Members of Mexican Mennonite sect are tied to marijuana trafficking ring

–In what prosecutors called a drug smuggling conspiracy involving Mennonites and a Mexican drug cartel, a Mennonite man was sentenced Monday, Dec. 1, 2014 to 15 months in prison for aiding the movement of tons of marijuana to the U.S. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

It was an unlikely alliance that authorities said involved a group of pacifist Mexican Mennonites accused of growing tons of marijuana and working with a notoriously vicious Mexican cartel to ship it across the U.S. border.
Abraham Friesen-Remple was one of six members of the Mennonite farming community in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc who were indicted and accused of smuggling pot in the gas tanks of cars and inside farm equipment.
SEE ALSO: Bob Marley heirs officially in the marijuana business
Friesen-Remple was sentenced Monday in federal court in Denver to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of marijuana. A judge said he would likely be released later in the day because of time already served.
Law enforcement officials said the trafficking partnership is nothing new. But the case of Friesen-Remple illustrates how the Mennonites worked with the Juarez cartel in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

“You had ready access to the border, and you had a skilled labor pool in terms of their ability to work with machinery and welding and anything that you would find in an agricultural community,” said Glenn Gaasche, a supervisor in the Grand Junction, Colorado, office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

He said the Mennonites, skilled as welders, would fill a secret space inside farming machinery with pot before trucking it across the border.
The exact role of the cartel isn’t clear. But Gaasche said such crime organizations control the Mexico side of the border and likely aren’t going to let tons of weed cross without getting a cut of the proceeds.
“There’s going to be some coordination and some money changing hands,” he said.
The investigation involved wiretaps in which 32,200 calls were recorded in Spanish and a German dialect used by Mennonites.

In the Friesen-Remple case, Mennonite drivers took the pot to Colorado then to North Carolina after the arrest of a person who ran a Colorado Springs auto body shop involved in the case.

Marijuana had been off-loaded at the shop, and drivers such as Friesen-Remple took it to other places across the country, authorities said.

Marijuana makes the trek cross-country

Court records show he once delivered a shipment of marijuana — hidden in a farm bulldozer — to a home in Shelby, North Carolina. DEA agents tapped his phone and learned he was getting directions from someone in Mexico.
The next month, a fellow member of the drug ring, who became a cooperating witness, told agents Friesen-Remple delivered 1,575 pounds of pot that agents found during a search of his home, according to court records.

“In our case, I’m quite sure that some of those transporters were told to go to a certain stash house, some were told to meet a certain distributor, and some of those people may be operating their own little business stashing stuff for the cartel or moving money,” Gaasche said.

Friesen-Remple was arrested on Aug. 20, 2013, in the Santa Teresa Point of Entry in New Mexico.
During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer noted his lack of criminal history and limited role in drug distribution.
The Mennonite community in Chihuahua dates to the 1920s, when thousands of Mennonites moved from Canada to northern Mexico to preserve a way of life rooted in farming and objection to military service. They continue to farm and ranch in isolated communities.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people are honest hardworking people, you just have that 1 percent that have gone sideways,” Gaasche said.

Law enforcement has been aware for years of small, separate groups of Mennonites running cocaine rings and dealing other drugs, said Aurora, Colorado, Police Sgt. Dale Quigley, intelligence manager for the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
DEA agents last year also seized cocaine they said was headed for Mennonites in Canada.
SEE ALSO: Mexican drug cartels are expanding their reach in Peru
The involvement of some Mennonites, though not representative of the entire community, is a simple case of economics, Quigley said.

“This is just a case where I have a commodity that I can move from one place to another and make a financial gain on it,” he said.

FILE–In what prosecutors called a drug smuggling conspiracy involving Mennonites and a Mexican drug cartel, a Mennonite man was sentenced Monday, Dec. 1, 2014 to 15 months in prison for aiding the movement of tons of marijuana to the U.S. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

It was an unlikely alliance that authorities said involved a group of pacifist Mexican Mennonites accused of growing tons of marijuana and working with a notoriously vicious Mexican cartel to ship it across the U.S. border.
Abraham Friesen-Remple was one of six members of the Mennonite farming community in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc who were indicted and accused of smuggling pot in the gas tanks of cars and inside farm equipment.
SEE ALSO: Bob Marley heirs officially in the marijuana business
Friesen-Remple was sentenced Monday in federal court in Denver to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of marijuana. A judge said he would likely be released later in the day because of time already served.
Law enforcement officials said the trafficking partnership is nothing new. But the case of Friesen-Remple illustrates how the Mennonites worked with the Juarez cartel in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

“You had ready access to the border, and you had a skilled labor pool in terms of their ability to work with machinery and welding and anything that you would find in an agricultural community,” said Glenn Gaasche, a supervisor in the Grand Junction, Colorado, office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

He said the Mennonites, skilled as welders, would fill a secret space inside farming machinery with pot before trucking it across the border.
The exact role of the cartel isn’t clear. But Gaasche said such crime organizations control the Mexico side of the border and likely aren’t going to let tons of weed cross without getting a cut of the proceeds.
“There’s going to be some coordination and some money changing hands,” he said.
The investigation involved wiretaps in which 32,200 calls were recorded in Spanish and a German dialect used by Mennonites.

In the Friesen-Remple case, Mennonite drivers took the pot to Colorado then to North Carolina after the arrest of a person who ran a Colorado Springs auto body shop involved in the case.

Marijuana had been off-loaded at the shop, and drivers such as Friesen-Remple took it to other places across the country, authorities said.

Marijuana makes the trek cross-country

Court records show he once delivered a shipment of marijuana — hidden in a farm bulldozer — to a home in Shelby, North Carolina. DEA agents tapped his phone and learned he was getting directions from someone in Mexico.
The next month, a fellow member of the drug ring, who became a cooperating witness, told agents Friesen-Remple delivered 1,575 pounds of pot that agents found during a search of his home, according to court records.

