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March 9th  2010

..the heartbeat of the Riviera Nayarit

EDITORIAL

We love you Jim and Bonnie

By Bill and Dot Bell

Don’t Quit the Margarita Challenge – We can’t do it without you

As Jim and Bonnie Williams start packing up and making their long trek home to Vermillion Alberta, we want them to know how much they are loved and respected throughout our community.

It’s not easy working all spring and summer in their nursery and landscaping business in Canada. It is long hours and hard work. They look forward every year to returning to the road and making their journey to our tiny corner of the planet. Throughout their long backbreaking summer their thoughts and energy are directed to our community as they plan what is considered a major charity event in our area. The Margarita Challenge.

They have successfully orchestrated an entertaining event for seven years now. They tap personal friends in Vermillion as well as other communities north of the Mexican border. They have supporters and contributors here too. The silent auction is filled to the brim with quality items and is a favorite that many events have duplicated.

American Dramatist Clare Boothe Luce is attributed with the saying “No good deed goes unpunished” and certainly this holds true for the Williams this week as a few surely posters attacked Jim. They didn’t call him on the phone or email him to come and chat. They instead decided that an old fashion BBQ on Jaltemba Bay Folk Message Board was the best way, to reward a champion of the community.

What was their beef? Had he misappropriated funds? Misrepresented his organization? Given the proceeds to an inappropriate group or individual?

Nope.  Jim William’s major crime appears to be that he did not give part of the profits to a group who received funds in the past. His secondary crime appears to be that he has a “Buy Local” policy for supplies purchased with the money. His detractors criticize him for organizing a committee that assists with the event and also the determination of the funds.

Don’t get us wrong. We think it is fair game that the public ask where charity events and non-profit funds go. We think accounting should be transparent and are big advocates of ensuring every peso is well spent and documented.  We don’t think that anyone has the right to slam the organizers of an event because their favorite charity didn’t get the money this time around. The detractors not only slammed Jim and Bonnie, but managed to slap the Margarita Challenge Committee down for the hard work they did to ensure the school and the poor get a little bit more by insinuating they are puppets. Hardly.

Like many organizations, the Margarita Challenge Committee has grown more sophisticated and accountable. Besides the buy local policy, the committee has determined that other policies and practices be put in place. Receipts are required. Checks are written. The laws of the land are followed for non-profit groups. The principals that have been developed are reasonable and accountable.

There are many ways to create social change. You can join the organization and work hard to promote your point of view. You can work outside the group and work to promote an alternative. Or of course you can just beat up the other guy and call it a day.

The decision to fund the Food Bank was unanimous. It is interesting to note that those who criticized Jim and the Margarita Committee, have NOT attended a Margarita Challenge, participated in the organization or event.

As full time residents we have watched this community grow. There are way more events and way more recipients. Life goes on and things change. We believe you can put the past behind you and work hard towards bettering the community. No more shots. No more cannons. Put your head down and raise money if that is what you want to do for the area and group of your choice. Maybe meet and discuss any differences face to face. We are willing to do so.  This is a great and giving community that cares about the poor, the sick and the hungry.  We cannot afford to alienate people who work so tirelessly  and unselfishly for the community.

Having said that, we want to let the Williams drive away from this community in the next week or so with their heads held high knowing how much they are appreciated. They are dedicated and loved folks in this community. Jim please say you will retract your resignation and continue with the Challenge, after all it wouldn't be a fun Challenge without you!

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Headline News

Battle to Preserve Baja’s Whale Nursery Celebrated, but Threats Remain

Ten years ago this month, the Mexican government -- under intense pressure from environmentalists -- announced it was canceling a proposed industrial salt factory at Baja's Laguna San Ignacio. The lagoon serves as the last undeveloped birthing habitat for the eastern Pacific population of gray whales, which were hunted almost to extinction a century ago and continue to make a tentative recovery. (Their Atlantic cousins succumbed to overhunting and have disappeared from the seas.)….go to original article

Man sentenced after using straw buyers for Mexico-bound guns

A man who used straw buyers to purchase at least 28 rifles and handguns in Las Vegas, knowing that the firearms were going to be transported to Mexico for criminal activity, was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release, Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said today.

