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Facts about Oaxaca
Natural Resources :
Water / Electricity :
The Chimalapas are the source of more than 40% of the rivers of Mexico.
The state of Oaxaca has several dams to irrigate agricultural crops and to generate electricity. Among the most important are the Temazcal, the Cerro de Oro, the MarquĂ©s and the Yosocuta. In the state there are two hydroelectric plants that generate electricity: Tamazulapam and Temazcal. EDUCA also identified at least 64 âsmallâ hydroelectric projects and one large hydroelectric project.
Source: SecretarĂa de EconomĂa, December 2018
On the other hand, there are 28 wind power plants installed on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (of the 50 operating in the country) and several other projects in the same region. Peasant and indigenous organizations in the area have opposed these projects due to their possible ecological, economic, social and cultural impacts.
Oaxaca produces 2.6% of the total electrical energy in the country (15th position); 4% of hydroelectric energy and 62% of wind energy.
Source: SecretarĂa de EnergĂa 2017; Instituto Mexicano de TecnologĂa del Agua 2017; AsociaciĂłn Mexicana de EnergĂa EĂłlica (Amdee)
Minerals :
In the state of Oaxaca there is a great diversity of minerals. Since before the Conquest there is evidence of the exploitation of minerals and precious stones. Important deposits are known that regionally can be framed within nine mining regions, which have been grouped according to the type of mineralization. The minerals that make up the most important mines in the state are: silver, copper, iron, crystalline graphite, coal, gypsum and travertine.
The value of state mining production during the January-December 2017 period amounted to 9,113,397,946 pesos, with 3.38% of the total national value.
6.88% of the surface of Oaxaca is concessioned to mining companies (with 427 titles), according to the Mining Program of the Ministry of Economy 2018.
48.1% of foreign investment went to the mining sector (INEGI 2011).
Source: Panorama minero en Oaxaca (SecretarĂa de EconomĂa, December 2018)
Agriculture
32.7% of the population of the state works in the primary sector. 82.5% of the state's surface is used for agricultural or forestry activities.
(National Survey of Occupation and Employment INEGI 2018)
According to the Secretariat of Agricultural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture (SEDAPA) 2018, Oaxaca ranks third in agricultural production and has 50 agricultural productive activities of the 63 with which the country has.
Maize production is the main extensive cultivation carried out in Oaxaca (seventh place nationwide). Beans, wheat, sugar cane and agave or maguey are also sown. Oaxaca occupies the 1st national place producing papaya.
(Secretariat of Agricultural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture (SEDAPA) 2019).
Biodiversity
Oaxaca is one of the most biologically diverse states of the Republic. It presents the following ecological zones: humid tropics (44.4%), sub-humid tropics (35.5%) and temperate (20%).
Oaxaca and Chiapas are the states that occupy first and second places nationally in both biological diversity and fresh, uncontaminated water, according to WWF.
Flora
It is estimated that of the 22,350 known plant species in Mexico, 8,400 are found in Oaxaca (WWF).
Forestry is part of the potential wealth of the state, which is located in the regions of the Sierra Norte and Sur, as well as part of the Mixteca Baja, and with regard to precious woods, the Chimalapas area.
Fauna
There a great variety of fauna in the state. Registered species are:
264 species and subspecies of mammals (50% of the national total)
701 species of birds (63%)
More than 467 species of reptiles (26%)
More than 100 species of amphibians (35%)
Source: Instituto Nacional de EcologĂa
The Chimalapas region in particular has 31.3% of mammalian species in Mexico, 32.3% of the bird species, and 44.5% of the butterfly species.
Protected natural areas
The Protected Natural Areas are terrestrial or aquatic portions of the national territory representative of the diverse ecosystems, where the original environment has not been essentially altered and that produce ecological benefits.
Oaxaca has eight protected natural areas: Tehuacan CuicatlĂĄn Biosphere Reserve, Huatulco National Park, Lagunas de Chacahua National Park, Benito JuĂĄrez National Park, Yagul Natural Monument, Escobilla Beach Sanctuary, Chacahua Bay Beach Sanctuary and the Area Protection of Flora and Fauna BoquerĂłn de Tonala.
