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Green Industry Maquiladora Unveiled In this US election year, politicians of all persuasions talk about “green” jobs as the wave of the future. But while the US whittles away time in making the inevitable transition to a fossil fuel-free economy, German investors on the Mexico-US border now have a jump-start on their Yankee competitors. Ironically, to gain an edge in the emerging green economy, they are taking advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement originally promoted by the US government. At a ceremony in the Mexican White House late last week, Mexican President Felipe Calderon praised the news that a German firm, Q-Cells, will open a large solar cell factory in the Baja California border city of Mexicali. The maquiladora, which President Calderon said could create 4,500 direct jobs and 13,000 indirect ones, will manufacture cells used in the generation of solar energy. In addition to production workers, the manufacturing facility will employ engineers and technical specialists. Significantly, Q-Cells’ plant will be the first tenant of the new Silicon Border Science Park in Mexicali, a 10,000-acre industrial park founded by veterans of the US high-tech industry and built with the support of the Baja California and California state governments. “We have been working diligently to bring advanced manufacturing to this region,” said Silicon Border CEO Daniel J. Hill, “and with this decision from Q-Cells, this initiative is now becoming a reality.” According to a press statement from Silicon Border, Q-Cells, known as the world’s largest solar cell manufacturer, will have a strategic launching pad in Mexicali because of the border city’s close transportation links to US markets, the existence of Mexico’s 43 free trade agreements with other countries and tax and financial incentives offered by Mexican state and federal governments. Anton Milner, Q-Cells chief executive officer, called the Silicon Border location “ideal” for his company. Baja California Secretary of Economic Development Jose Gabriel Posada Gallego said that Q-Cells decided on locating a large production unit in Mexico after “analyzing competitive options in other countries.” Construction of the factory is expected to begin later this year, with the target opening date set for late 2009. Q-Cells long-term investment in the project could reach an unprecedented $3.5 billion, depending on how sales go with US and Latin American customers. The construction end of the project will need 1,200 workers or more and utilize 100,000 cubic meters of concrete, according to Fernando Maiz, head of the construction firm developing Silicon Border. For President Calderon, the landing of Q-Cells represented not only another foreign investment coup, but an important milestone in Mexico’s entry into the global green economy as well. At this stage of the game, though, it’s unclear how many of Q-Cells’ Mexicali-produced solar cells will actually wind up being used in Mexico as opposed to simply being exported to other nations. Information about wages that will be paid the Mexicali workers or how much the solar cells will sell for abroad was not immediately available either. Sources: La Voz de la Frontera (Mexicali), June 7, 2008. Article by Nancy Vasquez. La Jornada, June 6, 2008. Article by Georgina Saldierna. Silicon Border, May 27, 2008. Press statement. A Showdown over Indigenous Fishing Rights A long-running dispute over indigenous fishing rights in the Gulf of California, or Sea of Cortez, has flared up again. Armed Mexican marines and federal police helped environmental and legal authorities confiscate 9 tons of Gulf weakfish from a Cucapah fishing community last weekend. “We’re surrounded by federal police and soldiers as if we were delinquents,” said Cucapah leader Hilda Hurtado. “The federal government’s action is very denigrating. It’s very bad. We are indigenous and women fishers who work from March to May in order to live the entire year.” Bernabe Esquer, Baja California state delegate for Mexico’s Attorney General for Environmental Protection, said that the confiscated fish, which amounted to three days’ harvest, was caught without the proper permits. A ban on snagging weakfish is in effect from the beginning of May to the end of August in order to protect the species during reproduction season and prevent its extinction, Esquer said. In 1993, the upper portion of the Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta, where the Cucapah-federal conflict is underway, was declared a protected federal biosphere subject to fishing restrictions. Esquer added that his agency, supported by the Mexican navy, will begin patrolling the upper Gulf of California and San Felipe area to enforce the fishing ban beginning next week. Non-indigenous fishermen tipped off federal authorities that Cucapahs were allegedly harvesting fish in violation of the summer ban last week. “We respect it, but they do not..,” said Carlos Tirado, spokesman for fishermen from the Gulf community of Santa Clara. Tirado said that he did not understand why the Cucapahs were not respecting a federal law designed to protect a marine species. Cucapah leaders and legal representatives maintained that current federal regulations ignore centuries of indigenous traditions and uses. Alejandra Navarro, a researcher with the Autonomous University of Baja California, contended that Mexico’s federal government has not delivered scientific studies solicited by the Cucapah group that would prove the need for the fishing restrictions. “What do they want us to do in order to survive?” Hurtado said. “This is honorable work, and we are proud to be indigenous people and fishers. Maybe there are few of us Cucapahs, and we do not generate a lot of votes, but the government has gone too far and we don’t know what is going to happen.” An estimated 150 Cucapah families depend on fishing in the Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta. Almost two years ago, the indigenous-federal conflict drew some international attention. Garnering the backing of the Zapatista-inspired Other Campaign, Subcomandante Marcos visited the Cucapah to show his support of their cause. Additional Sources: Lacronica.com, May 19 and 21, 2008. Articles by Alberto Montes and editorial staff. La Prensa (San Luis Rio Colorado), May 19, 2008. Article by Geovana Ruano Fonseca. La Jornada, May 18, 2008. Article by Antonio Heras. Shivers and Jitters Strike Baja's Capital Best known for its suffocating summer temperatures, Mexicali was subjected to the unexpected furies of Mother Nature this past week. The city's residents were first put on edge on February 8, when a moderate earthquake rattled homes, businesses and government buildings. Registering 5.5 on the Richter scale, the quake, which was also felt in Tijuana and Ensenada, was centered about 18 miles southeast of Mexicali. A series of after-shocks, followed by a 5.0 tremor on February 11, left already-jittery denizens of the Baja California state capital with their nerves even more frazzled. Cautioning citizens that they inhabit an