The Washington Post
Updated: April 30, 2013
MEXICO CITY — Mexico is ending the widespread access it gave to U.S. security agencies in the name of fighting drug trafficking and organized crime as the country’s new government seeks to change its focus from violence to its emerging economy.
The change was confirmed by Mexico’s Foreign Ministry on Monday as the government lays out a broad bilateral agenda in advance of Thursday’s visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.
All contact for U.S. law enforcement will now go through “a single door,” the federal Interior Ministry, the agency that controls security and domestic policy, said Sergio Alcocer, deputy foreign secretary for North American affairs.
It’s a dramatic shift from the direct sharing of resources and intelligence between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement under former President Felipe Calderon, who was lauded by the U.S. repeatedly for increasing cooperation between the two countries. Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the CIP Americas Program monitors and analyzes international press on Mexico with a focus on the US-backed War on Drugs in Mexico and the struggle in Mexico to strengthen the rule of law, justice and protection of human rights. Relevant political developments in both countries are also covered.
Apr 30, 2013
Mexico: Traffickers abandoning immigrants at sea
CNN
By Catherine E. Shoichet
April 29, 2013
Mexican authorities said Monday that they've spotted a troubling immigration trend: large numbers of migrants abandoned at sea by traffickers.
Every month, Mexico's navy says it rescues about 150 stranded migrants, left adrift in overloaded boats off the country's Pacific coast.
As part of the scam, officials said in a statement, traffickers tell the migrants that there has been an equipment failure and promise to return but never do.
The immigration and maritime authorities said the frequency of that approach -- about 10 or 12 times per month -- inspired them to issue a warning on Monday: "Do not allow yourself to be fooled and put your life at risk by leaving it in the hands of people without scruples whose only goal is obtaining money without caring about the lives of other human beings." Read more.
By Catherine E. Shoichet
April 29, 2013
Mexican authorities said Monday that they've spotted a troubling immigration trend: large numbers of migrants abandoned at sea by traffickers.
Every month, Mexico's navy says it rescues about 150 stranded migrants, left adrift in overloaded boats off the country's Pacific coast.
As part of the scam, officials said in a statement, traffickers tell the migrants that there has been an equipment failure and promise to return but never do.
The immigration and maritime authorities said the frequency of that approach -- about 10 or 12 times per month -- inspired them to issue a warning on Monday: "Do not allow yourself to be fooled and put your life at risk by leaving it in the hands of people without scruples whose only goal is obtaining money without caring about the lives of other human beings." Read more.
Mexican activists release blimp to urge US to stop arms from pouring into Mexico
The Washington Post
By Associated Press
April 29, 2013
MEXICO CITY — Mexican anti-violence activists have released a blimp as part of a campaign to urge President Barack Obama to stop arms trafficking into Mexico.
Peace activist Javier Sicilia and the Mexico chapter of Amnesty International say the blimp is part of a “virtual” campaign to put attention on the problem of guns ahead of Obama’s visit to Mexico on Thursday.
Sicilia and other activists are urging Mexicans to tweet with the hashtag “Goodbye to weapons.” The slogan is printed on the blimp, which traveled from outside the Museum of Memory and Tolerance to the U.S. Embassy.
Sicilia said Monday that activists hope to collect 1 million signatures urging Obama and Mexican President Pena Nieto to discuss halting the flow of weapons into Mexico.
By Associated Press
April 29, 2013
MEXICO CITY — Mexican anti-violence activists have released a blimp as part of a campaign to urge President Barack Obama to stop arms trafficking into Mexico.
Peace activist Javier Sicilia and the Mexico chapter of Amnesty International say the blimp is part of a “virtual” campaign to put attention on the problem of guns ahead of Obama’s visit to Mexico on Thursday.
Sicilia and other activists are urging Mexicans to tweet with the hashtag “Goodbye to weapons.” The slogan is printed on the blimp, which traveled from outside the Museum of Memory and Tolerance to the U.S. Embassy.
