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Puerto Vallarta News NetworkNews Around the Republic of Mexico


Deputy Hopes To Derail López Obrador Bid
José De Cordoba

Tough, street smart and working class, Andrés Manuel López Obrador recently stepped down as mayor of this sprawling metropolis to run for president of Mexico. Young, chic and upper class, Gabriela Cuevas is determined to stop him.more »»»

Fox Calls for Stronger Democracy
S. Lynne Walker

President Vicente Fox issued an urgent plea to Congress last night, asking legislators to set aside political differences and help him build a solid democracy in the final months of his presidency.more »»»

Mexico Launches Plan to Legalize Immigrants
Wire services

The government on Thursday launched a plan to "normalize" the residency status of undocumented persons from Latin America and other regions who entered the country before January 2002, immigration authorities here announced.more »»»

President Fox Cites Gains in Mexican Democracy and Economy
James C. Mckinley Jr.

Five years after his historic election triumph, President Vicente Fox made a case in a speech to Mexico's Congress on Thursday night that he had laid the cornerstones for Mexico's democracy, made the government more transparent and stabilized the country's volatile economy.more »»»

Crackdown Hits 2 Resort Cities
Wire services

In the coming days, law enforcement authorities will expand Operation Safe Mexico to the Pacific coastal resort cities of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo to deal with drug trafficking and its associated violence, Guerrero state officials told EFE on Thursday.more »»»

President Fox Defends Record In Annual Address
Associated Press

Giving his last state of the nation address to Congress before July 2 elections to replace him, President Vicente Fox is expected to defend his nearly five years in office and try to persuade an electorate increasingly focused on the presidential campaign to not lose sight of economic and democratic advances.more »»»

Mexico's Former Ruling Party Chooses New Leader After Internal Struggles
Mark Stevenson

Mexico's largest party chose a new leader Wednesday to oversee the nomination of its presidential candidate following a bitter falling-out between the two highest-ranking officials of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.more »»»

Fox Celebrates Vote for Mexicans Abroad
Associated Press

President Vicente Fox on Wednesday celebrated a new law allowing Mexicans abroad – overwhelmingly in the United States – to vote in next year's presidential election, saying they will no longer be "second-class citizens."more »»»

New Poll Shows Leftist Still Leading For Mexican Presidency
Associated Press

A poll distributed Wednesday shows former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador keeping a healthy lead in the early race for Mexico's July 2, 2006, presidential election.more »»»

President Fox Presides at Ceremony for Airport Expansion Projects
NewsEdge Corporation

Mexican President Vicente Fox on Monday officially opened a set of expansion projects at the capital airport in which nearly $650 million has been invested over the past five years.more »»»

As Race Heats Up to Replace Him, Mexican President Urges Voters to Stick with Democracy
Traci Carl

Sure, it would be easier to be a dictator. Or even a king. But in a series of television and radio spots, Mexican President Vicente Fox reminds a populace preparing to replace him that he was elected to be Mexico's first democratic leader.more »»»

Former Guatemalan President on the Run in Mexico Requests Visa Renewal
Wire services

Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo, wanted in his home country for allegedly misusing millions in public funds, has asked the Mexican government to renew his work visa, according to Mexico's interior secretary. Portillo fled to Mexico and took up residence there as the corruption scandal in his home country grew.more »»»

Controversial Venezuelan Network Telesur May Soon be Available on Mexican Cable
Associated Press

Mexican viewers may soon be able to watch Telesur, a TV station backed by Venezuela's government that promises a Latin alternative to large media outlets like CNN in a few weeks, first to viewers in Mexico City, then across the country.more »»»

Zapatista Political Movement Marches to Own Clock
China Post

Mexican rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos on Saturday said Zapatista efforts to build a new leftist political movement is a long-term effort not tied to Mexico's political calendar. The Zapatistas are preparing for a national tour, 11 years after their brief armed uprising in the name of Indian rights in Chiapas state.more »»»

Ghost Town Attracts Migrants
Nicholas Riccardi

Locals compare this near-ghost town to the Bermuda Triangle: Every day buses haul dozens of people here along an isolated dirt road, but they all leave empty. The abandoned houses are fast becoming a favorite rest stop for thousands who come from all over the world to sneak across the porous Mexico-New Mexico border.more »»»

Cannonball Daredevil Shot Over US-Mexico Border
Elliot Spagat

David Smith Sr., who already holds a world record for the longest distance traveled by a human fired from a cannon, added to his list of cannonball coups Saturday by shooting across the US-Mexico border.more »»»

Hoops Sport of Choice for Mexican Rebels
Will Weissert

Soccer is king in this country, but basketball has nonetheless become the game of choice for many in southern Mexico's isolated, mountain communities, where largely Indian populations do not relate to many aspects of the outside world.more »»»

