1992-2001 Constitutional Reforms to recognise Mexico's pluricultural identity and Indigenous rights

There has been a long struggle for the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples in Mexico. An important achievement of this movement was the 1991 ratification by the Mexican government of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In 1992, article 4 of the Constitution was reformed to recognise Mexico’s pluricultural identity and to protect the culture and identity of its indigenous peoples. However, as the Due Process of Law Foundation notes, legislation was never passed to give legal effect to this constitutional principle (DPLF, 2018: 19).

The 1994 uprising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in Chiapas resulted in negotiations with the government which, among other issues, focused on strengthening the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in Mexico. This resulted in the 1996 San Andres Accords. In 2001, this process ultimately resulted in the Congress introducing reforms to the Constitution on indigenous rights. The reform to Article 2 reaffirmed Mexico’s pluricultural identity previously established in the reforms of 1992. However, it went further by recognising indigenous people and their collective rights, including the right of indigenous communities to self-determination within the framework of the constitution and legal recognition of indigenous communities as subjects of public interest as well as of economic, social and cultural rights (González Galván, 2010: 350). This legislative process was unsuccessfully challenged by indigenous communities for falling short of the undertakings in the San Andres Accords, which contained broader rights of autonomy and rights to territory. Nonetheless, the reform increased the recognition of the rights of indigenous communities in Mexico’s legal framework.