“In our case, I’m quite sure that some of those transporters were told to go to a certain stash house, some were told to meet a certain distributor, and some of those people may be operating their own little business stashing stuff for the cartel or moving money,” Gaasche said.

Friesen-Remple was arrested on Aug. 20, 2013, in the Santa Teresa Point of Entry in New Mexico.
During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer noted his lack of criminal history and limited role in drug distribution.
The Mennonite community in Chihuahua dates to the 1920s, when thousands of Mennonites moved from Canada to northern Mexico to preserve a way of life rooted in farming and objection to military service. They continue to farm and ranch in isolated communities.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people are honest hardworking people, you just have that 1 percent that have gone sideways,” Gaasche said.

Law enforcement has been aware for years of small, separate groups of Mennonites running cocaine rings and dealing other drugs, said Aurora, Colorado, Police Sgt. Dale Quigley, intelligence manager for the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
DEA agents last year also seized cocaine they said was headed for Mennonites in Canada.
SEE ALSO: Mexican drug cartels are expanding their reach in Peru
The involvement of some Mennonites, though not representative of the entire community, is a simple case of economics, Quigley said.

“This is just a case where I have a commodity that I can move from one place to another and make a financial gain on it,” he said.

FILE–In what prosecutors called a drug smuggling conspiracy involving Mennonites and a Mexican drug cartel, a Mennonite man was sentenced Monday, Dec. 1, 2014 to 15 months in prison for aiding the movement of tons of marijuana to the U.S. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

It was an unlikely alliance that authorities said involved a group of pacifist Mexican Mennonites accused of growing tons of marijuana and working with a notoriously vicious Mexican cartel to ship it across the U.S. border.
Abraham Friesen-Remple was one of six members of the Mennonite farming community in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc who were indicted and accused of smuggling pot in the gas tanks of cars and inside farm equipment.
SEE ALSO: Bob Marley heirs officially in the marijuana business
Friesen-Remple was sentenced Monday in federal court in Denver to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of marijuana. A judge said he would likely be released later in the day because of time already served.
Law enforcement officials said the trafficking partnership is nothing new. But the case of Friesen-Remple illustrates how the Mennonites worked with the Juarez cartel in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

“You had ready access to the border, and you had a skilled labor pool in terms of their ability to work with machinery and welding and anything that you would find in an agricultural community,” said Glenn Gaasche, a supervisor in the Grand Junction, Colorado, office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

He said the Mennonites, skilled as welders, would fill a secret space inside farming machinery with pot before trucking it across the border.
The exact role of the cartel isn’t clear. But Gaasche said such crime organizations control the Mexico side of the border and likely aren’t going to let tons of weed cross without getting a cut of the proceeds.
“There’s going to be some coordination and some money changing hands,” he said.
The investigation involved wiretaps in which 32,200 calls were recorded in Spanish and a German dialect used by Mennonites.

In the Friesen-Remple case, Mennonite drivers took the pot to Colorado then to North Carolina after the arrest of a person who ran a Colorado Springs auto body shop involved in the case.

Marijuana had been off-loaded at the shop, and drivers such as Friesen-Remple took it to other places across the country, authorities said.

Marijuana makes the trek cross-country

Court records show he once delivered a shipment of marijuana — hidden in a farm bulldozer — to a home in Shelby, North Carolina. DEA agents tapped his phone and learned he was getting directions from someone in Mexico.
The next month, a fellow member of the drug ring, who became a cooperating witness, told agents Friesen-Remple delivered 1,575 pounds of pot that agents found during a search of his home, according to court records.

“In our case, I’m quite sure that some of those transporters were told to go to a certain stash house, some were told to meet a certain distributor, and some of those people may be operating their own little business stashing stuff for the cartel or moving money,” Gaasche said.

Friesen-Remple was arrested on Aug. 20, 2013, in the Santa Teresa Point of Entry in New Mexico.
During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer noted his lack of criminal history and limited role in drug distribution.
The Mennonite community in Chihuahua dates to the 1920s, when thousands of Mennonites moved from Canada to northern Mexico to preserve a way of life rooted in farming and objection to military service. They continue to farm and ranch in isolated communities.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people are honest hardworking people, you just have that 1 percent that have gone sideways,” Gaasche said.

Law enforcement has been aware for years of small, separate groups of Mennonites running cocaine rings and dealing other drugs, said Aurora, Colorado, Police Sgt. Dale Quigley, intelligence manager for the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
DEA agents last year also seized cocaine they said was headed for Mennonites in Canada.
SEE ALSO: Mexican drug cartels are expanding their reach in Peru
The involvement of some Mennonites, though not representative of the entire community, is a simple case of economics, Quigley said.

“This is just a case where I have a commodity that I can move from one place to another and make a financial gain on it,” he said.

The most legally aggressive part of Obama's immigration plan is one nobody is talking about

The most politically charged aspect of the immigration debate concerns the fate of the millions of mostly Latino, mostly working-class unauthorized immigrants living in the United States.

But the most aggressive move he's making concerns something else entirely — foreign technology entrepreneurs.

A memo released today by the Department of Homeland Security clarifies that Obama is planning to increase the number of foreign entrepreneurs allowed in.

A memo from the Council on Economics Advisors suggests the scale of this program will involve around 33,000-53,000 new migrants.

The legal basis for this action involves a break with precedent that is much more dramatic than the more-controversial deportation protection being given to unauthorized immigrants who are already here.

What Obama is doing for foreign entrepreneurs

The DHS memo states that the president is directing the US Customs and Immigration Service to devise a program that would, on a case-by-case basis, let foreign entrepreneurs move to the United States. There are two broad limits laid down for the sort of entrepreneurs who would qualify. One is a guideline that the entrepreneurs in question be "awarded substantial US investor financing" or otherwise be involved in "the development of new technologies or the pursuit of cutting-edge research." The other is a stipulation that anybody allowed in under this initiative be prosperous enough to be ineligible for federal benefits programs, including Obamacare subsidies.
In other words, this means an Israeli technologist with backing from American venture capitalists should be allowed in but an Indian cook looking to open a restaurant should not.

