Mexico Today

News Summary for May 16th, 2008

2008-05-15T22:35:00.003-05:00

++ On Teacher’s Day, the federal government presented its Alliance for Educational Quality with the National Teachers Union, that seeks to transform and improve teaching in Mexico. Education Secretary Josefina Vázquez Mota said the pledge to improve is not just a whim of this administration, and that results of the improvement program will be seen in schools.

++ Meanwhile, the National Teachers “Coordinadora” Union, a dissident group, said it will launch protests starting next Monday, including a national strike, since the government has failed to respond to its demands.
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++ During debates on energy reform at the Senate, Claudia Sheinbaum, a member of the coordinating committee in defense of petroleum, presented Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s proposal on the issue of energy.

++ Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas met with Jesús Ortega to analyze their ideas on how to resolve the political crisis affecting the PRD… Ortega, who heads the New Left meeting, said he would challenge the election with the Federal Electoral Tribunal if the National Guarantees Commission assigns victory to his rival Alejandro Encinas.

++ President Felipe Calderón was in Lima, the Peruvian capital, to take part in the Fifth Summit Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union summit. Calderón was set to meet with his counterparts from Bolivia, Perú, Argentina and Chile…

++ The U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment giving 400 million dollars for the fight against drug trafficking in Mexico in 2008, in the first stage of the plan known as the Mérida Initiative.

++ A judge in Quintana Roo ordered the arrest of four police officers in Puebla for having acted illegally when they arrested journalist Lydia Cacho in 2005.

Interesting Article on the Violence in Mexico...

2008-05-15T14:58:00.004-05:00

Echoes of Colombia in Mexico drug war
Cartels up stakes with high-profile killings of officials
By Oscar Avila
Chicago Tribune correspondent MEXICO CITY — On the home turf of Mexico's deadliest drug cartels, they hang banners that mock Mexican authorities trying to maintain order. "Little tin soldiers, federal officers made of straw," read one banner in the state of Sinaloa.

But a more powerful message is coming in the brazen and widespread burst of murders, much of it geared toward law-enforcement officials, that has shaken even the most hardened Mexican in recent days.

Even as the body counts spiral in northwestern Mexico, a single killing in Mexico City raised the stakes. Edgar Millan Gomez, acting national police chief, was assassinated at home last week, the highest-ranking official to be killed since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006.

Millan Gomez's death, a coolly efficient hit in the nation's political and symbolic heart, has raised stark comparisons that Mexico could be heading the way of Colombia of the 1990s, when chunks of territory were out of government control and the indiscriminate killings of police chiefs, judges and prosecutors became commonplace.

This critical juncture for Mexico comes as the U.S. Congress is set to vote this week on the Merida Initiative, a $550 million anti-crime aid package. Bush administration officials say the recent violence shows the urgency for the proposal. To continue click here...

News Summary for May 15th, 2008

2008-05-15T00:31:00.000-05:00

Using rifles and grenades a group of more than 40 men wearing black attacked judiciary police headquarters in Guamúchil, Sinaloa.

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More than 200 army troops left Chihuahua heading for Ciudad Juárez to provide support in the battle against organized crime after a spike in the violence suffered by the border town.

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A criminal court ordered nine hired gunmen, among them three former soldiers, to remain within call of authorities… The men presumably belong to the cartel headed by the Beltrán Leyva brothers.

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The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill that includes money for the Mérida Initiative requested by U.S. president George Bush…This bill will now have to be debated and voted by the full house, no date has been set…

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President Felipe Calderón sent a draft law bill to reform the Federal Tax Bill, which has to do with Pemex’s fiscal status… The president sent the draft bill to the Congress permanent commission.

The Chamber of Deputies said it will not discuss the draft law bill until the Senate energy reform debates end.

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PRD deputies presented before the Congressional permanent commission a proposal to amend the Constitution to allow referendums and plebiscites to be recognized as part of a participative democracy.

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And Labor Party coordinator Ricardo Cantú said lawmakers from the Convergencia and Labor parties will file a complaint at the Attorney General’s Office against Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mouriño, whom they accuse of influence peddling.

