Who we are
Our Misson
Our Team
Our Programs
For Tourists
About Rosarito
Lodging
Things to do
Travel Tips
Moving to Rosarito
How to Buy
Realtors
|
Home
News on U.S. - Mexico Public Diplomacy
DECEMBER 7, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 7, 2009 Mexican, U.S. Officials Meet In Santa Ana For 2nd Mayors of the Californias Summit
SANTA ANA, CA---Government and law enforcement officials from both sides of the border met at the Santa Ana Police headquarters December 4 for the 2nd Binational Mayors of the Californias Summit.
The goal of the meetings is to increase cooperation between officials from Southern California and Baja, a region that combined represents one of the world’s larger economies as well having many other shared interests.
Among cities represented were Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, Tecate, Santa Ana, Brea, South El Monte, West Covina, La Habra, Redondo Beach and Fullerton at the event co-hosted by Santa Ana groups and Rosarito.
Workshops at the daylong summit included ones on security, infrastructure and the economy. The importance of sharing information and efforts in the closely linked region was stressed.
“The border does not exist when we talk about air quality, when we talk about water quality,” said Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulito in explaining the need for increased cooperation.
Law enforcement agencies from both sides of the border talked of ways to share information and training resources.
Officials from several U.S. cities said they would share information with their Mexico counterparts, including ways to develop more fuel efficient vehicle fleets. A recently formed group from Rancho Santiago Community College talked of a new and ongoing effort to present a fuller and more balanced picture in the U.S. of activities in Mexico.
The summits are inspired in part by a memorandum of understanding between California Gov. Schwarzenegger and Baja California Gov. Osuna Millan to promote more cooperation on regional issues.
Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres talked of the importance of both areas working together to improved the border crossings and also establishing a follow-up committee to share information between the summits.
The next summit was scheduled for April in Rosarito and Mayor Torres said efforts would be made to involve more mayors. MEDIA CONTACT: Ron Raposa 619-948-3740 ronraposa@hotmail.com
OCTOBER 21, 2009
NEW COLLABORATION BETWEEN CALIF. GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER AND BAJA CALIF. GOV. MILLIAN
Build on Cooperative Efforts to Create a More Vibrant Economy, Healthier Environment in Border Region
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Baja California Governor José Guadalupe Osuna Millán today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to continue to build upon their cooperative efforts on important issues in the California-Baja California border region. Specifically in the agreement, they commit both states to work together in the areas of economic development, commerce, tourism, environmental protection, border crossings, security and civil protection, health, renewable energy and agriculture. “Our common border makes us more than just neighbors, it makes us partners in working together to improve the lives of all border residents,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I am proud of the great relationship California has built with all of the Border States including Baja California. And, with today’s action, we are continuing to build on that relationship to create a more vibrant economy and healthier environment for both of our states.” The MOU specifically commits California and Baja California to work together in the following areas: ·
Economic Development, Commerce and Tourism: Promote open borders with an emphasis on the safe, lawful and quick transport of goods and people. ·
Environmental Protection: Work to protect natural resources including improving water and air quality. Specifically, commits California to clean up scrap tires and protect estuary areas in the border region. ·
Border Crossings: Improve the safety of both Mexicans and Americans as they cross various points of entry between California and Baja California, by improving efficiencies, infrastructure and wait times at the border. o It has been over a decade since a border crossing has opened between California and Baja California, Mexico. In December 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger announced the issuance of a federal permit that clears the way to create a new California-Mexico border crossing in Otay Mesa between the two states. Granted by the U.S. Department of State, the federal permit promises to accommodate projected trade growth and improve economic activity between this region and other parts of the world. The project is projected to break ground in 2012 and open to traffic in 2014. ·
