News (Noticias) Tagged ‘corruption’

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation tying anti-drug assistance for Mexico to human rights safeguards.

The House voted 311-106 today in favor of legislation requiring the Mexican government to certify that law enforcement authorities fighting drug cartels aren’t involved in corruption or human-rights abuses.

The final aid language also will have to be approved by the Senate, where the certification requirement will probably be changed to “guidelines,” said Senator Christopher Dodd.”*

When he came to office in December 2006, President Felipe Calderón implemented a strategy against organized crime. But the plan is failing because it has focused solely on the seizure of drugs, weapons and traffickers without attacking the larger financial or political structure.

National security and organized crime experts came to this conclusion to explain the escalation of violence, including beheadings, torture, kidnappings and mass killings that have been unleashed during the current administration.

“This is the experience of 107 countries: If you only go after gangsters without attacking the financial structure or political protection, what happens is a paradox: you add more troops, prosecutors and police, and the criminal groups put more money into corruption,” says Edgardo Buscaglia, advisor to the UN and academic at Mexico’s Autonomous Technological Institute (ITAM). “*

A group opposed to illegal immigration is using federal anti-corruption laws to sue a New Jersey property manager for allegedly renting apartments to undocumented immigrants.

The Immigration Reform Law Institute is suing Plainfield-based Connolly Properties, under the RICO statute, arguing that the company steers illegal immigrants into its buildings believing they will be too afraid to complain about deplorable conditions.”*

Unfortunately, corruption is a way of life in Mexico. And labor unions, as much as any institution, demonstrate that fact. The National Union of Education Workers or SNTE (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educacion), is a case in point: for decades, the 1.4 million-member labor organization has represented a huge obstacle to school reform in Mexico — and less directly, to immigration reform in the U.S.

Running this behemoth with an iron fist and a greased palm is one Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, a woman whose ability to strike fear into opponents has even current Mexican President Felipe Calderon walking softly. A new report published by the Washington, D.C.–based Center for Immigration Studies — called “‘Jimmy Hoffa in a Dress’: Union Boss’s Stranglehold on Mexican Education Creates Immigration Fallout” — reveals just how tight her union’s grip has been on that nation’s public schools. Actually, the main title seems somewhat unfair — to Jimmy Hoffa. Not even at his most ruthless did the late Teamster leader steal funds or wield political influence on the scale enjoyed by Ms. Gordillo and her cronies.”*

Although the Mexican army has been able to quiet drug violence in some hot spots, political observers say the deployment of thousands of soldiers could undermine civilian institutions and jeopardize Mexico’s evolving democracy.

Critics say the military lacks the training and sensibilities for such work, and fear it will trample on the rights of ordinary Mexicans.

The army, with its low salaries and high desertion rate, also could prove as vulnerable to corruption as police, who often have acted as hired guns for smugglers. Five Mexican soldiers, including a major, were indicted in January on charges of leaking information on their unit’s movements to members of the Sinaloa drug cartel.”*

A broad coalition of activists will gather Wednesday, May 28 in New York City to express support for Puerto Rico’s embattled teachers and schoolchildren, to protest the decision of SEIU’s leadership to launch an attack on the existing teachers union and to exhort SEIU to cease this activity.

Rafael Feliciano Hernandez, President of the Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR — the Puerto Rican teachers’ union) will be joined at the event by members of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress (PSC), SEIU, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) and other local labor leaders, along with the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), community and religious organizations, local student activists, and concerned relatives of Island students.

WHAT: News Conference Insisting SEIU Cease Attacks on Teachers Union

WHO: Puerto Rican, Labor, Education, Religious and Progressive Activists

WHEN: Wednesday, May 28, 10:30 am

WHERE: Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, 475 Park Avenue South
at 32nd Street

SEIU — facing a well-publicized internal battle — begins its Convention in Puerto Rico next week in the shadow of its attempt to take over the Island’s 42,000-member teachers’ union. SEIU’s “raid” comes on the heels of sustained efforts by the Puerto Rico Teachers Union (FMPR) — united with parents and students — to fight against:

– horrific educational conditions
– privatization of schools
– the negative effects of “No Child Left Behind”
– government assaults on democratic school leadership committees
– repressive labor laws
– abysmal salaries — monthly average of $1600 with living costs higher
than those in the US.