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More Blogs... Now El Universal.Com.Mx

2008-05-14T19:10:00.004-05:00

This is the deal... Yes I want to publicize on THIS BLOG....what I write in ANOTHER blog... I am now writing a weekly entry for "El Enemigo en Casa", my blog at ElUniversal.com.mx I solely deal with security issues, which appears to be a popular topic... Check out this weeks entry... What are the most dangerous states in Mexico?

Cifras del miedo
13-mayo-2008

¿Cuántas veces usted y yo hemos sido víctimas de la inseguridad que se vive en México? Ayer, lunes 12 de mayo, en un programa especial en Proyecto 40 hicimos un recorrido por los delitos que vemos, vivimos y sentimos todos los días, no en la televisión ni en los periódicos, sino aquellos que están en nuestra colonia, en nuestra calle o a la vuelta de la esquina, delitos a los que todos estamos expuestos: homicidios, lesiones, robos y delitos sexuales.

Según datos presentados la semana pasada por el Instituto Ciudadano de Estudios Sobre la Inseguridad (ICESI) en un esquemático y minucioso estudio sobre los índices de criminalidad en cada uno de los estados del país que oportunamente tituló Atlas delictivo del fuero común más de la mitad de nosotros nos sentimos inseguros en nuestro país y según las estadísticas uno de cada 10 mexicanos será victima de un delito durante este año, de ahí el miedo y la preocupación.

Según el ICESI, se estima que en México se cometen 4 mil 320 delitos al día, lo que equivale a un delito cada 22 segundos. Curiosamente, según cifras de las autoridades, la situación delictiva no ha variado en los últimos 10 años, algunos delitos aumentan y otros disminuyen, dato que es más malo que bueno. ¿Por qué? Porque, a pesar del enorme flujo de recursos para la lucha contra el crimen la situación sigue igual.

Así, encontramos información evidente y alarmante como la oleada de violencia con la que se comenten los crímenes; ya no basta con robar, ahora hay que agredir, lesionar, lastimar o incluso matar. Lo digo yo como analista pero lo dice la ONU en la más reciente encuesta internacional de criminalidad y no hay nada que ocultar, somos el primer lugar en el mundo en delitos cometidos con violencia. Los mexicanos ahora somos más violentos y las políticas publicas que se promueven a nivel estatal simple y llanamente no reconoce esta realidad y no saben como resolver, ni como prevenirlo.

El ICESI nos dice que el estado más peligroso para vivir es el Estado de México seguido por el Distrito Federal, Jalisco, Baja California, Puebla y Sinaloa, según la percepción de las personas que habitan en cada entidad. Esto es un llamado de atención para los gobiernos de esos estados, porque el gobierno federal no tiene toda la culpa. Los gobiernos locales tienen que asumir su responsabilidad en la inseguridad que viven sus ciudadanos. To read the entire entry click here.

News Summary for May 14th

2008-05-13T23:24:00.001-05:00

Senate debate sessions on petroleum reform began with the participation of PAN leader Germán Martínez; PRI national president Beatriz Paredes and PRD founder PRD, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, who all gave their viewpoints on the energy reform proposal. +++++++++++++++
Former presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador, through José Agustín Ortiz Pinchetti, presented his own energy reform proposal at the Senate.
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More than 2,700 army soldiers, members of the navy, and public security and judiciary agents are taking part in a joint security operation that began in Sinaloa.
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Citing lack of evidence, the Attorney General’s Office released one of six people arrested in connection with the assassination of Federal Preventive Police regional security coordinator Edgar Millán Gómez.
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A group of armed assailants in a van fired at the chief of the Police Academy in Nuevo León, Arturo Cabrera.
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According to videotapes provided by the Ecuadorian government Mexican citizen Lucía Morett had spent time with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC… Morett can be seen taking part in a guerrilla training session.
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The Chamber of Deputies exonerated Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mouriño of having engaged in influence peddling when he was president of the energy committee and an official at the EnergyMinistry.
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The United Left movement, which is backing Alejandro Encinas, announced measures to reveal fraud committed by supporters of Jesús Ortega during the party elections.

