Border Cafe

Pancho Villa, other famous people, associated with doomed Asarco smelter in El Paso, Tx

Other big names the Guggenheims, the Meyers, Rockefellers, Carlos Slim, George H.W. Bush

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_23009283/doomed-smokestacks-symbolize-asarcos-legacy.

Border Trade Alliance suspects "border tax" may be in the works

This was written by Nelson Balido of the BTA: 

I was reviewing the president's budget, and buried deep in the section relating to the Department of Homeland Security, there is language directing the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection to carry out a study of the potential impacts of collecting a border crossing fee on pedestrians and private vehicles at our country's land borders.  
 
Just because the government has fallen behind during the past four years in funding our nation's ports of entry with up-to-date technology or better infrastructure does not mean that it should now study the collection of a tax to fund those endeavors. For much of the border there are already tolls being collected by municipalities and port authorities for every crossing. This would mean a new tax on top of the existing toll, or a fee where there is no existing fee in exchange for who-knows-what.   
 
Let me spare the government the cost of carrying out such a study: A border crossing tax would be devastating, costing thousands of jobs in border communities that depend on our neighbors' ability to securely cross our borders to shop in our stores, eat in our restaurants, stay in our hotels, visit our tourist attractions and spend time with family and friends.
 
Slapping a tax on border crossings is a move fraught with economic danger. Visitors from Mexico and Canada represent over 56 percent of all international travelers to the U.S. according to data from the U.S. Travel Association, and the economic health of our border states is closely linked to the ability to attract Mexican travelers. Consider the data:
 

In Arizona, nearly 99 percent of Mexican visitors come from the neighboring state of Sonora, with over 30,000 direct and indirect jobs tied to Mexico-to-Arizona tourism.

In Texas, spending by Mexican nationals injects over $5.1 billion into the economies of South and Central Texas and supports more than 150,000 jobs.

Visitors from Mexico to California spent over $1.7 billion in 2011.
 
Mexican visitors to the U.S. are, as Raul Salinas, the mayor of the border community of Laredo, Texas so accurately states, "The best type of visitors." They inject outside dollars into communities, generating jobs and spurring business growth, but without creating a drag on public services. In other words, border-crossing visitors come to the U.S. to shop and spend money, not to visit the public library.
 
For Mexicans, visiting the U.S. is no picnic. It involves a visit to a U.S. consulate for an in-depth interview and vetting process in order to secure a Border Crossing Card. It most likely requires an hours-long wait in a line of cars waiting to get through the port of entry. Depending on whether the Customs and Border Protection officer the traveler first encounters needs more information, it could mean a lengthy inspection in a secondary screening area. And finally, depending on the traveler's destination, it might mean obtaining an I-94 entry/departure record for a $6 fee and supplying the required myriad of additional information items that proves fiscal solvency in the traveler's home country. It's a wonder they want to come at all. Why in the world would we want to make the process more difficult, more expensive?
 
Instead of creating new barriers between the U.S. and our neighbors, we should be looking for ways to make the border-crossing experience easier, with fewer hassles and less expense. If Washington is hoping it can solve its fiscal woes by sticking our neighbors with the bill, it's going to be disappointed. Instead it should better support the establishment of new private-public partnerships for infrastructure and technology so that local municipalities have a say in what happens in their communities at the ports of entry and in-between.
 
Instituting a new border tax is a very bad idea that doesn't need to be studied, it needs to be rejected.
 
Nelson Balido is the principal at Balido and Associates, a public affairs firm. He is the former president of the Border Trade Alliance and a former member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. He can be reached at his what's interesting to you

