[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 111 (Thursday, July 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8864-S8865]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CHIAPAS--A TEST FOR MEXICO'S FUTURE

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, 3 weeks ago, a group of armed rebels in the 
state of Guerrero, Mexico marched down from the mountains and into the 
city of Coyuca de Benitez, not far from the resort town of Acapulco. 
Then, last week, several armed men attacked a Mexican army vehicle, 
killing one civilian in the crossfire. They were arrested, and the 
Mexican army is scouring Guerrero's countryside looking for other 
members of the insurgent group, known as the ``Popular Revolutionary 
Army,'' in an attempt to prevent future outbreaks of violence in the 
region.
  These are just the most recent of several demonstrations of civil 
unrest in Mexico since the 1994 uprising of the ``Zapatista National 
Liberation Army'' in Chiapas. In states like Tabasco, Puebla, and San 
Luis Potosi, indigenous people are increasingly staging protests, and 
resorting to violence, to expose the inequity and racism of which they 
have been victims for generations.
  Unfortunately, while the Mexican Government has reportedly tripled 
its assistance to Chiapas in the 2 years since the Zapatista uprising, 
those efforts have produced little in the way of real economic and 
social change. The disparities that exist between Chiapas and the rest 
of Mexico are still as appalling as they were 2 years ago. While 
President Zedillo has recognized that poverty and the lack of access to 
justice among indigenous populations are matters which must be 
addressed, his administration has taken few effective steps to do so.
  Chiapas is one of Mexico's richest states, contributing oil, electric 
energy, cattle, coffee, cocoa, sugar, and various fruits and vegetables 
to domestic and international markets. Yet the majority of the people 
there lack adequate food and shelter, or access to education and basic 
medical care.
  Where the government built roads in Chiapas, the roads were often of 
poor quality. Health clinics lack beds and experienced doctors. Schools 
lack materials and trained teachers. The uneven distribution of wealth 
and the unjust distribution of land are at the root of the civil unrest 
that has captured the world's attention.
  Over 50 percent of Mexico's hydroelectric power is generated in 
Chiapas, yet less than one-third of all houses there have electricity.
  Coffee producers, with the help of over 80,000 Chiapanecos, almost 
all of whom are Mayan Indians, produce 35 percent of Mexico's coffee 
each year. While over 50 percent of the coffee is exported to markets 
in the United States and Europe for over three times it's value in 
Chiapas, indigenous laborers, paid as little as $2 per day, rarely see 
any of that profit.
  Cattle has become an increasingly profitable industry, but while 
nearly 3 million head are exported each year, few of the people in 
indigenous communities can afford to buy meat. There are reports that 
half of Chiapanecos are malnourished, and in the highlands and jungle 
areas the percentage is even higher.
  Half of the homes in Chiapas do not have potable water and two-thirds 
lack sewage systems. There is one doctor for every 2,000 people. 
Chiapas has the highest number of deaths per 100,000 people than any 
other state in Mexico. Infant mortality, is close to double the 
national average.
  The illiteracy rate is five times the national average, and the 
percentage of students not attending school is more than three times 
the national average.
  The situation in Chiapas stems in part from a government that has 
deliberately excluded the indigenous people

[[Page S8865]]

of Mexico from the political process. While the Zapatista uprising may 
have given them a voice in the national and international press, they 
still lack a real voice in their own government.
  Politics in Chiapas has been dominated by corrupt local and state 
officials influenced by the Civil Defense Committee. The Committee is 
comprised of the few families that own virtually all that is worth 
owning in the state. Human rights groups including Amnesty 
International and Americas' Watch have documented accounts of torture 
and political violence by Chiapas authorities since the mid-1980's.
  The majority of the adult population in Chiapas is illiterate. 
Peasants there have reported that they don't vote, but the ruling PRI 
party picks up their voting cards and votes for them. In the 1988 
elections which former President Salinas won by a narrow margin, no 
state gave the PRI a greater percentage of the vote than Chiapas.
  What Chiapas needs is increased democratization of the Mexican 
political system, and greater representation for indigenous people. 
Until that occurs, political instability will discourage the investment 
that is necessary to provide jobs for the people there.
  The United States loaned Mexico billions of dollars during the 
economic crisis of 1994. That decision was controversial in the United 
States, and had it been put to a vote in the Congress it might have 
been defeated. If the Mexican Government does not act aggressively to 
strengthen the institutions of democracy and reform its economy, 
political and economic instability will increase. If the peso collapses 
again, would the United States bail out Mexico a second time? I would 
not want to bet my house on it.
  While the Mexican Government needs to do more to provide the people 
of Chiapas with basic services like potable water and roads that are 
passable in the rainy season, what they need most, and what will 
ultimately bring about the kind of fundamental changes that are needed 
in order to avoid further violence and instability, is economic 
investment and a meaningful say in the political process.
  Despite widespread poverty in states like Chiapas, the Mexican elite 
have prospered, from Mexico's enormous oil wealth and the growth in 
manufacturing during the past two decades. The beneficiaries of this 
wealth need to recognize that the future stability and prosperity of 
their country depends on them. Not the United States. Not anyone else. 
They alone can provide the financial investment and jobs that are 
needed to overcome the desperation and inequities that have led to 
violence in places like Chiapas and Guerrero.
  Mr. President, in addition to our geographical linkage, the United 
States and Mexico are closely linked both economically and culturally. 
There is a large population of Mexican-Americans living in the United 
States, and we are taking unprecedented measures to stem the flow of 
illegal immigrants from Mexico who risk arrest and even death in search 
of a better life in the north. There is no escaping the fact that 
events in Mexico, even in seemingly distant states like Chiapas, have 
enormous implications for our own country.
  So we must encourage the Mexican Government, and representatives of 
Mexico's private sector, to address these problems with the utmost 
urgency. Benito Juarez, Emiliano Zapata, and Mexico's other great 
political visionaries and revolutionaries, gave their people hope for a 
better life. But for many, that hope has faded, and for some, who have 
resorted to violence, it has died. They have nothing left to lose.
  With Mexico's population continuing to grow, putting increasing 
pressure on government services and the country's resources, the 
situation in places like Chiapas has reached a crisis point. But with 
creative thinking and the recognition that those who have prospered 
have a responsibility to help those who have been left out, Mexico's 
business elite has an opportunity to play a key role in finally turning 
the goals of the Mexico revolution into a reality.

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