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Chronology for Other Indigenous Peoples in Mexico
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| Date(s) |
Item |
| Apr 1989 |
A Commission for Justice for the Indigenous Peoples was established. It brought together anthropologists, indigenous peoples representatives, and government officials to draft a new amendment to the constitution. |
| Dec 7, 1990 |
Article 4 was added to the Mexican constitution. It recognized the "multicultural composition" of the indigenous peoples and called to protect their language and cultures through state institutions. This amendment was drafted in response to international pressure from NGOs for human rights causes and is credited for its recognition of indigenous traditions. It is still criticized for the perpetuation of a "paternal" state attitude toward the Indians. |
| Jan 1992 |
Amendment 27 was added to the Mexican constitution. Its purpose is to modernize the Mexican economy through a process of privatizing the traditional ejido communal land system, which is controlled primarily by Indians. The Salinas government had determined that this system is inefficient and is hindering Mexico's modernization process (Tresierra 1994: 201-203). |
| Jul 14, 1992 |
The PRI (the ruling party of Mexico) conceded to an election loss in the state of Chihuahua, its largest and wealthiest state. The winner of the election was Francisco Barrion of the center-right National Action Party (PAN). Also in this election, the state of Michoacan opposition party (PRD) claimed election fraud by the PRI. The population of both states is approximately 5% indigenous, which largely support opposition parties to the PRI. |
| Aug 9, 1992 |
Mexico City hosts peace talks between the Guatemalan rebels and the government. Mexico stressed the importance of human rights in Guatemala toward its indigenous population. |
| Aug 30, 1992 |
President Salinas traveled to Oaxaca to implement a grass-roots development program in Oaxaca. The program is called Solidarity and was allotted $2.3 billion in 1992. It was founded in 1989 with the purpose of funding infrastructure and industry programs in primarily indigenous states of Southeastern Mexico. |
| Jan 14, 1993 |
Jorge Carpizo MacGregor was appointed Attorney General. He was previously Mexico's human rights ombudsman. NGOs and the UN supported this appointment. |
| Jan 21, 1994 |
President Carlos Salinas appointed a commission to study and promote coordinated action to improve the life of Indians in Mexico. The commission will encompass officials from 11 Cabinet ministries. |
| Feb 7, 1994 |
Indian peasants blocked the Pan-American highway leading into Teopisca, a town about 30 miles south of San Cristobal de las Casas, protesting corruption. They were not affiliated with the Zapatistas, yet said that Chiapas "opened their eyes." |
| Feb 11, 1994 |
A Mixtec Indian group, called Southern Puebla Zapatista Movement, formed and claims to represent people in 60 Mixtec Indian communities, drawing support from over 3000 people. The Michoacan sugar cane workers, who have been protesting the closure of a plant, sent 5 members to meet with the Zapatistas in Chiapas. The Guerrero Indian organization also announced that it supported the Zapatista demands of Chiapas, yet stating that they are not Chiapas. The Nahuatl peoples have stated that they are sympathetic to the Zapatista demands, but not to the use of arms. |
| Aug 8, 1994 |
The Zapatistas played host to over 6,000 participants in a conference, entitled "National Democracy Convention." Students, indigenous peoples (of various tribes), intellectuals, and workers participated in this conference. Prior to this conference, the Commerce Secretariat announced a $1.5 billion program to create infrastructure and industrial development projects in Chiapas. The money will specifically be allotted to projects for agriculture, fishing, and maquiladora industries. |
| Sep 24, 1994 |
Indian tribes of Mexico and the U.S. held a conference on issues of concern to indigenous peoples and the effects of NAFTA. The Yaqui Indians exchanged ideas with their U.S. counterpart in Mexico. Land claims were a major issue at this conference for both Mexican and U.S. groups. |
| Dec 20, 1994 |
