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Powerful Mexican federal delegates to ensure state funding goes where it’s intended

El dinero irá directamente a la gente en lugar de a los bolsillos de los gobernadores  

 

 

por  Mexico News Daily 

 

 

Reemplazarán a una gran cantidad de funcionarios que cada secretaría federal emplea actualmente para distribuir fondos del gobierno y servir de enlace con las autoridades estatales. 

 

Los delegados serán coordinados por Gabriel García Hernández, un senador electo del partido Morena y confidente político durante mucho tiempo de López Obrador. 

 

Luego de reunirse con el presidente electo el sábado, algunos de los delegados designados le dijeron al periódico  Reforma  que el objetivo del plan es evitar que los fondos públicos ingresen en “los bolsillos de los gobernadores”. 

 

Varios gobernadores estatales han sido acusados ​​de malversación y otras prácticas corruptas en los últimos años, como Javier Duarte en Veracruz, César Duarte en Chihuahua y Roberto Borge en Quintana Roo. 

 

Los delegados tendrán una línea directa de comunicación con López Obrador y coordinarán con las secretarías del gobierno federal. 

 

“What the president asked for is that we hold meetings with the people so that the resources can be used in a participatory budget scheme in which no [state] deputy, mayor or governor can intervene to try to install a construction company [of their choice], determine the project and receive a kickback,” one of the proposed delegates said. 

 

Olga Sánchez Cordero, tapped by the president-elect to be secretary of the interior, said the delegates will manage resources that the federal government, through departments such as the Secretariat of Social Development (Sedesol), has always managed. 

 

However, she explained that the difference will be that “the resources will flow down through a single delegate.” 

 

The prospective officials have been instructed to avoid allowing state government executives to touch the money. 

 

“All the funds for federal projects are not going to be handed over to the states because they usually keep 10 percent or 20 percent of the money . . .” another prospective delegate told Reforma. 

 

“…We’re not plenipotentiary but the resources are going to go directly to the people,” an unidentified member of the future government said. 

 

López Obrador also directed the future delegates to coordinate with the military and other federal security forces and to review registries containing the names of the beneficiaries of different federal programs. 

 

Social program audits have previously found that federal money has been squandered because it went were it shouldn’t have gone, such as dead people. 

 

The Federal Auditor’s Office (ASF) found that Sedesol made support payments to more than 17,000 deceased people in 2016, costing taxpayers almost 66 million pesos, while the federal Agricultural Secretariat (Sagarpa) paid out millions of pesos in farm subsidies the same year to ineligible beneficiaries, including people who had died and civil servants. 

 

López Obrador, who won the July 1 presidential election in a landslide, campaigned heavily on the promise that he would stamp out endemic government corruption. 

 

The incoming government has also announced that it will implement a centralized purchasing system to avoid corruption, while there are also plans to slash the wages of politicians and government officials. 

 

López Obrador and his cabinet will be sworn in on Dec. 1. 

Source: Reforma (sp) 

 

 

In other news in Mexico: 

 

 

Judge orders investigators reopen case of Tlatlaya massacre 

 

Attorney General’s investigation was neither adequate nor effective  

 

A federal judge has ordered that the Attorney General’s office (PGR) reopen the case of the 2014 Tlatlaya massacre, ruling that the original investigation lacked due diligence. 

 

According to a statement issued by the human rights advocacy group Centro Prodh, Judge Erik Zabalgoitia Novales ruled on May 25 that the investigation carried out by PGR was not exhaustive, adequate or effective, and ordered a series of actions to clarify the case and establish responsibilities. 

 

It remains unclear why it took nearly three months for the order to be made public. 

 

There was evidence from the start of a cover-up in the June 2014 shooting in which soldiers gunned down 22 civilians in a warehouse in the municipality of Tlatlaya, México state. It was initially described as a clash with a group of armed criminals who allegedly opened fire on an army patrol. 

 

The details of what actually happened began to surface after the Associated Press found discrepancies at the crime scene. A witness later confirmed a reporter’s suspicion that the scene had been altered by army personnel. 

 

The National Human rights Commission (CNDH) later determined that between 12 and 15 of the victims did not die in a gunfight, as officials had stated, but were arbitrarily executed. 

 

“Debido a esta investigación defectuosa, hasta la fecha no hay una sola persona que haya sido responsabilizada, ya que [la PGR] no presentó suficiente evidencia para individualizar individualmente a los responsables”, dijo el documento emitido por el Centro Prodh. 

 

“Esta falta de debida diligencia es una de las muchas formas adoptadas por el encubrimiento inaceptable de graves violaciones de derechos humanos en México”, concluyó la declaración. 

 

Fuente:  Reforma  ( sp ) .  

What was the life of this guest worker worth?

por David Bacon 

 

Mientras que las agencias del estado de Washington reducen el salario de los trabajadores del campo y encuentran a los empleadores sin fallas por una muerte en el campo, Trump y los republicanos del Congreso respaldan las propuestas para convertir el trabajo agrícola en servidumbre permanente contratada. 

 

El domingo 5 de agosto, un grupo de 200 trabajadores agrícolas y simpatizantes comenzaron a caminar al amanecer a lo largo del hombro de Benson Road, en dirección norte desde Lynden, Washington, hacia Canadá. Cuando llegaron a O Road, los manifestantes giraron a la derecha para caminar a lo largo de la frontera. A diferencia de la frontera con México, con sus muros, reflectores y patrullas, el límite aquí no es una línea en absoluto: simplemente un camino a cada lado de una medianamente estrangulada. 

