National/International: Calderón requests that the UN revise its drug strategy

Felipe Calderón @ Milenio

On 26 September, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa gave his final speech as president of Mexico before the General Assembly of the United Nations, during which he demanded that all member-nations open a debate regarding the prohibition of the consumption of drugs.

Calderón focused centrally on drug violence, asserting that if consumer countries, particularly the U.S., are incapable of restricting consumption, this debate should be opened; he anticipated that Mexico will lead a multinational strategy by means of an accord to detain the flow of arms across borders.  “The legal combat against drugs has generated a black market that leaves huge economic profit for criminal organizations that now have an unlimited capacity for corruption that allows them to buy governments,” he noted.  “The economic power of the organizations dedicated to trafficking in drugs, weapons, money, and persons is being converted into political power,” he said.  ‘The criminals seek to control territory; they dispute the strength of states.”

The Mexican president added that if UN member states “cannot or will not reduce their consumption of drugs, at least they should regulate the exorbitant flow of resources that finance criminals.”  But “if this cannot happen, it is the time to explore other alternatives if reduction in consumption cannot be achieved.”

For this reason, he announced that Mexico will support an agreement that limits or prohibits the trade in conventional arms when there exists the risk that these will be utilized to commit violations of international law.

For some analysts, the war-strategy of the present government, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands, in fact led to the multiplication of drug-trafficking groups in Mexico.  They indicate that the smallest and most violent groups took the place of the larger ones, building new alliances instead of disappearing.  At the same time, the Sinaloa cartel and the Zetas cartel arose as the principal organized-crime groups in Mexico.

For more information (in Spanish):

La ONU debe debatir sobre el enfoque prohibicionista de la droga: Calderón (CNN México, 26 de septiembre de 2012)

La esquizofrenia de Calderón (Proceso, 27 de septiembre de 2012)

Plantea Calderón ante la ONU analizar el enfoque prohibicionista de drogas (La Jornada, 26 de septiembre de 2012)

Urge Calderón a ONU “acción” anticrimen (Milenio, 26 de septiembre de 2012)

Debe ONU revisar prohibición sobre drogas: Calderón (El Universal, 26 de septiembre de 2012)

FCH pide en ONU revisar política en materia de drogas (El Universal, 27 de septiembre de 2012)

ONU: Calderón sorprende con discurso enérgico (El Nuevo Herald, 26 de septiembre de 2012)

Video-Audio:

En vivo: Asamblea General de la ONU (Aristegui Noticias, 26 de septiembre de 2012)

Presidente Felipe Calderón realiza su último discurso como presidente (Youtube, 26 de septiembre de 2012)

National: Reactions to the recognition of EPN’s electoral victory

Handing over of document confirming the PRI’s victory (http://www.enriquepenanieto.com/)

On 31 August 2012, Enrique Peña Nieto, candidate for the coalition Commitment to Mexico which is comprised of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Green Ecological Party of Mexico (PVEM), received notice that he was officially accredited president-elect, following the validation by the Judicial Electoral Tribunal of the Federation (TEPJF) of the 1 July election.  He will take office as president on 1 December of this year.  In this way, the TEPFJ unanimously rejected the denunciations brought forward by leftwing parties to invalidate the presidential election.  Surrounding the Tribunal were more than 500 federal police, who protected the center from behind sandbags.

In light of the TEPJF’s decision, the reactions came quickly.  Both the Progressive Movement, led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO, candidate for the leftwing parties in the July election), and social movements (#IAm132 in particular) and civil organizations rejected the failure of the magistrates.  Thousands of persons took to the streets of Mexico City to protest and surround the TEPJF center in protest.

AMLO called for a mobilization on 9 September in the Zócalo of the capital so as to discuss steps moving forward.  He declared, “Hopefully it will be understood in this way how they defend the regime of corruption, while we are prepared to abolish this.  We will not sign any cease-fire, nor will be concede anything, even though they continue to attack us, accusing us of being bad losers, messianic madmen, or just hungry for power.”

