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From: CIEPAC <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 12:06:43 -0600
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Ciepac-i] English Chiapas al Dia 267 I
�CHIAPAS AL DIA� BULLETIN, No. 267
CIEPAC; CHIAPAS, MEXICO
(November 21, 2001)
WORLD WAR: CONSEQUENCES FOR MEXICO
If war means for the United States isolating one�s enemy in geographic,
military, political, economic and social terms, then terrorists will do the
same. Thus Mexico could become a flank of attack, susceptible on all
fronts.
Mexico�s foreign policy regarding the war, as defined by the Foreign
Secretary Jorge Casta�eda unleashed a wave of sharp criticism from
politicians of all stripes. Casta�eda stated �We can't have half-hearted
measures with the United States. The Americans are our most important
partners and they have given us first-class treatment. We can�t dicker over
our support�. President Vicente Fox declared that �the attack against the
United States is an attack against Mexico� and stated that support to the US
would not be military. Let us see, then, some examples of the consequences
for Mexico over the past 70 days following the terrorist attacks, to help us
detect tendencies in the short and mid-terms. Some indicators vary
according to the source, but all coincide in that the crisis and the
recession of the Mexican economy is worsening at an accelerating pace,
within the wider scope of the world economic recession.
ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
Before September 11 the country�s economy was in a sharp crisis. Exports had
dropped 11% and maquiladora (in-bond assembly plants) sales dropped 16%.
There was a already negative trade balance that worsened. The Secretary of
the Treasury confirmed that 400,000 persons had lost their jobs, including
the sacking of 33,000 bureaucrats. Likewise, the Secretary of Labor, Carlos
Abascal, conceded that at year�s end some 346,000 jobs in Mexico would be
lost. After the terrorist attacks indicators fell ever more sharply, while
maquiladoras were closing and the ongoing crisis continued in the sugar,
coffee, corn and pineapple sectors, among other agricultural products
affected by the opening of Mexico�s market. During Fox�s government, three
budget cuts have topped 30 billion (thousand million) pesos (US$1 =
MX$9.20). Inflation is on the rise and now totals 394,013.92% over the past
30 years. At the end of October the federal government conceded that Mexico
had entered an economic recession and the country�s growth would be zero
this year. The reason? Not because of neoliberal policies, but, according
to the government, due to kamikaze terrorists. Following the attacks, the
most affected sectors have been tourism, air and land transportation,
petroleum, import and export companies, foreign direct investment, the
automobile industry, maquiladoras, manufacturing, food-processing,
especially those companies linked to the export sector, and the agricultural
sector, among others.
Some sources foresee that the maquiladoras will lose 20% of their foreign
sales. Growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will continue to fall;
foreign trade (exports and imports) will lose US$52 billion due solely to
the terrorist attacks. It is estimated that by the end of 2001 unemployment
will reach 2,200,000 workers in the country; of these 250,000 will lose
formal employment, 750,000 will lose their jobs in the informal sector, and
1,300,000 people that work less than 40 hours a week (the underemployed),
will lose even those jobs. The Center for Economic Studies of the Private
Sector predicted capital flight, a contraction of the internal market by 10%
over the coming months and a 30% drop in exports and investment. For the
American Chamber of Commerce, 40% of the almost 2,800 U.S. companies in
Mexico could significantly reduce their operations.
