I'm still here, barely. I had my appointment at the Sharp-Reese Steely Wound Center yesterday and had a third compression bandage (uni-boot) applied to my leg. I have eight more appointments lined up until February, it is that bad. I'm still on antibiotics but no pain meds, although it hurts, a complete disaster and the Doc said today, "...wow, that's some shark bite."
Meanwhile on the trip back we heard on the San Diego radio news there was a problem at the Otay Mesa POE with the migrantes but searching around I could find no news, so we'll see if anything appears later today re the situation there. Regarding the several hundreds of migrantes who have been camped out on the street (Cinco de Mayo) next to the baseball field, a new alberque has been located for them:
- From Frontera: Please note Angeles sin Fronteras is a local pro-migante organization, completely not affiliated with Pueblos Sin Fronteras.
Nueva Alberque No Tendra Costo a la Federacion
Por, Khennia Reyes - 12/15/18
Pasted:
"TIJUANA, Baja California (GH)
The new shelter for the Central American caravan that was left outside
the Benito Juárez Sports Unit will not represent any expense for the
Tijuana residents or the federal government.
This was announced by Gilberto Herrera, delegate of Morena of the
Integral Development Programs, during the opening of the shelter, which
will be for almost 400 migrants, including children, women and adults.
"The Tijuanenses will not cost a single peso. It is a space that was provided for one or two months as a temporary shelter in which normalizes the situation, "he reiterated.
Herrera stressed that the space was achieved by the efforts of father
and activist Alejandro Solalinde Guerra and Jaime Bonilla, delegate of
the federal government in Baja California.
Services
"Against all odds" is the name that the migrants gave to the space,
which has the capacity to receive 600 people along the 3 thousand 800
square meters, where it is prohibited the consumption of drugs and
alcohol.
There the Central Americans will have the service of dining room,
bathrooms, showers, in addition to the attention of the immigration and
health authorities.
Herrera said that the people who are currently housed in El Barretal
will not have access to the new space, since the migrants want to leave
them to maintain order.
In that sense, Lourdes Lizardi, activist and coordinator of the civil
association Ángeles Sin Frontera, and Celio Archaga, pastor of the
Christian church A Seed of Hope, of Honduras, will be in charge of the
control of the shelter.
"Is not easy. There is always a huge remnant that does not want to submit and they think they are in Honduras. Here we are in Tijuana and we must learn to respect the ground directly where it opens the doors for us, "he said.
Regarding the people who are reluctant to leave 5 de Mayo Street,
Gilberto Herrera said they risk being arrested for sleeping on the
roads."
Video here.
~~~~~
I've noticed some US reports which have stated how horrible the conditions were at the baseball field (where the migrantes were dumped by the great revolutionaries) prior to them being moved to El Barretal which the report is saying itself is lacking medical care . Not according to El Sol:
Por, Laura Bueno Medina
Pasted:
" Dr.
Óscar Ginera Aparicio, head of the Health Services Jurisdiction number
2, indicated that all infected patients are under surveillance; however, they can not be restricted from contact with the rest of the population.
The cases increased in the course of eight days approximately, when
there were only eight cases, between adults and infants, for the
prevention of this virus 34 vaccines have been applied mostly to minors.
However, the work with the migrant caravan by the health services has
been one thousand 95 vaccines applied to more than a month of what will
arrive in the city.
Of the total of vaccines applied, 400 biologicals are anti-influenza; 395, of tetanus; and 229, for the prevention of hepatitis B for adults.
Likewise, Dr. Óscar Ginera added that 27 vaccines against hepatitis B
were also applied, but for infants, as well as six triple viral
vaccines.
He specified that the attention to migrants located in "El Barretal" is
continued on a permanent basis, and in the warehouse to which the
Central Americans who were located in Benito Juarez moved, visits of
medical services are being scheduled.
Finally, it was reported that, in the mobile hospital enabled from the
first days of the arrival of the caravan, 94 different cases have been
attended of which only 15 have merited transfer to the general hospital
of the city."
