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DE RUEHME #1613/01 1482206
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R 272206Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2029

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 001613 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CA EAID ECON MX PGOV PHUM PREF PREL SMIG
SUBJECT: MIGRATION, VIOLENCE AND OAXACA,S ECONOMY 
OVERSHADOW 2006 CONFLICT 
 
¶1. Summary:  Concerns about domestic violence, migration and 
Oaxaca's failing economy collide in Oaxaca where poloff met 
with state government officials, indigenous human rights 
organizations and local artisans to discuss current problems 
during a recent visit.  State government officials were 
concerned about the losses Oaxaca has suffered since the 2006 
conflict between social groups and security forces but were 
quick to assert that the human rights situation has improved. 
 Already one of Mexico's poorest states, Oaxaca faces an 
uphill battle attracting tourists back to the state, 
providing its population with quality education and jobs and 
better addressing the needs of the indigenous communities. 
Drug traffickers who exploit the State's impoverished 
conditions to recruit residents as foot soldiers for their 
activities also pose an increasingly serious challenge to the 
state.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
A VICTIM OF ITS PAST AND PRESENT 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. Oaxaca, located in southern Mexico, is the home to some 
16-18 indigenous groups representing some 60-70 percent of 
the state's population.  Many are unable to read or write in 
their own language and suffer exclusion from society because 
they do not speak Spanish.  Renowned for its celebrated 
cultural traditions and a varied assortment of artisan craft, 
Oaxaca has long attracted tourists from all over the world. 
The state's tourist industry, however, practically dried up 
in the wake of a violent political conflict in 2006 between a 
burgeoning social movement and security forces.  While 
government officials insist the violence that dominated 
Oaxaca in 2006 is a thing of the past, the frequent 
deployments of military forces as part of the federal 
government's counter narcotics strategy suggest otherwise and 
tourists have been slow to return. In his meeting with 
poloff, Hector Anuar Mafud Mafud, President of the Supreme 
Court in Oaxaca, maintained that Oaxaca's economy is now 
worse than before the conflict, saying that even world-famous 
cultural events such as the renowned Guelaguetza festival had 
drawn few international visitors last year.  The decline in 
tourism had impacted all areas of society so much so that 
Oaxaca is now the poorest state in Mexico. 
 
¶3. Oaxaca's PRI Governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, continues to be 
dogged by accusations of corruption and human rights abuses 
-- and remains the focus of the state's protests.  His 
handling of the 2006 disturbances left many in the state 
disillusioned with politics.  In August 2007, Oaxaca held 
state legislative elections; 70 percent of the voters 
reportedly did not vote, many as an act of protest.  In 
recent weeks, the media have implicated friends and family 
members of the Governor and police officials for their 
involvement in the disappearance of two Popular Revolutionary 
Army (EPR) members on May 25, 2007 -- although no concrete 
evidence has been provided. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
IMPACT OF MIGRATION TO AND FROM OAXACA 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. State officials and NGOS in Oaxaca both agree that 
migration is one of the biggest challenges facing the state 
today.  According to officials, migrants from Central America 
are staying in growing in numbers.  Many U.S. bound migrants 
have decided to settle in the state in recent years, they 
said.  Oaxacans themselves continue to migrate to the U.S. in 
increasing numbers.  Indigenous NGOs lament that migration 
from Oaxaca has left a strain on an already stagnate economy 
and had a social impact in terms of splitting families apart. 
 
 
¶5.  Government officials say that the biggest challenge to 
Oaxaca's economy is creating sufficient jobs for the local 
population.  Oaxaca's economy is dependent on tourism and 
remittances from the U.S. but with the decrease in tourism 
during the 2006 conflict, Oaxaca has become increasingly 
dependent on remittances.  Rosario Villalobos, Deputy 
Secretary for Human Rights of the Executive Branch said the 
longer migrants stay in the U.S., the less money they send 
home, contributing to a further decline in the conditions. 
Of course, declining economic conditions in the U.S. have 
contributed to a reduction of remittances as well.  NGO 
representatives say that despite remittances, many families 
suffer from the absence of the chief breadwinner and children 
are forced to forgo schooling in order to find jobs. 
 
¶6. Government officials remain focused on immigration reform 
in the U.S., which they hoped would facilitate the flow of 
temporary workers to the U.S. under better conditions. 
Immigration reform they said should assist migrants from 
Oaxaca in the U.S. to be in a better position to send 
 
MEXICO 00001613  002 OF 002 
 
 
remittances, but also return to the state to be with their 
families.  Officials also took the opportunity to complain to 
poloff that the State Department warning about violence in 
Oaxaca had hurt tourism and further undermined the state's 
economy. 
 
-------------------------- 
POVERTY SPAWNS SOCIAL ILLS 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7. Oaxaca is beset by a number of social ills many deriving 
from its impoverished conditions. 
 
-- Domestic violence is a problem throughout Mexico and 
Oaxaca has one of the highest incident rates in the country. 
NGOs identified domestic violence as one of the greatest 
challenges within indigenous communities particularly given 
the complexities of the cultures.  NGO representatives linked 
what they said was widespread alcoholism to domestic violence 
within the indigenous communities. 
 
-- NGOs also alleged that girls from the indigenous 
communities are sometimes trafficked by their families out of 
economic necessity. 
 
-- Several Government officials told poloff that Oaxaca has 
the worst educational system in the country remarking that in 
many municipalities children have classes only three days a 
week, while in others there are no classes.  Literacy levels 
in the state are actually declining, they said. 
 
 
¶8. Comment:  Oaxaca's entrenched poverty derives in no small 
measure from the complexities within the indigenous 
communities.  Once a popular destination spot for tourists 
around the world, it has not been able to attract tourists 
back to the state after the violence that took place in 2006. 
 The extreme poverty that characterizes much of the state has 
led to a number of social ills and contributed to high rates 
of migration to the U.S. The Calderon Administration will 
face an uphill battle in providing for the kind of security 
and economic opportunity the state needs to attract tourism 
and generate greater economic growth. 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American 
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
GARZA