Frontera NorteSur
 December 2002-January 2003

The center was constructed at a cost of nearly 1.5 million pesos (approximately US $150,000) and was dedicated by Baja California Governor Eugenio Elorduy Walther and his wife, María Elena Blackaller de Elorduy, the general director of the INEA in Baja California.

Gun Turn-In Program

In a follow-up to a November, 2002 FNS story about a food for guns program in Baja California that netted over 1,100 weapons in its first thirteen days, the Mexicali newspaper La Crónica reported that the program has so far brought in 5,698 guns from across the state. Today, Wednesday, January 29, is the last day for the program. 

Besides the guns that have been removed from the public sphere, the program has also resulted in the surrender of 934 bullet clips or magazines and 19,688 bullets. The program is a collaboration of Secretariat of Public Security and the Secretariat of National Defense. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), January 29, 2003. Articles by José M. Yépiz and Gerardo Franco Ortiz.

January 21, 2003
Lack of Pavement in Mexicali Pollutes Air in US's Imperial Valley

Mexicali's roads, which are only 60% paved, and the city's approximately 250,000 cars combine to put so much dust in the air that it has became a serious air pollution problem that extends from Mexicali into California's Imperial Valley. 

Reyes Romero of the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District said that dust is also sent into the air by the agricultural activity that is basis of the area's economy. He also stated that Mexicali and Calexico should not blame each other for air pollution as the wind changes direction between the two cities. Thus, at different times, either city can be contributing to air pollution in the other city. 

In meetings of a group that is working to better air quality on both sides of the border, stricter norms are being established to control dust. The norms will apply to paved roads, unpaved roads, and the demolition of buildings. The group will also look at ways to control dust that comes from the surrounding desert. A new paving program recently announced by the Mexicali Chamber of Commerce is also supported by the group.

While figures in Mexicali's newspaper La Crónica were not very recent, they do explain part of the origin of the dust problem. In 1996, the city had 11.46 million square meters of paved roads, in 1997 this figure was 11.65 million and in 1998 it was 11.83 million. However, even as the city increased the number of paved roads, Mexicali's growth actually meant that the number of unpaved roadways was increasing. In 1996 there were 8 million square meters of unpaved roads, by 1997 this number was 8.4 million and by 1998 it was 8.82 million. 

Source: La Crónica, Mexicali, January 17, 2003. Article by Gregorio Avilés.

January 16, 2003
Baja's Cocopa Community: Still Unable to Fish Traditional Areas

Another year of fighting for expanded fishing rights has gone by and Baja California's Cocopa indigenous community has yet to see changes that would allow it to earn money through fishing in the Colorado River delta. The heart of the Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve, where the Cocopa traditionally fished, is closed to Cocopa fishing. 

On Tuesday, January 14, 2003, BC Governor Eugenio Elorduy Walter met with Víctor Lichtinger, the head of Mexico's Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Semarnat) and the two discussed the problems facing the Cocopa. However, they did not come to an agreement regarding fishing. 

Mónica González, a Cocopa representative, told the Mexicali newspaper La Crónica that on January 14 she also had spoken with a high-level Semarnat figure who said that the question of fishing rights would not be soon resolved.

This was a disappointment to the Cocopa who had hoped that they would not face problems with enforcement officials at the beginning of the fishing season in February.  

According to González, the Cocopa are also disappointed that federal environmental officials with power over the area have ignored recommendations made by Mexico's National Commission for Human Rights which would expand fishing opportunities for the Cocopa. 

To see a previous FNS article on this subject go to http://www.nmsu.edu/~frontera/dec01/Mexicalinews.html and scroll down to December 11. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), January 15, 2003. Article by Gerardo Franco. 

January 8, 2003
New General Director for Newspapers in Tijuana, Mexicali and Hermosillo

As of January 8, 2003, Juan Fernando Healy Loera is the new general director of Editores del Noroeste which publishes the daily newspapers El Imparcial in Hermosillo, La Crónica in Mexicali and Frontera in Tijuana. Juan Fernando Healy Loera takes the place of José Santiago Healy Loera who ran Editores del Noroeste for the past twenty years. The latter will now by pursuing a new communications project, according to La Crónica. 

Juan Fernando Healy, 36, studied computer systems at the Sonora Norte campus of the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and also received his masters degree in business administration. He finished a high-level management diploma in Mexico City in 2002. 

In 1992, Juan Fernando Healy began working at El Imparcial were he took different positions that allowed him to gain a wide understanding of the newspaper's operations. 