Another U.S. state secret: Machismo is contagious

Another U.S. state secret: Machismo is contagious
By Diana Washington Valdez/Border Cafe
Machismo is contagious.
 At least that’s the message that a U.S. diplomat communicated in a U.S. cable.
 The subject of the Sept. 15, 1975 cable is titled “Alleged DEA and Mexican Complicity in Narcotics Traffic,” a serious enough topic, and was transmitted from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to the State Department.
It starts off by saying “I appreciate your informing me of this disturbing report. We, of course, have no way to evaluate (the) reliability of the informant, or the possibility that (Mario) Moya Palencia may make the information public.
“At first, blusyhit (sic) would appear counter-productive to his presidential aspirations for him to implicate Mexican officials and possibly embarrass Attorney General (Pedro) Ojeda Paullada, who up to now is on Moya’s team and whose wagon is strongly hitched to Moya’s star.”
The apparent inspiration for this cable is Moya’s threats to expose drug corruption involving DEA and Mexican officials. He was a candidate for president in 1976, but his party’s candidacy went to Jose Lopez Portillo.
“Upon further consideration, however, I can think of two possible reasons for Moya releasing this information. (A) If he wants to draw attention away form the even more embarrassing potential scandal concerning GOM (government of Mexico) officials involved in the recent 100 kilograms of cocaine case, or (B) if he has some reason to believe the U.S. side would release the information on the alleged DEA and Mexican complicity, and wants to carry out a preemptive strike.”
But the real point of the diplomatic communique appears to be something else. The document, previously classified secret, is now declassified and is among the documents that WikiLeaks recently divulged.
“I also wish to call your attention to the snowballing effect of machismo,” the cable states.
President Alfonso Lopez Michelsen of Colombia (as reported Sept. 14 by UPI) denounced the United States for allegedly converting his country into a springboard for narcotics and said the traffic is in the hands of U.S. mafiosi, according to the cable.
“He called on U.S. authorities to control the operations of U.S. organized crime in his country, rather than to expect Colombia to stop them by acting against Colombian citizens,” the cable states.
Now, the cable moves on to the real meat.
“As a manifestation of this same syndrome, on Sept. 15 UPI reported a Los Angeles press conference given by Mexican Attorney General Ojeda Paullada, in which he allegedly said that political pressures by certain U.S. legislators to obtain the freedom of U.S. nationals convicted of narcotics trafficking in Mexico would be unavailing [futile]. These cases can only be resolved by Mexican judges and by Mexican law, the AG stated.”
Toward the end of the cable, the author states, “I raise these two instances to demonstrate the well-known fact that Latin Americans, when politically pressed, are very capable of lashing out with such macho statements and will not hesitate to embarrass the USG (U.S. government) in so doing. Furthermore, machismo is contagious.”
It must so given such contemporary examples as North Korea’s Kim Jong, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, whom others have described as an “alpha male,” which is a euphemism for muy macho.
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Plot to kidnap U.S. consul in Juarez, Mexico revealed in cable

By Diana Washington Valdez/Border Cafe

Mexican authorities foiled a plot by an insurgent group to kidnap the U.S. consul in Juárez, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable.
The cable dated April 9, 1974, addressed to higher-ups, was sent by Goodwin Shapiro, the U.S. consul at the time.
He communicated details from a story published by El Mexicano, an afternoon daily in Juárez, and information provided by Mexican officials.
The “April 8 issue of El Mexicano, afternoon daily of this city, carried a story of an attempt by members of the 23rd of September group to kidnap me. According to the story, members of that group from different parts of Mexico had planned the kidnapping fore more than two weeks but were frustrated in their attempt to carry it out due to the fact that the head of the group here, Hector Ramirez, was seriously wounded in a shoot-out with police officers.”
The cable states that Chihuahua state Attorney General Antonio Quezada Fornelli interrogated Ramirez on April 9, 1974 at the Juárez Hospital General, and that “after being informed that his death was imminent, Ramirez broke his silence and confessed to being a member of the 23rd of September group and related the following”
“Two weeks ago, he together with another individual named Rogelio Martinez, and in accordance with a plan of action, decided upon by the 23rd of September group, moved from Leon, Guanajuato to Ciuadad Juárez, on the same date, other members of the group were to travel from Guadalajara and Mexico City to Ciudad Juárez.”
Ramirez and Martinez rented an apartment near the U.S. consulate, at its previous location, (10252 Calle Gregorio M. Solis), owned by Jorge Valdivia, for two months. They were to carry out the kidnapping during that period. But, before that, they planned to commit several robberies to obtain the needed funds for the kidnapping.
“I read this story at about 3:30 p.m. at approximately 4:15 p.m., Sr. Jose Refugio Ruvalcaba Muñoz, assistant chief of state judicial police here, called me to report that Lic. Quezada Fornelli, the state attorney general, had made a formal statement to the press this afternoon and was not actively working on this case with the police authorities here,” according to the cable.
“In response to my questions, he confirmed that the newspaper account as given above (in the cable) is essentially correct,” the cable states. He added that Ramirez stated that the group was planning to buys guns and prepared for the kidnapping of the consul in Ciudad Juarez. (A) police search of the apartment last night revealed various types of clothing and wig which presumably were to be used in the kidnapping attempt and or robberies and assaults.”
The cable added what it refers to as an “interesting sidelight:”
The “shootout between Ramirez and local police occurred when police answered a call to investigate disturbances by youths on the street. As police approached, Ramirez, who happened to be on the scene, started to run. (A) chase ensured, during which Ramirez fired at police. Police returned fire, seriously wounding him.”
Ramirez was in possession of a Browning semiautomatic weapon, the cable states.
WikiLeaks, online whistleblower, recently released the U.S. diplomatic cable.
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U.S. document: Plot to kill Mexican president-elect

