Former MX Prez Zedillo accused of crimes against humanity

From this:

Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo GRD '81, the director of Yale's Center for the Study of Globalization, denied on Sunday accusations that surfaced late last week that he committed crimes against humanity by supporting murderous paramilitary gangs during his six-year term as president.

Yale officials are standing behind Zedillo, supporting the economist who served as president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000 before taking over the directorship of the Globalization Center in 2002. A human rights organization in Mexico has accused Zedillo of secretly sponsoring the creation and training of paramilitary groups to mitigate the threat to his government posed by the anti-government Zapatista National Liberation Army...

...Yale officials called the claims groundless and said they will not take any action against Zedillo...

...early in his presidency, Zedillo reneged on an Indian rights agreement he had reached with the Zapatistas -- a move likely prompted by "tremendous pressure" from conservative elements in the country -- and thus set the stage for a prolonged conflict with the Zapatista revolutionaries, said Harvard professor John Womack, a leading authority on Mexican history...

Although Womack said he does not believe Zedillo is personally responsible for the actions of paramilitary groups in Chiapas, he said Zedillo, in ordering the military to occupy the region, facilitated paramilitary operations...

An AP report is here, here, or here.

The Hartford Courant's "Yale Not Planning Action Over Zedillo Accusations" informs us that Amnesty International is not investigating these claims but does not outright dismiss them either.

MexiData has backstory here.

Meanwhile the Financial Times is recommending Zedillo for director-general of the WTO: "The cause of world trade demands a powerful patron". (Remember: the accent is on the last syllable.)

Californians might remember Zedillo's negative impact on our state, with the help of local lider Antonio Villaraigosa. From this:

On August 4, 1999, the page 1 headline in the LA Times read "Zedillo Key to End of Prop 187." It should have read - "Heads of State Impose Their Will on Citizens of California." But no, instead Mexican President Zedillo gets headline kudos for playing a key role in ending Prop. 187. A foreign leader working to thwart the will of California voters?

And, if you go here, you can see Zedillo at a National Council of the Race conference saying the following:

"I have proudly affirmed that the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders..."

"We will not tolerate foreign forces dictating and enacting laws on Mexicans."

Moving on to the humorous bit from the first article:

The Mexican Student Organization at Yale declined to take an official stance on the allegations on Sunday. Irma Mejia '06, president of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan, a Chicano student group at Yale, was unavailable for comment.

She was probably out building Aztlan.

Comments

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