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MEXICO
Third periodic report dated 7 December 1992
Estados Unidos de México - the United States of Mexico - is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, with 93.7 million inhabitants. The population is 60 percent mestizo (mixed indigenous-Spanish), 30 percent indigenous or predominantly indigenous, and 9 percent white. Although Spanish is the official language, several indigenous languages are also used. In recent years the country has gone through much internal turmoil, including assassinations of politicians, scandals related to former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, an indigenous Zapatista insurrection, and peso (Mexican currency) crash in 1994.1
July 1997 Elections
The July 6, 1997, state and national congressional elections, widely pronounced to be "the fairest and most transparent elections in Mexico's history," ended the 68-year domination of the nation's political system by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the de facto one-party system in Mexico, which the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa had called a "perfect dictatorship."2 Observers hailed the new "more democratic" Mexico. Although some were quick to point out that the multiparty competition does not ensure the elimination of poverty and the end to widespread corruption,3 others predicted that the changes would over time reduce these problems by destroying old power structures and replacing them with more pluralistic forms.4 Some observers remarked that the significance of the PRI's defeat in the elections was also a manifestation that the Mexican people, tired of growing poverty, have discovered the "power of the ballot." 5 But the greater transparency of the midterm elections was made possible also by electoral reforms introduced by President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León: the 1996 electoral law established an autonomous professional Federal Electoral Institute (IFE)6 and mandated greater access to media, especially television, by opposition parties.7
As a result of the election, the centre-right National Action Party (PAN) took two governorships and 26.6 percent of the vote, and PRI won 39.1 percent of the popular vote, its lowest level of support ever, while the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) received 25.7 percent.8 In one of the most important gains for the opposition, the PRD's Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solorzano won the mayor's office of the capital, Mexico City. Cárdenas, a son of an immensely popular president of the 1930s, has been a staunch critic of the PRI.
The new Congress includes four opposition parties, the PRD, the PAN, the leftist Workers' Party and the Green Ecologist Party. Despite ideological differences, they all agree on the need to limit the unchecked power that PRI so far has enjoyed.
Labour Movement
Mexican labour law gives the government the power to stop formation of independent unions, to ban strikes or to declare them "legally non-existent," which leaves strikers no protection from being fired. 9 The PRI has exercised almost complete control over unions, and most efforts to form independent unions and bargain collectively led to terrorism against independent organisers.10 In maquilas (or maquiladoras, factories that produce for export - see discussion under Convention Article 11 - Employment), employers and local officials have thwarted attempts to organise unions. 11 The PRI dominance and constraints on the labour movement have led to a decrease in workers' real wages.
The PRI's recent electoral defeat, however, may have opened a window of opportunity for an independent labour movement to form. In August 1997, Leonardo Rodríguez Alcaine, head of the Mexican Workers Confederation (CTM; with 6 million members the most powerful labour union) warned that the union would stage demonstrations if his demands for wage increases were not met. The minimum wage in Mexico stands at approximately US$3 per day.12
Security Forces
Mexico maintains one of the smallest armies in the world in proportion to its population, but the army has been described as the "country's largest police force."13 With an absence of external threat, and with peaceful relationships with the United States in the north and Guatemala and Belize in the south, the army has been used extensively for domestic purposes.14 Recently, indigenous and human-rights groups have accused the government of waging a low-intensity conflict in the southern state of Chiapas, the site of an uprising in January 1994, and of militarising of Guerrero and Oaxaca, the areas of Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) and the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) activity. Abuse by the security forces also has been reported in the northern state of Sinaloa, which is the main point of the country's illegal drug trade.15
According to human rights groups, the army's presence in indigenous communities under the pretext of pursuing guerrillas or narco-traffickers has resulted in deterioration of the human rights situation.16 Human rights groups have reported numerous cases of persecution, detention and torture of peasants and opposition leaders by the army and the police in these areas.
