Mexicans

After reading "When the Trek North Becomes a Slow March Toward Death" (June 10), I have reached the conclusion that Mexicans who die while trying to escape their homeland are not heroes as President Vicente Fox says. Instead, perhaps they are cowards for not loving their country enough to stay and fight for reforms to change Mexico. While I am indeed sympathetic to their plight, it wasn't that long ago that the 13 colonies were faced with similar oppression and corruption from the English who ruled over them.

Citigroup Inc., the No. 1 U.S. financial services firm, said Monday that it will ease the way for Mexican immigrants to open bank accounts, a step that could help them send billions of dollars back to Mexico every year. The move comes as the U.S. government increases efforts to monitor cross-border financial activity after the Sept. 11 attacks. The plans will help Citibank, Citigroup's consumer finance unit, gain access to the almost $8.

Seventy-five naturalized U.S. citizens regained their rights as Mexican nationals during a ceremony Friday at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles. Changes in Mexican law have allowed many emigrants who are now U.S. citizens to obtain dual nationality, restoring property ownership rights and other privileges in Mexico. The ceremony was held on the Mexican holiday marking the signing of the 1917 constitution.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles removed one of the last barriers to the execution of Mexican citizen Miguel Angel Flores by denying his request for clemency on grounds that Texas had violated an international treaty. Flores, 31, is set to die by lethal injection today for the 1989 rape and murder of college student Angela Tyson, but the pending punishment has drawn opposition from Mexico and several other countries.

Facing widespread dismay over the assassination of a leading gubernatorial candidate, President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday urged fellow Mexicans to join hands against the forces of organized crime that he said were to blame. The killing of Rodolfo Torre on Monday in northern Mexico has added to Calderon's political headaches as voters are to head to the polls Sunday in 14 states to pick a dozen governors and hundreds of mayors and lawmakers. "United, Mexicans can and will overcome a common enemy that today threatens to destroy not only our tranquillity but our democratic institutions," Calderon said in a broadcast message.

MEXICO CITY - In the midst of a violent drug war, President Felipe Calderon fired crooked cops by the hundreds, and hired new ones - rigorously vetted and college educated - by the thousands. Salaries were doubled, new standards imposed and officers were subjected to extensive background checks. A trustworthy federal police force was to be one of the most important legacies of Calderon's six-year term. And yet, just months before he is to leave office in December, the president found himself apologizing "profoundly" this week for an incident in which federal police allegedly opened fire on an SUV with diplomatic plates, injuring two Americans.

Mexicans are eating only half as much meat as they did in 1981, and sales of junk food and soft drinks also have declined, Clara Judisman, director of the National Consumer Institute, said. Consumers have turned from meat to grains, she said, as the proportion of income spent on food has increased during the country's economic crisis. She expressed concern over the possible nutritional effects of the change in diet.

Approximately 5.8 million Mexicans are expected to pawn goods this year at the national pawnshop, the government newspaper El Nacional reported Thursday. Luis Carbajo, spokesman for the Monte de Piedad, as the pawnshop is called, said more people are turning to it each year. The Monte de Piedad is headquartered in Mexico City's main plaza and has branches around the country. Carbajo said the pawnshop does its heaviest business in August, just before the start of the school year.

LOS ANGELES Police Chief William J. Bratton has promised "retraining" for the elite officers who shot foam bullets and projectiles into a crowd of mostly Latino participants at a May Day immigration rights rally at MacArthur Park.

With unemployment levels at a four-year high, the government on Saturday urged Mexicans to create their own jobs, even if that means just making tacos or baking cakes at home. Economy Minister Fernando Canales said in a national radio address that the government would use federal funds to help people who came up with good ideas for jobs. "Simple ones are no less important: Set up a taco stall, a hairdressers' salon, bake cakes at home ... products that give you added value," Canales said.