 

La procesión, cantando y sosteniendo pancartas, pasó una sucesión de campos de arándanos durante las siguientes 14 millas, y finalmente alcanzó el cruce fronterizo oficial en Sumas. Haciendo una pausa para una protesta frente al centro de detención de inmigrantes locales, continuó hasta que alcanzó su objetivo una milla más allá: la extensión de 1,500 acres de Sarbanand Farms. Allí, frente a las instalaciones de empaque y depósito del rancho, los participantes organizaron un tribunal. 

 

“Estamos aquí para asignar la responsabilidad por la muerte de Honesto Silva”, anunció Rosalinda Guillen, directora de Community2Community, uno de los principales organizadores de la marcha. Un año antes de la marcha, Silva, un trabajador invitado H-2A traído de México para cosechar los arándanos de la granja, colapsó y luego murió. 

 

Al pasar por los campos, uno de los compañeros de trabajo de Silva, Raymond Escobedo (su nombre ha sido cambiado para proteger su identidad), recuerda el día de su muerte. 

 

“Pude ver que no se sentía bien, y me pidió que dejara el trabajo. No le dieron permiso, pero de todos modos regresó al cuartel para descansar. Luego, el supervisor fue y lo sacó y lo obligó a volver a su trabajo. trabajo. Honesto continuó sintiéndose mal, y finalmente tuvo que pagarle a alguien para que lo llevara a la clínica. Cuando llegó a la clínica se sentía aún peor, y lo llevaron al hospital en Seattle. Y así murió “. 

 

Sarbanand negó toda responsabilidad por la muerte de Silva, y afirmó que era un gerente que había llamado a una ambulancia para llevarlo a la clínica local. 

 

Sin embargo, la muerte de Silva se sumó a la creciente ira entre los trabajadores por sus condiciones de vida y trabajo.  

 

“Desde el momento en que llegamos de México a California, tuvimos quejas”, dice Escobedo. “Nunca había suficiente para comer y, a menudo, la comida era mala. Parte de la comida en realidad se desechaba. Aun así, sacaron dinero de nuestros cheques para sacarla. También sacaron dinero para atención médica, pero nunca obtuvimos El lugar donde nos tenían que quedar era inseguro y hubo robos. Algunos trabajadores en California protestaron y la compañía los envió de regreso a México “. 

 

Sarbanand Farms pertenece a Munger Brothers, LLC, una compañía familiar con sede en Delano, California. Desde 2006, la compañía ha traído más de 600 trabajadores anualmente de México bajo el programa de visa H-2A, para cosechar 3.000 acres de arándanos en California y Washington. Munger se autodenomina el mayor productor de arándanos del mundo y es la fuerza motriz detrás de la cooperativa de productores que comercializa bajo la etiqueta Naturipe. El año pasado, trajo a Silva y los otros trabajadores de H-2A al otro lado de la frontera. Primero los llevó a Delano, y una vez que terminaron de cosechar arándanos allí, los transfirió a Sarbanand Farms en Washington. 

 

“We thought that when we got to Sumas, things would get better,” Escobedo recalls. “But it was the same. There still wasn’t enough to eat, and a lot of pressure on us to work faster, especially when we were working by the hour. They wouldn’t let us work on the piece rate [which would have paid more]. But what really pushed us to act was what happened to Honesto, when he got sick and there was no help for him.” 

 

Escobedo’s account is at odds with a statement Sarbanand Farms gave to Univision following Silva’s death. In it, the company claimed “it is always our goal to provide [the workers] with the best working and living conditions.” It called the barracks “state of the art facilities” and described the food as “catered meals at low cost.” Silva himself “received the best medical care and attention possible as soon as his distress came to our attention. Our management team responded immediately.” 

 

Lynne Dodson, secretary treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council, was one of the marchers earlier this month. As upset as she was to hear about Silva’s death, she says, she was even more outraged by what happened next. When they heard Silva had been taken to the hospital, 70 of his fellow H-2A workers refused to go into the fields, and instead demanded to talk with the company about the conditions. They were then fired. Because the H-2A regulations require workers to leave the country if they are terminated, firing them effectively meant deporting them. 

 

“Workers may not leave assigned areas without permission of the employer or person in charge, and insubordination is cause for dismissal,” the Sarbanand statement says. “H-2A regulations do not otherwise allow for workers engaging in such concerted activity.” 

 

Debido a la longitud de esta historia interesante y triste y la falta de espacio, no pudimos proporcionarle el artículo completo. Para leer el resto de la historia, visite: (https://davidbaconrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2018/08/what-was-life-of-this-guest-worker-worth.html) 

A spirit fable: the moon, the mother, and the dog

por Jon Rappoport 

 

Hace unos días, me desperté con el pensamiento muy claro, como si hubiera sido plantado en mi cabeza, que todo lo que experimento es producto de mi propia imaginación. 

Esto, lo he aprendido desde entonces, es una enseñanza de la antigua Hermetic School of Philosophy. 

En cualquier caso, decidí llevar a cabo un experimento. Imaginé una segunda luna flotando sobre la Tierra, para ver si podía hacerlo tan real para mí, realmente la vería claramente, en noches consecutivas. 

Por supuesto, como saben, anoche una segunda luna apareció en el cielo. Gente de todo el mundo lo vio. Te lo aseguro, este no era mi intento. Simplemente estaba tratando de aclarar un problema para mí. 

Consideré hacer una confesión a las autoridades, pero ¿por qué molestarse cuando me considerarían un chiflado? Se me ocurrió que podía anunciar que había hecho la luna nueva y que, en un momento determinado, la habría deshecho. Pero supongamos que he fallado? De todos modos, asegurar la atención de un gran número de personas, cuando eres desconocido, es bastante difícil, no importa cuál sea tu tema. (No me gusta correr desnudo a la calle y lanzar un discurso.) 

