Breathe
By Graciela Rock
A few days ago, new appointments were announced within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of them, the newly created Coordination of Consulates. The new General Coordinator, Jorge Islas López, "the Doctor", as he is called by close friends and employees -despite the fact that information from the Foreign Ministry itself indicates that his highest degree is a master's degree- who served as Consul General in New York since May 2019 until a few weeks ago.
It is because of the possible implications of such appointment that I would like to share my experience at the Consulate General of Mexico in New York where I was a witness and victim of workplace harassment and sexist violence by Jorge Islas López. My assignment to the Consulate in August 2020 was through an "article 7" appointment, that is, with a specific profile of internationalist and consular experience, but without being a career member of the Mexican Foreign Service; my arrival had the approval of Islas as Consul, whom I had previously known briefly because he shared with my father spaces in Grupo Oaxaca and El Universal.
Immediately upon my arrival, different people at the Consulate warned me of Mr. Islas' outbursts, recommending me not to question his demands at all or even to point out circumstances that made it difficult to follow his instructions (for example, questioning the feasibility of receiving many more people in the consulate facilities than the local authorities allowed in the middle of the covid pandemic, denying the issuance of any document he had "recommended" due to lack of documentation, or pointing out internal protocols that were not being followed). They suggested that I stay "on good terms" with Islas because other colleagues had already been the focus of his anger and harassment.
According to witnesses and victims, several women had suffered shouting, threats and harassment at work by Jorge Islas directly or through employees "of his confidence" who always made it clear that their mistreatment was an instruction from the Consul General. According to these people, this campaign of harassment was the usual dynamic, particularly against women in the work team, whether they were civil servants or independent service providers.
A few months after my arrival, I began to confirm the veracity of these warnings. I had to be summoned to meetings in his office and official residence, to which I was forbidden to enter with any electronic device and in case I carelessly entered with my phone, I had to show him that I was not recording, or give it to him so that he would keep it in a drawer. In them, Mr. Islas did not limit himself in the use of violent language and insulting personal references, he addressed me with no respect or restraint in his verbal aggressions; he belittled my work, my experience and training, referring in a condescending manner to my functions or proposals, clearly I did not inspire any respect in him. If the issue that had caused his annoyance seemed urgent to him, he did not wait for me to start my working hours or to be in the office, he would look for me by whatsapp call at any time for his intimidating messages.
In January 2021, when I informed him about an outbreak of covid among employees that had also reached me, Islas began a constant harassment, calling me several times a day to accuse me of lying about my health condition in order to "create chaos" and "make a plot against the Consul". Months later, when as Coordinator of the Consulates on Wheels I informed her that members and leaders of the Mexican community were complaining that a person she trusted was offering to facilitate consular procedures in order to pressure or obtain support from the organizations, her response was shouting and threatening to suspend my employment contract. Faced with this situation of harassment, I requested my transfer to another office.
These episodes of harassment and gender violence were in many instances denounced by colleagues. There are complaints, many of them.
One of the first effects of these complaints was in July 2021, after an official visit, the then Director General of Consular Services contacted several female Consulate officials, myself included, to ask us directly about the working conditions in the Representation and specifically about the acts of harassment by Jorge Islas, since in previous months we had received a series of anonymous mails of denunciation, which added to the formal complaints. Some of us answered honestly, even fearing that this was a "hunt". But Jorge Islas was still there.
Several female colleagues, confident in the principles of a supposed Feminist Foreign Policy and the protocols to prevent gender-based violence and workplace harassment, denounced the situation according to the means at their disposal; for example, women who are support staff in the U.S. Consulates are not considered employees of the Foreign Ministry and therefore do not have the opportunity to file complaints before the Ethics Committee of the Secretariat.
This allowed the Foreign Ministry to distinguish between the different types of complaints of harassment and abuse against women at the Consulate, between those filed by female officials and those filed by support staff.
Based on this classification, they decided that for those who were officials there would be a triple transfer from New York to another Consulate, all of them went to the same one. But for those who were not officials, nothing, no solution, no attention to their complaints; they only had the option of resignation. There were also officials who did not get a transfer, and likewise they only had the option of leaving the Consulate - through resignation or requesting availability, a kind of temporary leave of absence. One of them even turned to the New York City Human Rights Commission for support, but for legal reasons and diplomatic immunities her case could not move forward.
