The Habanero Blog

On a beaucoup entendu parler des élections aux Etats Unis, élections historiques puisque jamais aucun président n'a été élu avec autant de voix.  Un peu plus au sud, au Mexique, les élections ne se déroulent pas aussi bien.  Si il est vrai que Vicente Fox a été le premier président élu qui ne fut pas du Parti Révolutionnaire Institutionnel, ce n'est pas le cas des nombreuses municipalités du pays, auxquelles une élection libre et transparente ne s'applique pas

Ici est un article du Universal, décrivant les tactiques du PRI dans l'état de Oaxaca.

Murder illustrates frailty of democracy

The shooting of a mayoral candidate last month recalled the days when the PRI used everything from stuffed ballot boxes to assassinations to win elections.

BY GINGER THOMPSON/New York Times News Service
November 09, 2004

SAN JOSÉ ESTANCIA GRANDE, Oaxaca. There is no doubt about who executed 39 year-old Guadalupe Ávila Salinas, a mother of four, a beloved community worker and a candidate for mayor who was gunned down in broad daylight just days before local elections on Oct. 3 in this village of corn farmers in the southern state of Oaxaca.

The mayor whom she hoped to succeed chased her into a public health clinic and fired three bullets into her back. Then, in front of at least a dozen horrified bystanders, he reached over Ávila's body and fired another bullet into her head.

Three days later, she won the election.

The victory illustrates a critical turning point in Mexico's slow move toward democracy. In one sense, the killing recalled the days when the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, used everything from stuffing ballot boxes to assassinations to win elections. The man who killed her was a member of that party, which has governed this town for the last seven decades.

Yet in this case, the people did not bow to the violence. They carried on Ávila's campaign, elected her posthumously as mayor, then asked her husband to serve her term and keep her dream alive.

PRI leaders said the killing was a lamentable aberration but had nothing to do with politics. Her grieving husband, Israel Reyes, is not so sure.

"My wife spent the last 12 years working for change in Mexico," said Reyes, 35, afraid even to stand next to his wife's grave for a photograph because he was worried about who might be watching. "She even had me believing in her dream. Look where it left her." Four years after this country celebrated its first open presidential elections, it is not always easy to tell whether Mexico is moving forward or back to its authoritarian past.

Clearly real progress has been made, including a more independent press, prosecutions of government officials accused of crimes against humanity and new freedom of information laws. But fraud and violence continue to mar political contests at the state and local levels which remain in the grip of the PRI. Impunity systematically prevails over justice.

OAXACA AND THE PRI

Some of the worst examples have happened here in Oaxaca, a state of breathtaking beauty and catastrophic ethnic and land disputes. About the size of Maine, it has some 17 Indian groups and is divided into 570 municipalities more than any other state.

In 152 municipalities, people elect their mayors by secret ballot. In all the rest, elected officials are chosen by traditional Indian assemblies, where a committee of representatives vote, usually, by a show of hands. The contests are rife with corruption and conflict.

In a political rally in August in the town of Huautla, PRI militants beat a retired teacher to death in front of news photographers. The teacher, Serafín García Contreras, was campaigning against the party five days before elections for governor. His killers remain free.

Then, on the day of the elections, a 45-year-old voter in the village of Palo del Agua was shot eight times after casting a ballot for the opposition. Relatives said the PRI had offered Raymundo Martínez, a poor vegetable farmer, about US25 for his vote. But he turned it down.

His killers have not been arrested.

"Today there seems an increasing appearance of retrograde political expressions, the kind associated with visions of Mexico's past, the kind we hoped had been left behind suddenly have appeared with enormous force, with brutal intolerance," said Diodoro Carrasco, a former governor of the state of Oaxaca and a member of the PRI who has been threatened with expulsion from the party. "I believe this is something that should not only worry us, but must also be denounced." Ávila, a member of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, is described by her supporters as a tireless watchdog, determined to lift a deadbeat town of 800 people whose only businesses are a couple of roadside restaurants and a telephone and fax service in somebody's garage.

"Most people would look at this village and see nothing, but Lupita looked at it and she saw big things," said Socorro Morga Salinas, 27, a resident of the village. "She saw big things in us, and she made us see them too." Residents here said Ávila scooted around on a yellow bicycle, organizing activities and assistance for old people and elementary school students. When residents began to complain that the local doctor was charging too much for his services, she went out to look for one who would charge less.

When parents complained that their children were not learning to read and write, Ávila led a sit-in at the elementary school and stayed for two weeks, until the authorities agreed to send new teachers.

"She did more for people than any mayor," said her cousin, 61year-old Emelia Salinas. Referring to the local authorities, Salinas added, "But what was good for us, was bad for them, so they killed her." Leaders of the PRI reject such accusations. They said Ávila and the fugitive mayor, Candido Palacios Noyola, had been fighting for years over the rights to a well on the boundary between their properties. In a moment of rage, they contend, the mayor snapped.

THE RELUCTANT SUBSTITUTE

"This was a lamentable act," said Alberto Ramos, who as deputy mayor for the last 30 years seems almost as much a fixture in local government as the PRI. "The man responsible should be arrested and sent to jail. The PRI does not pardon criminals." Reyes rolled his eyes at those words. Like many men from poor, rural Mexico, he had abandoned this country to work in the United States. His earnings not only helped put food on the table, they helped finance Ávila's efforts.

After the shooting he rushed back from his construction job in Las Vegas, hoping to bury his wife quietly and retrieve their children. He never expected to walk into the precarious world of Mexican politics and he is still not sure he wants to.

Standing in the cemetery where his wife was buried, Reyes talked about the hard decision ahead. He said he felt pressured to accept the voters' request by a sense of obligation to his wife and her struggle. If he returns to Las Vegas, he says, the movement that was set in motion by Ávila's death could languish, and the forces he believes were behind her death could return to power.

But Reyes was terrified by the killing. With his wife's killer on the loose, he worried that he could be the next victim. He worried about the safety of his children. Even if he did stay, he wondered whether one man, in one three-year term as mayor, could really chip away at 70 years of official corruption.

Cruel reality made it hard for him to take a chance on a dream.

"Right now everyone is with me," he said. "But after a while, everyone will forget about this. Things will go back to normal, and my wife will fade into anonymity. Who will be with me then?"

Le 30 Octobre dernier, Guadalupe Madrigal chante l'hymne nationale avant le match de foot entre Guadalajara et Monterrey.  Il semble que la chanteuse se soit trompée dans les paroles de l'hymne.  Résultat: 8779$ d'amende et trois mois de prison, car il faut "être certains que le symbole patriotique soit préservé pour les générations futures".

Mexico's National Anthem

       Lyrics by Francisco González Bocanegra and music by Jaime Nunó.
It was declared the National Anthem on February 9,1854, after a national contest was launched to find an anthem for our country.   It was first performed on September 15, 1854, for the Fiestas Patrias, or Independence Fiesta.

Des histoires que nous entendons tous les jours, de personnes privées faisant eux-mêmes la justice au Mexique.  Quand on vit ici, on se dit souvent que ce serait bien que les gens prennent eux-mêmes leur sécurité en main.En réalité, le Mexique compte un nombre impressionnant de policiers; ainsi que 7 départements de sécurité interne différents (seule la Palestine en compte plus).  Le Mexique, jusqu'il y a une dizaine d'années n'était pas le pays libre et plus ou moins démocratique qu'il est aujourd'hui.  Aucune critique du gouvernement n'était tolérée, et pour faire respecter cela, à l'instar de tous les régimes qui ne sont pas libre, un grand nombre de policiers étaient employés. 