Mexicans divided on PEMEX

2008-05-13T22:54:00.004-05:00

Jorge Buendia from IPSO-Bimsa joined me on Imagen News to talk about a nation-wide survey evaluating the perception Mexicans have regarding the Energy reform debate... And it should not surprise anyone that the population is split. It is clear, according to this survey, that most Mexicans believe that the reform would benefit bigt business, not the "people" and that they prefer that PEMEX continue in the hands of the government... Interesting... If you want to the results of the survey, EL UNIVERSAL did a good job reporting on this survey.. Click here.

News Summary for May 13th..

2008-05-12T22:07:00.002-05:00

Negotiations...Not now.
The Popular Revolutionary Army, the EPR, rejected a proposal to meet with the government for direct talks, saying conditions are not adequate. President Felipe Calderón said he regretted the move by the EPR and said his government will continue open to any possibility of dialogue with the armed group.
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Who did it? We may know..
The Federal Police detained five people related to the assassination of regional security coordinator, Edgar Millán. Authorities also identified Juan Carlos Arellano Anica, alias "El Nica," as the leader of the band of mercenaries whom, according to authorities, was hired to murder Edgar Millán. Officials believe the hit-man belongs to the band.

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From bad to worse:
And 11 people were assassinated in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua in the past 48 hours.

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In more violence, three people were killed in Acapulco, Guerrero by unknown attackers using AK-47 and AR15 automatic weapons.

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What is going to happen to the PRD?
Former PRD party presidents Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and Leonel Godoy, as well as Pablo Gómez, who was interim party president in 1999, called for the National Political Committee to be legally set up and that this body resolve the crisis affecting the party.

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The PRD National Guarantees Commission is analyzing the different complaints filed against the voting tally that gave victory to Jesús Ortega in the party election for national president.

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And PRD Senators coordinator, Carlos Navarrete, warned that if the PRI confirms that it does not accept the petroleum law bill in its entirety this bill will be politically dead.

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The Supreme Court ruled that applying the Special Tax Law on Production and Services, that includes increases to gasoline and diesel, was constitutional.

News Summary for May 8th, 2008

2008-05-08T02:46:00.001-05:00

Things are going to get worse before they get better…
++The Federal Electoral Tribunal has ordered that the PRD National Guarantees Commission to provide a total count of the ballots caste during the internal elections to select the new leader of the party. The vote count must take place within 72 hours of the issuance of the Tribunal’s decision. Based on the vote count the PRD must announce who is the next PRD leader. Meanwhile, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas on Wednesday called on former PRD leaders, including Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to ask candidates who ran for the party presidency to withdraw their candidacies…

Dialogue? Seems unlikely..
++ The Popular Revolutionary Army rejected a proposal by the government to begin direct dialogue… In a press release the EPR called the proposal “treacherous, rude and cheating.” President Felipe Calderón said most Mexicans want governments that work and solve differences through dialogue.

I can’t believe they actually agree..
++ The chairman of the Congressional Permanent Commission, Senator Santiago Creel, said he agreed with the head of the National Human Rights Commission José Luis Soberanes who said that to withdraw army troops from the streets at this time would be suicidal. (Comment: Soberanes wants the military to continue facing the drug cartels? This must mean that the situation is much much worse then it appears…)

Hey Carlos…Stop that!
++ Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard said that by praising his government former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari’s seeks to undermine him.

Out of business? I doubt it..
++ A U.S. State Department report said that by 2009 drug organizations, which manufacture methamphetamines, will enter a crisis because they will run out of pseudoephedrine, their base ingredient.

Now it is Zacateca´s turn…
++ Army troops and an armed group had a shootout in the Villa de Cos municipality in Zacatecas… Three civilians were killed.

News Summary for May 7th, 2008

2008-05-07T00:55:00.000-05:00

++ Naming Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo as interim PRD president is not legally valid said Ernestina Godoy, who heads the party’s National Guarantees Commission.

