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An Update on the Drought-related Tensions of Mennonites in
Chihuahua:
The Mexican consulate of Minnesota has
confirmed that there are increasing tensions in the Chihuahua region between
Mennonites, non-Mennonites and others over land and water resources. The Consulate also confirms that rumours have
been circulating in the national press of Mexico that the Mennonites are going
to immigrate elsewhere. BUT there has been no
confirmation from authorities in the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), Mexico
or Tatarstan, Russia, that any of the smaller Mexican Mennonite groups have or
are planning to immigrate back to Russia.
You will recall that it is from Russia that these Mennonites’ fore-parents
fled as refugees from legal and religious persecution by Tsarist officials and
later, economic, political and physical persecution from the Soviets.
It seems clear that there have been some
sort of contacts regarding immigration potential by Mennonites from Chihuahua
elsewhere due to the drought and rising tensions with non-Mennonite neighbours. BUT
this is also a very normal thing
for Mennonites. As Mennonites
communities, congregations and kolonies
increase in size, small groups often leave to establish new communities and
farms elsewhere. In fact, Amish and
Hutterite groups within the United States and Canada are constantly making news
with their plans to move to new areas to buy inexpensive land for establishing
new farms, communities and families. So
the entire immigration angle might be true but have nothing to do with any
potential conflict or even the drought.
The Russia and Kazakh angles are interesting only in that they would
indicate a return to the Mennonite diaspora’s ancestral “homeland.”
There is yet another set of rumours that
are equally difficult to substantiate that the cultural awkwardness between the
Mestizos and the Mennonites is being exploited for the personal economic and
political interests of others. There
seem to be some loose strands relating to semi-mysterious connections to Mexican
businesspersons in Russia and Germany and more than a little grand-standing by
certain local Mexican officials, possibly including local mayoral offices and, according
to the attached report, Mexican Senator Javier Corral who seems to be
attempting to connect the presence and farming activities of the Mennonites
with “other” suspicious “foreign corporations” and “outsiders,” and
disturbingly, even with recent politically-motivated murders. Senator Corral specifically references
illegal water wells allegedly dug by Mennonites diverting common resources from
the Rio del Carmen and disputes over
some 35,000 hectares of land. This is
where it is difficult to depend on poor translations. I find it hard to judge the actual tone of
Coral’s words.
While I am following this story as it
pertains to social and political studies – as an ethnic Russian Mennonite, I am
increasingly curious as to whether or not the MCC and other groups will or even
should get involved – especially in a role as interested outside observer.
As Mennonites, we often do not like our fellow Mennonites intruding into
our “individual” affairs. On the other
hand, it has always been a comfort to know that should we need them, the
resources and expertise of the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), the Mennonite
Central Committee (MCC) and various sub-ethnic and religious organizations are
there to aid and assist both impacted Mennonites and their non-Mennonite
neighbors in the interest of international development and peace making.
My greatest concern in this matter is whether
recent decisions by the MCC and many of our constituent church conferences to
sub-divide along national boundaries may have weakened both our international Mennonite
and Amish identity but also our ability to maintain a unified international and
transcultural witness and effective ability to aid development work –
especially when we, or at least our fellow Mennonites, might be part of the
crisis. I know that there has been no
mention of the drought or political tensions within the Minnesota or Illinois
Mennonite communities. We are normally
very well informed on such matters.
Regardless, by next week, I will hope to have
some additional information on El Barzon and on the two murder victims – Ismael
Soloria Urrutia and Martha Manuela Solis.
Let me stress that apart from Coral’s
apparent lumping of all of these problems together, there is no evidence that
has been presented by either side of any wrong doing by any Mennonites or
Mennonite settlers. In fact, the
Mennonites have presented their own counter-charges of racism, intimidation and
economic fraud on the part of local water and utility officials and neighboring
mestizos – again, the presence of an interested
outside observer might be a good recommendation. In the meantime, the Mennonites have
apparently organized frente menonitas
to help diffuse tensions and encourage the same dialogue for which Coral is
calling. It seems curious to me that Senator
Coral met with El Barzon but not with
el frente – which might be a mere omission on the part of the reporter
or could indicate a bit of grandstanding by local Mexican politicos.
Not unrelated, the larger Mennonite
community has also remained largely ignorant of the increasingly tense
situation between the descendants of Russian Mennonite settlers and aboriginal
or first nations’ peoples even in the United States and elsewhere. As I understand it, many of these situations
seem very similar to that of the Chihuahua Mennonites in that the struggle are
over access to land and water rights – and the greatest challenge seems to be a
basic inability to establish and maintain an effective dialogue over the concerns
of both sides or to mediate potential economic competition between member of
the different ethnic communities.
We would seem to have both an ethnic
heritage interest in being informed about these struggles, and a faith
community interest. It is apparent that non-European
descent Mennonites in other parts of the world (especially in Africa and Asia)
are also seeking to establish cultural communities based on the exploitation of
regional natural resources. As this
exploitation progresses, it would seem essential to be able to share
information, experience, technology and guidance to as to best protect the
environment and the long-term sustainability of such development, but also to
limit potential conflict with neighbouring ethnic groups, government officials
and others who could become jealous over any potential economic success.
As a cultural historian, I am often somewhat
skeptical that we might be better at resolving the conflicts of others than we
are in resolving and preventing our own.
As a sociologist, I hope to be able to eventually compare and contrast
the methods and successes of Mennonite cultural coping and conflict resolution
efforts as exemplified by the individualistic independent farmers and Mennonite
entrepreneurs of the United States and Canada and more traditional cooperative
methods such as those being employed by el
frente and others in Latin America, Asia and elsewhere.
Senator Coral visits Chihuahua to discuss El Barzon concerns
supplemented 08 Nov 2012:
Of related interest -- this article was posted in the Bolivian press indicating that the Mexican Mennonite settlers of
the Black River Colony in Beni, Bolivia, face possible eviction, but that Mexican authorities are working with the
Bolivian government to rectify the situation and find a solution.
Mexican Mennonites face eviction from Bolivia
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