Security and Civil Protection: California will offer ongoing support and training programs for law enforcement officials in Mexico. ·
Health: Monitor and provide mutual support of border health initiatives focused on disease prevention and health promotion, particularly for the H1N1 flu virus. ·
Renewable Energy: Work to create new opportunity for investment in green technology that can be used by both states. · Agriculture: Provide cross-border training programs, technology-transfers and pest exclusion activities. ·
California-Mexico Border Relations Council: Encourages Baja California to establish a mirror entity to the California-Mexico Border Relations Council, created in 2006 when Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 3021 to identify dialogue opportunities between California and Mexico, in an effort to foster goodwill and communication. California will share best practices and provide training so that Baja California may create its own Council, in addition to arranging for bi-annual meetings which will bring both councils together. Additionally, administration officials from both California and Baja California signed three MOUs to foster partnerships and growth in areas of mutual concern: ·
Emergency Preparedness & Response: California Emergency Management Agency Acting Secretary Matthew Bettenhausen and Baja California State Department of Civil Protection Director Alfredo Escobedo Ortiz signed an agreement to provide emergency preparedness and response training when possible. ·
Agriculture: California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura and Baja California Department of Agriculture and Livestock Development Secretary Antonio Rodriguez Hernandez signed an interagency cooperation agreement for animal, plant health and food safety, in addition to research. ·
Energy: California Energy Commission Vice Chair James Boyd and Baja California Energy Director David Muñoz signed an agreement to promote energy efficiency, fuel efficiency and conservation program; promote energy technologies from renewable sources; and coordinate energy related training. Governor Schwarzenegger and Baja California Governor Osuna Millán have previously collaborated on important issues facing their states including the fight against climate change. At Governor Schwarzenegger’s Global Climate Summit in November 2008, both governors joined global leaders from six countries to sign a declaration to acknowledge the threats of global warming on natural resources and economic prosperity, and called on states and provinces to build and strengthen cooperative efforts to implement strategies that can immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions in advance of the next global agreement on climate change. Governor Schwarzenegger also recently signed two bills to help enhance the border region’s environmental quality: · AB 1079 by Assemblymember V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella) establishing the New River Improvement Project, committing California to the restoration of the New River which flows from the city of Mexicali, Baja California, through the city of Calexico, California. · SB 167 by Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego) to allow for funds generated by the California tire fee to be used for cleanup of tire waste along the border region.
OCTOBER 19, 2009
Local Rosarito Television Interview with Students and Dr. Payne from 2nd Annual Rosarito Student Film Festival, Sept, 2009
OCTOBER 12, 2009
Mi Rosarito - Winner of David P. Twomey Creativity Award
By TERI SFORZA The Orange County Register So imagine an Italian Archie Bunker bellowing, "You're goin' WHERE?!?!" My aging dad – and many of my much younger friends – couldn't quite fathom why my husband and I were heading to Rosarito Beach for a long weekend with our 5-year-old daughter in August. Swine flu! Shootouts! Drug wars! Kidnappings! Carjackings! All this, and worse, had become synonymous in their minds with the Mexican border area around Tijuana. I confess to having an overly emotional attachment to Rosarito. It was more than 20 years ago that I made my first foray into Baja after moving to California, and it was a revelation – there was a foreign country with a different language … right down the block! I dragged friends there for firsthand lessons on border issues, I bought handmade furniture from artisans there, I got married there nine years ago, and my husband and I vowed to return every year to celebrate our anniversary. FULL STORY
SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
