Mexico

Arriving in Mexico I could see that roads were very bad, open sewage flowed through the outskirts of the city, people were begging at train stations and in the center of the city, the water from the tap was undrinkable and I was showering from a bucket with water heated on the stove (I asked for them not to heat it but they insisted as part of there hospitality). I saw notices bragging about 20 million people now being supplied power in Mexico City but I was unconvinced of their infrastructure.

Staying with a family in the northern suburbs of Mexico City. Two members of this family were working for multi-nationals (Ford and Siemens) but they didn´t live like the families I had seen that work in their roles. The father of this family has been working for them as an accountant for many years but still they only have one car, old, noisy, rusting (like many in Mexico) and not a Ford. This is a country that is on the edge of first world and 3rd world. Because I knew this I guessed that the people on the street were the ones living in the 3rd world and the ones driving the Mercedes were in the first world. I was also confronted immediately with what I was interested in seeing in Latin America, the life, the people and the politics.

It was immediately after the election results of the Mexican elections had been announced. The candidate campaigning for changes for the poor Obrador was edged out by 0.5% after he had been well ahead in polling until immediately before the election. Obrador was the target of a media attack in the last days before the election by Fox the president at the time. As a result Obrador didn´t, and still hasn´t accepted the result as valid. He took the result to the highest court on the basis of irregularities in counting as well as the use of media by Fox to get the candidate into office. The D.F (District Federal) was overtaken by the protesters in favour of Obrador, there were thousands of banners and signs all over the city as well as flags. People had been camped there for a month at that stage, 4 months later the protest continues.

My perspective entering Mexico was in support of Obrador, the platform of improving services and opportunities for the poor and decreasing corporate corruption I saw as a solid basis for a campaign for what I knew of Mexico. The family that I stayed with and later the rich hostel owners that I spoke to about it weren´t so sure and thought that he may damage the economy. They may well have been right, they are in much closer proximity to the effects of a damaged Mexican economy than I am. Looking for jobs in services is already hard. My friend had been unemployed for 3 months between jobs even though he had a degree and was searching for work each day.

When I went further south I visited Oaxaca where there is an ever escalating conflict between the people and their state government. It started as teachers protests for better wages and conditions in school in line with the standards of the rest of the country. These protests had been taking place almost annually with the government refusing to make changes. I was confronted before arrival by the seriousness of the situation. The roads into the city were closed turning my 8 hr trip bus ride into a 18hr adventure. There were fires lit at every entrance to the city and men with guns guarding the points to prevent the police from entering. This was in response to the killing of 7 people in an attempt to evict the peaceful protesters from the central square of the city. When I arrived there were no police in the city.

Since then the situation has only got worse including the killing of well known US activist Brad Will who was filming at the time of his death. His killers, pro-government paramilitaries sprayed bullets at the protesters killing Brad along with 4 others. People in the south of Mexico remain second class citizens according to all statistical measures. As a result it is likely that the movement of Oaxaca along with the Zapatista movement of Chiapas will continue to grow in significance and resolve to create change. The people have no other option given their living conditions and the obvious inequality that goes beyond neglect. When I left Mexico I was sure that something was going wrong with public spending. There was simply too much money in the country for some people to be living such a high life while others ate in the dirt. This was just the first experience of what it is to travel in Central America . . maybe Latin America