Environmental Monitor
In Mexico a Canadian firm is flouting a federal court ruling to stop mining for gold. The company, New Gold, says locals support their work because it provides employment, but some residents in a nearby community are concerned about the effects the mining has on the town and the environment. Al Jazeera's Franc Contreras reports from the town of Cerro San Pedro in Mexico.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Electric workers union continues protests
Labor Rights Monitor
A growing number of trade unions, farmers organizations and students across Mexico are protesting a government decision to close down the Luz y Fuerza electric power company. More than 40,000 employees were fired in October when the government closed the regional electricity firm. Some critics claim it was an attempt by Felipe Calderon, the Mexican president, to limit the workers unions. But he says the company was inefficient. Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.
A growing number of trade unions, farmers organizations and students across Mexico are protesting a government decision to close down the Luz y Fuerza electric power company. More than 40,000 employees were fired in October when the government closed the regional electricity firm. Some critics claim it was an attempt by Felipe Calderon, the Mexican president, to limit the workers unions. But he says the company was inefficient. Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Another reporter is murdered in Mexico
Violence Against Journalists
Crime reporter Bladimir Antuna García was found murdered Monday night, according local news reports, after reportedly being abducted from a street in the Mexican city of Durango that morning. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican authorities to show their commitment to press freedom and the protection of Mexican journalists by immediately bringing all those responsible to justice.
Antuna, 39, a reporter for the daily El Tiempo de Durango, was on his way to work Monday morning when, according to witnesses cited by the local press, his car was boxed in by two other vehicles in Durango, 558 miles (899 kilometers) northeast of Mexico City. Armed men got out of a Jeep Cherokee, and dragged Antuna from his car into theirs before speeding away. The reporter was immediately reported missing.
Local authorities found the reporter’s body that evening not far from where he was abducted. Next to the body was a note stating: “This happened to me for giving information to soldiers and for writing too much,” according to national daily La Jornada. Local investigators told reporters that Antuna appeared to have been strangled, and there were no noticeable signs of bullet wounds.
“Bladimir Antuna García’s killing is yet another brutal reminder of the very precarious and dangerous situation in which Mexican reporters, especially those covering crime and corruption, work,” said Carlos Lauría, CPJ’s senior program coordinator for the Americas. “Mexican authorities must immediately investigate Antuna’s death, and bring all the perpetrators to justice in an effort to prove their commitment to press freedom and journalist safety.”
Victor Garza, editor of El Tiempo de Durango, told CPJ that in the week before his death Antuna had broken a story on corruption in the Durango City Police. Antuna had also investigated the murder of fellow El Tiempo de Durango reporter Carlos Ortega Samper, who was kidnapped on April 3 in a similar manner and then shot to death, though Antuna had not yet published a story, colleagues in Durango said. Ortega reported on local corruption. His murder remains unsolved, and CPJ continues to investigate whether Ortega’s death was linked to his work as a journalist.
Antuna’s colleagues said he had received at least three death threats in recent months. The most recent, they told CPJ, was a telephone threat from an unidentified individual who told the reporter that he would get no further warnings. Antuna did not say why he was being threatened. In April, armed men approached the reporter’s home at night but did not open fire, a colleague said. Antuna filed a complaint with local authorities for unspecified problems, the Spanish newswire EFE reported.
The local press freedom group Center for Journalism and Public Ethics said today that Antuna had told the organization last June that he had been in contact with another Durango journalist who was murdered in May, Eliseo Barrón Hernández. The center said Antuna told them he and Barrón had been exchanging information about police corruption and organized crime in the state.
In late October, the newly elected Mexican Chamber of Deputies decided not to renew the mandate of a special congressional committee on violence against the press, which had been appointed in 2006. CPJ called on Mexico’s Congress to show its full commitment to a free press by granting federal authorities jurisdiction over crimes against freedom of expression, a reform still pending in the legislature.
According to CPJ’s research, 39 journalists, including Antuna, have been killed since 1992. At least 17 were slain in direct reprisal for their work. Seven journalists have disappeared since 2005. Most covered organized crime or government corruption.