REDISCOVER ROSARITO PROJECT RECOGNIZES STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---In a Sunday screening at Baja Studios the 10 students who participated in this year’s Rediscover Rosarito Film Project were honored and best films from the session selected. Mayor Hugo Torres gave the welcoming20remarks to those attending, and thanked both the participants and the organizers of the film project. The seven-day filmmaking class was organized by Emerson College Professor Gregory Payne, who leads a project dedicated to conveying an accurate picture of the city in the United States. Students ranged from ages 17 to 28. “You’re all leaders,” Payne told the student film makers Sunday night. This year’s intensive class, the second annual, was led by independent Hollywood pro ducer Michael McManus, who worked closely with students on scripts, production and editing of the short films. Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival, provided HD Panasonic Cameras supplied cameras, Apple laptops, and other equipment for the local and high school and college students. The LA Program, a private international student exchange, also assisted. Emerson College students and alumni also participate. Payne and others donate their time for the class and there is no cost to students or to Rosarito. The Rosarito Beach Hotel donates facilities, lodging and food. Baja Studios, where Titanic and Master & Commander were filmed, donated it theater facility. Taking the class this year were Armando Calderon, Viktor Gonzalez, Lucas Seamanduras, Alberto Martinez, Guillermo Jimenez, Antonio Mendoza, Dalia Salazar, Samuel Paredes and Michelle Hinojo. Corina Martinez, who took the class last year, also participated and served as an assistant instructor. Most students worked as two-person teams and produced six short films of several minutes each. A behind-the-scenes look at this year’s project also was produced and shown to the 80 people at the two-hour ceremony at the Baja Studios auditorium. The best film award was shared by two works. One was Rediscover Rosarito by Hinojo and Parales; the other was Pasado Meridiana by Martinez and Jimenez. Judging the entries were Payne; McManus; Janice Payne of the LA Program, Baja Studios manager Rolando Navarro; Pedro Rodrigues, a master’s candidate at Superior Escuela de Communicaciones in Lisbon, Portugal; and Ron Raposa, Rosarito’s international public relations representative. The David Twomey Award for Creativity in Advocacy went to Paredes and Hinojo and the Michael McManus Acting Award to Calderon. Payne, whose family has a vacation home in Rosarito and who has visited the city for years, said he started the RediscoveRosarito project because many people in the U.S. were not receiving a full and accurate picture of life in area. MEDIA CONTACT: Ron Raposa 619-948-3740 ronraposa@hotmail.com
AUGUST 23, 2009
REDISCOVER ROSARITO GOES TO THE BALLGAME
On Sunday, August 23, 2009, eight Rosarito Beach-area residents were treated to an afternoon at San Diego’s PETCO Park, courtesy of the Padres Foundation and in conjunction with an ongoing public affairs project, “Rediscover Rosarito”, led by Emerson College students and faculty. The students, aged 13 to 18, enjoyed a memorable experience while serving as cross-cultural ambassadors for the Baja community. Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres expressed his gratitude to the Padres organization for hosting the group, providing their tickets, and presenting them with souvenirs. Both Torres and the Padres envision the event as the first step in a long-term partnership: “There are many Padres fans in Rosarito Beach and there will certainly be many more. We very much look forward to continuing to develop interest in both the Padres and in our beachside community, which is only thirty miles away from San Diego,” he said. ''The Padres were delighted to serve as hosts,'' said Alex Montoya, the Padres Director of Latino Relations, ''and show how baseball in a beautiful ballpark is tremendously fun, especially for the children present. At the same time we look forward to speaking more with officials from Rosarito and exploring more things we can do in that city and how we can make their visits to PETCO Park even better.'' The event was organized by Rediscover Rosarito, (http://www.rediscoverosarito.org) a public affairs/public diplomacy project led by Dr. Gregory Payne that is dedicated to the community of Playas de Rosarito, Baja California. Established in 2008, the effort is run by a grassroots coalition of graduate students from Emerson College in Boston and local Rosarito Beach leaders and supporters. Its mission is to mitigate the effects of a steady stream of bad news and inaccurate reporting coming from Mexico and restore Rosarito Beach’s image as a safe, secure, convenient location for tourism, retirement and investment. The afternoon was spearheaded by Emerson Masters in Communication Management candidate Jeffrey Werner, who worked closely with Rosarito-area leaders, “I was personally excited to have helped build a much-needed bridge between the municipality and the Padres, in addition to the obvious pleasure of sharing the event with the students themselves.” He added, “I look forward to similar future endeavors with Mayor Torres and his staff.” Emerson School of Communication Dean Janis Anderson also expressed her support for the project: ”It is always gratifying to find our students utilizing their Emerson education by applying it to a real world situation and using it to do their best to improve a particular situation.” For more information, please contact: Ron Raposa Telephone: (619) 948-3740 E-mail: ronraposa@hotmail.com
