Frontera NorteSur
June 2001

July 2, 2001
Mexico to Impede Migrant Crossings in Dangerous Areas

In a statement that closely echoes US border rhetoric, Méxicali's newspaper La Crónica reported that Enrique Berruga of the Mexican Secretary of Exterior Relations (Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores) stated that Mexico wants orderly and legal migration between the US and Mexico.

The newspaper also stated that for the first time in history Mexico would impede potential migrants from trying to cross to the US through dangerous areas. Berruga also added that the position of the Mexican government is to defend the life of its citizens and that the way to do this is by "impeding them from crossing in highly dangerous areas."

Another means by which Mexico hopes to save lives is by installing emergency telephones in the Altar and Arizona deserts, according to Berruga.  No details were given for this plan.

In a separate La Crónica article, Baja California Governor Alejandro González Alcocer was reported as having said that he will soon declare two high-risk crossing areas in the state. The regions are the Mesa de Andrade and La Rumorosa, both near Méxicali. Both areas will be monitored by an unspecified group or groups that will try to keep potential migrants out of the area.
So far this year, between January 1 and Wednesday, June 27, 158 Mexicans died trying to reach the US.

Source: La Crónica, June 29, 2001.

June 27, 2001
Méxicali: No One Arrests Polleros, Mini-Polleros or Bus Station Polleros

Méxicali's newspaper La Crónica writes on June 27, 2001 that there is no one to arrest human traffickers known as "polleros" and states that the polleros operate with impunity throughout the city. Ever since last month when the Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP) withdrew its Patrulla Federal Fronteriza (Federal Border Patrol, PFF) agents from Méxicali there has been no one in the area that has jurisdiction over human trafficking cases. Local police have been told by their chiefs not to arrest any more polleros because they are only freed the next day.

Carlos Nava Miranda, regional head of the PFP, said that PFF agents were pulled from the area one month ago. Both the PFF agents and their vehicles were sent to Mexico City, he stated. Previously, the PFF had been assigned to the border area to combat human and drug trafficking and other crimes. Nava said that PFP authorities higher than him would have to be the ones to bring the PFF agents back to the region.

A Méxicali city police officer, who would not give La Crónica his name, told reporters that agents were told not to arrest polleros because they are always released the day after their arrest and go right back to work. The officer spoke of "endless problems" whenever he took polleros to the Federal Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR).

The local police officer laughed at the notion that city agents like him receive bribes from polleros, "Polleros are intelligent and they know to whom they should give money. It's not given to us but maybe to other agencies." The officer explained the statement by saying that the polleros know not to fear local police because they can not arrest them. Threats made to officers by polleros have also made agents decide to stop getting involved with human trafficking crimes, the man said.

The officer also stated that stories about "mini-polleros" are true. The mini-polleros are children age 11-14 that grew up at the sides of their people-running parents. They allegedly live at home with their parents right on the US-Mexico border in luxurious homes.

In a separate article, Mario Villalvazo Romo, the manager of a Méxicali bus station, stated that no one has arrested any polleros working at the station since Easter. Villalvazo said that the polleros there work in the open with no noticeable fear. He said that he knows the nicknames of some of the polleros working at the station, "El Beto," "El Cholo," "El Tiburón," "El Grande," "El Tío," "Asolote," "La Guayaba y la Tostada" (two women), "El Perico," and "El Pato."

Source: La Crónica (Méxicali), June 27, 2001. Articles by Carlos Lima & José Manuel Yépiz.

June 25, 2001
Treatment of Autism in Méxicali

María Luisa Rodríguez Vásquez, the director of the Associación para la Modificación de la Conducta, says that the children at her Méxicali facility receive individualized treatment and individual and group therapy. Each teacher at the school has a maximum of three students, according to Rodríguez.

Rodríguez states that autism can be detected as early as age two or three and that the earlier treatment begins the better the results usually are. Signs of autism include a combination of speech problems, repetitive behavior, an inability to form social relations and aggression.

