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Delegation Report: Chiapas Mexico |
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Nestled
in the mountains of Chiapas, the southernmost state in
Mexico (and one of the poorest), live thousands of indigenous
farmers. These are largely subsistence farmers, and coffee
is one of the few crops that they are able to export.
These farmers eke out a very modest living, and in recent
years many have been forced to give up their land (the
immigration rate in Chiapas is growing). I traveled to
Chiapas in January 2007 with an Interfaith delegation
co-sponsored by Equal Exchange and the United Church of
Christ Jubilee Justice Taskforce. The group comprised
21 delegates from the United Church of Christ (UCC), Presbyterian,
Unitarian Universalist, and Episcopal churches, and Equal
Exchange staff. The delegation was led by Witness for
Peace, an organization that works in Latin America to
help raise awareness of the effect of US policies on that
region.
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Our group traveled to the community of Chavajeval to meet and
stay with coffee farmers who are part of the coffee cooperative,
CIRSA, that Equal Exchange trades with. This isolated, rural
community is home to over 1000 indigenous Mayans (who primarily
speak Tzotzil, an indigenous language). In 1998, it was the
site of a raid by the Mexican army when three community members
were killed, and most of the community's possessions were destroyed. They
have since declared their autonomy from the Mexican government,
and receive no government services or aid.
The cost of living in Mexico is relatively high, and so even
Fair Trade coffee farmers like the farmers we met in the community
are struggling. Many have dirt floors, no running water, and
only basic sanitary facilities, if any. Coffee farming, as we
learned, is a very labor-intensive process and not an easy way
of life. And yet through the Fair Trade system, these farmers
are able to maintain their autonomy and their way of life, remain
on their land, and stay out of debt. As members of the cooperative
CIRSA, they have voting rights and greater access to markets
than they would otherwise have. |
Group listens to explanation
of coffee harvesting |
Marcos Gomez Jimenez, Chavajeval community elder, spoke to our
group about the community's struggles before joining the cooperative
CIRSA: "Before we were with CIRSA, we were selling to intermediaries.
Sometimes we would work day and night, but we didn't have any
money because our products were robbed by intermediaries. There
was not always sufficient food to feed us all."
Our group ended the delegation with a day-long, intensive session
of evaluation and action planning. We were entreated by the
farmers we met to share their story with our own communities
in the U.S., to raise awareness of the plight of small farmers
and the importance of Fair Trade.
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Interfaith Program 
