AUT: English Chiapas al Dia 163 I

[CIEPAC <ciepac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

ENGLISH VERSION OF "CHIAPAS AL DIA" BULLETIN No. 163
CIEPAC
CHIAPAS, MEXICO
(June 25, 1999)

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS IN CHIAPAS
HEALTH AND EDUCATION (II/II)


MARGINALIZATION

According to official data, of the 111 municipalities in existence prior to
July 15 of this year - when 7 more municipalities were created - 38
municipalities are considered to be Very High Marginalized (34% of the
total municipalities), taking in 27% of the chiapaneco population in 1995.
Three years later, however, in 1998, the interim governor confirmed aid to
42 Very Highly Marginalized municipalities in the state, which would
indicate an increase in poverty between 1990 and 1998.  Within this
category, 80% of those municipalities are rural and indigenous, especially
in Los Altos and the Selva regions.

The High Marginalization indicators correspond to 50.5% of the
municipalities, with 37.1% of the chiapaneco population.  In addition, 80%
of those municipalities are rural.  The indigenous, however, only make up
of 12.5% of the population.  This marginalization occurs most especially in
the Border, Fraylesca, Sierra, Soconusco and Central regions, widening the
specter of poverty beyond just indigenous areas.  We can also verify that
there is not one single municipality with a majority indigenous population
that is not officially considered to be at least moderately marginalized.

Ninety-six percent of those municipalities with an indigenous population of
between 75 - 100% are very highly marginalized.  El Bosque is no longer in
this category.  There, in June of 1998, hundreds of troops, soldiers and
police, under the pretext of doing away with the "San Juan de la Libertad"
Autonomous Municipality, assassinated indigenous, caused destruction and
reinforced their presence in the communities.  This is why we believe that
the police and military presence in the communities cannot be omitted in
the measuring of municipal marginalization, since it has an impact on - and
negative consequences for - health, production, land ownership, education,
and so on.

HEALTH

Life expectancy and the median age of the population are the figures of
greatest interest to Public Health.  The official figures in this area are
not credible.  For 1992, Chiapas is defined as the state with the second
lowest life expectancy in the country, at 67 years of age, surpassed only
by Hidalgo, at 66.6 years of age.  The Chiapas Department of Health has
stated that the population in the state is, on the average, the lowest in
the country:  55.48% of its residents are less than 20 years of age, and a
bit less than 10% are over 45.  It is thus difficult to believe that, in
1991,  Chiapas had the same life expectancy as in the Federal District and
Nuevo Leon in 1971, twenty years later.  But this allows the government to
assert that there is a 3.7 year difference in life expectancy in Chiapas,
compared to the state of Nuevo Leon, where it is the highest.

Official figures on the birth rate are not very credible either, given that
the indigenous population, for various reasons, did not register their
births until a few years ago.  Those who died within a year of birth were
not registered as "live births" either.  This gives too large a margin of
error to use these figures as a source for measuring development and
improved health conditions in Chiapas.

The Infant Mortality Rate is also manipulated by official figures that are
impossible to believe.  Only the municipalities of La Trinitaria and
Ocosingo would have numbers equivalent to those of the "first world,"
comparable with Switzerland and Finland respectively.  Official figures
show Chiapas as having an Infant Mortality Rate of 16.4 in 1990, and 13.4
in 1993.  Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) sets an infant
mortality rate of less than 30 per 1000 live births as a sign of a good
standard of living for a population.  The Department of Health in Chiapas,
in their 1995 report, tried to avoid the recommendations, stating:  "Infant
mortality, the same as the general one, has also experienced important
changes in that period, seeing a decline of 75% in the figures from1970 to
1994, from 58.7 to 14.1 per thousand Registered Live Births."  And so, the
contradictions are exquisite.  One national study carried out by the
Department of Health and Welfare in 1995, on municipalities with an
indigenous population of more than 40% (542 nationally, 37 in Chiapas, all
of them highly and very highly marginalized), stated that mortality rates
are higher as the proportion of indigenous population increases.

