Free Republic

DARIEN GAP, Panama—The grind of heavy machinery breaks the silence of the Darién jungle, where the Pan American Highway ends at Yaviza in Panama. Construction workers have cleared towering trees to make way for a steel and concrete bridge mighty enough to withstand flooding from the Chucunaque River. An onsite worker for the construction company Cusa told The Epoch Times the construction project will cut 4 miles into the Darién jungle at a cost of $42 million and includes a second bridge crossing the Tuira River. That would leave some 55 miles to finish the Pan American Highway, also known...

Using advanced lidar imagery, researchers from Tulane University have discovered over 6,500 unexplored ancient Mayan settlements hidden beneath dense Mexican jungle forests.The researchers say their findings only scratch the surface of the settlements that likely populate the country's unexplored landscape.The team involved with the historic discovery employed lidar technology to scan a 50-square-mile section of the overgrown landscape in Campeche, Mexico. Like radar, which uses radio waves to image objects, lidar employs laser pulses that bounce off different materials at different rates. These reflected pulses allow researchers to peer beneath the surface of several types of terrains, including jungle forests,...

A graduate student analyzing publicly available drone data in Mexico unexpectedly stumbled across a huge ancient Mayan city buried beneath dense jungle. For centuries, the city lay hidden amid jungle canopy in the state of Campeche, on the Gulf of Mexico. New research published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity reveals sites that in total cover area about one-and-a-half times the size of Washington, D.C.

Recently, Kahlo has become a polarizing figure in the conversation about cultural appropriation. While some express profound admiration and reverence for the artist, others passionately argue that Kahlo profited off an exoticized, calculated self-image at the expense of Indigenous people. To some, this accusation may seem like a wrongful application of the concept of cultural appropriation. After all, Kahlo was a citizen of the country from which her clothes originated, and she was immersed in Indigenous culture. Therefore, some claim that she was justified in wanting to embrace her Indigenous roots as a form of self-expression. Both supporters and...

Well-known priest shot dead after officiating Mass in Mexico state wracked by cartel violence Updated on: / 6:01 PM EDT / CBS/AP Hundreds gathered Monday to mourn Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers who was killed in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas. The Chiapas public prosecutor's office said on Tuesday it had arrested the suspected killer, AFP reported. It was a killing that many say was a tragedy foretold, in a state where drug cartels have caused thousands of people to flee their homes. Mourners gathered in San Andres Larrainzar, near the city...

On Telemundo, Kamala admits she wants a pathway to citizenship for illegals She also says that she’s against mass deportations

'I love Kamala Harris,' a young Venezuelan man declared as he rested on the side of a highway in southern Mexico last week. His belongings were heaped at his feet. Hundreds of fellow migrants stretched out along the roadway in both directions. They're headed for the U.S. and nearly all of them have an opinion about who should be America's next president. 'Donald Trump, no,' the Venezuelan man said, shaking his head and dragging his thumb across his throat in a slicing motion. He is one of thousands of migrants – from all over the world – joining a new...

ohn Deere says they plan to lay off an additional 287 workers. However, the company insists that those jobs are not being moved to Mexico.. “It is important to note these layoffs are due to reduced demand for the products produced at these facilities. They are not related to production moves,” the company wrote in a statement to KWQC-TV. “As we have repeatedly stated, layoffs this fiscal year are due to the weakening farm economy and a reduction in customer orders for our equipment.” John Deere had already announced the layoffs of more than 600 employees at three production plants...

With the election and inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum to the presidency, Mexico is rapidly descending into a dictatorship. Here's the marquee case: #Mexico's entering a #constitutionalcrisis. Pres @Claudiashein said she'll willfully fall in contempt of court after a federal judge orders congressional approval of the dismantling of the #judicialbranch halted due to legislative procedural violations-so much for the #RuleOfLaw. — Tony Payan (@PayanTony) October 19, 2024 Sheinbaum plans to ignore the courts and do what she wants, which doesn't portend much future for rule of law there. The MORENA party of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Sheinbaum seems to have...

A new migrant caravan of approximately 1,000 migrants departed from Mexico’s southern border this weekend to make its way to Mexico City. From there, the group is expected to disperse and find various ways to reach the U.S. border. The caravan is the second to start in Mexico since October 1, when the country’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, took office. The caravan began early Sunday morning in Tapachula, Chiapas, and has been officially named “God is Guiding Us.” The caravan comprises approximately 1,000 migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Haiti, Panamá, and Costa Rica, as well as some migrants from...

