February 17, 2000

Sr. Jose' Luis Bernal
Consul General, Los Angeles
VIA FACSIMILE: (213) 389-9249

Dear Consul General:
I am grateful for your assistance in providing a Distinguished Guest Visa for my recent journey to Chiapas, and I look forward to discussing my experiences with you in the near future.

1. My most important impression was that Chiapas cannot much longer remain in such tense disequilibrium between war and peace. Everywhere I traveled, there was a military boundary between the state and indigenous autonomous communities. On one day, at a jungle base camp I witnessed Mexican troops behind concertina wire playing "La Traviatta" as loudly as possible to drown the chants of an unarmed throng of Zapatistas protesting the military's presence. Sometimes the boundary was a military checkpoint on the roads, sometimes on mountain trails, sometimes barbed wire, and sometimes a guarded gate. On one side, the Mexican army and paramilitary factions, on the other, autonomous communities living in a dignity of their own, effectively blockaded from having sufficient food and medicine for their children and those who are ill.

In one community, I was told that the nearest medical facility was an eight-hour walk. Of the 15,000 children who reportedly die of preventable disease in Chiapas annually, it appears that the vast majority are indigenous.

A low-intensity war nonetheless creates a high-intensity suffering. The military occupation perpetuates this division and misery. I hope that the provision of the 1996 San Andres Accords will take on a new life, and that Mexico will withdraw from the brink empowerment of indigenous people.

2. In addition, I hope that NAFTA will be reviewed on the basis of what we have learned since its inception on January 1, 1994, the very day as the Zapatista uprising. NATFA has not helped the working poor in either Mexico or even the United States. It has accelerated exports of genetically-altered corn from the U.S. to Mexico, for example, displacing the subsistence economy and ancient culture of the indigenous in places like Chiapas. I think of no sadder story than the forced uprooting of indigenous Mayans from the jungle canyons of the Lacandon to the cement canyons of the Los Angeles jungle.

NAFTA should be amended through negotiations to include the constitutional protections of the San Andres Accords and related language protecting indigenous cultures in the International Labor Organization (ILO).

President Zedillo in Davos condemned the recent Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO) as "global-phobia". I can understand his concern over narrow forms of protectionism in advanced industrial countries. But it is not "phobia" to protect cultural or ecological diversity. As much as we need globalization of commerce, we need globalization of conscience as well. NAFTA and WTO arrangements must and will be amended to include human rights and environmental protection as well as free trade.

3. I am thankful for the opportunity to travel freely in your country, but I'm concerned at recent expulsions of Californians, North Americans, Europeans, and others from Chiapas. Any nation, especially Mexico in light of its history, has a legitimate interest in regulating or even preventing certain forms of foreign influence, for example, foreign campaign contributions, foreign investments and acquisitions, foreign military assistance, etc. But the right to travel, to witness, to attend events, interview persons, lend humanitarian assistance, take part in human rights work, all these should be guaranteed for any human being in this era. We need globalization of travel as well as trade.

North America (and California) tax dollars are at work in Chiapas. They support the Mexican army, the Mexican state, and official channels of assistance. U.S. polices encourage corporations like Nestle to leave the U.S. and profit in Chiapas, benefiting the status quo there. U.S. dollars support the training and assistance of Mexican troops under the framework of the U.S.-sponsored war on narco-trafficking. U.S. dollars support the helicopters I saw over in Chiapas. Why can't U.S. citizens observe how their tax dollars are spent in Chiapas? I am sure you will agree they have a right.

The modalities of securing these rights are complicated, but it is urgent that they be addressed. California and Mexico are now engaged in a crucial process of improving our bilateral relationship after an earlier history of negativity. We must build a strong bridge to the future that includes trade, commerce, environment, labor and human rights, and a place for the immigrants coming to California as well as the nonviolent observers and humanitarians visiting Chiapas.

I have long defended the rights of undocumented Mexican immigrants seeking jobs and dignity in California against landowners, growers, sweatshop operators, politicians, police and INS authorities when they are racist, exploitative or indifferent. With respect, I plead that you will consider a tolerant and understanding approach to those who visit Chiapas with motives of supporting human rights for the most forgotten people of the Americas.
I look forward to discussing all these matters with you and representatives of the Mexican government in the near future. Thanks again for your courtesies in making my visit a productive one.

Sincerely,

Senator Tom Hayden