reform and the Mexican Revolution, we, the Mexican people, will maintain our dream of achieving democracy for the people, social justice and national sovereignty. It is with our struggle that we commemorate the Centenary of the Mexican Revolution and the Bicentenary of the Independence.

This strike is the opportunity for all of us to stop those who have stolen the Federal government and that violate people’s rights.

We call for the participation of all Mexicans, we ask them to stand and participate from every corner of the motherland, to stop production, to stop distribution of goods, to occupy the land that had been taken away from you, to occupy the roads, to protest in plazas, in the valleys, in every path; our weapon is the reason and we are confident we will win.

We call all of you to join us in the following demands, in addition to other demands you may formulate:

In defence of the popular economy:

• Tax reductions and cutting the fees for public services and food.
• Salary increase and the implementation of a national program of employment, housing and provision of food.

For labour rights:

• To give a solution to the demands of the Electrical Trade Union SME and the Cananea Mining workers, UNT and CNTE.
• Respect union autonomy
• Respect the National Labour legislation and respect to the Constitution.

For Social rights:

• Increase the budget for education, science and culture.
• Universal healthcare system and health cover
• Stop privatization of oil, water, mineral resources and electricity.
• Solutions for people affected by environmental damage

For food sovereignty:

• The creation of an emergency program for food sovereignty and the eradication of starvation in the countryside.
• Respect to the autonomy and rights of the indigenous people

Against impunity and militarisation:

• Political trial against President Felipe Calderón
• Freedom to all political prisoners
• Punishment to all human rights violators
• For the return of the military personal to their barracks and not to the streets

Please support these initiatives. Send copy of all your messages to: sinmexel@sme.org.mx

National Assembly for Popular Resistance

Social Congress

http://www.sme1914.org

To support this innitiative and send a letter, click the link to LabourStart

If you are sending a letter from australia, consider sending a copy to your letter to committee@latinamericasolidarity.org

Best regards,

CLASS

Some background information:

Cananea Mine Battle Reveals Anti-Labor Offensive in Mexico, United States

Overshadowed by narco-violence, another showdown with far-reaching consequences is unfolding near the Mexico-U.S. border. Striking workers have occupied a Grupo Mexico-owned copper mine and vow to resist any company or government attempts to evict them from the premises. Last month, a Mexican federal court blocked legal efforts to uphold a labor contract.

In the struggles that have transformed our communities and that have been vital for the development and the improvement of humanity, the participation and leading role of women has been of great importance. That is why we, the women of Oaxaca, decided to take part in the struggle for a Oaxaca free of repression, with social justice, economic and gender equality, a society where the life and work of women is taken into account, and where our opinions are heard, as well as our decision when choosing our leaders.

On July 14, 2006, in Oaxaca City [a State capital in the South West of Mexico], after a failed eviction the State government attempted against a long sit-in strike by the teachers and people, the state made use of all its repressive forces. But the women of Oaxaca, following our tradition of political participation, took to the streets in protest.

This way, we, the women of Oaxaca were present in the highest point of the struggles of the people of Oaxaca during 2006, taking into account that it has been one of the most important recent struggles of the left worldwide. We focused in boosting the struggle of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca, APPO), we dared to carry out one of the agreements we have made in several assemblies, a decision that no other group could carry out: to take over Channel 9 of the local TV.
One of the most important precedents of the women’s movement was the occupation of the Finances Ministry on July 27, 2006, carried out by several men and women from the Committee in Defence of Women’s Rights (CODEM), the Committee in Defence of the Peoples Rights (CODEP), Indigenous Organisations for Human Rights in Oaxaca (OIDHO) and the Committee in Defence of Indigenous Rights in Santiago Xanica (CODEDI-XANICA), all of them members of the Oaxaca Magionist Popular and Anti-neoliberal Coordinator (Coordinadora Oaxaqueña Magonista Popular Antineoliberal, COMPA), jointly with men and women from different popular neighbourhoods that were already taking part of the movement. These organisations have always defended the idea that the voice of the popular neighbourhoods had to be heard, contrary to the idea of other organisation that have betrayed the movement.

