Thread: Selling girl/brides: Mex. custom or U.S. crime?

Selling Brides: Native Mexican Custom or Crime?
By Ioan Grillo / San Juan Copala Sunday, Feb. 01, 2009
Marcelino de Jesus Martinez Greenfield human trafficking felony for taking money 14-year-old daughter to move in with her 18-year-old fiance, Margarito de Jesus Galindo
Marcelino de Jesus Martinez was arrested in Greenfield, California, on suspicion of human trafficking and charged with a felony for selling his 14-year-old daughter to Margarito de Jesus Galindo.
Monterey County Sheriff's Department / AP



U.S. courtroom dramas don't usually have much impact in this ramshackle village of Triqui Indians deep in the mountains of southern Mexico. But a new case unraveling in Greenfield, California has sent shockwaves through the whole community. The accused men are both from its same Triqui ethnicity, an ancient people who number in just the tens of thousands. And the trial will also judge one of their most sacred rites: bride prices. Adding to their concern is the way global media have jumped on the story, with the Internet headline "Man Sells Daughter for Beer" sparking a sudden interest in Triqui customs from Italy to Australia.
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The case centers on an alleged marriage arrangement that went sour involving Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, his 14-year old daughter and her suitor Margarito de Jesus Galindo, 18. Galindo had agreed to pay Martinez for his daughter's hand in marriage, according to Greenfield police. According to the cops, the total cost was $16,000, one hundred cases of beer and several cases of meat. "The 14-year old juvenile moved in with Galindo and when payments were not received, the father, Martinez called Greenfield PD to bring back the daughter," the police said in a Jan. 12 statement.

Galindo has been charged with misdemeanor statutory rape and released after he and the 14-year old girl admitted to having had sex during their one-week long "marriage." Martinez is accused of a felony for "receiving money for causing persons to Cohabitate." The police entitled their news release "Human Trafficking." He faces up to eight years in prison if convicted. Held in prison since his arrest, Martinez has pleaded not guilty. His sister-in-law insists that the police version of a marriage contract or a sale of Martinez's daughter is not true.

Nevertheless, the tremors are being felt across hundreds of other Mexican indigenous communities who use forms of bride prices — which can include farm animals and soda as well as cash and beer. The Greenfield incident is the most high profile U.S. court case involving an indigenous Mexican marriage, and its resolution could set a precedent. Critics in Mexico have jumped at the chance to attack a practice they see as abusive to human rights. Defenders have warned against bashing Indian customs and called for understanding "cultural relativism" — a concept that sparks passionate pleas from anthropologists and searing scorn from conservatives.

San Juan Copala village council secretary Macario Garcia claims the bride price makes the husband commit to the marriage, reducing breakups. "It is so the man gives value to his wife and so he won't easily leave her for another woman," Garcia says, sitting in the shade of a wooden hut under the glare of rugged hilltops. In the ancient tradition, he explains, the suitor negotiates the marriage with the family through a so-called "ambassador." After a deal has been struck, the suitor then goes to meet and collect the bride at 2 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. Local custom also permits polygamy and some men in the Triqui region have up to seven wives.

However, Garcia says the custom of arranged marriage is dying, with many young people meeting their partners at the village middle school. Girls are also marrying much older — at around 20 instead of the traditional 14 — he said. Village resident Pilar Martinez echoes his defense of Triqui traditional marriage, saying the payment puts worth on the matrimony. "It is a mark of commitment," she says smiling as she plays with her lively daughter and nephew. Martinez married at 21 after meeting her husband at school. He paid her father about 9,000 pesos ($650), she says.

In the neighboring market town of Juxtlahuaca, Maria Bautista sees the practice as coercive and barbaric. "It's like a form of slavery. They buy their women and then treat them like their property," says Bautista, a single mother with her own business. Bautista has a Triqui father and Mixtec Indian mother but she speaks only Spanish and follows few of the old traditions. She cites the cases of many older men who came back minted from working in the U.S. and who bought themselves several younger wives.

