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 Frontera NorteSur
October 2000

HUMAN RIGHTS &WOMEN'S ISSUES

Maquiladoras Planned for Tamaulipas Prisons

El Mañana writes that Matamoros' prison Cereso II could become "a true center for reform with the introduction of a maquiladora to the prison which would provide employment to prisoners there."

On September 7, personnel from the Government Department (Secretaría de Gobernación) accompanied State Prison Director Pedro Ernesto Benavides Benavides on a tour of the penitentiary to study the Cereso II's open spaces where maquiladoras could be installed to give employment to the 1,809 prisoners there.

Roberto Robledo Pérez, commissioned by the Government Department to inspect state prisons, said that Cereso II was the first prison he had visited in Tamaulipas. His visit was due to the prison's size and national importance.

Cereso II is to be a test case for the maquiladoras-in-prisons program. If it is effective all prisons with enough space and the right conditions will receive maquiladoras.

Robledo stated that the program will be regulated at the national level although each state will have a negotiating group that will have contact with both the national regulating board and the maquiladora industry.

Source: El Mañana, September 8, 2000. Nora González.

BC Will Not Establish a Trust for Girl Forced to Have Baby Conceived in Rape

Baja California Governor Alejandro González Alcocer said that the state cannot establish a financial trust for Paulina Jacinto as recommended by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) because it lacks the legal basis to do so. González also said that the CNDH recognized that the state does not have the ability to set up a trust.

Paulina Jacinto was raped when she was fourteen-years old. She went to the hospital to have an abortion but doctors there did not perform the procedure and went instead to the Catholic Church. While legally Jacinto could have had an abortion she was pressured by pro-life groups and the State Attorney General to give birth to the child. Jacinto's case gained national recognition. Recently Jacinto's mother has protested laws that deny women an abortion in case of rape.

The governor said that the state has always accepted the responsibility of supporting the girl and her son but the Jacinto family has on two occasions refused government aid through state programs.

The family said in response to the government's first offer of help that it does not accept handouts. To the government's second offer of assistance the family said that it could not be bought.

González said that the state will try again to approach and help the Jacinto family, more out of human than legal concern.

The governor also stated that he will accept the CNDH's recommendations which he considers to have some good points. He said that before beginning an investigation into the behavior of public officials involved in the case he will have to have clarify the CNDH's position on this.

Mexico to Educate its Citizens in California Prisons

This week the Mexican government will begin a series of classes for Mexican citizens incarcerated in California prisons, according to José Campillo García, Mexican consul to Sacramento, CA. The program will first take place in eight northern prisons and will then be evaluated before it is expanded and taken to other facilities. The classes are through the National Institute of Adult Education (Instituto Nacional de Educación para Adultos, INEA) and the Centro Cultural Mexicano de Sacramento. These two groups will train bilingual Corrections Department employees who previously showed interest in the Mexican government's plan.

The pilot program will begin with primary and secondary education. Prisoners will decide for themselves if they wish to participate in the classes. Campillo stated that the Corrections Department is in favor of the program because studying means good behavior that leads to reduced sentences. Mexico favors the program because it allows for its citizens to complete their educations and more easily reintegrate themselves into society after they have completed their prison terms.

President-elect Fox Initiates Human Rights Talk in Central America

Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox visited El Salvador as part of his campaign promise to protect the human rights of Central American migrants as they make their way to the United States through Mexico.

Fox surprised the El Salvador National Legislative Assembly by asking immigrants to pardon the treatment they have received in the past from Mexico.  Fox called his petition of pardon "a symbol of restored peace and found reconciliation."  He stated that his administration, which begins its term in December, will launch a special program to protect the integrity of immigrants who use Mexican territory as their bridge to the U.S.

In Nicaragua, Fox again commented on the program stating that its main purpose is to avoid the abuse of immigrants and to promote human rights.  Fox proposed creating a fast-acting, common information system that would act as a consular aid to help prevent human rights violations. The system would allow for the filing of complaints of abuse and for fast action against offending officials.

"We came with a clear message, a promise, that Mexico with its new democratic government, will turn its head south to Central America, El Salvador and all of  Latin America," Fox stated.

"No other subject is as important to us as immigration. Their migrants, like ours, look for opportunities that they don't have in their own home, which tragically are absent, the same is as true in Morazán as in Zacatecas, in La Libertad as in Oaxaca.  Their journey north is a dangerous adventure that frequently ends in violence or death.  I know well that while they [Central Americans] are in my country they are victims of unspeakable abuse and frustrations committed by authorities," Fox said

Fox announced that he will ask the National Commission of  Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, CNDH) to visit jails and migratory points in Mexico to ensure Central American's human rights.

Source: El Diario, September 14, 2000. 

