Mexico in Focus

Mexican indigenous Purépechas are on the warpath

Once again, it is an indigenous community that is showing us what people can do when they fight together against a common enemy.

In Cheran, a Purépecha region in the state of Michoacán, an entire community has taken up arms and imposed a state of siege to defend themselves and their forest from organized crime. They are doing it with old rifles, machetes, stones and everything that can be considered a weapon.

According to press reports, the conflict began in mid April, when a group of woodcutters, allegedly protected by the criminal organization known as La Familia, were detained by the comuneros of Cheran when they were transporting the trunks of hundreds of trees. It is estimated that more than 35,000 hectares of communal land have been illegally logged in the last several years.

 This is not the first time that the comuneros have seen woodcutters stealing lumber from their forest, but this time it was too much. The comuneros ambushed the woodcutters, apprehended and turned them into the authorities, who turned around and freed the criminals just hours later. That was the turning point:  The people of Cheran took justice in their own hands, firing the municipal police and deciding to defend themselves.

The multiple images taken by news organizations show the entire community –children, women, men and seniors – ready to take action. They are extremely angry and willing to fight for their rights even if they have to pay with their own lives.

 What the Purépechas are defending is their ancestral way of living and their rights to the land and the forest. They are rejecting the idea of being held hostage by organized crime members, who have extorted, kidnapped and killed several people in the community.

Neither the municipal or state and the federal government have paid much attention to the problem until now, when things are getting out of control.  As one of the comuneros said in a video, “the government is obliged to guarantee our rights to safety, but if they can’t do it, we have to do it”

This is the first time in recent history that an entire community transformed the ¡Ya Basta! shout (That’s enough!) into something other than a desperate cry. The Purépechas –as did the indigenous people of Chiapas in 1994– are showing us the power of unity. They are forcing authorities and the common people to look at them and to provide solutions for a problem that is affecting the entire country in different ways.

Unfortunately, they are showing us that public protests are not enough to provoke change. Although action is needed, they know too that sometimes action can result in more blood. 

The Purépechas are now on the warpath, fighting alone against organized crime, and as is common in Mexico, the authorities are reacting very slowly to the situation. What are they waiting for?

 

 

 

 

Immigration reform and Obama's agenda in El Paso

As a presidential candidate in 2008, President Barack Obama vowed to fight for immigration reform that would fix the dysfunctional immigration system, as well as provide more security for the border.

During his campaign, Obama talked about removing the incentives that bring immigrants to this country by cracking down on those employees who hire undocumented people. He also emphasized bringing people out of the shadows by giving them the opportunity to legalize their status through paying a fine, learning English and eventually becoming US citizens.

Now, two-and-a-half years into his presidency, immigration reform has not been a priority for Mr. Obama’s administration and issues such as the health reform and the economy, among others, have dominated his and others attention. Most of his efforts in the area of immigration have been focused on securing the border through deploying more agents and technology, but not much has been done or said about the millions of people who are still waiting for a path to legalize their immigration status. 

Now, when the rhetoric for the 2012 presidential campaign is starting up, President Obama is once more bringing up the issue here in El Paso, where he will deliver a speech on immigration reform during his short visit this Tuesday.

It is significant that Mr. Obama chose El Paso to talk about immigration. He is coming to this area just 10 days after the successful military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.  What better place to talk about the need to strengthen border security than the city that has as its neighbor, the most dangerous city in the world?

President Obama will most likely tell Americans how much has been done and invested to protect the border and will assure them that the efforts will continue. But, as he has done in recent meetings with union and religious leaders, legislators and private sector leaders, he will discuss the need to revamp the immigration system to make it more fair and efficient.

It is estimated that 12 million people live in this country without proper documentation. President Obama supported the DREAM Act, a bill that would legalize undocumented students who were brought to the U.S. by their parents at a very young age, but the U.S. Senate rejected it once again in December 2010. Obama’s approval rating is now 11 percent higher than it was before the death of bin Laden, and politically, this could prove to be a good time for him to push for immigration reform, while wooing the necessary and crucial Hispanic vote for the next election. 

Although Obama may have the Hispanic population’s support for his proposals, this doesn’t necessarily mean that immigration reform is close at hand. In the end, it is who holds legislative power that determines the viability of a measure of this magnitude. If the Republican majority-held Congress hasn’t been supportive of immigration reform during Obama’s presidency, there is no reason to think they will do so during the lead up to the next presidential election.

But let’s not speculate, instead we should pay attention to what President Obama says during his speech tomorrow. Perhaps he will surprise us.

 

 

¿Una siestecita? Defeating stereotypes about Mexicans

Usually, stereotypes don’t have anything to do with reality.

As defined in the dictionary, a stereotype is “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.”

Stereotypes tell us that all Japanese are small and sneaky; Germans are tough and cold, Chinese are good at math, Argentineans are arrogant, Americans are greedy and obese, and French people don’t like to take a shower. And the list could go on and on.

Fortunately, we now have many more possibilities of looking and exploring cultures through a variety of lenses and that has helped to break down some of these stereotypes and promotes a better understanding of cultures around the world.

Last Monday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released a study that dispels the stereotype that all Mexicans are lazy.

According to the study, Mexicans work longer days than anyone else in OECD countries, devoting 10 hours to paid and unpaid work, such as cleaning or cooking at home.  In contrast, Belgians work the least at seven hours, compared with an OECD average of eight hours per day among the countries surveyed.

Unfortunately those long hours don’t reflect better life conditions. On the contrary, Mexicans have the second-highest level of income and inequality and the highest level of relative poverty in the OECD. Furthermore, the study also indicated that nearly half of Mexicans who responded to the survey find it difficult or very difficult to get by on their current income.

Another interesting data from the OECD study shows that Mexicans report the third- highest positive psychological experiences (feeling rested, smiling, learning, and enjoyment) and lower than average negative experiences (pain, worry, stress, sadness, depression). The U.S. ranks 10th in the same category.

The OECD’s findings totally destroy the stereotype about the indolence of Mexicans.

It should help rid us of the offensive image that depicts Mexicans sleeping under a cactus and to explore more about the culture, habits and social conditions of the different countries around the world.

In fact, the idea of Mexicans being lazy came from the observations that peasant farm workers would take naps early in the afternoon, without considering that these laborers had begun their work day before the sun had risen, and they napped at that time to avoid the hot sun.

Now that we have dismissed the “lazy Mexican” stereotype, we can all feel free to take naps.