Salem-News.com New Mexico articles Page 4

Third World-Style Economies Proliferate

Sprawling, open-air markets are located in low-income sections of cities populated by many immigrants.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - Pirate profiteers and street merchants are central players in the economies of Mexico and other nations of the developing world.

The Land of the Chile Pilgrims

The chile pilgrims who come to Hatch every year get a glimpse of a rural society that has changed in many respects but still has passed on certain traditions.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - As the winter sky rehearsed a coming storm, noisy gulls out for cheap pickings swooped low over a McDonalds’ parking lot on the edge of New Mexico’s Elephant Butte Reservoir.

A half hour downriver in the village of Hatch, green and red Christmas decorations mimicked the colors that pump life into the community every year...

Border Bank Funds Projects

Growing out of the negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement and based in San Antonio, Texas, the NADB is a mechanism to fund vital infrastructure and environmental projects in the underdeveloped US-Mexico border region.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - The Board of Directors of the North American Development Bank (NADB) has approved more than $136 million in new financing for environmentally-related initiatives on both sides of the US-Mexico borderline.

In an announcement this month, the San Antonio-based bank listed four new projects that will receive NADB loans and grants.

100 Years of No Workers` Comp

For some, a century of poverty.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - For the nearly one hundred years New Mexico has been a US state, farm and ranch workers have been excluded from the state workers’ compensation system.

The labor force was systematically left out of legislation passed in 1917, 1937, 1973 and 1990. Despite the exclusion, contributions to the state administrative system are deducted from workers’ paychecks.

Border Crossers Encounter New Delays

“The principal mission of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is anti-terrorism” - agency statement

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - In an e-mail to constituents this month, El Paso Congressman Silvestre Reyes lauded the November opening of a new, high-tech pedestrian crossing system at the Paso del Norte (Santa Fe) Bridge between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.

With assistance from the Unisys Corporation, the maze-like system uses a combination of revolving doors, hand-held mobile devices and radio frequency identification (RFID) to process US passports; ten fingerprint biometric capture devices were also installed for inclusion in the system, according to Unisys.

Crisis Clobbers Mexican Immigrants

Many immigrants and their families were dependent on construction and other hard-hit sectors of the economy.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - The last four years have been a rough road for Mexican immigrants in the US. Anti-immigrant laws in Arizona, Alabama and other states have disrupted lives and sent people packing, while record deportations have uprooted longtime residents and divided families.

Was Former DEA Agent Jailed for Exposing ATF Arms Trafficking?

Iran/Contra-era Whistleblower Cele Castillo alleged federal Agents were involved in gun smuggling in 2008.

(COLUMBUS, N.M. The Narcosphere) - Former DEA Agent Cele Castillo, who blew the whistle on the CIA-backed arms-for-drugs trade used to prop up the 1980s Contra counter-insurgency in Nicaragua, is now sitting in a federal prison.

Before Castillo reported to prison, he shared with this reporter a series of revelations concerning arms trafficking and corrupt ATF agents.

Cele Castillo- American DEA Hero- Scapegoat for `Fast and Furious`?

America's habit of making enemies out of former allies turns inward with the conviction of a decorated DEA Agent in a crime the U.S. ATF itself committed.

(SALEM) - The conduct the U.S. is willing to commit to quiet its opponents is shocking. Retired DEA Agent Celerino "Cele" Castillo III was a front line agent for 12 years in the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Today he's serving a 37-month prison sentence, and the feds would not mind if Americans believed they convicted someone in connection with a crime the ATF is presently accused of.

Mexican Authorities Crack Down on Protests

In one case journalists were prevented from covering a raid on demonstrators.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - Mexican authorities this past week suppressed two demonstrations in Chihuahua and Baja California, drawing sharp protests, and casting new doubt on Mexico's oft-stated commitment to uphold human rights standards.

(Un)occupying the Camino Real

As the clock ticked fast away to eviction time, Camp Coyote activist Sebastian Pais, announced he was going on a hunger strike.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - Throughout the course of history, countless feet have treaded the long highway between the Valley of Mexico and Santa Fe.