Luz Robles' Mexico Speech Before the CCIME, the President of Mexico, and Other Dignitaries on November 14, 2007 (Part One):
(For more information about the CCIME, please see the links at the end of this post)
This post, along with Part Two, represent an extensive revision of the section that covers the speech in the "Luz Robles Report" - available at ufire.net at:
https://sites.google.com/site/
As part of most CCIME conferences, speeches by dignitaries are given. For instance, the President of Mexico frequently speaks at the conferences. In fact, it was at such a conference that President Calderon criticized Arizona's immigration enforcement law, SB 1070, in April 2010. Usually two CCIME advisors also speak.
Luz Robles was one such featured speaker at the November 2007 CCIME conference in Mexico City.
Luz Robles' speech was given to President Calderon of Mexico, other dignitaries of the Mexican government, and to the assembled CCIME, of which Luz Robles was a member at the time. It was given on November 14, 2007, within weeks of her having resigned as Director of the Utah Office of Ethnic Affairs.
The previous version of Luz Robles' speech briefly analyzed in the document available at ufire.net ("A Preliminary Look at Senator Robles' Immigration Conflict of Interest" - revised February 2011) was not the version of the speech actually given by Luz Robles.
The version used in the document currently at ufire.net was the only one known at the time of its writing. It is the one linked to from the CCIME websites, both older sites and the current site.
The version of the actual speech as it was given by Luz Robles, however, with the President of Mexico and other dignitaries present as she spoke, was located on another website of the Mexican government - the official website of the President of Mexico.
The link to this version of the speech as it was actually given is:
There are also three photographs currently available that show Luz Robles at the meeting at which she spoke. The first two are of Ms. Robles on the stand with President Calderon (she is on the far right of the stand; President Calderon is at the podium). The first can be found at:
http://galeria.calderon.
The second photo is of the same people standing. Luz Robles is on the far right. Again, President Calderon is at the podium:
http://galeria.calderon.
There is a third photo available as well. It occurs in the December 2007 issue of the Spanish-language publication La Prensa (in Michigan and Ohio). This photo shows Luz Robles at the lectern giving her speech. It is available at (scroll down to page 14):
http://www.laprensatoledo.com/
This version of the speech on the presidential website differs significantly from the previously known version. This is important in determining its significance. Changes made from the first version to the second version reflect themes that were significant enough for Ms. Robles to make or to modify in order to be sure to speak about them at the conference in front of the President of Mexico.
To make comparisons, the earlier draft version of the speech is available at: http://www.ime.gob.mx/images/
In addition to the president's website, most of the speech was also reproduced in the Mexican government publication, El Gobierno Mexicano, for the month of November 2007. This publication is the monthly chronicle of the activities of the President of Mexico:
http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/
The conference coverage begins on page 214 and Luz Robles' speech begins on page 217.
The speeches by President Calderon, Luz Robles and others were also reported on in the Mexican media. The CCIME, in their bulletin "Lazos: Sintesis Informativa" (#1100, 11/15/07, http://www.ime.gob.mx/
This bulletin refers the reader to an article in La Jornada, for example, which quotes and refers to parts of Luz Robles' speech. For instance, the article refers to Ms. Robles assertion that many deportations occurred due to inadequate legal representation. This is significant because this idea only occurs in the version of the speech posted on the presidential website, thus confirming that it was indeed the one actually given. Other sections of the speech are mentioned, as well, that only occur in the speech at the presidential website. The La Jornada article is available at: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/
Luz Robles had resigned as Coordinator of the Legal Affairs Commission of the CCIME in April 2007. She told the commission at that time that she was going to run for the Senate in Utah. There had also been some talk in Utah of her possibly running for the Utah State Senate when she left her position as Director of the Utah Office of Ethnic Affairs in September 2007 (see the Deseret News, 9/11/07, "Ex-Ethnic Affairs chief may vie for Senate seat," http://www.deseretnews.com/
The words of Ms. Robles spoken at the conference, therefore, are from someone who sees herself as a candidate for elective office in the United States.
The speech can be briefly overviewed by breaking it down into sections as the topic changes as follows:
1. Greeting to the assembly
2. Expression of support for the people in Tabasco
3. Introduction to the problems of deported Mexicans returning to Mexico
4. Recommendations for addressing problems of the returning Mexicans
5. The need for Mexicans in the U.S. to be able to rapidly get identity documents from the consulates
6. Observation that Mexicans are participating with more strength in civic and political activities in the U.S. and Canada
7. Expression of commitment to continue to strive to better the lives of Mexicans in the exterior and of having the unconditional support of the Mexican government.
In the speech itself, Ms. Robles makes some astonishing statements.
The speech will be examined in more detail in Part Two.
For More Information about the CCIME:
The CCIME is an advisory board to the Mexican government. Ms. Robles was part officially part of this board from 2006 -2008. For more information about the board and Ms. Robles' role within it, please visit the following two sites:
https://sites.google.com/site/
http://immigrationutah.
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