Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 07:08:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Spoon Collective <spoons-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU> Subject: Mexican Labor News and Analysis, V II, No. 13 (fwd) This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to mime-AT-docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info. --ef35f841-f34f-11d0-9d78-00805fea3c3d Content-ID: <Pine.A32.3.93.970703070819.79933M-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 23:03:01 -0400 From: Dan La Botz <103144.2651-AT-compuserve.com> Subject: Mexican Labor News and Analysis, V II, No. 13 Dear Friend, Attached please find Mexican Labor News and Analysis, Volume II, Number 13. In solidarity, Dan La Botz --ef35f841-f34f-11d0-9d78-00805fea3c3d Content-ID: <Pine.A32.3.93.970703070819.79933N-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU> Content-Description: MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS=0D July 2, 1997=0D Vol. II, No. 13=0D About Mexican Labor News and Analysis=0D Mexican Labor News and Analysis is produced in collaboration=0D with the Authentic Labor Front (Frente Autentico del Trabajo -=0D FAT) of Mexico and with the United Electrical Workers (UE) of the=0D United States and is published the 2nd and 16th of every month. =0D MLNA can be viewed at the UE's international web site:=0D HTTP://www.igc.apc.org/unitedelect/. For information about direct=0D subscription, submission of articles, and all queries contact=0D editor Dan La Botz at the following e-mail address:=0D 103144.2651-AT-compuserve.com or call (525) 661-33-97 in Mexico=0D City. =0D MLNA articles may be reprinted by other electronic or print=0D media, but we ask that you credit Mexican Labor News and Analysis=0D and give the UE home page location and Dan La Botz's compuserve=0D address.=0D The UE Home Page which displays Mexican Labor News and=0D Analysis has an INDEX of back issues and an URGENT ACTION ALERT=0D section.=0D CORRECTION=0D In the June 2, 1997 issue of Mexican Labor News and Analysis=0D we erroneously reported that the Roche-Syntex workers had gone on=0D strike on June 1. In fact, no such strike took place. Though the=0D workers had announced their strike in newspapers appearing on May=0D 30, the strike was in fact called off at the last moment. An=0D election was held at the plant and the long-time CTM union was=0D defeated to be replaced by the employer's choice, a union=0D offering an inferior protection contract. I regret this error and=0D apologize to our readers. Dan La Botz, editor.=0D IN THIS ISSUE:=0D *Cardenas Leads; PRI Could Lose Control of Congress=0D *After Fidel--CTM Overtures to Foro Group=0D *Protests Against New Social Security Law=0D *Mexico Privatizes Second Major Railway Line=0D *Teachers Continue Mobilization in Provinces=0D *Retirees and Widows Protest to Demand Higher Pensions=0D *Human Rights Groups Criticize Mexico for Torture=0D *Free Press in Mexico?? Fifty Attacks on Reporters or Media=0D *Social Statistics: Production, Employment Up, Wages Down=0D *Labor Book Notes: Zapatistas, NAFTA and Education, Union=0D Administration of the Railroads=0D CARDENAS LEADS IN MEXICO CITY;=0D PRI COULD LOSE CONTROL OF CONGRESS=0D by Dan La Botz=0D As if it were some omen of change, we awoke here in Mexico=0D City on July 1 to find our streets, houses and cars covered with=0D ashes from the volcano Popocatepetl which "exhaled" during the=0D night, closing the international airport for several hours. =0D Is Popo's outburst a sign of the end of the PRI's one-party=0D dictatorship? Or is it just more hot air like that spewing forth=0D from many of the politicians?=0D With less than a week until the national elections,=0D Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)=0D candidate for mayor of Mexico City, continues to lead in the=0D polls with 48 percent of the vote. =0D At the same time, it appears that the Institutional=0D Revolutionary Party (PRI) could lose its majority in the Mexican=0D congress. If so, it would be the first time since the 1920s that=0D a Mexican president would not have the automatic support of the=0D legislature.=0D In the Mexico City mayoral election, Alfredo del Mazo of the=0D Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) trails far behind=0D Cardenas with 20 percent of the vote, just one percentage point=0D ahead of Carlos Castillo Peraza of the National Action Party=0D (PAN). =0D Greens--Party of Camacho?