~~~~~
- From Zeta:
Grave Crisis en Caravana Acciones "Descabelladas"
Por, Manuel Ayala - 12/17/2018
Pasted:
" The
migrant caravan is divided, it has lost strength and now it has been
submerged in a deep crisis to which they have not been able to respond. Contrary
to seeking alternatives, Central Americans have become vulnerable to
the stalking of alleged leaders who have taken unusual actions and have
tarnished the credibility of the movement. The Mexican government says it has solved the problem, while activists warn that the problems are just beginning
A month after the arrival of the first contingent of the migrant
caravan to Tijuana, the crisis within Tijuana has generated division
among Central Americans, who are taking decisions "out of context".
The request of a group of migrants to speed up the reception of asylum
applications in the United States and another group that requires them
to provide free transit to the neighboring country, or in their case an
economic compensation of 50 thousand dollars to each of them to return
to their places of origin, are examples of the "crazy" actions that have
taken place.
I request a blanket request, increase to 300 the daily receptions of asylum requests in San Ysidro sentry boxes.
This has not only startled the activists or citizens, but the US
authorities themselves for the "outdated" of the matter, but because it
seemed a "kind of threat" that does not fall within any of the
possibilities that the government could accept at the time. headed by
Donald Trump, who has shown his total rejection not only to the caravan,
but to every Central American and even Mexican migrant, whom on several
occasions he has labeled as "criminals", responding with a resounding
"no" to his requests.
On the other hand, federal authorities announced that the migration
crisis in Tijuana ended, and that in just five days of the new
government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador it could be resolved,
something that activists do not agree with, because as has been seen ,
the lack of knowledge and the "malleability" to which the vast majority
of migrants are exposed, is causing alleged leaders to take advantage of
the situation.
"The lack of certainty has also divided us," said Milton Hernández, a
Honduran migrant who participated with the group that made the request
for financial compensation, because "we are not very in agreement with
other leaders."
EVERYONE BY THEIR SIDE; "LEADERS CONTINUE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE"
On Tuesday, December 11, two different groups of migrants - unknown to
each other - marched each on their own to the facilities of the US
Consulate in Tijuana, to deliver petitions to the authority of that
country.
The first group, led by the Honduran Alfonso Guerrero Ulloa, highlighted among their requests:
- Allow free entry to all members of the exodus to US territory
- Put a stop to US economic, political and military intervention in territory
- Central American, withdrawing the 13 military bases and all extractive companies.
-
If they do not want the entry of migrants into the United States, take
Juan Orlando Hernández out of Honduras and give them 50,000 dollars so
that each of the migrants can return to their countries.
The second group, headed by Irineo Mujica, of Pueblos Sin Fronteras,
only requested an immediate increase in the number of asylum seekers
processed to at least 300 people a day and through the San Ysidro sentry
boxes, measured on the basis that only about 50 are received. up to
date.
Situations both that caused confusions between one and another groups; The first was made known thanks to a Change.org
petition, which the alleged leader Guerrero Ulloa does not belong to
the migrant caravan and has at least 30 years out of his country, due to
an accusation of terrorism in 1987.
The petition mentions that Alfonso Guerrero Ulloa was "falsely" accused
of being a material actor in an attack that took place at the China Palace restaurant in the city of Comayagua, Honduras, where six Marines from the Palmerola Military Base were injured.
"It took me into exile, they are already 30 years away from my homeland and family, living miserably. I believe I have the right to fair compensation and my return to my country, "says the accused.
Migrants consulted said they did not know anything about that situation
and trusted that their new leader would take them forward "as others
have not," said Jorge Yamil, who participated in the march.
THEY DISCONNECT BETWEEN GROUPS
Xóchitl Castillo, originally from Nicaragua and a member of the group
led by Pueblos Sin Fronteras, did not know the group that made the
request of 50 thousand dollars for each of them and even claimed to have
no idea why or how such a group emerged, in the understanding that they
are part of an exodus and the requests are made together.
