Frontera NorteSur
October 2000

Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Baja California Products Promoted in Paris At International Expo

Baja California companies took advantage of the International Food Expo (Salón Internacional de los Alimentos, SIAL) in Paris to promote their agricultural and cattle businesses.

In a press release the BC government informed that SIAL is the largest expo in the world that brings together producers and buyers of perishable food. Products like fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood are showcased.

During the opening ceremonies, Baja California Governor Alejandro González Alcocer said that the expo is a magnificent means to find big opportunities in the sale and distribution of Baja California products in the global marketplace.

González Alcocer visited the pavilion in which the Secretaries of Economic Development, Agricultural and Cattle Promotion, the Horticultural Producers Union Coastal Zone, Productos Altar de Hortalizas del Valle de Méxicali, Patronato de la Feria Agrobaja, and Productores Nacionales de Baja California and others participated.

The governor went on to say that with today's utilization of the internet in the sale of food products, other, more competitive mechanisms are needed to convince investors of the quality of BC foods. The SIAL lets buyers get to know and taste Baja California products.

Ninety countries, and 5,000 exhibitors participated in this year's SIAL, which began on October 15, 2000 and has received 150,000 visitors who sampled products and could initiate negotiations.

Secretary of Agricultural and Cattle Promotion (Secretario de Fomento Agropecuario), Genaro López Bojórquez noted that Baja California must take advantage of its free-trade agreement with Europe, and its more than 11 years of experience in promoting investments.

Juan Antonio Martínez Zaragoza, of the Department of  Economic Development (Secretaría de Desarollo Económico, Sedeco), commented that with these expos it is hoped that European countries will take advantage of the free-trade agreement between Mexico and Europe to make investments in Baja California. 
 
Monday, October 30, 2000
No FNS news today.

US citizens that have promised not to leave or give up land they "purchased" on the beautiful Ensenada coast have lost their court battle and the land is to return to its original owners', the Purrúa Punta Estero company. Last Monday, Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that the 18 acres will be returned to the company.

The Court's decision puts an end to the battle the company had with the Ejido "Estaban Cantú." However, the government must now dislodge the dozens of US citizens whose homes currently occupy the spot. Previously, BC and the Secretaría de la Reforma Agraria had tried to find mechanisms to resolve this problem but no compromise was possible.

The State Secretary of Government (Secretario de Gobierno), Jorge Ramos, says that the state will respect the Supreme Court ruling and is confident that the execution of the resolution will not affect BC's image or Mexico-US relations.

Thursday, October 26, 2000
Authorities Urge Tijuana and Baja California Teachers to Abandon Strike

Baja California government authorities urged teachers to abandon protests that affect the state's youth. Authorities also promised to give as much attention as possible to the teacher's demands according to Secretary of Education and Social Well-being (Secretario de Educación y Bienestar Social), Lorenzo Gómez Morín. Gómez's statements came after meeting with representatives from districts 2 and 37 of the National Education Workers Union (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, SNTE). Gómez also pointed out that the state government is willing to continue providing funds for education and that this is a good time to deal with salary issues as government officials are currently preparing the state budget.

Teachers from the Movimiento Magisterial de Baja California protested on October 25, 2000 on the state government esplanade, demanding a 30% salary raise and a Christmas bonus equal to 90-days pay.  This protest brought teachers in 60 buses from Méxicali and Ensenada to support the petition for higher salaries and government recognition for their work. 

In an interview, District 2 General Secretary Raúl Valles Aparicio said that educators have already made a formal written request to President-elect Vicente Fox's transition team, asking for the 30% pay raise, effective January 1, 2001.  He said that if their petitions are not addressed, educators will continue to protest and unfortunately Baja California children would continue to miss classes.

Wednesday, October 25, 2000
Japanese Interested in Investing in Baja California

A group of  Japanese entrepreneurs interested in making investments in the automotive and construction industries visited Baja California after reviewing the cities of Guadalajara, Jalisco and Monterrey.

Assistant Secretary of BC Economic Development (Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico, Sedeco), Oscar Arce Paniagua indicated that the entrepreneurs are from the Japanese providence of Chukeiren, considered the third most important economic zone in Japan.  Arce noted that Chukeiren produces 14% of the country's GNP and has an investment group of 428 members.

