#33-4 MEX, 2/96
OPPOSITION PROTESTS VIOLENTLY REPRESSED IN TABASCO, MEXICO
Renewed protests tied to a lengthy campaign of direct action and civil
disobedience by the opposition PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party) in
Tabasco on Mexico's Caribbean coast have been met by security forces with
violent repression and arrests. Demonstrators have demanded compensation
for environmental damage caused by PEMEX (the national oil company),
preventive measures against future contamination, and an end to official
corruption. They have also protested plans to privatize PEMEX.
On February 7, in one of a series of confrontations, police injured as many
as 20 protesters and arrested seven PRD members in breaking up an occupation
of the Sen oil facility in Nacajuca. Demonstrators were pursued into nearby
communities by helicopters lobbing tear gas. One woman reportedly had her
leg broken. PRD leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was struck on the head
by police but not seriously injured. Lopez Obrador was the PRD candidate
for governor of Tabasco in 1994 elections that provoked widespread charges
of fraud and illegal campaign financing by the ruling PRI (Institutional
Revolutionary Party). He is currently a leading candidate to be elected
president of the national PRD. The beatings and arrests have undermined
attempts at negotiations and seem to indicate a government decision to
employ an iron fist policy in the face of continuing protests.
In the face of the crackdown, protesters have retreated only to reoccupy the
facilities when security forces leave. The protests have spread to
additional facilities as well. As of February 12, thousands of
demonstrators continued to blockade 60 sites, insisting that they would stay
until the government begins serious negotiations.
An unpublicized meeting of international oil producers is scheduled for
early March in the state capital of Villahermosa. Promotional materials
indicate that it is aimed in part at promoting the privatization of PEMEX,
even referring to previously undiscussed and politically controversial
possibilities for foreign companies to be involved in oil drilling. Over
the next few weeks the situation is likely to become more tense as pressure
on the government grows to resolve the occupations before the curtain goes
up on its international gathering. This may lead to the use of deadly
force. Or it may lead the government to negotiate seriously the protesters
demands. The message that the international community is deeply concerned
is very timely and urgently needed.
PLEASE SEND MESSAGES DEPLORING THE OFFICIAL VIOLENCE, EXPRESSING CONCERN
ABOUT REPORTS OF UNMITIGATED ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AND OFFICIAL CORRUPTION,
AND SUPPORTING POPULAR DEMANDS FOR COMPENSATION AND EFFECTIVE PREVENTIVE
MEASURES. (See Recommended Action below.)
Background PEMEX, the state-owned oil company, has long been the target of
protests because of environmental contamination that has ruined the
livelihoods of thousands of peasants and fishermen in the region (including
numerous Chontal Indian communities). In addition to ongoing degradation,
there have also been explosions and fires including one in February 1995 in
which 9 people were killed. The recent protests have focused on
environmental issues and claims for compensation. But the concerns
expressed have also included the privatization plans for PEMEX and the
charges of fraud from the 1994 governor's elections that robbed the people
of the possibility of democratic change.
After the gubernatorial elections in November 1994, Democratic Revolutionary
Party (PRD) candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador made a well-documented
claim that the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) stole the
election through fraud. His followers staged a series of nonviolent
actions, including occupations of PEMEX facilities, a car caravan to Mexico
City, and a three-week occupation of the central square in the state capital
to protest the fraud. The mounting pressure forced the national PRI to
negotiate. In January 1995 the talks were on the verge of an agreement for
new elections when the local PRI in Tabasco rebelled and violently evicted
the PRD demonstrators in front of the state legislature.
Three months later PRD members organized a 42-day march to Mexico City.
Initially numbering several hundred, the march grew to several thousand by
the time it reached Mexico City. Once there the demonstrators sat in at
banks and the stock exchange and set up an encampment in front of the
national Congress. On June 5, shortly after their arrival, sixteen boxes of
documents were anonymously delivered in the middle of the night. These
original records detailed campaign expenditures by the PRI candidate for
governor in Tabasco that incredibly totalled more than $70 million! In a
state of three million inhabitants (with a $4 million legal spending limit),
he spent more than Bill Clinton did to get elected President of the United
States . The PRD asked that charges be brought, and after some delay, the
Attorney General decided to proceed. Since then the case has dragged along
with little progress.
In November the PRD organized peaceful demonstrations and press conferences
to push demands for compensation for losses due to PEMEX, all the while
calling for serious negotiations with the government. With no progress to
show, PRD protests in recent weeks have shifted to blockades of oil
installations. Despite considerable provocation by security forces, the
blockades have remained a remarkably nonviolent discipline, in line with PRD
policy.
In talks between the government, PEMEX and PRD activists on January 31,
PEMEX reportedly indicated a willingness to compromise. However on February
2, the government sent over 800 police and army troops to evict the
protesters. Six were injured and several local PRD leaders were arrested.
Since then there have been almost daily police actions against the
demonstrators, but the blockades have continued. Of February 5, local
government officials (PRD members) joined others in blockading El Castano,
considered the most important oil installation in the region. They said
their action was a response to "the aggression" suffered by peasants and
fishermen at the hands of soldiers and police and they demanded the release
of jailed activists. Fifty more people were arrested (including 30 women)
when they were evicted on February 8. As of February 12 protesters
continued to blockade as many as 60 sites.
PEMEX says it is losing about $450,000 daily as a result of the blockades.
PRD leader Lopez Obrador said that PEMEX has polluted around 750,000 acres
of land in Tabasco. Of $40 million that PEMEX gave the state government for
damages, Lopez Obrador said that only 10% was spent on social programs and
infrastructure improvements in poor communities and the rest the PRI
governor spent on public relations campaigns and political favors.
Recommended Action Please send letters or faxes to the officials listed
below, respectfully urging: 1) An end to the violence used in removing the
nonviolent protesters; 2) Serious negotiations to address the legitimate
claims of the peasants and fishermen for compensation for their economic
losses; 3) Measures to insure that the funds that are allocated actually
reach the communities in need; 4) Improved maintenance procedures to avoid
future contamination and deadly explosions.
Send appeals to: 1) Lic. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon Presidente de la
Republica Palacio Nacional 06067 Mexico, D.F. MEXICO Fax 011 525 271 1764
2) Antonio Lozano Garcia Procuraduria General de la Republica Paseo de la
Reforma No. 75 Col. Guerrero 06300 Mexico, D.F. Fax: 011 525 626 4403
3) Emilio Chuayffet Chemor Secretario de Gobernacion Bucareli 99, Primer
Piso Col. Juarez 06699 Mexico, D.F. Fax: 011 52 5 546 5350
4) Jorge Madrazo Cuellar Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos Ave.
Periferico Sur No. 3469 Col. San Jeronimo Lidice, C.P. 10200 Delegacion
Magdalena Contreras, Mexico, D.F. Fax. 011 525 681 7199
A pre-written fax message can be sent by calling Worldlink at 1 800 357 0326
and asking to send "the Tabasco message." The 50-word message costs $6 if
you are billed, and $4 if you pay by credit card. Have your name and
address or credit card information ready when you call.
Postage for a half-ounce airmail letter to Mexico is 40 cents; one ounce is
46 cents.
Sources: Human rights activists in Tabasco, Reuters 2/8/96, Associated Press
2/8/96, Equipo Pueblo 2/5/96, MEXPAZ #59
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS APPEAL AMONG YOUR FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND NETWORKS.