Why does the President have the authority to do this?

The DHS memo cites section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act which grants the executive branch authority to "parole" people into the United States when there is a "significant public benefit" to doing so. The text of the statute places very little limitation on the scope of Significant Public Benefit Parole, so the administration appears free to argue that the entry of foreign technology entrepreneurs would be beneficial.
This is not, however, the traditional use of SPG authority.
Historically, most paroles have been humanitarian paroles. SPG parole, as the Department of Homeland Security itself says "is generally used for aliens who enter to take part in legal proceedings." In other words, if a foreign witness is needed for an important case a law enforcement agency can submit a request for parole. The Congressional Research Service notes, however, that SPG parole has been used at least once for economic reasons when 2,468 Hong Kong Chinese were paroled into Guam to "support defense projects" following a typhoon.
In other words, this is a much larger break with precedent than the more-debated deferred action program for already-resident immigrants where the White House can point to the broadly similar George H.W. Bush action.

Why is nobody talking about this?

The administration appears to have structured this particular initiative to be narrowly drawn to minimize political backlash.
Silicon Valley is hungry for more skilled migrants, and Republicans have been eager to appear sensitive to those concerns even while remaining hostile to any form of "amnesty" for current unauthorized residents. The specific prohibition on allowing parole for anyone who would be eligible for public benefits should firewall this initiative from one major source of controversy. And the implied focus on entrepreneurs who are already backed by US-based venture capitalists means the individual beneficiaries of this program will, by definition, have powerful political advocates inside the United States.

Triste ver que nuestra democracia no funciona

Es patético observar la actuación, más bien la no actuación, de la oposición frente al caso de la Casa Blanca de Angélica Rivera, esposa del presidente Peña. Su silencio denota el nivel de complicidad que han alcanzado los partidos en México. Parecería que aquí ya no hay oposición sino un pacto de “tapaos los unos a los otros”, como genialmente ha descrito nuestra colega editorialista de Excélsior, María Amparo Casar. Es una vergüenza que genera tristeza para aquellos que creíamos en la existencia de una democracia funcional en el país.
Un régimen democrático presidencialista de división de poderes descansa en la idea de pesos y contrapesos de tal suerte que los políticos se vigilen los unos a los otros. Bien decía James Madison, uno de los padres fundadores de la exitosa República estadunidense, que “si los hombres fueran ángeles, no sería necesario ningún gobierno. Si los ángeles gobernaran a los hombres, ni los controles externos ni los internos en el gobierno serían necesarios. En el diseño de un gobierno que va a ser administrado por hombres sobre hombres, la gran dificultad estriba en esto: en primer lugar debe permitirse al gobierno controlar a los gobernados; y en segundo lugar hay que obligarlo a controlarse a sí mismo”.
¿Cómo evitar el abuso de hombres que no son ángeles? ¿Cómo lograr que haya un autocontrol gubernamental? Madison lo tenía muy claro: “para contrarrestar la ambición hay que crear ambición”. Frase memorable que sustenta el régimen de división de poderes. Al diseñar un sistema democrático el objetivo es “dividir y organizar las varias instituciones de una manera en la que cada una pueda checar a la otra –que el interés privado de cada individuo pueda ser el centinela de los derechos públicos”.
Si existe la sospecha de que el Ejecutivo abusó de su poder, el Legislativo debe intervenir. Para ello cuenta con facultades de investigación, fiscalización y sanción. El sistema funciona precisamente por la ambición que tienen los políticos del Congreso de desbancar a los políticos de la administración.
En esta lógica resulta fundamental la presencia de verdaderos partidos opositores en el Legislativo. Recordemos que en las épocas autoritarias de México sí había división de poderes en el papel. No así en la realidad. El Legislativo ni vigilaba ni castigaba al Ejecutivo y viceversa. ¿Por qué? Muy sencillo: porque el PRI controlaba todo: no había oposición. La democratización comenzó con una mayor presencia opositora en el Congreso que eventualmente derivó en la alternancia en el Ejecutivo.
En 2012, el PRI recuperó la Presidencia. La oposición, no obstante, mantuvo una fuerte presencia en el Congreso. Tiene, de hecho, la mayoría en el Senado. Uno esperaría que la fuerza opositora en el Legislativo vigilara y sancionara los posibles abusos del Ejecutivo. O por lo menos que los investigara para demostrar que la democracia está funcionando. Desgraciadamente, no ha sido el caso: ni el PAN ni el PRD, los dos principales partidos opositores, han reaccionado frente al caso de las propiedades de Angélica Rivera.
Menuda diferencia a lo ocurrido en 2005 cuando apareció información de que los hijos de la entonces Primera Dama, Marta Sahagún, habían ejercido influencia para otorgar contratos gubernamentales a ciertos empresarios. La Cámara de Diputados formó una comisión especial para investigar el tema. Ciertamente no produjeron muchos resultados que digamos pero por lo menos se armó cierto revuelo. Lo increíble es que ahora, con el posible conflicto de interés de una residencia comprada y financiada por uno de los contratistas favoritos del gobierno de Peña, el Congreso no diga ni pío.
Carlos Puig especula que el estruendoso silencio podría deberse a la larga cola que tienen los opositores y que el gobierno del PRI podría pisar. No lo dudo: la democracia mexicana ha tenido como consecuencia la ampliación de la corrupción a todos los partidos. Y como nadie se salva, ya no existen contrapesos. De esta manera, la democracia ha dejado de funcionar. Qué tristeza.
                Twitter: @leozuckermann

Dreamers to Obama: Don’t leave our parents behind

As President Barack Obama prepares to take executive action on immigration, Dreamers have a message for the president: Don’t leave our parents behind.

