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Mexico has extradited Eduardo Arellano Felix to the United States to face money laundering, drug trafficking and racketeering charges in San Diego, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Laura E. Duffy made the announcement, saying Arellano Felix must make an initial appearance in court in San Diego on Tuesday.

“This extradition is a significant step in our effort to bring another key figure in the Arellano Felix organization to answer, in an American court of law, to very serious charges. We are grateful to the government of Mexico for its assistance in the extradition,” Duffy was quoted as saying in Friday’s statement.

Arellano Felix, 55, was arrested by Mexican authorities in Tijuana in October 2008 after a shootout with police and the final extradition order was issued in 2010.

For his part, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent William R. Sherman said the extradition of Arellano Felix “marks the end of a 20-year DEA investigation into this vicious drug cartel.”

Eduardo and brothers Ramon, Benjamin and Francisco Javier were the top leaders of Mexico’s Arellano Felix cartel, which dominated the flow of cocaine, marijuana and other drugs through the Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali into the United States between 1986 and 2002.

After Francisco Javier’s arrest by the U.S. Coast Guard in 2006, Eduardo had remained the last brother on the lam.

Benjamin had been detained in 2002 in Mexico and was extradited to the United States in 2011. He was sentenced in April to 25 years in prison by a federal court in San Diego after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Ramon was killed in a shootout in the western state of Sinaloa in 2002.

In the brutal power struggle that ensued after all the original bosses were killed or placed behind bars, leadership of the organization eventually passed to Fernando Sanchez Arellano, a.k.a. “The Engineer,” a nephew of the founders.

Read more by HS News Staff →

Germans are known for being punctual, so perhaps it should be no surprise that Pope Benedict XVI was the first person signed up for World Youth Day 2013. Registration officially opened Aug. 28, and, according to organizers, the pope was the first pilgrim to be registered for the event, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro July 23-28.

Organizers said that more than 220 groups of young people from five continents signed up in the first 24 hours after registration opened. Pilgrims from the United States, Canada, Australia, China, Aruba and the United Arab Emirates were among the first of the early registrants. Groups of up to 50 people are encouraged to book early, organizers said. Registration should be done online on the official WYD Rio 2013 website, www.rio2013.com. The missionary outreach of young people is set to be a key focus of next year’s gathering, as the theme is from the Gospel of St. Matthew, “Go and make disciples of all nations!”

The opening Mass, the papal welcoming ceremony and the Way of the Cross celebration will be held at Copacabana beach, according to organizers.

Read more by HS News Staff →

Some 10,000 people who recently stayed in tent cabins at Yosemite National Park risk having contracted the often fatal hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday.

“People who stayed in the tents between June 10 and August 24 may be at risk of developing HPS in the next six weeks,” the CDC said in a communique.

In the past few hours at least two more cases have been detected of the disease that up to now has taken two lives, raising the number of confirmed infections to six, according to the authorities.

Other suspected cases are currently undergoing diagnosis.

The CDC urged anyone in that situation to have medical exams in case they feel symptoms associated with the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a fairly rare infection but one that can be fatal. It is spread by rats and mice.

The symtoms include fatigue, fever, muscle ache - especially in the thighs, hips and back - headache, chills, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pains, coughing and shortness of breath.

The rodents expel the virus in the urine, feces and saliva. According to the Web site medline Plus, small drops of the virus can float in the air and humans can contract the illness by inhaling the infected air or by coming in contact with the rodents or their excrement.

It added that a person infected with the disease cannot transmit it to another.

Most of the victims are believed to have been infected by the virus while staying at one of the 91 tent cabins in Curry Village, which were later closed to the public. However, one of the victims could have caught it in another part of the park.

“Our investigation is trying to determine which area of the park that person visited,” California Department of Public Health spokeswoman Anita Gore said.

Though no cure exists for the hantavirus, treatment after a swift diagnosis greatly increases chances of survival.

“The earlier it’s caught and supportive care is given, the better the survival rate,” Dr. Vicki Kramer, chief of vector-borne diseases at the California Department of Public Health, said.

In 2011, half the cases diagnosed with hantavirus in the United States ended in death, but since 1993, when the virus was identified, the average death rate in detected cases has been 36 percent, according to the CDC.