It would be enough to obtain the records of the transfers from the Consulate in New York to corroborate these facts. It would also suffice to ask the Ethics Committee of the Foreign Ministry for the number and personal data of the complainants to corroborate the story I am describing.
Similarly, it would be sufficient to see the number and resignation records of female support staff at the Consulate to appreciate the volume of resignations and the reasons given for them, documents that should be included in the resignation records of the staff at Consulmex New York.
After some time and a lot of pressure, the complaints before the Ethics Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by female employees against Jorge Islas "proceeded". The Foreign Ministry began to respond to the complaints regarding gender and labor harassment against Jorge Islas. All similar responses, signed by the Director General of Foreign Service and Human Resources, who on behalf of the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Prevention Committee of the SRE, said over and over again that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs would be informed of Mr. Islas' conduct and that he would be advised to take gender sensitivity courses.
Jorge Islas established a systematic mistreatment against the consular staff, specifically towards women, through isolation practices, threats of job loss and work harassment; generating an environment of vulnerability and fear. Jorge Islas' misogynistic vision was not limited to women within the Consulate, on several occasions and in front of witnesses, the then Consul General referred to community leaders as "chonitas" and it is worth mentioning the incident during his initial tour of the district in which he "joked" about going to a table dance to "visit some victims of trafficking". The impression of this systematic mistreatment is not mine, it is what emerges naturally from the testimonies, complaints and resignations at the Consulate.
How can it be that in spite of all this background Jorge Islas is rewarded with an appointment as General Coordinator of Consulates?
Some of the women who, despite the obvious omissions of the Foreign Ministry and the risk to their professional careers of denouncing a direct boss (on whom not only their current working conditions depend, but also their chances of promotion and transfer) filed formal complaints against Jorge Islas and were removed from his sphere of power, are understandably worried and frightened today. Not only because they are unable to express their concerns about future abuses by Jorge Islas, but also because of possible retaliation for previous complaints, of which Islas is fully aware. Some of these women are now Consulates and are once again under the power and control of Jorge Islas.
A lawyer and official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers that the appointment of Jorge Islas as Coordinator of Consulates destroys the already deficient, insufficient, and unlawful process for suspending the harassment exercised by Islas in positions of power, creating a scenario of impunity and revictimization. The climate of impunity is such that, despite the fact that it is widely known within the Secretariat the history of violence exercised by Jorge Islas, in the Whatsapp group of consulate holders in the United States, some of these consuls celebrated and congratulated Mr. Islas trying to be on the "good side" of the General Coordinator, even despite his record.
It has been a long time since I left the Mexican Foreign Service, it is that distance that gives me the peace of mind today to put my name to denounce the violence and abuses of Jorge Islas López, a denunciation that at the time I did not feel able to make for fear of losing my job and my family's income. I do not expect that this complaint, nor the many that are in the records of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will cause a legal sanction to Mr. Islas, however I do hope that the commitment made by President Claudia Sheinbaum to lead the way towards lives free of violence for women, will also be within the public administration.
How many complaints to the Internal Control Organs are necessary to consider that there is a pattern of harassment and abuse by an official? How many recommendations for gender sensitization are sufficient to consider that the official is incapable of rectifying his actions? How many times will Jorge Islas López be allowed to violate women with impunity?
When I describe that Mr. Islas created a work environment of harassment of women, I do not say it only as a subjective opinion, nor from legal parameters, but because it is not possible that there are so many complaints from women against Mr. Islas and not conclude that there is a pattern in the interaction of Mr. Islas with the women under his command. That pattern exists and the proof is the number of official letters from the Foreign Ministry addressed to women complainants recognizing the need to "sensitize" Mr. Islas on gender issues, the number of resignations of support staff and officials, the text of the response to the complaints, the legal actions for his actions before U.S. authorities, and only in the last instance, my own experience.
Today, there are at least a dozen cases, formally denounced or not, that exemplify the labor harassment and gender-based violence that Jorge Islas López exercised from his position of power. I understand that many of those who suffered them are afraid of coming to light, of being reported as "conflictive", or that raising their voices publicly will result, once again, in nothing more than risks for them and their professional careers; even so, I hope they find in this text the certainty that they are not alone, that we can no longer remain silent in the face of the abuses of powerful men who feel untouchable, that our voice and our experiences have value and that, if as the president has said, it is time for women, it means that the time of rapists is over.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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