State terrorism and Human right struggles in Mexico
Alberlyn De Jesus
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The México Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) regime’s long legacy of corruption and political oppression has led to the state of violence and human rights struggle that the nation is continuously facing today. Throughout its ruling years, el PRI has implemented strong authoritarian political characteristics and has failed to enforce legislation that advocates for the Mexican people’s security and rights. Nowadays, Mexico is a place of impunity living a new Dirty War version led by extremely corrupt government officials and cartels that use the same behaviour pattern of state terrorism to silence those who oppose its power. The Tlatelolco massacre act of 1968 and the 2014 Iguala Mass Kidnapping are perfect examples of how the old PRI regime from (1920’s – 2000) and the new PRI regime are both nondifference of the PRI original political ideology. As a result of the corruption that the PRI has been under since the dirty war, Mexico is now a land of impunity where military abuses, enforced disappearances and torture are the long tradition of enforcement that keep killing the Mexican society. Mexico is a continuous state of terror, where the government completely neglects human rights violations.
Today’s Mexico society it’s a victim of its history. Since the early 20th century, the Mexican people have sought and fought for a democracy that will fix the economy and social inequality that the country has been facing for years. Since Lorenzo Cardena’s presidency (1932 – 1940), the Mexican working and class have not yet seen a political leader implement new reforms that advocate for their rights as citizens. After the end of Cardena’s presidency, the PRI took apart land reform and other reforms that gave the Mexican working class a fair opportunity for education( Note 1). After the Cardena presidency, term Mexico’s working class became non-existent to the government, and nowadays, they continue to be victims of the PRI long legacy of corruption.
During the 1940s, The PRI established successful economic reforms that had significant impacts on the Mexican economy for its next 30’s however, during this period. However, once again, no federal Human rights and security policies were made; it was all about the economy. Mexico’s economy was excellent but only for wealthy backgrounds because as the economy was booming, low-income citizens just kept getting lower. So how was it possible that as people were getting more affluent, others were getting poorer? Inequality in Mexico has for centuries divided society by prioritizing the wealthiest and sacrificing the well of being of the working class. As the PRI never prioritized fixing the considerable inequality gap in Mexico society, citizens’ rights and protection were prioritized to the small, affluent population.
Throughout el PRI’s long decades of the ruling, economic policies were prioritized over social reforms to guarantee every citizen’s rights and not just the wealthy capitalist. Social change demands have always been conflicted in Mexico as those who demand changes are still oppressed by The PRI political Leaders. Beginning in the mid-1960s with the increase of political repression by president Gustavoz Diaz and its violent approach against student activists and people who demanded social change marked the beginning of Mexico’s ongoing state terrorism and struggles for Human rights. In 1968’s the Tlatelolco Massacre, the PRI became a threat to Mexican citizens who demanded change.
A large unknown number of students who were protesting in Tlatelolco were killed and kidnapped by the Mexican military forces who fired guns against the students. In a poem written by Rosario Castello days after the government massacre of students and protesters in Tlatelolco. The poet describes the pain and frustration of a society which is a victim of the nation’s illness of corruption and its inability to make justice to the abuse of its citizens’ rights and security.” No busques lo que no hay: huellas, cadáveres que todo se le ha dado como ofrenda a una diosa” Those Comothe words of CaDiosaano and the unfortunate reality of Mexico ongoing state terrorism. In general, although President Diaz accepted full responsibility for the massacre, no social policies that could prevent future massacres and advocate civil rights, no laws or organization were formalized.
In Mexico, the Dirty War differed from the War in Argentina and Chile as out of the Mexican borders; the problem stayed less known. The international public was unaware of the abuses of the PRI regime. During the Dirty war, el PRI under the presidencies of Gustavo Dias Ordaz (1964 – 1970), Luiz E haveria ( 1970- 1976) and Jose Lopez Portillo (1976 – 1982) were fully backed up by the CIA despite all the human rights crime that they were committing ( Note 3). The PRI had total control of the information given to officials in Washington and Mexico abuse of Human rights. Although at the beginning of 1973, most U.S. lawmakers were using foreign aid bills to pressure foreign governments who were receiving U.S. economic assistance to advocate human rights. ” The reports did not have much effect in Mexico.” No humanitarian movements in the 1970′ were effective in Mexico as the PRI regime was still in power.
