Human Rights

"According to our statistics Guerrero has been one of the states where human rights violations have been endemic. The situation in Guerrero has gone from bad to worse." Digna Ochoa, 1999, human rights lawyer assassinated in October, 2001.

The Mexican State of Guerrero has a history of violence, political impunity, and human rights abuses. Local individuals and communities have repeatedly denounced the state police and military with committing human rights abuses, yet human rights groups say not a single military member has been charged, tried and convicted for these crimes.

From May of 2000 to April of 2001, the municipal police, state police and the army were believed to have committed 38 cases of human rights violations. The leading leftist party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), blames the military for many of the 123 disappearances of its members and sympathizers. Caciques -- local power bosses, often with strong political ties -- still continue to rule with strong-arm tactics of threats, intimidation and violence.

Despite the accusations of human rights abuses committed by the military, the Army maintains an estimated presence of 25,000 to 40,000 troops. Since the appearance of various guerrilla insurgencies in the mid-90's such as the EPR (Popular Revolutionary Army) and the ERPI (Insurgent People's Revolutionary Army), the military has invaded communities under the pretext of looking for paramilitary groups and marijuana and poppy plantations (Guerrero is the leading producer of poppies -- used to make opium -- in Mexico).

In 1995 the military was involved in the massacre of 17 campesinos in the community of Aguas Blancas, and in 1998 the massacre of 11 local residents in El Charco -- to his date there have been no convictions of military members involved in these massacres. More recently, in January of 2002, soldiers surrounded communities in the Sierra of Petatlan, firing shots and intimidating the local residents.

In February of 2002, the Independent Organization of Mixtex and Tlapanec Communities (OIPMT) made a denouncement charging 8 soldiers with accosting and raping a Tlapanac woman in the municipality of Acatepe. The Secretary of Defense (Sedena) denies the charges.

Poverty and Lack of Resources

"The port of Acapulco is the visible symbol of economic policies that have for decades privileged the tourism sector, while ignoring balanced development programs for other economic activities in the state..." (Chronicas del Sur, footnote 14 p. 99).

Guerrero is the third poorest state in Mexico, behind Oaxaca and Chiapas. Instead of promoting development in the poorest regions, the government continues to pour money into tourism, namely infrastructure for Acapulco. While this development may benefit those working in the tourism industry, the money does not reach those living in more remote regions.

Almost 68% of the population -- most of them living in rural areas -- live in conditions of poverty or extreme poverty. Less than 20% of the population has access to health care, and almost half of the houses have dirt floors. In the Metlanoc municipalities, in the area of La Montana, 96% of the residents have no electricity (compared with 23% in the rest of the state), and the illiteracy rate is almost 80%. Guerrero is significantly behind the rest of Mexico in literacy rate and all levels of educations. Much of this is due to insufficient school building, lack of teachers, bad roads and lack of transport. The high levels of poverty also have a direct impact on education levels -- many children stop going to school in order to help with the family business -- usually agriculture. Of the 20 municipalities with the lowest income levels, 17 are found in La Montana and Costa Chica region. Not coincidentally, these regions have the highest indigenous populations.

Unfortunately, the situation in Guerrero does not seem to be getting any better. In 1990, 57% of houses had running water, while in 1996 only 50% had running water. In 1990, approximately 50% of the houses had dirt floors, while in 1996 the figure rose up to almost 58%.

The Environment

"We are along and isolated in our communities, which is why the gauchos -- soldiers -- can do as they please; they threaten us, they harass us, they persecute us, and even kill us for fighting against the logging of the forests" (member of the OESP).

Along with poverty and human rights violations, the environment in Guerrero is in critical condition. Deforestation in all of Mexico is a huge problem, and particularly in Guerrero. According to satellite images, taken between the years of 1992 and 2000, almost 40% of the forests in the region of the Seirra of Petatlan and Coyuca de Catalan have disappeared. In other words, 86,000 hectares of the 226,203 total have been lost. At the same time, the percentage of deforested land has increased 446% in the last 8 years. In 1992 there were 37,636 hectares of deforested land, which increased to 130,596 hectares in 2000.

In response to the environmental crisis, many organizations have formed to try to protect the environment. The Organization of Ecologists in the Sierra of Petatlan and Coyuca de Catalan (OESP) was formed in 1998 in order to try to put and end to the rampant logging in the region. For their efforts, members of the organization have been harassed by the military, thrown in prison on fabricated charges, tortured, and assassinated. Logging is big business in Guerrero, those in power stand to gain huge sums of money, and anyone who gets in their way will most likely pay the price.

Obviously, human rights, the environment, and poverty in Guerrero are not separate issues but are in fact very much intertwined. Those who try to protect the environment and in the process threaten to diminish the income of a cacique or other powerful figure often become the subject of human rights abuses. And most often those who are the subject of human rights abuses lack the resources to take legal action. Even if they do have the resources, the state of political impunity in Guerrero often makes it impossible to pursue legal actions against politicians and other powerful figures.

The state of Guerrero can be seen as a microcosm of many of the problems that are endemic in Mexico: corruption, drug trafficking, political impunity, environmental degradation, poverty, and human rights abuses. With the election of President Vicente Fox in 2000, came many promises of a new respect for human rights -- in Guerrero these promises remain unfulfilled.

• Population: 2,916,567
• Life expentancy: 72 years
• State with 2nd largest indigenous population
• Only 26% of roads are paved. Has 0.4% of national train service.
• Economically active population: 51.2%
• Lacking primary education: 27%
• Receiving no income: 29%
• Less than 1/3 have access to health services

Map and statistics courtesy of CIEPAC