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Mexico Tag

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has canceled a trip to the United States after President Donald Trump told him to if Mexico refuses to pay for the border wall. Translation: This morning we have informed the White House that I will not attend the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday with the @POTUS.

At the White House, President Donald Trump announced meetings with Canadian Ptime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He said:
"We're going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA," Trump said. "Anybody ever hear of NAFTA?" he said. "I ran a campaign somewhat based on NAFTA. But we're going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration, on security at the border."

Around this time last year, notorious drug kingpin, "El Chapo" was taken into custody after months galavanting as a fugitive. Less than 24 hours before Donald Trump will be sworn in as the forty-fifth president, El Chapo is on a plane to New York. From the NYT:
A federal court in Mexico denied an appeal by Mr. Guzmán’s lawyers to block the extradition, clearing the way for his transfer to the American authorities in New York, where he faces numerous charges for his role as the chieftain of the Sinaloa cartel.

Following the news that Ford had cancelled its planned $1.6 billion auto assembly plant in Mexico, Mexican officials are concerned about the impact this will have on their economy. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Ford Motor Co.’s decision to cancel a planned $1.6 billion assembly plant in the Mexican industrial city of San Luis Potosí caught the nation’s elected officials off guard and represents a major blow to one of the main engines of Mexico’s economy.

Wrapping up its session in Paris that began several weeks ago, yesterday the United Nation’s cultural agency adopted a Palestinian and Arab state-sponsored resolution on Jerusalem that ignores both Jewish and Christian attachments to Jerusalem’s sacred sites. As we noted in a recent post, the resolution had already passed on October 13 at the committee stage when 24 UNESCO member states supported the measure (6 states, including the U.S., voted against; 26 abstained; and 2 state missions were absent for last week’s vote).

While everyone focuses on the presidential election, Judicial Watch reports that the number of "family units' entering the U. S. via Mexico has doubled, and unaccompanied minors entering are up by 52%. Judicial Watch reports:
While the nation is absorbed with presidential election theatrics, the Obama administration continues letting huge amounts of illegal immigrants to pour in through the southern border and the latest figures released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are incredibly chilling. The number of family units apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2016 nearly doubled from the previous year, according to updated information released by the agency. The majority of these illegal border crossers will remain in the country under Obama’s special refugee and family reunification programs.

I lived and worked in Mexico at the beginning of my career. Loved the country, the people, the culture. Was offered a permanent position. Tempting, but couldn't do it for one key reason: the absolutely endemic corruption. From the "policeman" on the corner shaking you down for an illusory infraction right up to the president, corruption and deceit were ingrained. A person would have to be dangerously naive to take as gospel the word of the Mexican president. Enter Hillary Clinton. Morning Joe today aired her latest ad in which she claims that Donald Trump was caught "lying" when he said he didn't discuss payment for the wall during his meeting with Mexican President Peña Nieto. Hillary's proof? A subsequent statement by the Mex prez that he was "clear and emphatic" that Mexico won't pay for the wall. What other statements by what other Third World leaders will Hillary—naively and uncritically—take at face value?

In March of this year, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto compared Donald Trump to Hitler and Mussolini. At the time, Peña Nieto said that Trump's rhetoric was "the way that Mussolini arrived and the way Hitler arrived." At a press conference today with President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, Peña Nieto, asked if he stood by those remarks, the Mexican president doubled down. He wordily replied that over decades, the world has made tremendous economic progress, but that "some" want to destroy what has been built. That is what Hitler and Mussolini did, said Peña Nieto. In concluding,  Peña Nieto said "that was my message" in March. Far from repudiating his attack on Trump, Peña Nieto repeated the Hitler/Mussolini comparison. Note also that although it is not in the transcript available to this Legal Insurrectionist, the MSNBC screen graphic has Peña Nieto saying, that some "demagogues" want to destroy what has been built over decades. Sounds like a clear allusion to Trump.

Mexico's former president had some words for The Donald. And not very nice words either. Fox claims Trump owes American workers an apology for, "all the imports from China and Mexico." "Please apologize to them," Fox implored.

Like both Ted Cruz (who campaigned for his Senate seat on the building of the border wall in 2012) and Marco Rubio, Donald Trump has stated that the wall that has already been approved by Congress will be built during his presidency should he be elected. Trump, however, takes his stance to another level in declaring that Mexico will pay for the wall. Earlier this month, former Mexican president Felipe Calderón said that Mexico would "not pay one cent" toward the wall. Just yesterday, a second former Mexican president, Vicente Fox, stated, in very explicit terms, that Mexico will not pay for "that "f*'ing wall."

Newly released documents from the State Department indicate the U.S. government has known Islamic extremists have been entering the country via Mexico for over ten years.

A cable obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act shows the U.S. was aware of "smuggling networks" that specialize in the trafficking of suspected Islamic extremists across the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2004 cable was sent to the State Department by the American Consulate in Juarez, Mexico.

Perhaps most alarming was the mention of a top Al Qaeda operative by the name of Adnan el Shukrijumah. The 2004 cable indicates the U.S. had human intelligence leading to his "exact whereabouts." It was not until December of 2014 - ten years later - that Shukrijumah would be captured (or in this case, killed in Pakistan).