Drug Trafficking
According to one Latin American trade publication, curbing Mexico's drug trade and money laundering through its financial system "could seriously destabilise the economy."17 It is estimated that the reinvested drug profits boost the country's growth by as much as US$15 billion per year, or 5 percent of Mexico's GDP. The drug cartels have long been under PRI protection and the end of PRI's dominance might limit their impunity.18 In July 1997, Gen. Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo, chief of the government's anti-drug forces for seven years, was charged with running a sophisticated operation with drug cartels and protecting the powerful Juárez cartel.19 Evidence also has surfaced that the police force has engaged in murders and disappearances of persons suspected of involvement in the drug trade, especially along the Mexico-U.S. border.20
Attacks Against Journalists
In recent years the Mexican press has become more independent and more critical of the authorities. Journalists have taken on drug traffickers and exposed government wrongdoing. At the same time, attacks and harassment of journalists have increased, and there often is a link between the authorities and the murderers.21 Mexico leads Latin America in the number of journalist assassinations - since 1970, 100 reporters, editors and publishers have been killed.22 In 1997, three Mexican journalists who had written about drug crimes and official corruption were killed,23 and more than 120 violent incidents of attacks or harassment against journalists were reported in only the last few months of the year. Journalists David Vecenteno and Daniel Lizarraga of the daily Reforma, Silvia Otero of El Universal, and two TV Azteca reporters reported being kidnapped, tortured and threatened in September 1997.24
Poverty
More than half of Mexico's population (50 million out of nearly 94 million) suffers from malnutrition, one of the main results of poverty.25 The southern states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas are the "poorest of the poor." More than half of the region's rural homes have dirt floors and lack drinking water. Illiteracy rates approach 50 percent, and the children are the country's smallest and most malnourished.26 An anti-poverty plan called "El Progresa," announced by Zedillo in August 1997, is not expected to have a significant impact on poverty, as it targets only 400,000 poor families. 27
Economy and NAFTA
The 1994 peso devaluation threw Mexico into the worst economic recession in 60 years. Within a year, the peso's worth declined from US$.26 to US$.13, and prices on basic items jumped. At the same time, some 20,000 businesses were closed, and more than 1 million people lost jobs. Interest rates soared and inflation shrank savings and incomes. With impoverishment of the population, crime in the capital increased by 36 percent in 1995 and by an additional 14 percent in 1996.28
In 1994, Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and the United States. Some commentators say NAFTA has benefited Mexico by creating jobs and helping its economy recover quickly after the peso crash. While in 1995, Mexico's GDP dropped 6.2 percent, only a year later it grew 5.1 percent.29 But NAFTA's critics argue that it has had a considerable social and environmental cost. Human rights commentator Noam Chomsky, for instance, warns that NAFTA has wiped out small Mexican corn farmers in favour of huge U.S. agribusiness, accelerating migration from rural to urban areas, depressing wages and increasing labour rights violations. Chomsky also argues that NAFTA-related business harms the environment, since production tends to be shifted to areas with "lax environmental enforcement."30 Opposition politicians and parties that recorded success in the July elections, including the PRD's Cárdenas, have called for a review of NAFTA to make it less harmful to workers and the environment.31
Since the ratification of NAFTA, the number of maquilas has increased dramatically.32 Most of these factories receive 98 percent of their inputs from the United States or Asia. Many environmental, human rights and labour groups accuse the sector of exploiting workers, who are pressured to work long hours under poor working conditions for meagre wages. Labour rights groups have also alleged that maquila workers are routinely prevented from organising.33
Rebellion in Chiapas
On 1 January 1994, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), a mostly indigenous guerrilla group from the poor region of Chiapas, staged an uprising against the national government, protesting discrimination, repression and economic reforms. They also called for autonomy. The rebellion coincided with the Mexican signing of NAFTA, which meant an end to land reform, privatisation of indigenous communal lands, and a more difficult economic situation in Chiapas. 34 The EZLN and the government have been negotiating since the end of January 1994, but the talks came to a standstill in January 1997. The EZLN has repeatedly accused the government of violating the San Andrés Larrainzar accords on indigenous rights, which were signed on 16 February 1996, and of waging a low-intensity war in Chiapas.35
Human Rights
Mexico boasts one of the most comprehensive constitutional guarantees of human rights in the world, but these rights are commonly violated.36 In 1997, Mexico's human rights record was criticised by several international organisations, including Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch. The International Federation of Human Rights, AI, the Organisation of American States (OAS), and the United Nations (UN) all sent delegations to investigate the human rights situation:37 Complaints of arbitrary arrests and torture committed by the police and the military have come from the states of Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca.38 AI claimed that abuses were committed by members of the security forces against both political and criminal detainees, and criticised Mexican authorities for doing little to prosecute the perpetrators. According to an April 1997 AI report, despite thousands of complaints filed, no one has been sentenced for the crime of torture and ill-treatment. 39 Human-rights abuses include arbitrary detentions, torture, extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, and failure to punish government officials accused of violations.40 Even President Zedillo acknowledged in an October 1997 speech that the perception of insecurity has reached such a high level that people in the capital and other parts of the country fear the police as much as they fear criminals.41
National Human Rights Commission
In 1990, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari established the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). Though CNDH has helped draw attention to human rights violations and exerted pressure on government agencies to take action, it has been criticised for depending on the executive branch. Its powers have been limited - it could not receive complaints directly and could make only recommendations to government agencies, with the exception of cases involving violations of electoral or labour rights.42 The commission has often been accused of ignoring or helping cover up human rights abuses. In October 1997, however, a new bill proposing CNDH full autonomy was introduced in the Chamber of Deputies. If adopted, it would make CNDH accountable to the legislature rather than to the executive branch, and would turn the commission into a human rights ombudsman office.43
CONTRIBUTORS: This below report is based in part on information provided to IWRAW by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Law and Policy's "Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting their Reproductive Lives - Latin America and the Caribbean." The November 1997 report was created in collaboration with CRLP partner organisations Study for the Defence of Women's Rights (Estudio para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer - DEMUS) and Information Group on Reproductive Choice (Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida - GIRE), both based in Mexico. IWRAW also received information from the Minneapolis-based Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, and from Group of Women of San Cristobal (Grupo de Mujeres de San Cristóbal) based in San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico.
