Latin American nations bid to join Mexico in Arizona case

PHOENIX Seven other Latin American countries want to join Mexico in supporting a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s immigration enforcement law.Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru filed separate, nearly identical motions to join Mexico’s legal brief supporting the lawsuit filed by U.S. civil rights and other advocacy groups.A federal judge formally accepted Mexico’s filing July 1 but did not immediately rule on the latest motions filed late last week.

Mexico says the law would lead to racial profiling and hinder trade, tourism and the fight against drug trafficking.The law is to take effect June 29. It requires that police conducting traffic stops or questioning people about possible legal violations ask them about their immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that they’re in the country illegally. (AP)

Tropical Storms Hit Central U.S., 10 Killed

Managua Tropical Storm Alex, the season’s first hurricane in the Atlantic, killing at least 10 people in Central America, local media reported on Monday. Hundreds of people were evacuated from lowland areas in El Salvador, when Alex storms into the Gulf of Mexico. Six people were killed and their bodies were found drifting in the River San Lucas, said an official with Nicaragua. In the western part of Guatemala, a landslide buried two farmers as they worked on a road improvement project, the Office of Emergency Response, Conred, reported.

U.S. National Disaster Management Center, Alex is still going strong storms on Tuesday local time Wednesday Hurricane season this year came not as usual. Pacific typhoon, Agatha, who appeared before the June 1 killing 156 people in Guatemala.Tropical storm Alex was somewhat weakened after the rain down in Belize, but continue to create gusts of wind and heavy rains, said the United States National Hurricane Center .

Nevertheless, the storm did not immediately threaten the activities of oil drilling in wells Macondo of BP Plc (British Petroleum), U.S. Coast Guard said. Alex, the first hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season in 2010, has a wind speed of nearly 65 km per hour and was at about 90 km west of Chetumal, Mexico.

The storm was expected to subside when entering Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula, said Miami-based hurricane center. Atlantic cyclone began to move on June 1 to 30 November and meteorological experts predict this year will be the most prone to hurricanes. (Xinhua-Oana)

world cup 2010 match preview: Mexico vs south africa

14:00 GMT, June 11, 2010
Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

With the eyes of the world trained upon the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, the opening match of the FIFA World Cup offers South Africa a unique opportunity to make a statement of intent, both for their own team and for the tournament as a whole.Bafana Bafana will take to the stage after the usual extravagant, drawn out opening ceremony and will find it tough to focus their attention on overcoming their opponents after being part of such a scene. However, buoyed by the sound of around 90,000 vuvuzelas, Carlos Alberto Parreira’s men will have the entire nation – perhaps even continent – behind them as they walk out onto the pitch and you can never rule out the benefit of having a ’12th man’ in the stands.

Coach Parreira boasts all the experience needed to succeed at the highest level, however few have given the South Africans much of a chance of getting out of a group that also includes France and Uruguay. Led by the likes of Steven Pienaar and Aaron Mokoena, Bafana Bafana have, though, been in great form of late. Unbeaten since mid-October, the side have recently beaten Colombia, hammered Guatemala, and overcome Denmark in their warm-up games and have an excellent fourth-placed campaign in the 2009 Confederations Cup (held in South Africa) to draw upon should they need to.

Their opponents, Mexico, have also been on a good run. Unlucky to lose to England after a first-half showing that suggested coach Javier Aguirre will place his emphasis on attacking football, Mexico will have confidence flowing their veins after beating reigning world champions Italy 2-1.

It is something of a turnaround considering that, under Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Mexicans were on the verge of missing out on the tournament altogether, and Aguirre now has the team playing with a freedom that brings out their self-belief. With a mixture of veteran performers like Rafael Marquez and young talent in the form of Javier Hernandez and Carlos Vela, they will be a tough proposition for the hosts to overcome.

South Africa player in focus: Katlego Mphela. South Africa left Benni McCarthy out of the squad for a reason and one of them is the form of Mphela. With four goals in his last two starts, the Mamelodi Sundowns striker has made a first-team place his own and, on the back of an incredible goal in the Confederations Cup against Spain, his star is on the rise.

Mexico player in focus: Javier Hernandez. Having just moved to Manchester United in a deal reported to be around £10 million, the spotlight will well and truly be on the young striker. Quick, agile and with a good eye for goal, he has scored seven goals in 12 games for his country. Will need to perform better than he managed in the friendly at Wembley though, if he is to prove his doubters wrong.

Key Battle: Steven Pienaar vs. Andres Guardado. Pienaar’s form is crucial if South Africa have any hope of getting out of the group and his work on the wing will set up chances for his team-mates. A great season at Everton has raised expectation, but then Guardado’s form for Deportivo has also raised the bar on the other side. Both wide men are creative, quick and their battle down the flanks will be a deciding factor in how the game goes.