The profile of mortality in the indigenous population is typical of that of
less developed societies, since the so-called illnesses of poverty
predominate.  The Department of Health and Welfare confirmed this in 1995.
They also recognized that, according to information from the National
System for Epidemiological Vigilance, the 10 primary causes of illnesses
among the indigenous in 1991 were infectious in nature in more than 80% of
the cases.  Given the degree of the system's disintegration, there is no
specific data on morbidity for the indigenous communities.  They state,
however, that the daily pathology in most parts of those areas is typical
of poverty and of material deficiencies.

Because of that, in its 1993 Report, UNICEF classed Mexico in the fourth
category - out of five - of those countries characterized by lacking an
adequate strategy and effective programs to end malnutrition.  The country
shares this category with six others, the majority of which are African.
In response to this devastating outlook, President Zedillo decided to
implement the Education, Health and Food Program (PROGRESA), in order to
"attack the root causes" of the problem of poverty.  This program has
served to support official party election campaigns, and it has seen its
budget continuously and drastically reduced, by up to 230 million pesos.
Many of these funds were diverted once again to aid the victims of the
Chiapas floods in September of 1998.

Funds earmarked for health purposes are diverted in other ways as well.
The Department of National Defense (SEDENA) had a total of 11,627 persons
benefiting from health institutions in the 1990 reports (1 military person
for every 267 inhabitants).  The number of military personnel receiving
benefits rose to 31,640 (1 military person for every 101.5 inhabitants) by
December 31, 1994.  After 1995, they stopped officially reporting these
figures.

The UN suggests that there should be one physician and two nurses for
direct care for every 1000 inhabitants.  In this arena, Chiapas records the
lowest numbers:  1 physician for every 17,857 inhabitants (as in Burundi)
in municipalities with indigenous populations of grater than 40%.  In those
where the figure is higher than 70%, the numbers go to 1 for every 25,000
persons (as in Rwanda).  For 1996, Chenalho and La Trinitaria, for example,
are comparable to the Congo;  San Andres Larrainzar to India and Gabon; and
Tila with Nigeria.  And so, in 1995, officials confirmed that 40% of the
population of Chiapas was not receiving medical care, and, over a 6 year
period, social security had not increased by even 2 points, going from
14.3% in 1990, to 16.1% in 1996.

Article 12 of the International Pact of Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (PIDESC) refers to the Right to Health:  "1. - The States Party to
the present Pact recognize the rights of all persons to the enjoyment of
the highest possible levels of physical and mental health;  2. - Among the
measures that should be adopted by the States Party to the Pact - in order
to ensure the full effectiveness of this right - are those which is
necessary for:  a). The reduction of infant and child death and the healthy
development of children;  b)  The improvement of all aspects of workplace
health and the environment;  c) The prevention and treatment of epidemic
and endemic illnesses (?);  d) The creation of conditions that ensure
medical assistance and medical services in case of illness."

EDUCATION

UNESCO characterizes Mexico as one of the nine leaders in populations who
do not know how to read or write, with 72% of the world's illiterate.  The
INEA (National Institute for Adult Education) says that the country's
problem is not illiteracy, but educational disadvantage, since 35 million
persons have not completed primary education.  According to the INEA,
investment in education increased over the last few years, from 4 to 6% of
the GNP.  The transfer of funds earmarked for primary education in the
states, however, decreased from 15.7% in the first trimester of 1997,
compared with the same time period in 1996.  This was prior to the drastic
national budget cuts precipitated by the economic crisis of 1998.

The education problem is worse in indigenous regions, where 5 out of every
10 adults do not know how to read or write, while the ratio is 2 illiterate
persons for every 10 adults in mestizo communities.  The situation is worse
for women, generally speaking, than for men.  Of those persons who have
never received a formal education, 40.9% are men and 59.1% are women.  From
1994 to 1997, 1.2 million Mexicans joined the ranks of the educationally
disadvantaged.  The Department of Public Education also suffered a budget
cut of 1 billion, 211 million pesos, leading to the proposal for
administering educational grants for children in extreme poverty.

Meanwhile, Chiapas is among those states containing half of the country's
illiterate population, with 543,000 illiterate persons.  It is also among
those states where almost 50% of the adults have not completed primary
education, with 717,000 persons in that circumstance.  The state is also
among those leading in failure and drop-out rates in primary education, in
the number of unfinished schools and in the lowest scholastic averages.
Because of this, thousands of teachers mobilized in 1998 and accused the
federal and state governments of being directly responsible for the
educational crisis, by drastically limiting the budget for the education
branch and by neglecting the teachers with starvation wages.