BASIC RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS - Convention Article 3
Jails
According to the U.S. Department of State Human Rights report, some Mexican prisons do not separate male and female populations. Women held in such conditions are vulnerable to abuses from both male inmates and the guards. According to the report, women are sometimes encouraged or even coerced to enter into sexual relationships with male prisoners and guards.44
The well-publicised case of Ana María Vera Smith is one example of imprisonment of women in male prisons. Smith is a well-known radical leftist imprisoned on kidnapping charges in 1990. She has been held for seven years without trial because of the failure of witnesses to appear and because of her claims that she has been tortured to extract confession. She has staged several hunger strikes to end her status as the only woman the Puente Grande prison in the Jalisco state. Puente Grande, Mexico's second toughest prison, holds approximately 900 men. Human rights groups, including CNDH, have called for Smith's release and denounced her conditions of imprisonment as physical and psychological torture. She is held in a tiny cell and lives among male criminals who have been sentenced on murder and drug-trafficking charges. She gets only two hours of exercise per day and has reported frequent humiliating searches conducted by male guards. Mexican women's rights attorney Aurela Pérez Caño called Smith's detention unconstitutional. According to Pérez, the law allows jailing women with other women only, and maximum-security prisons, such as Puente Grande are meant for male convicts only.45
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN - Convention Articles 3, 5, 6, 12, 15, and 16
Rape
In 1995, in Mexico City 1,289 rapes were reported to the police, and the figure rose by 25 percent in 1996. But it is estimated that approximately 95 percent of all reported cases of sexual abuse go unpunished. Patricia Olamendi, the director of the Office for Victims of Sexual Crimes of the Attorney General's Office for the Federal District, attributes the statistics to the government's lack of attention to policies and laws related to sexual violence. This results in poor handling of these cases by the police and the justice system. The law enforcement system tends to discount women's stories and commonly blames them for the attack.46 In addition, women often feel that they cannot trust the police since there have been documented cases of police officers' participation in sexual crimes.47 It is estimated that on average only 17 percent of all rape victims report attacks against them.
