From: Crossborder UPDATER [americas@irc-online.org] Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 8:51 PM To: Americas Subject: [americas] Democracy, Border Environment, Development, Immigration, NAFTA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CROSSBORDER UPDATER | June 25, 2003 Vol. 1, No. 10 c o n t e n t s : Democracy: From the Polls or the Populace? | English-language column by Laura Carlsen U.S.-Mexico Meeting on the Border Environment | English-language Citizen Action Profile by Talli Nauman Roads, Secondary Projects Catalyze Opposition to the Plan Puebla-Panama | English-language PPP Spotlight by Wendy Call Presentation to the European Parliament: The Mexican Experience and Lessons for WTO Negotiations on the Agreement on Agriculture | by Laura Carlsen Immigration Accord On Hold While Failed Border Enforcement Policies Continue | English-language policy brief by Walter A. Ewing NAFTA's Untold Stories: Mexico's Response to North American Integration | English-language report by Timothy A. Wise Distributed by the IRC's Americas Program ~ "A New World of Ideas, Analysis, and Policy Options." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Americas This Week ("The Americas This Week" is a weekly column written by associates of the IRC's Americas Program. Previous columns are archived at http://www.americaspolicy.org/columns/index.html. Please send your responses to this column or comments about other Americas Program analysis and activities to .) Democracy: From the Polls or the Populace? By Laura Carlsen | June 25, 2003 Three years ago Mexico's one-party system was finally cracked open by the election of Vicente Fox. Since then Mexico has rushed from euphoria to apathy in record time. The change from over seventy years of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) rule to a presidency led by a member of the National Action party (PAN) was heralded as the revitalization of the political party system and of government itself. Many leaders of grassroots organizations and citizen movements looked forward to a new era of participation, openness, and transition. Now the speed with which those hopes were dashed is commensurate to the snail's pace of real change. Latin American countries have long been encouraged to emulate U.S. representative democracy, channeling ebullient social movements into party-building and electoral processes. Since the 70s, most opposition movements have taken the plunge into party politics--with varying degrees of success. Now, throughout the hemisphere, the relationship between grassroots mobilization and electoral participation has come under the lens of political analysts and activists alike. In Brazil, a government born out of an opposition movement walks a tightrope between its grassroots constituency and its obligations to maintain stability and appease the international finance system. In Bolivia, coca-leader Evo Morales' close bid for the presidency has strengthened the resolve of the movement to continue participating in local and national elections. On the other hand, the members of the powerful Ecuadorian social movement that brought Lucio Gutierrez to power--led by the CONAIE--have called the president to task for what they consider a betrayal of the popular mandate and have begun to question their participation in party politics and government. Mexico appears to have been so successful in creating a U.S.-style tweedle-dee, tweedle-dum party system that the electorate has lost interest in the multimillion-dollar midterm campaigns. A recent study by the Federal Electoral Institute concludes that recent high abstention rates reflect discontent with political parties and a sense that, according to a quote from a citizen survey, "the vote doesn't contribute at all to changing things." U.S. society is also reevaluating the role of elections in democracy, but in strangely contradictory ways. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) recently launched an attack on nongovernmental organizations, warning of the "growing power of the unelected few." By attacking citizen groups that seek to inform policymaking as "unelected," the implicit assertion is that voting is no longer a form of democratic participation, but the sole legitimate exercise of democracy. The second implication--that NGOs have no valid role to play in policymaking or governance--is, as many have pointed out, ironic since the AEI is an NGO and plays an unprecedented role within the Bush administration. As if that weren't enough, the Bush administration itself holds office in violation of the popular vote that the AEI now claims is the be-all and end-all of political action. While criticizing these views, progressive organizations have also begun to look seriously at returning to the electoral arena. This week, MoveOn.org--the million-and-a-half member internet group that catalyzed anti-war actions across the country--is sponsoring a political primary, a year and a half before the presidential elections. Other grassroots organizations that have avoided electoral politics like the plague are suddenly talking about participating due to what they perceive as the urgency of unseating the conservative coup. This infusion of activism in electoral politics could reduce the traditionally high abstention rates in U.S. elections, which in itself would be a triumph for the democratic system. What