Wednesday, April 15, 2009

UNT visit by Mexican president draws protest

By Paige Briggs of North Texas Daily

Holly Dutton/NT Daily

Library sciences graduate student Aron Duhon protests former president of Mexico Vicente Fox's speech Tuesday night at the Coliseum.

Activists gathered outside the UNT Coliseum last night to protest a speech by former Mexican President Vicente Fox.

"What do we want? End NAFTA! When do we want it? Now!" protesters proclaimed as hundreds of people stood in line to enter the venue.

Fox was set to discuss his businesses-centered approach to the development of Mexico, the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the opportunities available for international corporations in the region, according to the UNT Web site.

The 15 protesters present had a different message to spread.

"As a socialist, I'm against NAFTA helping out large multinational corporations at the expense of regular working people," said Jason Netek, an anthropology junior.

Netek, a member of UNT's International Socialist Organization, said he hoped to educate people about the "unlivable" situation NAFTA has created in Mexico.

Netek explained that through the agreement, large American companies are able to outsource their production to Mexico and pay workers low wages. He went on to explain that the people of Mexico are then forced to live as peasants or illegally immigrate to the United States.

Andrew Teeter, a general studies senior and city council candidate, was also protesting and noted that Fox was the former CEO of the Coca-Cola Corporation in Mexico. He said the corporation has been involved with hiring paramilitaries to quell dissent at bottling plants in Colombia.

In a Feb. 18 Daily article, Kirsten Witt, a Coca-Cola spokeswoman, denied the allegations that it has harmed employees by hiring gunmen.

"The message I'd like to spread is, stand up against NAFTA," Teeter said.

The tone of the people standing in line was less aggressive. Esther Flores, a Denton resident, said she came to see Fox speak because she was interested in hearing what he had to say.

"My father voted for him in Mexico," Flores said.

Mike Simanonok, who works in the defense industry, heard of Fox's speech through his son, a senior at NT.

Simanonok said he wanted to "see what [Fox] has to say about the 'narcotraficantes' now that they've seized the real power in Mexico and made border people afraid to go into Mexico as well as the affect on the 'maquiladoras' and those U.S. citizens that traverse the border every day to manage them."

'Maquiladoras' is roughly translated to mean "sweat shops," Neteck said.

Mechanical engineering junior Mark Castaneda said that being Mexican motivated him to see Fox.

"I've heard rumors and I wanted to hear everything from his mouth, the good and the bad," he said.

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