10 December 2002
The Social Justice Committee has received an urgent message from the Civic Front for the Defence of the Casino de la Selva in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. The Civic Front, a citizens' group particularly involving artists and environmentalists, has been struggling for well over a year to protect the site known as the Casino de la Selva, which consisted of a large mansion whose walls were decorated with murals of great aesthetic value that were considered to be part of the cultural heritage of Mexico and one hundred thousand square metres of uncultivated land with approximately 500 trees of 45 tree species.
The Casino de la Selva, which was used for a time as a hotel, eventually became commercially unviable and had passed into the hands of the government. The latter, rather than considering the Casino de la Selva a heritage site and civic treasure and acting accordingly, sold the whole property (allegedly for a bargain price and under circumstances that have been considered questionable) to Costco, a United States company, and its partner Commercial Mexicana. Despite strong nonviolent protests from concerned citizens, who for two months maintained a picket line to try to prevent the desecration of the building and the chopping down of its trees, Costco has proceeded to destroy the murals and cut down the trees. The citizens' group had proposed that the site be preserved as a Cultural Centre and Public Park and that Costco build its mega–stores on the outskirts of the city. All levels of government – and the company itself – having turned a deaf ear to the citizens' protests and proposals, Costco is now preparing to pour tens of thousands of concrete in order to make a huge parking lot for the two mega-stores that it is building on the site.
In a last effort to stop the irrevocable destruction of the natural site, the Civic Front is urgently calling for international support.
Please send a letter supporting the demands of the Civic Front for the relocation of the Costco stores, and protesting the deplorable behaviour of the federal government, the Morelos state government, and the Cuernavaca Municipal government, to the Embassy of Mexico, using the model letter that you will find at the end of this urgent action as a guide. (It should be remembered that national governments are ultimately responsible for the human rights violations committed by local levels of government.)
If you have a Mexican Consulate in your city, please send them a copy of your letter to the Embassy.
Please send a copy of your letter to the CEO of Costco.
(**You will find the address of the Embassy of Mexico as well as that of the CEO of Costco in the model letter.).
If you live near a COSTCO Price Club, please send an additional copy to the manager of the local store.
If you are normally a Costco customer, you may wish to avoid shopping there during this Christmas season and to inform Costco of the reasons for your decision.
At the end of July 2002, the Citizens' Council presented a formal complaint to the Office of the Federal Attorney General asking for an investigation of possible crimes against the environment in relation to the Cuernavaca Municipal government's having granted Costco a licence to cut down the trees on the property. Together with Guardians of the Trees and the Miguel Agustín Pro Human Rights Centre, the Citizens' Council presented a formal complaint to two other government departments This complaint called for an investigation of acts to the detriment of the environment and natural resources, as well as an investigation of the conduct of public servants involved in the Federal Treasury's sale of the building to Costco. The three groups also requested that the National Human Rights Commission. take measures to halt the destruction of the murals in the building. However, none of these government bodies took any effective steps to prevent the destruction of the Casino de la Selva, despite the fact that correct procedure should have required that the licence to build be suspended until the completion of investigations related to the official environmental impact report.
On August 21st 2002, thirty–three people including members of the Civic Front, the Citizens Council for Culture and the Arts in Morelos, and Guardians of the Trees were brutally arrested by hundreds of Morelos State and Cuernavaca municipal police. Many people were injured while the arrests were carried out. (The arrestees included passers-by, among whom were a couple who were not allowed to return home to give medicine to their two–year–old child who had been left with his ten–year–old sister during what the parents had thought would be a short absence from their home.) Following strong public protests, those arrested were released from detention.
On August 27th there was a march of approximately 15,000 people through the streets of Cuernavaca, which was attended by former prisoner of conscience General Gallardo, by representatives of the campesinos of Atenco (who successfully resisted having their land expropriated to build a new Mexico City Airport), by well–known actor Ofelia Medina, and by representatives of dozens of state and national organizations. So far these protests have been to no avail.
Text of Model letter
Date
Her Excellency María Teresa García Segovia
Ambassador for Mexico
45 O'Connor Street, suite 1500
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4
FAX: 613 2235 9123 info@embamexcan.com
Your Excellency,
We/I (the undersigned) wish to express our/my outrage over the destruction carried out on the grounds of the former Casino de la Selva Hotel in Cuernavaca, Mexico, by COSTCO, a U.S. corporation, and its Mexican partner Comercial Mexicana.
We/I are/am appalled by the destruction of the extensive murals on the walls of the former hotel and the bulldozing and cutting of hundreds of trees, many of which were over one hundred years old.
We/I are/am aware that members of the Civic Front for the Defense of the Casino de la Selva were brutally repressed and imprisoned on August 21, 2002, when they were peacefully opposing the destruction of the hundreds of trees and the construction of two enormous mega–stores in the centre of Cuernavaca.
It is public knowledge that the government sale of the Casino de la Selva to Costco involved serious irregularities, and we therefore believe that its sale violated the law.
With all due respect, we/I hereby request that you be the channel to forward the concerns that are listed below to President Vicente Fox, and to Sergio Estrada Cajigal, Governor of the state of Morelos.
Respectfully,
[Name of the organization or person signing the letter]
c.c:
Jim Sinegal,
CEO Costco Wholesale
P.O. Box 34331
Issaquah, WA 98027
U.S.A.
URGENT APPEAL TO SUPPORT CIVIC STRUGGLE TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE CITY OF CUERNAVACA
The Social Justice Committee has received an urgent message from the Civic Front for the Defence of the Casino de la Selva in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. The Civic Front, a citizens' group particularly involving artists and environmentalists, has been struggling for well over a year to protect the site known as the Casino de la Selva, which consisted of a large mansion whose walls were decorated with murals of great aesthetic value that were considered to be part of the cultural heritage of Mexico and one hundred thousand square metres of uncultivated land with approximately 500 trees of 45 tree species.
