Frontera
NorteSur
March 2001
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Frontera
NorteSur |
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March 29, 2001 According to El Diario the stolen vehicles belong to
State Farm as the insurance company had previously paid policy
holders for the loss of their vehicles. El Norte reports
that the PGJE has said that it will be responsible for any damage
to the vehicles. As part of an agreement with law-enforcement
officials that gives them temporary use of the car, the article
also states that insurers have begun the paperwork necessary
to get their vehicles returned to them. This process can take
as long as a few weeks or a year, said a PGJE spokesperson. In contrast to the previous take on the effectiveness of the PFP presence, El Diario also reports that an internet document sent out yesterday, March 28, by the Federal Secretary of Public Security (SSP) claims that the PFP presence in Cd. Juárez has brought the crime rate to zero for the first time in ten years. No attempt was made to explain this claim. Finally, Suly Ponce Prieto, the Special Investigator into Crimes Against Women, is again being criticized in the Cd. Juárez press because a man brought in for questioning to the state police offices escaped by climbing out a window. The man had been brought to the police station in connection to a case of revenge in which a five-year old girl was abducted and severely beaten so as to send a message to her family not to inform again on alleged drug traffickers. As the man was not a suspect in the case he had not been handcuffed or immobilized in any way. Since his escape the man has been charged with damaging the state police offices and there is a warrant out for his arrest. The police have yet to locate the man. Sources: El Diario, March 24, 28 & 29. Articles by A. Rodríguez, C. Ruiz, L. Sosa & A. Quintero. El Norte, March 27, 2001. Article by S. Castro. March 27, 2001 The tense stand off ended after a two-hour dialogue between a group of settlers and city officials. Police left the scene at 12:20 p.m. after the families agreed to not take over the land. As part of the agreement between the city and the settlers, representatives of the families that wish to establish themselves in the Pánfilo Natera neighborhood were scheduled to meet with Cd. Juárez mayor Gustavo Elizondo on Monday, March 26, 2001 to discuss other possible locations for the construction of homes. FNS has yet to find out the details of this meeting. Jesús Vaquera de la Torre, city director of Asentamientos Humanos (Human Settlements), said that no one will be allowed to build on the old dump because, "there are many risks there including illnesses and the possibility of gases leaking out of the ground." Another problem that prohibits building in the area is that the ground is not yet stable as it consists mainly of garbage. This would make it impossible for the city to bring water, sewage and other services to the new community, says Vaquera. Vaquera also said that nearby landowners would divide and sell their property to the families if the city would help poor people make monthly payments for their land. The would-be settlers told El Norte that they do not trust city authorities as they do not pay attention to the needs of the poor. They also said that it is impossible for them to pay Asentamientos Humanos 7,000 pesos (approximately US$730) for land in another part of the city. Source: El Norte, March 26, 2001. Article by Jorge Cháirez Daniel. March 23, 2001 A March 22, 2001 article from El Diario states that US customs brokers, Mexican federal, state and local law enforcement agents and Mexican customs officials are involved in the movement of contraband. The illegal importation of goods allegedly begins with US-based customs brokers undervaluing truckloads of material on importation documents. Then Mexican customs officials (Aduana) allegedly share up to US$4,800 for each truck that they help cross into the Mexican interior. El Diario also states that informants claim that the Unidad de Apoyo de la Inspección Fiscal Aduanera (Customs Inspection Support Unit) also receives up to US$1,200 per trailer. Once the trucks have crossed into Cd. Juárez they must pass through the federal inspection point on the highway out of the city at the 30 kilometer marker. Informants state that it is usually easy to arrange for the passage of material through this check station. However, when there is extra attention being given to contraband by either the government and/or the press then truck drivers can take goods around the kilometer 30 station by using side roads and ditches to move their material. With the recent arrival of hundreds of Federal Crime-Prevention Police (Policía Federal Preventiva, PFP) to the city, many of whom are involved in looking for contraband, it is believed that this is one of the times when contraband truck loads of goods leave the main highways to avoid detection. The PFP is to remain in Cd. Juárez for 15 days to help stop contraband and drug trafficking and to fulfill previously ignored federal arrest warrants. Chihuahua governor Patricio Martínez has requested that the 600 PFP agents that have come to the state this week be stationed permanently in Chihuahua. The federal government has yet to make a reply to his request. Source: El Diario, March 19, 22, & 23. Articles
by Armando Rodríguez, Rosario Reyes & Ramón
