Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
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Chiapas, Mexico - Holding high a banner reading, "Free Trade Celebrates Greed; God Celebrates Justice", nearly 100 members of the indigenous coffee cooperative Maya Vinic symbolically burned a portion of this year's coffee crop on April 17th. The co-op members, part of the Christian pacifist group Las Abejas made this burnt offering as a sacrifice to God, giving back the fruit of their sweat and blood deemed nearly worthless by the world market. Said co-op member Antonio Vasquez, "In this smoke is an aroma that will carry us to meet a just market and a fair salary for our work."

Coffee prices in Mexico are down a record 40% this year, in part because of International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies encouraging the importation of coffee from outside of Mexico. In January, the government of President Fox gave Nestle Corporation license to import 600,000 bags from Vietnam. Though Nestle has yet to import any coffee, this contributed to a drop in prices.

The Abejas hope to be approved to sell their coffee to Fair Trade certified dealers. Fair Trade dealers buy straight from the producer, bypassing large corporations, and guarantee producers a fair price. While the free market price pays the coffee grower 30 cents per pound, Fair Trade buyers pay $1.26 per pound.

Abejas member Jose Alfredo expresses the view of small growers, "These [IMF] economic agreements benefits only transnational companies. For the indigenous producers--they don't take us into account." Antonio Vasquez prayed "In the same ground where lies the blood of our martyrs [speaking of the 45 Abejas killed by government-sponsored paramilitaries in 1997], let us offer up the smoke of this coffee as a gift to God. His prayer continued "that God would move the hearts of the transnational corporations and consumers to give us a fair price for our coffee." The Abejas' hope is that the consumers and corporations will hear God's word from James 5:1-6, read as the coffee went up in flames: "Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts."

The following list of certified Fair Trade dealers; CloudForest-Mexico, CafeCampesino, TheHumanBean, EqualExchange, already have coffee from similar situations to Las Abejas available for church, institution and family purchase.

The Abejas were joined in their witness by CPTers Fred Bahnson, Brevard NC; Scott Kerr, Downers Grove IL; Chris Schweitzer, Silver City NC; and Lynn Stoltzfus, Harrisonburg VA.