For his part, President Felipe Calderón congratulated EPN and wished him the best successes as Executive.  PAN members said for their part that they did not support AMLO with his demands, but they will call for transparency in election (in particular, that the IFE resolve the two complaints regarding the Monex case).

Similarly, PRI representatives called for resolutions to be observed.  EPN himself gave a speech in the center of the Electoral Tribunal affirming that legality is fundamental for democratic governance, and that all candidates should have to respect this.

For more information (in Spanish):

“Es tiempo de iniciar una nueva etapa”, dice Enrique Peña Nieto (CNN México, 31 de agosto de 2012)

“No puedo aceptar el fallo del Tribunal Electoral”: López Obrador (CNN México, 31 de agosto de 2012)

Condenan representantes de la izquierda fallo del TEPJF (Proceso, 31 de agosto de 2012)

Panistas piden continuar pesquisas de caso Monex (El Universal, 1 de septiembre de 2012)

Comicios irregulares no pueden ser legítimos, dice #YoSoy132 (La Jornada, 1 de septiembre de 2012)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Oaxaca: Protests against “imposition,” detention, and torture (25 July 2012)

National: “National Convention against Imposition” in Atenco (25 July 2012)

National: In the presidential elections, a controversial electoral process and results (10 July 2012)

National: In the presidential elections, a controversial electoral process and results

Elections in San Cristóbal, 1 July 2012 (@SIPAZ)

The presidential elections of 1 July have exhibited a divided Mexican society.  On the one hand, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) that was to administer these elections declared on election night that the candidate for the electoral alliance “Commitment to Mexico” between the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Green Ecological of Mexico (PVEM), Enrique Peña Nieto, defeated Andrés Manuel López Obrador, candidate of the “Progressive Movement” coalition comprised of the Party for Democratic Revolution (PRD), the Labor Party, and the Citizens’ Movement.  In third place came Josefina Vázquez Mota of the National Action Party (PAN), leaving Gabriel Quadri de la Torre in last place (PANAL).  These results were based on the Program of Preliminary Electoral Results (PREP), which indicates the tendencies without necessarily declaring these to be final.  Following the IFE’s announcement by means of its president, Leonardo Valdés, President Felipe Calderón openly supported the IFE’s position, which had granted victory to Peña Nieto.  The PRI candidate then declared himself winner of the elections, while López Obrador expressed on the night of 1 July that he would determine his position once official data on the electoral count had been released.

Beyond this, following the elections there have been presented demonstrations of incomformity with the process, as with the results of the election.  Part of this has to do with the mobilizations taken up by the movement #IAm132 on 2 July due to the irregularities that had been reported from several voting locations in the country, as well as due to the victory awarded to Peña Nieto by the IFE without its having official results.  For his part, López Obrador declared on Tuesday 3 July that he would challenge the results, and that a recount should be had in more than 100,000 voting spaces, given the evidence of irregularities there.  He denounced that the PRI electoral campaign exceeded the spending limits that had been established by law, and that votes had been bought as well as coerced by the PRI apparatus.  The IFE has reported that in the official computation of the vote that began on 4 July, 54.5% of the votes (78,012 booths) would be reviewed.

As of 4 July, according to 98.95% of the PREP’s findings, the following were the results for the presidential election: Enrique Peña Nieto 38.15%; Andrés Manuel López Obrador 31.64%; Josefina Vázquez Mota 25.40 %; Gabriel Quadri de la Torre 2.30%.