Some 4 million people visit Yosemite National Park every year. Close to 70 percent of those tourists go to Yosemite Valley, where the Curry Village tent cabins are located.

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In Mexico City, where every day more than 4 million cars, vans and trucks clog the streets, such a simple everyday task as going to work can be hell on wheels, which is why the bicycle is coming into its own.

“There’s no other choice, the city has reached its limit for assimilating vehicles. Any situation that will increase traffic is unsustainable and would definitely mean a collapse of our road system,” the environmental chief for the Federal District, Martha Delgado, told Efe.

For that reason the capital government is expanding and promoting its program of two-wheeled urban transport known as Ecobici, and before the end of the year will triple the number of bicycles available to the public.

To use the bicycles parked at bicycle stations established by the capital government in different neighborhoods around the city, users must register with the Ecobici program and pay a fee of 400 pesos (some $30) a year.

Delgado is convinced that on many occasions and especially for short rides where traffic is heaviest, the bicycle gets people where they’re going a lot faster than a car could.

Which explains why, two years ago and following the example of major European cities like Barcelona and Paris, a study was taken that found Mexico City endowed with “very favorable conditions” for introducing the bike as a system of public transport.

A flat surface and a privileged climate of between 15-25 C (59-77 F) throughout the year, as well as an extremely dense population in the downtown area - 6 million inhabitants - mean that Ecobici can be a true benefit for a vast number of people, she said.

In February 2011 a program with 75 bicycle stations was launched that was later increased to 90 supplied with 1,200 bicycles in the downtown area.

Today there are 42,000 registered users of the system, and it is calculated that some 9,000 Ecobici rides are taken every day.

“The city wasn’t designed for it and that’s why we’ve had to modify the structure a little,” said Delgado, who noted that at some places where cyclists found it hard to get from one place to another, they had to build bike paths.

But in general, she said, the program’s success has been such that an expansion is now underway and before 2012 ends there will be 275 bicycle stations, 4,000 bicycles and 73,000 users making 30,000 trips a day.

Despite these advances, many people still won’t chance riding a bike to work for fear they might have an accident in a city where traffic rules are not always respected.

“Any change in a megacity like the Federal District implies a huge cultural challenge. The city has to assimilate bikes as an alternative means of transportation and we’re working very hard at transforming people’s road culture to accept them,” she said.

She also said that the rate of Ecobici accidents is very low and there has never been even one that resulted in somebody being killed.

The use of bicycles in Mexico City is growing and recent times have seen a proliferation of bike shops, especially in areas that are trying to establish the system.

There are also bikers’ clubs that organize Sunday and nighttime jaunts as well as courses in road safety, which can serve as a first approach to riding on two wheels for those who still haven’t dared to try it.

Ernesto Corona is the coordinator of Bicitekas, a civil association that for 15 years has been promoting the use of bicycles and other alternative means of transport, while promoting public policies to make it happen.

“It’s much easier for people today because of the groundwork that has been laid both by public policies and by groups of bikers,” the coordinator, who noted that Bicitekas offers basic courses on how to pedal a bike around the city, told Efe.

In his opinion, the acceptance of bicycles has changed in recent years simply because more people have been riding them.

The biggest run-ins that bike riders have, he said, is precisely with taxis and public transport, which have a harder time understanding that streets are public spaces to be shared.

Read more by HS News Staff →

The Arizona Department of Education must provide targeted help to tens of thousands of English Language Learner students who were passed out of ELL programs before they were ready, the U.S. Justice Department said Friday.

The requirement is part of a settlement between Arizona authorities and the federal departments of Justice and Education.

“Proper classification of ELL students is essential to ensuring that students receive the services they need to help them overcome language barriers and participate equally in the instructional process,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said in a statement.

A federal investigation determined that tens of thousands of Arizona ELL students were either prematurely shifted out of those programs or wrongly classified as fluent in English.

Arizona stood to lose federal education funds if it did not settle the case.

The state has faced a number of lawsuits over the methods used in its ELL programs.

