Mexico: Families Denounced Shelter Abuses for Years

Mexican officials this week raided a shelter in Michoacán and rescued nearly 600 people including 458 children who received all sorts of abuse, resided in squalid conditions and were obligated to eat spoiled food.  For families of some of the residents of the “La Gran Famila” (“The Great Family”), the liberation of their loved ones couldn’t have come soon enough.

In the case of twenty-eight-year-old Veronica Gamiña, she claimed that she left her nine-year-old child at the residence four years ago but her subsequent attempts to reclaim her child were made nearly impossible by shelter founder Rosa del Carmen Verduzco.

“First they told me that I had to fill out documents explaining why I wanted to take my child back then they asked me to pay 37,000 pesos (roughly $2800).  I only earn 800 pesos a week and I cannot save enough money,” said the restaurant worker to the press outside of the raided shelter on Wednesday.

Another parent alleged that she gave birth to two kids while she was at the shelter that had been functioning for forty years.  She was permitted by to leave the compound but forced to leave her children behind where “Mama Rosa” claimed the minors as her own according to Tomas Zeron, federal chief of criminal investigations.

"Victim No. 4 said she had been held in the group home against her will since she was 18," said Zeron about another supposed case of abuse at “La Gran Famila”. "She was sexually abused by one of the administrators, and got pregnant as a result of the abuse. The same person beat her to cause an abortion, beating her in the stomach on several occasions."

Michoacán Gov. Salvador Jara told the press that he was in the dark about the supposed horrors in the shelter until he became governor last month.  Yet that cannot excuse the apparent incompetence of local and federal authorities that may have been aware of the problems for years.  As reported in SDPnoticias.com, an August 2010 investigation by one of Mexico’s most important newspapers described the abuses at the shelter and possibly why “Mama Rosa” may have gotten away with her actions for decades:

Weekend Headlines: August 27-28, 2011

* Mexico: President Felipe Calderon deemed as "true terrorists" those responsible for a deadly arson attack in Monterrey on Thursday but would it be better to heed ex-leader Vicente Fox's suggestion of negotiating with drug gangs?

* Chile: Chilean police have come under fire after authorities confirmed yesterday that a teen was killed during major anti-government protests.

* South America: A six-year-long diplomatic quarrel between Argentina and Uruguay over a Finnish-owned pulp mill seems to have come to an end.

* Guatemala: The country's Constitutional Court gave the green light for the extradition of ex-President Alfonso Portillo to the U.S. where he awaits trial.

* Argentina: An agreement was reached that would allow for a 25% increase of the minimum wage.

* Venezuela: Central bank data indicated that the Venezuelan economy is supposed to grow by 2.5% in the second quarter this year, which is 2.3% less than the first quarter.

Online Sources - Xinhua, Sacramento Bee, Voice of America, Reuters, El Universal, Bloomberg
Video Source - YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Reefer Madness: Legalize Drugs in Mexico?

The violence stemming from Mexico's war on drug cartels is well known. Now, with a population growing ever more weary of the gruesome brutality of the cartels, former Mexican president Vicente Fox is adding his voice to the legalization debate, calling for broad legalization as a way to wrest money and power from the cartels.

"Legalization does not mean that drugs are good ... but we have to see (legalization of the production, sale and distribution of drugs) as a strategy to weaken and break the economic system that allows cartels to earn huge profits," Fox wrote in a posting over the weekend. "Radical prohibition strategies have never worked."

He might be referring to the US experience with Prohibition in the 1920s (let's hope because he caught a sneak peek of the new HBO drama Boardwalk Empire about liquor barons in Atlantic City during Prohibition).

But Fox has some work cut out for him when it comes to convincing current Mexican president Felipe Calderón to get on board with his ideas. Calderon recently called for an open debate on legalization, signaling a possible willingness to move to an even broader liberalization than already exists in Mexico. But Calderón remains publicly skeptical that full-on legalization would serve the broader good of weakening the drug trade's negative role in Mexican society:

'If you legalize, for example, the high price of drugs in the black market would go down, and that would reduce criminals' financial capacity, that may be right. But totally liberalizing the drug market, and even the price reduction itself, are two factors which will lead millions and millions of young people to use drugs,' Calderon said.

Fox's call follows the assertion by César Gaviria of Colombia, Fernando Cardoso of Brazil and Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico to legalize marijuana across Latin America.

