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Applause for Paul McCartney, jeers for Sebastian Piñera in Chile

by the El Reportero’s wire services

An extraordinary concert of 39 songs and a resounding rejection of President Sebastian Piñera sealed the return of Paul McCartney to Chile in a National Stadium crowded by more than 50,000 spectators.
A few days ago, Piñera had unexpectedly invited his entire cabinet to attend the concert, and last night the president, his wife and their ministers attended the presentation of the ex-Beatle on his fourth visit to Chile, now as part of his international tour Freshen Up.

In a gesture of courtesy, in the middle of his presentation McCarney announced the presence of Piñera in the stadium with a ‘I would like to greet the president, we are happy to see him here tonight’, totally alien to what would come immediately after: a resounding reckoning that was viralized by the images of the moment captured by thousands of cell phones.

The president and his staff had to face the public’s snub while the disconcerted visitor tried to save the situation by quickly returning to his songs.

Before and after that ‘parenthesis’ the night was a wide and excellent show of rock in which McCartney interpreted a score of emblematic songs of the boys of Liverpool, of Wings and of his most recent disc, Egipt Station, up to a total of 39 pieces making the public enchanted throughout the almost three hours that lasted the concert.

A show that excelled in sobriety, without too much paraphernalia, unnecessary to the artistic quality of a star like Paul McCartney.

Spain’s actress Penelope Cruz shoots film in Cuba
Spain’s actress Penelope Cruz is in Cuba to resume shooting Wasp Network film by French director Olivier Assayas, which will have its premiere this year.

According to local media, Cruz arrived Wednesday to Havana accompanied by her husband and scene partner Javier Bardem although they do not give further details about their stay.

Her arrival coincides with that of the US actors Susan Sarandon, Owen Wilson and Shailene Woodle, who these days visited the historical center and famous places in Havana such as the Boulevard of San Rafael and the Cuban Art Factory.

Before this visit, Penelope was in Cuba in February with the Mexican Gael Garcia Bernal and the Cuban Ana de Armas, as confirmed on that occasion by the team in charge of processing their trip and hosting.
The new work of the model and winner of an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2008 by Vicky Cristina Barcelona, will focus on the story of a group of Cuban anti-terrorists infiltrated in the US during the 1990s.

The film will tell the story of Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, René González and Juan Pablo Roque, based on the book The Last Soldiers of the Cold War by Brazilian Fernando Morais.

No Manches Frida 2 triumphs in cinemas in the United States
No Manches Frida 2 raised $ 3,894,000 on its first opening weekend, with a solid $ 8,250 per room and received an A in CinemaScore rating. It is a great achievement for this Mexican film that exceeded the collection of the opening weekend of the original feature film and that premiered in only 472 screens in the American Union. This is another great triumph for Pantelion Films, after its previous Latin hits like Instructions Not Included, the highest grossing Spanish film in US history; How to Be A Latin Lover and Overboard.

The first film of No Manches Frida premiered during a long weekend (Labor Day – 2/9/16) and raised $ 3,600,00

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Two down, one to go – court rulings pile up against citizenship question

An Interview with Thomas Saenz by Pilar Marrero, La Opinion & Ethnic Media Services

Editor’s Note: Two federal judges recently ruled against the Trump administration’s plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), is lead co-counsel on another lawsuit now pending before Judge George J. Hazel of U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Saenz sat down for an interview with La Opinion and Ethnic Media Services to explain why the citizenship question is illegal, in his view, and what he thinks the intentions were behind the administration’s last-minute proposed change to the 2020 Census. Saenz anticipates an imminent favorable decision from the Maryland judge, which could add yet another ruling to prevent the question from moving forward.

The civil rights leader explained that so far the courts have found that Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (whose agency oversees the Census Bureau) violated the laws and the Constitution because the bid to add the citizenship question to the Census questionnaire was “arbitrary and capricious, failed to adequately notify Congress and was pretextual.” Additionally, the California court ruled that Ross’ proposal violated the Census clause of the Constitution, which indicates that any last-minute change must “fulfill a reasonable governmental purpose” and not interfere with the actual enumeration.

MALDEF is involved in another lawsuit now pending in front of a federal judge. Why is another lawsuit necessary and what’s different about the MALDEF suit?
There were actually seven different lawsuits filed against the citizenship question. Six were consolidated into three. Our case went to trial a little later but we expect a decision soon.
What’s unique and still to be determined in our case is whether there was a conspiracy to intentionally discriminate against the Latino community and the Asian American community by adding the citizenship question.