Mexico�s dependence on the US increased following enactment of the
free-trade agreement (NAFTA) with North America. But now Americans are
saving rather than consuming, leading to a drop in trade with Mexico. Trade
between the two countries is the second largest worldwide and hovers at 4%
of world trade. Eight-seven percent of Mexico�s exports go to the US, as
does 85% of the cars produced here and 80% of our oil. Eight percent of the
tourist who visit Mexico are from the US, as is 79% of foreign direct
investment (FDI) and some 40,000 companies (including 3,600 maquiladoras)
trade with the US. Eighty percent of Mexico�s agricultural market is with
the US (US$1.6 billion); exports and imports run at US$10 billion, a sum
similar to our oil exports. Mexico brings from the US 60% of its food, 60%
of its tourism and around US$8.5 billion FDI yearly. Following a historic
pattern in which the US provokes a loss of food sovereignty in a number of
countries, we can foresee a drop in US agricultural subsidies, leading to
increase in prices for basic goods. US agriculture already controls around
50% of the world food market, In 1999 Mexico imported from the US 43% of the
sorghum it consumed, 97% of soy (almost totally genetically modified), 40%
of cotton seed, 27% of sesame, 50% of its wheat; 50% of corn, 60% rice and
30% boned meat. US companies have bought and invested in practically all
sectors: tobacco, railroads, automobiles, agricultural chemicals, auto
parts, banks, drinks, trade, construction, electricity, gasoline stations,
water, supermarkets, insurance, appliances, food, seeds, electronic
equipment, pharmaceuticals, mining, petroleum, gas, telecommunications,
textiles, hotels, computers, machinery and equipment, fishing, etc. US
dominates the following sectors: banks, trade, industry and employment. In
other words, what we eat, dress, and how we work. This is our dependence
and our loss of food sovereignty, and our loss of control over our economy
and society, a fact many people don�t wish to understand. This is what
NAFTA has created. The Mexican maquiladora industry alone represents more
than 90% of our exports. Yet, in spite of it all, the Foreign Secretary
warned recently that no effort would be made to reopen NAFTA negotiations.
Some 7.8% of the country�s income comes from trade duties, now sure to drop
as trade itself diminishes. Just in the first few days after the terrorist
attacks, the Treasury Department loss 25% of its income from border
crossings. The volume of exports by sea dropped between 15% and 40%
throughout this year. Inspection times for cargo vessels have affected 50%
of the export companies. 70,000 people who worked in the maquiladora
industry along the US border had lost their job before September. The
country with the lowest costs for raw materials and labor wins the market.
And now China will enter into trade competition with Mexico, sure to
inundate the Mexican market with its cheaper products, taking with it some
of the maquiladoras. Before Vicente Fox�s term is over, company closures and
unemployment, due to China�s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO),
will have wrecked havoc in the country. Yet the doors opened to
multinational corporations by trade treaties are not open to the poor.
Borders are being closed to migrants heading for the US. Many Mexicans that
worked in New York have headed for Mexico. Just in New York there are at
least 500,000 residents from the state of Puebla and 100,000 head each year
to their home towns. In New York, Los Angeles and Chicago reside 75% of the
Mixtecos that have emigrated to the US. It�s estimated that in the first
few days after the attacks, some one million dollars stopped flowing into
Mexico due to a drop in the remittances from Mexican residents in the US.
One million people from Puebla in the US send back to their families some
US$800,000, a flow of funds that has let to the opening of bank branches and
exchange houses in small municipalities. (The situation is worse in El
Salvador and Honduras, whose economies depend heavily on remittances from
the US). In 2000 Hispanics resident in the US made up 12% of the total
population (32.8 million). Mexicans are 66% of the Hispanics, i.e., 22
million people who send remittances equivalent to 2% of the national GDP,
one of the principal sources of income for Mexico. In 2000 remittances
totaled US$6.572 billion, equivalent to 40% of oil exports, outstripping
tourism, in spite of the fact that 71.5% of the Mexicans in the US earn less
than the US national average. A footnote: of the 8 million Mexico-born
people living in the US, only 2 million have taken up US citizenship with
full voting rights.
The consequences along the Mexico�s northern border have been disastrous.
Some 12 million people live along the 3,152 kilometers of the border with
the US, and some 950,000 legal border crossings occur daily. Tijuana is the
world�s most visited spot. Of the 50,000 trailers that crossed into the US
recently, 10,000 could not later return when the US drew up new guidelines
for the forge-proof laser visas. Border traffic dropped up to 90% and in
many cities offices and businesses closed. In Ciudad Ju�rez the local
office of the State Employment Service reported that more than 10,000
persons, overwhelmingly from the maquiladoras, are now unemployed.
