The Economist recently profiled Elba Esther Gordillo (”'the teacher’ holds back the pupils“), the head of Mexico's National Educational Workers’ Union, Latin America's largest union with a membership of 1.4 million teachers across the country.  Ms. Gordillo's political power, due in large part to the size of the teachers’ union, leads the Economist to claim she might be Mexico's second most powerful leader, after President Calderon. The fact that the teachers’ union is so powerful, however, does not necessarily bode well for the country's schools. Teachers and school heads, as the article points out, are accountable to union leaders, not the education ministry. The challenge now is whether Calderon and Gordillo are able to work together effectively to achieve the President's desired educational reforms.

Contributed by Rich Basas of FPA's Migration Blog: 

This past week the New York Times reporter Marc Lacey did a report on the ever-growing problem of HIV entering smaller communities in Mexico. He found that much of the problem comes from Migrant workers who earn much of their wages in the US and often come from and have their families settled in smaller towns throughout Mexico. Many of the wives and girlfriends of these workers often get infected from their husbands who contracted the disease through various means while residing in the US.

Lacey offers many explanations why there is a possible high increase of infections in Mexico. The main reason is that some of the migrant workers often spend months if not years apart from their families and often form other relationships apart from their family inside the US. Prostitution is also a factor as many workers take to using these services while apart from their families. Another theory is that when many of these workers return home there is little use of birth control methods and the fact that discussing HIV and AIDS is not as socially accepted in rural Mexico than in much of the US. Please refer to other theories in the article itself.

Despite all these issues the rate of HIV infection is still 0.3% in Mexico compared to 0.6% in the US. What needs to be considered however is that since many of these workers are essentially undocumented, it also means that there is little information about their health or even their identity. What is required is a public health campaign focused on the "undocumented" workers, as well as recognition of the psychological stresses many of these individuals face living apart from their families with risks to their lives and in some cases severe poverty. It must be acknowledged that because someone may be illegal in a country, it doesn't mean they have less of a right to basic human rights and needs. That is the only way to begin a process of recognizing the effect of HIV in Mexico and between borders.

Louis E.V. Nevaer reports in the San Francisco Chronicle that American guns being smuggled into Mexico are helping fuel drug-related violence there.  Mexico's military is searching southbound traffic along the border for shipments of weapons.  U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez acknowledged the problem last month in Mexico saying, “We are concerned about the number of weapons coming into Mexico and Central America illegally from the United States.  There is more that we can do, and we are looking to do, to try and stem the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico.”

According to Nevaer, Mexico's own gun laws are strict, with less than 6,000 legally registered guns in a country of 110 million people.

See:  American guns help fuel Mexico's drug trade killings (SF Gate)

FPA's Migration blog includes an entry of interest to those following migration issues that relate to Mexico. The posting, “A Day Without a Mexican?” can be viewed here.

The 9th Cuba-Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Conference concluded recently in Havana, providing an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations. According to press reports, the meetings were attended by senators and deputies from all parties represented in the Mexican Congress and a deputy delegation from the Cuban Peoples’ Power National Assembly. Delegates hoped to review positions prior to international events such as the upcoming Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly meetings, while also covering issues like health, education, culture, and cooperation in natural disasters and environmental protection.

See: Cuba-Mexico Lawmakers in Havana (Prensa Latina)

President Felipe Calderon criticized the U.S. Senate's failure to pass the Bush-backed immigration bill, saying that the lack of reform “worsens illegal immigration.”

An El Universal editorial stated, “It's obvious that the politicians in (the U.S.) want laborers, but they are not willing to legalize the labor that they need,” and thus, “migrants will continue to be subjected to extraordinary means of discrimination.”

Others, however, had been critical of the bill. Al Rojas of the advocacy group, Front of Americans Abroad, said that law “would have imposed prejudices, treating migrants like criminals and judging them.” He added, “Faced with a bad law, we preferred that they approved nothing.”

See: Mexico opinion makers see hypocrisy in defeat of U.S. immigration bill (International Herald Tribune)