An AeroMexico plane was hijacked in Cancun, Mexico earlier today. It is not clear who the hijackers are. Allegedly one is Bolivian and the demand is to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. There were also reports that the hijackers claimed to have an explosive.
Reports say that the 104 passengers have been released after the plane safely landed in Mexico City airport.
Stay tuned as reports come in.
Two Latin American countries recently have made moves to decriminalize the possession of certain drugs for personal use, a move that some are touting as a positive new direction in the “war on drugs”.
Argentina’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that it is unconstitutional to prosecute cases involving personal marijuana use as long as it does not harm others. It did not, however, set a weight limit for what it considers personal use.
The judges’ decision urges the Argentine government to “create policies against illegal drug trafficking and adopt preventive health measures, with information and education against drug consumption directed at the most vulnerable groups.
And in Mexico:
Under the new law, a police search that turns up a half-gram of cocaine, the equivalent of about four lines, will not bring any jail time. The same applies for 5 grams of marijuana (about four cigarettes), 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams of methamphetamine or 0.015 milligrams of LSD.
I am working on an in depth post on how the issue of immigration was flowing through the Netroots Nation conference, pero it’s important to recognize that the way the United States chooses to “deal”/interact with Latin American countries is related to how the U.S. chooses to “deal”/interact with those who come from Latin America and their descendents.
This past weekend, the Colombian government announced that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. that allows the US military to move inside the country to tackle drug-trafficking and terrorism. Seven Colombian military bases will now become de facto U.S. military bases. Understandably, other countries in Latin America are none too pleased to have the grand gringo army within close shooting distance, and I’m not just talking about countries who are painted as far-left like Venezuela. I’m talking Argentina and Brazil as well.
We have already seen in Colombia and closer in Mexico, that U.S. intervention and support and presence in countries whose armed forces are already abusing their populations, creates (surprise!) more abuse. Then when gente trying to survive, attempt to escape that abuse, they are denied asylum/protection. For those that do make it through outside the “accepted” model, they have to live in fear either as shadows in first world countries like the U.S. and Canada, or inside detention centers.
The U.S. government, as usual, wants to have it both ways. They want to name something a war and bring war’s violence on populations, pero they are unwilling to deal with the casualties of war. The U.S. is pumping billions of dollars into Mexico on down through Central and South America. Perhaps a better way to look at this war in drugs is as an extension of the Bush war on (of) terror. You know, that whole fighting them there so we don’t have to fight them here, except it seems that the targets, are potential brown migrants.
Regular followers of VL know that the drug wars in Mexico have been a problem for a while. Violence has increased tremendously in the past few years–according the to the following article, over 10,000 people have lost their lives in Mexico due to drug related violence since December of 2006.
A new crop of arrests just happened in Mexico–34 men were apprehended while at a family gathering in a church.
Mexican federal police say they arrested 34 men suspected of belonging to a ruthless drug cartel blamed for a rash of violence that left at least 18 federal agents and two soldiers dead since July 11.
Officials said the suspects belong to La Familia Michoacana drug gang, which drew national attention when it was accused of torturing and killing 12 off-duty federal agents three weeks ago. The bodies of the 11 men and one woman were found dumped on a road.
Some of the 34 suspects were arrested at a family celebration Sunday at a church in the city of Apatzingan in Michoacan state, said the federal secretariat for public safety. Another was arrested in the city of Lazaro Cardenas, also in Michoacan.
Two of the men were put on display for the media Monday in Mexico City.
Call me silly, but I don’t think that capturing 34 drug lords will end the drug trade in Mexico. I come from a city with a HUGE drug problem, and if the police captured 34 people–or 340 people–the problems wouldn’t end. Which brings me to the observation that many of the tools used by the Mexican police to capture these drugs lords were supplied by the U.S. government (i.e. Black Hawk helicopters, etc).