The aviation industry generates 26,000 direct jobs. Yearly some 11 million
people travel between Mexico and the US on Mexican and foreign airlines, in
addition to 407,282 tons of cargo in the same period. This activity
generated income for the country of some US$9.935 billion per year. Tourism
is the third source of hard-currency income in the country and employs 1.9
million persons. After the terrorist attacks a drop of 30% in tourism was
foreseen, with losses of some 300 million dollars, and the hotel industry
will lose US$1 billion, as cancellations rise dramatically. The number of
airline passengers dropped 40% in Cozumel, 23.6% in Canc�n and 18.7% in
Huatulco. Mexicana and Aerom�xico airlines cancelled 100 flights and air
traffic has dropped some 20%. The sale of tickets to the US dropped 60% and
the losses in Aerom�xico and Mexicana reached US$16.5 million days after the
attacks. Adding to the Mexican airlines� woes, US airlines offer cheaper
tickets on national flights and to Mexico thanks to the US government�s
rescue package, thus competing unfairly with Mexican airlines that are in
danger of going bankrupt or falling into the hands of multinational
corporations. And so history repeats itself: the US can subsidize and
rescue its economy, but poor countries can�t. Aerom�xico announced it would
lay off between 700 and 1,400 workers and, meanwhile, at least a hundred
travel agencies have closed. The crisis has also much affected the mail
services that have seen losses in business activity of up to 30%. Likewise
earnings of insurance companies that underwrite Mexico�s trade credit
operations have plummeted.
Losses of up to US$2 billion are foreseen at the end of this year for the
tourism sector. This would mean greater unemployment especially for the
region�s poor who migrate to seek jobs. Mexico�s southeast received 6
million visitors during 2000. Canc�n is the most visited spot, with some 4
million foreign visitors during 2000, but now the sector has lost 75% of its
business. Interestingly, the �Arab-Mexican Peoples Together� Seminar, that
was to bring together entrepreneurs and diplomats from the Middle East in
the state of Quintana Roo, was cancelled. Some 29,000 jobs have been lost
in Canc�n, and in other locales some 40,000 jobs have disappeared, between
formal and informal employment. A significant drop in tax revenues is
foreseen and so too social spending in the region, dependent on tourism for
some 85% of its economy. As a sign of the times, 30 new pawn shops opened.
The port city of Acapulco, site of some 20,000 workers in the tourism
industry, has already seen layoffs of up to 40%. To jump start the tourism
industry, the government will have to spend some 300 million pesos in
publicity. In Yucat�n hotels have dropped their tariffs by 35%, and
Mexicana and Aerocaribe airlines have dropped their tariffs 30%. In the
state of Guerrero tourism has plummeted, where 45% of the population works
in the service sector, and where tourism is the principal source of income.
Studies show that 60% of the hotels could face liquidity shortages by the
end of the year, which has led to layoffs. Exporters in Guerrero report
initial losses of US$2 million due to cancellation of sales in the US of
perishable goods and other products due to customs controls and the snail�s
pace at the border. For some business sources, losses of around US$8
billion this year will be due to the drop in trade with the US. In Guerrero
the secretary of the Economy Luis Ernesto Derbez predicted that the textile
industry will lay off thousands this year alone.
Some days after the attacks some bank branches in Mexico City closed and the
US embassy was evacuated as greater security measures were taken. The stock
exchange took a tumble and the peso lost value against the dollar. Now more
pesos are required to buy a dollar and those companies that had
dollar-valued debts took a loss. Other importing firms have had to cancel
orders placed abroad and lose shipments. For its part the Mexican
government searched among the 30 million banks accounts in the country that
allegedly had to do with terrorists. The government�s plan to arise from
the ashes of recession is none other than to use the funds deposited by
workers in the Retirement Savings System, an amount equal to 16% of the GDP,
for financial speculation and investment. In any event the general
population continues losing: either through more taxes, greater foreign
debt, or workers� funds used for speculation and to �rescue� the economy.
Programs from the Plan Puebla Panama were stalled when economic growth
stagnated. Foreign Minister Casta�eda rejected that this plan is
�clandestine�, emphasizing rather its investments. Nonetheless credits from
the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) for Mexico this year totaled 600
million pesos. Soon loans for 2002 will be agreed upon, which will lead to
greater foreign debt and to the design of an internal economic policy by the
multilateral banks. The IDB, pillar of the PPP�s financial structure, has
stated that it will be difficult to fulfill in the short run the objectives
foreseen , since more than US$4 billion will be necessary. Faced with a
crisis, the Mexican government announced it would avail itself of the
financial �bullet-proofing� plans previously drawn up with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the IDB in the amount of US$26
billion.