After nearly three years of working without a contract, the teachers unanimously voted to strike in a mass union meeting of over 7,000 members in November 2007. While negotiations continued, sources report that SEIU leader Dennis Rivera was meeting with Puerto Rico Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila.

According to the New York Daily News, the Governor told Rivera that the teachers’ union is “yours to take.” Previously El Diaro-La Prensa reported that Rivera had discussed the teachers union with Acevedo in addition to possible SEIU monetary support for the Governor, who has recently been indicted on corruption charges.

The Puerto Rican government declared the teachers’ strike illegal, based on the vote alone — the actual strike was not called until late February 2008 — and moved to decertify FMPR. Almost simultaneously, SEIU announced that the Island’s union of school principals and supervisors was affiliating with SEIU — and would attempt to take over the teachers’ union.

In the aftermath of the 10 day strike that paralyzed the nation’s public schools with unprecedented support and participation from teachers, students and parents, FMPR continues its work as the representative of the Island’s teachers, negotiating with the government over school conditions while fighting for recognition as the bargaining unit.

The Delegate Assembly of New York City’s United Federation of Teachers (UFT) declared solidarity with the Puerto Rico teachers and voted unanimously to “support the Puerto Rican teachers in their struggle to be treated with dignity.” CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress (PSC) resolved to “participate in strike support efforts and solidarity with the striking teachers of the FMPR.” The struggle was discussed at NYC’s Central Labor Council, and the California Federation of Teachers, having sent funds already to support FMPR, plans to urge the AFT to do so as well.

SEIU leadership is in the midst of a tremendous internal struggle with sectors within the union advocating for greater member democracy. As these members engage President Andy Stern and other leaders inside the Convention Hall — ironically to be held in Puerto Rico — FMPR teachers will surely protest what they view as SEIU’s sabotage of the struggle for quality education on their island nation. SEIU leaders’ apparent collusion with the government/employer of teachers in Puerto Rico echoes similar accusations of what critics characterize as a recent trend toward “sweetheart deals” with employers in the private sector on the mainland.

Here in NY, 1199/SEIU, one of the international’s locals with an exemplary reputation as a progressive union, recently launched a series of attempted raids against the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which represents Registered Nurses. These raids occur as NYSNA’s nurses battle hardened employers who are attempting to diminish nurses’ power as they advocate for quality care for their patients, further escalating the inter-union wars on the mainland.

Rather than destabilizing already difficult situations faced by unions — particularly in a nation such as Puerto Rico that has its own particularities — SEIU’s leaders need to focus on their members as they grapple with the difficult questions that face trade unionists today.
“*

Mr. Villarreal and a brother, Fidel, also a former Border Patrol agent, are suspected of helping to smuggle an untold number of illegal immigrants from Mexico and Brazil across the border. The brothers quit the Border Patrol two years ago and are believed to have fled to Mexico.

The Villarreal investigation is among scores of corruption cases in recent years that have alarmed officials in the Homeland Security Department just as it is hiring thousands of border agents to stem the flow of illegal immigration.

The pattern has become familiar: Customs officers wave in vehicles filled with illegal immigrants, drugs or other contraband. A Border Patrol agent acts as a scout for smugglers. Trusted officers fall prey to temptation and begin taking bribes.”*

Another Brazilian filmmaker leaves the favelas behind and moves to Hollywood: The Hollywood Reporter reports that acclaimed yet controversial writer-director José Padilha will make an action movie, appropriately set in South America, for Warner Bros. Hardly a stranger to the genre, Padilha recently picked up the top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival for his critically divisive Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad), a semi-fictional action thriller about police corruption in Rio de Janeiro. “*

Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila was approved for re-election despite facing charges in an investigation of alleged corruption.

Acevedo’s Popular Democratic Party approved his candidacy for November elections, El Nuevo Dia reported Monday.