He clarified that all they want is to "expedite the procedures", but
when asked if there is a division within the caravan, regarding the
different leaders that have been emerging, he did not answer, because
"here we are an exodus and I do not really know what is happening, we
just like you are surprised at that. "
For José María García Lara, director of the Youth Hostel 2000 and
coordinator of the Migrant Alliance, this is part of the division that
has been generated within the caravan due to the crisis in which
migrants are taking into account.
For several weeks, inside the lodge enabled in the El Barretal
property, the Central Americans have been dividing by "department", that
is, the Hondurans by regions of origin; Salvadorans, Nicaraguans and Guatemalans, being minority, also grouped together.
This began to be carried out in a strategic way to request groceries in
the shelter, but little by little they have gained a sense of
organization thanks to the fact that in them the alleged leaders have
seen spaces to "malign them".
"This does not add more than a little more to the bad image that the caravan that has been asking for asylum already has;
asking for money is very unfortunate, because they deteriorate the
image of people who are asking for asylum and want to enter the United
States in a good way, "said the activist.
FEDERATION MINIMIZES THE CRISIS; US DENIES FREE ENTRY AND INDEMNIFICATION
A day after these "crazy" measures were presented, the new Interior
Minister, Olga Sánchez Cordero, shared that the current government had
resolved in just five days the humanitarian crisis of the migrant
caravan in the shelters of the city.
The federal official noted via Twitter : "In 5 days we have resolved the migration crisis that was in Tijuana, Baja California. We install health centers, dining rooms, bedrooms and children's activities. "
Statements with which activists were not totally in agreement, because
although they recognize that control has already been maintained and the
situation is calmer, the problem at the border persists and "there is
still a lot of work to be done".
José María García Lara is one of those who recognizes that things go
"on the right track", but disagrees in the sense that persists the
problem about the insertion of people to jobs, active working life and
the community itself.
Added to that there is a group of 400 migrants who subsist outside of
the "Benito Juárez" Sports Unit in the open and without attention,
waiting for a resolution on their cases, so it is important to focus on
what they will do with them, since there is Complete families with women
and children.
During a visit to Tijuana on Saturday, December 8, the priest and
activist Alejandro Solalinde offered to be an intermediary in the work
of convincing this contingent, so that he can move to Barretal and other
hostels, but it would have to be the authority that allows those
actions, of which no response has been given.
At the close of this edition, it was reported that a winery a few
meters from the camp would be able to house the 550 migrants who
remained on the street."
* Note in Zeta's report, Pueblos Sin Fronteras are mentioned as bearers of part of the rental of the new alberque - neither Frontera or El Sol has mentioned this...and this information is from "activists". Frontera names Los Angeles de Frontera as part of the directorship of this new care center - so maybe there is a misprint in Zeta's article. Unless there has been a truce between Pueblos Sin Fronteras and Padre Solalinde, but I think we would have heard a lot about that and we have not.
Municipality lied about the number of migrants in the city: Bonilla
Jaime Bonilla, current state delegate of the Government of Mexico and
who served as head of the Commission on Border and Migratory Affairs of
the Senate of the Republic, said that it was a lie of the municipal
authorities to have said that it was 12 thousand and then 9 thousand
migrants who would arrive in Tijuana, since "there has never been that
amount".
In a press conference, he affirmed that the numbers of the total of
migrants "have been exaggerated", and that of the 100 million pesos that
the mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum asked to attend such a large number of
people, "it is an outrage, they are going to deliver, "at least not for
that matter," much less if we are seeing the alchemy that is thrown up
here and that resources disappear, because less will be given to it,
"Bonilla reiterated.
As a Federation, the issue will be addressed, so now the Government of
Mexico has a control and they are really seeing the numbers, which they
estimated at around 4,100 migrants in Baja California.
According to Jaime Bonilla, the lie of the local authorities generated
"much panic" among the citizens, but in reality "there have not been as
many" migrants as was mentioned from the beginning.