 Mayor Hugo Torres
Americans may be safer than they think as tourists in Baja California By S.D. LIDDICK Photo by http://web.mac.com/sergiosphoto Darey Castro is a minor celebrity in Mexico’s banda and grupera music community. Though he’s had several songs on the charts, his greatest claim to fame is surviving an attempt on his life. In 2004, he was shot four times during an incident that killed four of his band mates. The bloodletting occurred as a result of his affiliation with two warring drug cartels. Today he lives in Los Angeles and says he is forbidden to return to his native country. In 2007, Castro calmly explained to me in the plush offices of his Los Angeles–based music label that U.S. territory has already been carved up by Mexican cartels. He’s been forbidden to travel to Arizona because the southern part of that state is controlled by a rival faction. But he also said Americans aren’t in danger. In fact, he said, in Mexico it’s common for cartel gunmen to check IDs before carrying out executions. Mexican natives with American citizenship are often spared. Messing with gringos is generally proscribed south of the border, as heat from the DEA and FBI——and subsequent pressure from the Mexican army and federal authorities——is highly uncomfortable for the narcos. When Mexican president Felipe Calderón came to office in 2006, he cut traditional ties with organized crime and declared war on the drug trade——a war many upper-level Mexican authorities and intellectuals say is unwinnable. Those authorities know what officials on both sides of the border have known for years: The drug paradigm in Mexico is as simple (and immutable) as supply and demand. As long as the United States remains one of the world’s most insatiable narcotics markets, ambitious Mexicans will continue to supply the drugs, despite the threat of jail time and death. FULL STORY
AUGUST 21, 2009
OFFICIAL FILM FESTIVAL PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 20, 2009 Rosarito Project Teaches 10 Students Filmmaking And Promotes City Image ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---Starting Sunday 10 local students will take a six-day filmmaking class led by an Emerson College professor who heads a project dedicated to conveying an accurate picture of the city in the United States. Public affairs professor Gregory Payne will lead the class with the assistance of Michael McManus, an independent television and film producer. Emerson college students and alumni also participate Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival, is supplying Panasonic HD cameras, Apple laptops, and other equipment for the local and high school and college students. The LA Program, a private international student exchange, also assists. Payne and others donate their time for the class and there is no cost to students or to Rosarito. The hotel donates facilities, lodging and food. During the intensive six-day class students will stay and study at the hosting Rosarito Beach Hotel while completing short films about Rosarito. Those will be shown Sunday evening Aug. 30 at Baja Studios, where Titanic and Master & Commander were filmed. This is the second year of the project, held in conjunction with Payne’s ongoing class project RediscoveRosarito (website: RediscoveRosarito.org) “Last year we had a great group of Rosarito students who produced some fine short films conveying the image of the city they know well,” Payne said. “I am excited to be doing it again.” Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres is a strong supporter of the projects. “Dr. Payne through the RediscoveRosarito project and the film project has been a great friend and supporter of Rosarito,” Torres said. “The city is very appreciative of the ongoing efforts of the professor, his colleagues and students.” Payne, whose family has a vacation home in Rosarito and who has visited the city for years, said he started the RediscoveRosartio project because much of the media coverage he was seeing in the U.S. was not giving an accurate picture of life in area. He said that much of the coverage of the Mexican government’s crackdown on drug cartels has created the misperception that Rosarito is unsafe for residents