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| Freedom of Information act for Mexico; Transparency Act |
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| I have read too (as stated above) about reduction in procentage of population under poverty line and also inflation, and increase in general "adquisitional power" (sorry, canīt think of the English term there), but would be interested in some comparitive stats on the subject if anyone has them. |
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| However, to get back to here and now, hasnīt the Fox admin. been somewhat inept in working on the drug mafia and corruption up north around the US boarder? |
| QUOTE (Deltasix @ Jul 3 2005, 11:01 PM) |
| I would balme it more on the Justice System than on Fox himself. Fox has been trying very hard to crack down on the Drug trade, but he isn't getting much help from the Judicary, which Fox wants to overhaul, but which the still mostly PRI controled congress doesn't want to see done. |
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| I seem to remember Bush getting pissy with Martin about Canadian beef imports - just to be antagonistic - but may be totally wrong there |
| QUOTE (Nevin) |
| Lord knows what the real motivation of the Bush administration was, but I suspect it was either related to not supporting the States or was merely done for economic gain. |
| QUOTE (Lorpius Prime @ Jul 9 2005, 03:35 PM) |
| It was done because voters are ridiculously paranoid about such things. Japan did the same to the US when we had our mad-cow incidents, and we were just as (rightly) angered as the Canadians were. |
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| A Mexican court ruled on Tuesday there was insufficient evidence to try former President Luis Echeverria for genocide in a 1971 student massacre, ending a long legal battle to put him behind bars for the bloodshed. It was a major setback in President Vicente Fox's drive to punish those responsible for state repression during 71 years of single-party rule that ended with his election in 2000. |
| QUOTE (steviemadrid @ Jul 6 2005, 09:45 PM) |
| [SNIP]...is that the alienation came from both the North and South sides of the NAFTA agreement. [SNIP] I was wondering (and would be interested to hear from others) whether this caused much friction with Mexico/Canada or not...[SNIP] |
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| Mexican Campaign Focuses on Migration By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer 16 minutes ago MEXICO CITY - Mexico's presidential campaign is focusing on the millions who leave for better-paying jobs in the United States, with candidates promising to create better opportunities at home while railing against American immigration policies. Illegal migration should again seize the spotlight Thursday, when the three major presidential hopefuls begin official campaigning after a Christmas break mandated by the country's electoral body. Although they disagree on almost everything else, the top candidates for the July 2 election have all pledged to bolster the economy and attract international investment to make Mexican jobs attractive enough to keep people from heading north. President Vicente Fox made the same promises before his 2000 election, but migration continued unabated. Fox had said he would expand the economy by 7 percent a year. When economic doldrums struck worldwide after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, however, the president was forced to downgrade his domestic growth forecasts. The current administration also struggled for a migration accord with Washington that would grant legal status to many of the estimated 6 million undocumented Mexicans in the United States. But no agreement is likely before Fox leaves office on Dec. 1. He is limited by the constitution to a single six-year term. Mexican politicians have been promising for decades to reduce migration to the United States, but simply creating new jobs isn't enough, political analyst Jose Antonio Crespo said. "Many illegal (migrants) are now more educated and have opportunities in Mexico but prefer jobs in the United States," he said. "Even with illegal jobs, the pay is higher." The migration issue will be most visible Thursday when presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo holds a rally in Izucar de Matamoros, referred to by some as a ghost town because much of its population has left for the United States. Madrazo, whose Institutional Revolutionary Party controlled Mexico's presidency from its founding in 1929 until losing to Fox, says he is serious about keeping would-be migrants from leaving Mexico in a way the current administration and seven decades of governments controlled by his party were not. For months, the race's front-runner has been Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who resigned as Mexico City's mayor to run for president with the leftist Democratic Revolution Party. His lead has diminished in recent months, however. A poll published Wednesday by the Mexico City daily Milenio had the former mayor ahead with 37 percent compared to 31 percent for Felipe Calderon of Fox's National Action Party. Madrazo was one point behind Calderon. The newspaper interviewed 1,000 adults from across Mexico between Jan. 12 and 16. The margin of error was 3.2 percentage points. Lopez Obrador is opening his campaign in Metlatonoc, a southern town with the lowest standard of living in Mexico as measured by a 2004 U.N. report on Human Development. Lopez Obrador says it pains him to see Mexicans risk their lives sneaking across the U.S. border. He says economic reform is not about ideology but necessity. Mexicans have condemned a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would build 700 miles of additional border fences in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The proposal also would make illegal entry a felony and enlist military and local police to help stop undocumented migrants. "It has intensified the issue, and anti-American sentiment is growing," Crespo said. "A wall is very symbolic and sends a message." Calderon has said that "instead of labor going to where the capital is, we will make it so investment comes here to where our people are." That is good news to Samuel Chavez, a Mexico City engineer who has two uncles and four cousins living illegally in California. "Fox said the right things but we need a candidate who can bring home a migration agreement," he said. "Mexico needs results, not good intentions." Crespo and other analysts say Mexican limits on foreign investment in the oil industry and other key sectors have hindered a cash infusion from abroad that might spur true economic reform. |
