Prime Minister Trudeau speaks with Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum amidst human rights concerns

Published by Brent Patterson on June 4, 2024June 4, 2024

Photo: Claudia Sheinbaum.

On Monday June 3, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Claudia Sheinbaum, the President-elect of Mexico.

The read-out from the conversation between Trudeau and Sheinbaum notes: “They underscored the importance of growing our economies and delivering fairness for every generation through the Canada-United States-Mexico [“free trade”] Agreement. They also discussed key priorities like fighting climate change, strengthening international peace and security, and promoting gender equality.”

In response to a tweet by Trudeau, Sheinbaum replied: “I thank the Prime Minister of Canada, @JustinTrudeau for his call to convey congratulations on our victory on behalf of his country. We agreed on the multiple common interests between Mexico and Canada and the great opportunities to strengthen our relationship.”

The Canadian Press adds: “Trudeau’s office said both leaders ‘expressed their desire to meet in person soon’ during their Monday call.”

Sheinbaum was elected on June 2 and will assume office on October 1.

92 human rights defenders killed during AMLO’s term

Prior to her election, the Focus Group on Business and Human Rights in Mexico together a wide range of groups including Espacio OSC called on all presidential candidates, including Sheinbaum, “to promote a robust and coherent regulatory framework that ensures responsible business behavior that respects human rights.”

The groups also called on “the aspirants to govern the country carry out actions such as strengthening protection mechanisms for human rights and environmental defenders, safeguarding labor rights in various industries, establishing sanction mechanisms for companies and financial actors that violate human rights, among others.”

This weekend, Proceso also reported: “On the eve of the largest election day in the country’s history, members of the Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations All Rights for All (Red TDT) warned about the absence of a clear proposal on human rights by the presidential candidates, nor to stop the violence that has prevailed during the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. in which 92 human rights defenders were killed.”

With respect to several key issues:

Mayan Train, Interoceanic Corridor megaprojects, gas pipelines

NACLA has reported: “Sheinbaum has emphasized the government’s plans to build out the [Mayan Train’s] cargo-carrying capacity—including proposals to eventually connect it with the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, another AMLO megaproject, that is being hailed as Mexico’s alternative to the Panama Canal.”

Earlier this month, Sheinbaum commented to Agencia Quadratín media: “There is a gas pipeline for the peninsula and two power generation plants that will power Campeche and the entire Southeast, and one of the great projects is the Mayan Train, which will not only be for passengers, but also for cargo. It’s up to us to develop it, and its link with the Interoceanic greatly enhances regional development.”

There are several pipelines that Sheinbaum could be referring to in this quote. The Interoceanic Corridor is a megaproject that has been described by a proponent as including “two deep sea ports, railroads, highways, three airports (Minatitlán, Ixtepec and Huatulco), a gas pipeline and a fiber optic network.”

That pipeline is  the Jaltipan-Salina Cruz Gas Pipeline Expansion. Calgary-based TC Energy is building the Puerta del Sureste/ Southeast Gateway pipeline that will connect to Jáltipan-Salina Cruz Gas Pipeline to transport gas across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the proposed Salina Cruz LNG export terminal.

Militarization

VOX has noted: “She has also promised to bolster the National Guard, giving it more officers and surveillance capabilities. But that could also increase the militarization of policing and fighting crime, a significant human rights concern.”

Mothers searching for the disappeared

Aljazeera highlights: “Voters like Yolanda Moran Isais, whose son Dan Jeremeel Fernandez Moran went missing in 2008, fear Sheinbaum will continue Lopez Obrador’s habit of downplaying the extent of the disappearances [that now stands at more than 114,000 people]. Moran Isais leads a group of volunteers who search for the missing in the Mexican state of Coahuila. She expressed disappointment that Sheinbaum refused to meet with a nationwide delegation of mothers leading the search effort.”

Open-pit mining and fracking

And WIRED adds: “Like the current Mexican government, [Sheinbaum’s 100-point Nation Project] expresses its position against fracking and open-pit mining concessions and proposes to evaluate whether those that are already active are accepted by the population.”

On this last point, Mongabay also notes: “AMLO reformed the mining industry by increasing profits for local and Indigenous communities and making free and prior consent a requirement for new concessions. But it was criticized for not going far enough. Sheinbaum wants to halt open-pit mining concessions altogether and ban fracking.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Inside Mexico’s Controversial ‘Trans-Isthmus Corridor’ Megaproject (Truthdig, June 3, 2024).