The National Institute of Ecology highlights another interesting fact: in the case of Oaxaca, âthe conservation of natural spaces can arise from other normative provisions in the management of natural resources such as Forest Management Programs, the establishment of Community Statutes or Agrarian Regulations and productive strategies such as traditional coffee growing, the management of secondary vegetation, ecotourism and even symbolic conceptions of peasant and indigenous communities that favor the conservation of important natural areas. Suffice it to say that the sum of the forest area protected through community initiatives (67,916 ha), as well as other non-formal conservation examples (47,742 ha) [âŠ] total just over 115 thousand hectares, which represents 32% of the total area protected through formal instruments.â
Even as one of the states with the greatest biodiversity in the country, Oaxaca registers a high rate of deterioration of its natural resources: annually between 25 and 30 thousand hectares of forests are deforested, mainly in the regions of the Sierra Sur and Mixteca, according to data from the delegation of the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources (SEMARNAT, 2019). The National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR) estimates that 60 percent of the soils present a form of erosion of greater or lesser severity. This is mainly due to immoderate logging and illegal timber trafficking, forest fires that occur annually, predation on protected species of flora and fauna, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, the extraction of minerals and the capitalization of fresh water.
Migration :
- It is estimated that between 2015 and 2020, an average of 94,300 people emigrated abroad each year, 55.22% being men and more than 30% in an age range of 20 to 29.
- Of the 570 municipalities of the state, 303 produce migrants, 197 maintain balance and 70 are of attraction.
- In 2015, according to the Bank of Mexico, remittances sent by family members living in Mexico were 1,288.7 million dollars (6th place in the country, since they accounted for 5.2% of the national total). Remittances constitute the third source of income after tourism and coffee.
- In the last 30 years, the state of Oaxaca has been characterized by a huge migration of its native population. The Mixtec region has the highest migration rates in the state, with an uninterrupted increase since 1940.
- Oaxaca is the second state, after Guerrero, with the highest number of migrant children who work alongside their parents and their future offers few alternatives outside of this work.
- The main reasons for migration include the search for opportunities in the face of poverty. Migration occurs in many cases after recognizing that the birthplace community is no longer the place where one can develop work and educational activities.
- Young people can be negatively affected. There can be cultural conflicts between parents and young people, loss of language, dropping out of studies to emigrate and get dollars easily. Family disintegration can occur as children are raised by single mothers, grandparents, or other relatives.
Sources DirecciĂłn General de PoblaciĂłn de Oaxaca 2017
Migrants in transit :
Since 1990, the Mexico-US migration corridor the biggest in the world, with 12.7 million migrants in 2017. A special CNDH report on migrant kidnappings documents the alarming number of these by criminal gangs and the abuses related to them. According to the report, most of the kidnappings and the most serious abuses take place in the states through which the freight trains of the main routes used by migrants pass, such as Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz and Tamaulipas. It must be remembered that due to their illegal situation and the complicity of public authorities in the violations of the rights of migrants, the number of complaints is well below the real number of violations.
The situation of extreme vulnerability in which the migrants find themselves and the violence they face on their way to the United States, mean that we speak today of a humanitarian tragedy in reference to their situation. In its report on migration, Amnesty International, in reference to migrants, points out that: âTheir journey is one of the most dangerous in the world. Migrants suffer extortion, discrimination, beatings, sexual violence, kidnapping, and homicide at the hands of criminal gangs. Many of the cases presented highlight the involvement of public officials in various abuses against migrants to some degree.â
For many years, the most used transport by undocumented migrants has been the train known as “La Bestia”, which departs from the border state of Chiapas, passing through the neighboring state of Oaxaca and heading north to the state of Veracruz on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, despite its obvious dangers: people have died or lost limbs when falling from the train.
Sources: Informe AmnistĂa internacional. âVĂctimas Invisibles. Migrantes en Movimiento en MĂ©xico.â 2010. Informe especial sobre secuestros de migrantes en Mexico, CNDH, 2011.
Given the risks when crossing Mexico, as of October 2018, Central American migrants began to mobilize in caravans of thousands of people. Although at the beginning, the recently inaugurated government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador facilitated the conditions for these people through humanitarian visas, as of June 2019 and under strong pressure from the US administration headed by Donald Trump, Mexico began to take measures to lower the level of migration that crosses its territory to reach the United States. One of the most questioned measures was the deployment of the National Guard in the border areas (with more than six thousand elements on the Southern Border), as well as the change of rules for migrants originating from Africa and Asia, as it stopped allowing them travel to the northern border with authorization. These changes have generated extreme concern on the part of national and international civil organizations, including the United Nations, since they have resulted an upsurge in violations of the human rights of migrants.
The current agreement also includes another aspect that has generated controversy, the United States’ policy called “Remain in Mexico”, which means that migrants have to wait in Mexico during their asylum process.