Would a favorable ruling in your lawsuit strengthen the challenge to the citizenship question that will be heard by the Supreme Court on April 23?
The first case, ruled on by the federal court in New York, has been taken up by the Supreme Court, bypassing the appropriate court of appeals in order to get a final decision to the Census Bureau in time for its June deadline for printing the questionnaire.

The Northern California case and MALDEF’s case – if we prevail – would go to the appeals courts and, I expect, then be taken up by the Supreme Court in some form, probably without a full hearing, to meet the Census Bureau printing deadlines.

The judge in California said it was clear that Ross was looking for any way to have the question added even though experts in the Census Bureau warned it would intimidate some groups from responding. What’s your view?
It’s clear from the two court rulings so far that Ross lied to the American public and to Congress about why the citizenship question was being added. He was acting to reduce the overall count of Latinos and thus reduce their political power. Latino voters have not demonstrated support for the extreme conservative positions of the Trump administration.

Even if the citizenship question is taken off the table, do you think there are good conditions to ensure a full count by the 2020 Census as required by the Constitution?
I think it’s quite clear there are a number of impediments to the 2020 Census that did not exist in previous Census counts.

First, in comparison to prior efforts, there’s inadequate investment by the Census Bureau in reaching hard-to-count communities.

Second, they intend for the first time to have households respond online, whether through a smart phone, laptop or desktop. That raises concerns about cyber security and access issues that didn’t apply before.

Even prior to the effort to add the citizenship question, the Census Bureau was seeing unprecedented levels of noncooperation with activities it engages in. Experts attribute that to the atmosphere of fear related to immigration enforcement created by the Trump administration.

Title 13, the U.S. law that governs the Census, protects the confidentiality of information given to the Census. Is that enough of a guarantee that people’s information will be secure?
Whether or not the citizenship question is there, people have to believe their data will remain confidential as it has by law for 72 years.

There are criminal penalties attached to violating confidentiality. Today, the federal law is very strong on this issue.

That said, we know that many people don’t trust this administration to follow the law, whatever it is, so MALDEF and other major advocacy organizations are forming a coalition to collectively commit, pledge, that if there’s any hint of a violation of census data, they will step in together, early on, to stop it.

The proposed citizenship question asks: “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” Does it ask about the individual’s immigration status?
People should understand it’s a citizenship question only and there are several options for responding: A “no” response and several “yes” responses about how you became a citizen ꟷ whether you were born in the U.S., or were naturalized or whether your parents are citizens, etc. It’s simply a question about your citizenship and how it was obtained.

Do you think Congress should take more actions to ensure the success of the Census?
Congress should do a number of things but for political reasons it’s unlikely Congress will do anything. The simple fact is that the Latino community and other hard-to-count communities are not communities Donald Trump sees as belonging to his base. He has concluded that an undercount is in his own interest, so is opposed to a vigorous outreach effort.

Why is the 2020 Census so crucial?
The data it collects determines political power by reallocating seats in the House of Representatives and electoral college votes in presidential elections. If a particular state faces a significant undercount, it could lose representation. States use Census data to redraw their congressional districts, state legislature districts and local jurisdictions. If a particular community is undercounted, it will not be represented as it should be.

Furthermore, the federal government uses the data to allocate hundreds of billions of dollars worth of annual federal funding for programs that impact every neighborhood – from improving infrastructure to providing support for families and students. So it’s critically important that everyone fills out the Census and that we get as complete a count as possible, particularly for Latinos, because we’re a growing community and stand to benefit from accurate Census data.

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‘No more migrants:’ Coahuila at maximum capacity, governor says

They should go to other states because Coahuila’s border is overwhelmed, said Riquelme governador of Coahuila

by Mexico News Daily

The governor of Coahuila has declared that no more migrants will be allowed into the state as thousands of Central Americans continue their journey through Mexico to the United States.

“We’re at maximum capacity,” Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís said yesterday, referring to migrant shelters in the northern border city of Piedras Negras.

“We will not allow more migrants to travel through Coahuila because the border is overwhelmed, but neither will we invite chaos and therefore they should go to other states,” he said
The governor said that providing accommodation, food and services to more than 1,600 migrants who arrived in Piedras Negras yesterday had stretched the capacity of authorities, explaining that as a consequence, “we’ll block the entry to Coahuila.”

The Central Americans, mainly from Honduras but also Guatemala and El Salvador, entered Mexico in the middle of last month as part of a larger caravan of around 2,200. Authorities in Piedras Negras converted several old factories into shelters to house them.

State news agency Notimex said that 51 other migrants had gone to Monterrey, Nuevo León, where authorities provided them with shelter in a gymnasium and humanitarian aid.

