yomexicoNEWS

California Condor Lays Egg in Mexico

2007-04-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

(AP Photo/Zoological Society of San Diego, Mike Wallace)
In this image released by the Zoological Society of San Diego, Mike Wallace, shows a California condor egg produced by 7-year-old female No. 217 and 6-year-old male No. 261, in their cliff side nest inside the Sierra San Pedro de Martir National Park in Baja California, Mexico, in March 2007. This condor egg in Mexico is the first time since at least the 1930s a California condor has produced offspring, biologists at the Zoological Society of San Diego announced Monday April 2, 2007. This is the first egg laid in Baja California since the California Condor Recovery Program reintroduced this species in 2002.

SAN DIEGO (Map, News) - An egg found in an abandoned eagle nest could herald the return of the California condor to Mexico, which hasn't had a breeding population of the iconic giant of the skies for about 75 years.

"This is a momentous occasion," Dr. Mike Wallace of the Zoological Society of San Diego said Monday. "We're all excited."

The California condor, once on the brink of extinction, is the largest bird in North America with a wingspan of almost 10 feet.

Wallace and colleagues found the egg March 25 on a cliff in the Sierra San Pedro de Martir National Park, located in the arid interior of the Baja California peninsula more than 100 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Wallace climbed to the nest and took photographs and measurements of the egg, shining a bright light through the shell to determine that the egg was 45 to 50 days old. Condor eggs incubate for 57 days, meaning the chick could hatch any day. There was also a chance the egg was dead, but Wallace said he did not smell any sulfur and the parent condors were still tending to it.

"We are all sitting on pins and needles waiting to see where the situation is going," said Wallace, who works for the zoological society's center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species. The society also runs the San Diego Zoo and its wild animal park.

The California condor was once widespread, swooping above the western United States, parts of Canada and Baja California.

A type of vulture, the condor scavenges dead fish and animals. As coastal population of seals and otters declined, so too did the bird. The use of poison to kill California's grizzly bears in the 1800s also devastated their numbers and lead shot remains a potential source of poison. Hunting, egg collecting and power cables were also blamed for hurting the creature's numbers.

Only 22 California condors were left by the 1980s, and the last documented sighting in Mexico was in the 1930s, Wallace said.

Thanks to a captive-breeding program, numbers recovered to a worldwide total of about 280. More than 100 of these fly free in the skies above parts of California, Nevada and Utah. Working with the Mexican government, biologists reintroduced captive-bred birds to Mexico in 2002.

Condors don't reproduce until they are several years old, Wallace said. The 7-year-old female that laid the egg in Mexico, known as Condor 217, was born at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Another species of condor, found in the Andes, is also threatened with extinction, but its numbers are in the thousands, Wallace said.

Several organizations have been working together to boost condor numbers under the Condor Recovery Program, which was founded in 1982 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Among them are several Mexican groups, the Los Angeles Zoo, Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey and Oregon Zoo.

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Photos

Mexico feeling effects of ethanol boom

2007-01-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

U.S. demand for corn pushes prices up for farmers, shoppers

By Marla Dickerson

Los Angeles Times

SAN SALVADOR EL SECO, Mexico - High corn prices are wreaking havoc on Mexico's inflation rate and forcing shoppers to pay more for eggs, milk and tortillas. But they're a godsend to farmers such as Victor Manuel Amador Luna.

With world corn prices riding high on strong demand from U.S. ethanol producers, Amador is looking to expand production on his farm about 125 miles east of Mexico City in the state of Puebla. He planted most of his 222 acres with corn this year and is looking to buy more land.

"I've never seen prices this high in my lifetime," said Amador, 79, his smile wide, like the crack in the dusty windshield of his Chevy pickup.

How long the bonanza will last is anyone's guess. What's clear is that America's thirst for corn-based ethanol is being felt around the globe, delivering fatter profits for grain farmers but higher costs for livestock producers, food processors and consumers.

The United States is the world's No. 1 corn producer and exporter, shipping an estimated 2.2 billion bushels to international buyers last year. Most nations can't compete with government-subsidized U.S. corn, which countries such as Mexico have come to rely on to fatten their hogs, chickens and cattle.

But with 110 ethanol plants in the United States snapping up hundreds of millions of bushels and an additional 63 refineries slated to come on-line in the next 18 months, some foreign farmers are betting that America will soon have less of the grain available to export. Agricultural economists say Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico are among the nations planting more corn to pick up the slack in their own domestic markets and perhaps score some export sales as well.

In addition, Mexico is gearing up to supply its own ethanol industry. Lawmakers are contemplating legislation that would require the state-owned oil company Pemex to oxygenate its gasoline with corn-based ethanol. Two plants are under construction in the rural state of Sinaloa, where officials are looking to create employment and provide farmers with a reliable outlet for their harvests.

Agriculture has been a constant source of trade friction between Mexico and the United States since the launch of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994. Although overall farm trade between the neighbors has exploded and Mexico has narrowed its agricultural trade gap, Mexican producers have complained about fat U.S. government subsidies in commodities such as corn, beans and milk powder, which they say makes it impossible for them to compete in those critical staples.

Concerns eased: But high corn prices are easing some concerns for now, and putting more money in the pockets of rural dwellers such as Aldo Cruz Matillas, an 18-year-old farmhand in Puebla state. Local growers are paying him almost $11 a day to help with harvest, a 20 percent pay raise over last year.

On a recent afternoon, the teenager guided a John Deere tractor through a freshly harvested cornfield while his co-workers walked alongside the wagon hitched to the back. The grain is now so valuable that the men were scouring the ground for any stray ears missed by the combine that had passed through earlier that day. Cruz said his older brothers migrated to the United States. But, if he can make a living, he said he would rather stay put.

"There is a lot more employment now," he said. "More hope."

Indeed, Puebla is experiencing a surge of interest in corn production. About 5,300 farmers have joined a government-sponsored program to boost Mexico's supplies of yellow corn, according to agronomist Adelfo Salazar Mendoza, coordinator with the state's Council of Corn Producers.

White vs. yellow: Most corn grown in Mexico is the white variety geared for human consumption in tortillas and corn meal. It historically has fetched a premium over yellow corn, which is used for animal feed and ethanol. Mexico last year imported nearly 4 million metric tons of yellow corn from the United States. That's more than three times the amount produced domestically, according to Mexican government figures.

But Puebla livestock farmers concerned about food security persuaded the state government four years ago to help them begin developing reliable sources of local production. Officials provided small grain farmers with up to 25 acres' worth of free seed, subsidized fertilizer and technical assistance. The government also helped finance a communal pool of tractors, combines, planters and other tools to boost productivity. Livestock producers secured corn at prices below market thanks to the government subsidy provided to corn farmers.

Salazar said the incentives last year resulted in the cultivation of 37,000 acres of yellow corn in Puebla. He said he expected that acreage to double this year.

"We are children of corn," said Salazar, noting the grain's cultural and historical significance to Mexico. "We can't let this industry disappear."

Livestock support: That's good news for Raniero Ludoviko de la Vega, head of purchasing for a Puebla company that produces hogs, sheep and eggs. The operation has imported most of its yellow corn from the United States and saw prices spike more than 60 percent last year. De la Vega said the local corn bought by his company was less expensive and of higher quality than the American stuff.

Although prices have hurt his company's profitability, he said he was pleased to see Mexican farmers responding to the opportunity.

"I would rather the money stay in Mexico," he said. "We need to support and revitalize our farm sector."

Shoppers stressed: A major concern for Mexico right now is the effect corn prices are having on consumers. Mexico ended 2006 with a higher-than-expected inflation rate of 4.05 percent, driven largely by rising food costs. Prices for meat, eggs and milk have all increased, in part because of animal feed costs.

The biggest outcry is over the price of tortillas, with prices in some places up more than 60 percent in recent weeks.

Times staff writer Cecilia Sanchez contributed to this report.

Under US-Mexico border, a squalid life for tunnel refugees

2006-12-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

'Another world' as crime and filth coexist in passages

By Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times | December 3, 2006

NOGALES, Mexico -- One mile deep into the drafty tunnel under this hilly frontier city, a flashlight beam cuts through the darkness and illuminates a yellow line painted on the concrete wall: the US-Mexico border.

Just beyond the boundary a graffiti message believed to have been scrawled by US law enforcement warns intruders: "USA Tunnel Rats. Este lugar es de nosotros" -- This place is ours.

Not exactly.

Inside the largest-known tunnels on the border -- two passages that make up an enormous drainage system linking Nogales, Mexico, with Nogales, Ariz. -- migrants stumble blindly through toxic puddles and duck bats. Methamphetamine-addicted assailants lurk. And young men working as drug mules lug burlap sacks filled with contraband.

There are shootouts and rapes. Rising floodwaters sweep people to their deaths. US Border Patrol agents pursue smugglers in frenzied chases, insults and threats echoing as they go. And tangles of rebar metal -- points sharpened by smugglers -- gouge people who get too close to some walls.

"It's another world down there," said Pat Thompson, a police detective in Nogales, Ariz. "You don't know what to expect."

As the United States prepares to fence much of the border above ground, the situation below could grow increasingly chaotic. Authorities have discovered dozens of illegal tunnels in recent years, including a nearly half-mile passage connecting Tijuana with San Diego.

Illegal immigrants have breached drainage systems all the way along the border, from El Paso, Texas, to San Diego. Most of them are of the crawl-through, claustrophobia-inducing variety that prevent large incursions.

The Nogales tunnels, by comparison, are superhighways.

Once open waterways, today they stretch for miles under the traffic-clogged streets of both cities, bending and zigzagging roughly parallel to each other.

In the smaller one, called the Morley Tunnel, an ankle-high stream of raw sewage and chemical runoff from factories in Mexico usually flows. The neighboring Grand Tunnel is up to 15 feet high and wide enough to fit a Humvee. Dozens of illegal immigrants can travel through it at one time.

Above ground, fences, sensors, and stadium lighting clearly separate the two cities. Underground, they remain linked of necessity by the system built decades ago to channel torrential rains.

The tunnels doubled as smuggling routes from the beginning. For many years, gangs of children took control of the passages. Nogales police once encountered Mexican soldiers on the US side, prompting a brief, tense standoff.

In recent years, the US Border Patrol has had some success stemming the underground flow of illegal immigrants and drugs by installing heavy steel doors, surveillance cameras, and sensors.

But when heavy rains this summer triggered floodwaters that tore down the gates, smugglers ripped down the cameras and shattered the lights and sirens that are used to discourage incursions -- and the chaotic human flow resumed.

From July through October, agents apprehended 1,704 illegal immigrants in the tunnels, a nearly five-fold increase from the previous six months.

Agents seized more than a ton of marijuana from tunnel arrests during the same period. In July, bandits raped two women from Oaxaca, Mexico, in the tunnels on the Mexican side.

This summer, five people are believed to have drowned after being caught in floodwater. Two others fell into a sewage drain and were carried nine miles before being discovered alive in a shaft near a sewage treatment plant.

Imelda Guevara Lopez, 17, said she survived by never letting go of her friend's hand as she struggled to keep her head above the flow of raw sewage. Lopez, whose backside was shredded by the walls, told workers at a migrant shelter in Mexico that she would never again enter the underground.

"I prefer working in the fields and being poor but alive," said Lopez, who went home to Hidalgo, according to an account in a Mexican newspaper.

Patrolling the tunnels is a nightmare for law enforcement on both sides of the border, mainly US Border Patrol agents and Grupo Beta, Mexico's safety force.

Teams of US agents enter the Grand Tunnel daily, sometimes toting M-4 assault rifles. But their high-tech night vision goggles are rendered almost useless in the tunnel's black-hole-like reaches.

The darkness is so thick that migrants sometimes cross within an arm's length of US agents without noticing. That is the agents' preferred tactic: lying in wait, letting groups pass before cutting off any escape back to Mexico.

If the migrants manage to evade agents in the tunnels, another huge challenge remains: getting out. People pop up from manholes into the middle of busy streets, sometimes stopping traffic. Curb storm drains are often too small, so smugglers use 20-ton hydraulic jacks to pry them open so people can squeeze through.

Felipe Calderon's daunting to-do list for Mexico

2006-12-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

The new president faces powerful drug cartels, massive monopolies and duopolies, and a fractured government, among many other challenges.

By Jorge G. Castañeda, Jorge G. Castañeda is a former foreign minister of Mexico and a professor of politics and Latin American studies at New York University.
December 3, 2006

MEXICO'S SEEMINGLY endless electoral ordeal has finally concluded: Felipe Calderon took office as president on Friday, albeit under hardly auspicious circumstances. Constitutional order has prevailed — though just barely — despite the onslaught of a strident and deeply wounded left-wing opposition bent on impeding Calderon's inauguration and a bitter, resentful Institutional Revolution Party (PRI) silently hoping and conspiring for the new president's failure.

The bad news for Calderon is that the telenovela that debuted on election day, July 2, is only the beginning. The toughest challenges lie ahead for him now that he has moved into Los Pinos (as the presidential spread on the edge of Chapultepec Park is called).

The conventional wisdom in Mexico doesn't fully appreciate Calderon's predicament. If Vicente Fox's term was largely a self-inflicted failure — as is broadly believed — then it would be relatively easy for the new administration to improve on this dismal past. So Calderon would set about imposing respect for the rule of law and the country's institutions, using political skills acquired as a party leader and legislator to broker deals with the PRI for the structural economic reforms Mexico needs to grow at roughly twice the rate of the Fox years (a meager 2% a year), downsizing expectations for dealing with Washington on immigration and cracking down on corruption that has remained rampant over the last six years.

That wouldn't prove so daunting. Alas, this simplistic narrative is not only inaccurate, it is devastatingly misleading.

Fox's six years in office, coupled with the four last years of former President Ernesto Zedillo's mandate, were a milestone. Not since the 1960s had Mexico enjoyed 10 consecutive years of economic stability, low inflation, low interest rates, a stable currency and constant, if mediocre, growth. For the first time, mortgages, automobile loans and consumer credit became available to the lower middle class: This year more homes were built and sold, and more cars were bought, than ever before. Fox can be criticized for indulging disruptive political protesters and an extremist opposition, but what's more important is that he did not resort to the bloody repression for which most of his predecessors came to be known. And as his foreign minister for a time, I am proud that Fox dragged Mexico out of its archaic foreign policy cocoon and put immigration and human rights front and center on Mexico's international agenda.

As far as Fox's inability to build coalitions with other parties (his National Action Party, or PAN, did not control a majority in the Congress, and still doesn't), perhaps it was their fault, not his. Even before taking office, Calderon was unable to accomplish his very first goal: building the coalition government — at least with the PRI — that he repeatedly proclaimed as the solution to the political gridlock that has cursed Mexico since 1997. There are advantages to having a uniform and disciplined, though probably disposable, PAN Cabinet, even one made up largely of lackluster, mostly unknown and untested archconservatives from the heartland, but this is not what Calderon said he wanted. Similarly, no deal was reached with the leftist opposition regarding the inauguration ceremony — thus the chaotic, depressing scenes of Mexican congressmen fighting it out at the podium of their chamber over the course of the last week.

Moreover, local conflicts like those in the southern state of Oaxaca have not been quickly resolved under Fox, either politically or through the use of force. It seems that Mexico's problems are more intractable than just not having Fox to "kick around anymore."

Actually, they may be more simple and complex at the same time. Mexico experienced an abrupt economic opening under former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994), a belated but successful political opening under Zedillo (1994-2000) and, at long last, a true rotation in power thanks to Fox (2000-2006). But all of these historical transformations took place while leaving the essence of the old PRI-inspired machinery intact: The foundations of the system (which political scientists would call "corporativist" because that system managed to subordinate all sectors of society — the party, business, labor, the church and so on under its control), created in the 1930s, remain untouched. They still represent the most formidable obstacles to Mexico's growth and success.

The first pillar of this structure is the public and private economic monopolies that dominate the country. The oil (Pemex) and electric power (Federal Electricity Commission) firms owned by the state are untainted by competition; the private virtual monopolies in telecommunications (Telmex), television networks (Televisa), cement (Cemex), bread and tortilla manufacturing (Bimbo and Maseca, respectively) and banking (Banamex/Citigroup and Bancomer/Banco de Bilbao) face only tepid competition at home, thanks to their cozy relationship with the state. Prices, supply, service and quality suffer as a consequence, and today these monopolies are stronger than ever.

The second pillar is formed by the unions that have controlled the Mexican labor movement since the 1930s. They were granted immense leverage in workplaces, tremendous resources and political power. The power of such organizations as the teachers union (the largest in Latin America), the oil workers union (the richest in Latin America) and the Social Security employees union (that has thwarted any attempt at pension or health reform for years) remains largely unchecked to this day. These unions obtained all their perks in exchange for 70 years of support for the PRI. They retain those perks, though they no longer owe any support to the government.