=0D Jorge Gonzalez Torres of the Mexican Ecological Green Party=0D (PEVM) appears to have about 10 percent of the vote. The Green=0D Party has had close ties to Manuel Camacho Solis, former PRI=0D leader who has announced his candidacy for president in the year=0D 2000. Camacho Solis was a former appointed mayor of Mexico City=0D and government negotiator with the Zapatista Army of National=0D Liberation for Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Some people see the=0D PEVM as a stalking horse for his candidacy. =0D Four other parties, known popularly as la chiquillada or the=0D little kids, will probably get only one or two percent each.=0D Cardenas's election as mayor could be crucial to the future=0D of Mexican politics, as many analysts see the Mexico City mayoral=0D election as a launching pad for the presidential election in=0D 2000. Some 50 million Mexicans will elect 1,100 governors,=0D senators, congress persons, and other officials on July 6, in=0D addition to the Mexico City mayoral elections. =0D The election is complicated by the military occupation of=0D many Mexican states. Human rights groups and non-governmental=0D election organizations such as the Civic Alliance (Alianza Civica=0D - AC) have argued that the military presence will intimidate=0D voters and make a fair election difficult if not impossible,=0D particularly in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca.=0D Final Election Rallies=0D The three major parties all held their final rallies last=0D week, each one bringing tens of thousands of its followers to the=0D Zocalo, Mexico's national plaza. The PRD appeared to have the=0D largest following, perhaps 150,000 or more while the PRI and PAN=0D assemblies were somewhat smaller.=0D While the PRD and PAN followers showed up out of political=0D loyalty, the PRI's supporters had other motivations. The=0D Department of the Federal District threatened to dock workers one=0D day's pay if they did not show up for the rally, street vendors=0D faced a five day suspension if they were absent, and small=0D merchants faced a one hundred peso fine. The PRI also gave its=0D supporters gifts and prizes worth as much as five dollars, and=0D free sandwiches, fruit and drinks. Of course there were cardboard=0D hats and balloons.=0D Crucial to the PRI rally was the support of the "official"=0D unions: the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), the=0D Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC), and=0D the Sole Union of Workers of the Federal District (SUTGDF). The=0D CTM has mobilized the entire national organization to get out the=0D vote for the PRI. =0D Management has also called upon employees to turn out=0D voters. For example, department heads at the Mexican Insitute of=0D Social Security (IMSS) received letters asking them how many=0D votes for the PRI they would be able to turn out. Those who=0D failed to respond were warned that their jobs might be in=0D jeopardy.=0D PRI Continues Attack on PRD=0D The PRI's president Humberto Roque Villanueva attacked the=0D PRD as a party of "traitors," and likened the PRD to Judas. Both=0D the PAN and the PRD, said Villanueva, want to divide the Mexican=0D people, the PAN secretly and the PRD openly. =0D The big election scandal so far has been that of the anti-=0D PRD videos. The PRI apparently had SUMMA Video Brock, a video=0D production and reproduction company, produce thousands of copies=0D of a short video juxtaposing falsified and real images which=0D attempt to link Cardenas to the teachers' union demonstrations,=0D the guerrilla movement of the People Revolutionary Army (EPR),=0D and violence in general. The shop was shut down, but the videos=0D are still being distributed free of charge to homes in middle=0D class neighborhoods, but seemed to have had little effect on=0D Cardenas's support and ratings.=0D The National Chamber of the Radio and Television decided to=0D give television time to the PAN's Mexico City mayoral candidate=0D Castillo Peraza who had been exluded from the debate between=0D Cardenas and Del Mazo. But on July 1 when we tuned in to watch=0D him, we found that the audio portion was unintelligible. The=0D Chamber attributed the problem to the transmitter, but the PAN=0D feared that the PRI was up to its old tricks. The PAN candidates=0D presentation was re-broadcast on July 2 this time with sound.=0D PRD Wins Some Labor Support, Woos Business=0D While the PRI controls many government workers, a group of=0D executive, legislative and judicial employees of the Federal=0D District placed an ad in newspapers on July 2 expressing their=0D support for Cardenas, "because he has been the only candidate who=0D has solidarized himself with our struggle, has listened to us and=0D has made our demands his..." The group urged all workers and=0D union members to vote for Cardenas and the PRD.