and visitors, and has had a devastating effect on the region’s economy. "Some of the coverage I was seeing in the U.S. was responsible and balanced, especially from media who knew the area best,” he said. “But a number of stories, including some from large national media outlets, perpetuated an image of the area that simply was not accurate. Sensationalism and simplification too often were the main elements in the reporting." The RediscoveRosarito website contains a media watch component among other elements. The project’s mission statement is “to sustain a grassroots, international coalition between students from Emerson College in Boston, local leaders of Rosarito Beach, and others dedicated to restoring the image of Rosarito Beach as a safe, secure, prime location for tourism, retirement and real estate investment.” “To put it as simply as possible, the overwhelming perception that has been created of Rosarito in the United States is not an accurate one.” Payne said. “Through the project, we want to bring the perception in line with the reality. Like places everywhere, Rosarito is neither perfect not without problems. But it is an outstanding city and a welcoming one to its many visitors and expatriate residents.” He added: “Mayor Torres has put some excellent services in place for visitors and foreign residents that you will not find even in major tourist destinations in the United States.” Payne is an associate professor and former chair of Emerson College's Department of Communication Studies. He is Director of the Center for Ethics in Political and Health Communication, which he co-founded in 1996. Payne holds a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as an MPA from theKennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is co-author of The Impossible Dream, a biography of former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. Joining Payne as instructor this year is Michael McManus, who has won a best actor from Campus MovieFest and produced a film that was finalist in national competition. He also is an alumnus of Emerson. Campus MovieFest, which is supplying equipment, is the only event of its kind to provide Apple laptops, Panasonic HD camcorders, AT&T phones, and training all for free to tens of thousands of students around the globe. Campus MovieFest President Dan Costa said he is “proud that Campus MovieFest can be a part of a program that encourages students to make a difference, and tell their story through movie making. That’s what CMF is all about.” Students at more than 50 colleges and universities have one week to create their own short movies, with each school hosting red carpet finales to showcase its top movies. MEDIA CONTACT: Ron Raposa 619-948-3740 ronraposa@hotmail.com
AUGUST 12, 2009
THE STUDENT FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS TO ROSARITO
Originally created by four students, and now the world's largest student film and music festival, Campus MovieFest is the only event of its kind to provide Apple laptops, Panasonic HD camcorders, AT&T phones, and training all for free to tens of thousands of students around the globe. Students at over 50 colleges and universities have one week to create their own short movies, with each school hosting red carpet finales to showcase its top movies. The best of the best move on to their CMF regional grand finales, which determine the top student teams that move onto the CMF International Grand Finale on the lot of Paramount Studios. Over 250,000 students have participated, earning over $1,000,000 in prizing. Thousands of past movies are available for viewing online at www.campusmoviefest.com, as well as in-flight on Virgin America, on AT&T phones, and at the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival. Last year, students in Rosarito showcased what the Baja means to them as a part of Campus Movie Fest, and this year the results are sure to be even more impressive!
Rosarito En Positivo is a new program spearheaded by team member Charmiant Corado in collaboration with the Rosarito government, that focuses on grassroots, native strategic communication to help restore the image of the Baja. As our first Spanish-language segment, En Positivo is broadening the audience and strategic potential of the entire Rediscover Rosarito campaign. Check it out in our programs section.  Adventura Spa Palace
SFGATE.com
All-inclusive resorts with cattle-call buffets and indifferent service are still with us, but they're rapidly being replaced by architect-designed havens with vaunted international chefs and 3-to-1 employee-to-guest ratios. Golf, tennis, zip lines, climbing walls and even trapeze lessons have replaced conga lines and limbo dancing. And with deals to entice travelers back to Mexico multiplying like Tribbles, now is a great time to discover this new breed of all-inclusive.