Vicente Fox announced that Mexico is ready to sell to the US all the oil it
needs. �We have the oil and are ready to go to work. Basically we are
supply a goodly portion of the oil that the Americans are consuming. We
have oil ready for sale to the US and other countries�. President Bush
recently ordered the US to increase its strategic oil reserves to their
maximum level. Up to now, Mexico has sent 1.714 million barrels of oil per
day to the US, giving Mexico a third of the country�s foreign income.
Although oil prices are falling, leading to the government�s decision to cut
the budget for the third time this year, they may again turn up, which would
allow Mexico to honor its foreign debt commitments, including those with the
US. Today Vicente Fox is giving in to the US�s desire to keep the price of
oil low in its benefit, but to Mexico�s detriment. Fox has proposed to
raise oil exports to 1.825 million barrels per day during 2002, further
glutting world supply and lowering prices. These measures put Mexico at
odds with measures adopted by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC). There is also demand for electricity. The US government
has gone out of its way to firm up a strategic alliance so as to guarantee
energy resources for the country. Two electrical generating plans are being
built in Baja California, with 100% US capital, in order to satisfy
California�s energy needs.
Passage of the Fiscal Reform package in the Mexican congress is crucial to
Fox. But to push it through congress, the PAN has 207 of the lower
chamber�s 500 deputies, and needs 44 more votes in order to be in the
majority and support the executive�s proposals. Unless the PAN lines up
sufficient votes, Fox is seeing mirages. He recently stated at the
Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) that globalization is �a
means by which all of our countries can improve our tasks...it is thus more
than welcome (...) it�s an error to view globalization as unequitable�.
Regarding inequality, Fox added �it�s there, among the poor that exist in
all our countries...it�s a movie that is repeated in all countries, and it�s
precisely trade cooperation, exchange and investment that can offer change
and improvement for our peoples (...) and for that reason we can now state
that we are working to open ourselves to other economies. Mexico wants to
invest, it�s a good option for investment and nowadays we are open to
capital from any source�.
POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES
On Sunday October 7 the US began bombing Afghanistan. That same day Fox and
the political parties in the Mexican congress signed a �Political Agreement
for National Development� and, one day later, Mexico was accepted into the
Security Council of the United Nations (UN). Forty Arab countries belong to
the UN. To earn a seat on the Council the Mexican government waged a huge
campaign from its more than 70 embassies throughout the world. Mexico�s
membership within the Council, beginning in 2002 for a period of two years,
could lead either to a diplomatic confrontation with the US, or backsliding
to American interests. Foreign Secretary Casta�eda warned that Mexico�s
position is �to align itself as closely as possible with the definitions
made by the Security Council and by the General Assembly of the United
Nations�. All UN members are required to comply with Security Council
decisions. When war breaks out it calls for peace, or at least for an end
to the conflict as soon as possible. The Council also sends United Nations
troops (the Blue Helmets) to maintain peace in some territories. The
Council can adopt coercive measures, economic sanctions or joint military
actions. Yet reports from the UN state that of the 109 armed conflicts
during the 90s, the Council (composed of 15 members, 10 of which are elected
every two years and five with a permanent status: China, US, Russia, France
and England) has been able to do relatively little to solve them. All of
these countries, with the exception of China, are part of the G-8 along with
Canada, Italy, Germany and Japan. In addition, the US has a million-dollar
debt with the UN in unpaid fees, of which it paid US$600 million after the
terrorist attacks, in order to obtain support against Afghanistan.
Meanwhile the political agenda between the US and Mexico has been postponed,
including topics of undocumented migrant regulation in the US, increasing
the number of permanent visas and visas for the temporary worker program,
increasing border security and the encouragement of economic development in
Mexico.
The Secretary of the Interior Santiago Creel sent to the US a list of those
people considered �terrorists� in Mexico. Whomever is on the list, rightly
or wrongly, could soon be facing the music. Coincidentally guerrilla groups
have again been identified as terrorist groups. Within this context two
Mexican federal judges were murdered, as was Digna Ochoa, who had defended
the imprisoned �indigenous ecologists�, Montiel and Cabrera, considered
prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. AI has also taken on the
cases of alleged members of the Revolutionary Popular Army (EPR), a
politically sensitive issue, due to links to the army and high government
officials. There was tremendous national and international pressure due to
the terrible murder of Digna Ochoa that sullied President Fox�s image on
human rights. Days after Digna�s murder Fox freed Montiel and Cabrera, and
offered to free General Gallardo, imprisoned for two years for having
pointed out abuses and corruption within the armed forces. Yet Fox shows no
willingness to free the Zapatistas in jail, one of the conditions placed by
the EZLN to restart talks, because dialogue would seem to be what least
interests him. This difficult relationship with the EZLN, and with human
rights groups, adds to his woes due to tensions with the press, with
Congress and with other power groups. There is a vacuum of power in the
country and no candidate for a successful transition has come forth.
