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News Summary for September 7th, 2009

New taxes heading your way?

The private sector is proposing a complete restructuring of public finances to apply a 15 percent value-added-tax on food and medicines as well… Business leaders also called for the revenue tax to be eliminated and the single rate or IETU business tax to be kept. Coparmex head Ricardo González Sada said that before reforming the tax system the government should report on whether it has properly spent the current budget.

Rumors are that changes are due this week…

As he celebrated the upcoming independence bicentennial in 2010 and the revolution centennial President Felipe Calderón called on citizens to decide whether they are satisfied with today’s Mexico or whether they want a change. Speaking at the same event Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont said that changes in the government should not be linked to personal interests. (Comment: Mmmm there are rumors that Gomez Mont could become the next Attorney General. Boy, I am sure he does not want that job… In fact who would want to be the next Attorney General?)

So what are you proposing Mr. Presidente?

And Manlio Fabio Beltrones called on Calderón to make good on his rousing speech given as part of his third state of the nation address… Beltrones said he hoped Calderón’s economic program will match the country’s problems. (Comment: What Beltrones is basically saying is: OK Mr. President put your money where your mouth is. You want reforms? Give us your proposals…So we can attack them, change them, and we the PRI get the credit… Je Je Je…)

Expect More of This.

Tabasco local deputy candidate José Francisco Fuentes Esperón was assassinated with his wife and two children… Tabasco GovernorAndrés Granier Melo said there would soon be results from investigations…(Comment: Unfortunately we will be seeing more of these type of political murders.)

Kidnapping Heaven.

Catholic church spokesmen in Chiapas charged that the Los Zetas hired gunmen’s group was planning to kidnap a group of Central American migrants seeking to make it to the United States. (Comment: Is there any doubts regarding the question as to whether Mexico is the number one kidnapping country in the world?)

Expect a Political Show in Morelos.

The PRI caucus and the opposition in the Morelos state legislature agreed on an impeachment trial for state governor Marco Antonio Adame…

It is coming.

Health Secretary José Ángel Córdova Villalobos said that the A H1N1 influenza outbreak is under control… He said health officials are readying for a new outbreak expected in the winter. (Comment: Are we really ready? Are you ready?)

Thirsty and mean.

The Mexico City government acknowledged the city’s 11 penitentiaries are severely overcrowded with excess population at 110-percent. (Comment: That’s all we need in Mexico City overcrowded prisons with no water.)

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News Summary for the most important news this week...

++ President Felipe Calderón presented his Third state of the nation address at the National Palace and not before Congress as was customary. A 10 point reform package that seeks to bring about progress in fields such as poverty, health, education and public finances through greater fiscal revenues was put forward. President Calderón urged profound changes with the risks and costs they imply.
++ In the written report of the President´s speech, the Attorney General’s Office charged that over the last year drug cartels recruited minors to be drug pushers.
++ In economic news, Bank of Mexico governor Guillermo Ortiz said there will be no immediate improvement in economic production this year.
++ The richest man in Mexico, businessman Carlos Slim said the crisis is economic and not financial… He said that because of that banks have resources they could invest in infrastructure and development, to create jobs and soften the economic blow.
++ British Petroleum announced it discovered a huge oil field in deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico… More tests are needed to ascertain precise volumes, but they could amount to more than 3 billion barrels of crude.
++ Hurricane Jimena, caused severe damage in Comondú and Puerto de San Carlos in the northern part of Baja California Sur, and in Empalme and Guaymas in Sonora. Paradoxically the rest of the country is suffering from a severe draught.
+++ Fostering international cooperation against crime, the United States and Mexico signed an agreement to launch a border telecommunications network, so as to share information to improve response capability with regard to organized crime. In another border event, Governors from 10 Border States in the United States and Mexico were meeting in Monterrey, Nuevo León, to move ahead with the Plan for Competitive and Sustainable Development of the United States–Mexico Border Region: 2030 Vision.
++In drug related news, Michoacán deputy public security Secretary José Manuel Revueltas was executed in Morelia together with his two bodyguards and an armed commando shot and killed 18 drug addicts at a drug rehabilitation center in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
++The break within the PRD is becoming more evident. New Left deputies within the PRD demanded that Andrés Manuel López Obrador clarify where he got the 50 million pesos that have allowed him to finance his so-called “legitimate presidency” over the past three years.