Esta mañana, mientras me acercaba a la habitación de mi madre en el asilo para mi visita semanal, decidí que la iba a experimentar como si se hubiera recuperado de su enfermedad. Cuando entré en la habitación, estaba de pie junto a la ventana cantando una de las viejas canciones de mi infancia. Cuando se volvió hacia mí, tenía los ojos claros y estaba sonriendo. Ella dijo: “Estoy lista para ir a casa”. 

¿Me estaba engañando a mí mismo? ¿Estaba ella bajo mi propia proyección? Llamé a una enfermera. Entró en la habitación y miró a mi madre, que se suponía que estaba en una silla de ruedas. La enfermera comenzó a gritar y se detuvo. Mi madre no se había quedado sola en diez años. 

Un médico me dijo que tendría que someterse a una serie de pruebas. Aproveché la oportunidad para volver a mi apartamento y pensar en todo. 

Si tengo poderes formidables, debería considerar opciones. ¿No es así? ¿Tomarías, por ejemplo, un curso atrevido y pondrías fin a la guerra y la enfermedad? Si puedo lograr tal hazaña, creo que lo haría. Maldición las consecuencias. Dejaría a otros para resolverlos. 

Estoy extrañamente calmado. Es como si hubiera estado apuntando hacia este momento toda mi vida. 

Ya no siento que tengo necesidades. De alguna manera, esas cadenas han sido eliminadas. 

Érase una vez, estaba caminando en terreno incierto. Pero no ahora. 

Otros seguramente dirán que he llegado demasiado alto, y estoy a punto de caer. Busco una nota de advertencia en mi mente, pero no la encuentro. Mi mente es silenciosa. No tiene ningún consejo para mí. 

Esta nueva situación parece bastante natural. 

An hour ago, I tried a third experiment. My beloved terrier, Jack, who died after a long illness when I was in school, is now back lying on my couch. He’s looking at me. I go over and pet him and he licks my hand. He yawns, stretches out his front legs, jumps off the couch and trots across the living room to a small table, where I’ve kept a framed photo of us sitting in a field near my school. He looks up at the photo and barks. He turns to me and sits. 

Why wouldn’t things be this way? Why would they be any other way? 

I’m not looking for a response from you, dear reader. Suppose you, too, have these powers? I have the clear sense you would use them for good. 

Suppose what I’m reporting here is the superior reality, and the end of things we don’t want to end is the illusion? 

Perhaps I should have started with a smaller example of manifestation, to make it easier for you—but that is not the way it happened to me. That is not the way I chose to change What Is. 

What Is, is a brief flicker across a wide ocean. The ocean is all possibility. That’s what I see now. 

Am I offending your sense of propriety? If so, I apologize. This is not my intent. 

I see us as errant knights. Errant in the sense that we are departing from a prescribed course. We cross a threshold, and then the fabric of events alters. The “news” is different. Solid becomes liquid, liquid becomes vapor, and vapor becomes open space. The space is waiting for us to do something. The space has no plan. It is calm. The challenges we assumed were there are missing. Those challenges were the last meal we consumed on the last day of old time. Now we walk and look up at the night sky. We are satiated and satisfied. Now we can do something different. 

We really do not need perfumed nostalgia. Looking to the future, we feel an anticipation of dimensions. This more than supplants the past. 

You manifest what you will, and so will I, and in the process, you and I will use our powers for good. 

That is a very pleasant, even ecstatic prospect to contemplate. 

A few weeks ago, I had my first inkling of the change, when I was invited to speak at the funeral service of a cousin. As I stood there in the church looking out at the mourners, I wondered what they would do if, out of the blue, James strolled in the door and danced up the aisle. 

I couldn’t help wondering how the family and friends would feel if they saw him in that church, in the flesh. A few of them, I was sure, injected with shocks of lightning, interrupted from their proper grieving, would express outrage. How dare James return! 

There is a way events are programmed to proceed, and people prepare their responses. They are tuned like instruments. 

Given the choice, would you prefer to surrender to the occasion of a fallen friend, or suddenly find him back in your midst? 

Supongamos que el amigo, de alguna forma, está siempre contigo? ¿Es eso muy difícil de creer? 

Puedo decirte esto. Estaba menos vivo cuando comencé a escribir estas palabras que ahora. 

(Jon  Rappoport  es el autor de tres colecciones explosivas The Matrix Revealed, Exit From The Matrix, y Power Outside The Matrix). 

Victory to protect immigrant children abused or neglected in home country

By the El Reportero’s wire services 

 

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Thursday helped secure a victory in the California Supreme Court in Bianka M. v. Superior Court.  The lawsuit involved the procedures that children who have been abandoned, abused, or neglected by a parent must go through to become eligible to apply for “Special Immigrant Juvenile” visas.  

This visa enables the children to apply for permanent residency in the United States. Today’s ruling removes a significant hurdle for many of those seeking to obtain that status. 

In April 2017, the Attorney General filed an amicus brief in the California Supreme Court in Bianka M., arguing that minors who are living with one parent in the United States should be allowed to seek an order in state family court necessary to obtain “Special Immigrant Juvenile” status without having to join the absent parent—who allegedly abused, abandoned, or neglected them—as a party to the proceeding. In June 2018, Attorney General Becerra’s team participated in oral arguments as a friend-of-the-court in this case. 

