N.M., Mexican Governors to Bulldoze Town

[Eugene]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5237255,00.html

N.M., Mexican Governors to Bulldoze Town


Saturday August 27, 2005 8:31 AM

AP Photo NMDP805

By ALICIA CALDWELL

Associated Press Writer

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - The governors of New Mexico and its southern
neighbor, the Mexican state of Chihuahua, agreed Friday to bulldoze or
board up abandoned buildings in a sparsely populated border town that
is a haven for would-be immigrants and smugglers.

Gov. Bill Richardson and Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza also said
they hoped to establish a police presence to end lawlessness in the
dusty Mexican community of Las Chepas, which is considered a staging
ground for the migrants and drug and human smugglers.

Reyes Baeza said he also would instruct law officers on his side of
the border to fine unlicensed bus operators who ferry would-be
immigrants 15 miles along a dusty washboard road along the border to
Las Chepas.

Friday's agreement was a partial victory for Richardson, who had asked
Reyes Baeza to raze the town.

more...

[BayCityProgressive]

1. um

so they are just going to bulldoze a town full of people in a country with no safety net? That's nice. I guess we know what the N.M. governor's stance on private property is. If the buildings really are largely abandoned and just used by illegal immigrants and drug runners than it is a good idea. I am just worried that many poor people could be affected by this.

[DemInDistress]

2. knowing this governor

he'll probably allow them to live in new mexico

[Eugene]

4. They are tearing down the abandoned buildings

instead of the whole town. That is the compromise.
The article goes on to say that the town has 35 full-time residents.

[BayCityProgressive]

5. Okay

well I can see that then. I just don't trust the Mexican government to watch out for many of its citizens.

[Robert Oak]

6. it's abandoned

If you want to go for concern on the Mexican people, try the
Maquiladoras, those are the things that should be torn down.
(and decent housing and wages put in their place, this is corporate
crime in action).

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/media/paper410/news/2004/02/11/TopStories/Profit.Poverty.Mexicos.Maquiladoras-603522.shtml
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Mexico/Class_Poverty_MaquilaZone.html

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0114-04.htm

[wli]

3. these tactics sound Mugabe-esque n/t