“It is becoming clear that there is a new consensus emerging from those who support our communities — the parents of Dreamers must be protected,” Lorella Praeli, director of advocacy and policy at United We Dream, said Tuesday during a press conference on Capitol Hill"

Obama could take action as early as this week to offer deportation relief and work authorization to millions of undocumented immigrants. The president did something similar in 2012 when he announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for undocumented youth who came to the United States as children.
The New York Times reported last week that up to 5 million undocumented immigrants — including parents of U.S. citizens and legal residents — could benefit from Obama’s planned executive actions. But it’s still unclear whether the parents of Dreamers will also qualify for protection.

Erika Andiola (right) stands next to her mother, Guadalupe Arreola, at a press conference last December. (VOXXI/Griselda Nevarez)

Erika Andiola, a Dreamer and co-director of the Dream Action Coalition, said she hopes her mother is not left out from Obama’s executive actions.
In an op-ed published Tuesday by the Huffington Post, Andiola said her mother was put in deportation proceedings two years ago when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials raided her home and arrested her mother.
Andiola said shortly after that happened, she quit her job as a staffer for Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) in Washington, D.C., and returned to Arizona to fight to stop her mother’s deportation. She succeeded in convincing immigration officials to allow her mother to stay in the U.S. temporarily.
But Andiola’s mother is still not in the clear. She has an appointment with ICE officials in December where she’ll find out if she gets to stay in the country for another year.
Andiola said she now hopes Obama will “go big” and extend relief to her mother and other immigrants like her who are parents of Dreamers but don’t have children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

“Dreamers across the country have given their lives to this fight, and I ask you to not leave our parents and those who might not have family ties to U.S. citizens, behind,” Andioa said in the op-ed, directing her message to Obama. “Please don’t leave my mother behind.”

SEE ALSO: Republicans looking for ways to stop Obama on immigration
Dreamers aren’t the only ones calling on Obama to include their parents in his planned executive actions. A group of mothers of Dreamers have been fasting outside the White House since Nov. 3, making their case for why the president should protect them and other immigrants with strong ties to the U.S. from deportation. They are part of an advocacy group called Dreamers’ Moms USA.

A group of mothers of Dreamers joined Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard during a press conference Tuesday. (Twitter/@Rep.RoybalAllard)

Lenka Mendoza, a mother of two Dreamers who lives in Virginia, is among those who have been fasting outside the White House for 16 days. In an interview with VOXXI, she explained why Obama should offer relief to parents of Dreamers.
“A lot is said about the qualities of our sons and daughters and the contributions they’re making to this country,” Mendoza said. “But we, as parents, are the ones who have instilled those qualities in our children, and we shouldn’t be put aside.”
She added that like Dreamers, parents also deserve an opportunity to stay in the country because they have “worked hard and contributed to the economic development of this country.”
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), who chairs the Congressional Women’s Working Group on Immigration Reform, echoed that message during a press conference on Tuesday. She was joined by the mothers who are fasting as well as Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.), who are also part of the working group.

“Like the Dreamers, the parents of Dreamers love our country and contribute to our economy every day,” Roybal-Allard said. “As women leaders in Congress, our message is simple, Mr. President: Don’t separate children from their parents. Keep families together. And enable moms and dads to come out of the shadows to openly contribute to our country, and to live their lives with dignity and respect.”

Where Obamacare and immigration reform collide

the US Senate Majority, November 5, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The worst political news for President Obama, on top of the crushing mid-term elections defeat for his party, is that the centerpiece of his legacy may be in trouble in the most unexpected of places.
A year after open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act began, 1 in 4 Latinos in the United States still do not have health insurance, according to new Census Bureau data – and it may be an uphill struggle to reverse that.
That is significant to Obama’s legacy since it was widely assumed that Latinos would be the backdrop for the success of Obamacare, both because they are its biggest target ethnic group and were the celebrated core of his 2008 and 2012 success in several critical states.
But now comes this unexpected political collision: Obamacare is the president’s legacy issue and if it fails among Latinos – who are already suspicious of him because of broken promises on immigration reform – there may be little of lasting importance on which to hang his presidency.
SEE ALSO: New HealthCare.gov website unveiled
It may be both ironic and coincidental that Obamacare and the immigration reform have become almost inseparable in trying to connect Latinos to the Affordable Care Act.
In California alone, at least 600,000 Latinos — or almost twice those who have enrolled — are still balking at signing up for Obamacare, despite qualifying for subsidized coverage under the federal health law, out of fear it could lead to the deportation of undocumented relatives.
It is a fear heightened by the fact that the federal government has deported more than two million immigrants in the U.S. illegally since Obama took office in 2009.
“This is a very big deal in California,” says Catherine Teare of the California HealthCare Foundation. “It’s really hard for Covered California or anybody to make those concerns go away.”
It has become such an issue that the state’s exchange, Covered California, is tackling the immigration fears directly for the first time this fall in new TV ads targeting Hispanics for open enrollment which starts Nov. 15 and runs to Feb. 15.
But officials fear it will be a hard sell to many Latino families of mixed immigration status, even though last March Obama appeared on the Spanish-language TV network Univision attempting to assure Latinos that information they provide about extended family members in the country illegally would not be turned over to immigration officials.
At that time, as of April, when the first open enrollment in Obamacare ended, some 367,000 Latinos in California had signed up for insurance through the state’s health care enrollment exchange.
All in all, California has the highest percentage of uninsured Latinos in the country at nearly 60 percent,

Negro? Prieto? Moreno? A Question of Identity for Black Mexicans

JOSÉ MARÍA MORELOS, Mexico — Hernán Reyes calls himself “negro” — black — plain and simple.

After some thought, Elda Mayren decides she is “Afromexicana,” or African-Mexican.

Candido Escuen, a 58-year-old papaya farmer, is not quite sure what word to use, but he knows he is not mestizo, or mixed white and native Indian, which is how most Mexicans describe themselves.

“Prieto,” or dark, “is what a lot of people call me,” he said.

This isolated village is named for an independence hero, thought to have had black ancestors, who helped abolish slavery in Mexico. It lies in the rugged hills of southwestern Mexico, among a smattering of towns and hamlets that have long embraced a heritage from African slaves who were brought here to work in mines and on sugar plantations in the 16th century.