For more information (in Spanish):

Resultados del PREP 2012

Hubo irregularidades que afectan 30% de la votación: Alianza Cívica(La Jornada, 5 de julio de 2012)

Coacción y compra de votos benefició al PRI: Alianza Cívica (Animal Político, 4 de julio de 2012)

Canalizó el PRI 160 MDP vía monederos electrónicos para compra de votos, denuncia Monreal (Proceso, 4 de julio de 2012)

 Se contará 54.5% de votos de comicio presidencial: IFE (La Jornada, 4 de julio de 2012)

Marcha #YoSoy132 en repudio a imposición del candidato priísta (La Jornada, 3 de julio de 2012)

Coacción, agresiones, falta de boletas y robo de urnas empañan elecciones en ocho estados (La Jornada, 2 de julio de 2012)

Misión de OEA destaca orden en elecciones (El Universal, 2 de julio de 2012)

La ONU encabeza ejercicio de observación en México, recibe 1,300 denuncias (CNN México, 2 de julio de 2012)

Guerrero: Failure of State to observe sentence in the Radilla case

Tita Radilla. Photo @SIPAZ

During the audience called for on 22 June by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) to present the report regarding the Mexican government’s observance of the sentence in the case Rosendo Radilla Pacheco v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos (23 November 2009), Tita Radilla Martínez,  Rosendo’s daughter, expressed her denunciations, because this resolution has not been observed, and her father has not been found or even searched for.

In a communiqué, the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights reported that according to Tita Radilla, though Mexican authorities have undertaken several actions supposedly having to do with observing the sentence, “this process has not been one of healing.”  Furthermore, she stressed that “the authorities have not taken into account our expectations, and in this sense they have carried out different actions that end up revictimizing us, as it is with the act of recognition of responsibility that does not include our presence, or the failure to put the victims in charge of excavation and investigation.”

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights supported the position of the victims and their representatives, urging the Mexican State to accelerate its observation of the sentence and to attend to the needs of the victims in this process.  Rosendo Radilla Pacheco was arrested at a military checkpoint in 1974, and he has continued to be disappeared since that moment.

For more information (in Spanish):

El Estado actúa contra víctimas en el caso Rosendo Radilla, acusa su hija Tita (La Jornada, 26 de junio)

Se realiza audiencia de seguimiento de cumplimiento de la sentencia del caso Radilla ante la CoIDH (Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de Derechos Humanos, 25 de junio)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero briefs: The PGR should report on the Radilla case (13 December 2011)

Guerrero – briefs: government announces installation of Commission of Truth and Tita Radilla receives recognition (28 November 2011)

Guerrero – briefs: NGO informs US authorities regarding Mexico’s obligations under Mérida Initiative (26 November 2011)

Guerrero – briefs: State accepts responsibility in Radilla case in absence of relatives (27 November 2011)

Mexico/US: 15% of the funds of the Mérida Initiative may be tied conditionally for human-rights concerns

Kathleen Fitzpatrick (@US State Department)

On 10 May, press reports announced that the U.S. government was considering delaying 15% of the funds for the Mérida Initiative (that is, approximately $18 million) to make them conditional to the human-rights situation in Mexico.  It should be remembered that the U.S. government received $26 million in aid to Mexico in 2010, recommending that the autonomy of the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) be expanded, giving it constitutional powers regarding the observation of international human-rights law and an end to military tribunals.

On 10 May, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Adjunct Subsecretary of State, announced that the Obama administration “still has not made a decision” on this question and that it will not do so until it has undertaken a more complete analysis regarding the progress made in Mexico in terms of human rights.

Regardless, Fitzpatrick revealed that though Mexico had seen important advances in legislative terms, “there still remains much work to be done from here on out regarding the implementation of these laws,” stressing that “impunity prevails as one of the most critical obstacles for the Mexican judicial system, whose capacity to impart justice remains limited.”

Regarding military tribunals, she noted that “if the military has ceded jurisdiction in some cases, the process still has not been included in the Constitution, and the military tribunals have continued reclaiming their jurisdiction in some cases involving civilians.”  Fitzpatrick also stressed the case of attacks and murders of journalists in Mexico, as well as on human-rights defenders and women.

