Possible Success for Latin American Women’s Movement

There have been recent hearings on whether to legalize abortion in the capital of Mexico.  The main proponents of the bill have been women’s rights groups, while the opponents are the Roman Catholic groups.  This would not only be a major achievement in Mexico, but for women throughout Latin America.  Currently only Cuba, Guyana, and Puerto Rica have legalized abortion, but Mexico is run by the conservative National Action Party that is very catholic and conservative.  The reason the bill will probably go through is that Mexico City is a federal district run by the Democratic Revolution Party that supports legalizing abortion and has made it a top priority on the city’s agenda.  Around one million abortions are currently performed each year in Mexico, some in hospitals and others in private clinics.  It is illegal to perform an abortion, but doctors are rarely prosecuted.  Abortion is currently the fifth leading cause of death in Mexico and 2,000 to 3,000 women die annually from ill-performed abortions.  Calderon made a statement in regard to the issue, but was careful not to say too much.  He told the press that he supported the current laws in Mexico City, which grant abortions to women who have been raped or the women’s health is in danger, but that if the PRD passed the bill they would be “steamrolling” people’s values.  The issue here, according to Calderon, is the Mexican people’s values which have long been formed by the Catholic Church, a staunch opponent of abortion.  

           This could be a major change not only for Mexico, but also for Latin America as a whole.  If
Mexico can pass this bill, other countries may begin to see changes in their current laws.  There is still the force of the Catholic Church that still plays a major role in the lives of most people in Latin America.  This issue has caused the priests to talk about abortion in their sermons.  People in Mexico City are complaining that the church is trying to force their values on the government.  Latin America is somewhere around 80 percent catholic.  It will be difficult to change the laws of abortion in countries where the majority of the people still hold very tightly to the values of the Catholic Church.  In
Mexico, we see how this could possibly be changing, not only through government support but also through local women’s movements.  Women’s movements have been battling this issue for over thirty years and finally they are seeing some success in their work.  Perhaps this will pave the way for others to follow suit. 

Source: LATimes.com

Desmigratizar

After Calderon’s recent talk with President Bush, he has taken on a new strategy for dealing with the immigration issue.  Instead of having immigration at the top of the US and Mexican agenda, Calderon is trying to make the issue of immigration not at the top of the agenda, but further down in importance.  His strategy, desmigratizar, (literally meaning de-immigration) aims at removing immigration from the forefront of the bilateral agenda between the US and Mexico.  Calderon’s top foriegn aid said that in order to evetually get an immigration reform, Mexico must show the US that it is trying to deal with the internal problems, lack of jobs and low standard of living, that have made people migrate to the US.  With his deicison to try and shift the agenda away from immigration reform, Calderon is faced with the challenge of trying to generate more jobs in Mexico and improve social services.  Although he values eventually achieving an immigration program that will help families separated by the border, he has decided to take a slower appraoch from simply trying to get the United States to pass a new reform.  Instead his goal is show that Mexico can deal with its internal problems and maybe lessen the amount of immigrants to the US.  His tools for achieving this are to generate more jobs and improve the standard of living for many Mexicans.  He knows that this will take a long time, and that any immigration reform will probably not be passed within Bush’s last two years of his term, but he is willing to take it slowely.  It will be a huge challenge to suddenly shift the focus away from immigration and turn towards internal problems.  Bush has become very unpopular in Mexico and Latin America as a whole and many Mexicans view the relationship between the two countries as failing.  There will probably be criticism expressed towards Calderon’s new policy as immigration is at the top of the list for everyone in Mexico and for illegal immigrants in the US. 

Mexicans Protest Bush’s Visit

In the city of Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula, forty people organized a protest against Bush’s visit to Mexico next week.  He intends to meet with President Felipe Calderon.  The protest was carried out in opposition to the intervention of the United States in Iraq as well as others in the past.  The leader of the protest said that he hoped more people would join the protest in the next few days from other states.  Calderon and Bush plan to meet the 13th and 14th of March.  In the days leading up to his arrival and during his visit, we will see many more protestors take to the streets to express their dislike of the President and the decisions made by the US government. 