President Claudia Sheinbaum has called for the recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, reaffirming Mexico's longstanding position on the matter. In a statement on Saturday, reported by Revista Proceso, she declared, "We condemn the aggressions that are being experienced and also consider that the State of Palestine must be recognized in its entirety just like the State of Israel. This has been Mexico's position for many years, and that is the position we have and the search for peace above all. War will never lead to a good outcome." Sheinbaum, known for her leftist political stance and European Jewish...

The mayor of a city in southern Mexico has been murdered less than a week after taking office, authorities said Sunday, the latest in a series of attacks on politicians in the violence-plagued Latin American country. The killing of Chilpancingo mayor Alejandro Arcos "fills us with indignation," Guerrero state governor Evelyn Salgado wrote on social media, without providing further details of the circumstances. Local media reported that Arcos was decapitated, but there has been no official confirmation. Reuters reported that photos circulating on WhatsApp showed a severed head on top of what appeared to be Arcos' vehicle, but the news...

Cardinal, exorcists have differing takes on ‘cleansing’ ritual performed on Mexican presidentA Mexican cardinal and three priests, two of them exorcists, have differing takes on the “cleansing” ritual that was performed during the inauguration of the country’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum.Sheinbaum, a candidate of the coalition Let’s Keep Making History — which consists of the political parties National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), Labor Party (PT), and Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) — was the winner of the June 2 presidential elections. She assumed office on Oct. 1.Sheinbaum succeeds President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, founder of MORENA who in December 2018...

PUNTA BRITO, Nicaragua — One of the largest engineering projects in history would start here, on this desolate and pristine crescent of dark-sand Pacific beach. From in front of the hammock-swinging shrimpers on the porches of their tin-and-wood shanties, the trench would run east in sinuous curves up through the mangroves and banana fields until it reaches the shores of Central America’s largest freshwater lake, then cut across the Caribbean highlands and through indigenous territory, ending its journey 172 miles away on the beaches of the Atlantic. They call it the Grand Inter-Oceanic Canal: an audacious $50 billion plan by an...

<p>Everything in the path of the proposed trans-oceanic canal in Nicaragua would have to be relocated. Churches. Cemeteries. Stockyards.</p> <p>As many as 28,000 people scattered in villages and towns face the likelihood that their lands would be expropriated. The government pledges they will be better off, living in new settlements with a bit of cash in their pockets. But skepticism abounds. Ranchers are angry. They’ve held 44 marches and rallies in the past nine months. A few events have turned violent.</p>

A $50 billion canal to be built by a Chinese tycoon in Nicaragua would be deep enough to allow submarines to pass through undetected. Billionaire Wang Jing has spearheaded what is one of the biggest engineering projects in the world and is three times the size of any other canal, yet shipping forecasters don’t anticipate a need for such a route in terms of trading. Many believe that Wang, who has not disclosed who his investors are, may be backed by the Chinese Government who hope to get a foothold in the continent where business has traditionally been dominated by...

Why shipping choke points like Panama are FUBAR and getting worse. Long, detailed explanation of all the problems.

For months, a withering drought has created major traffic jams at the Panama Canal. The drought, which may have been exacerbated by climate change, has left the canal’s water levels lower than ever, forcing Panama to let fewer ships through. The restrictions have led to delays, increased shipping costs, and uncertainty over the future of one of the world’s critical trade chokepoints. “This has fundamentally changed how shipping through the canal works,” said Soren Stokkebaek Andersen, a regional commercial manager at Leth Agencies, a shipping agency.

Two gas tankers crossed the Pacific, then U-turned within 10 miles of the Panama Canal, Bloomberg reported. An intense drought has lowered the canal's water level, limiting the number of ships that can pass through. That has created a massive backlog of ships waiting to cross, forcing some to seek alternate routes. Two gas tankers crossed the Pacific Ocean, but recently took a U-turn just short of the Panama Canal because of the huge traffic jam caused by low water levels, Bloomberg reported. The tankers, Pyxis Pioneer and the Sunny Bright, were within 10 miles of the canal before they...

Panama City (AFP) – The drought-hit Panama Canal will maintain restrictions on the passage of ships for one year, a measure that has already led to a marine traffic jam as boats line up to enter the waterway linking two oceans. The canal is facing a shortage of rainwater needed to transfer ships through locks that function like water elevators, an engineering marvel that moves six percent of the world's maritime commerce up and over the isthmus between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The canal's sub-administrator Ilya Espino, told AFP that unless heavy rains fall in the next three months,...