Read more by HS News Staff →

During a trip to Epcot at Disneyworld, Pennsylvania delegate Mark Harris and his wife were shocked and offended to find a Mexican employee working at the amusement park’s American pavilion, which showcases the different cultures in the United States. According to the couple’s blog, Harris complained to staff that he was “highly offended” that a “person from Mexico” was working in the American pavilion when other nations’ pavilions were staffed by people from each respective country:
”

The local GOP in Snyder County, Pennsylvania has rushed to disavow Harris’ overtly racist comments. County Commissioner Malcolm Derk told The Daily Item, “Americans are people of any race, color or heritage. Cheers to the individual working at Epcot for showing what a true American looks like.”
According to their website, “Mark and Irene are both pro‐life, believe marriage is between one man and one woman, are for open records and transparency, believe in very conservative principles and the Republican platform.”
The RNC has been marred by racist incidents this week; on Tuesday, two delegates had to be escorted out after throwing peanuts at a black camerawoman and called her an “animal.” Harris told the AP at the beginning of the convention that he liked how Romney was “hitting all the conservative bells” and “has the potential to be a great president if he keeps going in that direction.

Read more at Think Progress →

Production has partially resumed at a refinery in northwestern Venezuela where an explosion last Saturday triggered a huge fire, caused significant material damage and killed at least 42 people, state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. said.

The production units have started up “gradually,” a PDVSA spokesperson told Efe Friday, adding that work to get some processes up and running had started the day before.

The blast, which investigators suspect was caused by a gas leak, hit the Amuay refinery in the wee hours of Aug. 25, leaving nine fuel tanks in flames, causing damage to more than 1,200 nearby homes and paralyzing work at the facility.

The latest official report indicates 42 people died, eight remain missing and more than 100 required some degree of medical assistance as a result of the accident.

The 645,000-barrel-per-day refinery is one of three in the Paraguana Refinery Complex, one of the world’s largest with a total refining capacity of 1 million bpd.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads PDVSA, had said in recent days that the refinery shutdown would not affect fuel supplies for Venezuela or foreign markets, noting that the country has inventories of more than 4 million barrels of gasoline and other fuels, equivalent to a 10-day supply.

The fire affected one of the storage areas but not the units where the different refinery processes occur.

Eighteen National Guard members died in the accident at the complex, which has a base and housing for guardsmen, Vice President Elias Jaua said last weekend.

The investigation being conducted by the Attorney General’s Office, the CICPC criminal investigations agency, the Sebin police intelligence agency and PDVSA specialists will “take the time needed,” Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz told state-run media this week.

Chavez said Friday that the opposition was trying to use the tragedy to its advantage in the lead-up to the Oct. 7 presidential election.

Even before “we began recovering our dead,” the opposition “was saying it was Chavez’s fault, it was Rafael Ramirez’s fault, that Chavez should resign and of course Rafael Ramirez,” the leftist head of state said.

“Because the reason was lack of maintenance or because there was a gas leak for several days and no one paid any attention,” said Chavez, who has vehemently denied any neglect on PDVSA’s part.

On Monday, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles said the Amuay explosion reflected “the inefficiency and political maneuvering” of Chavez’s government.

“We’re not talking about rains or a natural event, but an accident that is the consequence of something,” Capriles said.

Last weekend, the general secretary of the Futpv petroleum workers union, Ivan Freites, accused the government of neglecting maintenance work in the oil industry in recent years.

Read more by HS News Staff →

The Civil Rights Project at UCLA announces that Octavio Alvarez is one of 10 teachers of Latino students from across the nation to receive honors at a White House ceremony sponsored by President Obama’s Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

Mr. Alvarez has been an integral part of Project SOL (Secondary On-line Learning), a research initiative of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA for the past four years, and a high school math teacher at Brawley Union High School in the Imperial Valley of California for 11 years.

Brawley High School enrolls a large number of immigrant students who often struggle to complete high school because of weak English skills and interrupted education.  Mr. Alvarez educates all of the English Learners in his school in college preparatory math, and has raised both the state test scores and the high school exit exam pass rates at his school to all-time highs.

Formerly an engineer in Mexico, Mr. Alvarez moved to the United States and began his higher education all over from scratch in order to realize his goal of becoming a teacher.

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An Arizona sheriff known for a hard-line stance on illegal immigration won’t face criminal charges for allegedly threatening to have his undocumented gay lover deported, the state Attorney General’s Office said Friday.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu asked the state AG’s office to investigate the allegations from former lover Jose Orozco, an undocumented Mexican.

Orozco said in February that Babeu had threatened to have him deported if he revealed their relationship.

