Eight-year-old Vanesa Amador stands patiently on a bridge that joins Mexico and the United States. She is feet away from a country she admits she knows nothing about but has strong feelings for.“The United States is the best country in the whole world,” she says, smiling.Vanesa and her mother, Mayra, are part of a group of about 120 Cubans who made a long journey through several Latin American countries before boarding a charter plane in Costa Rica to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, the border town with Laredo, Texas.The number of Cubans entering the United States nearly doubled last year, compared with the year before. That trend shows no signs of slowing. More Cubans are coming to the United States because they fear that a thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations will end a longstanding policy granting legal status to any Cuban national who reaches dry land in the United States.
Sunday Feb 28: The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda...... https://t.co/uDABCy1qv1— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 28, 2016
The good news is that the economy is growing at 2 percent and that there’s no recession in sight (barring a complete collapse of profits). The bad news is that the economy is growing at 2 percent. It’s been doing so for nearly 15 years under Democratic and Republican administrations.Coming off a deep recession, real GDP growth is averaging no better than 2 percent. After 25 quarters of so-called recovery under Obama, it has increased a total of only 14.3 percent.
Tuesday Feb 23: Trump and Mexico with Allan Wall.......... https://t.co/i21ASqs9pW— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 23, 2016
Wed Feb 24: Obama trip to Cuba and other Latin America stories of the week........ https://t.co/XKrP3oXz79— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 24, 2016
Mon Feb 22: South Carolina and Nevada with Barry Casselman, The Prairie Editor....... https://t.co/XWyeKuJzSr— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 22, 2016
National security stories of the week with Barry Jacobsen...... https://t.co/GTx14BwOs2— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 26, 2016
Thursday Feb 25: A look at the GOP going into Super Tuesday with Chris Corbett........ https://t.co/13olqPJkvi— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 25, 2016
One of those causes is the fall in oil prices, which saps market confidence in oil exporters like Mexico. The government here relies on oil revenues to finance part of the budget, and the price drop has already forced budget cuts. Last week the president of the central bank, AgustÃn Carstens, insisted that more cutbacks were needed to avoid “a much longer and more painful adjustment process.”Still, analysts say the economy is better protected than in the past. Public debt is manageable and the central bank sits on healthy foreign reserves. Unlike many of the emerging market economies that have also watched their currencies struggle against the dollar, Mexico’s economy grew a modest 2.5 percent last year, and is expected to grow again this year.
Mexico was the United States’ 2nd largest goods export market in 2013.U.S. goods exports to Mexico in 2013 were $226.2 billion, up 4.7% ($10.2 billion) from 2012, and up 132% from 2003. It is up 444% since 1993 (Pre-NAFTA). U.S. exports to Mexico accounted for 14.3% of overall U.S. exports in 2013.The top export categories (2-digit HS) in 2013 were: Machinery ($38.5 billion), Electrical Machinery ($36.7 billion), Mineral Fuel and Oil ($23.0 billion), Vehicles ($21.6 billion), and Plastic ($15.3 billion).U.S. exports of agricultural products to Mexico totaled $18.1 billion in 2013, the 3rd largest U.S. Ag export market. Leading categories include: corn ($1.8 billion), soybeans ($1.5 billion), dairy products ($1.4 billion), pork and pork products ($1.2 billion), and poultry meat (excluding eggs) ($1.2 billion).U.S. exports of private commercial services* (i.e., excluding military and government) to Mexico were $27.4 billion in 2012 (latest data available), 6.8% ($1.7 billion) more than 2011 and 57% greater than 2002. It was up 163% from 2003 (Pre-NAFTA). The other private services (business, professional and technical services and financial services), and the travel categories accounted for most of U.S. services exports to Mexico.
National security stories of the week with Barry Jacobsen...... https://t.co/GTx14BwOs2— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 26, 2016
“And I’m prepared to take the heat for saying, let’s be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship but by finding a way to create legality so that they are not separated from their families.”
Thursday Feb 25: A look at the GOP going into Super Tuesday with Chris Corbett........ https://t.co/13olqPJkvi— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 25, 2016
Thursday Feb 25: A look at the GOP going into Super Tuesday with Chris Corbett........ https://t.co/13olqPJkvi— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 25, 2016
Bye bye Bon Bon: A chimp born in 1958 saw it all at the Dallas Zoo....... https://t.co/oNf9SswxPu— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 25, 2016
At no time since before 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion, has a woman’s ability to terminate a pregnancy been more dependent on her zip code or financial resources to travel.The drop-off in providers — more than one every two weeks — occurred in 35 states, in both small towns and big cities that are home to more than 30 million women of reproductive age.