Several recent cases have drawn attention to the discriminatory way the Mexican justice system handles rape cases. One of them is the widely publicised case of Claudia Rodríguez Ferrando. In 1996, Rodríguez shot and killed a man who was trying to sexually assault her. Judges and prosecutors openly blamed Rodríguez for the attack. She spent a year in jail awaiting trial on homicide charges, and won release in February 1997 only after an energetic campaign launched by feminist organisations and attorneys.48 The groups pointed out that in another self-defence case, a major television network's security chief, who shot and killed a robber who was trying to steal his Rolex watch at gunpoint, was freed within two days. A women's rights activist stated: "We can't have a situation where a woman's physical integrity is worth less than a wristwatch."49
In August 1997, Mexico was shocked when 16-year-old Yéssica Díaz Cazares committed suicide three months after she was raped by three men in the central state of Durango. Reportedly, the police asked her to recount her story and tried to pressure her to drop rape charges. According to press reports, Yéssica's mother, sister and niece were tortured to pressure her to withdraw the rape claim.50 As a result of this case, the police chief and other justice officials were suspended, and the Durango state authorities launched a criminal investigation. State Attorney General Juan Francisco Arroyo Herrera quit his post after CNDH recommended that he be dismissed.51
Spousal Abuse
In June 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that violently forcing a spouse to engage in sexual relations was not rape but the "undue exercise of a right." The court's decision rested on an assumption that where there is an obligation of cohabitation, "violent imposition of normal copulation on the other is not sufficient for the act to be considered rape, even though the perpetrator has employed methods used in what is defined as rape." In the past, offenders faced eight to 14 years in prison and did not have the right to probation. Under the new ruling, they will have the option to pay a US$100-$300 fine or spend up to a year in prison. Mexican women's human-rights activists have accused the court of "legitimising the exercise of violence between spouses," and of violating the Mexican constitution and international treaties. They claim that the ruling denied the principle of equality between spouses and violated a clause in the constitution that "no individual can take the law into his own hands nor use violence to demand a real or supposed right."52
Domestic Violence
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights (MAHR) conducted an investigation on domestic violence in 1996. According to MAHR, domestic violence is a widespread problem in Mexico, yet the abusers are rarely punished for the crimes. The cultural mores dictating that violence in the home is a private matter, not a public issue for prosecution by the state, weights heavily and impedes victims' access to justice. Victims are routinely not taken seriously and many of them are encouraged to reconcile with their abuser early in the case and pressured to drop the criminal charges. MAHR found that a Mexico City "conciliator," (someone appointed to work with the victim) openly expressed his view that the husband had a right to beat his wife and prosecution of such cases was inappropriate.53 According to the MAHR report, only 5 percent of victims who start the criminal process actually see it through to sentencing.
Domestic violence advocates have campaigned unsuccessfully for a new criminal and civil law specific to domestic violence. However, a new anti-domestic violence bill that mandates harsher sentences is pending in the lower house of Congress. Women's rights advocates have urged legislators to approve the new law, which would "give Mexico its first concrete policies against family violence."54
EDUCATION - Convention Article 10
Even though women make up 52 percent of Mexico's population, only 19 percent finish elementary school. Girls drop out of school more often than boys, and they make up 70 percent of the illiterate adult population.55 Their dropout rates are always related to marriage, pregnancy and inability to pay.56
EMPLOYMENT - Convention Article 11
Pregnancy Testing
Mexican employers are required by law to provide a 12-week paid maternity leave to their female employees.57 Employers have tried to circumvent this requirement by administering pregnancy tests to female job applicants and repeating the test before extending work contracts. Although measures against pregnancy are strictest in the maquiladora industry (see Maquilas below), multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola, as well as Mexican government offices such as the Education Ministry and the State Workers' Social Security Institute, also have used pregnancy testing. In addition, women applying for jobs with the Education Secretariat reported that they had to fill out questionnaires about their sexual activity.
Maquilas
Maquilas (or maquiladoras) are export-oriented assembly plants concentrated along the border with the United States employing a total of 900,000 workers.58 Their output represents approximately 40 percent of the nation's exports.59 In some maquila sectors, such as electronics and garment-assembly plants, up to three-quarters of workers are female,60 and they come from nation's lowest-income sectors.61 Human rights groups have criticised the poor working conditions, such as 10-hour shifts and highly repetitive work. In addition, workers in the maquila industry face particularly strong management resistance to organising. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) reported that employers, often with support from local officials, have harassed and threatened workers who attempted to start trade unions.62
Maquilas also have been accused of forcing job applicants to undergo pregnancy exams. In August 1996, Human Rights Watch reported the widespread maquiladora practice of administering pregnancy tests. Employees and employers involved with the industry confirmed the practice; several workers in Tijuana factories reported that they were given mandatory pregnancy tests and employers made it clear that they would not hire women who tested positive.63 Advocacy groups such as Human Rights Watch, the International Labour Rights Fund and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers of Mexico petitioned the U.S. Labour Department in May 1997 to investigate charges that Mexico was violating NAFTA's side labour accord concerning laws against sex discrimination.64 As a result, the Department launched an investigation in July 1997.65
At the same time, human rights groups pointed out that women who are refused jobs because of pregnancy or forced to have an abortion to get a job, do not have any legal recourse. The labour tribunal accepts complaints only in cases where the contractual relationship of employment already exists.66
HEALTH CARE AND FAMILY PLANNING - Convention Article 12
Abortion
Although the Mexican constitution guarantees reproductive freedom and does not explicitly prohibit abortion, most states criminalise it. According to the National Prenatal Institute, approximately 200,000 to 850,000 abortions are performed each year; some international organisations and NGOs say the number may be as high as 2 million. Women face six months to five years of imprisonment for abortion,67 and doctors who perform the procedure face six-to eight-year imprisonment and a loss of their license.
