Some of you have followed my saga of trying to bring a car to Mexico. I recently sold the Honda CRV that I bought a few years ago with the intention of driving it to Mexico and using it here. Not possible, I found out, because it was assembled in Great Britain. Cars imported to Mexico have to start with a numeric VIN number that indicates it made in North America (USA, Canada or Mexico). Thank you, NAFTA.
I could not find a Made in the USA Honda CRV in the model year I wanted to replace the one I sold that had the right VIN. I even tried the Toyota RAV 4. No go. All assembled in Japan. (Sidebar: my Canadian friend Lynda who lives in Oaxaca part of the year, and has a permanent resident visa, must take her Toyota RAV 4 out of the country. Why? Made in Japan.)
So, I started to hunt for what I imagined might be the next best thing, a Honda Element. I happily discovered that since their introduction in 2003 until their demise in 2011, all were assembled in Ohio, USA. That qualifies. And, because so few of them were made, they are not that easy to find. But, right there in Durham, North Carolina, a black 2004 Honda Element came up on Craigslist. Not perfect, but good enough for my purposes — practical, affordable, solid transportation for the right price. Good for schlepping and hauling.
While in Oaxaca, my dear North Carolina friends Ted and Jo-Anne offered to help me check out this car before I negotiated the purchase. Thanks to them, a car like the one above became mine today. They picked it up for me and will park it in their driveway until I get there in early December. There’s some stuff that needs fixin’ but overall it’s a good car that will be ready for a road trip to Austin, Texas, before Christmas.
Why Austin? That’s where I will deliver it to a friend from Oaxaca, who for a fair price, will “legalize” it for Mexico, help me get Mexican automobile insurance, and drive it to my village so he can visit his family. A win-win for all of us. All I will need to do after he gets here is to go to the local office to get Oaxaca license plates. I know him and I know his family. It’s a perfect solution to the dilemma of being without personal wheels to explore the region and the need to restrain myself from buying more than I can transport by foot or in a small moto-taxi/tuk-tuk. Comparison shop for furniture? Explore a remote village in the Mixteca? Make a trip to the nursery to buy fruit trees? Without a car, a major undertaking.
I will be blogging about the road trip and the experience of getting the car ready to bring to Mexico. Meanwhile, what to name it? Maybe Little Black Box?
Meanwhile, I’m soon on my way to Mexico City to catch a San Francisco flight to be with my family in time for Thanksgiving.
Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy, joyous holiday filled with goodness: creating fondest memories, preparing and eating delicious food, and delighting in the sustenance of thanksgiving.
What’s a VIN? Vehicle Identification Number, for the uninitiated. The VIN indicates where the car was assembled, the manufacturer, the year of assembly, and lots of other fine details. Critical, when thinking about buy a car to use in Mexico. (Critical any other time to be certain there were no accidents or the car was salvaged.)
Three years ago I bought a terrific 2003 Honda CRV with the intention of driving it to and using it in Oaxaca. Despite our best intentions, the plan went awry two days before departure, when I discovered quite by accident that the VIN number indicated that car was assembled in the United Kingdom. Because of NAFTA rules, it could not be brought into Mexico.
I recently sold that car, and now I’m looking for another Honda to buy and bring here. Seems I can’t find a CRV in the model year 2003-2005 that was made in the USA. How can I tell? The VIN number has to start with a numeric — like a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to indicate it was assembled in either the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. All the CRVs I’ve looked at online have VIN numbers that begin with J (for made in Japan) and S (for made in the United Kingdom). You won’t believe how many sellers I’ve queried to send me the VIN number. They want to know Why? I explain. All the CRVs in this model year range that I have found start with J or S. If anyone knows anything differently, please share. Please! ‘Cause I’d really like another CRV.
Lots of myths circulate among the ex-pat community about bringing cars to Mexico and keeping them here. Someone recently told me the car has to be exactly 10 years old. Not true!
My trusted friend in Austin, Texas, who is originally from the village I live in, is my car advisor. He tells me that cars up to model year 2007 can be legalized at the border and ready for Mexican registration.
To register a car in Mexico, an expat must have a permanent resident visa. Otherwise, it has to be registered to a local.