Manuel González Flores, general secretary for the state government, said that 35 of the migrants have family members in Nuevo León and intend to remain there, while the others are expected to continue their journey to the United States’ southern border.

At the other end of the country, around 3,800 migrants are currently traveling through Chiapas and yesterday reached Mapastepec, a municipality about 140 kilometers north of the Mexico-Guatemala border.
Hondurans also make up the bulk of that group but are joined by 500 Guatemalans, 300 Salvadorans and 50 Nicaraguans, caravan organizers told the news agency AFP.

The migrants plan to travel to Mexico City, where local authorities are preparing to receive them at the same sports stadium-cum-shelter that has housed previous groups.

From there, they will decide which section of the northern border they will travel to in the hope of claiming asylum in the United States, although U.S. President Donald Trump continues to maintain a hard line on immigration.

In his State of the Union address last night, Trump described the approach of migrants to the border as a “tremendous onslaught” of “large, organized caravans” and continued to press for funding for his long-promised wall.

“The lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security, and financial well-being of all Americans,” he said.

“We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens… In the past, most of us, the people in this room, voted for a wall. But the proper wall never got built. I will get it built.”

In a Twitter post earlier in the day, Trump wrote: “Tremendous numbers of people are coming up through Mexico in the hopes of flooding our southern border. We have sent additional military. We will build a human wall if necessary. If we had a real wall, this would be a non-event!”

As has become his trademark in assessing the U.S. president’s comments about Mexico and border security, President López Obrador said Trump’s address last night was respectful.

“…There were some remarks [I didn’t agree with] but that’s his right, that’s his vision … He was very respectful of our government and we thank him,” he said.

Asked specifically about Trump’s claim that Mexico allows migrant caravans to freely travel through the country, López Obrador simply responded: “We very much respect the point of view of the president, Donald Trump.”

(Source: El Universal (sp), Animal Político (sp), Excelsiór (sp), Noticieros Televisa (sp).

In other news in Mexico:

AMLO enjoys 86 percent approval rating, strong support for fuel theft strategy

In baseball terminology, 34 percent said AMLO hit a home run. Just one in 10 said he struck out

Two months into his six-year term, President López Obrador enjoys an 86% approval rating, according to a new poll that also shows strong support for the government’s crackdown on fuel theft.

The survey, conducted by the newspaper El Financiero over two days last week, shows that just 13 percent of 410 people polled disapprove of the president’s performance while 1 percent of respondents were undecided.

In contrast, the highest rating ever earned by López Obrador’s predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto, was just 57 percent, in May 2013, according to pollster Consulta Mitofsky. His lowest rating was 17 percent in February 2017 and he finished his term last November at 24 percent.

But AMLO, as Peña Nieto’s successor is commonly known, can do no wrong in the eyes of citizens.

Even though it caused widespread and prolonged gasoline shortages, the government’s anti-fuel theft strategy was very popular among poll respondents, with 80% saying they considered the move to be very good or good. Just 12% said that the strategy was very bad or bad.

López Obrador’s appearance at daily early-morning press conferences was considered very good or good by 72 percent of those polled, making them the second most popular measure implemented by the new government.

The response to the deadly petroleum pipeline explosion in Hidalgo, which 65 percent of respondents said was very good or good, was the next most popular government action followed by the decision to sell off government-owned armored vehicles, which garnered 64 percent support.

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López Obrador says no to ‘offensive’ contrast of grand hotels and poverty

8-billion-peso infrastructure program announced for leading tourism destinations

by Mexico News Daily

Putting an end to the “offensive” contrast between luxurious hotels and poor neighborhoods in Mexico’s most popular resort cities is the aim of a new government program launched yesterday by President López Obrador.

The central objective of the Mi México Late (My Mexico Beats) program is to build much-needed infrastructure in the working-class neighborhoods of Mexico’s leading tourism destinations.

“We no longer want there to be the offensive contrast between large hotels and marginalized, impoverished neighborhoods without water services, without drainage, without anything,” López Obrador said yesterday in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.

Among the cities that will benefit from the 8-billion-peso (US $413.7-million) urban improvement program are Los Cabos, Cancún, Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta.

Urban Development Secretary Román Meyer Falcón said that 10 northern border cities will also receive funding for infrastructure projects through the same program.

López Obrador said the government chose to launch the program in Los Cabos because of its importance to tourism in the country.

Almost 600 million pesos (US $31 million) will be allocated to infrastructure projects in the city’s neighborhoods, he said, explaining that residents will also be able to access financial support in order to obtain deeds for their properties.

The president also said that a 1-billion-peso (US $51.7-million) water desalination plant has been authorized for the area.

López Obrador pledged to return to Los Cabos in a few months to assess the progress of the Mi México Late program and other government initiatives.