One student that Rodríguez pointed out as having made good advances was Víctor, age 14. When the teenager began attending Rodríguez's Centro de Educación Especial he was seven-years old and could not stand physical contact with others, would not allow people to speak to his mother and could not be in a room with a lot of people. Now, Víctor can shake hands with people upon meeting them, he can hand money to a bus driver instead of throwing it at the person, can tolerate people speaking to his mother and can stand to be in a room full of people.

Rodríguez recommends that parents with special-needs children get them into therapy and treatment programs as young as possible. Rodríguez may be reached in Méxicali at 555-3220.

Source: La Crónica (Méxicali), June 25, 2001. Article by Elvia Solís.

June 21, 2001
Méxcali's House for Teenage Girls & Young Women

Méxicali's Casa Hogar el Buen Pastor provides a home for up to 40 girls and young women ages 13 to 18 who are unable to continue living in their own homes. Located in Méxicali's Cuauhtémoc neighborhood, La Crónica newspaper reports that Casa Hogar was founded almost 47 years ago. According to Carmen Simón Domínguez, the director of Casa Hogar, the idea to construct a home for teenage girls and young women came from Eva Torrea de Salas. Torrea de Salas hoped to provide a home to help keep young girls from the dangers of the streets.

Casa Hogar currently has 38 residents. The Consejo Tutelar de Menores (Minors Council, Cotume) sends girls and young women to the home if they have had a run-in with the law. Other residents were referred to the home by Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (Integrated Family Development, DIF) because of problems in their homes or families. Some of the DIF residents come from disfunctional families with alcohol or drug problems while others experienced physical or sexual abuse in the home. According to Simón, Casa Hogar is a place that offers peace and tranquility to teenage girls and young women so that they may begin to reintegrate themselves into society.

A day at Casa Hogar begins at 6:30 in the morning where after showering the residents divide into two groups, one to clean the house and the other to help prepare breakfast. They attend school before lunch and afterwards are in workshops until dinnertime. After dinner residents have free time to enjoy recreational activities at the swimming pool or the basketball court. During the weekends residents either go stay with their families or are visited by them at Casa Hogar. Personal attention for the teenagers includes individual or group therapy.

Casa Hogar has a group of 30 women who are in charge of raising funds for the institution. Businesses and private individuals are asked to help Casa Hogar by sponsoring a resident. There are also charitable events to organize to raise funds.

Source: La Crónica, June 20, 2001. Article by Elvia Solís.

June 19, 2001
UABC Political Analyst Criticizes Méxicali Mayoral Candidates

Enrique Priego, a political analyst with the Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC), says that the Méxicali mayoral candidates' campaigns are weak, simplistic and lack content and reasoning. The Méxicali newspaper La Crónica, on June 14, 2001, reported on Priego's impressions of the candidates' campaigns. According to Priego, it's politics as usual in BC's state capitol where candidates spend their time criticizing each other instead of explaining their plans.

Priego also stated that the mayoral candidates are only saying what they are going to do, not how they plan to reach their stated goals. The political analyst also believes that the candidates have yet to say how they will deal with the problems that currently face city government. In areas such as job creation, Priego says that the level of political discourse is superficial and is at times even divorced from reality.

Source: La Crónica, June 14, 2001. Article by César Angulo.

June 15, 2001
Méxicali Fights Pregnancy-Related Deaths

Miguel Angel Ayón Obeso, head of the Jurisdicción Sanitaria de Méxicali (Méxicali Health District), said that his organization has begun a program to lower the number of pregnancy-related deaths in Méxicali. In late May, 2001 the Jurisdicción announced that it will provide free births at the Hospital General. To receive the free services women must attend 5 prenatal exams. Over the last three years in Méxicali sixteen women have died from pregnancy-related health problems. 

Source: La Crónica, June 1, 2001. Article by Carlos Lima.