The third pillar is the political monopoly. For 70 years, one party had a complete lock on Mexican politics; now three parties do, and no one else can enter the political arena or have access to the taxpayer subsidies handed out to these parties (to the tune of more than half a billion dollars last year) without their consent. In Mexico, Joe Lieberman would not have been reelected to the Senate because, among other reasons, independent candidates are not allowed to run. The parties write their own antitrust legislation, vote their own subsidies and choose their own elected officials, who are just ratified at the polls.

Calderon's daunting assignment is to take on the pillars of the PRI's ancient regime, which have outlasted that party's seven-decade control of the presidency. His administration needs to liberate the union movement, upgrade and enforce antitrust laws to break up private monopolies and allow new competitors — even to the old public monopolies — to enter the marketplace. The barriers of entry into the marketplace of political ideas must also come down.

Can Calderon achieve all this? On one hand, the question might appear nonsensical. Given his weakness at the start, and the virulence and insidiousness of his opposition, taking on more enemies, including some of the powers that be that backed him, seems absurd and impossible. On the other hand, doing so may be the only way to strengthen his presidency. Moreover, his supporters can hardly break with him and join the Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador insurrection or the PRI silent conspiracy. They have nowhere else to go. Nor, indeed, does Calderon. He has to move forward and take up some formidable interests that are standing in the way of Mexico's future. It will not be easy.

What's at Stake In Mexico City

2006-11-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

By Enrique Krauze

Saturday, November 25, 2006; Page A21

Mexico is a country that is, all at once, pre-modern, modern, anti-modern and postmodern. This situation can have certain advantages, as those who appreciate the cultural mosaic of Mexico know, but there are times when it can be not just difficult but explosive.

Last Monday (the anniversary of the start of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which lasted 10 years and cost a million lives) modern politics in Mexico was silenced by an alliance between the pre-modern and the anti-modern in a postmodern spectacle that could lead to widespread social revolt and that has impeded the country's democratic progress. Andr?s Manuel L?pez Obrador -- the charismatic caudillo who has come to believe himself Mexico's messiah incarnate -- gathered his faithful for his anointment as the "legitimate president" of Mexico.

Even though he has lost much support because of his post-election behavior, L?pez Obrador still controls several organizations that have shown themselves capable of paralyzing a part of Mexico City with demonstrations and sit-ins. They consist of state employee unions, peddlers of the informal economic sector, unofficial taxi drivers and hundreds of radical groups.

Where do they get their money? Until now the budgetary sources of the Federal District of Mexico City have sufficed, managed at the discretion of L?pez Obrador's PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party), just as it was taught by its elder brother, the old ruling PRI. These groups mingle with anti-modern militant movements, which aren't exactly guerrilla forces but do represent a kind of "soft revolution."

It is a mobilization of salaried contingents that not only will harass incoming President Felipe Calder?n and his cabinet but will also try to disrupt everyday life for inhabitants of the country's most sensitive regions. This will be under the guise of a supposed "peaceful resistance" against the "usurpation" that many people still think took place in July's razor-thin election but that L?pez Obrador and his party (who won impressive victories in the legislature) were unable to prove in the courts.

This soft revolution is an enemy of democratic life and may even make dead letters of laws eventually passed in the National Congress. If the PRI (the third force but the counterbalance on the scales of Congress) decides to support Calder?n and his National Action Party (PAN) in the reforms that the country needs to create jobs, L?pez Obrador's militants will still be able to boycott them by taking to the streets to block traffic and disrupt business. In its extreme version, it might try to replicate what's been happening over the past six months in Oaxaca, where a revolutionary group of teachers, infiltrated by the residual guerrilla forces that have always existed in the mountains of southeastern Mexico, has been reenacting on a small scale the scripts of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution.

There remains the possibility of the restricted, legitimate use of public force, but this is an extremely delicate point in Mexico because of the trauma of the student massacre of 1968. Thus the goal of L?pez Obrador's movement will be to make the country ungovernable and to achieve the eventual resignation of Felipe Calder?n. It's unlikely that he'll succeed, but not impossible.

Part of the solution to this delicate situation lies in the hands of President Calder?n. If he quickly shows himself to be the leader that his predecessor, Vicente Fox, neither could nor wanted to be, Calderon will be able to remove the shadow of illegitimacy and establish the foundation for a stable government. He needs to surround himself with a capable cabinet that will carry out measures in the most sensitive areas (security, employment, corruption). Calder?n seems to be an intelligent politician, has parliamentary experience and has his priorities straight. But I'm convinced that much-needed concord depends on more than him.

In this regard, the left bears the greatest responsibility, especially that part of the left with ties to the PRD in the Federal District government and various state governments, the representatives and senators of Congress, and a multitude of journalists, academics and intellectuals. These people need to distance themselves from the caudillo and modernize their ideological platform along the lines of European social democracy.

There are precedents for this kind of transformation. In Spain, when Felipe Gonz?lez came to power in 1978, he renounced Marxist dogma and embraced the market economy, which was a condition for the country's eventual entry into the European Community and the impressive development that it has since achieved. In Chile, socialism evolved toward modern ideas and has presided over a period of impressive growth and social well-being. These are two very successful reforms, both of them counter to the anachronistic "21st-century socialism" of Hugo Ch?vez and Fidel Castro. But in both Spain and Chile, the process of maturing took place after civil wars and dictatorships. It would be a tragedy if Mexico had to go through that hell for its left to modernize. Unfortunately, at this moment at least, the possibility of such a transformation seems remote. I once said that the last Marxist in history would die at a Latin American university. I still believe it.

The postmodern spectacle that took place in the historical center of Mexico City is bizarre and ominous but also very serious. This is not a British "shadow cabinet," in which individual opposition politicians scrutinize various parts of the party in power. L?pez Obrador has said power belongs to him alone, in the name of the people. He is serious about his plans: to force the resignation of Calder?n and take power by proclamation, that ritual out of the Mexican past. The perfect date would be 2010, the 100th anniversary of the revolution.

If this nightmarish scenario actually happened, the implications for the United States could be ominous too: a stream of refugees that would dwarf the current illegal migration, pushed by the collapsing Mexican economy, capital flight and spreading Oaxaca-style violence.

The United States would do well to remember that there is a country, not on the Persian Gulf but on the Gulf of Mexico, that has taken a giant step toward political maturity by adopting a democratic system in the space of just one generation -- and has done so practically without historical experience. And it would do well to find tangible, direct ways to support Mexico's economy, just as the European Union supported Spain. Build bridges, not walls. Winning Mexico for democracy is the same thing as winning democracy for all of Latin America -- no small triumph in today's world and the world to come.

Enrique Krauze is the author of "Mexico: Biography of Power" and editor of the magazine Letras Libres. This article was translated by Natasha Wimmer.

Carstens Says Mexico to Focus on Housing, Tourism, Construction

2006-10-29T14:35:00.000-08:00

By Thomas Black

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Agustin Carstens, head of the economic team of Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon, said Mexico's government will focus on housing, tourism and construction to create jobs and boost economic growth.

Carstens, 48, said public and private investment in housing, tourism and construction of bridges, roads and other infrastructure will help Mexico soften the blow from a slowdown in the U.S., which purchases about 80 percent of Mexico's exports.

``We're going to give priority to certain sectors that rapidly create jobs and that strengthen the internal economy, giving more economic independence from the U.S. growth rate,'' Carstens, previously deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said in a speech to businessmen in Monterrey.

Calderon appointed Carstens to map out Mexico's economic program for the next six years. Carstens has become the leading candidate for the post of finance minister. Calderon, who won the July 2 presidential election by less than 0.6 percentage point, will take office on Dec. 1.

The federal government alone can't increase jobs and economic growth, Carstens said.

``Our fundamental job is to create favorable conditions so the society, and in particular the private sector, can contribute to this growth process,'' he said.

Under Calderon, the government will continue to spend on anti-poverty programs, Carstens said. The programs, which grew under President Vicente Fox, include direct subsidy payments and free health care for Mexico's poorest.

The programs should be designed ``to create incentive and avoid creating dependence,'' Carstens said.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 1.6 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the slowest in more than three years, a Commerce Department report showed last week.

To contact the reporters on this story: Thomas Black in Monterrey, Mexico at tblack@bloomberg.net

Mexican President Elect Felipe Calderon in a news conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa Thursday Oct. 26, 2006.

2006-10-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

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Mexican President Elect Felipe Calderon in a news conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa Thursday Oct. 26, 2006.

Photograph by : CP PHOTO/Fred Chartrand

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Allan Woods, CanWest News Service

Published: Friday, October 27, 2006

OTTAWA -- The Bush administration's decision to build a security fence along its border with Mexico is like the construction of the Berlin Wall that separated communist East Germany from West Germany for decades, and will lead to an increase in deaths among those trying to sneak into the United States, according to Mexico's president-elect, Felipe Calderon.

Calderon was in Ottawa on Thursday meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and seeking his support in presenting opposition to the U.S. plan on the grounds it risks hurting the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Harper reiterated his often-stated position additional security measures along America's Canada and U.S. borders risk damaging the close relationship between the countries.

But his comments were eclipsed by the aggressive Mexican politician, who will taking over from outgoing President Vicente Fox on Dec. 1.

U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law Thursday a bill that would erect a fence more than 1,000 kilometres long across the country's southern border, through which more than one million Mexicans enter the country illegally.

Calderon called the decision "deplorable."

"The wall will not solve the problem," he said. "Humanity made a huge mistake by building the Berlin wall and I believe that the United States is committing a grave error in building a wall on our border."

Not only will it be expensive for U.S. taxpayers, Calderon said, it will lead to an increase in the number of people who die each year seeking a more prosperous life in America.

"Over 400 people last year died trying to cross the border. What that decision is going to lead to is an increase in those fatalities."

On the U.S.'s northern border with Canada, the Bush administration recently announced plans to construct high-tech surveillance posts to guard against terrorists entering the country.

The Harper government, and its Liberal predecessor, lobbied hard in Washington to get the government to reverse this policy, as well as a border plan that would force Canadians and Americans to present passports or a form of secure identification when crossing into or out of the U.S. Those efforts have had little discernable impact.

Ottawa has argued it will hurt the economies of both countries, but particularly that of Canada, which relies on American tourism and American markets.

Harper said the situation in Mexico and that of Canada is much different, but he shares Bush's concern about safe borders.

"At the same time, we caution against things that can cause unnecessary barriers, not just to trade, but to the ordinary exchange of tourism and social relationships between our countries," he said.

The key document tying together the three NAFTA countries is the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a framework that seeks to balance the need for trade and border safety in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

Calderon said building walls around the U.S. will weaken efforts to advance that agenda.

"I deplore the building of this wall and I would urge us to seek out mechanisms that would lead to more security of the three nations without damaging our interests as this wall does."

Return of the monarchs: Butterflies by the millions arrive in the heart of Mexico

2006-10-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

BY JUDY WILEY

McClatchy News Service

JUDY WILEY/MTC

FINDING SANCTUARY: Butterflies alight on the ground at El Rosario Butterfly Sanctuary near Angangueo, Michoacan, Mexico.

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ANGANGUEO, Michoacan, Mexico -- They travel thousands of miles, unerringly, every year between Canada and Mexico. No one knows how they find their way.

Las mariposas -- the butterflies -- come by the millions. They arrive in Mexico's heartland, the Sierra Madre in the state of Michoacan, every November. Five sanctuaries are established to protect them and to let visitors see the miracle of the monarchs.

Rosario is the original butterfly sanctuary in Mexico, and the largest. It was already considered a sanctuary in 1986 when the Mexican government established two zones that form a Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, protected from logging and development.

The monarchs cluster on oyamel pines in the remote mountains, and the microclimate provides just the right temperature and moisture.

Indians in the area before Columbus arrived depicted butterflies in their drawings. The wintering grounds were first noted by scientists in the 1970s, when a Canadian zoologist rediscovered the spot.

In 2001, the government and private sources set aside millions of dollars for a fund called the Monarch Trust to pay local residents to stop cutting down the trees. Today, some of the farmers make their living off tourism, as guides.

Guide Andres Orosco and I start the three-hour drive from Morelia to Santuario El Rosario near Angangueo early in the morning.

Tourists have plenty to see on the way to Angangueo. In San Lucas Pio, outdoor vendors sell baskets woven using ancestral techniques. The town is one of many in the area where artisans create goods made there for centuries. Paracho is a guitar town, and in Santa Clara del Cobere, coppersmiths create jewelry, pots and more.

Between villages, the roadsides are lined with the cornfields of subsistence farmers and barbacoa stands. We stop near Querendaro to eat at one called Borrego Feliz -- Happy Sheep. I'm not so sure about that, because we are eating mutton, and I'm more than a little worried about the big, greasy-looking chunks of it that are being sliced as we pay for the meal.

But I could have relaxed.

The barbacoa -- sprinkled with lime, cilantro and onion and served with chile arbol -- is amazing -- delicate and spicy at once. Nothing like the heavy flavors I'd expected. Orosco says 20 different kinds of chiles are grown in the area.

This is a family enterprise. The father is slicing the mutton, which Orosco says was raised by the family and butchered, then buried for about a day in an underground cooking pit piled with maguey cactus for fuel. Two or three daughters are mixing masa (ground from corn he says they probably grew) into tortillas they cook on a charcoal-fired griddle.

As we drive on toward the sanctuary, Orosco hits the gas and squeals the tires around every curve, and there are a lot of them. Luckily, his spiel about the monarchs helps distract me from his driving.

A LONG FLIGHT

The insects leave Canada in September and arrive at their winter homes in Mexico around Nov. 2, the Day of the Dead. They fly about 2,500 miles, resting in trees by night. Some 40 million come to Santuario Rosario alone.

''They come here to die,'' Orosco says. The males live only 72 hours after mating. The females live on to lay eggs as they travel back toward the north. A monarch butterfly's life span is nine months at most.

Subsequent generations continue traveling north, reproducing and dying; the process repeats several times along the way. Several generations later, new offspring make the trip from Canada to Mexico.

One theory is that the butterflies navigate by smell, Orosco says. But no one really knows how they find the way. The route is the same every year.

Blue-and-white signs showing the way to the santuario start to appear as we get closer. The streets narrow in the towns with their central cathedrals and white-walled buildings. Campesinos, their hats hanging down their backs, trudge down the road, and skinny cows stare out at the cars. Homemade altars stand near the road, sometimes alone, sometimes near houses.

Finally, we are in Angangueo. People are dressed in their best on this Sunday afternoon. Every older woman is wrapped up in a rebozo (shawl) despite the unseasonably warm February weather.

At the santuario, the whole enterprise looks a lot more touristy than I'd expected. There is a charge to use the restroom, for starters. A ticket to enter the sanctuary costs about $2.75.

MAKING THE CLIMB

Orosco immediately starts marching up the path, which is steep and lined with food vendors. A little farther up, when I stop to gasp for breath, the selling begins in earnest. Booths are filled with butterfly mugs, butterfly lunch pails, butterfly paperweights, all the kinds of trinkets Americans expect from border Mexico. Until now, I hadn't seen it here in the interior.

I can't pay much attention to this annoyance, because the real butterflies have begun to drift down the mountainside, just a few here and there, flapping around the hordes of people marching up to see the colonies.

As the climb grows steeper, the crowd gets thicker, and so do the flocks of butterflies. After we've passed the booths, we begin to see hundreds at a time, often resting at places where water has collected.

They alight on bushes right beside us, sometimes brushing our wrists and faces with their wings and thin black legs. Kids are kneeling beside a flock of them on a creek bed, nudging them onto their hands and giggling.

Orosco says the black lines on their wings are the butterflies' thermometers. When they get too cold, they huddle together for warmth.

He outwalks me on the path -- it takes about an hour to reach the top -- but when I finally catch up, he urges me to climb a little higher, where the colonies are easier to see.

They are not what I expected. Still distant, high up in the firs, they hang in clusters. They look like orange infestations from here.

Andres says the migration was viewed by the indigenous peoples of Mexico as a plague. The Spaniards, he says, thought the butterflies were people's souls.

We stop to eat again on the way down, at a stand run by a woman named Isabel Valencia Hernandez. She greets Orosco, a regular customer, and we order blue corn tortillas stuffed with cheese and served with spicy salsa. They're good.

We are ready to leave, and the butterflies soon will be, too. The monarchs make the long journey back to Canada in early March.

They will repeat the cycle again, their internal road map still a mystery to us.

