Back in the United States, two Republican lawmakers have issued threats over the outcome of Sunday’s national elections in El Salvador. On Thursday, Republican Congress members Trent Franks of Arizona and Dan Burton of Indiana said Salvadorans living in the US could lose their immigration status and the right to send remittances home if the leftist FMLN party wins the vote. Polls indicate the FMLN will beat the right-wing ARENA party, which has long had close ties to Washington. Five years ago, the Bush administration was accused of threatening to cut off aid to El Salvador if voters supported the FMLN.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/13/headlines#13
BZ
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090303/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_oil;_ylt=An8tKluW6YOToHq99eNRg2W3IxIF
Venezuelan's oil companies who are state ran are trying to cut 40% costs because of low prices of oil in the rest of world. -Lizette Avila
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
US companies stung by violence in Mexico
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=20413251
MEXICO CITY: Rising violence in Mexico is forcing foreign companies to change their operating procedures and shipping routes, and to tighten security for their employees, businessmen said Tuesday.
U.S. security consultant John Baird said his family was robbed in late 2008 for the first time in the six years he has lived in Mexico. "2009 is going to be very difficult" because of rising violence and unemployment here, he added.
"I think we're just going to have to hunker down," said Baird, general manager of the Mexico office of the Dublin, Ireland-based security company FreightWatch Group.
He said there have been problems both with drugs stowed in freight shipments and with the army checkpoints posted to detect the drugs.
One popular highway shipping route to the U.S. border now has eight or nine army checkpoints on it. Given that checkpoints sometimes damage or delay shipments, Baird now advises U.S. companies to use another highway — one that doesn't pass through the states of northwestern Mexico where drug cartels are battling for smuggling routes and against security forces.
Xochitl Diaz, a spokesman of Michigan-based auto parts manufacturer Delphi Corp., said one of the company's U.S. executives escaped an attack in the border city of Ciudad Juarez in January.
A car chased the U.S. woman, cut her off, and a man carrying a pistol got out and banged on the window of her car with the butt of the pistol. The woman managed to speed off in her car and made it to the plant.
"We are asking employees to travel in daylight to the extent that they can," Diaz said. "We are asking them to be extra cautious and to travel wherever possible in groups."
Alberto Zapanta, the president of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, said the drug-related violence that cost over 6,000 lives in 2008 "is not pervasive, it's not all over the country, it's along the border ... there are kind of hotspots."
But Zapanta added, "I'm not out wandering around like I used to do." Instead, he uses secure limousines to travel from airports to hotels.
While Mexico's drug cartels don't appear to be targeting foreigners specifically, there is a problem with common criminals taking advantage of the atmosphere of fear created by the drug conflict to extort money or demand protection payments from companies, Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont told a meeting of business people in Mexico City.
"Based on the climate of terror that exists, a bunch of smart guys are simulating extortions or saying they have ties to organized crime, to scare people," Gomez Mont said.
"In most cases, they don't come from organizations that are capable of inflicting harm," he told the executives. "They are using a strategy of taking advantage of disorder."
Companies in Mexico have reported a rising wave of such extortions, but Gomez Mont told executives not to pay such demands.
MEXICO CITY: Rising violence in Mexico is forcing foreign companies to change their operating procedures and shipping routes, and to tighten security for their employees, businessmen said Tuesday.
U.S. security consultant John Baird said his family was robbed in late 2008 for the first time in the six years he has lived in Mexico. "2009 is going to be very difficult" because of rising violence and unemployment here, he added.
"I think we're just going to have to hunker down," said Baird, general manager of the Mexico office of the Dublin, Ireland-based security company FreightWatch Group.
He said there have been problems both with drugs stowed in freight shipments and with the army checkpoints posted to detect the drugs.
One popular highway shipping route to the U.S. border now has eight or nine army checkpoints on it. Given that checkpoints sometimes damage or delay shipments, Baird now advises U.S. companies to use another highway — one that doesn't pass through the states of northwestern Mexico where drug cartels are battling for smuggling routes and against security forces.
Xochitl Diaz, a spokesman of Michigan-based auto parts manufacturer Delphi Corp., said one of the company's U.S. executives escaped an attack in the border city of Ciudad Juarez in January.
A car chased the U.S. woman, cut her off, and a man carrying a pistol got out and banged on the window of her car with the butt of the pistol. The woman managed to speed off in her car and made it to the plant.