Storm Death Toll Hits 11
Wire services

Flooding in the state of Veracruz has left 11 dead and more than 100,000 people homeless, state and federal officials said Friday as they tallied the damage caused by weeks heavy rains from Tropical Storm José.more »»»

Mexico Offers $1 Million Deal to Filmmakers
Associated Press

The Mexican government has set aside close to $1 million to back loans for movies as a growing number of the country's filmmakers win international acclaim. The money, from Mexico's Economy Department, could help fund up to 20 movies, the ministry said.more »»»

World Bank: Urban Poverty Unchanged
Morgan Lee

An economic shift away from agriculture has helped reduce rural poverty, but Mexico still faces staggering numbers of critically poor people in urban areas where low wages and unemployment are prevalent, the World Bank reported.more »»»

Presidential Hopeful Outlays Manifesto
Morgan Lee

Mexico is unlikely to give any party a majority in Congress in 2006 and will require a coalition-style government, a candidate vying for the presidential nomination of the center-right National Action Party said Tuesday.more »»»

Tariffs Cut on Old Foreign Cars
Adriana Arai

Mexican President Vicente Fox slashed tariffs on 10- to 15-year-old cars from the United States and Canada, sparking concern among domestic carmakers and distributors that the imports will cut into sales of locally made autos.more »»»

Mexican Hopefuls Eye Voters in L.A.
Sam Enriquez

The 2006 Mexican presidential campaign kicks off after Labor Day — in Los Angeles. The leading contenders are planning appearances in L.A. this fall, campaign aides confirm, in a bid to capture the attention and support of their country's newest constituency.more »»»

At Least 40 Reported Injured in Annual Mexican Bull Run
Associated Press

Agitated animals, excessive drinking and street fights left at least 40 people injured during the annual running of the bulls in the small central state of Tlaxcala. Hundreds of would-be bullfighters crowded the streets of the city of Huamantla, which authorities said drew more than 100,000 spectators from Mexico and foreign countries.more »»»

Heavy Rains Kill Nine People in Oaxaca State
EFE/El Universal

Nine people are reported dead with another six missing in Oaxaca from the heavy rains that have lashed southern sections of the country. Elsewhere, four children died and another person is missing after rains swept through Veracruz over the past three days.more »»»

Mexico Runs Drug Trade to U.S.
Danna Harman

In the largest reorganization since the 1980s, senior U.S. officials say, Mexican cartels have leveraged the profits from their delivery routes to wrest control from the Colombian producers. The shift is also because of the success authorities have had in cracking down on Colombia's kingpins.more »»»

Mexico, U.S. Agree on Program Against Trafficking in People
Associated Press

Mexican officials said they have agreed with the US on a joint plan to fight trafficking in people for sexual and labor exploitation. The Foreign Relations Department said the agreement formalized on how to dismantle criminal rings smuggling people for sex or near-slave labor.more »»»

Mexican Women's Group Opposes Use of Model to Discourage Men from Eating Turtle Eggs as Aphrodisiacs
Lisa J. Adams

A campaign aimed at halting the illegal consumption of endangered turtles' eggs has run into trouble before it is officially hatched, with a women's rights group asking government officials to block public announcements featuring a scantily clad model.more »»»

Mexico Lauds U.S. for Crackdown on Firms
AP

Mexico's government congratulated United States authorities on Friday for action against Mexican companies and individuals alleged to be involved in laundering illegal drug profits.more »»»

Smuggling Can Be Deadly, New Ads Warn Migrants
Diane Lindquist

U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched a radio and television ad campaign yesterday to combat the smuggling of women and children across the border inside potentially deadly compartments in vehicles.more »»»

U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq, Buried with Honors in Mexico
Wire services

A 19-year-old U.S. soldier was buried in Mexico on Thursday after he was killed in Iraq. Pvt. Ernesto Rodolfo Guerra, a U.S. citizen whose family was originally from Mexico, died a day after he was injured in a July 28 Humvee crash in Baghdad.more »»»

U.S. and Mexico Announce Joint Effort Against Migrant Smugglers
Olga R. Rodriguez

The U.S. and Mexican governments on Wednesday announced a bilateral effort to help authorities identify and prosecute migrant smugglers working on their common border. The program, dubbed "OASISS," will facilitate the exchange of information and evidence to assist both governments in the prosecution of migrant smugglers.more »»»

Braceros Storm Interior Ministry
Wire services

Several protesters representing former "bracero" migrant workers forced their way into government offices and were arrested on Wednesday as tempers flared during a demonstration against delays in the distribution of compensation funds.more »»»

Aguilar: Nation Not Overrun By Crime
El Universal/AP

National security is not at risk from the current wave of violent crime, said presidential spokesperson Rubén Aguilar on Monday. Instead, the problem is centralized in "hot spots" in certain cities.more »»»

