BY PETER GELLERT
MEXICO CITY — The first major conflict between the mass movement and Mexico's President Vicente Fox's administration has ended in a qualified victory for those opposed to the construction of a new international airport for the capital.
For eight months, peasant farmers known as ejidatarios have battled plans to build the new US$2.3 billion airport on their land in the village of San Salvador Atenco, in the neighbouring State of Mexico. The farmers had been offered a paltry 70 cents a square metre for their land.
If implemented, the project would mean that 30 farming communities would disappear. The proposed airport was also opposed by those who rejected it on environmental reasons.
The ejidatarios have been fighting expropriation of their land on three fronts: in the courts, where they have won several injunctions and are now awaiting a final decision from the Supreme Court; in the streets with almost constant mobilisations (armed with machetes); and in the court of public opinion, with a particular orientation to the mass social movements.
The situation came to a head on July 11, when a peaceful march seeking to reach the office of State of Mexico Governor Arturo Montiel Rojas was brutally attacked by police. Thirty protesters were injured and 14 movement activists were detained, among them two leaders, Ignacio del Valle and Jose Adan Espinoza.
In turn, the peasants took 15 hostages — among them a deputy state prosecutor, government functionaries, police agents who had been posing as journalists, and cops — to be exchanged for their imprisoned comrades.
In what can only be described as a semi-insurrectional situation, local residents, supported by surrounding communities, took control of the village and erected barricades to block traffic.
The government's initial response was, in the words of interior minister Santiago Creel, to apply a firm hand. The project would not be halted, Fox declared.
However, public opinion began to rapidly swing in favour of the people of San Salvador Atenco as Mexicans became aware of the circumstances.
A particularly important role in getting out the truth about the struggle was played by the Mexican mass circulation left daily La Jornada, which dedicated about a dozen pages each day to the struggle.
After a two-day standoff, with heavily armed specialised federal police units waiting to sweep in at any moment and with hundreds of activists from Mexico City rushing to San Salvador Atenco to offer support and place themselves in the way of the cops, the government began to retreat.
First, the state government washed its hands of the situation, passing the buck on to Fox's administration. Then in a dramatic reversal, the interior ministry announced the federal government's willingness to negotiate, offer a better price for the peasants' land, and even reconsider the location of the airport. Without the agreement of the area's farmers, there will be no airport, the Interior Ministry said. The detained movement leaders were freed and the hostages were released.
Boosting the farmers' standing, the freed hostages universally said they had been well treated, in stark contrast to the beaten and bloody movement leaders. Several released hostages called for a negotiated solution and even expressed sympathy for the San Salvador Atenco people's demands.
Fox's reversal and declared willingness to negotiate was welcomed by all except big business associations, and the outcome is being seen as a victory for the ejidatarios and their supporters. On July 16, more than 10,000 marched in a heavy downpour in Mexico City to reaffirm their support for the struggle.
The peasant farmers say they do not want to sell their land at any price. They have won the first round of their battle and it is unclear whether the government is willing to risk the political price of another confrontation.
From Green Left Weekly, July 24, 2002.
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