Lesbian couple demand right to marry
Martha Sandoval and Zaira de la O had sought to mark International Women’s Day on March 8 by becoming the first gay or lesbian couple to marry in Jalisco but they were refused by the civil registrar for “not meeting the requirements set by law.”
The pair were accompanied to the registry office by members of Lesbian Mothers in Mexico and the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights, as well as their four-month-old baby who was conceived through artificial insemination.
Jesus Rosas Lomeli, the director of Guadalajara’s civil registry, denied their marriage application on the basis that Article 258 of the Civil Code of Jalisco defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman.
Although same-sex marriages are generally only permitted in Mexico City, Sandoval and de la O argued that their right to marriage is guaranteed by a constitutional reform from June 2011 which banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.
They cited a precedent set in Oaxaca April 2012, when a judge granted a lesbian couple permission to marry after an eight-month legal battle. In August 2012, a federal judge then ordered the state of Oaxaca to perform same-sex marriages based on the aforementioned constitutional reform.
This ruling and two others were reviewed by the SCJN, which in December 2012 issued unanimous rulings overturning the ban on same-sex marriage in three individual cases in Oaxaca. However, a total of five individual cases must be decided this way in order for an official legal precedent to be set.
Having been rejected by the registrar in Guadalajara, Sandoval and de la O requested the denial in writing in order to take up the case with the SCJN, in the hope of setting a similar precedent in Jalisco.
While former Governor Emilio Gonzalez was firmly against same-sex marriage, his successor Aristoteles Sandoval recently vowed to recognize and expand the rights of same-sex couples in the state.
The push for equality in Jalisco comes after its neighbor state of Colima allowed its first ever same-sex marriage last month. An unnamed couple wed in a discreet private ceremony in the town of Cuauhtemoc in northeast Colima on February 27.
After taking into account the Mexican Constitution and the state law against discrimination, Mayor Indira Vizcaino Silva of the liberal Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) decided that all same-sex couples will now be allowed to marry in the municipality.
Telecoms reforms would curb power of Slim and Televisa
The proposed constitutional reforms would allow increased foreign ownership of media and phone companies, as well as establishing a new, autonomous Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) and even threatening the powerful monopolies that undermine the Mexican economy with forced asset sales.
“The purpose of these measures is to free up the sector’s potential, and do it as quickly as possible,” President Enrique Peña Nieto said upon presenting the proposals on Monday. “This is one of our biggest initiatives to democratize productivity and create a more dynamic economy.”
Mexico has long suffered from concentrated media ownership and weak regulations, resulting in high prices, low infrastructure investment, a lack of choice for consumers and an under-performing economy.
Previous governments have failed to curb the influence of the telecoms and media tycoons, but the Peña Nieto administration is well placed to bring about change, having negotiated the reforms with leaders of the two opposition parties through the “Pact for Mexico” agreed in December.
The bill could yet face alterations in Congress, where the Peña Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lacks a majority, but it should meet approval by the end of April and could be signed into law by September, under the time-frame agreed upon in the tripartisan pact.
The measures proposed in the bill include auctioning the rights to two new television channels (with the two most powerful broadcasters, Televisa and TV Azteca, prohibited from bidding), creating a new public broadcasting channel, allowing foreign investors to own up to 49 percent of television or radio broadcasters (pending a review by a foreign investment commission) and introducing specialized courts for settling competition disputes.
The bill also stipulates that companies with a market share of over 50 percent will be deemed dominant and could be subject to sanctions, including possible forced sale of assets.
This could affect Carlos Slim’s Telcel, which controls 70 percent of the Mexican cellphone market, and Telmex, which controls 75 percent of the landline market. Despite the threat of being broken up, America Movil, Slim’s conglomerate which includes both Telcel and Telmex, issued a statement on Monday praising the bill for allowing the foreign investment that the sector needs.
Televisa and TV Azteca, which together control 94 percent of Mexico’s commercial networks, also stand to be affected by the reforms. Many Mexicans criticized and protested against Televisa’s coverage of last year’s presidential election, arguing that it was heavily biased in favor of Peña Nieto and the PRI, so limiting the network’s influence will effectively free the president from being tainted by such accusations.
Televisa’s billionaire owner Emilio Azcarraga welcomed the increased competition that the reforms would bring, writing on Twitter that it is “a time of great challenges, and also opportunities.”
China plans controversial trade center in Cancun
If it goes ahead as planned at an initial cost of 180 million dollars, Dragon Mart Cancun will stock furniture, jewelry, electronics, toys, construction materials and other goods, targeting wholesalers in the growing markets across Latin America and the Caribbean. With 722 homes for the Chinese administrators of its 3,040 showrooms, it would be the largest trading center for Chinese products in the western hemisphere.
Modeled on the hugely successful Dragon Mart Dubai that opened in 2004, the project is expected to generate 8,550 direct and indirect jobs. Promoters say it will spur greater trade between China and the Americas, as well as promoting cross-cultural ties, with the village hosting events to showcase Chinese music, dance and culture. They also say it will broaden regional tourism, drawing an additional one million people a year to Cancun, which is already the most popular beach resort in the Americas.
Despite these apparent benefits, many Mexicans are firmly opposed to the project. Over 100 environmentalists staged a protest last month, arguing that the project, which will be based about four miles from Cancun’s airport and just over two miles from the protected Puerto Morelos coral reef, violates environmental regulations.
Meanwhile, many Mexican businesses are worried about the economic impact of increased competition from inexpensive Chinese imports.
Since signing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada in 1994, Mexico has modeled itself as a low-cost manufacturer. This left the economy vulnerable to China’s robust manufacturing supply chain, with Mexico losing hundreds of thousands of jobs when factories began relocating to China after it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.
Bilateral trade remains heavily skewed in China’s favor, with Mexico importing about 90 percent of the 60 billion dollars worth of goods that flow between the two countries each year, according to Mexican government data. This trade deficit and the competition over cheap labor have ensured that relations between the two countries remain tense, with the Mexican government filing four complaints against China with the WTO in recent years.
In a bid to allay the fears of Mexican businesses, those behind the project made the concession that no shoes or clothing will be sold at Dragon Mart Cancun so as not to damage these major Mexican industries.
Dragon Mart Cancun is a joint venture between Mexican investors and Chinamex, an overseas promotional department of China’s Ministry of Commerce. Chinamex chairmen Hao Feng owns 10 percent of the shares of Dragon Mart Cancun Real Estate, 45 percent is owned by Yucatan businessman Carlos Castillo Medrano, who owns the 571 acres of land, locally known as “El Tucan,” where the complex will be built, and the other 45 percent is owned by a group of investors from Monterrey.
The aim of Dragon Mart Cancun is for China to diversify its exports, which are still heavily dependent on the shaky economies of the United States, Europe and Japan. The developers considered other host cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, Panama City, Sao Paulo and Tijuana, but chose Cancun because of its major international airport, its world-class hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions, and the promise of tax breaks from the Quintana Roo government.
The project has already received the green light from the state government and construction is now set to begin after the Benito Juarez municipality finally signed a building permit in late February. The project is due for completion in May 2014.
The Tequila Files 