Toward a Policy that Favors Human Rights as Universal Values

This article describes the actions that the Mexican government has taken to further human rights and democracy in the year 2002 as part of its foreign policy. According to the author, these activities fall within the parameters of a comprehensive human rights policy with two main objectives. The first of these is to encourage contributions by international organizations, thereby propitiating the structural changes the country requires. The second is to promote the recognition and diffusion of human rights worldwide as fundamental values of a universal character. As a result of this new, participative approach, Mexico’s image as a “problem country with a difficult human rights situation” is gradually being replaced by that of a country that has striven to make a valid contribution to dialogue on several items of the global agenda.