Seafaring `Safari' ; Mexico Cruise Brings Underwater World to Surface

2006-10-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Posted on: Sunday, 15 October 2006, 21:00 CDT

By YVETTE CARDOZO; BILL HIRSCH

SEA OF CORTEZ, Mexico - Dinner awaited: medium rare steak and lobster tail.

But . . .

"I hate to do this to you just before this dinner but there's a mammoth pod of dolphins off our bow." The announcement on the ship's loudspeaker sounded almost apologetic. This was, after all, our grand finale dinner.

However, yards from the ship were hundreds and hundreds of saddleback dolphins, splashing and leaping and twisting in the rays of golden sunset light, for a good 20 minutes.

When nature's show was over we headed in for dinner and were just settling bottoms into chairs when Capt. Shawnda Gallup's voice echoed again, "Uh, folks. We've got rays. Dozens of them."

Sure enough, their large black bodies were just inches below the surface. It was like being surrounded by shadows. Every so often, a set of wingtips would break the surface. One of the beasts actually jumped. Since when do rays jump?

Back to dinner. This time, the hot rolls actually made it to the table.

"Er, you really don't want to miss this. It's a blue whale."

Capt. Gallup didn't need to tell us. A hundred feet of body slid alongside our boat. The thing was only 20 feet shorter than our 120- foot vessel. And it came up hardly five yards from our starboard side. We could see its dorsal fin nearly filling the lounge window.

Blue whales are the largest in the ocean. A small child could swim through its arteries. And here it was just feet from our railing. It surfaced not once but three times before our light faded completely.

Welcome to the Sea of Cortez...........................

The Sea of Cortez was formed by a fracture on the San Andreas fault. It's 5 million years old, making it an infant as seas go. Thanks to a rich stew of plankton, it's swarming with life: nearly 900 species of fish, half a dozen types of whales (including those mammoth blues), dolphins, sea lions, manta rays, sharks. It's like the Galapagos, only underwater.

Above water, the desert comes right down to the sea, resulting in a surreal mix of cactus, sand dunes and mangroves.

The high point of our first few days was a swim with sea lions. ............ From a skiff, we slipped into the water and were instantly surrounded by slick black heads and twitching whiskers. The sea lions moved with lightning speed, darting and swooping, doing barrel rolls and folding their bodies backward like gymnasts...................

To top it off, bioluminescent fish in the water and burning stars above.................

Mexico and the U.S. to Share a “Wall of Shame”

2006-10-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

By Carlos Luken

The Mexico-U.S. border fence recently approved overwhelmingly by the U.S. Congress, and signed into law by President George W. Bush, will join the ranks of such notable structures as the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, and the Maginot Line as a new monument to man’s futility and pigheadedness.

Some who naively hope that this wall will finally solve the “immigration problem” fail to understand that immigration is not the problem; it is a consequence of economic and social problems that have been conveniently circumvented for political correctness for decades. In this regard, the blame lies not only in Mexico, but also in the United States.

Both countries have reaped huge rewards from immigration. United States trade knowingly tapped into a large, low cost and highly controllable labor source permitting its products to be competitive worldwide. In return Mexico found an effective and predictable safety valve for exporting the growing numbers of workers that its weakening economy could not accommodate. Immigration is also providing Mexico with its migrant remittance windfall, revenue that is expected to rise to US$25 billion in 2006.

For many years this sort of quid pro quo understanding existed between the two nations. In the United States border scrutiny was relaxed or suffocated according to trade needs, and Mexico tacitly complied.

At that time immigration was primarily an economic issue, but after decades of neglect and ambiguousness it mushroomed into a social predicament, with growing numbers of migrants and their families putting a burden on U.S. health, education and social service institutions. With economic slowdown, disgruntled citizens began protesting and collectively targeted Latinos as the source of their maladies. Millions of United States and Mexican citizens were pushed into a conflict that was not of their doing, in which both were unwilling victims of a new era “southern question.”

Expectantly the media took sides, furthering animosities. Some biased U.S. communicators branded all migrants as “illegal” and encouraged confrontation. The Latino media retorted by airing its own biased news versions, and promoting activist led protest demonstrations.

But instead of finger pointing and accusations, the culprits who caused it — the United States and Mexico, should realistically address this southern question. Both governments must recognize that theirs is a bilateral crisis, brought about by years of procrastination and double standards.

Mexico should acknowledge that its past economic policies have failed to create job opportunities and higher living standards for its people. It must define and implement comprehensive economic, agricultural and industrial development programs for its poverty stricken southern states. To do so it must implement legislative reforms, and it should encourage alliances with U.S businesses. And it must execute an immediate and in-depth program to eliminate widespread corruption.

The United States should also do its part. It must acknowledge and stop circumventing immigration and labor laws, and slap stiff fines on protected business, agriculture, construction, manufacturing and service industries that advantageously benefit from the immigrants illegal status.

The United States should realize that all of its dilemmas cannot be solved through immigration reform as is currently being considered. It must isolate its current social crisis from its future temporary labor needs. By grouping current crises with future needs, the United States has continuously gotten into a quandary.

At the same time Mexico should concede that the United States has its own laws and political agenda, and that it will define — within its sovereignty — what to do with the millions of undocumented migrants currently living in the 50 states.

In order to deter further immigration, and to help Mexico create genuine job opportunities, U.S. development programs dealing with trade education should be put into place, while economic aid plans and private investment ventures should be encouraged. Once the cost benefits are considered, the payback will prove more profitable than the currently incurred social costs (notwithstanding the US$1.7 billion budgeted cost for the border fence). Only then can provisions be negotiated to accommodate a realistic temporary supply of workers from Mexico for future U.S. labor needs.

Citizens and public officials view immigration with tunnel vision, failing to note that it is only part of many ongoing interactions between neighbors. Other vital concerns, such as border security, trade, organized crime deterrents, energy, agriculture, water rights, social and environmental issues — the list goes on, must too be addressed.

Considering that immigration is a most sensitive issue, both governments must acknowledge the need for new and innovative plans and solutions before more innocents in both countries are made victims of further hypocrisy.

——————————

Carlos Luken, a MexiData.info columnist, is a Mexico-based businessman and consultant. He can be reached via e-mail at ilcmex@yahoo.com.

Mexico health reforms are model for others

2006-10-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

By Patricia Reaney LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Mexico's ambitious health reforms which aim for universal coverage by 2010 could be a blueprint for change in other poor nations where medical costs impoverish millions of people, its health minister said on Sunday. Dr Julio Frenk, the architect of the plan and a candidate for the top job at the World Health Organisation (WHO), said the reforms show health innovations can make a difference even in countries with high levels of poverty. "The Mexican formula is working. There are 22 million people today that didn't have insurance three years ago. For those people this is the difference between life and death," he told Reuters. The universal insurance plan called Seguro Popular was passed into law in 2003. It is on track to provide health coverage for about 50 million mostly poor people by the end of the decade. Organised by federal and state government, it is free for 20 percent of the poorest people. Others pre-pay a means tested premium based on income. Funding is through taxes, which Frenk stressed have not risen, and savings in health administration costs that have been cut from 8 to 3 percent since he was appointed health minister six years ago. So far 1,700 new health facilities have been built. Twelve regional treatment centres deal with illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. Investing is focused on telemedicine, training and logistics to enable swift delivery of vaccines and medicines to remote areas. The Mexican plans have been evaluated in studies published in The Lancet medical journal, which praised the reforms. Frenk said they stemmed from a realisation that spending on healthcare was impoverishing millions of uninsured Mexicans. "The numbers are quite scary. It shouldn't be that way. Health should be a force to fight poverty. It should never be a reason for impoverishment," he added.

Mexico (and me) angered by lack of immigration reform, decision to increase security at border

2006-10-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

TIJUANA, Mexico -- Mexico lobbied for six years for a comprehensive immigration reform that would allow millions to cross into the United States legally. Instead, they're getting a fence.

Mexicans -- from leading politicians to migrants preparing to cross illegally -- consider the U.S. plan to fence off much of the border shameful, offensive and ill-conceived.

President Bush on Wednesday signed a bill that would allot $1.2 billion for hundreds of miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border and for more vehicle barriers, lighting and infrared cameras.

But migrants resting at a Tijuana shelter after being deported from the United States said more walls wouldn't deter them. Alfonso Martinez, a 32-year-old from southern Mexico, had been working as a farmhand for six months in Vista, Calif., when he was arrested and deported last week.

"Wall or no wall, I will try at least three times," said Martinez, who said he would try to cross by himself through Tecate, a mountainous town about 35 miles east of Tijuana. "I have three girls that I have to support, and in Mexico there is no work."

Mexican immigrants in the United States and the Mexican government had lobbied lawmakers for more ways to cross the border and work legally.

While Bush had proposed a temporary worker program, it didn't garner enough support in Congress for passage. The idea has been dropped by Washington, at least until after the November congressional elections.

Congress focused on security over immigration, arguing that the porous border could be used by terrorists who want to sneak into the U.S. undetected. There is no evidence that has happened, however.

The Mexican government this week sent a diplomatic note to Washington criticizing the plan for 700 miles of new fencing along the border. Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez called it an "offense" and said Wednesday his office was considering taking the issue to the United Nations.

But Ruben Aguilar, the spokesman for President Vicente Fox, said Thursday that Mexico had ruled out that possibility. He added he was "confident" the additional fencing would never become a reality because an immigration accord would eventually replace it.

President-elect Felipe Calderon Thursday criticized the U.S. plan, but said the case is a bilateral issue that should not be taken to any international organization.

"I think it is a deplorable decision that has been made by the United States Congress for the construction of this wall, and it does not solve our common problem, which is emigration," Calderon told a news conference in Santiago, Chile.

Guillermo Alonzo, a migration expert at the Tijuana-based Colegio de La Frontera Norte, said fences instead will force migrants to look for new ways to sneak into the United States and find new routes through deadlier terrain.

"When migrants are determined to cross, they find a way to jump the fences," Alonzo said. "Walls don't stop anything."

Alonzo cited the construction of a fence between Tijuana and San Diego, known in Mexico as "the tortilla wall." It was completed in the 1990s and forced migrants into the sparsely populated and dangerous Arizona desert.

While there are walls at various points along the border, the one in Tijuana is the longest stretch, running 14 miles west from the Otay border crossing and plunging into the Pacific Ocean.

It has become a symbol of the divisive immigration issue, a blank slate for graffiti, crosses, photos and other remembrances of those who have lost their lives trying to sneak into the United States. Some families, divided by the border, even meet at the fence, talking through the metal wires.

While the wall downgraded Tijuana from the illegal migration mecca it was in the 1990s, hundreds of migrants still come here, Alonzo said.

"Now smugglers hide migrants in trunks of cars or get false documents," he said.

Luis Kendzierski, a priest who directs a Tijuana migrant shelter, said building a wall is an unfriendly gesture that will lead to a hike in smugglers' fees and more migrant deaths.

Between 2001 and 2006, almost 2,000 migrants died while trying to sneak into the United States, according to El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.

"We are supposed to be neighbors and friends, and instead of building bridges and doors, we're building obstacles," Kendzierski said.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Mexico -- Who Got the Most Votes?

2006-09-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

Two Mexican Presidents -- Which Is Legitimate?

This article was made available through the news service of Foreign Policy in Focus. Foreign Policy in Focus has kindly granted us permission to share top articles with the readers of the Progress Report.

by Laura Carlsen

On September 16, over one million people raised their hands in a vote to recognize center-left leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the “legitimate president” of Mexico. Gathered in Mexico City's historic center, the delegates to the National Democratic Convention (NDC) agreed to inaugurate their president on November 21 -- nine days before the inauguration of the officially recognized candidate, Felipe Calderon. This act of civil resistance ushered in a new stage in an electoral conflict that has developed into an all-out battle for the country's future.

The NDC constituted an unprecedented event in Mexico's tumultuous sequence of starts and stalls toward democracy. No matter what the outcome, the convention will go down in history as a defining moment in the nation's political development. What it will define, however, is still anybody's guess.

The conservative camp that supports the presidency of Felipe Calderon, who has been officially certified by electoral institutions and backed by mainstream media conglomerates, big business, and much of the U.S. mainstream press, has portrayed the convention as the last-gasp attempt of a losing candidate to attain power.

But try telling that to any Mexican citizen, or one of the delegates straining to hear the proceedings over the rain and crowd noise on Mexico's Independence Day. For them, “their” president not only deserves office by right of having won elections stolen through fraud, but also because he represents their interests. Running on a pro-poor platform, Lopez Obrador has gained the confidence of millions of Mexicans. The poor form the backbone of a movement that has rapidly evolved into a widespread rejection of the status quo.

After months of protesting fraud, the convention represented a change in direction. Amid the morass of unexplained discrepancies and manipulated results that have characterized Mexico's presidential elections, the distinction between the demand for a fair vote count and the need to redress deeply felt social wrongs has been subsumed into a general movement for fundamental reforms.

From Fighting Fraud to Fundamental Reforms

It would be a mistake to write off Mexico's post-electoral conflict as just a battle between legality and cheaters. Mexico's current political crisis developed out of the lack of public confidence in an exceedingly tight and contested presidential election. The Electoral Tribunal's declaration of Felipe Calderon as the official winner on September 5 failed to restore credibility in representative government for three fundamental reasons: a bad count, a lack of transparency, and the belief of poor Mexicans that the new government will not represent their interests.

The problem with the count is straightforward -- no one can say with certainty who won the Mexican presidential elections. The official system of preliminary results showed such obvious flaws in functioning -- including the original exclusion of 3 million votes -- that the matter passed to a full review of tally sheets amid growing suspicions of foul play. Later, the judicial electoral tribunal rejected the demand for a full recount of ballots despite ample indications of irregularities.

In this context, the tribunal's decision to legally proclaim Felipe Calderon the victor by a half-percent margin over Lopez Obrador was more a matter of expediency than a measure of justice. The tribunal acknowledged arithmetic errors and electoral law violations but concluded, somewhat speciously, that they did not change the outcome.

In the absence of a full count, the tribunal's decision reflected wishful thinking rather than a clarification of what really happened on July 2. Evidence that included numerical differences between tally sheets and actual ballots, additional and missing ballots, and adulterated official results cast a pall over the first elections held under the rightwing National Action Party (PAN).

The political will of the majority of Mexicans on July 2 may never be known. Electoral officials have unaccountably refused any public review of ballots.

The Federal Electoral Institute has rejected several freedom-of-information petitions to allow public access to ballots and tally sheets. Likewise, the information released to date by the Electoral Tribunal has inexplicable and unjustifiable gaps. By admitting a recount of only 9% of the precincts and nullifying certain polling place results without releasing clear, specific data on where and why, it raised more questions than it answered.

An election is not a technical exercise but a civic ritual that serves to renovate and legitimate powers. When it does precisely the opposite, as it has in Mexico today, it fails to serve its purpose. A democratic election cannot be declared by fiat, whether legally sanctioned or not. It has been done -- in Mexico 1988, in Florida 2000 -- but that doesn't make it right. Transparency is a prerequisite for elections in a democratic society, not only so the electorate can be sure the votes were counted, but also to ensure public confidence in the outcome.

Unrepresented Poor

The vast majority of the poor—the core of the over 15 million who voted for Lopez Obrador -- do not believe that Calderon will hear them, much less represent their interests.

Part of the problem is Mexico's major obstacle to democratic transition -- the power of the presidency. Once elected, Vicente Fox, like his predecessors in the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), used presidential powers to force unpopular measures through the back door in the form of executive decrees. Instead of limiting this power, Fox used it to consolidate so-called neoliberal reforms.

Another problem is that Mexico's political system has few mechanisms of accountability to constituents.

Under this system, one has to have power to leverage power. Most of the millions who voted a second time for Lopez Obrador on September 16 have, for the most part, only the two feet they stand on for leveraging power. They believe that Calderon's PAN is the party of the rich and powerful. The government-in-resistance is their bid for a voice in a political system that has systematically excluded them.

Democracy reduced to electoral representation has always been a frail form of “rule by the people,” since the people often wind up far removed from their representatives. But when its ability to represent its citizens is in doubt, the system moves from frail to farcical. Mexico's system has now clearly fallen into this category.

Institutional reform has been a plank of Lopez Obrador's campaign since his original proposal for a new social pact. The civil resistance plan approved at the convention calls for protests at every public appearance of the “spurious” president, but also incorporates campaigns against the privatization of petroleum and electricity, as well as in defense of public education. The program adopted for the parallel government includes battling poverty and inequality, defense of natural resources, the right to information, an end to the privileges of the few, and profound reforms in national institutions.