The Casino de la Selva, which was used for a time as a hotel, eventually became commercially unviable and had passed into the hands of the government. The latter, rather than considering the Casino de la Selva a heritage site and civic treasure and acting accordingly, sold the whole property (allegedly for a bargain price and under circumstances that have been considered questionable) to Costco, a United States company, and its partner Commercial Mexicana. Despite strong nonviolent protests from concerned citizens, who for two months maintained a picket line to try to prevent the desecration of the building and the chopping down of its trees, Costco has proceeded to destroy the murals and cut down the trees. The citizens' group had proposed that the site be preserved as a Cultural Centre and Public Park and that Costco build its mega–stores on the outskirts of the city. All levels of government – and the company itself – having turned a deaf ear to the citizens' protests and proposals, Costco is now preparing to pour tens of thousands of concrete in order to make a huge parking lot for the two mega-stores that it is building on the site.
In a last effort to stop the irrevocable destruction of the natural site, the Civic Front is urgently calling for international support.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send a letter supporting the demands of the Civic Front for the relocation of the Costco stores, and protesting the deplorable behaviour of the federal government, the Morelos state government, and the Cuernavaca Municipal government, to the Embassy of Mexico, using the model letter that you will find at the end of this urgent action as a guide. (It should be remembered that national governments are ultimately responsible for the human rights violations committed by local levels of government.)
If you have a Mexican Consulate in your city, please send them a copy of your letter to the Embassy.
Please send a copy of your letter to the CEO of Costco.
(**You will find the address of the Embassy of Mexico as well as that of the CEO of Costco in the model letter.).
If you live near a COSTCO Price Club, please send an additional copy to the manager of the local store.
If you are normally a Costco customer, you may wish to avoid shopping there during this Christmas season and to inform Costco of the reasons for your decision.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
At the end of July 2002, the Citizens' Council presented a formal complaint to the Office of the Federal Attorney General asking for an investigation of possible crimes against the environment in relation to the Cuernavaca Municipal government's having granted Costco a licence to cut down the trees on the property. Together with Guardians of the Trees and the Miguel Agustín Pro Human Rights Centre, the Citizens' Council presented a formal complaint to two other government departments This complaint called for an investigation of acts to the detriment of the environment and natural resources, as well as an investigation of the conduct of public servants involved in the Federal Treasury's sale of the building to Costco. The three groups also requested that the National Human Rights Commission. take measures to halt the destruction of the murals in the building. However, none of these government bodies took any effective steps to prevent the destruction of the Casino de la Selva, despite the fact that correct procedure should have required that the licence to build be suspended until the completion of investigations related to the official environmental impact report.
On August 21st 2002, thirty–three people including members of the Civic Front, the Citizens Council for Culture and the Arts in Morelos, and Guardians of the Trees were brutally arrested by hundreds of Morelos State and Cuernavaca municipal police. Many people were injured while the arrests were carried out. (The arrestees included passers-by, among whom were a couple who were not allowed to return home to give medicine to their two–year–old child who had been left with his ten–year–old sister during what the parents had thought would be a short absence from their home.) Following strong public protests, those arrested were released from detention.
On August 27th there was a march of approximately 15,000 people through the streets of Cuernavaca, which was attended by former prisoner of conscience General Gallardo, by representatives of the campesinos of Atenco (who successfully resisted having their land expropriated to build a new Mexico City Airport), by well–known actor Ofelia Medina, and by representatives of dozens of state and national organizations. So far these protests have been to no avail.
Text of Model letter
Date
Her Excellency María Teresa García Segovia
Ambassador for Mexico
45 O'Connor Street, suite 1500
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4
FAX: 613 2235 9123 info@embamexcan.com
Your Excellency,
We/I (the undersigned) wish to express our/my outrage over the destruction carried out on the grounds of the former Casino de la Selva Hotel in Cuernavaca, Mexico, by COSTCO, a U.S. corporation, and its Mexican partner Comercial Mexicana.
We/I are/am appalled by the destruction of the extensive murals on the walls of the former hotel and the bulldozing and cutting of hundreds of trees, many of which were over one hundred years old.
We/I are/am aware that members of the Civic Front for the Defense of the Casino de la Selva were brutally repressed and imprisoned on August 21, 2002, when they were peacefully opposing the destruction of the hundreds of trees and the construction of two enormous mega–stores in the centre of Cuernavaca.
It is public knowledge that the government sale of the Casino de la Selva to Costco involved serious irregularities, and we therefore believe that its sale violated the law.
With all due respect, we/I hereby request that you be the channel to forward the concerns that are listed below to President Vicente Fox, and to Sergio Estrada Cajigal, Governor of the state of Morelos.
- We/I are/am opposed to every kind of violence and violation of human rights, including the desecration of a historic monument and of an environmental refuge. We affirm the democratic right of citizens to protect and preserve their cultural heritage and to choose the type of city and world in which they wish to live.
- We/I stand in solidarity with the Civic Front for the Defense of the Casino de la Selva and we request that the physical integrity of each and every one of its members be guaranteed.
- We/I know that the members of the Civic Front are being subjected to constant threats by government officials of the State of Morelos.
- We/I join with the Civic Front in its demand that the Costco store, if it is to be built in Cuernavaca, be built on the outskirts of the city.
Respectfully,
[Name of the organization or person signing the letter]
c.c:
Jim Sinegal,
CEO Costco Wholesale
P.O. Box 34331
Issaquah, WA 98027
U.S.A.