Few years after Mexico’s Dirty War, the Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDH) was created in 1990 under the president Carlos Salinas De Gortari ( in office 1988 – 1994). Although the CNDH has helped investigate human rights problems in Mexico, it’s effectiveness is very questionable. One of Mexico’s major causes of social conflict throughout history has been the escalation of military and police forces’ political repression and violence. Throughout the 1990s and still today, Mexico’s long tradition of disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killing by the military and police is an ongoing internal conflict. In Mexico, “officers found guilty of violations are rarely punished” guilty 4). How effective is Mexico’s most prominent human rights organization when many people keep being victims of the same authoritarianism regime that signed this organization’s formalization? Since the Dirty War, many people have been held disappearing, kidnapped, and tortured by the military, policies, and Narcos.
Nowadays, only a few things can set apart the political violence and abuse of human rights that Mexico was living 50th years back to the steady-state of violence that Mexico is living under today. Despite the growth of the social movement and new reforms established in 2000 under former president Vicente Fox to reduce corruption, Mexico is still a state of violence struggling with human rights problems. When the PRI lost, it’s the first presidential election. After 71th years of ruling president Fox, who represented el Partido Acción Nacional(PAN), the nation gained new hope of change. However, the “retained control of numerous state and local governments continued to be a major force in both chambers of the national legislature.” During this time, when a new party was finally in charge of Mexico’s presidency, no radical social changes occurred because the PRI still had powerful influences in several states. This has led to no changes in Mexico’s long tradition of political oppression against its citizens, especially those who opposed the PRI political regime and demand changes.
Throughout history, the Mexican government has heavily depended on using its military forces to fight internal conflicts. From the Dirty War to the ongoing Mexicos drug war, militarization has been very corrupt and abusive towards citizens. In 2006 with the beginning of the drug war and the deployment of thousands of Mexican soldiers across the country, Mexico officially became a state of terror.” In the first full year of the drug war, 2,837 people were killed”. The military forces became too violent and abusive towards most Mexican Citizens even when they do not represent any threats or involvement with any illegal activities(Note7). Lengthy traditions of corruption and abusive behaviour have made Mexico’s military not to be trusted by its citizens. The government has always given impunity to the military forces driving their power to act dehumanized and violate human rights.
In “Between December 2012 and January 2018, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) received more than 4,600 complaints regarding alleged military abuses”. In 2014, the Mexican congress formalized the Code of Military Justice, which required the military’s abuses to be prosecuted. In 2016 this policy became infected when a new reform, the Code of Military Justice, gave its member the right to search private property and intercede in personal communication without a warrant( Note7). This new reform gives lots of impunity to the military as their behaviour against Mexican people can be very abusive and violent and still be justified by the code of Military justice. For example, during the 2017 massacre, even though soldiers were under the illegal influence, no punishment was given to them for acting in an impulsive violent way. As a result of the impunity and lack of strong policies against the military, Mexico’s long tradition of aggressive militarization by the government has continued to be one of the leading causes of death in the country and one of the primary human rights abusers.
Issues between protesters and the Mexican government has always been a major ongoing conflict throughout history. Since the dirty war, it has brought to attention the widespread problem of enforced disappearances by security forces and criminal organizations. Human rights activists, journalists and people who advocate for change are the most vulnerable to be disappeared or kidnapped. In 2014 the Iguala massacre and kidnapping became another example of this widespread problem and its impunity. A group of students from Guerrero’s state were heading to a protest in Mexico City against former president Peña Nieto. Six students were brutally shot in this violent event, and 43 students were abducted(note8). The 43 students went missing and were never found again. Until today six years later, the 43 missing bodies have not been found, and the government has not taken any responsibility. In fact, within two weeks of the massacre the police still did not have a clear explanation about what happened, and together they head director of the law and Mayor fled the city of Iguala (note9). Although Mexico consists of government organizations like the Comision Nacional Bacanria( CNB) and the Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Publica( SNSP), investigations and prosecutions of disappearances have not made any radical changes. In 2018 a report made by a selected rapporteur on human rights defenders declared that “about 98 percent of crimes in Mexico remained unsolved”.Recently, the impunity of disappearances by security forces and criminal organizations keeps arising and continuously abuses human rights and the Mexican people’s freedom. Enforced disappearances will continue to be a significant problem in Mexico until security institutions become free from corruption. Organizations like the CNB and the SNSP start to become fully effective and protect those who are more vulnerable and affected by this ongoing issue.