The drop-off in access has helped depress the abortion rate in the state by 13 percent, according to a July study, and providers there say full implementation of the law would leave almost a fifth of Texas women 150 miles or more from a facility.
Wed Feb 24: Obama trip to Cuba and other Latin America stories of the week........ https://t.co/XKrP3oXz79— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 24, 2016
The Trump candidacy inspired the production and sale of Donald Trump piñatas (just a few days after his announcement), and Donald Trump masks were doing a brisk business in mid-October.The Mexican video game company Karaokulta developed a game calledTrumpéalo, in which the player throws shoes, beer bottles and nopal cacti at Donald Trump.
The United States is Mexico’s largest trading partner, buying 77.5% of Mexican exports in 2012. Total U.S. goods trade with Mexico equaled USD 493 billion in 2012; 7% more than in 2011. Mexico exports more to the United States in goods and services in just over a month than it does in one year to the 27 countries of the European Union.According to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. goods exports to Mexico were USD 216 billion in 2012, up 9% compared to 2011 and 31.9% from 2010. U.S. goods imports from Mexico in 2012 accounted for USD 277.5 billion, an increase of 5% over 2011 and 20% since 2010.
Tuesday Feb 23: Trump and Mexico with Allan Wall.......... https://t.co/i21ASqs9pW— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 23, 2016
Tuesday Feb 23: Trump and Mexico with Allan Wall.......... https://t.co/i21ASqs9pW— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 23, 2016
"The results from the Democratic Nevada caucus and the Republican South Carolina primary did not provide any big surprises, but they also did not provide the winners with any big boosts.In Nevada, Hillary Clinton won a narrow victory in a caucus that only brought out a small percentage of those eligible to vote, as is the case in all caucuses. The caucus vote was also reported to be down one-third from 2008, the last time the event was competitive. Not only that, exit polls indicated Mrs. Clinton lost voters who valued “honesty” and “trustworthiness” by an astonishing 9-1.That Mr. Sanders and his late-surging campaign came as close as he did to beat Mrs. Clinton can only strengthen his surging campaign as the contest heads toward Super Tuesday on March 1. Mrs. Clinton is also expected to win the Democratic South Carolina primary next week. She remains the frontrunner, but her lackluster performance and the Nevada exit polls will continue to provide profound concern for her party and its leaders.In South Carolina, Donald Trump won but his margin was not quite as large as expected. Marco Rubio came in second; Ted Cruz, a less-than-expected third, Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Ben Carson trailed in single digits. Mr. Bush has now retired from the race. Mr. Kasich perhaps remains a while longer. Mr. Cruz probably remains in the race indefinitely. Dr. Carson stays in perhaps until his resources run out. Barring the unforeseen, however, Marco Rubio is now the candidate of the Republican mainstream grass roots. As such, he will again be a prime target of his rivals. Governor Christie might have done Mr. Rubio a favor before New Hampshire by preparing him then for what is to come now.Next week, it will be the Republicans’ turn in Nevada, and the Democrats’ turn in South Carolina, but the main drama now shifts to the March 1 Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses, 13 of them.
The Democratic contest remains muddied; the Republican race has been made clearer, but its outcome is not yet assured."
Mon Feb 22: South Carolina and Nevada with Barry Casselman, The Prairie Editor....... https://t.co/XWyeKuJzSr— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 22, 2016
Mon Feb 22: South Carolina and Nevada with Barry Casselman, The Prairie Editor....... https://t.co/XWyeKuJzSr— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 22, 2016
“Let Cubans vote.” Those three words, spoken by President Obama on his planned trip to Cuba, could unite all Americans — including those Americans in neighboring countries — behind a worthy cause. Will a man elected promising “hope and change” advance those objectives in a country where they are genuinely needed?We shouldn’t have to ask.The president’s visit to Cuba comes as the winds of change have shifted toward freedom, away from the authoritarian populism promoted by the Castro brothers for 60 years. Voters in Argentina recently elected a pro-free-market conservative who has pledged to seek a positive relationship with the United States. In December, Venezuela’s democrats won congressional elections in a landslide and now represent a majority that opposes the Cuban-backed regime that has brought the country to political and economic ruin.Castro’s acolytes in Bolivia and Ecuador have seen their political prospects plummet in recent months. A socialist government in Brazil is besieged by corruption investigations, succumbing to the rule of law after squandering the country’s oil wealth and taking the economy into recession.
Sunday Feb 21: The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda............ https://t.co/JnTk20WWvZ— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) February 20, 2016
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