Política

Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 12:42 PM| 11 Comentarios


The Miami Herald dives right into the enormous anti-drug campaign that's getting headlines in Mexico and the U.S. Washington-based reporter Pablo Bachelet offers new details in an extensive story in today's paper (excerpts):

An ambitious U.S.-Mexico counter-drug plan would involve several countries in Central America and more than $8 billion, with Mexico providing the bulk of the money, a Pentagon official said Tuesday. The U.S. portion of the package is about $1.5 billion, although the exact amount and the number of years it covers are still being worked out by negotiators, said Stephen Johnson, the deputy assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere at the Department of Defense.This is the first time U.S. officials have shed some light on one of the Bush administration's signature initiatives for Latin America, a program somewhat similar to the multibillion effort known as Plan Colombia in that South American nation.

But Mexican and U.S. officials have been cautious in disclosing details and are especially careful not to draw parallels with Plan Colombia. Analysts say Mexicans would resent the scrupulous U.S. congressional monitoring of Plan Colombia, which includes about 800 Defense Department personnel operating in Colombia. Johnson called the new program a ``regional security cooperation partnership.''

''Make no mistake,'' he added. ``This security cooperation partnership does not involve U.S. military troops.'' He said Mexico has asked Washington to contribute about $1.5 billion to the program, and Mexico would put up $7 billion.

We recently wrote about this important issue on our blog here and it's also posted here getting lots of comments from MATT members and visitors.

What do you think about the apparent U.S. plan to fund a $1 billion Mexico anti-cartel effort? Join MATT.org and comment here!

Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 12:33 PM| 2 Comentarios


Congratulations to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore who will receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change/global warming. Gore has traveled across the globe in recent years to get peoples, governments and industries to change their habits and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He announced in an e-mail to supporters today that all proceeds from the award will go to The Alliance for Climate Protection.

Mexico’s president has been supportive of Gore’s efforts.

Just last week Gore was in Mexico for speeches and meetings. Copley News Service reported on Gore’s visit. Here are exerpts:

Calderón wants Mexico to be a leader in confronting climate change, not just in Latin America but across the planet. “Your president is saying and doing some important things,” Gore told nearly 5,000 people at a lecture hosted by Puebla’s Benemerita University. “I have met with him. I have also met with opposition leaders, and I sense a growing political will here in Mexico.”

Mexico made its mark on the study of climate change when Mexican scientist Mario Molina was awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry for discovering how compounds used in refrigerants and aerosol sprays affect the depletion of the ozone layer. Molina, a University of California San Diego professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has been a Gore adviser for more than 20 years. Now, Molina is also advising Calderón, who has set environmental protection as a priority of his administration.

 


Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 08:26 AM| 4 Comentarios


The Hispanic vote is again a big topic this year. And each week there is another big announcement with potential electoral implications. For example, this week Telemundo and mun2, both properties of NBC-Universal, announced a terrific nationwide Hispanic voter registration effort that we hope will become a success story. Here is an excerpt from the announcement:

The mission of "Vota Por Tu Futuro" - "Vote 4 UR Future" is to increase the number of Hispanic voters by educating, registering and inspiring Hispanics to exercise their power and voice through voting in the upcoming 2008 presidential election. In a strategic approach to reach U.S. Hispanics, Telemundo and mun2 will embark in a first-ever media driven campaign to implement a multi-platform initiative through broadcast, cable and the Internet. Through its cable network, mun2, "Vote 4 UR Future" will focus on motivating and mobilizing young Latinos in the U.S., who constitute the fastest-growing segment within the Nation’s Hispanic community.

The conventional wisdom among political reporters seems to be that Hillary Clinton is not only the Democratic front-runner, but has nearly secured the nomination. So it’s no surprise that Agence France Presse published a very positive piece last week on the Clinton campaign’s Hispanic outreach efforts. Here is a little excerpt:

Since launching her campaign, the New York senator and wife of ex-president Bill Clinton has methodically targetted Latino voters for support, not missing any large meeting of members of the nearly 50 million-strong Hispanic population, the biggest and fastest-growing US minority.

She has gone out of her way to appear on Spanish-language television, taken part in a debate on the massive Univision network and met Latino lawmakers.

This past Sunday, the San Antonio Express-News published a lengthy article about Hispanic voters in Florida. It’s part of a series the paper is doing on Hispanic voters that we’ll continue to share with you. Here is one excerpt:

For decades, Cuban Americans have had enormous political clout, and that is still the case — they control nearly all aspects of local, county and regional government in South Florida, and have sent a handful of Cuban Americans, all Republican, to Congress.

But earlier this decade, they lost their status as the majority Hispanic group in the state with the arrival of large numbers of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Colombians and Venezuelans.

Between 1990 and 2006, the Hispanic vote in Florida went from being 80 percent Cuban to about 45 percent, according to Sergio Bendixen, a Democratic Party pollster. At the beginning of the 1990s, Cubans in Florida accounted for half of all Hispanics living in the state. By the end of the decade, that figure had dropped to 31 percent.

Do you think Hillary Clinton will win the Hispanic vote contest in the Democratic primaries/caucuses?

In related news... amNewYork the daily free paper in Manhattan reports today on Hispanic voters and their rising political clout in New York.

With 2.2 million Hispanics in the city and counting, Latino voters are increasingly exerting their influence over city politics.

Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 12:50 PM| 2 Comentarios


Shlomo Reifman, Statistics Deputy Editor at Forbes, posted a profile of presidential candidate Bill Richardson today...
Experiencing Mexican culture first hand and being a governor of a border state gives Richardson a unique view of immigration. While dismissing a border fence as ineffectual in stemming the tide of people illegally crossing our border with Mexico or in providing security for U.S. residents, Richardson advocates increasing border patrols, punishing employers for knowingly hiring undocumented workers and giving the 12 million people illegally living and working in the U.S. a reasonable path to American citizenship. This path includes passing a background check, learning English and paying back taxes and fines. Those who fail to comply with such requirements must leave under his plan.

Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 08:12 AM| 4 Comentarios


In an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, Richard Nadler president of America's Majority Foundation think tank summarizes his reseach into the impact harsh immigration stances by Republican congressional candidates had on the Hispanic vote. He writes:

In my recent study for the Americas Majority Foundation entitled "Border Wars: The Impact of Immigration on the Latino Vote," I document not what Hispanics opined, but how they actually voted, given a clear choice between advocates of "enforcement first" and comprehensive immigration reform. The results, based on returns from 145 heavily Hispanic precincts and over 100,000 tabulated votes, indicate this: Immigration policies that induce mass fear among illegal residents will induce mass anger among the legal residents who share their heritage.

The congressional election of 2006 provided a unique opportunity to gauge Hispanic voter behavior. In three congressional districts of the Southwest, two of them on the border, Republican candidates ran on an "enforcement-only" platform. In each case, this constituted a departure from previous congressional representation. And in each case, Hispanic support for the Republican candidate collapsed from 2004 levels.



Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 08:05 AM| 6 Comentarios


domingo, septiembre 30, 2007

Updating the Mexican Election Process

Cox News Service reporter Jeremy Schwartz has an article out today on changes in the Mexican election system that stem from the controversy following the last presidential election. Here's an excerpt:

A year later, Mexico is dramatically overhauling its electoral process in hope of avoiding a repeat performance in 2012. Now that more than half of Mexico's states have approved the changes, the country's electoral system will more closely resemble the relatively polite European model than anything seen in the United States. The next presidential election will last only 90 days. Paid TV and radio ads will be banned, and Mexico's election authority will try to regulate the negativity out of Mexican politics.

The electoral changes, which Congress passed this month, are the result of the intense negotiation that is quickly becoming the hallmark of Calderón's young administration. López Obrador's Democratic Revolutionary Party had sought the changes since the election, and in effect traded them for a tax reform measure pushed by Calderón's National Action Party, analysts say.

Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 08:50 AM| 0 Comentarios


domingo, septiembre 30, 2007

John McCain Salutes Hispanic Small Businesses

In a speech to a group of Hispanic businesspeople in the early primary state of Michigan, presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ) saluted the hard working people who have risked much to build small businesses.

McCain credited Hispanic entrepreneurs with helping to power the economy. He said nearly three quarters of Hispanic business owners "staked their personal savings on their success," and only 1.5 percent secured a government loan. That, he said, represents the lowest percentage of any group in the U.S.

Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 08:45 AM| 2 Comentarios


The Economist profiles New Mexico Governor and presidential candidate Bill Richardson and put a big focus on his Hispanic heritage. Some excerpts:

BILL RICHARDSON is the strongest second-tier contender for the Democratic nomination, and the only one with any hope of challenging the big three—Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. He has two main selling points. One is his resumé—which includes an incident in which he offended Saddam Hussein by showing him the sole of his shoe. The other is that, despite his name, he is Hispanic. (His mother is Mexican and, though he was born in California, he lived in Mexico until he was a teenager.)

(My thought: Richardson would probably agree with this word-for-word)

and...

Mr Richardson's Latino heritage will probably help him. Hispanics make up about 15% of the population. Many are not yet citizens and so cannot vote, but the Hispanic electorate will have nearly doubled between 2000 and 2008, from 7.5m to 14m, by one estimate. Hispanics are both the largest and the fastest-growing minority, and their votes are up for grabs. Whereas African-Americans vote monolithically for the same party (the Democrats), Latinos switch back and forth a bit.

(My thought: Well it's not exactly the conventional wisdom this year that "their votes are up for grabs.")

and...

A Latino preference for Democrats, however, does not translate easily into a ticket with Mr Richardson on top. At a recent campaign stop in Las Vegas, he stroked the crowds competently and bilingually, but without displaying much of his rivals' star power. And thanks to his name, many Latinos do not even realise he is one of them. Hillary Clinton, who is better-known and better-organised, is far more popular among Latino Democrats—a poll in March showed her beating him by 60% to 9%. But Mr Richardson is bullish about catching up. He did well in the Univision debate with quips such as: “If you build a 12-foot wall, people will get 13-foot ladders.” He is vying for third place in New Hampshire.

(My thought: Perhaps America is ready for a president who does start out the campaign with "star power" but rather can build it by earning it. This might be by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has picked up some extra attention and the second-place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll.)

Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 03:11 PM| 3 Comentarios


The Washington Post provides more details from former Mexican President Vicente Fox's new autobiography and his comments about President Bush.
While sometimes needling Bush, Fox also doles out heaps of praise, applauding his onetime U.S. counterpart for "cultural sensitivity." Fox writes that several days before the attacks of Sept. 11, he and Bush pumped hands and hugged at Andrews Air Force Base after returning on Air Force One from an Ohio immigration reform rally.

"We're going to get this done," Fox recalls Bush telling him. By then, Fox writes, Bush had improved his Spanish and had "mastered the traditional male hug of Mexican culture, the abrazo."

Escrito Por Adam J. Segal a las 07:01 PM| 1 Comentarios



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