News Summary for September 5th, 2009

++ President Felipe Calderón met Chamber of Deputies PRI caucus leader Francisco Rojas to discuss plans to overcome the economic crisis hitting Mexico… Rojas said the meeting had gone well and he had reached an initial agreement to collaborate and continue to meeting and negotiating with Calderón.
++ The Labor Secretariat said Mexico has lost 223,000 jobs this year. (Comment:

++ PRI and PRD senators were highly critical of eight female congresswomen who requested indefinite leave of absence on the first day back in session… They said those kind of actions undermine the Legislative Branch’s prestige…(Comments: these women are giving up their seats to men…)

++ The Federal Electoral Tribunal has let Demetrio Sodi off the hook… He will not be punished for using an interview in May on the air with Televisa during a soccer match to tout his campaign to head the Miguel Hidalgo borough… a race he won. Demetrio Sodi welcomed the court’s decision and called on Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard to let the matter go and work together for the good of Miguel Hidalgo borough.

++ The mayor of Mújica, Michoacán, PRI politician Armando Medina Torres, was arrested on charges of alleged links to organized crime.

++ The Michoacán government will carry out civic activities on September 15 and 16, but there will be no street celebrations on the national holidays, this because of last year’s bombing attacks in Morelia that killed eight people.

++Mexico and the United States agreed to reduce arms and drug trafficking on their common border… This accord came as the Border Governors’ Conference wrapped up. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual said that Obama’s immigration reforms seek to legalize workers and improve their living conditions.

++ Jimena was degraded to a tropical depression after causing flooding that left 75,000 people temporarily out of their homes in Guaymas and Empalme, in Sonora state.

++A very very freak accident: A ray of lightning struck an airplane on Terminal 2 of the Mexico City´s airport injuring four workers.

News Summary for September 5th, 2009

++ The PRI Senate caucus called on President Felipe Calderón to submit within the next 10 days the measures he proposed during his third State of the Nation address.

++ PRI deputies said that most of the proposals made by President Calderón to tackle the economic crisis are part of their own party platform.

++ Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont said that Mexico is not being rocked by instability or social disturbances as a result of the international and local economic crisis.

++ No specific commitments were reached when PAN national president César Nava met with his central-left counterpart of the PRD Jesús Ortega, to find solutions to the nation’s problems.

++ President Calderón submitted to the Senate a draft bill proposing reforms to the Legal Protection or “Amparo” law, so as to permit the use of electronic signatures in trials, in view of the heavy work-load courts are faced with.

++ The Public Office Secretariat completed its investigation into the fire at the ABC day care center in Hermosillo, Sonora, which points to alleged culpability on the part of seven public servants at IMSS.

++ The United States and Mexico signed an agreement to launch a border telecommunications network, so as to share information to improve response capability with regard to organized crime.

++ An armed commando shot and killed 18 drug addicts at a drug rehabilitation center in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua… It was believed it could be a settling of accounts between rival drug gangs.

++ Jacinta Marcial, an Otomí Indian woman accused of kidnapping three federal agents in 2006, could be set free within the next few hours.

++ Hurricane Jimena was downgraded to a tropical storm and was hovering over the Gulf of California… more than 50,000 residents of Comondú were affected by the storm that destroyed 70 homes.

News Summary for September 3rd, 2009

++ President Felipe Calderón presented a 10-item reform package that seeks to bring about progress in fields such as poverty, health, education and public finances through greater fiscal revenues… During his third state of the nation address given at the National Palace, Calderón urged profound changes with the risks and costs they imply. PAN chief César Nava proposed contracting short-term foreign credit for Mexico so as to be able to cope with the 2010 budget imbalance. PRD leader Jesús Ortega said he was willing to go to Los Pinos to achieve a “grand national accord” to pull Mexico out of crisis. Meanwhile, the PRI presented a proposal for a Law of Economic Recovery based on promoting employment and fighting poverty.

++ Bank of Mexico governor Guillermo Ortiz said there will be no immediate improvement in economic production this year.

++ British Petroleum announced it discovered a huge oil field in deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico… More tests are needed to ascertain precise volumes, but they could amount to more than 3 billion barrels of crude.

++ Jimena, downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, caused flooding and damage such as broken windows, houses without roofs and uprooted trees as well as electricity cuts in Comondú and Puerto de San Carlos in the northern part of Baja California Sur.

++ Governors from 10 Border States in the United States and Mexico were meeting in Monterrey, Nuevo León, to move ahead with the Plan for Competitive and Sustainable Development of the United States–Mexico Border Region: 2030 Vision.

++ Michoacán deputy public security secretary José Manuel Revueltas was executed in Morelia together with his two bodyguards.