During the twenty year in which José Santiago Healy Loera ran Editores del Noroeste, the company consolidated its Sonora operations, opened La Crónica in 1992 and Frontera in 1999.

 Circulation is currently at 75,000 newspapers per day and the company claims 850 direct employees and 500 indirect employees. In 2002, Editores del Noroeste brought in 435 million pesos (approximately US$43 million). 

Over the past ten years the Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa (Interamerican Press Society) has awarded Editores del Noroeste twelve prizes for its writing.

Source: La Crónica (Méxicali), January 8, 2003.

December 18, 2002
Mexicali Complains about US Agricultural Burns

Mexicali city councilors from the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) are protesting the burning of crop waste across the border in the US. They contend that the resultant smoke affects their health and shows a lack of respect from their American neighbors. 

Manuel Ramos Rubio, who represents a group of PRI councilors, said that Mexicali "should let its disagreement with this backward practice be known even when it takes place in another country." Ramos also said that Mexicali should continue insisting on the cessation of agricultural burns until its demands are met by US farmers. 

As with any air pollution, those most affected are children and the infirm, said Ramos. Talking about US farmers, Ramos stated "They should be consistent in their care for the environment and take the necessary measures to modernize their practices and agricultural techniques, particularly those that affect human health and the environment."

Ramos and the PRI councilors have asked city authorities to use binational cooperation organizations to stop agricultural burning in the Imperial Valley. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), December 18, 2002. Article by Gustavo Garcia Rivas.

December 10, 2002
Méxicali Residents' Crossborder Shopping Habits

Interviews of 350 Méxicali residents found that 74% have the documents necessary to cross to the US to shop, according to a study done by the Centro de Estudios Económicos del Sector Empresarial de Méxicali (the Méxicali Business Sectors' Center for Economic Studies, Ceesem).

Of those that can cross the border to shop, 77.6% purchase their clothes in Calexico, California and 72.4% buy their shoes in the US. Differences in meat prices also led 72.4% of border crossers to buy chicken in the US and 63.5% buy sausage there. However, only 39.9% of border crossers buy paper products and office supplies in Calexico. 

Of the people interviewed that can shop in the US, 36.8% go once a month to buy items in Calexico, California, 29.1% go twice a month, and 4.9% go two times per week. The shopping habits of the other 29.2% were not mentioned in an article in Méxicali's La Crónica newspaper. 

On each shopping visit to the US, 32% of border crossers spend between US$20 and US$50, 29% spend between US$50 and US$100, 3% spend more than US$200. 

Ley grocery stores in Méxicali are shopped at by 71.5% of the 350 people that were surveyed. For Walmart in Méxicali this figure is 69% and for Walmart in Calexico it is 53.4%.  Sam's Club in Méxicali is shopped at by 35.6% of the Méxicali residents. 

Méxicali's newspaper La Crónica concluded from the survey that the majority of city residents do not prefer to shop in Calexico. 

Roberto Valero Berrospe of the Ceesem said that Méxicali shoppers look for the lowest prices whether they are in Méxicali or Calexico.

Source: La Crónica, December 10, 2002. Article by Mitzi Monge. 

November 27, 2002
Military Conscript Lottery Turns into Riot in Méxicali

For a second time, 3,800 Méxicali eighteen-year olds assembled to find out if they would be drafted into the Mexican military, and for a second time the event was rescheduled. 

Tired of turning out for the lottery and tired of not knowing their future, some of the youth in attendance destroyed tables, lottery equipment and other material items at a city facility. Unable to quiet the crowd, punches were thrown between the teens and military personnel at the event.

One mother complained that she and her son arrived at 4 a.m. for the lottery which was supposed to have begun at 8 a.m. The mother complained to the official in charge, Ricardo Alanís Quintero, head of military recruiting for the city, that the lottery was becoming a waste of time and money for her family. 

Alanís said that the violence was due to the large number of youth that were in attendance. He also recognized that the teens got upset when it was announced that the lottery was being postponed. 

Last year, on the other end of the border, in Matamoros, 4,000 young men began throwing stones at homes, attacking neighborhood residents and burning cars in the early hours of January 24 while they awaited a military-service lottery. In 2000, there was also a similar disturbance in Matamoros. For more on this story go to http://www.nmsu.edu/~frontera/dec00/Matamorosnews.html

Source: La Crónica, November 25, 2002. Article by Rodrigo Pedrin Caballero.