 |
National Profile |
 |
|
NATIONAL PROFILE OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MEXICO
 POLITICAL MOVEMENTS AND INDIGENOUS ORGANIZATIONS
Indigenous Organizations
1. During the three centuries of colonial rule there were many rebellions
and armed movements by the indigenous populations in defense of their rights
as peoples and against those that sought to oppress them. These continued
after Independence in 1825 as a consequence of politics and policies that
favored the concentration of lands in haciendas at the cost of the
indigenous land holding during the colonial period. One result of these
policies was the Mexican Revolution of 1910, started by the peasant and
indigenous peoples claiming land and liberty after being subjugated and
transformed into indentured servants of the large property-owners. The
Agrarian Reform Law, established by the Constitution of 1917 subsequently
provided land to an important segment of the peasant population.
2. At this time a series of political maneuvers were initiated to integrate
and assimilate the indigenous people using people from the communities
as change agents to integrate indigenous cultures into the dominant society.
Contrary to expectations, some agents ended up becoming the mobilizing
forces of their peoples to further land reform and instill greater respect
for native cultures. Others assumed power and became the big men or caciques
of their communities.
3. Since 1975 there has been a resurgence of indigenous movements. This
is a new and unexpected phenomenon in the Mexican social and political
arena because, until the 1970s, existing peasant organizations did not
represent indigenous concerns. Starting in the decade of the seventies,
however, these organizations raised new demands. In the beginning their
claims were to land and the defense of their cultural values. These demands
became greater and more diverse as a result of changing economic policies
that stopped agrarian reform and land distribution as well as eliminating
government institutions that formerly gave support and assistance to agricultural
producers, to market pricing and subsidies. The economic crisis that these
policies were intended to address and the transition period have caused
a proliferation of new organizations with new demands:
-
Defense of their natural resources, demanding the right to
preserve and profit from their forests, pastures, sub soil resources, mines,
rivers and lakes;
-
Guarantees to develop agricultural and livestock production
and eliminate intermediaries and usurers;
-
Demands for bilingual education and intercultural education
as well as measures to preserve their cultural patrimony;
-
Demands for increased participation in the political processes
at the level of state congresses as well as federal and participation in
the design and execution of development projects;
-
Demands for respect for human rights in the cases where the
tensions between the state or federal level governments were high and resulted
in massacres, murders, and takeovers of lands.
4. The scope of the indigenous movement over the last twenty years does
not include all ethnic groups in the country, nor is it homogeneous since
the causes giving rise to these organizations and the problem each confronts
are not identical. The indigenous movement has many different expressions
and encompasses different entities: ethnicities, ejidos, settlements,
municipalities, productive organizations, and most recently, associations
of indigenous people residing in urban areas to which they have migrated.
In all these instances, however, the demands are for cultural rights, depending
on the degree of ethnic and group consciousness, interests, and needs.
Many of these productive organizations have taken as a key element the
rescue of cultural traditions. This is reflected in the names of these
organizations that are intimately related to their indigenous languages:
5. The indigenous movement exists at three different levels: (a) local,
(b) regional, (c) national.
-
The local level movements are characteristically based on the perceived
needs and immediate problems of the groups, whether based on their ethnicity,
community, settlement, or ejido. The mobilization of people at this
level is limited and based on the discontent over the conditions of the
people. Although the local level movements are limited in space and time
they are the basis for the regional organizations, and experience gained
in one local organization is carried over by its members into new organizations.
-
The regional level is integrated into associations, coalitions of ethnic
groups that aggregate communities, ejidos, and settlements. These
organizations have a broader concept of their needs and demands and articulate
more clearly their cultural interest.
-
The national level movement began in 1975 with indigenous organizations
that were initially promoted by the government institutions but that now
exist to advocate for indigenous rights, such as the National Council of
Indigenous Peoples (CNPI) and the National Association of Bilingual Teachers.
Other organizations represented at the national level include:
Table 9.1 Indigenous Organizations
| National Indigenous Movement of the National
Peasant Confederation |
Movimiento Nacional Indigena de la Confederacion
Nacional Campesina |
MNI-CNC |
| National Confederation of Indigenous Peoples |
Confederacion Nacional de Pueblos Indigenas |
CONAIN |
| National Union of Autonomous Regional Peasant
Organizations |
Union Nacional de Organizaciones Regionales
Campesinas Autonomas |
UNORCA |
| Indigenous Peoples Independent Front |
Frente Nacional de Pueblos Indigenas |
FIPI |
| National Indigenous Council |
Consejo Nacional Indigena |
CNI |
6. At this time there are indigenous organizations at the national, state,
regional and local level whose aim is to develop a variety of activities
in order to defend their rights as peoples and to be included in the democratization
process of the country. Additionally, a key point of their demands is to
be participants in the development process so that their needs are included,
their quality of life improved, and the extreme poverty in which they live
is eliminated.
