MEXCAN
2nd February 2003, 22:48
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2715023.stm
Mexican protests against US imports
Thousands of farmers gathered in the Mexican capital to demand their government renegotiate a regional trade pact, which they say is destroying their livelihoods. The farmers say the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) has led to a flood of cheaper imports from the United States and Canada - the two other members of the treaty.
They say a treaty clause - which came into force in January, allowing agriculture and livestock imports to enter Mexico free of duty - will have an especially devastating effect.
The protesters say the government of President Vicente Fox must come up with a new agriculture and livestock policy and withdraw from Nafta.
They have already warned that unless their demands are met, they will step up their actions by blocking ports and border crossings with the US.
But the BBC's Nick Miles in Mexico City says the farmers' demands put Mr Fox in bind, as the president does not want to sour ties with the country's most important trading partner.
Rural crisis
Carrying banners and machetes as a show of defiance, the farmers travelled in from across the country.
Leaders of the march said they expected up to 40,000 people to take part in the demonstration.
Our correspondent says their message is clear - the Mexican countryside is in crisis and free trade is making it worse.
About a quarter of Mexico's 100 million people live off the land, and since Nafta was signed in 1994 many farms have gone bankrupt, unable to compete with cheaper foreign imports.
Mexican farms are generally smaller and less efficient then their northern neighbours.
But the protesters say the main reason they are going under are the subsidies US cereal growers and livestock rearers receive.
The farmers demand that import tariffs on Mexico's main crops - corn and beans - must be kept in place indefinitely.
"With this march, we want to push the government to reach real accords on farm policy," farmers' leader Rafael Galindo told local radio.
"A big mistake was made in the phasing out of tariffs for imports. Farmers are worse off now than before Nafta was signed."
Flat refusal
The farmers also said they wanted the Mexican Government to put more pressure on Washington to reduce farm subsidies.
But experts say the US is by far Mexico's most important trading partner, and Mr Fox does not want to put that relationship under pressure.
Mr Fox has offered a sop to the farmers in the form of increased funding to reduce rural poverty.
Agriculture Minister Javier Usabiaga has also admitted that the government policy for the countryside needed an overhaul.
But talks between the government and the farmers broke down after President Fox refused to withdraw from Nafta, saying renegotiating the deal was out of the question.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_ame...000/2715379.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_2715000/2715379.stm)
México: protesta contra el TLCAN
Decenas de miles de agricultores se dieron cita en la Ciudad de México procedentes de distintos estados del país, para exigir la renegociación del capítulo agropecuario del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN). El TLCAN entró en vigor desde hace ocho años pero desde el primero de enero del 2003 permite la entrada al país, sin aranceles, a varios productos agropecuarios procedentes de la Unión Americana.
A la protesta de los agricultores se unieron estudiantes, obreros, maestros, sindicalistas.
Fortino de la Rosa, miembro del sindicato mexicano de electricistas, dijo a la BBC que la solidaridad de su organismo con los trabajadores del campo tiene que ver con su rechazo a la privatización.
"La lucha de ellos viene siendo nuestra lucha...estamos con todos los movimientos encaminados a defender la soberanía", dijo Fortino de la Rosa.
En la manifestación participaron hombres a caballo, campesinos con machetes, mujeres con sus bebes en brazos, indígenas con sus trajes típicos, personajes que con incienso y copal efectuaban danzas de los antepasados aztecas.
¡Zapata vive!
Cientos de pancartas con la firma de distintas organizaciones expresaban de formas diferentes una misma demanda: La renegociación del Tratado de Libre Comercio en beneficio de los agricultores mexicanos.
Hombres con altavoces incitaban a las consignas. "Zapata vive, la lucha sigue", gritaban los agricultores por las calles de una Ciudad de México con un tráfico enloquecido por esta manifestación multitudinaria.
Con esta manifestación, los agricultores esperan demostrar que hay unidad y consenso en la demanda de renegociación del Tratado de Libre Comercio.
Ellos piensan que que los altos subsidios con los que cuentan los productores estadounidenses dejan en desventaja a los campesinos mexicanos.
El gobierno del presidente Vicente Fox asegura estar dispuesto a revisar el acuerdo comercial pero no a renegociarlo.
Asegura también que defenderá al campo mexicano con los mecanismos que permite la Organización Mundial de Comercio.