By Diana Washington Valdez/Border Cafe

The Central Intelligence Agency may have been blamed for the the death of Mexican president-elect Jose Lopez Portillo under an alleged plot attributed to President Luis Echeverria Alvarez and his supporters, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable.
“Rumors are growing here that President Echeverria may be plotting the assassination of President-elect Lopez Portillo to extend his own term of office,” the document states. “While we continue to regard rumors as merely symptomatic of suspicion with which Mexicans regard the president rather than actual foreknowledge, they have been persistent enough to warrant our speculation in this report on possible scenario and implications for the U.S.”
The Aug. 6, 1976 cable, declassified from its previous secret classification, recently was released by online whistleblower WikiLeaks. It also mentions an article by the late Daniel Cosio Villegas, a historian and political scientist who wrote for the former Plural publication, which Octavio Paz edited and that raised the issue of a possible assassination plot.
“Cosio’s reference is to a fear which we have heard increasingly in recent weeks - that Lopez Portillo might be assassinated before he takes office,” the document states. “The ambassador first heard this shortly after (Portillo’s) nomination, and periodically since then.
“Rumors and fears of this kind are now being whispered more frequently. Two weeks ago, a story that (Portillo) had been shot swept the city in an afternoon. In the last two or three days, we have heard the fears from several sources, one a visiting businessman who may be close to friends of the candidate. This latter story suggested the president and key military officers were forming such a plot and that the ‘accident’ would be blamed on the CIA.
“On August 4, Embassy Legatt (legal attache) obtained exactly the same story from different person,” according to the document, “although the source in the Lopez Portillo camp could be the same. While most of these rumors have come from the private sector - the area most willing to accept that Echeverria would be capable of murder to extend his mandate - we are now picking up similar expressions of concern from the academic community.”
The cable goes on to down play the rumors and concerns as “symptomatic of the political climate, the cynicism and suspicion with which Mexicans regard the president rather than as an indication of what might actually happen. And certainly we are not yet ready to change that judgmentment. But, because similar precedents in modern Mexican history exist ... and because of the consequences for the United State, such a hypothetical eventually are so profound, some discussion is warranted.”
In case such a plot was carried out, the cable states, “The plausible scapegoat for the demise of Lopez Portillo could be the terrorists of the 23 of September Communist League, a group which the president has previously suggested is really controlled by reactionary domestic and foreign forces (Read CIA). If anything should happen to Lopez Portillo the only certainty is that the United State swill somehow get some of the blame.”
The insurgent group 23rd of September Communist League had active members in the state of Chihuahua and other parts of Mexico.
The cable ends with the idea that U.S. embassy officials in Mexico did not put much stock in the assassination rumors.
In another U.S. diplomatic cable, U.S. officials had said that Echeverria, who was viewed by Mexican business leaders as extremely left-leaning, was mistrusted by powerful industrialists based Monterrey, Mexico, who in fact were happy that Portillo got elected to succeed Echeverria.
Portillo served as president from 1976 to 1982, and Echeverria from 1970 to 1976. Both were members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Portillo was remembered in the border region for granting important government concessions (similar to franchises) to business leaders in Juarez, including several to launch media enterprises.
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North Korea trained Mexico insurgents, per U.S. diplomatic cable

