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Tijuana migrant numbers down by 3,000

No one knows where they are, most of those who remain have moved to a new, dryer shelter

by the El Reportero’s wire services

The whereabouts of around 3,000 Central American migrants is unknown after fewer than half of those in a Tijuana shelter were transferred to a new location.

More than 6,200 mainly Honduran migrants have arrived in the northern border city since mid-November and most had been staying in a sports complex that was converted into a temporary shelter.

However, government authorities announced last week that the migrants would be transferred from the Benito Juárez sports complex, whose grounds had become a quagmire after heavy rain, to a 9,000-square-meter-piece of land known as El Barretal, which is located in Tijuana’s eastern outskirts. “…the rest, around 3,000 [migrants], nobody knows where they are,” he said.

Senators Nominate Erika Contreras as Secretary of the Senate

SACRAMENTO – Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Senator Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) have introduced Senate Resolution 2, nominating Erika Contreras to serve as the next California Secretary of the Senate. The procedural measure, adopted at the beginning of each legislative session, nominates each of the three elected officers of the Senate: the Senate President pro Tempore, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.

“Erika is deeply familiar with the inner workings of the Senate and has a profound appreciation for our traditions,” Atkins said. “I’m confident she has the skills and temperament to guide this chamber into the future.”

Contreras was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and raised in the San Fernando Valley. Her family was granted legal residency following the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and she later earned her citizenship in 1998. She is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, with degrees in Sociology and Spanish. She lives in Sacramento with her partner, Hector Betancourt, and their two children.

Mexico to drill new wells in Campeche to stop decreased extraction

The Mexican Government ordered the drilling of new wells in Campeche with the hope of stopping the fall in extraction that has turned the country from a net exporter to a partial importer of hydrocarbons.

The announcement was made by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who said that he will travel to that state in the Gulf to attend the beginning of the drilling of a battery of wells that should contribute to producing more crude oil.

The president is convinced that it is possible to reverse the crisis so it is necessary to extract more oil with new drilling and reactivate those wells that are declining, but without applying harmful techniques to the environment such as fracking, a practice denounced by environmentalists and scientists.

López Obrador reiterated that in his administration in the next few years, he will not bid for hydrocarbon exploitation contracts, until they show results, because with the energy reform only 2 percent of Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX)’s public investment have come from abroad and it has not produced ‘a barrel of oil.’

He added, ‘We cannot be granting territories for the extraction of hydrocarbons if there is no investment and, most importantly, if there is no production.’

However, he clarified that all 110 contracts awarded in the oil rounds will not be canceled so that there is no distrust.

He made it clear that those who received those contracts must show that they are going to invest and produce oil. Based on the results we have, we will make the corresponding decision. Our commitment is to give a truce of three years for results, because we do not want them to have the concession titles and only to speculate.

Eating radishes can diminish symptoms of clinical depression

by Ellaine Castillo

Antidepressants are some of the most common medications that people take. Based on a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10.7 percent of Americans take this type of medication. This is a great cause for concern not only because it means that more people are suffering from depression, but also because antidepressants are known for their adverse side effects and high cost. To reduce the need for conventional antidepressants, researchers are now focused on finding alternative treatments such as medicinal plants, which are safe, effective, and cheap. Fortunately, there are many natural products with potential use as remedies for depression. These include the rat-tailed radish (Raphanus caudatus) whose antidepressant activity was determined by a team of Pakistani researchers from the University of Karachi and Hamdard University.

The rat-tailed radish is widely consumed in many Asian and European countries. But previous studies have shown that its applications go beyond the kitchen since it also has therapeutic use against cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and gastric disorders. Moreover, the rat-tailed radish exhibits hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties. The observed beneficial properties of this plant are due to the presence of alkaloids, anthocyanins, and isothiocyanate compounds, which are also associated with neuro-pharmacological potential. Unfortunately, there are no prior studies that look at the antidepressant activity of rat-tailed radish.

