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CARACAS - (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez called his Mexican counterpart a ''puppy of the empire'' for supporting a Washington-backed free-trade zone at the Summit of the Americas. Mexico reacted by calling in the Venezuelan ambassador, Vladimir Villegas Poljak, to explain Chávez's remarks. ''How sad that the president of a great country like Mexico allowed himself to be the puppy of the empire,'' Chávez said Wednesday evening in his first public speech since returning from the 34-nation summit in Argentina. The barb comes after Mexican President Vicente Fox, apparently irked by Chávez's strident calls against the trade pact, said...

A Georgia Republican on Friday applauded the assistance Mexico has provided the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but rejected an offer by Mexican President Vicente Fox that Mexican nationals be allowed to participate in the rebuilding of the area. "Rebuilding our Gulf Coast with labor from Mexico would divert a large part of the estimated $200 billion cost to rebuild -- paid for by American taxpayers -- out of our economy and into 'foreign remittances,' the monies sent back to Mexico from the U.S. by illegal immigrants," Rep. Charlie Norwood said... Mr. Norwood said at least half...

Mexico City, Oct 3 (EFE).- Mexico's foreign minister said here Monday that building walls or fences will not solve the problem of illegal immigration, because the causes of the exodus of workers to find better opportunities abroad run very deep. Luis Ernesto Derbez made his remarks at the opening ceremony for a conference of 11 Latin American and Caribbean nations with high rates of emigration. Derbez alluded to what occurred in recent days in Spain's North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, where hundreds of Subsaharan Africans tried to climb over the border fences and enter Spanish territory. "What happened...

Mexico City, Oct 3 (EFE).- Mexico's foreign minister said here Monday that building walls or fences will not solve the problem of illegal immigration, because the causes of the exodus of workers to find better opportunities abroad run very deep. Luis Ernesto Derbez made his remarks at the opening ceremony for a conference of 11 Latin American and Caribbean nations with high rates of emigration. Derbez alluded to what occurred in recent days in Spain's North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, where hundreds of Subsaharan Africans tried to climb over the border fences and enter Spanish territory. "What happened...

Mexican President Vicente Fox has expressed support for Canada in its trade dispute with the United States over softwood lumber. Speaking in Vancouver, Canada Friday, Mr. Fox said the United States, Canada, and Mexico must abide by rulings made under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. A NAFTA arbitration panel recently ruled that the United States should not impose hefty tariffs on imported Canadian lumber. The United States has not lifted the tariffs. It says Canada's government subsidizes lumber exports, creating an unfair advantage over U.S. timber companies. Referring to the lumber dispute, Mr. Fox said Mexico regrets...

If state Sen. Martin Sandoval succeeds in his next election Saturday, he will serve in Mexico City as well as Springfield. Sandoval is running for a seat on an advisory council created by Mexico President Vicente Fox in 2002 to incorporate Mexicans living in the United States into his government's policymaking. Sandoval would be the first elected official in the U.S. to serve on the advisory council. That raises the peculiar prospect of the Cicero Democrat offering policy advice in an official capacity to Mexican Cabinet members while creating laws in Illinois. The possibility has some observers praising his vision...

California lawmakers voted Thursday to offer illegal immigrants special driver's licenses, a measure Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to veto. Supporters said the licenses would make the roads safer because illegal immigrants, many of whom already are driving, would be required to pass driving tests to get them. But Republican Sen. Tom McClintock argued the measure "sends a powerful message that it is the official policy of this state not to recognize or respect this nation's immigration laws." Schwarzenegger rejected a similar bill last year. Thursday night, the governor's legislative liaison, Richard Costigan, said Schwarzenegger would veto this legislation as...

A national emergency -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: August 29, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 Creators Syndicate Inc. On Aug. 12, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency "due to a " on his southern border. Three days later, Gov. Janet Napolitano followed suit in Arizona. Reason: the crisis on the border. The ally-ally-in-free immigration policy of George Bush and Vicente Fox, beloved of corporate America, has created a hell on our southern border. Those Southwestern states are being inundated by illegal aliens trashing ranches, killing cattle, committing crimes and eating up tax dollars. The traffic in narcotics and...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is seldom upstaged, but it could happen Thursday when one of his chief legislative rivals flies south of the border to hold private meetings with Mexican President Vicente Fox. Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez said he plans to make the trip -- and miss one of the few legislative sessions remaining this year -- in an attempt to repair relations with California's largest trading partner. Schwarzenegger has been sharply criticized by Mexican media and politicians for supporting private border patrols to curb illegal immigration. ``The tension between the governor and the Mexican government began to boil after his...