++ And the Federal Electoral Institute will review the validity of Acosta Naranjo’s appointment to the post. The IFE warned that if the move was not valid, it may order that another national council be named.

++ However, Rafael Hernández, PRD representative to the IFE, said the institute has been informed of Acosta Naranjo’s appointment, which is legal, according to Hernández.

++ And chief justice of the Federal electoral tribunal, María del Carmen Alanís, said no ruling will occur this week regarding complaints filed by Jesús Ortega against the PRD internal election.

++ In other news, senate PRD coordinator, Carlos Navarrete, said that Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and Lorenzo Meyer are two of the first figures on the list to take part in the first phase of national debate on energy reform… Andrés Manuel López Obrador is not on the list.

++ President Felipe Calderón enacted constitutional reform in public spending by which, he said, there will be more efficiency and transparency in the use of federal funds on a national level.

A PRD lawmaker took part in the event, Francisco Santos Arreola, who is the secretary of the jurisdictional commission at the Chamber of Deputies. Santos Arreola acknowledged Calderón as president of Mexico and he criticized his fellow party members who continue to support a Mexico led by “caudillos.”

++ And the Lower House of Chambers began the selection process to choose another three IFE councilors who will begin their terms in August.

"LIVING IN MEXICO...SEND IN YOUR TIPS..."

2008-05-06T00:34:00.004-05:00

As of today, we are starting a new section in this blog "Tips for Living in Mexico". Share your experience with others not only on this blog, but also on my radio show Imagen News... Here is today´s tip:

Emergency Phone numbers in Mexico...

Yes, it is very confusing. In Mexico there is different numbers to call if you have an emergency. We provide you a guide which you can post on your refrigerator.... To download this information click here.

Send YOUR tips to anamaria@imagen.com.mx and....
Don´t forget to tune-in to Imagen News, the only English speaking nation-wide radio news program in Mexico. Every day at 5:30 and 23:00 hrs (Mexico City time) For local stations check out the side bar of this blog, or go to www.imagen.com.mx/news for instructions on how to download Imagen News to IPOD or MP3 player or listen via Real Play....

News Summary for May 6th, 2008

2008-05-06T00:21:00.004-05:00

A looming Divorce?

++ The PRD celebrated its 19th anniversary… The New Left Movement, to which Jesús Ortega belongs, carried out an event at the Monument to the Revolution… Interim president Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo was at the event. Jesús Ortega called for a new PRD to be founded, by forming a national council to evaluate points that must be changed. Meanwhile, in a separate event, at the Expo Reforma, Alejandro Encinas, who was declared winner of the PRD election, said that the greatest threats to the party lie within… What ever that means…And former PRD leader, Leonel Cota, warned that whoever criticizes the movement in defense of petroleum led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador is a traitor to the country.

Why would they care?

++ The PAN filed a complaint with the IFE to investigate whether there is full certainty about the legality and legitimacy of interim PRD leaders.

Violence in Mexico? What else is new...

++ President Felipe Calderón, who headed the ceremony to mark the 146^th anniversary of the Cinco de Mayo Battle called for the defeat of the enemies of Mexico which are poverty and crime… He said he will not budge in his fight for legality and security.

++ State police in Guerrero, applied a special operation in Petatlán to protect cattle breeders leader Rogaciano Alba, who was the alleged target of attacks over the weekend that killed 17 people.

++ And in continuing violence in Tamaulipas, gunmen executed special judiciary police agent assigned to the command center there, Jesús Servando Zúñiga de los Reyes.

++ Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, who was recently re-elected as leader of the Miners Union for another six years, urged the government to solve his case as well as strikes by miners. (This guy has an indictment against him for absconding more then 50 millon dollars from the Union coffers…He now lives in Canada, since if he returns to Mexico he will be arrested. All this and he was re elected?… Wow…)

2008-05-05T01:06:00.000-05:00

News Summary for May 5th, 2008

2008-05-05T00:42:00.004-05:00

From bad to worse…
***The PRD national council appointed Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo as interim president and Martha Dalia Gastélum as secretary general… These two will be in charge of the party until a solution is found to the post electoral crisis confronting the PRD. Acosta Naranjo, a member of the New Left movement which is backing Jesús Ortega, warned that the party of a “single man” is something of the past. He said that half of the party voted for Ortega, and that personalities must not be above institutions. But……Alejandro Encinas, who has been declared winner of the election, refused to accept the two appointments and reportedly his legal team is planning to challenge the resolution with the National Guarantees Commission since the party council met illegally.

What about the possible negotiations with the EPR…. Going no where…
***The emeritus bishop of Chiapas, Samuel Ruiz, said he trusted that the dialogue requested by the Popular Revolutionary Army with the federal government will have positive results but he criticized that these talks be conditioned to halting any all investigations against those responsible for attacks against oil pipelines last year. Ruiz was proposed as mediator. He said he has still not made direct contact with the EPR.

¿What is going-on in Guerrero?
***Meanwhile, 16 people were killed in Guerrero in a double attack perpetrated this weekend by an armed group against cattle breeder´s leader Rogaciano Alba Álvarez…The federal army increased security operations with federal and state agents both in Iguala and Petatlán, where the attacks occurred, and in the northern and Costa Grande areas of the state.

¿Lost Cause?
***Labor Secretary Javier Lozano called on both workers and the Cananea mine owners to sit down for talks and find a solution to the strike that has now lasted nine months…

***Shouting “neither pardon nor forgetting” hundreds of farmers from the town of San Salvador Atenco marched from the Angel of Independence Monument to the Zócalo… They demanded the liberation of at least 13 of their fellow activists who are still in prison two years after federal police clashed with villagers in Atenco.

Uggg Traffick...
**Thousands of vacationers returned from the long weekend that began last Thursday. The Public Security Ministry said that the most transit highways were the Mexico-Cuernavaca and Mexico-Querétaro.

Don´t forget to tune-in to Imagen News, the only English speaking nation-wide radio news program in Mexico. Every day at 5:30 and 23:00 hrs (Mexico City time) For local stations check out the side bar of this blog, or go to www.imagen.com.mx/news for instructions on how to download Imagen News to IPOD or MP3 player or listen via Real Play....

Embassy closes, again... (Too many holidays in Mexico?)

2008-05-02T23:02:00.002-05:00

The US Embassy and Consulates around the country will be closed this Monday in celebration of the May 5th holiday....They will re-open on Tuesday May 6th.

News Summary for May 3rd, 2008

2008-05-02T22:54:00.001-05:00

++ Jesús Ortega Martínez, a candidate to head the PRD, filed a complaint with the Federal Electoral Tribunal against election results that gave victory to his opponent Alejandro Encinas.

++ The IFE approved fines of 50 million pesos for the PAN, Green Ecologist Party, the Convergencia party and Alternativa for unreported spots during 2006.

++ PRI deputy Juan Francisco Rivera called on the federal government to halt the wave of violence caused by vendettas among bands of narcotics traffickers… He said operations against organized crime are not working.

++ Federal District police have found a suspect in the murder of Roberto Velásquez Bravo, director of organized crime investigations at the Federal Public Security Secretariat.

++ TV Azteca will contest a 5-million-peso fine levied against the television station by the IFE general council for failing to broadcast political party spots. An attorney for TV Azteca, Salvador Rocha, said the resolution was baseless.

++ Amnesty International demanded that the Mexican government punish federal and state officials as well as police agents who took part in clashes with residents of San Salvador Atenco… Two years after the incident occurred, no policeman has been sentenced for abuses committed during the fighting.

++ Members of the Land Defense Front of the Peoples of San Salvador Atenco demanded the liberation of 16 of their fellow activists being held in a penitentiary.

News Summary for May 2d, 2008

2008-05-01T22:17:00.002-05:00

++ The mediating committee proposed by the Popular Revolutionary Army called on the federal government to clarify whether the conditions it set to establish dialogue with the EPR are impediments or whether it is truly interested in there being mediation.

