Report: Mexico President Uses Child Workers

M E X I C O  C I T Y, Aug. 13 -- Children under the age of 14are working on the ranch of Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox,sowing onions and potatoes in violation of laws banningchild labor, a newspaper reported today.

The Mexico City daily Reforma said that on Saturday it found atleast 30 minors and teenagers being trucked into the Fox familyranch, San Cristobal, in the central agricultural state ofGuanajuato, to work for about 65 pesos (about $7) a day.

The Mexican Constitution bans children younger than age 14from working. Children between 14 and 16 can only work six hoursa day, and the country recently ratified an International LaborOrganization convention against the worst forms of child abusein the workplace. Nevertheless, child labor, especially in theimpoverished countryside, is common.

Fox, who just returned from a five-day tour of South Americain his first foreign trip before taking office on Dec. 1, wasspending the weekend relaxing on the ranch. It was not possibleto contact his aides for comment.

Children Young as 11

Reforma said that among the more than 30 youngsters pickedup by truck at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday were 12-year-old Jose,13-year-old Juan and 11-year-old Sanjuana.

It said the children showed its reporter their 390-peso($42) weekly paycheck. Reforma said that since the children werehired as seasonal workers, they received no benefits.

Many had left school to help earn money for their families.They worked from 7 a.m. to around 4 p.m., taking an hour lunchbreak, for an eight-hour workday.

A young man who appeared to be taking care of the children,20-year-old Mario, complained about the hard work and low pay.

“It barely pays for food and they don’t pay you for everyday you work,” Mario told Reforma as he urged the children tomake sure they got the wages they deserved.

Fox was elected Mexico’s first opposition president in 71years on July 2. Running for the conservative National ActionParty (PAN), he ended the Institutional Revolutionary Party’sseven-decade grip on power with a promise to battle corruptionand lawlessness.