And this just makes me think: it is the U.S. that is creating the *demand* for these drugs that drug lords are selling. And at the *same* time, it is the U.S. that is supplying weapons and money to capture, kill, and imprison the same drug lords.
Something doesn’t add up here. If it were the U.S. that was selling drugs to Mexico–would drugs still be illegal? That is, if it were the U.S. that was making huge amounts of money off of the drug addiction of Mexicans, would the U.S. still be supplying weapons and money to Mexico?
In other words, how much of U.S. dominance over Mexico specifically and Latin America in general, is dependent upon the drug trade never becoming legalized specifically so that Mexico/Latin America never becomes an economic force to be reckoned with?
How much money would Mexico and Latin America stand to gain if the trade of “illegal” drugs became legal?
And how much of the subsequent violence in Mexico (and U.S. cities I might add), would be eliminated because underground trafficking was brought into the light?
Something to think about, no?
I came to this post via Hermana Resist’s twitter.
• Five people were murdered at different times throughout the day this morning and into the afternoon…
• Three young men were arrested after crashing a van and fleeing the scene. The men were armed and fired on the police before being arrested…
• One dead body was found floating at the Acequia Madre near the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood. Two others were found injured in that same area…
• One dead body was deposited in the Obrera neighborhood…
• All six members of a family nearly died as they slept. Unknown perpetrators poured gasoline down one of the home’s air ducts and then threw a match to ignite the liquid. The fumes and flames reached every room. Three people sustained 2nd degree burns. The most seriously injured was a 7 year old boy, Héctor Daniel Camacho Esparza…
• Four young men were stabbed last night at the corner of Lázaro Cárdenas and Puerto de Palos; three died and one is in critical condition…
• School was back in session today at the Secundaria Federal. The school had been closed since Friday after two homemade bombs were thrown onto the school grounds…
• The Bancomer bank on the corner of Lara Leos and Paseo Triunfo de la Repbulica was robbed this afternoon…
• A .22 caliber rifle was found abandoned on a public street…
• Three men were detained after having injured several female victims…The problem in Juarez has spread beyond just homicides. These headlines don’t even include all of the carjackings which are too numerous to report and all the kidnappings which are never reported. There is no one to turn to for help since the police are often the ones orchestrating the kidnappings.
The stories of Juarez aren’t unknown to me pero I do not live them everyday. Yes, I face different kinds of violence daily and maybe it’s because of that perspective I wondered about what wasn’t being said in this article.
Planning a vacation to the beautiful Yucatan Peninsula this summer? You might want to know a couple of things before you go: 1) it’s hotter than all hell in the summer and 2) Yucatan’s Congress just overwhelmingly approved a ban on gay marriage in the Mexican state. And while they were at it, they managed to ban gay adoption and ensure that abortion be illegal in almost all cases:
With the vote of 24 of the 25 local deputies, the Yucatan Congress raised heterosexual marriage and families to the constitutional level via the approval of amendments to the state’s Civil Code. With this, marriage between people of the is same sex will be penalized as will abortion “unless it is totally justified”.14 legislators from the PRI, 9 from the PAN and the representative for the Todos Somos Yucatán coalition (comprised of the Convergencia party and local political groups) voted in favor of the grassroots initiative promoted by the Pro Yucatán Network, made up of conservative groups, to reject all efforts by people of the same sex to form a family and adopt children.
In other words, if you aren’t looking a whole lot like the couple in the photo above and you want to get married or just adopt a kid, you’d better not “estar en Yucatán”.
And about that abortion issue: what exactly is a “totally justified” abortion? According to Mexico’s Anodis.com, the only circumstances under which abortion will be “justifiable” in Yucatán are “poverty, having more than 4 children, a terminal illness or risk of death for the mother”. If you have an abortion and don’t fall into any of these categories, you are facing a year in prison.
Meanwhile, PAN politicians attempted to disguise the ban as something other than hateful and discriminatory by alleging that “there still aren’t adequate conditions within Yucatán society to allow for unions between people of the same sex.”