Les policiers sont extrêmement mal payés, ne recevant souvent pas leurs uniformes (bien que ceci ait changé depuis l'instauration de quelques propositions de Rudolph Giuliani).  Ils ne reçoivent presque aucun entraînement, et doivent payer leur arme de service, leur gilet pare-balles ainsi que leur carnet pour les contraventions.  Ils n'ont donc que très peu d'intérêt à ne pas participer à la corruption.  Les policiers se trouvent donc des endroits pour arrêter les voitures, à l'abri des regards, et vont arrêter la voiture la plus chère, sans pour autant arrêter les personnes susceptibles de faire partie du gouvernement où d'avoir trop d'influence politique. Les habitants d'autres états (les plaques sont par états Mexicains, et le code de circulation est dévolue aux états aussi) ainsi que les étrangers sont des cibles de choix des policiers qui prétexteront le non respect à quelque norme que ce soit (existante ou non) pour arrêter la voiture.  Ils assureront donc au chauffeur qu'ils devront payer une amende (muelta) astronomique (entre 100 et 300 euros); le chauffeur étant prié de demander si un arrangement ne peut pas être trouvé; et là, dépendant de l'agilité du chauffeur à négocier, le backshish (mordita) sera de 5 à 50 euros. Quel chauffeur ne participerait pas à cela.  Le policier donnera alors un code au chauffeur pour que si jamais il se fait arrêter sur le même trajet, il donne le code à l'autre policier qui ne devrait pas lui demander l'amende (mais qui sait si il ne demande pas une amende plus grande sachant que vous êtes extorquables).

Explorons un peu les opportunités qui se présentent à un chauffeur arrêté par un policier:

1. Il peut s'enfuir, mais le policier est certain de prévenir ses amis qui ne manqueront pas de rattraper le chauffeur, le tabasser et enfin lui voler son argent et abîmer sa voiture.  Que pourrait faire le chauffeur?  Porter plainte chez ces mêmes policiers?
2. Le chauffeur peut demander de payer la contravention.  Il faut savoir que les policiers n'ont que rarement leurs papiers d'amendes sur eux, car ils doivent acheter ceux-ci.  Il est possible que le policier le laisse partir sans rien payer, mais cela reste un risque.
3. Un des libres les plus vendu au Mexique est le livre reprenant les codes de la route de tous les états; livre qui est réédité plusieurs fois par an.  Si l'excuse du policier est mauvaise: on n'a pas tel autocollant de circulation, ou la révision date de plus de 6 mois, ou quoi que ce soit d'autre, il est possible que ce ne soit pas vrai ou pas d'application dans l'état où le chauffeur est arrêté.  Il est possible de le vérifier grâce à ce livre, mais le policier risque de se sentir insulté et se réaction peut être imprévisible: laisser partir et prévenir ses amis, comme dans le 2.; ou il pourra dire qu'il vous arrête pour autre chose encore...
4. On peut demander d'aller au commissariat, pour payer l'amende, mais généralement, il se trouvera un policier blessé au commissariat qui jurera que c'est vous qui l'avez attaqué.
5. En tant qu'étranger, on peut dire que ce ne sont pas les policiers ou gendarmes qui peuvent nous faire payer une amende, mais que nous sommes sous la responsabilité des judiciales, la police du ministère de la justice (la hacienda).  Il ne faut pas oublier qu'il est fort possible que les policiers aient des amis dans les judiciales, et qu'ils appelleront un ami qui viendra pour confirmer l'amende; en plus, vous aurez mis en doute son autorité, donc il vous fera payer plus (de plus il devra partager l'argent reçu avec son ami). 
6. Une chose qui fonctionne est de faire comme si on ne comprend pas qu'il faut demander si on peut d'arranger.  C'est ce qui est arrivé à un ami qui n'a pas arrêté de s'excuser et de promettre qu'il ne recommencerait plus.  Le policier l'est un peu énervé, car il a du se dire que l'étranger ne comprenait pas qu'il cherchait un pot de vin, et à laissé tomber à la fin, se disant que les étrangers ne comprennent décidément rien aux lois mexicaines.
7. Autrement, on peut apparaître comme faisant partie d'une société proche du gouvernement comme Telmex (téléphones), Pemex (essence) ou encore travaillant pour le gouvernement dans un haut poste.  Ceci devrait faire peur au policier qui ne voudrait pas que le gouvernement sache son nom.  Mais il faut être très convainquant.

Deux de mes amis revenaient de Mexico City pour Cholula quand ils se firent arrêter (car avoir des plaques le l'état de Puebla fait de vous une cible à Mexico City).  Prétextant une faute de conduite inexistante, le policier réclama plusieurs centaines d'euros; mais était prêt à les faire payer un pot de vin de 50 euros, après une longue négociation.  Malheureusement mes deux amis n'avaient pas sur eux cette somme, mais comme par hasard, le policier les avait arrêtés juste à côté d'un mister-cash!  En allant chercher l'argent au mister-cash, ils passent à côté de deux personnes en train de se battre, dont un tenant un couteau.  Au lieu d'intervenir, le policier continue son chemin vers le mister-cash disant : "c'est un pays dangereux, le Mexique!"

Les policiers sont donc corrompus ici et ne font pas leur travail.  Mais plus grave, ce sont souvent eux qui sont derrière les crimes commis; comme par exemple les kidnappings, les vols ou les trafics de drogue, d'armes...  Si quelqu'un de trop bien placé se fait voler quelque chose (sa voiture par exemple), celle-ci réapparaîtra le lendemain, comme par miracle.  Par contre, aucun des criminels, les voleurs, des kidnappeurs ou des trafiquants ne se fera jamais arrêter.  Les citoyens ont donc souvent envie de prendre les choses en main eux-mêmes.

Un nombre énorme de choses ont été essayées pour éviter cette corruption.  On a crée des départements de polices séparés devant s'occuper de la corruption au sein de la police, mais ceux-ci sont vite devenus les amis des policiers; on a crée un département directement sous l'autorité du président, mais rebelote.  On a récemment augmenté les salaires et offert les uniformes, mais je crois que l'effet n'est pas très visible; et comme le dit l'article, il n'est pas sur que ce soit une bonne chose que les policiers aient plus d'autorité et de pouvoir.  A Puebla, les policiers n'ont plus le droit de donner d'amende.  Si l'offense est grande, ils embarquent la voiture au commissariat, autrement, ils ne peuvent que réprouver oralement le chauffeur.  En conséquence, les chauffeurs sont menacés de perte de leur voiture, si ils ne payent pas de pot de vin.  Quelque chose qui a fonctionné est d'augmenter le nombre de femmes dans la police, ce qui a eu pour conséquence une augmentation du nombre d'amendes (et donc une réduction des pots de vins payés à la place des amendes).  Certains policiers ont été entraînés par des forces de polices étrangères (des Israéliens notamment) où ont été invités à l'étranger voir comment les policiers travaillent dans d'autres pays (à New York, Toronto...).  On a aussi installé des caméras dans des voitures qui surveillent les policiers; ou encore des faux chauffeurs qui testent l'honnêteté des policiers.  Mais ce qui arrive souvent est que le policier attrapé payera un pot de vin au policier qui l'a pris en flagrant délit. 

L'unique solution qu'ont donc trouvé les Mexicains riches, certains comités de quartier et le gouvernement sont des agences de sécurité privées.

Des policiers dans le parc de la Almeda à Mexico city.

Lawless villages resort to lynching

Out of distrust for law enforcement, small-town vigilantes take justice into their own hands without judge or jury.

Wire services
October 16, 2004

SANTA ROSA XOCHIAC, State of Mexico María del Refugio Pérez is a 60-year-old street vendor who says she abhors violence. But earlier this year, she joined a raging mob that corralled, pummeled and hogtied a suspected thief and almost burned her alive.

