Contact: Harold Derickson,
International Indigenous
Development Organization
(604) 769-4433
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- January 8, 1994
"INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION CALLS UPON MEXICAN
GOVERNMENT TO REVISE CONSTITUTION"
Vancouver, BC -- Harold Derickson, Executive Director of the International
Indigenous Development Organization (IIDO), blamed the Mexican government
today for the week-long uprising in the state of Chiapas and called upon
President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, to restore Article 27 of the Mexican
constitution.
Article 27, which legalized the village communes (ejidos), has been part
of the constitution since the Mexican Revolution, led by Emiliano Zapata
in 1910. As part of the recently-ratified NAFTA agreement, the Mexican
government quashed article 27, revoking collective ownership of land.
The IIDO is calling upon the Mexican government to repeal this constitu-
tional change which Derickson says leaves the door open for large scale
agricultural ventures, the benefits of which indigenous people will
likely see nothing of. "We should not be surprised by the indigenous
response here," said Derickson today from South America. "The Zapatistas
want rights to the land and the benefits derived from it. Those rights
have been thrown over in the interests of NAFTA."
When asked if he thought the violence might soon end, Derickson replied
"the violence is bound to continue until some kind of long-term settlement
is reached that will guarantee indigenous rights to land and resources."
He added that the Canadian government may have a role to play in this
negotiation, and said that the IIDO supports Assembly of First Nations
leader, Ovid Mercredi, in his request that the Canadian government offer
its aid as a mediator.
The IIDO is an association of indigenous people from around the world,
aimed at fostering trade and promoting the exchange of culture and
technology amongst indigenous peoples.