=0D The PRD continued to attempt to win support or at least=0D neutrality from Mexican bankers and businessmen. Andres Manuel=0D Lopez Obrador, president of the PRD, met with the Mexican Council=0D of Businessmen at the Industrialists Club on June 11 to try to=0D convince the country's commercial, financial and industrial elite=0D that his party represented a reasonable approach to Mexico's=0D problems. =0D "Let nobody make a mistake," said Lopez Obrador, reading=0D from a prepared statement, "we are not against those who with=0D tenacity and effort risk capital, create jobs, obtain legal=0D profits and are committed to the development of Mexico." Lopez=0D Obrador told the businesspeople he wanted a renegotiation of the=0D debt, a larger role for the state in regulating the economy, and=0D for higher taxes on those able to pay. The PRD also wants a=0D reorientation of investment. "We think that instead of putting=0D capital into financial speculation, they would do a great service=0D to the country betting more on productive investment which=0D creates jobs," said Lopez Obrador.=0D The PRD's campaign among business people appears to have=0D worked. Mexican business interests, and New York bankers and=0D brokers appear to be reconciled to the victory of Cuauhtemoc=0D Cardenas in Mexico City and to the PRI's loss of power in the=0D Congress. Even the Mexican government and the PRI appear to be=0D prepared to face the biggest election defeat in nearly 70 years.=0D ###=0D AFTER FIDEL--NEW CTM LEADER=0D MAKES SOME OVERTURES TO FORO GROUP:=0D IS RECONCILIATION UNDERWAY?=0D Following the death of Fidel Velazquez on June 21, Leonardo=0D Rodriguez Alcaine was elected the new general secretary of the=0D Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), and immediately took two=0D actions which indicate some change in the posture of this most=0D important state-supported Mexican labor organization.=0D First, Rodriguez Alcaine and Victor Flores Morales, rotative=0D head of the Congress of Labor (CT), argued the necessity of=0D renegotiating the current labor-management-government pact, known=0D as the Alliance for Growth (APEC). Independent and democratic=0D unions and rank and file workers have criticized this and=0D previous pacts for keeping workers wages low.=0D Second, Rodriguez Alcaine and the CTM leadership called for=0D dialogue with the moderate opposition known as the Foro group of=0D unions. "The CTM is disposed to dialogue with the Foro group=0D companeros, it is disposed to dialogue with the companeros both=0D within and outside of the Congress of Labor in order to achieve=0D the unity of the workers movement in Mexico," said Alcaine.=0D Foro group leaders responded positively but cautiously to=0D the CTM leadership proposal. "We cannot speak the same language=0D if we are talking about reuniting in order to recreate the same=0D model and simply forgetting the past conflicts, while everything=0D goes on the same as it has until now, because this would be=0D unacceptable for us," said Francisco Hernandez Juarez, probably=0D the most important figure in the Foro group of unions.=0D "The fact that they call for unity doesn't mean that they=0D are ready to change," said Antonio Rosado, general secretary of=0D the Social Security Workers Union. "The CTM should understand=0D that what is needed is a renovation of the whole system, of its=0D structures." Rosado also said that the CTM would "have to quit=0D acting as if they were the owners (duenos) of the labor=0D movement."=0D Talks Begin=0D Whatever their reservations, on June 30 the Foro group=0D created a formal contact group to meet with Juan S. Millan, the=0D spokesperson for the CTM executive committee, and possible=0D candidate to replace Rodriguez Alcaine as general secretary. Many=0D see Millan as somewhat more liberal than Rodriguez Alcaine.=0D At the same time, the Federation of Unions of Firms of Goods=0D and Services (FESEBES), whose members belong to the Foro group,=0D began a series of "extraofficial" discussion with the CTM. Millan=0D of the CTM met with Rosado of the Social Security workers union.=0D Various leaders of the opposition union bloc stated=0D repeatedly that they would not leave FESEBES or the Foro group,=0D which can only lead one to speculate that some split in the=0D opposition may be developing.=0D The CTM has dominated the Mexican labor movement since its=0D foundation in 1936. The Forum of Unionism Before the Nation or=0D Foro group of unions was born on September 4, 1995 when 13 unions=0D held a public forum to discuss the issue of unemployment.=0D Subsequently another dozen unions joined the opposition=0D coalition.