National: Doubts of Campesino and Indigenous Organizations over Agrarian Law Initiative

(@Desinformémonos)

Recently, members of campesino and indigenous organizations have expressed their concern about the agrarian law initiative proposed in October by the coordinator of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) in the Senate, Ricardo Monreal Avila. For Carlos Gonzalez Garcia, a lawyer and member of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI in its Spanish acronym), this proposal “gives continuity” to the Salinist counter-reform of 1992 and is part of a strategy to deprive indigenous peoples: “It aims to harmonize the legal provisions in agrarian matters with structural reforms in energy and hydrocarbons, as well as with the privatization concession regimes of mining, water and national property”; and “it gives transnationals the possibility of seizing land for agricultural and forestry use.”

“With this initiative they forget that the lands have been obtained by the ejidatarios and comuneros after an armed struggle, a hundred years ago [the Mexican Revolution], and that they are not only used to produce and exploit the natural resources that exist there, but also to to recreate their culture and coexistence with the other communities,” campesino organizations said. They criticized that the authorities seek to benefit entrepreneurs “instead of promoting that ejidatarios and comuneros be the ones who are trained and decide on the preservation and exploitation of resources in their territories.”

The Mexican Network of those Affected by Mining (REMA in its Spanish acronym) said that the current Agrarian Law “constitutes, despite all the attempts of previous governments to deteriorate it, a fundamental tool for the defense of the agrarian nuclei of our country in the face of extractive projects that generate dispossession, destruction of land and territory, damage to health and the environment of its inhabitants, as well as criminalization and/or assassinations of those who oppose them.” For its members, the new initiative that would repeal the aforementioned text “constitutes a regression and a new threat to the rights of the campesino peoples who fought for the land and who with their struggle have shaped and given meaning to the history and present of our country. (…) In our opinion, this document is designed under the same logic that drove the agrarian counter-reform of 1992 during the government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari and, in addition, expedites the implementation of the neoliberal reforms promoted by the government of Enrique Peña Nieto, especially as regards the Energy Reform.”

For more information in Spanish:

Iniciativa de ley agraria es una estrategia de despojo contra los pueblos indígenas: CNI (Desinformémonos, 6 de noviembre de 2018)

Piden frenar Ley Monreal; dirigentes campesinos la consideran privatizadora y neoliberal (MVS Noticias, 6 de noviembre de 2018)

Por regresiva objetan nueva ley agraria propuesta por Monreal (Regeneración, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Permite despojo el plan agrario de Monreal, alertan grupos indígenas y campesinos (La Jornada, 4 de noviembre de 2018)

Iniciativa de ley para el desarrollo agrario: nueva reforma estructural (La Jornada, 3 de noviembre de 2018)

La REMA se pronuncia en contra de la iniciativa de “Ley para el Desarrollo Agrario” de MORENA (REMA, 30 de octubre de 2018)

Presenta Monreal iniciativa de ley para el desarrollo agrario (La Jornada, 24 de octubre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Approval of energy reform (December 17th, 2013)

 

Advertisements

National/International: World Network of Mothers of Disappeared Migrants Formed in Mexico

@Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano

Within the framework of the 8th World Social Forum on Migration that took place in Mexico City from November 2nd to 4th, dozens of women from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Senegal, Mauritania, Tunisia, Algeria, Spain and Italy met to participate in the World Summit of mothers of missing migrants. At the end of the event, they agreed on the creation of the World Network of Mothers of Disappeared Migrants. Among the actions that will be implemented is the establishment of a digital platform where the names, countries and all the personal data of the people who disappeared while migrating and those looking for them will be held; strategies to maintain contact and define joint actions; virtual training workshops that explain the ways of conducting searches will be held, among other activities.

In a final manifesto, they denounced that, “the process of forced displacement throughout the world has forced people to leave behind their place of origin, their country and their loved ones. They migrate to preserve their lives and the lives of their families from generalized social violence; from wars and conflicts; from the poverty generated by extractivism, megaprojects and neoliberalism that has permeated all areas of life; from state violence and the agreements of impunity between governments and criminal groups; from climate change and the environmental destruction that attacks populations.” They demanded “a dignified treatment in accordance with international standards for migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees, and people seeking their missing relatives.” They also stated that, “Migrating is a Right. Not migrating is also. Therefore, we hold the States of the world responsible for the pain that has brought us together in this Summit, and we demand the right of everyone to a dignified life, in any country in which they find themselves.”