A severe economic crisis began in Mexico with the devaluation of the peso. Interest rates and inflation skyrocketed, businesses closed, and banks foreclosed on houses and farms. The Clinton administration put together a $50 billion package to help Mexico bail itself out of the crisis, but the package was relatively ineffective in terms of benefiting many Mexicans. A protest movement called Barzon, which was formed in 1983 and consists of middle-class Mexicans (who comprise approximately 10 percent of the Mexican population), gained popularity as a result of the crisis. The Barzon claimed 500,000 members as of February 1995, but independent analysts claimed that the movement's following was much smaller. Barzon clubs were also formed among Mexican immigrants in Texas and California. The movement calls for political democracy, economic equality, the rescheduling of debt payments to Mexico's banks, and the altering of government policies that movement followers claim hurt Mexican farmers. (The Houston Chronicle, Feb. 26, 1995) |
| 1995 |
At least 25 Indian movements joined to form a Plural Indigenous National Assembly for Autonomy, a de facto native Mexican parliament that seeks Indian self-government rights. The assembly is hailed as the first attempt to unite all indigenous peoples throughout Latin America. Mixteco Indians seized the municipal hall in Rancho Nuevo, Guerrero. By May 1996, Mixtecos claim that nine peasants have been murdered in unexplained circumstances. |
| Jan 20, 1995 |
Several thousand indigenous peoples and peasants demonstrated in favor of the removal of a controversial governor in the state of Tabasco. Vote fraud and corruption were given as reasons to oust the governor. PRD supporters claimed that the PRI fraudulently fixed the election outcome. |
| Feb 13, 1995 |
PRI suffered the biggest election defeat in its 65-year history by losing control of the state of Jalisco and its capital, Guadalajara, to the center-right National Action Party in a landslide vote. According to polls and incomplete official returns, the National Action Party took the statehouse, the city hall in Guadalajara (Mexico's second largest city), and nearly all of Guadalajara's other main city governments. |
| Feb 19 - 25, 1995 |
Members of the middle-class Barzon movement shut down banks in three Mexican states and staged a protest outside the headquarters of the government's central bank in Mexico City. One of Mexico's leading business groups, the Business Coordinating Council, also announced that at least 250,000 jobs had been lost in Mexico since the economic crisis began on December 20, 1994.(The Houston Chronicle, Feb. 26, 1995) |
| Mar 10, 1995 |
Labor Minister Santiago Onate announced that 250,000 Mexicans had lost their jobs since the December 20, 1994 economic crisis, and he predicted that another 500,000 jobs will be lost in the coming months. (The Houston Chronicle, March 12, 1995) |
| Apr 21, 1995 |
In Mexico City, a demonstration of thousands of indigenous peoples took place in support of the Zapatistas during the first day of peace negotiations. The Mexican government threatened to cancel talks if the demonstrations did not stop. |
| May 1995 |
Hundreds of peasants seize the Tlacoachistlahuaca, Guerrero town hall to protest the government's refusal to carry out promised reforms. |
| May 24, 1995 |
Gilberto Romero Vasquez, leader of the Guerrero-based Peasant Organization of the Southern Sierra (OCSS), disappeared after the OCSS had presented a series of demands to state authorities. The OCSS is a leftist organization with former ties to the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD). |
| May 29, 1995 |
PAN won gubernatorial elections in the state of Guanajuato. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Jun 4, 1995 |
PRI won gubernatorial elections in the state of Yucatan. Fraud charges ensued. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Jun 6, 1995 |
Two thousand indigenous peasants shut down Mexico's stock market, the Bolsa, protesting against electoral fraud and the economic recession. The protestors surrounded the stock market and did not allow people in or out of the building. This was the end of a 40 day march from the southeastern state of Tabasco to protest fraud in the state elections from November. Mexican military officials received training and consultation from the Guatemalan government on issues of controlling and negotiating with rebel groups. Guatemala's rebel peasant group was based in Mexico City and Mexico housed over 100,000 Guatemalan refugee Indians. The two countries are working together to combat the guerilla groups and to coordinate military procedures toward them. |
| Jun 28, 1995 |
