Free trade agreement Mexico-European Union

Some time ago a couple of friends and I gave a talk about the three social movements in Mexico that we though at the time were the most important: EZLN Zapatista movement, APPO in Oaxaca, and post electoral fraud leaded by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. We put some effort to make clear that the nature of each movement is different as they respond to situations specific to each of them.

In that line, we argued that Zapatista army uprised against the situation of discrimination and repression indigenous experienced in Chiapas. Clearly it is an army with a strong link to the place, Chiapas. In addition, we saw APPO as specifically responding to the repression implemented by Ulises Ruiz in Oaxaca, that started as a teachers' strike but ended as a complex assembly. Finally, the post electoral fraud is very especific as well and responds to exactly that a fraud, which line of action is by no violent methods, not even throwing stones to police, as APPO does.

We also argued that these three were only a sample of a rather bigger and complex social movements, as we didnot include Atenco, Pasta de Conchos, Michoacan, or many others where the general pattern is that all of them responded to Human Rights abuses. In that they are similar.

The session went on well and the time for quesions/answers came. A young british student asked me how can we (europeans) help Oaxacans,.... Despite being a bit hesitant at first, I though that it would be untinkable to ask europeans to carry on protesting on our behalf. Even if they did what could Oaxacans get from it? I mean it is nice to know that there are people protesting in London or elsewhere in support of Oaxacans, but so what? Ulises is still in power,.. Calderon is still the leader of our Mexican cleptocracy,.. and so on,..

Then I though that maybe one single action could help, to ask the european parliament to revisit the free trade agreement europe signed with Mexico. There is a democratic clause that is the basis for such an agreement after all. So my answer was that. Europeans would do an enourmous contribution by asking their representatives to, in turn, ask the european parliament to revisit such clause.

In the light of all the Human Rights abuses that are happening in Mexico and the fraud to the electoral process we experienced last year it would be of huge help to have such agreement revisited.

article 1 clearly says that:

"NATURE AND SCOPE
Article 1
Basis of the AgreementRespect for democratic principles and fundamental humanrights, proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of HumanRights, underpins the domestic and external policies of bothParties and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement."

Here is the link to the agreement itself, please download it and pay attention to the article 1, which clearly states that Democratic practices and respect for human rights are the basis of such an agreement.

Would europeans support an appeal to revisit that agreement, since democracy seems to be far away from Mexico, and Human Rights abuses are rampant.

here is the link:

http://s23.quicksharing.com/v/6665783/EU_MX_FTA.pdf.html