The thrust of discussion of Arizona's efforts to participate in the control of its internal space, and in the process challenge the federal government's role in the policing of national borders and the management of immigration, has tended to focus solely on Arizona, as if it existed in its own space-time unconnected with the rest of the world--and especially the world beyond American borders. As ill advised and destructive as Arizona's efforts are, they are better understood in the context of regional efforts to control immigration.
A principal actor in the region is not the United States, but Mexico. It appears that Mexico is fierce in the defense of its own nationals as they cross the border northward into the United States. However, Mexico is perhaps even more fierce than the United States right wing in the defense of its own national borders against immigration from its "south"--especially migrants from Central America, either seeking a better life in Mexico or passing through to the United States. For these people, Mexico's elite sometimes tends to mimic the behaviors and politics of the more xenophobic of elements int he United States. Mexico thus occupies a middle place within hierarchies of power--the subaltern in its relations with the United States, and the dominant power with respect to its Central American neighbors. And, like any dominant power, Mexico appears ready and willing to reproduce the markers of subordinating power relationships between itself and those states lower down on the hierarchies of power in the Hemisphere. Whether it does this out of a need to serve the interests of the United States, to which it is dependent, or whether it represents the application of the ideals of power relations applied to inferior powers, is unclear.
Now clearly, Mexico's policies are as much a reaction to that of the United States as it may be a reflection of Mexican xenophobia in the region. Yet Mexico's enthusiasm for tactics that would be scandalous in the United States and among Latino advocates, is disturbing. Amnesty International has criticized Mexico for its treatment of its undocumented migrant populations. Amnesty International, Report: Invisible Victims: Migrants on the Move in Mexico, AMR 41/014/2010, published April 28, 2010. The Report is also available in Spanish as: VÍCTIMAS INVISIBLES MIGRANTES EN MOVIMIENTO EN MÉXICO
And now it has been reported that the Mexican government is contemplating mimicking the United States in another way--by the building of a partition wall between Mexico and Guatemala. This wall is meant ostensibly to control the flow of goods through Mexico, but also has an objective to control the free passage of illegal immigrants, according to officials (who interestingly had no problem using the term in Spanish). This proposed effort has been denounced by Mexican human rights and civil society advocates.
MIGRACIONES-AMÉRICA LATINA: Otro muro en la ruta a EEUU
Por Danilo Valladares
GUATEMALA, sep (IPS) - Viajar sin documentos a Estados Unidos desde América Latina supone una verdadera odisea, eludiendo delincuentes comunes, leyes contra las migraciones y narcotraficantes. Pero ahora, además, parece que también habrá que sortear un nuevo muro: esta vez entre Guatemala y México.
El intendente de aduanas de la guatemalteca Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria, Raúl Díaz, afirmó que, para impedir el paso de balseros con contrabando, el sureño estado mexicano de Chiapas pretende construir un muro en la costa del fronterizo río Suchiate, similar al ya avanzado en la frontera sur de Estados Unidos.
"Podría también evitar el libre paso de inmigrantes ilegales", admitió el funcionario.
El río Suchiate es utilizado para ingresar productos mexicanos al mercado guatemalteco sin pagar impuestos, pero, a su vez, es atravesado por miles de centroamericanos y sudamericanos con destino a Estados Unidos en busca de oportunidades y sin la documentación requerida.
Unas 500.000 emigrantes cruzan cada año el territorio mexicano sin permiso, según la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos de México (CNDH).
La intención de construir el muro fronterizo ha provocado una ola de rechazo en sectores sociales y gubernamentales por considerarlo una medida "sin sentido", la cual "no evitará" que las personas crucen la frontera "sin papeles" para llegar al Norte.
"Vemos con mucha preocupación la iniciativa del gobierno mexicano, porque los emigrantes están en una situación de altísima vulnerabilidad, como lo demostró la matanza de Tamaulipas, donde murieron cinco guatemaltecos", dijo a IPS Erick Maldonado, secretario ejecutivo de la Consejo Nacional de Atención al Migrante de Guatemala.
La crueldad a la que usualmente son sometidos miles de indocumentados quedó al desnudo el 23 de agosto, cuando 72 emigrantes procedentes, además de Guatemala, de El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador y Brasil fueron brutalmente asesinados en la localidad de San Fernando, en el oriental estado de Tamaulipas, supuestamente a manos de la mafia criminal Los Zetas.
