Mexico's U.S. Ambassador Reflects Nieto's 'Contempt for Diplomacy'

El Universal (Translated by: World Meets): The foreign secretary's recent appointments to our embassy in the United States speak to the contempt of President Peña Nieto's diplomacy. These appointments are being made after six months of vacant representation in Washington. During that time, Barack Obama nominated Roberta Jacobson, who has impeccable diplomatic credentials, as the next ambassador for Mexico. However, Peña Nieto opted for an old family friend from Mexico City to occupy the office, Miguel Basanez, who while is a respectable university professor, has no experience in the Foreign Service.

The already-ratified ambassador just held a disastrous meeting with senators from the National Action Party [PAN – now the main opposition party]. He acknowledged his lack experience but boasted of "citizen diplomacy." He suggested not reacting to the tough language of Donald Trump, "because it would grant him a level of recognition he lacks, since only one in 15 people in the U.S. follow him." He claimed that abuse of our migrants by U.S. authorities is a myth, and downplayed the negative image of Mexico projected by recent corruption scandals because, "the Americans are accustomed to dealing with African countries which are equally or more corrupt than ours."

What If Peña Nieto Resigns? Scenarios for Government Change in Mexico

Huffington Post: Since the resignation of Pascual Ortiz Rubio in 1932, Mexico has enjoyed uninterrupted presidential continuity, a streak that is unmatched by any major political system in the Western Hemisphere (and possibly among the longest in the world). Over the course of these 82 years, no presidential term has been cut short due to death, assassination, resignation, coup d'état or any other sort political upheaval and as a result, it has become difficult to imagine an interruption to this orderly succession that most Mexicans have taken for granted. However, the outbreak of social unrest from the Ayotzinapa crisis combined with the streak of scandals that have engulfed the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto over the past two months have perhaps made the unthinkable slightly less so. For those of us in the business of analyzing political and economic risk, the last few years have demonstrated that highly improbable events do in fact take place and therefore deserve a more nuanced look. Read more. 

Mexico workers protest labor overhaul bill

LA Times: Workers oppose a bill that would change workplace and union rules, saying their rights are at risk. The bill's failure would be a blow to President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto. By Tracy Wilkinson and Cecilia Sanchez.

MEXICO CITY — Mexicans took to the streets Wednesday to protest a proposed law that is aimed at modernizing rules in the workplace and making Mexico's powerful, corrupt unions more accountable.

The protests represent an early salvo against the incoming government of President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto, who promised broad reforms to stimulate the economy but who may encounter in the workers and their unions an insurmountable challenge.

Many workers say they fear that the so-called labor reform law would be abused to curtail the few protections they have. And the dinosaurian, notoriously undemocratic unions have long had a cozy, mutually beneficial relationship with Peña Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and they will resist change that could cut into their power. Read more.

Mexico labor reform seeks to loosen hiring, union secrecy; workers say they will be the losers

AP: MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s main political parties agree that the country’s dysfunctional labor laws need to be retooled. What they don’t agree on is how, with a new proposal to loosen hiring and increase union democracy threatening to unleash a wave of labor unrest.

Advocates say the reform, which will allow part-time work, hourly wages and outsourcing, will help Mexico create the million new jobs per year it needs for young people and migrants returning from the United States. It is backed by both President Felipe Calderon, who submitted it to Congress this month, and President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto. Read more.

Mexico's left in disarray ahead of election

Boston Globe: "Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has left behind his image as an angry leftist for what he's calling his "Republic of Love" campaign in a second try for the Mexican presidency.

The left's candidate for the July 1 election has adopted the slogan "Abrazos, No Balazos," or "Hugs, Not Bullets," putting forth a warmer persona, a more business-friendly platform and an anti-crime program that relies largely on increased jobs and education programs.

But while Mexicans appear ready to boot out the ruling center-right National Action Party, or PAN, it's not Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party they are turning to for change. Instead, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which governed Mexico for 71 uninterrupted years before the PAN nabbed the presidency in 2000, suddenly looks new, with a fresh-faced candidate and a strong lead in the polls." read more

Mexico Politics: Mexican Presidental Race Begins in Earnest

With the official filing of candidacies this past weekend, the race for the Mexican presidency is off and running. The current president, Felipe Calderón, of the PAN party, cannot run for re-election. His party currently has three candidates competing for its nomination. Enrique Peña Nieto is the candidate of PRI, which held total power for 70 years. In public opinion polls, he holds a significant lead over all other candidates, including Andrés Manuel López Óbredor of the leftist PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution).

The three candidates of PAN (National Action Party) launced their campaigns against the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto on the first day of the primaries leading to the election of the Presidency of the Republic next July.

Ernesto Cordero said he did not forget the 70 years of crisis and the "corrupt PRI government," nor the fact that the State of Mexico (where Peña Nieto was governor) has the largest number of femicides. On Saturday, Peña said he can forget the author of a book, as happened in Guadalajara, but not violence.

Santiago Creel, meanwhile, "I don't want to see a government of ignorance come to be". Josefina Vazquez Mota said: "I am the lady of the house that others speak of with contempt." (This was a reference to the report that)  a week ago ... in an interview, Peña Nieto said that he did not know the price of tortillas because he was not "the lady of the house."

