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---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 19:08:27 -0800 From: Mexico Solidarity Network <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Mexico Solidarity Network Email List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: MSN News &Analysis, January 23-29, 2006 MEXICO SOLIDARITY NETWORK MEXICO NEWS AND ANALYSIS JANUARY 23-29, 2006 1. OTHER CAMPAIGN IN CAMPECHE AND TABASCO 2. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS (OR THE oTHER CAMPAIGNS) 3. BORDER DISPUTES CARRY POLITICAL OVERTONES 4. NARCO-DEATHS IN ACAPULCO 5. MAQUILADORA EMPLOYMENT REACHES NEW HIGH 6. MSN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS 1. OTHER CAMPAIGN IN CAMPECHE AND TABASCO The Other Campaign was well received in the southern states of Campeche and Tabasco this week. On Monday, Subcomandante Marcos, now known as Delegado Zero, called for Southeastern Mexico to convert itself into "the base of a huge rebellion. Here what has to rise up, as it is rising up throughout the country, is something that must be named: a national rebellion that transforms the country. Not just to change the government, but rather to change who has the wealth and who produces it, to change the contemptible system." Marcos continued with his pointed critique of politics as usual in Mexico, but his most important message is hope and inspiration. The Other Campaign is trying to incite the poor majorities of Mexico to rise up, take control of their communities and directly challenge the existing power structures. On Saturday, Marcos spoke in Chacalpa, in the heart of Tabasco?s petroleum country, a region that has suffered almost unimaginable contamination from oil spills: "We have come to the conclusion that the time has come for us to take what is ours. And what is ours, what belongs to we who are campesinos, is the land, the machinery to work it, the markets where we sell our products. When we [EZLN] took up arms, we recovered our lands and improved our situation a little." The Other Campaign is an effort to unite an anti-capitalist left in Mexico and, eventually, throughout the world. To sign onto the Other Campaign, go to http://zeztainternazional.ezln.org.mx/. 2. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS (OR THE oTHER CAMPAIGNS) Robeto Madrazo, the PRI candidate for president and perhaps the most corrupt politician in Mexico, got his campaign off to a shaky start on Tuesday when he was booed off the stage at the University of Hidalgo, historically a PRI stronghold. Thousands of students greeted Madrazo with whistles (a particularly derogatory gesture in Mexico) and shouts of support for other candidates. PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tried, ineffectively, to mimic some of the Zapatista's rhetoric when he promised to "govern by listening." Lopez Obrador is plagued by a party whose leaders (including Lopez Obrador himself) are mostly PRI castoffs not adverse to using traditional dirty tricks to obtain electoral posts. The fight for local candidacies in Mexico City has been particularly brutal, and the party is badly divided. PAN candidate Felipe Calderon is bogged down by the continuing scandal in Los Pinos (Mexico's White House) over the unexplained enrichment of the sons of first lady Martha Sahagun. President Fox raised the stakes this week by publicly proclaiming the innocence of his wife's sons, in anticipation of an investigation commissioned by Congress that should be released next week. It was bad timing for Calderon, who is trying to build his campaign around honesty in government. 3. BORDER DISPUTES CARRY POLITICAL OVERTONES The US-Mexico border was again at the center of disputes this week. On Monday, men dressed in Mexican military uniforms crossed into the United States guarding a shipment of marijuana. Texas police confronted a convoy of three SUVs with at least ten heavily armed men aboard on I-10 about 50 miles east of El Paso. The vehicles did a quick U-turn and headed back to Mexico. One vehicle suffered a flat tire and a second got stuck while crossing the Rio Grande, where an army-style Humvee tried in vain to extract it. The smugglers left more than half a ton of marijuana in the first car and burned the second after unloading bales of pot. No shots were fired during the encounter. Press reports noted that military style uniforms are readily available in Mexican markets; however, they failed to mention that humvees are much harder to come by and military style weapons are strictly controlled in Mexico. The hot tempered US Ambassador Tony Garza quickly issued a formal diplomatic note demanding an exhaustive investigation. Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez responded on Thursday with his own diplomatic note, calling on the US to investigate the December killing of a Mexican immigrant by the US Border Patrol. Derbez demanded that the US Embassy lower its tone, and suggested that US soldiers disguised as Mexican troops may have been in the Humvee. Three US soldiers recently pleaded guilty to running a smuggling ring from a US base in Colombia and a recent FBI sting, dubbed Operation Lively Green, netted more than a dozen military and civilian workers in Arizona who transported drugs in official vehicles, including Humvees. Derbez denied that the Mexican army had anything to do with the affair, suggesting that someone might be using Mexican military uniforms to "damage the image of our armed forces." By Friday, Ambassador Garza issued a much toned down diplomatic note, and it was hard to find any US official who would speak on the record. Apparently the Bush administration realized that the dispute might negatively impact the PAN presidential campaign, and decided that a narco-military adventure on the US side of the border was of relatively less importance than a victory for the PAN in July's presidential election. Or could it be that they really were US military personnel in that Humvee? The border incident followed a story in the Inland Valley Times Daily Bulletin in Ontario, CA, on January 15 that claimed over 200 border incursions by the Mexican military since 1996. