US Ambassador in Mexico Warns of Increasing Crime
The U.S. ambassador to Mexico is warning U.S. citizens traveling in Mexico to use caution because of increasing violence and criminal activity, especially along the 3000-kilometer border. The warning comes at a time when people in one border town are observing an especially painful anniversary related to cross-border crime.
In a statement, Ambassador Tony Garza says violence in the border region threatens both Mexicans and Americans and their way of life. He says violence related to narcotics smuggling has claimed 1,500 Mexican lives this year.
He says that, just last week, six young men, one of them a U.S. citizen, died in a gang-related shootout.
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Mexico warns church on drug-tainted money
A spokesman for President Vicente Fox on Tuesday warned that no one may accept illegal funds, responding to a Roman Catholic bishop's statement that the church has no obligation to investigate whether donations come from drug trafficking.
The exchange between church and state officials came the week after Pope Benedict XVI lamented that Mexican society was troubled by corruption, drug trafficking and organized crime, during a meeting with bishops from northern and central Mexico at the Vatican.
"At no time, under no condition, may anyone receive illegal money," said Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar. "No one may
Mexico warns of long drug fight, more deaths ahead
Mexico warned on Tuesday of a long fight against drug traffickers and more deaths among security forces after two police chiefs were shot dead near Texas.
A spokesman for President Vicente Fox said the fatal shootings on Monday would not deter the government in its "frontal attack against organized crime."
More than 1,000 people died last year as gangs battled for control of lucrative smuggling routes to Texas from northeast Mexico, many in Nuevo Laredo across from Laredo, Texas.
"The Mexican state will emerge victorious, but there will still be a long period of conflict
U.S. ambassador to Mexico ruffles feathers
A rift is forming between the United States and Mexico after the U.S. ambassador there criticized the country for not doing enough to fight drug dealers.
Ambassador Antonio Garza Jr. said Tuesday that he temporarily closed a consulate in Nuevo Laredo as punishment to the Mexican government for not controlling border area violence, The New York Times reports.
Geronimo Gutierrez, Mexico's assistant foreign affairs secretary for North America, shot back Wednesday, saying his harsh words "do not fit the role of ambassador."
A spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox U.S. also criticized Garza.
State Department spokesman, Sean McCormick,
Mexico's Ambassador Visits Utah
Local Business Leaders Hope To Have Dialogue On Immigration Issues
SALT LAKE CITY Some Utah business leaders hope the visit by Mexico's ambassador to the US will spark some dialogue on immigration issues.
Ambassador Carlos de Icaza is expected to meet with business leaders at a luncheon on Thursday. Friday, the ambassador will meet privately with the Governor and legislative leadership.
Joe Reyna, chairman-elect of the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, says Icaza's visit is likely a prelude to a visit by Mexican President Vicente Fox. He says when an ambassador from a country like Mexico comes to
Mexico warns tourists in Cancun of threat from Hurricane Emily
Mexican officials issued a hurricane warning Saturday for much of the eastern Yucatan peninsula, including the resort of Cancun, as Hurricane Emily barreled across the Caribbean south of Jamaica.
Authorities already were recommending tourists leave much of Mexico's Caribbean coast as a precaution.
While evacuation had not yet been ordered, the Cancun city government met with local bus companies to arrange transportation for tourists away from the low-lying spit of land that houses much of Cancun's hotel sector, which lies almost directly in the catagory 4 hurricane's path.
Mexico issued a hurricane
U.S. sends agents to patrol Mexico border
The U.S. is dispatching federal agents to Texas to combat violent crime along the Mexican border, a source of tension between the two countries in recent months.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the issue would be the focus of his meeting in San Antonio on Thursday with his Mexican counterpart, Daniel Cabeza de Vaca.
The Violent Crime Impact Team will go to the border city of Laredo, Gonzales told reporters Wednesday at the Justice Department. Such teams previously have been sent to about 20 U.S. cities that are struggling with violent crime problems despite a
Mexico, Venezuela chiefs pull ambassadors
Mexico and Venezuela pulled their ambassadors from each other’s capitals Monday after the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez refused to apologize for his remarks belittling Mexican President Vicente Fox.
Chavez, a frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy, last week called Fox “the puppy†of the Bush administration. When the Mexican government announced it would expel the Venezuelan ambassador if the Chavez government did not apologize within 24 hours, Venezuela responded Monday by ordering its ambassador home.
Mexico then recalled its ambassador to Caracas, with Fox saying: “We cannot allow people to offend our country.â€
The two countries fell
MEXICO CITY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - He married Mexico's richest woman, is an old pal of U.S. President George W. Bush and now Washington's envoy south of the Rio Grande is stirring up controversy in a dispute over crime and immigration on the U.S.-Mexican border.
U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza upset Mexico this week by boasting he had shut a consular office in a border city to "punish" the country for failing to halt a drug war there.
It was the latest in a series of run-ins with Mexico's government that have earned Garza a reputation as a bully who, despite his Hispanic
Mexico's ambassador to the United States says many Americans opposed to border wall
Many Americans are opposed to a U.S. proposal to build 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) of additional fences along the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexico's ambassador to the United States said Thursday.
Carlos de Icaza told W Radio in Mexico City that U.S. businesses, church groups and even politicians have "clearly indicated their opposition to measures that could put the economy of the country in danger."
Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez has called on other Latin American countries to unite against a U.S. House of Representatives bill to toughen border
U.S. Consulate in Mexico to Reopen
The U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo will reopen, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico said Friday, a week after announcing the offices would be closed amid rising violence in the border city.
In a statement, Garza said the councilman‘s killing underlined the need to crack down on crime, but would not affect the decision to reopen the U.S. consulate Monday, a week after it closed.
While Mexican officials had called the consulate closure and over-reaction, Garza said the Friday killing proved that unusual measures were justified.
His decision to close the offices, announced July 30, came after an