remains to be seen is whether the doddering Democratic Party will respond to pressure from a revitalized base or continue to cater to entrenched interest groups. What all these experiences go to show is that in equations for social change, going to the polls is just one variable. Real democracy depends on a keen interplay between electoral participation and grassroots movements. High abstention in Mexico's July 6th elections would be a wake-up call not only for that country's major political parties, but also for parties throughout the hemisphere. If political parties--in the United States and Latin America--insist on distilling complex demands for change into a media-centered battle for the vote, they may soon be writing their own epitaphs. Related articles: The Challenge of Becoming Active Citizens Under Brazil's New People-Centered Government Marcos Arruda | May 6, 2003 http://www.americaspolicy.org/commentary/2003/0305brazil.html Ecuador: Se acabó la luna de miel Hermann Bellinghausen | 20 de mayo de 2003 http://www.americaspolicy.org/articles/2003/sp_0305conaie.html Bringing the War Home: Right Wing Think Tank Turns Wrath on NGOs By Jim Lobe | June 13, 2003 http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2003/0306antingo.html Organizations: www.moveon.org www.conaie.org www.pt.org.br -Laura Carlsen is Director of the Americas Program-Mexico ------------------------------------------------------------------------- New from the IRC's Americas Program: U.S.-Mexico Meeting on the Border Environment By Talli Nauman | June 2003 As governments cross continental borders seeking trade agreements and huge integration projects, citizens' responses have also become international. The recent meeting on the Border Environment brought together more than 400 people in Tijuana, Baja California, including representatives from 90 non-governmental groups (NGOs), 40 universities, indigenous and community groups. Conceived in 1998 as a venue for dealing problems along the border caused by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), today it is a unique fixture of bi-national organizing, providing rich opportunities for collaboration and a foundation for constructive change and sustainable development in the threatened ecosystems that transcend the political demarcations of the two countries. See full article online at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/citizen-action/series/07-encuentro.html With printer-friendly PDF version at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/pdf/series/07.encuentro.pdf PPP Spotlight #3: Roads, Secondary Projects Catalyze PPP Opposition By Wendy Call | June 12, 2003 The Salina Cruz link is one of the first completed in a Mexico-Central America highway network--a PPP top priority. Two days after the toll road opened, 400 people, including Córtes Vásquez, gathered in the town of San Juan Guichicovi, Oaxaca, for the National Gathering for Mesoamerican Response and Resistance to Globalization. Held May 16-18, 2003 in an indigenous Mixe town of 10,000, the gathering brought together representatives from most of the Mexican states included in the PPP: Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tabasco, and Veracruz, as well as activists from Canada, Honduras, Italy, Nicaragua, Spain, and the United States. The Alianza Mexicana por la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos (Mexican Alliance for Peoples' Self-Determination-AMAP) sponsored the gathering. UCIZONI (http://www.mesoamericasresiste.org/), an indigenous rights organization in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec hosted it. AMAP is the network of Mexican nongovernmental and community organizations founded in 2001 to respond to the PPP. Representatives of 107 organizations, towns, and media outlets participated in the Encuentro, sharing information about the PPP and discussing strategies for addressing it. Most of AMAP's active membership--currently about 50 organizations--participated. Some of those organizations have won key victories in the grassroots struggle against the PPP. Wendy Call is a freelance writer who divides her time between Massachusetts and Oaxaca. She is working on a book entitled No Word for Welcome: Mexican Villages Face the Future, about indigenous communities in Oaxaca and globalization. See full article online at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/citizen-action/spotlight/2003/030612.html Presentation to the European Parliament: The Mexican Experience and Lessons for WTO Negotiations on the Agreement on Agriculture By Laura Carlsen Mexico has been called the laboratory of free trade, because the nation radically opened its borders beginning in 1986, with entry into GATT. Mexico carried out unilateral trade liberalization and structural adjustments that accelerated sharply in 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect. We can now draw on nearly two decades of experience in agricultural free trade policies from the perspective of a developing country. The lessons are illuminating for the present WTO negotiations, and indicate the need to seriously question the present focus on market access for developed countries, at the expense of food sovereignty, livelihoods and rural development in developing countries. Laura Carlsen directs the Americas Program (online at www.americaspolicy.org) of the Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC, online at www.irc-online.org). She can be contacted at . See full article online at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/commentary/2003/0306eu.html With printer-friendly PDF version at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/pdf/commentary/0306eu.pdf Immigration Accord on Hold While Failed Border Enforcement Policies Continue By Walter A. Ewing As illustrated by events surrounding the visit of Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez to Washington in May, the U.S.