While on their way to protest the government's failure to provide promised herbicides, two "lorryloads" of peasants encountered nearly 300 paramilitary officers in Aguas Blancas, Guerrero. 17 peasants were killed and 14 were wounded. Authorities claim that the peasants attacked first with machetes. The peasants say the police started firing without warning. Many of the peasants were members of the OCSS. Two police commanders and eight other officers were later arrested in connection with the killings. Guerrero Governor Ruben Figueroa requested indefinite leave from his position after incriminating evidence against the state police force was brought to the Supreme Court. On June 14, 1996, Figueroa was cleared of any connection with the massacre of these 17 peasants by Guerrero State judicial authorities. |
| Aug 1995 |
State government officials in Oaxaca agreed to allow Indian communities to choose local leaders through traditional methods, rather than party politics. (The Record, November 12, 1995) |
| Aug 25, 1995 |
A three-day stand-off at the border town of Reynosa ended when Mexican officials agreed to allow a caravan of vehicles to enter the country carrying humanitarian supplies for the peasants of southern Mexico. |
| Sep 1995 |
Thousands of Nahua Indians, armed with sticks and stones, oust the local government and police of Tepoztlan. The Nahuans took 5 state officials and the local PRI leader, Diana Ortega, hostage for 40 hours before releasing them after Tepoztlan Mayor Morales resigned his position. The coup occurred in reaction to reported bulldozing and secret meetings between Morelos state officials and local PRI officials regarding the construction of a golf course/hotel/tourist project that Nahuans believe will threaten wildlife, water reserves, and the landscape in Tepoztlan. The tourist project had been rejected in March 1995 by 6 PRI and 2 PRD local officials. |
| Oct 1995 |
Representatives of the Otomi, Zapotec, Chol, and other tribes called for autonomy during a round of the Chiapas peace talks. Some Indians in Chiapas and other regions already declared autonomy, forming militias and setting up councils of elders or other traditional, consensus-based forms of government. |
| Oct 8, 1995 |
According to documents filed by PRD leaders with the federal Interior Ministry, 6 PRD members have been killed in the communities surrounding Tlacoachistlahuaca, Guerrero since the May 1995 seizure of that city's town hall by hundreds of peasants. The documents also claimed that 328 PRD members have been killed in the past 6 years and 35 since May 1994. |
| Nov 13, 1995 |
PRI won gubernatorial elections in the state of Michoacan. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Dec 29, 1995 |
PEMEX, Mexico's leading petroleum company, laid off half of its workforce of 200,000 as it was becoming privatized. The PEMEX union and workers had marched in and supported demonstrations in Mexico City and at specific plants that were being sold. (The Houston Chronicle, December 26, 1995) |
| Feb 1996 |
Hundreds of Nahua, Mixteco, Amuzgo, and Tlapuneco campesinos and Indian activists attended an assembly in the foothills of Costa Chica, despite being subject to threats and police roadblocks. The assembly issued a resolution to increase nonviolent mobilization in support of autonomous Indian municipalities. |
| Apr 1996 |
The municipal president of the Sierra Negra mountain region of the southern state of Puebla burned 49 acres of forest that a Nahua community used for wood. The act was carried out in retaliation for Nahuan protests against logging in the region. In addition, Nahuas, Mixtecos, Tlapanecos, and Amuzgos proposed to redraw district boundaries in Guerrero to establish six indigenous-based municipalities. The effort to establish these municipalities is coordinated by the Guerrero Council of 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance, an umbrella group formed in 1991 that brings together Guerrero's four Indian groups. (Agence France Presse, April 12, 1996) |
| Apr 10, 1996 |
In Morelos State, police engaged in a violent confrontation with a group of peasants who were on their way to an anniversary commemoration of the death of Emiliano Zapata. One person died and dozens more were wounded. The government claims that the group of about 500 peasants was armed and acted threateningly toward the 60 officers when firing erupted on a highway in the town of San Rafael. |
| Apr 10 - 11, 1996 |
