We are consumers, not humans. Not people.

[the_future_modernes]

Mexico's Union Bust Reveals Flaws in NAFTA

The Mexican economy is at a crossroads as it faces a multi-billion dollar deficit this year. Due to its heavy dependency on the U.S. economy under NAFTA, it is the hardest-hit country in Latin America and predicts a 7.5% drop in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2009. The number of poor has increased above pre-NAFTA levels, leaving millions more families in poverty, while the unemployment rate has doubled.

The congressional leader of Calderon's National Action Party, Mario Alberto Becerra, estimated that even after doling out severance pay, the government will save money through the reduced costs of operating Central Light. The government plans to use some of that money for hand-out programs for the poor, a model it considers preferable to maintaining unionized workers in jobs. Treasury Secretary Agustin Carstens announced that the 42,000 SME workers will be replaced with 10,000 new hires. He didn't say any would be hired back; the message was clear—union members need not apply.

Obama promised a renegotiation of NAFTA to incorporate the toothless labor side agreement into the text and integrate core International Labor Organization principles in defense of workers' rights. At the recent Summit of North American Leaders he said that the promise has been placed on the back burner. But that burner seems to be turned off. At an October 19 meeting between trade representatives of the three NAFTA nations, they reaffirmed their commitment to the trade agreement with no mention of renegotiation.

Unionized workers are not the only ones who suffer. NAFTA has displaced some two million Mexican small farmers in the countryside due to competition with U.S. agricultural imports. A recent ruling of a NAFTA tribunal delivered a record ruling of $77.3 million to Cargill Incorporated to compensate the company for a government program that blocked the use of corn syrup to save Mexico's sugar industry—an industry heavily protected in the United States. NAFTA's investment provisions (known as "Chapter 11") allow corporations to sue governments under special tribunals as one of the many privileges offered transnational corporations under the agreement. This obscene ruling to one of the world's wealthiest agro-businesses illustrates the priorities of NAFTA and the constant erosion of worker's rights and livelihoods.MORE

Money vs people, same old story...

[the_future_modernes]

Ecuador: The Battle for Natural Resources Deepens

A Different Kind of Uprising

On Sept. 27, the Confederation of Ecuadoran Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE, Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador) began a new front against a water law that they were not permitted to participate in. The government law went to parliament in mid-August but CONAIE had already put together its own initiative in 2008 that was never taken into account by the administration.

The movements' critique of the Hydraulic Resources Law is that it allows for the development of mining projects in areas occupied by springs that are major sources of water. In addition, the law ensures water provisions for the mining companies but not for indigenous and campesino communities and does nothing to attend to the issue of the contamination of waterways. The law also attempts to bring all of the water systems under one centralized state authority implying the loss of community control over this resource.

Ricardo Buitrón of Ecological Action (Acción Ecológica) has undertaken a detailed study of the law and concludes that "it contains elements of privatization for both water and land usage in as much as those resources become the sole property of the benefitting industry or business for other uses. The hydraulic infrastructure becomes private property in addition to surface water—such as wetlands."2 The law allows for water resources to be acquired in the purchase of land and permits the owner to use the water as he/she sees fit.

Buitrón also criticizes the fact that the law contains no clauses that allow for deprivatization that would make it possible to take back control over water resources that are currently under private ownership. In addition, thousands of potable water councils are given no real recourse as their members are now merely consumers subject to the Sole Authority of the state that controls the entire hydraulic network.

Humberto Cholango, director of Ecuarunari, the Quichua organization of the sierra, offered some compelling facts during a press conference held on Sept. 24.3 Forty-five percent of water resources have been privatized through legal concessions, but 55% of it is being used illegally; 1% of those using water resources consume 64% of the water available and 86% of Ecuadorians consume just 13%. "The law does not say anything in regard to these points and the National Development Plan favors the mining companies and flower growers." The law does not contemplate sanctions for contamination or water quality control. "The human right to water is restricted to access to potable water and domestic uses without considering the rights linked to health, food sovereignty, and culture," adds Buitrón. For his part, Cholango insisted in the role of the indigenous communities in the construction of water system networks: "We have constructed irrigation canals, consumer water systems, and now, with this Executive Law, they want us to simply be consumers and not actors. Even in article 97, they are trying to exclusively administer and take control of community water systems through the Sole Authority. This is a threat to our water councils."4 The result, in his opinion, is prioritizing the use of water for mining exploits.



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