By Diana Washington Valdez/Border Cafe

The Mexican federal Attorney General's Office announced the arrest of 27 men and women whom officials identified as members of the insurgent Movimiento de Accion Revolucionaria (MAR-Action), including several who told authorities that they were trained in North Korea in 1969 and 1970, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable dated Oct. 26, 1973.

Online whistleblower WikiLeaks released the document in its latest batch of diplomatic cables; the new releases date back from the former State Secretary Henry Kissinger-era.

The cable states that those arrested included nine women and a citizen of Spain.

After the apprehension of MAR-Action ringleaders in 1971, the "remaining members decided to regroup, recruit additional members, stage robberies for living expenses and purchase weapons, rent houses in various parts of (the) country for training centers, and 'in general, create (a) climate of violence and terrorism.' (Mexico's) Statement also details liaison efforts with other subversive groups, including Frente Estudiantil Revolucionario and '23 September League' in Guadalajara,' Party of the Poor led by Lucio Cabañas Barrientos in Guerrero, Union del Pueblo in Oaxaca and (the) Federal District," according to the document.

"Specific crimes," the document states," with which (the) group is charged are robberies in Jalisco, Oaxaca, Queretaro, Michoacan, Coahuila, Chihuahua, and (the) Federal District.

"Prisoners have reportedly confessed that they had under surveillance and planned to kidnap managers of two banks in (the) town of Zamora, Michoacan."

The cable further states that the Mexican attorney general's statement, "in referring to (the) capture of Mar-Action leaders in early 1971, recalls that they had travelled to North Korea via East Berlin and Moscow. but quite naturally makes no reference to GOM's (Government of Mexico) retaliatory explusion of five Soviet embassy personnel at the time."

Another U.S. diplomatic cable from this batch of releases details how one of the insurgent groups in Mexico allegedly also had plans to kidnap the U.S. consul in Juarez, Chihuahua. More on that later.

 

Holocaust Remembrance Day in Las Cruces, N.M.

LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO - Temple Beth-El observed Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Sunday with a special program featuring guest speaker Andrea Orzoff, an associate professor at New Mexico State University and a Holocaust scholar.

Her topic  "What Do We Think We Know About the Holocaust?" intrigued, and those who attended asked her many questions after she concluded her presentation.

For the occasion, Rabbi Larry Karol led the prayers of remembrance and a memorial candlelighting.

Considering the extensive Nazi operations to imprison and eliminate Jewish people and others that the Hitler regime considered undesirables, Orzoff challenged the notion that many Germans who lived then had "no idea" that this was going on.

Between 1933 and 1945, she said the Nazis created 42,500 "ghettos" and camps throughout the European region it came to control. And, there were consular officials and others who informed the outside world about what was taking place, yet their reports went unheeded.

These facilities varied in purpose - from slave labor camps to extermination camps.

"What really mattered is what governments did (how they responded)," Orzoff said.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum recently reported these research findings. Holocaust Remembrance Day is Monday, April 8; the Museum's theme for 2013 is "Never Again: Heeding the Warning Signs; www.ushmm.org.

Congress established April 7-14 as the National Days of Remembrance, and more informational events across the nation are scheduled to maintain awareness of the tragic genocide.

Among those who attended Sunday's event in Las Cruces were Margaret Markham, a founding member of the national Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Rolf Mitchel, whose mother died while engaged in forced labor for the Nazi's in an I.G. Farben plant.

"My mother died from exposure to the chemicals in the plant," Mitchel said.

Markham said she would like to see a full panel discussion on the Holocaust, especially in light of the ongoing research and new discoveries.

El Paso's Holocaust Museum and Study Center, in the city's downtown, also exists to educate the public about the Holocaust. Its exhibits are open to the public six days a week, from Tuesday to Sunday; www.elpasoholocaustmuseum.org.