Just how many people are willing to share that pride may soon be put to the test as Mexico moves to do something it has not attempted in decades and never on its modern census: ask people if they consider themselves black.

Continue reading the main story

300 Miles

MEXICO

Gulf of Mexico

Mexico City

VERACRUZ

GUERRERO

BELIZE

OAXACA

CHIAPAS

GUATEMALA

José María Morelos

HONDURAS

Pacific Ocean

Or Afromexican. Or “moreno,” “mascogo,” “jarocho,” or “costeño” — some of the other terms sometimes used to describe black Mexicans.

What term or terms to use is not just a matter of personal and societal debate, but a longstanding dilemma that the government is hoping finally to resolve.

An official survey of around 4,500 households this month asked about African descent and preferred terms as part of plans to include the question on a national housing and population survey of 6.1 million households next year, a broad snapshot of the country in between the main censuses. It has not yet been decided if the question will be on the full census in 2020.

The sample next year would allow for a rare, official estimate of the total black population in Mexico — a number that until now has been the subject of educated guesses of tens of thousands.

“It is a big, important move,” said Sagrario Cruz-Carretero, an anthropologist at the University of Veracruz who studies Mexico’s African descendants and has participated in meetings with the census agency, known as Inegi for its initials in Spanish, to push for the move. “The black population has been invisible.”

Continue reading the main story

That Mexico is even considering asking about black identity represents a leap in a country where race is rarely discussed publicly, and where bigotry and discrimination, both blatant and indirect, is commonplace.

It was only last November that Mexico’s largest bakery, Bimbo, undergoing an international expansion, abandoned the name of its popular chocolate cake bar, “Negrito,” or little black one. The cartoon boy with the big Afro remains on the package, though he has also evolved over the years from a dark-skinned, cannibal-like figure to a light-complexioned skater dude.

A casting call last year seeking models for a television commercial for Aeroméxico, the nation’s largest airline, asked for “nobody dark skinned,” conforming to the overwhelmingly white complexions portrayed across the media here. The airline and the advertising agency later apologized.

Continue reading the main story When it comes to official classifications of race and ethnicity, the census has typically asked only if an indigenous language is spoken at home and, if so, which one. That information has been used to evaluate the size of the Indian population (about 6 percent of the total of 112.3 million).

Although Mexico’s indigenous peoples persistently rank at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, the country takes pride in its indigenous heritage and carefully preserves the remnants of ancient civilizations.

But African-Mexicans say their role as Mexico’s “third root” is ignored in textbooks and by society as a whole. They are seeking the census count as a prelude to official recognition in the Constitution, which could mean deeper study and commemoration of their history and better services for their communities.

The coalition of scholars, community groups and activists that has been pushing for the census question has gained traction for a number of reasons: renewed attention to non-Spanish cultures after a 1994 indigenous uprising in the southern state of Chiapas; a civil society grown more vociferous since the first democratic handover of the presidency after the 2000 election; and a sense that Mexico was falling behind in international agreements it had signed over the years to confront racial discrimination. Mexico has increasingly looked out of step with other Latin American nations, including Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, that have included questions of race on their census forms.

“Gradually, we have been moving toward this step,” said Ricardo Bucio Mújica, president of the National Council to Prevent Discrimination, a government agency formed 11 years ago. As for Mexico’s black population, he added, “If it is not known how many there are, their conditions, there can’t be an agreement on the part of the government for their inclusion at large.”

Mexicans generally chafe at the racial politics of the United States and declare themselves far more easygoing, lacking a history of Jim Crow segregation or Ku Klux Klan-like animosity. They often point out that slavery was finally abolished here in 1829, as part of liberal, egalitarian ideals that helped push independence from Spain. That happened well ahead of abolition in the United States in 1865.

Many families call dark-skinned relatives “Negro” or “Negra” without a second thought. When Mexico put out a postage stamp in 2005 depicting a beloved comic-book character, Memín Pinguín, a black boy with wide eyes and exaggerated lips, government officials and commentators defended it against a torrent of criticism from the United States, including the White House, and from other countries. (The stamp sold out and was not reprinted.)

The few politicians with black ancestry who have been elected often play down or deny their family roots, and with intermarriage stretching back to the earliest days of slavery, many Mexicans may be unaware of their African heritage.

While traveling outside of their communities, black Mexicans say they are stopped routinely by the police and accused of being illegal immigrants from Cuba or Central America. They often endure long stares and even touching of their hair by curious fellow Mexicans.

Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story

Continue reading the main story

That unfamiliarity comes in part because Mexico’s black populations, often to escape persecution and discrimination, historically never moved in large numbers to big cities and have kept largely to themselves in scattered in three southern states: Oaxaca, Guerrero and Veracruz.

In this village in Oaxaca, black ancestry is taken for granted, even among people who also have clear indigenous blood lines.

Israel Reyes Larrea, who named his daughter “Africa” and has devoted a room in his house to a collection of memorabilia from the black communities of Mexico, said he was “Afro-Indian” — with a great-grandmother of African descent. But since moving here a couple of decades ago and marrying a black woman, he describes himself as black.

“It is not just about blood,” he said, “but how you see yourself culturally and politically.”

His son, Hernán, 22, participates in a troupe that performs the “Danza de Diablos,” a traditional ceremony with devil masks and African-style drumming and dancing, one of a number of customs brought here by ancestors of African heritage and still practiced in this isolated region.

Herminio Rodríguez Alvarado, 83, is a “curandero,” a folk healer, in nearby Cuajinicuilapa, in Guerrero State. Steeped in what anthropologists say are African-rooted traditions, his techniques claim to be able to identify a person’s animal twin and decide if its poor health explains a given ailment.

Some adolescent girls and young women here say they go along with the local custom of “la huida,” thought also to have its roots in African traditions, whereby suitors take them hostage until a marriage is arranged. Community leaders and some of the girls have insisted it is benign, though in years past the authorities treated it as a form of kidnapping.