June 13, 2001
New Jumex Plant in Méxicali: Hires Mostly Men, Hard to Sell to "Perfectionistic" White Market Says Director

Jumex began operating its new Méxicali plant in February, 2001 after an investment of approximately US$10 million. In article about the plant, the Méxicali newspaper La Crónica states that Jumex's policy is to hire mostly men because it belongs to the manufacturing industry while women can work in the maquiladora industry. No explanation for the reasons behind this policy was given. Richard Kunkel, Jumex's Méxicali director, said that one of the plant's biggest problems is employee turnover which he attributes to the ease with which jobs can be found in Méxicali.

Kunkel also told the newspaper that the juice-making factory employees more than 200 workers and exports to Arizona, California, and New Mexico. Jumex primarily serves the Mexican and
Mexican-American markets in those states. About breaking into other markets Kunkel said, "For a Mexican food-industry producer it is hard, although not impossible to capture the white (anglosajón) market as our products are not very well known--and besides this culture is very perfectionistic and protects its own, consuming what it produces in its own country." Baja California, Chihuahua, and Hermosillo are also served by the new plant.

Although operational, Jumex's new plant is not yet finished. By the end of the year it should employ 350 workers. In the future Jumex expects to invest another US$8 million in the plant.

Source: La Crónica, June 11, 2001. Article by Mariana Rivero.

June 11, 2001
Federal Consumer Protection Agency Bans Sale of "Fart Bag" and "Fragrant Bomb"

Méxicali's newspaper La Crónica states that the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor, Profeco) has banned the sale of the toys "Fart Bag" and "Fragrant Bomb." Imported from Asia, the toys are envelopes that children inflate and then step on. The envelope or bag explodes releasing a bad odor.

Profeco says that the bags' contents (sodium bicarbonate and citric acid) produce nausea, dizziness and vomiting in children. Fart Bags and Fragrant Bombs were discovered in the state of Querétaro, especially outside the state's elementary schools. 5,000 of the devices were seized by Profeco from a Mexico City warehouse. The warehouse was shut done by Profeco.

Profeco recommends that parents watch what their children play with so as to protect their health.

Source: La Crónica, June 11, 2001.

June 6, 2001
Human Traffickers Kidnap Boy to Make Family Pay for Crossing to US

Five "polleros" (human traffickers) kidnapped a boy in Calexico, California to make his family pay for their illegal crossing to the US but were later arrested across the border by Méxicali city police. One of the suspects told Mexican authorities where the boy was being held in Calexico and US immigration recovered the boy and returned him to his family.

The presumed traffickers were turned over to the Procuraduría General de la República (Federal Attorney General's Office, PGR) by the local police and were charged with the crimes of people trafficking and kidnapping. The police identified the detained as Juan Carlos Beltrán González, Patricia Herrera Marmolejo, Esperanza Tapia Morales, Moises Marmolejo and Elvia, who is 17 years old--a minor--whose last name was not given.

Source: La Crónica, June 1, 2001. Article by Carlos Lima.

June 1, 2001
Méxicali Home Building to Continue Despite Economic Slowdown

The construction of new homes in Méxicali will not be affected by economic slowdown, according to Salvador González, executive director of the Consejo Promotor de la Vivienda (Housing Development Council, Coprovi). The group's goal for 2001 is to build 8,225 new homes in Méxicali, an increase from the 6,500 homes finished last year.

González also stated it is important that financing continue as it has in the past. He added that there is neither any uncertainty in the building sector nor any negative expectations for the sector's growth.

The economic slowdown in the region will most likely affect the maquiladora industry in the form of higher unemployment, González said. However, the unemployed will have the opportunity to incorporate themselves into such sectors as commerce, the service industry and construction. González also noted that each home under construction generates eight jobs, five direct and three indirect.

Source: La Crónica, May 22, 2001. Article by Mariana Rivero.