In this context, different human-rights organizations, Mexican and U.S., insisted on the necessity of delaying the distribution of these funds until the Mexican government demonstrate significant advances in these terms.  ”We believe that Mexico continues without having met its obligations,” claimed Maureen Meyer, representative of the Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA), reason for which she recommended the Obama administration to sanction the Mexican government by delaying these funds for the Mérida Initiative, given the rights-violations committed by security forces.

For more information (in Spanish):

Sube presión sobre México por violación de derechos (El Universal, 11 de mayo de 2012)

EU: gran impunidad en crímenes contra periodistas (La Jornada, 11 de mayo de 2011)

EU exhibe a México: impunidad, violación a derechos humanos, asesinatos de periodistas (Proceso, 10 de mayo de 2012)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

México: Forum on “Military Cooperation, the Democratic Process, and Human Rights”  (29 May 2009)

Mexico: US approves another 300 million for Mexico as part of the Mérida Initiative (12 March 2009)

Guerrero: Act of recognition of responsibility on part of Mexican State in case of Inés Fernández on 6 March

Inés Fernández Ortega. Photo@Centro Prodh

The Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights has reported that on 6 March at 1pm, in the Zócalo of Ayutla de Los Libres, Guerrero, there will be held a public act of recognition of responsibility by which the Mexican State will carry out for Inés Fernández Ortega and her family.  This would be in accordance with the sentence handed down by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) in October 2010.  A Me’phaa indigenous woman, Inés Fernández Ortega, was raped by soldiers of the Mexican Army in 2002 and has been struggling since then for justice in the case.  For those who will not be able to be physically present at the event, there will be live transmission at the Tlachinollan website: http://www.tlachinollan.org/ines-y-valentina.html.

For more information (in Spanish):

Página web de Tlachinollan sobre casos de Inés Fernández y Valentina Rosendo

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero – Briefs: Mexican State recognizes responsibility in the case of Valentina Rosendo (21 December 2011)

Guerrero – briefs: NGO informs US authorities regarding Mexico’s obligations under Mérida Initiative (26 November 2011)

Guerrero – briefs: NGO demands that Calderón observe sentence in case of Valentina Rosendo and Inés Fernández (28 November 2011)

Guerrero – briefs: Judge acquits attacker of Radio Ñomndaa Committee member; Interior Ministry evades compliance with sentencing in the case of Inés and Valentina (4 February 2011)

Mexico/US: “An instructive event: the lessons of Plan Colombia for US foreign policy toward Mexico and other countries”

On 10 November, the Washington Office for Latin Americans Affairs (WOLA) published a report entitled “An instructive event: the lessons of Plan Colombia for US foreign policy toward Mexico and other countries.”  In 2007, Mexico and the US agreed on an aid package of $1.4 billion to combat drug-trafficking and organized crime in observation of the so-called “Mérida Initiative.”  To date, analysts have compared it with the Plan Colombia, signed in 2000.

Comparing these two agreements, WOLA came to assert the following in its report: “Almost four years after the launch of the Mérida Initiative, significant improvements in security terms have not been had.  In place of arresting violence, the capture or murder of dozens of organized crime capos has brought this about.”  It affirms that results to improve public security have been lacking, and that instead human-rights violations have increased.

In the time that has passed since the beginning of the Mérida Initiative, it notes, “organized crime has diversified its illegal income-generating activities.  The extortion of small and large companies has increased dramatically, and this has led many such businesses to close or, as in zones like Ciudad Juárez, to flee.  Extortional kidnappings have exploded.  The cartels have taken control of the trafficking of persons in a number of border zones and transit routes of migrants, extortioning and murdering thousands of migrants, many of them originating from Central America.”

WOLA recommends in its report that “the best would be not to finance abusive armed forces.  But if the U.S. chooses to train and finance militaries with histories of abuses, it has the absolute obligation of pressing for the generation of a climate that would favor respect for human rights.  This would presuppose ending the impunity for abuses committed by soldiers and the promotion and incentivization of policies that reward respect for human rights.  It is not just a matter of offering training.”