MILITARY CONSEQUENCES
President Fox stated that Mexico would take its support for the US�s fight
against terrorism �as far as necessary, up to the end. We are totally
committed [to the response of] the events of September 11 (...) Obviously
not militarily, no, we are not a military country. We do not have a strong
army�, he stated. The last conflict in which Mexico participated was World
War II when in 1942 it declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan, after a
German submarine sank the Mexican tankers �Potrero del Llano� and �Faja de
Oro�, that were carrying oil to the US. Now, in this war, Mexico changes
strategies in matters of intelligence, migratory matters and national
security. But Mexico�s territory and its infrastructure go beyond the
capabilities of the country�s security forces. Mexico has almost two
million square kilometers of land, plus another three million square
kilometers of territorial seas; two thousand kilometers of shoreline and
more than two thousand islands. The US has nine consulates in Mexico, more
than in any other country, and Mexico has 46 consulates in the US. In
Mexico there are 1,200 airstrips and national and international airports.
The most important airports are Mexico City, Canc�n, Guadalajara, Monterry,
Tijuana, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, El Baj�o, Tampico, M�rida and San Jos�
del Cabo. New contingency plans were put into place to strengthen control
posts, security systems, lock-up of parked planes, human or machine
inspection of all luggage, etc. This will all become a Herculean task if
there are terrorist attacks. The navy has no submarines, cruisers or
aircraft carriers. Equipment is old, remodeled, and dates from the World
War II, or is a castoff from the US. Further, Mexico has 53 geothermal
electrical plants that, in a war setting, could be a strategic source of
energy for the US. Many are located in the border area of the states of
Baja California, Coahuila and Tamaulipas. Mexico is currently selling
between 150 and 250 megawatts of electricity to California.
The Mexican armed forces �doubled� the number of soldiers defending the
security of 135 strategic installations in the country. There are four
�vital zones� to be watched: the Channel of Yucat�n, the Golf of Mexico and
the Campeche Sound, the Isthmus and Gulf of Tehuantepec and the US and
Guatemala borders. The Mexican army is on alert in its 12 military regions
and 44 military zones. The Navy-Coast Guard has 32,000 people to watch the
coasts. An increase in the security control zone has been decreed, from
6,000 to 12,000 square kilometers, around the oil wells in Campeche Sound,
source of 75% of the country�s oil production and 45% of our natural gas.
The measure has hit the fishing industry the hardest, which was already in
crisis. Some 1,600 soldiers, a destroyer, a frigate and four gun boats, six
interceptor boats, 14 planes and eight helicopters have been pressed into
service to defend the area where the country�s most important oil reserves
are located. More than 200 marine platforms, mostly in Campeche Sound, are
theoretically in PEMEX�s hands, but the operation, machinery and oil tankers
belong to US companies. The Laguna Verde nuclear plant in Veracruz is
guarded by boat and 120 navy marines. Mexico�s Attorney General�s office
(PGR) decided to create an elite antiterrorist group with the US�s FBI, and
announced the creation of the Federal Investigations Agency (AFI), a local
version of the CIA in the struggle against terrorism. The AFI will take the
place of the Federal Judicial Police (PFP), and the local office of
Interpol-Mexico will maintain contact with 177 countries, sharing
intelligence information. Thus the global circle tightens, dominated by the
US in economic, political, military and law-enforcement terms. Meanwhile the
PFP unleashes its 9,500 members in order to guard ports, airports, roads,
borders, bus terminals and strategic and energy-related installations such
as electrical, thermo-electric, hydroelectric, and nuclear-electric plants,
including oil platforms, refineries, etc. The PFP has an elite group called
the Special Operations Group that received training in France, Israel and
Spain.