“It is something very typical in our community,” Mariana Palacio, who is 14, the youngest age at which women may legally marry in Mexico, said the other week, after being taken to her future husband’s house to live until their wedding day.

The isolation of the African-Mexican communities, whatever the reasons for it may be, has left many with decrepit schools, roads and services — a neglect and deep poverty that has bred resentment.

Mr. Escuen, the farmer, said he could barely make ends meet. He supports the census question as a way to bring attention to the community. “It doesn’t matter much here what we are called, they are all the same, as long as they give us some help,” he said.

Indeed, a number of people did not see the fuss behind being counted.

“If they ask me,” said Inocente Severo García, a fisherman here, “I will say, ‘I am Mexican.’ ”

A version of this article appears in print on October 26, 2014, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Prieto? Negro? Moreno? A Question of Identity for Black Mexicans.

Republicans and Democrats unhappy with their party on immigration

Republicans are not happy with the way their party has dealt with immigration, but a new survey shows the same holds true for Democrats and their party.
A Pew Research Center survey released Tuesday finds that on immigration, “neither Republicans nor Democrats are especially happy with the way their respective parties have dealt with the issue.”
SEE ALSO: Why immigration reform may never happen under President Obama

Both Republicans and Democrats are unhappy with the way their party has handled immigration. (Photo credit: Pew Research Center)

The survey shows 56 percent of Republicans say their party is not doing a good job on immigration, and only 37 percent approve of the job the GOP has done on the issue.
Though Democrats are more positive about the way their party has dealt with the immigration, a large share of them are not satisfied. The survey finds that 44 percent say their party is not doing a good job on immigration, while 47 percent said the party is doing a good job.
The survey also shows older Republicans are more critical of the way the GOP has handled immigration and are more likely to fault the party for being “too willing” to allow undocumented immigrants to gain legal status. Meanwhile, Republicans under age 35 are divided, with 48 percent saying the GOP is doing a good job on immigration and 45 saying it is not.
On the Democratic side, there’s also division. The survey shows Hispanic Democrats are more likely than white or black Democrats to criticize the party for “not being willing enough” to allow undocumented immigrants to gain legal status.
SEE ALSO: Hispanic Caucus urges Obama to act on immigration by holiday season
The survey comes as Latino leaders and immigration advocates are placing most of the blame on House Republicans for the failure to pass immigration reform legislation this year. They say House Republicans failed to introduce their own immigration reform bill after rejecting the Senate-approved bill.
However, that doesn’t mean Democrats are off the hook. Latino leaders and immigration advocates are also taking aim at Democrats.
On Monday, a group of undocumented mothers staged a sit-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to express their disappointment over President Barack Obama’s decision to delay executive action on immigration. They also expressed their frustration with Democrats who are holding back from pressuring Obama to not delay action on immigration

Sondeo refleja desilusión de los latinos por el manejo migratorio de Obama

Miami, 10 sep (EFEUSA).- La aprobación entre los hispanos de la gestión del presidente, Barack Obama, cayó 15 puntos desde abril pasado y se sitúa en el 47 %, según un nuevo sondeo que evidencia que el tema migratorio es aún una prioridad para los latinos.

Analistas y activistas proinmigrantes señalaron que los resultados de la encuesta realizada por las cadenas Telemundo y NBC y el diario Wall Street Journal, eran previsibles luego de que Obama fuera retrasando las medidas ejecutivas que había prometido hace dos meses si el Congreso no actuaba en materia de inmigración, y que finalmente anunció este fin de semana que quedan pospuestas hasta después de las elecciones de noviembre próximo.
"Es algo que ya hemos estado viendo por meses. Yo sé que hay muchos líderes latinos, demócratas y republicanos que están muy frustrados y hasta enojados porque esto está pasando regularmente", dijo a Efe Barreto, quien lideró la Administración de Pequeñas Empresas durante el Gobierno de George W. Bush.
En este sentido, el presidente del grupo conservador The Latino Coalition señaló que la desilusión de los hispanos no obedece exclusivamente a la demora en una "acción diferida para los indocumentados" sino a las promesas rotas desde hace tiempo.
Entre tanto, el periodista de Telemundo José Díaz-Balart indicó a Efe que "dada la importancia que tiene el tema de la inmigración para los hispanos sobre otros temas, creemos que estos números simplemente reflejan la decepción y frustración de los latinos".
"La crisis en la frontera debería haber sido un recordatorio del impacto humano de la inacción de Washington", cuestionó el también presentador de la cadena en inglés MSNBC.
Según el periodista hispano, "la comunidad latina está viendo cómo los políticos, tanto republicanos como demócratas, el Congreso y el Presidente utilizan el tema de inmigración como ficha política".
Mientras, la activista María Bilbao, de la organización United Families, aseguró que el anuncio realizado por Obama fue un golpe "fortísimo", porque cada día que pasa son deportados 1.100 indocumentados, "unos 70.000 más, si son nueve semanas que Obama tarda" en aprobar medidas unilaterales.
"Lo primero que pensé tras el anuncio del presidente Obama es que el retraso va a tener consecuencias terribles para nuestra comunidad, por las deportaciones, pero también para él", dijo hoy a Efe.
La Casa Blanca anunció el pasado día 6 que Obama no tomará medidas ejecutivas sobre la reforma migratoria hasta después de las elecciones legislativas de noviembre "debido a la extrema politización de este asunto".
La encuesta fue realizada entre el 3 y 7 de septiembre pasado, por lo que coincidió en parte con las horas posteriores al anuncio de la Casa Blanca.
El sondeo mostró además que el 77 % de los encuestados considera que la reforma migratoria, una de las mayores preocupaciones de los hispanos, debe incluir una vía para la ciudadanía, un dato ligeramente por debajo del 82 % de abril de 2013.
Y pese a la frustración por el bloqueo de la reforma en el Congreso, los latinos siguen considerando que los demócratas son mejores que los republicanos en el tratamiento de los asuntos de inmigración, con un 41 % frente al 19 %.
Además, el 66 % de los latinos asegura que el argumento de los republicanos de reforzar la seguridad fronteriza es un "excusa" para no sacar adelante la ansiada reforma.
"Creo que la culpa la tiene el Partido Republicano más que el Demócrata, pero con esto que hizo Obama me quedé sin argumentos, fue como una traición, y realmente creo que fue un mal cálculo político", expresó Bilbao, una indocumentada argentina que vive desde hace 14 años en Estados Unidos.
La activista aseveró que ahora el camino es incrementar el poder político de los hispanos, al considerar que es "evidente" que esta comunidad no lo tiene en las elecciones legislativas, que eligen el próximo noviembre una tercera parte del Senado y el total de la Cámara de Representantes, actualmente de mayoría republicana.
Al respecto, el congresista demócrata Luis Gutiérrez solicitó esta semana a la comunidad hispana que no ejerza un voto castigo contra los demócratas por la decisión del presidente, al mismo tiempo que mostró su "frustración y enojo" con Obama por el aplazamiento de las medidas en materia migratoria. EFEUSA