Trivia: This year’s opening match is the first ever in Africa and it will be the third opener to feature an African team. On both previous occasions the African sides picked up shocks wins as Cameroon beat holders Argentina 1-0 in 1990 and Senegal beat champions France by the same score in 2002.

Stats: South Africa coach Parreira will take charge of a side at his sixth World Cup. Kuwait (1982), United Arab Emirates (1990), Saudi Arabia (1998) and Brazil (1994 and 2006); while Mexico have been sent home in the Second Round stage in the past four World Cup tournaments.

Odds: A 2-2 draw comes in at 17.00, while Mphela looks a good bet to score first at 7.50 with Bet 365.Prediction: You can’t rule out the importance of the crowd in the first game. Players at the Confederations Cup complained of hearing what sounded like a swarm of bees on the pitch – in fact it was the vuvuzela noise – and Mexico could be stunned. It should be enough for South Africa to claim at least a draw.

Agatha storm that struck Guatemala City sinkhole occurred as deep as 200 feet

Tuesday, the Associated Press was able to take a video of the massive sinkhole that swallowed a three-story building Monday in Guatemala; the sinkhole has captured the world’s attention because it is so large and unimaginable. See the video of the sinkhole below.

The sinkhole measures 66-100 feet wide at least 100-200 feet deep, the exact measurement are unknown because authorities in the area are keeping people away from the hole until it is determined that it is safe for geologists to go inside. A three-story clothing factory fell into the sinkhole, and various reports say that a security guard may have been killed inside it.

According to Wikipedia, a sinkhole occurs when the ground is peeled away by water, they vary in size from very small to very large. This is the second massive sinkhole that they city has seen in the past few years. In April of 2007 another one appeared in the same area and killed three people.

Over the weekend Guatemala was hit with Tropical Storm Agatha, and a volcano eruption that layered Guatemala City in three inches of ash. Over 150 people are reported dead from Tropical Storm Agatha in and around Guatemala.Diana Gonzalez from Salt Lake City, Utah had this to say about the sinkhole: “This sinkhole is amazing. At first, I didn’t believe the photos were real, but the video seems to prove that it is.

The fact that you can’t see the bottom is a little scary.”If you liked this article, please click on the subscribe button above to receive an email when new articles are published by this examiner.(AP)

Tungurahua volcano erupts, Ecuadorean villagers evacuate

the second volcanic eruption in Latin America on Friday, loud explosions shook the ground and rattled windows near the volcano known as Tungurahua in the indigenous Quechua language, 130 km (81 miles) southeast of Quito, officials said.Residents close to the 5,020-meter (16,500 feet) volcano were evacuated from Cusua and Juive Grande villages, the president’s office said in a statement.

Officials in the area said hundreds of families had been moved, while Ecuador’s aviation authorities closed the airport in coastal Guayaquil and altered the routes of some flights to avoid the ash cloud.”The eruptive column is some 10 km (33,000 feet) high,” Hugo Yepes, director of Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute, told reporters.

Tungurahua has been classed as active since 1999 and had a strong eruption in 2008. It is one of eight active volcanoes in the country.Yepes said ash plumes could “easily” reach the 35,000 to 40,000 feet at which long distance flights operate. “As such there should be at least a diversion for international routes,” he said.Ash particles can cause serious damage if sucked into airplane engines. An Icelandic volcano caused widespread disruption and major losses for airlines after flights were grounded for days in Europe in mid-April.The authorities temporarily closed the airport in Guayaquil, where the runway was covered in ash, and diverted planes heading there to Quito and Manta.

Officials also altered some flight routes to avoid the plume, including Lima-Quito and domestic routes between the capital and Guayaquil and the Andean city of Cuenca.The national director of civil aviation, Fernando Guerrero, told Reuters that the Guayaquil airport would reopen later once the runway had been cleared.

The authorities have moved to safety about 500 families in five communities close to Tungurahua, officials said, while an unknown number of people left the area of their own accord.”At the moment we are keeping a yellow alert in effect for the area,” said Fausto Chunata, mayor of the nearby town of Penipe, adding that they might order more evacuations later.