The figures gathered by CIEPAC at the municipal level demonstrate some
contradictions with the information available nationally.  For example, if
we look at education indicators, there is a 15% illiteracy rate among the
population over the age of 15 throughout Chiapas (1985 figures).  In those
municipalities with a high percentage of indigenous persons, the figures
are double the state-wide and city averages, always highly privileged
areas.  Among men, illiteracy is 19.2%, and among women it is 34.7%.  These
figures are double for the indigenous population, with 36.4% of the men,
and 65% of the women, illiterate.

In Amatenango del Valle, the illiteracy rate is 53% (as in Togo), in
Chenalho it is 51%, in San Andres Larrainzar 54% (as in Chad), in Ocosingo
47%, in Salto de Agua 44% and 43% in Tila (both as in Rwanda):  illiteracy
rates similar to those of Sub Saharan Africa.  In Tuxtla Gutierrez, the
state capital, however, the rate drops to 9% (as in Hong Kong), and to 20%
in San Cristobal de Las Casas (as in Turkey).

Faced with this situation, it is revealing to see where the state
government of Chiapas has earmarked their funds for school construction.
Not where they should, that is, for those municipalities with the highest
illiteracy rates, but, instead, for those areas that already have more
advantages, the cities.  For example, the number of schools for each 100
children in primary grades (potential population) for the following
municipalities is:  0.23 in Amatenango del Valle, 0.74 in Chenalho, 0.57 in
San Andres Larrainzar, 2.48 in the capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez and 1.77 in
San Cristobal de Las Casas.

It is not surprising:  where there are more schools, there is less
illiteracy.  The obvious question then becomes - why are there not more
schools being built where they are most needed? - while recognizing that
the entire illiteracy problem would not be solved through more schools
alone.  Nonetheless, on July 1, the interim governor proposed another of
his famous consultation phantasms.  This consultation - through the
recently created State Council for the Comprehensive Development of
Education in Chiapas - will gather chiapanecos' opinions and proposals
concerning the broadening of educational coverage, eliminating the drop-out
and failure rates and guaranteeing equality of education.  It was through
"consultations" such as this that the proposals were approved for granting
amnesty to paramilitaries, for redistricting the state against the will of
its residents and for imposing the Indigenous Rights and Culture Law,
independent of the San Andres Accords between the EZLN and the federal
government.

According to the Human Development Report of 1999, Mexico is ranked 50th
among 174 countries in the world in life expectancy and education.

Article 13 of the International Pact of Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (PIDESC) refers to the Right to Education:  "1.- (?) education
should be oriented towards the complete development of the human
personality and his sense of dignity, and it should strengthen respect for
human rights and fundamental liberties (?) it should train all persons (?);
 2. -  (?) for the purpose of achieving the full exercise of this right: a)
Secondary education, in its different forms, including technical and
professional secondary education, should be widespread and made accessible
to everyone (?);  c) Superior Education should equally be made accessible
to everyone (?)"

CONTEXT

The immorality of the economic program is obvious.  Weeks after it was
announced that the Bancrecer Bank financial rescue would cost 82.4 billion
pesos (US$8.8 billion), Canadian consultant Michael Mackey, on July 19,
completed the audit of the Mexican banking system, for which he charged 20
million dollars, in order, finally, to discover the most scandalous fraud
in the contemporary history of our country.  The consultant found
irregularities in loans of 72.7 billion pesos(US$7.8 billion) in the Bank
Fund for Savings Protection (FOBAPROA).  He also stated that it would be
less costly for the banks to go "bankrupt," than to inject capital in order
to rescue them.  The financial rescue reached 683 billion pesos (US$73
billion) in March of this year.  As a result, the presidential proposal,
with the PRI and PAN alliance, will force the Mexican people to pay for the
bank frauds and for the monies received by the official party for their
political campaigns.

During the last few days, zapatista support bases have been attacked by
police and PRI's  from the municipality of Frontera Comalapa for attempting
to reclaim their water supply.  The results were incarcerations, injuries
and beatings in the community of El Portal, Tierra y Libertad Autonomous
Municipality.  Days later, on July 20, during the 7th Session of the Public
Security Municipal Council in Frontera Comalapa, uniforms were delivered to
the recently formed Rural Police.  This could be the hideout for
paramilitary groups who would now be acting "legally."

