The Mexican crown

National
Wal-Mart makes social "contributions".
The jewel of the crown
By: Carlos Damian May 7, 2012
The corporate one promotes practical corrupt
México. - A practice of the transnational Wal-Mart (WM) to neutralize opponents it is to give money to the authorities or in their case local groups with the purpose of that they carry out works of supposition social benefit. A case emblematic of those actions is the construction and opening in 2004 of the store Aurrera in the C perimeter of protection of the archaeological area of Teotihuacan. In spite of being in a protection area, where it is imposed the neighbors strict requirements to enlarge their housings, Wal-Mart was able to obtain of the state government, then headed by Arturo Montiel, of the city council of Teotihuacan and of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH, in Spanish) those approvals to open the store.

To silence part of the voices in against of it, WM gave 40 thousand dollars to the representatives of the delegation and of the Council of Civic participation of the neighborhood La Purificación’s community where the supermarket was built, and it offered labor places for the neighbors, with the purpose of achieving its approval. The corporative one began the construction in July of 2004 in a property located in the street Cruz de la Mision. The property is part of the polygon C of the area of protection of the archaeological area of Teotihuacan, where in accordance with an emitted ordinance August 30, 1988 allow to be carried out constructions that don't attempt against the preservation and integrity of the archaeological monuments.

During months, the Civic front Teotihuacan and the Organization of the United Nations, they argued that the construction would destroy archaeological vestiges, besides the irregularities and corruption in the emission of the construction licenses. The people that are not according interposed before the General Attorney's office of the Republic the accusation TEX/061/2004-11; the accusation 925/2004 in the Administrative tribunal of the Contentious. An investigation began but the works never stopped. The INAH verified the nonexistence of archaeological goods in almost the entirety of the land". However, it admitted that it found remains of the basement of a pre-Hispanic altar of 80 cm for side and 25 cm of height, as well as fragments of floors.

Wal-Mart achieved in six months all the permits: the feasibility of floor use (DPUR/106/2044), verdict of Civil Protection (SGG/SSGG/SSSP/DGPC/02395/2004), it licenses of work of the INAH (401/725/2/103P/04) and of the city council, it licenses state of floor use (089/050/2004), verdict and documents of public services (DU/CS/05/06/2004), ecological (212003/RESOL/356/04) and of the free road (20000/A000/10160/2004).

The initiatives frozen in the Senate
For two years it is detained in the Senate of the Republic an initiative to reform the Federal Law of Economic Competition (LFCE, in Spanish), the one which, among other points, it looks for to strengthen the investigation processes against companies that incur in practical monopolists and that it would be good to stop the actions depredatorias of the self-service chains, mainly of Wal-Mart that offers low prices to their clients but it harms to suppliers and merchants in small. The merchants in small complain about the lack of the federal legislators' sensibility to refuse to include in the initiative an expressed prohibition that the chains of supermarkets blindfold products below the production price, that which represents a disloyal competition that affects to the internal market.

It existed before this prohibition but the federal government and characters of the Congress of the Union they have gone them erasing, Alfredo Neme Martinez (ANM) affirms, director for America of the World Union of Wholesalers Market. “The legislators also it says they argue that it cannot determine a cost, that which is absurd, when the own Secretary of Treasury (SHCP, in Spanish) it determines it to fix taxes". The petition that it recovers this prohibition it comes from suppliers that WM imposes low prices; with it threatens that if they don't accept they retard them the payments or they certainly eliminate them of its list of suppliers.

The jewel of the crown
The managing ANM considered that although WM applies the same commercial and labor practices in the entire world, Mexico is “the biggest jewel in its crown” for the earnings that it reports it and the number of branches that has been able to open up here in the last years and that “they have devoured” the small specialized business and of diverse kinds”. "Of each five stores inaugurated by WM in the world, four are seated in Mexico", and 60 percent of what bills the transnational one here is transferred its suppliers, for what they are these those that pay its publicity, offers and the construction of new branches.

The big chains, ANM asserts that although we go with the legislators they tell us that there is not a lot of social pressure to impel the law, partly by the great pressure that the corporate ones commercial with WM to the head impel that they leave relegated the demands of the small merchants. It’ll be probably left aside their petitions, ANM indicates and the Power “willing it stops the power monopolist and monopsodic to -be able to impose prices to its suppliers - of the big commercial chains as it has been clear before the scandals raised by Wal-Mart by acts of corruption in our country". (La Jornada, politica, p.p. 2 - 5, April 26, 2012)