Free Republic

MEXICO CITY Mexico condemned the comments today of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who praised civilian volunteers guarding the Arizona-Mexican border in search of people crossing illegally. The Foreign Relations Department said quote: "these types of unfortunate pronouncements are not the way to achieve a better understanding between our country and California." In a radio interview yesterday, Schwarzenegger said of the volunteers, quote: "I think they've done a terrific job, and look, they've cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants by a huge percentage." Minuteman volunteers, some of whom are armed, began patrolling April first for migrants crossing into Arizona over...

I'm looking at a house for vacation property in La Paz, Mexico. (BCS)Anyone have any (first hand) experience with Baja California, and mexican real estate in general?

A band of Mexican army deserters that smuggles illicit drugs into the United States across the southern Texas border has offered bounties of up to $50,000 for the assassination of U.S. Border Patrol agents and state and local police officers, U.S. law-enforcement authorities said. The gang, known as the "Zetas" or the "Z's," is suspected in nearly 90 deaths of rival gang members in the past two years as part of a violent drug war to control trafficking across the Mexico-Texas border. Members use their military training and stolen equipment, including high-powered weapons, to fight competing organizations. Law-enforcement authorities said...

The chairman of a House International Relations subcommittee yesterday urged the Bush administration to drop its proposed temporary guest-worker program and not "reward Mexican nationals living and working illegally in the United States" with legal status. "It is our hope that in future discussions with the Mexican government, you will encourage Mexico to do its part to address illegal immigration rather than encourage their citizens to illegally enter the U.S.," said Rep. Elton Gallegly, California Republican, who heads the subcommittee on terrorism, nonproliferation and human rights, in letters to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Homeland Security Secretary Tom...

People-smugglers mixed in with a group of about 300 Halloween trick-or-treat hopefuls at the Nogales border Sunday afternoon, starting a minor riot that shut down the port of entry for about an hour.Revelers were reportedly told over Mexican radio broadcasts that they could cross the border into Nogales, Ariz., for free Halloween candy. The city has put on the candy giveaway for three years, said Juan Pablo Guzman, the spokesman for the city of Nogales, Ariz.Unfortunately, many of the people who showed up for the free treats had no visa to enter the United States. At the same time, people-smugglers...

Tragic Trip Newton Theresa Freed Video Included Saturday, Oct. 2, 2004 After a fall of more than 40-feet, Mexican medical teams refuse to help a Kansas man. It was a trip to discover his heritage but instead turns tragic. The 23-year-old was going to Mexico to meet his birth father for the first time. He had been living with his adopted parents his entire life in Newton. Many people take for granted the quality of emergency medical care in the United States. It’s one mistake a Newton family will never make again. It’s a lesson about health care that 21-year-old...

McALLEN — The U.S. Consulate in Matamoros issued a warning this week that Reynosa has become dangerous for American citizens, but Reynosa officials countered that their city is safe for any visitors, whether foreign or domestic. The warning came in response to months of complaints by U.S. citizens of assaults, robberies, abductions and forced multiple withdrawals from ATM machines — known popularly in Mexico as the Secuestro Express or Robo Express — reportedly involving Reynosa police officers. "In the last six months, we have heard about problems, not in Matamoros, not in Ciudad Victoria, but in Reynosa, because of the...

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexicans around the world were united in song Wednesday, as embassies, office workers, even chefs in the Persian Gulf belted out the national anthem to mark its 150th anniversary. The international call to song came at noon in Mexico City (11 a.m. MDT). But some got a head start. At least two Mexican embassies in Europe honored the anthem around midday local time, several hours before Mexico City. Office workers in the capital drifted to windows overlooking Mexico's Independence Monument and filtered out to the street where a brass band played a special rendition of the...

David Andrews of Susanville was so confident buying prescription drugs in Mexico he stopped a police officer in Tijuana to ask for directions to the border. And so began his harrowing, 68-day journey through the Mexican legal system that has similarly ensnared untold numbers of Americans. Like others, the 22-year-old Andrews went looking for cheap medication, lured by border-town farmacias that seem anything but rigid or risky. What he got was jail time and a good scare - two months in a Mexican prison, sharing a 10-by-15-foot cell with 15 other inmates and giant bugs and no earthly idea what...

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Mexico has seen a dramatic increase in crime in the first seven months of 2004, El Universal reported Friday. Crime rates increased by as much as 50 percent in 14 states, said figures released Thursday by the Mexican justice department, known as the PGR. Nationwide, 636 crimes were committed daily, including homicide, rape, robbery and kidnapping. During the first seven months of 2004, a total 137,517 crimes were reported. The PGR noted the figures do not reflect all criminal statistics in the country, since 17 states only submitted data for the first half of...

MEXICO CITY - Mexican Public Security Minister Alejandro Gertz resigned Friday amid growing public anger at the governments failure to rein in violent crime.President Vicente Fox, saying Gertz had stepped down to pursue academic studies, vowed to crack down on crime and named a logtime political ally to replace him."We are going to redouble our efforts," Fox said in a televised address. "Crime has to end."In the biggest demonstration in Mexico in more than 10 years, about 250,000 people dressed in white marched through the capital on June 27 to protest the failure of authorities to control soaring rates of...