Last month, the Puerto Rican leader was charged with conspiracy, making false statements, wire fraud, federal program fraud and tax crimes. The alleged crimes were related to financing of his 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 campaign for resident commissioner of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and his subsequent 2004 gubernatorial campaign.”*

In an extraordinary public airing of alleged police corruption, a Mexican general has identified several law enforcement officers whose criminal activities include kidnapping, drug smuggling and operating protection rackets.

Corruption accusations are nothing new in Mexico, but Gen. Sergio Aponte Polito offered details of specific cases and named more than one dozen officers, some of them high-ranking officials.”*

José Cordoba, a maker of fine women’s shoes, walked hundreds of miles across Mexico in 1990 in order to find a job in the United States. Today, he is a U.S. citizen with a home in West Asheville, and his daughter, July, is about to graduate from the nursing program at Western Carolina University.

Chordeleg, Ecuador — Cordoba’s home — had been a thriving town in the 1970s, famous for its Incan archaeology and handmade crafts. But then, according to Cordoba, political corruption and rampant inflation made it impossible for him to support his family. Stores that bought his goods paid him with checks that bounced. Cordoba consigned himself to a dangerous journey.

He flew to Guatemala and joined a group of about 60 who followed a guide, in secretive and scattered fashion, across mountains and desert.”*

*From: http://citizen-times.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Latin American history has been marked with unrest, revolution, corruption and more. Since 1999, Latin America has experienced a series of changes in politics and attitudes toward the world in response to the expansion of capitalism and attendant ecological crises. In the last three years, many Latin American countries have chosen leftist governments.

In this special report, David Pazmino and the Hispanic Organization for Latin Americans (HOLA) presents a series of interviews from the Republic of Ecuador. In these interviews of government officials conducted and translated by Pazmino, we will hear the situation in Latin America from the best source, its people. This series of interviews is not meant to judge what is good or bad, but only to inform.”*

*From: http://media.www.theminaretonline.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Puerto Rico’s ruling party is asking supporters to help pay legal expenses incurred by Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila and associates facing charges of illegally raising money to pay off campaign debts, his chief of staff said Sunday.

A bank account was created to accept donations because defense costs in the federal corruption case will likely top $2 million, said Anibal Jose Torres, who is also director of the Popular Democratic Party.”*

*From: http://www.nydailynews.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila was charged today with 19 counts of corruption, according to the Associated Press.

The wire service says federal prosecutors announced that they’re filing charges against Acevedo and 12 others. The defendants are accused of participating in an illegal campaign finance scheme in 2000.”*

*From: http://blogs.usatoday.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

A developer, whose proposal to build a Latino-themed water park and resort was voted down by the City Council, filed a $1.5 billion claim against the city today alleging racism, fraud, corruption and incompetence.

Ron Granados, who addressed council members tonight, said he wants answers from city officials and the mayor as to why they rejected his plans for the Las Americas theme park, Aquatica Water Park and Amazonia Sea-Park Aquarium projects on Willowick Golf Course.

“They delayed our project by 18 months,” he said. “They stalled us and strung us along with excuses after excuses after excuses. And then they rejected our project in a closed session without even giving us the courtesy of a hearing.”*

*From: http://www.ocregister.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The Mexican military is in the process of rearming municipal police forces along the Tamaulipas border, Reynosa Police Chief Juan Jose Muñiz said on Monday.

Last month, federal soldiers confiscated weapons from police in Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Alemán, Rio Bravo, Miguel Alemán, Matamoros and Valle Hermosa as part of an effort to root out police corruption, specifically collusion with drug cartels.”*

*From: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Poorly trained, badly paid and vulnerable to corruption, Mexico’s legions of local police are increasingly caught in the crossfire as the Mexican government embarks on a crackdown on drug smugglers.

Dozens of municipal police have been killed in recent months in apparent drug hits, and several others, including the intelligence chief of Mexico City’s Police Department, are under investigation, suspected of links to smugglers.