Claudio Caesar Penunuri, also known as “Zorra” and as Arturo Cardenas, pleaded guilty on Oct. 23 to dealing in firearms without a license. The 36-year-old Penunuri was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Mahan….. go to original article

Mexico Oil Politics Keeps Riches Just Out of Reach

To the Mexican people, one of the great achievements in their history was the day their president kicked out foreign oil companies in 1938. Thus, they celebrate March 18 as a civic holiday

Yet today, that 72-year-old act has put Mexico in a straitjacket, one that threatens both the welfare of the country and the oil supply of the United States. …go to original article

Residents use social media to fight organized crime in Mexico

Renewed violence in Mexican cities bordering Texas has ignited fear among nearby residents, some of whom have turned to social media despite cartels' efforts to limit information.

In places such as Reynosa, where gunbattles were a regular occurrence last week, official confirmation of violence came days later.

But on Twitter, reports of brazen gunbattles throughout the city surfaced almost minute-by-minute. …go to original article

Mexico Red Cross workers risk their lives to save others

At 6:05 a.m., the emergency call crackles over a scanner in the Mexican Red Cross ambulance station: gunshot victim.

Jose "Cache" Gomez, an ambulance driver with the agency known here as Cruz Roja, is still snoring in an upstairs bunkroom when the dispatcher whistles sharply and shouts, "Servicio!"

Gomez and three bleary-eyed medical workers jump into the ambulance, turn on the sirens and roll through the darkness on the highway just a couple of miles from Arizona's border……go to original article

Mexico farm subsidies are going astray

The fund set up to help Mexican agriculture compete with subsidized U.S. farmers under the free trade accord was meant to aid the poorest. Instead, drug kingpins' kin and a Cabinet minister benefit.

When Mexico and the United States were entering a landmark free trade agreement 16 years ago, one thing was clear: Mexican farmers would initially find it difficult to compete with heavily subsidized U.S. agricultural products.

The solution: Mexico created a special fund to dole out cash to the poorest and smallest farmers…..go to original article

CSU junior off to Mexico for rock, paper, scissors tourney

FORT COLLINS (DP) - Some people are born to greatness; others have it thrust upon them. Still others find it when a buddy announces, "Dude, you should come by and compete in this rock, paper, scissors contest."

Which is precisely how Chris Miller of Fort Collins earned a free trip to Acapulco, Mexico, a chance to win $25,000 and a certain degree of YouTube immortality. All by playing a game millions have used to settle everything from which team bats first to who eats the last Ding Dong.

Yes, Miller is as stunned by this as you are….go to original article

Scientists reaffirm theory that giant asteroid that landed in Mexico killed dinosaurs

A team of scientists has agreed that a giant asteroid killed off dinosaurs and a majority of other species on Earth more than 65 million years ago.

The researchers analyzed evidence and agreed that it supports a single-impact theory first proposed 30 years ago on the cause of the mass extinction….go to original article

Catholic church slams Mexico City's leftist mayor

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's Roman Catholic Church has published its harshest criticism to date of leftist Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, accusing his administration of botching issues ranging from crime to public transit.

The church has often disagreed with Ebrard's Democratic Revolution Party….go to original article

Cancun, Mexico's spring break king, recovers from swine flu, drug violence

CANCUN, Mexico - Mexico's spring break king - Cancun - is rebounding quickly from last year's triple blow to its tourism industry caused by the country's swine flu epidemic, drug violence and a global economic crisis.

Those worries couldn't compete this year against Mexico's cheap airfare from the United States and Canada and phenomenal package deals that include popular all-you-can-drink enticements. ….Go to original article

Who’s creating US jobs? Mexicans.

Fed up with violence in Mexico, entrepreneurs are moving north. That means the US is seeing the benefit from the businesses they start. 

For Pierre Gama, the fourth kidnapping was the final straw. Armed carjackers made him drive his car in circles until he gave them the numbers to his credit cards. With two small children and a wife – who was with him during one such secuestro express – the security entrepreneur wanted out of Mexico City.……Go to original article

Mariachi's hometown, Guadalajara, echoes with joyful music, heritage

Walking across Plaza Tapatia toward the Instituto Cultural Cabañas, my group of chatty friends stopped short. We whipped out cameras in an attempt to preserve a whirl of color, dance and music, as a mariachi group burst into performance, instantly bold and wonderfully graceful, taking our breath away. The moment proved to be just one of dozens of compelling images we would try to capture inside the historic district of Mexico's second-largest city. On this occasion, it came as we prepared to enter the Cabañas Institute, an ornate, 1820s building converted to a museum housing murals by revered artist Jose Clemente Orozco. We sensed that the artistry of the mariachis on the plaza would rival what we'd see painted on the former orphanage's interior walls and ceilings. ……Go to original article

Retreat highlights Baja's wild side

WHAT SORT of person would subject her 7-year-old grandson to a vacation in the Sonoran Desert, where visitors may encounter scorpions, rattlesnakes and stingrays while risking dehydration?