In this study, which was published in the African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, the researchers collected ethanolic extracts from dried rat-tailed radish and administered varying doses (250, 500, and 1000 milligrams per kilogram) of these to male Swiss albino mice. Aside from this, there are two other groups serving as the negative and positive control, which were given a normal saline solution and the antidepressant Fluoxetine.

Two tests were used to determine the effects of rat-tailed radish on depression-like behavior in mice, which often manifests as immobility. One of these is the forced swim test. As its name implies, this test involves forcing mice to swim in an open cylindrical container and observing if they would struggle or just float motionlessly. The other test used was the tail suspension test, which involves hanging the mice by their tails and observing for any signs of movement. Results of these two tests showed that all three doses of rat-tailed radish caused significant improvements in depression-like behavior, as exhibited by reduced immobility time. Moreover, the extent of the plant’s antidepressant activity was comparable to Fluoxetine.

“Raphanus sativus is a rich source of flavonoids, alkaloids, anthocynins and isothiocyanate compounds. Hence, it may be safely suggested that antidepressant-like activity of Raphanus caudatus in the current investigation could be due to presence of these bioactive constituents,” said the authors of the study.

Overall, these results prove that rat-tailed radish has potential use as a natural remedy for depression due to the bioactive compounds that it contains. However, the researchers still recommend further investigations to determine the specific compounds involved in this therapeutic application. (Related: Beat depression without drugs: These are the best supplements and activities that work faster and better than prescription medicine.)

More information about depression

Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses in the world. A recent fact sheet published by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 300 million people suffer from depression. People with this condition exhibit depleted concentrations of the neurotransmitters dopamine, epinephrine, and serotonin, which are important for maintaining mood. To help you determine if you’re suffering from depression, here are some symptoms of this condition:

Low energy levels
Loss of interest
Changes in appetite
Sleeping problems
Apathy
Despair
Hopelessness
Suicidal thoughts

(Natural News).

Glucosamine slows down aging by supporting connective tissue

by Ben Fuchs

Connective tissue (CT) is one of the four types of tissues that form the human body. (The others are the nervous, muscle and covering or “epithelial” tissue.) The connective tissue supports all the other tissues by binding them together. The connective tissue also nourishes, oxygenates, electrifies and detoxifies all the cells of the body. The connective tissue includes bones and the internal material within which the various organs of the body are embedded. The skin gets its resilience from supportive connective tissue, that is located in the dermis. The heart sits on a framework of connective tissue. The strength and elasticity of the arteries, veins, capillaries and lymphatic vessels depends on connective tissue, while even the blood itself is a type of liquid (actually gel) connective tissue.

Interestingly, the cells that compose the connective tissue are NOT connected to each other. They come close but they don’t touch. Rather, the spaces between CT cells are filled in with “grout”, which is really a type of jelly or biological gel substance, that is secreted from connective tissue producing cells (fibroblasts). This gel plays a major determining factor in the health of the connective tissue.

This jelly-like material is a type of matrix and, because it is secreted outside of cells, it is called an extra-cellular matrix or ECM. This ECM is the prime determinant of the health of connective tissue and the body as whole. That’s because, the way the system works, the ECM is responsible for feeding, breathing and detoxifying cells. Once the ECM becomes defective or clogged up, with cell breakdown, death and disease begins. When we talk about connective tissue disease, when we talk about aging, when we talk about cancer, when we talk about ALL health challenges, what we are really talking about is some defect in the extracellular matrix. So, while all disease is cell disease, cell disease begins with a defective ECM.

Cartilage is a classic example of ECM. Collagen is a component of the ECM. Hyaluronic acid is a component of the ECM, as is chondroitin, bone, tendons, ligaments, muscle, and even blood (aside from the red and white cells). That means that pretty much all health issues that involve the structure of the body are at least partially issues with the extra-cellular matrix.