Despite the constant attacks by different groups, traitors to the cause of the peoples, the members of Oaxaca Magonist Popular and Anti-neoliberal Coordinator (COMPA), managed to coordinate and promote the participation of the men and women who were occupying the finances ministry. We decided on holding a daily coordinating assembly at 7pm every night, with the participation of men and women from the popular neighbourhoods, teachers, students, housewives, and many others. Every day we listened to Radio Universidad and read the news from the paper Noticias about the movement, we used a microphone so we could all know what was happening, this meant that we started building a new form of collective organisation, a new popular culture, a new way of organising. That assembly became a fundamental part for the development of Peoples power in Oaxaca and in Mexico.

In one of many meetings it was suggested to call for a mega rally of women for August the 1st, 2006, and we distributed tasks for that occasion. First we had to spread out information as much as we could, using Radio Universidad (a radio station that young people from Oaxaca put to the service of the people and whose role was evidence of the importance of popular communication), recorded radio spots, designed posters and leaflets, calling on women of all different sectors of society, asking them to bring a frying pan and a spoon to protest together against the repression we have been experiencing, taking the example of the women in Argentina.

In the morning of August the 1st, around 20 thousand women from Oaxaca gathered in the fountain of the Seven Regions. Mothers, wives, daughters, grandmothers, workers, housewives, teachers, peasants, indigenous, students, children, we came from the neighbourhoods and towns from around Oaxaca, from the social organisations, from the popular religious communities, from the teachers movement, from the sit-in strikes. We all brought pans, sauce pans, bowls, rolling pins, ladles. It was a wonderful rally of the women of Oaxaca, supported by the APPO; we walked down from the fountain of the Seven Regions to the main plaza in Oaxaca City; on the way we stopped in front of a hotel where the corrupt government in exile was sometimes working, and then we passed in front of the Ministry for Turism, demanding the resignation governor.

During that historical 1st of August, not only voices and chanting could be heard, but the ring of the saucepans against repression and against a government that is still in power.

After a three kilometre walk, we briefly stopped in the main square of Oaxaca City. Then, we took buses and went to the state radio and TV stations and we peacefully occupied them. During the evening we, the women, and our compañeros started broadcasting from the state radio 96.6 FM. At 7:30pm, from Channel 9, a group of women, for the first time ever, talked to the people of Oaxaca, telling the truth about what was happening within the giant popular movement in Oaxaca, embodied in the struggle of the APPO.

From that day to August 21st we took the installations of Channel 9, supported by the people that never left us alone. However, on the 21st, a group of paramilitaries shot at the installations of Channel 9 and the transmission antennas. For that reason, the people took 12 private main stream radios, in order to continue broadcasting what was going on.

Later on August 31st, it was proposed that we constituted a women’s organization within the APPO and CODEM-CODEP, we called it Oaxaca Women Coordinator First of August (Coordinadora de Mujeres Oaxaqueñas Primero de Agosto), hence resulting in a political declaration that we read on September 15th [Independence Day] during the second mega rally of women, where women from the seven regions of the state attended and invited women to go to Mexico City, to spread information nationally about what was happening in Oaxaca with the movement led by the APPO.

Since the takeover of Channel 9, our voices started to be heard and our participation in the APPO assemblies increased, winning 30 percent of representation in the Constituent Congress of the APPO.

The First State Assembly of women of APPO took place on March 7, 2007, having extensive participation of women from the various regions of the state.

We, indigenous and mestizo women, workers, peasants, housewives, doctors, students, teachers, with no distinction of race, colour, age, religion, cultural or social background, all Mexican women, we dear to dream of the transformation of Mexico through work and organisation. Not only that, we are women in solidarity with other women around the world who everyday make an effort to achieve a just world.

We are not a homogeneous group, we all come from different backgrounds, but we identified ourselves with our reality and our rebellion. We identify ourselves with the underprivileged of the world, with those whose voice has not been listened to, the marginalised and exploited, to that group we belong.

Our actions are inspired by those great women of our history of struggle, women such as the women of Varinea, Rosa Luxemburg, Leona Vicario, Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, the Martyrs of the 8 of March, the “Adelitas”, “Rieleras”, the “Vicentota” in Tlaxiaco Putla Clara, and many other who have given their blood fighting for a country where justice is real, equality is not a dream and democracy can be seen.

We believe in a unified struggle, we recognise that our struggle cannot be isolated or it will become insignificant. We do not intend to advance alone, we join our efforts with other organisations as we respect the views of organised people, we join with them to say BASTA! (ENOUGH!). Enough of misery, oppression, injustice, anti-democracy, starvation! Enough of the divisions that makes us weak to the will of the exploiters!

