Mexico hopes to rid country of bird flu by end of 2006
Mexico hopes to be able to declare all 31 states and the capital free from bird flu before the end of 2006, and will soon approve rules to deal with low-pathogenicity strains and other, more dangerous forms, officials said Wednesday.
Currently, 15 Mexican states have been declared free of bird flu and work is being done in another 16 – most in the country’s central region.
The country has made “great progress” in combatting the lower-risk form of bird flu and will be working with farmers to achieve disease-free certification, said Jose Antonio del Valle, director of animal health for Mexico’s Agriculture Department.
The viruses come in two groups: high pathogenicity, which are the deadliest kinds, and low pathogenicity, which cause less serious illnesses. The virus causing the most concern for birds and people in Asia, H5N1, is a high-path strain.
Mexico, like the rest of Latin America, has not yet seen any cases of the deadly H5N1 strain.
Nor has Mexico had any active cases of low pathogenicity flu strains in recent months.
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Mexico controls bird flu outbreak: official
Mexican Health Minister Julio Frenk said Friday that his country had controlled the outbreak of bird flu in Chiapas state on the Guatemala border, adding there was no risk for human health.
Speaking at a Mexico City press conference, Frenk said that Mexico had been maintaining vigilance for years, making sure that bird flu was kept under control.
This vigilance helped the early detection of outbreak, spotted 15 days ago that has hit 300 birds. There was little risk that the human population could be infected, unlike the virus present in Europe and Asia, he
Mexico plans response to bird-flu mutation
Mexican Health Secretary Julio Frenk on Thursday announced a national response plan in the event that the bird flu now affecting parts of Asia turns into a human pandemic.
The plan, a joint effort between numerous Mexican federal agencies, includes Mexico on a list of the first countries that would receive a vaccine against a human strain of the flu -- when and if it is developed.
It also sets aside $55 million that will be partly used to invest in technology that would enable Mexico to develop such a vaccine in the future.
The money also will
Mexico hopes to join Mercosur in 2006
Mexico is working with Mercosur members to join the South American trade block sometime late next year, the country's foreign minister said Thursday.
Luis Ernesto Derbez told a news conference that he will be working with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay during a Dec. 9 meeting to ensure that joining Mercosur wouldn't conflict with Mexico's other trade agreements in the region.
The meeting is scheduled to take place in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Mexico is currently a so-called Mercosur "observer," meaning it is allowed to participate in the trade block's meetings.
In July 2004, however, Mexico asked to become
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Mexican officials expressed hopes Wednesday that their country could expand business ties and the current guest-worker program with Canada as President Vicente Fox headed to Alberta and British Columbia.
Fox will be accompanied on the two-day visit by a delegation of about 30 Mexican businessmen and will focus on meetings with Canadian leaders in the mining, transport and energy sectors, many of whom have investments in Mexico.
Fox was to meet with Prime Minister Paul Martin in Vancouver on Friday. Talks were expected to include health and environmental issues.
"Our relations are very
State hopes float brings attention to New Mexico
New Mexico is hoping a float in the Tournament of Roses parade Monday in Pasadena, Calif., brings attention to the state.
New Mexico’s entry, called “Land of Enchantment,†is the latest in an aggressive effort by New Mexico officials to market the state for tourism and movies.
Gov. Bill Richardson not only will be waving to parade-goers from the float, he also will have talks with California film industry officials.
The Tourism Department also hopes to get the attention of football fans by giving away free tickets to the Rose Bowl.
The state’s float will cost
The ever-changing face of campaign politics in Mexico
Once more the unimaginable seems unavoidable in Mexican politics.
Barely two weeks following the start of what looked to be a ho-hum event, Mexican presidential campaigning took another turn in which the 2006 election outcome may again become unpredictable.
The split in the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ranks has turned into a mutiny that not only threatens party unity and its 2006 election results, but eventually the party itself. Earlier Roberto Madrazo, the PRI boss and leading presidential hopeful, had fought back a showdown with a group of PRI governors, and he
Mexico Hopes To End Drought
The last time that Mexico defeated the United States in a World Cup qualifier the year was 1972, Richard Nixon was President, the Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl, The Godfather was premiering on the big screen, and Carly Simon bust on the scene with the Grammy’s Best Newcomer Award.
Mexico looks forward to qualifying for the World Cup Germany 2006 when they visit the United States, and at the same time break a 30-year winless streak in American soil.
The USA National Team will welcome the Tricolors to Columbus Ohio, in a match that will
Mexico Goes to Germany 2006
The Mexican national soccer team has qualified for the next World Cup in Germany, becoming the third Latin American country to ensure its placement in the tournament.
Mexico beat Panama 5-0 in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. It was a game with only one protagonist -- Mexico -- which dominated the game's entire 90 minutes. Panama, conversely, was unmotivated, performing poorly.
El Tricolor -- the name Mexicans use for their national team -- became the second team in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) after the United States, with Costa Rica, Guatemala
MEXICO CITY — Legislators will vote next week on whether to allow Mexicans living abroad to cast ballots in the 2006 presidential election, after saying Friday that they had split on the issue with less than a week left to approve the bill.
The dispute threatens to again quash the voting rights of an estimated 11 million migrants, most in the U.S., and exposes the long-standing electoral fault lines in a country where one-tenth of the population has emigrated to find work.
The former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, voted Thursday in a lower-house committee to modify
Cozumel
The town, San Miguel de Cozumel, is a seedy, overpriced version ofPlaya del Carmen. C Daily tour groups arrive on cruises from Miami and Cancun, and the towns' services seem geared towards this type of tourist. But Cozumel is a mecca for scuba divers, with many beautiful offshore reefs to explore, as well as much interesting wildlife and bird life. Travellers looking for a beach holiday with some nightlife will find the island disap¬pointing compared to Playa del Carmen. There is only one nice beach, on the west side, and the eastern, Atlantic coast is