That person would be me. Las Animas Wilderness Retreat in Baja, Mexico, sounded like an ideal family vacation spot, an off-the-grid camp where Sam, his dad and I could have a more meaningful time than we would at previous haunts such as Disney World or Sea World.……Go to original article

German prince competes for Mexico at age 51

On a day when an Italian was crowned king of the Olympic slalom, a flamboyant German prince who competes for Mexico may have made his royal exit.

At 51 years old, Hubertus Von Hohenlohe probably skied his last Olympic race Saturday.

"I had a lot of fun," said Von Hohenlohe, an heir of Germany's Von Hohenlohe family who was born in Mexico City. "This could be it." ……Go to original article

Mexico City enters gay marriage, adoption fray

Capital takes lead in Latin America despite outcry from church, president

The Mexican wedding may never be the same.

On Thursday, this sprawling megalopolis will catapult to the front lines of gay rights in Latin America when a city law legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption goes into effect.

The prospect of gay marriage has sent tremors through the Catholic Church, drawn the opposition of President Felipe Calderón and his conservative National Action Party (PAN), and spotlighted the power of Mexico City's center-left Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) leaders to advance a liberal agenda that contrasts with provincial traditionalism. ……Go to original article

Marijuana cultivation in Mexico rises

Marijuana cultivation in Mexico increased 35 percent in 2008 and continues to grow, even as authorities there push forward with a large offensive against drug cartels that smuggle the product into the United States, according to a State Department report released this week.

The 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), is a yearly report that assess anti-drug efforts around the world. The part of the report dealing with Mexico is illuminating because most of the illegal drugs in the United States are transported and smuggled through there.……Go to original article

Mexican warm-up could leave NZ soccer burned

There is an ominous feel to the All Whites' clash against Mexico and it will be no surprise should Ricki Herbert's men roll over like the Poseidon when they take centre stage in Hollywood's backyard tomorrow night.

Playing Mexico seemed like a good idea at the time of the game's announcement, but the way events have panned out - namely Ryan Nelsen's knee injury and the Phoenix's run at the A-league title - I'm not so sure.……Go to original article

     Local Businesses Recognized by

             Cancer de Mama Clinic 

                                ©Tara Spears  

The co-chairs of the Cancer de Mama Clinic committee, Judy Krajnc and Maruca Dinsmoor, recently presented a hug and a certificate to the local La Penita  store owners that sponsored this year’s successful clinic that helped 333 women breast cancer survivors. “It is the joint caring of all the individuals that make the clinic happen,” said Judy. “The clinic is not just a RV Park project- people from all over the local community support our efforts.” Thank you to everyone who volunteered or donated items to the clinic- WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!

 Abel Mini Super

 Armando’s Joyeria

 Korner Market

Don Pedro’s Market

  Sol Ezine

 Polloria Tolina

Varillas’ Fruteria

Associated Press
go to original
March 08, 2010

 

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard

Mexico City – Mexico's Roman Catholic Church has published its harshest criticism to date of leftist Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, accusing his administration of botching issues ranging from crime to public transit.

The church has often disagreed with Ebrard's Democratic Revolution Party.

An editorial published Sunday on the Archdiocese of Mexico's Web site accused Ebrard of "following the line set down by foreign groups" in approving legalized abortion and same-sex marriages.

Ebrard is viewed as a top contender in 2012 presidential race, and some leftists have accused the church of supporting more conservative rivals.

Mexican law prohibits the church from becoming involved in electoral politics

The International Margarita Challenge

Needs your Photos

We are building a Hall of Fame for the Margarita Challenge

If you have any photos of the Challenge, especially those 2007 and earlier, please send them to editor@jaltembasol.com

Mateja's Rock n roll Party

This Week at the Xaltemba Gallery in La Penita

Between the Blue

                      One moment, one wave; a slice of air, water and earth held suspended for examination. A cross-section of a wave down through the water column, beneath sand reacts with ripples, further down the earth’s crust buckles into folds of stone. Art can drop the laws of physics, like a diagram in a science textbook, in an attempt to grasp the enormity of the world. The diagram is intended to promote understanding were art can inspire meaning.