In response to the report, the Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE) of Mexico noted that the the bilateral Mérida Initiative “complements today the efforts Mexico makes to confront organized crime.”  It sustains that the program has contributed to the training of nearly 14,000 public servants involved in security and the provision of justice in the country.  It adds that “the government of Mexico carries out unprecedented efforts to strengthen the State institutions and public security, in accordance with national interests and priorities.”

It should be recalled that Mexico has received more than $612 million from the Mérida Initiative, and there is being contemplated another $500 million from the U.S. government before the close of 2011.

For more information (in Spanish):

“Iniciativa Mérida extendió violencia” (El Universal, 11 November

HRW: EU debe retener fondos (El Universal, 11 November)

Impunidad, no un programa, eleva crimen, dicen analistas (El Universal, 11 November)

SRE defiende esquema de colaboración (El Universal, 11 November)

Iniciativa Mérida atizó la violencia en México: ONG (La Jornada, 11 November 2011)

Iniciativa Mérida ha incentivado la violencia en México: Wola (Proceso, 10 November 2011)

Informe completo from WOLA (November 2011)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Mexico: The Citizens’ Pact is signed in Juarez (21 June 2011)

México: Forum on “Military Cooperation, the Democratic Process, and Human Rights”  (29 May 2009)

Mexico: US approves another 300 million for Mexico as part of the Mérida Initiative (12 March 2009)

Mexico: Folllowing Sicilia’s meeting with Calderón, Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity arrives in Cherán

Sicilia and Calderón @ Noticieros Televisa

On 23 June, several members of the movement Peace with Justice and Dignity–from which the poet Javier Sicilia has to now been the most public face–met with President Felipe Calderón.  According to a number of analysts, Calderón continues not to accept the failure of his strategies and persists in denying that the production, trafficking, and consumption of drugs, together with the number of victims, levels of violence, and insecurity.  They stress that he does not recognize that by this means none of his goals are met, and onto society is imposed unsupportable costs.

Several voices had previously announced that this most recent meeting was destined to failure, given that Sicilia’s movement sought the path of dialogue with the government toward the end of convincing it of ending a situation of violence that responds to economic and political interests of the group in power.  President Calderón has expressed that those responsible for the growth in organized crime that is presently manifested are past PRI authorities and local and municipal government as well as judges, but he assumes no responsibility on the part of his own government.  Regardless, the group affiliated with Sicilia succeeded in sitting down with the federal executive and members of his cabinet so that they would listen to the testimony of relatives of those who have victimized by the strategy of war on organized crime as propelled by Calderón.

Sicilia has affirmed that the State is failing to protect the people and defend their rights, and he has set forth a number of proposals, one of which is a law for protection and attention to victims, in addition to a political trial of Calderón, an immediate suspension of the Mérida Initiative and all other activities carried out by U.S. security agencies in Mexico, and the observance on the part of the State of the sentences handed down by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR), among other things.

Following this meeting, the Movement for Peace continued to broaden its vision and popularity, when members of the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity reached the Purépecha community of Cherán (Michoacán) on 26 June with supplies and volunteers to help in work for peace, in light of the siege that has been established by loggers linked to local caciques.  ”We have been struggling for 72 days hearing nothing more than the promises and leis of the government of Leonel Godoy and his secretary Fidel Calderón who say that we are approaching a solution.  This is not true.  We continue to await that they will act in accordance with our rights.  For this reason your visit is very important for us, as we know that now we are not alone,” said the comunero José in the name of Cherán.

Different voices also pronounced themselves on the day: “A specific violence that we suffer as indigenous peoples is the one exercised by paramilitary groups who, in contradistinction to organized crime, are financed, supported, and protected by the authorities.  We demand the dismantling, disarmament, and demobilization of all paramilitary groups that exist in our country and particularly those that reside in our indigenous territories,” declared Salvador Campanur, from Cherán.

