Frontera
NorteSur
May-June 2004
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Frontera
NorteSur |
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June
22, 2004 Francisco Ortiz Franco, the editor of the weekly newspaper Zeta, was shot to death in Tijuana on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 in the presence of his children. Zeta is well known for its coverage of drug trafficking throughout Mexico. In 1997, a team of killers attempted to murder Zeta owner Jesús Blancornelas. Blancornelas' bodyguard and driver, Luis Lauro Valero Elizalde, was killed in that attack. Ortiz left a physical rehabilitation clinic at 11:50 a.m. with his ten-year old son and his eight-year old daughter. The three got into Ortiz's car and as he turned to put on his seat belt he said to one of his children that they were being followed. Shots were fired and the children ran from the vehicle. Witnesses that would not give their name to the Tijuana newspaper Frontera (no relationship to FNS) said that just before Ortiz left the building a tan Toyota pulled up in front of the clinic. When Ortiz left the building the Toyota followed him. Jaime Niebla, a Ministerial Police commander, said that Ortiz was then shot from a black Ford pickup truck by hooded men. The murder weapon was a .38 super. However, another article about the vehicle used in the killing stated that it was not a Ford but was instead a Jeep Cherokee that was found two hours after the murder. The Jeep was two blocks from the scene of the crime and the engine was still running. That same article went on to say that only one person fired at Ortiz. At least five shots were fired. The killer is described as a professional as the shots were well aimed. According to an AP article on the web site of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Ortiz had said at the time of the attempt on Blancornela's life that threats would not influence the work of the paper's staff. In 1988, Hector Felix Miranda, the newspaper's cofounder, was ambushed and murdered. One of his killers was a bodyguard at a racetrack owned by current Tijuana mayoral candidate Jorge Hank Rohn. Sources: June
15, 2004 On June 14, 2004 more than 200 out-of-state and foreign students waited outside Tijuana's Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (Autonomous University of Baja California, UABC) to begin enrollment procedures at the university. Students from the state went through the same process at an earlier point in the year. However, both groups of aspiring students must go through the same application process. Among those waiting was Nayeli García Pérez, 17 years old, from Nogales, Sonora. She wants to study international business at UABC and was attracted to the university because of its good reputation. Her sister and some cousins live in Tijuana which was an added draw for her. Francisco Colorado Eusebio, age 20, is from Toluca, State of Mexico. He wants to study dentistry and chose UABC because the same programs in Mexico City and the State of Mexico are very hard to get into because of stiff competition for relatively few places. Some of UABC's students come not just from outside the state but also from outside Mexico. Monserrat Flores Pérez, age 24, studied biology and Spanish literature at the University of California in the US. She's now interested in becoming a doctor but prefers the Mexican system because it only takes five years to get through which is shorter than a similar program would be in the US. Once finished at UABC she says she'll try to do her residency in San Diego. UABC's good reputation would appear to be well deserved. In a study of Mexican public universities, UABC was ranked among the best along with the universities of Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Yucatán and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional among others. The study, which was done by La Revista (part of the newspaper El Universal), looked at 60 state schools. Of these universities 40 were given a failing grade due to low academic achievements. Another ten barely avoided a failing grade. The UNAM (the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) was not evaluated. The best public university in that nation was determined to be the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí in north-central Mexico. Its graduates were rated first in twelve areas of study including medicine, dentistry, mechanical engineering, computer science and nursing. The university has been effective in teaching English to its students and 70% of its instructors have their doctorates or master's degrees. A former president of the school said that part of its success is the distance it keeps from politics. Sources: Frontera (Tijuana), June 15, 2004. June
2, 2004 The Tijuana university CETYS (Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior, Center for Technical and Higher Education) is seeking double-diploma programs with European, Latin American and US universities. These programs will award graduates a diploma from CETYS and another diploma from a univeristy where the graduates have done at least one year of their studies. In this way graduates have college degrees that are valid in Mexico and another nation as well, says Carlos Rodríguez Rubio, head of the university's administration doctoral program. Double diploma programs are not new to CETYS. For ten years the university has had such a program with San Diego State University. Known as Mexus, the program has had approximately 70 graduates. Currently, Mexus has 10 students. Students graduate with a degree in international business. CETYS Mexus students spend at least one year at San Diego State University after they have finished their fourth year of course work in Tijuana. Although CETYS wants to expand its double-diploma offerings, Rodríguez states that they will all be limited to international business in the near future. However, there are plans to eventually expand into accounting and engineering. Double-diploma programs may also be expanded to doctoral programs. Talks have taken place with the University of Barcelona about the possibility of a PhD in psychology. There is also interest from an Italian university--the University of Bejarano--and from three in Chile. CETYS wants to establish more programs with US universities as well. According to Rodríguez, participating universities do more than just offer a year of classes to students. Instead, CETYS and its foreign partner offer similar courses of study so that graduates from both schools have parallel academic experiences over their entire academic career. Source:
Frontera (Tijuana), June 2, 2004. Article by Hamlet Alcántara. Rafael Reyes Luviano, an official with Baja California's state human rights office, confirmed on May 17, 2004 that more than 80 inmates at Tijuana's La Mesa state prison were entering the fifth day of a hunger strike. The inmates are protesting overcrowding and other unhealthy conditions in the facility known locally as "La Peni." Inmates' family members outside the prison have been protesting the same issues since April 2004 according to Reyes. Reyes met with inmates on a May 17 tour of La Mesa. The human rights official not only confirmed the hunger strike but also the bad conditions that are being protested both inside and outside the facility. Reyes said his office will continue investigating the case and will send a recommendation to the state government that it end the serious situation at the facility. Alicia Aguilar, a former La Mesa inmate, said that protesters will continue stating their demands until prisoners are treated humanely. She noted that just because they broke a law they should not be mistreated. Aguilar also alleges that prison officials are retaliating against inmates whose families are protesting outside the prison. The
head of the Comisión de Justicia (Justice Commission) in the state's
House of Deputies, Raúl Felipe Luévano Ruiz, has said that the
commission has been readying a surprise visit to the facility for over a
week. The commission decided to visit La Mesa after receiving at
least twenty complaints from inmates' family members about mistreatment
and official abuse of power. Source: Frontera (Tijuana), May 17, 2004.
Article by Ernesto Alvarez. A Mexican electricians union and the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (Federal Electric Commission, CFE) are in agreement that there needs to be an end to corruption in Mexico. Salomón Andrade Cisneros, head of the CFE's Mexicali region, has asked customers to file written complaints if they are inappropriately asked for money by employees. Once a complaint has been turned in, the Comisión can begin an investigation, he said. Conrado Rodríguez Guitron, a department head with the CFE, said that one person was fired from the Comisión after asking a customer for a bribe not to turn off power to a home with unpaid electric bills. An investigation into this corrupt practice found that other employees were also asking past-due customers for bribes to avoid having their power cut. According to the Tijuana newspaper Frontera (no relation to FNS), the majority of such cases go uninvestigated because citizens do not file complaints. Leonardo Partida, the regional head of an electricians union, said that on many occasions CFE customers offer bribes to employees. For Partida, the issue is larger than just what takes place between CFE workers and customers, "Everyone knows that in Mexico everyone wants to give out a bribe, it's a Mexican idiosyncrasy and we need to end corruption because it has hurt the country a lot, it's a cancer that we should eradicate because it hurts us." Frontera also noted that the CFE cuts power to 150 users per day. However, only 20% of past-due accounts ever have their service suspended. Source:
Frontera (Tijuana), May 10, 2004. Article by Beatriz Limon. |