United in strength and heart, we start working to build the new history of Mexico and the World!

FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN, BUILD THE PEOPLE’S POWER

COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE OF WOMEN

CODEM - APPOCODEM - APPO

* * * * * * * * * *
Background information:

In the early morning of June 14, 2006, the striking teachers of Section 22 of the Mexican National Educational Workers Union (SNTE), who had occupied the main square of Oaxaca City (the capital city of the state of Oaxaca) were evicted by 3,500 Oaxacan municipal police and troops from the Military Police (Policía Federal Preventiva, PFP) supported by helicopters in an attempt by the state government to disolve the strike. By that time, teachers had been on strike for 23 days demanding higher wages, standardisation of wages and conditions, and increased educational resources. Tear gas and shots were fired by the police, but the teachers and the community that supported them resisted and were able to take the centre of the city, building barricades that would make it impossible for the police to use motor vehicles. There were wome lethal casualties, and amnesty International reported over a hundred people hospitalised as a result of the repression.

This repressive action resulted in a more complex conflict, not only for teachers wages and conditions, but calling for the resignation of Oaxacan governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, representing the land-owners party Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), that has been in power in Oaxaca by means of corruption and crime. In the following weeks, the teachers were heavily reinforced by sympathisers, who helped them with the construction and protection of barricades made of wood, concrete bricks, corrugated metal sheets, and disabled cars and buses. For four months, these roughly constructed barricades prevented the entry of police into the central part of the city that surrounds the Zócalo.

In this context, the APPO was created on June 17, 2006. It declared itself the de facto governing body of Oaxaca while the institutional government was in exile working from hotels. Its body included representatives of Oaxaca’s state regions and municipalities, unions, non-governmental organizations, social organisations, and cooperatives, the largest group being Section 22, the Oaxacan teachers’ union.
They organised popular assemblies at every level: neighbourhoods, street blocks, unions, towns. While the primary demand of the APPO has been the removal of the governor of Oaxaca, they have also called for broader economic, social and political transformations, as well as changes in the state’s constitution.

Saturday March 13, 6:30pm

At the Maritime Union of Australia. 46-54 Ireland St., West Melbourne

All money raised will go directly to support aid project in Chile, for the recovery after the terrible earthquakes. Come along!

No more sexism! no more neoliberalism!

Find the event on Facebook and send to your friends.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

El Centro Cultural Pablo Neruda tiene el agrado de  invitar a todos Uds., Compañeras (os) Amigas (os) a celebrar con un Cena Bailable, el dia Internacional de  la Mujer.

Esta  Jornada  se  llevara  a  efecto el Sabado 13 de Marzo desde las 18.30hrs. en el Sindicato Maritimo de  Australia ubicada en la  Calle Ireland   46-54  West Melbourne muy cerca de  la  estacion de  trenes de North Melbourne.  Te  esperamos  con  una gran  cantina  Latinoamericana.

Los fondos reunidos irán directamente a Chile, tras el terrible terremoto. Los esperamos!

]]> http://latinamericasolidarity.org/2010/03/08/haiti-fundraiser-event-in-brisbane/feed/ http://latinamericasolidarity.org/2010/03/02/march-class-book-club-gathering/ http://latinamericasolidarity.org/2010/03/02/march-class-book-club-gathering/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:21:37 +0000 lulu http://latinamericasolidarity.org/?p=793 Welcome to the CLASS book club.

The CLASS book club aims to offer a space for discussion on authors and ideas about different issues concerning contemporary Latin America. The topics will range from history, political analysis and theory, cultural studies, workers and people´s struggles, poetry and fiction literature. In our monthly meetings we profile a book, a movie, or other media that represent the diversity of the contemporary Latin America. The material will be available in English.

The club is open to anyone interested in discussing, learning and sharing experiences on Latin American social, political or cultural issues. Please feel free to contact us or just show up on the day.

March book club:

When? Monday March 22, at 6:30pm

Where? New International Book Shop, Trades Hall Basement, 54 Victoria St (Crn Lygon St), Carlton, VIC.

Contact Lulu on 0421 957 341 or lulu_larque[at]yahoo.com.mx

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, by Naomi Klein

Various editions, broadly available

Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world– through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.