"Yes there were conflicts, but we can not say as the mayor said, it was
not possible for a Honduran to have murdered a Haitian, when he has two
thousand and a fraction of murders and has never made that expression; you can not exaggerate an incident to point out a Honduran, when here we have thousands of deaths every day, "said Moreno.
As the first authority, "it is not valid" to take that position because
it is "discriminating, it is arrogant in many ways, but at the end of
the day it is not correct (...) the municipal presidency has lost a lot
of credibility, has invented many lies," he concluded.
According to information from activists, the rent of the place will be
borne by Pueblos sin Fronteras, Father Alejandro Solalinde and the
Government of Mexico, through Jaime Bonilla.
In that sense, he considered "totally good" that in legal terms the
situation has been resolved, but it is still necessary to see how they
will be integrated into the Tijuana community, in the case of those who
decide to stay in Mexico, taking into account that The United States
responded with a strong "no" to the requests of the migrants.
Through a statement, Katie Waldman, spokesperson for the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS, for its acronym in English), shared that it will
not be possible to accept the requirement that the American Union pay
50 thousand dollars for migrants to return to your country of origin.
As secretary Kirstjen Michele Nielsen has repeatedly stated, "being a
member of a caravan does not grant special rights to enter this
country," in addition, that the vast majority of members "are not
legitimate asylum seekers," and if they were, they would seek refuge in
the first safe country they entered.
"However, as expected, they rejected the generous offer of Mexico in
search of economic opportunities or family reunification in the United
States. Economic opportunity or family reincorporation is not a basis for asylum under any system, "he said.
-
Finally, he shared that it seems that some of the migrants have
understood this situation and the commitment of the Donald Trump
administration to "enforce the rule of law", which means a strong
message that "they must return home."
* Note: From the same Zeta article, but this is not what I have been reading from some US reports (and you have to wonder if they are promoters for the NGO's. ) These reports from the US are saying there is no work available for the migrantes in Tijuana, that they can find nothing, they cannot find a job no matter how hard they try. A different story from Zeta:
Hondurans are opting for humanitarian visas
Alden Rivera, Ambassador of Honduras in Mexico, highlighted that in
Tijuana, more than 1,200 people from that country are already applying
to obtain a humanitarian visa, in order to work; or, they already have a job in the city.
Thousand 500 people have registered in the book to apply for asylum in
the United States, but there are still 800 people who do not make a
decision regarding asylum in Mexico or the United States.
According to information from Manuel Marín, subdelegate of the National
Institute of Migration, to date more than 700 voluntary returns have
been submitted to their countries of origin, in addition to 300 assisted
returns, for reasons that some authority made them available to the
Institute. for having broken the Law.
Added to this, there have been 2,500 procedures for humanitarian visas
and 25 requests for refuge of people held at the migrant station in
Tijuana.
From November 12 to date, more than 3,000 Central Americans have
surrendered by skipping the border fence, reported the United States
Border Patrol."
~~~~~
Then of course there is always the drug war, here are the latest stats for Tijuana from Zeta:
22 Ejecutados En 48 Horas, En Tijuana
Pasted:
"In
the last 48 hours in Tijuana, 22 people have been deprived of life in
different events, so the number of intentional homicides amounts to 131
victims so far in December.
The morning of Saturday, December 15, in a vacant lot located on the
Xicoténcatl avenue of the Camino Verde colony, Delegación Sánchez
Taboada, was found a lifeless male with puncturing injuries.
Then a human body wrapped in a white blanket was found in the street
Colorines of the Jardines de la Mesa colony, in the Los Pinos
subdelegation.
In the Santiago alley of the Buena Vista neighborhood, the corpse of a man wrapped in a blue canvas was found. The victim had injuries by firearm. Next to the body was a white cardboard with a legend, which until now is unknown.
Alexis Rodolfo de La Cruz Castro died in the General Hospital, after being shot.
On the dirt road of the Federal Electricity Commission in the Lomas de Matamoros neighborhood, human remains were found.