In a future segment, this blog will report on the border's Nazi connections.

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"La Nacha" legendary drug-trafficker in Wikileaks

By Diana Washington Valdez

A U.S. diplomatic cable on the “anti-drug campaign” in Juárez mentions the arrests of Ignacia “La Nacha” Jasso, the border city’s notorious drug-trafficker, and two Mexican federal agents. The cable dated March 15, 1973, among the latest releases by online whistleblower WikiLeaks, says that the Mexican government was taking actions against narcotics violators in the Juárez area. Other details from the cable include that Mexican federal Attorney General Ojeda Paullada had dispatched a special 10-man force under the leadership of Mexican official Ricardo de los Rios Garcia to the area to investigate trafficking. “One of (the) first acts of that group was to place two federal judicial police agents under arrest,” the cable says. “These two, Jesus Martinez Cabrera and Eduardo Valdez Uranga, allegedly were protecting known traffickers.” The cable goes on to say that “Warrants have been issued for (the) arrest of (the) infamous “shooting gallery operator ‘La Nacha’ and her grandson ‘El Arabe.’ One unconfirmed report reaching (the U.S.) embassy March 14 was that (La Nacha) has been arrested and her bank account in (the) amount of some three million dollars impounded.” Jasso’s grandson was “Hector Gonzalez,” alias ‘Arabe,’ whom authorities had said was part of the family’s drug-trafficking business. Officials said the organization supplied users with heroin and marijuana for decades. “U.S. law enforcement officials with long experience in Mexico and along the border report that they can recall no precedent for (such) vigor with which this campaign is proceeding. Although the case is still unfolding, result(s) to date indicate that “task force” technique(s) employed in San Luis Colorado () and now Ciudad Juárez can be effective,” according to the cable. “Beyond (the) immediate arrest and seizures, we would hope that word (will) spread to other areas and have salutatory disruptive effect(s). Indeed reports about pressure being applied in Nuevo Laredo area seems to have had such results. - Dean.” Although the cable does not make a direct connection between the arrested federal agents and Jasso, it does suggest that Jasso enjoyed the protection of corrupt law enforcement who helped her stay at the forefront of the drug trade much longer than any of the modern drug kingpins that are being sought by officials on both sides of the border. ###

Border sex trafficking document: "Johns" safe for now

We're left wonder if anyone important was among the "johns"

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22957877/johns-wont-be-named-border-prostitution-case?source=rss_viewed.

FBI: Texas offers $100,000 for information on murders of DA, wife, and Asst. DA

FBI issued the following statement today:

Gov. Rick Perry today announced the Governor’s Office is offering a cash reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person or people responsible for the deaths of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia. Kaufman County Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person or people responsible for the death of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse.

“Words cannot describe the shock and grief this community has suffered over the last several months. The criminals responsible for these murders will be caught, convicted and will pay the price for these horrific crimes,” Gov. Perry said. “I have full confidence that this investigation will lead to the conviction of whoever perpetrated these insidious crimes, and it is my hope and expectation that these rewards will help convince those who may be holding onto important information to come forward.”

Anyone with information that could be helpful to investigators is urged to call Kaufman County Crime Stoppers at 1-877-847-7522 or email anonymous information to Kaufman County Crime Stoppers at http://kaufmancountycrimestoppers.org <http://kaufmancountycrimestoppers.org> .

This reward is funded through court fees distributed by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division to apprehend fugitives.

Additionally, the FBI has launched billboards throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico encouraging tipsters to contact Crime Stoppers with any information. Billboards have been donated by the Outdoor Advertising Association of Texas, which includes Clear Channel Outdoor and Lamar Advertising, with additional space donated by Fairway and CBS.

Texas Crime Stoppers programs provide a partnership between the public, law enforcement agencies and the media in order to speed identification and apprehension of criminals and the solution to unsolved crimes. Programs accept anonymous tips and provide cash rewards if a tip leads to an arrest or indictment.###

Drought watch on the Rio Grande

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22944006/u-s-grants-aid-adaptation-droughts?IADID=Search-www.elpasotimes.com-www.elpasotimes.com.