Además, un total de 9.758 secuestros de inmigrantes fueron denunciados en México entre septiembre de 2008 y febrero de 2009, según la CNDH.
La idea de amurallar la frontera guatemalteca con México "va a empeorar la situación de la población emigrante, porque nuestros connacionales tienen necesidades y siempre logran pasar en nuevos puntos ciegos que carecen de controles migratorios y de seguridad, lo cual implica mayores riesgos", señaló Maldonado.
La vulnerabilidad de la población latinoamericana, principalmente de América Central, que emigra "sin papeles" a Estados Unidos ha permanecido a flote en los últimos meses no sólo por el recrudecimiento de la violencia plasmada en la matanza de Tamaulipas, sino también por las medidas legales en su contra.
Tal es el caso de la ley SB1070, promulgada el 23 de abril por el sudoccidental estado estadounidense de Arizona, la cual autoriza a la policía a capturar a cualquier persona de la que tengan una "sospecha razonable" sobre su estatus migratorio.
A esta serie de barreras a la inmigración se ha sumado la construcción del muro en la frontera de México y Guatemala.
Sin embargo, las autoridades de Guatemala no han recibido hasta ahora ninguna comunicación del gobierno mexicano al respecto.
No obstante, Maldonado expresó el lunes su preocupación por esta medida al delegado mexicano de migración en el país, Alejandro Martínez.
El rechazo al proyecto llegó incluso a Casa Presidencial. "Los muros nos los saltamos y no son la solución a los problemas", dijo escuetamente sobre el asunto el vicepresidente de Guatemala, Rafael Espada.
La intención del estado de Chiapas trajo a colación la polémica construcción del muro perimetral de 1.126 kilómetros que bordea el río Bravo que realiza Estados Unidos en su frontera con México para contener la llegada de indocumentados.
"El aumento terrible del costo de polleros (traficantes de personas) y la corrupción de las autoridades es el fruto de los muros que Estados Unidos pretende construir y ha construido en la frontera. Este caso lo podemos trasladar en esta situación y los resultados serán los mismos", dijo a IPS el sacerdote Francisco Pellizari, de la Casa del Migrante.
Según el religioso, los muros son un "error histórico" de varios países en el mundo que no han ayudado a resolver las migraciones.
"Se supone que es para detener la migración pero eso no ha dado resultado y sí ha provocado un derrame económico y el desvío del flujo migratorio por caminos más inhóspitos que provocan miles de muertes", señaló.
Erick Zúñiga, alcalde del occidental municipio de Ayutla, más conocido como Tecún Umán, fronterizo con México, dijo a IPS que el estado de Chiapas ya comenzó con la construcción de la barrera, la cual "parece un muro para evitar que el río Suchiate se desborde".
En todo caso, "ningún muro impedirá las migraciones. Eso no impedirá que las personas pasen al otro lado porque la gente va en busca de oportunidades de empleo y un futuro para su familia", explicó.(FIN/2010). Danilo Valladores, Migraciones-América Latina: Otro Muro en la ruta a EEUU, Visiones de IPS (Inter Press Service) (Sept. 15, 2010).
English Version:
GUATEMALA CITY, Sep 15 , 2010 (IPS) - Travelling without documents to the United States from Latin America can turn into an odyssey, in which migrants have to elude common criminals and drug traffickers along the way, not to mention the laws on migration. But now another obstacle is emerging: a wall between Guatemala and Mexico.
According to the head of customs for Mexico's tax administration, Raúl Díaz, in order to stop boats carrying contraband, the southern Mexican state of Chiapas is building a wall along the border river Suchiate, similar to the one the United States is building along its southern border with Mexico.
"It could also prevent the free passage of illegal immigrants," admitted the Mexican official.
Smugglers use the Suchiate River to move products across an international border without paying duty taxes, but at the same time, thousands of Central and South Americans cross the river in their attempts to reach the United States in search of opportunity -- and without the required documents.
Some 500,000 migrants cross Mexican territory without permission each year, according to Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH).
The intention to build a border wall has triggered a wave of opposition from civil society and government organisations, with charges that it is a "senseless" measure that will not succeed in preventing undocumented migrants from crossing the border on their way north.
"We are watching the Mexican government's initiative with concern because the migrants are in a situation of highest vulnerability, as demonstrated by the massacre in Tamaulipas, where five Guatemalans died," Erick Maldonado, executive secretary of Guatemala's National Council on Migrants, told IPS.