I imagine that any proposal to legalize would lead to howling from American politicians, who do after all hold the purse strings on significant parts of the anti-drug budget. But it would interesting to see to what extent, given that there's growing recognition that the 40-year-old "War on Drugs" hasn't produced many results for all the invested time, treasure and lives.

The turning of elite public opinion may give Mexico and other countries the political cover to take the drug fight in a new direction.

Image Source: New York Post

Online Sources: Reuters, YouTube, HBO, Yahoo! News, Reuters, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal

Mexico close to decriminalizing some drug use

According to the Los Angeles Times, Mexico’s government is moving to decriminalizing the personal possession of certain narcotics.

The proposal to allow people to carry small amounts of drugs like cocaine and marijuana was debated and approved in April by the Mexican Congress. The bill awaits the approval of President Felipe Calderon who, coincidentally, was the impetus behind the legislation.

Despite the high amount of violence in Mexico stemming from drug gangs, the Calderon administration believes that the decriminalization measure will help combat crime:

(Calderon’s) reasoning: It makes sense to distinguish between small-time users and big-time dealers, while re-targeting major crime-fighting resources away from the consumers and toward the dealers and their drug lord bosses.

"The important thing is . . . that consumers are not treated as criminals," said Rafael Ruiz Mena, secretary general of the National Institute of Penal Sciences. "It is a public health problem, not a penal problem."

Though the U.S. and Mexico have vowed greater cooperation in order to stem drug-related violence, it remains to be seen how the White House will react to the decriminalization plan. It was only three years ago that Calderon’s predecessor- Vicente Fox- tried to push through his own decriminalization bill but he quickly backtracked after being pressured by the Bush administration.

Image- Guardian UK
Online Sources- Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, Los Angeles Times

Weekend Headlines: May 17, 2009

* Argentina: Carlos Tevez may’ve been celebrating winning the Premier League title yesterday with Manchester United, but will he leave the “red devils” for Real Madrid?

* Venezuela: Claiming that their pasta was not being sold at cheap, government-established prices, the Chavez administration “temporarily” took over a factory owned by U.S. firm Cargill.

* Mexico: Ex-President Vicente Fox said last week that he felt there should be a decriminalization of marijuana as part of a change in U.S. and Mexican drug policy.

* Haiti: The U.S. Coast Guard called off the search operation for at least nine Haitian migrants presumed dead after their boat capsized near Florida.

Image- Guardian UK (“Carlos Tevez celebrates with Alex Ferguson after Manchester United had clinched the title at Old Trafford, though the Argentinian's substitution drew some dissent from the home crowd.”)
Online Sources- UPI, CNN, BBC News, The Telegraph, The Latin Americanist

Today’s Video: Fox on Mexico’s drug battles

No not this Fox. Rather, it’s Mexican ex-president Vicente Fox who gives his two cents on antidrug efforts in Mexico and narcotics users in the U.S.

Online Sources- FOX News, YouTube

Daily Headlines: August 22, 2008

* Mexico: Vicente Fox continues his outspokenness in his post-presidential career; in an interview with the Miami Herald, he blasts the Bush administration over immigration and criticizes Barack Obama on free trade.

* El Salvador: The Council on Hemispheric Affairs analyzes the numerous issues that continue to divide El Salvador.

* Panama: The government is backing the creation of a controversial new intelligence agency it claims will cut down on crime.

* Paraguay: Recently-inaugurated President Fernando Lugo is trying to fulfill his campaign promise of reform by dismissing the head of national police as well as sacking the armed forces commanders.

Image- PBS

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Associated Press, BBC News, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Miami Herald

Video of the Day: Vicente Fox loses it on TV

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox lost his temper during an interview with Rubén Luengas- reporter for Telemundo’s Los Angeles affiliate. Luengas tried to address accusations of corruption made against Fox due to his and his wife’s land holdings and luxury homes. Yet as you can see in the video below Fox acted belligerent during questioning, insulted Luengas, and abruptly ended the interview before storming off in a huff.

(Video link):

Fox’s interview was part of his U.S. tour to promote his recently released autobiography (i.e. the book that bashes George W Bush).

(Hat tip: VivirLatino).

