Frontera
NorteSur
September 2000
| |
Frontera
NorteSur |
| TODAY'S NEWS (Updated Every Weekday) |
|
Wednesday, September 27, 2000 Of the above total, 61 lost their lives in auto accidents,
22 from poisoning, 23 by inhaling gas or vapors, 20 by burns,
11 by drowning and the other 121 by falls or other trauma to
the body. Most of the poisonings were from accidental drug and
medication overdoses. Every year, according to Rojero, children
die when they consume household chemicals stored in beverage
containers and/or within reach. Benavides is also being accused of trying to bury allegations of involvement in drug-trafficking by having the editor of the Cd. Juárez weekly magazine Semanario, Antonio Pinedo Cornejo, thrown in jail for defamation. Benavides said that Pinedo's claims about his relation to the drug trade were unsubstantiated and for this reason Pinedo was arrested last week. Pinedo said he based his allegations on a federal investigation of Benavides. In statements to El Diario Efrén Gutiérrez
Casas, president of the local executive committee of the PRD,
jokingly called Benavides and Molina "the dynamic duo"
and said that wherever they go the drug trade and organized crime
will run rampant. Gutiérrez also stated that Benavides
should have resigned a long time ago when it was obvious that
he was having no effect on lowering crime in Cd. Juárez.
Ciudad Juárez has implemented a new emergency response number in addition to the already existing 060. The new 061 anti-violence line will only take calls of the most urgent and threatening nature. Homicides, kidnappings, burglaries, assaults, suicides, rapes, bomb threats and requests for ambulances or firefighters should all be made to the new 061 line. According to an El Diario article the existing 060
will only take calls of lesser importance for problems like the
disruption of public order, vehicular accidents, people drunk
in public and people that are naked within the public view. The Public Safety Department (Dirección General de Seguridad Pública) and other local, state, and federal agencies will be in charge of operating the new line. Torres added that phone operators would need to take pertinent information from callers such as their names, address, phone number, the incident they wish to report, the location of the event, and a description of those involved. All information reported to the line will be confidential. Source: El Diario, September 21, 2000.
Article by Javier Saucedo Alcalá. The celebration began with folkloric dancing by a group of
male inmates and women. Two norteño groups composed of
inmates performed traditional Independence Day music. Cervantes said that the ban was part of a new security measure to prevent inmates from using phones for bad purposes. Phones are available for inmates' use in the prison's patio
areas. Use is limited to day-light hours however. Source: El Diario, September 16, 2000.
Articles by Roberto Ramos. In response to US law enforcement groups naming Vicente Carrillo
Fuentes "an international star of the drug trafficking world"
in an attempt to put pressure on him and the Juárez drug
cartel that he is alleged to be the head, the Chihuahaua Attorney
General's office (Procuraduría General del Estado) stated
that its police force, the PJE, would be unable to arrest Carrillo
because they have no outstanding warrants for his arrest--not
even a traffic ticket. Juárez Mayor Gustavo Elizondo reacted to the Friday,
September 15 announcement by US officials by stating that the
increased persecution of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes would would
reduce the homicide rate in Juárez. Elizondo's reasoning
behind this is that increased pressure on Carrillo would force
him to leave the state and go elsewhere. US officials are also anxious to seize over $300 million that
the cartel has in the US. Source: El Norte, September 16 & 17, 2000.
Articles by Edgár Prado and Fransisco Luján. Other PFP agents assisted PJE state police in apprehending people named in arrest warrants. Thirteen people have been arrested on out-standing warrants so far. The PFP agents involved in these operations wore civilian clothing. Along Avenida Juárez one man, Martín del Campo, was arrested for carrying many passports which he allegedly rents out to others. The Attorney's General Office (PGR) is also participating in the operations by flying over the city in helicopter. Source: El Diario, September 14, 2000. Article
by Luz del Carmen Sosa. According to the Business Coordinating Council (Consejo Coordinator
Empresorial, CCE), 40 percent of Juárez citizens live
in poverty despite booming economic development on a national
level. This statement was made by the CCE before Luis Ernesto
Derbez Bautista a member of President-elect Vicente Fox's economic
transition team. Derbez is on a tour of Chihuahua to gain knowledge
of problems in the industrial sector. In his presentation Holguín also noted that 50 percent of Juárez's population is of migratory descent and that 100,000 families live without the basic services of water and sewer. The CCE asked Derbez for authentic governmental federalism to strengthen state and local governments. The CCE also asked for the equal distribution of funds based on the individual needs of state and local governments. Source: El Diario, September 13, 2000.