The sheriff denied making any threats, but acknowledged the gay affair and resigned as Arizona co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

The scandal also forced Babeu to abandon his bid for a seat in Congress.

“The Attorney General’s Office will not file charges against either Babeu or Orozco,” Arizona Solicitor General Dave Cole said in a statement.

Babeu is seeking another term as county sheriff.

Read more by HS News Staff →

California officials have approved a bill which will allow some undocumented immigrants to get a driver’s license.

According to MSNBC, the bill specifies those immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before they turned 16 and have not been convicted of a felony. It passed Thursday in a 55-15 vote before it went to Gov. Jerry Brown.

“It is a victory for those who were brought here through no fault of their own, played by the rules, and are only asking to be included in and contribute to American society,” the bill’s sponsor, Assembly member Gilbert Cedillo, said, adding that he is confident Brown will sign it into law.

The bill contrasts how other states have dealt with the issue of illegal immigration. Arizona passed laws in order to clamp down on undocumented immigrants.

Immigrants wishing to apply for a license must be at least 15 and no older than 30.

Fox News reports that some Republicans support the bill, while others believe that California, a heavily-Democratic state, should leave the issue to the federal government.

Read more at The Celebrity Cafe →

One year after the construction of a new fence in this Arizona border town, the number of attacks on Border Patrol agents has dropped, as have the confiscation of drugs and the discovery of tunnels used by drug runners.

“The new infrastructure is a real benefit for the agents - now they can identify a threat before it gets near the border,” Crystal Amarillas, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol Tucson Sector, told Efe.

The new barrier, which cost $11.8 million, is a construction of separated metal bars set at a slight angle that gives Border Patrol agents a better view of the Mexican side.

The barrier measures 18 feet high and is set deeper in the ground, a strategic measure to prevent the digging of secret tunnels.

The fence, which runs for 2.8 miles, replaced the old solid metal panels that were frequently cut by smugglers to cross the border with their payloads of humans and drugs.

According to Border Patrol figures, in the 12 months that ended Aug. 1, the number of attacks on agents at the Nogales station dropped by 63 percent.

“When we talk about attacks we’re talking about stones that are sometimes thrown from the Mexican side,” Amarillas said.

She said that with better visibility, the agents can also detect the presence of large groups of people and whether they are trying to cross the border illegally or are transporting drugs.

This new infrastructure and the presence of the Border Patrol also makes criminals think twice about attempting a crossing.

Detentions of undocumented immigrants have also dropped by 5 percent during the same period, while in Nogales agents registered “a 22-percent decline in tunnels discovered.”

In Amarillas’ view, the new infrastructure has not only served to improve agents’ security, but also that of nearby urban communities.

“If you talk to people living near the wall, they feel safer, because now they too can see what’s happening on the other side, while the flow of undocumented migrants has also diminished in those areas,” she said.

Amarillas acknowledged that there are still people trying to cross the border illegally by climbing over the new fence, which has left some migrants with serious injuries.

“That has a lot to do with the people traffickers - the ‘coyote’ (smuggler) puts them on a ladder to climb up the Mexican side, but when they get to the top, he snatches it away, leaving them to their own devices,” she said.

The Arizona border is considered by the federal government as one of the main “red” zones for drugs and undocumented immigrants coming into the country along the Mexican border.

Read more by HS News Staff →

This week a Federal Court held that Texas had failed to show that its new voter ID law would not impair the voting rights of minorities. The Federal Court denied Texas’s request for judicial preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. § 1973c) on the grounds that the law was “retrogressive.” The Federal Court also noted that Texas had “completely missed the point of Section 5” by contending that voters who did not abide by Texas’s new voting ID procedure had simply chosen not to vote.

In striking down the Texas voter ID law the Court noted that in Texas, minority voters are more likely to be poor and face a greater burden in order to comply with the photo ID requirement. The Court went on to state that “a substantial burden” would be placed on the right to vote for even the most “committed citizen” who would have to travel up to 250 miles at their own expense in order to obtain an ID and pay the $22 fee.

“Texas has a history of discrimination that is chronicled by literacy tests, poll taxes, and other mechanisms that were meant to deny minorities their Constitutional right to vote,” said LULAC National President Margaret Moran. “The Voting Rights Act was passed to protect minorities against a state’s shameful disregard for the Constitution. LULAC applauds the Federal Court for seeing the Texas voter ID law for what it was, an attack on the voting rights of minorities.”