          Images of the local environment are conveyed with many layers of thick glazes to produce rich surfaces. These paintings are the latest in a long series of drawings and paintings include images of earth, clouds, waves and marine life. These artworks employ diagrams and my photos. Images used to orient ourselves, to define location and hint at possible destinations.

Mike Edwards

Mike Edwards

Bio

The art of Mike Edwards ranges from realistic drawings to mathematical calculations, from blueprints to loose sketches. Sculptures and images of boats, buildings, toys, and waves are combined in odd ways to break the laws of physics and logic, to dramatically mix context, and to add unexpected metaphor. Like textbook diagrams, art can abandon the laws of physics to simplify the world and so be able to grasp its complexities. Edwards uses nature to report on nature, and uses, for example, charcoal to tell the story of black or a stone floating on a pool of mercury to state the fact of buoyancy.  His art is as much a scientific experiment as it is a creative voice.

He combines sculpture, drawing and painting with diverse media and methods such as wood and stone carving, welded metal fabrication, cast bronze and other metalwork. Edwards’ technical art foundations were laid at the Toronto Art Centre and led to numerous contracts with prominent west coast sculptors. He has contributed his skills to large public art projects including works at the Vancouver Airport, National Gallery of Canada, and Bill Reid’s sculpture on the Canadian twenty-dollar bill. His fascination with science began at York University where he first began to discover content for his artwork in biology, psychology and physics courses.

Mike has attended several  artist-in-residencies and has worked as a gallery administrator, and as a public art gallery curator. He is also the recipient of several grants, including Vancouver Foundation and BC Arts Council Grants. Edwards is also a certified Yoga teacher, a Sessional Instructor at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, and has been showing in galleries in Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Toronto.

Rosa Quintana Lillo

Visual Artist, Rosa Quintana, was born in Santiago, Chile and grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1977, after fleeing two military dictatorships, she and her family arrived in Toronto, Canada.

There she attended the Toronto Art Centre where she received a solid technical foundation in painting and sculpture. Since 1989, she has worked for some of Canada’s most prominent West Coast First Nations artists, Bill Reid, Robert Davidson and Susan Point. Her primary work for these artists was the production of carvings, rubber moulds and castings in various materials. She has worked for the Vancouver Film Industry as a sculptor and Props maker, as a mould maker and caster for contemporary Vancouver artists and as an instructor at Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver and The Art Institute of Vancouver.

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For the last fifteen years, she has worked on mixed media paintings out of her home based studio. Her work communicates an introspective reflection of psychology and nature. Immersing herself into the atmosphere of her surrounding environment is where she finds the catalysts needed to paint her inspired works. Her lines and textures are expressionistic conveying mood, affecting the surfaces in unpredictable ways. Her paintings incorporate mixed media acrylics, inks, waxes and glues. Her work is in collections throughout Europe, the US and Canada.  Mexico is presently on her mind.

For the month of February, 2010, she has been painting her site specific series “Birds in Flight” which incorporates and focuses on the resident magical birds of the Nayarit coast and its magnificent skies. 

Jaltemba Cup a great success!

Jaltemba Cup 2010 Revenues & Expenses

Income

48 m @ $400       19,200

44 nm @ $600     26,400

hole sponsors         5,500

Foundation             1,670

Close to pin            3,650

50/50 draw             2,600

Auction                 29,200

Mulligans                4,300

raffle                       1,400

T-shirts                   1,100

Guest Lunches        2,470

Total Income       97,490

Expenses

Green fees            13,400

Lunches                12,550

Hats                        9,000

T-Shirts                  6,600

Prizes                     3,460

KP signs                    450

2 banners                   300

Total Expenses    45,760

Total Income          97,490

Total Expenses    - 45,760

Cash on hand         51,730

(all numbers in pesos)

All cash to be handled by the Jaltemba Foundation

Letter to editor

Bill -

After doing some research online, I think I've got the correct info on the Daylight time change this year. It's all on the front page of my weather site.

http://www.sanpanchoweather.com/

BTW: I heard from one of your readers this week with a compliment on my weather station and he suggested I inform you folks about it to set up a link. I know we did a couple of years back and I assume it is still there. If it is, thanks! If not, would you consider re-establishing it?