 

Daniel Ortega adepts put a price on the head of a journalist from Masaya 

NICARAGUA – PEN International denounced that the journalist Yilber Ideáquez, correspondent of Radio Corporación in Masaya, is being victim of digital harassment, where a “reward” of 5 thousand dollars is offered to whoever gives his whereabouts. 

“We stand in solidarity and urge the Government of Nicaragua to cease immediately the persecution of journalists and the media,” says the organization. 

 

Mexican pork purchases from the U.S. increase despite tariffs 

U.S. pork imports grew in spite of the tariffs imposed by the Mexican government on Washington”s decided levies on steel and aluminum produced in the United States.  

The Agricultural Market Advisory Group (GCMA) reported that the northern country’s pork purchases were maintained and even increased by 8.1 percent in July, compared to those reported in the same month in 2017. 

 

This is despite the fact that the Mexican government first imposed a 10 percent tariff on U.S. pork in June, and raised it to 20 in July, as part of import duties on various U.S. products. 

 

 

Bill to ban junk insurance in California approved by the Assembly 

 

Senate Bill 910, authored by Senator Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), passed on Thursday 16 the Assembly Floor with bipartisan support. SB 910 will ban junk insurance, also known as “short-term” plans, in California. 

 

Earlier this month, the Trump Administration’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued final regulations to extend “short-term” plans from three months to up to three years. These short-term plans do not have to cover essential health benefits, like cancer treatment, substance use treatment, or maternity care. Additionally, these plans can deny coverage altogether for those with pre-existing conditions.  

 

 

Illinois manufacturer to lay off 153 workers, move to Mexico 

 

A storage safe manufacturer is closing two Chicago-area factories and moving operations to Mexico to counteract the effects of metal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration.  

 

The Chicago Tribune reports Stack-on Products will lay off about 153 people at its Wauconda and McHenry plants when they close Oct. 12. 

 

Stack-On makes products ranging from tool-boxes to gun vaults. Fletcher says the company has a plant in China and another in Mexico, and its only U.S. factories were the two in the Chicago area. 

 

 

Thanks to Amazon, the government will soon be able to track your face

by Peter Asaro, Kelly Gates, Woodrow Hartzog, Lilly Irani, Evan Selinger and Lucy Suchman

Amazon, the company synonymous with online shopping, is supplying facial recognition technology to government and law enforcement agencies over its web services platform. Branded Rekognition, the technology is every bit as dystopian as it sounds.

Given the enormous reach of Amazon’s cloud platform and how easily organizations can integrate new applications into their operations, it’s disturbing that the company can offer a powerful platform-based surveillance technology without any public input, oversight or regulation. Amazon should not have free rein to develop and profit from new surveillance technologies without regard for their effects on civil liberties and human rights. Acquiescing to the technological and economic imperatives of these companies places our democracy on precarious footing.

A coalition of civil liberties and human rights organizations have sounded the alarm, including the American Civil Liberties Union. They are asking Amazon to stop supplying its facial recognition technology to government and law enforcement agencies. Amazon shareholders and Amazon workers have joined them, voicing opposition to the company’s involvement in the business of government and police surveillance. Because of the privacy and related concerns, momentum is building.

The city of Orlando dropped its pilot program use of Rekognition. Brian Brakeen, CEO of the facial recognition company Kairos, took a stand and said his company wouldn’t sell the technology to the government. “In the hands of government surveillance programs and law enforcement agencies,” Brakeen writes, “there’s simply no way that face recognition software will be not used to harm citizens.”

As academics who have studied information technologies and privacy, including the social implications of face recognition and biometrics, we share these reservations. We are calling on Amazon to get out of the surveillance business. Our demand is as strong as it is urgent and sensible.

We don’t want Amazon to merely adjust the functions of its facial recognition technology or update its policies for proper use. The only responsible course of action involves Amazon doing a complete about-face. It must stop building the facial recognition infrastructure for law enforcement agencies and the government and be committed to never return to the business in the future.

Facial recognition technology poses serious and imminent threats to civil liberties and human rights. As workers at Amazon explained in a letter to Jeff Bezos, there is no need to wait and see if the police or government agencies will abuse the technology. It is already clear that ubiquitous, automated facial recognition is well suited for discriminating against people of color, targeting political activists, and otherwise supporting militaristic and authoritarian modes of government. There is little doubt that the adoption of an infrastructure of networked cameras connected to databases of known faces by artificial intelligence tools will eliminate privacy in public and allow the identification, location, and tracking of individuals, linking their behaviors, actions and the people they meet to their identities.

Amazon is not your average large and powerful company. It collects a huge amount of personal information about people, including their buying habits and what they watch and read. The company’s Echo and Alexa products, give it access to audio recordings of what people say in their homes. It is just a step away from adding cameras to these devices, and, indeed, Amazon already markets a camera for its cloud network. Most people using home shopping devices would be surprised to discover that the technology could easily be archiving their faces for use in police databases. Imagine, for example, Apple taking the data collected through its Face ID phone feature and repackaging and reselling it to the Department of Homeland Security or local police.

When should a tech company refuse to build tools for the government?

In fact, given the blurring line between public policing and private security, and between government security agencies and their private contractors, we question whether a moratorium on government and law enforcement uses of Rekognition would go far enough. The security industry has long touted the public safety benefits of facial recognition technology. But a functioning facial recognition system that can consistently and accurately identify specific, targeted individuals requires building a surveillance infrastructure of unprecedented scope and scale, powered by machine learning algorithms and perpetually expanding databases of identity information. The threat that such a massive, automated surveillance apparatus poses to society far outweighs the security benefits it could provide. At the very least, it would require an equally vast system for oversight, transparency and public input, one that neither Amazon nor any government agency has even begun to develop.