On May 25, Barrón Hernández, crime reporter for the dailies La Opinion and Milenio, was abducted from his home and shot to death. Federal prosecutors charged five men in June with Barrón’s murder. The head of the drug cartel Los Zetas allegedly ordered the reporter’s killing “in order to teach a lesson to other local journalists so that they wouldn’t meddle in the work of the delinquent group,” the Mexican federal prosecutor’s office said, according to local news reports. Four other reporters have been killed this year in Mexico. CPJ continues to investigate whether their deaths were linked to their work.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
Crime reporter Bladimir Antuna García was found murdered Monday night, according local news reports, after reportedly being abducted from a street in the Mexican city of Durango that morning. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican authorities to show their commitment to press freedom and the protection of Mexican journalists by immediately bringing all those responsible to justice.
Antuna, 39, a reporter for the daily El Tiempo de Durango, was on his way to work Monday morning when, according to witnesses cited by the local press, his car was boxed in by two other vehicles in Durango, 558 miles (899 kilometers) northeast of Mexico City. Armed men got out of a Jeep Cherokee, and dragged Antuna from his car into theirs before speeding away. The reporter was immediately reported missing.
Local authorities found the reporter’s body that evening not far from where he was abducted. Next to the body was a note stating: “This happened to me for giving information to soldiers and for writing too much,” according to national daily La Jornada. Local investigators told reporters that Antuna appeared to have been strangled, and there were no noticeable signs of bullet wounds.
“Bladimir Antuna García’s killing is yet another brutal reminder of the very precarious and dangerous situation in which Mexican reporters, especially those covering crime and corruption, work,” said Carlos Lauría, CPJ’s senior program coordinator for the Americas. “Mexican authorities must immediately investigate Antuna’s death, and bring all the perpetrators to justice in an effort to prove their commitment to press freedom and journalist safety.”
Victor Garza, editor of El Tiempo de Durango, told CPJ that in the week before his death Antuna had broken a story on corruption in the Durango City Police. Antuna had also investigated the murder of fellow El Tiempo de Durango reporter Carlos Ortega Samper, who was kidnapped on April 3 in a similar manner and then shot to death, though Antuna had not yet published a story, colleagues in Durango said. Ortega reported on local corruption. His murder remains unsolved, and CPJ continues to investigate whether Ortega’s death was linked to his work as a journalist.
Antuna’s colleagues said he had received at least three death threats in recent months. The most recent, they told CPJ, was a telephone threat from an unidentified individual who told the reporter that he would get no further warnings. Antuna did not say why he was being threatened. In April, armed men approached the reporter’s home at night but did not open fire, a colleague said. Antuna filed a complaint with local authorities for unspecified problems, the Spanish newswire EFE reported.
The local press freedom group Center for Journalism and Public Ethics said today that Antuna had told the organization last June that he had been in contact with another Durango journalist who was murdered in May, Eliseo Barrón Hernández. The center said Antuna told them he and Barrón had been exchanging information about police corruption and organized crime in the state.
In late October, the newly elected Mexican Chamber of Deputies decided not to renew the mandate of a special congressional committee on violence against the press, which had been appointed in 2006. CPJ called on Mexico’s Congress to show its full commitment to a free press by granting federal authorities jurisdiction over crimes against freedom of expression, a reform still pending in the legislature.
According to CPJ’s research, 39 journalists, including Antuna, have been killed since 1992. At least 17 were slain in direct reprisal for their work. Seven journalists have disappeared since 2005. Most covered organized crime or government corruption.
On May 25, Barrón Hernández, crime reporter for the dailies La Opinion and Milenio, was abducted from his home and shot to death. Federal prosecutors charged five men in June with Barrón’s murder. The head of the drug cartel Los Zetas allegedly ordered the reporter’s killing “in order to teach a lesson to other local journalists so that they wouldn’t meddle in the work of the delinquent group,” the Mexican federal prosecutor’s office said, according to local news reports. Four other reporters have been killed this year in Mexico. CPJ continues to investigate whether their deaths were linked to their work.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
Monday, November 2, 2009
A soldier every 3 feet on the US/Mexico border
Immigration Anecdotes
Someone on Fox television once said what that we really need a soldier every three feet to guard the US/Mexico border. Allow us to put that idea into perspective.