=0D While both the CTM and the Foro group now both talk about=0D the need for democracy and modernization of the union movement,=0D neither is talking about the need to carry out union campaigns to=0D fight the employer. The level of union strike activity remains at=0D an all-time low. Only the National Coordinating Committee of the=0D Teacher Union (la CNTE) engages in mass protests and strikes.=0D ###=0D PROTESTS AGAINST NEW SOCIAL SECURITY LAW'S=0D PRIVATE PENSION FUNDS=0D Mexico's new Social Security law privatizing the financing=0D of the retirement programs of the Mexican Insitute of Social=0D Secuity (IMSS) went into effect on July 1, and several groups=0D engaged in various sorts of protests.=0D The Movement in Defense of Public Social Security placed=0D demands for an "amparo," something like an injunction, before the=0D Mexican Supreme Court (SCJN). The group seeks to stop the new=0D private pension system from taking effect.=0D At the same time, the National Coordinating Committee in=0D Defense of a Solidarity Social Security System took its case to=0D the Mexican House of Representatives where it called for the=0D repeal or reform of the law.=0D In the Zocalo, the national plaza in Mexico City,=0D representatives of 30 organizations, altogether some 200=0D demonstrators, protested against the threat to the other major=0D social security system, that of state employees (ISSSTE). =0D At present about 4,700,000 workers, about half the workforce=0D affected by the law privatizing IMSS pension funds, have signed=0D up for one or another of the private pension plans. Those who=0D have not signed up have their funds placed in a "concentrating=0D account" in the Banco de Mexico which does not produce interest.=0D A study by the Mexican Institute of Social Security shows=0D that workers who earn one minimum wage during an entire working=0D life will only generate enough pension funds for 3.9 years of=0D retirement. Thus two million workers will not have adequate=0D retirement funds. =0D ###=0D MEXICO PRIVATIZES SECOND=0D MAJOR RAILROAD LINE=0D On June 26 the Mexican government sold off the second major=0D railroad line, the Pacific North Railroad, to the Mexican=0D Railroad Group (Grupo Ferroviario Mexicano (GFM). GFM is made up=0D of the Grupo Mexico, Associated Civil Engineers (Ingenieros=0D Civiles Asociados - ICA) and Union Pacific. The railway was sold=0D for 4.20 billion pesos or 524.5 million dollars. =0D With this sale, 80 percent of the Mexican railroad system=0D measured in tons per kilometer has been privatized.=0D The Mexican government has made it clear that in the=0D privatization of the nation's railroads, not all 44,000 railroad=0D workers will be rehired. In the case of the Pacific North=0D Railroad which employs 6,700 workers, only those unionized=0D workers needed by the company will be rehired, a government=0D spokesman said. A special fund is being created for the pensions=0D of the country's 56,000 retired railroad workers. =0D Victor Flores, head of the railroad workers union and of the=0D Congress of Labor, has had virtually nothing to say about this=0D particular process of privatization. In general Flores and the=0D union have supported privatization, while some small rank and=0D file railroad workers groups have opposed it.=0D ###=0D TEACHERS CONTINUE MOBILIZATIONS=0D IN THE PROVINCES=0D Mexican teachers continued their protests in the provinces=0D in demand of higher wages throughout the last two weeks of June.=0D The dissident teachers organizations once again showed their=0D creativity and militancy in a variety of confrontations in=0D several states.=0D In Pachuca, Hidalgo, 3,000 teachers seized the government=0D palace, a radio station and a local newspaper and blocked=0D highways demanding a 100 percent wages increase.=0D In Durango and Tijuana, Baja California, 1,200 teachers at=0D the government technical schools left work to demand the same 6=0D percent wage increase and 10 percent benefit increase received by=0D regular school teachers. =0D In Queretaro, thousands of teachers occupied public=0D buildings and blocked highways to demand a 100 percent wage=0D increase. The teachers in Queretaro from Local 24 of the Teachers=0D Union (SNTE) are led by the State Coordinating Committee of=0D Education in Guerrero (CETEG).=0D Meanwhile in Guerrero, police arrested the general secretary=0D of SNTE delegation D-III-2, Mariano Maya Vazquez and academic=0D subdirector Raul Leyva Martinez, leaders of the mobilizations in=0D that state which have been going on since June 16.=0D In a National Assembly of the National Coordinating=0D Committee of the Teachers Union (la CNTE), held on June 16 in=0D Tlapa, Guerrero, teachers called for an end to the militarization=0D of the state and condemned repression of teachers and Indians.