Mexico's constitution sanctions the right of the people to exercise sovereignty beyond the institutions of the government. Article 39 of the constitution suggests that altering the form of government is not only an inalienable right but also an obligation when the institutions no longer operate in the public interest. The government-in-resistance claims that the nation's institutions have been manipulated through pseudo-legal and illegal ways to benefit a very small minority of the population. The poor have been left out. And now they want back in.

Mexico's Political Crisis in the World

For the United States, Mexico's political crisis hits close to home, literally. Not only is the nation located on the U.S. southern border, the conflict affects U.S. corporate interests in the fundamental areas of trade relations, immigration, and security.

Mexico was the laboratory for the U.S. strategy of free trade agreements based on open access to markets, favorable terms for international investment, and intellectual property protection. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiated in the early 90s forced Mexico to compete with the world's wealthiest and most powerful nation and led to millions of jobs lost in national industry and small-scale agriculture.

Instead of examining the negative impact of NAFTA objectively, the U.S. government has insisted on more of the same. It refused to renegotiate the agricultural chapter of NAFTA that calls for complete so-called liberalization of corn and beans in 2008. Calderon supports the liberalization, despite studies that predict a profound negative impact on approximately three million small-scale farmers.

Lopez Obrador has made the derogation of the NAFTA agricultural clause a constant, and much applauded, point in his recent speeches. While he supports NAFTA and open markets, he has also drawn up economic policies that reclaim the direct role of the state in generating employment, protecting strategic domestic markets, redistributing income by eliminating tax breaks for the wealthy, and guaranteeing a basic standard of living for those at risk—the elderly, single mothers, persons with disabilities, and small farmers.

The plan is far from radical, but it has drawn the fire of powerful business interests at home and abroad. The Bush administration would rather not have another defection from the ranks of big-government economic orthodoxy at a time when much of Latin America shows signs of leaving the fold.

Following the official pronouncement of Calderon as president-elect, conservative analysts eagerly placed Mexico in the ranks of nations loyal to U.S.-style top-down economic integration. With Mexico again assured as an unconditional economic and political ally, the “Pacific Axis” of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Peru, and Chile seemed secured at its northern end.

But with the current divisions, the Mexican elections can hardly be hailed as a major ratification of so-called neoliberal policies in the hemisphere. The political crisis also complicates the Bush agenda in areas of counter-terrorism, immigration, and drug trafficking, although the basic terms of cooperation will continue.

Even if Calderon were miraculously able to consolidate power over the coming months -- a scenario that looks increasingly unlikely -- a broad movement calling for major institutional reforms will be on the political scene for a long time to come. Whether as a parallel government, a grassroots social movement, a partisan opposition, or some combination, the movement will weaken the new presidency and strengthen hopes for a real and inclusive democratic transition.

----------------------

Laura Carlsen is director of the IRC Americas Program in Mexico City, where she has worked as a writer and political analyst for the past two decades.

Also see:

Vote Fraud Math in Mexico
http://www.progress.org/2006/fraud04.htm

NAFTA Publishes Self-Contradictory Pollution Report
http://www.progress.org/2006/nafta02.htm

Can Your Existence Be Illegal?
http://www.progress.org/2006/immi02.htm

ongress Moving to Delay Start of U.S. Border-Crossing Rules

2006-09-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

By Nicholas Johnston

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Congress is moving to delay for 17 months the imposition of new border-crossing rules that are opposed by business groups concerned the requirements would dampen tourism and trade.

Lawmakers negotiating a Homeland Security Department spending measure last night agreed to include a provision pushing back to June 1, 2009, a requirement that travelers carry passports or similar documents when crossing the U.S. border with Canada or Mexico, said John Scofield, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee. The current deadline is Jan. 1, 2008.

Lawmakers are likely to pass the spending measure this week before leaving Washington ahead of the November congressional elections, Scofield said.

The travel rules are part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, a set of requirements passed by Congress in 2004 as provisions in a reorganization of U.S. intelligence agencies.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that his agency plans to create new secure identification cards for travel across the borders with Mexico and Canada by the end of this year as an alternative to requiring travelers to carry passports.

Businesses such as casinos and restaurants in border communities that rely on cross-border traffic for sales have protested the new rules as being too burdensome on travelers and commuters.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net

Passport requirements will include children,

2006-09-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

National

Sept. 16, 2006, 6:46PM

A trip to Canada, Mexico or islands could cost $358 for a family of four

By STEWART M. POWELL
Copyright 2006 Hearst News Service

WASHINGTON — New anti-terrorism rules soon will require American children under the age of 16 to obtain $82 U.S. passports to return home by air or sea from visits to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.

The children are among the estimated 22 million U.S. travelers to neighboring nations each year who will be required for the first time to present U.S. passports to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency agents upon returning to the United States.

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The passport requirement — which takes effect Jan. 8 for travelers returning from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air or sea — will affect an estimated 557,000 children under the age of 16, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency.

All U.S. citizens returning from Canada and Mexico by road will be required to present passports beginning Jan. 1, 2008.

Passports for adults cost $97 and are good for 10 years. Passports for children younger than age 16 cost $82 and are good for five years.

Frank Moss, the State Department's top passport official, says the requirement is expected to boost annual demand for passports from 12 million this year to 17 million by 2008.

Parents face a complicated process obtaining passports for their children because of precautions taken to prevent separated or divorced parents from obtaining a U.S. passport to sneak children out of the United States without the consent of the other parent.

The new passport requirement has encountered resistance from the travel industry, including the cruise ship industry, as well as some members of Congress from border states.

Jarrod Agen, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the Bush administration has responded to concerns raised by the winter cruise ship industry by delaying implementation of the passport requirement at seaports beyond the New Year's holiday season. The deadline was moved back by one week to Jan. 8, 2007.

"We've worked throughout the implementation process to accommodate holiday travel to avoid any negative impact on tourism," Agen said.

Laura Tischler, spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which handles passport issues, said the Bush administration is working to respond to concerns raised by border-state lawmakers about the costs and inconvenience of obtaining passports.

A family of four that currently crosses U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico with only drivers' licenses or birth certificates might be required to spend at least $358 for four passports, plus the estimated $44 cost for required photographs.

Tischler said the Bush administration is on the verge of proposing a credit-card size "Pass-card" that travelers could use instead of U.S. passports to cross U.S. land borders from Canada and Mexico.

The card, designed to cost less than $50 compared with the $97 cost of an adult passport, would be phased in over the next year in time to meet the 2008 deadline for U.S. passports for land travelers from Canada and Mexico, Tischler said.

U.S. housing market cools, but Mexico resort areas still hotscrdu

2006-09-04T18:22:00.000-07:00

By Evelyn Iritani

Los Angeles Times

Real-estate experts in Mexico worry that the giant sound they hear is the softening U.S. housing market sucking out money Americans have poured into vacation homes south of the border.

But neither the cooling U.S. housing market nor tense Mexican presidential politics has stemmed the influx of foreign dollars into Mexico's booming coastal resort areas, government and real-estate officials said.

When Fonatur, Mexico's tourism-development agency, put the first phase of its newest Pacific Coast resort, Litibu, on the market a few months ago, buyers snapped up the 500 acres for $125 million. Foreign investment into Mexico is on track to hit $20 billion this year, up from $17.6 billion in 2005, the government says.

"We have some concerns about the slowing U.S. housing market, but there are many other things working for us," said John McCarthy, the tourism agency's director general, who was in Beverly Hills, Calif., last week to speak to U.S. investors. "Most of our buyers are baby boomers who have paid off in good part their initial mortgage and are coming into inheritance money."

Real-estate experts also said Mexico's resort-properties market might experience a smaller price shock because it is a new area of investment and the buyers tend to be higher-income and less likely to be forced into fire-sales.

"The cooling real-estate market could take this from being a very, very positive trend to a mildly positive trend," said Christopher Thornberg, an economist with Beacon Economics, a Los Angeles-based real-estate consulting company.

That's good news for Janette and Harvey Craig, who paid $60,000 four years ago for a piece of beachfront property in Litibu, a small beach community about 30 miles north of Puerto Vallerta.

The Craigs expect the parcel, worth about $300,000 today, to be more valuable in three years, when the nearby resort, which will include hotels and condominiums, 910 homes and an 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman, is completed.

"It's just going to push prices higher and higher," said Janette, a part-owner of Garcia Realty in the nearby surfing town of Sayulita.

In the past, foreigners have been wary of investing in Mexico because of legal problems, corruption and red tape. But changes in Mexican laws have made it easier for foreigners to own property through bank trusts. Major U.S. companies have begun offering mortgages and title insurance.

Mexico also is drawing more attention from Europe. Last year, Spanish companies were the top investors in the tourist industry, pumping $416 million into resort properties. U.S. investors followed with $321 million, according to the tourism agency.

McCarthy rejected the notion that tourism benefits only wealthy developers and well-heeled travelers. He pointed out that the average incomes in Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur, the states that are home to Cancún and Cabo San Lucas, are among the highest in the nation.

Tourism is the third largest generator of foreign exchange in Mexico, after oil and remittances from Mexicans living abroad.

Exclusive getaway

In just a few decades, the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula has become one of Mexico's most exclusive getaways.

Once known for cheap time-share properties, the rugged coast between Cabo San Lucas and the sleepier San José del Cabo is lined with luxury resorts that charge as much as $1,000 a night for hotel rooms. Oceanfront estates sell for as much as $7 million. On busy weekends, it is not uncommon to see 100 private jets at the airport.

Mexico's real-estate boom also has been helped by the development of upscale "fractional ownership" properties that allow people to buy a piece of a condominium or home.

Barry Hacker and his wife, Paivi, sold their beachfront home in Florida after it was damaged by two hurricanes in two years. They have invested, they said, "tens of millions" of dollars in a piece of waterfront property in Ixtapa, a West Coast resort area of Mexico. They plan to build a 10-room boutique hotel called Punta Romantica and offer fractional ownership in 10, four-bedroom villas on the property.

Hacker, a partner in KPMG's Tokyo office, said many wealthy Americans are selling their waterfront properties in Florida and California while prices are high.

"We can deliver a villa for a fraction of the cost that's also oceanfront and is fully staffed with all the hotel services, a gym, a spa and a restaurant," he said.

Mexican tourism officials are sensitive to criticism that this rapid development threatens some of the country's most beautiful coastline and marine reserves and puts a strain on the rural communities that bear the brunt of the rising land costs, increased traffic and an influx of people looking for work.

These challenges have come into sharp focus along the east coast of Baja California Sur, which borders the Sea of Cortez, home for the largest marine park in Mexico.

Fonatur has teamed up with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based developer Loreto Bay to build what is being billed as the "largest resort community in North America committed to the principles of sustainable development." The Mexican government invested $200 million on roads, water-treatment plants and other necessary services.

The $3 billion project, called the Villages of Loreto Bay, will create a town of 6,000 homes in neighborhoods designed for pedestrians and golf carts. No cars will be allowed. Nearly two-thirds of the 8,000 acres will be maintained as a "greenlands preserve."

Homes are being built from locally produced adobe brick, and the developer has leased land for a wind farm so the project can generate its own electricity, said Jim Grogan, Loreto Bay's president and chief executive officer.

Houses sell quickly

In two years, the project has sold 640 homes with prices starting at $380,000. Two-thirds of the buyers are Americans, many from California. Most of the rest are Canadians with a sprinkling of Mexicans.

"There's no question — people are willing to pay a premium for sustainable development," Grogan said.

The U.S. company has established a nonprofit foundation that has bought new equipment for the local hospital and a patrol boat for the marine conservancy, Grogan said. The Loreto Bay Foundation gets 1 percent of all home sales and resales, which totals $3 million so far.

Rob Faris, an economist with the Harvard Institute for International Development, praised the developer's efforts. But he worries about the effect such a large influx of people will have on southern Baja's limited water supply, the marine park and the community of Loreto.

Within two decades, the population of the sparsely populated region is expected to balloon from 15,000 to 120,000, according to a study co-authored by Faris.

"Their intentions are largely noble," Faris said of Loreto Bay. "But creating a sustainable community of this magnitude in Mexico — it hasn't been done before."

Doubts Dog Rescued Mexican Fishermen

2006-09-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 4, 2006

By Allan Wall

As the dreary post-election contention continues, Mexico is in need of some more positive news. And it looked like there was, with the amazing story of the rescued fishermen who turned up in the western Pacific Ocean and were brought back to Mexico. (See “A Trans-Pacific Mexican Odyssey,” by Allan Wall; MexiData.info, August 21, 2006).

The three men, Lucio Rendon, Salvador Ordoñez and Jesús Eduardo Vidaña, reported that they had set sail from the port of San Blas, Nayarit, on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Drifting on a 27-foot fishing vessel, they were rescued near the Marshall Islands by the Kuskooss, a Taiwanese tuna-fishing vessel on August 9th, after nine months at sea.

But is the story true? Doubts have been raised at least about the fishermen’s account of this odyssey.

By the time they returned to the Mexico City airport on August 25th, some of the sheen had worn off their aura and they were grilled by the media. Reporters subjected the castaways to tough questions.

Were they really drug smugglers? Had they eaten their two comrades who died while drifting across the Pacific? And, what about those fingernails? If they had been adrift for nine months, why weren’t their fingernails longer?

The media have dug up some personal issues too. Lucio Rendon had previously been in trouble with the law for stealing some shrimp. Vidaña was about to lose his house to foreclosure. And it’s undeniable that the Mexican Pacific region from which they set out is a center for drug smuggling.

None of which necessarily invalidates their story.

And those fingernails could easily have been cut while the fishermen languished for 12 days on the Taiwanese fishing vessel.

Could the fishermen have survived their unplanned trek across the Pacific Ocean? History is replete with examples of those who endured harrowing situations and survived to tell about it.

There was that British expedition to Antarctic regions led by Ernest Shackleton (1914-1916). With their vessel trapped by ice at Elephant Island, 22 stayed put while six traveled to South Georgia Island in a 6.7-meter boat. All 28 survived the cold and were rescued.

The first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, led by Ferdinand Magellan (1519-1522) had a very hard crossing of the Pacific Ocean (which, by the way, was named by Magellan). Crewmen resorted to eating rats, sawdust and leather. They also caught and ate flying fish, just as did the Mexican fishermen of 2006, in the same ocean. (Magellan himself didn’t make it back to Spain though, he died in the Philippines).

Other examples of extreme situations include prisoners of war and concentration camp survivors.

In short, there are numerous historical examples of men who have survived extreme situations. So the fishermen’s story can’t be dismissed out of hand, but must be judged on its own merits.

Apparently, the crew of the Taiwanese tuna boat that picked up the castaways failed to take a photograph of the trio at the time of their rescue. Were there no cameras on board? Were no photographs taken of the rescued castaways while they were aboard the Kuskooss? That was too bad. Somebody should have taken photos of them as soon as possible after their rescue.

But after 12 days on the ship (and reportedly eating a lot), by the time they got to Mexico City they looked rather healthy in their new clothes. If you want to be treated as a castaway it would be better if, initially, the public saw what you looked like as a castaway. It would have been better for their credibility.

Nevertheless, the trio of rescued castaways continue to affirm that their story is true, and they say they are willing to submit to lie detector tests.

So there are still doubts and unresolved questions remain. Maybe they’ll be cleared up in the weeks ahead. Maybe not. The gist of their story is certainly believable, so it’s all a question of investigating the particular details.

In the meantime, their homeport of San Blas, Nayarit, has been the focus of increased touristic interest. And that’s good for the local economy!

Mexico fishermen survive months at sea eating birds

2006-08-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday August 17, 09:23 AM

Enlarge image

SAN BLAS, Mexico (Reuters) - Three Mexican fishermen have been rescued after drifting for about nine months across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean in a small boat, an ordeal they survived by eating raw birds and fish and drinking rain water.

The shark fishermen said on Wednesday they left their home town of San Blas on Mexico's Pacific coast in November and were blown 5,000 miles off course after their 25-foot (8-meter) fiberglass boat ran out of gas and they were left to the mercy of the winds and the tides.

Their families had given them up for dead, but they found a way to survive in what appeared to be one of the most impressive feats of endurance on the high seas.

"We ate raw fish, ducks, sea gulls. We took down any bird that landed on our boat and we ate it like that, raw," Jesus Vidana, one of the three survivors, said in a Mexican radio interview from the ship that rescued them.

The news stunned friends and relatives.

"It's truly a miracle. Everyone is very happy," said Jose Guadalupe Guerra, a town hall official in San Blas.

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"Everyone found out from the television. A cousin of one of them fainted from the shock. His grandfather also got very emotional -- they'd written them off as dead," he said.