Find out more information about the CLASS book club

In the early 19th Century, Bolivian women fought alongside men for the country’s independence from colonial Spain. They stormed into battle on horseback, seized cities and were on the frontline.

But their presence on the battlefield did not translate into presence in the political life of their nation. For many, their education, job opportunities and political rights were limited - until now.

Justice Minister Copa started her political career as a trade unionist

“For a long time, we women have been excluded - it was one of the dark legacies of the colonial model,” the recently appointed Justice Minister, Nilda Copa, told the BBC at her office.

“I remember my mother didn’t know how to read and write, neither did my grandmother… not because they didn’t want to learn,” Ms Copa says.

Ms Copa joined a trade union very young, when she was only 16, because she felt a drastic change was needed and that was the only platform where women “had some voice”.

And that change seems to have arrived. Today, posters proclaiming the slogans of female Bolivian heroes such as indigenous rebel Bartolina Sisa and independence icon Juana Azurduy plaster the walls of several ministries.

That shows the fervour felt in the Bolivia of President Evo Morales, who seems to be changing things not only for the country’s indigenous majority, but also for its women.

Half of Mr Morales’s new cabinet is made up of women

Today women are involved in running the country as never before. Mr Morales began his second mandate last month with a cabinet reshuffle that complies with the gender parity stated in the new constitution he pushed for.

Now the new cabinet has 10 men and 10 women, three of them indigenous.

“There used to be a lot of racism and machismo. There is still some, but now that structure is changing thanks to brother Evo Morales,” Ms Copa says.

“Today, for example, there are no illiterate women, but women with enough capacity to develop activities at the same level as men. But the fight has been harsh and long.”

Her voice trails off and she focuses on a picture of her and Mr Morales from the times when she was a member of the assembly that wrote Bolivia’s new constitution.

Homage

For Mr Morales, achieving gender parity in the cabinet was a long-held aim.

“One of my dreams has come true - half the cabinet seats are held by women,” Mr Morales said recently. “This is a homage to my mother, my sister and my daughter.”

Mr Morales said that since his early days as a leader of the coca trade union, he had always worked towards getting women into decision-making posts based on the chacha warmi, a concept that in the local Aymara indigenous culture means that men and women are complementary in an egalitarian way.

Ms Montano believes women have been key supporters of Mr Morales

But another sign that women’s political influence is on the rise is the fact that they now occupy an unprecedented 30% of seats in Bolivia’s new legislative branch.

One of them is Gabriela Montano, a senator who represents the eastern city of Santa Cruz - Bolivia’s opposition heartland - on behalf of Mr Morales’s party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).

“This is the fruit of the women’s fight: the tangible proofs of this new state, of this new Bolivia are the increasing participation of the indigenous peoples and the increasing participation of women in the decision-making process of this country,” Ms Montano told the BBC.

Ms Montano was the subject of several physical attacks during her stint as the government’s envoy to Santa Cruz, and last year she was kept at a secret location as a safety precaution after she was threatened by opposition groups.

“The awakening of women has been brewing for a while. Women have been a key element in the consolidation of this process of change led by President Morales, from the rallies, the protests, the fights. Now, they will be a key element in affairs of national interest,” Ms Montano says.

However, while change for women is under way, for some there is still a long way to go until full equality is achieved.

“Not long ago, 10 years ago, nobody talked about women in power in this country, that was unimaginable,” explains Katia Uriona, of the women’s advocacy group Coordinadora de la Mujer.

“And even if I applaud all of these victories, I am aware this is not enough. Now we have to see if all of this is translated into something concrete that will truly change the gender face of this country.”

Indigenous peoples in the western Salvadoran town of Izalco commemorated the 78^th anniversary of  the slaughter of 30 thousand indigenous people and peasants, killed during the popular uprising of 1932.

During the dictatorship of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, the dissatisfaction with the unfair distribution of wealth caused a social uprising. The dictatorship struck back, with one of the worst massacres of the continent on occurring on January 22, 1932.

On this day, more than three thousand farmers, indigenous and political leaders in Izalco, Nahuizalco, Ateos, Juayua and other places, protested low wages, unfair distribution of land and hoarding of wealth in the hands of a few elite Salvadoran families. According to Salvadoran writer and historian Alirio Montoya, the military dictatorship justified the slaughter by linking communists to indigenous people as synonymous entities.

