These deputies, from districts with large indigenous populations, said they would have liked to have voted for the bill, and were pressured to do so. But, decrying the secrecy and lack of indigenous representation in the bill's revision, they said they wouldn't be able to face their constituents had they voted to pass it. It includes provisions to protect corporate investments and to prevent indigenous autonomy from derailing exploitation of lands, resources, and people. The latest government maneuver is a predictable response. The government needs peace in Chiapas to fulfill its dreams of globalized development, particularly in Mexico's south.
Peace means agreeing to indigenous autonomy.
At the same time, such autonomy would only undercut the development that the government and their corporate affiliates desire. The PRD has called upon Fox to veto the bill as a necessary step toward negotiating real reform. Fox has indicated he has no intention of penning such a veto. Still needing to be ratified by a majority of state legislators, the law isn't quite a finished process. Its opponents in Mexican civil society have indicated they will now turn their attentions to the states.