earthquake zone, Mexicali Mayor Rodolfo Valdez urged the public to take preventative measures and maintain personal emergency supplies in the event of a disaster situation. Mexico's federal Interior Ministry dispatched specialists to assess the extent of damages resulting from the earth movements. The nearby municipality of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, was also put on alert. Preliminary assessments by state and municipal officials revealed no serious damages in Mexicali, but some government offices were closed, movie theaters shut down and classes suspended for three days in the border city. Spooked by the first earthquake and its hundreds of after-shocks, residents spent several days in uncomfortable circumstances. Some people avoided sleeping in their beds, while others spent the nights in their cars or camped outside in cold temperatures. Outfitted with blankets, food, drinks and a portable television set, the Espinoza family set up shop in an empty lot. "We’re waiting for the quake to pass and avoid risks to our children and nephews," said Daniel Espinoza. "It makes my brother-in-law afraid, and that's why we are here, just waiting for the biggest quake they say is coming to come and go." Armed with electronic gadgets, Mexicali's citizens quickly created a grassroots emergency alert system. Using cell-phones and computers, residents sent out messages and e-mails that advised fellow residents of school cancellations and official announcements. By week's end, as Mexicali was attempting to settle back to normal, Mother Nature suddenly delivered another surprise. A storm system blowing in from Alaska dumped 12 inches of snow February 14 in the mountains between Mexicali and Tijuana, forcing the closure of the highway between Baja California's two largest cities for about 19 hours. Consequently, roads were backed up and buses stopped running from Mexicali. The unusual storm left stranded vehicles and highway accidents on both sides of the Mexico-US border. A tragedy was possibly averted when the Mexican government's Grupo Beta managed to rescue a group of 10 migrants trapped in the mountains near Tecate. Using a cell-phone, the migrants were able to phone the Red Cross and advise authorities of their predicament. Sources: Frontera/Sun, February 15, 2008. El Universal, February 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 2008. Articles by Rosa Maria Mendez Fierros and the Notimex news agency. La Jornada, February 11 and 14, 2008. Articles by Antonio Heras, Fabiola Martinez, Sergio Ocampo, and the Notimex news agency. La Cronica.com, February 11, 2008. Article by Xavier Barba. Controversial Border Canal to Proceed A controversial canal planned for the California-Baja California border overcame an important hurdle this month. In an April 6 ruling, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco dismissed a portion of a lawsuit filed by a coalition of Mexican and US environmental and Molina Sounds Alarm over Mexicali Air Pollution Nobel-prize winning Mexican chemist Mario Molina Henriquez has warned that air pollution in the Mexicali air basin could be generating more heart attacks. In recent comments to the Mexican press, Molina also contended that high levels of small particulates in the air called PM 2.5 are resulting in the birth of children with smaller lungs. Now contracted as an advisor to the local municipal government, Molina attributed much of the problem to the prevalence of older-model cars on Mexicali's streets. The internationally-known scientist called for removal of the old vehicles from public roads. Of an estimated 400,000 vehicles that circulate daily in the border city, approximately 30 percent are more than 10 years old, according to Manuel Zamora, director of Mexicali's department of municipal ecology. Like other Mexican border cities, Mexicali counts an ever-growing fleet of used US vehicles that are purchased on this side of the border and then exported to Mexico, where the cars and trucks are sold at prices affordable to many Besides vehicular emissions, Zamora and other environmental authorities blame dust for aggravating the local air pollution problem. Zamora added that Mexicali's geographic location (the city is built below sea level) and arid climatic conditions make air pollution a serious public health issue. "The dust that stays in the atmosphere is what provokes respiratory and intestinal illnesses as well as allergies," Zamora said. Baja California Secretary of Environment Enrique Villegas said that the amount of particulates in Mexicali's air violates health standards between 50-60 days of the year. An especially bad time of year is the week between Christmas and New Year, when particulates register three times the 24-hour standard, according to Villegas. Source: El Universal, March 3, 2007. Article by Rosa Maria Mendez Fierros High Temperatures Prompt State of Emergency Blazing summer temperatures are reaping a grim toll in the Mexicali-Calexico region of the US-Mexico border. According to figures maintained by Mexicali 's Forensic Medical Service (Semefo) and other local authorities, at least 28 people on the Mexican side of the binational border zone died from heat stroke from June 30 to July 23. Francisco Acuna Campa, Semefo director, said 19 of the earliest victims were men and one was a woman. On the US side of the border, Pablo Arnaud Carreno, Mexican consul for Calexico, reported that 6 migrants recently succumbed from heat-related causes, thus bringing the total of such deaths in the Mexicali-Calexico area to at least 34 during the past few weeks. Faced with a crisis, Mexicali 's municipal government has declared a state of emergency. Officials announced plans over the weekend to open emergency shelters, distribute water in poor neighborhoods and provide food and medicines. An estimated 6,000 residents of 45 neighborhoods lack electricity and running water. "Never before in the history of Mexicali have the authorities declared a heat-related state of emergency," said Rene Salvador Rosales, the director of Mexicali 's Civil Protection department. Rosales recommended that people wear appropriate clothing and use umbrellas, avoid the consumption of dehydrating alcoholic beverages and go outside only when necessary. The victims of the heat wave, which has reached temperatures of 118 degrees in the shade, have included workers, elderly people, indigents, children, and tourists. Semefo Director Acuna cited the case of of Alfredo Merono Solorazano, a 40-year-old photographer from Mexico City who traveled to the border to snap nature pictures. "This was a typical case of not knowing the zone where you are," Acuna said. "Although (Merono) dressed adequately for the season and carried water and communications equipment, it's evident that he did not gauge the gravity of the temperature, the humidity and the right hour to take photographs, which in his case was the hottest hour." Pablo Rodela, the sub-director of Mexicali 's Civil Protection department, blamed several short-term environmental and climatic factors for the searing temperatures hitting Mexicali and its