On February 18, 2014, WOLA, along with other Mexican and international organizations sent an open letter to the heads of state of Mexico, the United States, and Canada as they prepared to meet on February 19 in Toluca, Mexico for the sixth North American Leaders’ Summit.
This leaders’ summit is taking place in the context of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. As such, the signatories of the letter express their concerns over the deterioration of natural resources, the growing marginalization and poverty in Mexico, and labor rights violations that have occurred during NAFTA’s implementation.
In addition, the militarization of public security and persecution of migrants in Mexico, as well as the heightened border security and unsafe deportation practices in the United States have put millions of people hoping to escape poverty and violence at further risk of harm.
Given these and other concerns, the signatories of the letter urge the leaders to:
1. Incorporate the call for rights, justice and equality for migrants in the Mexico-United States-Canada region into the summit agenda.
2. Carry out an impact assessment of the existing economic model in way that takes into account the voices of diverse sectors of the population with the end goal of identifying challenges and actions to be implemented in the coming years.
3. Rethink the regional economic model in a way that responds to the needs of the people, not just the economic interests of a select few.
4. Develop agreements to safeguard the wellbeing of people. This involves opening the debate not only regarding free movement of goods and services, but also of freedom for human movement and mobility.
Click here to view a PDF of the letter.
February 18, 2014
Mexico City, Mexico
Open Letter to:
Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico
Barack Obama, President of the United States
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
Media Outlets
Recognizing the importance of the sixth North American Leaders’ Summit taking place on February 19th in the city of Toluca, State of Mexico, the undersigned civil society organizations urge leaders to:
1. Incorporate the call for rights, justice and equality for migrants in the Mexico-United States-Canada region into the summit agenda.
2. Carry out an impact assessment of the existing economic model in way that takes into account the voices of diverse sectors of the population with the end goal of identifying challenges and actions to be implemented in the coming years.
3. Rethink the regional economic model in a way that responds to the needs of the people, not just the economic interests of a select few.
4. Develop agreements to safeguard the wellbeing of people. This involves opening the debate not only regarding free movement of goods and services, but also of freedom for human movement and mobility.
Twenty years have passed since the leaders of Mexico, the United States, and Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, an agreement that was raised up as an action that “revolutionized” the regional economy and carried multiple benefits for its population. However, economic indicators have shown a deterioration in living conditions for people in Mexico, growing marginalization and poverty.
In addition to this, we have seen the growth of the Mexican population that lives in poverty (45.5 percent); the deterioration and plundering of natural resources; the militarization of public security; an increase in border security and absence of meaningful immigration reform in the United States; and a policy of criminalization and persecution of migrants in Mexico which, amongst other things, has led to migrants seeking new migratory routes that are even more clandestine and place migrants at even greater risk.
The environmental harms caused by the Canadian mining companies operating in our country have been repeatedly denounced by civil society organizations, and also reflect how economic priorities have been placed above social stability and the respect of the human rights of the people of Mexico.
Every day, millions of people, fellow Mexicans and Central American, travel across our country in search of opportunities in the hopes of achieving better quality of life as the promise of a dignified life has faded in their home communities hit hard by violence, poverty, and the lack of education and health services.
Meanwhile, the militarization of public security in Mexico has led to an increase in human rights violations for both Mexicans and non-Mexicans alike. Although daily reports from the media and civil society organizations reflect a growing tally of individuals who are killed and disappeared, for the most part authorities at all levels of government fail to acknowledge these denunciations.
The situation in August 2010 in Tamaulipas where the lifeless bodies of 72 migrants were found showed that migrants endured not only a lack of safety and security and repeated violations of human rights, but also a lack of commitment by authorities to address these issues. It took three years for the National Human Rights Commission to issue a recommendation that showed that the investigations and handling of the bodies were characterized by negligence and errors, but then failed to issue an opinion regarding the violations of the right to life and personal integrity of individuals who find themselves in Mexican territory.
It is estimated that 400,000 people on average are deported each year since Barack Obama became president in 2008. During fiscal year 2012, 409,849 people were deported, of which 72 percent were Mexican nationals. In many cases, the way that these deportations were carried out placed the life and personal integrity of migrants at risk, especially when these deportations took place at night or at points along the border with high rates of violence.
For the 31,450 Mexican women deported that year, these deportations can mean family separation, the loss of the custody of their children, the inability to legally return to the United States, and challenges with reintegrating into their country of origin, navigating procedures related to the child welfare system in the United States, and gaining access to education and health care in Mexico for their U.S.-citizen children.
Furthermore, migrant workers in the United States are still waiting for a response to a complaint filed under the auspices of the North American Labor Cooperation Agreement regarding severe violations of their labor rights, although the Mexican and U.S. governments have not moved forward in resolving this matter since it was filed in 2011.
Meanwhile, under the auspices of the Temporary Agricultural Workers Program that Mexico holds with Canada, migrant worker in Canada have seen their right to associate hampered, both to seek out better working conditions and/or denounce abuses, all with the complicity of representatives of the Mexican government in Canada and personnel in charge of recruitment and selection of the Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social).
Given these and other challenges, it is critical that the socio-economic goals contemplated by NAFTA be carefully examined at this summit.
Sincerely,
JASS, Asociadas por lo Justo;
Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos;
Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres A.C (CEDHEM);
Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña "Tlachinollan";
Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez;
Latin America Working Group;
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA),
Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad Oaxaca, Acción Migrante e Inclusión y Equidad Consultora Latinoamericana.
