Voices of Mexico no. 56

Our Voice

Elections were held recently to designate the member countries for United Nations working commissions. For Mexico and our North American neighbors, the decisions about which countries were to be part of the Commission on Human Rights and the UN International Narcotics Control Board were particularly important.

Surprisingly, the United States was not elected to either of these two commissions. There are two probable explanations for this. The first is that this is the result of the U.S.’s lukewarm attitude in everything regarding the United Nations, reflected in the fact that the new administration has not yet named its ambassador to the General Assembly (who will very probably be John Negroponte, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico). The U.S. government trusted too much in its allies and did not even take the trouble to negotiate their support in this case.

The second probable explanation is more profound and is related to the clear anger on the part of the U.S.’s European allies, Russia and China. In the first place, they are clearly very unhappy with the U.S.’s unilateral, arrogant actions, particularly with regard to the world's next 30 years of nuclear security. They are also displeased with the U.S. refusal to support the Kyoto Protocol, which regulates the carbon emissions into the atmosphere that are responsible for global warming. Although not all the European countries have yet ratified it, they still blame the United States for the protocol’s non-application. There is also increasing irritation among the world community with the U.S. government for its reticence to sign the treaty to create the International Criminal Court. At the same time, while outlawing capital punishment is now a condition for European Union membership, President Bush has distinguished himself as a defender of the measure in many different fora.

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Editorial

Our Voice
Paz Consuelo Márquez Padilla

Politics

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María del Carmen Alanis Figueroa

Elevating Foreign Policy Principles
To the Constitutional Level

Alonso Gómez-Robledo Verduzco

Other Voices in the Mexican Catholic Church
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North American Affairs

The Quebec Summit
The FTAA and Academic Research

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Museums

Two Art Museums
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Ecology

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Guanajuato Down Through Time
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The Delights of Guanajuato
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On-line version