Shukrijumah was described by FBI as "a grave danger to the security of the United States" and had ties to 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed as well as to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Among other acts domestic and abroad, he helped plot the 2009 foiled bombing of Oprah Winfrey's Chicago studios and the Sears Tower.

Using Twitter, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced Friday that fugitive Drug Lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was captured and in federal custody again.

The marijuana legalization brigade has made great strides in their efforts to legalize medical marijuana in a large number of states, and they only seem to fail (for the time being, anyway) when they go too far and push for too much as they did this year in Florida. While seeing great success across this country, the progressive push for legal pot is having unintended consequences for Mexican pot farmers who are seeing their profits diminish as more states pass pot-friendly laws and the Obama administration refuses to close the border or enforce our nation's existing laws regarding the growth and sale of marijuana when such laws "clash" with the new states' laws. The Los Angeles Times reports:

This weekend, the most dangerous drug cartel leader in the world escaped from one of Mexico's most secure prison facilities...for the second time. Named "Public Enemy #1" by the Chicago Crime Commission, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has earned his reputation. He is the leader and kingpin of the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel, which specializes in the trafficking of heroin and cocaine. This is the second time El Chapo has managed to escape a Mexican maximum security prison. In 2001, Guzman escaped another facility while serving a 20 year sentence for drug trafficking. El Chapo managed to escape the Altiplano prison via a tunnel that connected the outside world to the shower in his cell. The tunnel stretched for a mile, and was allegedly built and equipped with lighting, ventilation, and a motorcycle without raising any flags with local authorities. More via Fox News:

According to a news source in San Diego, a Mexican federal judge ordered the immediate release of US Marine, Andrew Tahmooressi.  

Andrew Tahmooressi was on trial for crossing the border with ammunition and three loaded weapon on March 31. The Mexican Attorney General’s Office agreed to cease its prosecution of Tahmooressi and allow him to return to the United States.

The agreement brings to a close a high-profile case that has resounded far beyond the border. In the United States, it has prompted calls for his release from politicians, veterans groups, conservative talk show hosts. But for months there had been an impasse, as Mexican federal prosecutors insisted that the case be resolved through the courts -- not through diplomatic or political pressure.

Tahmooressi, 26, claims that he drove into Tijuana by mistake on a Monday night after taking a wrong turn near the Mexican border in San Ysidro. He recently had moved from Florida to San Diego, and says that he was driving out of a parking lot, intending to head north. But instead he drove into the El Chaparral Port of Entry, where Mexican customs inspectors examined his pickup truck and found more 400 rounds of ammunition and three loaded firearms: a 45-caliber pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun and a 5.56mm assault rifle.

Shortly before his incarceration, Tahmooressi was diagnosed with PTSD and began receiving treatment. When previous attempts for his release failed, Tahmooressi's Mexican defense attorney pressed forward using PTSD as a means for humanitarian release. According to UT San Diego:

Benítez, his Tijuana defense attorney, used a range of tactics to win his release. He initially pressed for dismissal of the case on the grounds that his client’s rights were allegedly violated when he was held at the El Chaparral Port of Entry for hours without the presence of an attorney or a translator.

But in recent weeks, the attorney focused on Tahmooressi’s PTSD in an attempt to win him a humanitarian release. Key testimony came from a prosecution witness, Dr. Alberto Pinzón Picaseño. The Mexico City psychiatrist interviewed Tahmooressi and concluded that he suffers from a condition that has him feeling in constant danger, recommending treatment “by specialized persons in his country of origin.”

Yesterday, the Mexican judicial system held its third hearing in the case of Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi. The federal prosecutor and Tahmooressi's defense attorney, Fernando Benitez, presented selected clips of surveillance footage taken from 18 security cameras showing Tahmooressi's entry into Mexico and arrest on March 31. The Marine reservist was not permitted to attend, nor were any reporters allowed in the courtroom during the eight-hour proceeding. As Legal Insurrection has previously reported, Tahmooressi claims that he did not intend to drive into Mexico, but there was no exit accessible to him before arriving at the border patrol station in San Ysidro. He says that he then tried to alert the customs officials that he had legal firearms in his vehicle and wished to turn around to return to the US. In an interview with Fox News, Benitez gave his perspective on the hearing: "We are happy with the results because we can conclusively state that our client told the truth all along." He added:
"You can clearly see that my client’s demeanor from the beginning is calm, he is cooperative," Benitez told Fox Wednesday. "He is clearly motioning ... that he wants to go back and motions that the guns are hidden in a certain place and he cooperates with his captors."

I recently reported on the plight of former US Marine Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi, who has been languishing in a Mexican jail while authorities hold him on assorted weapons charges for the 3 guns he was carrying in his vehicle. The backlash against the release of 5 Taliban terrorists from Gitmo in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has dramatically increased dissatisfaction with how President Obama is performing. Combining elements of these new items together, one Texas gun store owner proposes a prisoner swap that should be much more satisfying (see Featured Image): Meanwhile, William A. Thien, the Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, has written directly to Obama in an effort to free Tahmooressi:

Via ABC News, an English captioned report by Univision on Fast and Furious.  (video embed not working, click on link to view) First some background provided by ABC News: On January 30, 2010, a commando of at least 20 hit men parked themselves outside a birthday party...