The information that follows was provided during a 13 March 2001 telephone interview with an official at the main office in Puerto Vallarta of the Central de Trabajadores Mexicanos (Mexican Workers Central, CTM), to which the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Musica (National Union of Music Workers, SNTM) is affiliated.

The SNTM is the only union of musicians with a presence in Puerto Vallarta. In this port city, it has three locals, or secciones: No. 270, No. 255 and No. 240. Seccion 240 is the troubadours' (trovadores) local, mostly of musical trios; No. 240 incorporates exclusively mariachi groups and musicians; No. 270 is the filarmónicos local, which includes marimba players, jazz and rock musicians, and a variety of other groups.

Under current union rules, unions generally elect their leadership every three years; the incumbent leadership cannot be re-appointed or re-elected at the end of a term unless the members' assembly requests it and/or there are no other candidates for the post.

Seccion 270 is currently headed by José Luis Uribe López, who has been occupying the post of secretary general of the local for less than a year. Before him, José Espinoza Trujillo occupied the post for nearly twenty years.

The SNTM occupies a different facility from that occupied by the main CTM liaison office in Puerto Vallarta, which is in turn occupied by the taxi union local and other locals. The Research Directorate was unable to communicate with the SNTM local for the purposes of this Response. No additional details could be found among the sources consulted.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Reference

Confederación de Trabajadores Mexicanos (CTM), Puerto Vallarta. 13 March 2001. Telephone interview with official.

Additional Sources Consulted

El Informador [Guadalajara]. Searchable Archives. 1996-2000.

El Universal [Mexico City]. Searchable Archives. 1998-1999.

Excelsior [Mexico City]. Searchable Archives. 1996-2000.

IRB Databases.

La Jornada [Mexico City]. Searchable Archives. 1997-2000.

Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico & NAFTA [London]. 1997-2000.

Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. 1998-1999.

REFWORLD.

Internet Websites and Internet search engines.

Note:

This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific publications available at the Resource Centre are not listed.