That makes working on producing a healthy ECM a critical element of health, wellness and anti-aging. Once the ECM is formed, there’s not much that can be done, but what we can do is work on tomorrows ECM. That means working with fibroblasts by ingesting nutrients that support the health of the fibroblasts and giving the body raw materials that the fibroblasts can use to make a healthy ECM.

One of the most important of these supportive nutrients is a glucose derivative called glucosamine, an abundant sugar molecule that is produced in the human body. It’s found in cartilaginous foods like pig snouts and chicken feet, as well as the shells of shrimp, crabs and lobsters. Mushrooms are also a good source of this important biological raw material. Of course, the most important source of glucosamine, for most folks, is in dietary supplements, where it is derived primarily from the chitin, that forms the exoskeleton of crustaceans (crabs, prawns, and lobsters), as well as the cells of fungi.

Once ingested, glucosamine enters into the blood stream and is delivered to the fibroblasts (the cells that form the connective tissue). There it plays a key role in the production of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, as well as keratan sulfate, which, along with collagen, are the most important components of the extracellular matrix. In fact, glucosamine production is the rate-limiting step in GAG synthesis. Without it, the ECM could not be produced. By eating glucosamine rich foods and by using glucosamine as a nutritional supplement, the production of a healthy extracellular matrix can be supported.

9 Ways glucosamine can slow down the aging process and keep you healthy

1. Strengthens circulatory vessels
2. Liquifies Blood improving delivery of nutrients to extremities
3. Improves production of bone mass
4. Prevents fine lines and wrinkles
5. Supports skin moisturization and reduces dry skin
6. Facilitates electrical conduction in the heart
7. Supports intestines, improving symptoms of Leaky Gut Syndrome and bowel disease
8. Enhances the production of joint cartilage and reduces arthritis inflammation
9. Helps reduce receding gums and helps prevent gum disease.

A healthy, organic diet reduces the risk of cancer by a whopping 65 percent

by Ellaine Castillo

Many people believe that having a healthy organic diet helps decrease the risk of certain diseases. A recent study helped prove that claim, establishing that a healthy diet can reduce the risk of cancer by up to 65 percent.

For the lead author, Dr. Ashish Deshmukh of the University of Florida, the study findings reveal that it is important that a person’s total diet remain balanced, rather than focusing on specific nutritional components. This means that a person’s diet must contain different nutrients derived from various sources, such as vegetables, fruits and dairy products. Apart from this, the food consumed should also be organic and should contain clean proteins, unprocessed carbohydrates and non-toxic fats.

The researchers came to this conclusion when evaluating the information from the Third National Survey of Health and Nutrition Examination (NHNES III), which collected data from almost 34,000 people from 1988 to 1994. From the data set, 1,200 participants were diagnosed with cancer in the time of the study.

Those who participated in the survey kept a food diary where they tracked what they ate during the day. These documented diets were classified according to nutritional quality, following the dietary guidelines of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Then the participants were followed for 17 years; During that time, half of the initial respondents have already died. However, those who were able to maintain a balanced and nutritious diet reduced their risk of dying early due to cancer and other causes by 65 percent, compared to those whose diets were considered of low nutritional quality.

“It is also crucial that cancer survivors work with their dietitians to identify a balanced diet regimen and then follow that regimen,” Deshmukh added. “There is no harm [from] healthy eating.”

Other ways to reduce the risk of cancer

In addition to having a healthy diet, other ways to naturally reduce the risk of cancer include:

• Avoid tobacco: different types of cancer, such as throat, lung and kidney cancer, have already been linked to tobacco exposure. This is not only limited to smoking tobacco, it also includes chewing it, as well as exposure to secondhand smoke.

• Exercise: maintaining a healthy lifestyle not only includes a healthy diet, it also includes having enough physical activity during the day. This will help you maintain a healthy weight, which is important since it has been determined that obesity is a risk factor for some types of cancer. For adults, at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity (such as a quick walk) or 75 minutes of vigorous activity (or activities that make you sweat) a week are recommended.