For more information (in Spanish):

No me arrepiento del abrazo a Calderón; eso no nos iguala, La Jornada, 30 June 2011

Exige Sicilia a Calderón pedir perdón por víctimas, Noticieros Televisa, 23 June 2011

Entérate Otras frases de invitados en Chapultepec, El Universal, 23 June 2011

¿Hacia dónde va el Movimiento por la Paz?, La Jornada, 26 June 2011

Más allá del diálogo, La Jornada, 27 June 2011

El Movimiento por la Paz y el escapulario, La Jornada, 28 June 2011

La ciudadanía quiere más, La Jornada, 27 June 2011

El monólogo, La Jornada, 24 June 2011

Cherán, sede del encuentro nacional de comunidades en autodefensa, Quadratín, 27 June 2011

Un éxito resultó la visita a Cherán por parte de la Caravana por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad, Micheran.com, 27 June 2011

La palabra andante Cherán, Ostula y Paz con Justicia y Dignidad, Cambio de Michoacán, 29 June 2011

Cherán y Ostula: purépechas y nahuas en resistencia, La Jornada Michoacán, 27 June 2011

Audio-Video:

Javier Sicilia – Felipe Calderón, videos completos del Diálogo Nacional Por La Paz, Radio La Nueva Republica, 23 June 2011

Esparza: hemos denunciado grupos paramilitares del gobierno, Youtube, 23 June 2011

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Las Abejas of Acteal welcome Javier Sicilia’s Pact for Peace (1 July 2011)

Mexico: The Citizens’ Pact is signed in Juarez (21 June 2011)

Mexico: Beginning of the caravan for peace from Cuernavaca to Ciudad Juárez (9 June 2011)

Mexico: Marches for Peace and Justice with Dignity (12 May 2011)

Mexico: The Citizens’ Pact is signed in Juárez

Sicilia with the Citizens’ Pact @ El Universal

More than 500 persons traveled nearly 3000 kilometers in the seven days of the Caravan of Consolation that traversed 12 Mexican states and carried out public events in 9 such states.  Hundreds of women, wives, and children testified to their suffering.  Javier Sicilia sustains that President Felipe Calderón sees no more than the gardens of Los Pinos and that he continues to be deaf to the cries of thousands of people who demand justice and peace, while the political parties and actors such as Enrique Peña Nieto, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Marcelo Ebrard have demonstrated their lack of capacity for attending to the demands of relatives of those victimized by the war against drug-trafficking.  ”What we see is a country of victims, and for this reason I said that I hoped that the president would listen.  We are bringing him a CD so that he can listen to the testimonies, that he see the impunity in the country, that he sees that crime is also found in the State, so that we can reach his heart to show him that his strategy is excessively puritan and aggressive, that it is not a good strategy for remaking the country,” expressed the poet.

The National Pact for Peace with Justice and Dignity was signed in Ciudad Juárez on 10 June.  The central point of the pact is the demilitarization of the country, but it also calls for a change in strategy with regard to combating organized crime, the struggle against governmental corruption, the restructuring of institutions, and a new social policy especially oriented toward offering more opportunities to the youth.  Six points define the manifesto: the clarification of the murder and disappearances of victims, an end to the strategy of war, that the authorities assume a focus on citizens’ security, against corruption and impunity as well as dealing with the economic roots and profits of crime.  Another of the points it demands is an end to the Mérida Initiative that has been supported since 2008 by the US government to give economic resources and training to the Mexican government in its struggle against narco-trafficking.  The signatories to the Pact demand that the deaths resulting from the war be clarified, that the human rights of the victims’ relatives be protected, and that the money set aside for x be transferred to the affected.  It also calls for efficient and ethical policies regarding media work.  The citizens’ agreement is still changeable, and it is hoped that the number of signatories increase following a national consultation.

During the caravan’s trip, Sicilia had warned the federal government that, if Calderón does not take seriously the points established by the Pact for Peace, there would be organized a peaceful civil-resistance movement led in various regions by a specific public representative, tax-evasion, and a boycott of the 2012 elections.