Article by Tania Fernández. U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, introduced a bill that would decrease the blood quantum necessary to qualify for membership in El Paso's Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Tigua tribe as well as the Coushatta and Alabama Indian in Eastern Texas. The bill lowers the blood qualification standards to qualify as a Tigua from one-eighth to one-sixteenth. The bill comes after years of worry that as Tiguas marry outside the tribe, the bloodline would dilute and the demise of the tribe would be near. The passing of the bill would introduce 500 new Tigua tribe members to the existing 1,252. Marc Schwartz, tribal spokesperson, said that the bill would provide "a legacy for the tribe, a continuation and some assurance that the tribe will live well into the next millennium." Since the bill does not have a Senate companion, a Senate version will have to be submitted and passed by the Senate, then signed into law by President Clinton, before October 13th when the Senate adjourns. If the Senate bill does not happen in time Reyes will have to start over when the House reconvenes in November after the elections. "Chances are pretty good, actually," said press spokesperson Yvette Peña. "The committee on the Senate side will definitely push this bill." The bill is anticipated to have not opposition in the Senate. Source: The El Paso Times, September 13, 2000.
Article by David Crowder. The National Immigration Institute (Instituto Nacional de Migración, INM) is overwhelmed by the migration rate along the Cd. Juárez border. According to Ricardo Martínez Dozal, Regional Delegate for the INM, the heavy flow of migrants who cross into the United States through the Juárez Valley can be explained by his department's lack of sufficient, competent personnel for interdiction purposes. In contrast, Martínez Dozal boasted about the INM's tighter security measures at the local airport. However, according to El Norte, there exists just 300 meters from the airport a large center of operations for human trafficking where polleros and owners of immigrant safe houses operate with impunity. Martínez Dozal responded to this by saying that, "It's easier to identify immigrants than traffickers." He added that this year the INM has detained 4,000 migrants and 65 presumed polleros. These figure are reportedly much larger than last year's. "We need to reinforce (with more personnel) first of all to provide better service, and to make an effort to provide increased security to citizens by fighting the trafficking of humans," Martínez Dozal stated. Martínez Dozal avoided answering questions based on an El Norte story regarding the supposed extortion of immigrants by law enforcement saying only that he saw no such indications of abuse, "When a law-enforcement officer detains a presumed illegal, the detained person is questioned on whether or not he or she has experienced any abuse. If the answer is a positive one logically we bring it to the attention of the law-enforcement organization that is involved. I want to state that in all the time I've been here, there has never been such a case, maybe because of fear or because there was never such a case." According to Martínez Dozal, under the Ley General de Población (an immigration law) any person or law-enforcement organization can inform the INM about the presence of undocumented foreigners in the country. Groups that help the INM are according to Martínez Dozal, the local police, the state police (PJE), the Army and the Centro de Salud. In a separate immigration story in El Diario, The Center for Migrant Support (Centro de Apoyo al Migrante, CAM) announced that it will host various seminars on human rights issues for public safety officials. The CAM is preparing to speak to law-enforcement groups to explain to them that illegals are not threats to the community. It is the CAM's position that after their long journeys north the undocumented foreigners should be helped because the people are usually tired and hungry and should not have to deal with police assaults. Source: El Norte, September 12, 2000. Articles by Pablo