“Mexico has a lot of natural resources, a lot of wealth, good people, hard-working people. What was needed, we now have: a good government,” he said.

Meanwhile, López Obrador announced today that his government is planning to launch a tidy towns contest to encourage people to take more pride in the places where they live.

“We have to take care of the cleanliness of our towns … no to garbage, no to dirtiness . . . [societal] transformation also implies cleanliness,” he said.

After waxing lyrical about the beauty of the bougainvillea plant, the president explained that the cleanest, best-decorated towns in Mexico will be officially recognized at an awards ceremony at the National Palace.

A public infrastructure project that each winning town needs will also probably be part of the prize package, López Obrador said.

“There are very poor towns with humble people but they’re very clean. For example, I know all the municipalities of Oaxaca and they’re very clean, they’re careful not to contaminate the water, there are signs … so that people don’t throw detergent and fertilizer into the streams, there are trash cans, that is also very important.”

In other tourism news in Mexico:

Hospitality-travel firm says tourists with money are going elsewhere

Head of Apple Leisure Group says insecurity, sargassum and insufficient marketing are the causes

Mexico’s high-end tourism market has taken a hit so far in 2019, according to the CEO of a hospitality-travel firm who predicts that visitor numbers will decline further in coming months.

Alejandro Zozaya, CEO of Apple Leisure Group, estimates that the economic spillover from tourism is down 20 percent to date this year compared to the same period of 2018.

The problem: not as many wealthy Americans are coming to Mexico to vacation, get married at lavish ceremonies and honeymoon.

“The most important market we have lost is that which leaves the largest economic spillover, the high-end North American,” Zozaya told the news outlet Aristegui Noticias.

“We still have a lot of Americans but the highest segment [of the market] has stopped coming and we’ve replaced them with tourists from other countries and regions who leave a smaller spillover – they spend less at the destination, hotel rates go down,” he said.

The businessman claimed that the main reason well-off tourists are not coming to Mexico is insecurity but added that sargassum on Caribbean coast beaches and a lack of marketing following the government’s decision to disband the Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM) are also factors.

More United States citizens are traveling outside their country than ever before and there is not a decline in the international tourism market, but tourists are deciding to “go to other destinations that are not Mexico,” Zozaya said.

“[Americans] are going to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Mexico loses market share.”

He said that tourism is declining in Mexico’s most popular destinations at the same as the number of hotel rooms is going up.

“We have 30,000 additional rooms projected for Quintana Roo on top of those in Puerto Vallarta, in Los Cabos and other destinations in Mexico,” Zozaya said.

He stressed that advertising is the best way to attract greater visitor numbers to Mexico and that demand for accommodation and other tourism services must grow at a rate at least equal to supply growth in order to maintain profitability and employment in the sector.

Zozaya’s estimate of a 20 percent reduction in tourism spending this year is well above the 0.3 percent decline in air arrivals recorded in January but the businessman warned that “the most complicated” period for the tourism industry “is still to come.”

Contributing to the decline in international air arrivals in January was a reduction in the number of passengers flying into Cancún International Airport, the first year-over-year decrease for any month in almost seven years.

Earlier this year, the Secretariat of Tourism predicted that international visitor numbers could hit 43.6 million in 2019, which would represent a 5.2 percent increase on last year’s record figures.
Total tourism expenditure is forecast to reach just under US $23.7 billion, which would also be 5.2 percent higher than in 2018.

Last month, Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco Marqués said the government is aiming to increase expenditure by tourists in Mexico by focusing more on attracting big spenders.

Among the nationalities that spend the most while visiting Mexico, the Japanese are in first place, spending an average of $2,008, not including airfare.

Source: Aristegui Noticias (sp.

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8 signs of sugar addiction… and tips to control your sweet tooth

by Michelle Simmons

Human are naturally wired to crave sugar because it plays an important role in survival. During ancient times, sugar was mostly available in the summertime. People during those times would indulge in it to store excess calories in the form of body fat to survive through the cold winter seasons. Today, however, sugar is readily available any time, which can lead to addiction. Here are eight signs of sugar addiction and how to fix them:

1. You want to eat or snack throughout the day:
You may be addicted to sugar if you feel the need to snack all the time, even when you are not actually hungry. If this is the case, the solution is to focus on eating a combination of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates at every meal or snack. Don’t eat carbohydrate-rich, sugary foods alone.

2. You eat plenty of fruits or drink a lot of juice:
You may think that eating lots of fruits or drinking fruit juices is healthy, but remember, many fruits are also high in sugar. If you often crave sweet fruits, you may be addicted to sugar. However, this does not mean that you should stop consuming fruits altogether. You just have to eat fruits that contain more nutrients but less sugar, such as berries. For juices, it’s best to drink fresh green juice that mainly comes from vegetables.