Every year about 1,500 women die from trying to perform abortion on their own.68 Even though abortion is a serious public-health issue and its relatively high incidence is linked to a reluctance to use birth control, which is prohibited by the influential Catholic Church, there is no public debate about it and minimal political and social support for its legalisation. The Catholic Church and pro-life activists have not made abortion a major issue, and anti-abortion demonstrations are uncommon. According to Marta Lamas, director of the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), such a pro-life crusade is unnecessary because of the cultural weight of Catholicism in Mexican society.69 In fact, politicians, doctors and even Mexican feminists avoid the issue. Asked about abortion, Senator Amalia García, who has fought for women's rights for 20 years, responded that she would not fight for its legalisation.
Reproductive Health
Negligence by medical personnel and coercion at reproductive health-care centres are serious issues in Mexico. The U.S. State Department reported that the largest number of complaints to the CNDH in 1995 involved negligence or abuse during childbirth and charges of forced sterilisation.70 The government's "Woman's Programme," designed to monitor the situation, has been receiving an increasing number of complaints since it was established in early 1990s. Grievances have grown from 14 in 1993 to 49 in 1995, and they are estimated to increase to more than 100 in 1997.71 One of the most noteworthy cases involves a women who, following the Caesarean birth of her third child, found that one of her thumbs was stained. She was subsequently informed that while she was unconscious, her thumb print was used to obtain her "consent" for sterilisation.72 CNDH and several NGOs recommended that the government mandate special training programs for medical personnel and establish medical review boards to eliminate these abuses, but it is unknown whether any such programmes have been instituted.
While general reproductive health has improved, as indicated by declining infant mortality rates and an increase in breastfeeding, the rate of maternal deaths has remained steady since 1993 at 5.8 per 10,000.73
AIDS
Mexico ranks third in the Western Hemisphere in the number of reported HIV/AIDS cases,74 and women constitute about 15 percent of them.75 It is estimated that at least 400,000 people in Mexico carry HIV.76 While AIDS cases among Mexican women in the mid-1980s were mainly associated with blood transfusion, 64 percent of new cases are traced to heterosexual transmission.77 In fact, the heterosexually transmitted epidemic has been increasing twice as fast as cases related to blood transfusion in recent years and it is expected to dominate AIDS epidemiology in the future.
While women are biologically more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS than men, in Mexico their social and cultural status makes it more difficult for them to defend themselves against the risks of infection. Women's economic, social and cultural subordination to their sexual partners, as a result of machismo, makes it more difficult for them to "assess their infection risk and negotiate taking preventive measures."78 AIDS researchers in Mexico have called for better design of preventive measures that would empower women and enable them to protect themselves even without their partner's awareness. They called for the promotion of education among young heterosexual couples on how to discuss and negotiate sexual issues and preventive measures.
Alicia Molina of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Study and Research in Mexico City said the country's educational system does not have an adequate sex education programme, as it is limited to biological and medical topics and fails to deal with important psychological implications and social aspects of sexuality.79 Conservative sectors of society, particularly the Catholic Church hierarchy, have been campaigning to make sex education exclusively a parental responsibility - a misguided proposition, since parents themselves often lack adequate information. Partly as a result of this pressure, there is no sex education programme for adolescents, and the 1995-2000 programme of educational development does not mention sex education in curricula.80 The church and antichoice groups have demanded that condoms distributed through Mexico's AIDS prevention programme carry a warning label stating, "use of this product is harmful to health."81
RURAL WOMEN - Convention Article 14
Rural women, and particularly indigenous women, occupy the lowest possible socio-economic position. According to the Pan American Health Organisation, malnutrition is 31.8 percent more prevalent in rural zones than in urban areas.82 Indigenous women, especially in the poorest states - Oaxaca, Guerrero and Chiapas - find themselves in the worst condition of marginalisation and poverty.83 Many of them speak only their indigenous language and have no say in matters related to their marriage, reproduction, freedom of movement and decision-making. 84 Deep-rooted traditions and customs relegate them to a subservient role in relationships. They have an average of four children and, as their primary roles are mothering and caretaking, they are excluded from the public sphere and often are completely unaware of their social, political and legal rights. These women are often exposed to domestic violence resulting from alcoholism, drug addiction, and the extremely poor living conditions.85 Despite abundant evidence of this situation, according to women's groups, the government does not have any policy or programme to improve the status of rural women.
EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW - Convention Article 15
According to a report by Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP), despite constitutional guarantees of equality between men and women in many Mexican states, legal codes contain provisions that are clearly discriminatory in regards to women. In some states, women are required to obtain authorisation from their husbands to work or sign a contract. CRLP also reported that in some states, Chiapas for instance, an animal theft receives a harsher punishment than rape. 86
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LAW - Convention Article 16
According the U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report, in some states women's ability to sue to establish paternity and receive child support is limited, except in cases of rape or cohabitation; when the child resides with the father; and where there is a written proof of paternity.87
Divorce
According to Judge Alicia Elena Pérez Duarte, in cases of divorce on the grounds of adultery, the law clearly favours men, justifying men's adultery to a certain degree. If the wife does not meet her husbands "conjugal rights," the husband may be seen as justified in seeking satisfaction of his "natural instincts" through extramarital sexual relations. He is not held responsible for the divorce as he is considered to have been "pushed" into adultery. On the other hand, a woman is always condemned for adultery since her extramarital affair can result in an "illegitimate child." Moreover, such conduct is considered a "provocation" for her husband's adultery, which makes her guilty and ultimately responsible for the divorce. The person who is declared responsible loses forever the right to receive alimony from the other.88
1 M. Delal Baer, "Misreading Mexico,"Foreign Policy, no. 108 (Fall 1997): 139. back
2 M. Delal Baer, "Misreading Mexico,"Foreign Policy, no. 108 (Fall 1997): 141. back
3 M. Delal Baer, "Misreading Mexico,"Foreign Policy, no. 108 (Fall 1997): 143. back
4 Howard LaFranchi, "Getting Along with Mexico Just Got Harder, but Healthier," Christian Science Monitor, 17 July 1997. back
5 Andrew Reding, "The New Mexican Revolution," Sacramento Bee Sunday Forum, 13 July 1997, on-line, 30 July 1997. back
6 M. Delal Baer, "Misreading Mexico,"Foreign Policy, no. 108 (Fall 1997): 141. back
7 Sam Dillon, "In Mexico, Balloting Will Test Authoritarian System," New York Times, 6 July 1997, on-line. back
8 M. Delal Baer, "Misreading Mexico,"Foreign Policy, no. 108 (Fall 1997): 140. back
9 International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 1997 Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (Brussels: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 1997), 58. back
10 Andrew Reding, Democracy and Human Rights in Mexico, (New York: World Policy Institute, May 1995), 39-40. back
11 International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 1997 Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (Brussels: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 1997), 58. back
12 Sam Dillon, "In Mexico, Balloting Will Test Authoritarian System," New York Times, 6 July 1997, on-line. back
13 Andrew Reding, Democracy and Human Rights in Mexico, (New York: World Policy Institute, May 1995), 23. back
14 Andrew Reding, Democracy and Human Rights in Mexico, (New York: World Policy Institute, May 1995), 13. back
15 Molly Moore, "Rights Group Cites Abuses by Mexico's Ruling Party," Washington Post, 30 April 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
16 "Mexico-Rights: Government Cancels Meetings with Amnesty International Head," Inter Press Service, 24 September 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
17 "Mexico Drug Profit as High as $15 billion-Report," Reuters, 4 August 1997. back
18 Andrew Reding, "The New Mexican Revolution." back
19 Anthony DePalma, "Main Witness in Mexico Drug Scandal is Shot and Wounded," New York Times, 28 July 1997. back
20 Marisa Samuelson, "Rights Groups Decry Disappearances," InfoLatina, 10 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
21 "Mexico, Colombia Lead Latin America in Slain Journalists," Agence France-Presse, 4 September 1997. back
22 Mark I. Pinsky, "Living Dangerously; Journalism in Mexico; Includes Report on Imprisoned Journalists," The Quill (May 1997), Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
23 Julia Preston, "Five Reporters Assaulted in Mexico in Efforts to Intimidate Them," New York Times, 21 September 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
24 "Mexican Journalists Often Attacked," Associated Press, 25 September 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
25 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Food: for Thousands, Right to Food More Distant Than Ever," Inter Press Service, 16 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
26 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Food: for Thousands, Right to Food More Distant Than Ever," Inter Press Service, 16 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
