Latin America Roundup -- April 26/27
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Gang shootout in Tijuana leaves 13 dead
In one of the most violent eruptions in the ongoing border drug war, suspected traffickers clashed on the streets of Tijuana early Saturday morning in a wild and bloody shootout that left 13 people dead and eight others injured in a series of moving gun battles. Marla Dickerson and Richard Marosi report.
Protest in Mexico’s Congress over Pemex oil bill ends
Héctor Tobar in Mexico City wrote Saturday that the blockade of Congress by the leftist PRD party has ended, paving the way for a discussion of President Felipe Calderon’s energy proposal that would give the state company more freedom to enter into contracts with foreign investors. Calderon’s proposal to overhaul Mexico’s oil industry has revealed a rift in the rival Democratic Revolution Party, with leaders arguing over how to respond to the initiative.
U.S. soldier held in Mexico faces trial
A U.S. soldier has been arrested in Mexico and ordered to stand trial after he was caught entering the country with a pistol, a rifle and ammunition. Spc. Richard R. Medina Torres, 25, was arrested Monday. On Saturday, a judge ordered him held for trial on charges equivalent to smuggling and weapons possession, reports the Associated Press.
Colombia says FARC rebels struck from Ecuador
Colombia said Saturday that leftist FARC guerrillas had fired five makeshift mortar rounds at army units from inside Ecuador, and it said it would file a formal note of protest demanding better border security, reports Chris Kraul. One Colombian soldier was injured in the attack Friday near the border town of Teteye. The mortar rounds were converted propane gas cylinders filled with explosives, a common weapon of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, according to a Colombian Defense Ministry spokesman.
A new Ecuador
This Los Angeles Times editorial argued on Saturday that the U.S. should be patient as Ecuador redefines its relationship with Washington. Ecuador has long been overshadowed by its bigger neighbors, dwarfed on the international stage by oil-rich Venezuela and the battle royal in Colombia between the government and leftist rebels. Not anymore. Colombia’s raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador last month galvanized President Rafael Correa. Suddenly, Ecuador matters.
New Mexico governor looks to Venezuela’s Chavez for help on American hostages
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson turned to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez today for help in pressing for the release of three Americans held hostage by Colombian rebels, reports the Associated Press. Chavez said ahead of a meeting with the Democratic governor that he hopes to be able to help but is not sure what he can do.
Popular with tourists in Brazil, Recife is deadly for residents
The soaring homicide rate among the Brazilian city’s poor gets little notice. But a team of crime reporters is trying to work out the human cost of the death toll, writes the Associated Press. This seaside city, a favorite with European tourists, gets much more attention for the shark attacks that have killed 18 people since 1992 than for its homicides -- at least 2,617 in the metropolitan area last year.
L.A. civil rights attorney files claims over federal immigration raid
A longtime Los Angeles civil rights attorney is trying a new strategy to push federal immigration authorities to change the way they conduct workplace raids.
Peter Schey filed 114 federal claims for damages late Thursday on behalf of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who were temporarily detained during a recent raid at Micro Solutions Enterprises in Van Nuys, writes Anna Gorman.
Congress sees eye to eye on helping one immigrant group –- entertainers
Twice in the last two years, Congress tried to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws and failed, leaving the explosive issue for dead. But during an election year in which no action was expected, the House and Senate now are quietly helping certain groups of immigrants favored by both ends of the political spectrum. Nicole Gaouette reports.
New study builds on old one to track Mexican American progress
After finding questionnaires from a 1965 survey in a UCLA basement, two professors followed up with about 700 of the participants and their children. The news is good and bad. Anna Gorman reports.
A rediscovering of East L.A.’s core
Agustin Gurza on how Latino artists help revamp a place where the community (and freeways) intersects. “People often refer to the heart of East Los Angeles, but it never seems to be in the same place. In newspapers, the term turns up all over the map. That’s because the area is more identified by its busy arteries -- Whittier, Atlantic or Cesar Chavez -- than by any essential center,” he writes.
Drug policy, from scratch
After Friday’s discussion between Charles ‘Cully’ Stimson and Jacob Sullum on whether softening drug laws alleviate or worsen drug violence in the U.S. and Mexico, on Saturday they discussed what the ideal U.S. drug policy would be. What would you keep and reject from current laws?
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City