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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2006 
The Week in Mexico
 David Gaddis Smith - Union-Tribune
| | A child plays near a fountain in Guadalajara City, Mexico March 18, 2006. Representatives from around the world are attending the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City from March 16 to 22. (Reuters/Mario Castillo) |
Border deaths: Frigid temperatures last weekend killed four illegal immigrants trying to cross the Arizona-Mexico border and forced many others to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents. The four men likely died from hypothermia or exposure, said Gustavo Soto, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, which covers nearly all of the Arizona-Mexico border. The Border Patrol says 26 illegal immigrants have died in the Tucson sector since Oct. 1, compared with 50 during the same period last year.
Border robberies: Armed robberies of illegal immigrants by bandits are on the rise along the busy Arizona-Mexico border, with some of the most notable spikes coming in more remote areas increasingly favored by crossers, authorities say. In fiscal 2004, 12 illegal immigrants reported being robbed in three incidents in the patrol's Yuma sector. In 2005, there were 17 incidents involving about 98 victims, Border Patrol spokesman Rick Hays said. During the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, there have been 39 incidents involving about 330 victims, Hays said.
Nuclear power: The Mexican government plans to expand the nation's nuclear power program to cope with the country's rapidly growing energy needs, the head of the state electricity monopoly said Tuesday. Alfredo Alias Ayub, director-general of the Federal Electricity Commission, said the monopoly aims to construct a new nuclear plant, costing about $4 billion, by 2020.
Museum of Women: Mexican first lady Marta Sahagún toured the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., with first lady Laura Bush and the first lady of Peru, Elaine Karp. The exhibit features archaeological finds from Mexico and Peru that show that long before Europeans arrived, women served as warriors, governors, artists, poets and priestesses.
Pemex reserves: The state oil monopoly Pemex said Mexico's proven oil reserves fell to 16.4 billion barrels at the close of 2005. Earlier in the week, President Vicente Fox visited the submergible oil platform Ocean Worker, rented by Pemex at a cost of $66,000 a day. He said an oil field deep beneath the floor of the Gulf of Mexico could hold up to 10 billion barrels of crude.
Health plan: Woodland Hills-based Health Net announced plans Wednesday to offer the first binational individual health insurance plans targeting Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties. Called Mexi-Plan, the insurance will cost as little as $75 a month with $15 co-payments.
Kidnapper kills himself: A member of the gang responsible for the kidnapping of the sisters of the singer Thalia was found dead in his Mexico City jail cell. Abel Silva Lucas left a suicide note.
Volaris flies: The new aviation company Volaris has begun flying between Tijuana and Toluca, the capital of Mexico state.
Couple blow up house: A Mexican couple were recovering separately after a marital spat got out of control and saw them firing guns, throwing knives and hurling homemade bombs, the daily Milenio reported. Juan Espinosa and Irma Contreras fought until their house blew up in a homemade gasoline bomb explosion, Milenio said. Police in the indigenous Mayan Indian town of Oxkutzcab in Yucatan arrested Espinosa. Contreras was taken to hospital with third-degree burns.
Compiled from news reports by Foreign Editor David Gaddis Smith: (619) 293-2211; david.smith@uniontrib.com |
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