Mexico Week In Review: 07.02-07.08

[cisdc]

Mexico Week In Review: 07.02-07.08
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Published since 1994, 'Mexico Week In Review' is a service of the
Committee of Indigenous Solidarity (CIS).  CIS is a Washington, D.C.
based activist group committed to the ongoing struggles of Indigenous
peoples in the Americas.  CIS is actively supporting the struggles
of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico while simultaneously combating
related structures of oppression within our own communities.

To view newsletter archives, visit: 
http://lists.mutualaid.org/pipermail/mexico-week/

"Para Todos, Todo; Para Nosotros Nada"
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BORDER NEWS: DEATHS ON THE BORDER

An unauthorized migrant drowned in a border canal in El Paso, Texas 
on June 27 after a US Border Patrol agent trying to rescue him was 
hit in the head with a rock thrown by a suspected smuggler, Border 
Patrol officials said. The agent, who was not identified, fired at 
least one shot at the suspected smuggler and at another would-be 
immigrant, who fled back into Mexico, Border Patrol spokesperson 
Patrick Berry said. It was unclear how many shots the agent fired or 
whether either of the fleeing men were hit by bullets. The drowned 
man's body was found in the canal more than four miles east of where 
the agents saw him go under the water, Berry said. The shooting is 
under investigation; it was the third involving a Border Patrol agent 
in the El Paso area this year.

On June 25, Border Patrol agents found the body of a possible 
unauthorized migrant in the Altar Valley southwest of Tucson. It was 
the 11th body found over a 12-day period. Agents found six bodies 
from June 18 to 22. From the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1 to 
June 26, there were 109 known deaths of border crossers in the Border 
Patrol's Tucson sector, compared with 116 the same time last year. 
 From June 29 through the morning of July 2, Border Patrol Tucson 
Sector officials confirmed the deaths of two migrant women, and the 
discovery of skeletal remains of a third presumed migrant whose sex 
could not be determined. Daily temperatures have been exceeding 100 
degrees in the area; most of the deaths appear to be heat-related. On 
the afternoon of July 2, Border Patrol agents found the body of a 
26-year-old Mexican woman about 60 miles southwest of Tucson on the 
Tohono O'odham Reservation. A search for a missing companion was 
unsuccessful. The woman was the 16th border crosser whose remains had 
been found over the past 18 days.  On July 4 a badly decomposed 
body--presumed to be another border crosser--was found in the Altar 
Valley.

On June 26, two suspected unauthorized migrants were killed after the 
driver of a pickup truck fleeing the Border Patrol swerved into 
oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into another vehicle on a 
winding, rural road near Ocotillo, about 70 miles east of San Diego 
in southern California. Authorities said the pickup carried eight 
suspected unauthorized migrants from Mexico, including the man and 
woman who died. Several other people were seriously injured in the 
crash, including two people in the other vehicle. The Border Patrol 
said agents used spike strips in an unsuccessful attempt to puncture 
the pickup's tires, and halted their pursuit of the pickup after 
reaching the speed limit of 55 miles per hour. Agents said they later 
spotted a plume of smoke several miles away and found the pickup in 
flames on a two-lane road. But Pablo Arnaud, Mexico's consul in 
Calexico, said survivors told Mexican officials that a green and 
white vehicle--the Border Patrol's colors--pursued the truck until 
the crash. According to Arnaud, the driver ignored the passengers' 
pleas to slow down. The driver suffered moderate injuries and will be 
charged with felony vehicular manslaughter.

Source: Immigration News Briefs: 07/07
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REMITTANCES UP IN MAY

Remittances sent by Mexicans abroad amounted to 9.5 billion dollars 
in May, an increase of 1.67 percent, the Bank of Mexico reported. The 
institution affirmed the total remittances that month is more than 40 
percent of the 23 billion dollars registered all last year. May's 
remittances were also 2.17 billion dollars more than May of 2006. 
Experts estimate remittances in 2007 might amount to 24 billion 
dollars.

Source: Prensa Latina: 07/02
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CHIAPAS: POOREST STATE; OFFICIALS SAY POVERTY LEVELS VARY GREATLY BY GEOGRAPHY

Poverty affects nearly half of Mexico's population, but levels vary 
significantly throughout the country, reaching their highest in the 
southeast, officials said. The southern state of Chiapas, with a 75.7 
percent poverty rate, is Mexico's poorest, while the northern border 
state of Baja California has the lowest poverty, at 9.2 percent, 
according to The National Council for the Evaluation of Social 
Development Policy.

