Mexico ready to send aid for Katrina relief
As U.S. authorities continue to evacuate areas of the Gulf coast, there are still no Mexicans reported dead.
Mexico offered the United States two Mexican navy ships, 15 amphibious vehicles, two helicopters and 15 heavy trucks on Saturday to help in the relief effort following Hurricane Katrina.
President Vicente Fox said the government had donated US1 million an amount matched by a private Mexican aid foundation for hurricane relief efforts.
“Mexico is a friend (of the United States), and in tough moments, good friends stand together,” Fox said. “You can count on our support.”
Fox also offered health brigades and rescue teams, including the rescue teams that dug survivors out of Mexico City’s devastating 1985 earthquake that killed an estimated 10,000 people.
Fox estimated that about 145,000 Mexicans lived in the broad, multi-state area affected by Katrina, and that about 10,000 lived in New Orleans.
The government has channeled US175,000 to set up consular offices and communications links to help Mexican victims. Fifteen additional consular officials will be dispatched as well.
Meanwhile, Fox has urged Mexican residents to obey U.S. authorities. On Friday, he said that U.S. officials had agreed not to prosecute any undocumented migrants seeking aid.
“We have agreed with the government of the United States that those who were not documented at the time will not be subject to any pressure or persecution whatsoever,” Fox said Friday afternoon.
“In this way, they can receive help from the American authorities, they can approach the authorities to point out what they’ve lost and, above all, to ask for support.”
There have not have been reports of any Mexican deaths, but 87 citizens were reported missing.
The government also plans to provide Mexican victims with food, water and shelter and allowing them to call relatives in Mexico.
The government will also assume the travel costs of those who want to return to Mexico, according to the Foreign Relations Secretariat.
Source: eluniversal.com.mx
Mexico lends a hand in Katrina relief
Mexico, long on the receiving end of U.S. disaster relief, is sending a hurricane aid convoy to help its larger, richer and more powerful northern neighbor.
A Mexican army convoy is heading for Houston, Texas, carrying water treatment plants, mobile kitchens and supplies to feed victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The convoy has "a very high symbolic content," said Javier Oliva, a political scientist at Mexico's National Autonomous University. "This is a very sensitive subject, for historic and political reasons."
Large Mexican flags were taped to many of the 35 olive-green Mexican army trucks and tractor trailers as
New Orleans jazz quartet tours Mexico as thanks for Katrina help
A New Orleans jazz quartet is saying thanks with a song.
The Tim Laughlin Quartet is on tour in Mexico this week, offering concerts in six cities to thank the government and the people of Mexico for their support during the deadly storm.
After Hurricane Katrina, Mexican President Vicente Fox urged Mexicans to donate to the relief effort. He also sent an army unit to Texas and a navy ship to Louisiana with aid – the first time in more than 150 years that a Mexican military unit was allowed to
MEXICO CITY - The United States has agreed with a request from Mexico to not prosecute undocumented Mexican migrants affected by Hurricane Katrina who recur to U.S. officials for help, President Vicente Fox said Friday.
"We have agreed with the government of the United States that those who were not documented at the time will not be subject to any pressure or persecution whatsoever," Fox said during a government event Friday afternoon.
"In this way, they can receive help from the American authorities, they can approach the authorities to point out what they've lost and, above all, to ask for support."
Mexico estimates
Mexico Army Brings Aid to Katrina Victims
A Mexican army convoy began crossing into the United States on Thursday to bring aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Carrying water treatment plants and mobile kitchens that can feed 7,000 people daily, the convoy bound for San Antonio is the first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846.
The first green tractor-trailers, with Mexican flags attached to the tops of their cabs, crossed the international bridge at Laredo at about 8:15 a.m. The rest of the 45-vehicle convoy was in a staging area on the U.S. side in about 15
Mexico's Fox Says U.S. to Give Disaster Aid to Illegal Migrants
Mexico's President Vicente Fox helped persuade the U.S. government to relax controls on illegal immigrants so they can receive aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Any of the 145,000 Mexicans living in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who don't have documents will qualify for help finding family members, getting food and receiving other assistance even if they don't have proper documents, according to Fox's office in Mexico City.
About 11 million Mexicans live in the U.S., more than half illegally. Fox, 63, has responded to the devastation caused by Katrina
Category 3 Hurricane Katrina Eyes Gulf Of Mexico Coast
New Orleans, Louisiana--Hurricane Katrina, is a Category 3 hurricane as predicted by Bayoubuzz meteorologist, Ed Roy. The storm is moving westward through the Southeastern Gulf of Mexico at a clip of 7 to 11 miles per hour, the Gulf Coast guessing game begins. The Katriana Eye at 8 a.m. EST was near latitude 24.4 North and Longitude 11 KM/Hr.
The slow moving storm has maximum sustained winds near 116 MPH and with higher gusts. A gradual turn toward the west-northwest is expected during the next 24 hours.
Hurricane forces
Mexico, Holland send troops to Biloxi
The Marines have landed in Biloxi -- the Mexican Marines.
And Dutch Marines as well.
For the first time since the 19th Century, Mexican troops landed Friday on U.S. soil, sent from the Mexican Navy ship ARM Papaloapan anchored near the USS Bataan. The Mexican ship's name means, "River of Butterflies."
Marines from Mexico, Holland and the U.S. are part of an international Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort building up on ships about 20 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Four Canadian ships are on the way.
"Our President called George Bush and three days later we came here,"
Katrina Could be in Gulf of Mexico by Saturday
Most of southeast Florida is under a hurricane watch as Tropical Storm Katrina moves closer to the state. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami have posted tropical storm warnings and a hurricane watch from Florida City just south of Miami north to Vero Beach.
Katrina has maximum sustained winds of 40-miles per hour, but the storm is expected to grow stronger and become a minimal hurricane before it comes ashore Friday morning.
Katrina is expected to emerge over the Gulf of Mexico by Saturday morning and could re-strengthen before making
Hurricane Katrina enters the Gulf of Mexico
HURRICANE Katrina passed through southern Florida overnight Thursday and entered the Gulf of Mexico early Friday morning at a point north of and near Cape Sable, in the southwestern Florida peninsula, according to Official Note No. 12 from the Cuban Meteorological Institute’s Forecast Center.
Katrina, after weakening somewhat upon touching land, once again reached the category of hurricane; the storm now has sustained maximum winds of 120 kilometers per hour, with stronger gusts, and its central pressure has gone down to 987 hectoPascal, which is why is remains a Category 1 hurricane on the
Shell, BP evacuate Gulf of Mexico workers due to Hurricane Katrina
Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC have evacuated workers from their platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Katrina heads towards the area.
Shell, in a statement, said it will evacuate around 120 non-essential staff from the eastern part of its Gulf operations as a 'precaution'.
A BP spokesman said it will also evacuate a still undetermined number of workers.
Both companies said the move will not affect their Gulf production.
Katrina came ashore in Florida on Thursday, killing at least three people and leaving about 1.5 mln