The Mexican border is 1,969 miles long or 10,396,320 feet long.
Placing on soldier every 3 feet along the border would require 3,465,440 troops.
But one soldier cannot stand guard 24 a day and 7 days a week.
If we break this down into two shifts then we would need a total of 6,930,880 troops.
It all seems so absurd.
Thanks to the Brownsville Herald
Someone on Fox television once said what that we really need a soldier every three feet to guard the US/Mexico border. Allow us to put that idea into perspective.
The Mexican border is 1,969 miles long or 10,396,320 feet long.
Placing on soldier every 3 feet along the border would require 3,465,440 troops.
But one soldier cannot stand guard 24 a day and 7 days a week.
If we break this down into two shifts then we would need a total of 6,930,880 troops.
It all seems so absurd.
Thanks to the Brownsville Herald
Medical neglect in US Immigrant detention networks
Immigration Monitor
In the United States of America, under the administration of Barrack Obama, most undocumented immigrants who are detained often have a legal claim to stay in the United States, but are routinely transferred to more remote jails before they can be helped.
Their defense lawyers now say that their recent effort have laid bare the fundamental unfairness of a system where immigrant detainees, unlike criminal defendants, can be held without legal representation and moved from state to state without notice.
Mistreatment and medical neglect have been widely documented in these detention networks, which churn roughly 400,000 detainees through 32,000 beds each year.
http://bit.ly/3FTriX
Source: The New York Times
In the United States of America, under the administration of Barrack Obama, most undocumented immigrants who are detained often have a legal claim to stay in the United States, but are routinely transferred to more remote jails before they can be helped.
Their defense lawyers now say that their recent effort have laid bare the fundamental unfairness of a system where immigrant detainees, unlike criminal defendants, can be held without legal representation and moved from state to state without notice.
Mistreatment and medical neglect have been widely documented in these detention networks, which churn roughly 400,000 detainees through 32,000 beds each year.
http://bit.ly/3FTriX
Source: The New York Times
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
US findings on jet-crash still not public information
Mexico Monitor
By Franc Contreras
On November 4th, while the rest of the world recalls the historic US Presidential election that swept Barack Obama to power, Mexico will be remembering a tragedy. That´s the day a government Lear jet crashed in downtown Mexico City. Video of the flaming wreakage was seen by Al Jazeera viewers around the world.
Onboard that fallen aircraft was the country´s Interior Minister, Juan Camilo Mouriño. He had been at the center of numerous energy scandals. He was Felipe Calderon's right-hand man and climbed the political ladder on the current president's coattails. As Interior Minister he was the most powerful member of Calderon's cabinet.
That made Mouriño the President´s second in command and among his many responsibilities was overseeing Calderon´s self-declared war against organized crime and drug trafficking. Also on-board, a lesser know man named Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, who had been a top anti-drug official in Mexico for many years.
Just days after the crash, and before any investigation could be complete, the government quickly moved to call it an accident. Up to this day, the Calderon administration maintains it was an accident.
Mexico´s then Transportation Minister Luis Téllez said, “There was no indication of any sabotage whatsoever.”
Then US Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza said that American investigators had found no evidence of sabotage, prompting angry responses from Mexican legislators who said he had spoken out of turn.
Following the Calderon administration´s decision to call crash an accident, Mexican justice officials began collaborating with US government officials and sent the aircraft´s black box to the the US Federal Aviation Administration and the US National Transportation Safety Board and Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch to help in the investigation.
The findings of those reports, according to a brief review of documents, have still have not been made public, and most people in Mexico still doubt that the firey plane crash was an accident.
So far, there is no legal reason for allegations of wrong-doing.
But nearly one year after the deadly crash, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the US Transportation Safety Board have yet to release their findings.
I mentioned this to reporters for Mexico´s major mainstream dailies, Reforma and El Universal, and they were not aware of this.
Meantime, a growing number of Mexicans remain skeptical about the Calderon government´s decision to carry on with the so-called war on drugs. The anniversary of the plane crash will be an important marker of the Mexican public´s falling confidence.