Sicilia said Monday that activists hope to collect 1 million signatures urging Obama and Mexican President Pena Nieto to discuss halting the flow of weapons into Mexico.
The Boston Marathon Bombers: 'Caught Between Two Worlds' (La Jornada, Mexico)
"Despite having started a family, everything points to Tamerlan Tsarnaev never forgetting his roots and being stuck between two worlds that could not be reconciled, particularly as Islamism is a terrible threat and one of the principle enemies of the United States. This perception is a source of great tension inside the country, where the number of Muslims is growing, while at the same time, many see in them an internal enemy that must be fought. ... The terrorist attack in Boston will decide the fate of two of President Obama’s most important legislative initiatives - even if the bombing was not intended to derail amnesty for millions of undocumented immigrants or curb the use of guns by individuals."
Mexico – La Jornada – Original Article (Spanish)
By Soledad Loaeza
Translated By Halszka Czarnocka
April 27, 2013
No firm evidence has yet been found on the motives which led Tamerlan Tsarnaev to stage an attack on the Boston Marathon. The attack cost the lives of three people, and maimed or injured over 200 more. Currently, not a single lead connects Tsarnaev - even less so his younger brother Dzokhar - to radical nationalist or Islamist organizations that may have organized such an attack.
There is many interpretations, but little by little, a conclusion has been reached that the bombing was an individual action, although its social consequences will no doubt be far-reaching. It is vitally important to identify the reasons for the Tsarnayevs’ action. As long as there is no clarity on this, speculation will flourish, much of it wild. But even speculation may weigh heavily on two very delicate topics that are now being debated in the United States: gun control and migration. Read more.
Mexico – La Jornada – Original Article (Spanish)
By Soledad Loaeza
Translated By Halszka Czarnocka
April 27, 2013
No firm evidence has yet been found on the motives which led Tamerlan Tsarnaev to stage an attack on the Boston Marathon. The attack cost the lives of three people, and maimed or injured over 200 more. Currently, not a single lead connects Tsarnaev - even less so his younger brother Dzokhar - to radical nationalist or Islamist organizations that may have organized such an attack.
There is many interpretations, but little by little, a conclusion has been reached that the bombing was an individual action, although its social consequences will no doubt be far-reaching. It is vitally important to identify the reasons for the Tsarnayevs’ action. As long as there is no clarity on this, speculation will flourish, much of it wild. But even speculation may weigh heavily on two very delicate topics that are now being debated in the United States: gun control and migration. Read more.
Apr 29, 2013
President Obama's Mexico visit comes with backdrop of uncertainty
Los Angeles Times
By Shashank Bengali and Tracy Wilkinson
April 28, 2013
WASHINGTON — President Obama travels to Mexico this week amid signs that the relationship between the United States and its southern neighbor's new government faces a new period of uncertainty after years of unprecedented closeness forged by the deadly war against Mexican drug cartels.
The government of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is said to be wary of the level of U.S. involvement in security affairs that characterized the administration of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon. As a result, the Mexican government is expected to narrow U.S. involvement in its attorney general's office and Interior Ministry, the agencies that oversee police and intelligence, current and former U.S. and Mexican officials say.
Instead, Peña Nieto and officials from his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, want to concentrate U.S. participation in less sensitive but potentially profitable areas such as the economy. Read more.
By Shashank Bengali and Tracy Wilkinson
April 28, 2013
WASHINGTON — President Obama travels to Mexico this week amid signs that the relationship between the United States and its southern neighbor's new government faces a new period of uncertainty after years of unprecedented closeness forged by the deadly war against Mexican drug cartels.
The government of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is said to be wary of the level of U.S. involvement in security affairs that characterized the administration of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon. As a result, the Mexican government is expected to narrow U.S. involvement in its attorney general's office and Interior Ministry, the agencies that oversee police and intelligence, current and former U.S. and Mexican officials say.
Instead, Peña Nieto and officials from his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, want to concentrate U.S. participation in less sensitive but potentially profitable areas such as the economy. Read more.