Drawn by a butcher's shouts that she had caught the woman grabbing money from a cash drawer at her shop, Pérez and other neighbors quickly seized her. Once the church bells in this Mexico City suburb started ringing, signaling a town emergency, the mob grew in size and anger.

"These things happen because the authorities don't do anything," said Pérez, recalling days later how the woman, Juana Moncayo, was tied to a flagpole in the town plaza for several hours as the crowd of 200 insulted and beat her. "Some were yelling, 'Burn her! Burn her!' " when the police finally came to take her away, Pérez said.

"I don't like that people act that way, but so what, if it is the only way that delinquents know what they are risking," Pérez said.

She and others here said they were fed up with a recent plague of break-ins, assaults and vandalism, and decided to take justice into their own hands just like other communities across Mexico in recent years.

"People are very united here. Since the police don't do anything, it's up to us to show the criminals and others thinking of doing the same thing, what happens when they are caught," said José Vargas, a clothing vendor in the town plaza.

Although statistics on mob justice aren't kept, experts agree that vigilantism is rising across Mexico in lock-step with public disgust over violent crimes and the government's inability to stop them. It's the same disgust that sent a quarter of a million marchers into Mexico City's streets last summer.

Reliable crime statistics are hard to come by, but experts agree that violent crimes especially kidnappings have increased in Mexico in recent years. With abductions expected to rise past 3,000 cases this year, Mexico could replace Colombia as the country with the most cases, victim advocacy groups say.

"It will be difficult to improve things in the short term, but at least the government has made this a top priority, which is a change," said Jorge Chabat, a professor at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching in Mexico City, referring to President Vicente Fox's plan, announced this summer, to drastically increase spending on law enforcement. "The added money will help. That is a real advance. (Fox) put his money where his mouth is."

But people in towns such as Santa Rosa Xochiac remain deeply skeptical that crime will recede anytime soon. Distrust of the local police, seen as being in cahoots with criminals, runs deep.

Several townspeople here said the people didn't want to give Moncayo up to the police because they feared that she would bribe them and they would set her free.

"We knew once she left in the patrol car, they weren't going to do anything because they never do anything with the corrupted ones," said homemaker Consuelo García, 44. "But at least in the end, the thieves know they can't play with the people of Santa Rosa, that here they face consequences." In the meantime, they vow they will continue to take the law into their hands, as have several communities across Mexico in recent months.

A crowd of 100 in the town of San Juan Chamula in Chiapas state threw their mayor and three members of his staff in jail for allegedly misappropriating funds.

Enraged members of San Pablo Oztotepec, a suburb of Mexico City, beat two suspected car thieves unconscious. Only the intervention of an assistant city prosecutor saved them from being bludgeoned to death, authorities say.

A crowd in the Cuajimalpa precinct of the capital beat a policeman unconscious after he lost control of his patrol car, killing one person. The cop was rescued, but not before the crowd burned his vehicle.

Residents of a small town in Campeche state burned several vehicles belonging to a visiting circus after one of the employees was suspected of sexually molesting a 6-year-old girl.

A man in Yucatan state was doused with gasoline and nearly set on fire after a crowd accused him of torching 15 houses.

Some people have also taken police work into their own hands, frustrated by the authorities' shortcomings in carrying out basic crime probes. Guadalajara businessman Juan Manuel Estrada started the privately funded Stolen and Disappeared Children Foundation five years ago and has since, he said, recovered 47 minors, including several abducted for sexual exploitation.

"Yes, I am a kind of vigilante who takes justice in my own hands, but always within a framework of legality," Estrada said, adding that his group concentrates on sexually exploited minors because police tend to shy away from such cases, believing that the victims somehow are responsible for their own abductions.

Estrada said his network has helped uncover an illegal adoption racket of Mexican babies in Canada; exposed a child abuse ring in Puerto Vallarta; and dismantled a child pornography ring operating out Guadalajara and Colima.

"Society is meeting a void the authorities aren't filling," Estrada said. "That's why we are doing this." Security expert Ana María Salazar says vigilantism is a symptom of the increasing lack of faith Mexicans have in the authorities.

"This has happened in the past, but more so now. People don't feel protected," said Salazar, who is also a newspaper columnist. "There is a general perception that if you go out and commit a crime, nothing is going to happen. And that goes for the vigilantes as much as for the criminals. So there is no incentive not to go out after the criminals." Renato Sales, a deputy attorney general of Mexico City, said Mexico is in need of sweeping judicial and penal reforms to go after criminals.

"We are aware that citizens have little faith in the state," he said. "But to make significant changes, we need more resources and we need better laws."

Some human rights officials said that vigilantism only makes a lawless society worse.

"This is nothing new in Mexico, this collective rejection of the law in search of something more overwhelming and immediate," said José Luis Soberanes Fernández, president of the National Human Rights Commission. "But it can't hide what it represents an ignorance of legality and of civilized forms built over thousands of years of human history."

But people are less philosophical in San Mateo Tlaltenango, another Mexico City suburb, where a mob recently set fire to a patrol car after a drunken policeman rammed into two taxis and then tried to drive away.

"The problem is the police here are corrupt, they never come to protect us, and when they do come they only cause problems," shopkeeper Alberto González said. "Community justice isn't going to stop until we have good police and good leaders. Until then, the people are going to have to take their own measures."

Times researcher Cecilia Sanchez in Santa Rosa Xochiac and special correspondent Sean Mattson in Guadalajara contributed to this report.

Morfín raises torture doubts

October 16, 2004

A top federal official called Friday for authorities to consider freeing a bus driver convicted of the slayings of eight women in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, saying there were indications he was forced to confess.

Victor García Uribe was sentenced to 50 years Wednesday for the deaths of eight women whose bodies were found in a vacant lot in Ciudad Juárez in 2001, part of the decade-long series of about 100 sexually-motivated murders of women in Ciudad Juárez.

"There are a lot of suspicions that García Uribe and his co-defendant, Gustavo González Meza, confessed under torture," said Guadalupe Morfín, President Vicente Fox's special commissioner for the prevention of violence against women in Juárez.

"If there is no other evidence or physical proof against them, then that would leave a lot of doubts," Morfín said. "If there is no other evidence against Victor García Uribe, he should be freed." The Wednesday conviction revived accusations that Chihuahua state police have mishandled over 300 similar murder cases since 1993. Forced confessions...

Très bon article sur les maquiladoras, qui sont les manufactures qui se sont installées le long de la frontière entre le Mexique et les Etats Unis.  Celles-ci bénéficient d'un avantage fiscal du fait qu'elles ne doivent pas payer de tariffs et les impots ne sont payés que sur la valeur ajoutée au produit au Mexique.  La matière première est donc envoyée des Etats Unis, travaillé au Mexique où les salaires sont 10 fois moins chers et le produit est enfin renvoyé aux Etats Unis ou dans d'autres pays pour être vendu.  Les maquiladoras permettent à de nombreux Mexicains d'avoir un emploi, surtout pour les femmes.  Les salaires sont aussi plus hauts que dans les mêmes industries ailleurs au Mexique (1.5dollars par heure) et l'hygiène ainsi que la sécurité y sont respectés.  Les maquiladoras sont une aubaine pour les états frontaliers qui sont envahis de Mexicains venant du sud qui cherchent à passer la frontière.  Ceux-ci trouvent parfois un emploi dans les maquiladoras, plutôt que de voler où mendier.  L'article relève aussi les manquements du Mexique qui n'investit pas dans l'infrastructure et qui présente le désaventage d'être corrompu.  Il ne faut pas oublier que selon le FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT, une entreprise Américaine à l'étranger ne peut pas participer à la corruption.  Cette loi de 1977 est observée très strictement, et une entreprise qui ne la respecterait pas se verrait appliquée de lourdes amendes et peines de prison pour ses dirrigeants.  Le problème est qu'au Mexique il est absolument impossible de créer une société sans participer à la corruption.  Il est donc urgent que les lois et la bureaucratie qui créent des fonctionnaires mal payés (ce qui crée la corruption) soient abolis au plus vite si le Mexique veut rester compétitif.