environs. Rodela said high levels of humidity, illegal burnings to clear pasture land and a landfill fire have all played their part in increasing temperatures. Some forecasts predict even higher temperatures for the month of August. This summer's heat-related death toll in Mexicali represents a significant leap in the body count from previous years. From 2000 to 2004, Baja California 's capital city averaged three deaths annually from heat-related causes. Twenty-five similar deaths were reported in 2005. Sources: LaCronica/Notimex, July 22 and July 24, 2006 . Articles by Alejandro Dominguez and editorial staff. El Universal, July 20, 23 and 24, 2006. Articles by Rosa Maria Mendez, Julieta Martinez and the Notimex news agency. Frontera, July 23, 2006 . Article by Elvia Solis and Moises Marquez. Arrest Announced in Journalist's Murder Sonora state police have booked a suspect in the nearly 9-year-old murder of San Luis Rio Colorado journalist Benjamin Flores Gonzalez. The director of the border city's La Prensa newspaper, Flores was gunned down on July 15, 1997 outside La Prensa's offices in San Luis Rio Colorado , a border city located across from San Luis , Arizona . Flores was hit 7 times by rounds fired from an AK-47 rifle, popularly known as a "Cuerno de Chivo," or "Goat's Horns." According to a statement from the Sonora State Judicial Police, Gabriel Gonzalez Gutierrez was extradited last week from the United States and charged with murder and criminal association in connection with the Flores crime. Gonzalez reportedly was serving a prison sentence of more than 6 years in a Phoenix prison for drug trafficking, but no details were immediately reported about the circumstances of the suspect's run-in with the US justice system or why he was eventually charged in the Flores murder. Gonzalez's transfer to Mexico was handled by Interpol Mexico and the Federal Office of the Attorney General ( PGR ). Mexican authorities suspect Gonzalez was the intellectual author of Flores 's murder because of negative stories the journalist ran in La Prensa about Gonzalez's brother, Jaime Gonzalez Gutierrez, who was initially accused of the murder but exonerated in 2000. Jaime Gonzalez is reportedly incarcerated in the San Luis Rio Colorado prison for another homicide. Together, Benjamin, Jaime and their brother Gonzalez allegedly made up a gang known as "The Gonzalez Clan." In addition to the Gonzalez brothers, Sonora state police allege several other men participated in the Flores murder. The other suspects include Arsenio Perez Lozada, Jose Francisco Benavides Avila and Carlos Pacheco Garcia, all of whom are fugitives. The alleged trigger-man, Luis Enrique Rincon Muro was jailed for 7 years for the Flores slaying but cleared of the charges in July 2004. Sources: La Jornada, April 28, 2006 . Article by Cristobal Garcia Bernal. El Universal/Notimex, April 27, 2006 . La Cronica, April 27, 2006 . Article by Santiago Barroso Alfaro. Gas Scams Probed US drivers have grumbled a lot during the past two years about higher gasoline prices. In Mexico , gripes about high fuel costs, poor quality gasoline and pinched pocket books are old hat. Many Mexican consumers complain they get shafted at the pump because they don't receive the the full amount of gasoline they order. Mexican Economy Minister Sergio Garcia de Alba estimates that his nation's consumers lose about $2 billion dollars every year because of irregular sales. In the Sonora border town of San Luis Rio Colorado , a reporter from the La Cronica newspaper discovered another possible scam: selling and charging for more gasoline than requested. Comparing whether there was a difference in the amount of a gallon of gas as measured in liters, reporter Juan Jose Razzo discovered that 5 out of 6 stations he checked delivered more gas than the liter-gallon standard ratio. At a Circle K gas station on Revolution Avenue and 34th Street , for instance, Razzo reporting finding that a "gallon" of gas which measured 4.048 liters cost about $2.60 dollars. On his excursions, the reporter was accompanied by two witnesses, including Esteban Sanchez Urquidez of the Cuahtemoc Human Rights Group. Razzo and Sanchez went to a gas station on the San Luis Rio Colorado-Sonoita highway, where they discovered that a "gallon" of gas topping out at 4.1 liters fetched $2.70 dollars. Sanchez contended that consumer losses at the station could be significant because of the service outlet's location on a highway where drivers are captive. Gasoline prices and quality are front page news in San Luis Colorado and elsewhere in Mexico . Mexico 's Attorney General for Consumer Protection (Profeco) recently shut down 20 gasoline stations located in different parts of the country because they allegedly did not deliver full liters of gasoline. Federal regulations now require that outdated pumps be upgraded, but the mandate has caused an uproar among gasoline station operators who say they will be severely impacted financially. A threatened February 8 national strike by gasoline station franchisees was called off after the Interior Ministry agreed to a one-year delay in implementing the rule and the Profeco toned down its inspections. According to the Profeco, 20,000 pumps need to be discarded because they are more than 10 years old; the federal agency considers another 10,000 to be in good condition. Mexico 's national oil company Pemex enjoys a monopoly in providing fuel for more than 7,000 gasoline stations nominally owned by the state-controlled company but managed by private franchisees. Only a handful of stations are directly managed by Pemex. A proposal to put Pemex gas stations back under government management was rejected by the oil company's administration in 2003. Instead, Pemex is renegotiating a 1992 contract with its franchisees. As one new condition, Pemex wants more leeway in verifying retail distribution practices. Pemex is offering the franchisees a 6.5 percent hike in payments, while the private managers, who contend that the 6.5 percent on the table is not enough to replace their faulty equipment, are requesting a 10 percent increase. Jumping into the gasoline controversy, the Mexican Senate is calling for testimony from officials. Jose Luis Luege Tamargo, the director of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), said his agency is also getting involved. Working in tandem with other federal agencies, Luege said the Semarnat will inspect gasoline to make sure the fuel content conforms to established formulaes. "It seems we have problems with the content," Luege confirmed. "We're going to get to the bottom of this very carefully." Sources: La Cronica, February 13, 2006. Article by Juan Jose Razzo. La Jornada, February 13 and 14, 2006. Articles by Ismael Rodriguez and editorial staff. Excelsior, February 10, 2006. Articles by Cecilia Tellez Cortes, Mercedes Osorio Martinez, Roman Gonzalez Alvarez, and editorial staff. Detentions of Foreign Nationals Soars Launched last summer to curb narco-violence and organized crime in Nuevo Laredo and other cities, the Mexican federal government's Safe Mexico program has been under