The odyssey finally ended when Vidana and the other two men, identified as Salvador Ordonez and Lucio Rendon, were rescued a week ago by a Taiwanese tuna fishing trawler in waters between the Marshall Islands and Kiribati.

"They were very skinny and very hungry," Eugene Muller, manager of the fishing firm that found them, said on Wednesday.

NEVER GAVE UP

The three men were sunburned but otherwise in good health. Vidana said they always believed they would be found.

"We never lost hope because we were always seeing boats. They passed us by, but we kept on seeing them. Every week or so, sometimes we'd go a month without seeing one, but we always saw them so we never lost hope," he said.

They were lucky to be picked up in the end because they were fast asleep and only noticed the rescue boat was coming for them when they heard its engine.

Details of the extraordinary journey were sketchy. First reports said they were lost for three months but relatives confirmed Vidana's version that they left nine months ago.

"I lived so sad. ... Now that I know my grandson is alive, I am very happy. I just want him to come home soon," Rendon's grandmother, Francisca Perez, told the Televisa news station.

"There are no words to express it. The emotion here is very strong because we thought they were dead," said Efrain Partida, a fellow fisherman in San Blas, which was once a Spanish port and is known for its bird life, tropical jungle and voracious mosquitoes and sand flies.

Mexico is sending an official to meet the survivors in the Marshall Islands and help bring them home when the trawler that picked them up returns to port in a couple of weeks.

San Blas is home to thousands of fishermen and many have battered old boats without radios or life-saving gear, Guerra said. "The fishermen here are very rudimentary. Most don't comply with navigation rules and the authorities don't demand it either."

Among other recorded cases of people surviving long periods stranded at sea, in 1942 a Chinese sailor named Poon Lim survived four months alone in the South Atlantic after a German U-boat torpedoed the British merchant ship he was working on.

In 1789, British Vice Adm. William Bligh was set adrift after the famous mutiny on "The Bounty," a merchant ship he commanded. He and 18 loyal crew members then made an impressive six-week journey to safety in Timor.

(Additional reporting by Paul Tait in Sydney and Catherine Bremer in Mexico City)

HOT SPOT: The Grove Brings Unique Mix to Quiet Mexico Beach

2006-08-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

By David Vest, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla. Aug. 12--MEXICO BEACH -- When Jeff and Carol Tendler had a chance to go into business in Mexico Beach, they couldn't resist. A year and a half ago, they had some money to invest after they sold some land.
< http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=613677 >

Frontier expanding service to Mexico

2006-08-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

bizjournals.com

Wednesday August 2, 2:39 pm ET

Frontier Airlines said Wednesday it has received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to offer four flights a week between Denver and Guadalajara, Mexico.

The non-stop service to central Mexico is slated to begin Dec. 22 with flights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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Though Denver-based Frontier (NASDAQ: FRNT - News) already provides service to seven resort cities in Mexico, the new Guadalajara flights will be its first foray into central Mexico. The airline anticipates a high demand for flights to Guadalajara and has scheduled over 30 connections linking it to cities throughout the United States -- as far north as Seattle, east to Detroit and to several dozen destinations in the West and Midwest.

Frontier said in a statement it expects the new Guadalajara route to be well-received by the Latino community in Denver and connecting markets. With a population of over three million, Guadalajara is Mexico's second largest city.

Currently in its 13th year, Frontier Airlines is the second-largest airline at Denver International Airport.

Published August 2, 2006 by The Denver Business Journal

STOP GLOBAL WARMING

2006-07-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ever felt like you wished you knew more about global warming, but didn’t know where to start? Have a few lazy summer afternoons? Well pick up any of these books and you’ll be on your way to understanding this urgent issue. Whether you want to learn about the science, the politics, the potential outcomes, or the solutions, there’s a book for you on our summer reading list.

Featuring books from award winning journalists Elizabeth Kolbert, Andrew Revkin and Ross Gelbspan, as well as expert scientist Tim Flannery and global warming guru Al Gore, our summer picks will get you up to speed on the latest global warming info and arm you with the tools to make a difference!

The beauty of a virtual march is that you can march and read at the same time! Click here to visit StopGlobalWarming.org and read more about our summer reading picks.

StopGlobalWarming.org

Going to Canada or Mexico? Get your passport sooner, not later

2006-07-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

By Michael Martinez
San Jose Mercury News
Posted July 23 2006

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If you're thinking about a cruise to Mexico or the Caribbean or a flight to Canada next year, consider this a warning.

If you don't have a passport, get one. And do it soon if you want to beat the year-end crush.

Without a passport, you won't be able to board a cruise ship or plane if you're traveling internationally, even to destinations that haven't required more than a driver's license or birth certificate in the past.

Starting Dec. 31, a passport will be required for travel by sea or air to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Central and South America. By Dec. 31, 2007, a passport will be needed for all international travel, including land crossings such as the Tijuana border.

U.S. State Department officials say consumers appear savvy about the new requirements, which are part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative to strengthen border security. So far this year, passport applications have increased 30 percent over the first six months of 2005.

Anyone who doesn't have a passport could be left standing at the cruise dock as their ship sets sail.

"People may think they have their cruise all taken care of," said Bob Sharak, executive vice president of the Cruise Lines International Association, an organization that represents the industry. "But if they don't have a passport, they're not getting on the ship."

If you're planning to travel, you should apply soon. It takes about six weeks to get a passport, although you can expedite the process for $60, plus overnight delivery charges -- but that's in addition to the $97 it costs for the passport.

Here's how to apply:

- Download application form DS-11 from the State Department's Web site: travel.state.gov/passport. Click on "How to get a passport." Forms are also available at local post offices.

- Provide proof of U.S. citizenship such as a birth certificate, naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship.

- Present proof of identity, such as a current driver's license or government ID, and your Social Security number.

- Provide two color passport photos.

- Pay the fees: $97 for anyone 16 and older, $82 for anyone under 16 (all children, regardless of age, must have passports).

- Take the forms to any passport acceptance facility, such as a local post office or county or municipal office. To find a nearby office, click on www.iafdb.travel.state.gov.

First-time applications must be done in person; renewals can be done by mail.

Remember, some countries won't accept passports that are due to expire within six months of your arrival.

The State Department is expecting a rush of applications later this year, but says agencies should be able to handle the increase.

2006-06-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

1250 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 1C, Washington, D.C. 20036 Phone: 202-223-4975 Fax: 202-223-4979 Email: coha@coha.org Website: www.coha.org
Council On Hemispheric Affairs
Monitoring Political, Economic and Diplomatic Issues Affecting the Western Hemisphere
COHA Report 06.15	Word Count: 2250

Mexico Steps Back from the Electoral Brink, but Perilous Days Likely to Lie Ahead

Analysis prepared by COHA Research Fellow Michael Lettieri
Monday, June 19, 2006

Regarding the upcoming Mexican presidential election:
COHA's Mexican specialist Michael Lettieri is available to offer reporters who will be covering the elections briefings and commentary, in either English or Spanish, both before their departure and during their time in Mexico.

Lettieri will also travel to Mexico to serve as the head of COHA's observervation mission during the elections. While in Mexico, he will be reachable by both phone and email. To contact him, please call COHA's office at (202) 223-4975 or email coha@coha.org

Calderón, López Obrador, Madrazo: the presidential race goes to the wire
With less than three weeks remaining until Mexico’s July 2 presidential ballot, the tone of the campaign remains irredeemably nasty
The June 13 signing of a “civility pact” among 6 of the 7 parties contesting the 2006 national elections may limit a potentially explosive post-vote dispute, although this is far from certain
What the agreement does not resolve, however, are the acrimonious divisions provoked by the main parties’ depressing negative campaign strategies, typified by PAN candidate Felipe Calderón’s vicious attack ads
New violence in Oaxaca suggests that social tensions have hardly abated in recent weeks, only heightening the possibility of post-election instability, including street violence
It appears increasingly likely that lingering bitterness could make governing after July 2 a difficult prospect at best, irrespective of who wins

With the July 2 national election looming, Mexico’s presidential race has been consumed by vitriolic ad hominem attacks which have deeply scored the finish of the country’s newly-minted democracy. As negative tactics have continued undiminished, and tit-for-tat corruption allegations seize center stage, it appears evermore likely that the legacy of the presidential race will be that of a deeply divided country. This has become an all too immediate reality: a June 16 survey by the Mexico City daily Excelsior found that at least half the country expects that one of the three major presidential candidates will not passively accept the results of a narrow defeat.

With conflicting polls suggesting that the top two candidates – Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Partido de la Revolución Democrática and Felipe Calderón Hinojosa of the Partido Acción Nacional – are locked into an unusually tight race, such a disputed outcome seems all too plausible. Even if such a crisis is avoided, the eventual winner on July 2 will inevitably be forced to navigate a heavily mined political battleground and deal with a sharply divided legislature. Making the situation all the more tenuous is the probability that the incoming president will have won only a thin plurality of votes, as no candidate has topped 40% in national surveys in recent weeks. As the country hurtles towards election day, one thing is certain: the path both before and after July 2 is bound to be treacherous..

Full article...

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being "one of the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers." For more information, please see our web page at http://www.coha.org/ or contact our Washington offices by phone (202) 223-4975, fax (202) 223-4979, or email coha@coha.org.

Are US Workers "Vacation Deprived"?

2006-05-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

MAY 25, 2006

"What are you doing for your vacation?"
"Err…what vacation?"

According to the aptly-named "Vacation Deprivation" survey from the online travel site Expedia.com, conducted by Harris Interactive and Ipsos Reid, Americans are, well…vacation deprived.

Compared to workers in other Western countries, US workers earn the least number of annual vacation days and they are the most likely not to use even those few days. In fact, it is estimated that Americans will pass up more than 574 million earned-vacation days in 2006.

The survey found that one third (33%) of Americans do not always take all of their vacation days, despite more than one-third (36%) reporting that they feel better about their job and more productive upon returning from vacation.

"Vacation deprivation in America is at an all-time high," said Sally McKenzie of Expedia.com. "There are incredible health and wellness benefits associated with time off from work. Americans should take a cue from their foreign counterparts and relish the vacation they earn."

To that point, Expedia.com analyzed vacation habits among workers in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France and Australia. Compared to the other countries, at 14 vacation days per year on average, Americans are given fewer days than all the other workers in the study.

Throughout the six years that Expedia.com has conducted the Vacation Deprivation survey, though the US has long-held the dismaying distinction of being the country with the worst vacationing habits, this year the figures were even worse than usual.

On average, Americans are leaving four vacation days on the table this year. That is an extra day of vacation lost in 2006 compared to 2005 (4 days lost versus 3 days) and that is despite an increase in average vacation days received (14 days in 2006 versus 12 days in 2005).

In addition, 19% of US adults said they have cancelled or postponed vacation plans because of work.

Naturally, being in the business they are in, "Expedia.com believes that everyone deserves a great vacation."

For more information on where the industry is headed, read the eMarketer report Online Travel Worldwide

2006-05-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hecho en México

2006-05-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

Mexican Days Journeys Into the Heart of Mexico Tony Cohan Broadway Books: 276 pp., $24.95

By Joy Nicholson, Joy Nicholson is the author of the novels "The Tribes of Palos Verdes" and "The Road to Esmeralda."

A gorgeous aimlessness permeates Tony Cohan's "Mexican Days: Journeys Into the Heart of Mexico." Hassled in his once-dreamy Mexican town by a pushy American film crew, Cohan is offered a travel writer's dream job: Go on a series of journeys in hopes of finding an answer to the question, "What's new in Mexico these days?"

This could be an addled goose chase, a travel writer's hyperspree, but, thankfully, Cohan chooses to handle it in a languorous, sensual way. It's not, he points out, that there are new buildings, monuments and tourist attractions to explore in Mexico (of course, one will find all of these in such a vibrant country). It's the enduring, inexplicable beauty of Mexico that a traveler can discover anew, even for the umpteenth time: the smell of lime-chile corn, the ocher-washed stone walls, the cheeky art pranks of Oaxacan artist Francisco Toledo, the soft, starry nights of hurricane-prone Caribbean beaches. We hear of romantically desperate honeymoons, eccentric tunneled cities built like rabbit warrens, the cultural contexts of weaving and dyeing with snail-shell-based ink. In short, this is a disparate collection of tales.

Halfway through, the reader might ask, "What's the central frame of reference here? What's the exact point?" Cohan's previous book, "On Mexican Time," had such a goal-oriented approach: Gringo arrives in Mexico, refurbishes a dream house. A very American Cinderella story. A sense of beginning, middle, end. Lessons learned. Life changes accomplished, wisdom gained.

"Mexican Days" does not offer this linear neatness. A more circular, perhaps more sophisticated travel ode, it wanders and wafts back and forth through mountains, jungles, strip malls, fruit stands, pyramids and coffee plantations. There is a longing for connection; there are wistful moments of loneliness. Already temporarily exiled from his chosen home of San Miguel, Cohan hears a beloved friend tell of her decision to leave their ever-growing town. The pain and shock of her "defection" — "[i]n a small (expatriate) town, people want confirmation that this is still the good place, that their choice is holding up" — makes the author acutely aware of the good days that have gone by. This disaffection continues when he visits his artist wife, Masako, from whom he is seemingly amiably and lovingly estranged, in Oaxaca. There the couple visit artistic, interesting friends and traverse teeming, colorful markets before separating — to "miss each other" again.

Cohan continues on, in what seems to be a happy, haunted sleepwalk, to Xalapa, Yucatán state, Mexico City, the otherworldly Tlacotalpan — the phrase "magical travel realism" keeps springing to mind. The descriptions of Mexico are suitably lush and inviting. A gifted escritor, Cohan can make a reader smell the orchids and coffee, feel the mist and shrouds of jungle fog. We can taste the black coffee with dollops of sweet milk.

However, many writers are able to paint pretty, descriptive travel pictures. It's not for this that "Mexican Days" is a standout — and a standout it is.

An experienced traveler of a certain age, Cohan has already discovered and digested the fact that there are broad differences in cultures and geographies. He's lived in Mexico, toured churches and museums, consumed and experienced delicious foods, political folderol and spectacular religious rites. Here, his journey seems to be more like a quest to connect with the hidden soul of Mexico: to revel in its embrace of life and death, its connection to the fantastic and the phantasmal. Why, he seems to ask, is Mexico so darned enchanting, so darned maddening and so full of confusion all at the same time?

"We North Americans," he writes, "tend to dismiss anything smacking of futility or defeat. Latin Americans, half-children of Don Quixote, understand [that] little or nothing comes of things anyway, it is the noble gesture, not the result, that redeems a life."

Such noble gestures include embracing the choked, gaudy danger of Mexico City, the moss-covered ruins of Palenque and the bizarre, mummified remains of long-ago humans so beloved in the town of Guanajuato.

In travel, as in life, one tends to quickly sort experiences into good and bad. Worthy or pointless. The scorpion in the serape, the waterfall at dawn, the brightly colored costume so different from one's own manner of dress. All are categorized, labeled. But in all-embracing, magical, maddening Mexico, Cohan seems to say, good and bad are not so easily classified. Point and pointlessness interconnect. Life happens quite mysteriously, and the journeyer is left quite alone to sort out implications.

For instance, in the faraway, misty jungles of Xilitla, Cohan comes upon an old friend from the United States and shares an awkward moment of youthful reminiscing. Is the encounter good or bad? Embarrassing? Ridiculous? Or is it a dream?

In verdant Xalapa, he's almost immediately implored to rent a stranger's house. And, although he has no intention of putting down roots in yet another strange city, he does so anyway. To negative effect? To life-changing effect? Neither is the final answer.

It is this sense of unneatness, of I's not dotted and T's not crossed, that carries the narrative so beautifully. Cohan conveys what's new — and old — about Mexico. Life is strange and beautiful here. The center won't hold, but that's OK. Drive, fly, take a rickety bus. Keep stepping forward, another stone will appear.

A good adventure is a series of vignettes (and probably not an orderly one).

That is, if you're traveling Mexican-style.

A Solution - Expatriates Buying Homes in Mexico

2006-05-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

May 22, 2006

By Patrick Corcoran

Not too many people are looking to the Mexican Congress for the solution to America’s intractable immigration dilemma, but perhaps they should.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, one has to wonder whether President George W. Bush will ever have the opportunity to sign the comprehensive (and thus far still mythical) immigration accord that is his foremost domestic task of 2006. With immigrants protesting and minutemen patrolling, it seems that a continuation of the ongoing tragedy unfolding on our southern border is as likely a solution.

President Bush has put forward a guest-worker program as the best way to bridge the gap between opponents on each side of this debate, although in his May 15 address to the nation it received less attention than the suggested deployment of the National Guard to reinforce an overwhelmed US Border Patrol. Bush and the supporters of a guest-worker program hail it as a key to making entry into the United States safe, legal, and orderly.