Border maquiladoras enjoy upturn

Wire services
October 16, 2004

TIJUANA The surest signs of a turnaround in this teeming border city are the banners hanging on gates of factories and industrial parks: "Se solicita personal." Help wanted.

"A year ago you didn't see any of those," said Ross Baldwin, chief operating officer of Tacna International Corp., a maker of electronic parts and tubing whose 250-person workforce has grown by nearly 30 percent in 2004. "Now it seems like they're on every other building." Walloped by the 2001 U.S. recession and tenacious Asian competition, Mexico's "maquiladora" sector of export factories is lifting itself off the deck, helped largely by the uptick in the American economy.

The maquiladora factories foreign-owned plants located mainly in northern Mexico that produce goods sent to the United States and other countries added more than 80,000 jobs in the first seven months of the year. That's an 8.2 percent gain after three straight years of losses. Maquiladora shipments jumped more than 31 percent in August, thanks largely to demand from the United States, which absorbs about 90 percent of Mexico's exports.

It's welcome news for border cities such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, whose local economies are stirring to life. Manufacturing companies are snapping up industrial space for expansion and bidding up wages in a scramble for workers.

But it's also important for Mexico as a whole. Maquiladoras are a key driver of Mexico's trade-dependent economy, accounting for about half of the nation's total exports. They are also a big reason Mexico's gross domestic product is expected to grow at a healthy clip of about 4 percent this year.

The United States also has a huge stake in the sector's vibrancy. Most of the export factories are American-owned, and an estimated 26,000 U.S.-based companies supply maquiladoras with raw materials and components, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Drubbed by China in recent years in the race to attract foreign capital, Mexico is seeing a renewed burst of interest from investors lured by the country's relatively low wages, proximity to the United States the world's largest consumer market and the potential of Latin America's largest economy.

Toyota Motor Corp. this summer cut the ribbon on a US140 million plant outside Tijuana producing beds for its Tacoma pickups. Those parts, in turn, are being shipped to the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant, a joint venture of Toyota and General Motors Corp. in Fremont, Calif. But Toyota plans to begin manufacturing entire vehicles in Tijuana this year, tapping Mexico's abundant engineering talent and lowcost factory hands.

"My goal is to make this facility as productive as any that we have in the world," said plant operations chief Joe da Rosa. "There is no reason why we can't." But whether Mexico can reach so high remains to be seen. Despite the recent maquiladora revival, many observers worry about Mexico's long-term competitiveness.

Mexico's unemployment rate just hit a seven-year high as the nation has continued to falter in its effort to create enough jobs to support its burgeoning population. Despite constant handwringing over the growing threat from China, Mexico's government has done little to tackle the high energy costs, tattered infrastructure, red tape, crime and corruption that are pushing some investors to Asia.

"Politicians point to the rising (maquiladora) employment numbers and say that everything is fine," said Carlos de Orduna, a San Diego-based maquiladora consultant and customs broker. "But everything isn't fine. Mexico has some serious, serious challenges to overcome." The industry ballooned in the last decade, fueled by passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico's mid-1990s peso crisis that made its exports cheaper, and the technology explosion in Silicon Valley. Electronics plants mushroomed in border cities such as Tijuana, which saw its maquiladora employment more than triple to nearly 200,000 workers during the 90s only to plunge by nearly a third in the bust.

The drop was so steep and abrupt, accompanied by China's continued swift rise, that some wondered whether it was the beginning of the sector's inevitable decline. But others contend that Mexico will always remain relevant in the global supply chain for three reasons: location, location, location.

Mike White, managing director of CB Richard Ellis for the twin cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, said the industrial real estate business in his area is bustling again.

He pointed to two new projects as examples of why Mexico still matters. Swedish appliance giant Electrolux recently announced it would build a refrigerator plant in Ciudad Juárez, while Lexington, Ky.-based Lexmark International Inc. plans to open a new toner cartridge facility there next year, adding to its four existing Mexican plants.

White said companies making bulky items such as refrigerators and some technology products such as printers, televisions and personal computers have good reason to keep some production in Mexico. These goods are too expensive to ship to the United States from Asia, and the tech products often are outdated in a matter of months, compelling producers to keep manufacturing lead times as short as possible.

U.S. companies that require small runs, rapid turnaround or just-in-time delivery are also likely to choose Mexico over China, despite Chinese wages that are a fraction of the US1.50an-hour average paid in Mexican maquiladoras.

"It's just not worth it for companies with a tight logistical time frame," White said.

But others say Mexico has rested on its real estate laurels for too long, expecting its proximity to the U.S. market to paper over a multitude of sins.

Tijuana logistics expert Jaime González Luna expressed frustration that a manufacturing powerhouse like Mexico lacked a deep-water Pacific port capable of handling the largest container ships, as well as the speedy rail connections and abundant, modern highways needed to zip cargo throughout the region.

"It's like we're succeeding in spite of ourselves for now," said González, vice president of Mundo Corporacion. "China is investing billions in these areas while Mexico falls further behind." Chastened by Tijuana's woes in the recent downturn, he and other members of the Tijuana Economic Development Corp. have gone on the offensive. The group recently held a news conference aimed at prodding public officials over issues such as crime and skeletal public transportation that were discouraging new investment.

Once thrilled by any industry willing to build a plant in its region, the organization is now targeting select industries such as automotive, medical, aerospace and software with the goal of moving Tijuana up the value chain.

And although the local economy is improving, Tijuana businesspeople such as Elias Laniado, chairman of the economic development group, say the boom times of the late 90s won't be back anytime soon.

Faced with the prospect of only modest growth, the group is marketing the city aggressively to new investors, particularly in California, no longer confident to let its prime location sell itself.

"We're knocking on doors from San Diego to San Jose," Laniado said. "We definitely feel a sense of urgency."

Ici une photo de sans-emploi Mexicains qui proposent leur services ; sur la place centrale du Mexico City (le Zocalo). Sur leurs panneaux sont écrit des choses comme: plombier, peintre, maçon…

Hundreds of Indians marked the "Día de La Raza" Tuesday by asking U.S.-based multinational Wal-Mart to halt construction of a superstore less than a mile from the ancient pyramids of Teotihuacan north of this capital.

"Día de la Raza" translated as "Day of the Race" refers to the mix of Native American peoples and the European immigrants in Mexico.

Construction of the facility near the 2,000-year-old pyramids of the moon and sun, one of the Western Hemisphere's premier sites of monumental architecture, is 70 percent complete.

According to the National Anthropological Institute, opposition to the construction of the store is based more on ideology than archeological concerns.

But to others, the opening of the store represents an "economic invasion" that would destroy the small businesses run by residents of the towns surrounding Teotihuacan.

Indians and laborers, the former dressed in Aztec finery and the latter in clothing typical of the Mexican revolution, also took advantage of the occasion to demand social and land reforms.

Ca date déjà, mais c'est indispensable:

Juliette nous a écrit un petit dictionnaire des différences entre le Mexicain et l'Espagnol.

A lire d'urgence!