Right now, I’m looking at what may be the next best thing to the Honda CRV — the Honda Element EX. Looking for model years 2003-2005, with a manual transmission, 4WD, in good condition, under 130,000 miles. Anyone out there have one they want to sell? Of course, VIN number is the most important element. It must start with a number!
As the car saga continues, I will be writing more about whether I buy a car in North Carolina and take a road trip to Austin with the right Honda. Stay tuned.
Posted onFriday, July 15, 2011|Comments Off on Witness for Peace in Oaxaca, Mexico: Advocates for Sustainable Agriculture and Immigration Reform
Wood-yoked oxen with traditional plow
Several days ago, I wrote that Stephen and I were planning to attend a Witness for Peace (WFP) presentation by a U.S. delegation that had just returned from Oaxaca. Nineteen people from across the U.S. ranging in age from 18 to 73 years old, teachers, artists, and advocates participated in this delegation.
We did attend and heard from Sharon Mujica, Jane Stein, David Young and Eduardo Lapetina who had spent a week in Oaxaca in June 2011 meeting with local community-based leaders, living in villages, and hearing about immigration, sustainable agriculture, economic development, and the impact of the drug wars. Their mission, as volunteers, was to learn as much as they could, immerse themselves in the culture, return to the U.S. and help raise awareness about issues facing Oaxacaquenos. The NC chapter of WFP started many years ago as the Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America when NAFTA was under consideration in the U.S. Congress.
Sharon Mujica has been part of the Latin American studies program at UNC Chapel Hill since the early 1990’s and lived in Mexico for 20 years. Jane Stein is one of the founding directors of CHICLE, an intensive language school in Carrboro, NC. David Young was a founding director of Visiting International Faculty (VIF) program that hires international teachers of English and places them in rural NC public schools. Eduardo Lapetina is an artist originally from Argentina.
Taking alfalfa to market
Here is a brief summary of what they discussed:
Oaxaca is a microcosm of what goes on in Mexico
It is complex, rural and isolated
There is tremendous out-migration; people in search of jobs
76% of Oaxacaquenos live in extreme poverty
The state is rich in natural resources
It is very much affected by NAFTA
57% of the population is indigenous
14% don’t speak Spanish (they speak an indigenous language)
In Mexico, 17% attend University but only 5% graduate
Saw no impact of drug war in Oaxaca; localized to border states
90% of guns used in drug war come from the U.S.
Globalization and industrial farming result in chemically treated, genetically modified corn and beans
Small family farms are at risk; cross hybridization results in contamination of indigenous seeds
NAFTA floods Mexico with below market corn, small farmers can’t compete, drives them out of business
Multinational corporations are present to extract minerals and other natural resources
There is a strong desire for economic parity to keep young people from migrating; out-migration is a necessity not a wish
NAFTA was supposed to “float the boat”
Plowing the milpas to plant corn, squash, beans
These are some of the local organizations the delegation visited to learn more about sustainable agriculture and indigenous human rights:
Centro de Derechos Indigenas Flor y Canto
Universidad de la Tierra, post-secondary alternative education
La Vida Nueva women’s cooperative in Teotitlan del Valle
CEDI CAM reforestation/water catchment project in the Mixteca
Delegation members stayed with families in homes and took their meals with them.
Shucking dried corn kernels for planting in the milpas
Witness for Peace (WFP) is a politically independent, nationwide grassroots organization of people committed to nonviolence and led by faith and conscience. WFP’s mission is to support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing U.S. policies and corporate practices which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean.
WFP has a field office in Oaxaca, Mexico, currently staffed by four team leaders. Oaxaca is a state in southern Mexico with one of the largest indigenous populations in the country. Its rural population has been devastated by corn imported from the United States as a result of NAFTA. Many small farmers from Oaxaca have few options but migration. Learn about the complexities of this state and the movements being formed to make a better world possible!