Table 9.2 Government Institutions Working with Indigenous Peoples
| CFE |
Comisión Federal de
Electricidad. |
| Conasupo |
Compañía Nacional
de Subsistemas Populares. |
| Coplamar |
Coordinadora General de Plan
Nacional para las Zonas Deprimidas y Grupos Marginados. |
| SRA |
Secretaria de la Reforma Agraria. |
| Fifonafe |
Fondo Nacional de Fomento Ejidal. |
| Fonart |
Fondo Nacional para las Artesanías. |
| Huicot |
Plan para los Huicholes, Coras
y Tepehuanes. |
| |
|
| ILV |
Instituto Lingüístico
de Verano. |
| INI |
Instituto Nacional Indigenista. |
| Inmecafé |
Instituto Mexicano del Café. |
| Pemex |
Petróleos Mexicanos. |
| Profortarah |
Productos Forestales de la
Tarahumara. |
| SCYT |
Secretaría Comunicaciones
y Transportes. |
| SEP |
Secretaría de Educación
Pública. |
| SRA |
Secretaría de la Reforma
Agraria. |
International Non-Governmental Organizations
7. There are many international agencies that have been interacting with
indigenous peoples in Mexico. They have been instruments to promote dialogue
and understanding in both the Latin American context as well as internationally.
The Instituto Interamericano Indigenista (III) has brought together
indigenous intellectuals and professionals in a forum to exchange experiences
and align positions with respect to certain issues for the past sixty years.
In the same way, the Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA)
has been instrumental in providing grants and scholarships to indigenous
peoples of the continent. The United Nations through its various agencies
such as UNESCO, ILO, IFAD, FAO, has formulated projects and provided for
the exchange of experiences between governments and indigenous groups.
8. Of special significance among these organizations are the International
Labor Organization’s initiative to adopt Resolution 107 later modified
in the 1980s and converted to Resolution 169. This resolution has been
ratified by the Mexican Government. International financial institutions
such as the World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) have
provided assistance in the forms of loans and grants that include specific
actions and programs for indigenous peoples. Assisted and encouraged by
the IDB, the Indigenous Peoples Development fund was created in 1992. Mention
should also be made of the special work done by the InterAmerican Development
Foundation that has worked directly with indigenous organizations in different
regions of Mexico.
9. Similarly, in Europe, the European Community has been a vehicle to
seek cooperation among various indigenous groups in Mexico. The same can
be said of countries such as Spain, Norway, Holland, France, Sweden, and
Denmark. Out of these policies have emerged more than 100 NGOs or foundations
focused on indigenous peoples and reaching nearly all indigenous regions
in the country.
10. Among the North American and Canadian institutions that have engaged
in advocacy for indigenous peoples are the World Wildlife Fund, the Ford
Foundation Us Branch of International Union for the Conservation of Nature,
MacArthur Foundation, Survival International, The House of Friends, as
well as a great many universities of both countries conducting special
studies about indigenous peoples.
National Non-Governmental Organizations
11. Some of the national foundations and NGOs have focused on indigenous
populations and actively work with local level organizations and institutions.
Their activities have focused on those states with the highest indigenous
population, such as Chiapas and Oaxaca. Some of the most important of these
are CONVERGENCIA, Fundación Mexicana de Desarrollo Rural,
ANADEGES, Fundación Miguel Alemán, CEMEFI, CAMPO,
Fundación VAMOS, Fundación DEMOS, COMPARTAMOS, etc.
12. All of them have special activities focusing on human rights, environmental
protection, productive activities, health, etc. Their actions are highly
significant because they occupy spaces and operate in the interstitial
areas where formal government agencies cannot work or where the disappearance
of government institutions has left a vacuum or deficit from budgetary
downsizing. These organizations, in addition to including programs highly
beneficial to the well being of indigenous communities, serve an additional
and related role as observers and guarantors of human rights for indigenous
peoples and advocates for their legitimate participation in the broader
political processes of the country.
Indigenous Organizations and Enterprises
13. The indigenous organizations have created a variety of enterprises
for productive activities, for cultural preservation, and for education.
Their objective is the promotion of indigenous development from their own
perspective to allow them to use their own human capital, technological
knowledge, and their existing systems of political organization.
14. There is a strong focus among these organizations on the promotion
of a development model that permits the retention of their own ethnic identity.