fire for not achieving its objectives. The deployment of federal troops and police has not reduced gangland violence, or resulted in the nabbing of any drug lords. But in San Luis Rio Colorado , Sonora , Mexican authorities can point to one success: an increase in the detention of undocumented foreigners who were presumably attempting to cross into the United States . Officials with the National Migration Institute (INM) attribute the surge in arrests to the presence of special INM agents at a Safe Mexico checkpoint located on the San Luis Rio Colorado-Sonoita highway. The checkpoint operated between the months of August and December of last year. According to INM figures, the number of foreign nationals detained in the San Luis Rio Colorado area shot up 14 times from 2004 to 2005, when statistics were tallied for the time period between January and November. The INM logged 736 detentions during the first 11 months of 2005, compared to 52 arrests for all of 2004. In 2003, 56 foreigners were detained for immigration violations in the San Luis Rio Colorado area. The majority of people detained during 2005 were from the following countries: Guatemala , 443; El Salvador , 156; Honduras , 84; Brazil , 24; and Belize , 10. Five Iraqi nationals were also arrested, and a small number of people from Nicaragua , Costa Rica , Paraguay , China , Colombia , Peru , and Venezuela were picked up by immigration agents. Prior to Safe Mexico, INM special agents in San Luis Rio Colorado detained undocumented foreign nationals in operations conducted at bus terminals and hotels. Source: El Universal/Notimex, January 30, 2006. High-Tech Mega-Development Showcased First there was Silicon Valley . Then there were Silicon Mesa in New Mexico and Silicon South in Austin , Texas . If Daniel Hill has his way, the Baja California border city of Mexicali will be the high-tech world's next hotspot, Silicon Border. The director of the Silicon Border Development project, Hill unveiled his plans at the 32nd Convention of the National Council of the Maquiladora Export Industry, held in the old Pacific Coast tourist resort of Acapulco this past weekend. Speaking before the captains of the Mexican maquiladora industry, Hill outlined his vision for a massive, Mexicali industrial park that's planned to attract 150 foreign firms and employ upwards of 100,000 people dedicated to manufacturing semi-conductors and other high-tech gadgets. The projected industrial site will cover more than 12,000 acres. According to Hill, the model for Silicon Border is the Hsin-Chiu development in Taiwan . He presented Silicon Border as North America's opportunity to shift some production away from Asian plants, which dominate the world's semi-conductor manufacturing. "That's why we can't let a market get away that brings in $240 billion dollars and has the capacity to control the electronic and high-tech industries," Hill urged. Hill said initial construction of the Mexicali industrial complex could begin as early as this year and be finished within the next two years. Launched in 2001 by National Semiconductor company veteran Hill and others, Silicon Border got a boost in the form of a grant from the federal Mexican and Baja California state government for developing the industrial park. Billed as the “ Science Park of the Americas ,” ground for the industrial park was broken last summer. In his Acapulco speech, Hill credited Mexico and Baja California for possessing the basic elements to turn Mexicali into the next high-tech mecca. The high-tech business promoter pointed to the North American Free Trade Agreement and other international trade agreements signed by the Mexican government, ample labor, land, Colorado River water, and available electricity as the ingredients for a success. The industrial park is in close proximity to power plants operated by the Intergen and Sempra companies. For workforce development, the publicly-operated Autonomous University of Baja California and the privately-run Technological Institute of Monterrey will be drawn in to train employees, according to Hill. Hill said the highest levels of the Mexican federal government are giving enthusiastic support to the Silicon Border development. "President Vicente Fox has given all the facilities for the construction. He is a businessman and understands perfectly what we want to do," Hill said, adding that the Mexico 's federal budget and taxation ministry has agreed to give 10-year tax breaks to manufacturing companies setting up shop in Silicon Border. Silicon Border has reportedly raised eyebrows in Guadalajara , the current center of Mexico 's small high-tech industry. A strategic goal of the Mexicali project is to create a high-tech corridor between the industry's brain center in northern California and its future production facilities on the border. Hill said Intel, Phillips, Sharp, Samsung, and Sony are among companies interested in locating in Mexicali . Sources: La Jornada, October 24 and October 30, 2005. Articles by Eduardo Martinez Cantero and Juliana Fregoso Bonilla. Electronics Weekly, July 22, 2005. Article by David Manners. San Diego Union-Tribune, July 14, 2005. Article by Diane Lindquist. Electronic News, December 6, 2004. siborder.com UN Official Speaks Out on Child Deportations A United Nations official has renewed calls for safer and more humane deportation policies affecting undocumented children detained in the United States. In a recent Mexicali presentation, Karla Erendira Gallo, a representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said progress has been made toward guaranteeing the safety of minors deported to Mexico but more emphasis is needed on family reunification. Raising the issue of what happens to undocumented children who are deported from the United States while their parents remain in this country, the UNICEF representative urged the United States Border Patrol against separating minor children from their families. Ererndira Gallo's presentation followed up on a joint report issued last month by UNICEF and Mexico's National System for Integral Family Development, commonly known as the DIF. Titled "Migrant Childhood on the Northern Border: Legislation and Processes", the study examined the treatment of undocumented children in 11 Mexican border cities : Mexicali, Tijuana, Ojinaga, Ciudad Juarez, Ciudad Acuña, Piedras Negras, Nogales, Agua Prieta, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Matamoros. The UNICEF-DIF report denounced that "undocumented child migration on the northern border encourages the systematic violation of human rights," allegedly prompting abuses like the mixing of minor with adult detainees. The report’s authors contended that Mexico and the United States need to ensure that the treatment of minors with immigration law problems conforms to international standards and agreements. The study highlighted the exposure of undocumented children to human and contraband trafficking, sexual exploitation and labor abuses. Indigenous children constitute one especially vulnerable population on the border, according to the study. Statistics gathered by Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) and the Inter-institutional Program for Attention to Border Minors indicate that the deportation of children is significant. The number of unaccompanied deported minors from the United States increased from 5, 457 in 2003 to 10,000 in 2004. According to the INM, 4,131 minors have been deported so far this year just at the Mexican ports of entry in Baja California. From 1998 to 2003, the DIF handled 42,342 migrant children in its transient shelters. Teresa Aranda, the head of the DIF, calculated that about $200,000 dollars are spent every year on border DIF shelters but that $1,000,000 dollars is a realistic budget needed to adequately operate the services. Yoriko Yasukawa, another UNICEF representative in Mexico, commented after the release of last month's report that "Mexican institutions are doing very valuable work" in helping undocumented minor children on the northern border. During the last 11 years, Mexican consulates in the United States have assisted at least 87, 757 unaccompanied minors. Yasukawa added that UNICEF is prepared to act as a mediator in "bilateral negotiations" between the United States and Mexico aimed at strengthening cross-border accords regulating the repatriation of minors.
Sources: La Jornada, September 13, September 14, October 21, 2005. The Rise of the “Chiquipollos” Young, fearless and relatively untouched by the law, teenagers aged 14-17 are increasingly employed as human traffickers. Dubbed “chiquipollos,” the adolescents contract border crossers, collect payments and move people across the US border. Pablo Jesus Arnaud Carreno, the Mexican consul in Calexico, California, estimated about 150 youths in the Mexicali region belong to human trafficking organizations. The diplomat said a “very grave” situation posed risks to young people involved with highly-organized bands. According to Arnaud, 810 minors have been deported so far this year at the Mexicali-Calexico border crossing. At least 10 percent of the deportees were acting as immigrant smugglers, or coyotes, before they were detained, Arnaud said. Like communities in the interior of Mexico where migrating to the U.S. is a tradition, some neighborhoods of Mexicali are on the verge of establishing themselves as traditional purveyors of new coyotes. For instance, the low-income Mexicali colonias of Robledo, El Roble, Hidalgo, Pueblo Nuevo, and Baja California are prime recruiting grounds for new coyotes, including the sons of gang members who follow in the outlaw footsteps of their fathers. “In the different operations we have carried out in (Robledo), we have realized there are 150 minors who are sons of ex-gang members,” said Mexicali Municipal Police Chief Javier Salas Espinoza. “They get married, form families, teach their children to break the law, and protect them in case they are detained.” Other youths employed by the human trafficking networks are drawn from the ranks of Mexico’s ubiquitous street children. Miguel Angel Hernandez, the spokesman for the United States Border Patrol in Calexico, said older human traffickers use the teenagers with the knowledge that minors won’t be prosecuted in the United States, despite multiple violations. “The only thing that we do is bring them to the Mexican consulate for voluntary deportation to their country. They take advantage of the laws in this (country) that they can’t be tried as adults,” Hernandez said. Ruth Hernandez Martinez, a Mexican federal deputy and the secretary of the Population, Border and Migratory Affairs Commission of the Mexican Congress, warned that the growing participation of minors in human trafficking activities signaled a further breakdown of the law on the border, and complicated the task of finding the heads of trafficking organizations because of the layer of insulation provided by teenage coyotes. Sources: El Universal, August 30, 2005. Article by Julieta Martinez. El Universal, August 29, 2005. Articles by Rosa Maria Mendez. Bracero Protests Heat Up Again Hundreds of former Mexican guestworkers known as braceros staged a protest during the weekend outside the offices the federal Interior Ministry in Mexicali. Spokesman Rogelio Pantoja Mendez said the braceros were showing their opposition to last Wednesday’s arrests in Mexico City of their international leader, Ventura Gutierrez, and 9 other members of the Alianza Braceroproa organization. All were jailed after Gutierrez and the other mainly, elderly activists reportedly attempted to storm the Interior Ministry, breaking a window in the mayhem. While most of the detained braceros posted bail and were released, Gutierrez, a U.S. citizen, initially refused to follow suit and solicited the intervention of US Ambassador Tony Garza. The Mexico City demonstrators were demanding individual payments of about $10,000 dollars from a compensation fund approved earlier in the year by the Mexican Congress for ex-guestworkers who labored in the US decades ago. The money is slated to make up for paycheck deductions that were supposed to go into a savings account set aside for the braceros return to Mexico, but which mysteriously disappeared. In Mexicali , the protest ended after local Interior Ministry official Jose Luis Ruiz Manriquez announced Gutierrez had been freed and negotiations over the pay-outs scheduled. Withdrawing their protest contingent, the braceros nevertheless vowed to be back if their demands are not met or retaliations take place. The demonstration drew the support of the Mexicali Civic Front, United Against Impunity and hundreds of wheat producers, who have been staging weeks-long protests of their own in the Baja California city for better prices. Besides the Mexcali protest, Alianza Braceroproa conducted similar demonstrations on Friday, August 19, in Guerrero, Michoacan, Jalisco and Aguascalientes. In the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo, about 1,000 braceros blocked two streets in front of the state office of the Interior Ministry. In addition to demanding the freedom of the Mexico City protestors and the delivery of official documents needed to collect compensation payments, they called on Guerrero Governor Zeferino Torreblanca to contribute his state's share of the bracero fund created by the federal congress. Tensions surrounding which braceros will get the anticipated pay-outs- and when-have grown recently as rumors are rife the money might be disbursed as soon as September. Emerging as a mass movement in the late 1990s, the former guestworkers, who labored on US farms and railroads from 1942 to 1964, are divided into different organizations across Mexico and the southwestern US. Gutierrez’s Alianza Braceroproa made international headlines last year when thousands of its supporters overran President Vicente Fox's ranch in Guanajuato. A rival organization, the Binational Union of Ex-Bracero Workers 1942-67, is led by federal deputy Valentin Gonzalez Bautista. In a letter last week, the group dissociated itself from the Mexico City protest outside the Interior Ministry and expressed support for dialogue as the means to strengthen the federal