Witness for Peace, 3628 12th Street NE. 1st Fl., Washington, DC 20017 – 202.547-6112 – 202.536.4708
Here is a lengthy and worthwhile article written about the breakdown of NAFTA promises and the pressure on the indigenous Oaxaca farmer to give up small plot farming of native corn, beans and squash (milpas) in favor of supposedly more highly productive hybrid corn. Never mind that it takes fossil fuel energy in the form of chemical fertilizers to feed hybrid corn. Never mind that insecticides and herbicides required for this type of farming destroy the wild herbs and vegetables that could be the source for food evolution and seed adaptation. The author suggests that it is the indigenous farmers who will develop the crops that will sustain drought, heat, cold, etc. because they will need to continue to feed their families and communities. Just as maize was cultivated 8,000 years ago, the evolution of food will continue as long as adaption is politically and economically supported.
Why We Left, Expat Anthology: Norma’s Personal Essay
Norma contributes personal essay, How Oaxaca Became Home
Norma Contributes Two Chapters!
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October 28-November 4, 2022: Women’s Creative Writing Retreat in Teotitlan del Valle — Memory and Tradition. Click this link to read about it. ONE SPACE OPEN FOR SHARED ROOM.
October 29-November 4, 2022:Day of the Dead Culture Tour. We meet locals and visit 4 villages to experience this mystical pre-Hispanic observance, awesome and reverent. Still space for a few more!
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February 21-March 1, 2023: Chiapas Textile Study Tour--Deep Into the Maya World Based in San Cristobal de las Casas, we travel to distant pueblos to meet extraordinary weavers --Best of the Best! Just a handful of spaces open.
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Dye Master Dolores Santiago Arrellanas with son Omar Chavez Santiago, weaver and dyer, Fey y Lola Rugs, Teotitlan del Valle
Car Talk Oaxaca: Funky Honda Element Qualifies for Mexico
Some of you have followed my saga of trying to bring a car to Mexico. I recently sold the Honda CRV that I bought a few years ago with the intention of driving it to Mexico and using it here. Not possible, I found out, because it was assembled in Great Britain. Cars imported to Mexico have to start with a numeric VIN number that indicates it made in North America (USA, Canada or Mexico). Thank you, NAFTA.
I could not find a Made in the USA Honda CRV in the model year I wanted to replace the one I sold that had the right VIN. I even tried the Toyota RAV 4. No go. All assembled in Japan. (Sidebar: my Canadian friend Lynda who lives in Oaxaca part of the year, and has a permanent resident visa, must take her Toyota RAV 4 out of the country. Why? Made in Japan.)
So, I started to hunt for what I imagined might be the next best thing, a Honda Element. I happily discovered that since their introduction in 2003 until their demise in 2011, all were assembled in Ohio, USA. That qualifies. And, because so few of them were made, they are not that easy to find. But, right there in Durham, North Carolina, a black 2004 Honda Element came up on Craigslist. Not perfect, but good enough for my purposes — practical, affordable, solid transportation for the right price. Good for schlepping and hauling.
While in Oaxaca, my dear North Carolina friends Ted and Jo-Anne offered to help me check out this car before I negotiated the purchase. Thanks to them, a car like the one above became mine today. They picked it up for me and will park it in their driveway until I get there in early December. There’s some stuff that needs fixin’ but overall it’s a good car that will be ready for a road trip to Austin, Texas, before Christmas.
Why Austin? That’s where I will deliver it to a friend from Oaxaca, who for a fair price, will “legalize” it for Mexico, help me get Mexican automobile insurance, and drive it to my village so he can visit his family. A win-win for all of us. All I will need to do after he gets here is to go to the local office to get Oaxaca license plates. I know him and I know his family. It’s a perfect solution to the dilemma of being without personal wheels to explore the region and the need to restrain myself from buying more than I can transport by foot or in a small moto-taxi/tuk-tuk. Comparison shop for furniture? Explore a remote village in the Mixteca? Make a trip to the nursery to buy fruit trees? Without a car, a major undertaking.
I will be blogging about the road trip and the experience of getting the car ready to bring to Mexico. Meanwhile, what to name it? Maybe Little Black Box?
Meanwhile, I’m soon on my way to Mexico City to catch a San Francisco flight to be with my family in time for Thanksgiving.
Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy, joyous holiday filled with goodness: creating fondest memories, preparing and eating delicious food, and delighting in the sustenance of thanksgiving.
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Travel & Tourism
Tagged car, drive, import, legalize, Mexico, NAFTA, Oaxaca, register, regulations, rules, Vehicle Identification Number