President Bush’s first visit was to Brazil where many protestors filled the streets.  As he makes his tour of Latin America, there will be opposition and protests in every country.  Many of the people of Latin America do not agree with the President’s actions nor those of the US government.  This is only a small picture of what the sentiment is around the world.  There seems to be a universal anti-Bush sentiment that rises up whenever he attempts to visit a particular country.  As the leaders of the Latin American countries attempt to improve relations with the United States, the people will have little support for the visit of the US President. 

Source: Grupo Miled, Mexico

Breaking the Barrier

In an article in the New York Times, “Cities Mesh Across Blurry Border, Despite Physical Barrier, ” the reporter explains how Mexican authorities recently complained that U.S. construction workers building the barrier between the two countries had crossed thirty three feet into Mexico.  According to the author, this incident shows how the border, whether it is marked by a metal wall or not, is not clearly defined.  No matter what is constructed to mark the separation between Mexico and the United States, the cross-border connections make the actual border line blurry.  On one side is Tiujana and on the other side is San Diego.  These two cities are connected economically, environmentally, and culturally.  People who live in San Diego cross the border to work in Tiujana or vis-a-versa.  Environmental pollution travels by air and water between these two cities.  There may be a metal wall and border patrol, but that does now stop the flow of people and pollution.  It seems from the interconnectedness of Tiujana and San Diego that the border means very little.  It still stops many Mexicans from entering the United States, but interaction is still present and people still figure out ways to break the barrier. 

If this example were applied to the state level, we would also see that the border means very little for trade and commerce between the United States and Mexico.  Trade goods, technology, and communication pass easily from one country to another with little regard to the metal barrier and the border patrol’s guns.  Foreign policy in both the United States and Mexico embraces the idea of free trade which was initiated by the creation of NAFTA.  Both know they will be better off with trade, it is a good thing.  But when it comes to the movement of people between the two countries, things are not as easy.  The United States considers the movement of Mexicans across the border to be a bad thing, but unlike the movement of goods and money, they will not come up with an agreement with Mexico.  A metal wall may exist between Tijuana and San Diego, but it will not keep the people of the cities from interacting with eachother.  It seems that wall or no wall, both cultures will come into contact no matter what.   

The Effects of US Security Decisions

According to the NY Times article “U.S., Mexico, and Canada Discuss Border Issues“, cabinet ministers from all three countries met in Ottawa to dicuss border issues that will be on the agenda at a meeting later in the year.  Candoleeza Rice, Michael Chertoff, and Carlos Gutierrez met with Canadian and Mexican cabinet members to discuss the effects of increased border security on cross-border trade.  They are worried that the new passport requirement issued by the United States that will go into effect in January 2008 (all U.S., Mexican, and Canadian citizens must have a passport in order to cross the border) will harm the amount of trade that takes places between the countries.  President Bush, President Calderon, and Prime Minister Harper plan to meet later in the year to discuss this issue. 

This issue of border security, which is at the state level of analysis, can have affects on cross-border trade, which is at the systemic level of analysis.  From within the state, governments come up with policies on security, for example the United States has chosen to implement a law requiring US, Canadian, and Mexican citizens to have a passport in order to enter the US.  This state level decision making also affects the systemic level of trade interdependence between the three countries.  Tighter security means that goods can travel less easily between countries.  It also affects Canadians and Mexicans who are required to show a passport when entering the United States.  The decision was made to enhance security measures at the borders in hopes of stopping possible terrorists from entering the United States through either Mexico or Canada.  This decision will no doubt not only have an affect on trade, but also tourism.  Only around 18% of the United States population owns a passport.  It would seem that tourism to Mexico would decrease which in turn could have an affect on the Mexican economy.   

Problems for the Mexican Economy

Mexico’s economy has slowed down in the last few months.  Some believe it is due to slow production in the factory sector and the decrease in exports to the United States.  For Calderon who has promised economic growth in the next year as well as an increase in the number of jobs, it is going to be difficult to follow through with his promise.  According to economists, the United States economy is weakening which in turn affects the Mexican economy whose primary trading partner is the United States.  Mexico has rising inflation, decreasing oil production, and the auto industry has hit a slump.  Economic conditions in Mexico generally fuel the high migration numbers to the United States, but recently the amount of illegals crossing the border has lessened due to tighter border patrol.  This means that less money is flowing from the United States to Mexico from workers to their families. 