3. You crave for coffee and alcoholic drinks:
Coffee and alcoholic drinks often contain sweeteners and mixers that greatly contribute to sugar intake. Moreover, many people who quit drinking coffee or alcohol tend to crave other sugary foods or drinks. To fix this, don’t add sweeteners to your coffee. If you’re drinking alcohol, drink in moderation and avoid dark-colored liquors, mixers, and beer.

4. You’re always stressed:
Being chronically stressed increases your levels of cortisol, which promotes hunger and sugar cravings. Eating sugar can also increase cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol levels can lead to adrenal fatigue, which can further trigger sugar cravings and addiction. You can relieve stress by practicing breathing through your nose and belly breathing techniques. Additionally, avoid stress eating and take a walk instead.

5. You crave sweets during or after meals: You are most likely addicted to sugar if you always think of eating something sweet during or right after a meal. Craving sugar during or after meals can also be a symptom of adrenal fatigue and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Get tested for adrenal fatigue or SIBO to address this problem.

6. When you’re hungry, you want to eat immediately:
If this sounds like you, you could be suffering from hypoglycemia, which occurs when blood sugar declines to below-normal levels. This condition makes you crave sugary foods. To prevent this from happening, do not eat carbs in isolation. Instead, eat protein and fat at every meal and snack.

7. You crave carbs early in the morning or late at night:
Eating a breakfast high in carbs can put you in the vicious cycle of spikes and drops in blood sugar levels throughout the day. Carbohydrates are metabolized as sugar once they reach the bloodstream. They spike blood sugar levels, which then drops shortly after. This “blood sugar roller coaster” can make you hungry more often and can intensify your sugar cravings. To solve this, eat a protein-rich breakfast containing healthy fats and non-starchy vegetables instead.

8. Your sugar craving intensifies when you try to give it up:
You may have tried to give up sugar, and when you did, your sugar cravings just became more intense and frequent. If this is the case, it is best to follow a Paleo diet. This type of diet helps you to naturally balance sugar levels by providing a healthy macronutrient ratio and focusing on low-glycemic carbs. This helps maintain steady blood sugar control throughout the day.
Sugar addiction harms your health in many ways. It can increase your risk of many health conditions, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, fatty liver, and depression. It can also be detrimental to your skin, kidneys, and teeth. (Natural News).

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Omar Sosa’s Transparent Water at the Freight in SF

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

The genius of Omar Sosa and his amazing trio as part of the RAICES series at the Freight!
Omar blurs the lines between the magical and the musical! He is constantly creating, innovating and evolving.

If you’ve seen him before, you know, if not, do yourself a favor – go watch him!
Hope to see you at the Freight both nights for this unique, inspirational and rare opportunity.
Transparent Water Trio is comprised of Omar Sosa – piano (Cuba) / Seckou Keita – kora, voice (Senegal) / Gustavo Ovalles – percussion (Venezuela).

On Wednesday & Thursday, March 20 & 21. Doors open at 7 p.m. / Show: 8 p.m.
$36 ADV / $40 door (plus fees). At The Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., downtown Berkeley. One block from BART! (510) 644-2020 info@freightandsalvage.org.

Presidio picnic’s eighth season begins

Multi-cultural community celebration unveils new mobile food creators and cultural dance groups at San Francisco’s Presidio National Park

This month, the Presidio of San Francisco, in partnership with Off the Grid, unveils an 8th season of Presidio Picnic with an exciting line up of new and returning mobile food creators and cultural dance performances.

Presidio Picnic takes place every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine, through early October on the Presidio’s beautiful Main Parade Ground, an expansive seven-acre lawn with views of the park, the city skyline, and the San Francisco Bay. In addition to the monthly dance performances, Presidio Picnic will feature the return of other family-friendly elements that visitors love: more than 30 international mobile food creators representing the best of the San Francisco food scene, free bike safety classes for kids offered by the Presidio YMCA, nature-based arts and crafts for kids, lawn games, yoga from LubbDubb, music, and free bike valet by the SF Bicycle Coalition.
Cultural dance performances will be offered the third Sunday of each month and will be announced shortly.

Returning creators include Oakland-based Nashville-style hot chicken purveyors Hot Bird (easily identified at last year’s Presidio Picnic by their sizable queues), masters of Peruvian fusion Lamas Peruvian, and Pacific Island-meets-Philippines dessert favorite Hula’s Sweet Treats.
The season opens on March 31 at 11:30 a.m.

