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Mexico: Unión General Obrera, Campesina y Popular, (UGOCP); its mandate, leadership and activities; whether members have been targeted by organized crime; relations with the government, especially in the state of Veracruz (1999-2007)

Mandate and general information

Founded in 1986, the Unión General Obrera, Campesina y Popular (UGOCP) is a Mexican peasant organization which seeks to improve the quality of life, employment and social development in rural Mexico (UGOCP n.d.). Members include peasants, travelling or sedentary traders, women's and youth groups, farmers and residents of low income neighbourhoods (habitantes de colonias populares), who collaborate to present a unified front before national, state and municipal authorities in advocating social and economic development alternatives (ibid.).

According to La Jornada, the UGOCP had 300,000 members in 2004 and was active in 13 states (La Jornada 23 Nov. 2004). In 2003, the UGOCP's zone of influence reportedly included the states of Campeche, Chiapas, Guerrero, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Sinaloa, Tlaxcala Sonora and Veracruz (ibid. 9 Feb. 2003).

Leadership

The UGOCP is led by Margarito Montes Parra (UGOCP 8 Feb. 2006; La Jornada 23 Nov. 2004). The leader of UGOCEP in the city of Veracruz is Joaquín Pardo Ruiz (Notimex 10 Apr. 2007). Karina Barón Ortiz is the state leader of UGOCP in Oaxaca (ADN Sureste 4 Oct. 2007).

Activities

Among the goals of the UGOCP as laid out by its leader Montes Parra is the establishment of a rural supply network which, for a fee of 150 pesos per package [1 Mexican peso = 0.09 Canadian dollars (Canada 4 Jan. 2008)], would distribute some 100,000 hampers each week containing food and other essential goods (La Jornada 23 Nov. 2004). In February 2006, the project was extended to Mexico's Federal District (Distrito Federal) (UGOCP 8 Feb. 2006).

In January 2005, La Jornada reported that, after eight years of stalemate, the federal Ministry of Agrarian Reform (Secretaría de la Reforma Agraria) and the UGOCP agreed to a settlement which would benefit some 40,000 peasant farmers in Veracruz; the deal included land legalization and the purchase of land for the benefit of peasants (La Jornada 19 Jan. 2005).

In February 2007, over 100 police officers evicted UGOCP protesters from a fish market in Veracruz after they refused to leave the market, which was being relocated elsewhere (Notimex 1 Feb. 2007).

In August 2007, members of the UGOCP took over the office of the GEO construction company in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca for five hours to protest the dismissal of 350 employees and to demand compensation for them (ADN Sureste 15 Aug. 2007). Information on whether a compromise was eventually reached could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

In October 2007, InfoVeracruz reported that armed members of the UGOCP went to an unofficial housing development named Ampliación UGOCP, claiming that their members were the rightful owners of the homes (InfoVeracruz 12 Oct. 2007). According to an UGOCP leader, in 2002 the lands had been allocated to 900 families affiliated with the UGOCP (ibid.). The armed members reportedly asked that residents pay them 38,000 pesos in exchange for the right to occupy the lands (ibid.), but further details or corroboration of this incident could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Targeting of members

In August 1999, Amnesty International (AI) reported that seven indigenous members of the UGOCP were assaulted and threatened by fellow members, apparently with the consent of UGOCP leaders, after they had accused UGOCP leaders of corruption (AI 18 Aug. 1999). On 31 July 1999, some 100 members of the UGOCP, armed with machetes, rifles and handguns, entered the homes of the seven victims in the community of San Francisco de Asís, municipality of Playa Vicente in the state of Veracruz (ibid.). According to AI, the seven were threatened with having their property taken from them, allegedly with government authorization, and were detained in Santa Cruz where they received [translation] "death threats" before being released (ibid.). AI stated that police appeared to be aware of the incident but failed to intervene and had not initiated any investigation into the matter (ibid.). Further or corroborating information on this incident could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

La Jornada reported in September 2003 that Pioquinto Becerra Ballesteros, a regional leader of the UGOCP in Oaxaca (ADN Sureste 4 Oct. 2007), and another member of the UGOCP died from injuries apparently sustained while in police custody after having been arrested outside a Tuxtepec bar (La Jornada 5 Sept. 2003). A week later, city authorities allowed the state Office of the Attorney General (Procuraduría General de Justicia) to question 11 municipal police officers in connection with the alleged [translation] "assault and torture" that the two men suffered before their deaths (ibid. 11 Sept. 2003). The State Human Rights Commission (Comisión Estatal de Derechos Humanos) reportedly launched an investigation into the detention of the UGOCP members, while UGOCP leader Montes Parra called on the state government and Ministerial Police (Policía Ministerial) [translation] "to bring an end to the intimidation of UGOCP members by armed men who 'are openly protected by federal and state authorities in the Papaloapan river basin area'" (ibid.).