++Labor Secretary Javier Lozano said that International Labor Day is a significant and important date, but no reason for official celebration.

++ At a rally in the Zócalo in Mexico City, workers belonging to the electricians, phone workers, trolley bus and subway workers unions expressed their rejection of labor and energy reforms… Ezequiel Rosales, leader of the National Coordinating Group of Education Workers, proposed a national strike.

++ The chairman of the Senate Labor and Social Welfare Committee, Carlos Aceves del Olmo said that president Felipe Calderón has failed to fulfill his promise to be the president of employment… He said that unemployment has increased during the current presidential term.

++ Paying tribute to the 282 members of Mexican Squadron 201 who took part in the Second World War, President Felipe Calderón once again called for Mexicans to defend national sovereignty by taking advantage of the country’s energy potential.

++ PRI politician Emilio Gamboa, who heads PRI deputies at the Lower House of Congress, said constitutional reforms to change the format of the presidential state of the nation address were necessary since Mexico must move forward and become modern.

++ In other news, PRD organization secretary Ángel Cedillo said that annulling elections and appointing an interim president would be the most viable solution to overcome the post electoral crisis in the party.

Embassy closed

2008-04-30T23:56:00.003-05:00

The US Embassy and Consulates around the country will be closed this Thursday in celebration of the May 1st holiday....They will re-open on Friday May 2d.

News Summary May 1st, 2008

2008-04-30T23:51:00.002-05:00

++ The Lower House of Congress approved changes to the format of the president’s annual report to the nation…The president may hand in a written report and there will be no need for him to personally read the document at the legislature.

++ Lawmakers also asked the Comptroller’s Office and the Interior Ministry to investigate a 90-million-peso donation made by Jalisco governor Emilio González Márquez to build a temple for Mexican martyrs.

++ The Senate Official Daily published an announcement of forums for the energy debate to be held from May 13 to July 22.

++ After the PRD announced that Alejandro Encinas won the party election, Dolores de los Ángeles Nazares quit the national guarantees commission saying that the vote tally was “illegal” since not all ballots were counted.

++ And Jesús Ortega’s team accused the National Guarantees Commission and the technical electoral committee of conniving so that Alejandro Encinas take over as PRD president.

++ President Felipe Calderón said the duty of the government is to improve the lives of the poorest of the poor… He launched a Feeding Program for marginalized zones that will help 280,000 families.

++ Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mouriño said that he has still not made contact with a committee appointed by the Popular Revolutionary Army to start dialogue.

++ Attorney Generals of México, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belice supported a petition by U.S. president George W. Bush for the U.S. Congress to approve funds allocated to the Mérida Initiative.

++ The Federal District Legislative Assembly said that Mexico is the fifth country in Latin America with the highest rate of child sexual trade and the 28^th on a world level.

News Summary for April 29th, 2008

2008-04-29T23:43:00.001-05:00

++ The federal government accepted proposal for talks with the Popular Revolutionary Army – the EPR – as long as four conditions are met, among them that the EPR halt attacks and sabotage, that talks cover other issues as well, not just be limited to the disappearance of EPR members, and that topics of national importance be discussed.

++ Speaking in Zacatecas, President Felipe Calderón asked Education Secretary Josefina Vázquez Mota to present a program to improve quality in the country’s primary level schools.

++ Former UNAM rector Juan Ramón de la Fuente was awarded the Citizen’s Merit medal by the Federal District Legislative Assembly… In his acceptance speech de la Fuente had harsh words for the country’s politicians, he called for insults to be set aside and for politicians to reach out to each other and engage in dialogue.

++ The Senate received the document calling for debate on energy reform to take place from May 13 to July 22. The document could be published this Wednesday.

++ Senators and deputies across the political spectrum condemned death threats made against the speaker of the Lower House of Congress, PRD member Ruth Zavaleta.

++ And the party itself, PRD party leadership, called the death threats against Ruth Zavaleta “despicable” and demanded that the federal government punish those responsible for the threats.