López Obrador Avoids Spat with Marcos
Wire services

The Zapatista rebels are finding it hard to pick a fight. The nation's leading left-leaning presidential contender, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, refused on Monday to answer weekend criticisms of his Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) by Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos.more »»»

CNDH Protests Airport Scanner as Rights Abuse
Wire services

The nation's autonomous human rights commission on Monday presented a complaint to the government over the use of a capital airport scanner that renders passengers virtually "naked" to the eyes of security personnel.more »»»

Number of Expats More Than 20 Million
Arturo Zárate

More than 20 million Mexicans are now living abroad, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) announced on Sunday, and 4.2 million of them have voting credentials. The figures were presented to IFE by the Foreign Ministry as the electoral body readies for the nation's first-ever absentee voting in 2006.more »»»

Mexico, Egypt Teaming Up For Excavation
Chris Kraul

Mexico and Egypt share a rare historical distinction: a superabundance of monumental pyramids and other relics of ancient civilizations. But although foreign experts have helped lead the exploration of Egypt's rich archeology for more than a century, specialists from Mexico have never been invited. Until now.more »»»

Mexican Rebels Decry Leftist Candidate
AP

Southern Mexico's armed Zapatista rebels continued their verbal assault on the country's largest leftist political party and its strongest presidential contender in years, saying both were out to "destroy our country." Concluding a meeting with more than 60 Indian organizations from across Mexico, Subcomandante Marcos laid into the PRD.more »»»

New Port On Horizon
Diane Lindquist

The sleepy, sweeping inlet of Punta Colonet in Baja California will be transformed into a multibillion-dollar container port, one of the biggest maritime transportation centers on the West Coast of North America, under a plan by Mexico's government.more »»»

Bitter Mexico Drug War Breaks Out In Acapulco
Alistair Bell

A fierce fight between Mexican drug cartels that has killed more than 600 people this year has now hit the Pacific beach resort of Acapulco. At least four people were murdered in the city of a million people this week as two rival gangs battle for control of marijuana and opium production in the surrounding mountains.more »»»

Marcos Responds To Weight Ribbing
Wire services

Masked Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos showed up with a surprise at his first public appearance in four years this month: a paunch straining against his ammunition belt.more »»»

Experts Fear Drug Violence May Grow In Acapulco
Laurence Iliff

Mexicans' favorite beachfront playground could be turning into a sandy battleground as a wave of drug-related violence moves south from Nuevo Laredo, further stretching law enforcement resources, officials and analysts said.more »»»

Former Mayor is Taking His Bid for Presidency on the Road
Dane Schiller

Where cacti meet the sea and unpaved streets bake in the Baja California sun, urban populist and early presidential frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be far from home today as he launches a exhaustive tour testing the national waters of his candidacy.more »»»

New Health Insurance Unveiled In Capital
Fabiola Cancino

President Vicente Fox and Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas presided over the inauguration of a federal public health program in the capital Wednesday. The president praised his "Seguro Popular" that provides complementary funding for low income Mexicans for certain medical procedures that may not be included in other government health plans.more »»»

Rebel Leader's Criticism Has Leftist Party On Defensive
E. Eduardo Castillo

A blast of criticism from Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos had Mexico's chief leftist party on the defensive this week. Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas denied Marcos' allegation that his party's leading presidential contender, Lopez Obrador, had betrayed the Indian-based guerrilla movement.more »»»

Court Rules Against Independent Bid
Wires Services

The Supreme Court ruled this week against an appeal by former foreign secretary Jorge Castańeda, who had sought authorization to run in the country's 2006 presidential race without the endorsement of any of the nation's six registered parties.more »»»

In Mexico City, a Class Where Clowning Around is Encouraged
Will Weissert

A festival offering a syllabus only a class full of clowns can truly appreciate opened this week in Mexico City, attracting magicians and jugglers to lectures with titles like "The Art of Making them Laugh."more »»»

Lack of Unemployment Insurance, Migration Account for Low Jobless Rate
Anthony Harrup

Mexico brags about its low unemployment rate, but the country's National Statistics Institute said that the lack of unemployment benefits and worker migration to the U.S. are prime factors in keeping official estimates of the jobless low.more »»»

Indigenous Peoples Day: New Universities for a Multicultural Mexico
Adrián Reyes

Seven intercultural universities in Mexico are going a long way towards preserving the historical and cultural roots of the country's indigenous community, which comprises more than 10 percent of the country's 106 million people.more »»»

Nuevo Laredo Consulate Reopens
Wire services

The U.S. consulate in this violence-wracked border city reopened Monday, a week after U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza ordered it closed, citing a wave of violence along the border.more »»»


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