The National Forum of Indian Peoples was held in the village of Oventic, Chiapas and was hosted by the EZLN. Approximately 150 members of the Chontal, Otomi, Nahua, Chol, Purepecha and other tribes were in attendance. Those present agreed to create a nationwide movement to press for Indian rights, increased autonomy, and improvements in economic well-being, in addition to preserving Indian culture. Many in the group reject the EZLN's use of arms but identify with its desire for land, agricultural assistance, education, health care, and justice. |
| Apr 10 - 12, 1996 |
Organized by the Democratic Huastec Movement (MDH), between 1500 and 3000 Huasteco, Pame, Tenek and Nahua people began a hunger strike on April 10 in an attempt to get the federal government to offer them social programs and assistance, and farm land and to protest the selling off of communal lands. These indigenous people camped out in the middle of an open field in the state of San Luis Potosi to mark the 77th anniversary of the death of revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata. They displayed banners of support for the EZLN and for Luis Donaldo Colosio, the popular PRI presidential candidate assassinated in March 1994. Government officials met with those engaging in the hunger strike on April 12, but negotiations made no progress and the hunger strike continued. |
| Apr 17, 1996 |
All of Mexico's major political parties, except for PAN, agreed to fair election reforms that were supported by President Zedillo. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Apr 23, 1996 |
A special Supreme Court investigation into the police massacre of 17 peasants in Guerrero state on June 28, 1995 concluded that former Governor Ruben Figueroa lied and attempted to cover up the truth regarding the incident. (The Houston Chronicle, April 24, 1996) |
| May 1, 1996 |
Tens of thousands of Mexicans held a May day rally against the government, signaling discontent over President Zedillo and his strict economic policies. There were no official estimates of crowd size available, but one estimate put the crowd at more than 100,000 people. Buildings and statues were painted with slogans and anti-government chants were shouted by the protestors. No serious violence was reported. (The Houston Chronicle, May 2, 1996) |
| May 5, 1996 |
A violent conflict occurred between an autonomous paramilitary group -- Chinchulines -- and peasants in Chiapas. 6 people were killed, 28 people were arrested, 23 houses and businesses were burned, and vehicles were destroyed. The conflict arose from long-standing land disputes. In addition, Mixtecos from rancho Nuevo alleged that since they seized the municipal hall last year, at least nine peasants in the region have been murdered in unexplained circumstances. |
| Jul 3, 1996 |
Two violent clashes between farmers and police occurred in the San Quintin Valley, south of Ensenada in Baja California. The incidents began when anywhere from 300 to 800 farm laborers from Rancho Santa Anita staged a demonstration after being denied pay for the third straight week. A riot ensued and the laborers began to throw stones. 5 people were injured (including 3 police officers), between 70 and 100 people were arrested, 25 businesses were damaged, vehicles were destroyed, and 71 people remained in jail by the end of the week. Most of the farm workers in the area are Mixtec, Zapotec, Oaxacan, and Triqui Indians from southern Mexico, and these workers have complained about low wages, poor housing, discrimination, physical abuse on the part of ranch owners, and neglect and indifference from municipal officials in Ensenada. |
| Jul 24, 1996 |
The Organization of American States' human rights commission released a detailed description of human rights abuses in Mexico, especially highlighting police and official corruption and the intimidation of political activists. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Aug 10, 1996 |
Mexico's attorney general, Antonio Lozano Gracia, announced that the Mexican army will be put in charge of Mexico's anti-drug operations. Most of the troops were deployed in the Juarez region of Mexico, near the Mexican-U.S. border (specifically near El Paso, Texas). U.S. State Department official Robert Gelbard expressed support for the Mexican army's anti-drug operations. (Austin American-Statesman, August 10, 1996) |
| Aug 29, 1996 |