Chaparro. A separate group reportedly comprised of intelligence agents and special forces arrived to Cd. Juárez via airplane. According to PFP official General Francisco Arellano Noblecía these agents will help resolve the case of the shooting of Chihuahua governor Patricio Martínez. The agents form part of the contingent of 600 PFP elements that have been promised to the state of Chihuahua by federal authorities. In Cd. Juárez many of the agents will dedicate their time to filling previously languishing arrest warrants, according to Arellano. The PFP currently has over 10,000 agents in Mexico dedicated to "guarding the lives and rights of citizens, preventing crime and preserving civil liberties, order and public peace," according to its mission statement. When a similarly sized group of PFP agents arrived in Tijuana in late January, FNS reported that human-rights officials were worried about the possible abuse of citizens' rights and were shocked at what they saw as excess force. To see the article go to http://www.nmsu.edu/~frontera/dec00/Tijuananews.html and scroll down to Jan. 23, 2001. Source: El Diario, March 21, 2001. Recent articles in the Ciudad Juárez press have focused on what is referred to as the LPG monopoly. Two Cd. Juárez families, the Fuentes and the Zaragozas, control 48% of the entire Mexican LP market. The rest of the market is controlled by three or four other families. Recent price increases have been attributed to monopolistic price setting and increases in the price of natural gas. On Friday, March 16, 2001, in Cd. Juárez, the federal consumer protection agency (Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor, Profeco) held surprise inspections of LP delivery trucks on Cd. Juárez streets. For four hours Profeco officials verified companies' prices and checked to make sure that LP cylinders were filled to within one percent of their specified weight. In the future Profeco has announced that it will begin insuring that companies retire cylinders that have reached the limits of their useful life spans. Most cylinders in service are ten to twelve years old. If the cylinders are not voluntarily removed from the market, Profeco will begin to destroy them. Source: El Diario, March 9 & 17. Articles by Tania Fernández and Rubén Terrazas Sáenz. March 15, 2001 In January, 2001 the SEE had 16% more jobs than it did job
seekers. The nature of the work available in January was primarily
maquiladora related in such areas as general worker and security
guard. Now, in March, such maquiladora-related job openings no
longer exist, according to SEE officials. Most of the new job
opportunities are for secretaries, receptionists, drivers and
sales people. Since García Andrade's body was found three weeks ago the press has followed the murder investigation and city-wide reaction to the crime. The Special Investigator for Crimes Against Women, Suly Ponce Prieto, is once again being criticized by the city's NGO's for not doing enough to investigate murders and stop future crimes against women. Much of the recent press coverage of the issue deals with problems with Ponce's investigations of the murders. Yesterday, local PAN party members of Congress made an unexpected two-hour stop at Ponce's office to question her about accusations of incompetence made by local NGO's. At the end of the meeting, which the press could not attend, the legislators said that they were convinced by Ponce that she is doing her job well. The legislators concluded that Ponce has a bad public image. Ponce later told journalists that from now on they will have to get information about the Special Investigative Taskforce from a state police spokesperson rather than directly from her. El Norte published two-page articles on March 6 and March 8 that analyze problems with the cases against the major suspects in the murders. The March 6 article examines the case against Abdel Latif Sharif Sharif and says that the investigation into the crimes allegedly committed by Latif Sharif is filled with irregularities. Latif Sharif stands accused of the rape and murder of Elizabeth Castro García and yet there are uncertainties that the body the state police have as evidence in the case is even that of Castro García. Other evidence from the case against Latif Sharif was accidentally incinerated by the state police that are in charge of the investigation. In its March 8 article about the investigation of the Los
Rebeldes gang and the group of bus drivers accused of the rape
and murder of women, El Norte says there are allegations
of human rights violations against the accused, accusations of
false confessions extracted through torture, the lack of legal
representation for the accused at the time of confession and
problems with witnesses as well. Monseñor René Blanco told El Norte that a hillside triangle delimited by stones located near where two bodies have been found is proof of links to satanism in the women's deaths. He added that the crimes against women are related to drug addiction, satanism and drug trafficking. The priest said law enforcement needs to do a better job and said that the problematic cases against Latif Sharif and the gangs is perhaps indicative of law enforcement's desperation to resolve the crimes. On March 11, El Norte published an interview with Howard Campbell, a professor of anthropology at the University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP). When asked about the case against Latif Sharif and Los Rebeldes, whom Sharif is accused of paying to murder more women while in jail so as to prove his innocence, Campbell stated that the case against the Egyptian national is based on racism and xenophobia and that it is easier for Cd. Juárez to blame outsiders. Campbell said that perhaps Cd. Juárez drug dealers and police, people from El Paso, and angry boyfriends are among the murderers. Campbell was also quoted as saying that part of the cause of the murders is the rapid, chaotic growth of Cd. Juárez that is owed in part to the presence of maquiladoras many of which are owned by US companies that therefore also share in the guilt. Source: El Norte, March 6,8, 11, and 13. The CTM liked Fox's proposal because they believe that it
will raise wages in parts of the country that previously had
lower minimum-wage rates. The union also believes that the move
will help include marginalized people in the nation's development
and progress. The announcement brought the tough audience of union leaders
to a standing ovation. Throughout his talk CTM members shouted
such things as, "Viva el PRI" and "Lower gas prices."
Under previous PRI administrations the CTM played a large roll
in assuring continued PRI rule in the country for over 70 years.
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