Brief history of the Economic Development of Mexico

(1800 – 1999)

    The economic growth and development of Mexico during the past two centuries has been hampered by territorial threats, wars, internal political conflicts, corruption, mismanaged monetary policy, social injustices and discontent, foreign debt, limited access to new capital, and protectionist foreign trade policies that ultimately strangled the competitiveness of Mexican industry.  Although Mexico has enjoyed prosperous intervals of sustained growth and improved standard of living, the country, on a whole, has never been able to reach first-world levels of industrialization or maintain economic stability.  In the 1970s, the country fell into a downward spiral of economic crisis and accompanying devaluations that was sparked by a global recession and decline in oil prices. Eventually, bleak economic prospects prompted dramatic change in market politics and induced Mexico to join NAFTA.  The major events shaping the development of the nation; beginning with the 1800s, leading up to the signing of NAFTA, and extending to the close of the millennium; shed light on the nature of Mexico's economic turbulence, current situation, and post-NAFTA potential.

    The greater part of 19^th century in Mexico was, in short, characterized by power struggles and political instability that did not create an environment conducive to the economic growth or development of the nation.  The early part of this century was spent at war with Spain in a struggle for independence.  Although Mexico celebrated victory in 1821, Spain reinvaded in 1829 in an unsuccessful attempt to recover its lost territory.  The middle of this century was marked by a decade-long border conflict with the US; this conflict erupted into the US-Mexican (1846-1848) War and resulted in lasting mistrust and animosity toward the US. The dispute began over the territory between the Rio Nueces and Rio Bravo/Grande and led to the US invasion of Mexico, capture of Mexico City and important seaports on the Gulf of Mexico. Negotiations failed, US aggression expanded to Mexican territories in the North and Northwest that were poorly integrated with their motherland.  Ultimately, American troops conquered these territories leading to the annexation of parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and California. As a result of this war, Mexico lost roughly one-half of its territory to the US. The expansionist ambition of the US was an ever-present threat to the integrity of the Mexican republic.

            In 1861 France invaded and occupied Mexico removing the first duly elected President Benito Juarez and instating Austrian Prince Maximilian as emperor.  Thus, Juarez' intentions to industrialize Mexico into a modern competitive nation never materialized.  French rule was never passively accepted.  The Mexican resistance overpowered French troops and executed Maximilian thereby causing the French to retreat in 1867. For the most part, turmoil prevailed until Porifio Díaz assumed power in 1876 and laid the foundation for economic development that extended into the twentieth century.

    Throughout the majority of the1900s, economic growth and development in Mexico was largely inhibited by violence and political instability.  Further advancement during the beginning of this century was checked by budget deficits and politics revealing a decidedly protectionist posture toward trade.  Apparently, this protectionist policy inherited from Spain had been firmly inculcated and practiced the 1900s. Despite Mexico's independence from Spain, it continued to embrace the protectionist legacy of collecting tariffs on the import of merchandise. Also, there is evidence that internal taxes on merchandise crossing states lines were imposed. This system, unlike protectionism in the twenty-first century did not serve the purpose of discouraging imports, rather it was devised to allow each state to generate revenues through duty collection on imported (from sister states) goods. Such a practice heavily burdened emerging Mexican industry and frustrated growth.   

    In the time period between independence and the late 1940s, the Mexican American border was relatively open to trade but in no way free of hostile Indians, filibusters and, bandits.  In the 1950s, trade activities were again restricted along the Texas-Mexico border and contraband running became a favorite enterprise for opportunists especially since European goods, also in demand in Texas, were allowed to enter favored Mexican seaports in duty-free zones. European contraband also spread to interior regions of Mexico until the quality and accessibility of US goods improved.  Interludes of trade cooperation and peace between the US and Mexico sprinkled the 1900s century and culminated during the Porfirio Díaz administration.

The 19^th century ended and the 20th century began with Porfirio Díaz leading the country.  Peace and stability prevailed at last, nevertheless, at the price of developing a true democracy. Although Mexicans today refer to Díaz as more as a dictator than president due to the lack of political freedom and tolerance of ideas during his administration, he undeniably contributed to the country by bringing three decades of peace and attracting foreign capital to the country.  This stabilizing period is known as the período porfista  that lasted until 1911.  Porfirio Díaz is credited with the creation of a railroad system, ports, and basic communications infrastructure, which served to integrate the country and support economic development.  Critics, however, argue that this era virtually institutionalized a leadership and bureaucracy that favored the wielding of power to attract wealth to the properly connected elite; thus creating a system from which corruption emerged full force and flourished.  Such corruption, in the eyes of these critics, has been far more a decisive factor in crippling economic prosperity, equality and growth than any other factor such as protectionist trade policy or bungled monetary decisions.

Putting aside the integrity of the Díaz leadership, at this time a strong distinction between the privileged and impoverished classes marked Mexican society.  Literature produced by US Americans living in Mexico at the turn of the century revealed the authors' surprise at the availability and growing demand; among members of the upper classes; for modern US products such as cars, phonographs, bathroom furnishings, indoor plumbing items, canned foods, whiskey, and more. Services; hotels, barbershops, restaurants, bars, and tailor shops; vied for the patronage of the wealthy foreigners who were endowed by the Mexican system with special privileges to accelerate industrialization.  Foreign firms (especially from the US) dominated the economy and enjoyed powerful influence in the political arena.  Resentment grew among the less fortunate and their sympathizers. Nationalist reaction against foreign control and political intervention boiled.  This situation, along with other grievances, added fuel to the revolutionary cause.

    Thus, renewed political conflict gave way to the Mexican Revolution (1910 –1917) that halted once again economic growth and development.  Violence, constant changes in government, assassinations, assaults, threats to property and the increasing defiance and desperate aggression of poverty-stricken campesino squatters demanding the redistribution of land properties and agrarian reform effectively thwarted economic advances until the beginning of the 1920s.  During the 1920s, relative political stability was restored; several presidents assumed office, achieving on an average small degrees of economic growth.   Economic development of this decade and the early 1930s was negligible.

            The following government under General Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940) adopted a nationalist-socialist character and, under this ideology, plans for economic growth and integration were developed.  Nationalization of the railway system and oil industry, along with numerous expropriations and redistribution of properties of this era restructured the nation's economy. These expropriations-confiscations that violated widely accepted international norms were the culminating point of revolutionary nationalism that made Mexico a very precarious and unattractive market for foreign companies and capital. Most of what was produced in Mexico (especially mining and petroleum industries) was internally consumed and supported dynamic industrialization and growing consumer demand. The Great Depression and a weak currency spurred domestic goods substitution for imports and nationalistic campaigns were launched to convince Mexicans that it was their duty to consume goods made in Mexico.  The post-Great Depression era was characterized by accelerated economic growth and improvement in social well-being.  Import Substitution (protectionism) promised eventual self-sufficiency by coddling and nurturing national industry.  Nationalism grew and renewed impetus in redistributing land to peasants suggested to the rest of the world dangerous parallelisms between Mexican and Soviet politics.

            The leftist movement was curtailed under the following administration of General Manuel Ávila Camacho (1940 –1946).  He, in contrast to Cárdenas, encouraged private ownership rather than nationalization of properties, reinforced post revolutionary peace in the land, and managed to average a 6% annual growth in GDP. The onset of World War II was accompanied by a significant increase in demand for Mexican exports that produced a trade surplus.  Although the import substitution policy remained theoretically intact, in actuality, imports increased until protectionist quotas were introduced and the peso was devalued near the close of the 1940s.  Similar growth was maintained throughout the next presidency of Miguel Alemán who firmly supported the private sector; whether national or foreign; stanching any remaining socialist ideology and rhetoric of previous periods.

Despite the resurgence of capitalism, Mexico would not be convinced to extend wartime trade cooperation with the US into the 1950s.  US persuasion tactics and arguments centering on comparative advantages were of no avail and, once again, imports that threatened Mexican manufacturers faced closed doors.