The cruelty to which undocumented migrants are often subjected was laid bare Aug. 23, when 72 people coming from Guatemala, as well as El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and Brazil, were brutally murdered in San Fernando, a town in the eastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. They were presumably killed by the Los Zetas drug cartel, which is also involved in kidnapping and exploiting migrants.
In addition, a total of 9,758 kidnappings of migrants were reported in Mexico from September 2008 to February 2009, according to the CNDH.
Putting up a wall on the Guatemala-Mexico border "is going to make the migrants' situation worse, because to meet their needs they are always going to find blind points where there are no migration or security controls, which implies greater risks," said Maldonado.
The vulnerability of the Latin Americans, and especially Central Americans, who emigrate "without papers" to the United States has remained at the forefront in recent months, not only because of intense violence like the Tamaulipas massacre, but also because of government measures taken to fight illegal migration.
Law SB1070, enacted Apr. 23 by the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona, authorises police to inquire into the immigration status of any person based on "reasonable suspicion." Critics say the legislation leads to racial profiling and violations of civil liberties.
The long line of obstacles that migrants face on their way to the United States gets longer with the construction of the wall on the Mexico-Guatemala border.
However, the authorities in Guatemala have yet to receive any information from the Mexican government about the wall.
Nevertheless, Maldonado expressed his concern this week to Mexico's migration representative in Guatemala, Alejandro Martínez.
Opposition to the project has even reached the highest circles: "Walls we can jump over; they are not a solution to the problem," was the terse comment from the vice-president of Guatemala, Rafael Espada.
The Chiapas state's intention to build a wall in some ways echoes the United States' controversial construction of the 1,126-kilometre wall along its southern border river -- known as Río Grande in the U.S.; Río Bravo in Mexico -- to prevent entry of undocumented immigrants.
"The dramatic increase in the cost of 'polleros' (human traffickers) and the corruption of the authorities is the result of the walls the United States plans to build and has built along the border. We can transpose the Guatemala case to this situation and the results will be the same," Catholic priest Francisco Pellizari, of the Casa del Migrante (Migrant House), told IPS.
According to the priest, walls are a "historic error" in many countries around the world, and have failed to resolve the problems associated with migration.
"They are supposedly intended to halt migration, but that hasn't happened. Instead they have triggered an economic haemorrhage and a shift in the migratory flow to inhospitable routes that lead to thousands of deaths," he said.
Erick Zúñiga, mayor of the western Guatemalan municipality of Ayutla, better known as Tecún Umán, bordering Mexico, said the state of Chiapas has already begun construction of the barrier, which he said "looks like a wall to prevent the Suchiate River from flooding."
In any case, said the mayor, "no wall will prevent migration. It won't stop people from crossing because they are going in search of job opportunities and a future for their families." (END) Danilo Valladores, Another Wall Blocks Route to US, Visiones de IPS (Inter Press Service) (Sept. 15, 2010).
The report suggests the contours of the problem and even its relation ship to Hemispheric issues of drug interdiction and trade flow management. All of these lead inevitably to the United States and through Mexico. It is possible that Mexico must adopt the approach to these policy issues that reproduce precisely those activities which, when undertaken by the United States, produces the greatest outrage within the Mexican elite. Apparently that elite is doping more than seeking to dismantle those barriers to migration and trade that separate Mexico from the United States--for while that project of deconstruction is being undertaken, a project of barriers is being constructed on Mexico's southern border every bit as restrictive and aggressive as the one with respect to which Mexico complains in its own and in the American press. Understood in this more regional context, the difficulties of campaigns against Arizona's efforts to impede migration in and through its own borders become clearer. Those who join with Mexico and other elements in the dismantling of barriers to movement between states ought to be aware that selective spot lighting, while producing some measurable benefits may not ultimately produce substantive results and might, to some extent, produce perverse results.
This is a fascinating read. It is interesting to note that every country wants the best for its populace although the means of accomplishing such may be to the detriment of others. It is clearly practical that both Mexico and the US would like to establish barriers that they feel would decrease crime and drug trafficking within their boundaries. The issue is not the purpose of the barriers but which barriers are reasonable and effective. It is for each State to decide accordingly. However, one State cannot exclude other immigrants while simultaneously expecting inclusion of its nationals by a neighboring State.
ReplyDeleteTishana W. (FIU)