As of this date, 30 Triqui Indians had been murdered in 1996 and several women were raped. In the past seven years, 500 Triquis have died violent deaths and 8000 children have been orphaned as a result of political differences within the Triqui community. During this seven-year period, the local police in the state of Oaxaca have arrested only six people on charges of wounding and two for murder in recent years. Felipe Francisco, indigenous member of the Triqui Fight for Unification Movement (MULT), said the confrontations were produced by power struggles between his organization and supporters of PRI. |
| Nov 11, 1996 |
PRI lost several mayoral races in the states of Mexico and Coahuila but retained control of the state legislatures. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Jan 6, 1997 |
Press sources reported that two new rebel groups had emerged in Mexico. The Armed Front for the Liberation of Marginalized Peoples of Guerrero (State) and the Justice Army of the Defenseless People had both recently issued statements demanding improved conditions and justice for the poor. The Justice Army was blamed for the murders of four alleged bandits in Guerrero on Jan 1, 1997. Government officials assert that the rebel groups are merely criminals acting as organized guerrillas. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., January 6, 1996) |
| Feb 14, 1997 |
The Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights filed a report regarding an incident on January 13, 1996 where army police reportedly rounded up all of the men in the Mixtec community of Alcozauca (on the Guerrero/Oaxaca border) and took 20 men captive. As of this date, these 20 men had yet to be found. |
| Mar 17, 1997 |
PRI lost elections in 18 of 32 townships that it previously controlled in the state of Morelos. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| May 6, 1997 |
The United States announced that it will provide $6 million to Mexico to create a new anti-narcotics force that will replace the old one, which was viewed as corrupt. (The Washington Times, May 6, 1997) |
| Jul 1997 |
PRI loses control of the national congress and of Mexico City's government in midterm elections. Many blamed the loss on Mexico's heightening economic crisis. |
| Jul 6, 1997 |
PRD candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas won mayoral elections in Mexico City. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Jul 13, 1997 |
Official results showed that PRI lost its majority in the 500-seat Mexican Chamber of Deputies. PRI subsequently contested the results. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Sep 28, 1997 |
Amnesty International released a report stating that human rights abuses in Mexico were worsening, especially regarding disappearances and unlawful arrests. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Jan 14, 1998 |
The Justice Army of the Defenseless People claimed credit for a recent attack on a police station that left two officers seriously injured. In a Jan. 5 letter to Guerrero officials, the rebels said the assault was in retaliation for the Acteal massacre. (Copley News Service, January 14, 1998) |
| Feb 1, 1998 |
Mauro Generaro Marin, a PRD leader in Guerrero, was assassinated. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Apr 8 - 9, 1998 |
Violent land and property disputes occurred in Oaxaca. In one incident, about 300 Huave Indians from the village of San Francisco del Mar attempted to reclaim more than 120,000 acres of land held by Zapotecs of Ixhuatan. Three Huave Indians were killed, 5 people were injured, and at least 4 thatch houses in Ihnuatan were burned. Ixhuatan residents responded with a similar raid. About 600 Indian families were chased from their homes due to the fighting. Ixhuatan inhabitants have held the land for about 30 years, despite a presidential decree in favor of San Francisco. |
| May 1998 |
The National Indigenous Congress (CNI) called for a "national uprising." Mixtec, Chontal, Huasteca, Chinanteco and Nahuatl Indians announced plans to set up Zapatista-style autonomous districts in Tabasco, Hidalgo, Michoacan, Guerrero and even Mexico City, citing the Mexican constitution as the legal basis for such action. In addition, 2000 Mixtecs and 70 bilingual teachers declared Rancho Nuevo Democracia an autonomous district, uniting 30 Mixtec villages. The CNI represents Mexico's 56 indigenous peoples. |
| May 31, 1998 |