The document has been signed by Sicilia, Raúl Vera, Miguel Concha, Julián LeBarón, Emilio Álvarez Icaza, the 500 victims who traveled in the caravan, as well as representatives from social and citizens’ organizations that attended the public events.  The document can be signed in public plazas throughout the country and on the internet at redporlapaz.org.

For more information (in Spanish):

Resumen Pacto Nacional Ciudadano, Milenio, 10 June 2011

La Caravana por la Paz aguarda la respuesta de las autoridades mexicanas, CNN México, 14 June 2011

‘Aún se puede evitar el estallido’, El Diario de Coahuila, 12 June 2011

“Pacto Ciudadano por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad”, Milenio, 14 June 2011

La Caravana del Consuelo, La Jornada, 14 June 2011

Qué hacer, de nuevo, La Jornada, 13 June 2011

Respaldan iglesias el pacto ciudadano, La Jornada, 11 June 2011
Celebra Reginaldo Sandoval pacto nacional ciudadano contra la violencia en México, La Jornada Michoacán, 11 June 2011

El Pacto de Sicilia…. Y la posibilidad de la radicalización, El Universal, 14 June 2011

Firmarán hoy en Juárez pacto ciudadano por la paz, El Universal, 10 June 2011

Signan pacto ciudadano en Ciudad Juárez, El Universal, 11 June 2011

Firman Pacto Ciudadano y anuncian resistencia, El Universal, 11 June 2011

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Mexico: Beginning of the caravan for peace from Cuernavaca to Ciudad Juárez (9 June 2011)

Mexico: Marches for Peace and Justice with Dignity (12 May 2011)

Militarization on the border of Chiapas with Guatemala

General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda (@La Razón)

A few weeks ago, the US anti-drug agency (DEA) recommended that the Mexican government militarize the southern border of the country in a manner similar to that which is transpiring on the northern border.  On 26 April, in a press conference, the commander of the VII Military Region, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, declared that Mexican Army troops are carrying out constant operations throughout Chiapas, especially in the municipalities that are adjacent to Guatemala; he also noted that more troops can be expected.  He announced the creation of two new military bases, each with 600 soldiers in Chicomuselo and Jiquipilas.  He affirmed that the strategy forms part of a new phase of combat against organized crime (trafficking of drugs, weapons, and persons) that has had presence and activity in the area.

The military base in Nuevo Chiapas, Jiquipilas, will be built with troops coming from Oaxaca, while the Chicomuselo one will be comprised of soldiers already found in Chiapas (San Quintín in the Lacandon Jungle, a military base created in 1994 in a strategic point that joins together the mountains with Zapatista presence).

The general claimed that the military currently has 14000 troops in the area, in contrast to the 40000 that had been stationed in the state following the insurrection by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).  Threats to the border, he added, are derived from bands of organized crime, and he denied the existence of armed civil groups, or at least ones that are dangerous.  He repeated that “The principal threat is organized crime, with all the diversifications it has engaged in lately.”

During a burning of drugs in the headquarters of Infantry Battalion 20, the delegate of the Federal Attorney General’s Office, Jordán Orantes, revealed that the groups that have been found responsible for possessing the largest amount of illicit substances are the Zetas the Golfo cartel.  The Sinaloa cartel was also mentioned.  147 kilograms of cocaine, 5 kg of heroine, 4 kg of morphine, and 82 kg of marijuana were burned, having been confiscated in the state.

For more information (in Spanish):

Crean dos bases militares en la frontera con Guatemala; tendrán mil 200 efectivos (La Jornada, 28 April)

Movilización en la frontera (Cuarto Poder, 27 April)

Refuerzan la frontera Sur con 600 soldados (Expreso de Chiapas, 27 April)

El Ejército combatirá la delincuencia organizada en la frontera sur (CNN México, 27 April)