At a presentation on housing rights at the Center for Human Rights this Tuesday, Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez identified a number of conditions that impede the fulfillment of the right for basic housing among the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Among the problems Juarez cited are the poverty of indigenous villages, the exclusion of the poor from government programs and financial assistance, the lack of legislation that assures basic housing rights for all and the negative impact of international free trade agreements. Juarez and representatives from the United Nations agency on suitable housing maintain that current programs for financing housing are insufficient, as they are primarily geared toward private interests and the urban sector, to the detriment of those living in rural areas like the state of Chiapas and small villages.