27 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Food: for Thousands, Right to Food More Distant Than Ever," Inter Press Service, 16 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
28 John Ward Anderson, "In Mexico's Crime Wave, Police Often are the Cause, Not the Solution," Washington Post, 30 September 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
29 M. Delal Baer, "Misreading Mexico,"Foreign Policy, no. 108 (Fall 1997): 146. back
30 Noam Chomsky, "Notes of NAFTA: The Masters of Mankind," Documents on Mexican Politics, available from http://daisy.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/pol-ind.html/, Internet, accessed on 31 October 1997. back
31 Sam Dillon, "In Mexico, Balloting Will Test Authoritarian System," New York Times, 6 July 1997, on-line. back
32 Maquilas are international subcontracting plants in which one country, usually an industrialised one, provides capital, technology and infrastructure to another country which supplies labour. back
33 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Economy: Social and Environmental Costs of Maquila Boom," Inter Press Service, 15 July 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
34 "Zapatista Women Demand Their Rights," Women's World ISIS, no. 31 (1997), 18. back
35 Chronological History of the Peace Talks Between the EZLN and the Mexican Government, 1994-1997, available from http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln/timeline.html, Internet, accessed on 10 November 1997. back
36 Andrew Reding, Democracy and Human Rights in Mexico, (New York: World Policy Institute, May 1995), 13. back
37 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Rights: Strained Relations Between Government, NGOs," Inter Press Service, 14 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
38 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Human Rights: Special Rapporteur on Torture Sent to Mexico," Inter Press Service, 6 August 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
39 "Mexico: Widespread Torture and ill-treatment Continues Despite Government's Professed Commitment to End this Atrocious Crime," Amnesty International News Release , no. 68/97, 30 April 1997. back
40 "Legislators Propose Constitutional Changes to Grant Greater Autonomy for Human Rights Commission," SourceMex: Economic News & Analysis on Mexico, 15 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
41 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Human Rights: Watch Out for the Police, Rights Groups Say," Inter Press Service, 11 September 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
42 Andrew Reding, Democracy and Human Rights in Mexico, (New York: World Policy Institute, May 1995), 54-55. back
43 "Legislators Propose Constitutional Changes to Grant Greater Autonomy for Human Rights Commission," SourceMex: Economic News & Analysis on Mexico, 15 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
44 US Department of State, Mexico Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1996 (Washington, DC: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, 30 January 1997). back
45 Monica Ballesca, "Lone Woman Fasts in Jail Full of Mexican Men," Reuters, 29 April 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
46 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Women: Suicide of Young Rape Victim Spurs New NGO," Inter Press Service, 15 October 1997, Nexis, 27 October 1997. back
47 Julia Preston, "A Woman's Shooting of Attacker Rivets Mexico," New York Times, 5 February 1997, A3. back
48 Elena Poniatowska, "Women's Battle for Respect Inch by Inch; Each Small Victory is Big News in the Struggle for Respect in a Society Where Mother's Day Means the Gift of a New Mop," Los Angeles Times, Op-Ed, 8 September 1997, Nexis, 27 October 1997. back
49 Julia Preston, "A Woman's Shooting of Attacker Rivets Mexico," New York Times, 5 February 1997, A3. back
50 "Mexico Rape-Suicide Causes Fallout," Associated Press, 29 August 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
51 "Mexico Prosecutor Resigns Amid anger Over a Rape-Suicide," Chicago Tribune, 31 August 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
52 Eduardo Molina y Vedia, "Mexico: Supreme Court Legitimises Rape of Spouses, Critics Say," Inter Press Service, 16 June 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
53 Minesota Advocates for Human Rights, "Report of Mission to Mexico," (Minneapolis, MN:Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, April 1996, photocopied). back
54 "Chamber Mulls New Family Violence Bill," Worldsources Online, Inc., 19 November 1997, Nexis, 20 November 1997. back
55 Susan Ferriss, "In New Congress, Mexico's Women Hope for Unity with Mexico-Lesbian," Cox News Service, 22 August 1997. back
56 Elena Poniatowska, "Women's Battle for Respect Inch by Inch; Each Small Victory is Big News in the Struggle for Respect in a Society Where Mother's Day Means the Gift of a New Mop," Los Angeles Times, Op-Ed, 8 September 1997, Nexis, 27 October 1997. back