Emigrant Protection Group Wanted for Cd. Juárez Area

According to Ricardo Martínez Dozal of the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM), the INM hopes to create a civil protection group in the Ciudad Juárez area that will rescue, help and guide both Mexican, Central American and other emigrants along the border. Martínez also said that through the Consejo Consultivo de Apoyo al Migrante (a migrant support council) a meeting was held between private groups, government organizations and NGO's to organize this emigrant support group. If the above mentioned groups fail to meet their desired goal then a Beta group will be formed in Cd. Juárez. Beta is a government group that already performs many of the proposed group's functions along the border. However, Beta also arrests traffickers (coyotes) and illegals from Central America and elsewhere.

The support group's goal is not to arrest emigrants trying to go to the US but rather to help endangered emigrants in any way possible. The group's members would be trained to perform rescues in the river and in the desert.

Martínez added, "Although we should point out that Chihuahua has not experienced the sort of horrible events that have occurred in other states we should not wait until they occur. We should get to work now. We have to take preventive measures so that later we don't have to lament the loss of life."

Source: El Diario, September 1, 2000. Article by Rosario Reyes.

65 Members of the Kiliwas Tribe Remain

Irais Piñón, an anthropologist and general director of a local indigenous support group, announced that 75 members of the Kiliwas tribe remain in the area.  Of the 75, only four still speak the tribal language.

The near extinction of the tribe is blamed on agrarian reforms.  The tribes' lands were converted to ejido property (community owned land) which gave the tribe members the opportunity to sell their properties.  Piñón revealed that the Kiliwas lack essentials like proper nutrition, education, and health care.  It is suspected that tuberculosis was the cause of death for many people of the tribe due to inadequate health care.

Piñón stated that Tijuana, being that it has a large population of migrants, has 20,000 indigenous peoples of various cultures from southern and southeastern Mexico.

Poverty Affects 40% of Juárez Citizens

According to the Business Coordinating Council (Consejo Coordinator Empresorial, CCE), 40 percent of Juárez citizens live in poverty despite booming economic development on a national level.  This statement was made by the CCE before Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista a member of President-elect Vicente Fox's economic transition team. Derbez is on a tour of Chihuahua to gain knowledge of problems in the industrial sector. 

Pedro Sergio Holguín Lucero, president of the Confederacíon Patronal de la República Mexicana, presented a panoramic view of Ciudad Juárez's economic contrasts for Derbez, "In this city a television is produced every three seconds, and every seven seconds a computer. We are the world's leading manufacturer of automotive electrical harnesses.  We have workers qualified on a global level and 31 industrial parks.  We generate a labor marker of 425,000 employees, we have an unemployment rate of 0.6 percent, we produce 50 percent of the state's gross product, and yet our reality is difficult." Holguín continued by stating, "Forty percent of our population lives in poverty. We have a marginalized population to the west of the city of 580,000 people in extreme poverty in conditions that don't reflect our economic development."

In his presentation Holguín also noted that 50 percent of Juárez's population is of migratory descent and that 100,000 families live without the basic services of water and sewer.

The CCE asked Derbez for authentic governmental federalism to strengthen state and local governments. The CCE also asked for the equal distribution of funds based on the individual needs of state and local governments.

Source:  El Diario, September 13, 2000.  Article by Tania Fernández.

El Paso Tigua Tribe Could Stay Alive for Generations with Bill's Passage

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, introduced a bill that would decrease the blood quantum necessary to qualify for membership in El Paso's Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Tigua tribe as well as the Coushatta and Alabama Indian in Eastern Texas. The bill lowers the blood qualification standards to qualify as a Tigua from one-eighth to one-sixteenth. The bill comes after years of worry that as Tiguas marry outside the tribe, the bloodline would dilute and the demise of the tribe would be near.  The passing of the bill would introduce 500 new Tigua tribe members to the existing 1,252.

Marc Schwartz, tribal spokesperson, said that the bill would provide "a legacy for the tribe, a continuation and some assurance that the tribe will live well into the next millennium."

Since the bill does not have a Senate companion, a Senate version will have to be submitted and passed by the Senate, then signed into law by President Clinton, before October 13th when the Senate adjourns.  If the Senate bill does not happen in time Reyes will have to start over when the House reconvenes in November after the elections.  "Chances are pretty good, actually," said press spokesperson Yvette Peña. "The committee on the Senate side will definitely push this bill."  The bill is anticipated to have not opposition in the Senate.

Source:  The El Paso Times, September 13, 2000. Article by David Crowder.

Tijuana City-Sponsored Daycare Centers Aid 1,200 Daily

Over 1,200 children are served by 43 daycare centers through the Tijuana Family Development Program (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, DIF).

At the grand openings of three of these centers, Tijuana Mayor Francisco Vega de Lamadrid said that the centers offer children proper care, early mental stimulation, age-appropriate education, and nutritious meals. Also present was local DIF director Hector Rivera.

The three new daily centers will serve 120 children that reside in different neighborhoods. The construction of the centers was made possible because of government investments of 60,000 pesos (slightly over US$6,000) and citizen participation.