Environmentalists reported that 230 wildfires were currently blazing across Mexico. The Mexican government reported that 10,000 fires have destroyed an estimated 700,000 acres across Mexico since January 1998. The worst fires seemed to be concentrated in the Chimalpas region on the border between Oaxaca and Chiapas, where 49 fires were currently blazing. An estimated 16,800 acres have burned so far in this area. The government blamed the slash-and-burn agricultural practices of many Mexican peasants for the fires, and environmentalists retaliated by placing blame on the Mexican government for neglecting poor Mexican farmers and for not modernizing their agricultural techniques. (The Washington Post, May 31, 1998) |
| Jun 7, 1998 |
The Mexican army clashed with the EPR in El Charco, Guerrero, leaving 11 Mixtec villagers from Ahuacachahue and one student from the National Autonomous University in Mexico City dead. The mostly Mixtec villagers then fled El Charco, which is located roughly 60 miles south of the resort of Acapulco. |
| Jun 8, 1998 |
The Mexican army surrounded a schoolhouse in Ayutla, Guerrero where a dozen guerillas were spending the night and opened fire without warning. 12 Mixteco Indians were killed, 4 were wounded, and 21 suspected rebels were arrested. |
| Aug 1998 |
Hector Sanchez, a full-blooded Zapotec Indian, original member of COCEI, and PRD senator, competed in the Oaxacan gubernatorial election. Sanchez claimed that while he ultimately disagrees with the actions of the EPR, he understands why the grinding poverty experienced by many Mexicans could lead them to join such a group. As of this date, COCEI claimed that 50 of its members had been assassinated and 600 jailed on bogus charges since the organization's inception. (The Atlanta Journal, August 1, 1998) |
| Aug 13, 1998 |
Mazateco Indians located in Oaxaca accused a military group linked to PRI of killing at least 26 community leaders and kidnapping and torturing 17 women. |
| Oct 10 - 12, 1998 |
The National Indigenous Congress (CNI) holds its annual meeting in Mexico City and announces that it will increase its fight for autonomy for indigenous communities throughout Mexico. The CNI also reaffirmed its support for the Zapatistas and for efforts toward a negotiated solution to the conflict in Chiapas. More than 500 representatives of 20 groups participated in the meeting, and these participants represented the Chontal, Ten, Pam, Maya, Nahua, Totonaca, Otomi and Mixteco indigenous communities. |
| Dec 1 - 3, 1998 |
A three-day battle over land ownership and destruction of produce between the Oaxacan Zapotec mountain communities of San Lorenzo Texmelucan and Santo Domingo Teojomulco occurred and left at least 14 people dead and 10 injured. Officials also found signs of torture on several of the dead bodies. Hector Anuar Mafud, secretary general of Oaxaca state, said the courts would deliver a verdict in a civil suit over the land in a few months. It is unsure whether or not that verdict has been handed down. |
| Jan 14, 1999 |
Human Rights Watch released a report, compiled over a two-year period, stating that Mexican soldiers and police routinely commit human rights abuses that range from using illegal evidence to kidnapping to torture to murder. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Feb 7, 1999 |
PRD won gubernatorial elections in the state of Baja California Sur. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Feb 14 - 15, 1999 |
U.S. President Clinton and Mexican President Zedillo signed anti-drug trafficking accords, specifically how to measure anti-trafficking campaigns. (Chattanooga Times and Free Press, February 16, 1999) |
| Feb 14 - 22, 1999 |
PRI won gubernatorial elections in the states of Quintana Roo, Hidalgo and Guerrero. Charges of fraud were made regarding the Quintana Roo and Guerrero elections. (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1999) |
| Mar 9, 1999 |
6 police officers and one civilian were killed when gunmen opened fire on a police patrol that was looking for drug traffickers in Guerrero. (The Washington Times, March 9, 1999) |
| Apr 20, 1999 |
Students occupy the campus of The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City to protest a planned increase in tuition from a few cents to the equivalent of $140 per year. The strike would last for nine months. The university contains roughly 270,000 students. (The Washington Times, February 15, 2000) |
| May 14, 1999 |
The day after leading the Trique Unification Struggle Movement in a protest march in Oaxaca, Heriberto Pazos Ortiz was shot and wounded by unidentified gunmen. Two of the Trique leader's associates were killed in the shooting as well. |
| Aug 22 - 31, 1999 |