The council released data in the form of maps that, for the first 
time, pinpointed poverty rates at the local and statewide level in 
the country's 31 states and the capital, Mexico City. According to 
the maps, which the council based on national poverty figures in 
2005, the poorest states after Chiapas are Guerrero, Oaxaca and 
Tabasco. All three are in the south and have poverty rates of at 
least 59 percent.

The least impoverished states, besides Baja California, are Baja 
California Sur and the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon, with 
respective poverty rates of 27.5 percent and 23.5 percent. Mexico 
city places third with 31.8 percent.

In 2005, poverty affected nearly 45 million people in Mexico, or 
about 47 percent of its population. Of that number, 18.2 percent live 
in conditions of "extreme poverty," described as being too poor to 
even feed one's family. "Mexico is a country of great contrasts. ... 
The inequality is embarrassing," council representative Juan Angel 
Rivera said.

Source: Associated Press: 07/04
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THOUSANDS RALLY FOR LOPEZ OBRADOR

A year after losing Mexico's presidential election, leftist leader 
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador proved he can still draw a crowd, filling 
the capital's central square with tens of thousands of supporters 
eager for his message of relief and justice for the country's poor. 
"The people of Mexico have a heart that is collectivist, free and 
progressive," Lopez Obrador, 53, said to cheering supporters who 
waited hours for his 1 p.m. arrival at the city's sprawling Zocalo. 
"A year after the election fraud we can say with pride that the right 
and their allies were mistaken," he added. "We are still here and 
will continue, convinced more than ever of the need for an 
alternative path."

The charismatic former mayor of Mexico City lost the election to 
conservative Felipe Calderon by less than half a percentage point, a 
margin that he and supporters allege was the result of electoral 
fraud by a coalition of conservative ideologues and big businesses. 
Outraged Lopez Obrador supporters camped on the city's main boulevard 
for weeks last summer. Their demand for a full recount of ballots was 
refused by electoral judges, who declared Calderon the winner. 
Calderon took office Dec. 1. As many as a third of Mexicans still 
believe the election was stolen, according to recent polls. "What can 
I tell you? It was a fraud," said Candelaria Chavez Mendez, 65, while 
waiting for Lopez Obrador to take the stage in front of the National 
Palace. "They declared the wrong man the winner." But a national poll 
last week showed that if a presidential election were held now, 
Calderon would trounce Lopez Obrador, 44% to 18%.

Analysts are divided over the lingering importance of Lopez Obrador 
as a national political leader. Some say he blew his formidable lead 
in the months before the election and concocted the electoral fraud 
charges as a flimsy cover. After his defeat, Lopez Obrador compounded 
matters by launching a quixotic "alternative government," forgoing a 
chance to negotiate a legislative agenda with Calderon's 
administration. Instead, some say, he turned to political theater, 
declaring himself Mexico's "legitimate president" in a ceremony that 
drew ridicule. But Lopez Obrador's no-compromise attitude on behalf 
of the poor is a large part of his appeal, according to more 
sympathetic analysts. It's no secret he was hated by big business and 
former President Vicente Fox. Rich donors gave generously to defeat 
him. Wealthy families warned they'd leave Mexico if Lopez Obrador 
won. Fox tried to have Lopez Obrador knocked out of the presidential 
election, alleging misconduct while Lopez Obrador was still mayor. 
The federal charge was dropped after legal scrutiny and mass 
protests, and the political war became a personal one.

Many Mexicans believe that only tough guys can take on the rich. And 
the last year has cemented Lopez Obrador's image as a fighter, with 
his allegations of electoral fraud now ingrained in Mexican folklore. 
"There will be no negotiations with the right," Lopez Obrador said 
Sunday. "Am I clear?" But whether he can hold his Democratic 
Revolution Party, known as the PRD, to this strict declaration is not 
so clear.

Some party members don't believe the PRD can grow by trying to kill 
off Calderon proposals though 2012, when his term ends. One test of 
Lopez Obrador's influence will be seen in the progress of the 
president's proposed tax reform. Calderon wants to close loopholes 
for business and create a 19% minimum income tax rate to shift the 
government's dependence on dwindling oil revenue. But Lopez Obrador 
said that the proposal wouldn't get any support from the PRD unless 
it includes cuts in government spending. Taking a line from U.S. 
Republicans, Lopez Obrador said tax hikes translate into fewer jobs. 
"We don't want the government rich and the people poor," he said.

Even with a new wife and baby boy, Lopez Obrador maintains a schedule 
carried over from his campaign: Meeting with officials and conducting 
party business in Mexico City from Monday through Wednesday, then 
traveling to cities and towns Thursday through Sunday, to support 
local PRD candidates and make speeches on behalf of his alternative 
government movement. His image still sells. On Sunday, people hawked 
Lopez Obrador ballpoint pens, pennants, hats, bandannas, T-shirts, 
key rings, bottle openers, lapel pins, even clocks with Lopez Obrador 
wearing the presidential sash. Copies of his newly published book, 
"The Mafia Stole the Presidency from Us," were sold from stands and 
by itinerant vendors. Being one of the country's most revered 
leftists, however, does not protect Lopez Obrador from the country's 
ubiquitous black market. A speaker at the podium warned supporters to 
buy copies of his book from authorized stands for 100 pesos (about 
$9), rather than the 10-peso version being sold elsewhere.

Source: Los Angeles Times: 07/02
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PEMEX AWARDS FIRST SERVICE CONTRACT FOR OIL DRILLING

Petroleos Mexicanos awarded its first service contract to a private 
company, for managing drilling in the Ebano-Panuco field, as the 
state-run company seeks ways to halt a production decline. Pemex, as 
the company is known, awarded a 10-year contract to a group led by 
Mexico's Grupo Diavaz to run the oil field with a goal of more than 
doubling production to 15,000 barrels per day, said Carlos Morales, 
chief of Pemex's exploration and production unit. Pemex plans to 
offer four more oilfield-service contracts this year, he said. "We 
haven't done anything like this," Morales said in a June 29 interview 
during a conference in Veracruz. "These are similar to the contracts 
we've done in natural gas." The value of the contract wasn't 
disclosed.

Pemex, the third-largest oil supplier to the U.S., is seeking to 
maintain crude-oil production at 3.1 million barrels per day and add 
proven reserves equivalent to 100 percent of production over the next 
six years. Pemex's daily oil production has fallen every year since 
reaching a high of 3.38 million barrels in 2004 as output declines 
accelerated at its Cantarell offshore field. Last year, Pemex 
produced 3.26 million barrels of oil a day as Cantarell's output 
tumbled 12 percent to 1.79 million barrels a day. This year, Pemex 
forecasts Cantarell will produce 15 percent less.

Results from the contract for Ebano-Panuco, which was first tapped 
more than seven decades ago when foreign companies operated in Mexico 
with few restrictions, will be used to determine whether the practice 
is extended to a region known as Chicontepec, Morales said. 
Chicontepec, which comprises thousands of oil pockets tucked in the 
rugged terrain of southeastern Mexico, is one of two areas the 
company hopes will make up for the decline at Cantarell, Morales 
said. The other area is a group of offshore fields known as 
Ku-Maloob-Zaap. Pemex hasn't pumped much oil from Chicontepec, which 
was first discovered in 1926, because the region requires the use of 
specialized technology.

The contracts for oil drilling in so-called mature fields such as 
Ebano-Panuco will test whether private companies can boost oil 
production in areas that have languished because of higher drilling 
costs. Pemex expects the private companies, with more flexibility in 
their operations, to increase daily production from a group of about 
10 mature fields by 200,000 barrels from 75,000 barrels now in about 
four years, Morales said. The companies will oversee Pemex union 
workers at the fields and will submit a drilling program each year to 
Pemex for approval, Morales said. "The specialists here have to have 
a focus in this area," he said. "They have to have very low costs."

Contracts with private companies to drill in northern Mexico for 
natural gas that's not found with crude oil helped Pemex increase 
daily gas production to 5.36 billion cubic feet last year from 4.42 
billion cubic feet in 2002. For the first five months of this year, 
gas production has averaged 5.87 billion cubic feet per day. Pemex 
began offering contracts for drilling for natural gas in the Burgos 
Basin in 2003 to companies including Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA. 
A group of senators, led by former Senator Manuel Bartlett, asked the 
Supreme Court to rescind the contracts, saying they violated Mexico's 
Constitution, which puts the state in control of hydrocarbon 
production. Pemex stopped offering new contracts in 2005 while the 
court considered the challenge. The court subsequently upheld the 
contracts, and Pemex resumed offering gas contracts this year.

Source: Bloomberg: 07/02
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GOVERNMENT DENIES DRUG SUSPECT'S ALLEGATIONS

It was the largest seizure of cash in the history of drug 
enforcement: $207 million, mostly in crisp $100 bills, stuffed into 
walls, closets and suitcases in the Mexico City home of a 
Chinese-born businessman. Zhenli Ye Gon told The Associated Press 
that most of the money belonged to Mexico's ruling party. He said 
party officials delivered it last summer in duffel bags stuffed with 
$5 million apiece and threatened to kill him unless he guarded their 
cash. In a statement, the Mexican government called his tale "a 
perverse blackmail attempt" aimed at getting himself off on drug, 
weapons and money-laundering charges and at blunting President Felipe 
Calderon's war on drugs, which has mobilized the army and extradited 
a record number of top-level traffickers.

The government says Ye Gon made millions supplying traffickers with 
the raw material to make a pure, highly addictive form of 
methamphetamine that has flooded U.S. markets, and said his story "is 
not only false, it is ridiculous." The statement from the attorney 
general's office, which was a response to a letter sent by Zhenli's 
U.S. lawyer to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, said the lawyer 
demanded special treatment for Ye Gon and suggested he would go 
public with his accusations against the National Action Party (PAN). 
"These lawyers are unscrupulously and uselessly seeking to blackmail 
the Mexican government with absurd and unbelievable accusations, in 
an attempt to discourage the government from bringing all the weight 
of the law to bear against Mr. Zhenli Ye Gon," it said. Eleven 
people, including several of Ye Gon's relatives, have been charged 
with drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico.

Ye Gon met with the AP recently at his lawyer's New York office. The 
44-year-old calmly recounted his version of events, complete with 
mysterious guards and blood-chilling threats. Most of his story about 
his alleged relationship with the ruling party hinges on claims that 
are hard to prove. Ye Gon said he had no prior relationship with the 
National Action Party and has no idea why he was chosen to hold the 
cash. And the name he gave as his main campaign contact doesn't match 
that of anyone who worked on Calderon's national campaign team. Born 
in Shanghai, Ye Gon migrated to Mexico in 1990 and became a citizen 
in 2002. He imported textiles, clothing and shoes, and made a fortune 
as a reseller of commodities seized by Mexican customs. He founded a 
pharmaceutical company, Unimed, in 1997. He said he became one of the 
nation's largest importers of pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in cold 
medicines that is also used to make methamphetamine. After 2004, 
however, Ye Gon said he stopped importing pseudoephedrine because of 
the controls placed on the chemical by the Mexican government. He 
said he has never sold illegal drugs and doesn't even know what meth 
looks like.

Mexico says otherwise. Agents intercepted a ship from China last year 
that purportedly carried more than 19 tons of pseudoephedrine 
acetate, all of it illegally imported by Ye Gon, according to the 
government. Officials say he was building a massive factory in Mexico 
to process the component into a form usable to traffickers. Mexican 
labs already supply about 80 percent of the meth in the U.S. market. 
Ye Gon said the substance on the ship was another, proprietary 
chemical used in cold medicines, and that Mexican officials botched 
the laboratory analysis. He supplied AP with reports from two 
American chemists, including a former official with the U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration, who said the testing procedures were 
severely flawed.

What isn't in dispute about Ye Gon is that he lived the life of a 
high roller. The married Ye Gon squired his mistress around in a 
Lamborghini. During frequent trips to Las Vegas, he said he bet 
$150,000 a hand in baccarat, his favorite game. He was such a 
treasured customer that one of his favorite haunts, The Venetian 
Resort Hotel Casino, gave him a Rolls-Royce. And no wonder: Between 
1997 and 2006, Ye Gon lost nearly $41 million while gambling in the 
U.S., according to a police affidavit filed in Las Vegas. Ye Gon's 
high-rolling ways have been curtailed dramatically since the raid on 
his home. He said all of his bank accounts, including those in Hong 
Kong and the U.S., are frozen. He is staying with a friend in the 
United States but wouldn't say where. "I don't want to live like 
that," he said. "I want to make things clear as soon as possible. If 
the DEA tomorrow asks me, I will go with them, cooperate with them, 
or FBI, or CIA. I'd like to talk with them."

Source: Associated Press: 07/02

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The above articles were originally published and copyrighted by the 
listed sources. These articles are offered for educational purposes 
which CIS maintains is  'fair use' of copyrighted material as 
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

end: Mexico Week In Review: 07.02-07.08
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