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| The Mexican government and military committed "crimes against humanity" in the so-called "dirty war" against left-wing rebels, a leaked report says. The report was prepared for current President Vicente Fox but has not been released. A US NGO has printed material saying Mexicans had a right to know. The army kidnapped, tortured and killed hundreds of rebel suspects, says the report, which covers 1964 to 1982. Mexico's special prosecutor says the report is biased and has been revised. 'Death flights' The draft report's authors write: "The authoritarian attitude with which the Mexican state wished to control social dissent created a spiral of violence which... led it to commit crimes against humanity, including genocide." They say they base their findings partly on declassified military, police and interior ministry documents and list for the first time the names of officers allegedly involved in the abuses. The report says that units detained or summarily executed men and boys in villages suspected of links to rebel leader Lucio Cabanas. Detainees were forced to drink gasoline and tortured with beatings and electric shocks, it says. Bodies of dozens of leftists were dumped in the Pacific Ocean during helicopter "death flights" from military bases in Acapulco and elsewhere. Mr Fox set up an office in 2002 to probe possible human rights violations under the administrations of Presidents Diaz Ordaz (1964-70), Echeverria (1970-76) and Lopez Portillo (1976-82). The office presented the report to the special prosecutor investigating past abuses on 15 December but it was not released. The Washington-based National Security Archive, a research institute on international affairs, has posted what it says is the draft report on its website. Kate Doyle, director of the archive's Mexico Project, criticised the failure to make the report public. "[This] is a state of affairs reminiscent of Mexico's past, when citizens were routinely shut out of civic participation by a government determined to keep them in the dark," she said. The Mexican special prosecutor, Ignacio Carrillo Prieto, has said the draft report is biased and places too much blame on the military without pointing to the abuses committed by the rebels. He says the president is to be given a revised version on Monday that will later be published. Mr Carillo has tried unsuccessfully to bring genocide charges against Mr Echeverria for allegedly ordering a massacre of student protesters in 1968. The ex-president has denied any wrongdoing. |
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| Mexico's president has rejected as invalid a leaked draft of a report into accusations of state repression in the "dirty war" more than two decades ago. In a BBC interview, Vicente Fox also made it clear that once the document is officially published next month, there would be no further investigation. The Supreme Court had established it was too late to prosecute, he added. Authorities are alleged to have killed or tortured hundreds of suspected left-wingers in the 1960s and 1970s. The document awaiting official publication will be the final report by a prosecutor, Ignacio Carrillo, appointed by Mr Fox to investigate what became known as the "dirty war". "He will have to render his report. It will be placed in an open, public place," the Mexican president told the BBC. "That will be there for history, but legally it's over." Mr Carillo said earlier that the document would be published in April, and it would not be dissimilar to the leaked version. "It's not going to totally contradict the draft," he told reporters. His work is concluding ahead of the presidential election in July 2006, after which Mr Fox leaves office. 'Electric shocks' Earlier this week, a Mexican Magazine and the Washington-based National Security Archive printed material saying Mexicans had a right to know. The leaked report - which covers 1964 to 1982 and is based partly on declassified Mexican military documents - alleged that the Mexican government and military committed "crimes against humanity". It said units detained or summarily executed men and boys in villages suspected of links to rebel leader Lucio Cabanas. Detainees were forced to drink gasoline and tortured with beatings and electric shocks. Bodies of dozens of leftists were dumped in the Pacific Ocean during helicopter "death flights" from military bases in Acapulco and elsewhere, the leaked report added. Mr Fox set up an office in 2002 to probe possible human rights violations under the administrations of presidents Gustavo Diaz Ordaz (1964-70), Luis Echeverria (1970-76) and Jose Lopez Portillo (1976-82). The office presented the report to the special prosecutor investigating past abuses on 15 December, but it was not released. Correspondents say Mr Carrillo's work was thwarted by legal obstacles and a lack of resources, and he himself has recently described it as deficient. The fatal blow came when the Mexican Supreme Court rejected Mr Carrillo's attempt to bring to trial former senior officials, including ex-president Echeverria, saying that legally it was too late for prosecutions. |
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| Mexico leftist has slim early lead in vote recount MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had an early, narrow lead over his conservative rival on Wednesday in a recount of a contested election. Results on display at the Federal Electoral Institute showed Lopez Obrador had 37.05 percent of the vote with results in from 36.6 percent of polling stations. Ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon was second with 34.38 percent. It was too soon to say whether the trend would hold. Preliminary results earlier this week from Sunday's election gave Calderon a lead of about 0.6 percentage points over Lopez Obrador. |
