MEXICO'S "OTHER HALF"--THE VIEW FROM OAXACA (PART

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 004535 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ELAB PINR PGOV MX SUBJECT: MEXICO'S "OTHER HALF"--THE VIEW FROM OAXACA (PART TWO IN TWO PART SERIES) REF: MEXICO 3574 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Despite the end of PRI rule, Oaxaca still lacks a viable economic development strategy and there is no effective political leadership or coordinated social movement to address Oaxaca's significant needs. The teachers' strike reflects the old way of challenging the government under authoritarian rule and offers little prospect of overcoming Oaxaca's democratic and economic deficits. Conversations with indigenous groups revealed a sense of disenfranchisement and uncertainty about their futures. This is the second of a two part series. End summary. Lack of economic development -------------- ¶2. (SBU) One finds little evidence at the federal, state, or municipal levels of promising visions for developing Oaxaca. The political economy here is much more about how to manage federal funds than how to grow the economy. According to experts, the economy runs primarily on federal transfers, remittances, tourism, and inefficient coffee production, and exports its lack of productivity via migration. Only a small percentage of Oaxacans are involved in the formal economy--which centers on tourism--and even there wages are low by Mexican standards. Educated Oaxacas have a difficult time finding jobs. "Become a teacher or migrate" is how one observer characterized the choice. Within the informal economy, subsistence farming and traditional activities only barely meet basic needs. The majority of villages lack electricity, running water, paved roads, and adequate healthcare and education. Roughly 75 percent of Oaxacans live in extreme poverty, according to analysts. ¶3. (SBU) Inadequate federal and state funds, government corruption, land disputes, and scarce infrastructure needed to create jobs contribute heavily to the region's malaise. Among most Oaxacans, the so-called "neo-liberal" economic model is also blamed, considered biased to the north and detrimental to this region's growth. While the northern states have experienced significant economic growth since the implementation of NAFTA, Mexico's south has stagnated and in some cases real wages have declined. Reflecting the frustration, graffiti along some streets of Oaxaca City reads "no to neoliberalism." Protesters in the capital's city square lament an economy in which they say only wealthy Oaxacans and foreign tourists have access to the state's resources. Soaring migration -------------- ¶4. (SBU) A Oaxacan migration scholar described a situation in which economic development experienced as urbanization and non-agricultural employment has devastated parts of rural Oaxaca and led to migration levels that exceed 90 percent of the population in some villages, turning them into near ghost towns. He told poloff that most other Oaxacan villages have experienced migration rates of at least 50 percent of their inhabitants. People living in villages near Oaxaca City explained to poloff that the capital's cancellation of the Guelaguetza festival (celebrated in July) and associated reduction in tourism, which is the major livelihood for many surrounding communities, has caused a spike in migration this year. ¶5. (SBU) Conversations with village leaders in the Mixteca region revealed that social structures of entire communities have been overturned as a result of migration. Without the prospect of significant job creation, experts see few signs that migration rates will slow anytime soon. Indigenous communities attribute responsibility to government neglect of the region and globalization. Although remittances have helped individual families, the pooling of remittance revenues that might allow communities to help themselves develop economically appears uncommon. A view from the indigenous communities -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Beyond recognizing their traditional cultures and varying levels of poverty, it is difficult to generalize about Oaxaca's indigenous populations. Oaxaca holds nearly a quarter of the total number of municipalities in Mexico, more MEXICO 00004535 002 OF 003 than any other state. Fifteen language groups and 56 dialects throughout eight major regions comprise a range of ethnicities that lack solidarity. Identity is heavily shaped by geography, with many non-migrants knowing only their respective towns and vicinities. Communities closer to Oaxaca City and the coastal tourist resorts tend to be more prosperous and outward-leaning than those farther away, with the most isolated villages often characterized by extreme poverty. Many villages are run by their own set of cultural norms known as "usos y costumbres" (uses and customs). What these comunities want -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Despite profound differences between Oaxaca's indigenous communities, they share certain aspirations. The right to self-determination and autonomy is an overriding theme. A Oaxaca-based sociologist pointed to the 1996 Chiapas-related San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture as an example of the kinds of rights Oaxacan indigenous communities wish to see guaranteed. These communities hope to choose their own ways of political, social, and economic organization, including their distinct forms of local government. They don't want their sons and daughters to have to migrate in order to find jobs. They also want their cultures and ways of life respected and protected. "Above all, we want to live with dignity," asserted a Zopotec student. ¶8. (SBU) Just as they seek autonomy, many communities long for greater representation in state and federal government. Those who understand their constitutional rights seek full access to justice and respect for their human rights. Indigenous groups expect the government to provide them with adequate levels of health, education, nourishment, and housing. "But we are not looking for handouts; we just need technical assistance," an indigenous woman told poloff, lamenting the image of laziness she said many Mexicans hold toward the indigenous. ¶9. (SBU) Finding a way out of extreme poverty is a constant concern for the poorest villages, and development assistance and more equal access to state resources seem for many to be ready answers. "The history of Oaxaca's rural people is one of being exploited by the state and federal governments" a Huatulco-based scholar on indigenous groups told poloff. Most indigenous community leaders believe it should be their prerogative, not the government's, to determine the nature of development projects, noting that the government seldom considers their productive capabilities when designing economic programs. Clashing values? -------------- ¶10. (SBU) The political, social, and economic forms of organization in these traditional communities can sometimes clash with those of modern Mexico. These communities tend to be patriarchal in their political organization and communal in their economic organization, complicating their incorporation into Mexico's increasingly democratic and market-oriented society. One significant challenge is that "usos y costumbres" often marginalize women and leave them out of local political decision-making. A sociologist from the state university told poloff that the world views among indigenous people can differ tremendously from those of Mexico's more Western-oriented citizens, with concepts such as time, governance, and economic progress having vastly different connotations. "The indigenous want better lives, but most are not interested in being integrated into Mexico," she added. ¶11. (SBU) Comment: Oaxaca's political and economic situation reflects the difficulty this part of the country is having adapting to democratic politics and Mexico's opening to the outside world. Globalization and economic liberalism are largely misunderstood and distrusted, especially among the poor, who sense they are on the losing end of these phenomena. That the indigenous population feels disregarded is perhaps less surprising than the lack of major development programs being implemented by any level of government to help them. A key stumbling block is figuring out how to safeguard the indigenous ways of life when aspects of modern Mexico seem at odds with certain political and economic traditions MEXICO 00004535 003 OF 003 of these communities. So far, Mexico's political parties have run away from this dilemma, allowing the south to fall further behind economically while migration soars and the country becomes increasingly polarized between north and south, as evidenced by this year's election. ¶12. (SBU) Comment continued: Oaxaca's switch of allegiance from the PRI to the PRD has been ongoing for years and is not surprising given the PRI's mismanagement of the state. Few educated Oaxacan observers believe that the PRD has a convincing strategy for developing their state, but they also see in AMLO a leader who would not abandon them in the way they feel other Mexican leaders do. Oaxaca's history of poverty and political corruption under the PRI has sapped most citizens of their trust in state and federal institutions, and they long for leadership that will confront the challenges of this region seriously. Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity BASSETT