Mexico has a long tradition of charity. In the last 20 years, charitable organizations have expanded to include fields like the environment and human rights. However, tax incentives were limited to only a few charitable purposes, despite the emergence of organizations in new public interest fields that influenced public policy and had significant impact. For more than a decade, organizations therefore pushed for a law that recognized the social importance of civil society activities.
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In 2004, the Federal Law for the Promotion of Activities Undertaken by Civil Society Organizations (“The Law on Promotion”) was enacted to provide a legal framework and opened up possibilities for greater Government/civil society organization (CSO) collaboration with mutual responsibility and transparency.
Whether for organizing donations, building shelters, or rescuing victims, CSOs have proven to be an instrumental part of humanitarian assistance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has stimulated recognition of the need for further enabling CSO operations in Mexico. However, the current government denies public resources to CSOs and has passed regulations with the objective to hinder the sector’s development.
Canada and Mexico have long enjoyed a special relationship, cemented by a free trade agreement, the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), and cooperation in other key areas. Amnesty International Canada has repeatedly called for the protection of human rights to be the overriding priority for our engagement, particularly in light of the current crisis. The disproportionate use of criminal law is one of the main threats facing the right to protest peacefully in defense of land, territory and environment in Mexico, Amnesty International said in a new report. Various state authorities have used criminal proceedings against protesters, ignoring principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. They have also failed to consider the context of the protests, their root causes, and the people’s right to defend their land, territory and the environment.
Mexico’s president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asked his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to stop the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from funding groups hostile to his government, according to a letter presented to journalists, echoing previous Mexican criticism of U.S. interventionism. Obrador did not specify which Mexican groups the U.S. should stop funding, but he has in the past accused several media organizations of being part of a conservative movement against his government.
A bill being considered by Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies would severely restrict the work of civil society groups in Mexico and violate Mexico’s international legal obligations. The bill from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s party, which holds a majority, would prohibit non-profit organizations from trying to influence or change laws either through lobbying or through strategic litigation if they receive funding, directly or indirectly, from foreign governments or corporations. The government would have the authority to revoke the non-profit status of organizations that violate the prohibition.
At the helm of what Obrador calls the country’s “Fourth Transformation,” he has dismantled checks and balances, weakened autonomous institutions, and seized discretionary control of the budget. AMLO, as the president is widely known, seems intent on pulling Mexico back to an era of single-party dominance. Yet there is one force that has caught López Obrador by surprise – and threatens to derail his plans and damage his reputation. Frustrated by the government’s lack of a response to a pandemic of violence against women that has only grown worse in recent years, Mexico’s feminists have become the one true thorn in the President’s side. Amnesty International concludes that Mexico is “rushing headfirst into an abyss of human rights”.
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