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Frontera
NorteSur |
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by Magdalena Fuentes |
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Frontera
NorteSur |
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by Magdalena Fuentes |
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May 30, 2003 The May 19, 2003 death of a one-year old boy led the Mexicali newspaper La Crónica to investigate working, living and salary conditions at an agricultural company in Mexico's Mexicali Valley. A child's death On Monday, May 19, Anastasio Domingo Martínez and Magdalena López Antonio, an indigenous couple from Oaxaca, took their one-year old son Alex to the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) clinic in Ciudad Morelos because he had been vomiting and suffering from diarrhea for over 24 hours and had begun to go pale. Once at the IMSS, the couple was told their insurance paperwork was not in order and their son was denied access to treatment. A person at the clinic told them that they should go to Cd. Morelos' health center which they did. At the city health center, the doctor on duty gave the child fluids and bathed him to lower his body temperature. The doctor suggested that the child be taken to Mexicali's Hospital General but noted that the family would have to hitch a ride there or go in their own car since neither the fire department nor the city ambulance was available to make the transfer. In a borrowed car, the couple from Oaxaca headed into Mexicali to look for a hospital in a city they did not know. As the car grew warmer in the intense heat that is typical in late May, Alex began breathing quickly and started opening and closing his eyes, his mother said. Before they could get to the Hospital General the boy was dead. The child's death was officially listed as a heart attack caused by serious dehydration. The child was buried the next day and the company for which the family worked, Cardoso, bought the boy's coffin. However, the burial, food, candles, and burial clothes were paid for by the family. Currently, the boy's family is waiting for financial support from the state's human rights office so that the mother and father can return to Oaxaca. Investigation After La Crónica published an article looking at how the agricultural firm exploited the workers from Oaxaca and forced them to live in inhuman conditions, the Baja California Secretariat of Labor decided to investigate the case. Rafael Ayala López, head of the Secretariat, said he sent inspectors to the company but they could not find any of its workers, " . . . we can't have an inspector in each company . . . " he explained. What the Secretariat did discover, in looking through records, was that the company, "Cardoso," had not paid a house-building tax (Infonavit) and had failed to meet one another financial obligation as well. However, La Crónica refuted the notion that Cardoso workers could not be found. When journalists from the newspaper wanted to contact workers from the company, they simply went into nearby communities and asked around for them. Soon they had found Alex's mother and five other workers that gave their names and spoke of the abuses they allegedly experience in working for Cardoso. All the workers told La Crónica that 30 pesos (approximately US$3) per week are deducted from their paychecks for IMSS health insurance. Despite this, they complain that they have never receive proof of insurance. They also said that they have not been allowed to register their children for health insurance. On a typical day, the workers say that they and their children work twelve hours in the fields. Although they would like for the kids to go to school they have not done so. The workers also stated that they do not know their rights as employees and that they live in fear of the company. Other than a social worker that came out to visit after Alex's death--and ended up getting medical attention for a sick five-month old boy in the community--the workers say they never see government officials in the area checking up on them. Source: La Crónica, May 22, 2003. Article by Beatriz Limón.
Among those charged with stealing unleaded gas, premium unleaded and diesel from the pipeline is Enrique Harari Bello, son of the former director of the now dissolved Policía Federal de Caminos (Federal Highway Police), Enrique Harari Garduno, who is currently in a Mexican maximum security prison, La Palma. Also arrested was Harari Bello's nephew, José Pérez Santiesteban. A Tecate, Baja California police officer was arrested for his role in allegedly protecting the trucks that were used to move the stolen fuel. The officer's 19 year old son was also arrested in relationship to the case. Four Pemex workers responsible for monitoring the pipeline were arrested as was a gas station employee. Officials allege that the stolen gas was sold at a station owned by Harari Bello. Federal authorities believe other people may be involved in the case and are continuing their investigation. Source: La Crónica, Mexicali, May 20, 2003. Article by Said Betanzos.
May 6, 2003 Last week, a group of inmates that allegedly participated in a riot at the state prison in Mexicali were punished by having their visitations with family members suspended. Their punishment was decided upon by the prison director, Héctor Grijalva Tapia, in accordance with a state law that governs prison safety and punishment. Grijalva said that, according to state law, inmates must observe prison rules and get along in an adequate fashion with fellow inmates. Prison regulations are made known to inmates along with possible punishments that might follow violations. Baja California prisons also have reward systems for inmates with good behavior or for those that do things that benefit other prisoners. Other infractions of prison regulations besides rioting that can result in punishment include: lack of respect to authorities, visitors or other inmates and abstaining from work and cultural, educational or social events without just cause. The possession of alcohol, illegal drugs, gambling material, pornography, weapons and other prohibited material can also result in punishment of varying degrees. Punishments include: 1. A warning; Inmates may also be rewarded for good behavior. Rewards range from public or private recognition of their acts to the assignment of special positions. Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), May 5, 2003. Article by Carlos
Lima.
The Escalera Náutica, a Mexican development plan for the beaches and ports of the Baja Peninsula and the western coast of Mexico, is intended to increase boating, beach visits and golfing in some of Mexico's most beautiful scenic areas. However, the plan has been criticized by environmentalists who fear inappropriate development of the region. A recent article in the Sonora newspaper El Imparcial suggests that the area cannot adequately support its own internal tourism let alone increased international tourism. According to El Imparcial, visits by 100,000 Holy Week vacationers to the Sonora beaches of San Carlos resulted in mountains of garbage accumulating in one of the state's most attractive tourist destinations. After combing through the remains of a week's barbecues, fun and partying, a writer for Imparcial asked, "Automotive oil containers, packets of hair dye, glass bottles, used diapers: what do these have to do with the beach? Nothing, but some vacationers left them there." The beaches near Guaymas, about ten miles from San Carlos, where also left covered in tons of garbage. Trash cans put on the beaches by authorities were stuffed to capacity and overflowed with the remains of meals, beer containers, toilet paper and even flyers in support of local political candidates. Under the subtitle "The Souvenir," the newspaper also described the lingering odor of human waste at the beaches. An apparent lack of toilet facilities resulted in hundreds of people relieving themselves under trees and among bushes, just feet from the water. The resultant stench was described as unbearable. For more on the Escalera Naútica go to: http://laescaleranautica.com/ Source: El Imparcial, April 21, 2003. Article by Luis González.
April 8, 2003 Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the United Nations human-rights monitor in Mexico, stated that the Mexican federal government is denying the indigenous Cocopa people their right to survival by denying them fishing rights in their traditional fishing area, the Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve. Stavenhagen made his remarks at a meeting organized by the Baja California Human Rights Office's Indigenous Program. At the same April 1 meeting, Raúl Ramírez Baena, the head of the BC
human rights office, said that his organization had received new
complaints from the Cocopa who say that they have been abused and
threatened by people from the Mexican navy and Profepa, Mexico's
environmental protection agency. Rosalba Martín Navarro, a local elected official from the Partido Verde Ecologista (Ecological Green Party, PVM), sides with the Cocopa. She believes that the indigenous community has the right to fish in the reserve even though Profepa denies this and does not apply the law equally and in support of sustainable development. Profepa's desire to protect fish species has left the principle species, humans, in a state of hunger, she said. Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), March 31 and April 2, 2003. Articles by Julio Rodríguez. |