compensation process In El Paso, Texas, another organization, the Bracero Project, held an informational meeting for about 300 braceros and family members on Sunday, August 21. Prior to the gathering, Project Director Carlos Marentes, said confusion reigned over the pending operation of the federal compensation fund. Marentes said unnamed individuals in Chihuahua state- including some politicians- were muddying the situation further by trying to set themselves up as intermediaries between braceros and the federal government. At Sunday’s meeting, a referendum also was held to determine whether Marentes should continue to lead the Bracero Project. Sources: La Voz de la Frontera (Mexicali), August 21, 2005. Article by Alma Angelica Parra Marias. La Jornada, August 21, 2005. Article by Antonio Heras. lapolaka.com, August 21, 2005. La Cronica (San Luis Rio Colorado), August 20, 2005. Article by Juan Jose Razzo. El Sur (Acapulco), August 20, 2005. Article by Zacarias Cervantes. La Jornada, August 20, 2005. Article by Gustavo Castillo and other reporters and correspondents. El Diario de Juarez, August 20, 2005. Article by Lorena Figueroa. El Universal/Notimex, August 19, 2005. AMLO Leads the 2006 Pack; the "Dark Horse" Makes some Strides In another confirmation of his frontrunner status, former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador leads the presidential preferences for likely voters in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, according to a recent poll by the city's La Cronica newspaper. In a sampling of 138 people conducted in the border city from July 30 to August 4, Lopez Obrador was chosen as the preferred candidate in 2006 by 39.8 percent of the respondents. The virtual nominee of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) was trailed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) with 31.6 percent of voter preferences and the center-right National Action Party (PAN) with 26.1 percent. Interestingly, the same poll revealed a possibility that voters will split their ballots, with a majority of respondents indicating they would cast their support for the PAN in the race for municipal president. The poll had a margin of error of about 7 percent. Registered voters also were asked their preferences for 6 possible PRI presidential candidates. However, as of this week, only two pre-candidates remain: Roberto Madrazo and Arturo Montiel of the Tucom faction. Conducted before Montiel emerged as the Tucom candidate, the poll showed Madrazo with 10.8 percent of the preferences and Montiel with 6.5 percent. The PRI will conduct its primary election in early November to choose the party's 2006 candidate, but Madrazo is widely expected to win the nomination. President Vicente Fox's PAN will also conduct an electoral process in the fall to select its presidential nominee for next year's election. Former Interior Minister Santiago Creel is regarded as the leading contender for the PAN's nomination, but he faces competition from Felipe Calderon and Alberto Cardenas. A former governor of Jalisco state and the recently-resigned chief of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), Cardenas has picked up the support of prominent women party militants in Sonora. Backing the PAN's so-called "Dark Horse" are Elsa Velasco Chico, the wife of PAN Deputy Carlos Tapia Astiaazaran; and Teresa Aguirre, the wife of Gustavo de Unanue Galla, a Ministry of Social Development official and Felipe Calderon supporter. Cardenas also has found a valuable ally in Yashodara Romero, the wife of Sonora state Semarnat Delegate Florencio Diaz Armenta. Romero coordinates Cardenas' campaign among women in five northern states. Sources: La Cronica, August 8, 2005. Articles by Santiago Barroso Alfaro and Luis Alberto Medina. Norte/Notimex, August 6, 2005. Opposition Mounting to All American Canal Project Mexican opposition to a planned concrete lining by the United States of the All American Canal on the California-Baja California border gathered more steam this week. Meeting in Mexicali, about 20 people representing producer, academic and social organizations heard three Mexican federal legislators speak out on the issue. Headed by Ulises Adame, the president of the hydrological resources commission of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies, the lawmakers urged Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Relations to oppose what they charged was a unilateral project holding dire consequences for the ecology and agriculture of the Mexicali Valley. Deputy Adame was joined in the meeting by fellow deputies Raul Pompa Victoria and Julio Garcia Cordoba. The visiting Mexican congressional delegation did not discount legal action if the project is not halted. Set to begin in January 2006, the $100-million-plus dollar project proposes to place concrete in 23 miles of the 82-mile earthen canal that draws its water from the Colorado River. The construction is expected to extend from just northwest of the Baja California town of Los Algodones to about 20 miles east of Calexico in California. Supporters of the 3-year project, which will be funded by the state of California, contend it will save valuable water resources currently squandered because of seepage. One outspoken booster, the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, claims the water savings could supply 134,000 homes in San Diego every year. The project is also drawing some support in Mexico from the community of Los Algodones, where residents say seepage is flooding backyards and homes. Opponents of the concrete lining plan maintain that canal seepage provides environmental and economic benefits to the Mexicali Valley, nourishing wetlands and wildlife and recharging aquifers vital to the region's big agricultural industry. If the project goes through as planned, some critics claim as many as 190 wells would be affected and 83 million cubic meters of water lost every year on the Mexican side. In a separate meeting this week, two prominent Mexicali leaders met with Tijuana Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon to lobby for his support in their campaign to stop the canal project. Federico Prieto Gaxiola, the president of Mexicali's Economic Development Council, and Victor Hermosillo, the former mayor of Mexicali, told Hank the concrete lining will result in an economic, social and environmental catastrophe. In Mexico City, meanwhile, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez remarked in a talk with Baja California Governor Elorduy Walther that the All American Canal will be on the agenda next month in a meeting between Derbez and U.S. federal officials. Sources: El Sol de Tijuana, July 28, 2005. La Voz de la Frontera, July 27, 2005. Article by Gustavo Garcia Rivas. La Cronica, July 27, 2005. Article by Daniel Salinas. San Diego Union-Tribune, June 12, 2005 editorial. Yuma Sun, September 20, 2004. Article by Jacob Lopez. U.S. Health Crisis Fuels a Border Boom Town A small Baja California border town is the scene of a thriving economy rooted in the high medical-dental prices of the United States. Located about 40 