Sources- The Latin Americanist, YouTube, VivirLatino

Mexico: Magazine pics lead to Fox’s investigation

Mexico’s congress will establish a commission to investigate former president Vicente Fox after magazine photos showed the opulence of his ranch home. The pics from the latest edition of Quien magazine showed extensive renovations to his estate which were done after he came into power in 2001:

“The photo feature showed the former president and his wife in a variety of poses around their luxurious home and grounds in the central state of Guanajuato.

Older photos of the hacienda began to appear which seemed to show it was a fairly modest residence when Vicente Fox came to power.”

Opposition politicians and commentators question how Fox paid for the changes to his home after he spent almost all his savings on running for office. Despite Fox’s time as a Coca-Cola executive before the presidency, his detractors speculate he may have abused his power.

Sources- People’s Daily Online, BBC News, Forbes, Bloomberg

Image- SignOnSanDiego.com (Vicente Fox and his wife overlook construction of his presidential library)

Ex-Mex prez bashes Bush in book

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox’s upcoming autobiography attacks the attitude and policies of U.S. President George W. Bush. According to several reports Fox’s book pulls no punches on someone who had been portrayed as friends while both where in office:

· On Bush’s attitude – He’s stubborn and "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life."
· On U.S. foreign policy – Can the U.S. can afford "invading every nation with which it does not agree?"
· On Bush’s stab at multilingualism – His Spanish is at "grade-school level".
· On U.S. immigration policy (via an interview with the Chicago Tribune) – “Walls don't work. Walls didn't work in China. Walls didn't work in Berlin. President Reagan went (to Berlin) and said ‘Tear down this wall.’ And now the United States is building a wall.”

Aside from harshly criticizing Bush, Fox’s book also condemned Hugo Chavez by calling him “a dictator” who has “increased poverty” in the name of “21^st-century socialism.”

In a speech earlier this month, Fox called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and emphasized the need for immigration reform.

Sources (English)- CBS News, Chicago Tribune, AHN, The Latin Americanist, San Jose Mercury News

Sources (Spanish)- El Universal

Image- BBC News (George W. Bush and Vicente Fox during supposedly friendlier times in 2001)

Diplomat’s typo on Mexico more than meets the eye

A column in Monday’s Financial Times by ex-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nancy Soderberg made a critical error. Her piece on the need for Argentina to repay its debts mistakenly named Vicente Fox as Mexico’s current president. (Obviously that title belongs to Felipe Calderon; Fox was Calderon’s predecessor).

(For the record, this blog has had its share of errors, too. Check out the comments to this recent post, for instance).

However, the Foreign Policy Passport blog noted yesterday that Sorderberg’s piece raised suspicion over her ties to a “lobbying group” functioning in Argentina- the American Task Force Argentina:

“The ATFA, in case you were wondering, is a lobbying group funded by creditors, some of them so-called "vulture funds" or investment firms who bought millions of dollars worth of Argentine bonds when the country defaulted on its debts in 2001-2002. Whatever you think of the debt issue and the swing toward economic populism in Latin America that Soderberg denounces, doesn't The Financial Times owe its readers more context when it turns over its editorial page to a lobbyist for debt collectors?”

Speaking of Fox, he expressed his frustration over the lack of U.S. immigration reform during a public appearance he gave on Monday.

Sources- Foreign Policy Passport, Financial Times, The Latin Americanist, Mexico-Presidency of the Republic, San Jose Mercury News

Image- MSNBC (2004 image of Vicente Fox)

Photo of the Day: Where are Vicente’s mouse ears?

--Photo of ex-Mexican president Vicente Fox and his family vacationing in Disneyland.

Source and Image- Nuevo Excelsior

Ex-Mex prez speaks out against populism and border wall

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox (image) warned that populist governments in the Americas promote “messianic stances” which may lead to dictatorships. Fox’s remarks came during a visit to the European Parliament which Venezuela’s El Universal headlined as an “International Meeting to Prepare (an) Anti-Chavez Strategy.”

In addition, Fox called an extension to the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border “a big mistake” during an awards ceremony on Wednesday night. Added Fox on what was deemed as a “virtual wall” by the head of the U.S. Border Patrol:

“We can do much better than building walls by working together…What are they hiding from?. . .Who is going to stay within, and who is going to stay out?”

Links- El Universal, SignOnSanDiego.com, MSNBC

Image- Interet-General.Info