My wife, the avid reader in the family, enjoys your online edition weekly. And it does, indeed, encourage us to travel north from time to time to use the services and businesses available North of San Pancho!

Thanks!

Curt

editor comment. curt we love what you do to keep our weather up to date.
 

Yvonne Reyes Campos - The News
go to original
March 09, 2010

 

"It’s estimated that every four seconds, an identity is robbed in the world." - Arturo Zamora Jiménez

Mexico City – Identify theft has become a common practice in Mexico, and encompasses document falsification, Internet purchases, telephone surveys and databases that businesses share, which occasionally end up in the hands of criminals.

Despite all of this, in Mexico identify theft has not been classified, but one deputy hopes that the law will be modified to include this crime.

Dep. Arturo Zamora Jiménez, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), proposed over the weekend a reform to Article 387 of the Federal Criminal Code to punish people who take advantage of information to steal identities.

In Mexico, there are no studies or investigations on the number of victims, but in the United States, for example, identity theft grew by 50 percent between 2003 and 2006, Zamora said.

“It’s estimated that every four seconds, an identity is robbed in the world. Victims take some 600 hours to escape this nightmare and several years to recover their good name and credit history,” Zamora Jiménez said.

Zamora is proposing to impose sanctions of up to 12 years in prison for those who engage in identity theft.

“Identity theft takes place when someone passes theself off as another person and uses personal, financial information to take out loans, credit cards or apply for contracts,” Zamora said.

Identity thieves, he added, can obtain personal data by: robbing wallets and purses, stealing bank statements from mailboxes and applying for credit cards using a different name.

Zamora said that identity theft is carried out through different means by people posing as bank employees, creditors or Internet sites that ask for personal data.

“In addition, (thieves) observe transactions that victims make at automatic teller machines and phone booths to find out their personal identification number or voter ID number,” said Zamora, who represents a district in Jalisco.

The Deputy called on consumers to be careful even when it comes to disposing of their trash, since it often contains telephone, bank or insurance statements, a source of information for “white-collar” criminals.

“The problem is so widespread that on Nov. 18, 2009, the Condusef (National Commission to Protect Financial Institution Customers) issued an alert about supposed credit card replacements that are associated with identity theft or even the complete withdrawal of the customer’s bank funds,” Zamora said.

Call for donation of items for Gran Bazaar

El Gran Bazaar -- Garage Sale

I am once again asked by those hard working mothers of the Education Committee of Los Amigos to solicit donations of items to sell at their garage sale which will be held April 24th. As you are packing up to head back please keep in mind that “what is one person's garbage is another's treasure”.

Your donations help raise funds for projects like the kindergarten the committee is building.

http://sites.google.com/site/losamigoseducationcommittee/Home/current-projects/progress-la-patria-kinder

Last year's event in Ecopark raised about 18,000 pesos and was attended by about 1,000 people..

Email me and I can arrange pickup or drop off your donation at:

my house Mazatlan #66 (just leave it by the door) or

in Guayabitis with Gail Dafuki #14 Colibri just one block from the bridge of life

Also remember the regular meeting of los Amigos is this Monday at Guty's:

5:00 display of children art contest winners.

6:30 socializing

7:00 business

Thanks to all our supporters and safe travels.......Johan

A quick note to thank you for the publicity on the Kindergarten inauguration yesterday in Las Cabras in La Colonia.
It is such a worthwhile project and the coverage you give it will let people know that their contribution makes a difference in this community and helps many of these young children by providing a better learning environment and giving them more of a chance to succeed as young adults in the future.

Gracias,
Eddie Dominguez

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Mexico Starts Requiring Passports for Travel
Devlin Houser - The Arizona Daily Star
go to original
March 01, 2010

U.S. tourists have needed a passport to return from Mexico since June, but now they'll need one to get into Mexico as well.

Under new rules taking effect today, every U.S. or Canadian citizen traveling into the interior of Mexico will need to present a valid passport or passport card, said Julian Etienne, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Tucson.

Visitors traveling into Mexico through Nogales must present their passports at the Kilometer 21 checkpoint.

Tourists who stay in Nogales won't be affected by the new rules, and those traveling into Mexico's interior shouldn't experience increased waiting times, he said.