++ The PRD technical elections committee has completed tallying votes for councilors and national party congress members, however there are still no results for the main election, for party president.

++ Baja California Attorney general Romel Moreno confirmed that a shootout last Saturday in Tijuana, that left 16 dead, was a battle among groups within the drug cartel led by the Arellano family.

"Virtual Kidnapping" is real...And scary....

2008-04-29T16:05:00.003-05:00

On my TV show "Seguridad Total" we have done extensive reporting warning phone users about "virtual kidnappings". Ask around...You would be suprised as to how many people have been a victim of these thugs... Who are usually calling from prison...Beware...If you get one of these phone calls...Simply hang-up...Following is an excellent article on the subject written by Marc Lacey from the New York Times...

Mexico City Journal
Exploiting Real Fears With ‘Virtual Kidnappings’
by MARC LACEY
Published: April 29, 2008
MEXICO CITY — The phone call begins with the cries of an anguished child calling for a parent: “Mama! Papa!” The youngster’s sobs are quickly replaced by a husky male voice that means business.

Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image

Jennifer Szymaszek for The New York Times
A Mexico City poster warns, “Don’t fall prey to telephone extortion. Let’s get them!”
“We’ve got your child,” he says in rapid-fire Spanish, usually adding an expletive for effect and then rattling off a list of demands that might include cash or jewels dropped off at a certain street corner or a sizable deposit made to a local bank.

The twist is that little Pablo or Teresa is safe and sound at school, not duct-taped to a chair in a rundown flophouse somewhere or stuffed in the back of a pirate taxi. But when the cellphone call comes in, that is not at all clear.

This is “virtual kidnapping,” the name being given to Mexico’s latest crime craze, one that has capitalized on the raw nerves of a country that has been terrorized by the real thing for years. Click here to continue...

News Summary for Abril 21th, 2008

2008-04-27T23:24:00.000-05:00

An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale struck Mexico City this Sunday in the evening. No damage or victims were reported. The National Seismological Service said the epicenter was located 38 kilometers southwest of Teloloapan, Guerrero…
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After leftist opposition lawmakers ended their sit-in of Congress on Friday, PAN and PRI senators warned that the Broad Progressive Front could carry out the same action if an extra period of sessions is approved.

Speaking at the PAN special national assembly President Felipe Calderón said that “those who wanted to break institutions failed” and said that the results of energy reform will be more visible in many years.

Former PRD presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador launched the second phase of his movement, the “pacific civil resistance in defense of petroleum” which includes doubling the number of brigade members, a tour of all of Mexico and possibly a referendum…

In more on the PRD election fracas, the technical electoral committee must rule on several complaints filed by the teams of both Alejandro Encinas and Jesús Ortega…
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The PAN special national assembly approved allowing non-party members running in elections as candidates, but polls or surveys continue to be barred in the choice of candidates…
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And the drug battles continue… On Saturday three shootouts between different bands of narcotics traffickers left 13 dead and 5 wounded in Tijuana… Eight suspects were arrested and authorities seize 21 vehicles, 54 weapons and munitions…
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And two people were killed, one wounded and six arrested after military troops engaged in a gun battle with suspected members of “Los Zetas” in Calatrava, in the municipality of Palenque, in Chiapas.
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Meanwhile, in Oaxaca, several state Attorney General’s Office officials and experts, including Romeo Ruiz – the cousin of governor Ulises Ruiz – were arrested by the army and federal police agents in connection to the disappearance of two members of the Popular Revolutionary Army, the EPR, Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez.
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Some 1,200 residents of Jalisco took part in a march to protest over rude language used by governor Emilio González Márquez as well as huge donations of public funds made to associations linked to the Catholic Church.

News Summary for April 26th, 2008

2008-04-25T23:33:00.001-05:00

++ The Broad Progressive Front ended its two-week blockade of the Congress after reaching an agreement with other parties to carry out a debate on energy reform that will last 71 days, from May 13th to July 22nd.

