Mexico: Reports of current or former members of the Organization of Parties and Colonists (Organizacion de Partidos y Colonos, OPC) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) who have been harassed, threatened and/or assaulted by political opponents, particularly of the National Action Party (Partido de Accion Nacional, PAN) in Mexico City (1999-2002)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 8 May 2002 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | MEX38489.E |
| Reference | 5 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Mexico: Reports of current or former members of the Organization of Parties and Colonists (Organizacion de Partidos y Colonos, OPC) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) who have been harassed, threatened and/or assaulted by political opponents, particularly of the National Action Party (Partido de Accion Nacional, PAN) in Mexico City (1999-2002), 8 May 2002, MEX38489.E, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be7210.html [accessed 5 November 2017] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
No references to a group called "Organization of Parties and Colonists" or "Organizacion de Partidos y Colonos" bearing the acronym OPC could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. Please note that various alternate translations of the Spanish name were searched, including the Spanish terms for words such as "settlers," "squatters" and "neighbours."
Please note that OPC is the acronym of an organization related to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) – the Organizacion de Pueblos y Colonias – as described in MEX37863.E of 18 September 2001 and in section 4.4 of the February 2001 IRB Issue Paper titled Mexico: Selected Issues of Internal Flight Alternatives. Although no official translation of the Spanish name could be found, the name of the OPC was translated in MEX37863.E as the "Organization of Towns and Urban Communities" (the term pueblos can also be translated as "peoples" or "villages," while colonias is a term widely used in Mexico to describe urban communities, neighbourhoods or districts of a city). This latter Response describes in detail to the most recent political confrontation affecting or involving OPC members found among the sources consulted – in this case a conflict with Peasant Torch (Antorcha Campesina), another organization related to the PRI.
The conflict between the OPC and Peasant Torch reportedly dates back more than ten years, and is due to a struggle for control of new colonias in the Chimalhuacan area, in the outskirts of the capital city of Mexico in the State of Mexico (not in the Federal District or DF) (La Jornada 19 Aug. 2000; ibid. 14 June 2000; ibid. 5 July 1999). The animosity between the leaders of the two groups reportedly reached a high point in mid 2000, due to the PRI imposing the leader of Peasant Torch as its mayoral candidate for Chimalhuacan, and not the son of the OPC leader (ibid. 14 June 2000). The two groups reportedly have been operating in Chimalhuacan for years, with the OPC being attributed attacks against political opponents in 1997 (El Informador 20 Aug. 2000; La Jornada 5 Jul. 1999) and with adding to the tensions in that district during the Mexico State gubernatorial race of 1999 (ibid.). For additional details on the events which unfolded in 2000 from the conflict between the OPC and Antorcha Campesina, please refer to MEX37863.E.
No references to attacks, harassment or violence by PAN members against durrent or former members of the OPC could be found among the sources consulted.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
El Informador [Guadalajara]. 20 August 2000. "Negro historial de 'La Loba', María Eulalia Guadalupe Buendía, acusada de encabezar los actos violentos en Chimalhuacán."
La Jornada [Mexico City]. 19 August 2000. Roberto Garduño and René Ramón Alvarado. "Datan de hace 10 años las pugnas entre Antorcha y OPC."
_____. 14 June 2000. René Ramón Alvarado. "PRI y PRD buscarán refrendar triunfos en el oriente del Edomex."
_____. 5 July 1999. "Alto abtencionismo y guerra de cifras entre partidos en las elecciones mexiquenses."
Additional Sources Consulted
El Informador [Guadalajara]. Searchable archives. 1997-2002.
El Universal [Mexico City]. Searchable archives. 1999.
IRB Databases
La Jornada [Mexico City]. Searchable archives. 1999-2001.
Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico & NAFTA Report [London]. 1999-2002.
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1999-2002.
Internet search engines and sites, including:
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
México Hoy
Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (PRODH), Mexico City.
Proceso [Mexico City]
Note:
This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific publications available at the Resource Centre are not listed.