Social organizations have criticized that the increase in police and military surveillance will not stop migration but will lead it to resort to more dangerous and risky routes for its safety and integrity.
Another problem related to the containment strategy has to do with the saturation of migratory refuges that are exceeded in their capacity, up to 400 percent with âovercrowded conditions, without sanitation or adequate food or sufficient access to health services.â
In 2019, with 186,750 detained migrants, the vast majority Central American, the highest number of the entire decade was reached (42% more than in 2018), according to information from the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB). Of those arrested, 80% were Central American. According to the National Institute of Migration, 70% of the arrests occurred in four states: Chiapas (81,351), Veracruz (22,080), Tabasco (17,339) and Oaxaca (8,619).
Between January and April 2019, 18,365 people applied for refugee status in Mexico, of which 11,219 did so in Chiapas. This represents an increase of about 300% for the same period of 2018. Between 2013 and 2019, the number of applicants increased by more than 5,000%. In April 2019, the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (COMAR) indicated that it had a total of 38,832 people awaiting their processing in the country, of which 21,325 were in the state of Chiapas.
Militarization :
The presence of the armed forces in Oaxaca is not new. Since the 70s and 80s, given the influence of the '68 movement, attempts were made to violently stifle organizational processes both locally and nationally. It is in these years that the âWhite Brigadeâ arises in Oaxaca and there is talk of the existence of clandestine prisons using the argument of the police and military bodies to "safeguard order." To date, the results of this violent stage are not known, in particular the number of disappeared. With the emergence of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas in 1994, military presence in Oaxaca increased for fear that an uprising would also occur in the state. This would intensify as a result of the emergence of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR).
The Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) appeared for the first time on June 28th, 1996, coinciding with the commemoration of the anniversary of the Aguas Blancas massacre in Guerrero. They issued the Aguas Blancas Manifesto in Spanish and Nahuatl, in which they proclaimed that “against institutionalized violence, the armed struggle is a legitimate and necessary resource of the people to restore their sovereign will and re-establish the rule of law.” On August 28th, 1996, the EPR carried out attacks in six states: Tabasco, Guanajuato, Guerrero, the state of Mexico, Chiapas, and Oaxaca (Crucecita Huatulco tourist spot in the Los Loxichas region).
In Oaxaca, these actions provoked a repressive response against the population, mainly the Zapotecs, for their alleged collaboration with the EPR. The situation in the Loxichas, in the Sierra de Pochutla is an example of such repression.
Currently, the presence of at least four guerrilla groups in Oaxaca is reported: The Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), the People’s Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent People (ERPI), the Indigenous Revolutionary Army of National Liberation and the Indigenous Clandestine Liberation Command.
With the arrival to power of AndrĂ©s Manuel LĂłpez Obrador in December 2018, the Security strategy went through the creation of a National Guard with the support of the armed forces. In 2019, there were 230,964 federal troops deployed doing âpublic securityâ work in the 32 states of the country. Notably when it comes to states where violence rates are not the highest in the country outside of Mexico City and the State of Mexico (because they are the headquarters of the federal powers and have the highest populations), the states where there is a greater presence of federal forces are: Veracruz, Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco and Oaxaca. The National Guard will allocate 6,750 elements to the state of Oaxaca, small battalions of 450 elements in each of the 15 regions in terms of security that have supposedly been arranged to combat crime and recover the physical and patrimonial security of Oaxacans.
Military Presence: The Supporting Arguments
The arguments in favour of military presence (checkpoints, patrols, overflights, searches, etc.) have been:
The fight against organized crime: intercepting alleged criminals, transit of undocumented persons, vehicles or other types of stolen objects, drugs and illegal possession of firearms.
The implementation of the DNIII Plan that is applied in emergency situations and natural catastrophes: the 7.4-degree earthquake in 1999 and due to the constant rains in the region.
The presence of armed groups: an increase in the military presence was noticeable since 1994 with the emergence of the EZLN, and in 1996 with the appearance of the EPR.