            The following period; often referred to as ¨The Golden Years¨, or ¨Happy Years¨; was characterized by economic bonanza mingled with corruption and lasted from 1952 to 1970 under presidents Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, Adolfo López Mateos and Gustavo Diaz Ordaz.  This period staged the beginning of the policy referred to as ¨Stabalizing Development¨ (desarrollo etabilizador) in which the priorities were a balanced budget, manageable inflation, low taxes, economic growth and overall social and well-being.  The border maquiladora program with the US was established in 1965 with the intention benefiting both countries.  US companies profited from low-cost Mexican labor and Mexico profited by job creation and balance-of-trade advantages associated with reexporting production back to the US.  More than two-thirds of Mexico's foreign trade was with the US and, to reduce dependence, the government was actively looking to diversify and establish trade relations with other countries.  Throughout the majority of this era, economic growth and prosperity prevailed.  The end of this period, however, revealed a disturbing accumulation of problems such as unemployment, underemployment, unequal distribution of wealth, inefficiency in agricultural sectors and a growing trade deficit.

                Although the economy continues to improve as the millennium and the Zedillo administration draw to their closes, the effects of the 1994 crisis have yet to fade from the Mexican economy.

    Throughout the last two centuries, various earnest attempts were made to steer Mexico toward industrialization and modernization.  Despite these intentions, limited progress was achieved, at least by US standards.  The 1800s were intermittently afflicted with invasions and wars fought with Spain, the US and France on Mexican soil.  Between wars, political instability, debt crisis, power struggles and gross inequity among social classes hindered the capacity for growth.  The relationship between Mexico and the US in this century was laced with hostility and moments of peaceful cooperation.  Despite frictions, there is no doubt that the economies of the two countries have been inextricably entwined for the past two centuries.  However, while Mexico was preoccupied defending its territory and struggling for political stability, the US was well on its way to industrialization.  Trade practice during the 1800s was seasoned with vestiges of Spanish imperialism and its customs, relatively unregulated trade along the untamed Mexico-Texas border, and demands of European immigrants for duty-free goods from their homelands.  At the close of the 18^th century, a protectionist stance was formulated and adopted as national policy.   Nevertheless, this policy was rather inconsistently applied and foreign entrepreneurs, mostly from the US, were granted ample concessions and incentives to accelerate the industrialization process. 

    At the turn of the 20^th century, US business and capital dominated the Mexican economy.  Growth and development were once again deterred by the onset on civil discontent that evolved into the Mexican Revolution.  In subsequent years, inconsistency, corruption, and unpredictability with respect to trade policies, populist tendencies, nationalism and protectionism from one administration to another created the atmosphere of uncertainty and mistrust that investors despise.  Although protectionism worked to launch emerging industries, lasting adherence to this policy eventually resulted in underdevelopment and backwardness; hence, the diminishing competitiveness of Mexican industry.  In addition, repeated rounds of deficit crisis and currency devaluations destabilized the economy causing wariness among investors and capital flight.  The 1980s were virtually deprived of economic growth. Run-away inflation and a huge foreign trade deficit further aggravated the situation.  These accumulated economic ills induced Mexico into abandoning protectionism in favor of free-market economics and subsequently entering the NAFTA with the US and Canada.  Although NAFTA promises development and improved standard of living in ten to twenty years, the pain of transition has characterized the short run.  In addition, another currency crisis; provoked by reckless monetary decisions at the end of 1994; caused economic upheaval, shambled investors, and reduced Mexico's ability to exploit NAFTA for sustained real growth.    The following years (approaching 2000) have seen recession, social unrest, capital flight of cautious national and foreign investors, and a somewhat rocky and partial recovery of GDP.  Despite these setbacks, the alliance and economic integration of Mexico, the US and Canada has continued and continues to grow.

Mexico, Japan sign free trade agreement

Le problème, comme toujours, est que ce n'est pas un vrai "free-trade agreement".  Tout comme le NAFTA, l'accord n'est que de baisser certains tariffs sur une longue période.  L'unique possibilité de booster l'économie Mexicaine est bien évidemment d'unilatéralement supprimer tous les tariffs sur les imports (ce qui réduirait en plus la bureaucratie et la corruption omniprésente); ainsi qu ela privatisation de la compagnie pétrolière Pemex.  Mais ce n'est qu'un début; par la suite, il faudra continuer sur le chemin de la privatisation des routes, ports et aéroports si le Mexique veut avoir des infrastructures dignes d'un pays développé.  Le manque d'infrastructure de transport notement sont la cause de la faillite des sociétés productrices de fèves de chocolats Mexicaines.  En outre, le Mexique pourrait entrer en compétition avec les Caraibes dans le marché du sucre de cane, bénéficiant aussi de l'acces direct aux marchés Californiens (sans tariffs) et Asiatiques, si seulement ils privatisaient les ports et construisaient un port industriel sur la côte Pacifique.  Aujourd'hui, le sucre est transporté par camion vers les ports Atlantiques où leurs prix ne sont plus compétitifs.

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico's President Vicente Fox and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signed a free-trade agreement Friday that both countries see as a bridge to greater commerce around the world.

The deal signed in Mexico's ornate National Palace is only Japan's second free-trade pact - the first was with Singapore - while Mexico has now signed 12 agreements with 43 countries.

It is supposed to take effect in April following legislative approval.

Fox said the agreement will be a "mutual bridge for expansion,'' allowing Japanese companies to export from factories here to Mexico's many other trade partners while helping Mexico expand its exports to all of Asia, as well as drawing more investment.

Koizumi said the accord "will be for our mutual benefit, and the benefits will be shared with the countries of North America, Central America and even South America.''

Mexican officials have said they hope the deal will ease their reliance on the United States, which now accounts for 90 percent of the country's exports.

The new agreement "will mark the beginning of a new era ... to increase trade and investments,'' Fox said.

He noted that trade between the two countries had already jumped by 28 percent in the first half of the year.

Mexico also hopes the deal with Japan will help revive an assembly-for-export industry that was dented by Chinese competition and by a U.S. economic downturn.

Mexican officials said they expect exports to Japan to increase by more than 10 percent a year and they seek Japan as a new market for farm products.

Japanese import tariffs on most Mexican produce will be lowered over three to seven years. In the case of bananas, the tariffs will be lowered over 10 years.

Excluded from the agreement for at least three years are pineapples and pineapple juice, candy, wheat and pastas.

Japan will be granted tariff-free auto imports for up to 5 percent of the Mexican market, compared with the current 3 percent, and tariffs will be gradually eliminated over six years.

Tariffs also will be lifted immediately on specialized steel products not made in Mexico, used in areas such as the auto parts, electronics and machinery industries.

Tariffs will remain for five years on other steel products that compete with Mexican production, and then be phased out over the following five years.

Of Mexico's US$165.4 billion (135 billion) in exports in 2003, a mere US$605.8 million ($494.5 million) went to Japan, with US$149.6 billion (122.1 billion) going to the United States, according to the Economy Department.

At the same time, Mexico imported US$171 billion (139.6 billion) worth of goods, of which US$7.6 billion (6.20 billion) came from Japan and US$109.8 billion (89.6 billion) from the United States.

Koizumi also gave Fox a general boost in his efforts to push economic reforms through a reluctant opposition-led Congress.

"In any country there are two groups, two currents,'' Koizumi said, "one current that says you can't grow without change and the other current that says you have to stay the same or you cannot grow. I am in the first current.''

He said that idea of change for growth "is not only for my country, but I am sure it applies to all countries.'' - AP

Another boost to the economy comes from Mexican salaries abroad. Remittances -- money sent back to Mexico by Mexicans working in the United States and elsewhere -- rose by almost 26 percent during the first half of 2004, according to figures from the Banco de México.

Growing at a fast clip for more than two years, remittances could top $16 billion this year, rivaling or surpassing oil exports and foreign direct investment as the largest source of foreign exchange.