Beyond the obvious fact that the Bush administration is the principal organ promoting it, there are reasons to doubt that merely throwing out 200,000 visas (the latest number included in the bill now floating through the Senate) will provide any semblance of order to the immigration chaos. As pundits from across the political spectrum have pointed out (the latest being Peter D. Salins, of State University of New York, in the op-ed section of The New York Times: “Assimilation Nation,” May 11, 2006), guest workers’ programs have historically failed because the guests often overstay their welcome.

A possible answer to this riddle was provided in an April 17 piece published in MexiData.info, “Mexico and the Migration Phenomenon.” A 1,600-word document adopted as a resolution by both houses of the Mexican Congress in February 2006.

The relevant passage appears near the end: “Mexico could significantly enhance its tax-preferred housing programs, so that migrants can construct a house in their home communities while they work in the United States.”

And there it is, a way to make guest workers truly temporary.

Applied at first only to Mexican nationals (by far the largest immigrant population in the United States), it could work like this: guest workers coming to the United States would have ten percent of their income deducted and placed into a risk-free savings account, with a US$3,500 annual maximum. At an interest rate of three percent compounded quarterly, a guest worker contributing the maximum into their account would wind-up with a total of US$23,217, more than enough to put you on your home-owning way.

Theoretically, the sum could be spent only on a house in Mexico. As with the 401k, there would be significant penalties for withdrawing the money for any purpose other than that which was intended.

Whatever practical attachment to the United States that might develop over the course of the work period would be outweighed by the fact that after six years, the erstwhile guest would be a jobless illegal resident of the United States, risking capture and deportation, while there would be a brand new home waiting for him or her in Mexico.

Banks with a presence in Mexico and the United States, such as British-owned HSBC and America-based Citibank, could be tasked with enrolling the guest workers. The typical client would be assigned a bank employee on each side of the border, to see them through from day one to day 2191, when they would ideally be walking into their new house.

Such a plan would be ideal for the guest-worker program about which President Bush often muses, with each guest matched to a specific job before his or her arrival. Newly arrived employees, with their savings accounts arranged ahead of time along with their jobs, could begin saving for their houses immediately. This program also meshes nicely with Bush's belief in the almost sacrosanct virtue of homeownership.

This program would not be a panacea for all the ills of the massive migration phenomenon. The plan sketched out above is not a substitute for enforcing our own laws, it does not help us control our borders, nor does it answer the question of what to do with the 12 million undocumented residents already here. Unfortunately, it also resembles a savings program in the bracero program in the 1940s, when workers were defrauded of up to ten percent of their wages.

Moreover, this proposal is quite obviously little more than an embryo of an idea. It would certainly need thousands of hours of research and planning before moving from concept to policy.

But promoting homeownership fits into what can be the only effective long-term strategy in reducing illegal immigration: addressing the immense disparity in the quality of life between the two sides of the US-Mexico border.

And President Bush is right in thinking that a guest-worker plan is the reasonable middle ground between the two extremes of the immigration debate. Anything that could make that middle ground more easily traversed will be more likely to bring this raging debate to an acceptable conclusion.

——————————

Patrick Corcoran is a writer who resides in Torreón, Coahuila. He can be reached at corcoran25@hotmail.com.

A Gringo in Mexico Reflects on the Election

2006-05-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 15, 2006

MEXIDATA

By Allan Wall

As a longtime gringo resident of Mexico, I have always enjoyed following Mexican politics, and this presidential election is no exception.

I’ve resided in Mexico since 1991, except for a recent 16-month hiatus when I was called-up to go to Iraq.

This is the third presidential election I’ve been privileged to observe as a resident of Mexico. I hasten to add that, as a foreigner, I don’t meddle in Mexican politics. I just observe.

Americans usually analyze foreign elections by how they are perceived to effect our interests, and that’s natural. And we look for the “pro-American candidates.”

But voters in other countries see their elections in terms of their own national and local issues.

To understand their elections, we have to look at them from the inside. Mexico is no exception.

Step back and look at the historical context, and you can see that Mexicans have already achieved a lot.

Just a scant few decades ago, Mexico was a one-party state. But it has transformed itself into a multiparty system of representative government with checks and balances.

This great change wasn’t brought about by a violent civil war or revolution. It was and is a gradual process. Nor can it all be attributed to the efforts of one party, one movement or one “great leader.”

The real heroes of Mexico’s political transformation are people like my Mexican mother-in-law, who worked as a volunteer poll observer back in the days of the one-party state.

In the old days Mexico’s bicameral Congress was just a rubberstamp for the executive. Whereas today no single party controls the Congress so the president must negotiate to pass legislation.

The Mexican Supreme Court, formerly controlled by the presidency, is now independent, demonstrating its independence by sometimes ruling against the president.

Mexico now has freedom of expression, with pundits and citizens free to openly criticize the government and the various political parties.

Mexico’s voter registration system is quite impressive – in fact it’s better than ours in the USA, which is rather slipshod.

Mexican voters use a secure voter ID card with photo, which is checked against a book containing a photograph of every registered voter in the precinct. This system helped Mexico in holding a 2000 election that went more smoothly than ours.

The days of the one-party state are gone.

Nevertheless, political plurality does not solve all the problems of a country.

Take the economy for example.

Mexico is not among the world’s poorest nations. Its GDP per capita is US$10,000, higher than the world average of US$9,300 but only a quarter that of the United States [US$41,800].

Juxtapose Mexico’s millions of poor with its 10 billionaires (including Carlos Slim, the world’s third richest man), and you can see there is a vast socioeconomic gap that could cause some real problems.

Then there is crime and corruption.

Narco-traffickers, supported by Mexican corruption and an insatiable American drug habit, are a threat to law and order. Sadly too, Mexico has a growing drug use and addictions problem.

These are all important issues for Mexico’s future.

The presidency of Vicente Fox is drawing to a close. Fox, of the PAN (National Action Party), has done well in the financial fundamentals, avoiding high inflation and peso devaluations, reducing foreign debt, that sort of thing.

These financial fundamentals are the sorts of things that aren’t appreciated until they go awry! I remember the big peso devaluation of 1994, which effectively cut every worker’s salary in half. And I’m certainly glad it hasn’t happened since.

But due to several factors, the Fox administration has failed to make significant economic reforms that would enable the Mexican economy to really takeoff and meet its potential. This he leaves for his successor.

And that brings us back to the Mexican presidential election of 2006.

Carlos Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the PRI, Felipe Calderon (PAN), and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO and a member of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, are right in the thick of battle, bringing their campaigns to the people of Mexico. Making their proposals and yes, criticizing the other candidates. That’s part of democracy and free speech, is it not?

Now within the last two months it’s become a real race. Calderon has passed AMLO in the polls, but it’s still too close to call. Too much could still happen in the last seven weeks.

It’s exciting, it’s interesting and it’s even entertaining.

And for the people of Mexico, it’s the future of the nation.

——————————

Allan Wall, a MexiData.info guest columnist, recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. He currently resides in Mexico, where he has lived since 1991. He can be reached via e-mail at allan39@prodigy.net.mx.

Mexico: Pumping Out Engineers

2006-05-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

The headlines are about low-wage illegals, but Mexico is swiftly upgrading its workforce

For years the Mexican workforce has meant one thing to multinationals: cheap, reliable labor, perfect for assembling cars, refrigerators, and other goods in the maquiladoras lining the border with America. More complex engineering and design work was better done elsewhere in the global economy -- usually at company headquarters in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_21/b3985070.htm?campaign_id=rss_magzn

MAY 22, 2006

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Mexico Moves to Bolster Economic Competition

2006-04-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

By ELISABETH MALKIN

Published: April 29, 2006

MEXICO CITY, April 28 — The Mexican Congress voted late Thursday to strengthen antitrust laws, a measure advocates say will bolster the economy's flagging competitiveness by restricting a company's ability to dominate a crucial industry.

The vote came just before midnight Thursday in the final hours of the legislative session. The Senate unanimously approved the bill, following the lead of the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, which had done the same on Tuesday.

The measure passed despite lobbying by Carlos Slim Helú, whose control of Teléfonos de México, the country's dominant telecommunications company, has helped him become one of the world's richest men.

But Eduardo Pérez Motta, Mexico's top antitrust regulator, said that political parties had an eye on the July 2 general election when they passed the law.

"We have to put the interests of consumers at the center of the country's public policy," said Mr. Pérez Motta, who heads the Federal Competition Commission, Mexico's antitrust regulator.

Luis de la Calle, a business consultant and columnist who worked to support the law, said that increased competition would help the economy modernize.

Mexico's economy has performed poorly since President Vicente Fox took office six years ago. Economists have said that the growth rates of less than 4 percent were too low to create new jobs for an expanding work force. Many economists argue that a reason is the lack of competition in many sectors of the economy.

Many of Mexico's leading industries are dominated by one or two companies that use their market power to block new competitors.

Telmex, for example, controls 95 percent of all local lines. Mexico's two brewers have a lock on almost all distribution channels. Two companies control almost everything viewers can watch on broadcast television. Energy remains in the hands of two state monopolies.

Foreign competitors like MCI and the brewer SABMiller have complained about the difficulties of trying to break into the market.

But the competition commission has been hamstrung by weak laws. Companies have paid only 15 percent of the fines that have been imposed and have tied up many of the commission's actions in legal actions.

The new law quadruples fines, to as much as $5.5 million, for antitrust violations. In the case of repeated violations, the competition commission could fine a company as much as 10 percent of its sales and ultimately even move to break it up.

Mr. Pérez Motta said the simple fact of higher fines might spur many companies to change.

"Once you know the fines are higher," he said, "you just don't run the light."

It will also make the commission's opinions binding on other regulators. In particular, many critics argue that Mexico's telecommunications regulator has done little to check Telmex's power. Now, the commission will have a say in writing regulations as new technology enhances the possibility of competition.

The commission also plans to look at airports, railroads and customs brokers: all potential bottlenecks that add to the price of finished goods, Mr. Pérez Motta said.

The new law creates protection for whistle-blowers and allows the commission to conduct searches. It also eliminates ambiguities that companies have used to win repeated injunctions against the commission.

But the law will do little to affect the state-owned oil and electricity companies, which are protected under the Constitution.

Mexico proposes decriminalizing pot and cocaine

2006-04-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

Reuters

Apr 28, 2006 — MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Owning marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts for personal use, under legislation passed by the Congress.

Police will not penalize people for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin or 500 milligrams of cocaine, under a bill passed by senators late on Thursday and earlier approved by the lower house.

People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan.

The government says the measure allows police to focus on major drug dealers, and President Fox is expected to sign it into law.

"This law provides more judicial tools for authorities to fight crime," presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said on Friday.

Hundreds of people including several police officers have been killed in the past year as drug cartels battle authorities and compete with each other for control of lucrative cocaine, marijuana and heroin smuggling routes from Mexico into the United States.

The violence has raged mostly in northern Mexico but in recent months has spread south to cities like vacation resort Acapulco.

Under current law, it is up to local judges and police to decide on a case-by-case basis whether people should be prosecuted for possessing small quantities of drugs, a source at the Senate's health commission told Reuters.

"The object of this law is to not put consumers in jail, but rather those who sell and poison," said Sen. Jorge Zermeno of the ruling National Action Party.

Fifty-three senators voted for the bill with 26 votes against it.

Apathy high atop Mexican presidential ballot

2006-04-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 24, 2006; Posted: 10:47 a.m. EDT (14:47 GMT)

Ex-Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is the presidential front-runner,

Why Mexico Has Come Of Age As Retirement Property Market

2006-04-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

David Devoss Thu Apr 20, 7:00 PM ET

Fifteen years ago, San Felipe was an impoverished Mexican village at the northern end of the Sea of Cortez. Its fishing industry was moribund. Its farmland lay fallow.

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American snowbirds who arrived every winter were about the only reason the town of 16,000 had a cash economy at all.

Still, former Marriott Corp. executive Patrick Butler saw only potential when he got there in 1993, just before the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

San Felipe was off the beaten path, though just a six-hour drive from Phoenix and less from San Diego. The town's fishermen were poor, but they enjoyed a quaint port on a tranquil sea 15 degrees warmer than the nearby Pacific Ocean.

Butler realized any warm-weather beach town near a large population is bound to appreciate in value. So he bought 200,000 desolate acres for $12 million and named his new property El Dorado.

Today, Butler's Club Acquisition Co. presides over two hotels, a gated community of 750 homes and lots, 700 condominiums and a seaside golf course. These generated over $80 million in revenue from property sales, rentals and management fees last year. Revenue is set to top $110 million in 2006. No longer sleepy, San Felipe has a population of 25,000, including 5,000 Americans.

Those Americans account for 70% of all spending and are seeing their retirement properties appreciate 10% a year.

"NAFTA reforms and new laws protecting foreign investment are fueling a booming market in retirement property," said Butler, 61. "More than 1 million Americans live in Mexico. And that number will grow, if only because over the next 20 years 10,000 baby boomers every day will reach age 50."

In response to America's demographic, luxury developments are sprouting along Mexico's Pacific coast. Near Mazatlan, Butler's company is building an 816-acre gated community called Estrella del Mar.

Ground zero in the Mexican land rush lies between Rosarita Beach and Ensenada on Baja's west coast. Condos, town homes and detached villas there are appreciating 20% a year.

In Ensenada -- where 40,000 Americans own property -- English is the lingua franca, the dollar is the currency of choice at big box stores and most new homes have infinity pools and fast Internet access.

Mexico has always offered the prospect of comfortable retirement. But investing in a home there was long seen as risky. Land titles were murky, banks charged exorbitant interest and Mexico's judiciary rarely ruled in favor of a foreigner.

"In the past, a buyer would pay 30% down and the seller, or developer, would finance the balance," said Juan Moreno, a real estate attorney with international law firm Bryan Cave. "The danger was that the buyer did not get title to the property until the loan was fully paid. Because he didn't have title he couldn't get title insurance. And if his payments were delinquent for two consecutive months he could lose everything."

Reforms that have made Mexican real estate investing more secure began in 1993. The country's Agrarian Law was amended that year so members of ejidos -- peasant collectives that received land after the Mexican Revolution -- could sell their individual parcels once the land was privatized.

NAFTA's passage the next year created dispute-settlement provisions to protect direct foreign investments. In 2000, Mexico's Negotiable Instruments Law and Commerce Code were changed in ways that allow expedited foreclosure procedures. Reforms in 2003 provided for regulation of Mexican real estate agents, ethical guidelines for property developers and recognition of U.S. title insurance.

As the result of those reforms, a number of U.S. firms including First Capital Mortgage, General Electric (NYSE:GE - News) unit GE Capital and CS Financial now offer mortgages to U.S. citizens buying in Mexico.

"Mexico's laws were changed several years ago," Moreno said. "But it takes time for U.S. investors and lenders to develop trust in the new system."

Buying property in Mexico is now easier. A foreigner can do it on the mainland outright by direct deed, except in what's called the restricted zone: 32 miles from the coast or 62.5 miles from the U.S. border.

Buying there, or anywhere on the Baja Peninsula, takes a Mexican bank trust called a fideicomiso. The bank, for an annual fee of about $400, serves as a trustee holding legal title for up to 50 years.

A permit to set up a bank trust is around $1,000. When the government approves the trust, an appointed attorney called a notario prepares the deed. Taxes, normally 2% of the purchase price, must be paid.

Then the deed is recorded and title insurance can be purchased through companies such as First American Title Insurance, a unit of First American (NYSE:FAF - News); Fidelity National Title, a unit of Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF - News); and Stewart Title Guaranty, a unit of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - News).

As a beneficiary of the fideicomiso, a foreign owner can use, improve, sell or bequeath his property. Co-owners can be listed to avoid probate. And the trust can be extended indefinitely.

Cost is a major factor driving Mexican real estate. An ocean-view condo in the planned community of Las Palomas at Puerto Penasco, a booming resort town across the Sea of Cortez from San Felipe, sells for $300 a square foot. Similar properties on San Diego's Coronado Island go for $2,000 a square foot.

Developed by Abigail Properties of Phoenix, Las Palomas is 60 miles south of the Arizona border. It will consist of 200 golf course homes and 1,800 condos. Half the condos, priced from $325,000 to $2 million, are already sold. Thirty-year fixed loans from U.S. lenders at 6% interest are available.

Meridian Development Group in Reno, Nev., is building two of the larger Baja communities under construction. Halfway between San Diego and Ensenada on 33 acres overlooking the Pacific, Brisamar will be a private residential club of 300 Mediterranean-style units.