The killing, led by former President General Maximiliano, left almost thirty thousand dead, “the majority of whom were indigenous -who probably did not know [that the government considered them] communists- thus destroying much of a culture that now demands justice and recognition,” says Montoya.

“After this massacre, the Indian community was greatly reduced in the country, many of them changed their habits for fear of being killed and many customs gradually waned into oblivion” recounted the spiritual guide “Tata” Juan.

78 years later, in a place known as “El Llanito” where many victims of the slaughter are buried, an indigenous ceremony was held to “pay tribute to all the fallen who died innocently.”

“Naja nusan matiguagua su 1932 matachiwa,” [We will never forget the martyrs of 1932] exclaimed indigenous priests in Nahuatl.

The Salvadoran Indigenous Coordinating Council (CCNIS) and Ama Foundation coordinated these commemorations on January 22 and 23 in Izalco, asking the Salvadoran state to “repair the damages caused by this crime” committed nearly a century ago.

“We tell the government that it should not only apologize to [the survivors], but to help them; that would be a wonderful thing,” said the Mayor of Izalco, Robert Alvarado, during the event,.

“For years we have been fighting for the Salvadorean State to recognize the existence of indigenous peoples in the country through constitutional reform, and also to ratify international agreements, and also for our rights to be promoted and respected,” said Betty Perez, an indigenous woman CCNIS member.

“Also we want the new government [of Mauricio Funes] to develop public policies so that they recognize damage that the capitalist system has been wreaking on indigenous communities for years,” she added.

These requests and others were made during the indigenous ceremony, accompanied by the “ancestral snail shell” and “blessing of the sacred fire.”

Attorney for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH), Oscar Luna, has expressed support and solidarity “with the struggle that indigenous communities have been undertaking on behalf of their legitimate constitutional rights”.

“The indigenous population in this country is a strong and substantial population, and therefore requires the support and recognition of their rights,” said Luna.

Indigenous peoples have the hope of achieving some of their demands with the new government of President Mauricio Funes, who has expressed support for this sector and has encouraged a rapprochement of the state with the indigenous population through the Social Inclusion Secretariat of the Presidency .

According to Henry Barillas, a member of the Communicators and Student Collective “Roque Dalton” (CERD), one one of the youth organizations participating in the commemoration,  “78 years after the genocide, the problems that caused the Indigenous uprising of 1932 remain and have increased. This story requires us to remember and rethink the struggle. In this complex time in El Salvador, we need solutions that are complex but also practical, and that come from below.”

Barillas adds “It is important that new generations know the story, know the importance of learning from mistakes. Above all, we have to rescue what they have stolen. In this case, we promote and take back our cultural identity.”

“Militarization is not the way to deal with Mexico’s political crisis.” Laura Carlsen

Mike Whitney— Will you explain what Plan Mexico is and how it relates to the North American Free Trade Agreement? (NAFTA)

Laura Carlsen:  Plan Mexico, also called the Merida Initiative, is a three-year regional security cooperation plan devised by the former Bush administration and presented in October of 2007. The plan grew out of the extension of NAFTA into security areas, known as the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Originally Plan Mexico was to be announced in the context of the SPP trinational summit but was delayed. It is presented as a petition of the Mexican president Felipe Calderon for US help in the war on drugs but in reality it was designed in Washington as a way to “push out the borders” of the US security perimeter, that is, that Mexico would take on US security priorities including policing its southern border and allowing US companies and agents into Mexico’s intelligence and security operations.

Plan Mexico proposed $1.4 billion in mostly foreign military financing. It is referred to as a “Counternarcotics, Counterterrorism and Border Security” proposal.

MW—Shortly after he was elected president, Felipe Calderon began using the military in the so-called War on Drugs. Since then, there has been a steady rise in troop deployments and an escalation in the violence. What is the Washington’s role in this ongoing counterinsurgency operation?

Laura Carlsen: The Obama administration has supported the plan and even requested, and received from Congress, additional funds beyond what the Bush administration requested. In the three years since Calderon launched the war on drugs in Mexico with the support of the US government drug related violence has shot up to over 15,000 executions and formal reports of violations of human rights have increased sixfold. More than 45,000 solders have been deployed in streets and communities throughout Mexico. Washington recognizes serious problems with the drug war model and yet continues to claim, absurdly, that the rise in violence in Mexico is a good sign–it means that the cartels are feeling the heat, the argument runs. the plan itself does not contain any real benchmarks of what citizens should expect as signs of progress so it can continue to be funded despite its failure.