FULL STORY
OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ ASSOCIATED PRESS "Mexico gave the world an early warning, and it also gave the world a model of rapid and transparent reporting, aggressive control measures, and generous sharing of data and samples," Chan said Thursday during a two-day summit of health ministers in Cancun. Just how effective Mexico's draconian response was will take some time to determine, because scientists will have to compare what was done with what might have happened had the country done nothing, said Nancy Cox, who leads the influenza division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "However, they were so courageous to do what they did. It impressed the entire world," Cox said. Mexican President Felipe Calderon also faced resistance at home — he said some state officials wanted to hide the numbers for fear it would cause panic, but he overruled them. FULL STORY
Phil Friedman Dailybreeze.com Mexico has been reduced to a single, small, geographical piece of this earth. If there is a murder in Michoacan, then the presumption of the 24-hour news cycle has been that it is too dangerous to travel to Rosarito Beach even though it is thousands of miles away. According to Arturo Martinez from the Mexican Tourism office, no tourists have been killed in the drug war violence throughout Mexico. Still, on a recent CNN news report, U.S. citizens were warned not to travel to Mexico. Well what part of Mexico was CNN referring to? Mexico is a huge country and to say travel to Mexico is dangerous is not only inadequate information but very misleading. FULL STORY
Examiner.com The Mexican tourism industry has taken it in la boca this year thanks to the triple whammy of the H1N1 viral outbreak, warnings over drug violence and the down economy. So for those adventurous enough to vamanos, bargains await and crowds are few, according to reports. An Associated Press dispatch in June details the serendipitous experience of a Seattle resident who, with his friends, decided to head to Mexico and came away delighted to have an entire resort almost to themselves. His friend reported paying a mere $142 a week for a rental car originally booked at $350. Chains such as Real Resorts Mexican promise free vacations a year for three years if a guest comes down with H1N1 within two weeks of the end of their stay. Rooms at many Mexican resort destinations are being offered at steep discounts. As of this writing, the travel booking site Expedia.com is offering flights and stays to Cancun at up to an 70 percent off. In the Los Angeles Times, Mexican journalist Andres Martinez appealed in its editorial pages to, in effect, help a brother out. "Mexico needs the help of all Americans," he writes, "Either by booking a week's holiday on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta or Los Cabos, or visiting Mexico City, or any of the colonial towns in the heart of the country. This is for the common good." So take your pick, you can either be a mercenary and take advantage of a beaten down neighbor, or appeal to your softer side by helping boost a flagging tourist trade of a key local neighbor. Either way, the word from down south makes for quite the call of la sirena.
Austin Business Journal
The Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the governor’s office and the city of Austin to host the 2009 U.S./Mexico Sister Cities International Conference from Aug. 5 through Aug. 9, an event that will bring about 300 attendees from more than 160 U.S. cities and their sister city counterparts in Mexico.
The Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network, created in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower, that aims to create and strengthens partnerships between the United States and international communities.
The conference agenda will include discussions keynoted by: Hope Andrade, Texas secretary of state; Rosalba Ojeda, consul general of Mexico; Lloyd Doggett, U.S. congressman; Daniel Llanes, local Texan artist; and Art Acevedo, city of Austin police chief.
It will take place at the Sheraton Hotel on 701 East 11th Street.
DONALD G. MCNEILNew York TimesContrary to the popular assumption that the new swine flu pandemic arose on factory farms in Mexico, federal agriculture officials now believe that it most likely emerged in pigs in Asia, but then traveled to North America in a human. But they emphasized that there was no way to prove their theory and only sketchy data underpinning it. There is no evidence that this new virus, which combines Eurasian and North American genes, has ever circulated in North American pigs, while there is tantalizing evidence that a closely related “sister virus” has circulated in Asia. FULL STORY
Greg Flakus VOA News
This past weekend, gun battles between federal forces and drug cartel gunmen in Mexico claimed more than 20 lives. One of the bloodiest incidents occurred in the resort city of Acapulco, where soldiers killed 16 gunmen. But there are signs that the government is making progress in its war against organized crime.
