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November 5, 2001
San Luis To Consider Strict Environmental Code
In the coming weeks, the San Luis Río Colorado city
council will consider a new, seventeen-part environmental code.
These new city environmental protection regulations are aimed
at preventing pollution and conserving and restoring the city's
natural environment. The new legislation will prohibit the dumping
of waste in rivers, stream beds, public areas and near roads.
All open-air waste burning will also be prohibited.
The new regulations ban loud noises and vibrations near housing,
schools, hospitals and other public places throughout the city.
Painting cars and furniture outside is also prohibited.
People that break the new regulations may be fined up to the
equivalent of US$80,000 and can be jailed for as long as 36 hours.
Source: La Crónica (San Luis), November 5, 2001. Article
by Santiago Barroso Alfaro.
October 30, 2001
Texas Man to Walk/Canoe Entire US-Mexico Border
by Greg Bloom, FNS Editor
On November 5, David Chizum, age 57, will set out alone to
travel the entire length of the US-Mexico border. Beginning on
the California coast in the Tijuana-San Diego area, Chizum will
follow the exact borderline on foot until he reaches Ojinaga,
Chihuahua. From there he will proceed in canoe down the Rio Grande
until he reaches the Gulf of Mexico.
Chizum, a retired US-government employee, decided to make
the trip because he believes, "there should also be good
news coming from the border." Chizum is calling his endeavor
the US-Mexico Border Friendship Expedition, 2001-2002, and believes
that it is all the more important because of the events of September
11 which have caused the border to look like a national problem.
Previously, Chizum was quite encouraged by the immigration and
border dialogue that had been taking place at meetings between
Presidents Fox and Bush. Chizum believes that over time, the
US-Mexico border should come to be more like the US-Canada border.
While Chizum had hoped to find sponsors for his trip he could
not find companies or people to help him. Thus there will be
no laptop computer and satellite phone to connect him to family,
friends and the media. Instead, Chizum will occasionally stay
with friends or acquaintances along the way and may contact the
media at those times.
Chizum is taking some cold-weather gear with him as he knows
to expect temperatures with wind chill as low as zero degrees
Fahrenheit when he is walking in the desert near Yuma, Arizona.
He expects his biggest worry to be getting enough water along
the way.
Chizum has made some previous border crossings into Mexico and
has found those experiences to be "100% positive."
While he speaks some Spanish, Chizum has a small dictionary he
will carry with him and he hopes to learn more Spanish over the
course of his trip.
Although Chizum has yet to alert US or Mexican authorities
to his plan he said that he will announce himself at all of the
border crossings that he comes to throughout his months on the
border.
October 26, 2001
Méxicali Gets Animal Control Laws
Méxicali has passed an animal control law, primarily
aimed at dogs, which will go into effect in 90 days. The new
animal control law holds animal owners responsible for any damage
their animals cause. Owners are also required to have an identification
tag on their dog and all pets must be vaccinated against infectious
diseases. The law has public health in mind as well, as owners
must now clean up after their pets. Also, a crematorium will
be used to dispose of the final remains of animals.
Méxicali, with a human population of 760,000, currently
has 30,000 homeless dogs and more than 85,000 dogs that are kept
as companion animals. According to Juan Manuel Meneses Zatarain,
of the Centro Antirrábico de Méxicali (Méxicali
Anti-rabies Center), 585 dogs have been put under observation
this year after having bitten people. Samples from 62 of these
dogs have been sent to labs to check for rabies. Although the
Méxicali newspaper La Crónica did not mention how
many of these dogs tested positive for rabies, it did quote Meneses
as stating that 38 people began rabies treatment this year although
all of them did not finish their treatment.
So far this year, Meneses says that 3,597 stray dogs have
been captured and 2,643 have been destroyed. Most of the destroyed
dogs were homeless or their owners did not pay fines on the dogs
during the three-day period that dogs are kept alive.
Meneses also announced that an accord has been signed with a
local veterinarians organization which will begin a spay and
neuter program early next year. He emphasized the importance
of sterilization programs.
The new animal control law is not meant to raise money through
fines, according to one city council member. Instead, it is meant
to raise people's respect for animals and to make sure that animals
do not attack people.