Amazon and the information technology industry have lobbied hard to ensure their platforms can operate and expand in a largely unregulated environment. Public policy, the claim goes, cannot keep pace with innovation. If they believe this assertion, then these companies cannot in good faith claim that their responsibilities are limited to securing the assurance that customers abide by established policies and laws. When government practices violate civil liberties, Amazon has a choice to make. Will it blindly accelerate and exacerbate violations of human rights, or will it take responsibility for its powerful technologies?

(The authors are affiliated with the following institutions: Peter Asaro, the New School; Kelly Gates, University of California, San Diego; Woodrow Hartzog, Northeastern University; Lilliy Irani, University of California, San Diego; Evan Selinger, Rochester Institute of Technology; and Lucy Suchman, Lancaster University).

A Border Patrol agent violated the Fourth Amendment when he shot across the US-Mexico border, striking boy 10 times

“The court made clear that the Constitution does not stop at the border, and that agents should not have constitutional immunity to fatally shoot Mexican teenagers on the other side of the border fence”

by Kevin Gosztola

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled a United States Border Patrol agent did not have “qualified immunity” and could be sued for violating the Fourth Amendment, when he shot across the border and killed a boy in Mexico.

“The court made clear that the Constitution does not stop at the border, and that agents should not have constitutional immunity to fatally shoot Mexican teenagers on the other side of the border fence,” declared Lee Gelernt, the deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “The ruling could not have come at a more important time, when this administration is seeking to further militarize the border.”

The ACLU was among attorneys that brought the suit on behalf of the family of José Antonio Elena Rodríguez. The 16-year-old boy was killed on Oct. 10, 2012, in Nogales, Mexico, while walking on a street that “runs parallel to the border.”

According to the allegations against Border Patrol Officer Lonnie Swartz, Rodriguez fired at least 14 bullets across the border. The boy was hit by about 10 bullets.

Rodriguez “was not committing a crime. He did not throw rocks or engage in any violence or threatening behavior against anyone or anything, and he did not otherwise pose a threat to Swartz or anyone else. He was just walking down a street in Mexico.”

The boy was on Calle Internacional, which the decision [PDF] describes as a “main thoroughfare lined with commercial and residential buildings.”

“The American side of the border is on high ground, atop a cliff or rock wall that rises from the level of Calle Internacional. The ground on the American side is around 25 feet higher than the road, and a border fence rises another 20 or 25 feet above that.”

As the decision notes, “Nogales, Mexico, and Nogales, Arizona, are in some respects one town divided by the border fence. Families live on both sides of the border, and people go from one side to the other to visit and shop.”

The boy’s grandparents live in Arizona, and his grandmother would often stay with him when his mother was at work.

“Based on the facts alleged in the complaint, Swartz violated the Fourth Amendment. It is inconceivable that any reasonable officer could have thought that he or she should kill [Rodriguez] for no reason,” the appeals court states.

The appeals court maintains Swartz could not argue the Fourth Amendment did not apply because Rodriguez was a Mexican citizen on Mexican soil. “[Swartz] acted on American soil subject to American law.”

“Applying the Constitution in this case would simply say that American officers must not shoot innocent non-threatening people for no reason,” the appeals court adds. “Enforcing that rule would not unduly restrict what the United States could do either here or abroad. So under the particular circumstances of this case, [Rodriguez] had a Fourth Amendment right to be free from the objectively unreasonable use of deadly force by an American agent acting on American soil.”

Swartz did not know whether the boy was a U.S. citizen or not. “Thus, Swartz is not entitled to qualified immunity on the bizarre ground that [Rodriguez] was not an American.”
Additionally, the appeals court addresses a federal district court’s dismissal of the family’s Fifth Amendment claim. The district court dismissed the Fifth Amendment claim because it found the Fourth Amendment applied.

“If the Fourth Amendment does not apply because [Rodríguez] was in Mexico, then the Fifth Amendment “shocks the conscience” test may still apply. Swartz’s conduct would fail that test.”

“We cannot imagine anyone whose conscience would not be shocked by the cold-blooded murder of an innocent person walking down the street in Mexico or Canada by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the American side of the border.”

The U.S. government attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed by arguing that allowing Rodriguez’s family to seek damages because the “cross-border nature of the shooting implicates foreign policy.” Yet, the government never specified what policy was implicated.

All the U.S. government could come up with to support this argument is that both the U.S. and Mexican governments have a bilateral council to “address border violence, use of force, and ways to address and mitigate incidents of border violence.” Though, especially under President Donald Trump, it’s ridiculous to suggest that any of those meetings would focus on the violence of U.S. Border Patrol agents.

“Just as national security cannot be used as a talisman to ward off inconvenient claims, neither does the ‘mere incantation’ of the magic words ‘foreign policy’” cause a remedy for unconstitutional conduct to disappear.

In other immigration related news:

Worker accused of sexually abusing eight minors in immigrant shelter

According to ProPublica, a youth caregiver employed by Southwest Key was charged with eleven offenses after authorities accused him of sexual abuse of at least eight unaccompanied immigrant children for almost a year in one of the shelters of the company in Mesa, Arizona, according to the federal court records.

The allegations against Levian D. Pacheco, who is HIV positive, include that he subjected two of the adolescents to oral sex and tried to force himself on one of them to penetrate his anus. The other six adolescents, between 15 and 17 years old, said that Pacheco had handcuffed them on their clothes. According to the petition filed with the court to establish the prosecution case, it is alleged that all incidents occurred between August 2016 and July 2017.

