Fox questions why British military were in Mexico

[JoFerret]

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/03/24/trapped.cavers/

Mexican President Vicente Fox said Wednesday he wants to know why members of the British military were in his country for a cave expedition, but never notified his government.

Six members of a British cave exploration team, including four members of the British military, have been trapped in a cave for a week after flash-flooding prevented their exit.

...

Fox said the British team entered Mexico as tourists and didn't notify the government that some of them were members of the British military and that they were going on an expedition.

"I have instructed the foreign relations minister to file a formal protest immediately and to request a clarification from the British government what were they doing here," Fox said.

The stranded divers are part of an expedition working for the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain.

<more>

[not systems]

1. Searching for the lost ark ala raiders of the lost ark no doubt.

:tinfoilhat:

[kalian]

2. Curious development to say the least....

its not about oil since we know that Mexico already has and exploits
its oil....so...what where these gents doing down there? :shrug:

[Sanity]

4. Probably going on a vacation

Fox is making much ado about nothing.

[saigon68]

13. Hey El Presidente Vicente Fox why are those drug dealers in your country?

He has no answer for that one either?

[amazona]

12. it's probably a volunteer-type vacation

You can pay Royal Geographic and they'll let you help with various digs/explorations depending on your training and talent. About all I would be good for is watching a bird nest, but trained military men in great condition -- nothing weird about them volunteering to do some caving and having a bit of adventure on their vacation. I would have put "tourist" on my visa also -- after all, you are paying to do it, not getting paid.

I don't blame Fox for being suspicious with all the crap coming down from Blair/Bush but I think when he checks into it, he'll find it's OK. If Chimpy had not been so disrespectful of Fox, maybe he wouldn't have to be so antsy.

I'm hoping it all works out well in the end.

edit -- typo

[rooboy]

3. Obviously a negotiating team to deal with the reptilian people...

who live beneath the earth's surface.

[Eye and Monkey]

7. caves - who hides in caves? o-s-a-m-___.

[KittyWampus]

14. Reptilian People? You Mean Cheney? So THAT'S Where They Stash Him

:)

[sweetheart]

5. probably doing cave exploration

Wow, fox must not be busy to hastle trivia like this. I guess
mexico is in perfect shape or he'd not have the time of day for
such things.

[DulceDecorum]

18. Since Fox is not so busy

perhaps we could send him
a story about goats
to while away the time.

[dArKeR]

6. Trapped British cavers spark diplomatic tiff

http://theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040324.wcave0324/BNStory/Front/

[JoFerret]

8. Tempest in a teapot?

Maybe just a tad of arrogance.

[PATRICK]

9. Listen between the lines

Everyone has to be jumpy about operations and foreign nationals in their countries these days even if the American public is oblivious. Zimbabwe, Haiti. Bush's welcoming of immigration causing more non-Mexicans to flock to the borders. The chance of terrorism. The machinations of 'certain" nations operating in these conditions. The possibility of stepping stones for more of the "good old days" of political adventuring in Latin America.

Innocent explorers? All the better. This is meant as a loud warning precisely to avoid real trouble and interference, because Bush would knock over Fox just like anyone else who got in his way- and who had oil.

[Athame]

10. Agreed

Fox does not strike me as someone who goes off about trivialities. He is simply paying attention. The cavers may be innocent enough, but the potential for special ops is there.

[0007]

11. 'Ya mean FAUX News is out of the loop

maybe junior is too.

[jtb33]

15. I can't believe

that Fox has the gall to question six Brits who are in his country legally, but then go nuts when the border states (CA, AZ, NM, TX) and/or BushCo even talk about attempts to curtail the flood of undocumented immigrants that enter the US. Kind of a double-standard isn't it? Or am I missing something?

[gula]

16. Actually, this wouldn't be the first time that

the British military does something like this. About a year ago it came out that they had been secretly training in the Swiss alps, also disguised as tourists. This apparently had been going on for quite some time. The Swiss were not pleased, to say the least.

[DulceDecorum]

17. The Brits and the Americans are turning up EVERYWHERE

there is trouble these days and it rather looks as if THEY are the ones bringing the trouble.

Haiti - the Steele Foundation, mercenaries hired to oversee Aristide, kick him out per orders.

Equatorial Guinea - shortly after the Washington DC Riggs Bank is told to surrender the millions illegally oil companies have paid into the the President's private account, his cousin in Spain connects with British mercenaries formerly of the SAS to overthrow him.

Zimbabwe - mercenaries or "employees of private Military Companies" show up en route to perform a coup. They say that they are on their way to the Democratic Republic of Congo and not Equatorial Guinea.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - their uranium is being stolen
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3566701.stm
as well as their other minerals.
http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=51061198-14A0-4E64-BFD3-A69E88209617
This deal took place in almost exactly the same way that four oil companies came to own the almost the entire nation of Somalia. You will recall the resistance the "squatters" put up when the oil companies - and the US military special ops - tried to evict them.

SUMMARY
It is beyond time for the Congress to seriously examine the role of the United States in the genocide and civil wars of central Africa, as well as the role that PMCs currently play in other African trouble spots like Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Cabinda. Other nations, some with less than stellar records in Africa – France and Belgium, for example – have had no problem examining their own roles in Africa’s last decade of turmoil. The British Foreign Office is in the process of publishing a green paper on regulation of mercenary activity. At the very least, the United States, as the world’s leading democracy, owes Africa at least the example of a critical self-inspection.

I appreciate the concern shown by the Chair and members of this committee in holding these hearings.
http://www.geocities.com/minjokhan/SocAnthro/MadsenCongo.html

Fox should take care, as should Hugo Chavez.

[Zero Gravitas]

19. They were mapping

the Illuminati tunnels.

[Bridget Burke]

20. The fact that they refused Mexican help is troubling.

It means:

1) They're thinking: "They're only dumb Mexicans, they'll just mess it up." It's the Brits who got themselves in a pickle.

2) Or, there's something fishy about the expedition.

Apparently they weren't "just tourists", since they're on an official expedition. I spoke to a spelunker years ago about the dangers of caving; he said the cave divers were the really insane ones. It's a dangerous hobby. Or scientific expedition. Or whatever it really was.

[Judi Lynn]

21. They've been rescued.......

Mexico to U.K.: Why were they there?
Even as the crisis was coming to an end, Mexico demanded that Britain better explain what the cavers — five of whom were members of the military — were doing in this country.

Mexico expressed “profound concern” that the military cave explorers had failed to seek permission to enter the country for scientific explorations.

Britain’s Foreign Office said the trip was 'strictly a caving expedition, had no other purpose and any suggestions to the contrary are completely unfounded.'

The text of a diplomatic note asked “a detailed explanation of the type of activities” the group was carrying out “and about the objectives of their investigation.”

One Mexican newspaper suggested the explorers might have been hunting for uranium.
(snip/...)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4604110/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There should be more to this story, of course, if it's as simply an event as they paint it.

[JoFerret]

22. Tensions rise over cave trip farce

http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,1179853,00.html

[JoFerret]

23. Cavers not seeking uranium says MoD

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3573729.stm