=0D ###=0D RETIREES AND WIDOWS PROTEST IN MEXICO CITY=0D TO DEMAND IMPROVEMENTS IN PENSIONS=0D About 1,500 members of the National Unifying Movement of=0D Retirees and Pensioners (MUNJP) demonstrated at the Legislative=0D Palace in Mexico City on June 17 to demand improvements in=0D pensions. The movement, led by the anthropologist Blanca Irma=0D Alonso Tejeda, daughter of the group's deceased former leader=0D Eduardo Alonso Escarcega, calls for a pension two times the=0D minimum wage and for making widows' benefits the same as those of=0D a retiree. =0D The retirees also want: scholarships for the children and=0D grand-children of retirees; special rates from the electric and=0D gas companies; a minimum pension of 250 pesos a month (about 31=0D dollars); and that IMSS clinics and vacation centers remain=0D public.=0D ###=0D UNIVERSITY WORKERS DEMAND=0D FIFTY PERCENT WAGE INCREASE=0D The Union of Workers of the National Autonomous University=0D of Mexico (STUNAM) are demanding a 50 percent wage increase.=0D Augustin Rodriguez, general secretary of STUNAM, which represents=0D 24,000 workers called for immediate negotiations to achieve a 50=0D percent wage increase retroactive to June 1. About 1,000 workers=0D demonstrated at the Tower of the Rector on June 20 in support of=0D the demand. =0D Rodriguez has strongly criticized the University's new=0D rector Francisco Barnes de Castro, saying that his "extreme=0D roughness" in dealing with student problems is a "time-bomb."=0D At the same time, teachers on strike at the National=0D Pedagogic University (UPN) were warned that if they continue=0D their work stoppage they will be docked pay. The UPN teachers are=0D demanding that that university recognize their union=0D representatives and quit harassing the union.=0D ###=0D HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS CONTINUE=0D TO CRITICIZE MEXICO FOR TORTURE=0D Two human rights groups continue to criticize Mexico for=0D human rights violations, particularly for the widespread use of=0D torture. AI also pointed out that extra-judicial execution, that=0D is state killing of political opponents also exists in Mexico.=0D Amnesty International (AI) in its annual report described=0D the torture problem: "Security forces, including the Army and=0D paramilitary groups, tortured hundreds of arrested persons, among=0D them children, human rights activists, journalists, and members=0D of ethnic minorities. At least three persons, including one=0D minor, died as a result of the tortures.=0D "Among the methods of torture are beatings, semi-=0D asphyxiation with plastic bags and water, forced introduction of=0D water with pepper in the nostrils and electric charges. The=0D torture victims have not received adequate medical attention=0D during their imprisonment." Such torture, said AI, goes on with=0D impunity.=0D AI also criticized Mexico for holding dozens of persons=0D prisoners of conscience, that is prisoners for their political=0D views. Dozens of persons have been disappeared, while hundreds of=0D persons disappeared in past years have not yet been explained. AI=0D pointed out that the Mexican government holds General Francisco=0D Gallardo as prisoner because he advocated the creation of a=0D military ombudsman. The human rights group also mentioned the=0D imprisonment of Joaquin Hernandez Galicia and other leaders of=0D the oil workers union as an injustice.=0D The president of the Commission of Human Rights of the=0D Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District (ARDF),=0D Salvador Abascal, reported in June that the "violation of=0D individual guarantees continues to be very serious." He mentioned=0D in particular the use of torture, which goes on continually in=0D the jails and prisons of the city.=0D ### =0D FREE PRESS IN MEXICO??=0D FIFTY ATTACKS ON REPORTERS, MEDIA=0D Reporters are workers, and in Mexico working conditions are=0D not good.=0D There were at least fifty attacks on reporters and the media=0D in Mexico in 1996 according to the Paris-based international=0D organization Reporters without Borders founded in 1985.=0D In its annual report, Reporters Without Borders listed six=0D illegal arrests, 15 physical attacks, 11 cases of harassment and=0D threats, 11 cases of the use of legal suits to dissuade=0D reporters, one disappearance of a reporter, three impediments to=0D the circulation of the national press and three impediments to=0D the circulation of the foreign press. =0D These cases involved magazines and newspapers and radio and=0D television from various states of Mexico. For example, Oswaldo=0D Alonso of RADIOGRAMA was kidnapped from his home in Cuernavaca,=0D Morelos after criticizing the local police. Similarly in Ciudad=0D Obregon, Sonora, Heriberto Pena leon of the EXTRA DE LA TRADE was=0D attacked by 10 men after having criticized the local police.