• Stay away from too much sunlight: the harmful rays of the sun can cause the development of skin cancer, one of the most common types of cancer. These are stronger between 10:00 a.m. at 4:00 p.m., so avoid going out during these times. Covering exposed areas and avoiding sunlamps also reduces the risk of skin cancer.Read more news and developments about cancer prevention and treatment by visiting Cancer.news.

The sources include:
NaturalHealth365.com
MedicalXpress.com
MayoClinic.org
Cancer.org

Immigrant rights groups oppose Trump’s cutting off access to citizenship

Advocates rush to challenge changes that would eliminate Obama-era policy allowing fee waivers for elderly and working poor immigrants applying for citizenship

by the El Reportero’s wire services

A growing group of immigrant rights advocates is demanding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withdraw its proposed regulation cutting off access to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of eligible immigrants and condemning it as a un-American measure that would target elderly and working poor immigrants.

The regulation would reverse a policy enacted by the Obama administration, whereby an applicant for citizenship can apply for a fee waiver if they are unable to afford the expensive fee of $725, among other applications and their fees.

Under current policy, one way to show this inability to pay is through an applicants’ use of a means-tested public benefit (like SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, and TANF). The proposed regulation would make that use of public benefits no longer a sufficient reason for receiving a fee waiver, effectively blocking over 244,000 eligible immigrants from citizenship because they simply cannot afford it.

“Encouraging citizenship is part of our tradition of welcoming immigrant communities. By excluding people from citizenship based on their level of wealth or class, the Trump administration is once again undermining our national values of equal treatment and diversity,” said Gustavo Torres, Executive Director of CASA.

The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) and others fought for the fee waiver policy during the Obama administration and won in 2010. Since then, well over a million immigrants applied for the fee waiver in conjunction with their citizenship application. In 2017 alone, around 370,000 applicants for citizenship requested a fee waiver.

The proposed regulation would make it more difficult for eligible immigrants to apply for citizenship with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which, according to new data released by the agency in late October, currently has a backlog of over 750,000 citizenship applications.

IACHR’s MESENI expresses concern over Nicaragua’s strategy to prevent social protest

Nov. 20, 2018 – The Special Follow-Up Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) confirms with concern that the State of Nicaragua has adopted a strategy to prevent any form of social protest or demonstration.

Since the publication of press releases by the National Police, which first blamed those who called for public demonstrations for the violent events that occurred there, and later declared illegal any demonstration that did not have prior authorization from the police authority, the MESENI identified limitations that violate international human rights standards.

The disproportionate preventive deployment of riot police personnel, as well as other police units in traditional protest locations, now joined the occupation of commercial establishments where small acts of protest had taken place. Thus, this pattern of extreme limitation of the right to protest manifested itself more concretely.

The arrests in Somoto and in a shopping center in Managua in recent days, with the subsequent indictment of criminal charges for singing the national anthem in a small act of public protest or for photographing the police deployed in the shopping center, now show the decision to criminalize any demonstration of dissent.

As the IACHR has insistently told the State of Nicaragua, social protest and freedom of expression cannot be seen as a threat in democratic societies. In particular, in the context in which the country lives today, social protest and freedom of expression are tools that will contribute to exploring dialogue mechanisms that ensure peace, reconciliation and guarantee truth, justice and reparation to which the victims are entitled, especially the hundreds of families who have lost their loved ones.

The IACHR calls for the generation of actions that also ensure the non-repetition of the human rights violations that have been observed during the crisis that the country has been facing since last April. The exercise of freedom of expression and the right to protest will also contribute to the construction of these actions in dialogue.

Mexico, US agree on US $35.6-billion development plan to curb migration

But most of the United States’ contribution is not new funding

by Mexico News Daily

The governments of Mexico and the United States have agreed to work together on a development plan in southern Mexico and Central America to curb migration.

The Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and the United States Department of State issued a joint statement yesterday under the title “Mexico-United States Declaration of Principles on Economic Development and Cooperation in Southern Mexico and Central America,” which outlined both countries’ monetary contributions to the plan.

Mexico will invest US $25 billion in southern states over the next five years while the United States will contribute US $10.6 billion: $5.8 billion to the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador) of Central America and $4.8 billion to Mexico.

However, most of the United States funding is not new as it will be allocated from existing aid programs.

The Washington Post reported that “it appears the only new figure is the $4.5 billion in potential loans, loan guarantees and related services through OPIC,” which is the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a U.S. federal government agency.

The new money the U.S. provides would have to be repaid, unlike traditional assistance provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Announcing the new agreement in Mexico City, Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard nevertheless said that “in sum, I think that this is good news, very good news for Mexico.”

He explained that Mexico’s US $25-billion five-year commitment, $5 billion less than the figure announced last week, would more than double the government’s current investment in southern Mexico.

Several migrant caravans have crossed Mexico’s southern border over the past two months, bringing thousands of Central Americans to the country, many of whom are now in Tijuana or other border cities waiting for an opportunity to request asylum with United States authorities.

Migration continues to be central to the Mexico-United States relationship but so far the personal relationship between President López Obrador and President Donald Trump doesn’t appear to have suffered as a consequence.

Trump reiterated on Twitter today that “Mexico is paying (indirectly) for the wall through the new USMCA,” referring to the new North American trade agreement that replaces NAFTA, but at his morning press conference López Obrador remained diplomatic, stating “we have no complaints about the United States government.”

Yesterday’s joint declaration, which The Post described as largely symbolic, “reflects the importance both countries attach to our bilateral relationship,” the respective governments said.

“The United States and Mexico today commit to strengthen and expand our bilateral wCentral America to create a zone of prosperity. Both countries recognize the strong links between promoting development and economic growth in southern Mexico and the success of promoting prosperity, good governance, and security in Central America,” the declaration said.

It added that “the United States and Mexico will lead in working with regional and international partners to build a more prosperous and secure Central America to address the underlying causes of migration, and so that citizens of the region can build better lives for themselves and their families at home.”

The U.S. funding for Mexico includes “committing $2 billion for suitable projects in southern Mexico,” the declaration said, adding that “the United States will seek to leverage public and private investment in Mexico and is exploring options of further investment in dialogue with the government of Mexico.”

A bilateral business summit that will seek to increase investment and business opportunities in southern Mexico and Central America will be held in the first quarter of next year, the SRE and Department of State said.

But will the joint development plan, and specifically the Trump administration’s contribution to it, ultimately succeed in stopping Central American migrants fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands and showing up on the United States’ doorstep?

Adam Isacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America, is skeptical.

In a post on his personal website under the title “This isn’t an aid package,” Isacson writes that the only new U.S. money “is loans, not aid,” adding “it all has to be paid back.”

He continues: “And they’re loans to the private sector — which are not going to address root causes of mass migration from Central America. They won’t reform police, fight corruption, fix justice systems, or anything else that makes threatened people safer from gangs.

“Private sector loans are hugely unlikely to help struggling small farmers in the Northern Triangle’s countryside. (Unless they choose to leave the countryside and get low-wage jobs in OPIC-financed factories.) These loans will mainly help a tiny elite get wealthier in one of the most unequal regions on the planet.”

But this morning, after announcing again the money that both Mexico and the United States will invest in southern states and the Northern Triangle region, López Obrador expressed confidence that the plan would work.

“We celebrate it because it means confronting the migratory phenomenon by dealing with its causes. We have always said that people don’t leave their communities, don’t abandon their towns, their families out of pleasure. They do it out of necessity,” he said.