Once again, as in the last century, the US government doles out propaganda
among undocumented migrants, offering to legalize their stay in the US in
return for service within the US armed forces. Some sources state that New
York is home to almost one million Mexicans, 80% of whom are undocumented.
The Federation of Zacatecas Clubs in the US declared than between 150,000
and 200,000 young people above 18 years of age, born in the US, could be
recruited. The government of the state of Zacatecas, meanwhile, declared
that at least 900 Mexican citizen had already been called by the US army,
and the government of the state of Mexico stated than some 500,000 of its
native sons were in the US, some of whom could be called into the National
Guard, where 7% of its soldiers are Hispanic. This is yet another reason
behind the return of Mexicans. After September 11, some 600,000 Mexicans in
the US requested a �presumption of nationality� document in order to return
to Mexico as soon as possible.
According to Mexico�s Secretary of Defense, the number of military personnel
increased from 169,746 to 230,000 between 1990 and 2000. Mexico has
increased the purchase of war equipment by 300%. The Secretary also reports
than in the past few years some 7,000 land vehicles and 86 airplanes have
been purchased and that the budget for national security including the
PGRhad increased 15% annually. Equipment comes from manufacturers such as
Northrop, Lockheed, Pilatus, Douglas, Fairchild-Hiller, Cessna,
Aerospatiale, Bell, Rockwell, Beech, Swearingen, Mercedes Benz, among
others, from the US, Switzerland, France, Germany, England and Belgium. In
1994 the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London released
information regarding the shipment of 80 French tanks for maneuvers in
Chiapas. Meanwhile in Switzerland the shipment of 48 military planes, worth
US$231 million, has been blocked since 1995.
The day following the terrorist attacks a report from Mexico�s Center of
Investigations and National Security (CISEN) confirmed the presence of at
least 32 subversive groups in Mexico, among them the EZLN, EPR, FARP and FLN
(see www.ciepac.org/mapas). We recall that on September 1, the day President
Fox gave his annual report, two explosive devices went off at shops located
in Mexico City�s international airport, one at a McDonald�s restaurant, and
the other at a car dealership. The National Guerrilla Coordination �Jos�
Mar�a Morelos y Pav�n� claimed credit for the explosions. Bombs were also
detonated in three bank branches not too long ago. But these events aside,
governments have used the climate of world war to eliminate internal enemies
under the guise of the struggle against terrorism.
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES
Restrictions on civil liberties are now occurring. At borders and airports
stricter migratory controls are in place, and official identification is
being requested. In the first few days after the attacks, some 200,000
persons were forbidden to enter the US because they lacked documents now
being required. At some airports travelers are being ask to show documents
that prove they are not Muslims. In Mexico there are 800 Muslims and very
little Muslim investment. The Mexican government drew up a list of some 60
countries whose citizens are now required to obtain previous permission in
order to obtain an entry visa for Mexico. Among the countries: Cuba,
Colombia, Congo, Korea, China, Russia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Taiwan, but the
ones under special supervision are Afghanistan, Azerbajyan, Bosnia, India,
Macedonia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Days
after the attacks, 96 undocumented Iraqis were detained at naval
installations in Campeche. In Mexico City, 126 undocumented persons (96
from Iraq, 6 Albanians, 9 Bangladeshis, 4 Burmese, 6 Sierra Leonans and 7
Sri Lankans) were under detention in the Iztapalapa naval facility .
Social effects will worsen if Fox�s Fiscal Reform package is passed, which
would guarantee payment of the foreign debt and promises to end the losses
in the pension system. This Reform includes the elimination of subsidies
for water supplies. Privatization of water services is rumored, with
interest being shown by firms from Spain, France, US and Mexico. The Reform
package would impose a uniform 15% tax on food, medicine, school tuition,
books and magazines, public transportation, and taxis, all presently exempt.
It would also reduce workers� profit plans, as well as the elimination of
other subsidies, in order to raise some 130 billion pesos, while the Fox
government spends 12 million pesos daily for publicity campaigns and
millions more on trips abroad. In one year, Fox has gone on 16 trips
abroad, visiting 25 countries and signing 14 agreements on foreign
investment, which has yet to arrive. As governor of Guanajuato he took more
than 30 trips abroad, visiting 22 countries. Thus, neoliberal tendencies
are deepened: unemployment and inflation go up, as do military spending,
company bankruptcies, limited government bailouts, foreign debt and
political polarization.