"It is going to have minimal repercussions to the tourist and business flows," Etienne said. "Ninety-nine percent of Canadians and almost 100 percent of Americans who travel to Mexico already have a passport."

U.S. residents who aren't citizens can enter with other documents, including a green card or a refugee travel permit.

For more information, pamphlets outlining the new rules are available at travel agencies or at inm.gob.mx/EN/index.php

Devlin Houser is a University of Arizona journalism student who is apprenticing at the Star. Contact him at starapprentice(at)azstarnet.com

 

 

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Mexico Tourism Declared a Federal Priority
Mexico Insight
go to original
March 05, 2010

There are no political flies on one Rodolfo Elizondo Torres, Mexico’s Minister of Tourism.

Last year, when his boss, President Felipe Calderon, publicly announced the abolishment of his department (Tourism was to be folded into the Ministry for the Economy) Torres rallied the support of some heavy-weight state governors across the country and together they were able to demonstrate that the idea to do-away with the Ministry harbored serious misgivings. The announcement remained just that, and the Ministry of Tourism lives to see at least another year under Rodolfo Elizondo’s stewardship.

Elizondo was right to defend his department, and not just for selfish reasons. Tourism is a tremendously important industry for Mexico, one that - directly and indirectly - puts bread on the table for over ten million Mexicans. After oil and (more recently) foreign receipts from Mexicans working abroad, tourism is the country’s third largest source of foreign currency. Furthermore, although foreign tourism generates the considerable sum of US$7bn annually, domestic tourism is slightly larger, generating some US$8bn worth of trade each year.

Mexico’s oil reserves have, in all probability, peaked - and the country cannot rely indefinitely upon its people working in foreign lands to send money home. Tourism thus remains a golden-egg of Mexico’s economic fortunes and funding the presence of a Ministry to direct its affairs is a sensible choice.

Recently, the Tourism Ministry held a press conference during which Elizondo declared that tourism was now a ‘federal priority’ for the government, and that he and his team will be working to increase the ‘attraction and competitiveness’ of its offerings, with states and academia funded to undertake the studies necessary to better define the future of Mexican tourism. The underlying message of the announcement was that the Mexicans recognize world-wide tourism is becoming more competitive and so countries participating in this sector need to better understand the changing needs and expectations of travelers and develop services to suit them.

The era of ultra-cheap travel is over and hard-earned dollars destined for leisure activities will be spent with more care. Logic dictates that when prices rise, customers seek quality instead of volume. Mexico has, traditionally, serviced an ample range of markets, from the ‘pile-em-high-sell-em-cheap’ variety to the most exclusive vacations money can buy. That range will alter in the years ahead, and today’s announcement is simply another step on the path to reforming the way Mexico markets and runs its tourism business.

Arrived by bathtub!

Is there anyone left in Nanaimo?

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Xaltemba is open every night for dinner

including Mondays

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Saturday and Sundays too

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 Last Daughter of Mexican Revolutionary Zapata Dies
Associated Press
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March 02, 2010

Ana Maria Zapata Portillo (aporrea.org)

Mexico City — The last surviving child of Mexican revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata has died at 94.

A local government spokesman says Ana Maria Zapata Portillo died in Cuautla, the town in the central state of Morelos where she lived most of her life.

Spokesman Ivan Meneses says Zapata was buried in Cuautla on Monday, a day after she died of kidney failure.

He says she was one of three children recognized by Emiliano Zapata, who led his peasant army in a fight for land rights before he was killed in an ambush on April 10, 1919.

Zapapta's two other children, Diego and Mateo, died previously.

Ana Maria Zapata had worked for the Morelos state government and served as a lawmaker in the state legislature.

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Agence France-Presse
go to original
February 26, 2010

Mexico City – Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico fell by 50.7 percent to 11.417 billion dollars in 2009, its lowest level in 10 years, chiefly due to the global financial crisis, the government said.

In 2008, total direct foreign investment reached 23.17 billion dollars, the Secretariat of Economy said.

Top foreign investors in Mexico last year included the United States, with 5.8 billion dollars, the Netherlands (1.46 billion), the US territory of Puerto Rico (1.16 billion) and Canada (one billion), it added.

Mexico's economy, Latin America's second largest, after Brazil, contracted by 6.5 percent during last year's global financial crisis, its biggest slide since the 1929 Great Depression.