Mexican journalists, rights groups march against attacks in which scores have been slain
The Huffington Post
By Associated Press
April 28, 2013
XALAPA, Mexico — Officials in Veracruz state say they know who killed Regina Martinez. The muckraking reporter, found beaten and suffocated in her house, was just the victim of a robbery, according to prosecutors and a local court.
But many of her colleagues don’t believe it. The man convicted of the crime was tortured into a confession, they allege. And the magazine she works for says state officials discussed sending police across the country in an attempt to hunt down and seize another reporter who raised questions about the death, which is one of a growing list of killings that have put Mexico among the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.
Some 400 people gathered Sunday in the center of Veracruz’s state capital, Xalapa, for a march to demand justice in the Martinez case and an end to attacks on the press. Many held up posters suggesting the government had a hand in the case, some describing it as “a state killing.” Dozens also protested in Mexico City.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a February report that 12 Mexican journalists went missing in 2006-2012 and 14 were killed because of their work. Mexico’s federal Human Rights Commission lists 81 journalists killed since 2000. Read more.
By Associated Press
April 28, 2013
XALAPA, Mexico — Officials in Veracruz state say they know who killed Regina Martinez. The muckraking reporter, found beaten and suffocated in her house, was just the victim of a robbery, according to prosecutors and a local court.
But many of her colleagues don’t believe it. The man convicted of the crime was tortured into a confession, they allege. And the magazine she works for says state officials discussed sending police across the country in an attempt to hunt down and seize another reporter who raised questions about the death, which is one of a growing list of killings that have put Mexico among the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.
Some 400 people gathered Sunday in the center of Veracruz’s state capital, Xalapa, for a march to demand justice in the Martinez case and an end to attacks on the press. Many held up posters suggesting the government had a hand in the case, some describing it as “a state killing.” Dozens also protested in Mexico City.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a February report that 12 Mexican journalists went missing in 2006-2012 and 14 were killed because of their work. Mexico’s federal Human Rights Commission lists 81 journalists killed since 2000. Read more.
Full investigation needed in Mexican journalist's murder
Committee to Protect Journalists
Mexico City, April 25, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists joins journalists with the Mexican daily Vanguardia in calling on authorities to launch an efficient and thorough investigation into the murder of photographer Daniel Martínez Balzaldúa.
Martínez's body was found with that of a friend, Julián Zamora Garcia, early Wednesday morning on a street in Saltillo, Vanguardía reported. He had last been seen by his colleagues at the daily's offices around 3 p.m. Tuesday before he left to cover an event. He never arrived.
Martínez, 22, had worked for Vanguardia for only a month and had been assigned to the daily's society section, which is an entry-level position, according to Ricardo Mendoza, the paper's editorial director. Another editor at Vanguardia, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, told CPJ that the climate of fear in Coahuila state prevented the newspaper from doing any investigation in stories with links to organized crime. Photographers covering the society section in Mexico have been targeted by organized crime groups in the past for inadvertently capturing images of cartel members, according to CPJ research. Read more.
Mexico City, April 25, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists joins journalists with the Mexican daily Vanguardia in calling on authorities to launch an efficient and thorough investigation into the murder of photographer Daniel Martínez Balzaldúa.
Martínez's body was found with that of a friend, Julián Zamora Garcia, early Wednesday morning on a street in Saltillo, Vanguardía reported. He had last been seen by his colleagues at the daily's offices around 3 p.m. Tuesday before he left to cover an event. He never arrived.
Martínez, 22, had worked for Vanguardia for only a month and had been assigned to the daily's society section, which is an entry-level position, according to Ricardo Mendoza, the paper's editorial director. Another editor at Vanguardia, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, told CPJ that the climate of fear in Coahuila state prevented the newspaper from doing any investigation in stories with links to organized crime. Photographers covering the society section in Mexico have been targeted by organized crime groups in the past for inadvertently capturing images of cartel members, according to CPJ research. Read more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)