57 Andres Oppenheimer and Lucy Conger, "Mexican Women Unite in a Demand for Rights," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 18 August 1997, Nexis, 27 October 1997. back
58 "Maquiladora Jobs Up," Arizona Republic, 1 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
59 " Mexico/Maquiladoras/Exports Increase to 4,001 million," Notimex, 17 September 1997, Nexis, 23 October 1997. back
60 "Mexico Labour: Maquilas Put Spotlight on Workers' Rights, Ethics," Economist Intelligence Unit, 29 July 1997, Nexis, 31 October 1997. back
61 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Economy: Social and Environmental Costs of Maquila Boom," Inter Press Service, 15 July 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
62 International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 1997 Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (Brussels: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 1997), 58-59. back
63 Diane Lindquist, "US Planning Maquiladora Investigation," Copley News Service, 19 July 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
64 "Mexico Trade: USA May Probe Sex Discrimination Charge," Economist Intelligence Unit, 11 July 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
65 Kevin G. Hall, "Hiring Practices at Mexico's Border Factories to Be Studied," Journal of Commerce, 18 July 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
66 Kevin G. Hall, "Hiring Practices at Mexico's Border Factories to Be Studied," Journal of Commerce, 18 July 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
67 Centro Legal para Derechos Reproductivos y Políticas Públicas, Mujeres del Mundo: Leyes y Políticas que Afectan sus Vidas Reproductivas América Latina y el Caribe (New York: CRLP, November 1997), 159. back
68 Louise Palmer, "Mexico; The 'Double Moral' that Keeps Abortion Off the Political Agenda," Los Angeles Times, 24 August 1997, Nexis, 27 October 1997. back
69 Louise Palmer, "Mexico; The 'Double Moral' that Keeps Abortion Off the Political Agenda," Los Angeles Times, 24 August 1997, Nexis, 27 October 1997. back
70 US Department of State, Mexico Country Report on Human Rigths Practices for 1996 (Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, February 1997). back
71 Zoraida Portillo, "Population: Reproductive Rights Lacking in Latin America," Inter Press Service, 26 May 1997, on-line. back
72 Zoraida Portillo, "Population: Reproductive Rights Lacking in Latin America," Inter Press Service, 26 May 1997, on-line. back
73 Eduardo Molina y Vedia, "Health-Mexico: Maternal Deaths Mar Improved Reproductive Health," Inter Press Service, 25 May 1997, Nexis, 31 October 1997. back
74 "World Bank Loan Assists Argentina to Fight AIDS," Xinhua News Agency, 23 May 1997, Nexis, 31 October 1997. back
75 Aurora del Rio Zolezzi and others, eds., "La Epidemia de VIH/SIDA y la Mujer en Mexico," Salud Pública de México , vol. 37, no. 6 (Noviembre-Diciembre de 1995): 581-591. back
76 "Archbishop, Antichoice Group Call for Warning Labels on Condoms," In Catholic Circles (Washington, DC: Catholics for Free Choice) vol. 2, no. 4 (July-August 1997), 5. back
77 Aurora del Rio Zolezzi and others, eds., "La Epidemia de VIH/SIDA y la Mujer en Mexico," Salud Pública de México , vol. 37, no. 6 (Noviembre-Diciembre de 1995): 581-591. back
78 Aurora del Rio Zolezzi and others, eds., "La Epidemia de VIH/SIDA y la Mujer en Mexico," Salud Pública de México , vol. 37, no. 6 (Noviembre-Diciembre de 1995): 581-591. back
79 Eduardo Molina y Vedia, "Health-Mexico: Maternal Deaths Mar Improved Reproductive Health," Inter Press Service, 25 May 1997, Nexis, 31 October 1997. back
80 Centro Legal para Derechos Reproductivos y Políticas Públicas, Mujeres del Mundo: Leyes y Políticas que Afectan sus Vidas Reproductivas América Latina y el Caribe (New York: CRLP, November 1997), 165. back
81 "Archbishop, Antichoice Group Call for Warning Labels on Condoms," In Catholic Circles (Washington, DC: Catholics for Free Choice) vol. 2, no. 4 (July-August 1997), 5. back
82 Pan American Health Organisation, Country Health Profiles: Mexico, 15 September 1995, available from http://www.paho.org/, Internet, accessed on 3 September 1997. back
83 Diego Cevallos, "Mexico-Food: for Thousands, Right to Food More Distant Than Ever," Inter Press Service, 16 October 1997, Nexis, 20 October 1997. back
84 "Zapatista Women Demand Their Rights," Women's World ISIS, no. 31 (1997), 19. back
85 "Zapatista Women Demand Their Rights," Women's World ISIS, no. 31 (1997), 19. back
86 Patricia Galeana, "La Violencia Intrafamiliar como Delito Tipificado. Un proyecto Pendiente, " in Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Memoria de la Reunión Nacional sobre Derechos Humanos de la Mujer Mexicana, November 1995, 16. back
87 U.S. Department of State, Mexico Country Report on Human Rigths Practices for 1996 (Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, February 1997). back
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