The UN Special Relator for Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions,
Asma Jahangir, visited Chiapas from July 20 to 22.  She met with interim
governor, Roberto Albores Guillen, with the Cerro Hueco prisoners and with
NGO's, among others.  She confirmed the existence of extrajudicial
executions and impunity, while the state government recognized the
existence of armed groups, but not their backing for them.  The interim
governor explained the redistricting program to her, as well as the recent
creation of 7 new municipalities in Chiapas, which now total 118.  He also
explained the Indigenous Rights and Culture program and the creation of 10
more jails in the state.  He stated that:  "We do not need to ride
roughshod over anyone in order to bring justice to Chiapas."  Perhaps the
Relator was not informed of the illegality of these actions within the
framework and procedures of the San Andres Accords.

The NGO's presented the following cases to the Relator:   Acteal, El
Bosque, Ocosingo, Altamirano, the assassination of Jose Tila in the
Northern region, as well as six new cases including that of Jose Hidalgo
Perez in San Cristobal de Las Casas.  The EZLN sent a strong communique to
the Relator, through the voice of Subcomandante Marcos, in which he
criticized the moral caliber of the UN for the role it had played in the
war against Yugoslavia, for the supposed request by the UNHCR to the
Mexican government to attack the "Tierra y Libertad" municipality, and for
delivering, at Kofi Annan's hands, the Vienna Civil Society United Nations
Prize" to the so-called "Aztec Foundation." The latter is the television
channel that went to La Realidad in 1998 and which supported the xenophobic
campaign in Chiapas.  The EZLN also criticized the role of the
International Red Cross and recognized the role of foreign observers and
national and international human rights organizations as being of higher
moral caliber that the Relator's representation.  He also recounted the
extrajudicial assassinations the Mexican army has carried out against
indigenous in Chiapas, specifying names, dates and places.

One day prior to the Relator's arrival, officials hurried to mete out
sentences of 35 years in prison to 20 persons who had been detained for a
year and a half, accused of participating in the massacre of 45 indigenous
in Acteal, municipality of Chenalho.  These are added to the 10 policemen
sentenced to 3 years and 9 months, and to a soldier who was sentenced to 2
years and fined 1086 pesos for having trained paramilitaries.  Of the 103
persons detained up to this point, there are still 72 yet to be sentenced
(among them the former Coordinator for the State Public Security Police,
and the former Public Ministry official in Chenalho).  Ninety arrest
warrants remain to be executed (including  11 for public officials and
police force members).  And, as if this were not enough, while the UN
Relator was in Chiapas, President Ernesto Zedillo made a lightning visit to
the state - for the 26th time - in order to visit the municipalities of
Mapastepec -  delivering supplies to victims - and Motozintla, La
Trinitaria, Las Margaritas and Ocosingo.

While the legality of incorporating 5000 soldiers into the recently created
Federal Preventive Police force was being discussed - as well as the
announcement of the dispatch of 6000 military troops into the Selva to
"plant little trees" - former PRI and member of the Cocopa (Commission of
Concordance and Peace), Senator Pablo Salazar Mendiguchia, was achieving an
unprecedented unity agreement among opposition parties. They agreed to run
together with a single candidate for state governor in 2000 and to jointly
topple the official party.  Nationally, meanwhile, the 4 PRI candidates who
are hoping to be elected by their party on November 7 as its presidential
candidate, are profiting from the poverty generated in their campaigns'
political speeches:  about the poverty they want to fight if they are
elected.  Currently, the validity and impact of economic policies,
neoliberalism and other aspects are being questioned, and emphasis is being
put on the extreme poverty and agrarian backwardness in the country.


Note:  Some of the figures mentioned here come from a research project,
carried out by CIEPAC and supported by the Convergence of Civil
Organizations for Democracy, under their Indicators of Economic, Social and
Cultural Development project.


Gustavo Castro
Miguel Pickard

Center   of   Economic   and    Political    Investigations   of  Community
 Action,   A.C.
CIEPAC
CIEPAC, member of the "Convergence of Civil Organizations for Democracy"
National Network (CONVERGENCIA)

 ******************************************
Translated by irlandesa for CIEPAC, A.C.
******************************************

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