For more information in Spanish:

Manifiesto de la Cumbre Mundial de Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos (Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Madres de migrantes desaparecidos crean red mundial para su búsqueda (Animal Político, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

A los miles de migrantes que ya están en CdMx se unen madres de desaparecidos que piden justicia (Sin Embargo, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos inician red de búsqueda (Telesur, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

En México, cumbre global de madres de migrantes desaparecidos (La Jornada, 1ero de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National / International: Caravan of mothers of disappeared migrants arrives in Mexico
(November 1st, 2018)

National/International: “Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants” Arrives to Mexico
(December 27th, 2017)

México : Caravana de Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos “buscando vida en caminos de muerte” (25 de noviembre de 2016)

National: XI Caravan of Mothers of Central American Migrants seeking out their sons in Mexico (December 26th, 2015)

 

National: Senate Agrees to Guarantee Equal Rights to Same-Sex Couples

Photo @ La Razón de México

On November 6th, in a regular plenary sitting of the Senate, it unanimously approved a reform that gives equal social security, services and benefits to same-sex couples.

The reform of the laws of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS in its Spanish acronym) and the Institute of Security and Social Services of State Workers (ISSSTE in its Spanish acronym), establishes that regardless of the gender of the spouse of the insured person, or of the pensioner, they will have the same rights as any other insured person.

According to Animal Político, the document indicates that the current wording of the laws is discriminatory of the lesbian-gay, transvestite, transexual, transgender, bisexual and intersex (LGBTTTIQ) community, so it will change to the generic term “spouse” to end with the discrimination they are subjected to, same-sex marriages.

The reform passed as minutes to the Chamber of Deputies for analysis and eventual approval.

For more information in Spanish:

Senado aprueba por unanimidad darle seguridad social a parejas del mismo sexo (Periódico Central, 7 de noviembre de 2018)

Senado aprueba por unanimidad darle seguridad social a parejas del mismo sexo (Animal Político, 6 de noviembre de 2018)

Aprueba Senado mismos derechos en IMSS e ISSSTE a parejas gay (Excélsior, 7 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: 17 Men Pose as Transgender to Register as Candidates
(May 14th, 2018)

Oaxaca: Mujer transgénero recibe su credencial de elector de una representación del INE (8 de agosto de 2017)

National: Increase in Murders of Transgender People Denounced
(October 12th, 2016)

Chiapas: Denuncian violencia policial en la detención de transexuales en Palenque (17 de diciembre de 2015)

Guerrero: First Colloquium for Peace

Photo @ La Jornada

On November 5th, in the auditorium of the Superior Court of Justice in Chilpancingo de los Bravo, the Colloquium for Peace in Guerrero began. The event was convened by the Chilpancingo-Chilapa diocese and the Organization of the Americas for Educational Excellence (ODAEE in its Spanish acronym) and survivors of the Iguala massacre (2014), the current mayor of Chilpancingo participated among others.

On November 6th, in Chilapa, Salvador Rangel Mendoza, bishop of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese, “proposed the inclusion of young people, who now constitute a key sector of the population for reconciliation and peace, as they represent most of the affected and victims in conflicts. He said that achieving peace is everyone’s task, building an inclusive democracy, and a path of peace, concrete actions from different fronts; they cannot sit and wait for only government institutions to build peace.

The cleric proposed a strategy that he commented, has given good results in Europe and the Middle East, as well as in Colombia, through education, establishing as obligatory the subject of peace and reconciliation in the study programs of all levels educational, from primary to professional; the promotion of cultural sports, recreational, and artistic activities; providing them with tools, materials, access to spaces and resources for it; recognizing young people as relevant actors, improving coexistence and transformation; strengthening of youth organizations; promotion of extra-curricular activities, with the purpose of rebuilding the social fabric and promoting general prosperity.”