The protection of strategic resources. For example, according to the Tepeyac Regional Center for Human Rights, the main reason for the militarization of the Isthmus since 2000 was that âit is considered a strategic area for the development of an ambitious mega-project that has been opposed by social organizations, non-government organizations and communities. The military are at strategic points where the work on this project will be or has begun. The military fulfill objectives of social containment where the objective is that people feel controlled.â
Natural disasters
The organized crime
Drug Trafficking :
The misery and lack of opportunities due to the decline in the prices of other crops have forced many communities in Oaxaca to get involved in the system of planting and cultivating drugs. The isolation of some areas, for example in the Sierra Sur, has made it easier for drug traffickers to use the lands opened by loggers to plant marijuana and poppies. The increasing production of poppies and marijuana in the Sierra zone places Oaxaca as one of the states with the highest increase in drug trafficking in Mexico in the last decade, with the addition that Oaxaca is a transit state to north-central Mexico and the United States.
From 2006 to 2019, in at least 278 of the 570 municipalities of Oaxaca, 48.8% of the total, the presence of drug trafficking has been registered according to information from the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA)
In Oaxaca, the presence of organized crime cells linked to the Jalisco New Generation, Gulf, Zetas and Sinaloa cartels has been detected, according to reports from authorities and journalistic data taken up by the organization Mexicans against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI, 2019).
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) displaced the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel to control drug trafficking throughout Oaxacan territory, according to a 2019 report from the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). In 2016, violence increased due to the dispute over the âplazaâ (turf) that encompasses both municipalities of Veracruz and Oaxaca, given the border between the two states.
This war between cartels coincided with the increase in the number of executions in the state related to organized crime.
Criminal Traffic Light mentions in its report for the third quarter of 2017, 52 percent of the 703 intentional homicides officially registered from January to September 2017 were committed by organized crime. In 2016, the percentage was 41% of murders carried out by criminals, according to this organization; that is, an increase of 11 percent.
In October 2019, the governor of Oaxaca, Alejandro Murat, assured for his part that in the state there are no records of the presence of large drug cartels. The president assured that they are minor groups (of organized crime).
“We have only detected local groups of criminals who are engaged in drug dealing and organized crime activities. In Oaxaca organized crime has been atomized, we have groups in the area of ââCuenca, Coast and Valles Centrales. Until now, eight people from MichoacĂĄn and Guerrero have been arrested on the Coast, but we cannot affirm that they belong to any cartel.â
However, that same year his statements were contradicted by the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), Santiago Nieto, who affirmed that two of the nine main organized crime groups operate in Oaxaca and are also involved in money laundering.
In addition to drug trafficking, the main criminal behaviors of organized crime in Oaxaca include kidnapping, extortion, protection racketeering, theft of hydrocarbons, illegal fishing of protected species, arms trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, drug trafficking and drug dealing.
Presence of Transnationals in Oaxaca :
Oaxaca is one of the states that has received the least Direct Foreign Investment in Mexico. In addition to the lack of training of its workers, the low educational level of the population and lack of infrastructure, there is a determining factor that keeps investment from foreign companies away: uncertainty. In 2016, of the 100% of direct foreign investment that entered Mexico, Oaxaca attracted 0.68% of the country's total.
In 2019, the state attracted 56 million dollars of Direct Foreign Investment, an amount of which 54.1 million corresponds to new investments, which means 96.5% of the total. The main economic branches of the state were the beverage industry, multiple banking, pensions and guest houses, and apartments and houses furnished with hotel services, operators of wireless telecommunications services, manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, and hotels, motels and the like. The United States, Japan, Italy and the Netherlands were its largest investors.
In terms of mining exploration and exploitation, Canadian companies are the most present: Linear Gold Corp, Arco Resources Corp, Zalamera, S.A., a subsidiary of Chesapeake Gold Corp, Fortuna Silver-Continuum Resources, Aurea Mining Inc., Linear Metals Corp, Radius Gold, New Coast Silver Mines Ltd, Aura Silver Resources Inc. and Intrepid Mines Ltd. Golden Trump Resources from the USA is also present.
Source: Servicio Geológico Mexicano «Panorama minero del Estado de Oaxaca.
In the wind corridor project on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, organizations of peasants and indigenous people in the area opposed to said project have denounced that transnational companies (in particular the Spanish company Preneal, Iberdrola, Gamesa EĂłlica and Endesa, as well as the French CIF) have been present in the communities to try to negotiate with the peasants.
In the energy projects that are carried out in the state, it is important to highlight that they are intended to be developed in indigenous territories where the directly affected populations have not been informed and/or consulted about their implementation. Due to this omission, a series of social conflicts have occurred and resistance processes have developed due to the negative impacts caused by these projects. This reality also affects one of the main megaprojects that the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador is considering, the Transoceanic Corridor, which includes the construction or modernization of different means of transport and the expansion of industry in the Isthmus region.