In light of the crisis, it is imperative that we find, strengthen and
continue to search for autonomous alternatives for the countryside, for the
rural, campesino and indigenous economy. We must keep present conditions
from expelling people from their lands, because returning and reclaiming
possession will be difficult. We must strengthen the local economies in an
integral manner, in spite of the worsening situation. Means of survival and
resistance must be tried out in order to strengthen internal market
alternatives and barter systems. New education and health systems must be
tried out. It will be important to maintain encounters, exchange of
experiences, and a search for alternatives among diverse population groups.
At this crucial time the indigenous people and campesinos will find less
jobs in the cities and far fewer possibilities of crossing the militarized
border with the US, and if successful, finding a job will become a
nightmare.
Sources: Uno m�s Uno, Milenio, Cr�nica, Este pa�s, La Jornada, Proceso,
Quehacer Pol�tico, V�rtigo, Cambio, Proceso Sur, Impacto, La Crisis, �poca,
Econom�a Nacional, Reforma, Canc�n Voz del Caribe, USA Today, UNICEF, ONU,
INEGI, SEDENA, Subsecretar�a de Asuntos Religiosos de Gobernaci�n,
Secretar�a de Econom�a, Secretar�a de Seguridad P�blica.
Gustavo Castro Soto
Center for Economic and Political Investigations of Community Action, A.C.
CIEPAC is a member of the Movement for Democracy and Life (MDV) of Chiapas,
the Mexican Network of Action Against Free Trade (RMALC)< www.rmalc.org.mx
<http://www.rmalc.org.mx/> >, Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the
Americas (COMPA <www.sitiocompa.org>), Network for Peace in Chiapas, Week
for Biological and Cultural Diversity <www.laneta.apc.org/biodiversidad
<http://www.laneta.apc.org/biodiversidad> > and of the International Forum
"The People Before Globalization", Alternatives to the PPP <
http://usuarios.tripod.es/xelaju/xela.htm>.
Translated by Miguel Pickard, for CIEPAC, A.C.
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contribute, in any amount, we would infinitely appreciate your remittance to
the bank account in the name of:
CIEPAC, A.C
Bank: Bancomer
Account number: 7049672
Sucursal 386
San Crist�bal de las Casas, Chiapas, M�xico.
You will also need to use an ABA number: BNMXMXMM
Thank you! CIEPAC
Note: If you wish to be placed on a list to receive this English version of
the Bulletin, or the Spanish, or both, please direct a request to the e-mail
address shown below. Indicate whether you wish to receive the email or the
"attached file" (Word 7 for Windows 95) version.
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web page: http://www.ciepac.org/ (Visit us: We have new maps on
the situation in Chiapas)
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
__________
CIEPAC, A.C.
Centro de Investigaciones Econ�micas y Pol�ticas de Acci�n Comunitaria
Eje Vial Uno Numero 11
Col. Jardines de Vista Hermosa
29297 San Crist�bal, Chiapas, MEXICO
Tel/Fax: en M�xico 01 9 678-5832
era de M�xico +52 9 678-5832
---------------
C I E P A C
Centro de Investigaciones Econ�micas y Pol�ticas de Acci�n Comunitaria, A.C.
Eje Vial Uno No. 11
Colonia Jardines de Vista Hermosa
29297 San Crist�bal de Las Casas, Chiapas, M�xico
Tel�fono y Fax: (01)967 6785832
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.ciepac.org/
CIEPAC es miembro del Movimiento por la Democracia y la Vida (MDV) de
Chiapas; de la Red Mexicana de Acci�n Frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC;
<www.rmalc.org.mx>); de la Convergencia de Movimientos de los Pueblos de las
Am�ricas (COMPA;
< www.sitiocompa.org <http://www.sitiocompa.org/> >); de la Red por la Paz
en Chiapas; de la Semana por la Diversidad Biol�gica y Cultural
<www.laneta.apc.org/biodiversidad <http://www.laneta.apc.org/biodiversidad>
>; y del Foro Internacional "Ante la Globalizaci�n, el Pueblo es Primero",
Alternativas contra el PPP.
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