“Unemployment in Mexico has soared. Rising prices on basics including tortillas, milk and eggs have sparked street protests. Millions of families rely on the remittances sent home, which have become the nation’s second-largest source of foreign exchange behind oil revenue.”

Manufacturing has also slowed considerably since last year and exports have also declined.  But a major decline in remittances will have a deep effect on the Mexican economy.  This downturn will put an increase of pressure on Calderon to come up with some sort of immigration agreement with the United States.  But if the Mexican economy is to become stable as well as developed, it will have to rely less on remittances and oil wealth.  The Mexican economy has grown substantially over the years and the overall wealth has increased, but a truly developed economy cannot rely on money being sent from illegal workers in the United State back to their families in Mexico.  It is important that an immigration agreement is reached between the two countries, but Mexico needs to focus on internal growth and job creation.  In a time when jobs are being lost to Asian workers, exports to the United States are declining, and oil revenues are at a low, the challenges facing Mexico are great.  Solving the immigration issue is indeed important, but how to create more jobs and generate government revenue is also a huge consideration.   

Source:  LA Times February 17th, 2007

Will “tougher tactics” solve the problem?

A recent article in the NY Times, “Tougher Tactics Deter Migrants at US Border“, reports that it is becoming more difficult for immigrants to cross the border into the United States because of new barriers and more border patrol. 

“The new measures range from simply putting more officers out on patrol to erecting stadium lights, secondary fences and barriers of thick steel poles to stop smugglers from racing across the desert in all-wheel-drive trucks. The Border Patrol has deployed hundreds of new guards to watch rivers, monitor surveillance cameras and guard fences.”  

Homeland Security officials say that the percent of illegal immigrants caught has dropped 27 percent since last year.  Officials are not sure if it is because of increased border patrol or other factors.  They say that tighter border patrol usually just means people find other routes.  But the Border Patrol say it is definitely due to tighter control of the border.  “The slackening flow, they argue, belies the conventional wisdom that it is impossible to stem illegal migration. Many veteran officers in the force are now beginning to believe it can be controlled with enough resources”.  It seems that this kind of enforcement is going to take alot of man power and alot of money to keep all the above technology and barriers effective.  The Border Patrol believe illegals can be stopped simply by using more resources.  This may be true to a certain extent, but how long can they keep up this kind of enforcement?  Obviously the short term goal is to reduce the amount of illegal migrants crossing the border, but maybe they should start thinking about the long term goals.    

For the first time, migrants caught crossing the border are being sentenced to time in jail, whereas before they were just taken back across the border and let go. 

“Though it seems cruel to many migrants, the zero-tolerance policy appears to be working, Border Patrol commanders say. Along the river the Del Rio sector patrols, arrests are a third of what they were a year ago, only about 35 a day. In the meantime, drug seizures have doubled, as more agents have been freed up to patrol.”

Now jail is becoming a deterrent from crossing the border at this particular point.  Stadium lights, fences, steel poles, surveillance cameras, more guards, and jail?  How far will this issue go before people realize that we need to find a REAL solution to this immigration problem.  Mexico’s goal, which has been pursued for many years, is to achieve some sort of migration reform.  Their means of pursuing this goal is to “aggressively” lobby to the United States.    

“Mexican consulates in the United States will talk with state and federal lawmakers, business chambers, civic organizations and “all actors of U.S. society” who support comprehensive immigration reform, Arturo Sarukhan said.  The ambassador said Mexico has a brief window to convince Washington to approve immigration reforms before campaigning begins for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.” (MSN News)

Although President Bush does support giving Mexicans temporary work visas, he cannot get support from Congress.  Vicente Fox lobbied for immigration reform during his six-year presidency without success.  This is not a good sign for the future.  It seems that Mexico’s goal for immigration reform is going to a be a long process that will not be solved in the near future.  Instead, we are using more resources to tighten the security on the border in hopes of deterring the immigrants, a ”solution” that cannot last forever or ever really solve the problem.