When we look with nostalgia and cultural pride at Mexico and other Latin American countries, it’s often easy to forget that the Latino motherlands are also home to discrimination in various forms, with a particular emphasis on race and sexual orientation. It was because of such persecution that a lesbian couple from Mexico traveled to Canada and have decided to stay and seek sanctuary from abuse. The Toronto Sun reports:
Norma Angelica Gomez, 33, and Alina Gallegos Lee, 34, say their dream is to get married in Toronto and be happy. The couple fled to Canada a year ago but claimed asylum last March after going public with their love in Mexico. They claimed they were harassed, followed and beaten by Mexican police officers for expressing that love.“Canada is a good country and we feel free,” Lee said yesterday. “At home we were constantly persecuted for being lesbians.” The couple claim the attacks against them escalated after they were detained and beaten by police last year in Mexico.
According to Amnesty International, gays and lesbians in Mexico are routinely beaten, sexually assaulted, raped or tortured by police and soldiers.
Since the couple entered the country, Canada has since (as a matter of fact, just last week) imposed a visa requirement on Mexican and Czech nationals due to the number of refugee applicants coming from the two countries. The couple is represented by an attorney and is fighting for their right to marry and remain in Canada permanently.
Via / CNews
Times are tough for beauty pageants. With every year that passes they become more irrelevant and more of a joke than a competition to most. Perhaps that’s why Spain’s “Miss España” pageant is suffering so much that they need to take the show on the road: to Mexico. The organization’s president admits that the economic crisis is what lead Miss España to leave la madre patria and move to el nuevo mundo:
It is the first time in 49 years that the event will be celebrated outside of the country. “The world economic situation has forced us to open up borders,” said Andrés Cid. He also mentioned that the decision will “possibly open doors to future events in different places around the world…”
Why Mexico? Because the Mexican tourism industry is still suffering the effects of the swine flu and needs a platform from which they can talk the hundreds of thousands of Spanish tourists who visited the Riviera Maya each year into coming back.
So it works out like this: lack of interest on the part of the Spanish public and low ratings = the pageant needing money. Mexican tourism authorities buy something that won’t work for them, since no one is watching this in the first place. Nice little deal.
Via / 20 Minutos
After a scary, even criminal relationship with ex Sergio Andrade which landed her in prison, Mexican 80s icon Gloria Trevi has apparently found love again in partner Armando Gómez. Venezuela’s (semi-defunct) RCTV reports:
Sources close to Gloria said that the singer is anxious for the event [saying] “if all goes right the wedding will be in December. I’m very excited because I’m getting married for love. Armando and I have overcome many obstacles.Gloria, who is already working on her wedding dress, says she’ll be negotiating an exclusive [of the wedding] with a Mexican magazine.
Felicidades Gloria! Just make sure you stay as crazy as you have always been.
Via / RCTV’s El Observador
Tragedy occurred over the weekend in multiple places. One of the most notable was this fire that killed 35 and hurt countless others at a daycare center in Mexico.
And from the BBC News:
Reports say the fire started in a tyre depot next to the state-run centre.
President Felipe Calderon said that the fire was a “painful tragedy for all Mexicans”.
“I have ordered the federal prosecutor to carry out investigations as soon as possible to help us know exactly what happened and how, and to determine the corresponding responsibility,” he said.
More than 140 children are reported to have been at the centre when the fire began.
This is just so horrible. And it made me remember the “ground zero” kid (remember him?) and how *his* home was next to a pig factory. It reminded me of all the lives that were lost back in the late 1800′s/early 1900′s here in the US that basically kicked the labor movement into high gear.
Why were people working in such conditions? Why is it considered ok to have some children grow up surrounded by toxins that kill?
There are no answers yet–and given the Calderon government’s past history with transparency and accountability, I hardly expect them. I wish nothing but strength and healing for the people dealing with this tragedy–and may Calderon be on the right side when these families begin raising hell in the name of their loved ones.