Down in the state capital of Oaxaca, state human rights commissioner Heriberto Garcia also chastised the custom. "Buying and selling a woman is a clear violation of her rights," he says in his office decorated with leather-bound law books. "And a young teenage girl does not have the experience to make these decisions." Oaxaca state law permits marriage of women at 14 and men at 16. However, Garcia said he plans to send a bill to the state legislature changing the age to 18 for both sexes.

Mexican officials have long tolerated arranged marriages, Garcia concedes, saying he knows of no cases of prosecutions. But he says he will also propose to amend a "Treatment of People" law to include an article that makes bride selling a criminal act. Such action is opposed by many who see indigenous traditions as a virtue of Mexico's cultural diversity. Demonizing arranged marriages is the latest portrayal of Indians as savages that has continued during five centuries since the Spanish conquest, says Ximena Avellaneda of the Rosario Castellanos Women House. "Why do Americans attack an arranged marriage between Triquis and say nothing about million dollar marriage contracts between Hollywood stars?" she says. "Relationships between teenagers are also common in many communities, not just among indigenous people."

Back up in the Triqui village, leaders lay no blame on U.S. authorities. But they excoriate the accused for going to the police. "This man must have had little experience in the United States and must really not understand the way it works there," Garcia says, shaking his head and showing a look of disbelief. "You just do not get the American police involved in a case like this."

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IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE.

"Why do Americans attack an arranged marriage between Triquis and say nothing about million dollar marriage contracts between Hollywood stars?"

Because we have laws, dudette! And the million dollar marriage between Hollywood stars are two consenting adults, whose marriage arrangement is negotiated with attorneys. A minor thrown into a marriage does not have those resources. She fears the wrath of papa, whose greed sells her body for a pittance (cases of beer and meat). She gets to spend the next 50 or 60 years of her life working off that payment, which means she was sold into slavery for the few cents worth of papa's gratification. For a father to treat his child as chattel is unconscionable in America. And, of course, Americans have to bear the bill for treating this girl's psychological condition once she realizes that she is worth something.

And what does this have to do with the US? NOTHING at all! If they want to arrange marriages like that in mexico, then do so IN MEXICO! We have NO obligation to permit other cultures to violate our laws.

Originally Posted by miguelina

And what does this have to do with the US? NOTHING at all! If they want to arrange marriages like that in mexico, then do so IN MEXICO! We have NO obligation to permit other cultures to violate our laws.

Very Well said...This is the pitfall of all this glorified "multiculturism". You can't start honoring everybody's customs that conflict with our laws. Consider some of the horrific ones of radical Islam, honor killings and abuse of women. Britain is already caving to some of the lesser civil customs of Muslims.

Oh, i get it. The media is trying to soften this issue up by making it look like this was some innocent religious ritual or something? I guess we should forgive him? To heck with their customs! these pedophiles need to wake up and understand when they cross the border they are no longer in Mexico under what ever laws Mexico has. This creep deserves to have to law book thrown at him and locked up for life.

SALINAS, Calif. -- A California man has pleaded not guilty to aiding statutory rape in an alleged arrangement to sell his 14-year-old daughter into marriage in exchange for $16,000, beer and meat.

The prosecutor says 36-year-old Marcelino de Jesus Martinez entered pleas Wednesday to procuring a child for lewd acts, aiding and abetting statutory rape and child endangerment.

Trial is set for April 6. Martinez is in jail on an immigration hold. He lives in Greenfield, a farming community on California's central coast.

Prosecutors say Martinez and the family of Margarito de Jesus Galindo had negotiated a marriage and dowry contract.

Authorities learned of the deal after Martinez went to police to get his daughter back because payment wasn't made as promised.

Information from: The Salinas Californian, http://www.californianonline.com

"Why do Americans attack an arranged marriage between Triquis and say nothing about million dollar marriage contracts between Hollywood stars?" she says. "Relationships between teenagers are also common in many communities, not just among indigenous people."

Um, yeah, hello, Idiot! Maybe because your culture sells little girls to be raped??? And maybe these Americans with their marriage contracts are adults and really have what is called a pre-nuptual agreement, not selling their little under-age daughters to the highest bidders? What a moronic question, lady!

I agree with the other poster...if you want to engage in your barbaric, archaic custom of selling your little girls for sex and housekeeping, do it in your own pathetic excuse of a nation!