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By Chris Covert
As the drought and record cold in the upper elevations of the Mexican Sierras continues, aid from across Mexico continues to pour into the area, according to Mexican news accounts.
Among communities sponsoring aid drives is a group in Reynosa, Tamaulipas which has collected nine tons of items such as bottled water, clothing, food, and blankets. The aid drive is sponsored by female members of Pemex's Activo Integral Burgos de Pemex Exploracion y Produccion group.
The drive also collected about MP $45,000 (USD $3518.54) in two weeks, according to the leader, Rebeca Acevedo de Reyes. Foodstuffs collected included rice, beans, cornmeal, milk tetrapack liquid, biscuit, chocolate, sugar, coffee and vegetable.
From Puebla state in central Mexico, the Puebla state Secretaria de Gobierno (SEGOB), Fernando Manzanilla Prieto, announced a total of 128 tons of aid collected, 70 tons of which was delivered January 28th, the remainder having left last Thursday morning. The aid is bound for Urique, Chihuahua, which is an 11 hour trip from Puebla state.
As with the PEMEX group, aid collected included water, oil and grains such as rice, beans, lentils. The drive in Puebla is asking for additional foods such as jam, caramel and chocolate powder. Volunteers to help in the drive are also being requested in the aid drive.
As with many modern famines and food crises, the problem is as much one of logistics as it is the actual shortage of food. The Sierra Tarahumara region is so remote that many areas have no telecommunications of any kind, and the roads make travel difficult.
Adding to the crisis are stories published last month by the leftist weekly Proceso, which said that aid packages are being sold for cash and often do not even reach their destination.
Even as aid reaches victims of the food crisis, a dark side is emerging.
In an El Diario de Coahuila news daily report, a Creel, Chihuahua parish priest, Hector Fernandez Martinez was quoted in a Grupo Imagen radio interview saying that aid should be given over to Non Government Organizations for distribution because a specter of politics has entered aid distribution.
Fernandez Martinez said that local municipal governments as well as the federal Secretaria de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL) are causing problems with the indigent Indians in the area, withholding aid in exchange for promises to vote.
A general election for president is in July, and Mexico is currently in an inter-campaign period between candidate selection by the three major political parties and the start of the campaign season in late March.
Fernandez Martinez also complain about inappropriate aid handed out. As an example is Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa's trip to Batopilas in late January, reportedly delivered bank cards charged with about MP $300 (USD $23.46) to indigents in the area.
According to Fernandez Martinez, the nearest bank to Batopilas is in Creel, about a three day walk. By truck it costs MP $150 (USD $11.73) to get to the nearest bank.
Fernandez Martinez characterized the bank cards as "ridiculous."
Other concerns addressed by Fernandez Martinez was the delivery of expired food, and clothing and blankets infested by vermin.
In a related story, the Mexican federal Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB) added two municipalities in southern Sinaloa state as disaster areas due to the ongoing drought.
The municipalities affected are San Ignacio in southern Sinaloa state and about 20 kilometers west of San Dimas, Durango, and Choix, which is in northern Sinaloa state about 15 kilometers west of the border with Chihuahua state.