-Mexico relationship has deteriorated considerably since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Before then, considerable momentum had gathered behind the proposals of a wide range of business associations, labor unions, ethnic and religious groups, and politicians--including U.S. President George W. Bush--to reach an agreement with Mexico on regulating and what has been called "regularizing" the flow of Mexican workers into the United States. The proposals were based on the common sense recognition that immigrants have become indispensable to the U.S. economy, especially in the service sector. In the absence of legal channels to enter the United States, large numbers of these workers resort to more dangerous illegal routes. The essence of the proposals put forward was to create opportunities for these workers to enter legally and provide legal status to those already living and working in the country. Despite their merits, these proposals were derailed by Sept. 11 as the U.S. government turned its attention to security concerns and Mexico dropped off the political radar screen. Walter Ewing is a research associate with the Immigration Policy Center. This brief was originally written and distributed in May 2003 by the Immigration Policy Center at the American Immigration Law Foundation, which can be accessed online at http://www.ailf.org/ipc/. See full article online at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/briefs/2003/0306immig.html With printer-friendly PDF version at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/pdf/briefs/0306immig.pdf NAFTA's Untold Stories: Mexico's Response to North American Integration Timothy A. Wise | June 10, 2003 When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passed in 1993, Mexico was free trade's poster child--the model for a globalizing world. A decade later, Mexico's smiling face no longer shines from those posters. Instead, the images are of angry farmers protesting U.S. grain exports, the unemployed selling goods on the street, maquiladora workers demanding basic labor rights, and indigenous communities marching for respect and a route out of poverty. Although some policymakers still point to Mexico as a success story, there is a growing consensus that the free trade experiment has not lived up to expectations. This has important implications for a host of new trade agreements now under consideration. Most important are the World Trade Organization's Doha Round and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), but agreements are being finalized with Central America, Chile, and other nations. Like the FTAA, which the Bush administration has presented as a "NAFTA for the hemisphere," most reflect the trade and investment rules established by the North American agreement. NAFTA is no model for sustainable development despite its success in transforming one of the world's most protected economies into one of its most open. Since 1985, when Mexico began its rapid liberalization process, exports have doubled and foreign direct investment has nearly tripled. According to the NAFTA model, with inflation significantly in check, Mexico should have reaped the rewards of liberalization. It hasn't. Timothy A. Wise is a researcher at the Global Development and Environment Institute of Tufts University and frequent contributor to the IRC's Americas Program. See full article online at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/reports/2003/0306globalization.html With printer-friendly PDF version at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/pdf/reports/0306globalization.pdf Recent articles: Hunger Vies for Role on Security Agenda at G-8 Meeting By Laura Carlsen | June 6, 2003 Available online at http://www.americaspolicy.org/columns/amprog/2003/0306g8.html The Argentine Presidential Election: Is Political Renewal Possible? By Martha Farmelo and Alan Cibils | June 2003 Available online at http://www.americaspolicy.org/reports/2003/0306argelect.html Hemispheric Watch: Gangs of New Trade By Eduardo Gudynas | June 2003 Available online at http://www.americaspolicy.org/columns/gudynas/2003/0306gangs.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SUBSCRIBE! The crossborder UPDATER is a weekly bulletin announcing new reports, commentaries, and analysis from the Americas Program of the Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC). For a free subscription, send a blank email to americas-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. Because our audience is largely international and bilingual, we include announcements of new Spanish-language content in the Crossborder UPDATER. To subscribe to the Spanish-language UPDATER Transfronterizo send a blank email to: espamericas-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. 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