As the Enlaces América project continues to grow and develop,
our communications strategy is evolving along with it. We are working with colleagues
and partners to identify, translate, and produce articles and analyses dealing
with regional issues of migration, integration, trade, development, and human
rights on a more frequent basis. We post new articles or links to information
weekly on our website.
Our quarterly newsletter, Enlaces News, is now best
described as a compilation of various articles and reports we have written or
translated in recent months. All the articles you see below can also be accessed
by visiting the home page of our website.
If you have difficulties accessing the articles via
the links below, you may either copy and paste the link into your web browser
or go directly to our website, www.enlacesamerica.org. If you would like the entire electronic version of the newsletter
in Word, please reply to this message.
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/Mexruralart.html
Deeply-rooted popular discontent with Mexico s aggressive
pursuit of free market reforms has exploded to the forefront of the country
s political scene in recent months, as small farmers and campesino organizations
mount a fiery public campaign to pressure their government to address the collapse
of the country s agricultural sector. The small farmer and campesino-led movement
has done a remarkable job in recent months of focusing public and political
attention on the need to reformulate Mexican agricultural policy, but the comprehensive
policy changes the current situation requires cannot be achieved through pressure
on the Fox administration and Mexican Congress alone. The roots - and the repercussions
- of the current crisis are closely linked to Mexico s relationship to the U.S.
and to the particular model of regional integration the two countries have chosen
to pursue.
What kind of new social pact does the Mexican countryside
require?
By Victor Suarez Carrera, Spokesperson, El Campo
no aguanta más
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/vsuarezart.html
(This article first appeared in La
Jornada, February 8, 2003)
As they marched in Mexico City on January 31, thousands
of campesinos called on the nation to Save the countryside to save Mexico. The
marchers cried out to the nation, demanding a new pact between the state, rural,
and urban sectors, a new policy towards the countryside and a renegotiation
of the agricultural chapter of NAFTA. Now, the movement of small farmers known
as El Campo no Aguanta más (The Countryside can t take it anymore) would
like to share the details about this new social pact and describe the new policies
the countryside will need in order to move us toward a new national plan aimed
at sovereignty, growth, equity, sustainability, and globalization.
Central American Immigrant Leaders Meet to Explore
Common Interests
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/houstonart.html
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/imeart.html
By José Luis Gutierrez, President, Federación de
Clubes Michoacanos en Illinois
President Fox s creation of the Presidential Office for Mexicans
Abroad (OPME) at the beginning of his term, his organization of the first public
meeting with a delegation of representatives of Mexican organizations in the
U.S., and his calling migrants national heroes led us to initially believe that
the time had come for a migrants administration. The Institute of Mexicans Abroad
(IME) and its Advisory Board (CCIME) represent the final opportunity for President
Fox to comply with his campaign promise to govern for all 120 million Mexicans.
The Third World Social Forum: Another World is Possible
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/WSFsummary.html
The World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil runs
parallel to the yearly World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and attracts
tens of thousands of social activists and participants from non-governmental
organizations. In 2003, the Third Annual World Social Forum attracted nearly
100,000 participants, including 70,000 official delegates from more than 60
countries and 25,000 young people who participated in the parallel youth camp.
This diverse gathering filled the city of Porto Alegre during the last week
of January, for an intense week of workshops, lectures, marches, and cultural
exchanges. At its core, the Forum offered its delegates the opportunity to exchange
ideas about how to make the world a better place for all.
Emigrant Communities as Global Citizens:
World Social Forum Workshop
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/WSFreportart.html
About 20 people, including emigrants from Mexico, Guatemala,
El Salvador, Bolivia, Perú, Brazil, and Germany participated in the January
25 workshop. Although most of the participants are currently living in
the United States, the group included an organization of Peruvians in Spain,
a group of Bolivians in Argentina, and Uruguayans in Brazil. Enlaces América
convened the workshop to create a space for sharing the experiences of migrant
populations with respect to how these communities are playing a transformative
civic role in the societies of their countries of origin and their adopted countries.
Religious Groups Plan 2003 Border Pilgrimage
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/pilart.html
From February 17-20, representatives of national and
local religious organizations gathered in Tucson, Arizona to discuss plans for
an October 2003 pilgrimage along the Mexico/U.S. border. The meeting was convened
by a group of faith-based activists who are working to develop a national solidarity
movement around the issue of undocumented economic migration. The national religious
community is particularly drawn to the issue of the deaths of migrants crossing
into the United States; however, pilgrimage organizers hope that the border
can serve as a window onto a system that has roots and repercussions beyond
the borderlands.
Mexican and Central American Immigrants
as Strategic Consumers
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/consumerart.html
Immigrant communities often face pressing day-to-day
economic challenges, and may not feel able to participate vocally in political
processes, either because of concerns about immigration status or for fear of
retribution. Strategic consumption could represent a powerful way for
them to bring their voices to bear on the political and economic processes that
affect their lives in the U.S. and countries of origin. In addition to the remittances
they send home annually, recently estimated at $23 billion, immigrants from
Central America and Mexico in the U.S. have an annual domestic purchasing power
that exceeds $150 billion.
Report from the Strategic Planning Meeting
of the Regional Network of Civil Organizations on Migration
http://www.enlacesamerica.org/articles/RNCOM0303art.html
From February 26 through March 1, 2003, representatives
of the Regional Network of Civil Organizations on Migration (RNCOM) gathered
in Chalatenango, El Salvador, for a strategic planning meeting. The planning
meeting gave RNCOM members the opportunity to learn from the network s accomplishments
and to analyze its internal strengths and weaknesses in the context of current
external political and economic conditions.