2007 May 03 | VivirLatino

Archive for May 3rd, 2007

Europe is against the border fence

6:17 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration| World · 3 Comments

3 May 2007

Barack Obama might be for building a fence on the border between Mexico and the United States to quell the flow of immigrants into this country, but the head of Foreign Policy for the European Union, Javier Solana, says “no”:

“A wall that separates one country from another is not something that I like or that the European Union members like,” Solana said at a Tuesday news conference in Mexico City.

“We don’t think walls are reasonable instruments to stop people from crossing into a country.”

The EU believes immigrants should be treated “like people, not like criminals,” he said.

Europe has an “immigration problem” as well. In fact, Spain, from where Solana hails, is the European country which bears the weight of much of the immigrants entering Western Europe. In 2006, Spain took in over 600,000 immigrants — 44% of the total number for the entire European Union (!) — and in spite of that fact, the EU’s stance is one of tolerance. Interesting.

Via / CNN

Galapagos being destroyed by tourists

2:43 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Ecuador| Environment · Comments Off

3 May 2007

Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands — the natural paradise that inspired some of Charles Darwin’s most important writings on his Theory of Evolution — are being destroyed by the massive influx of tourists to the protected area.

According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, UNESCO director Koichiro Matsuura says his team conducted an inspection of the islands last April and found them in grave danger due to the “excessively high” number of visitors to the island, and the contamination of the natural flora and fauna by non-native plants and animals.

Ana Albán, Ecuador’s environmental minister, says that the country will make this problem a “national priority”, and meanwhile UNESCO is studying the possibility of putting the islands on their list of at-risk natural heritage sites.

Via / 20 Minutos

Alabama Militia Planned Violent Attacks on Mexicans

10:00 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Alabama| Immigration| Justice · 1 Comment

3 May 2007

alabama%20militia.jpg Last week six men were arrested accused of being part of the Alabama Free Militia plotting a machine-gun attack on Mexicans. During the arrests federal police recovered truckloads of explosives and weapons, including 130 grenades, an improvised rocket launcher and 2,500 rounds of ammunition. Yesterday five of those arrested were denied bail and the sixth man was granted a $10,000 bond. The charges? No, not terrorism but a pretty weak charge of conspiracy to make a firearm, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Now how much you wanna bet if the arrestees were Mexicans the charges would be a little different.

Via / The Decatur Daily and Democracy Now

Chavez: Just Say No to the World Bank and IMF

8:00 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics| Venezuela · Comments Off

3 May 2007

On Monday, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez announced that his country would no longer be part of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund(IMF).Chavez said:

“We will no longer have to go to Washington nor to the IMF nor to the World Bank, not to anyone,”.

Venezuela had already been out of the Washington based lending institutions since it had repaid its debts to the World Bank five years ahead of schedule, saving $8 million and paid off all its debts to the IMF shortly after Chavez first took office in 1999. The IMF closed its offices in Venezuela late last year.

VivirLatino

Archive for May 3rd, 2007

Europe is against the border fence

Galapagos being destroyed by tourists

Alabama Militia Planned Violent Attacks on Mexicans

Chavez: Just Say No to the World Bank and IMF

Hola!

VivirLatino RSS Feed