VZCZCXRO2692
RR RUEHCD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHGD #0329 1841739
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031739Z JUL 07
FM AMCONSUL GUADALAJARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0267
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 1504
RUEHXC/ALL USCONS MEXICO
RUEHGD/AMCONSUL GUADALAJARA 4294

UNCLAS GUADALAJARA 000329 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM MX
SUBJECT: CHILD LABOR IN JALISCO: CRISIS BUT VERY LITTLE ACTION 
 
 
¶1.      SUMMARY: Jalisco suffers from high rates of child labor 
including the sexual exploitation of children.  A recent 
symposium and UN visit has highlighted the problem, but has so 
far not resulted in any policy changes or new government 
initiatives. A local union is working to promote action on this 
issue. END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------ 
Grim Statistics: 
------------------------ 
 
¶2.      Child labor is a serious problem in the western Mexican 
state of Jalisco.  Although the exact number of workers is 
unknown, according to a study by the Federal Secretariat of 
Labor (STPS) and the National Institute for Statistics, 
Geography, and Information Technology (INEGI), Jalisco is one of 
the five states within Mexico with the highest rates of child 
labor.  The majority of these children work in the agricultural 
sector, grocery stores (as baggers for tips), family/small 
businesses and factories, and on the streets cleaning 
windshields and selling items.   There is also a considerable 
number of children involved in commercial sexual exploitation, 
especially in the beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta.  The 
head of the Jalisco state office of the child welfare agency 
(DIF) indicated that one study found that as many as 600 
children are sexually exploited laborers. 
 
---------------------- 
Lack of Action: 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  In commemoration of the June 12, World Day Against Child 
Labor, the Jalisco state government held the third annual 
symposium on child labor.  The event brought together interested 
parties, but did not result in a single concrete proposal to 
combat the problem.  The recent visit of Juan Miguel Petit, UN 
Special Representative for the Fight Against the Sale and 
Prostitution of Children and Child Pornography also highlighted 
the problem of the sexual forms of child labor.  Although this 
high profile visit resulted in a report to be presented to the 
UN and GOM, there has been no new state policy developed to deal 
with child labor. 
 
¶4.  Currently, Jalisco DIF assists 3,465 child laborers. The 
agency uses a singular approach to combat child labor and offers 
educational scholarships and food grants to convince children 
and their families to end the child's work.  In 2004, there was 
a pilot program through the cooperation of the International 
Labor Organization, STPS , and Jalisco DIF that worked 
specifically on the problem of sexually exploited children. 
This program has ended and even though the ILO wants to restart 
the program, the federal government has yet to act.  Thus, there 
is no date for the re-start of the program. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
The CROC Steps Forward: 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Outside of the government, the Revolutionary Confederation 
of Workers and Peasants (CROC) in Jalisco, the state level 
organization of one of the major national unions, has recently 
created a committee that hopes to work with private and public 
organizations to combat the sexual exploitation of children. 
This new committee includes a councilman from the Guadalajara 
municipal government. This effort by the CROC in Jalisco is a 
local example of what the union is attempting to do nationally 
in its efforts to deal with this serious problem. children. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------ 
COMMENT:  Positive Change Will be Slow 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------- 
 
 
¶6.  There is little prospect in the short term for meaningful 
action by the state government on child labor and/or the sexual 
exploitation of children.  Recent events have highlighted the 
problem, but the lack of a tangible response is disturbing. The 
principal social service agency, DIF, is weak, underfunded, and 
decentralized.  The state government runs its own DIF offices 
while several medium and large cities manage their own DIF 
agencies at the municipal level. There is no indication of a 
coordinated effort between the different offices.  At least on 
the local level, the most promising hope for change appears to 
be the CROC's initiative, which might be able to bring together 
both the private and public sectors to jump-start an effective 
program against child labor. 
 
RAMOTOWSKI