POR UNA ECONOMONIA EN MANOS DE LA GENTE

"For an economy in the hands of the people" is the motto of Tianguis TLALOC, a system of exchange between producers and consumers developed in Mexico, which aims to provide a sustainable solution to problems of poverty, unemployment and lack of financial resources. Through the use of a social currency, it intends to support interchange of products and services, while infusing transactions with community values of confidence, quality and respect for the environment. At the recent World Environment Day fair, held June 5-7 in Mexico City, participants had the opportunity to learn about this system, and to witness the human and social values it endorses and represents.

The World Environment Day fair, sponsored by both city government and social agencies, is a three day event, featuring displays and workshops by nearly 100 producers and organizations in Mexico City, a place which has been struggling with the environmental effects of overcrowding and pollution. The participants present a mix of organic food; artisan, home and personal products; and representation by Mexico City’s delegations and international organizations. Roughly ten of the 100 fair exhibitors are members of the Tianguis TLALOC system, which was launched nearly eight years ago by Promocion del Desarrollo Popular (PDP), a Mexican NGO with 40 years of experience working with grassroots organizations and microenterprises. The members’ products include organic honey, beans and cheese; mayan art and traditional dolls; natural medicine; as well as services, including massage and translation. The products are all environmentally-friendly, and produced through organic and indigenous methods.

Participants in the fair who visit the Tianguis Tlaloc and PDP booths learn that what is most noteworthy about the products and services offered is the very system they are linked into, which aims to rebuild traditional social values of giving and cooperation. The system works through the use of a community currency, neither public nor private, named for the Mesoamerican divinity TLALOC. In each of multiple exchanges, producers and consumers pay for goods and services in a mix of national currency, and TLALOC, each of which represents one hour of social work, or roughly $30 pesos (around US $3 dollars). Unlike conventional money that generates interest, the TLALOC is not meant to be accumulated, but rather to be circulated throughout the economy through interchanges between network members. Through these exchanges, participants recreate solidarity between the city and the countryside, as well as between the rich and poor, all producers of goods and services who come together for a more equitable system of exchange.

Some visitors to the fair respond to descriptions of the Tianguis TLALOC system with enthusiasm, while others are left with further questions about its operations. What unites the majority is identification with the difficulty of finding markets for their products or services, and an appreciation of the lack of resources in the countryside as well as the city that the system aims to address. Some immediately identify a potential contribution they could bring - such as a woman who offers dance classes, or a man who works in a shop that supplies primary food products. One man - an engineer - doubts what he could contribute, until one of the Tianguis members suggests that his specific engineering knowledge could be the content of a useful workshop or training.

The most impressive aspect of the system is displayed not through the information members share, but through their spirit of cooperation and commitment to quality, which is ubiquitous in their mutual support and transactions. Throughout the three days, members of the system visit each others’ booths, bringing samples of their products, sharing items for sale, entrusting their booths and products to other network members, and simply visiting to talk and share experiences. As visitors to the fair and others interested in making purchases pass their booths, Tianguis members offer samples or take the time to explain the history of the products - such as beans produced in Zacatecas, which are being offered in support of producers who have recently encountered difficulty in selling their products.

One of the most moving moments comes when one of the network members, who offers natural medicines and services, is providing a massage for one of the visitors to the fair. In the process, she speaks with the visitor, asking her with visibly authentic concern about health problems she has had, and providing suggestions of how to address them. Perhaps in response to the physical release of tension from the massage, as well as the mental relief of encountering someone who truly cares about her wellbeing, the visitor first laughs and then cries.

On the third day of the fair, members of Tianguis TLALOC system offer a one-hour workshop for visitors, where they explain the history of the system and its daily workings. The system is itself part of an international movement of using community currencies, designed to address the specific economic and social conditions in countries such as Argentina, Canada, Thailand, the United States, and Hong Kong, whose system was itself inspired by the Tianguis TLALOC. In Mexico, the TLALOC system is supported by annual bulletins, training workshops and weekly meetings, fairs where products are exchanged and alliances with networks of microenterprises and NGOs such as the Vida Digna and Sostenible network, promoted by PDP. Audience members ask several questions, including how the system avoids falsification. System participants describe the careful method of transaction which includes requiring signatures by producers and consumers, as well as a set of commitments to quality that all of the participants agree upon. They explain that this desire for accountability is itself a challenge; rendering integration of members into the system a slow process. Yet, it is critical to ensuring ongoing success.

As the fair comes to a close, the Tianguis Tlaloc participants prepare to return to the places they are based, both within Mexico City and its outskirts, as well as small communities further away. Though physically separated, they will remain united, in the commitment to improve the opportunities and outcomes for Mexico’s small producers and their communities.

	Secretariado: Tláloc 40-3, 11370, México D.F. Tels.: 5535-0325 y 5566-4265, Fax: 5592-1989 espacios@laneta.apc.org