AP , MEXICO CITY
Tuesday, Jun 21, 2005,Page 7
Advertising A Mexican court has issued four new arrest warrants against former government officials wanted in the forced disappearance of dissidents in the 1970s, special prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo announced on Sunday.
Six members of the Brigada Campesina de los Lacandones were arrested in central Mexican state of Hidalgo in 1974 and turned over illegally to the now-dissolved Federal Security Directorate, never to be seen again, according to prosecutors.
The new arrest orders in the Hidalgo case bring to 16 the number of warrants issued as prosecutors pursue crimes of the so-called “dirty war” of the 1960s and 1970s, during which Mexican government agents used drastic means to crack down on small groups of leftist rebels who had carried out kidnappings and bank robberies. Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission has documented the disappearance of at least 275 suspected leftists.
“We are canceling the passports of impunity, gentlemen,” Carrillo said. “They’re not good anymore.”
Tucson teen wanted in murder case arrested in Mexico
A teenager sought in a slaying has been taken into custody by authorities in Mexico and turned over to U.S. officers in Douglas.
Authorities said Robert C. "Manny" Garcia, 16, was booked Friday into the Pima County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder in the May 14 death of 18-year-old Jimmy Lee Rose of Tucson, who was shot numerous times after a fight.
A murder warrant had been issued for Garcia's arrest.
Garcia was ordered held in lieu of $1 million bail on the murder charge and was held without bail on a
Mexico says done all it could for dirty war trials
Mexican President Vicente Fox's government on Friday admitted there was little else it could do to punish former officials for their past repression of leftist dissidents after a court dealt the administration another legal setback this week.
A judge this week refused to issue arrest orders for former Mexican President Luis Echeverria and seven others for a 1968 student massacre by police and soldiers.
It was the latest setback to Fox's attempts to bring to justice former members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, who committed atrocities against leftists for decades. The
Mexico 'dirty war' crimes alleged
The Mexican government and military committed "crimes against humanity" in the so-called "dirty war" against left-wing rebels, a leaked report says.
The report was prepared for current President Vicente Fox but has not been released. A US NGO has printed material saying Mexicans had a right to know.
The army kidnapped, tortured and killed hundreds of rebel suspects, says the report, which covers 1964 to 1982.
Mexico's special prosecutor says the report is biased and has been revised.
More: news.bbc.co.uk
No arrest for Mexico ex-president
A Mexican judge has refused to issue an arrest warrant for a former president accused of genocide.
The judge said the charges against Luis Echeverria did not amount to genocide.
Mr Echeverria, now 83, was accused of ordering a massacre of student protesters in 1968, days before the Olympic Games opened in Mexico City.
As many as 300 people may have died when government agents hidden among regular soldiers opened fire on students, prosecutors allege.
Judge Ranulfo Castillo said several other officials charged with Mr Echeverria over the massacre could not be prosecuted because the statute
Will Mexico come clean?
PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX of Mexico took office in 2000 vowing to finally prosecute officials responsible for the deaths, "disappearing" and torturing of hundreds in that nation's "dirty war" of the 1970s. Victims' families have waited for decades to uncover what happened to their loved ones. Although plenty of new findings have come to light, disappointingly little has been done to prosecute those responsible for the illegal repression.
One reason to hope that this might change is a draft of a new report prepared by President Fox's special prosecutor's office. It documents the kidnapping and torturing of hundreds of
Mexico Did A Poor Job of "Dirty Work" for the US
Mexican diplomacy is at its nadir because it is not just doing the US' "dirty work", but is doing it badly, political analysts assert.
Well-known analyst Gabriel Guerra said Mexico's foreign policy is in a very serious situation, stressing that the crisis with Argentina at the Summit of the Americas is far from accidental.
Guerra explained this is the result of a series of mistakes, a lack of strategy, experience and a median and long term plan giving Latin America its rightful place.
Mexico should be the country demonstrating the least interest
Students, unions mark '68 Mexico massacre
Thousands of students and union activists marched through downtown Mexico City on Sunday to mark the 37th anniversary of the 1968 massacre of student protesters.
This year's commemorative march comes after a judge in September refused to issue arrest warrants for former president Luis Echeverria and other former officials, ruling that the statute of limitations had run out on the crimes.
The leftist Mayor of Mexico City, Alejandro Encinas, held a ceremony in Tlatelolco Plaza, the city square where it occurred, to honor the dead.
"We must create a climate of vengeance, but we must find out the
Mexico`s Televisa is branching out
Mexico`s Televisa studio is branching out in 2006 with its first ever cartoon, it was reported Tuesday.
The network will roll out an animated version of its successful 1970s children`s comedy 'El Chavo del ocho' during the National Association of Television Program Executives meeting in Las Vegas later this month, Daily Variety reported Tuesday.
The Mexico cartoon studio, Anima, is creating 26 half-hour episodes with the first season expected to be ready by late 2006, Variety said.
The original 'Chavo' is in syndication in every Spanish speaking country in Latin America as well as Spain, Brazil and the United
Anti-US protest blocks hotel in Mexico City
Protesters waving Cuban flags blocked the entrance to a US-owned Sheraton hotel in Mexico City yesterday, calling for it to be closed because it evicted Cuban officials on orders from Washington.
About 30 people shouted "Yankees out" as they demonstrated outside the hotel over its eviction of the 16 Cubans who were staying there last week for a conference with US energy companies.
Presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said Mexico was looking into the evictions and would apply the full force of the law against the Sheraton if a crime had been committed.
"It
Mexico orders partial recount in presidential vote
Mexicos top electoral court ordered a partial recount on Saturday in a fiercely contested presidential election, angering leftists who are threatening mass protests unless all votes are counted again.
The courts seven judges rejected demands to re-open every ballot box across Mexico and instead ordered a recount next week at 9 percent of the almost 130,500 polling stations.
Leftist challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wants a full recount of the more than 41 million votes cast in the July 2 election. His conservative ruling party rival Felipe Calderon won a razor-thin victory, but Lopez