SF art exhibition by Antony Holdsworth and Beryl Landau
Anthony Holdsworth features the start of a new series entitled “Day and Night in the Mission”. Using a LED lamp attached to his easel, he documents locations as they transition into night.
The Mission District opens a window on Latin America while simultaneously enriching the culture of San Francisco. He works on site to channel the unique energy of this community and also to bear witness to the changes that are being forced on it by gentrification.
The exhibition includes works El Farolito by Day and Night, by Anthony Holdsworth, oil/panel, and Rise and Shine, by Beryl Landau.

Beryl Landau calls her work “symbolic landscape”. The acrylic paintings in this show depict geographical locations but evoke inner feelings. Each image draws the viewer into a particular space and mood. Landau’s clear colors range from high contrasts to subtle gradations.
Images of changing San Francisco are prevalent in her recent work. The paintings often convey the juxtaposition of nature and the modern world.

Alley Cat Gallery, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco. Exhibition through March 31

Greening Economic Summit
This year’s Economic Summit happens with an exciting, fully revamped program.
From our redesigned, interactive Equity Lab to an array of exciting racial justice panels to a fireside chat with an internationally renowned headliner to be announced shortly, you don’t want to miss your chance to attend the Bay Area’s largest racial equity conference. On April 26, 2019, The Greenlining Institute, 360 14th Street, 2nd Floor, Oakland,

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Filmmaker Del Toro will create International Animation Center Mexico

by the El Reportero’s news services

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro announced the creation of the International Animation Center in the city of Guadalajara, in order to take advantage of the existing talent in the country.

During a conference at the 34th edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), he said on Suday that ‘this is a unique moment, we are breaking the model in animation.’

The film director commented that the goal is to work with series and feature films, with local talent ‘because we are looking for the next generation of filmmakers’.

We will try to convert it, he added, into a model that allows international production to give us a workshop to learn and then work on the projects, but that way there will be a connection between Guadalajara and the world.

Through this project, he considered, it will be possible to find great stories and believe in those stories; for that, the International Animation Center will play an important role.
The Guadalajara International Film Festival, which will conclude on the 15th, is considered the most solid meeting of its kind in Latin America, and its headquarters is the Telmex Auditorium where it paid tribute to the actress Blanca Guerra, who was awarded the Mayahuel de Plata prize and her film Day of the Dead by director Carlos Gutiérrez Medrano was screened.

Guerra remembered his passage through the various performing arts, especially in film alongside directors such as Arturo Ripstein, Carlos Carrera and María Novaro, among others. He also made an urgent call to support the production of Mexican cinema and seek to increase it.

The 34th edition of the Festival will exhibit 295 fiction films and documentaries from around the world. It will have 428 screenings in 30 commercial theaters and 113 films in the official section that will compete for the Mezcal Award for the best Mexican productions, and the Mayahuel Award for Ibero-American fiction and documentary productions.

Argentine documentary wins Grand Prize Santiago Álvarez

Troperos, the first documentary by Argentine Nicolas Detry, won the Santiago Alvarez Grand Prize at the 17th Santiago Álvarez in Memoriam International Festival of Documentary Films that ended Tuesday with the participation of 16 works from 11 countries.

The first three awards went to Strike a Pose, by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan from Holland-Belgium; Fanon Yesterday, Today by Hassane Mezine from France-Algeria, and Side B, also opera prima by Ricardo Yebra from Spain, respectively.

The jury, headed by renowned filmmaker Jorge Fuentes, recognized as best opera prima Fire Mouth by Luciano Pérez Fernández from Brazil, and as a project Benny More’s Last Days by Cuban Damian Pérez Téllez while in the direction and photography also awarded Detry.

There were also awarded in screenplay Fanon Yesterday, Today; in soundtrack and editing Strike a Pose, while the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños did it with the documentary series Adolescence, Damocles’ Sword from the Cuban telecentre Tunas Vision.
During the last day of the event, which celebrated the centenary of Santiago Alvarez and 60 years of Cuban cinema in Revolution, it was announced that the coming event will be dedicated to Canada and will commit again for the validity of a cinematographic genre renewed with the times and technologies.

The theoretical seminar of this edition had significant solidarity moments with Venezuela in response to the imperial onslaught and added voices to the need to show with solid arguments, in images and sounds, the resistance of that people in defense of the conquests of the Bolivarian Revolution.

Artificer of the ICAIC News, declared World Memory by UNESCO, Santiago Álvarez left in 1998 when he died a vast trajectory that made him transcend in the Latin American and world cinema with documentaries that renewed the genre and reflected palpitating realities of the world.