Last month, the Mexican government announced it was scrutinizing police commanders nationwide, and the Mexican army said it was disarming 300 police along the Texas border while prosecutors investigated them. “*

*From: http://www.azcentral.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Yahoo! Telemundo today announced its Top 10 Searches for January (yahootelemundo.com/buzz), which include the Top 10 overall searches, image searches and news searches for the month, as established by the millions of Yahoo! Telemundo users.

Top Trends in Search for January include:

Top 10 Overall Searches
1. Games / Juegos
2. Funny Videos/ Videos Chistosos
3. Poems / Poemas
4. Chat
5. Translator / Traductor
6. Jokes / Chistes
7. Weight loss / Bajar de Peso
8. Pacman
9. Sex / Sexo
10 Novelas

It seems like people started the New Year in a playful mood as many looked for games, funny videos and jokes. Yahoo! Telemundo users also continued to look for ways to better communicate, searching for places to chat, ways translate and examples of inspirational poetry. In addition, they made sure to stay up to speed on their novelas.

Top 10 Image Searches
1. Shakira
2. Roselyn Sánchez
3. Britney Spears
4. Gisele Bundchen
5. Liz Vega
6. Hilary Duff
7. Juanes
8. Dulce Maria
9. Alicia Keys
10. Ronaldinho

Beautiful Latina celebrities like Shakira, Roselyn Sanchez and Liz Vega topped the image search list this past month, but troubled Britney Spears didn’t fall far behind as all her odd behavior and legal woes continued to be hot topics. Also, searches for Gisele Bundchen and Ronaldinho proved that Brazilians are still hot, hot, hot and further attested to their superstar status on the catwalk and on the soccer field, respectively.

Top 10 News Searches - Politics, UFOs, Cheaters and Recalls
1. Hostages FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) / Rehenes FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia)
2. Immigration / Inmigración
3. Barack Obama
4. Texas UFO
5. Toys and Lead / Juguetes de Plomo
6. Corruption / Corrupción
7. Steroids / Esteroides
8. Iraq / Irak
9. Los Oscar
10. Hillary Clinton

From the U.S. democratic candidates and the war in Iraq to the corruption throughout the Americas and the release of the FARC hostages in Colombia, politics and political turmoil were key news topics. In addition, the immigration debate remained a hot button for U.S. Hispanics and the ever-present news about toxic levels of lead in toys worried consumers and kept them searching for updates.

Every month the Yahoo! Telemundo Top 10 Searches showcases the diverse interests and concerns of U.S. Hispanics around the net, from gorgeous celebrity sightings and salacious political news to funny jokes and the latest consumer obsessions. The monthly list includes a recap of the Top 10 Overall Searches, Top 10 Image Searches and Top 10 Searches in a revolving category, which changes monthly. To come up with the Yahoo! Top Searches list, Yahoo! scans anonymous query logs from Yahoo! Search across a variety of categories to see what themes and trends bubble up to the surface. Individual searches are never used to develop these lists. For more information on Yahoo! Telemundo’s Top 10 Searches, visit www.yahootelemundo.com/buzz, “*

*From: http://www.hispanicprwire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The nasty campaign rhetoric began to bubble up even before Martinez formally announced his candidacy a week ago — with several well-aimed jabs at Díaz-Balart. The day before, while campaigning for John McCain, Díaz Balart called Martinez a guy with a bad rep and a potty mouth to boot. ”His record is not only of corruption,” Díaz-Balart fumed (one of his two preferred rhetorical modes; the other is indignant), ”but also vulgarity.” Martinez vulgar? No me diga. That charge, however, doesn’t wash in Hialeah where a mayor who gets pot-holes fixed can talk any darned way he pleases.

The 21st congressional district, which runs from far Southwest Broward down through West Miami-Dade, is solidly middle-class, mostly Republican and about 70 percent Hispanic. There are about 20,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, but also a growing number of independents. Díaz-Balart has represented the district, in one shape or another, since 1992 and by most lights done a pretty good job. In recent years he has faced only write-in candidates whom he has trounced.”*

*From: http://www.miamiherald.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Raul Martinez, the charismatic but controversial former Hialeah mayor, is returning to politics to challenge one of the most powerful Republicans in the Cuban-American community: U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart.