Inside the canalization of the Tijuana River in the Center area was reported the corpse of a male with puncturing injuries.
Two men were located without life inside an address on Bahía Magdalena street in Colonia Ejido Francisco Villa. The victims had injuries caused by firearms.
The corpses of two men were found in the Quintana Roo alley of the Central Zone. One of them died from strangulation and the other from puncture injuries.
With gunshot wounds in the neck, the corpse of a male person was
located on Avenida de las Américas in the El Laurel subdivision.
A body wrapped in plastic and cinnamon-colored adhesive tape in the
cephalic region was located on a neighborhood road near a maquiladora in
the Rural Dam delegation.
Yesterday, Sunday December 16, nine people were killed in different
points: first a double shooting was recorded in Privada Dalia in the San
Pedro Valley subdivision. One of the victims was identified as José Guadalupe Sánchez Pasillas, 45, the other remains as a stranger.
Later, a man without life was located in a neighborhood road to the
Laurel subdivision of the second section, in the Rural Dam Delegation. The cause of death is still unknown.
Later on the old road to Tecate in the colony Ejido Rojo Gómez, in the
Rural Reservoir, a shootout broke out between a group of delinquents and
municipal police, leaving as a result a dead agent identified as César
Gallardo Rodríguez and two alleged dead hit men.
The burnt corpse of a stranger was located in a neighborhood road in the Palma Real subdivision
Juan Antonio Peraza Guardado died in the General Hospital after the injuries caused by a firearm projectile.
A stranger was shot dead when he was on Avenida Benito Juarez in Colonia Centro.
Finally, on the morning of this Monday, December 17, a severed human
head was located inside the Tijuana River Canalization, and meters away
on the East Fast Track, at the height of the Guadalupe Victoria colony,
the decapitated body was found.
So far this year in Tijuana have been killed 2 thousand 416 people."
~~~~~
Zeta adds this report on the six police attacked en Tijuana in one weeks time:
Seis ataques a Policias de Tijuana En Una Semana
Por, Ines Garcia Ramos
Pasted:
" Agents of the Municipal Police of Tijuana have suffered six attacks, four of them armed, from Monday 10 to Sunday 16 December.
In one case, one policeman was killed and another was shot, while in a
field fight a district chief was hit with a severe blow to the head.
For the head of the Municipal Public Security Secretariat (SSPM), Marco
Antonio Sotomayor Amezcua, these attacks are not direct attacks, but
the reactions of the criminals in routine interventions carried out by
the police.
In the most recent case, which occurred on Sunday, a clash between
police and a group of armed men who had deprived a man of freedom in the
eastern part of the city left six civilians injured, one policeman
killed, another wounded, two criminals killed and one more responsible
with bullet wounds.
During the morning, two officers aboard a patrol observed a convoy
consisting of a Ford F250 pick-up truck, a Jeep Cherokee truck and a
Chevrolet Blazer with armed individuals parked in the middle of an
overrun market installed between the colonies. Child and Ejido Rojo
Gómez.
Before they were approached by the agents, the men fired on the police with long weapons, who repelled the aggression.
At that time, the officers asked for support and when the criminals
fled the site, they informed via radio that they were following the
three vehicles.
The attackers advanced to the Hacienda de las Delicias and Las Rosas
streets in the Terrazas del Valle neighborhood, where they descended
from the vehicles again to continue firing.
It was there that Officer César Gallardo Rodríguez was executed and his
partner, Jesus Guillermo Lavenant Martínez, 48, was injured.
However, two criminals wearing bulletproof vests and three more men
identified as Juan Luis were also killed, Enrique and Uriel were
detained for the events.
About the facts, in a press conference offered this day, the Public
Security Secretary extended his condolences to the relatives of the
fallen officer, but also condemned the actions of the criminals, who
shot in the midst of a large number of people.
Of the six collateral victims, one is 11 years old and with the
exception of one person, the others were discharged yesterday with minor
injuries.