Mexican protests against US imports
Thousands of farmers gathered in the Mexican capital to demand their government renegotiate a regional trade pact, which they say is destroying their livelihoods. The farmers say the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) has led to a flood of cheaper imports from the United States and Canada - the two other members of the treaty.
They say a treaty clause - which came into force in January, allowing agriculture and livestock imports to enter Mexico free of duty - will have an especially devastating effect.
The protesters say the government of President Vicente Fox must come up with a new agriculture and livestock policy and withdraw from Nafta.
They have already warned that unless their demands are met, they will step up their actions by blocking ports and border crossings with the US.
But the BBC's Nick Miles in Mexico City says the farmers' demands put Mr Fox in bind, as the president does not want to sour ties with the country's most important trading partner.
Rural crisis
Carrying banners and machetes as a show of defiance, the farmers travelled in from across the country.
Leaders of the march said they expected up to 40,000 people to take part in the demonstration.
Our correspondent says their message is clear - the Mexican countryside is in crisis and free trade is making it worse.
About a quarter of Mexico's 100 million people live off the land, and since Nafta was signed in 1994 many farms have gone bankrupt, unable to compete with cheaper foreign imports.
Mexican farms are generally smaller and less efficient then their northern neighbours.
But the protesters say the main reason they are going under are the subsidies US cereal growers and livestock rearers receive.
The farmers demand that import tariffs on Mexico's main crops - corn and beans - must be kept in place indefinitely.
"With this march, we want to push the government to reach real accords on farm policy," farmers' leader Rafael Galindo told local radio.
"A big mistake was made in the phasing out of tariffs for imports. Farmers are worse off now than before Nafta was signed."
Flat refusal
The farmers also said they wanted the Mexican Government to put more pressure on Washington to reduce farm subsidies.
But experts say the US is by far Mexico's most important trading partner, and Mr Fox does not want to put that relationship under pressure.
Mr Fox has offered a sop to the farmers in the form of increased funding to reduce rural poverty.
Agriculture Minister Javier Usabiaga has also admitted that the government policy for the countryside needed an overhaul.
But talks between the government and the farmers broke down after President Fox refused to withdraw from Nafta, saying renegotiating the deal was out of the question.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_ame...000/2715379.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_2715000/2715379.stm)
México: protesta contra el TLCAN
Decenas de miles de agricultores se dieron cita en la Ciudad de México procedentes de distintos estados del país, para exigir la renegociación del capítulo agropecuario del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN). El TLCAN entró en vigor desde hace ocho años pero desde el primero de enero del 2003 permite la entrada al país, sin aranceles, a varios productos agropecuarios procedentes de la Unión Americana.
A la protesta de los agricultores se unieron estudiantes, obreros, maestros, sindicalistas.
Fortino de la Rosa, miembro del sindicato mexicano de electricistas, dijo a la BBC que la solidaridad de su organismo con los trabajadores del campo tiene que ver con su rechazo a la privatización.
"La lucha de ellos viene siendo nuestra lucha...estamos con todos los movimientos encaminados a defender la soberanía", dijo Fortino de la Rosa.
En la manifestación participaron hombres a caballo, campesinos con machetes, mujeres con sus bebes en brazos, indígenas con sus trajes típicos, personajes que con incienso y copal efectuaban danzas de los antepasados aztecas.
¡Zapata vive!
Cientos de pancartas con la firma de distintas organizaciones expresaban de formas diferentes una misma demanda: La renegociación del Tratado de Libre Comercio en beneficio de los agricultores mexicanos.
Hombres con altavoces incitaban a las consignas. "Zapata vive, la lucha sigue", gritaban los agricultores por las calles de una Ciudad de México con un tráfico enloquecido por esta manifestación multitudinaria.
Con esta manifestación, los agricultores esperan demostrar que hay unidad y consenso en la demanda de renegociación del Tratado de Libre Comercio.
Ellos piensan que que los altos subsidios con los que cuentan los productores estadounidenses dejan en desventaja a los campesinos mexicanos.
El gobierno del presidente Vicente Fox asegura estar dispuesto a revisar el acuerdo comercial pero no a renegociarlo.
Asegura también que defenderá al campo mexicano con los mecanismos que permite la Organización Mundial de Comercio.