miles from Mexicali and on the border near Yuma, Arizona, the town of Los Algodones (population 15,000) welcomes daily upwards of 500 visitors who come in search of pills, pharmacies, dentists, and even cardiologists. Business is so brisk that dozens of young promoters stand in the town's streets and bark at potential customers: "Come over here for the cheapest and best quality!" Jesus Osorio, a spokesman for dentists, said a large number of businesses in Los Algodones depend on elderly customers from north of the border. "There are close to 250 dentists and more than 50 pharmacies whose principal customers are the hundreds of retired and old people from the United States and Canada who cross the border looking for services which are much more expensive in their own countries," said Osorio. In Los Algodones, shoppers can find penicillin for as cheap as $2.50 dollars, and dental work which might cost $5,000 dollars in the United States can be obtained in the Baja California border town for less than one-third of the U.S. price. The prices are so attractive that charter flights from Los Angeles and as far away as Minnesota make Los Algodones their principal destination. "Over there those medical costs are more expensive," said Minnesota resident and Los Algodones visitor Dave Jones. "That's why I took advantage of my vacation time and came to Los Algodones." The medical tourism industry aside, Los Algodones' geographic location also blesses its business prospects. Every fall and winter, thousands of so-called "snowbirds" flock from the north and set up camp in trailer parks on the U.S. side of the border. Staying for months on end, the mainly retired "snowbirds" have ample time to sample Los Algodones. Like landlords who rent out vacation properties, or bars that open only for the season in Mexican tourist destinations, dentists and medical providers in Los Algodones find they can earn the bulk of their income in just a few months. "Some of us dentists rent an office for $4,000 dollars during the high season and we take all of our equipment with the intention of earning dollars and maintaining ourselves the rest of the year in Mexicali," said Osorio. Source: El Universal, June 25, 2005. Article by Rosa Maria Mendez Fierros. Youth Health Promoted The Baja California State Secretary of Health has kicked off a week-long health promotion campaign aimed at young people aged 10 to 19. Virginia Rodriguez Diaz, the head of the state's adolescent health program, said authorities are especially concerned about the young sector of the public, which represents about 20 percent of the population. "Our representatives will focus their actions on the open population as well as the captive one," said Rodriguez. "That's to say, youth aged 10 to 19 who are in school, as well as those who are in maquiladoras or not studying." Rodriguez added that her agency is worried about youth because of problems stemming from addictions, accidents and unplanned pregnancies. As part of the new health drive, the Secretary of Health will conduct talks in schools about self-esteem, values and assertiveness, and offer information about programs including family planning and transmission of sexual diseases. The Secretary of Health plans to distribute condoms to youth as one option in thinking about birth control and family planning. Information booths at schools associated with the Cbitis and Conalep programs will also be set up. "A youth brigade was established in Cbitis 21that will give the first assistance to their friends," explained Rodriguez. Source: La Cronica, June 7, 2005. Article by Magdalena Lopez. City Pushes Agricultural Development The municipality of Mexicali is seeking to capitalize on its agricultural sector. With this goal in mind, city officials recently founded the Rural Sustainable Development Council. "One of the fundamental priorities that’s required for moving forward the Mexicali Valley will be the installation of agro-industries,” explained Mayor Samuel Ramos Flores. “We have many pluses to offer, including water, power, railways, and skilled labor…” As a response to long-standing popular demands, the city government of Mexicali established the council to represent the rural sector in municipal decision-making and economic development. 93 organizations representing farm groups as well as local, state and federal government agencies will form the new body. According to Mayor Ramos, the council will work in tandem with a new farming and fishing promotional agency to encourage agricultural production, give legal advice and search for means of reducing operating overhead. “The idea is to take away the uncertainty of what the world market will define, as happens with the price of wheat or any other agricultural product,” said Ramos. “Our producers always suffer from a dependency on the supply and demand of the market, and now is the time for them to be prepared to consolidate their management, purchases and organization.” Benjamin Castillo, coordinator of municipal delegations, added that the new programs will be a way for producers and other sectors of society to propose their own alternatives and improve their quality of life. Fed by the irrigation system of the Colorado River, the region of Mexicali, Baja California, and nearby San Luis Rio Colorado in Sonora boast more than 600,000 acres of arable land. Wheat, cotton, green onions, and asparagus are among the 40 or so commercially grown crops. Sources: La Voz de la Frontera (Mexicali), May 17, 2005. Article by Guillermo Sayago. California Center for Border and Regional Economic Studies, San Diego State University. State-Indigenous Tensions on Rise Members of the Seri indigenous community who inhabit northwestern coastal Sonora accuse the state and federal governments of attempting to take their land for tourist development. Ernesto Molina Villalobos, a resident of the traditional Seri village of Punta Chueca, denounced a raid conducted by the Sonora State Judicial Police and Federal Agency of Investigations last month in which 40 masked officers allegedly fired at buildings occupied by children and pulled a pistol on a woman. Molina charged that the raid was part of a pressure campaign to force the Seri off their lands and clear the way for hotel and tourist construction as part of the Nautical Stairway tourist mega-project. “We have struggled for years to not lose our history and territory, but now the government has violated the sovereignty of our community,” said Molina. The Seri mainly live in two villages on the Sea of Cortez and near their sacred, ancestral home of Tiburon Island. Their homeland is located on a planned coastal highway between Puerto Penasco in the north and Guaymas in the south, a region undergoing a tourist boom. Sonora Governor Eduardo Bours denied that recent police raids were carried out with the intention of dispossessing the Seris of their land. According to Bours, state and federal officers have been attempting to execute an arrest warrant against a man named El Pollo. Reputedly, El Pollo is the same individual who’s been confiscating materials from illegal fishermen operating