by the El Reportero’s wire services
Angeles sin Fronteras, a group formed to assist people deported from the United States, has created five shelters to help migrants, who often end up penniless on the streets of Mexican border cities.
The newest shelter was opened in Mexicali, the capital of the northwestern state of Baja California, where the group rented an abandoned hotel to serve as a refuge for the rising number of poor deportees in the area.
The 50-room building, known as “El Cinco” (Number Five), is being used by Angeles sin Fronteras to temporarily house 60 people.
One of those living at the shelter is Pablo Hernandez, a 26-year-old who lives in a room lit by a candle and furnished with a piece of cardboard and a blanket.
Hernandez, who lived in the United States from the age of 2 until he was deported a year ago, has found shelter at the building in Mexicali’s red light district.
“I don’t know how I ended up here, how I fell into drug use,” Hernandez, whose relatives live in Texas, told Efe. “I just want another chance to return to my familiy.”
Mexicali, like many other border cities in Mexico, has experienced a surge in the number of deportees who have arrived from the United States. Many of these people lived in the United States for most of their lives and end up on the streets in Mexico, often becoming depressed and using drugs to deal with the fact that they have nowhere to go.
El Cinco does not have electricity, running water or bathrooms, and the building’s residents live off money earned from washing cars or handouts.
“We have to help them so they can develop. They have great potential and we want to show that not all of them are criminals and they can contribute something to society,” Angeles sin Fronteras member Sergio Tamai told Efe.
Bolivian Telecom Company Connects with New Communications Satellite
Bolivian state-owned telecommunications company Entel has established contact with the Tupac Katari satellite, which the Andean nation put into orbit in December, President Evo Morales said.
The first contact with the satellite was made on Tuesday, Morales said during a military ceremony in the central region of Cochabamba.
“We have good news our Entel has had successful contact with our communications satellite, Tupac Katari. We are very happy, proud of our satellite,” Morales said Wednesday.
The satellite is expected to be fully operational in March, the president said.
The Tupac Katari satellite, or TKSat-1, named for the Indian leader who staged a rebellion against the Spanish Empire in the 18th century, was built by China Great Wall Industry Corporation, or CGWIC, an aerospace company that is a unit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The TKSat-1 was manufactured under the terms of a cooperation agreement signed by Bolivia and China in 2009. The $302 million project was largely financed with a loan from the China Development Bank and the Tupac Katari was developed from the Chinesemade DFH-4 platform.
The satellite was launched on Dec. 20 from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province.
The TK Sat-1 entered geostationary orbit last weekend and China turned control of the satellite over to Bolivia.
The satellite will be operated by ground control stations in the Bolivian regions of La Paz and Santa Cruz staffed by civilian and military personnel trained in China. The TKSat-1 weighs 5, 200 kilos (11,453 pounds) and is expected to function for 15 years.
The satellite will improve telecommunications and Internet access in isolated rural areas of Bolivia. The TKSat-1 is also equipped to relay radio and television signals, and to provide service for neighboring countries in South America. Bolivia expects to save around $15 million as it will no longer need to lease capacity on foreign-owned satellites.
