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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2008 
Martin Case Makes Headlines in Mexican Press
 Valerie MacDonald - Northumberland Today
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The man spearheading a legal fund to free former Trenton resident Brenda Martin from a Mexican jail is encouraged her situation has finally made it into mainstream Mexican media.
"This could be very helpful," former Northumberland MP Paul Macklin said said after a story under the headline "The Brenda Effect" was published on April 2 in the Guadalajara newspaper Mural.
Ms. Martin has been in a Guadalajara jail since her arrest in February 2006 on money laundering charges alleging she was part of her former employer's Internet scam bilking people of about US$60-million. Alyn Waage, who employed Ms. Martin as a chef from May 2000 to March 2001, is serving time in a United States prison for his crime. Mr. Waage has provided an affidavit stating Ms. Martin had no part in the scam.
After years of no movement in the court process, Ms. Martin is awaiting a decision from the judge presiding over her case.
Another local member of the Save Brenda Fund movement, Peter Cleary of Cobourg, who is now studying at an Ottawa university, obtained an English translation of the recent Spanish newspaper article through Mural's editor.
The article starts by telling Mexican readers that "Canadians are being warned of the dangers of travelling to Mexico" and that media attention on Brenda Martin's court case is having a negative impact on Canadian tourists thinking of going to their country.
It continues to inform Mexican readers that a "civil movement" is demanding Ms. Martin's release because she's been in jail for over two years without a judgment in her case. Part of that is pressuring Canadian politicians to advise Canadians "not to visit Mexico until the case is solved," the translation of the newspaper article states.
CBC is quoted as reporting "Independent MP Bill Casey" corresponded with the Mexican ambassador in Canada, threatening to tell his constituents "their safety is at risk in Mexico" if Mexico doesn't react to the pressure being exerted to bring justice to the Martin case.
It also cites the National Post as also warning Canadians with travel plans to Mexico that six Canadian have died there in the past two years.
The article quotes Mr. Macklin, who previously held the position of parliamentary secretary for the federal minister of justice when the Liberals were in power, as stating Canadians won't accept this type of treatment of its citizens, "particularly by a government that benefits from millions of Canadian tourism dollars every single year."
This pressure is acknowledged by Mexico in the article when Puerto Vallarta's economic promotions director, Hugo Rojas, states, "The Brenda Martin Case could affect the tourist flow in the area."
While this might be the first mention of the Brenda Martin case in Spanish newspapers in Mexico, the Guadalajara Reporter's English newspaper published a story on December 15, 2007. It reports the work Ms. Martin's lawyer has been doing to get her out of jail. The headline was "Jailed Canadian Brenda Martin's Defence Takes Aim At Consular Officials".
Mr. Macklin maintains Canadian consular officials in Mexico did not do their job properly when Ms. Martin was first incarcerated and that the Tory government has been lax, too.
The current MP for this riding, where Ms. Martin's mother still resides in Trenton, went to Mexico and visited with Ms. Martin recently. Tory MP Rick Norlock said he met with consular, Mexican and judicial officials, together with Canada's Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney, and received assurances prosecution officials would push the judge for an early decision. The government has worked through quiet, diplomatic channels on the file for months, Mr. Norlock said.
If Ms. Martin is not able to prove her innocence to the judge and is found guilty, a prisoner exchange process is to be initiated between the two countries, Mr. Norlock said in a telephone interview from Guadalajara on March 20.
vmacdonald(at)northumberlandtoday.com |
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