Laura Pausini conquered Guatemalans hearts

by the El Reportero’s news services 

 

Italian singer Laura Pausini conquered the hearts of her Guatemalan fans, who today keep the flavor of a concert full of emotions and surprises.  

 

On the eve, Pausini made a musical tour of the best of her hits such as In your absence, When you loves somebody, Loneliness, On the other hand, no and Strange lovers, themes she accompanied with anecdotes of her life and always sheltered by the affection of the public. 

 

The singer arrived in Guatemala from the hand of her World Wide Tour to celebrate 25 years of her professional career and to promote her latest album, Hazte sentir.  

 

‘Wonderful and ‘incredible’ were the words most used by fans to define her presentation on the stage of Forum Majadas, accompanied by a select group of musicians. 

 

The singer-songwriter made an aside to include the new musical proposals of her most recent album Hazte sentir, in particular, the song No one has said, which she recorded with the Cuban duo Gente de Zona, and put everyone to dance. 

 

 

Ecuador to celebrate National Day of Culture 

 

Ecuador will celebrate the National Day of Culture on August 9 with musical, scenic and recreational shows in different territories of the country, according to authorities.  

 

That day also marks the 74th anniversary of the creation of the Ecuadorian House of Culture (CCE), which has its main headquarters in this capital. 

 

The Ministry of Culture and Heritage reported on its website about the inauguration on Thursday of the exhibition Art in action, whose objective is the strengthening of national identity. 

 

Artists from different parts of the country will present about 55 works, among them, three-dimensional sculptures, as part of the exhibition that will remain open until the 31st in the Juan Villafuerte Hall in Quito. 

 

At the headquarters of the CCE, the National Ballet of Ecuador and several groups of that institution will be presented, such as the Choir, the Camerata and the Musical ensemble, among others. 

 

In February, the Minister of Culture and Heritage of Ecuador, Raúl Pérez, highlighted the work done in the field of arts in this country in 2017, which he considered a fruitful year and with many achievements for the sector. 

 

 

Chile’s SANFIC Film Festival to exhibit attractive program 

 

Almost all the films awarded at this year’s Cannes Film Festival will be at the traditional SANFIC event from Aug. 19 to 26, with Spanish actress Maribel Verdu as a guest of honor.  

 

The 14th edition of the Santiago International Film Festival (SANFIC) will exhibit a multifaceted program that repeats a successful experience with children and adolescents. 

 

However, the section ‘Masters of Cinema’ seems the most solid option of the event with the premiere for Chile -and in many cases for Latin America and the Caribbean- of recent feature films by prestigious filmmakers. 

 

According to Carlos Nuñez, SANFIC’s artistic director, there will be excellent movies such as Dogman (Italy-France), by Matteo Garrone; BlacKkKlansman (United States), by Spike Lee, and 3 Faces (Iran), by Jafar Panahi. For the second time, will be held the section SANFIC Educa, which will screen eight feature films and two short films devoted to 54 schools in this capital and more than 6,000 students, with the idea of also bringing the festival to other regions of Chile. 

 

More than a hundred productions from 25 countries will be shown at the traditional Santiago meeting with the seventh art, which includes competitions in the national and international sections, each with nine films. 

 

 

La Tocada Music Festival celebrates its 5th Anniversary 

 

La Tocada music festival celebrated its 5th anniversary featuring some of the biggest names in alternative and pop music, and finds a new home the Los Angeles State Historic Park last Saturday, Aug. 4. The 2-stages music event produced by Live Nation and Frías Entertainment lineup included unforgettable performances by Café Tacvba, Panteón Rococó, Mon Laferte, Jesse & Joy, Molotov, Porter, Little Jesus, Caloncho and Camilo Séptimo. 

Fresh Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

Brasil en los  jardines: Pragandaia con carta especial Marcos Costa 

 

Compilado por el  El Reportero  del personal 

 

Ninguna ciudad en las Américas cuenta con una presencia cultural africana más rica y profunda que Salvador da Bahia en el noreste de Brasil, y el conjunto de la vocalista Dandara Odara Pragandaia sirve como un conducto para los sonidos de este hervidero musical mundial. Nacida y criada en Salvador, ganó reconocimiento temprano en el popular combo axé de Bahía Banda Relógio.  

 

A lo largo de los años ha actuado con Gilberto Gil y Jorge Ben Jor y compartió escenarios con leyendas del Carnaval Bahiano como Carlinhos Brown, Chiclete com Banana, Ivete Sangalo, Ilê Aiyê y Olodum. Como director de orquesta, Odara comienza con un sensual swing bahiano y agrega ritmos 

18 de agosto de 2018, gratis. Al aire libre. Yerba Buena Gardens Mission St. entre 3rd y 4th Sts., San Francisco. 

 

 

Bobi Céspedes Band en c unrt con Pellejo Seco y el invitado especial John Santos 

 

Una sonera del estilo cubano clásico y una sacerdotisa de la diáspora de Yorùbán, Bobi Céspedes integra elementos folclóricos y modernos cubanos para crear un sonido auténtico y de clase mundial.  

 

El conjunto electrizante de Bobi Céspedes presenta a algunos de los mejores músicos de jazz latino del área de la Bahía, incluidos Marco Díaz, Saúl Sierra-Alonso, Julio Pérez, José Roberto Hernández, Lichi Fuentes y John Santos. Bobi se unirá al cartel de una de las bandas cubanas más ingeniosas del área de la Bahía, Pellejo Seco, cuya música proviene del mundo del folclore afrocubano, lo último en música bailable de La Habana, jazz latino y flamenco, bossa nova y jazz / rock fusión.  