The State Department was required to submit a human rights report to release 15% of some portions of the appropriations and finally did so last summer. But the report stated that even given a lack of progress in human rights (including reported use of torture with impunity, lack of civilian justice for military forces, killings of civilians and corruption) the mere fact of reporting constituted compliance and released the funds.

So far the effort is not described as a counterinsurgency effort, because Mexico does not have a formal widespread insurgency movement. However, the targeting of grassroots opposition leaders in recent years has raised fears that dissidents are and will be a target of the increasingly militarized society.

MW— In your article you say that the Merida Initiative is the direct outgrowth of the national security framework imposed on bilateral relations. Does that mean that the Bush Administration was using the War on Drugs and the War on Terrorism to conceal its real political goals? If so, what are those goals?

Laura Carlsen:  The Bush administration used the counterterrorism paradigm to extend US presence in strategic areas. In Mexico, the idea was to open up lucrative defense and intelligence contracts while aiding the rightwing government, which still faced serious questions of legitimacy due to unresolved accusations of fraud in the 2006 elections.

MW—Are there US intelligence agents, special forces or mercenaries conducting counterinsurgency operations in Mexico? Is Mexico required to allow the US military to operate in Mexico due to security and/or trade agreements?

Laura Carlsen: Mexico does not allow US soldiers on its territory. However there is a growing presence of DEA and other types of US agents in the country, as well as a private security companies. We do not have a good system for tracking the presence and activities of the private firms contracted for security and training purposes. This is a major problem.

MW—What effect has militarization had on political expression? How has it affected grass roots organizations, unions, and indigenous groups? Has there been an uptick in military-related violence, such as rape, beatings, torture and homicide?

Laura Carlsen:  There has been an increase in human rights violations by the armed forces. In some regions, dissident leaders have been targeted by the military.
Women, indigenous people, migrants, dissidents and youth are particularly vulnerable.

Note: “The militarization of Mexico has led to a steep increase in homicides related to the drug war. It has led to rape and abuse of women by soldiers in communities throughout the country. Human rights complaints against the armed forces have increased six-fold…. The Mexican Armed Forces are not subject to civilian justice systems, but to their own military tribunals. These very rarely terminate in convictions.” “The Perils of Plan Mexico”, Laura Carlsen, counterpunch

MW—More than 50 Mexican human rights organizations have petitioned Congress to withdraw support for the Merida Initiative. Their letter reads:

“We respectfully request that the U.S. Congress and Department of State, in both the Merida Initiative as in other programs to support public security in Mexico, does not allocate funds or direct programs to the armed forces …

We urge the United States to consider ways to support a holistic response to security problems; based on tackling the root causes of violence and ensuring the full respect of human rights; not on the logic of combat.”

Have you seen any improvement or shift in policy since Barack Obama was elected?

Laura Carlsen:  No. The administration has given its full support to the failed drug war. however, there are signs of drug policy reform in domestic policy that could eventually affect the way foreign counternarcotics efforts are viewed. The rhetoric of “ci-responsibility” is really nothing new and the efforts at reducing gunrunning and demand have not been followed up by new policies. the approach continues to be primarily military and violent, with no money whatsoever included in the Merida initiative for heath aspects such as addiction treatment or prevention.

Bio—Laura Carlsen, director of the Americas Policy Program in Mexico City, holds a B.A. in Social Thought and Institutions from Stanford University and a Masters degree in Latin American Studies, also from Stanford. In 1986 she received a Fulbright Scholarship to study the impact of the Mexican economic crisis on women and has lived in Mexico City since then. She has published numerous articles and chapters on social, economic and political aspects of Mexico and recently co-edited Confronting Globalization: Economic integration and popular resistance in Mexico, and co-authored El Café en Mexico, centroamerica y el caribe: Una salida sustentable a la crisis. Prior to joining the Americas Policy Program, where her most recent analysis can be found at www.americaspolicy.org, Carlsen was a correspondent for Latin Trade magazine, editor of Business Mexico, freelance writer and researcher. The Americas Policy Program is a program of the Center for International Policy in Washington DC, at www.ciponline.org