Mexico Knocks

As Mexico raises its hand and knocks on the door of the 1st world, certain regions defy those maintaining that the country has reached such a coveted position.

Fox insists that extreme poverty has been reduced and that macroeconomic figures prove that the country is on the right track, but according to research conducted by Julio Boltvinik, in 2004 more than 98% of Mexicans in rural areas were living in poverty. Communities living in the mountains of Guerrero and Oaxaca are examples of the profound inequality politicians seem to have overlooked as they begin campaigning for the coming presidential election in July.

Oaxaca is statistically the poorest state in Mexico, and in those regions where the weather conditions impede the development of sustainable activities, migration has become the only option for survival. The majority of men old enough to work have gone north to the USA leaving behind women, children and elderly as the only inhabitants of ghost towns, where opportunities are simply not present and hopelessness seems to be the only sentiment for the future.

These communities have learned to survive in one way or another, but conditions have changed recently and many are looking for other sustainable options. Varying climate has made it harder to produce the traditional crops and alternative manufacturing activities have become unprofitable in a global economy where Asian products are sold for a fraction of the price of local goods. Where families are no longer together, inhabitants have started to rely on the community; successful ventures are blossoming all around the state - the Pueblos Macomunados in the Sierra Norte and the weavers of Teotitlán just to name a few.

Organisation seems to be the key for resistance and survival in these enterprises as is clearly demonstrated in San Miguel Amatitlán, a small town located in the perennially drought-stricken Mixteca Baja in the northwest of Oaxaca, where agriculture depends on the sometimes inexistent rainy season. Sowing football skins ceased to be an alternative many years ago and federal development projects have failed to provide sufficient income for the people. However, through education, Santiago Rojas, a priest stationed there for ten years, managed to provide alternatives to the inhabitants of San Miguel. “Immigration resolves some economic issues, but it doesn’t translate into happiness. Now, from bakery to computing, the people have found options to overcome the impossibility to make a living without having to abandon their roots, their families and their community bonds,” he says.

The most important project carried out during his stay was the construction of houses through community organisation. With funds from the Vatican’s Populorum Progressio development program, Rojas managed to organise women from the village to build housing for the neediest.

After the Earthquake in 1998 destroyed so many houses, 20 women used the 20,000 dollars donated by the Vatican and began the construction of 20 houses. A year later their work was complete and families that never dreamed of having a home of their own were moving into their new dwellings. This project attracted the attention of many artists, including a photo documentary by Marcela Taboada which was controversially (see December issue) granted the National Geographic’s All Roads Photo Award. As of now, all this attention has brought few benefits and little funding from the government or exploitative news organisations