“If we manage to create work opportunities in the south with good incomes, if there is well-being . . . the problem of forced migration will be resolved.”

Source: El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp), The Washington Post (en)

Don’t miss grupo Nuevo Caní at Blondie’s in SF

Members of the Nuevo Caní group. From left to right (seated) Emilio Pérez, congas; back: Junior Ecuador, bass; Ted, bongo; the ‘Cat’ Edgar Aguilar; and on the Dan Neville vibraphone. Come enjoy the Caní group at the Blondie’s club, at 540 Valencia St, San Francisco.

Good music for the soul. Latin jazz and salsa. On the last Wednesday of each month. Nuevo Caní is a local Latin band composed of professional musicians that will make your night a special moment. At 540 Valencia St, San Francisco.

Mexico will invest US $30 billion in development plan to curb migration

Details regarding the source of the funds and how they will be spent have not been revealed

by Mexico News Daily

The federal government will invest more than US $30 billion over the next five years on a Comprehensive Development Plan with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador aimed at curbing migration to the United States, the foreign secretary said yesterday.

Speaking at a United Nations (UN) migration conference in Marrakech, Morocco, Marcelo Ebrard said that Mexico has made a commitment to cooperate closely with Central American countries and expressed confidence that the plan would be feasible and effective.

Ebrard said he expected that the plan, which will seek to develop Mexico’s poor southern states, would curb migration better than “containment measures.”

However, he didn’t explain exactly how the US $30 billion investment will be used or where the money would come from.

Thousands of Central American migrants have traveled through Mexico as part of several caravans during the past two months, leaving the authorities of the past and current federal government to grapple with finding a way to stem migration under increasing pressure to do so from the United States government.

Accompanied by his counterparts from the three “northern triangle” Central American countries, Ebrard said that “what happens to a migrant today in our country is a disgrace” and stressed that the new government would change Mexico’s approach to dealing with them.

“Mexico is going to change its migration policy, Mexico is going to make you feel proud about the pact we’ve adopted for safe, orderly and regular migration. We’re going to change things and it will be our actions that speak for us,” he said.

The foreign secretary said the aim of the development plan was to reduce poverty and thus address one of the key factors behind migration.

But Ebrard didn’t offer specific details about how money spent in southern Mexico would contribute to development in Central America. Mexican authorities said that specific details would be available in the coming weeks.

President López Obrador has said that Central Americans will be offered Mexican work visas and has also vowed to respect the human rights of migrants.

But he has also pushed for the United States to contribute to a plan to develop Central America that would reduce the root causes of migration.

In a letter to United States President Donald Trump shortly after his victory in the July 1 election, López Obrador proposed that Mexico, the U.S. and each Central American country contribute resources according to the size of its economy and that 75 percent of the collective funds be allocated to finance projects that create jobs and combat poverty, while the other 25 percent would go to border control and security.

“At the same time, every government, from Panama to the Rio Grande, would work to make the migration of its citizens economically unnecessary and take care of their borders to avoid the illegal transit of merchandise, weapons and drug trafficking which, we believe, would be the most humane and effective way to guarantee peace, tranquility, and security for our peoples and nations,” he wrote.

On the day of his inauguration, the new president agreed with his Honduran and Guatemalan counterparts as well as the vice-president of El Salvador to create a fund to stem the flow of migrants bound for the United States.

That country’s use of tear gas against a group of around 500 migrants who rushed the Mexico-United States border last month prompted a formal request from the former Mexican government for U.S. authorities to conduct a full investigation into the use of what it described as non-lethal weapons.

Trump threatened to close the United States southern border permanently in response to the attempted encroachment and is also reportedly pushing for a plan for migrants to stay in Mexico while their asylum requests are processed.

Ebrard met United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in Washington earlier this month but no agreement on the so-called “Remain in Mexico” plan has been announced.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of the thousands of migrants stranded in Tijuana are crossing or attempting to cross the border fence illegally to hand themselves into United States border patrol agents in order to circumvent a lengthy wait to apply for asylum from Mexico.