Monday, Aug. 22, 2005 11:59 a.m. EDT Mexican Presidential Race Kicks Off ... in Los Angeles The leading contenders for the presidency of Mexico plan to launch their 2006 campaigns this fall – in Los Angeles. Last month Mexicans living in other countries were given the right to vote by mail, beginning with next year’s presidential election, and the candidates are seeking to woo support from Mexican immigrants in the U.S. Story Continues Below But they will have to begin their campaigning in the U.S. early because Mexican laws bar campaign appearances outside the country after candidates are selected this...

The Border: The dirty little secret — but really, it's no secret at all — is that the government of Vicente Fox in Mexico not only winks at illegal immigration to the U.S. but actively encourages it. When New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency in four border counties of his state last week, he asked the Mexican government to raze the abandoned town of Las Chepas, just across the border from the U.S. town of Columbus. Las Chepas is a gathering place for illegal aliens and drug smugglers as they are preparing to cross the border....

The Washington Times reports that Gov. Bill Richardson, D-NM, has successfully called for the destruction of a "staging area" across the New Mexico border with Mexico. These are shelters which provide water and some other humanitarian benefits to Mexican nationals seeking to cross the border to the U.S. Another interesting use of these facilities is to provide a bartering point for "coyotes" who charge a fee to help Mexicans cross the border. These sites are maintained by Groupo Beta, a humanitarian organization funded by the Mexican government. According to the Washington Times report, they drive around in orange trucks stocking...

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Mexican President Vicente Fox was right to say that Mexican immigrants take jobs "that not even blacks want." Although Fox was sharply criticized for his remarks by some black leaders, Farrakhan said Sunday that blacks do not want to go to farms and pick fruit because they already "picked enough cotton." Story Continues...http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/8/15/111034.shtml

Mexico's Fox protests as second US state closes borderArizona ignored pleas for greater cooperation from Mexican President Vicente Fox to become the second US state to declare a state of emergency on its border due to rising illegal immigration, violence and smuggling. Four days after New Mexico declared a 90 day state of emergency for border areas, Arizona did the same for its four counties on the Mexican frontier, citing uncontrolled illegal immigration. "The federal government has to secure our border, and the health and safety of all Arizonans is threatened daily by violent gangs, coyotes (human traffickers) and...

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has just let the cat out of the bag about what's really behind our trade agreements and security partnerships with the other North American countries. A 59-page CFR document spells out a five-year plan for the "establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community" with a common "outer security perimeter." "Community" means integrating the United States with the corruption, socialism, poverty and population of Mexico and Canada. "Common perimeter" means wide-open U.S. borders between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. "Community" is sometimes called "space" but the CFR goal is clear: "a...

Cuando era un pequeño muchacho, Viví en Ciudad de México. ¿Entienda? Oh, sorry; forgot to switch to English. Er, ah… When I was young, I lived in Mexico City for a year. I also spent a lot of time traveling in Latin America. One thing I learned very quickly there: The darker your skin, the worse you were treated. That type of thinking still pervades official Mexican institutions.Vicente Fox, el presidente de México, una persona blanca – a white man of the ruling Spanish clan – has stuck his foot in his mouth again. Today, he is defending two official...

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - The arrest Tuesday of three suspected gang members in race-related shots fired at an inhabited dwelling followed weeks of escalating tensions between black and Latino residents in one area of the city, police said. Phillip Ramirez, 24, of Rancho Cucamonga, and two 17-year-old boys, one from Rancho Cucamonga, the other from Ontario, were arrested Tuesday following a two-week-long investigation into racial threats which culminated June 15 with shots fired into a home in the 10000 block of Salina Street, said San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Gonzales. Ramirez and the two boys confirmed their involvement in both...

Posted on: June 17, 2005 According to a January Report by the investment firm of Bear Stearns there may now be as many as twenty million illegal immigrants in the United States. The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) had estimates of ten to twelve million illegals in the country in late 2004. As illegal immigration is, of course, illegal and kept as quiet as possible, it is hard to get a handle on how many illegal immigrants are here. The three sources agree, however, that the numbers are growing rapidly. The CIS...

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AP) - Mourners honored Friday a border police chief gunned down just hours after taking over the post, while President Vicente Fox's spokesman said the United States shares some responsibility for the problem of border violence.'snip'Speaking to reporters in Mexico City, presedential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said the federal government "recognizes the violence in the northern region. It can't be ignored."This is a problem in which the United States also shares responsibility, and that can be solved only through the mutual action of both countries," aguilar said.Aguilar conceded that there had been "a breakdown of society in some...

Ronald Reagan's defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger, credited with engineering the demise of the Soviet Union, once predicted – because of illegal immigration and social unrest south of the border – the U.S. would be at war with Mexico by 2003. As the U.S. becomes increasingly concerned about just those issues – and one more, the growing power and violence of the drug cartels operating in and around the border – some U.S. intelligence and military analysts are dusting off Weinberger's "Operation Aztec" battle plan for review. Weinberger's scenario outlined a rapid three-pronged military invasion designed to control domestic Mexican unrest...