Disputes threaten to tear apart Mexico’s PRI
As Mexico’s former ruling party sets its sights on regaining power next year, it has found itself plagued by internal struggles that include angry protests by one group that used to give it reliable support.
The nation’s teachers have been throwing eggs and yelling “Liar!” at the party’s top presidential candidate, Roberto Madrazo.
The teachers’ union, Mexico’s largest with more than 1.2 million members, was until recently a pillar of Madrazo’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. For decades, it was among several unions delivering sure votes to keep the party in power, often in exchange for cushy perks for union leaders.
This year, however, the union has declared war on Madrazo. Its members have dogged him at campaign events, distributed bumper stickers questioning his honesty and presaged what could be a no-holds-barred campaign to replace President Vicente Fox next July.
More: mercurynews.com
Grupo Mexico Shuts San Martin Mine as Strike Lingers
Grupo Mexico closed its San Martin zinc mine because of a strike that has halted production since March, signaling labor disputes that have crimped world metal supplies wont end soon.
Its impossible to even hope that this is going to be resolved, spokesman Juan Rebolledo said in a television interview on TV Azteca. Thats why we closed it.
Lost production from San Martin and Grupo Mexicos La Caridad mine helped push copper to record prices on the London Metal Exchange this year, as some analysts forecast 2006 production will lag behind
Wilma pounds Mexico’s Yucatan
Hurricane Wilma pounded Mexico’s Caribbean coast on Saturday, destroying homes and flooding beach resorts as it meandered slowly over the Yucatan peninsula.
Winds of 120 miles an hour knocked over houses, uprooted trees and kept thousands of tourists in cramped shelters.
The storm has been downgraded to a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale— but its winds and rains were still powerful enough to cause massive damage and threaten lives. Emergency forces have reported no deaths so far.
The stalled storm has battered Playa del Carmen, Cancun and diving centre Cozumel for the past 36 hours and was
Popocatepetl volcano sends plume of ash into air outside Mexico City
The Popocatepetl Volcano sent a gritty cloud billowing into the sky outside Mexico City early Thursday.
Officials warned nearby residents to protect themselves against the rain of ash the eruption will likely cause.
The 5,450-metre volcano, which has been erupting intermittently since 1994, posed no other immediate danger, they said.
In July, the volcano sent a column of hot ash 2.4 kilometres into the air and spat out red-hot rocks. But it didn't threaten residents living at the volcano's base.
More: cbc.ca
Hurricane lashes Mexico's popular Riviera Maya resorts
Hurricane Emily ripped roofs off luxury hotels along Mexico's Mayan Riviera, stranded thousands of tourists and left hundreds of local residents homeless today, forcing many to remain in crowded, leaky shelters.
Residents of Yucatan Peninsula resorts, including Playa del Carmen and Tulum, began wading through knee-deep flood waters to assess damage under a light drizzle, as the storm barreled west into the Gulf of Mexico.
There were no immediate reports of death or serious injuries on the peninsula, but Emily was expected to regain strength and threaten Mexican oil rigs before slamming into northeast The worst
Mexico police storm steel plant, 2 shot dead
Hundreds of Mexican police stormed a major steel plant on Thursday to force out striking workers in a violent clash that spilled onto the streets and left at least two workers dead.
Steel workers and police with riot gear and shields fought a pitched battle at the Sicartsa complex, which has been closed for three weeks by workers defending a union boss whom the government accuses of graft.
Dozens were injured when some 600 police moved in firing tear gas canisters early in the morning at the plant in the western state of
VP Rangel rules out apologies to Mexico
Vice-President José Vicente Rangel reiterated Thursday that Venezuela will not apologize for the remarks made by President Hugo Chávez on the Mexican government and President Vicente Fox.
The clarification was made when the Mexican government spokesman commented that Mexico could wait for an apology.
"It is not a matter of offering apologies. I said already that they would rather take a seat and wait for it, because our decision is final. It is up to them to look for a comfortable chair," Rangel told reporters after a ceremony with the participation of trade unions.
"We do not
UPDATE 1-Kansas City Southern wins control of Mexico's TFM
Rail operator Kansas City Southern Industries Inc. (KSU.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it has reached a deal with the government of Mexico to resolve disputes over a tax refund in exchange for control of a Mexican rail network, sending its shares soaring more than 13 percent in afternoon trading.
Kansas City Southern said it and its subsidiaries now own 100 percent of Grupo Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana, S.A. (GTFM) and TFM, S.A. (TFM). It said the agreement did not involve cash payments by any parties.
"The effective economic impact is they're exchanging their
Mexico City, Built on `Gelatin,' Unprepared for the Next Quake
The abandoned 15-story building in downtown Mexico City that once served as a federal budget office is a reminder of the 1985 earthquake that killed 10,000 and residents' concern about the next one.
``I wish they would tear it down,'' said Josefina Angel Rojas, 70, who sells magazines and snacks from a stand beneath the building at the corner of Eje Central Lazaro Cardenas and Arcos de Belen. ``If an earthquake comes, we'll just have to run.''
Government officials say a quake similar in magnitude to the temblor that occurred
Volcano Sends Plume of Ash Into Air Outside Mexico City
Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano sent a gritty cloud billowing into the sky outside Mexico City early Thursday.
Officials warned nearby residents to protect themselves against the rain of ash the eruption will likely cause, and some was reported to have fallen on the town of Amecameca, in Mexico state.
The eruption sent a plume of ash almost 5 kilometers (3 miles) into the air, and was accompanied by about 30 minutes of light seismic activity, Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center reported.
The 17,886-foot (5,450-meter) volcano has been intermittently erupting since December 1994.
In July, the
Buying in Mexico
Title insurance can provide peace of mind for those wary of Baja California real-estate investments
The promise of lucrative profits and the allure of stunning ocean views have drawn U.S. citizens in droves to invest in Baja California real estate, but buying property in Mexico is not necessarily without risk.
It wasn't all that long ago that dozens of Americans were evicted from their homes in Punta Banda outside Ensenada after a Mexican court ruled that the land on which they were living be returned to the original, lawful owners.
he potential for harrowing property disputes, though, may well become