on Tiburon Island. Governor Bours added that Seri opposition to the Nautical Stairway project will set back the planned coastal highway and related tourist enterprises. “If they say no, as they have stated in the media, we will have to turn back the clock on (the road),” said Bours. “I am worried about the backwardness of the Seris. They have a great opportunity to modernize as they inhabit one of the richest zones in the state for tourist development and aquaculture.” Meanwhile, an official with Mexico’s Attorney General for Environmental Protection (Profepa) launched a warning to members of the Cucapa indigenous community who reside near the upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta bordering Sonora and Baja California. Profepa Delegate Ernesto Munro Palacio complained that Cucapa fishermen were not respecting protected zones for the gulf curvina fish and harvesting the species at spawning time. Palacio said that the federal government is not against the right of the Cucupa to fish, but that all fishermen must respect Mexican law regardless of ancestral rights and traditional customs. Palacio signed a joint cooperative agreement with the federal Attorney General’s Office to expedite the enforcement of environmental law. Sources. La Jornada, May 10 and May 5, 2005. Articles by Cristobal Garcia Bernal. LaCronica (San Luis Rio Colorado), May 3, 2005. Article by Santiago Barroso Alfaro Border Patrol Agents Accused of Smuggling Mexican authorities arrested two U.S. Border Patrol agents late last week on charges of smuggling ammunition. Border Patrol agents German Verdugo and David Allen Navarro were detained by Mexican customs officials and turned over to the federal prosecutor's office last Friday after the pair was stopped trying to enter Mexicali while allegedly transporting bullets. According to the federal Attorney General's Office (PGR), Verdugo and Navarro were attempting to drive a vehicle with California license plates through one of the customs lanes at a Mexicali port of entry when the inspection light flashed red, triggering a mandatory inspection. Upon examining the vehicle, Mexican customs officials claimed they discovered boxes containing 1,286 .40 caliber bullets and 10 .223 caliber bullets. Under Mexican law, the ammunition is reserved for exclusive use of the armed forces. Unable to produce the proper legal documentation allowing them to possess the bullets, Verdugo and Navarro were then detained, turned over to the federal prosecutor and placed in the Mexicali jail on charges of importing arms restricted for military use. Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, deputy federal attorney general and the head of the elite SIEDO anti-organized crime unit, called the incident "extremely worrisome," considering that border law enforcement agents might be involved in illegal acts. In previous comments, Vasconcelos stated that his agency was investigating possible links between state police in Baja California and U.S. Border Patrol agents in drug trafficking. Other Mexican officials have long complained about the United States being the major source of illegal weapons entering their country. Salvador Zamora, a spokesman for the Border Patrol, said Verdugo and Navarro were off-duty at the time of their arrests, and had carelessly entered Mexico after finishing a session of target practice. "They simply forgot (the bullets) in the truck, which besides, were in plain view," said Zamora. The Border Patrol spokesman added that U.S. authorities would respect Mexican law, and determine the future of agents Verdugo and Navarro pending the outcome of the legal process. Zamora conceded that Verdugo and Navarro had been careless, but added that his agency had no information to tie the two men to illegal activities. Although the Border Patrol agents were detained last April 29, their arrests were not announced until this week. The men were later released on bond. Sources: El Universal, May 4, 2005. Articles by Silvia Otero and Natalia Gomez Quintero. La Jornada, May 4, 2005. Article by Gustavo Castillo Garcia. El Universal, May 3, 2005. Article by Silvia Otero.
January 13, 2005 Although the figures for personnel turnover during the holidays have not yet been determined by the Asociación de Maquiladoras de Sonora (Sonora Maquiladora Association, AMS) and the Asociación de Relaciones Industriales (Association of Industrial Relations, Arinac), El Imparcial reported that five companies alone currently have 264 job openings. However, it is possible that this number will rise to between 800 and 1,000 openings. Hiring efforts employed by the maquiladoras can be seen throughout the city. Advertisements are taken out in newspapers and in other media. Also, banners announcing job openings are hung on companies' buildings where they can be seen from the road. As in the past, all of this should result in the maquiladoras' personnel situation returning to the desired level by the end of the third week in January. According to El Imparcial, workers typically break for the holidays on December 20. Many of them leave Nogales and go back to their homes in Southern Sonora or Sinaloa (the neighboring state to the south). Others travel further to states in the center of Mexico or in the far south of the country. Some workers will stay in their home towns for extended periods and not return immediately after the holidays. Other workers return and get jobs with different companies. Juan González, head of human resources at Avent, said that his company has 60 jobs available after the holidays. The jobs opened up after workers did not come back from holiday leave. González estimates that 5% of the maquiladora's 1,300 employees were fired when they did not return to work in January. Source: El Imparcial (Nogales), January 13, 2005.
Article by Luis Arvayo.
An international education assessment completed by the the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks Baja California below Mexico's national average in the areas of math, reading, and science. The study, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), was conducted among junior high and high school students in Baja California. Both private and public schools participated in the Baja California part of the study. All of Mexico's 31 states participated in the assessment with the exception of Michoacán. The Mexicali newspaper La Crónica did not indicate why Michoacán was not part of the study. Mexico's Federal District, which is not considered a state but still participated in PISA, ranked second in math, science and reading. In first place in all of these categories was the small, Pacific-coast state Colima. Aguascalientes ranked third in all three categories. Baja California ranked 17th in math, 21st in reading, and 18th in science. Chihuahua and Tamaulipas, two other northern border states with large border cities that have experienced much immigration over past decades, did much better than Baja California. Both states ranked among the top eight in Mexico in reading, math and science. Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), December 15, 2004. |