Mexican farmers keep a wary eye on Fox after
concessions
By Adrian Garcia
In 1993 capitalist bosses in Mexico waged a nationwide
propaganda campaign in an effort to garner support and
ultimately acceptance for the North American Free Trade
Agreement. Mexico's government, under Carlos Salinas de Gortari
of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), promised its
people that this agreement with Canada and the United States
would bring Mexico rapid modernization and relieve poverty by
creating many new jobs.
One of the most insensitive and explicitly racist pieces of
pro-NAFTA propaganda was engineered by PEMEX, Mexican
Petroleum. It was a poster showing a man in Indigenous clothing
and headdress with the caption: "Before NAFTA." Below that was
another photograph of the same man, but no longer wearing his
Indigenous wardrobe. Instead he sported a baseball cap with the
PEMEX insignia and a dark green work shirt. The caption read:
"After NAFTA."
This is a telling example of the maltreatment and disrespect
that Indigenous people in Mexico have endured for centuries. It
also lays the basis for understanding the current uprising in
San Salvador Atenco, where the people have been unrelenting in
resisting a force that views them as an obstruction to
globalization.
The Indigenous peoples of Mexico have arisen once again.
They will not sit back and allow themselves to be denied the
dignity they deserve.
The farmers of San Salvador Atenco, 15 miles northeast of
Mexico City, have been putting up a valiant fight against the
Mexican government's attempts to expropriate 13,300 acres of
their land to construct an 11,000-acre, $2.3-billion,
six-runway airport. Yet, after street battles on July 11 and
12, they still face what appears to be a long struggle.
Yes, the Mexican government capitulated to the farmers'
demands and freed their imprisoned comrades, coughing up the
bail money for each. State Gov. Arturo Montiel claimed it was
an act of good faith.
Yes, President Vicente Fox has stated publicly that he might
consider a new site for the proposed airport. "We are not going
to trample the rights of anyone," he told CNN. "There are
alternatives for the airport."
And yes, the government is even willing to increase its
offer for the land from $2,835 an acre to $20,250 an acre.
But the farmers remain highly cautious, and with good
reason. "President Fox promised to make the poor a priority.
But he ignored our demands just like the PRI, until we raised
our machetes against him," commented Sergio Vasquez, a farmer
from San Salvador Atenco who voted for Fox.
The farmers seriously question the sincerity of the Fox
administration. As of July 17, no meetings had been scheduled
with the government. The farmers did hold a meeting on July 17
at the Emiliano Zapata Auditorium in Chapingo University to
voice their concerns. The federal government's negotiator for
the airport project, Francisco Curi, was invited to the forum
but announced he would be unable to attend.
The farmers are well aware of the obstacles they face, yet
they are more militant than ever, says Ruben Lechuga, an
anthropology researcher at the Iberoamericana University in
Mexico City. The Indigenous people of San Salvador Atenco and
other parts of Mexico will no longer accept the promises made
to them in an attempt to quell their resistance.
President Fox, former chief executive officer of Coca-Cola
in Mexico, is a die-hard neoliberal intent on promoting
globalization. Fox is currently trying to sell his version of
NAFTA, titled Plan Puebla Panama. He claims this project will
facilitate trade between Mexico and Central America.
The workers will not be fooled. María
Concepción Yánez, whose husband was one of the
released prisoners, lucidly commented: "The government wants to
blind us with the glitter of the city, that we'll be better off
without the land and with development. But the truth is we're
not going to let them take it from us."
Reprinted from the Aug. 8, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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