The Narvate massacre of 2015, where photojournalist Ruben Espinosa, human rights activist Nadia Vera and five others were killed in an execution-style, is another example of the government using violence to silence those who opposed them. Since the PRI came to rule again in 2012, just in Veracruz, about 11 journalists have been killed, and three have disappeared(Note 10). Freedom of the press has been taking away from many journalists who continuously fear being kidnapped or killed by government officials or crime organizations. In Mexico, human rights defenders and journalists are often subjected to violence, intimidation and criminalization. A report released by the CNDH in 2019 reported that “148 journalists were killed between 2000 and 2018”. This has been a very alarming issue as it is a continuous act of political oppression by the government and criminal organization and an issue that is rarely investigated or prosecuted. During the federal prosecutor’s 2015 massacre investigation, the office has fallen into irregularities that committed human rights violations accredited to the 4/27 CNDH recommendation( note11). The CNDH appointed multiple violations on the case investigation as the government made a false claim about what happened(note11.) Even after years of the massacre, details and evidence of the research are still unknown; no efficient investigation was made. Instead, it violated the 4/27 recommendation that gives people the right to know the investigation’s accurate details. In 2012 the National Protection Mechanism was formalized, implementing protective measures for journalists and human rights under threats. However, journalists and human rights offenders continue to be some of the most vulnerable citizens to the issue of enforced disappearances and extortion. As a result, the laws’ failure to grant the safety and protection of human rights of journalists and activists impunity has continuously given the government officials and criminal organizations the right to harass them.
In Mexico, torture is one of the most practical enforcement methods used by government officials to extract information and confessions. The implementation of torture has been very alarming since it’s the prime time during the dirty war nowadays as in abuse towards human rights. However, the government does not care about abusive torturing it’s citizen it is, they continue to give impunity helping it widely practice. In the 2019 review of Mexico, “the Un committee against torture highlighted that out of 3,214 torture complaints made just in the year 2016, only eight resulted in an arrest and trial”. This has helped expose the Mexican criminal justice system’s failures to efficiently investigate torture allegations and how they have entirely neglected the victim’s proof. Mexican officials’ use of torture has been described in some of the most controversial government officials involved in a conflict like the Iguala mass kidnapping. In 2018 the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights(OHCR) in Mexico published an investigation that stated that “they had found solid ground to conclude that at least 34 detainees had been tortured during the investiogation of the 2014 disappearance of the 43 student from Ayotzinapa”(note 5).
Further to this statement’s release, it was shown in the news videos of the 34 detainees being blindfolded and subjected to electric shots and beatinginvestigational interrogation(note5). Policies thastudentsnt this type of behaviour by government officials have not been neglected by most government officials. Although the investigation, prevention and sanction torture adopted in 2017 “aimed to curb torture from judical proceeding testimony through torture,” this legislation has had no radical changes. The National Mechanism to Prevent Torture(MNPT), which is related to the CNDH, has stated that in 2018 more than half of the Mexican state has not adopted any similar legislation( Notes5). As a result, torture in Mexico continues to be an act of impunity and is widely practiced.
In conclusion, Mexico’s ongoing military abuses, enforced disentranced, and torture issues are the prolonged effect of the PRI government’s impunity and failure to establish strong legislation that protects human rights. Throughout history, the Mexican people have witnessed the abusive enforcement methods that the government has used against its own. The same harsh methods of torture that were implemented against people during the dirty war are the same method that government officials use to extract confessions and information nowadays. Although in the early 1990s, when the CNDH was established, more attention was given to human rights violations, no radical changes happened. As the years continue and new policies and organizations come to be found, Human rights violations in Mexico are a continuous conflict. Weak policies that do have any enforcement have continued to give impunity to the issue of enforced disappearances, military abuses and torture. The 2014 massacre and 2015 massacre are the perfect examples of the Mexican government’s failure to make effective investigations and persecution towards extortion killing. The government’s inability to address these issues from its beginning has made Mexico a land of impunity and a state of violence. Mexico ongoing armed conflict and the human right violation has been happening for decades and instead of the government fix the problem internally by establishing effective laws that are adopted by all the States; they continue just to put front titles like the dirty and Drug war to justify the state of terror that the country is in and the struggle of human right violations. Mexico will continuously be a land of impunity and victim of its government until corruption and weak policies do not continue to rule.
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