Mexico Politics: Mexico's early frontrunner formalizes presidential bid

Reuters: "Thousands of cheering supporters rallied around Enrique Pena Nieto, the charismatic young ex-governor of Mexico's most populous state, after he registered in Mexico City as the official presidential candidate of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). With a 20-point lead in national polls, Pena Nieto, 45, is the strongest candidate fielded by the PRI since the party that ruled Mexico for most of the 20th century lost power in 2000." read more

Impunity in San Salvador Atenco

Monica Wooters

The intense heat of San Salvador Atenco did not stop a large crowd from gathering in the main plaza to show their solidarity with the Peoples Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT, Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra). The event commemorated the third anniversary of the brutal repression of the movement by state and federal police that left two dead and scores of numerous human right violations

The events of May 2006 came after the FPDT—founded in 2001—placed itself on a collision course with the system after opposing a federal project to construct an international airport on community lands. The organization succeeded and the federal government was forced to suspend the project in 2002.

However, four years later, on May 3 2006, officials attempted to evict local roadside flower vendors on the authority of the municipal government, backed by the Mexico state government. The FPDT supported the flower vendors in their attempt to resist the eviction, resulting in a violent confrontation between the security forces and the social movement.

The confrontation lasted two days and resulted in many major human right violations including the death of two young people, Javier Cortés Santiago and Alexis Benhumea, sexual abuse, unwarranted raids on homes, assaults, violations of due process rights and the illegal expulsion of foreigners. Dozens of people were injured and some 211 individuals were arrested by the end of the two-day standoff. Many of those detained reported having been physically mistreated in custody, including sexual aggression and in five cases, rape.

As of the third anniversary twelve members of the movement and supporters remain in prison; three are serving sentences in the maximum security facility “Altiplano,” located in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico, while the remaining nine are serving in the Molino de las Flores prison in Texcoco, State of Mexico. The National and International Campaign: Liberty and Justice for Atenco has highlighted the three former cases due to their severity. Hector Galindo, former legal advisor to the FPDT and Felipe Alvarez, member of the FPDT, have each been sentenced to 67 years, while Ignacio Del Valle, president of the FPDT has been sentenced to a total of 112 years. In contrast, of the 21 police agents detained, only six were processed and none of them are currently serving sentences.

After three years, the Mexican and international courts have made little to no progress on the cases against the police for assault and abuse. The Mexican Supreme Court issued a resolution on Dec. 12, 2008 recognizing the existence of major human rights abuses but failing to implicate state or federal officials that have been publicly identified as responsible by many individuals close to the case. The two main officials accused of political responsibility for the violence perpetrated by security forces are the State of Mexico’s governor, Enrique Peña Nieto and the Federal Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora.

Peña Nieto, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party in power in Mexico for some 70 years prior to 2000) has been regularly mentioned as the leading candidate for the Mexican presidency in the 2012 elections, implying the return of the PRI to national power. The court ruled that investigation into Peña Nieto’s role in the repression was unnecessary and limited the scope of the investigation. It has yet to produce its final resolution on the Atenco case.

In July 2008, Cristina Valls, a Catalan woman who was the victim of abuse and rape by security officials, submitted her case to the Audiencia Nacional of Spain. Her petition calls for the invocation of the Convention Against Torture of 1987, signed by both Spain and Mexico as well as the “application of decision 237/2005 of the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal, which establishes that the only requisite to begin proceedings and investigate a serious crime is that the accused has not been acquitted, pardoned or sentenced in another jurisdiction for the same facts and with regards to the same persons,” as argued by her legal defense spearheaded by Women’s Link.

Although Valls claim that she and others were raped and beaten in police custody has been corroborated by a report from the Psychosocial Health Section of Doctors Without Borders in Spain, the case was dismissed twice by judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska. The judge stated that Valls’ case was already being investigated by Mexican authorities. Valls and Women’s Link have appealed the decision twice and it remains unresolved. Valls also linked the lack of interest on the part of the Spanish court to the political climate between Mexico and the European Union. “There are trade agreements between Europe and Mexico with democratic clauses that would be invoked if human rights violations are recognized.”

Eleven women who were also victims of abuse in the Atenco case have petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)to make a declaration stating that the Mexican government has violated their human rights. They are still in the beginning stages of the process after presenting the petition in April of 2008 along with the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Centro Prodh) and the Center for International Justice and Law (CEJIL).

While the national and international legal systems act slowly if at all, the people of Atenco remain strong in their commitment to keep up the fight until justice is done. At the third anniversary, Mexican academics, actors, human rights activists and others spoke out against the injustice and pledged their solidarity with the FPDT. The organization also has garnered international solidarity through Zapatista networks and among human rights organizations.


As the guests prepared to speak to the crowd, it was the grassroots members of the FPDT frying up the sopes, setting up the stage and tying up banners that read “Tierra, Justicia y Libertad” (Land, Justice and Liberty) who made the event radiate with hope. The event ended when the whole crowd cried out together: HASTA LA VICTORIA, VENCEREMOS!


For More Information:

Libertad y Justicia para Atenco: Campaña Nacional e Internacional
http://www.atencolibertadyjusticia.com/new/