Article published July 05, 2007
Security for FLOC
MEXICO, ever a dangerous place, has become even more perilous in recent months as the government there has attempted to crack down on the drug trade and drug lords have responded with scores of grisly murders.
And while the April murder of Santiago Rafael Cruz, a Farm Labor Organizing Committee field organizer from Toledo, does not appear to have been related to the daily battles between police and drug-cartel gangs, his death underscored the necessity of increasing security for FLOC workers in Monterrey.
It was gratifying, therefore, to hear Mexican authorities promise FLOC founder Baldemar Velasquez and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) that measures to improve the security of union activists working in Mexico will be put in place.
FLOC staff members now travel with cell phones programmed with emergency numbers, local police officers are supposed to sign in daily at FLOC's Monterrey offices, and security cameras are planned throughout the building.
But promises are not results, and implementation of these increased security provisions has, thus far, been spotty at best.
"There has been a lapse in the implementation of the security measures," Mr. Velasquez said.Police apparently do not visit the union's offices as often as FLOC officials had hoped, and the promised security cameras have fallen prey to bickering between federal officials and the government of the state of Nuevo Leon over who will foot the bill.
This is unacceptable.
Especially in light of Congress' recent failure to implement meaningful, wide-ranging immigration reform, it is critical that organizations like FLOC, which seeks to prevent recruiting abuses of migrant workers and to facilitate legal immigration through guest worker programs, receive the security they need to continue their important work.
Surely President Bush, despite his inability to create a positive legacy after 6 1/2 years in the Oval Office, has enough political capital left to exert pressure on the Mexican government to follow through on its promise to FLOC.
That would be a fitting memorial for Mr. Cruz and show that the President's interest in immigration reform was about achieving results, not protecting his place in history.
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