According to several sources, during the Colloquium the bishop also mentioned that he continues to seek dialogue with organized crime groups in order to achieve a “Christmas truce” in December.

For more information in Spanish:

Contra la violencia en Guerrero se organiza Coloquio por la Paz (La Jornada, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Obispo de Chilpancingo, Guerrero, pidió a narcotraficantes una “tregua” navideña (Vanguardia, 6 de noviembre de 2018)

Es tarea de todos lograr la paz en Guerrero, coinciden en coloquio en Chilpancingo (El Sur de Acapulco, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Article 19 urges to investigate political motivations in the case of the murder of the journalist, Gabriel Soriano
(November 4th, 2018)

Guerrero: Radio and TV Broadcaster from Guerrero Murdered
(November 1st, 2018)

Guerrero: Mixed Unit Disarms 500 Municipal Police and Arrests Two Officers in Acapulco; Public Security Controlled by SEDENA, SEMAR and State Police
(October 2nd, 2018)

Nacional: Relatores sobre libertad de expresión de la CIDH y la ONU presentan informe después de visita a México (21 de junio de 2018)

Guerrero : allanan las oficinas de la agencia de noticias Quadratín en Acapulco (25 de abril de 2018)

National: CNDH Asks SCJN to Declare Interior Security Law Unconstitutional

On November 5th, in a communiqué addressed to the ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN in its Spanish acronym), the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH in its Spanish acronym) asked it to declare the Interior Security Law, passed in December 2017, unconstitutional in its entirety. It is expected that next November 12th the Court will resolve the challenges before it.

The CNDH argued that “its validity allows perpetuating a state of unconstitutional matters that is contrary to full respect for fundamental rights and the dignity of the people, for which a careful call is made to the Ministers to reconsider the content and the scope of Article 20 of the law, which establishes a full subordination of the civil authorities in command of the Armed Forces, for which reason it should be reconsidered that security actions must be directed at all times by a civil authority, in full respect of the human rights recognized in the Federal Constitution and in international treaties.”

It also expressed its concern on issues such as the incompetence of the Congress of the Union to legislate on matters of internal security; the lack of prior consultation of indigenous peoples and communities; and the authority granted by the military authorities to request any information.

Finally, it stressed, just as it had done before the approval of the Law, the participation of the armed forces in public security tasks “is not the most adequate response to face the crime rate that afflicts our country, given the special nature of his constitutional functions; the above, while recognizing its institutionality, commitment and delivery in the tasks entrusted. On the contrary, the training and training of police officers should be favored; financial intelligence and patrimonial research; the strengthening of prevention, as the attention of inequalities, favoring and serving the exercise of social rights, as well as the attention of arms trafficking, in addition to carrying out a review and rethinking of our penitentiary system.”

For more information in Spanish:

CNDH pide a la Corte votar contra toda la Ley de Seguridad Interior (Proceso, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

CNDH: sin base, Ley de Seguridad Interior (La Jornada, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

CNDH pide declarar inconstitucional la Ley de Seguridad Interior (El Universal, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

CNDH llama a la SCJN a declarar inconstitucional Ley de Seguridad Interior (MX Político, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

CNDH expresa su preocupación por Ley de Seguridad Interior y llama a SCJN a declararla inconstitucional (Revolución 3.0, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Reactions to Minister for Supreme Court’s Proposal on Interior Security Law (November 7th, 2018)

National: Two Judges Declare Interior Security Law Unconstitutional (May 24th, 2018)

Chiapas: Organizations seek legal shelter from the Interior Security Law (April 2nd, 2018)

National: EPN Enacts Interior Security Law. CNDH Declares it Unconstitutional (January 14th, 2018)

National: Interior Security Law Passed amidst Protests (December 7th, 2017)

National: Consultations on National Institute for Indigenous Peoples to Begin

(@Notimex)

On October 30th, the Indigenous Peoples Commission of the Chamber of Deputies announced that from November 9th to 18th a series of consultations will be held on the Law initiative that aims to create the National Institute of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples, through ten forums in several states in which the indigenous peoples, communities and authorities will have the opportunity to comment on their possible purposes, attributions and functions.