"We are asking employees to travel in daylight to the extent that they can," Diaz said. "We are asking them to be extra cautious and to travel wherever possible in groups."
Alberto Zapanta, the president of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, said the drug-related violence that cost over 6,000 lives in 2008 "is not pervasive, it's not all over the country, it's along the border ... there are kind of hotspots."
But Zapanta added, "I'm not out wandering around like I used to do." Instead, he uses secure limousines to travel from airports to hotels.
While Mexico's drug cartels don't appear to be targeting foreigners specifically, there is a problem with common criminals taking advantage of the atmosphere of fear created by the drug conflict to extort money or demand protection payments from companies, Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont told a meeting of business people in Mexico City.
"Based on the climate of terror that exists, a bunch of smart guys are simulating extortions or saying they have ties to organized crime, to scare people," Gomez Mont said.
"In most cases, they don't come from organizations that are capable of inflicting harm," he told the executives. "They are using a strategy of taking advantage of disorder."
Companies in Mexico have reported a rising wave of such extortions, but Gomez Mont told executives not to pay such demands.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Border drug war is too close for comfort
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-bordertown19-2009feb.19,0,973784,full.story
This article focuses on the case of Columbus, New Mexico and Palomas, Chihuahua; border towns that are faced with the reality of cross-border residents and the current drug war in Mexico. Residents of the New Mexico town are afraid of the drug war spilling across the border into their quaint and police-less town. The town lacks its own police department and utilizes the Sheriff located about 30 miles away. Recently the town has seen some changes in the make-up of its residents and there is reason to believe that Mexican drug traffickers have moved themselves and their families into the New Mexican town.
Wave of Drug Violence Is Creeping Into Arizona From Mexico, Officials Say
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/us/24border.html?th&emc=th
discusses violence spilling into Arizona from drug cartels in Mexico; mentions how most of the weapons used come from america, yet the only solution discussed is a bill from a pro-gun republican looking to "restrict" people from buying guns that they will send to Mexico; also briefly mentions human smuggling and legislation being introduced to help stop people being held against their will, but mainly refers to undocumented immigrants as "illegal" and puts them in a negative light as usual
discusses violence spilling into Arizona from drug cartels in Mexico; mentions how most of the weapons used come from america, yet the only solution discussed is a bill from a pro-gun republican looking to "restrict" people from buying guns that they will send to Mexico; also briefly mentions human smuggling and legislation being introduced to help stop people being held against their will, but mainly refers to undocumented immigrants as "illegal" and puts them in a negative light as usual
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Latin American News from Democracy Now
FARC Rebels Kill 8 Indigenous Colombians
In Colombia, the rebel group FARC has admitted to killing eight indigenous Colombians they say passed intelligence to the Colombian military. The killings have forced a new wave of Awa indigenous people to flee their homes. Indigenous leader Luis Fernando Arias condemned the attack.
Luis Fernando Arias: “The Colombian armed forces accuse us of not wanting to cooperate, that we do not give information, and the guerrillas say that they kill us because we are army informants. What we want is, in a clear manner, to tell all the actors in the conflict, to all the armed players, to stop involving the Indian tribes and regular citizens in the armed conflict.”
Guatemala Apologizes to Cuba for Bay of Pigs
Guatemala has issued a formal apology to Cuba for taking part in the US “Bay of Pigs” invasion of 1961. The Kennedy administration used Guatemalan soil to train the group of militants used in the ultimately failed attack. On Tuesday, Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom said he wished to “officially ask Cuba for forgiveness.” The US has never apologized for the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Hundreds Protest Mexican Army Raids Near US Border
In Mexico, hundreds of people have blocked roads near the US-Mexico border in protest of an army crackdown on drug-related violence. The government says it’s trying to stop drug cartels that have stepped up smuggling and violent attacks. But some human rights groups say the danger has only increased since troops arrived. Fifteen Mexicans have been killed in drug-related violence since Sunday.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/18/headlines#8
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Venezuela Arrests Soldiers Accused of Coup Attempt
In news from Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez says his government has arrested some active-duty soldiers believed to be plotting a coup. In a television interview, Chavez said, “We’ve arrested some active-duty soldiers who were in contact with a soldier on the run in the United States…sending messages about a so-called ‘operation independence.’” The alleged coup attempt comes days ahead of Sunday’s referendum on constitutional reform to lift term limits for the president and all elected officials.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/12/headlines#15
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