Some of these organizations are independent of government, while others
are funded by it. Those that have received external assistance show three
common elements: (a) seed capital given by an agency fostering development;
(b) technical assistance over a long period of time in order to ensure
sustainability and success; and (c) models which incorporate local perceptions
of what constitutes success and define objectives in local terms.
Forest Resources
The indigenous communities and ejidos with forest enterprises are
an interesting example. Between 70 and 85 percent of the forested areas
belong to 7,000 to 9,000 communities and ejidos. Historically and
until 1970 the state gave concessions to national and international individuals
and organizations for the exploitation of these resources while the ejidatarios
and comuneros lived as workers in the extraction of timber. In 1970
some areas, such as the Purepecha in Michoacan, the Zapotec and some communities
in Oaxaca, some ejidos in Yucatan, Chihuahua and Durango, started
to control their forest resources through government-granted concessions.
In most of these cases NGOs interested in environmental issues, sustainable
forestry, and social issues provided sources of financial and technical
assistance. Among these are the Ford Foundation, the Inter-American Foundation,
and German Technical Assistance. In these instances the NGOs provide some
seed capital but the greatest source of financing is the capital provided
by the extractive industry. There are a number of indigenous communities
and ejidos with forest resources that have developed important industries
and organized their communities to promote efficient marketing as well
as sustainable resource management, including re-forestation. These organizations
are characterized by being based on local traditional principles and forms
of organization and community participation.
15. The Union de Ejidos Forestales of the Maya Zone in Yucatan
includes 18 ejidos and 2,791 ejidatarios. In Oaxaca, where
90 percent of the state has forests,
45 percent of these are in the hands of communities and ejidos
that manage these resources commercially. They have formed 30 groups of
unions with industrial capacity and formal management structures. The case
of Nuevo San Juan in Michoacan is a particular example of a forest industry
managed by comuneros who control the entire process of production
from extraction through marketing. In Chiapas, some communities have begun
the formation of similar organizations. The Tarahumaras and Tepehuas in
the states of Chihuahua and Durango, also have forest enterprises although
in these areas the environmental degradation is severe due to excessive
logging in the past by private industry.
16. An interesting aspect of the indigenous enterprises compared with
the non-indigenous, is the tendency to invest part of the profits into
social infrastructure and social programs (pensions for workers, health
provision programs). The government has recognized the great potential
of these enterprises and has begun to promote them in other indigenous
communities and regions, as well as to interest private industry to invest
capital in these organizations. This is a long-term process, however, and
requires a fundamental change in the structure of relations that has prevailed
between communities and ejidos and private industry, in order to
permit the communities to consolidate their independence and control the
marketing of their products directly without the intervention of private
industry in determining the objectives and investments.
Coffee Enterprises
17. There are coffee cooperatives in Chiapas and Oaxaca that have managed
the markets, credit, storage, and processing of coffee over the last fifteen
years. Some examples of these organizations are the State Coordinator of
Coffee Producers (CEPCO) founded in 1989. This process has indirectly assisted
to strengthen other organizations such as UCIZONI and UCIRI (Zapotec and
Mixtec in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec) and UCI (Southern Zapotec).
18. These cooperatives have been successful in marketing for the European
market, capitalizing on the defense of their ethnic identity. They obtain
some financing from NGOs and recently also from PROCAMPO and the Alianza
para el Campo. The problems they face are the fluctuation of the prices
in the international market and the acceptance of the higher value of the
organically produced coffee that, in the case of Chiapas, constitutes an
important high volume crop.
19. Another successful enterprise is the Union de Ejidos de la Selva,
with participation of 57 Tojolabal and Tzotzil communities and 1,304 households
in the Municipality of Las Margaritas close to the Biosphere of Montes
Azules. The Chiapas Profile documents another important enterprise, the
ISMAM, created in 1988 and controlled by the Mam in the Motozintla Sierra.
They produce organic coffee and ISMAM also is an advocate for indigenous
rights. They have founded their own agro-ecological school with the objective
that their children recuperate their indigenous language and traditional
artisan practices.
20. These development experiences, stimulated by the indigenous people
themselves, suggest that the rural population is searching for alternative
models of development, based on specific local and regional conditions.
They are also a reaction to the agricultural and institutional reforms
that have impacted production and marketing, rural credit, and the elimination
of subsidies for agricultural production.
21. The consequences of these changes have differentially impacted agricultural
production, but the negative impact on indigenous communities is undeniable,
yet they are the ones generating the alternative models of development
based on cultural and organizational roots. The elimination of poverty
for these peoples has to include respect and strengthening traditional
organization and identity among the indigenous peoples.
