La Paz
Agreement
Fifth Column
The La Paz Agreement was signed in 1983 and it created an
international border region using environmental cleanup as
the excuse. With the benefit of hindsight - and a
close examination of the provisions of the La Paz Agreement,
it's clear that the intent was to begin the process of
integration of the U.S. and Mexican governments for the
purpose of harmonization of our laws in preparation for the
creation of the 'International Union of American Republics'
as mentioned by George Bush in his 2001 speech on
Pan-American day (see
page 1). The IUAR is what researchers call
the North American Union.
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The Border XXI Program name has been changed to Border 2012, but information on XXI is still available on the EPA website: Border XXI - Executive Summary
The information in the panel below was originally obtained
from the U.S. Mexico Embassy website, but it has since been
taken down. The pages were recovered however, and were
placed in a
PDF.
The 1983 La Paz
Agreement/Border XXI
Signed by Presidents Ronald
Reagan and Miguel de la Madrid
in 1983, this breakthrough
agreement established a
framework for cooperation on
environmental problems that
has been carried forward by
subsequent presidential
administrations in Mexico and
the U.S. The U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency and Mexico's Ministry
of Environment and Natural
Resources (formerly SEMARNAP,
now SEMARNAT) are jointly
charged with searching for and
implementing solutions to
problems related to air, water
and land pollution along the
border. The commitment made in
La Paz has lead to two
multi-year initiatives, most
recently the ambitious
Border XXI Program. This
effort brings together
virtually all U.S. and Mexican
Federal, state and local
entities that are responsible
for environmental and natural
resource management in the
border region. It places
particular emphasis on public
inputs, decentralization of
environmental management and
improved communication and
cooperation among officials at
all levels.
The U.S. Mexico Binational
Commission Since 1981, a
Mexico-U.S Binational
Commission has provided
stewardship over the broad
array of bilateral issues. The
BNC draws cabinet-level
officials and other agency
chiefs into intensive
one-or-two-day discussions on
an
annual basis. It brings into
high relief unresolved issues
dividing the two countries and
provides opportunities to
discuss remedies. BNC meetings
frequently lead to
breakthrough agreements and
occasion brainstorming which
lead to innovative programs
designed to manage affairs in
a broad range of border
issues.
The BNC currently has 13
working groups and subgroups,
which reflect the political,
economic, law enforcement,
social and environmental
issues forming the fabric of
U.S. Mexico relations.
The environmental agenda of the agreement is not nearly as
important as the statutory framework of the agreement.
In effect, what this agreement did was create divided
loyalties and missions for U.S. government agencies creating
a fifth column within our own government and giving it a
life of it's own by allowing outside, private funding
without oversight or agreement by Congress.
The United States of America
and the United Mexican States,
RECOGNIZING the importance of
a healthful environment to the
long-term economic and social
well-being of present and
future generations of each
country
as well as of the global
community;
RECALLING that the Declaration
of the United Nations
Conference on the Human
Environment, proclaimed in
Stockholm in 1972, called upon
nations to collaborate to
resolve environmental problems
of common concern;
NOTING previous agreements and
programs providing for
environmental cooperation
between the two countries;
BELIEVING that such
cooperation is of mutual
benefit in coping with similar
environmental problems in each
country; ACKNOWLEDGING the
important work of the
International Boundary and
Water Commission and the
contribution of the agreements
concluded between the two
countries relating to
environmental affairs;
REAFFIRMING their political
will to further strengthen and
demonstrate the importance
attached by both Governments
to cooperation on
environmental protection and
in furtherance of the
principle of good
neighborliness; Have agreed as
follows:
....
For the purposes of this Agreement, it shall be understood that the "border area" refers to the area situated 100 kilometers on either side of the inland and maritime boundaries between the Parties.
Each Party designates a
national coordinator whose
principal functions will be to
coordinate and monitor
implementation of this
Agreement, make
recommendations to the
Parties, and organize the
annual meetings referred to in
Article 10, and the meetings
of the experts referred to in
Article 11. Additional
responsibilities of the
national coordinators may be
agreed to in an annex to this
Agreement. In the case
of the United States of
America the national
coordinator shall be the
Environmental Protection
Agency, and in the case of
Mexico it shall be the Secretaria de Desarrollo
Urbano y Ecologia, through the
Subsecretaria de Ecologia.
Taking
into
account
the
subjects
to be
examined
jointly,
the
national
coordinators
may
invite, as
appropriate,
representatives
of
federal,
state and
municipal
governments
to
participate
in the
meetings
provided
for in
this
Agreement.
By mutual
agreement
they may
also
invite
representatives
of
international
governmental
or
non-governmental
organizations
who may be
able to
contribute
some
element of
expertise
on
problems
to be
solved.
The
national
coordinators
will
determine
by mutual
agreement
the form
and manner
of
participation
of
non-governmental
entities.
Unless otherwise agreed, each Party shall bear the cost of its participation in the implementation of this Agreement, including the expenses of personnel who participate in any activity undertaken on the basis of it. For the training of personnel, the transfer of equipment and the construction of installations related to the implementation of this Agreement, the Parties may agree on a special modality of financing, taking into account the objectives defined in this Agreement.