Further action on the matter will include a likely appeal by Texas to the United States Supreme Court. Also, the Court’s order included a scheduled time to discuss Texas’ claim that Section 5 was unconstitutional. A link to the Federal Court’s decision can be found here.

Read more by HS News Staff →

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a loan of up to $76 million to Impulsora Nacional de Electricidad S. de R. L. de C.V., a subsidiary of Enel Green Power SpA, to support its investment in a 74-megawatt (MW) wind farm in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the Mexican State of Oaxaca.

The wind farm, known as Bii Nee Stipa II, is Enel Green Power’s first wind farm in Mexico.

The project supports growing efforts by Mexico to harness wind energy in the “La Ventosa” region of Oaxaca, one of the world’s best regions for wind resources, and to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity. Currently, 75 percent of Mexico’s 60-gigawatts (GW) of total installed electricity generation capacity are derived from fossil fuels.

Oaxaca’s wind industry development began in the 1990s but is only now approaching its real potential. By the end of 2012, wind-based installed capacity in the state will reach around 1.5 GW. With this latest loan, the IDB has approved more than $240 million in financing for wind farms in Oaxaca since 2009

Read more by HS News Staff →

With the 2012 Republican National Committee (RNC) Convention coming to a close, Hon. Susana Martinez, Governor of New Mexico, gave a speech touching on her childhood in a border town to motivating future generations.  Peppered with Spanish phrases such as “El sueno Americanos es tener exito”, the first Hispanic female governor in history also discussed how she became a Republican.  Here is an excerpt of her speech:

I fear some of our leaders today have lost the courage to stand up.  What we have now are politicians.  They won’t offer real plans, and only stand up when they want to blame someone else.  And I don’t say that just because a Democrat is in the White House.  I was a Democrat for many years.  So were my parents.

Before I ran for District Attorney, two Republicans invited my husband and me to lunch.  And I knew a party-switch was exactly what they wanted.  So, I told Chuck, we’ll be polite, enjoy a free lunch and then say goodbye.  But we talked about issues—they never used the words Republican, or Democrat, conservative or liberal.  We talked about many issues, like welfare – is it a way of life, or a hand-up?  Talked about the size of government—how much should it tax families and small businesses?  And when we left that lunch, we got in the car and I looked over at Chuck and said, “I’ll be damned, we’re Republicans.”

This election should not be about political parties.  Too many Americans are out of work, and our debt is out of control.  This election needs to be about those issues.  And it is the responsibility of both parties to offer up real solutions and have an honest debate.

To see Susana Martinez’s complete speech watch the video below:

Related Videos

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Debates about the economic and fiscal benefits and drawbacks of immigrants typically oversimplify the role that immigrants play in our economy. When one looks more closely, they will find that the impact that immigrants (or any group for that matter) have on the economy is multifaceted and complex.

Immigrants are not just workers; they are also consumers and taxpayers. The effects of their labor and consumption on economic growth and fiscal health must be factored in as we consider how to address the situation of a large undocumented workforce.

In this report we describe the direct impacts of either deporting or legalizing undocumented workers. In reality, the effects would be much larger. Mass deportation, for example, would result in an indirect negative impact on local businesses because there would be less money circulating in the local economy, which would lead to further job losses. The estimates reported here should thus be considered conservative rather than exhaustive.

We estimate the economic contributions of immigrants, both documented and undocumented, for seven states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Virginia. These seven states have some of the largest populations of unauthorized immigrants, and have played and will continue to play a pivotal role in elections as swing states. We then report the negative fiscal impact of four different deportation scenarios—namely what would happen if 15, 30, 50, or 100 percent of undocumented immigrants were removed from the state. Finally, we explore the positive economic outcomes that would result from legalizing undocumented immigrants in each of the seven states.

State reports:
Arizona
Colorado
Florida
Nevada
New Mexico
Texas
Virginia

Read more at american progress →

Colombia has moved ahead of Argentina to become South America’s second-largest economy, the outgoing Colombian finance minister said Friday.

“Colombia surpassed Argentina in GDP, we are the second economy in South America after Brazil and the third in size (in Latin America) after Brazil and Mexico,” Juan Carlos Echeverry told Caracol Radio.

