The New York Times front page this morning has a story from Mexico, writing that migration from the country to the U.S. has plummeted. Between August 2007 and August 2008, new Mexican census data shows about 226,000 fewer people emigrated from Mexico to other countries than during the previous year. The drop represents a 25 percent decline. Analysts say that many Mexicans are delaying their attempts at illegal crossings because of the lack of jobs in the struggling American economy, and the trend appears to correspond with the onset of the recession in the U.S., the NYT reports. Also, the paper writes “the signs of the drop-off are subtle but ubiquitous” along the U.S.-Mexico border. Only two beds are filled in a shelter on the Mexico side of the border that typically houses migrants hoping to cross into the U.S. Meanwhile, on the American side in California, “Border Patrol vans return empty to their base after agents comb the desert for illegal crossers.” Still, the census figures do not show an exodus of Mexicans already in the U.S., returning to Mexico. About the same number of migrants — 450,000 — returned to Mexico in 2008 as in 2007.
On the precarious situation in Guatemala, the Miami Herald reports that U.S. officials have confirmed that the FBI is aiding in the investigation of the murder of slain lawyer, Rodrigo Rosenberg, supporting the government's Public Ministry and the CICIG, an independent agency charged with investigating organized crime. Rosenberg accused President Alvaro Colom of masterminding his assassination in a posthumous video released earlier this week. “Whether or not it [the scandal] will cause Colom to resign -- it's too early to say. But the allegations have motivated the public to act. And that could be powerful,” said political analyst Marco Antonio Barahona of Association of Investigation and Social Studies in Guatemala. The country counts an average of 18 murders a day, making its homicide rate more than eight times that of the United States, says the MH. Only 2 percent of crimes go solved, according to the United Nations. However, Guatemala specialist Barbara Boeck of Amnesty International maintains that “the one thing that's a positive about this case is that Colom is not trying to cover it up. He's saying ‘let's get the FBI in here.’”
From the Washington Post, a report from Venezuela on President Hugo Chávez’s latest verbal attacks on a major media outlet. Government officials recently accused Globovisión, an anti-government cable station, of inciting panic through its coverage of a May 4 earthquake, before authorities released an official report. The WaPo links these statements by the Chávez government to other recent actions, including the takeover of oil service companies and land seizures, arguing that together they form part of a new offensive in the wake of February’s referendum. The paper does note that Venezuela has not closed any media outlets during Chávez's decade in power. But in May 2007, Chávez did refuse to renew the broadcast license of another anti-government station, RCTV, accusing it of plotting against him and participating in the 2002 coup which briefly ousted him from power. According to Carlos Lauría, Americas program director for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, “it doesn't seem to me that closure is imminent,” referring to Globovisión. “But what's clear is the government is preparing the terrain so that can happen.”
In the LA Times a report from Mexico on the most recent incidents of drug violence. The paper reports that the bodies of two men and two women, all U.S. citizens, were found in Tijuana over the weekend, their bodies showing “signs of violence.” After weeks of relative calm, there has been a new wave of violent crimes in Tijuana. Two weeks ago, seven police officers were killed in a single day in a series of brazen attacks that threatened to reignite the drug war, and while the cases of the four Americans killed are still under investigation, their does appear to be a drug trafficking connection. According to the AP, the assistant prosecutor for Baja California said relatives of one of the victims told authorities they knew drug traffickers, and one of the women appears to have had cocaine in her system at the time of the murders.
And, outside of the major U.S. papers, a response to the WSJ interview with new drug czar Gil Kerlikowske can be found at the Huffington Post. In an opinion piece, Norm Stamper, retired Seattle police chief and member of Law Enforcement against Prohibition, writes that “banishing a phrase,” such as the “war on drugs,” “amounts to a hollow gesture if it's not backed by deeds.” He goes on to say the following: “We can reasonably expect in the face of Kerlikowske's pronouncement, an expression of shock and a circling of the wagons from key institutional forces, from frontline drug warriors to profiteering drug traffickers; from well-meaning but naïve PTAs to patronizing, fear-mongering politicians; from Big Pharma to the prison industrial complex. There's just too much at stake, financially and ideologically, to end this remarkably divisive and durable war.” While Stamper says he is still hopeful that the Obama administration will chart a new course on drug policy, his skepticism is supported by the fact that in the president’s 2010 budget, prevention takes a 10.6 percent hit while domestic law enforcement gets a boost of 2.3 percent, with “interdiction” up 4.4 percent.
In other news, the NYT also has an excellent top story on the case against oil giant Chevron in Ecuador. The paper writes that while “Texaco’s roughnecks are long gone, (…) black gunk from the pits seeps to the topsoil here and in dozens of other spots in Ecuador’s northeastern jungle.” In a region filled with resentment against the company, those few Chevron employees who visit the former oil fields must do so escorted by bodyguards toting guns. Chevron is currently being sued in the world’s largest environmental lawsuit, with $27 billion in potential damages at stake. And, as the NYT reports, “the sympathies of the judge, a former military officer named Juan Nuñez, are not hard to discern.” The paper says he appears likely to rule against Chevron this year, remarking in an interview that “This is a fight between a Goliath and people who cannot even pay their bills.” If the company loses, it is ready to pursue appeals in Ecuador and, if necessary, to seek international arbitration.
The MH adds a piece on how jugs of daiquiri mix, gourmet nuts, and rolls of newsprint—sold to Cuba by U.S. companies—have brought in more than $700 million/year for over a decade now. The products are “not exactly humanitarian aid,” says the paper, but they are “still among the items sold to Cuba under an agricultural waiver carved out of the U.S. trade embargo.” The waiver was passed by Congress partly on humanitarian grounds and signed in 2000 by President Bill Clinton.
From the AP in the LAT, a report on a new law in Peru which says Peruvian police officers who “damage the image” of law enforcement by engaging in homosexual behavior can lose their jobs. Those who commit adultery only face suspension, but expulsion is required for those who engage in “sexual relations with people of the same sex that cause a scandal or damage the image of the institution.” The new law that went into effect Tuesday also says officers will be fired for taking bribes and abusing detainees.
And what might ailing one-time Cuban leader and former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney have in common? In an LAT editorial, the paper writes that both men simply have too much time on their hands. “Rather than gracefully exit the world stage after a long run, they have decided they are indispensable defenders of the faith -- albeit different faiths, of course.” “Don't you want to spend more time with the family?” the paper asks both men.
Photo: VivirLatino
No comments:
Post a Comment