 

Una parte del teatro será limpiada para una pista de baile, ¡así que prepárense para escuchar los sonidos de Afro Cuba y más allá! 

 

Sábado, 18 de agosto. Recepción VIP 6:30 p.m. Puertas abiertas – 7 p. M. Concierto – 8 p. M. En Brava Theatre, 2781 24th St, San Francisco @ York Street. 

 

 

La Patronal, concierto gratuito 

 

Oriunda de la capital peruana, Lima, La Patronal es una singular banda de música con raíces en la tradición de las fiestas populares (o ferias de la ciudad) comunes en las aldeas rurales de América Latina. Los descendientes directos de músicos rurales de Perú, los miembros de La Patronal combinan su conocimiento de primera mano de la cultura popular con sus estudios de música formales para celebrar su herencia.  

 

Con percusiones contagiosas, vientos y vientos vibrantes, y los vívidos aspectos visuales de las fiestas populares, incluidas las máscaras y la danza tradicional, las animadas actuaciones de La Patronal alientan, no exigen, la participación del público y el baile.  

 

TALLER DE DANZA PRE-CONCIERTO. A partir del mediodía, un taller de danza interactiva explora diferentes danzas del Perú: cumbia, marinera, morenada y toril. El taller invita a los participantes a aprender movimientos básicos y aprender las diferencias entre los géneros, y a aprender la historia en la que se basan los bailes. 

 

El 30 de agosto, a las 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., en Esplanade, Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission St. entre 3rd y 4th Sts., San Francisco. 

 

 

Teatro Nahual comenzará sus clases de actuación este mes 

 

COMENZAREMOS NUESTRAS CLASES ACTUANDO CLASSE. Tenemos un grupo de estudiantes matriculados. ¿Quién más se inscribe en las clases de actuación? Contáctanos para más información! 

 

Teatro Nahual te invita a unirte a las clases de actuación: Módulo I y Módulo 2 impartido por Verónica Meza. El curso de acción incluye: “Clases de vocalización y canto” con el instructor Aldo Adrián. Las clases de “Maquillaje básico” con la instructora Cenorina Delgado, y las clases de “Ética Actoral” con el instructor Miguel Martínez. ¡Comunícate con nosotros! El 25 de agosto 

 

https://www.facebook.com/teatro.nahual; http://www.teatronahual.org 

Drinking yam bean root or guava juice can improve your heart health

by Michelle Simmons

In Thailand, there are a lot of fruits available. Yam bean (Pachyrhizus erosus, L.) and guava (Psidium guajava, L.) are two of the most commonly consumed fruits in Thailand. In a study published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, researchers from Mahidol University in Thailand evaluated the heart health benefits of yam bean root juice and guava fruit juice in healthy people.

For the study, the researchers recruited 30 healthy participants who were then divided into three groups. Every group was randomly assigned to drink 500 milliliters of freshly made yam bean root juice, guava fruit juice, or water. Yam bean and guava are available throughout the year and are not expensive, thus, consumable by all population. (Related: 13 Medicinal Benefits of Guava and Guava Leaves.)

In addition, the researchers assessed the systemic nitrate and nitrite concentrations, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum K+ concentrations, ex vivo platelet aggregation, and plasma cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) concentrations at the beginning of the study and at different time points after the consumption of the drinks.

The researchers found that both yam bean root and guava fruit juices demonstrated inhibitory effects against collagen-induced platelet aggregation. The yam bean root juice had a significant amount of dietary nitrate which was absorbed and further transformed to nitrite in the body after drinking the juice.

Participants who consumed yam bean root juice experienced a reduction in diastolic blood pressure. Meanwhile, those who consumed guava juice not only had a reduction in diastolic blood pressure but only in systolic blood pressure and heart rate.

Based on the findings of the study, the researchers concluded that the consumption of yam bean root juice or guava fruit juice could potentially enhance cardiovascular health due to their roles in platelet inhibition and blood pressure reduction.

Other fruits and vegetables to juice for heart health

In the U.S., approximately 610,000 people die because of heart disease each year – which is one in every four deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Furthermore, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S.

Studies have proven that a plant-based diet rich in anti-inflammatory compounds and nutrients boosts heart health. These compounds and nutrients reduce inflammation inside the vessel walls and protect the cells from free radical damage. Most experts suggest that consuming five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables can help in the prevention of heart disease. One of the best ways to consume fruits and vegetables is through juicing.

Unlike smoothies, which generally contain more fiber and more fruit, fresh juices can be filled with dark leafy greens and many red, orange, and/or purple vegetables and fruits to help maximize the nutrients in every glass. Here are other fruits and vegetables that can be juiced and consumed on a regular basis to prevent heart disease:

– Beets – Research revealed that beet juice lowered blood pressure six hours after drinking the juice.
– Celery – The juice of celery contains anti-hypertensive properties because of phthalides. These naturally-occurring compounds relax the tissues of the artery walls to enhance blood flow and lower blood pressure.
– Cranberries – Cranberries are rich in polyphenols which help reduce heart disease risk. Research has shown that regular consumption of cranberry juice decreased arterial stiffness, which occurs as a result of atherosclerosis.
– Garlic – Garlic juice may not be palatable but it is rich in substances that prevent blood platelets from clumping, which lowers the chance of fatal blood clots from forming and helps improve circulation. Garlic also helps prevent atherosclerosis, a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes.
– Red grapes – Red grape juice protects against oxidized LDL cholesterol, which can cause hardened arteries. In addition, red grapes contain resveratrol which helps prevent platelets from sticking together.
– Pomegranate – Pomegranate juice can lower blood pressure. It is also packed with anti-inflammatory antioxidants that will protect the cardiovascular system from tissue damage and inflammation. (Natural News).