Farther south, just outside Ensenada, the even larger Porto Hussong is planned. Ocean promenades and garden paths will connect a 250-slip marina and retail area with a five-star inn and four towers with 270 condos. They range in price from $550,000 to $1.8 million. Though construction won't start for four months, two-thirds of the 150 units in the first phase are sold.

Migration of Mexicans into the U.S. receives most of the attention. Chris Merson, the 62-year-old CEO of MDG Resorts, says the flow of American baby boomers to Mexico is also significant for property developers.

"California is the sixth largest economy in the world, and we're sitting right under it," said Merson. "All we have to do is wait for the richest generation in the history of America to retire."

AWAKENING

2006-04-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 17, 2006

The Awakening of First World Mexican-Americans

By Enrique Andrade González

A control system maxim each and every Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) politician always had to obey was avoidance, at any cost, of doing anything that might cause a public outcry. During the more than 70 years the PRI governed and kept social peace in Mexico, no party member was allowed an indiscretion in the handling of policy or the economy that might cause the people to take to the streets demanding justice.

But today sleeping Mexican-Americans in the United States have awakened, and their presence is being noticed worldwide. Like it or not, we are facing one of the most important popular movements in recent years, one that will make a future difference on two worlds that are irreversibly entwined by geography and economies, and less and less separated by their people.

The uncontrollable desire to live in a free and democratic nation is what has united large numbers of people, those who are asking to live legally in a country that is growing daily. They hope to live in the United States without fear, without hiding, in a country that many now hold as dear as their own, a country for which many have given their lives.

People have become aroused by bills such as the U.S. Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, the Sensenbrenner Bill, with 300,000 people demonstrating on Phoenix, 100,000 in Washington, 50,000 in Atlanta, and around 30,000 in New York. Thousands of others marched in San Diego, Las Vegas, Houston, and Los Angeles, as well as in states like Kentucky, Alabama, and Tennessee.

And so far, what the Sensenbrenner Bill has done most is to finally unite a people, a political, economic and social force, who had been languishing in the shadows.

A bilingual and bicultural community without a government but with a great desire to belong, a migrant community that has abandoned Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua and other countries in order to embrace the American dream, and dreams of freedom and democracy. A people who remember the history of their origin, who have religion and culture, and who know that the countries where they were born were unable, or did not know how, to create that which is needed to live with dignity.

As for Mexico, the government did wrong by pretending to be heard by those who, for many years, have known they are forgotten.

The large concentrations are giving these Latinos, who have shown above all that they are peaceful, an identity. They go to the demonstrations with their children, workers who respect the laws and institutions of the United States – even though earlier they may have violated the border. And with pride they display the U.S. flag, together with that of Mexico and the banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

So, are we at the beginning of Mexico’s integration with the United States, or vice versa? And are the government’s and their representatives equal to a reality that is being seen in the cities of the First World?

The decisions they must make will be quite sensitive, considering that a real social movement is now alive in cities and in the streets. It would be most damaging to provoke other groups into taking reprisal actions, while the need is to come up with basic proposals that seek true solutions to the consequences of migration and its causes.

That is, if jobs were created in Mexico the people would not have reason to emigrate. If labor conditions similar to those in the United States existed in Mexico the people would not emigrate. These must be the objectives of public policy in both countries.

It is better to have 20 miles of highway in Michoacán than 2,000 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and no wall will detain emigrants anymore than the deportation of 4 million people would be successful.

Whether we like it or not, these issues are realities that must be addressed. As for the movement, up to now it does not have a political leader – it has yet to be identified with a Martin Luther King of the Latinos. But there are those who will try to take advantage of people and groups that are so far associated with grassroots organizations or churches on both sides of the border.

As well, in Mexico the next president will now have to deal with this problem, and hopefully he will do so with more knowledge and respect than that which has been done by the current administration.

——————————

Enrique Andrade, a Mexico City-based attorney and business consultant, writes a weekly column for MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at enriqueag@andradep.com.

FAST MOVERS

2005-11-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

Air Canada to launch daily non-stop service between Montreal and Mexico City
Tuesday November 22, 10:00 am ET

MONTREAL, Nov. 22 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced that it will introduce non-stop flights between Montreal and Mexico City. Beginning June 17, 2006, Air Canada will operate year-round daily non-stop service linking Canada's second largest city, and its extensive eastern Canada network, with the Mexican capital. Flights are conveniently timed to offer travellers a wide range of connecting flights in Mexico City to and from: Acapulco, Cancun, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Puerto Vallarta, and in Montreal to and from: Ottawa, Quebec City, Moncton and Halifax. Tickets are now available for purchase.

"The introduction of daily non-stop Air Canada flights between Montreal and Mexico City is great news for Montrealers and consumers in eastern Canada seeking value and convenience in air travel to Mexico, whether for business, vacation or visiting friends and family," said Ben Smith, Vice President, Planning. "We expect our new non-stop service beginning in the peak summer season for northbound travel to be equally popular for Mexicans. The addition of Montreal-Mexico City non-stop flights complements our year-round non-stop service from Toronto." Air Canada also serves Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Ixtapa.

Air Canada's new Montreal-Mexico City non-stop service will be operated using 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft offering a choice of Executive Class and Hospitality service.

                Montreal   Mexico City                Mexico City   Montreal
     AC995      08:00      12:20            AC994     13:20         19:20

Montréal-based Air Canada provides scheduled and charter air transportation for passengers and cargo to more than 150 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is the 14th largest commercial airline in the world and serves more than 29 million customers annually. Air Canada is a founding mem

A tropical trip

2005-11-22T06:46:00.000-08:00

Crocodiles and iguanas and herons. Oh, really?

They were skeptical. Exotic fauna not far north of Puerto Vallarta? But it is indeed a jungle out there.

By Irene Woodbury
Special to The Times

November 13, 2005

AS our launch carried the 10 of us down La Tovara River in Mexico's Nayarit state, I had one thing on my mind: Would I see a crocodile?

Our eco-tour near the sleepy coastal town of San Blas had promised a lush array of tropical vegetation and exotic turtles, snakes, birds and iguanas, but disappointments on such past excursions had made me and my husband, Richard, skeptical.

After all, we were only 100 miles north of the busy, tourist-filled streets of Puerto Vallarta. Could we really expect to see all the requisite animals on this jungle river tour?

Indeed we could.

No sooner had we cleared the first bend of La Tovara when there, perched on a mossy branch, was a 2-foot-long iguana. Seconds later, we gasped: On the opposite shore was a 3-foot crocodile snoozing on a soggy log.

The next hour was one animal thrill after another as we floated on murky water teeming with sea bass, clams, porgies, mojarras and other fish. All around us were thickets of trees swathed in orchids and vines, with iguanas and exotic birds anchored in them. Crocodiles dozed and waded in the shallow water; shy turtles basked on rocks.

The ecologically rich setting surprised me, but it shouldn't have. Mexico is one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world. It ranks in the top 10 for its range of reptiles, mammals, amphibians, vascular plants and birds, according to Vivanatura, a nature conservation project linked to the Mexican Conservation Organization. The country has 14 major vegetation zones, and seven of them are in the Puerto Vallarta region, which is on the same latitude as Hawaii.

In this marshy estuary on Matachén Bay, spring water and saltwater merge to nurture a tropical deciduous forest. Our foray might seem placid and scenic to the untrained eye, but thanks to Hugo, our alert boatman, and Jorge, our guide, it was an adventure through an environmental wonderland.

Early on, we spotted a golden-orange butterfly taunting a 2-foot turtle. From a slimy green rock, the turtle leapt into the water to escape the pest and our prying eyes.

Moments later, Hugo pointed to a clutch of lissome great white herons fishing near the bank. As we sneaked up, we caught glimpses of orange and red orchids nestled in the elbows of sloping madroño trees, which also harbored giant termite nests.

The scene was a bizarre, spellbinding confluence of languid Louisiana swamp, Everglades intensity and Venetian grace.

Hundreds of stilt-like trees, which Jorge identified as mangroves, lined the dense marsh. Towering above them were banyan trees with jumbled roots bulging eerily above the water.

Hugo deftly routed us around them as he stood in the rear of the boat and navigated with a long pole. Boatloads of other visitors occasionally slipped past. But the dominant sounds here were not other eco-gawkers but the chortles and squawks of tropical and migrating birds.

La Tovara is on the Pacific flyway, a major north-south path for millions of birds that migrate from the Americas and Canada between October and January.

Happy that many had lingered on to coincide with our late-January tour, we marveled at splendidly colored birds pirouetting in an azure sky, at gray falcons circling above and at screeching green canaries spiraling out of a leafy Mexican buttercup tree. It was a bird-watching bonanza.

Jorge pointed out two kinds of flycatchers: one, yellow-bodied with brown wings; the other, a vermillion flycatcher, was smaller and a brilliant orange-red. Both busily lunged at insects, which were plentiful.

Boat-billed herons flapped and thrashed in the dense foliage. Pelicans swooped high in the sky among white egrets coasting in circular formations. We also glimpsed regal gray-blue herons and bright-feathered kingfishers. My favorite was the green heron. With its ragged-edge wings, choppy crown and beady black eyes, the bird looked as though it came straight off a drawing board at Disney.

As we rounded a bend, the idyll was shattered by Hugo's cry: "Crocodrilo grande!"

As he eased the boat into a hidden pullout along the banks, we spotted the leathery 8-foot beast sunning itself on the sand. Like a swarm of paparazzi zooming in on Lindsay Lohan, we snapped away at it.

Besides crocodiles, there were other fearsome creatures in this Garden of Eden. Hugo and Jorge kept watch for boa constrictors, which sometimes dangle from tree branches. But to our mingled relief and disappointment, none was apparent. Other inhabitants of Mexico's tropical deciduous forests — small, armored armadillos, rust-colored spider monkeys and jaguars — also eluded us.

And we regretted not seeing more orchids in bloom. Nearly 100 species thrive here, and the blossoms commonly open during the spring-summer rainy season. Still, stubborn red romelias occasionally protruded among spindly white spider lilies, exotic plumeria and birds of paradise.

Beyond the thick mangrove marsh, we pulled into Camalota Spring, a clear pond teeming with wriggling fish. We docked there for a visit to Ejido de la Palma, a crocodile farm run by the Mexican government and local citizens to preserve and propagate the endangered reptile. At La Palma, crocodiles are bred and their eggs hatched in safety. Young crocs then are released into the river.

Chain-link enclosures held one or two jumbo crocs — some 8 feet long. With armor-like dark-green scales and spikes, they looked fittingly prehistoric. We watched them slither out of their pools, roll in dirt, shake off the excess and lumber to a warm spot for a nap.

They ignored the incessant clicking of my camera until I invaded the personal space of a dozing croc. One eye slowly opened and glared. My heart racing, I backed away from the fence.

A few held open their jaws, revealing formidable teeth. Jorge said the cold-blooded reptiles wouldn't attack humans unless desperate for food.

A less fearful sight were the hatchlings; about 50 newborns were tangled around one another by a wading pool. Another enclosure held 50 slightly older ones writhing playfully.

A spacious enclosure holding a dozen raccoons was our final stop. The gray animals, 18 inches tall with black-and-white ringed faces, mournful dark eyes and striped tails, paced and raced around their pens.

Two standouts were coatis, reddish brown, with longer, cone-shaped snouts and erect, ringed tails. They are indigenous to local jungles and forests. As Jorge cautioned us to stand back, the sharp claw of a curious coati lunged through the fence and tore my plastic bag, which contained a snack.

Unlike many eco-tours I have taken, this one changed my perceptions of bustling Puerto Vallarta. For me, "The Night of the Iguana" had become "The Day of the Crocodiles."

http://www.latimes.com/services/site/premium/interceptlogin.register

MEXICO | SAN BLAS

Yo! San Blas, Nayarit is NOT a suburb of Puerto Vallarta. It is not even in the same State. Yes, it is less than a 100 miles but, it is a 3 hour drive on a coastal highway. This is way to much for a day trip. Rent a car, take the bus.... But plan on spending the night (or two). This is only one of the many adventures available to you with the San Blas area as your base.

Yeah. Or just stay in Vallarta. Take the stainless steel elevator to your steel reinforced concrete
pretty box, swim in a overly chlorinated pool and drink yourself into oblivian.

Ever wonder why your tan is coming on so slowly? Your swimming in Bleach!

2005-11-11T11:00:00.001-08:00

Turning 60 The generation that vowed to stay forever young is coming up on a major milestone. But for the 3.4 million Americans who were born in 1946, retirement is a distant prospect, and life still holds plenty of promise and surprises. They've been hippies and yuppies; and now it's the time of the 'abbies': aging baby boomers. http://g.msn.com/0MN2ET7/2?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9939304/site/newsweek&&CM=EmailThis&CE=1 _____________________________

2005-11-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

Shoehorns in Hand, Mexicans Move Into Their Dream Homes

2005-10-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

ZUMPANGO, Mexico — Maintenance worker Carlos Hernandez Pineda moved his family this year to one of several sprawling subdivisions rising here amid the alfalfa fields about 30 miles north of Mexico City.

He paid $15,700 for a row house with a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a single bedroom. It's his sliver of the Mexican dream — all 328 square feet of it.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mexhomes7oct07,0,2484644.story?track=tottext —

Americans Seek Refuge In Mexico

2005-09-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico. Sept. 23, 2005

Shelters In Short Supply

Hundreds of cars with U.S. plates wait at the Mexican customs office to get a temporary import permit for their vehicles in the border crossing of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005. (AP)

"This is like a scene from the 'The Day After Tomorrow.' It seems half of Houston is heading to Mexico."
David Gallegos
Houston Construction Worker

(AP) Mexico, coming to its powerful northern neighbor's aid for the second time this month, promised to set up shelters for those left homeless by Hurricane Rita and offered medical care, water and vehicle escorts to Mexican-Americans fleeing the storm.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/23/world/main881265.shtm

PRAISE GOD-TEQUILA MAKES YOU SLIMMER!

2005-09-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

Mexico tests slimming powers of tequila's agave
RedNova Thu, 22 Sep 2005 10:20 PM PDT
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Scientists from Mexico's tequila producing region say juice extracted from the blue agave plant, best known when distilled into the fiery spirit, may help dieters shed pounds and cut cholesterol. Sadly for the world's growing band of tequila lovers, agave's possible health benefits are lost when the plant is distilled into alcohol. Spiky agave plants has been cultivated on.............
http://www.rednova.com/news/science/249315/mexico_tests_slimming_powers_of_tequilas_agave/index.html?source=r_science

READING

2005-09-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

Kids on the Internet
"............Recent figures show that young people in America are spending more time browsing the net than watching television. And access to young audiences is invaluable for the book business. Research has shown that young people engendered with a love of reading can easily plough through 500 times as many words in early life as those who are not..........."

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8210-1792376,00.html

2005-09-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Experts say global warming is causing stronger hurricanes

By Randolph E. Schmid, AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON — The number of hurricanes in the most powerful categories — like Katrina and Andrew — has increased sharply over the past few decades, according to a new analysis sure to stir debate over whether global warming is worsening these deadly storms....
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2005-09-15-globalwarming-hurricanes_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

inflation

2005-09-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Mexico's rate of inflation at record low

Adriana Arai
Bloomberg News
Sept. 11, 2005 12:00 AM MEXICO CITY- Mexico's annual inflation rate fell to the lowest on record in August, adding to expectations that the central bank will cut the benchmark lending rate for a second straight month.

Inflation in the 12 months through August slowed to 3.95 percent, the lowest rate since the central bank began keeping records in 1969, from 4.47 percent in July. The monthly inflation rate dropped to 0.12 percent from 0.39 percent in July as the cost of cars and foods such as tomatoes and avocados fell.

yomexicoNEWS

2005-09-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 10, 2005

09/10/2005

Float like a butterfly: Canada-to-Mexico journey draws attention to Monarch's plight

By Patricia Doxsey , Freeman staff

TOWN OF ULSTER - Like a butterfly alighting on a blade of grass, the Papalotzin touched down at the Kingston Airpark on Friday, the first U.S. stop for the ultralight glider and its crew on their international journey from Canada to the mountains of central Mexico.

Dozens of people gathered to watch the landing and to meet Francisco "Vico" Gutierrez, the man who has embarked on the 3,000-mile journey in an effort to call attention to the plight of the Monarch butterfly.

Like the Monarch, Gutierrez began his trek - in a ultralight decorated as a Monarch butterfly and named Papalotzin, which means Royal Butterfly - last week in Montreal, the same time the butterflies in that area began their southward migration.

