Washington Post
April 30, 2001
By Kevin Sullivan

MEXICO CITY, April 29 -- A long-awaited Indian rights measure passed by Mexico's lower house of Congress was received today as a reasonable compromise by its supporters and a dangerous "deception" by its critics.

"It's a step forward, although not the one that many of us had wanted," said political analyst Lorenzo Meyer. "But it's what the more conservative elements in Mexico are willing to live with."

Members of the largest group representing Mexico's Indians, the National Indigenous Congress, called the constitutional amendments passed Saturday night "a simulation" of its original form and "a door to war." They said they had been watered down from agreements struck by the government and pro-Indian rebels in the southern state of Chiapas in 1996.

How the proposed amendments fare in public opinion is critical for President Vicente Fox, who has promoted them as an important step toward ending the seven-year-old Zapatista rebel uprising in Chiapas. Fox promised the Zapatistas the amendments would be a step toward ending a long history of neglect of Mexico's 10 million Indians, who have much higher rates of illiteracy, poverty and health problems than the rest of the country.

The Zapatistas had no immediate reaction to the measures' passage. Fox called it "a great step forward . . . which, like everything in this life, is subject to growing, being improved, being perfected. . . . What we have to see is the part of the glass that is full, and not the small part that remains empty."

The main objections to the amendments are over changes added by the Senate, which passed them last week. The lower house approved the measure with the Senate's changes. It now must be passed by a majority of state legislatures.

In almost all key areas, the Senate added language that said the Indians must act in accordance with the national constitution and laws. That dashed the hopes of Indian supporters hoping to establish broad autonomy for Indians to control local politics, justice, land rights and natural resources based on their traditional practices, outside the jurisdiction of federal law.

The Senate's changes reflected fears that allowing local communities to govern themselves would set a dangerous precedent, treating some segments of the population differently from others.

Critics say the Senate's changes in effect gut the legislation, allowing the federal government to scuttle local autonomy whenever it conflicts with federal law.

The original legislation submitted by Fox said that Indian communities existed in Mexico before colonization by Spain 500 years ago and should be allowed to maintain their local institutions for such things as choosing political leaders and dispensing justice. The Senate version says the same thing, except that those institutions must act according to the federal constitution in a way "that ensures national unity."

Critics have said that some traditional Indian practices discriminate against women; Indian women have much lower rates of education than Indian men, for example. The Fox proposal said Indian communities should "ensure the participation of women in fair conditions." The Senate added language saying that women must be treated not only fairly, but as fairly as men, in accordance with federal anti-discrimination laws.

Another change made by the Senate potentially would affect millions of dollars in revenue for Indian communities. The original legislation would have given Indians commercial control of lumber and other key natural resources on vast areas of their land. The Senate version said natural resources could be tapped by the Indians, as long as they followed federal and state laws, which say no one can cut timber without a permit. That means the resources are still fully controlled by the government.