++Seventeen, yes you read correctly, seventeen young men were assassinated by an armed commando that entered a drug rehabilitation center in Ciudad Juarez.

News Summary for September 2d, 2009

++ Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont handed over President Felipe Calderón’s Third Administration Report to the speakers of the lower and upper houses, Francisco Ramírez Acuña and Carlos Navarrete. Activists belonging to the National Multi-mode Transportation Alliance burned a bus in front of the Chamber of Deputies to protest over hikes to gasoline and diesel rates.
++ President Calderón held private meetings at Los Pinos with the members of the security, economy and social cabinets… He was preparing the political address he will offer in coming hours…
++ The Attorney General’s Office charged that over the last year drug cartels recruited minors to be drug pushers… This information was included in the Third Administration Report.
++ Businessman Carlos Slim said the crisis is economic and not financial… He said that because of that banks have resources they could invest in infrastructure and development, to create jobs and soften the economic blow.
++ The peso depreciated to 13.70 pesos per dollar at the selling rate, 28 cents lower than the previous close… This is the currency’s lowest exchange value compared to the dollar since April 27… The peso buying rate closed at 13.35 pesos per dollar.
++ An explosion rocked a bank branch in Tlalpan borough in Mexico City… The explosion damaged the bank building’s facade… The Federal District Attorney General’s Office said it could have been a robbery attempt or vandalism…
++ Hurricane "Jimena" was downgraded to a category 3 storm...More than 5,000 people had been evacuated from tourist resorts, with 2,000 staying in shelters.
++ The Interior Secretariat has already declared an emergency situation in Los Cabos, La Paz and Comondú, in Baja California Sur state.

How do you prepare your home to face Jimena..

Hurricanes are like no other storms on earth. From Maine to Texas, and in Hawaii, these ferocious weather systems bring torrential rain, flooding, storm surges and devastating winds that damage homes, destroy treasured keepsakes and disrupt family life. You don't have to be blown away when a hurricane hits. It's never too early to prepare and you can take several basic steps right now to protect your family and your home from disaster.

First Things First

Find out if your home meets current building code requirements for high-wind regions (for example, the International Residential Code, which is promulgated by the International Code Council). Experts agree that structures built to meet or exceed current model building codes' high-wind provisions have a much better chance of surviving violent windstorms.

If you're handy with a hammer and saw, you can do much of the work yourself. Work involving your home's structure may require a building contractor, however, or even a registered design professional such as an architect or engineer.

When Working Outside

• Replace gravel/rock landscaping material with shredded bark.
  
  
• Keep trees and shrubbery trimmed. Cut weak branches and trees that could fall on your house.
• To continue click here..
  

Jimena..Very dangerous, be prepared...

The latest on Jimena... Be careful.. Recomendations:
1. Avoid traveling in areas impacted by the hurricane.
2. Make sure you know where is the closest "albergue" shelter.
3. Tape or nail down windows.
4. Keep important documents (I.D., passports, birthcertificates,) in a safe place. If you remotely think you may have to evacuate, keep documents in plastic bags.
5. Have potable water and food for at least three days for you and your family.
6.If you or any family member absolutly needs to have access to certain medicine, make sure to have at least enough dosis for three days. Better yet, have enough for a week.

7. If authorities aske you to evacuate... Don´t hesistate, move out..Bring your documents and medicine and cash.

News WSummary for September 1st, 2009

++ Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit remained in a state of alert because of heavy rains and high tides caused by hurricane Jimena, a category 5 storm… Jimena’s winds had reached 240 kilometers per hour with gusts of up to 300 kilometers per hour… Jimena was expected to make landfall within hours and the Baja California government had begun evacuating coastal communities…

++ President Felipe Calderón was set to give an address regarding his third annual government report… The address would be given at the National Palace…

++ New PRI leader at the Chamber of Deputies acknowledged that his party has proposed increasing taxes next year.

++ PAN national leader César Nava demanded of the PRI and PRD that they set high-level goals so as to work together to approve an economic package to help overcome the recession.

++ New Left deputies within the PRD demanded that Andrés Manuel López Obrador clarify where he got the 50 million pesos that have allowed him to finance his so-called “legitimate presidency” over the past three years.

++ The peso fell to 13.34 pesos per dollar, its lowest level in August… The drop meant a depreciation of 3.93 percent after the currency had risen to 12.84 pesos per dollar on August 21.

++ The Supreme Court unanimously approved a working plan presented by the Investigative Committee that will look into the fire at the ABC day care center, in Hermosillo, Sonora, that led to the deaths of 49 infants.