Source: El Financiero (sp), Reuters (en), The Los Angeles Times (en).

AMLO creates super-commission to investigate missing 43 of Ayotzinapa

There will be no barriers against finding the truth, president tells parents

by Mexico News Daily

President López Obrador signed his first presidential decree yesterday, creating a super commission that will conduct a new investigation into the case of the 43 students who disappeared in Guerrero more than four years ago.

Just two days after he was sworn in as president, López Obrador told parents of the missing students gathered at the National Palace that “there will be no barriers, no obstacles to arriving at the truth” about what happened to their sons.

The 43 young men, who were studying to become teachers at the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College, disappeared in Iguala in September 2014 and were presumably killed.
The case precipitated the worst crisis of former president Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration, triggered mass demonstrations in Mexico City and became representative of other disappearances and rampant violence and corruption.

The new commission, whose creation was ordered by a federal court in June, will have no limits to its investigation, complete access to existing information about the case and will offer protection to witnesses so that they can tell their stories without fear of repercussions.

Alejandro Encinas, deputy interior secretary for human rights, will head the commission, which will be funded by the Secretariat of Finance but could also receive monetary contributions from national and international organizations.

Family members of the victims, their lawyers and representatives of the secretariats of the Interior, Foreign Relations and Finance will all be part of the commission.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other international organizations, authorities and experts will also be permitted to “assist and cooperate” with the truth commission’s investigation.

López Obrador declared that his government will not be an accomplice to human rights violations, explaining that all lines of investigations will be pursued, including any role that the army may have played in the students’ disappearance.

“I believe that the investigation has to include the whole government, all the people involved,” he said, charging that an army probe would not inflict any damage, reputational or otherwise, on the military.

“Arriving at the truth and delivering justice doesn’t weaken institutions, it strengthens them. In this new government, the truth must reign above all else, it’s the truth that is revolutionary [and] Christian. Lying is reactionary, it’s of the devil,” López Obrador said.

According to the former government’s “historical truth,” the 43 students were intercepted by corrupt municipal police in Iguala on Sept. 26, 2014 while traveling on buses they had commandeered to travel to a protest march in Mexico City.

The police then handed them over to members of the Guerrero Unidos gang who killed the students, burned their bodies in a municipal dump and scattered their ashes in a nearby river.

However, the former government’s conclusion was widely questioned both within Mexico and internationally and authorities were heavily criticized for their handling of the case.

Many people suspected that the army played a role in the students’ disappearance but it was never subjected to investigation.

Deputy secretary Encinas said at the National Palace yesterday that members of the new commission and other government investigators would have “free access” to all facilities where “due to the circumstances of the case it is presumed that the missing persons or remains corresponding to them may have been present.”

Questioned whether the “free access” would extend to military barracks, Encinas responded that it would because “they are the only [facilities] that haven’t been opened [to investigators].”

Scores of people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the students’ disappearance but both the United Nations and the National Human Rights Commission have said that there is evidence that many of them were tortured by authorities and likely forced into making admissions of guilt.

A federal court judge ruled late last month that 83 statements made by people accused of involvement in the crime must be omitted from the Ayotzinapa investigation due to evidence that their human rights were violated.

Three men who had been identified as actual perpetrators of the crime and who had supported the past government’s official version of events were consequently released from custody.

Parents of the missing students have always rejected the past government’s “historical truth” but are now placing their faith in the new administration to deliver answers – and their sons – to them.

“We ask you [López Obrador], as a father, to help us, to pull us out of this dumpster where Peña Nieto left us, and for you to gain the trust of all Mexicans, because we don’t trust anyone anymore,” pleaded María Martínez, the mother of one of the missing students.

