Mexico’s Geo expands land-purchashing program
Mexican homebuilder Geo said it added $100 million for land purchases as part of a deal with PREI, a real estate business of Prudential Financial, that takes advantage of the housing boom in the country.
The original goal of both companies was to invest $180 million.
“Due to high demand demonstrated by investors towards such an attractive opportunity, Phase II (of the venture) will now consist of a total of $280 million that will be invested in the purchase of strategic plots and land,” Geo said on Wednesday.
More: today.reuters.com
Mexico's Geo expands land-purchashing program
Mexican homebuilder Geo said it added $100 million for land purchases as part of a deal with PREI, a real estate business of Prudential Financial, that takes advantage of the housing boom in the country.
The original goal of both companies was to invest $180 million.
"Due to high demand demonstrated by investors towards such an attractive opportunity, Phase II (of the venture) will now consist of a total of $280 million that will be invested in the purchase of strategic plots and land," Geo said on Wednesday.
More: today.reuters.com
Mexico assails US border fence immigration bill
A bill moving through the U.S. Congress that demands security fencing with lights and cameras be built along the Mexico-U.S. border will not stop the flood of illegal immigrants, Mexico said Friday.
The House of Representatives voted 260-159 late Thursday to require the high-tech fencing along parts of the U.S. border, while seemingly moving away from a White House plan for immigration reform that includes a guest worker program and is backed by Mexico.
Mexican presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said Mexico would keep pushing for a comprehensive immigration reform that expands temporary worker programs.
"An immigration reform
Alcan acquires packaging plant in Monterrey, Mexico; price not disclosed
Alcan Inc. has acquired a 250-employee packaging business in northern Mexico as the Montreal-headquartered company expands in the Mexican market.
Alcan said Tuesday it paid an undisclosed price for the packaging assets of Recubrimientos y Laminaciones de Papel, S.A. de C.V., also known as Relapasa, of Monterrey, Mexico.
The acquisition of Relapasa, with 2005 sales of about $22 million US, expands Alcan Packaging Mexico to 1,250 employees at three plants.
"The Monterrey site will provide an expanded manufacturing platform to accelerate Alcan's food and specialty flexible packaging growth in the Mexican
$1 billion guaranteed for projects in Mexico
The U.S. Export-Import Bank has approved $1 billion in long-term loan guarantees for U.S. companies providing equipment and services to Petróleos Mexicanos, Mexico's state-owned oil company.
The three loans are for oil and natural gas exploration, development and production in Mexico, and they will involve nearly 300 U.S. companies, many of which are in Texas.
A $300 million loan guarantee will finance U.S. companies working on the Strategic Gas Program, which aims to help meet Mexico's increasing demand for natural gas. Offshore Drilling Co. and Noble Mexico, both of Houston, and Sugar Land-based Noble Campeche are
U.S. flights to Mexico fail to cut migrant deaths
A U.S. government program that returns illegal immigrants to Mexico by flying them deep into the country is ineffective at reducing the number of deaths in the Arizona desert, analysts said on Wednesday.
The Interior Repatriation Program of daily charter flights from Tucson to Mexico City and Guadalajara was implemented in 2004 to cut deaths in the summer months.
Instead of dropping the migrants near the border as is usually done, the program flies them hundreds of miles inside Mexico. The idea was to deter migrants from immediately reattempting to cross the border via
US resumes repatriation flights for illegal immigrants from Mexico
The US Department of Homeland Security [official website] resumed its repatriation program [JURIST report; DHS backgrounder] for illegal immigrants from Mexico Friday with a flight carrying 67 people to Mexico City. This is the third straight summer that the federal government has used the program, which twice daily flies Mexicans caught illegally crossing the US-Mexico border to Mexico City and then buses them to their home communities. It specifically targets women, children, and those deemed at physical risk if they tried to cross the border again.
The US government hopes that the
Arrested Migrants Repatriated Deep Into Mexico
In 2004, 1.1 million undocumented workers were apprehended at the US-Mexico border, according to researchers at UC Davis. This year the number is likely to be at least the same or possibly even higher. Once apprehended, migrants are deported to Mexico, typically near the border.
In an effort to discourage these people from crossing again, the US and Mexican governments recently began a new program which repatriates apprehended migrants deep into Mexican territory, near the towns where they came from.
Those apprehended and wishing to participate in the new program are given a one-way plane ticket to
Funny Land: Mexico City
Deaths mounting on Mexico’s border security watch
A multimillion-dollar border security program launched in June has realized measurable results, but critics say it has failed to prevent more than 100 deaths since its inception as rival drug cartels fight for dominance along the country’s northern border.
Mexican President Vicente Fox initiated the Mexico Seguro or Safe Mexico program June 11 to address public safety concerns along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Since January, more than 800 have been killed in drug-related violence on the Mexican side of the border with almost daily killings and no arrests reported in Nuevo Laredo.
Although Matamoros and Reynosa have seen
Mexico hopes to expand business ties with Canada
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