Table 9.3 Main Indigenous Organizations in Mexico
| ACR |
Alianza Campesina Revolucionaria. |
| AMPII |
Asociación Mexicana
de Profesionistas e Intelectuales Indígenas. |
| ANPIBAC |
Alianza Nacional de Profesionistas
Indígenas Bilingües, Asociación Civil. |
| BCCH |
Bloque Campesino Chiapaneco. |
| CAM |
Consejo Agrarista Mexicano. |
| CCH |
Comité Coordinador Huasteco. |
| CCRI |
Coordinadora Campesina Revolucionaria
Independiente. |
| CDP |
Comité de Defensa Popular. |
| CECVYYM |
Coalición de Ejidos
Colectivos del Valle del Yaqui y Mayo. |
| CIOAC |
Central Independiente de Obreros
Agrícolas y Campesinos. |
| CMPI |
Consejo Mundial de Pueblos
Indígenas. |
| CNC |
Confederación Nacional
Campesina. |
| CNJI |
Confederación Nacional
de Jóvenes Indígenas. |
| CNJYCI |
Confederación Nacional
de Jóvenes y Comunidades Indígenas. |
| CNOP |
Confederación Nacional
de Organizaciones Populares. |
| CNPA |
Coordinadora Nacional Plan
de Ayala. |
| CNPI |
(el) Consejo Nacional de Pueblos
Indígenas. |
| CNPI |
(la) Coordinadora Nacional
de Pueblos Indígenas. |
| COCEI |
Coalición Obrero, Campesina,
Estudiantil del Istmo. |
| Cocos |
Comité Coordinador de
Solicitantes. |
| Codeco |
Comité Organizador y
de Consulta para la Unión de los Pueblos de la Sierra Norte de Oaxaca. |
| Codremi |
Comité de Defensa de
los Recursos Naturales y Humanos Mixes. |
| COMA |
Comuneros Organizados de Milpa
Alta. |
| Conacar |
Consejo Nacional Cardenista. |
| Copider |
Comité Promotor de Investigación
para el Desarrollo Rural. |
| Corpi |
Coordinadora Regional de Pueblos
Indígenas. |
| CSRT |
Consejo Supremo de la Raza
Tarahumara. |
| FCI |
Frente Campesino Independiente |
| FICIM |
Federación Independiente
de Comunidades Indígenas Mayos. |
| FNDSCAG |
Frente Nacional por la Defensa
del Salario, Contra la Austeridad y la Carestía. |
| FNDP |
Frente Nacional Democrático
Popular. |
| FOCED |
Frente Obrero Campesino Estudiantil
de Durango. |
| EPZ |
Frente Popular de Zacatecas. |
| FRISFP |
Frente Revolucionario Indígena
de San Felipe del Progreso. |
| MLR |
Movimiento de Lucha Revolucionaria. |
| MNI |
Movimiento Nacional Indígena. |
| MNPA |
Movimiento Nacional Plan de
Ayala. |
| MRM |
Movimiento Revolucionario del
Magisterio. |
| MULT |
Movimiento de Unificación
y Lucha Triqui. |
| OACI-13 |
Organización de Acción
Campesina Independiente 13 de Octubre. |
| OCEZ |
Organización Campesina
Emiliano Zapata. |
| OCIHV |
Organización Campesina
Independiente de la Huasteca Veracruzana. |
| Odrenasij |
Organización de Defensa
de los Recursos Naturales y Desarrollo Social de la Sierra Juárez,
A. C. |
| Odeco |
Organización y Desarrollo
de la Comunidad. |
| OIIS |
Organizaciones Indígenas
Independientes. |
| ONIC |
Organización Nacional
Indígena de Colombia. |
| OPISEM |
Organización de Pueblos
Indígenas del Sureste de México. |
| OIPUH |
Organización Independiente
de Pueblos Unidos de las Huastecas. |
| OPA |
Organización de Pueblos
del Altiplano. |
| OPINAC |
Organización de Profesionistas
Indígenas Nahuas, A. C. |
| ORCO |
Organización Regional
de la Costa de Occidente. |
| OCZMB |
Organización Campesina
Zapatista |
| PRI |
Partido Revolucionario Institucional. |
| PRT |
Partido Revolucionario de los
Trabajadores. |
| PRD |
Partido de la Revolución
Democrática. |
| SURI |
Sociedad Unificadora de la
Raza Indígena. |
| UCEZ |
Unión de Comuneros Emiliano
Zapata. |
| UCI |
Unión Campesina Independiente. |
| UEIS |
Unión de Ejidos Lázaro
Cárdenas. |
| UGOCM |
Unión General de Obreros
y Campesinos de México. |
| UNOI |
Unión Nacional de Organizaciones
Indígenas. |
| UPM |
Unión de Pueblos de
Morelos. |
Instituto de Ecología, UNAM
|