=0D ###=0D SOCIAL STATISTICS=0D INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND EMPLOYMENT UP=0D BUT WAGES ARE STILL DOWN=0D Foreign Investment=0D The United States is far and away the biggest direct=0D investor in Mexico, contributing 69.7 percent of the direct=0D investment in the first four months of 1997. Total U.S.=0D investment was 499.1 million dollars in the first third of the=0D year. Korea followed with 13.7 percent of the direct investment,=0D or 98.0 million dollars. (Yadira Mena, "Abarca 69.7% inversion=0D direct de EU en Mexico," REFORMA 19 June 1997.)=0D Foreign Trade and Investment.=0D Exports rose 18.6 percent in the first four months of 1997,=0D while investment rose 18.1 percent, according to the Secretary of=0D Finance (SHCP). (Antonio Castellanos, "Aumentaron 18.6 y 18.1%=0D las exportaciones y la inversion," LA JORNADA 20 June 1997.)=0D Industrial Production=0D Mexico's industrial production grew 15 percent in April=0D compared to April of last year, according to the Secretary of=0D Finance (SHCP). In the first four months, the industrial sector=0D grew by 8.4 percent. (Antonio Castellanos, "Hacienda: crecio 15%=0D la production industrial in abril," LA JORNADA 18 June 1997.=0D Maquiladora Employment=0D Maquiladora employment is up 20.7 percent compared to this=0D time 1996, according to the Mexican National Institute of=0D Statistics (INEGI). According to INEGI, 873,748 workers were=0D employed in the maquiladoras in April of 1997. (Ernesto Sarabia,=0D "Aumenta en 20.7% empleo maquiladora," REFORMA 28 June 1997.)=0D Unemployment=0D In May, the open unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent of=0D the economically active population (PEA), its lowest point in the=0D last 29 months, according to the Mexican National Institute of=0D Statistics (INEGI). (Ernesto Sarabia, "Llega desempleo a niveles=0D del '94," REFORMA 19 June 1997.) Many authorities estimate the=0D actual combination of unemployment and underemployment as near 25=0D percent.=0D Employment and Wages=0D While industrial manufacturing employment rose 5.1 percent=0D in the first four months of 1997, real wages per person employed=0D fell 2.9 percent, according to the Mexican National Institute of=0D Statistics (INEGI). ("Sube el empleo, baja el salario," REFORMA=0D 27 June 1997.)=0D Fall in the Purchasing Power of Wages=0D Since 1994, real wages have lost 26 percent of their=0D purchasing power, according to the Commission on Distribution and=0D Management of Consumer Good of the Mexican Senate. ("Cayo 26% el=0D poder de compra del salario respecto al 94," LA JORNADA 27 June=0D 1997.)=0D Fall in Consumption of Basic Goods=0D The Mexican Association of Studies for the Defense of the=0D Consumer (AMEDEC) reports that in the national market in the last=0D three years, consumer began to give up meat, milk and chicken and=0D substitute them with other products. The consumption of these=0D goods, said AMEDEC, fell between 24 and 30 percent since 1994.=0D (Particia Munoz Rios, "Dramatica caida en el consumo de basicos,"=0D LA JORNADA 19 June 1997.)=0D Poverty=0D The poverty rates in Latin America remain between 30 and 35=0D percent of the population, according to the executive vice=0D president of the World Bank, Shahid Javed Burki. "Now there are a=0D greater number of poor people living in Mexico than two or three=0D years ago," he added. (Jim Cason and David Brooks, "Hay mas gente=0D pobre en Mexico que hace dos o tres anos: BM," LA JORNADA 27 June=0D 1997.)=0D Malnutrition=0D According to a study by the National Nutrition Institute, 43=0D percent of all minors in rural indigenous and marginal areas are=0D malnourished to some degree. (Angeles Cruz, "Desnutrido en algun=0D grado, 43% de ninos indigenas: encuesta del INN," LA JORNADA 28=0D June 1997.)=0D Abuse of Migrants=0D The American Friends Service Committee reports that in the=0D last 28 months there have been 239 cases of the abuse of migrants=0D at the Tijuana-San Diego border by the Border Patrol or other=0D police agencies. (Jorge Alberto Cornejo and Ruben Villalpando,=0D "ONG: en 28 meses, 239 casos de abuso contra indocumentados,"=0D REFORMA 25 June 1997.)=0D Sexual Exploitation of Children=0D Sexual abuse of children is on the increase in the city of=0D Mexico, according to the Miguel Augustin Pro Juarez Center for=0D Human Rights, a Roman Catholic organization. UNICEF estimates=0D that 13,376 children live on the streets of Mexico, and many of=0D them fall victim to sexual abuse. (Triunfo Elizalde, "Crece la=0D explotacion sexual de menores en la ciudad de Mexico," LA JORNADA=0D 27 June 1997.)