''Not only does it help in foreign exchange, it helps in supporting domestic demand,'' said Shelly Shetty, director of sovereign ratings at FitchRatings in New York.

But there is concern that jobs abroad and not at home are becoming one of the motors of some Mexican communities' economies, particularly those in rural areas.

''People do talk about this, that we have become addicted to remittances,'' said Carlos Heredia, a Mexican economist.

OAXACA Despite the murder of a mayoral candidate, apparently perpetrated by the incumbent mayor, municipal elections in this Pacific coast town will go on as planned this Sunday.

MEXICALI, Baja California "El Chuy" has been plying his trade as a migrant trafficker for 10 years now along the U.S.Mexico border near Mexicali. Tall, thin, young and cheerful, he says he greatly enjoys his work and his clients. And when "the heat" from authorities gets too heavy, or during slow periods when he can find few clients, he turns to his backup career: car theft.

"We do what we do to survive," he says.

As contemptible as some may find human smugglers, colloquially known as polleros or coyotes, others see them as a necessary evil in a country so dependant on remittances from migrants working in the United States. Miguel Moctezuma, researcher at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, says, "The economic, social and political life of the country would turn to gloom and chaos without remittances."

There has been a long history of Mexican laborers crossing the northern border to work and send money to their families back home. During the 1940s and 1950s, Mexicans were invited to migrate legally to the United States, first as temporary help to fill the labor shortages caused by World War II, and then as braceros, or seasonal farm workers. When the bracero program was cancelled in 1965, it marked the beginning of large-scale illegal migration.

Starting in the 1960s, labor contractors working for employers in the United Status would travel through the poorest areas of central Mexico recruiting peasants to work in the fields of Texas and California. They transported their recruits to the border packed into poultry trucks like chickens. Thus the migrants became known as pollos, or chickens, and the agents, polleros.

El Chuy gets his pollos mostly from the states of Jalisco, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas, though he doesn't need a poultry truck to haul recruits now they come to him at the border.

It is a common pattern for a pollero to service customers from specific states or regions, says Claudio Méndez, coordinator of the Office of Migrant Affairs in the state of Michoacan. "Migrants have established connections with polleros that they trust, those who have crossed different members of the same family on various occasions."

This, he says, serves to reduce risks and unfortunate incidents, since the polleros are often family friends or acquaintances.

Still, there have been numerous cases of smugglers abandoning their charges in the desert to die of exposure and dehydration or sending them on deadly river crossings in makeshift rafts. Perhaps the most notorious of these was in May of 2001 when smugglers abandoned 28 migrants in the desert near Yuma, Arizona, without food or water. Unable to withstand the scorching desert heat, 14 died.

Other polleros rob their clients once in the desert, and there are numerous accounts of rapes perpetrated against women migrants by the smugglers. Polleros have also been known to knowingly abandon their charges at the mercy of asaltapollos, the bandits and rapists who lurk in the no-man'sland of the desert border area.

While he claims he has never lost a client or acted irresponsibly during his decade of work, El Chuy has still had brushes with the law. On several occasions, he was picked up by the U.S. Border Patrol, but each time he managed to wriggle away without being revealed as a smuggler.

"I always succeed in escaping by telling them that I myself am a migrant and that polleros deceived me along with the rest," he explains. "The people that I bring never report me to the authorities, either. That's because I treat them well and they know that as soon as we get back to Mexicali, we're going to cross again."

There is also another factor that keeps migrants from incriminating their polleros: fear. Because the polleros are so wellconnected to the migrants' home states or towns, many fear reprisals against themselves or family members. For that reason, authorities find it very difficult to locate citizens willing to help them prosecute. According to authorities from the federal Attorney General's Office, bands of polleros operate with relative impunity in rural areas since people are only willing to give them up in cases where they have harmed migrants or abandoned them in dangerous circumstances.

BIG MONEY ENTERPRISE

Remittances are now the second-largest source of foreign income for Mexico, trailing only the money earned from petroleum exports. Over US13 billion was sent back to Mexico from the United States in 2003 and this year's total is expected to top that figure by a wide margin.

Remittances are especially important to Mexico's poorer states, like Zacatecas, a state with a resident population of 1.5 million people and another 807,000 in the United States. In 2003, Zacatecans sent US480 million home to their families and the more than 400 Zacatecas clubs in the United States regularly contribute to public works projects in the state.

Michoacan is the leading state in terms of remittances, with almost US1.7 billion sent home in 2003. In Guanajuato, a state that received US390 million just in the first four months of 2004, there are 18 known bands of polleros in operation to help maintain the flow of migrants and dollars.

For their vital role in this bigmoney enterprise, the polleros are demanding a larger and larger fee for their services. El Chuy charges migrants US2,000 for a crossing and says that his monthly income ranges from US10 to 20,000 per month after he covers costs and pays off his assistants and corrupt police associates who turn a blind eye in exchange for a piece of the pie.

Pollero rates are higher for the Central American migrants who also gather at the Mexico-U.S. border due to the risks involved with these clients. For one, they are illegal in Mexico as well as the United States so the pollero must take pains to keep them hidden from authorities during the time they are waiting to cross. Secondly, if a pollero is caught by the Border Patrol guiding a group of Guatemalans or Hondurans across, they can quickly determine which member of the group is the smuggler. And while captured migrants are simply deported home when caught by U.S. immigration, smugglers are arrested and sent to federal prison.

ALTAR: POLLERO HUB

El Chuy meets his clients at the Mexicali airport or bus terminal, and from there he brings them to a safe house, where they wait two or three days until he has put together a large enough group to make a crossing usually a minimum of 10.

These waiting periods are another way in which illegal migrant trafficking brings economic benefit to poor areas of Mexico. This can be seen in the city of Altar, Sonora, 97 kilometers south of the U.S. border.

"When the U.S. government decided to seal the borders at Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez [in the mid-1990s], the bands of human traffickers came here, due to the poor coverage that the Border Patrol has in this desert," says Altar's ex-mayor, Francisco García.

That has meant a boom in business for the local guesthouses, restaurants and grocery stores that the migrants patronize while waiting to cross.

According to estimates by the National Migration Institute, more than a thousand Mexican and Central American migrants arrive in Altar each day. Many of them stay at safe houses, disguised as common homes, for 100-300 pesos (US8.75-26) per night.

In Mexicali, El Chuy has connections to a handful of safe houses where he sends his clients. "In these houses, I give them lodging, food, water and a place where they can relax, so that when it's time to cross, they are ready," he says.

His services also include acquiring false visa documentation for the migrants and fake passports "with photos of people who look like them." And he says that he promises to deliver his pollos to whatever city they indicate.

"This is a family business," he explains, for not only does he transport whole families across the border, his own wife and children are his associates.

One of the many compelling stories to come out of the attacks on the Twin Towers three years ago last Saturday — a story that continues to resonate here in Mexico — was the difficulty of counting and identifying the undocumented workers who lost their lives in the attacks. There were 30 or so, 16 of whom were "presumed" to be Mexicans. The Tepeyac Association, an admirable non-governmental organization that works with Mexican immigrants in New York City, still maintains a Web page with a list of the names of the missing. The list is mostly made up of Mexicans but there are names from other countries as well.

There were initially, for a week or so following the attacks, more than 500 Mexicans who were thought to have worked in the twin towers who remained unaccounted for. Most worked — or were believed to have worked — either in the restaurant at the top of one of the towers, in one of the garages or on the buildings' janitorial staff.

Those workers were understandably unaccounted for. According to the Tepeyac staff, half of New York's Mexican immigrants are young, single men who live alone or with one another, and whose families remain in Mexico. They typically have no Social Security numbers nor any other official form of identification, and often use false names. With no formal documents, many of these immigrants are, in a sense, always "missing."