By Franc Contreras
On November 4th, while the rest of the world recalls the historic US Presidential election that swept Barack Obama to power, Mexico will be remembering a tragedy. That´s the day a government Lear jet crashed in downtown Mexico City. Video of the flaming wreakage was seen by Al Jazeera viewers around the world.Onboard that fallen aircraft was the country´s Interior Minister, Juan Camilo Mouriño. He had been at the center of numerous energy scandals. He was Felipe Calderon's right-hand man and climbed the political ladder on the current president's coattails. As Interior Minister he was the most powerful member of Calderon's cabinet.
That made Mouriño the President´s second in command and among his many responsibilities was overseeing Calderon´s self-declared war against organized crime and drug trafficking. Also on-board, a lesser know man named Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, who had been a top anti-drug official in Mexico for many years.
Just days after the crash, and before any investigation could be complete, the government quickly moved to call it an accident. Up to this day, the Calderon administration maintains it was an accident.
Mexico´s then Transportation Minister Luis Téllez said, “There was no indication of any sabotage whatsoever.”
Then US Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza said that American investigators had found no evidence of sabotage, prompting angry responses from Mexican legislators who said he had spoken out of turn.
Following the Calderon administration´s decision to call crash an accident, Mexican justice officials began collaborating with US government officials and sent the aircraft´s black box to the the US Federal Aviation Administration and the US National Transportation Safety Board and Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch to help in the investigation.
The findings of those reports, according to a brief review of documents, have still have not been made public, and most people in Mexico still doubt that the firey plane crash was an accident.
So far, there is no legal reason for allegations of wrong-doing.
But nearly one year after the deadly crash, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the US Transportation Safety Board have yet to release their findings.
I mentioned this to reporters for Mexico´s major mainstream dailies, Reforma and El Universal, and they were not aware of this.
Meantime, a growing number of Mexicans remain skeptical about the Calderon government´s decision to carry on with the so-called war on drugs. The anniversary of the plane crash will be an important marker of the Mexican public´s falling confidence.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Covering Mexico´s war on drugs for television news
Drug Violence Monitor
9 decapitated bodies found in western Mexico
Al Jazeera English television wanted to cover this terrible story of drug violence in Mexico, but was unable to because no camera was available in the remote village where the violence took place. Here´s how the Associated Press reported the story on-line.
ACAPULCO, Mexico – Officers found the decapitated bodies of nine men in an abandoned pickup truck on a highway in the drug-plagued Mexican state of Guerrero, police said Friday.
The state Public Safety Department said the bodies and severed heads were inside 18 plastic bags left in the bed of the truck, which was found blocking a highway in the town of Tlapehuala late Thursday.
The department said in a statement that police also found a threatening message attributed to the drug cartel known as La Familia.
Guerrero is experiencing a wave of violent crime that authorities say is part of a battle between La Familia and other gangs for control of drug routes in the Pacific coast state.
Mexico has come under increasing pressure to make progress in improving human rights compliance by the armed forces under the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion, three-year aid package from Washington.
The U.S. Congress must withhold some of the money unless the State Department reports that Mexico is not violating human rights in the drug war.
More than 13,800 people have died in unprecedented drug violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a nationwide crackdown on cartels in late 2006.
9 decapitated bodies found in western Mexico
Al Jazeera English television wanted to cover this terrible story of drug violence in Mexico, but was unable to because no camera was available in the remote village where the violence took place. Here´s how the Associated Press reported the story on-line.
ACAPULCO, Mexico – Officers found the decapitated bodies of nine men in an abandoned pickup truck on a highway in the drug-plagued Mexican state of Guerrero, police said Friday.
The state Public Safety Department said the bodies and severed heads were inside 18 plastic bags left in the bed of the truck, which was found blocking a highway in the town of Tlapehuala late Thursday.
The department said in a statement that police also found a threatening message attributed to the drug cartel known as La Familia.
Guerrero is experiencing a wave of violent crime that authorities say is part of a battle between La Familia and other gangs for control of drug routes in the Pacific coast state.
Mexico has come under increasing pressure to make progress in improving human rights compliance by the armed forces under the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion, three-year aid package from Washington.
The U.S. Congress must withhold some of the money unless the State Department reports that Mexico is not violating human rights in the drug war.
More than 13,800 people have died in unprecedented drug violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a nationwide crackdown on cartels in late 2006.
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