In August 2005, Montes Parra accused all three levels of government in the area around Playa Vicente, Veracruz of inaction regarding "paramilitaries [who] operate in service to organized crime" and who are involved in drug trafficking in the region (El Liberal del Sur 12 Aug. 2005). Montes Parra added that 25 of the murders that had taken place over the past three years around Playa Vicente "were related to drug trafficking, but 'were made to look like agrarian conflicts'" (ibid.). Further or corroborating information on these allegations could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

An article appearing in the 1 December 2005 edition of La Jornada indicates that there is a rivalry between the UGOCP and the Consejo Regional Obrero, Campesino y Urbano de Tuxtepec (CROCUT), an armed peasant rights organization led by César Toimil Robert until his assassination on 30 November 2005. In 2001, Toimil Robert served a jail term following his organization's takeover of Montes Parra's ranch (La Jornada 1 Dec. 2005). Montes Parra denies any involvement in Toimil Robert's killing, but has claimed that Toimil Robert had ties with organized crime groups (ibid. 3 Dec. 2005). Two years after Toimil Robert's death, the newspaper El Mundo de Córdoba reports that Robert's siblings continue to accuse Montes Parra of being the [translation] "intellectual author" of their brother's assassination and of [translation] "having benefited from his death" (26 Oct. 2007).

Government relations

According to La Jornada, the UGOCP initially benefited from governmental support during the presidency of Carlos Salinas de Gortari [1988-1994] (La Jornada 9 Feb. 2003).

In December 2001, an article appearing in El Universal cited the treasurer of Yanga municipality (Veracruz), Raúl Castillo Cruz, as accusing the UGOCP of working with local members of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD) and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) to seize land, including cattle ranches and sugarcane farms (24 Dec. 2001). The article went on to say that [translation] "hundreds of complainants" had reported Margarito Montes Parra and his organization for property seizures, other acts of robbery, an unknown number of murders and attempted rapes; these complainants estimated that the number of warrants for the arrest of UGOCP members in relation to these acts in the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca could total over 700 (El Universal 24 Dec. 2001). Further or corroborating information on these allegations could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

In December 2004, Montes Parra accused then Veracruz state governor, Miguel Alemán Velazco, of "giving speeches that 'glossed over'" 246 unresolved agrarian land disputes in the state to hide his government's failure to adequately settle the problems; Montes Parra also criticized the national Agrarian Tribunal for failing to settle 1,700 outstanding agrarian land disputes throughout Mexico (El Liberal del Sur 7 Dec. 2004).

In March 2005, La Jornada reported on protests by some 150 members of the UGOCP in Boca del Río, Veracruz who were demanding that the federal government comply with its promise to hand over 40 million pesos to support various agricultural projects, including rice, fruit and vegetable cultivation (La Jornada 4 Mar. 2005).

In October 2006, Notimex reported that leaders of the UGOCP spoke at a rally in support of Oaxaca governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (18 Oct. 2006).

In March 2007, following the murder of his son, Jorge Adrián Montes Vega, in Cócorit, Sonora, UGOCP leader Montes Parra refuted Sonora governor Eduardo Bours' allegations that his death was the result of fighting between organized crime syndicates (UGOCP 29 Mar. 2007). Instead, Montes Parra accused the authorities of exercising a [translation] "concerted effort" to protect the killers of his son (ibid.).

A September 2007 Veracruz state government press release cites the state's minister for Economic and Port Development, Carlos García Méndez, as stating that UGOCP leader Margarito Montes Parra was a strong supporter of Veracruz state governor Fidel Herrera Beltrán and had helped Herrera Beltrán's Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) win a majority of mayoral races and state legislature seats in the Papaloapan river basin region (Veracruz 24 Sept. 2007).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agencia Digital de Noticias del Sureste (ADN Sureste) [Oaxaca]. 4 October 2007. Rebecca Romero. "De elecciones: Ley de Herodes." <http://www.adnsureste.info/es/index.php?news=5978> [Accessed 4 Jan. 2008]
_____. 15 August 2007. Salvador García Martínez. "Cerra UGOCEP tienda en Tuxtepec." <http://www.adnsureste.info/es/index.php?news=4729> [Accessed 11 Dec. 2007]

