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Canadian church leaders witness the failures of NAFTA in Mexico
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2005 A Canadian gold-mining project in Mexico that threatens to destroy an historic community, an ecosystem, and the water supply of a state capital, is a direct result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), says a KAIROS delegation just returned from Mexico. Metallica Resources’ proposed mine in Cerro de San Pedro, San Luis Potosi, is one of several NAFTA failures the seven church leaders documented. They also visited indigenous communities in the southern highlands of Chiapas, and factory workers in northern Mexico. In San Luis Potosi, mine resisters convinced the courts to revoke Metallica’s mining permits. But the Canadian company has threatened to sue the Mexican government under NAFTA’s Chapter 11 for inhibiting its ability to operate. “Chapter 11 places corporate gains and rights before human rights,” says National Lutheran Bishop Ray Schultz. “It overrides obligations under the UN Charter of Human Rights. Chapter 11 has also been used against Canadians.” In Chiapas, the delegation, which included United Church, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Anglican members, found that thousands of small farmers have been put out of business by agricultural changes resulting from NAFTA. More than 5,000 indigenous people—formerly self-supporting--must leave Chiapas each month just to survive. The delegation also visited Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, where many displaced Mexicans work in foreign-owned factories (maquilas), with low pay, harsh conditions, and a minimal social infrastructure. In this context, violence against women has become systemic. An estimated 350 women have been murdered in this region in recent years. “We saw people’s lives turned upside down by free trade structures that disregard each nation’s right to determine its own development and protect the welfare of its people,” says Anglican Bishop Sue Moxley. “The free trade agenda is destroying the human family and its environment.” KAIROS wants Canada to tackle the fundamental flaws in NAFTA that harm Mexicans, Canadians and Americans. Instead, “the three amigos’ agenda of deep integration will further entrench this unjust model,” says Schultz. Delegates will visit Ottawa April 13-15th to deliver their findings to a broad range of government officials, and to urge them to “consider the human face of NAFTA’s failures.”
For more information, or to speak with delegates or staff directly, contact:
Delegation Members Accompanying KAIROS Staff For background: KAIROS is the national social justice organization of 11 Canadian churches and church
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