1 - OECD REPORT CRITICIZES PHONE INDUSTRY 2 - NEARLY $1 TRILLION LOST TO CORRUPTION AND CRIME 3 - POLITICAL CLASS FULLY ENGAGED IN FIGHT FOR POWER 4 - JUAREZ POLICE TAKE REFUGE IN HOTELS 5 - HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ATTACKED AGAIN 6 - ACTEAL ASSASSINS RELEASED FROM PRISON
A report issued this week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) criticized Mexico's telephone industry for monopoly pricing that overcharged consumers US$13.4 billion per year from 2005 to 2009, leaving many families unable to afford telephone or internet service. Carlos Slim, the world's richest man and owner of TelMex and America Móvil, rejected the report, accusing authors of "pulling data out of thin air." Slim's companies control about three-quarters of Mexico's telephone industry. The Mexican government commissioned the study as part of an ongoing battle between Slim and the National Action Party (PAN). Mexico's telephone industry generates over US$30 billion in sales per year, but the OECD report concluded companies missed out on an additional US$12.4 billion in sales because of high prices.
1 - NEWS FROM THE OTHER CAMPAIGN - http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/ 2 - PRI AND GORDILLO SPLIT 3 - BORDER PATROL INCREASING PENALTIES FOR UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS 4 - NAFTA TRIBUNAL TO HEAR SME CASE 5 - HACKERS SHUT DOWN GOVERNMENT WEB SITES 6 - NAZAR HARO DEAD
-The Union of Campesinos in Defense of the Land, Water and Ejido Coahuila denounce forced dislocations from their lands and waters. -The Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center denounces government repression directed against the National Network against High Electricity Tariffs in Veracruz. -The Fray Bartolome Human Rights Center denounces repression against Zapatista support bases by groups affiliated with the PRI in Tenejapa, Chiapas.
1 - PRI WINS MICHOACAN GOVERNORSHIP 2 - IMMIGRATION NEAR ZERO 3 - PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DYNAMICS 4 - CALDERON NAMES FIFTH INTERIOR SECRETARY 5 - GOVERNMENT ADMITS DIRTY WAR DISAPPEARANCE 6 - WTO RULES AGAINST U.S. 7 - INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CASE NAMES PRESIDENT CALDERON 8 - HISTORIC DROUGHT AND EARLY FREEZES DEVASTATE AGRICULTURE
The PRI candidate won the gubernatorial election last Sunday in Michoacan, Felipe Calderon's home state, defeating the President's sister, Luisa "Cocoa" Calderon, in a close race. The PRI took 35% of the vote, apparently winning many former PRD votes, against 33% for the PAN and 29% for the PRD. The election was marred by illegal use of federal resources by the PAN and probable PRI and PRD links to organized crime. The vote may be a harbinger of 2012 presidential elections in which PRI candidate Enrique Pena Nieto leads all candidates by substantial margins. Michoacan is a major producer of marijuana, opium and methamphetamines, and home to the Knights Templar, a cartel with strong roots in popular barrios.
1 - MEXICO ABANDONS PLANS FOR NUCLEAR POWER 2 - TROOPS UNEXPECTEDLY SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES 3 - IMMIGRANT REMITTANCES INCREASE AS PESO SHRINKS 4 - OPPOSITION TO AMBITIOUS PLAN TO CLEAN POLICE FORCES 5 - PAN TRADES CEMENT FOR VOTES 6 - PARTIES REJECT POPULAR CONSULTATIONS 7 - GRAIN PRODUCTION DECLINES 8 - ANONYMOUS DROPS PLANS TO OUT ZETA CARTEL 9 - MSN PROGRAMS: Contact msn [at] mexicosolidarity [dot] org or (773) 583 7728
Mexico has abandoned plans to construct as many as ten nuclear power plants in light of recent discoveries of huge natural gas deposits, perhaps as much as 300 million cubic feet in Coahuila and more in the Gulf of Mexico. Energy Minister Jordy Herrera announced plans this week to focus on new natural gas-fired electricity plants, and to search for US$10 billion in private investment during the next five years, despite constitutional prohibitions against private ownership in the energy sector. The re-orientation may also be related to the March 11 nuclear disaster in Japan. Mexico is one of only three Latin American countries that currently uses nuclear power. Herrera rejected renewable energy sources for the foreseeable future: "Until we find a model to make renewable energy more profitable, gas is more convenient."