FULL STORY
Andrés Martinez Los Angeles TimesYour neighbor needs your help. Do you have it within you to lend a hand? Will you book yourself a week on the beach in Cabo or Puerto Vallarta, or explore Mexico City or one of the colonial cities in the heart of Mexico? You know, for the common good. This has been a banner decade for empathy tourism -- many Americans flocking to New York after 9/11 and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did so with a sense of public service. Mexico now needs a similar surge. FULL STORY
DAVID REINBOLD McClatchy Newspapers What kind of person sells all her possessions, hops in a car with a fistful of cash and drives south of the border to make a new life? Meet Barbara Swartz: She's done it twice. "It takes a sense of adventure," said the 78-year-old, whose roots are in California. "I've come here twice, once 25 years ago, and once five years ago after my husband died, and each time I sold everything I owned and left." Or meet Gordon White, a retired software executive who left the snow and ice of Michigan 12 years ago and has never looked back. "The transition was nice," White said. "No more cold, no more snow, no more ice. The only ice I see is in my drinks now. I love it." Swartz and White are among the estimated million American expatriates living in Mexico, the largest community of American expatriates anywhere in the world. They come to Mexico for its sunshine and warm weather, its proximity to home and a cost of living that's far lower than in the United States. FULL STORY
Christine DelsolSFGate.comIt's been two weeks since the State Department and the Centers for Disease Control lifted their travel warnings on travel to Mexico, and the deals are rolling in. The CDC lifted its recommendation against nonessential travel to Mexico on May 15, citing evidence that Mexico's flu outbreak was slowing down, increasing numbers of cases in the United States and other countries were unrelated to Mexico travel, and that the risk of infection appears to be lower than first believed. The State Department quickly followed suit. FULL STORY
By Ruben Navarrette Jr. Globalpost.comSAN DIEGO — Eager to be all things to all people, President Barack Obama tends to say one thing and do another. And so, when Obama said recently that he had no interest in "militarizing" the U.S.-Mexico border, it was only a matter of time before the administration drew up plans to do just that. Sure enough, according to media reports, the Pentagon and Homeland Security Department are developing contingency plans to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. The specifics have yet to be worked out, but the $350 million initiative would radically expand the role of the U.S. military in the drug war. The proposal does not mention troop deployments, only that the military would receive the funding "for counter-narcotics and other activities" on the border. FULL STORY
LARRY ROHTER
nytimes.com
MEXICO CITY — Just for argument’s sake, let’s compare Mexico’s management of the swine flu epidemic that broke out here last month with China’s handling of SARS in 2002. The Chinese initially tried to deny there was an outbreak, were slow to combat its spread and resisted cooperation with foreign investigators. By the time SARS was brought under control, more than 700 people had died.
Mexico’s conduct has been different. The authorities may have been slow to identify the threat, but once they did, they quickly notified international health agencies, acted efficiently to prevent the epidemic from mushrooming, and began working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. As of Friday, the death toll was 45.
FULL STORY
John Lauerman
bloomberg.com
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu has sickened at least 257 people in 11 countries, including Mexico, the U.S., New Zealand, Canada and the U.K., according to the World Health Organization.
The organization raised its six-tier pandemic alert to 5 and said the world’s first influenza pandemic since 1968 may soon be declared. Hundreds of more cases are suspected, as health officials around the world check to see whether infections have occurred in their countries and ready measures to prevent its spread.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about swine flu. The information is drawn from the data released by the World Health Organization in Geneva and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
FULL STORY
APRIL 21, 2009
OBAMA AND CALDERON: THIS IS OUR SHARED PROBLEM
Michael Coe
foreignpolicyblogs.com
American President-elect Barack Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Washington. More detailed analysis to follow, but see coverage here. Significantly, the BBC points out that this will be “Mr Obama's first [meeting] with a foreign leader since his election in November”. Although high-profile issues of the global financial crisis and wars abroad will dominate American policymaking, Obama's meeting with Calderon sends an important signal of solidarity between the two countries. The most pressing issue now is organized crime and the widespread violence that is engulfing Mexico. The US is responsible in large part due to the demand of drugs and lax gun laws which allow traffickers to bring weapons into Mexico. See BBC article here.
However, it is important to remember that when President Bush was first elected, his first meeting with a head of state was with then President Fox of Mexico. The bilateral agenda between the two countries, primarily about trade and immigration at the time, was quickly sidelined after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Pamela Starr
uscpublicdiplomacy.org
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Mexico (March 25-26) demonstrated, once again, the power of public diplomacy. The trip was a tour de force (with only one minor mishap) that opened a window of opportunity in a bilateral relationship that had become badly damaged. Prior to her trip, the mood toward the United States in Mexico was quite sour, the consequence of both Bush administration policies and recent developments.
Mexico still harbors disappointment at have been shunted from the center of the U.S. foreign policy stage during the Bush administration’s first months to the margins of Washington’s concerns... FULL TEXT
|
