Mexico & Human Rights
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When President Vicente Fox came to power in Mexico, he promised to undertake a thorough examination of his country's murky record on human rights abuses. Fox was faced with many mysteries, from a 1968 student massacre at Tlateloco to a number of high profile murders in the early 1990s, and the deaths of hundreds of suspected leftists at the hands of government forces two decades ago (Zarembo, 2000). Though Fox has made some efforts to bring to justice individuals or groups that have perpetuated human rights abuses in Mexico or are continuing to do so, it will be argued herein that many of the rights accepted as obligatory in many Western societies are not protected in Mexico and that more needs to be done in this critical area of governance in order for Mexico to overcome its poor human rights record. On December 7, 2000, the Mexican embassy in Washington, D.C. released a statement in which it was noted that "President Vicente Fox has committed his administration to an absolute respect to the human rights of all people in Mexico and to contribute to the promotion of human rights worldwide" (The government of Mexicoa, 2000). At that time, it was announced that President Fox had designated Mariclaire Acosta has Special Ambassador for Human Rights and Democracy. On his second day as president, Fox met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Oaxaca, Mexico, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The point of this Memorandum was to strengthen c
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00 leftists in the 1970s. Fox backed down on his promise because several members of his cabinet argued that an open-ended exploration of the past would worsen his relationship with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The PRI is trying to shed the reputation that it has for corruption and human rights abuses as a result of its 71 years in power.
Fox, in taking on the disappearances, will be confronting a powerful interest: the 240,000 member Mexican military. Since the late 1920s, when the PRI was formed, the military pledged loyalty to the president in exchange for autonomy in its own affairs. As Zarembo (2001) has noted, this understanding is becoming untenable as he army assumes a greater role in fighting drug traffickers and comes under increased scrutiny for human rights violations.
Adding to the pressure on Fox is international anger over the assassination in October 2001 of human rights lawyer, Digna Ochoa Y Placido (Murder in Mexico City, 2001). The murder of Ochoa called into question the efficacy of the efforts undertaken by the Fox government to improve Mexico's position on human rights. Ochoa was known to have defended both accused guerrillas and ordinary citizens who claimed abuse and illegal
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Approximate Word count = 1703
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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