Banos, a town popular with foreign and local tourists, was among the places evacuated voluntarily, officials said.In Guatemala, another geologically volatile Latin American country, villagers fled and the international airport was closed after the Pacaya volcano erupted close to its capital.

earthquake at western Guatemala with 5.6 on the Richter scale

WASHINGTON, An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale shook western Guatemala, Sunday (18/4/2010), the USGS said.According to the U.S. agency’s earthquake, the quake occurred at 07:30 and centered at the location 23 miles east of Suchiate in the state of Chiapas Mexico and 35 miles west of Guatemala Retalhuleu.There are currently no reports of damage or casualties caused by the earthquake.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to Latin America on a weeklong, five-nation tour expected to be dominated by the earthquake in Chile

WASHINGTON Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to Latin America on a weeklong, five-nation tour expected to be dominated by the earthquake in Chile and building support for fresh penalties against Iran.Clinton plans to leave Washington on Sunday evening to attend the inauguration of Uruguay’s new president, ex-guerrilla Jose Mujica (MOO’-hee-kah).Unless the earthquake alters her itinerary, Clinton is due late Monday in Chile, where she will offer support for disaster rescue and recovery efforts.In Brazil, Clinton will seek support for more penalties on Iran over its nuclear program. Brazil is a voting member of the U.N. Security Council and has been reluctant to impose additional penalties.Clinton wraps up the trip with stops in Costa Rica and Guatemala.(AP)

Hillary Clinton flies to Latin America on Sunday, working to buff a lackluster U.S. image in a region where Brazil is emerging as a regional power with global aspirations

WASHINGTON  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flies to Latin America on Sunday, working to buff a lackluster U.S. image in a region where Brazil is emerging as a regional power with global aspirations.The trip, featuring Clinton’s first stops in South America as secretary of state, includes a visit to Chile on Tuesday, although officials said they were assessing the situation after Saturday’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the country.Brazil is the centerpiece of Clinton’s five-day visit and she will use her March 3 stop there to seek support for the drive on the U.N. Security Council to put new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.Brazil  a non-permanent member of the council  has been reluctant to get tough on Iran and analysts say Clinton faces a diplomatic test as she seeks to bring President Inacio Lula da Silva on board in the final weeks before U.N. diplomats unveil the sanctions strategy in New York.But the trip also marks a fresh U.S. start in Latin America, which saw early hopes for better ties with the Obama administration fade amid disputes over last year’s Honduras coup and the continued U.S. embargo on communist-ruled Cuba.That disappointment was underscored this week when the “Rio Group” including Mexico and Brazil agreed to form a new regional bloc that explicitly leaves out the United States  a thumbed nose at a power many feel is still too cavalier in its dealings with its southern neighbors.”Their early expectations were very large, and probably impossible to meet,” said Peter DeShazo, director of the Americas program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“There has been a lot more continuity in policy than people expected.”Latin America-watchers say Clinton’s itinerary speaks volumes. The first two stops on the trip, Uruguay and Chile, have both recently held smooth elections and are regarded as models of moderate, market-oriented economies.She winds up with stops in Costa Rica, another stable longtime U.S. ally, and Guatemala, which has seen its strategic importance skyrocket as a major new front in the battle against international drug traffickers.”She is making the right stops,” said Roberto Izurieta, head of the Latin America Department at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.”She is supporting moderate economic policies and democratic principles. It is the right message.”

TOUGH SELL ON IRAN

Despite the Latin America focus, Iran will top the agenda as the United States and other veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with Germany, seek to agree on a resolution calling for new sanctions on Tehran.Russia has sounded more positive about possible sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes but which western powers fear is a cover for building atomic weapons.But China has called for more talks, and Brazil which hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in November is also reluctant, a position Clinton may not be able to change.

Julia Sweig, director of the Latin American program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Brazil’s own experience with both nuclear energy and democratic transformation made it leery of U.S. saber-rattling over Iran’s current crisis.”They see themselves as having had an experience both in shifting toward a peaceful nuclear program and in shifting to democracy that Iran might have the potential to undergo right now,” Sweig said.

“They are still insisting on not isolating Iran, though I don’t know how long they will be able to play that out.”Brazil has also pushed for a change in U.S. isolation of Cuba Lula payed an “emotional” visit to the island last week and those calls are likely to be repeated during Clinton’s two stops in Central America.While the Obama administration resumed migration talks with Cuba that had been suspended by former President George W. Bush in 2004, it has been cautious on any broader policy change despite repeated prodding by its Latin American neighbors.

Clinton is also likely to be pressed on Honduras, which is struggling to return to stability and legitimacy after a coup last year toppled President Manuel Zelaya.The United States helped to broker new democratic elections in November that brought President Porfirio Lobo to power. But Washington was widely accused of failing to take a strong enough line on Zelaya’s ouster  raising bitter memories of U.S. support for past military coups in the region.”She’s got to make up for lost time, especially over Honduras,” Sweig said. “American credibility has really taken a hit.”(Reuters)