After pulling ahead of oil-rich Venezuela in the first two years of President Juan Manuel Santos’ administration, “now we pass the Argentine economy,” Echeverry said.

“Colombia is moving forward with a lot of impetus. We are doing things right and advancing,” he added, expressing confidence that the success will continue under the man replacing him in the finance post, current Mines and Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas.

Colombia will end 2012 with a gross domestic product of $362 billion, compared with projected Argentine GDP of $347 billion, Echeverry said in an interview with the online edition of Bogota daily El Tiempo.

Echeverry, an economist by training, is leaving the Colombian government to seek a high-level post with the International Monetary Fund.

Read more by HS News Staff →

The Spanish professionals most sought after outside their country are engineers, and it’s chiefly Mexican, Brazilian and even German companies that are after them.

That was the word given to Efe by four directors of Web sites and social network accounts that specialize in finding talent and facilitating professional contacts.

Recruiting firm HAYS says Spanish aeronautical and industrial engineers are in demand for self-propulsion, aviation and construction projects in emerging countries like Brazil and Mexico.

Even so, this does not mean that “there exists a large-scale exodus of engineers,” the engineering director of HAYS, Sergio Hinchado, said.

For his part, the director of loyalty motivation for the Jobandtalent Web site, Ramon Egea, said they have observed a growing number of German companies in the market for Spanish engineers.

Jobandtalent is a Spanish online employment agency where users, mostly young people about to complete their university studies or at the outset of their professional careers, post their profiles so they can be reviewed by companies that pay an access fee.

Egea said that the Web site works through a system of integration with Facebook, which allows users to be recommended for jobs by their contacts and in this way make sure they stay up to date with any openings in the job market.

U.S.-based LinkedIn opened it offices in Spain in March 2012 and since then the number of Spanish users has risen from 2 million to 3 million.

LinkedIn officials said that with Spain’s unemployment rate approaching 25 percent, they have seen an incredible increase in the number of profiles of Spanish users being posted.

LinkedIn provides access to very specific user profiles, though its management says that companies are generally looking for candidates who aren’t looking for them - that is, people who are already employed and aren’t actively seeking another job.

A recent study taken by the professional social network Viadeo showed that half of Spaniards use the networks to find a job.

He said that 64 percent of executives who make hiring decisions check social networks to find profiles of candidates for a specific opening before an interview, and that three out of every 10 human resources managers discard candidates who have no profile on a social network or who have one that is out of date.

The head of Viadeo, with 1.2 million users in Spain, Pol Santacana, said that the user profile type on this network is a professional who has been active for some time and seeks visibility to improve his professional situation.

He said that telecommunications and construction engineers are the most sought after in Germany and in the countries of North Africa.

He also expects that in the coming years the professional profile in great demand will be that of Spanish scientists.

Read more by HS News Staff →

A cameraman with the Globovision network is wanted for attempted homicide in connection with a shooting at a farm near the Venezuelan capital, Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami said Friday.

When some of the workers at a collective farm objected to the “unauthorized” presence of a three-person Globovision news crew, cameraman Frank Tolosa opened fire, wounding one of the farm managers, El Aissami told a press conference.

He said the other two members of the Globovision crew admitted to entering the farm without permission and confirmed that Tolosa shot the manager, whose injuries were not life-threatening.

Vice President Elias Jaua, who is also Venezuela’s agriculture minister, went to the farm on Friday to preside over an “act of redress” for the peasants affected by what he described as “Globovision’s fascist, cowardly aggression.”

Globovision, which is strongly critical of the administration of leftist President Hugo Chavez, said earlier this week that its news crew was present at Tuesday’s incident on the farm and that the network had already shared the information with authorities.

The particulars of the event “must still be established by the investigative organs and the courts,” Globovision said in a statement, adding that its employees were “surprised by this situation.”

This latest dispute with the government comes two months after Globovision paid a $2.1 million fine rather than face an embargo on $5.6 million of its corporate assets.

The Supreme Court ordered the embargo after Globovision resisted paying a fine imposed by regulators who said the network’s coverage of a June 2011 prison uprising was effectively a justification for criminal activity.

Read more by HS News Staff →

Mindy Figueroa has found her place in the tough, competitive world of communications at the helm of her own company, while keeping up her philanthropic endeavors and her work within the Latino community.