Amnesty International (AI). 18 August 1999. "Temor por la seguridad y amenazas de muerte." (AMR 41/020/1999) <http://www.amnesty.org/es/report/info/AMR41/020/1999> [Accessed 11 Dec. 2007]

Canada. 4 January 2008. Bank of Canada. "Daily Currency Converter." <http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/rates/converter.html?style=print> [Accessed 4 Jan. 2008]

InfoVeracruz.com. 12 October 2007. Christian Valera. "Colonos de la UGOCEP siembran terror entre los habitantes." < [Accessed 11 Dec. 2007]

La Jornada [Mexico City]. 28 January 2007. Mariana Norandi. "'Ha llegado el momento de defender al campo'." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/01/28/index.php?section=politica&article=013n1pol> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 3 December 2005. Victor Ruiz and Andrés T. Morales. "Suman cinco muertos por la emboscada en Oaxaca." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/12/03/033n2est.php> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 1 December 2005. Victor Ruiz Arrazola. "Matan en Oaxaca a líder de grupo campesino y a otras dos personas." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/12/01/039n1est.php> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 4 March 2005. Andrés T. Morales. "Exige la UGOCEP $40 millones al gobierno federal." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/03/04/039n2est.php> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 19 January 2005. Elizabeth Velasco C. "Cumple hoy SRA finiquito agrario." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/01/19/040n1soc.php?printver=1&fly=> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 23 November 2004. Matilde Pérez U. "A desarrollo rural, menos de la décima parte del PEF." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2004/11/23/007n3pol.php> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 11 September 2003. Victor Ruiz Arrazola. "Ponen a 11 policías a disposición de la PGJ de Oaxaca." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/09/11/043n2est.php?printver=1&fly=2> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 5 September 2003. Victor Ruiz Arrazola. "Mueren 2 campesinos luego de ser detenidos por policías de Oaxaca." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/09/05/031n2est.php?printver=1&fly=2> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 9 February 2003. Jesús Ramírez Cuevas. "Una radiografía de las organizaciones agrarias – Movimiento campesino: las razones de la furia." <http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/02/09/mas-jesus.html> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]

El Liberal del Sur [Coatzacoalcos]. 12 August 2005. "Highlights: Mexico Crime and Narcotics Issues." (Foreign Broadcast Information Service, FBIS/Dialog)
_____. 7 December 2004. "Highlights: Mexico Security Issues." (Foreign Broadcast Information Service, FBIS/Dialog)

El Mundo de Córdoba [Mexico]. 26 October 2007. Antonio Herrera. "Niega Montes Parra relación con el asesinato de Toimil." <http://www.elmundodecordoba.com/index.php?command=show_news&news_id=46325> [Accessed 11 Dec. 2007]

Notimex, Agencia de Noticias del Estado Mexicano [Mexico City]. 10 April 2007. "Marchan miembros de Ugocep para pedir mejoras en campo de Veracruz." (Factiva)
_____. 1 February 2007. "Desalojan en medio de protesta mercado de Pescadores en Veracruz." (Factiva)
_____. 18 October 2006. "Marchan priístas en Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, en apoyo a Ulises Ruiz." (Factiva)

Unión General Obrera, Campesina y Popular (UGOCP). 29 March 2007. Comité Ejecutivo Nacional. "Boletín de Prensa: 'Protege Eduardo Bours al crimen organizado'." <http://www.ugocp.com.mx/bajar/boletinugocp10.pdf> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. 8 February 2006. Comité Ejecutivo Nacional. "Boletín de Prensa: Firman UGOCP y organizaciones populares acuerdo para implantar el sistema de abasto popular agroalimentario en el DF." <http://www.ugocp.com.mx/bajar/boletinfirma.pdf> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]
_____. N.d. "Historia de la UGOCP." <http://www.ugocp.com.mx/historia.html> [Accessed 11 Dec. 2007]

El Universal [Mexico City]. 24 December 2001. José López Sanchez. "Denuncian invasiones de tierras en Veracruz." <http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=74708&tabla=nacion> [Accessed 21 Dec. 2007]

Veracruz. 24 September 2007. Dirección General de Comunicación Social. "Representantes del Gobierno de FHB se reunieron con la dirigencia de la Ugocep." <http://app.comsocialver.gob.mx/prensa/detallecom.asp?id=13444> [Accessed 11 Dec. 2007]

Additional Sources Consulted

Publications: Political Handbook of the World 2007.

Internet sites, including: BBC Mundo, Courrier international, La Crónica de Hoy [Mexico], European Country of Origin Information Network (ecoi.net), Human Rights Watch (HRW), United States Department of State, World News Connection (WNC).

Topics: Political groups, Social conditions,