1972 Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
What the La Paz agreement did was to establish a fiefdom headed up by unelected government employees - giving them virtually unlimited power to expand their areas of responsibilities with the power to recruit an army of non-governmental organizations (NGO) to lobby for them. Essentially the areas included in the La Paz fiefdom were commandeered from the states through which it runs.
By defining the perimeters of the border region, it created a separate and independent international zone between Mexico and the U.S. Effectively, they were internationalizing the EPA with this agreement. They also provided a means to get financing outside the normal funding streams of the U.S. Congress - like from the United Nations for example or from private donors like David Rockefeller.
Expanding Areas of Responsibility
Any organization - government or corporate that has the authority and money to expand areas of responsibilities will do so. The La Paz Agreement gave the fiefdom of the border region that power. Supposedly, the mandate of the EPA is health of the environment so the next power partner to add was Health and Human Services. And of course, working in an international zone with an international body, they had to establish an international section of their department. These working group members embedded within our government are the Fifth Column.
Office of Global Health
Affairs - 2001
2006 (last entry in
the archives)
Regional Affairs - The
Americas
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Global Affairs Office
U.S.-Mexico Border XXI Program
The Border XXI Program is a binational, interagency program aimed at protecting and improving the environment and environmental health, while fostering sustainable development in the U.S.-Mexico border area. The objectives of the Border XXI Program include public involvement, decentralization of border decision making, and increased cooperation between the different governmental agencies operating in the border region. The program is implemented through nine binational Workgroups that integrate the efforts of other participating entities and define specific projects to achieve the Program's objectives. The Workgroups are committed to encouraging active state participation in their endeavors and exploring additional mechanisms to promote border community participation and integrated regional planning.
The six Workgroups (1-6 below) that were initiated under the La Paz Agreement are (1) water, (2) air, (3) hazardous and solid waste, (4) pollution prevention, (5) contingency planning and emergency response, and (6) cooperative enforcement and compliance. Recognizing that the environment needs to be considered from a comprehensive perspective, Border XXI integrates three new Workgroups. These are (7) environmental information resources, (8) natural resources, and (9) environmental health.
This one was really clever. They embedded this group within the Border Patrol itself giving the agency two diametrically opposing tasks. No doubt the ultimate goal was/is to completely eliminate the law enforcement side of the Border Patrol in a strategy rather like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
From an article on Daneen Peterson's website titled, "Treason Abounds":
TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing border agents said the Border Patrol's official pursuit policy handcuffs agents in the field . . . The administration is trying to intimidate front-line agents from doing their job . . . If they can't do it administratively, they'll do it with trumped-up criminal charges." Sara A. Carter, Breaking the silence: Convicted border agent tells his story, August 8, 2006, DailyBulletin.com, http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4141562
Expansion and Binational
Efforts
(06/09/2003)
An agreement to expand BORSTAR
along the southwest border was
one of the agreements reached
during a series of meetings
between the United States and
Mexico regarding binational
efforts to promote border
safety. BORSTAR Teams began
providing binational training
to Mexican officers in the
year 2000. In 2001, team
members shared basic skills
and knowledge with more than
400 Mexican law enforcement
officials. Binational training
addressed basic search and
rescue, first aid, land
navigation, basic technical
rescue, and aquatic safety
techniques. Binational
training to enhance public
safety near the border has
already produced dramatic
results: In the last year,
1,200 people were rescued.
BORSTAR Teams are now in place
in each of the nine southwest
border sectors. BORSTAR is an
integral part of making the
border safer. The expansion
and increased resources
devoted to BORSTAR continue to
illustrate the Border Patrol's
commitment to safety and the
preservation of human lives.
Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) -
Border 2012 Program (next
edition of Border XXI)
In 1983, the federal governments of the United States and Mexico signed the La Paz Agreement for the protection, improvement, and conservation of the environment on the U.S.-Mexico border. The border region was defined as the area within 62 miles (100 Km) on either side of the geographic border separating the two countries. Nine years later, environmental authorities of both countries released the Integrated Border Environmental Plan (IBEP), which involved six workgroups including: Air, Water, Hazardous and Solid Wastes, Pollution Prevention, Contingency Planning and Emergency Response, and Enforcement. The implementation of the IBEP was criticized because the public was not asked to help develop the plan and because little attention was given to natural resources and environmental health issues. These identified shortcomings led to the Border XXI Program, which ran from 1996 to 2000. Then in 2001, the U.S. and Mexican agencies ex+plored ways to improve binational environmental planning efforts in the region and created the Border 2012 program to address environmental issues in the region for the next 10 years.
CDC’s Environmental Hazards and Health Effects Program (EHHE) has been and continues to be active in environmental health activities along the U.S.-Mexico border. EHHE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [external link], and other federal agencies are involved in the Border 2012 program to address environmental health issues along the U.S.-Mexico border. Information on the Border 2012 program can be found at http://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder/ [external link].
Public Health News and Information - Nov. 2001 (No. 43)
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