Figueroa made her dream come true in 2007 when she founded Latin2Latin Marketing+Communications, LLC, targeting the growing Latino market in the United States, and initially operating her new business out of her home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The entrepreneur told Efe that she launched the company “with lots of hopes and plans,” and though in that year the financial crisis was brewing that in 2008 turned into the Great Recession, she never gave up.

“Starting up a business under those circumstances was one of the hardest times I had,” said Figueroa, who at the time she founded her company had 25 years of experience in the corporate world, beginning with a marketing position at Anheuser-Busch.

She told Efe that thanks to the support of her family, hard work and being flexible with clients in times of crisis, Latin2Latin kept going.

“It was a mutual vote of confidence,” Figueroa, who settled in New York after graduating in marketing from the University of Puerto Rico, said.

She said that a big problem she had to deal with in the midst of the financial crisis was being able to raise enough money to pay her employees and the expenses of her fledgling company.

“I needed enough money to continue with the business that the clients were paying. But I did it, no one loaned me the money,” said Figueroa, whose first client was the firm Scholastic Media, where she had formerly worked as a project director.

Together with Scholastic she launched the award-winning children’s television series “Maya & Miguel.”

In just five years after creating Latin2Latin, her efforts have been rewarded by countless prizes, including this year when Diversity MBA Magazine put her on its list of the 100 best emerging executives and leaders less than 50 years old.

Figueroa said her goal over the next five years is “to become one of the biggest small independent agencies in the country.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re just going to grow in the number of clients, but with solid clients” that help educate the Latino community about caring for their health and the importance of education, she said.

“We work with hospitals and develop innovative educational programs that allow us to put the tools for better health in the hands of our community,” said Figueroa, who numbers among her clients Mount Sinai Hospital, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“At the same time we continue working with Scholastic and PBS public television, providing alternatives for educating our children, training them from the time they’re little so they’ll be able to finish college, because that’s the only way we can fix the problems of our community,” she said.

Read more by HS News Staff →

The fire devastating the province of Malaga in southern Spain has left one person dead and five injured while forcing 5,000 people from their homes in municipalities on the edge of the blaze, Andalusian authorities said Friday.

The charred body of an elderly man was found by police in a toolshed in the Malaga municipality of Ojen, which has been evacuated and is being cleared of rubble since they have reason to believe that a second victim might be found there, the officers said.

The fire department attempting to douse the flames in six Malaga municipalities is currently focusing its efforts on the Ojen area, since the flames leaped across the highway that connects that village with Marbella, one of the area’s biggest tourist attractions.

The president of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Jose Antonio Griñan, spoke of “suspicions” that the fire in Malaga “could have been set intentionally, and if that is confirmed, authorities will be dealing with a “criminal act.”

Griñán told the press that the mountainous terrain makes it difficult to extinguish the fire, though he expressed hope that the blaze will be stabilized at some point on Friday.

The fire has already consumed approximately 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of woodland and is moving through a forest that could endanger the nearby Sierra Blanca mountains.

Deployed in the area are more than 300 firefighters, personnel of 34 police patrols, five backup brigades and 10 fire engines, as well as a mobile meteorology unit for the analysis and tracking of forest fires.

As for air support, 31 aircraft have now been activated, of which 20 are from the regional Andalusian government and the rest belong to the Agriculture, Food and Environment Ministry.

Altogether there are six freight aircraft, five large-capacity helicopters, 13 helicopters for transport and fire extinction, and three coordination and surveillance aircraft fighting the fire, plus 200 troops of the UME military emergency management unit.

The fire is affecting the Malaga municipal terminals of Monda, Mijas, Marbella, Alhaurin El Grande and Ojen, as well as Coin, where the fire broke out, but up to now the exact area burned has not been determined.

The village of Ojen was evacuated completely as were several nearby housing developments.

The Red Cross has established campsites and shelters on lands of the Monda, Mijas and Marbella municipalities.

With regard to the injured, a 58-year-old woman and a man of about the same age have suffered burns over 60 and 65 percent of their bodies, respectively.

Meanwhile a mother, 40, and her two children ages 11 and 3 also received medical attention for contusions, and were given artificial respiration due to the effects of being enveloped in smoke after seeking refuge from the flames in a cave in Ojen.

So far this year, 11 people have died in Spain as a consequence of forest fires, of which all but one were in the months of July and August.

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