=0D ###=0D LABOR BOOK NOTES=0D Yvon Le Bot. Subcomandante Marcos: El sueno zapatista. Mexico: =0D Plaza y Janez, 1997. 376 pages.=0D Yvon Le Bot's new book (issued simultaneously in Spanish and=0D French) represents one of the most important contributions to the=0D discussion of the Chiapas Rebellion and the Zapatista Army of=0D National Liberation (EZLN). Le Bot's book, sympathetic to the=0D Mayan Indians and the Zapatista rebels, offers one of the most=0D intelligent and critical examinations of the Zapatista movement=0D and its politics. This book represents a turning point in the=0D literature dealing with the Zapatista movement, opening a window=0D and letting fresh air circulate in academic and political=0D circles. =0D The first half of the book is a long introductory essay by=0D Le Bot, while the second is comprised of interviews with=0D Zapatista leaders Marcos, Moises and Tacho. What makes this book=0D so important are the questions Le Bot asks or implies, both in=0D his introduction and in his interviews. How did the EZLN's=0D politics evolve? What was the relation between the original=0D Guevarist project and the Indian movement? How democratic was the=0D traditional Mayan village? How democratic is the Zapatista Mayan=0D village? What is the relationship between the Zapatista project=0D in the Maya lands, and a possible democratic project in Mexico as=0D a whole? Le Bot--and Marcos--suggest that the answers to these=0D questions are more problematic than many of their supporters=0D understand. This book cannot be recommended too highly to those=0D interested in the Zapatista movement or engaged in solidarity=0D organizations. =0D ***=0D Hugo Aboites, Viento del Norte: TLC y privatizacion de la=0D Educacion Superior. Mexico: Casa abierta al tiempo and Plaza=0D y Valdez Editores, 1997. Notes, 429 pages.=0D Hugo Aboites is not only a professor and researcher in the=0D Department of Education and Communication of the Metropolitan=0D Autonomous University at Xochimilco, but also an activist and=0D advisor to the movement of students and parents which has=0D challenged so-called educational reforms. In this significant=0D book, Aboites examines the influence of the North American Free=0D Trade Agreement (NAFTA), organizations such as the World Bank and=0D International Monetary Fund, and the American model of higher=0D education on Mexico's university system. =0D Aboites argues that the United States's model of education=0D based on tuition, restriction of access, commercialization of=0D services, and links to private industry has worked to destroy=0D Mexico's tradition of free higher education. Aboites argues in=0D the conclusion of his book that Mexicans should fight for=0D autonomy, democracy, and the creation of an economy which=0D improves the lives of Mexico's masses. Everyone interested in=0D issues of higher education in Mexico and the United States, and=0D in the effects of NAFTA and neo-liberalism on our societies=0D should get and read this book.=0D ***=0D Gustavo Lopez Pardo, La Administracion Obrera de los=0D Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico. Mexico: UNAM & El=0D Caballito. Notes, bibliography, 217 pages.=0D Gustavo Lopez Pardo, a researcher at the Institute of=0D Economic Investigations of the National Autonomous University,=0D has written an important book about one of the most fascinating=0D episodes of Mexican labor history: the workers' administration of=0D the national railroads from 1937 to 1941 during the=0D administration of President Lazaro Cardenas. Cardenas completed=0D the nationalization of the Mexican railroads (begun during the=0D Porfiriate), but this turned railroad workers into public=0D employees without the right to strike. To resolve this conflict=0D with the railroad workers union, Cardenas turned the=0D administration of the railroads over to the union. =0D Cardenas made it clear that the union's could administer the=0D railroads, but did not own them and could not determine their=0D basic policies, such as shipping rates. The railroads remained=0D capitalist corporations, albeit owned by the government and run=0D by the union. The once militant union, now both manager and=0D workers' representative, became deeply divided internally and=0D ineffective in either role. Eventually the railroad management=0D passed back into the hands of the state. This book makes an=0D important contribution to the history of the Mexican labor=0D movement and the Cardenas administration, and to discussions of=0D workers' management of industry.=0D END OF MEXICAN LABOR NEWS AND ANALYSIS VOL II NO 13, JUNE 2, 1997 --ef35f841-f34f-11d0-9d78-00805fea3c3d-- --- from list aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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