‘Out Hondurans, we don’t want you here:’ anti-migrant sentiment continues

There were marches in Tijuana yesterday both for and against the caravan from Central America

by Mexico News Daily

Residents of Tijuana are divided over the presence of large numbers of Central American migrants in their city.

Protests both for and against members of the first migrant caravan were held yesterday in the northern border city.

Around 500 people gathered in front of a statue of Aztec ruler Cuauhtémoc that stands atop a Tijuana traffic circle and began an anti-migrant march towards a sports complex serving as a temporary shelter for about 2,500 Central Americans.

During the march, protesters demanded that the caravan members be sent back to their countries of origin.

“Out Hondurans, we don’t want you here” and “long live Mexico” were among the slogans chanted by the demonstrators as they waved Mexican flags and held up signs declaring “Basta de migración” (Migration, enough already) and “Primero nuestra gente” (Our people first).

Some protesters claimed that there are gang members, thieves and rapists mixed in with the migrants in the first caravan, whose members began arriving at the border city early last week.

“Their presence here makes me very afraid. I don’t know if something is going to happen to me or my neighbors . . . They could break into a business . . . or assault someone. That worries me,” Tijuana business owner María de Jesús told the newspaper Milenio.

Others said they are not against migration per se but rather the way in which many of the caravan members entered the country.

“They arrived and kicked down the door and that makes them criminals,” said Emilio Zúñiga, a Guanajuato native who has called Tijuana home for the past 20 years.
The marchers were stopped from reaching the entrance to the Benito Juárez sports center by a large contingent of municipal police sporting riot gear.

A standoff lasted for several hours, with protesters throwing water and beer cans at the officers before eventually dispersing.

Just one street away from where the anti-migrant march started, a smaller group of demonstrators held their own rally at which they denounced racism and discrimination and declared that the migrants are welcome in Tijuana and that their human rights must be respected.

Yesterday’s protests followed a week of heightened tension in Tijuana during which some residents made it clear that the migrants are not welcome.

Social media posts aimed at inciting violence against the Central Americans began appearing in anti-migrant groups on platforms such as Facebook virtually as soon as they arrived in the city.

Rumors circulating on the mobile messaging service WhatsApp that the migrants had looted stores, referred to Mexicans as “dogs” and even murdered someone only served to fuel the anti-migrant sentiment.

A confrontation occurred Wednesday night between an angry mob and migrants sleeping on the beach next to the border fence that separates Mexico from the United States.

Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum, who has been labeled Tijuana’s Trump, has also spoken out against the caravan, declaring that the migrants are not wanted.

United States President Trump yesterday seized on the mayor’s opposition to the migrants, writing on Twitter that “The Mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, just stated that ‘the City is ill-prepared to handle this many migrants, the backlog could last 6 months.’”

In the same tweet, he added: “Likewise, the U.S. is ill-prepared for this invasion, and will not stand for it. They are causing crime and big problems in Mexico. Go home!”

In a subsequent Twitter post, Trump wrote: “Illegal Immigrants trying to come into the U.S.A., often proudly flying the flag of their nation as they ask for U.S. Asylum, will be detained or turned away. Dems must approve Border Security & Wall NOW!”

The United States government has deployed 5,900 troops to the southern border to bolster security and barbed wire is also being affixed to the border fence to act as an additional deterrent to any attempts to scale it illegally.

With two other caravans currently traveling through Mexico, Tijuana officials have estimated that the number of migrants in the city could reach 10,000, stoking concerns about the city’s ability to cope with such a large cohort.

There are already around 3,000 migrants on a waiting list to apply for asylum in the United States, meaning that the new arrivals, and future ones, face a lengthy wait just to have the opportunity to plead their case.

But after traveling more than 4,000 kilometers to reach Mexico’s northern border, the vast majority are determined to do all they can to enter the United States, even if that means attempting to cross illegally.

“If I die on the way, at least I will have fought for something,” 24-year-old José Adan Núñez told The New York Times.

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp).

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