Arce pointed out that the Japanese visitors develop companies and organizations in the automotive, energy, chemical, electronic, industrial machinery, ceramic, aeronautic, communications, textile, auto part, steel, petrochemical, and service industries. He added that the investors also met with a group of attorneys, public accountants, and Mexican and US construction companies.

The visit by the Japanese delegation is a result of the recent II Foro Negocios Asia-México held October 7-14, 2000 in Mexico City.

Tuesday, October 24, 2000
5,695 Religious Organizations Registered

The Religious Affairs Office (Subdirección de Asuntos Religiosos), part of the Secretary of Government (Secretaría de Gobernación) has reached its goal of registering a total of 5,695 religious associations in the country, informed Genaro Jaimes, director of the Office.

Of the registered groups, 50% are Catholic, 45% are described as Evangelical and the rest are of other religious affiliations.

Jaimes stated that the Religious Affairs Office began the registration process in 1992 hoping to regulate churches and religious associations.  After eight years the religious community finds itself almost entirely accounted for to the government. "This makes us believe that we have lived up to expectations."

To register with the Religious Affairs Office a religious group must have been in existence for a minimum of five years, have an articulated body of beliefs, a governing constitution, and an organizational structure.

Latin America's Largest Place of Worship

Genaro Jaimes was in Baja California at the invitation of the Iglesia Evangélica San Pablo. While there he attended the dedication and installation of the first stone for the El Monte (The Mount) church. When finished the building will hold 5,000 people in the Delegación San Antonio de los Buenos neighborhood.

Carlos Perea Zaldívar, a pastor for the church, said that the new structure will be the largest religious building in Latin America. Its tower will be over 80 meters (240 feet) high and the building will include education buildings, and sport and social areas all on a ten hectare plot of land. The total cost of the project is ten million dollars.

Monday, October 23, 2000
BC Needs More Money to Send Home Children Expelled from US

Silvia Estela Varela, state Director of the Sistema para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (Family Development, known in Mexico as DIF), said that she lacks the budget to return to their homes migrant children that arrive at the BC-US border.

Because BC is a state where people arrive to cross into the US many children arrive with either their parents or alone. Varela stated that when families are deported from the US often members of the same family are released at different border crossings.

In such situations, abandoned minors are taken to children's shelters by Mexican authorities. However, these shelters lack the money to return children to their home towns. So far this year BC's DIF has received over 200 children from southern Mexico states in migration incidents.

Another problem that children face is that often they are released into Mexico late at night. This can put the children in very vulnerable circumstances. Varela has asked authorities to take action on this matter, including Foreign Chancellor Rosario Green.

Varela estimates that the number of deportations will increase this year in BC, especially in the Tecate and Méxicali regions as a result of Operation Guardian. Also, December is the month with the greatest number of deportations and when there are the highest number of migrants in Baja California.

The Mexican National Institute of Migration (Instituto Nacional de Migración, INM) informed the press that 30 Iraqi citizens that spent two days in Tijuana were transferred to the US after asking for political asylum.

The INM state delegate, Roberto Pérez Jacobo, stated the group of migrants arrived at the border last Tuesday having come from the Migration Station in Mexico City were they had previously spent several days.

The group of 21 men and 9 women, two of them minors, arrived to Tijuana thanks to Irma Andrade coordinator for the Inspection and Verification Department of the INM. She put the group in touch with NGO's in the city.

The 21 men in the group spent their two days at the Casa del Migrante while the 9 women remained in Casa de la Madre Asunta.

Once the group's migratory paperwork was filled out the Iraqis were escorted to the Tijuana-San Ysidro crossing where in a few minutes they crossed legally into the US.

Thursday, October 19, 2000
No news today. FNS has gone to Ciudad Juárez to work on next month's special stories on the border's human rights situation.

Wednesday, October 18, 2000
BC Defense Lawyers, Bail Issues and a New Prison

Manuel Martínez Olguín of the Baja California Defenders' Office (Coordinación de Defensoría de Oficio en Baja California) states that 85% of all people accused of crimes in state courts are defended by members of his office. He believes that private lawyers are not interested in the cases because most defendants cannot afford to pay for their defenses.