AMLO effect? Consumer confidence spiked percent in July

“Los consumidores definitivamente han dado un voto positivo a los resultados electorales”, dice el economista  

 

por Mexico News Daily 

 

El índice de confianza del consumidor de México se disparó bruscamente en julio a su nivel más alto en más de una década, inmediatamente después de Andrés Manuel López Obrador, conocido como AMLO, ganó una victoria abrumadora en las elecciones presidenciales. 

 

El índice subió un 14.8 por ciento el mes pasado, el Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (Inegi) ayer, para alcanzar los 101.7 puntos. 

 

La fecha del análisis fue 90 por ciento de los analistas encuestados por la agencia de noticias Bloomberg y el más alto desde marzo de 2008 cuando alcanzó 102.3 puntos. 

 

El único aumento comparable en la confianza del consumidor se produjo en febrero del año pasado cuando el índice aumentó en poco más del 13 por ciento. 

 

Sin embargo, el resultado fue al siguiente  gasolinazo  de enero de 2017, cuando los precios del combustible aumentaron bruscamente para dar un gran golpe de confianza. 

 

“Definitivamente, los consumidores han dado un voto positivo a los resultados electorales”, dijo Joan Enric Domene, economista de la firma de corretaje Invex Casa de Bolsa. 

 

“La gente aún no ha visto una mejora sustancial en su calidad de vida, pero están contentos con el resultado”. 

 

El índice también subió un 17.8 por ciento en comparación con julio del año pasado. 

 

The Inegi data is based on the National Consumer Confidence Survey that the institute carries out during the first 20 days of each month in conjunction with the Bank of México. 

 

Confidence about Mexico’s economic outlook over the next 12 months increased by 31.9 percent compared to figures from the previous month, the biggest single-month jump recorded in the history of the survey. 

 

Respondents’ confidence in their own purchasing power over the next year also increased, albeit by a lesser 11.3 percent. 

 

The percentage of people who said they currently had plans to buy furniture, a television, a washing machine or another domestic appliance increased by13 percent compared to June figures. 

 

The peso has also fared better since López Obrador’s election, appreciating 6.3 percent against the US dollar. A greenback currently buys just over 18.5 Mexican pesos. 

 

Following his July 1 triumph, the president-elect and his prospective cabinet sought to calm fears surrounding the next government’s economic plans, a move which analysts believe has reassured investors and contributed to the peso’s strong performance. 

 

Although household consumer confidence is up, Domene said that the same confidence hasn’t manifested itself in the business community. 

 

“There are loose ends that the private sector is waiting to see tied up by this new government,” he said. 

 

“Surely, in the next few months, investment from the private sector will be more reticent than consumer spending.” 

 

López Obrador will take office for a six-year term on Dec. 1. 

 

Source: El Financiero (sp), Bloomberg (en). 

 

 

In other Mexican news: 

 

 

New labor secretary will push to raise minimum wage, doubling it in the north 

 

The wage is currently seven pesos below the threshold set by the federal government for well-being  

 

 

The new government’s nominee for labor and social welfare secretary has pledged that Mexico’s next government will work toward increasing the minimum wage, and even double it in the north of the country. 

 

The current daily minimum wage is 88.36 pesos (US $4.72), seven pesos below the threshold set by the federal government for well-being. 

 

Luisa María Alcalde told broadcaster Radio Fórmula yesterday that she will approach Mexico’s central bank to discuss the issue. 

 

The Mexican Employers’ Federation, or Coparmex, pushed hard in late 2017 for an increase in line with the well-being level set by Coneval, the social development agency, and it is doing so again now. 

 

Coparmex head Gustavo de Hoyos said today he would like to see the wage raised to at least 100 pesos by the end of the year, observing that he had met with Alcalde and found there were commonalities regarding an increase in line with a level established by the United Nations. 

 

He also said it was “one of those subjects in which we concur significantly with the new president” and hoped the agency that sets the wage would meet soon so as to finish the year with a wage possibly as high as 102 or 103 pesos. 

 

Meanwhile, Alcalde also spoke yesterday regarding the plan to move the Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare to León, Guanajuato, one of several departmental moves planned by López Obrador. 

 

She said there was no hurry nor a set timeline but didn’t rule out the possibility that the department might have shifted there by the start of next year. 

 

Alcalde also said she was aware of the constraints raised earlier in the week by Guanajuato Governor Miguel Márquez, who warned that the state doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the move and resulting influx in population. 

 

She said the incoming administration was aware of the limitations. 

 

“Of course, we understand that there could be certain problems so the idea is that it [the move] is going to be gradual,” she said. 

 

“I don’t think that there will be any problem and we’re going to convince [the governor] that, on the contrary, this is an idea that intends there be development in the whole country, so that not all the secretariats are centralized, which will help make growth more even across the nation’s territory,” Alcalde explained. 

 

El profesor de derecho de 30 años y ex diputado federal ha publicado varios artículos que abogan por salarios más altos en México. 

 

La integrante más joven del gabinete de López Obrador será la encargada de presentar el esquema de aprendizaje llamado “Jóvenes construyendo el futuro”. 

 

Alcalde dijo que el programa será fundamental para el plan del nuevo gobierno de proporcionar oportunidades de empleo a los jóvenes del país. 

López Obrador y su gabinete tomarán posesión el 1 de diciembre. 

 

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

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