Chiapas Closes Mexico Oil Well
Reflecting the mounting safety concerns plaguing Mexico’s state-owned petroleum industry, the governor of Chiapas this week shut down a federally owned and operated oil well that he said posed a health and environmental hazard.
It is believed to be the first time a state has shut down an installation of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, an entity whose revenue funds more than 30% of the federal government’s budget. The closed well contributes little economically to Pemex, but company officials are said to fear that Chiapas’ intervention could set a precedent.
The move by Chiapas Gov. Pablo Salazar comes as issues of safety and the environment have become paramount at Pemex. The monopoly’s decrepit and poorly maintained network of pipelines has suffered a series of spills and explosions in recent months, several of them fatal.
Among the worst accidents was the April 13 rupture of an ammonia pipeline in Veracruz state, which caused six deaths and the evacuation of 6,000 residents. In Tabasco state, two pipeline explosions within 10 days of each other in June and July left eight dead and 20 injured.
“With the experience of the explosions in Tabasco and Veracruz, the governor of Chiapas has shown that his state takes preventive measures,” Salazar said Thursday at a news conference in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the state capital. “We can’t lower our guard and wait for our house to burn down without doing anything.”
More: latimes.com
Tuxtla Gutiérrez is the capital of the state of Chiapas in Mexico. It is located at 16.75°N 93.12°W. The population estimate for 2003 was 455,700 people.
Tuxtla is derived from the Nahuatl word Tuchtlan, which means "place where there are lots of rabbits." Gutierrez signifies JoaquÃn Miguel Gutiérrez, a Mexican revolutionary from the 19th century.
The city was declared capital of Chiapas in 1892.
The city is located in the Grijalva valley, and in the center of the state.
Soccer-Ten-man Chiapas end America's unbeaten run in Mexico
Unfashionable Chiapas ended America's 28-match unbeaten domestic run at the weekend, overcoming the defending champions 4-3 despite playing with ten men for nearly an hour.
In other games, UNAM coach Hugo Sanchez saw his team beaten 3-0 at home by Toluca, while Guadalajara continued their poor run by losing 3-2 at home to Monterrey.
America appeared set to extend their run when Brazilian Kleber Pereira gave them a third minute lead in Tuxtla Gutierrez.
However, the Jaguars had other ideas as Paraguayan forward Salvador Cabanas equalised from the penalty spot in the 26th minute.
Despite having
Comitán (formally: Comitán de DomÃnguez) is a small city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is the seat of government of the municipality of the same name.
It is located near the border with Guatemala at 16.25°N 92.13°W. In 2003 the estimated population was 75,600 people.
The original name given by the Maya people is Balún Canán ("Nine stars"). It was later changed to Comitán de las Flores. Comitán de DomÃnguez is named after Dr. Belisario DomÃnguez, who gave a memorable speech in the Congress against the dictator Victoriano Huerta for which it was murdered.
Fog closes Mexico City airport, disrupting 71 flights
A blanket of fog closed Mexico City's airport for several hours early Monday, disrupting 71 international and domestic flights during the travel industry's busiest season, the airport spokesman said.
Authorities shut down the airport from 5:10 a.m. until 8:32 a.m., said Jose Luis Uribe, airport spokesman.
Officials canceled seven domestic flights and diverted 11 domestic flights to airports in Acapulco, Guadalajara and Morelia to wait until the airport reopened.
"This is the season for blankets of fog," Uribe said. "But because it is also vacation time, it's a problem."
Soure: signonsandiego.com
Mexico evacuations begin as Wilma closes in
Mexico has begun evacuations on Wednesday of high risk areas of the Yucatan peninsula, a major tourist draw, as powerful Hurricane Wilma churned closer.
The island of Mujeres close to the holiday resort of Cancun, was believed to be one of the most at risk of being targeted by Wilma, the most powerful storm recorded in the Atlantic.
"Some of the computer models are showing it getting closer and closer to the peninsula, and we may be facing a potential landfall in some areas of the northeast of the Yucatan, in the area of Isla Mujeres,"
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
San Cristóbal de las Casas is a city in the central highlands of state of Chiapas, Mexico. It is located in the Sierra Madre Mountains at 16.75°N 92.63°W, elevation 2100m. In 2003 the estimated population was 121,100 people.
The city was formerly known as "San Cristóbal"; the "de las Casas" was added in honor of Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Spanish priest who fought for the rights of the Native Americans. The city is well known for its beautiful colonial era architecture.
The city is located near the Tzotzil Maya communities of Chamula, and Zinacantán, and a half-day busride from the Classic
Mexico: Hurricane Stan OCHA Situation Report No. 2
This Situation Report is based on information provided by the Secretariat of the Government of Mexico as well as the UN Country Team.
National Response
1. The Central Coordination Command at the Secretariat of the Federal Government, is providing assistance to the affected population of Hurricane Stan, as well as working on rehabilitation of living conditions in affected areas. It reports as follows:
2. In order to prevent contagious diseases, the Secretariat of Health has implemented the III Week of the National Vaccination Campaign in the affected localities, prioritising Hepatitis A and tetanus
Masked rebel leader has a new cause in Mexico Vows to oppose leftist presidential candidate
The pipe-smoking, ski-mask wearing Zapatista rebel leader Subcommander Marcos once again is firing his rhetorical cannon shots from his hideout in the jungle.
Through a flurry of tongue-in-cheek e-mails and letters, the man who spearheaded an indigenous rebellion in Chiapas in 1994 has challenged an Italian soccer team to a match with his hooded guerrillas, co-written a detective novel for a Mexico City newspaper and joked about his growing, un-guerrillalike belly.
But then Marcos aimed a broadside at a more serious target when he attacked former Mexico
Mexico's win streak ends
Mexican stocks fell Wednesday after reaching a new intraday high, ending a string of five record closes as investors locked in profits ahead of the long U.S. holiday weekend.
The market's key IPC index fell 0.9% to 16713.91. The index briefly rose above 17000 points before the week-long rally ran out of steam....
Source: marketwatch.com