The BC Congress this year passed funding for 19 more public defenders. These lawyers will be stationed in working-class neighborhoods in Tijuana. Tijuana already has 42 public defenders and there are 89 public defenders throughout the entire state.

On a different note, Raúl Corona Sesma, the head of legal affairs for Prevencíon Social, said that the majority of inmates awaiting legal proceedings in BC cannot afford to pay their bail. Because of this the BC Defenders' Office is looking at alternative means of financing bail arrangements. One organization that has helped out is Telmex, the national telephone company. Telmex (Teléfonos de México) pays the bail of inmates that have not committed serious or previous crimes and that have a someone that will be responsible for them once they are out on bail.

Corona also reports that the state's fourth prison in the area of Tecate known as "El Hongo" is 64% complete. Once finished the new facility will reduce over-crowding in the state's prison system of 10,600 inmates. As soon as it is open, older facilities will then receive repair work. Currently the Tijuana prison houses over 6,000 inmates.

Tuesday, October 17, 2000
Training Money for BC Rural Areas and Disabled

The Baja California State Employment Service (Servicio Estatal del Empleo, SEE) will spend nearly US$800,000 this year for training programs in rural Baja California. This is a 15% increase over 1999.

The Subsecretary of Economic Development (Sedeco), Oscar Arce Paniagua said that through scholarships the program will give classes to people of few economic resources. Low-income groups, the disabled and seniors in rural areas will learn a trade skill. These courses will help to raise their standards of living.

In 1999 2,700 families took advantage of classes offered through the program. Soldering classes were given to the hearing-challenged. Twenty teachers also taught sign language to company supervisors so that they could contract hearing-challenged workers.

Monday, October 16, 2000
No news today.

Eduardo Liceaga Campos, Coordinator of the Baja California Winemakers Association (Asociación de Vitivinicultores), stated that  90 percent of the total wine production in Mexico is generated in Baja California.

During the weekly meeting of the Tijuana Economic Development Council (Consejo de Desarrollo Económico, CDT) Liceaga announced that the state generates one million four hundred thousand cases of wine annually.  Liceaga noted that the wine industry does not have a big role in the BC economy.

Baja California is the most important producer of wine in Mexico due to its climate.  Despite droughts in the northwest region of the country, wine-growing is so far unaffected because of a high water table in the area of the vineyards.

Liceaga also informed the CDT that out of a total of 13 wine producers, nine are members of the association, and three more are expected to join this year.

Wednesday, October 11, 2000
Men Arrested for Impersonating Officers, Threatening Journalist

Baja California State Police (Policía Ministerial) have detained four men accused of posing as local police officers (Policía Preventiva) and threatening a local journalist, José López, so that he would not report on a kidnapping case.

One of the men that was arrested gave his name as José Luis Cortéz Escobar and said that he was a member of the State Police Apprehension unit (Unidad Orgánica de Aprehensiones). Assistant Attorney General Francisco Javier Cossío Gutiérrez said that the four men are not part of the State Police force.

Cortéz, who works in the Attorney General's Tijuana office, said that he is giving unconditional, full support to López, the reporter, who has had his life threatened numerous times. This is in line with the current administration's desire to defend the rights of all citizens he said.

Tuesday, October 10, 2000
Resolution of Tijuana Labor Disputes

Subdirección del Trabajo y Provision Social (DTyPS), part of the Procuraduría Laboral, handled 3,900 labor matters during July, August and September of this year.  These matters ranged from assessments, appointments, and agreements informed Interim Assistant Director of the DTyPS Mónica García Brunn.

The Procuraduría Laboral tries to help companies and workers reach agreements in cases where workers have complaints against their employers.  The problems presented ranged from salary questions to incomplete pay, unjustified dismissals, company bankruptcies and vacations.

The DTyPS assessed the cases of some 1,691 people within the past trimester.

DTyPS also resolves problems by inviting aggrieved workers and representatives of their companies to appointments in the hopes that disputes can be resolved quickly with an agreement between both parties. In the third trimester of the year 2000 over 1,851 appointments were set up between workers and companies. Of these cases 351 were resolved at the meetings.