Of the 16 families of presumed Mexican victims, all undocumented immigrants, only five have been able to qualify for compensation from the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund created by the U.S. Congress. The other 11 have not been able to produce the necessary information to receive a death certificate.

Three years later, in fact, it is still not clear whether all the undocumented victims have been properly identified. About 250 foreign citizens (of the approximately 500 citizens of some 90 countries who were killed in the attacks) have qualified for compensation. About 50 of these were undocumented.

This past January, a group of researchers affiliated with the nonpartisan Urban Institute issued a report on the makeup of the undocumented immigrant population in the United States. (The report is on their Website: www.urban.org).

"Our best estimate," reports the group, headed by demographer Jeffrey Passel, "is that there are 9.3 million undocumented immigrants in the country," representing 26 percent of the total foreign-born population. Over half of that total, some 5.3 million, say Passel and his colleagues, are Mexicans. "Another 2.2 million…are from other Latin American countries."

The geographical distribution of these 9.3 undocumented immigrants is predictable but rapidly changing. Of all the states, California heads the list with an estimated 2.4 million undocumented migrants. Then comes Texas with 1.1 million, Florida with just under a million and New York with about 750,000.

"But," say the researchers, "the most rapid growth in the undocumented population since the mid-1990s has been outside these states." High growth regions, they say "are the Rocky Mountains, the Midwest, and the Southeast," areas of the country not associated with large immigrant — or Latino — populations.

"Virtually all undocumented men are in the labor force," report the Urban Institute researchers. "Their labor force participation rate (96 percent) exceeds that of men who are legal immigrants or who are U.S. citizens because undocumented men are younger and less likely to be disabled, retired or in school." And, of course, because undocumented men have gone to the United States specifically to find the work they cannot find at home.

These numbers, and the implications of a huge, transplanted, informal U.S. labor force, give thoughtful Mexicans pause.

In her inaugural address last week, the newly elected governor of Zacatecas, Amalia García, commented that it was "evident that, in large measure, life in Zacatecas was made possible only by the remittances sent by our brothers and sister migrants."

But, she added, regardless of whether or not the "escape valve" of migration remains open to Mexican workers for any appreciable length of time, "we can't accept migration as a solution to the lack of jobs because it is contrary to our project of human development; because the separation and disintegration of families makes terribly difficult the possibilities for happiness we want for all Zacatecans."

Enfin un peu de bon sens du côté de l'ONU: Kofi Annan s'est rendu compte que la démocratie n'a pas aidé les pauvres en Amérique Latine...  Sans blague!  Auraient-ils enfin pigé que c'est l'état qui appauvrit les individus?  Un état démocratique qui spolie continuellement la propriété de ses citoyens, qui règlemente toute les activités de la vie humaine ne va pas aider les pauvres parce qu'il y a une tyrannie de la majorité.  C'est uniquement un système de marché libre, où tous les individus participent à l'économie au mieux de leurs qualités, sans entraves que les pauvres sortent de la misère.  Ce n'est pas spécialement de démocratie dont l'Amérique Latine à besoin, elle a  besoin de liberté, de moins de gouvernement, et non plus de réglementations des parlements.

L'université où j"étudie se trouve dans la ville de Cholula, dans l'état de Puebla.

La ville compte moins de 100.000 habitants et est connue pour sa grande pyramide.  Celle-ci fut construite entre le 2ème et 15ème siècle après JC, donc un peu après les pyramides de Teotihuacan.  Ces deux pyramides sont donc d'époques pré-Classique.

Selon le livre des Records, la pyramide de Cholula est le plus grand monument jamais construit (en terme de volume), faisant 4.45 millions de m³ (Un de plus que la pyramide de Cheops).   Aujourd'hui, la pyramide semble être une montagne, et les Espagnols on construit en son sommet une église.  Des tunnels peuvent être visités sous la pyramide.  

Cholula semble avoir été un centre important durant toute la période Classique, car jusqu'à la fin de l'empire Aztèque les princes devaient être oints par des grands prêtres de Cholula.  De la même manière, les Mayas venaient se faire couronner à Teotihuacan.

A l'époque de l'empire Aztèque, Cholula semble avoir été la seconde ville la plus importante de l'empire, après Tenochtitlan (aujourd'hui, Mexico City).  En 1519, pour instaurer la terreur dans l'esprit des Aztèques, Cortés massacra plusieurs milliers d'habitants de Cholula; il détruisit aussi les 365 temples que la ville contenait, prévoyant de les remplacer par 365 églises.  En réalité, seulement 39 églises furent construites, ce qui est déjà un grand nombre pour une ville de cette taille.

Durant l'époque coloniale, la ville voisine de Puebla acquit plus d'importance que Cholula.

Quelques photos du marché de San Pedro à Cholula, chez Juliette.

Tous les journeaux en ont parlé, c'était l'événement de la semaine (depuis le pitoyable résultat du mexique à Athènes, et entre deux messages de propagande nationaliste): Les exorcistes sont arrivés!

Wahou, venu des quatre coins du Mexique, ces mystiques sont venu écouter des discours (du cardinal Norberto Rivera, archevêque de Mexico) rappelant un autre temps:

"Il faut dénoncer toutes formes de sorcellerie, (...) religion d'origine africaine, (...) franc maçonnerie, et philosophies matérialistes...

Dans le monde, certains vouent un culte à Satan(...)

Certains vont même jusqu'à penser qu'ils sont eux-mêmes leur propre Dieu!(...)"

Entendre ce genre de foutaises au XXIème siècle est formidable, surtout de la part de quelqu'un d'aussi haut placé qu'un cardinal papable et archevêque de Mexico (qui rappelons le est la plus grande ville catholique au monde), on croirait être revenu en arrière dans le temps.   Le problème des religions n'est pas seulement qu'elles n'acceptent pas la réalité, mais qu'elles sont intolérantes vis à vis des autres formes de mysticismes.  Dans un pays où la Théologie de la Libération joue un rôle important, il ne fait pas bon dire qu'on est franc maçon, musulman ou athée...  Comme pour toutes les formes d'état, à partir du moment où l'on accepte qu'ils aient une légitimité, ils ont tendance à s'insérer partout dans nos vies et à nous dicter tout ce que nous devons et ne devons pas faire.  La religion agit de la même manière.  Si on accepte comme théorie valide qu'il existe une présence au delà du réel, que l'on ne peut "par essence" pas prouver, on met le rêve où l'irréel sur un pied d'égalité avec le monde réel.  Il n'y a donc pour celui qui accepte l'irréel, aucune frontière objective entre la réalité et le mythe, à chacun de proposer sa frontière arbitraire.  Un zélote qui dirait que la vie n'existe pas et que nous devons tous mourir et agit en conséquence a donc autant raison qu'un homme qui ne fait pas de mal à personne et qui ne veut que son bien ainsi que celui de sa famille.  Si il existe un Dieu, il est donc normal que nous acception ses loi, et donc il n'y a aucune raison de ne pas nous soumettre à tous les dogmes de l'église.

La seule limite morale et non-arbitraire que nous pouvons nous fixer face à toutes ces formes de mysticisme est la réalité.  Tout ce qui ne peut être prouvé de manière rationnelle ne doit être accepté que comme hypothèse.  Cela ne veut bien évidement pas dire que la science à déjà réponse à tout.  La science est encore à un stade où elle à énormément à découvrir.  Le raisonnement rationnel ne veut bien évidement pas non plus dire qu'il est juste systématiquement.  Il était par exemple tout à fait légitime, au Moyen-âge de croire que la terre était plate et que le soleil lui tournait autour.  Par contre, après que les découvertes de Galilée, dire que le soleil tourne autour de la terre était aller à l'encontre d'un raisonnement rationnel.