More broadly, Adelfo Regino, who will head the institute, explained that “six issues will be addressed: the legal nature and purpose of the new body, indigenous peoples as subjects of public law, the powers of the new institute, the principles that should govern institutional performance, administration bodies, as well as strategy of regionalization and transversality.” He stressed that only in Guerrero and Chiapas the forums for consultations will be one per state; while in the rest of the country a meeting is being organized for several entities.

The consultations will begin in Chilpancingo, Guerrero on November 9th.

For more information in Spanish:

Iniciarán en Guerrero las consultas sobre el Instituto Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas (El Sur, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Pide Adelfo Regino enseñar lenguas indígenas en el país (La Jornada, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

A consulta, instituto de pueblos indígenas en Oaxaca (NVI Noticias, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Morena hará consulta por el Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas (Regeneración, 3 de noviembre de 2018)

Diputados convocan a consulta y foros sobre nuevo Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas (MVS Noticias, 1ero de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional : AMLO anuncia estructura y responsable de asuntos indígenas en su gobierno (18 de agosto de 2018)

National: Reactions to Minister for Supreme Court’s Proposal on Interior Security Law

On November 1st, the collective #SeguridadSinGuerra publicly declared that the proposal of the Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN in its Spanish acronym), Jorge Mario Pardo Rebolledo on the Interior Security Law (LSI in its Spanish acronym), is “deficient and insufficient“: although it invalidates some parts of the text, it keeps the Armed Forces “on the streets without effective control mechanisms and leaves intact the heart of militarization,” the group said. It should be remembered that the SCJN plans to review the constitutionality of the Law passed in December 2017, possibly from November 12, amid national and international criticism.

The project of Minister Pardo “proposes to declare unconstitutional seven articles, modify four and declare the validity of 23 of the 34 that make up the law. Although the proposal invalidates some of the most serious parts of the Law, it leaves intact the central part of the Law and requires that at least eight of the 11 ministers vote to eliminate said parts. However, the risks of keeping the army on the streets, without effective control mechanisms, remain. Therefore, from #SeguridadSinGuerra we consider that the project is deficient and insufficient,” the collective said.

“Peace cannot be built with a law that maintains the paradigm of the militarization of public security, hindering legitimate efforts to listen to the victims of the country and build mechanisms of transitional justice,” he concluded.

According to the media, the SCJN intends to endorse the Law on the premise that it does not violate the Constitution provided that the intervention of the armed forces is limited to serious and exceptional situations, and at the express request of state governments. “Not only is participation of the armed forces in aid or support of civil authorities constitutional, but is necessary to safeguard the legal order emanating from the fundamental law itself (…) In time of peace the military are constitutionally empowered to assist or support the civil authorities, at the express request of them and without usurping their sphere of competence,” the group says.

Among what would disappear in the approved text is any word or clause that opens the door for the Army to act on its own; the automatic classification as “reserved information” of the data that may trigger operations (Article 9); and the inclusion of the topic of social protest or political – electoral protests as a possible threat to internal security (Article 8).

For more information in Spanish:

Proyecto de la Corte avala Ley de Seguridad Interior pero con 14 cambios. Aquí los detalles de las modificaciones (Animal Político, 31 de octubre de 2018)

Ministro SCJN por avalar Ley de Seguridad Interior (Político MX, 31 de octubre de 2018)

Proyecto de SCJN mantiene ‘corazón’ de la Ley de Seguridad Interior: Pérez Correa (Aristegui Noticias, 31 de octubre de 2018)

Propone ministro Pardo Rebolledo invalidar 7 de los 34 artículos de la Ley de Seguridad Interior (Aristegui Noticias, 30 de octubre de 2018)

La SCJN considera acotar participación de Fuerzas Armadas en seguridad (Proceso, 30 de octubre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Two Judges Declare Interior Security Law Unconstitutional (May 24th, 2018)

Chiapas: Organizations seek legal shelter from the Interior Security Law (April 2nd, 2018)

National: EPN Enacts Interior Security Law. CNDH Declares it Unconstitutional (January 14th, 2018)

National: Interior Security Law Passed amidst Protests (December 7th, 2017)