Witness for Peace’s work in Mexico focuses on U.S. policy and corporate practices towards our neighbor to the South.  We examine how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has impacted Mexico’s most vulnerable – small farmers and workers.  We address issues such as indigenous rights, food security, working conditions in the maquiladora sector, the “race to the bottom,” and the relationship of NAFTA to Mexican migration.

WFP Mexico also looks at important alternative movements that are thriving in Mexico, such as Fair Trade coffee production, peaceful resistance to militarization in Chiapas, and sustainable farming and development models that provide alternatives to NAFTA and the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP). WFP examines these critical issues in Mexico City and the states of Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Chiapas.

WFP has a long history in Mexico. From 1990 until 1995, WFP's Guatemalan accompaniment program worked with Guatemalan refugees in Chiapas. In early 1998, Witness for Peace returned to Chiapas, Mexico, to focus on U.S. military aid and training.  In 2001, the Mexico program shifted its focus to trade and economic issues, moving the office to Mexico City. Our on-the-ground staff organizes delegations, conducts research, and builds coalitions with local organizations. 

 (At left: North Carolina delegates learn about organic farming in Mexico)

¡Witness for Peace in Oaxaca!

In August 2005, Witness for Peace moved its Mexico office from Mexico City to Oaxaca, Mexico. After four years in Mexico City, developing contacts with national coalitions on trade, labor and agricultural issues, we have moved to Oaxaca to be in a better position to see the impact of trade and other economic policies, and learn about grassroots struggles in a state that receives relatively little international attention.

Oaxaca's largely indigenous population has strongly felt the impact of U.S. trade policies. The state's immense cultural and geographic diversity are contrasted with a deepening poverty and the ever-increasing migration of Oaxacans out of the state to other parts of Mexico and the US. It is also home to vibrant small farmers’ and indigenous peoples’ movements.

We encourage you to participate in a delegation to Mexico to learn about how U.S. policies and corporate practices affect people in Mexico. Our delegations give participants the opportunity to learn firsthand about these issues from those most affected by the policies. Below you can read about the different delegation themes. Click here to see the current Mexico delegation schedule.

If you're interested in a custom designed delegation for your university, high school, church, synagogue, mosque or other group please contact ken@witnessforpeace.org

(Above: Members of a women's weaving cooperative in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca.)

Witness for Peace Mexico Delegation Themes

Globalization 101: At What Human Cost?
Despite promises that corporate-led globalization and regional free trade agreements like NAFTA will alleviate poverty and support dignified and sustainable development, the case of Mexico illustrates otherwise. Learn how Mexican small farmers, workers, indigenous people, women and men are impacted by free trade and the resistance strategies they have adopted to construct a healthier and more just future. Delegations can also focus more specifically on the struggles of indigenous peoples in Mexico and of women.

The Globalization of Alternatives: Another World is Possible
"Everyone is against something, but not FOR anything!" is a common phrase heard these days. This delegation will debunk this myth. Learn how Mexicans from all parts of civil society are proactively organizing to construct communities that are true alternatives to the neoliberal development model. Meet with labor organizers, urban neighborhood activists, small farmers and indigenous people who are seeking to build a more just and inclusive Mexico.

Looking at the Roots of Migration: Free Trade & Migration
Learn about policies that are driving people to increasingly dangerous border crossings in search of a way to sustain the families they've left behind. Travel to southern Mexico to see first-hand the effect of U.S. policies and how they have contributed to migration. Learn from activists, farmers, and women about what the effects of migration have been on daily life, and how people are creating alternatives in Mexico that allow for men, women, and children to construct viable and healthy lives at home.

Fair Trade Coffee - People Over Profits
The struggle for economic justice inside and outside the free trade model is happening all over the world. In Mexico, many viable alternatives have taken shape, one being the promotion of fair trade. Fair trade attempts to offer small-farmers a fair and living wage for their work. Learn about the cooperative fair trade system in Oaxaca and Chiapas as well as about other organizations that are seeking a better way to do trade.

Corn and the Mexican People: NAFTA and the Mexican Countryside
Due to NAFTA, many Mexican agricultural producers are no longer able to compete. Learn about the impacts of free trade agricultural policies on the Mexican countryside, meet with organizations that are fighting to change NAFTA-related agricultural policies and learn from the very campesinos that are resisting these policies. Hear from small farmers how they are fighting to preserve their rural communities and are making links across borders.

Biodiversity, GMOs, and Food Sovereignty
Mexico is considered one of the few biologically "mega-diverse" countries in the world and has become a place of intense debate over the use of natural resources and the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), such as GMO corn. The impacts of GMOs on health, culture, and the environment should not be underestimated. The country's biodiversity is an extremely valuable cultural and ecological resource, but is also highly valued as an economic resource by transnational companies. Learn about the threats of corporate involvement and how indigenous communities in Chiapas and Oaxaca are defending native foods and resources.

Faith, Conscience, and Workers' Rights: NAFTA and its Impacts on Mexican Labor
One of the promises of NAFTA was that it would create more jobs in Mexico. As in the US, the results in Mexico have not been black and white. Learn about where jobs have been created and where they have been lost, as well as the general impact of the free trade agreements on labor, workers' rights, and a living wage. Get an in-depth look at Mexican labor history and the maquiladora development model by talking with maquiladora workers as well as other Mexican NGOs.

Where does the Violence Begin?
The poor in Mexico are often those most vulnerable to military and political violence. Mexico provides an example of how economic violence can begin a larger cycle of violence such as in military conflict. Visit areas of Mexico that have seen conflict and explore what the roots are. Learn about where the US government and citizens fit into this cycle, and what is being done in Mexico to end it.
Other Titles: "Spirituality and Economic Justice", "The Violence that Plagues Mexico: Economic Roots"

We can also custom design delegations for your group!

Witness for Peace Mexico Works in the Following Regions:
Oaxaca
Oaxaca is a state in southern Mexico with one of the largest indigenous populations in the country. Its immense cultural and geographic diversity are contrasted with deepening poverty and the ever-increasing migration of Oaxacans to the border and the US. It is also home to vibrant small farmers' and indigenous peoples' movements. Learn about the complexities of this state and the movements being formed to make a better world possible!

Chiapas
Chiapas is the southernmost state in Mexico and it borders on Guatemala. While beautiful and bountiful in resources, it is also one of the poorest regions in Mexico and has conflicts dating back to the arrival of the Spanish. Learn why Chiapas has become a center of regional, national and international activism in the past decades.

Tlaxcala
In this central Mexican state, communities are working for sustainable agricultural and alternative economic models which form an important part of the resistance to neoliberalism. Hear directly about these models from the people who are creating them.

Puebla
Puebla has become central Mexico's hub for export-oriented factories, known as maquiladoras. The apparel and auto parts industries employ thousands in the state. Meet with NGOs and workers struggling for their rights in a globalized world.

Mexico City
One of the largest cities in the world, and the capital of the republic, Mexico City has everything. It is a hub for hundreds of NGOs, and a center for political and grassroots activity.

Op-eds

Peering over the Wall in Bush’s Western Hemisphere Neighborhood

By Rober Saper, Witness for Peace International Team Member in Mexico

• Impacts of NAFTA on Agriculture (Word format)
• Mexican Agriculture Fact Sheet (New for 2005!)
• Sector Agropecuario en Mexico (En Español) (Word format)
• United States Agriculture Fact Sheet (Word format)