Gutierrez will follow their path as they travel across the United States gathering with Monarchs from other areas of the nation. He will arrive in the Mexican state of Michoacan in November, as will hundreds of millions of Monarch butterflies who will spend the winter in the high altitude oyamel trees of the Neovolcanic mountain range.

Gutierrez's flight is sponsored by the state of Michoacan, the World Wildlife Fund and Telcel, a wireless telephone company in Mexico.

"These little things that weigh less than a fraction of an ounce fly valiantly through smog and storms ... to the sacred mountains of Mexico," said Maraleen Manos-Jones, who organized a reception of Gutierrez and his crew at the airport in Ulster.

A butterfly expert who spent months in the Michoacan mountain range searching for the butterflies' wintering ground, Manos-Jones is involved in efforts to raise money to help reforest the mountain range where the butterflies migrate.

Calling the yearly migration "one of the most incredible phenomenon in not the world, the solar system," Gutierrez, a wildlife photographer, said the loss of the wintering habitat and pollutants threaten the butterflies' existence.

"I want my children to see this phenomenon," Gutierrez said. "The U.S., Mexico and Canada must work together to protect this."

Gutierrez called the Monarch a "measure of the health of the Earth" and said "it's time to recover the health of this planet."

As part of his effort, Gutierrez will produce a one-hour documentary from the air and from the ground on the life, flight and issues faced by the Monarch butterfly in the three countries.

Gutierrez had planned to continue on his journey Friday afternoon but said a strong breeze blowing through the area would keep him grounded until today, when he will travel to New York City and the site of the former World Trade Center.

2005-09-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

Spilling the cacao beans on Mexico's hot drink

By Laurence Iliff
The Dallas Morning News

MEXICO CITY — Of Mexico's many gifts to the world, such as avocados and tequila, few have the universal appeal of a piping cup of hot chocolate and its magical links to Mayan rituals and Aztec emperors.

In Mexico, hot chocolate is used not just to celebrate holidays or accompany tamales on Sundays. It can be found almost anywhere one finds coffee or tea.

There are even mobile chocolate (choh-coh-LAH-teh) vendors, who mix chocolate powder with hot water on the streets of the capital, in the subway, in parks. But there also are special places in Mexico where hot chocolate is particularly savored, places that serve as reminders to the hot drink's roots in pre-Colombian southern Mexico, or where it is accompanied with traditional foods that make its appeal all the more special.

Evelio Arias, owner of La Chocolateria Mama Sarita in Mexico City's bohemian Condesa neighborhood, offers more than just a cup of hot chocolate. In fact, he offers 80 different possibilities, plus those you are free to invent on your own.

One not on the menu: hot chocolate with a couple of red, comapa chilies. Arias is afraid to put it on the menu, he says only half-jokingly, because of its powerful, intoxicating effects.

"Cacao, our history tells us," says Arias, "is Mexico's gift to the world."

Originally found in southern Mexico's Mayan region, cacao was brought by the conquering Aztecs to what is now Mexico City, then the seat of their empire. Cacao beans were used as currency by some Indian groups. The conquering Spanish delivered cacao to Europe and the world.

In Tabasco, Arias says, farmers also use cacao to make a corn-based drink called chorote that staves off hunger.

With his concoctions, Arias offers a journey through the taste buds to the birth of hot chocolate and its evolution throughout the centuries.

Arias has his own Tabasco cacao plantation. Most of the production goes to a big chocolate company. But for his business, he oversees the processing of the cacao fruit, which is grown on trees in the shade.

Mama Sarita may be the only business on the globe that sells the original hot chocolate drink favored by indigenous people in Arias' hometown of Macuspana, Tabasco. The Aztec emperor Montezuma reportedly was an addict.

The original drink had neither sugar nor milk, but rather was bitter cacao in boiling water with a touch of honey from the maguey cactus. To the untrained palate, Arias' hot chocolate is a heartier, headier drink with a noticeable stimulant effect — caffeinelike.

"In Tabasco, making hot chocolate is like making tortillas," says Arias, 38. "One of the traditions is that you drink it every afternoon and every evening. My great-grandmother said that to make good hot chocolate you have to be in a good mood."

When Arias moved from Tabasco to Mexico City seven years ago, his hot chocolate addiction went unsatisfied. "I did not like the quality of the chocolate here. It was too sweet, too commercial," he says.

And so, Arias imported the raw materials from Tabasco and made chocolate for himself and his friends and soon expanded into his small business.

"The traditions that die are the ones that are not open to change," says Arias. "The ones that will survive are the ones that can change without losing their essence."

2005-09-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

Mexico Sends Aid Convoy to U.S.
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press WriterWed Sep 7, 9:40 PM ET
Mexican army convoys and a navy ship laden with food, supplies and specialists traveled to the U.S. Wednesday to help in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort — a highly symbolic journey marking the first time Mexico's military has aided its powerful northern neighbor.
A convoy of 45 vehicles and 196 soldiers arrived at the border city of Nuevo Laredo Wednesday evening. It was to cross into U.S. territory early Thursday, Gen. Francisco Ortiz Valadez told reporters as his men refueled at a local gas station.
He said the troops would help refugee operations in San Antonio, Texas.
"Our mission is to give aid to the civilian population affected by the disaster," Ortiz said.
Federal police briefly blocked the highway in both directions as the convoy arrived at the gasoline station.
Radio talk shows and newspapers in Mexico buzzed with excitement over news that this country, long on the receiving end of U.S. disaster relief, was sending a hurricane aid convoy north.
The convoy represents the first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846, when Mexican troops briefly marched into Texas, which had separated from Mexico and joined the United States.
It included military specialists, doctors, nurses and engineers carrying water treatment plants, mobile kitchens, food and blankets.
"This is just an act of solidarity between two peoples who are brothers," said Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar.
Army press office employee Francisco Aguilar said he did not have details of the convoy's precise location. It originally was scheduled to arrive in Houston to provide food for evacuees, but apparently had been rerouted to Dallas.
All of the convoy's participants will be unarmed. In July 2004, Mexican troops interrupted the funeral of a Mexican-born Marine killed in Iraq. They objected to the nonworking, ceremonial rifles carried by two Marines who came from the United States for the ceremony.
Mexico later apologized but said it has an obligation to enforce a ban on foreign troops carrying weapons in its territory.
The convoy has "a very high symbolic content," said Javier Oliva, a political scientist at Mexico's National Autonomous University. "This is a very sensitive subject, for historic and political reasons."
Large Mexican flags were taped to many of the 35 olive-green Mexican Army trucks and tractor trailers as they rumbled northward toward the border Wednesday.
The convoy includes two mobile kitchens that can feed 7,000 people a day, three flatbed trucks carrying mobile water-treatment plants and 15 trailers of bottled water, blankets and applesauce. The 195 Mexicans taking part include military engineers, doctors and nurses.
"This is the first time that the United States has accepted a military mission from Mexico" for such work, said Javier Ibarrola, a newspaper columnist who covers military affairs in Mexico.
The relief mission was controversial for some Mexican lawmakers, who said the president should have sought Senate approval before sending troops abroad. But the Fox administration said no such approval was needed for aid missions. But it nevertheless later asked permission and the Senate approved it.
The government was planning to send a second, 12-vehicle aid convoy to the U.S. sometime this week and has sent a Mexican navy ship equipped with rescue vehicles and helicopters to the Mississippi coast.
The ship Papaloapan left the Gulf coast port of Tampico on Monday. Fox's office was unsure when it would arrive, but said it would dock about 30 miles south of Biloxi, Miss.

2005-09-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

The real costs of a culture of greed Robert Scheer September 6, 2005 WHAT THE WORLD has witnessed this past week is an image of poverty and social disarray that tears away the affluent mask of the United States. Instead of the much-celebrated American can-do machine that promises to bring freedom and prosperity to less fortunate people abroad, we have seen a callous official incompetence that puts even Third World rulers to shame. The well-reported litany of mistakes by the Bush administration in failing to prevent and respond to Katrina's destruction grew longer with each hour's grim revelation from the streets of an apocalyptic New Orleans. Yet the problem is much deeper. For half a century, free-market purists have to great effect denigrated the essential role that modern government performs as some terrible liberal plot. Thus, the symbolism of New Orleans' flooding is tragically apt: Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and Louisiana Gov. Huey Long's ambitious populist reforms in the 1930s eased Louisiana out of feudalism and toward modernity; the Reagan Revolution and the callousness of both Bush administrations have sent them back toward the abyss. Now we have a president who wastes tax revenues in Iraq instead of protecting us at home. Levee improvements were deferred in recent years even after congressional approval, reportedly prompting EPA staffers to dub flooded New Orleans "Lake George." None of this is an oversight, or simple incompetence. It is the result of a campaign by most Republicans and too many Democrats to systematically vilify the role of government in American life. Manipulative politicians have convinced lower- and middle-class whites that their own economic pains were caused by "quasi-socialist" government policies that aid only poor brown and black people — even as corporate profits and CEO salaries soared. For decades we have seen social services that benefit everyone — education, community policing, public health, environmental protections and infrastructure repair, emergency services — in steady, steep decline in the face of tax cuts and rising military spending. But it is a false savings; it will certainly cost exponentially more to save New Orleans than it would have to protect it in the first place. And, although the wealthy can soften the blow of this national decline by sending their kids to private school, building walls around their communities and checking into distant hotels in the face of approaching calamities, others, like the 150,000 people living below the poverty line in the Katrina damage area — one-third of whom are elderly — are left exposed. Watching on television the stark vulnerability of a permanent underclass of African Americans living in New Orleans ghettos is terrifying. It should be remembered, however, that even when hurricanes are not threatening their lives and sanity, they live in rotting housing complexes, attend embarrassingly ill-equipped public schools and, lacking adequate police protection, are frequently terrorized by unemployed, uneducated young men. In fact, rather than an anomaly, the public suffering of these desperate Americans is a symbol for a nation that is becoming progressively poorer under the leadership of the party of Big Business. As Katrina was making its devastating landfall, the U.S. Census Bureau released new figures that show that since 1999, the income of the poorest fifth of Americans has dropped 8.7% in inflation-adjusted dollars. Last year alone, 1.1 million were added to the 36 million already on the poverty rolls. For those who have trouble with statistics, here's the shorthand: The rich have been getting richer and the poor have been getting, in the ripe populist language of Louisiana's legendary Long, the shaft. These are people who have long since been abandoned to their fate. Despite the deep religiosity of the Gulf States and the United States in general, it is the gods of greed that seem to rule. Case in point: The crucial New Orleans marshland that absorbs excess water during storms has been greatly denuded by rampant commercial development allowed by a deregulation-crazy culture that favors a quick buck over long-term community benefits. Given all this, it is no surprise that leaders, from the White House on down, haven't done right by the people of New Orleans and the rest of the region, before and after what insurance companies insultingly call an "act of God." Fact is, most of them, and especially our president, just don't care about the people who can't afford to attend political fundraisers or pay for high-priced lobbyists. No, these folks are supposed to be cruising on the rising tide of a booming, unregulated economy that "floats all boats." They were left floating all right. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by yoarmy
Switching to organic foods provides children ``dramatic and immediate'' protection from widely used pesticides that are applied to a variety of crops, according to a new study by a team of federally funded scientists. Concentrations of two organophosphate pesticides -- malathion and chlorpyrifos -- declined substantially in the bodies of elementary school-age children during a five-day period when organic foods were substituted for conventional foods, the researchers reported Thursday in the online version of the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives

yomexicoNEWS

2005-09-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

September 2005 13:08 EDT

Monday, September 5, 2005 Mexico's president urges closer U.S. cooperation on border issues By Ginger Thompson / New York Times News Service MEXICO CITY -- President Vicente Fox responded over the weekend to criticism from U.S. authorities about a recent surge in violence and illegal immigration along the border, saying that the United States shares responsibility for the problems and should work harder with Mexico to correct them. Fox said he rejected "forcefully" the statements by the Bush administration and governors of border states, contending they had unfairly depicted Mexico as a haven for organized crime, though his government has arrested more drug traffickers and dismantled more cartels than any of its predecessors. He also said Mexican immigrants had been portrayed unfairly as potential terrorists when they had in fact become a pillar of the U.S. economy. In an interview aboard the presidential airplane on Saturday, Fox acknowledged that his government had a long way to go to make the border secure. But he said the United States should stop casting blame for problems created by both countries. He also said the United States should not allow concerns about border security to derail efforts to adopt new measures, two of them currently before Congress, that would allow millions of additional Mexicans to become guest workers in the United States. "Security is a shared responsibility," Fox said. Then, referring to the United States, he said, "I don't understand that now they only cast blame and accusations, and they do not collaborate or cooperate so that together we can resolve this problem." On the changes in immigration policy, he said: "There is will on the part of President Bush, according to what he has expressed publicly, and what he has expressed in conversations with us. So, I trust that in the coming weeks and months, we will succeed finally in arriving at a positive resolution for the benefit of both countries." More pressing realities, however, may stand in the way. Work on immigration policy was first postponed four years ago, after the Sept. 11 attacks. Then it was put off for Bush's re-election campaign. Now, it may be set aside again as the United States struggles to recover from Hurricane Katrina. But Fox does not have a lot of time left; he is entering his last year in office. His comments were aimed at what many here perceive as a troubling shift in U.S. attitudes and diplomatic policy toward Mexico. In recent weeks, U.S. officials have openly berated Mexico for failing to stop a wave of drug-related violence that has cost close to 1,000 lives along the 2,000-mile border. The Bush administration has issued numerous travel advisories, describing rampant violence by heavily armed drug traffickers and warning tourists that they cannot rely on corrupt Mexican authorities to protect them. Neither Fox nor his aides denied that the problems exist. But they said that the responses from the United States did not reflect the complexities of the problems, nor did they acknowledge that Mexico had undertaken unprecedented efforts to address them. Related news from the Web Latest headlines by topic: • George Bush • 2004 Presidential Election • US News Powered by Topix.net

6 September 2005 12:36 EDT
U.S. Confirms Passport Policy Under the new requirements, travelers to and from Canada, Mexico and other allied nations will have to show secure documents. From Associated Press September 2, 2005 WASHINGTON — The U.S. government said Thursday that it would proceed with plans to require travelers from Canada, Mexico and other allied nations to show a passport or other secure document to enter the country. The departments of State and Homeland Security said they expected to officially adopt the policy — which has drawn complaints from travelers, the affected nations and even President Bush — by the end of the year. But they pushed back by a year the date when the requirements would begin to affect travelers. Under the new timeline, by Dec. 31, 2006, all who travel by air or sea from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central and South America will have to show a passport or one of four other secure documents. For travelers crossing land borders, namely from Mexico and Canada, the rules will take effect by Dec. 31, 2007. Department officials also said they would keep working to come up with a cheaper alternative document to allow U.S. citizens and other travelers to cross into the country by land. U.S. passports cost $97. After the rules were announced in April, Bush said he was surprised by the passport requirement, which drew sharp criticism from the Canadian government, and said he had ordered a review of the plans. In December, Bush signed into law an intelligence overhaul that requires tighter border security and was the basis for the passport proposal. Homeland Security spokesman Jarrod Agen said the administration was looking to use biometric technology to create an alternative identification card before the 2007 deadline. Moving forward with the passport plans Thursday, he said, "gives us time to develop the most sensible and secure document which won't stop the flow of traffic at the border." The Canadian government will continue working with the administration to develop a new document for widespread use on both sides of the northern border, said Jasmine Panthaky, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Embassy in Washington. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives. Article licensing and reprint options Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times Privacy Policy Terms of Service Home Delivery Advertise Archives Contact Site Map Help partners:

yomexicoNEWS

California Condor Lays Egg in Mexico

Mexico feeling effects of ethanol boom

U.S. demand for corn pushes prices up for farmers, shoppers

By Marla Dickerson

Los Angeles Times

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Felipe Calderon's daunting to-do list for Mexico

The new president faces powerful drug cartels, massive monopolies and duopolies, and a fractured government, among many other challenges.

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Save & Share ArticleWhat's This?

Carstens Says Mexico to Focus on Housing, Tourism, Construction

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Apathy high atop Mexican presidential ballot

Why Mexico Has Come Of Age As Retirement Property Market

AWAKENING

FAST MOVERS

A tropical trip

Crocodiles and iguanas and herons. Oh, really?

They were skeptical. Exotic fauna not far north of Puerto Vallarta? But it is indeed a jungle out there.

MEXICO | SAN BLAS

Shoehorns in Hand, Mexicans Move Into Their Dream Homes

Americans Seek Refuge In Mexico

PRAISE GOD-TEQUILA MAKES YOU SLIMMER!

READING

inflation

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Saturday, September 10, 2005

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HOT SPOT: The Grove Brings Unique Mix to Quiet Mexico Beach