Hernández Batista and Francisco Raúl Robles. The El Paso Times reports that Hector Villa III, former director of the El Paso, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission office, was indicted on 48 counts for allegedly facilitating the dumping of hundreds of thousands of gallons of animal bone, hair, manure and other waste into a New Mexico irrigation ditch. The 48 counts are related to violations against the Water Quality Act in the Las Cruces District Court. It is believed that near 70 tanks of illegal waste were dumped into the irrigation ditch between 1998 and 1999. The indictments come after a multi-agency investigation was triggered when New Mexico State Police officers saw a Valley By-Products 7,800 gallon tanker cross the Texas-New Mexico Border and dump its contents into the irrigation ditch on July 20, 1999. The dumping allegedly took place in 1998 and 1999 at two sites just north of the Texas-New Mexico border between Anthony and Berino, NM. Investigators estimate that 70 tank-truck loads and 265,647 gallons of rendering plant waste were dumped into the Elephant Butte Irrigation Ditch and an undisclosed landfill. "The defendants' actions were intolerable and a danger
to public health. ...I hope that this case will deliver a wake-up
call to any who endangers the health of New Mexicans with
illegal dumping." said New Mexico Attorney General Patricia
A. Madrid. Dumping into an irrigation system can lead to
bacterial contamination of both human and animal life.
However, no illnesses have been reported as a result of the dumping. Ricardo Vásquez Santiesteban, Assistant State Attorney General (Subprocurador de Justicia del Estado) issued a report stating that 1,700 arrest warrants issued by local judges have not been acted upon. The warrants were issued for a variety of crimes and at this time over 1,000 still remain active and current. Santiesteban stated all three levels of government will begin operations to carry out the warrants. The Cd. Juárez newspaper El Norte obtained documents from recent public safety meetings that indicated the large number of unexecuted arrest warrants. At these meetings it was also noted that for each unexecuted arrest warrant, there was a a suspected criminal on the streets. The report states that of the 757 arrest warrants which were issued by judges between January and July, 2000, 544 had been carried out by police. In 1999, 1,469 arrest warrants were issued of which 914 were executed. Source: El Norte, September 6, 2000. Article by Salvador
Castro. Twelve law-enforcement agencies participated in this coordinated program over the weekend including police departments from Chihuahua, Texas and New Mexico. According to Lázaro Padilla Hernández, operations coordinator for the Cd. Juárez Traffic Department, 41 arrests were made on Friday, 47 on Saturday and 11 on Sunday. No minors were arrested which Padilla said shows that parents are doing a good job of keeping their children from drinking and driving. In El Paso, US police officers stationed on the bridges turned back young people that could not show proof of age to cross into Cd. Juárez. Others were taken to the police station and their parents were fined when they were discovered to be out after curfew. Source: El Diario, September 5, 2000. Article by Javier
Saucedo and Hugo Chávez. Families in the Northern Chihuahua and the city of Juárez have new tools to help them cover the expenses involved with education through 560 scholarships offered by the Northern Zone Education Coordinator (Coordinadora de Educación Zona Norte) and the "See Well to Learn Better" programs. It is estimated that 30,000 school age children in Juárez suffer from vision problems. That is why a fund for the "See Well to Learn Better" program will be doubled in an effort to supply 4,500 pairs of eyeglasses to children this semester. Statistics show that 2.7% of students who transition from elementary to middle school require glasses. The effort to distribute the glasses will take place from September 4th until December 15th at the State Government Social Development offices. The glasses are given to students without cost to their families. Also, 560 scholarships will be awarded to students with financial need and students with outstanding academic performance. The scholarships will be awarded in the form of school supplies, instructional material, uniforms, and/or cash. A commission will be formed within each school district that would be in charge of the selection process. The scholarships are intended to support elementary and secondary education. The scholarship values will vary depending on the needs of the student which will be determined by an analysis of the financial status of the students family. The minimum value is that of 500 pesos monthly. According to Abelardo Loya Peña of the Northern Zone Education Coordinator's office the scholarships will be a major economic support to families as well as encouragement to students to further their education. |