Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 66

MEXICO

POPULATION

Achievements of the Dialogue Programme

It has contributed to building trust relationships
and capacities for dialogue and collaboration
between actors with diverse perspectives and
agendas. It also engaged government officials and
legislators in a productive dialogue at a time of
great social and political polarisation. I think it
was a huge success just because of this. Another
accomplishment was the establishment of an
(WORLD BANK 2014)
inclusive, coordinated, and effective coalition able
to overcome differences and advocate for security
and human rights issues.

122.3 MILLION IN 2013

leave the feelings of frustration and impotence
behind and we took over the streets on our bikes
to reclaim the public spaces. Those who saw us
were amazed; they couldn’t believe that, given the
violence and insecurity, a group of people could
have fun, could be free of fear. Other groups
and collectives approached us and we became
Chihuahua en Bicicleta sin Miedo [Chihuahua on
bikes without fear].”

The Victims’ Rights ACTIVIST

Ximena Antillón is a psychologist working with
victims of violence and human rights abuses,
and a researcher at Fundar: Centro de Análisis
e Investigación, one of Mexico’s leading think
tanks.

Chihuahua en Bicicleta members believe that
“organised crime feeds on fear and uncertainty
=10.000.000
from the people. We don’t want that, no one wants
that. We want to change perceptions, to create a
Some concrete proposals became legislation or public
sense of respect for one another. We are those that
policy; for example, the General Law for the Social
share public spaces, those who greet a total stranger
Prevention of Violence and Crime, the General Law
out of courtesy and sympathy just because he or
on the Rights of Victim, and the executive decree to
she rides a bike, and those that act on conviction
include five citizens as permanent members of the
and use the bicycle as an instrument of change. The
National Council of Public Security.
authorities’ response was to close their eyes, but we
have figured out that it is only us, the citizens, who
are in charge to solve the situation.”

Beyond the discourse

POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION BY AGE
27,9%
18,1%
40,4%
7%
6,6%

0-14
15-24
25-54
55-64
The Cycling Activists
65+ The following stories are from citizen groups based

(INDEX MUNDI 2014) in northern Mexico. They are united in their aim to
transform their cities into inclusive communities
by promoting the use of bicycles and sustainable
transportation systems, respecting life, equality,
inclusion, and conviviality.

Emergence of the biking movement

During the escalation of violence, according to a
young activist in Monterrey, Nuevo León, “people
felt really vulnerable; many stopped going out, they
didn’t want to leave their homes.” In Chihuahua,
another interviewee says, “Parks and public spaces
that once were filled with kids were no longer
safe. There were a growing number of victims
of kidnappers. Violent car thefts were rampant;
also, many res taurants were burned down. Cops
colluded, and those who we once considered
protectors were no longer of any help.”

GLOBAL PEACE
INDEX 2014

138
162

Reclaiming public spaces

In the city of La Paz, the biking organisation
BCSicletos, “ has helped the state attorney’s office
to implement a project called ‘pedaling for crime
prevention,’ which promoted the use of bikes to
recover the public space. This year we are carrying
out several other projects, which include outdoor
movie projections, theater, and storytelling.”
David, from Pueblo Bicicletero recounts, “Violence
had a huge impact on groups promoting the use
of bikes as a means of transportation because
of the collective fear of violence. People opted
to reduce biking at night, especially in zones
considered ‘hot’ because of violence and crime
levels. There were also changes in the type of
routes taken to avoid areas where shootings were
frequent. At Pueblo Bicicletero we are trying to
promote peace and non-violence through civic
participation. For us, the bike is an instrument for
peace, for conviviality.”

During the past administration we counted over
25,000 enforced disappearances. We do not
have the official data for the first year of this
new administration, but it is quite possible that
the trend continues. Some institutions have been
created, like the Specialised Unit for Missing
Persons within the Attorney General’s Office.
However, the Attorney General himself has
recognised that they are overwhelmed by the
number of cases and that his office does not have
the capacity to respond. The situation for the
families of victims continues to deteriorate.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
INDEX 2013

71

“Our movement began about four years ago in

(IEP 2014)this violent context. Despite it2014) decided to
(UNDP all, we
66 stories of Human Security | Mexico

The situation is quite dire. There are thousands
of people killed in the context of the fight against
drugs and crime. It is true that the discourse has
changed, the new government no longer uses a
war discourse, and it no longer refers to victims
as ‘collateral damage.’ But we do not see a real
change in the strategy to tackle crime. It is a
paradox that the new government is putting in
place a system to attend to the needs of victims,
while nothing is being done to avoid additional
victims.

”t is a paradox that the new
I
government is putting in
place a system to attend to
the needs of victims, while
nothing is being done to
avoid additional victims.”
in northern Mexico due to the femicidesb in
Ciudad Juárez and the increasing levels of
enforced disappearances.
One movement that has drawn a lot of national and
international attention is the Movimiento por la Paz
con Justicia y Dignidad (MPJD) a national victims’
movement started by Javier Sicilia – the Mexican
poet whose son was murdered on March 28, 2011
with six other people. He called for a national
protest and denounced the results of the security
strategy of Calderón. The movement made visible
the unacceptable costs of the militarised strategy.
Apart from giving a voice to victims and demanding
the government to find disappeared persons, the
MPJD has urged the government to change its
militarised strategy to a more integral approach.
The MPJD advocates a human security approach,
with a special focus on prevention and public
policies for youth: health, employment, education,
etc. They have also asked for an improvement of
the democratic institutions and practices in Mexico
and the end of the monopoly over media outlets.
So the movement is not only focused on victims,
but on deep and meaningful transformation of the
country.

Emergence of the victims' movement

In la Laguna region, Ruedas del Desierto (Wheels of
the Desert) “started as a group of people whose
main objective was to reclaim the public spaces
through night tours on bikes. These tours had a
lot of impact on the local media and they have
contributed to overcome fear. Nowadays lots of
people join us on each night tour. We are indeed
reclaiming what’s ours: the public space, the streets,
the parks.”

Given this context, there have been many types of
responses from society. One of the most notable
has been the organisation and empowerment of
victims. In the seventies, the families of victims
of politically motivated enforced disappearances
of the so-called ‘dirty war’ began to organise
themselves. During the nineties other victims’
organisations and movements emerged, especially

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Menu

b Homicides of women began increasing in 1993 and grew to crisis
proportions from 2006 to 2012. A report issued in 2012 by the Nobel
Women’s Initiative documented “alarming increases in violence against
women over the past years, with evidence of the negligence of governments
in protecting its citizens and direct participation in acts of violence.” See
http://nobelwomensinitiative.org

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