Swine flu—now called Human flu—has rocked Mexico like the 1985 earthquake and the rest of the world is feeling the reverberations. It has Americans donning useless surgical masks and right-wing commentators shaking their fingers at undocumented workers. It has France's president Nicolas Sarkozy calling on the European Union to turn their backs on Mexico, and numerous countries canceling flights. There is panic in the air.

There should be outrage. There should be a call to take to the streets. This is a crisis, but not necessarily a pandemic one. It is a social crisis—human rights crisis número uno. If we all turn off our TVs for a moment, put down the startling headlines, and take a few steps back, we'll see that what's behind the flu is much scarier than the illness itself."

Ground Zero

Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz and the place I called home for almost five years, is a lush, vibrant city, known for its culture, art, and a prestigious university. There is a town in the mountains outside of Xalapa, called La Gloria, where government officials do as they please, where natural resources are depleted, and where activists are beaten, raped, and incarcerated. It is also home to Granjas Carroll, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.

Locals have long known that Smithfield, after violating numerous environmental laws throughout North America and Europe, found a safe haven in the third world. People in La Gloria have known for some time that the environmentally degrading practices have contaminated their water supply and atmosphere.

Back in February of this year, the entire town was quarantined after 60 percent of the inhabitants fell ill to "respiratory infections." State groups and organizations made note of the clouds of flies that hovered around the town, most of them concentrated around the overflowing pools of toxic pig feces. It has been determined that genetic mutations of viruses can occur in flies. They can occur just as easily in fetid water.

The residents of La Gloria took to the streets to protest Smithfield's abuses and to protest Governor Fidel Herrera Beltrán's decision to protect the American-Mexican corporation. As is customary in pueblos throughout Mexico, resistance was squelched after they were beaten and sent to jail. The judge said it like it is: "You poor people don't stand a chance against companies that work with dollars." Government responses such as these explain why one man back in August of 2008 lit himself on fire in front of the Palace of the Governor in Xalapa. There is no need to cite that protest from a newspaper; my husband was there.

It should also be noted that almost half of La Gloria's inhabitants work and live part time in Mexico City. Once the virus became an epidemic, health officials turned to La Gloria. Alas, all of the laboratory samples had been disposed of except for one—that of Edgar Hernández Hernández. This four-year-old boy tested positive for the swine-bird-human flu.

Mexican Government: Dazed and Confused?

The Huffington Post described the Mexican government's reaction as "slow and confused." That would be assuming the best. Remember, as early as February there were cases of a swine flu epidemic in Veracruz. It wasn't until April 23, when the US and Canadian governments contacted Mexico, that the government reacted. From that moment on, constitutional rights have been trampled on. The Minister of Health José Ángel Córdova, who according to the constitution is the ultimate authority in the event of a health crisis, has repeatedly lied and misrepresented information. As if that weren't bad enough, the president Felipe Calderón has been in hiding—after, of course, donning a number of powers similar to those of the Patriot Act, such as entering homes by force, ordering people to stay home and forced quarantine.

Just as the President announces to the public that every sick person will be treated regardless of cost, patients are kicked off ambulances for fear of contagion, sick families are denied medication, and poor families are denied service for lack of outrageous sums of money. Do you still wonder why people are dying in Mexico? What's more, the Department of Health has a $5 billion budget but, according to José Córdova himself, they do not have the resources to handle the epidemic. Where do you think those $5 billion go? Salaries perhaps?

I wish I could say that all of this is simply the clumsy reaction of an underprepared government. But that would suggest that they have good intentions. May 1 was Labor Day. Traditionally, the working class from across the Republic marches through the streets of Mexico City. In the past, the purpose of the march was to give thanks to the President. Now it is to protest. And Mexicans have plenty to be angry about: a president who is suspected of electoral fraud; an economic crisis; a growing unemployment rate; a war on drug trafficking; violent repression of the working class; and now an epidemic that quite possibly could have been avoided. Is it just a coincidence that Mexicans have been ordered not to congregate or they will be forcefully dispersed? What's more, elections were to be held in June. The increasingly unpopular political party PAN, which is also Calderón's party, has proposed to postpone them.

Where's the Activism?

Americans are known for getting panicky by the media's treatment of sensitive topics. The swine flu is no different. Let's take a moment to put things in perspective. The widely accepted number of annual influenza-related deaths in the US is 36,000, although many suspect that the number has also undergone manipulation to sow fear and push vaccines. Even so, the threat of the swine flu pales in comparison. How many people do you know have died from seasonal flu? As Dr. Mercola suggests, there are between 350 and 500 million cases of malaria every year. But because 80 percent of these cases occur in Africa, it is nothing more than a public health problem.

While Americans are getting a daily dose of adrenaline via CNN, Fox News, and the like, Mexicans are needlessly dying and nearing a social catastrophe. The swine flu is not horrifying. Horrifying is poor people paying for first world contamination. Horrifying is a lying government that turns its back on its own people. Horrifying is the mainstream media scaring the American populace into doing nothing.

Smithfield Farms has the money and the political clout to manipulate test results and any repercussions. Just as Charoen Pokphand Foods out of Bangkok was able to combat the scientific findings underlining their role in Asia's bird flu epidemic, Smithfield will probably do the same thing in Mexico, washing their hands of any responsibility—especially if Americans do nothing to hold them responsible.

For an interesting timeline of the virus that illustrates the Mexican government's negligence, visit: www.biosurveillance.typepad.com/biosurveillance/2009/04/swine-flu-in-mexico-timeline-of-events.html

The Organic Consumers Association has released an action alert. Please join them in sending a letter to President Obama and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Source:
www.mothering.com
By Kristina Morris Heredia