Mexico Senate rejects beverage tax plan
Mexico’s Senate has rejected a proposal to eliminate the 20 percent tax on beverages made with high-fructose corn syrup, a tax that was ruled discriminatory by the World Trade Organization.
The Senate voted 47-31 late Thursday against the bill, which had already passed the lower house of Congress.
Congress imposed the levy in 2002 at the height of a dispute between Mexico and the United States over sweeteners that pitted Mexican sugar producers against U.S. corn refiners.
More: businessweek.com
Mexico rejects US border fences
Mexico says it opposes a US plan to build more fences along the border in order to control illegal immigration.
Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said his country "does not believe physical barriers are the solution".
President George W Bush announced the construction of more fences in the 3,200km (2,000 miles) border while touring US states earlier this week.
About 10 million Mexicans live in the United States and more than four million are said to stay illegally.
More than a million are arrested every year as they try to enter the US to look for
Senate Votes for Fence Along U.S.-Mexico Border
Today conservatives had their first victory in the immigration debate taking place this week on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
The Senate voted 83-16 to build a 350-mile, triple-layered fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and to add a 500-mile vehicle barrier on top of it.
The bill was an amendment to the current immigration reform bill (S. 2611) being considered by the Senate. The bills sponsor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.), said that by passing my amendment, we are sending a signal that we are serious about stopping the flow of illegal immigrants over the border.
If
Fox Optimistic U.S. Will Adopt Compromise Plan on Mexico Border
Mexican President Vicente Fox said hes optimistic the U.S. Congress will adopt a compromise immigration plan and reject the xenophobia of ultra-right wingers.
Fox criticized President George W. Bushs plan to slow Mexican migrants -- who cross at a pace of about 1,400 a day -- by manning the border with 6,000 National Guard troops. Fox said a Senate plan endorsed by Bush to build a 350-mile wall along the border would be a waste of money.
If were going to reach an accord, the National Guard isnt necessary, Fox,
Senate Pushes Expanded Oil Drilling in Gulf of Mexico
In the 1980s, Senators and Representatives introduced legislation to protect the Gulf of Mexico, to restrict drilling. This Congress plans to expand drilling. This week the Senate quadrupled the Presidents request (map - pdf) for new acreage in the Gulf of Mexico.
Less than two weeks after S. 3711 was introduced, the Senate voted 71-25 to open up an additional 8.3 million acres of east-central Gulf of Mexico to drilling, ostensibly to provide relief for consumers.
However, no new crude will hit the market for 4-5 years -- and when it does,
Mexico presidential challenger vows protests after court rejects full recount
Mexico leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [campaign website, in Spanish] has vowed to continue with street demonstrations after the Federal Electoral Tribunal [official website, in Spanish] on Saturday rejected his request for a full ballot-by-ballot recount [JURIST report] of all votes cast in the July 2 presidential election [JURIST news archive], which Obrador lost by less than a percentage point to conservative Felipe Calderon [campaign website, in Spanish]. Obrador slammed the seven judges unanimous ruling, telling followers that were going to continue our movement of peaceful civil resistance...If
The Mexico Fund, Inc. Declares Largest Dividend in its History; Announces Terms of Upcoming In-Kind Repurchase Offer
The Mexico Fund, Inc. (NYSE: MXF - News) announced that the Board of Directors has declared the payment of the Fund's largest cash distribution per share since its inception in June 1981. The Board has declared a cash dividend of $2.909 per share, payable on January 23, 2006 to stockholders of record on December 21, 2005. The dividend is comprised of $0.8461 ordinary income, which includes $0.2213 of short-term capital gains and $2.0629 of long-term capital gains. This dividend is equivalent to 10.4%
Mexico's Fox Raps U.S. on Plan for Fence
Mexican President Vicente Fox Calls U.S. Plans to Build Fence on Southern Border 'Shameful'
Mexican President Vicente Fox stepped up his attacks on the United States plan to build a fence along its southern border on Sunday, saying it was a "shameful" initiative for a democracy.
Fox said barriers between nations belonged to the last century and had been torn down by popular uprisings, referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
"This wall is shameful," Fox said at an event for migrants in his home state of Guanajuato.
More: abcnews.go.com
MEXICO'S PLAN PUTS AMERICAN VALUES TO THE TEST
Behind the illegal immigrants waving Mexican and Salvadoran flags in Los Angeles last week; behind the Mexican girl in Arlington, Va., who was quoted as saying on radio, "Citizens -- what are they for? We do all the work"; behind the antiquated calls for taking back the Southwest in the name of a Mexican Aztlan -- there is a plan.
I am not saying that this plan, propagated by Mexico City, could challenge the lies, secrecy and Machiavellian scheming of American war plans in the Middle East. I am not saying that
The View from Mexico
If the Bush administration doesn't revise its border control legislation or enact a guest worker program by Jan. 18, it will force Mexico's next president to adopt the rhetoric of anti-American nationalism.
Mexicans high and low are piqued because of a measure by Republicans James Sensenbrenner and Tom Tancredo, HR 4437, which calls for, among other things, erecting double walls along some 700 miles of the Mexican-American border.
American Congress-watchers say that the bill doesn't stand much chance of approval in the Senate, but that's beside the point: in Mexico, the idea that powerful Americans want to
Mexico opposes US plan to build more barriers along border
Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Wednesday that Mexico opposed the US plan to build more separation walls along the border between the two countries.
The plan will not help resolve the problem of illegal migration that bothers the two countries, Derbez told reporters.
The Mexican objection to the walls is not directed against the United States or President George W. Bush but rather the country's long-standing stance on migration, he said.
Mexico opposed walls along any borders, anywhere in the world, including the ones in Gaza, said the foreign