Problems that are not resolved at these meetings are dealt with in Arbitration (Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje). Workers may obtain their own legal representation or continue for free with help of the DTyPS.

The DTyPS informed that the month of December is expected to bring a considerable increase in complaints because of the mandatory Christmas bonuses. Christmas bonuses, known as aguinaldos, are mandated by law in Mexico.
 
Monday, October 9, 2000
No news today.

The bike run held last weekend in Rosarito united more than 12,000 participants from the US and Mexico informed Baja California Director of Tourism Juan Tintos Funke.

The event has become one of the most important in the area filling surrounding hotels in Ensenada and Rosarito to capacity.  It is calculated that nearly one million dollars will come in from tourist spending.

Tintos explained that the annual bike run, now in it's fourth year, brings together national tourists, foreigners and local participants in a friendly atmosphere.

"These events bring thousands of visitors who generate a lot of income. They also project a positive image of the state on a worldwide level because of Baja California's hospitality and good treatment of visitors," said Tintos.

Tintos commented that because of the events success, there are talks about having them twice a year, once in April and again in September.

"The goal is to continue to strengthen tourism in Baja California and to make it one of the most important tourist states," Tintos added.
 
Thursday, October 5, 2000
No news today. Gone to tour the Delphi maquiladora in Cd. Juárez.

Wednesday, October 4, 2000
Transplants on Rise in Mexico

Federico Juárez de la Cruz, director of the Department of Transplants in the Torreón Medical Center's Specialist Hospital, said that in the last five years 5,000 kidney transplants have been performed in Mexico. The doctor himself has performed over 800 transplants of which 17 were of the liver, two of the small intestine and the rest were kidney transplants.

According to Juárez, who was attending a Northern Region Congress of Gastroenterologists, President Zedillo should be thanked for having advanced the availability of transplants in Mexico.

Juárez stated that between 1995 and 1997 transplants were only available in the La Raza, Militar, and Pemex hospitals located in Mexico City. Now however transplants can be performed in smaller cities like Puebla, Ciudad Obregón, Tijuana and Guadalajara where 25 transplants have taken place.

Juárez emphasized that while 90% of kidney donations are from living donors more are coming from the recently deceased as more people are aware of this cause.

He added that accords are being reached with airlines so that ice chests carrying organs can be moved at a discounted rate. Previously patients were being moved to the location of the organ.

Tuesday October 3, 2000
Contamination in Tijuana Industries

The Federal  Environmental Protection Department (Procuraduría de Protección al Ambiente, Profepa) states that seven of ten Baja California industrial companies achieve 98% of their waste handling goals.

Alfredo David Siller, subdirector of the state's Environmental Verification Office (Verificación Ambiental), assures that Baja California has one of the nation's highest rates for properly treating industrial waste. He added that 890 industrial companies exist in the state.  Ninety-eight percent of them achieve Mexico's official environmental levels, which are mandated by Profepa. 

Siller highlighted that in states like Baja California where there is a large concentration of maquiladoras there tends to be better treatment of industrial waste.  Siller runs the second annual "Eco Tijuana 2000"  conference which featured many work groups and workshops pertaining to maintaining the environment.

Monday, October 2, 2000
BC Environmental Report

The Baja California Director of Ecology Adolfo González Calvillo said that the state and the federal government need to cooperate more as BC does not know how toxic waste moves through the state. González wants to create a map and know where waste goes as it travels across Baja California. Because the federal government regulates toxic waste the state has limited participation in this process, "although in theory the federal government should consult with the state whenever they authorize the opening of a high-risk business."

González said that in 2001 the governments of large cities will be able to regulate the routes and times of toxic waste shipments through their cities.

In regard to the state's goal of reducing air pollution in major cities by 30%, González said that the state has not had much success. In Tijuana, there has been a 7% reduction in air pollution while in Méxicali the reduction has been only 3%.

A positive note is that 35% of industrial waste in the state is recycled, most of it iron. This amounts to 20,000 tons per month. Recycling is promoted in BC by inspecting plants. "Instead of fining companies we seek a dialogue to convince plants of the importance of recycling," said González.