Source: La Crónica, October 26, 2001. Articles by Magdalena
López Crecer & José Manuel Yépiz Ruiz.
October 24, 2001
Anthrax Hoax at Bose Maquiladora in San Luis
A box with the word Spanish word "ántrax"
written on it was received at the Bose speaker maquiladora in
San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora on Monday, October 23, 2001.
The box, one of many in a pallet of boxes containing packaging
material, was found not to contain any anthrax spores upon analysis
in Hermosillo, the Sonora state capital, according to Bose spokesperson
Dena Knop.
The box, which also had a skull drawn on it, was not opened by
Bose workers. Instead the workers notified their supervisors.
The supervisors then called local law enforcement authorities
who sent the box to Hermosillo for testing. Knop emphasized that
the situation had been handled correctly by all employees involved
in the situation.
Knop did not know if the box had been sent to the plant from
the US or another part of Mexico.
October 18, 2001
Sonora Takes Preventative Measures Against Dengue Fever
Due to a high level of rainfall attributed to tropical depression
Juliette, the Mexican state of Sonora has taken preventative
measures against an outbreak of the mosquito-transmitted disease
dengue fever (DF).
In San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora--across the border
from Yuma, Arizona--the city health department has started a
campaign to pressure tire vendors to keep their tires free of
water and mosquitos. Mosquitos can breed in stagnant water that
accumulates inside tires that are left out in the open.
At this time, the city's campaign against dengue fever is
only information based without any enforcement component. However,
city officials are considering the creation of a requirement
which would move tire storage out of urban areas.
According to the San Luis newspaper, La Crónica, the
city may have some dengue prevention work of its own to take
care of in the future. The newspaper states that city residents
have expressed their concern about thousands of tires that are
stored near the city airport. Two years ago neighborhoods surrounding
the airport were led to believe that the tires were being stored
there only temporarily.
In the far south of coastal Sonora, cities like Huatabampo
have been sprayed with chemicals to kill mosquitos, according
to health officials. Following the rains of tropical depression
Juliette state health officials decided to spray 8,500 hectares
with Malathion. Next to be sprayed is the nearby city of Navojoa.
There are four varieties of dengue fever, one of which--dengue
hemorrhagic fever (DHF)--has a 5% fatality rate, according to
the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC reports that in 1995
there were 250,000 cases of DF and 7,000 cases of DHF reported
in the Americas. DF symptoms include fever, severe headache,
joint pain, weakness and skin rashes. The illness last about
seven or eight days and is followed by weeks of weakness.
Source: La Crónica (Tijuana), October 18, 2001. Articles
by Samuel Murillo and Ramón García.
October 15, 2001
Mexican Officials Investigate Pakistan-Born US Citizen in Baja
California
The Méxicali newspaper La Crónica reports that
the arrival of a Pakistan-born US citizen to the Baja California
coastal city of San Felipe set off an investigation by immigration
authorities from the Instituto Nacional de Migración (National
Institute of Migration, INM). La Crónica reports that
a man carrying a US passport that noted his place of birth as
Pakistan was on a flight that landed at the San Felipe airport.
Immigration authorities needed about 4 1/2 hours to verify with
a US consulate that the man was indeed a US citizen and not linked
to any terrorist groups.
After being cleared by the INM, the man was allowed to fill out
a tourist visa to temporarily stay in the port town of San Felipe.
La Crónica tried to find the man to interview him but
was not was able to locate him. The newspaper also said that
the man was in San Felipe and was being observed as part of the
anti-terrorism precautions that are being taken across the country.
Source: La Crónica, October 15, 2001. Article by José
Manuel Yépiz Ruiz.
October 11, 2001
Twin Cities Post-September 11: San Luis, Arizona and San Luis,
Sonora
Life in San Luis, Arizona, a border town of approximately
15,000 people, has changed since September 11 and residents now
have fears and concerns that were simply inconceivable prior
to last month's attack on the US. Alex Joe Harper, mayor of San
Luis, Arizona, told the San Luis, Sonora newspaper La Crónica
that the city has taken extraordinary steps to protect its drinking
water from terrorist attack.