++ Convergencia senator Dante Delgado told Andrés Manuel López Obrador about the end of the blockade. López Obrador accepted the move although he said the time period for the debate was still insufficient.

++ President Felipe Calderón said that if energy reform is approved it will help Mexican farming since refinery and the petrochemical industry will be revitalized.

++ Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mouriño hailed the agreement on the debate on energy reform and said he was confident all parties would take part.

++ State governors agreed to restructure the National Governor’s conference so that it will be influential in national affairs.

++ Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard took part for the first time in the National Governor’s Conference… He said that just like other state leaders he is concerned about the 2009 spending budget bill.

++ Speaking in defense of the Federal District abortion law, the speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Víctor Hugo Círigo ruled out full legal rights for the unborn in the very early stages of conception.

++ Mexico City Chief of Police Joel Ortega said there is information on two men linked to the explosion on Chapultepec Avenue that occurred on February 15th. He gave no names but said the information could lead to arrests.

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2008-04-25T01:11:00.000-05:00

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News Summary for April 26th, 2008

2008-04-24T23:48:00.000-05:00

++ PAN, PRI, Green Ecologist Party, New Alliance and Alternative Party quickly approved a measure to eliminate the Federal District governance clause… thus eliminating the possibility that a party in the future have an absolute majority in the local assembly. The PRD has had an absolute majority in the Federal District since 2007.
++ PRD deputies will file a constitutional controversy complaint against the new measure eliminating the governance clause… The party said that the Lower House of congress approved the measure sent by the Senate with no debate, discussion or even a reading of the document and bypassing all legislative procedures.
++The Nation’s Supreme Court is analyzing the constitutional validity of a decree on the Federal District electoral code…
++ The Broad Progressive Front proposed that discussion on energy reform end on July 31st.
++ PAN president Germán Martínez said he trusted that a faction within the PRD will reject Andrés Manuel López Obrador and enter into the debate on reform to modernize Pemex.
++ The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Alberto Begné, called on the PRD, PT and Convergencia to end their blockade of congress for the good of democracy and the political left in Mexico.
++ President Felipe Calderón said that now is the time for dialogue and agreements within a legal framework… He said that many Mexicans seek to make Mexico a prosperous country.
++ The Baja California Attorney General’s Office said that some cases have been confirmed of police protecting drug-lords, transporting illegal drugs in their patrol cars and taking part in shootouts, as was revealed by General Sergio Aponte, commander of the second military zone.

News Summary for April 25th, 2008

2008-04-23T22:48:00.001-05:00

++ Senate governing board chairman Santiago Creel said that the agreement to hold a national debate on energy reform lasting 72 days was postponed. The Political Affairs board decided it needed more time to analyze the proposal.

++ The Senate PRD coordinator, Carlos Navarrete, denied statements by PRI Senator Francisco Labastida that the PRD has withdrawn its demand that there be no special session of Congress once the regular period ends.

++ The committee of the Center for Studies on Law and Parliamentary Investigations at the Chamber of Deputies said that President Felipe Calderón’s proposals to modernize Pemex do have the intention of privatizing the state-owned company.

++ PRD speaker of the Lower House, Ruth Zavaleta, said there was no further reason to keep Congress blockaded since the Broad Progressive Front had achieved its goal of opening debate on the future of Pemex.

++ UNAM rector José Narro Robles called the government of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe “interventionist.” The rector called on the Colombian president to take back accusations against Mexican students who were at a FARC camp in Ecuador when Colombia attacked.

++ Colombia’s ambassador to Mexico, Luis Camilo Osorio Isazal, said the Colombian government lacks hard evidence to state that Mexican citizen Lucía Morett and the other four students killed in Ecuador had carried out guerrilla actions.

++The Attorney General’s Office said that the Swiss government could release in the near future 80 million dollars that were confiscated from Raúl Salinas de Gortari when an investigation began into accusations of illegal enrichment.

++ Commander of the Second Military Region, General Sergio Aponte Polito, gave the names of policemen in Baja California involved in organized crime.