Human rights record hovers behind Mexican leader’s visit
OTTAWA — The head of Amnesty International’s Mexican branch is taking Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard to task for his comment that Mexico’s human rights record is moving in the “right direction.”
“I beg to differ (that) Mexico is going in the right direction,” Perseo Quiroz, Amnesty’s executive director in Mexico, told The Canadian Press
Couillard offered his assessment Monday during a joint news conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who was in Quebec City to kick off three days of carefully choreographed North American leader summitry.
Pena Nieto was scheduled to dine with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later Monday in Toronto before hitting the national capital on Tuesday for an official state visit. The Mexican president will then join Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama for Wednesday’s North American Leaders’ Summit in Ottawa, commonly known as the Three Amigos.
Amnesty has been working to keep the human rights issue front and centre as the three leaders seek a public display of economic co-operation as a counterpoint to the trade protectionism and anti-immigrant sentiment that has marked this year’s U.S. presidential race.
The Mexican president was forced to confront the carnage from his country’s decade-old war on drugs that Amnesty says has left 27,000 Mexicans unaccounted for, or “disappeared.” Pena Nieto defended his country’s plan to tackle corruption and human rights abuses.
“Our government has made an important effort to advance issues related to human rights,” he said in Spanish, without elaborating. “We still have work to do. However, I think we are moving in the right direction towards having human rights being fully respected (in Mexico).”
Pena Nieto has pushed legislative reforms, but it simply hasn’t been enough, said Quiroz. “The problem with Mexico is the gap between what the law says, and what happens, is really big.”
Couillard said human rights is an important topic for Quebecers.