"The criminals did not care about the lives of civilians, they fired
everywhere, six injured ... it is a very unfortunate issue, we have to
redouble the fight against crime, this type of events can not be left
like this," said the official. municipal.
About the man who was deprived of freedom by the convoy, unofficial
sources confirmed that he was the member of a rival gang of detainees,
who were identified as members of the Sinaloa Cartel. Along with them, five caliber 223 weapons were found.
"Besides the deprivation of freedom of this person, surely there was another objective," said Sotomayor Amezcua.
He added "the work of the comrades of the Municipal Police was a very
good reaction, unfortunately we lost the life of Officer Gallardo, but
two were shot down, two more were arrested and five assault rifles were
taken from the streets."
"We will see where the investigation takes us, under orders of who
acted, who was the one who motivated them, we do not want the loss of
the life of the partner to go unpunished and, in addition to the
material authors, that the investigation be followed up until we reach
the intellectual authors, "he declared.
Of the injured officer, the holder of the SSPM reported that he is out of danger after being hospitalized.
On this and the five most recorded attacks against policemen in the
last week alone, the secretary said that in four firearms were used
against the agents and two more were physical attacks.
"They have to do with the fact that the Municipal Police is the first
respondent, these are issues that are part of the preventive patrol
scheme.
It has to do with the issue of firearms, any criminal takes firearms,
is the risk facing the police and the citizens of Tijuana, "he added.
Sotomayor Amezcua said that it is very common for police to meet with
armed criminals, but "we will continue to face them, there are 14
thousand detainees in the last two years, more than 1,800 firearms and
it is part of the risk as a police officer".
Officer Gallardo Rodríguez joined the SSPM on September 3, 2012, his last commission was in the La Presa delegation as agent.
About the rest of the attacks, one arose on Monday, December 10, when
officers responded to a report of gun detonations, when they reached the
Mirador stream in the Hacienda Las Delicias neighborhood, they observed
men shooting beer bottles.
When trying to address them, the men fired at the officers.
Three men identified as Jesus Raymundo, Manuel Enrique and Francisco
"Chavita" were arrested, two in possession of pistols and one with a
long caliber 223 gun.
The next day, on Tuesday, December 11, policemen who were traveling on
the Altiplano boulevard of the colony of the same name, ran into a
Renault Logan vehicle at excessive speed, so they mark the stop, but
instead of stopping, the crew increases the speed and shoots from inside
the vehicle impacting the patrol. Those responsible were arrested.
On Wednesday, December 12, agents of the Municipal Police went to a
report of people who disturbed the order in Emiliano Zapata street in
the Ejido Matamoros neighborhood.
Upon arrival, the subjects, who were drinking, tried to disarm the
police, which led to a riot that left five policemen with injuries,
including the district chief of La Presa.
While on Friday, December 14, in the Ejido Chilpancingo neighborhood, a
man who had entered an address without authorization, upon being
persecuted by the police, tried to take the weapon from one of the
agents, the other officer repelled the attack and left without life the
delinquent.
That same day, in the afternoon in the Centenario neighborhood, police
reported the arrest of three men identified as Brayan Alexis, Álvaro
Gabriel and Juan Ángel, the latter was injured after police shot him
when the young man pointed to the police with a gun of fire.
The men were driving in a vehicle with tinted windows and tried to flee when the officers marked them with discharge. They carried with them two 40-gauge and 45-super guns, as well as 24 doses of glass.
"The criminal will try to achieve his goal at all costs.
These criminals have no respect for human life, but in the vast
majority of these armed attacks, who takes the worst part are the
criminals, "said Sotomayor Amezcua on the armed confrontations between
criminals and police.
Finally, he said "any criminal who raises the weapon, will immediately
be neutralized, we will not risk the comrades of the Municipal Police
and we will support them in their actions".
Since December 1, 2016, the date on which the current municipal
administration began, six officers have been killed in the line of duty
and three more in traffic accidents."
~~~~~
I'll be back....