As per instructions from the federal government, the mayor
also said that the city has taken measures to protect its fire
trucks so that they may not be hijacked and loaded with explosives
to be used against a federal building.
Harper told the San Luis, Sonora newspaper La Crónica
that, in general, his community is calm but he recognized that
economic activity in the city has been negatively affected by
lengthy inspection procedures that are now in place at the border.
He also stated that he did not know how long the heightened border
security measures would last and recognized that long waits at
the border have especially affected people that come to work
in San Luis, Arizona from Mexico.
In an editorial for La Crónica, entitled "War
Psychosis," writer Manuel Angulo said that inspections at
the international port of entry are so intense that they make
a person feel as if any gesture, word or movement could be taken
the wrong way.
Following the recent anthrax case in Florida, Angulo said
an atmosphere exists in which everyone thinks that a stray bag
could be an explosive, that a person who us gives a strange look
could be a terrorist and that if someone sneezes it must be because
someone set off a biological weapon.
Despite theses worries, Angulo believes that fear most manifests
itself in the economy. Because it is now more difficult for Sonora
shoppers to go to Arizona, the importance of Mexicans to the
US economy has been revealed yet again.
Angulo argues against the US attitude that Mexicans should
be grateful for being able to come to the US to shop and work.
It should be the reverse, he writes. "Who buys every type
of item in San Luis, Arizona during the Christmas season? Who
harvests Yuma's fields? Whose effort is it that advances transnational
companies that operate in the most important cities?"
Angulo believes that now is not the time for Mexico to take
on servile or submissive attitudes. Instead, Mexico should demand
what belongs to it in the field of international relations, he
says.
He concludes by writing, "The economies of the two San
Luis are intimately related and a scare in one city affects the
other. Let's hope that, for the good of the two communities that
live together in this border region, that the tension and psychosis
of the war do not end up drowning us all."
Source: La Crónica (San Luis), October 11, 2001. Articles
by Manuel Angulo.
October 9, 2001
Bomb Explodes in Méxicali Cinema, 5 Injured
A home-made bomb exploded Monday, October 8, 2001 in the
Cinemark theater complex in Méxicali. Five people were
injured in the explosion but were treated at the scene by Red
Cross paramedics.
This was the first time a bomb ever exploded in the city,
according to Francisco Iribe Paniagua, director of police in
Méxicali. State police (Policía Ministerial del
Estado, PME) are investigating the case and are looking for a
man, age 20-24, that was video taped bringing a back pack containing
the bomb into the theater.
The movie showing at the time of the explosion was "Rush
Hour 2," known in Spanish as "Una pareja explosiva"
(An Explosive Pair).
Cinemark theaters told Méxicali's newspaper La Crónica
that it would begin searching back packs before they could be
taken into theaters.
Source: La Crónica (Méxicali), October 9, 2001.
September 27, 2001
Border Patrol Apprehensions Down in Yuma
Alfredo Casillas, Border Patrol public affairs officer, told
the San Luis, Sonora newspaper La Crónica that the number
of Border Patrol apprehensions in the Yuma sector is down this
year from fiscal year 2000.
In the fiscal year 2000, the Border Patrol's Yuma sector apprehended
107,885 people, Casillas said. With just five days left in the
fiscal year 2001, the sector's agents had detained 68,064 people.
This represents a drop of almost 30%.
Following the September 11, 2001 attack on the US, Yuma-sector
daily apprehensions have been far below last year's levels. On
September 12, 2001 apprehensions were down 73% from last year.
Between September 19 and September 25, 2001, apprehensions were
down anywhere from 55% to 83% compared to last year.
Rita Vargas Torregrosa, the Mexican consul to Calexico, California,
told La Crónica that the number of detentions in the Yuma
sector began to decline after 14 migrants from one group died
in July, 2001.
Torregrosa also said that in the year 2000, 99 people died
in the region. So far this year there have been 97 registered
deaths although the body of a woman found on Tuesday, September
25 could bring the total to 98.
In the fiscal year 2000 there were 369 registered deaths of
migrants due to exposure and drowning.
To see a map of Border Patrol Sectors go to: http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/sectors/index.htm
Source: La Crónica (San Luis Río Colorado), September
27, 2001. Article by Manuel Angulo.
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