Martinez’s expected announcement Tuesday in front of Hialeah City Hall pits two South Florida political titans — both admired by large numbers of Cuban Americans.

The campaign will be deeply acrimonious with charges of corruption, and challenges of who’s tougher on Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Martinez, 58, a Democrat, is the most serious challenger Díaz-Balart, 53, has faced in his 15 years as U.S. congressman.”*

*From: http://www.miamiherald.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Alvaro Colom, a 57-year-old industrial engineer and textile businessman, was sworn in on Monday as Guatemala’s president for a 4-year term at a ceremony at the Miguel Angel Asturias National Theatre in central Guatemala City, according to news reaching here.

During his election campaign, he promised to promote free markets and reduce inequality focusing on the following areas — fighting poverty and crime via social spending, generating jobs via investment promotion, and purging the police and the courts of corruption.”*

*From: http://news.xinhuanet.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Former world 400 meters champion and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Ana Guevara has retired from track and field after recently denouncing corruption in the Mexican Athletics Federation.

Guevara, considered Mexico’s greatest athlete ever, made the announcement at a news conference Wednesday. She said that she was retiring because of problems she faced in 2007, when she requested the removal of Mexican Athletics Federation head Mariano Lara.

The 30-year-old said she could not be part of the Mexican delegation and stay true to her beliefs. Mexico’s National Sports and Culture Commission is investigating Lara for mismanagement of funds. However, track and field’s world governing body has endorsed him.”*

*From: http://www.voanews.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

A country that falls apart amidst the degradation of a shameful tyranny, the unimaginable levels of decomposition of a corrupted society and everything opposed to a love story, one that seems doomed from inception, are the key plot lines of “El Señor Presidente”.

The film, which premiered against all odds on November 2007 in many important theatres across Venezuela, is directed by Rómulo Guardia and co- produced with Jorge Granier and Caupolican Ovalles for RCTV and its partner The Angostura Film Company. RCTV is the 54 year old Venezuelan network station that was shot down by the Chávez government six months ago. Based on the 1946 Latin American classic novel “El Señor Presidente” written by Miguel Angel Asturias, Nobel Laureate 1967, the film is considered a faithful adaptation of what is defined by critics as Asturia’s master piece.

The story develops in a fictitious country “anywhere in Latin America”, where irrationality rules, degradation is the law, justice is a mockery and the political and military clique enjoy themselves amidst corruption, while abusing their fellow citizens under total impunity. Not a coincidence with today’s Venezuela. The cast, composed of some of Latin America’s most reputed actors, such as Carlos Mata, Gustavo Rodriguez, Chantal Baudaux and Javier Vidal, give life to a series of characters that faithfully interpret its obscure plot, in a surreal environment that clearly respects the original atmosphere of the novel. The anachronism of the “mise en scène”, the production design and contrasted photography situate and us in dark and cruel settings that pull us further down into the drama. Witout a doubt, director Rómulo Guardia defies Venezuela’s “El Señor Presidente” and at the same time challenges Asturia’s metaphors imposing the symbolism of his images and music, in a valid and courageous effort to translate for the public the force of the Latino American classic written by the real father and master of magical realism.

“El Señor Presidente” is Guardia´s opera prima for movie theatres after directing and producing highly rated and successful telefilms for RCTV. These television films scored high ratings for the station and were successfully sold to Hispanic stations across the continent by RCTV International, therefore watched by audiences of millions. Previous to filming “movies of the week”, Rómulo Guardia held a top production position with Discovery Networks Latin America & Iberia, where he was honored with several awards such as The Peer Award, Gold BDA/Promax and Gold Telly for his creative productions.

With “El Señor Presidente”, its directorial debut, Rómulo Guardia shares with us a strange vision of a reality only comparable to magical and surreal nightmares. Set in a semi-futuristic environment, where opulence is contrasted against sordid misery, and where the past and present intertwines within an atmosphere of cruelty and hellish corruption, the film could be considered an avant-garde expression of a common Latin curse: the wrong choice of those governments that rule for themselves instead than for those that first elected them. “*

*From: http://www.hispanicprwire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish