News Summary for June 6th, 2009

A terrible terrible tragedy in Hermosillo. As of right now (00:54 Saturday June 6th) 31 babies and toddlers have died after a nursery caught on fire in Hermosillo, Sonora. Still no details as to what happened, but there are reports that more then 30 children are getting medical attention, some of them are gravely ill. As we get more information, we will be posting the latest. (Comment: I can´t describe the profound sadness. My hometown is Hermosillo, and I have been on and off the phone for the last couple of hours. I just can´t imagine how a community can lose more then 30 children. ¿How will these families, their neighbors, the entire city recuperate from this tragedy?)

++ In more news…Washington announced a new all-encompassing strategy to fight drug trafficking on the border with Mexico… The U.S. government will invest 15 billion dollars, 10 times more than what has been funneled into the Mérida Intitiative.

++ Army troops arrested six more members of the Monterrey police force on the fifth day of operations in Nuevo León to arrest police agents linked to organized crime.

++ Authorities ordered the temporary arrest of six agents and the head of the Transit Department of Veracruz, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Maritime Customs Office administrator Francisco Serrano Aramoni, who has gone missing.

++ Aviacsa obtained a legal protection that restored flight operations that had been ordered suspended by the Communications and Transportation Secretariat last Tuesday… Aviacsa said it was very likely flights would be resumed shortly…

++ Trying to fend off a “blank vote” campaign, national leaders of the country’s political parties will on Monday come together in a joint taped video message to urge citizens to vote in midterm elections on July 5th.

++ As part of World Environment Day, President Felipe Calderón presented the Special Climate Change Program that aims to notably reduce carbon dioxide emissions – the goal is 50 million tons of the gas, starting now.

++ Eleven schools in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, might have to suspend classes because of suspected A H1N1 outbreak of influenza cases. Two Guatemalan citizens detained in the San Luis Potosí immigration office were found to be suffering from A H1N1 influenza.

News Summary for June 5th, 2009

++ Federal police agents in Hidalgo captured two out of 53 prisoners who escaped from prison on May 16 at the Cieneguillas penitentiary in Zacatecas.

++ Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora said the Attorney General’s Office did not violate Michoacán’s sovereignty during the operation on May 26 to arrest dozens of officials allegedly linked to narcotics traffickers… Medina-Mora said the operation was carried out in keeping with the Constitution.

++ On the fourth day of military operations in Nuevo León to arrest corrupt policemen, soldiers detained another five police officers in Montemorelos and Allende.

++ Businessman Alejandro Martí went before a judge to ratify his lawsuit against the kidnappers and murderers of his son Fernando Martí… This week marks a year since 14-year-old Fernando Martí Haik was kidnapped….

++ Authorities found 11 bodies inside a car abandoned on the side of an international highway in Caborca, Sonora.

++ Civil Aeronautics said that Aviacsa airline is not only showing technical problems in several of its planes, but there is also a broader structural problem… The airline will remain grounded until it solves the problem… Civil Aeronautics said Aviacsa cannot guarantee security on its flight operations, so it has been suspended.

++ The National Population Council said that remittances from Mexicans in the United States to Mexico dropped by 8.5 percent in the first quarter.

++ Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard said an influenza outbreak in a school in the Cuatepec area of the Gustavo A. Madero borough has been brought under control… He said seven children have received medical care, but that the Mexico City government will continue to follow health measures, in coordination with school staff.

News Summary for June 4th, 2009

++Local and federal PAN lawmakers, led by Senator Gustavo Madero accused Chihuahua governor José Reyes Baeza of protecting drug traffickers and kidnappers… They also accused him of sending political adversaries to prison… Madero and the other PAN legislators said they would file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office accusing Reyes Baeza of covering up illicit activities. The Chihuahua governor dismissed the accusations and called for evidence.

++ Tabasco’s Deputy Attorney General Alex Álvarez Gutiérrez resigned after an attack. Banner surfaced in Villahermosa accusing him of links to organized crime.

++ Military operations continued in Nuevo León… Arrests of allegedly crooked cops were set to continue in the cities of Santa Catarina, García and Salinas Victoria. Four police officers who had been arrested on Tuesday as part of the sweeps, were set free.

++ Electoral councilor Marco Gómez accused IFE of failing to act in connection to evident violations of electoral law, worse than in 2006… He criticized IFE for being blind to the evident links between president Calderón’s speeches and PAN announcements.

++ After a week, the Congressional Permanent Committee, with an abstention of the part of PRI, approved PAN deputy Benjamín González Roaro’s request for indefinite leave of absence from Congress… It is expected that González Roaro will be appointed as new director of the National Lottery.

News Summary for June 3rd, 2009

++ As he headed the 26th session of the National Public Security Council President Felipe Calderón had harsh words for those “traitors” who offer protection to criminals from within government institutions… He said nobody, at any level, is above prosecution…

++ The federal government announced plans to build 12 new prisons that will be franchised to the private sector… This with the intention of reducing overcrowding in Mexican prisons…

++ Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont said the federal government has fulfilled the 36 pledges it made last year when the National Accord for Security, Justice and Legality was signed… He said the battle against organized crime must go beyond ideologies and rulers…

++ Businessman Alejandro Martí, whose son was kidnapped and killed last year in a case that shocked the nation, said that good intentions are not enough and that changes are coming about very slowly.

++ Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, speaking on behalf of all PRD governors, took the government to task for failing to inform Michoacán governor Leonel Godoy that an operation would be launched to arrest 30 government officials, among them 10 mayors.

++ A military sweep in Nuevo León that began on Monday has already led to 59 arrests of police officers and officials in charge of state public security.

++ PAN national leader Germán Martínez suggested three debates prior to the midterm elections on July 5th: Martínez said there should be a debate between PAN and PRI, another between PAN and PRD and a third between PRI and PRD. PRD head Jesús Ortega said he would not take part in a debate only with Beatriz Paredes, head of the PRI, because he said, the country needs to know proposals being put forth by all three major parties.

News Summary for June 2d, 2009

++ From Michoacan to Nuevo Leon. Mexican Army soldiers arrested 27 municipal and state police officers in Nuevo León who are accused of links to organized crime.

++ Back to Michoacan…The Michoacán Congress will wait for the 40 days to be over of temporary detainment ordered for 30 state officials, amongst them 10 mayors, to decide whether the mayors should be removed from their jobs…

++ Who is scared of the big bad wolf? President Felipe Calderón threatened all public servants who betray Mexico by associating themselves with drug traffickers… He said they will be punished… Calderón said the power to corrupt on the part of narcos knows no party lines, nor government hierarchies…


++ Don’t you dare think that we hang out thugs and riff raff…PRD national leader PRD Jesús Ortega said his party will not tolerate any member of the party who is mixed up with criminal rings… He called on authorities to take a global approach to the problem, without using the issue as a way to earn votes in midterm elections…

++ Question: Is this really a good idea? Dismantling the Federal Preventive Police and creating the Federal Police officially became law after a decree was published in the Daily Journal of the Federation… The new force will follow orders from the Public Security Secretariat and will have jurisdiction to carry out detective work, to ask a judge to authorize telephone tapping and undercover operations.

++ The best fight in town! PAN vs. PAN….Former PAN president Manuel Espino called on current PAN leader Germán Martínez to cut down on the theatrics and center his campaign on the values, ideas and proposals that have always been at the heart of PAN’s platform.

++ Some good news…The Mexican Stock Exchange rose 3.18 percent, its highest level since October 1.

++ Candidates don´t care. We knew that! Coparmex president Ricardo González Sada reprimanded parties and their candidates for failing to pledge to approve structural reforms the country needs to reach 6-percent growth rates and create on average 1 million jobs per year.