The Indigenous Law: A Mocking Step Backwards The law approved by
Congress, drafted by lawyers to protect landowners, is a mockery
to Mexico’s indigenous peoples and will not settle the country’s
historical debt to its roots. At the end of April, the Mexican
Senate and House of Representatives passed a law on indigenous
rights and culture. Around the world, people sympathizing with
the indigenous cause first heard the news as a great legal
victory and the culmination of efforts headed up by the
Zapatistas’ recent March for Dignity. But it soon became clear
that the law is a big step backwards. The law was immediately
rejected by the Indigenous National Congress and by the EZLN,
which further announced that it would not resume talks with
Vicente Fox’s government. The Democratic Revolutionary Party
(PRD) and other progressive social and political forces also
rejected the law, which has not yet been promulgated or ratified
in Mexico’s state congresses. Since the ruling National Action
Party (PAN) and the Institut