Layover in Mexico City airport is a cultural expirience

Benito Juárez International

 Airport Exhibit

This space is set aside for temporary exhibitions within the Mexico City International Airport. Currently, the exhibition Witness of History, 70 years of the National Institute of Anthropology and History which presents sculptures of great historical value. We invite you to visit the International Airport Exhibit Centre Terminal 2 to know more about this exhibition.
ADDRESS: Interior de la Terminal 2 del AICM , esquina con Entre las puertas 5 y 6, Col. México (Lic. Benito Juárez), Venustiano Carranza, C.P. 15620, México, Distrito Federal


CONTACT: Tel. (55) 2482 2550, (5) 2482 2493
aangeles@aicm.com.mx


CATEGORY: Museums


ASSIGNED TO: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (Conaculta)


OPENNING HOURS: From Monday to Sunday, 01:00 - 24:00 hrs.
PRECIOS: Entrada libre.



Visit Web Site

Ted Cruz Gets Booed Off Stage At Middle East Christian Event

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was booed off the stage at an event hosted by a Christian organization in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night.
The conservative firebrand delivered the keynote address at an event hosted by In Defense of Christians, an organization that raises awareness of persecuted Christian and minority communities in the Middle East. But the audience turned hostile when Cruz said, "Christians have no greater ally than Israel."
"I will say this: I'm saddened to see that some here, not everyone, are so consumed with hate," he said, as more members in attendance began to boo. "I will say this: If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you. Thank you, and God bless you," he said, before walking off the stage.

According to The Daily Caller, IDC Executive Director Andrew Doran then came on the stage and said, "For the love of God, we're here to talk about Christians and we're here to be united."
In a statement issued after the event, the IDC blamed a "few politically motivated opportunists" for the incident.
The Assyrian International News Agency interviewed several attendees, most of whom said they were present "to discuss the plight of the Christians in Iraq, not the Israel-Hamas conflict, and they resented the senator's attempt to 'hijack' the summit," the agency reports.
In a statement following the incident, Cruz said the event "unfortunately deteriorated into a shameful display of bigotry and hatred."
"I came to this event tonight to help shine a light on the tragic persecution and slaughter of Christians by ISIS and Islamic radicals throughout the Middle East. American leaders have been far too silent as to this horrific evil," he said. "But bigotry and hatred have no place in this discussion. Anti-Semitism is a corrosive evil, and it reared its ugly head tonight. After just a few minutes, I had no choice. I told them that if you will not stand with Israel, if you will not stand with the Jews, then I will not stand with you. And then I walked off the stage."
Watch the video of the event above.

Mother of killed Mexican teen sues U.S. Border Patrol

Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez’s family speak to reporters on Tuesday about the lawsuit filed against Border Patrol over the killing of the Mexican teen. (Twitter/@ACLUaz)

The lawsuit, Rodriguez v. John Does, claims that in killing Jose Antonio, Border Patrol agents “acted intentionally and used unreasonable and excessive force with the purpose of causing harm to Jose Antonio without legal justification.” The complaint states that the agents’ actions violated Jose Antonio’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.
SEE ALSO: Congressmen introduce bill to hold border agents accountable

Rodriguez is also demanding a jury trial and is seeking damages, including punitive damages, against the agents involved in the killing of her son.

“The U.S. border patrol agents who killed my son in a senseless act of violence are still out there and they need to be brought to justice,” Rodriguez, who lives in Nogales, Mexico, said in a statement. “The U.S. government has not held the agents who shot my son accountable and that is why I am bringing this lawsuit.”

In a statement to VOXXI, a U.S. Custom and Border Protection official said the agency could not comment on pending litigation.

Jose Antonio shot 10 times by Border Patrol

The night that Rodriguez’s son was killed, Border Patrol agents were chasing two Mexican drug smugglers on foot along the southern border fence in Nogales, Ariz.
According to Border Patrol, the agents saw two people abandon a load of narcotics on the U.S. side of the border before running back to Mexico. Border Patrol said the agents tried going after the two individuals and began firing when they ignored orders to stop throwing rocks.
The lawsuit claims that Jose Antonio “was doing nothing but peacefully walking down the street by himself when he was gunned down” by the agents. An autopsy report shows the teenager was fatally shot 10 times, with virtually all of the bullets entering his body from behind. Moments after the shooting, Jose Antonio was found dead on sidewalk, in a pool of blood, about four blocks from his home.

“He was not committing a crime, nor was he throwing rocks, using a weapon, or in any way threatening U.S. Border Patrol agents or anyone else,” the lawsuit claims.

