Showing posts with label MEXICO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MEXICO. Show all posts
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, April 10, 2008
ABSOLUT REMAPS NORTH AMERICA ???
The ad above depicts a pre-1848 map of the US/Mexican border as it appeared before the Mexican-American war, when California, Arizona and other states were part of Mexico's territory. The words "In An Absolute World" are emblazoned across the map.
This ad ran only in Mexico and needless to say, most gringos are pretty pissed off over it.
First, a little history:
The Mexican-American war started in 1846, when Mexico refused to acknowledge the US's annexation of Texas. By 1848, Mexico City was occupied by US troops. To avoid being completely wiped out and annexed by the US, Mexico ceded nearly half of its territory to the United States, in a peace treaty known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty ended the war and eventually formed the states of California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming.
However, even today, the war - known as "the War of North American Invasion" in Mexico - is still a sensitive issue.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
CARLOS SLIM THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD !
THE NEW AMERICAN DREAM IS MEXICAN
Fiona Walsh, business editor
Tuesday July 3, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Although he is well-known in Mexico and throughout Latin America, the name Carlos Slim barely registers in the rest of the world.
That looks set to change after the surge in the value of his America Movil mobile phones empire over the past few months propelled him to the top of the world's wealth league.
At an estimated $67.8bn (£33.6bn) - equivalent to 8% of Mexico's gross domestic product - his fortune tops the $59.2bn wealth of Microsoft founder Bill Gates by almost $9bn, according to latest calculations.
Article continues
The son of a Lebanese immigrant, 67 year old Mr Slim heads one of a handful of families who dominate the Mexican economy.
Working from a windowless bunker in Mexico City, his empire stretches from mobile and fixed-line phones to a budget airline, Volaris, a cigarette company, Cigatam, a music retailer, MixUp, and an internet service provider, Prodigy.
But the key to his success was snatching control of Mexico's dominant telecoms operator, Telmex, when the service was privatised in 1990. He became a public figure when he bought a 51% stake in the state phone company during Mexico's privatisation push - a deal that brought complaints of cronyism.
Telmex still accounts for nine-out-of-10 landlines in Mexico and experts say Mr Slim has been vigorous in protecting this near monopoly.
Known as a cautious spender, the tycoon is said to have created a ledger at the age of 12 to record his every purchase - even down to individual tortillas, drinks and doughnuts.
He inherited millions from his father, who opened a successful shop in Mexico City called Star of the Orient.
A father of six, Mr Slim lost his wife to kidney disease in 1999. He has named a museum housing his collection of Rodin sculptures after her.
His vast fortune has not made him popular in a country where half the population still lives in poverty. But, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, Mr Slim is an active philanthropist. He recently developed a charitable foundation aimed at improving healthcare and education in his country, pledging funds of $10bn over four years.
He has made it clear, however, that he does not intend to loosen his grip on his empire, commenting in a recent interview: "Wealth is like an orchard. You have to share the fruit, not the trees."
Fiona Walsh, business editor
Tuesday July 3, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Although he is well-known in Mexico and throughout Latin America, the name Carlos Slim barely registers in the rest of the world.
That looks set to change after the surge in the value of his America Movil mobile phones empire over the past few months propelled him to the top of the world's wealth league.
At an estimated $67.8bn (£33.6bn) - equivalent to 8% of Mexico's gross domestic product - his fortune tops the $59.2bn wealth of Microsoft founder Bill Gates by almost $9bn, according to latest calculations.
Article continues
The son of a Lebanese immigrant, 67 year old Mr Slim heads one of a handful of families who dominate the Mexican economy.
Working from a windowless bunker in Mexico City, his empire stretches from mobile and fixed-line phones to a budget airline, Volaris, a cigarette company, Cigatam, a music retailer, MixUp, and an internet service provider, Prodigy.
But the key to his success was snatching control of Mexico's dominant telecoms operator, Telmex, when the service was privatised in 1990. He became a public figure when he bought a 51% stake in the state phone company during Mexico's privatisation push - a deal that brought complaints of cronyism.
Telmex still accounts for nine-out-of-10 landlines in Mexico and experts say Mr Slim has been vigorous in protecting this near monopoly.
Known as a cautious spender, the tycoon is said to have created a ledger at the age of 12 to record his every purchase - even down to individual tortillas, drinks and doughnuts.
He inherited millions from his father, who opened a successful shop in Mexico City called Star of the Orient.
A father of six, Mr Slim lost his wife to kidney disease in 1999. He has named a museum housing his collection of Rodin sculptures after her.
His vast fortune has not made him popular in a country where half the population still lives in poverty. But, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, Mr Slim is an active philanthropist. He recently developed a charitable foundation aimed at improving healthcare and education in his country, pledging funds of $10bn over four years.
He has made it clear, however, that he does not intend to loosen his grip on his empire, commenting in a recent interview: "Wealth is like an orchard. You have to share the fruit, not the trees."
Sunday, July 1, 2007
MEXICAN TO USA " DRUG TUNNEL" FOUND ! ! !
The cramped and wandering tunnel, which connected two homes on opposite sides of the border had no ventilation, but it was outfitted with lights and at least one drainage pump, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration said at a news conference here. It was thought to have been intended for drug smuggling.
State police from Sonora, Mexico, arrested five people in the house on the Mexican side of the border, where the digging was initiated, said Terry E. Kirkpatrick, acting assistant agent in charge for the drug enforcement agency. The house on the United States side was under rental but not occupied, he said.
Acting on intelligence tips, American agents had been watching the two houses since April 17. No smuggling had been done through the tunnel, Mr. Kirkpatrick said.
The dilapidated white brick house on the American side is less than half a mile from the Nogales border crossing and about 50 yards north of the 20-foot-tall metal fence that separates this sparsely populated town from its namesake in Mexico.
Mr. Kirkpatrick noted that the tunnel did not use the network of storm drainage pipes that smugglers have dug into in the past. He said its crude construction revealed a new strategy by drug smugglers. “They’re trying to just hurry up and get the things dug,” he said.
David J. Petersmarck, supervisor of special agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said a circular saw with a concrete-cutting blade and picks were found near the tunnel’s opening inside the house on the American side. Mr. Petersmarck, one of the federal agents who crawled into the tunnel, said he was barely able to squeeze his shoulders down the vertical shaft.
Agents said intelligence about the tunnel’s builders and the characteristics of the hole itself indicated that the intended use was to traffic drugs, not humans.
“Once we looked at it, it was clear the tunnel would not support human smuggling,” said Anthony J. Coulson, special agent in charge for the Phoenix office of the drug enforcement agency.
Mexican state police officers who crawled into the tunnel from the Mexican side reported that it turned and twisted for more than 600 feet, American agents said. They said the tunnel was “one of the most extensive” discovered under the Mexican border since a large tunnel found south of San Diego in January 2006.
Although two neighboring houses stood less than 15 feet from the tunnel house on the American side of the border, and the tunnel traversed underneath a house immediately south, neighbors did not report hearing work, Mr. Petersmarck said, even though the digging was most likely done at night and with jackhammers.
After the search, Mr. Petersmarck and other agents sealed the entrance with plywood and about 20 bags of ready-mix concrete. It is not known whether the tunnel has been sealed on the Mexican side of the border, Mr. Petersmarck said. The long-term plan for the tunnel is to open it from the surface and fill the cavity completely, he said.
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