Vida Humana Internacional (VHI), Human Life International's Hispanic Division, participated in the First International Conference in Mexicali, Mexico from March 31 through April 1. The Conference, titled "Life and Family: Wonder of Love" gathered about 300 participants and was organized by a coalition of pro-life groups, including the Comité Nacional Pro-Vida de Mexico, a strong ally of VHI for many years.

VHI's Director of Education, Adolfo J. Castañeda, and myself, Esther M. Sousa, Development Coordinator, gave several talks at this conference including: "Anti-Life/Family Strategies", "Domestic Violence and Radical Feminism" and "Learning From History: What happened in the United States". We also participated in several local radio and TV programs where we publicized VHI's Spanish radio programs, "Defend Life" and "Conferences for Life and Family", which are both transmitted to all Latin America by WEWN, Mother Angelica's short wave station. At the Mexicali conference, we distributed almost 100 pounds of educational materials, including VHI's bimonthly newsletter Escoge la Vida. and publicized VHI's Spanish web site (www.vidahumana.org), which offers information on more than 20 topics on life and family and receives over 250,000 visits a month.

The main objective of the conference was to inform participants about recent anti-life/family strategies promoted by certain pro-abortion and radical feminist groups. Two of these strategies are euphemistically referred to as "gender perspective" and "reproductive health". Both of these have made dangerous inroads into Mexican legislation as well as into governmental and non governmental institutions. These strategies are being promoted by MEXFAM, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)'s Mexican affiliate and by the "Consejo Mexicano de Población" ("Mexican Population Council"), which is government funded. The latter receives funds from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank.

The "gender perspective" has been endorsed by Mexican President, Vicente Fox. The present objective of this strategy, promoted by radical feminism, is the creation of the "Instituto de la Mujer" ("Women's Institute") in the capital, Mexico City. But far from providing true development opportunities for women, this new institute will instead promote the "gender" ideology, a term which has been redefined to mean the acceptance of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexualism and transvestism. This pernicious ideology has penetrated schools and institutions that assist women and the family. The long term objective of "gender feminism" is the "deconstruction" of society through androgen, which asserts that the differing roles of men and women are not attributed to their natural differences, but rather to societal norms. The "gender feminists" propose that such differences are purely cultural constructs, imposed by a patriarchal society.

"Reproductive health" is simply a vehicle for the promotion of contraceptives, abortifacients and sterilization, while "sex education" has long been the vehicle for indoctrinating the young under the guise of AIDS prevention.

The Mexican Population Council has long promoted programs of "reproductive health" and "sex education". Many studies prove that such "sex education" leads to teen promiscuity, unwed pregnancies and abortions, as well as sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS.

VHI was invited specifically to proliferate the local pro-life effort and to alert the public about the hidden dangers of these strategies. Mexicans are being deceived into thinking that said strategies are for the "benefit" of women and their "health". The conference coalition has thus far been able to impede the creation of the "Women's Institute" (with a "gender" perspective) in Mexicali, the capital of the State of Baja California. They hope to stall the process until next June when local elections are very likely to produce a pro-life candidate who will halt the formation of said institute. However, they need all the help they can get and VHI will be right there with them.

This successful conference ended with a closing Mass on Sunday celebrated by the Bishop of Mexicali, His Excellency José Isidro Guerrero. The Mass took place at the "Catedral de la Vida" ("The Cathedral of Life"), as named by Pope John Paul II. Bishop Guerrero is a courageous supporter of local pro-life/family groups and has also been instrumental in thwarting the "Women's Institute".