SEE ALSO: Abuse complaints against Border Patrol rarely lead to discipline
Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that the Border Patrol agents did not issue any verbal warnings before opening fire, therefore, violating Border Patrol guidelines that require agents to issue a verbal warning, if feasible, before using deadly force. 
Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project who is representing Rodriguez in the lawsuit, said in a statement that Jose Antonio’s death is “unfortunately not unique.” He stated that on multiple occasions, Border Patrol has been known to use “excessive and unnecessary force against people on both sides of the border.”
“Agents continue to violate the Constitution with impunity,” Gelernt said.
According to the ACLU, at least 27 people have died since 2010 as a result of use of force by border agents.

CBP’s use of deadly force is questioned

Earlier this year, the Police Executive Research Forum conducted a review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s use-of-force practices. The review analyzed all CBP use-of-deadly-force cases from January 2010 through October 2012.
On cases involving rock throwers, the forum concluded that agents sometimes “put themselves in harm’s way by remaining in close proximity to the rock throwers when moving out of range was a reasonable option.”

“Too many cases do not appear to meet the test of objective reasonableness with regard to the use of deadly force,” the forum added. “In cases where clear options to the use of deadly force exist and are not utilized in rock-throwing incidents, corrective actions should be taken.”

In addition, the forum stated that the “more questionable cases generally involved shootings that took place through the IBF [International Border Fence] at subjects who were throwing rocks at agents from Mexico.”
SEE ALSO: Border Patrol makes changes to its use of force policy
Luis Parra, an attorney for Jose Antonio’s family based in Nogales, Ariz., said he hopes the lawsuit will serve to find justice for Jose Antonio and to identify the agents who shot the 16-year-old.
“What happened to Jose Antonio should never be allowed to happen again,” Parra said in a statement. “We hope this suit will serve as a warning to agents that they will be held accountable for their actions in cross border shootings.”

The GOP lust for Latinos picks up steam

Ronald Reagan once said that Latinos were Republicans. They just didn’t know it yet.
Never before has the GOP hoped those words were truer than in the upcoming fall elections leading into the 2016 American electoral marathon better known as the presidential campaign.
It is not new that many, including some conservative Republicans, believe that Latinos hold the fate of upcoming political elections in their hands.
What is new, though, is just how diligent and undeterred the GOP has been in quietly wooing the traditionally loyal Hispanics, trying to help them discover that, as the party patron saint Ronald Reagan said, they are Republicans and just haven’t realized it.
SEE ALSO: Immigration hardliner seeks Latino vote in Texas lt. governor race
In recent months, the GOP has been spending $10 million in improving its Hispanic field operations in key states and flooding the air with Spanish-language advertisements.
The Republican National Committee has also launched “Hispanic engagement field teams” in nine states, with two dozen paid staff members on the ground reaching out to Latinos.

“The message we are going to give Latinos is about jobs, about education and about Obamacare,” says the GOP’s Rosario Marin, the California political operative who was U.S. treasurer under George W. Bush.

Marin, now a RNC advisory board member, insists that the national debate on immigration has not hurt Republicans, pointing to Chris Christie carrying 51 percent of the Hispanic vote in his gubernatorial reelection triumph last year in New Jersey, and the GOP’s David Jolly winning a special congressional election in Florida.
In fact, a Pew Hispanic Center survey agreed that immigration is not the most important issue to Latinos, ranking behind education, the economy and health care.
Marin and others maintain that the anti-Republican sentiment over the congressional impasse is exaggerated and offset by President Obama’s struggles with the immigrant community over deportations.
SEE ALSO: One year after autopsy report: Has the GOP made progress?
The GOP is also drawing encouragement from a recent Gallup poll in Texas in which more Latinos identified themselves as Republican than in the country as a whole.
Democrats hold a 30 percent advantage among Latinos over Republicans nationally, but that difference is only 19 percent in Texas, where Democrats had hoped to make inroads into the GOP’s two-decade stranglehold on the Lone Star State in this mid-term election.
One of those Texas Latinos who may go Republican this fall is James Duarte, a retired state employee and lifelong Democrat who says he can’t see himself voting for gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis – paradoxically over the issue that made her the state’s Democratic Party darling.

“I can’t get behind a candidate whose chief claim is being pro-abortion,” Duarte, an American G.I. Forum leader among Latino veterans, says of Davis, who skyrocketed to national fame last year because of a legislative filibuster opposing an abortion bill.

But Duarte’s disenchantment goes even deeper. Asked if he would be more enthusiastic over a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, he shook his head.
“I don’t see myself being any more interested in a Hillary Clinton campaign,” he said.
“I think I have just lost faith in the Democrats asking us to vote for them but not having one of us as the candidate at the top of the ticket.

“I’m waiting to see if the Republicans actually go that far. If they do. If they put someone like (Florida Senator Marco) Rubio on their national ticket, well, we’re talking a whole new ball game.”
How Republicans have been able to make those kinds of inroads with Latinos in Texas is unimaginable, given some of the headline-grabbing anti-immigrant rhetoric that has come to be associated with the GOP.
But Republicans say they have been reaching out to Latinos by distancing the mainstream GOP from the extremists and the inflammatory language.
“I understand the need to address the issue of illegal immigration, and I understand the need to secure borders, and I realize that’s critically important,” says Hector De Leon, a leader of the Associated Republicans of Texas, a Hispanic GOP group dating back to 1974.
SEE ALSO: Eva Longoria’s group looks to help Latinos build political power
“But by the same token, that issue can be addressed by not engaging in rhetoric that sounds like thinly veiled racism.”
It was in 1983, as he prepared for re-election, that President Ronald Reagan made his comment about Latinos not realizing they were Republicans.
He said it to San Antonio advertising guru Lionel Sosa, who as a political consultant would help Reagan secure a then record share of the Latino vote as he won re-election.
“When I say that Latinos share conservative values, when Ronald Reagan said that, we mean the love of family, the love of country, a commitment to personal responsibility, to hard work,” says Sosa.
“Convey those things and you will have a lot of Latinos who nod their heads and say, ‘Yes, yes, we do think alike.’ But from there, the Latino vote has to be earned just like any other.”