Brazilians flow in via Mexico
Braunas· For years, Jaider de Andrade, 35, a farm worker, talked about going to the United States to look for work, and early in March he finally agreed to a trafficker’s offer to fly him to Mexico and have him guided across the border there. By month’s end, though, he was back home again, in a coffin.
“His dream had always been for us to have a little house of our own, but he never could make enough here to get ahead,” his widow, Nilce Aparecida Moreira da Silva, said at the couple’s homestead. “He knew there was some risk, but he wasn’t nervous because he saw that so many other people from around here had gone and done well in the United States.”
Encouraged by highly organized groups of smugglers offering relatively cheap packages, Brazilians recently have been migrating in record numbers to the United States.
More: sun-sentinel.com
Mexico Reinstates Visa Requirement for Brazilians (Update2)
Mexico is resuming a visa requirement for Brazilians and Ecuadoreans to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants to the U.S. Brazil and Ecuador responded by demanding visas from Mexicans.
The return to requiring visas, announced in a statement today by the Mexican Foreign Ministry, reverses a five-year-old policy of allowing Brazilians visa-free entry and breaks a 36- year-old agreement with Ecuador. The Brazilian and Ecuadorean foreign ministries said visas for Mexican tourists and business people would be reinstated Oct. 23, the same day the Mexican rule takes effect, under reciprocity policies.
The
Reuters Summit-Mexico's Homex to see free cash flow in 2006
Homex, one of Mexico's largest homebuilders, expects to see positive free cash flow in 2006 for the first year ever, and may use some of the funds to pay down debt, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
Homex (HOMEX.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) (HXM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and other large, fast-growing players in Mexico's booming housing industry have plowed money into growth in recent years, but some firms are now beginning to produce positive free cash flows.
CEO Gerardo de Nicolas said in an interview at the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit
Editorial: U.S. must stem flow of guns to Mexico
Assault weapons purchased in the United States are flooding into high-violence areas along the Mexican border and contributing to the wave of crime across the border.
A large amount of violence has been centered in and near Nuevo Laredo, where about 128 murders have been recorded this year.
Many of the slayings are believed to be related to the fierce battle between rival drug cartels fighting for control of drug trafficking routes into the United States.
A unified effort by law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border is needed to
Goalkeeper Rogerio penalty gives Sao Paulo win in Mexico
Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni converted a late penalty to give the defending champions a precious 1-0 win away to Guadalajara in the first leg of their Libertadores Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Rogerio scored in the 85th minute to put the Brazilians in command after substitute Aloisio was hauled down by Francisco Rodriguez.
Guadalajara goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez tried to put his counterpart off by wobbling at the knees and jumping up and down, but the Sao Paulo captain sent him the wrong way and slotted the kick into the bottom left-hand corner.
It was the
Mexico gearing up for Chinese tourism
Se habla Chinese? Apparently not enough Mexicans do, so the country's Tourism and Economy Departments are joining with the elite College of Mexico to prepare for a growing flow of tourists from the world's most populous nation.
The program outlined in a news release on Friday includes instruction in Chinese for tourism workers and the addition of Chinese-speakers at a telephone assistance number for visitors.
It also seeks to train tourism workers in Chinese culture so that they can meet the expectations of visitors in terms of food, recreation and courtesy.
More: signonsandiego.com
Fox Leaves Washington With Message Of Cooperation
Mexican President Vicente Fox is again urging cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. as he awaits a Congressional decision on immigration reform.
Speaking Thursday at the Rainier Club in Seattle, Fox said education and a strong economy are the keys to stemming the flow of people north out of Mexico.
Afterward, Fox left for California, where he will meet with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the mayor of Los Angeles.
Earlier Thursday, Fox spent some time with patients at a south Seattle clinic that treats poor immigrants.
More: kirotv.com
Senate Votes for Fence Along U.S.-Mexico Border
Today conservatives had their first victory in the immigration debate taking place this week on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
The Senate voted 83-16 to build a 350-mile, triple-layered fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and to add a 500-mile vehicle barrier on top of it.
The bill was an amendment to the current immigration reform bill (S. 2611) being considered by the Senate. The bills sponsor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.), said that by passing my amendment, we are sending a signal that we are serious about stopping the flow of illegal immigrants over the border.
If
Coyotes Openly Do Business in Mexico
Sidling up to migrants who arrive at the Tijuana airport and cruising the streets in border towns, coyotes in gold chains and dark sunglasses openly find customers for nightly scrambles across the U.S. border.
Mexicos president offered to crack down on smuggling at a recent summit with President Bush. But close to 100 smuggling gangs are still operating, government officials say, in plain sight of Mexican law enforcement.
While drug smugglers are invisible for the most part, people smugglers are visible, working right in front of authorities, said Tijuana border expert Victor Clark, who has
Stop guns going to Mexico
Assault weapons purchased in the United States are flooding into high-violence areas along the Mexican border and contributing to the wave of crime across the border. A large amount of violence has been centered in and near Nuevo Laredo, where about 128 murders have been recorded this year.
Many of the slayings are believed to be related to the fierce battle between rival drug cartels fighting for control of drug trafficking routes into the United States. A unified effort by law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border is needed to reduce the flow of
Mexico steps up control over imports of foreign Christmas trees
Mexico is stepping up control over imports of American and Canadian Christmas trees to avoid foreign plant bugs, the Environmental Department said Friday.
Nearly 100 special inspectors will be positioned along Mexico's 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border with the United States, scrutinizing the leaves and branches of the 800,000 Christmas trees it expects to flow south this season, said Hector Gonzalez, Assistant Attorney General of Natural Resources.
"We have to protect our rich forests and woodlands from exotic plagues," Gonzalez said.
Any trees found with disease will be turned back or burned, he said.