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff played down the report, claiming the vast majority were innocent crossings in remote areas where the border is poorly marked. He failed to explain how officials knew the border had been crossed if it was poorly marked. The incident also happened in the context of a US Congressional effort to build a 700-mile wall covering more than a third of the border. And the Mexican Human Rights Commission, a government agency, announced, then canceled, plans to publish 70,000 maps of the border region highlighting water stations, highways and rescue beacons that could save the lives of undocumented workers crossing the dangerous desert region. The Human Rights Commission claimed to have second thoughts, since the maps could be used by vigilante immigrant hunters on the US side, but vigilante groups claimed publicly that they already know where most of the watering stations are located. 4. NARCO-DEATHS IN ACAPULCO At least four drug smugglers died during a shootout on Friday in an upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco. The narcotics smugglers used military style assault weapons and grenades, wounding at least five police. By Saturday, the city of Acapulco was under a state of siege, with army troops and other federal agents occupying city streets and government buildings. And on Tuesday, two soldiers were killed in a car accident while being chased by assailants, probably drug traffickers, firing weapons. It was unclear why the traffickers were doing the chasing. More than 1,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico over the past year, part of a turf war between the Gulf Cartel of Northeastern Mexico and an alliance of smaller mafias from the western state of Sinaloa. The increased violence may also be related to this year?s presidential elections. Drug money finds its way into most political campaigns, and the battle may have more to do with control of politicians than control of territory. 5. MAQUILADORA EMPLOYMENT REACHES NEW HIGH Maquiladoras employed 1.2 million workers at the end of 2005, and those numbers are expected to increase this year to 1.4 million. While employment in the clothing sector decreased by 25% in 2005, employment in automotive parts and electronics grew by 15% and 11% respectively. At the end of last year, 2,890 maquiladoras, located mainly along the US border, produced mainly consumer goods valued at US$113 billion. Direct foreign investment is expected to reach US$3 billion this year. Ciudad Juarez led employment in the maquiladora sector with 229,000 workers, while Tijuana had the largest number of plants with 576. Maquildoras are assembly plants, mostly foreign owned or subcontracted to foreign companies, that produce almost exclusively for export. About 90% of Mexico's maquiladora production is destined for the US market. A typical mquiladora worker earns from one to three dollars an hour, including benefits and production bonuses. 6. MSN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS January 20 - February 20, 2006: Another Kind of Politics: Autonomy, Community Power and Zapatismo in the US Tour on the East Coast. The Snail's Pace Collective, formed during the fall MSN study abroad program, will offer workshops on grassroots resistance in the US, with lessons from the Zapatista Movement. February 5 - May 13, 2006: Spring Study Abroad Program. Students and activists can earn 16 credits studying Mexican social movements. February 24- March 11, 2006: Historical Lessons in Immigration Policy: Ex-Bracero/Wells Fargo Tour in California. March 1 - 15, 2006: International Women's Day Tour to Demand Justice for Victims of the Femicides in the Northeast. March 12-24, 2006: Women Confronting Globalization Tour: Militarization, Human Rights and Fair Trade Tour in PA, NY and Canada. March 26 - April 8, 2006: Women Confronting Globalization: Militarization, Human Rights and Fair Trade Tour in MN, IA, NE, KS, and OK. April 2 - 14, 2006: Women Confronting Globalization: Militarization, Human Rights and Fair Trade Tour in the Southeast. April 17 - May 1, 2006: Socioeconomic Context of Immigration Today: Stories from Chicago Day Laborers in ND, SD, MN, WI, IL, IN, MI and MO. April 24 - May 3, 2006: Immigrant Rights: Ex-Bracero Tour in DC, MD, VA, NC, and SC. May 28 - July 8, 2006: Summer Study Abroad Program: Earn 8 credits studying Mexican social movements in the context of the upcoming Mexican presidential election. Alternative Economy Internships - Develop markets for artisanry produced by women's cooperatives in Chiapas and make public presentations on the struggle for justice and dignity in Zapatista communities. Interns are currently active in Fort Collins, OR; Spokane, WA; Alexandria, VA; Grand Haven, MI; Chico, CA; Sacramento, CA; Stonington, ME; Lancaster, PA; St Paul, MN; Louisville, KY; San Francisco, CA; Turner, OR; Athens, GA; Chicago, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Guelph, Canada; Davis, CA; Tempe, AZ; and Madison, WI. ############################################################# Mexico Solidarity Network http://www.mexicosolidarity.org This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. 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