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Mexico rejects US plan to extend ‘stay in Mexico’ policy for asylum seekers

But it continues to accept returning migrants ‘for humanitarian reasons’

by Mexico News Daily

The federal government has rejected the United States’ announcement that it will return asylum-seeking migrants to Mexico to await their immigration court hearings via a second border crossing.

The United States plan, formally called the Migrant Protection Protocols but initially dubbed “Remain in Mexico,” began earlier this year at the San Ysidro border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego, and will now extend to the crossing between Mexicali and Calexico, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said Monday.

The Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said yesterday that “the Mexican government doesn’t agree with this unilateral measure implemented by the United States authorities.”

When the United States first announced in December that it would begin returning non-Mexican migrants to Mexico while their asylum claims were processed, the SRE said it would authorize for humanitarian reasons, and only temporarily, the entry of migrants from the United States.

It added that the returning migrants must have already been interviewed by U.S. authorities and given an appointment to appear before an immigration judge.

However, Foreign Affairs spokesman Roberto Velasco said at the time that there was no formal agreement between Mexico and the United States but rather that the “Remain in Mexico” plan was a “unilateral move” by the latter “that we have to respond to.”

Despite promising to only accept adult male asylum seekers, Mexico has also taken in returning women and children, The New York Times reported earlier this month.

Immigrant rights advocates have initiated legal action against the initiative, arguing that it forces migrants to wait in dangerous Mexican border cities where they are exposed to the same dangers they sought to escape from in their countries of origin.

United States immigration officials say that only 240 migrants have so far been returned to Mexico under the program, a small fraction of the 76,000 that crossed Mexico’s northern border last month.

“We are starting small to see how this process works,” a DHS official told reporters at a briefing. “Just to make sure that we have the coordination down with Mexico, and we have a process that works.”

The number now appears likely to increase, however. The SRE said migrants will begin arriving in Mexicali, Baja California, from Calexico, California, this week, while a report earlier this month said that the “Remain in Mexico” program could also be extended to the border crossing between Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas.

The SRE added that Mexico has maintained contact with United States authorities to receive information about the people who will be returned to Mexico but only for “humanitarian reasons.”

“For the Mexican government, the primary purpose of contact… is to protect the human rights of affected migrants. This exchange of information does not in any way mean that the Mexican government agrees with the decisions and actions taken unilaterally by the government of the United States.”

Thousands of migrants, mainly from the northern triangle Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, have arrived at Mexico’s northern border in recent months as part of several large caravans.

President López Obrador, meanwhile, continues to publicly advocate for the implementation of a joint Mexico-United States development plan to address the causes of migration at their primary source – Central American countries.

Delivering a report Monday to outline his government’s achievements during its first 100 days in office, López Obrador said that he is not in favor of using force to contain migration.

More than 10,000 migrants were granted humanitarian visas in southern Mexico earlier this year that allow them to work in Mexico and access services for up to a year or alternatively travel to the United States’ southern border to seek asylum.

However, The New York Times said on March 1 that “Mexican officials are carrying out the Trump administration’s immigration agenda across wide stretches of the border, undercutting the Mexican government’s promises to defend migrants and support their search for a better life.”

The newspaper added that “Mexican authorities are blocking groups of migrants at border towns, refusing to allow them on to international bridges to apply for asylum in the United States, intercepting unaccompanied minors before they can reach American soil, and helping to manage lists of asylum seekers on behalf of the American authorities to limit the number of people crossing the border.”

The government’s decision to publicly reject the extension of the United States’ “Remain in Mexico” program but to accept the migrants for humanitarian reasons anyway appears to represent an escalation of what some officials have called a strategic decision by López Obrador not to anger Trump, with whom the president to date has maintained a diplomatic relationship.

Source: AFP (sp), NPR (en), The New York Times (en).

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Extended protection for people from Honduras, Nepal lauded

by the El Reportero’s wire services

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Many in the immigrant rights community are rejoicing after federal authorities agreed this week to let people with Temporary Protected status from Honduras and Nepal continue to live and work here legally until litigation is resolved.

The Trump administration already had granted a similar nine-month extension for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan.

Ahilan Arulanantham, senior counsel at the ACLU of Southern California, maintains that the government is targeting TPS holders for deportation on the basis of race.

The government argues that the initial crises in these people’s home countries have been resolved, so they should return.

But many of them have been here – legally – for decades and have businesses and children who are U.S. citizens.

There are about 300,000 TPS holders overall, with 85,000 from Honduras and 15,000 Nepal.

Arulanantham is urging Congress to step in and grant permanent status to people with TPS.

