Browse Cases

Showing 1-10 of 10 results

CommScope workers in Ciudad Juárez camp-in for union rights, 2015

Country
Mexico
Time period
22 October, 2015 to 4 December, 2015
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sacha Lin, 30/05/2019

In 2015, when a number of maquiladora workers in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico took a stand for better working conditions, one of the companies impacted was CommScope, a manufacturer of telecommunications infrastructure. Based in North Carolina, the company employed 3,000 workers in its Ciudad Juárez factory.

Lexmark maquiladora workers in Ciudad Juárez camp-in for higher wages and union rights, 2015-2016

Country
Mexico
Time period
2 November, 2015 to 10 April, 2016
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
3.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sacha Lin, 27/05/2019

Just across the US-Mexico border from El Paso, Texas in the Mexican state of Chihuahua lies Ciudad Juárez, where the wages of workers in the maquiladoras, export-oriented factories run by foreign businesses, are significantly lower than in other parts of the country. Among the many maquiladoras in the city is a 2,800-worker printer-cartridge plant owned by Lexmark, a multinational company based in Lexington, Kentucky.

Mexicans protest drug violence, 2011

Country
Mexico
Time period
28 March, 2011 to 30 June, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Peace
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Timothy Hirschel-Burns 04/19/2015

In 2011, Mexico faced huge costs from the drug trade and efforts to
counteract it.  Mexico constituted a key part of the global drug trade,
as cartels trafficked illegal drugs through Mexico to their main buyer,
the United States.  Cartels committed extensive violence as they tried
to ensure compliance from citizens and maximize profit.  The most
frequent victims of drug violence were poor Mexicans, and some cities,
such as the border town of Ciudad Juarez, were particularly dangerous. 

Mayan pacifist group Las Abejas pressures Chiapas military base to close, 2000, Mexico

Country
Mexico
Time period
March, 1999 to April, 2000
Classification
Change
Cluster
Peace
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kelby Loeppky, 10/11/2013

Las Abejas is a Christian pacifist group of about 6,000 Tzotzil Maya indigenous people who live in Chiapas.  Las Abejas means "The Bees" in Spanish, reportedly indicating the value of collective work and life that shares the honey with those who need it. Forty-five members of the group were killed on 22 December 1997 when caught in a cross-fire between the Mexican army and the rebel Zapatistas, the Acteal Massacre.

Mexican farmers protest agricultural provisions of NAFTA treaty, 2008

Country
Mexico
Time period
1 January, 2008 to 2 February, 2008
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Rosanna Kim, 9/12/2012

On 1 January 2008, Mexico repealed all tariffs on corn, beans, milk, and sugar imported from north of the border as part of a 14-year phase out provision agreed to under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexican farmers quickly mobilized to voice their opposition, and tried to pressure the government to renegotiate the agricultural provisions of NAFTA, a free trade agreement passed in 1994 that removed most trade barriers between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. 

Mexican students defend public education at UNAM, 1999

Country
Mexico
Time period
11 March, 1999 to 6 February, 2000
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Mackenzie Welch, 12/04/2012

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is the largest university in Latin America, with over 270,000 enrolled students. It is credited with educating a number of Mexican presidents as well as prominent Latin American academics. In 1999, students attending UNAM paid approximately $0.02 for semester tuition.

Mexicans in Chihuahua protest electoral fraud, 1985-1988

Country
Mexico
Time period
July, 1985 to August, 1988
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
David Schwartz, 4/11/2011

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) had controlled Mexico and won almost every presidential, gubernatorial, and senatorial election since its founding in 1929. The PRI also dominated politics in most municipalities and on local levels. In the 1983 and 1985 elections however, the National Action Party (PAN) won many municipal seats and posed a significant challenge to state offices held by the PRI.

Oaxacan teachers strike against Governor, 2006

Country
Mexico
Time period
May 22, 2006 to October, 2006
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kylin Navarro 01/11/2010

In 2004, Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz became Governor of Oaxaca in a contentious election, rumored to involve fraud.  Many civilians and activists were angered over his win and led protest campaigns against him, resulting in the detention, incarceration, and disappearance of hundreds of social leaders throughout Oaxaca.  State forces silenced those who attempted to demonstrate even though the Oaxacan constitution permits protest.   

Mexican students protest for greater democracy, 1968

Country
Mexico
Time period
August, 1968 to October, 1968
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Shandra Bernath-Plaisted and Max Rennebohm, 20/10/2008 and 22/05/2011

In July of 1968, as the student-led uprising of May and June in France was fading away, a new one was just beginning in Mexico City. Students inspired by the success of the movement in France saw their own opportunity to bring more open democracy to Mexico. They saw the summer Olympics that were to take place in Mexico City in October as an opportunity to put pressure on the government, led by President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Mexican railroad workers strike for wages and union rights, 1958-1959

Country
Mexico
Time period
June 26, 1958 to April 9, 1959
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Alex Frye 24/04/2011

On June 26th, 1958, workers from the Sindicato de Trabajadores Ferrocarrileros de la República Mexicana (STFRM, Union of Railroad Workers of the Mexican Republic) initiated a series of escalating strikes led by Demetrio Vallejo. Vallejo had formed a General Action Committee after participating in a Union wage-price study committee that had determined a proper increase in wages of 350 pesos ($28) per month based on the decrease in real wages due to inflation.