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| Mexico candidate vows vote fight Mexico's centre-left presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he will challenge the outcome of Sunday's presidential election. Final results have confirmed a razor-thin victory for his conservative rival, Felipe Calderon. Mr Lopez Obrador said he would appeal to the courts, and urged his supporters to rally on Saturday in Mexico City. Mr Calderon, however, said he would take office as president and vowed to work for all Mexicans. "The election is behind us. It is time for unity and agreement among Mexicans," he told a noisy crowd of supporters at the headquarters of his ruling National Action Party. The results came after electoral officials worked around the clock to verify ballots from the 2 July poll. The final tally showed that just a few thousand votes separated the two men. Mr Calderon finished with 35.88%, against 35.31% for Mr Lopez Obrador, the candidate of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and former mayor of Mexico City. Preliminary results after Sunday's election had given a lead of 0.6% to Mr Calderon but Mr Lopez Obrador refused to concede. Mr Lopez Obrador is repeating his demand for ballot-by-ballot recount of the 41 million votes. "We are going to the Federal Electoral Tribunal with the same demand - that the votes be counted - because we cannot accept these results," he said, adding that there had been "many irregularities". His supporters wept in the streets as the final results emerged, and vowed not to let him be robbed of the presidency, the Associated Press news agency reported. Mexicans divided  Mexico seems set for weeks of legal wrangling reminiscent of the challenges that followed the US election in 2000. Once the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) announces the official result, candidates have four days to lodge a legal complaint with the electoral court. The Federal Electoral Tribunal, the ultimate arbiter of disputes, has until early September to certify the winner. The extremely close result only confirms the divisions that exist between the right and left of Mexican politics, says the BBC's Daniel Lak in Mexico City. The poor and working class voters who support Mr Lopez Obrador with almost fanatical devotion are being told that the election and the country have been stolen from them, our correspondent says. Mr Calderon's backers in the middle and upper classes and the business community will be relieved that their candidate has apparently won, but apprehensive about the confrontation and possible unrest to come, he adds. The successor to President Vicente Fox is due to be inaugurated on 1 December. |
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| Obrador vows to keep up protests Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called on supporters to march on the electoral tribunal to demand a full vote recount. Mr Lopez Obrador rejected the tribunal's decision to recount votes from only 9% of polling stations. "We don't want a portion of democracy. We want 100% democracy," he told thousands of supporters in Mexico City. Mr Lopez Obrador lost the 2 July vote to his conservative rival by just half of one percentage point, results show. For the past week his supporters have been camped out in central Mexico City as part of a campaign of "civil disobedience" to demand a full "vote-by-vote" recount. 'Not in vain' Mr Lopez Obrador told tens of thousands of supporters in the city's vast Zocalo Square on Sunday: "This week we are going to carry out actions of resistance." The fight, he added, would "possibly will take more time, but will not be in vain". Mr Lopez Obrador urged followers to march on the electoral tribunal headquarters on Monday, and to keep up their sit-in of the Zocalo Square and main Reforma Avenue. The sit-ins have snarled up much of the centre of the city for the last week. Results from the July election showed that Mr Lopez Obrador lost to Felipe Calderon by less than 0.6 of a percentage point - or about 240,000 votes out of a total electorate of 41 million. UN and EU observers pronounced the election free and fair. However Mr Lopez Obrador presented some 900 pages of alleged evidence of electoral irregularities to the Federal Electoral Tribunal in the hope that it would order a full recount. But on Saturday the tribunal ruled that only the results from 11,839 polling stations - of a total of 130,500 - should be recounted, beginning on Wednesday. The tribunal has until 6 September to make its final ruling on the winner. |
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| Mexico poll protests turn violent Mexican riot police fired tear gas and used clubs to break up a protest by supporters of left-wing presidential challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Leftist lawmakers were among at least 30 people injured in the scuffles outside Congress in Mexico City. Mr Lopez Obrador's supporters have been camped out in protest at the 2 July election they say was stolen by conservative rival Felipe Calderon. This is the first time the authorities have used force on the protesters. Mr Lopez Obrador later told his supporters that the events showed the authorities are "taking off their masks and putting aside their talk of supposed legality and respect". Mr Lopez Obrador lost the election by 240,000 votes. He alleged fraud, and has since led a mass civil disobedience campaign to demand a full recount. A court-imposed recount of votes from 9% of polling centres has been completed but the result has not yet been announced. Mr Calderon told a news conference he was confident the recount would confirm his victory, and called on Mr Lopez Obrador to "reconsider his attitude". Violence broke out as left-wing protesters tried to set up a camp outside Congress ahead of the outgoing President Vicente Fox's last state-of-the-nation address on 1 September. Stones were thrown at lines of police who fired back with tear gas. "They hit us all, they fired gas at us. I still haven't recovered from the tear gas," Elias Moreno of Mr Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) said. The federal police said they had followed guidelines but that the protesters had been blocking access to Congress. They called on the protesters to "demonstrate within the bounds of the law". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4793271.stm |