“All of the relief that is being provided by these lawsuits is temporary, and it is not what people from these countries deserve,” he states. “What they deserve is permanent residence because they’ve lived here for years, contributed so much to this country.”

The case now is in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals where this summer a judge is expected to hear the TPS case involving people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan.

All sides now have agreed that the ruling on that case also will apply to TPS holders from Honduras and Nepal. (Source: Suzanne Potter, California News Service).

Wave of migrants from Haiti, Africa, Asia appears in Chiapas
They are applying for transit visas in order to travel to the US border

by Mexico News Daily

Central Americans are not the only migrants entering Mexico at the southern border: more than 500 Africans, Asians and Haitians have also arrived recently in Chiapas.

Migrants from the Congo, Cameroon, Angola, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Haiti crossed into Mexico from Guatemala in the final days of February and the first week of March, according to a report in the newspaper El Universal.

The migrants voluntarily reported their entry to immigration authorities and requested transit visas that will allow them to legally continue their journey to the United States’ southern border, where they plan to seek asylum.

As they wait for their visas to be processed, most migrants are staying at a National Immigration Institute (INM) facility in Tapachula, where some of them claim they have been discriminated against because of the color of their skin.

“[There’s] a lot of discrimination in Mexico, a lot of discrimination . . . The whites eat first and once a day we get the little that’s left over,” a group of migrants told El Universal.
They also said they have to sleep on the floor or in the bathroom area of the shelter and that they are involuntarily hosed down each morning with cold water.

In addition, the migrants claim that Central Americans staying at the same facility smoke cigarettes and marijuana inside the facilities.

However, some of the migrants – including pregnant women and children – say that they haven’t been allowed into the immigration facility and have instead been forced to sleep outside on a concrete floor.
Around 200 migrants from African countries and Haiti claim that they have also been prevented from requesting 20-day transit visas that will allow them to continue their journey north.

Without money to pay for alternative accommodation, the migrants are forced to wait in front of the facility in temperatures that can rise to as high as 40 C.
African migrants said they flew from their countries of origin to South America before continuing to Mexico’s southern border via Central America.

Many said they were attacked by criminals and police during their journeys and spent all their money on people smugglers, transportation, accommodation and food.
Source: El Universal (sp).

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Government shouldn’t force Americans to vaccinate, Rand Paul argues

‘I still don’t favor giving up on liberty for a false sense of security’

by Adan Salazar

Rand Paul blasted government-mandated vaccinations Tuesday, arguing liberty should not be sacrificed for a false sense of security.

Speaking at a Senate Health Committee meeting, Paul defended the rights of Americans to opt out of vaccinations due to the fact there are documented risks associated with some vaccines.

“I’m not a fan of government coercion, yet given the choice I do believe the benefits of most vaccines basically outweigh the risks,” Paul stated, admitting he and his family are regularly vaccinated.

But he went on to point out there are risks when one chooses to vaccinate, and referred to the government’s vaccine injury compensation program as verifiable proof that sometimes vaccines can lead to injuries.

“It is wrong to say that there are no risks to vaccines. Even the government admits that children are sometimes injured by vaccines.”

“Since 1988 over $4 billion has been paid out from the Vaccine injury compensation program. Despite the government admitting to and paying $4 billion for vaccine injuries, no informed consent is used or required when you vaccinate your child. This may be the only medical procedure in today’s medical world where an informed consent is not required.”

Sen. Paul also highlighted the flu vaccine manufacturer guessing game when it comes to predicting the next year’s flu strain, including the fact that they often guess the wrong strain.

“…[T]he current science only allows for only educated guessing when it comes to the flu vaccine. Each year before that year’s strain is known the scientists put their best guess into that year’s vaccine. Some years it’s completely wrong – we vaccinate for the wrong strain of flu vaccine. Yet five states already mandate flu vaccines. Is it really appropriate to mandate a vaccine that more often than not vaccinates for the wrong flu strain?”

Sen. Paul concluded that the debate over compulsory vaccination basically boils down to the personal liberty argument put forth by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, who once famously stated, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

“As we contemplate forcing parents to choose this or that vaccine,” Sen Paul said, “I think it’s important to remember that force is not consistent with the American story, nor is force consistent with the liberty our forefathers sought when they came to America.”

“I don’t think you have to have one or the other, though. I’m not here to say don’t vaccinate your kids. If this hearing is for persuasion I’m all for the persuasion. I’ve vaccinated myself and I’ve vaccinated my kids. For myself and my children I believe that the benefits of vaccines greatly outweighing the risks, but I still don’t favor giving up on liberty for a false sense of security.”
Paul’s remarks came at the start of a hearing over growing concerns that people who refuse immunizations are aiding the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases.

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