The Mexican government released 150 of approximately 5000 indigenous detainees as part of an early release program announced by the government's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). The majority of indigenous inmates were arrested in connection with drug smuggling, fights involving weapons, and drug production and trafficking. (Inter Press Service, August 31, 1999) |
| Feb 6, 2000 |
Police put an end to the nine month student strike at The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) by storming the campus and arresting 745 activists who kept up the demonstration despite its rising unpopularity. Roughly 2500 strike supporters marched in opposition to the re-opening of the university, and about 100 of these supporters clashed with non-strike students outside of the university's law school. Students shouted and hurled debris at one another, but there were no reports of injuries. Over the course of the strike, the die-hard supporters had refocused the movement away from the tuition issue into a protest against market economics and Mexico's PRI-dominated political system. (The Washington Times, February 15, 2000) |
| May 17, 2000 |
PRI approved the first presidential primary elections to be held in Mexico. Secret, nationwide balloting would replace the president choosing his successor. The new rules that PRI approved also contained stipulations concerning spending, campaign funding, and candidate resignation. (The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.), May 18, 1999) |
| Jul 2, 2000 |
Vincente Fox, the National Action Party (PAN) candidate, won Mexico's presidential elections, defeating PRI. PRI had governed Mexico for 71 years. Fox defeated Francisco Labasida of the PRI and Cuauhtemoc Cardenas of the PRD. Fox stated that he planned to re-open negotiations with the EZLN. The EZLN did not immediately respond to the election results. (Agence France Presse, July 3, 2000) |
| Jul 4, 2000 |
The PRD rejected an invitation by President-elect Vincente Fox to join him in a "concord government" (Agence France Presse, July 5, 2000). PRI did not immediately respond to Fox's offer. (Agence France Presse, July 5, 2000) |
| Jul 7, 2000 |
PRI supporters in Nezahualcoyotl attacked the local office of the electoral institute, claiming that local mayoral elections on July 2 were fraudulent. PRI supporters clashed with police and 20 supporters and one police officer were injured. Police used teargas to disperse the crowd. In addition, it was reported that at least 30 people were injured in post-election, pro-PRI demonstrations across Mexico in the days following July 2 elections. (Agence France Presse, July 8, 2000) |
| Sep 1 - Oct 31, 2004 |
Armed Mazahua women marched to Congress to demand women's rights. Less than eight weeks later, they were awarded reparations for damages caused by a 1970s dam. (Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA), 11/18/2004, "Want a successful protest in Mexico? Arm your women")
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| May 1 - Jul 30, 2006 |
As part of an annual protest, schoolteachers and administrators demanded better wages, better equipped schools and better treatment of indigenous in Oaxaca. The protest turned violent with demonstrators throwing stones at more than 1,500 police who responded with tear gas. (Roig-Franzia, Manuel, 07/30/2006, "In Mexico's 'Misery Belt,' an Annual Strike Becomes Much More; Clashes Mark Teachers Union Protest Calling for Ouster of State Governor," The Washington Post)
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| Aug 9, 2006 |
Indigenous protesters heckled President Fox after controversial elections leading to the election of a National Action Party candidate. (Baldwin, Tom, 08/09/2006, "Poll protesters raise the stakes," The Times (London))
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| Oct 29, 2006 |
Police attempted to retake Oaxaca after the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, an organization comprised of indigenous groups, student groups and unions, occupied it. One died and 50 were arrested in the fighting. (Tuckman, Jo, 10/30/2006, "Police, groups clash in Mexican city Activists say 1 killed, 50 held in protests," The Boston Globe) |
| Dec 1 - 27, 2006 |
A journalist and indigenous rights activist, RAul Marcial Perez, was found shot and killed in Oaxa. (Bonnell, Gregory, 12/27/2006, "Record set as 82 journalists killed in '06," The Toronto Star)
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