Category: Uncategorized

North American Competitiveness Council Promotes Regional Growth

Regional officials also review progress on Security and Prosperity Partnership

Washington — U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Mexican Economy Minister Sergio Garcia de Alba and Canadian Minister of Industry Maxime Bernier joined North American business leaders to launch the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) June 15 in Washington. In March, U.S. President Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Vicente Fox announced the creation of the NACC as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) initiative. The NACC officially was launched June 15 and will be made up of 10 high-level business leaders from each country, who will meet annually with senior North American government officials to provide recommendations and help set priorities for promoting regional competitiveness in the global economy.

At the NACC launch, Gutierrez welcomed the contributions of the North American private sector.

“Today is a continuation of President Bush’s strong commitment to our North American partners to focus on North America’s security and prosperity,” he said. “The private sector is the driving force behind innovation and growth, and the private sector’s involvement in the SPP is key to enhancing North America’s competitive position in global markets.”

In a June 15 interview with the Washington File, Luis Pinto, executive director of the North American Business Committee at the Council of the Americas and participant in the U.S. Council of the NACC, echoed Gutierrez on the important role of the region’s business community.

“Success in the 21st century demands regional strategies,” Pinto said, “The leaders understand that the role of government is to create the environment for success, but the private sector is the engine of growth.”

Pinto added that as part of the secretariat of the U.S. section of the NACC, the Council of the Americas looks forward to working with representatives from the private and public sectors of Canada and Mexico to advance the SPP agenda.

At the NACC launch, North American government officials and business leaders committed to work together more closely to advance regional competitiveness. The Washington meeting of Gutierrez, Garcia de Alba and Bernier — the SPP prosperity ministers — also provided the officials with an opportunity to reflect on progress in expanding prosperity since the establishment of SPP in 2005.

Among the accomplishments was the first convocation of officials from the regulatory, trade and oversight agencies from the three North American countries to identify a core set of elements for a Regulatory Cooperation Framework. Other progress included the ongoing liberalization of rules of origin, which helps reduce cost and facilitate cross-border trade and the establishment of a North American task force to combat counterfeiting and piracy, according to a Department of Commerce press release.

While the SPP ministers reflected on these accomplishments, SPP security ministers –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Canadian Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day and Mexican Secretary of Government Carlos Abascal — also are taking stock of progress on the security component of the SPP and will release a report in July.

In the fall, the SPP ministers will hold a meeting with the NACC to discuss priorities, update work plans and consider new initiatives, according to the Commerce Department.

For more information, see Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

A press release on SPP accomplishments is available on the Department of Commerce Web site.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

by Greg Moses

CounterPunch / DissidentVoice

Workers at maquiladora factories in Mexico told recent visitors from Texas that they are sometimes asked to undo their work entirely or spend long hours in isolated spaces.

“These tactics are a new level in the psychological game, to get people used to the idea that they are kind of owned and really don’t have any worth apart from the company,” says Howard Hawhee, who helped to coordinate a listening tour in late May.
“These kinds of stories are very bizarre,” says Judith Rosenberg, who has been organizing tours across the border since 1999. “These are management techniques that someone compared to Hitler.”

For example, Hawhee and Rosenberg say women in maquiladoras report that they are sometimes asked to prove they are not pregnant by showing proof of menstruation.

“They are very distasteful management techniques,” says Rosenberg. “And you have to call them that because they are used very methodically. This business with the sanitary napkins is outrageous, and people feel the attack on their dignity, the women do. And the men do too.”

In an interview conducted in Austin after they returned (published at stateofnature.org) Hawhee and Rosenberg said they also heard new stories about workers who were directed to undo work or pass their shifts in isolation.

“One is they would have a whole section of people in a factory that for instance manufactures seat covers or seat belts,” reported Hawhee. “And they would do a whole day’s worth of work, you know, sew everything. And the next day when they came back their job was to un-sew it all. Just to make the point that ‘okay, we don’t need you. We just got you around because we like having you around, and that’s all’.”

“Another worker, and I think I heard more than one example of this while I was down there, he said he’d been insisting on some rights that he had under the Mexican Federal Labor Law,” Hawhee continued.

“And the management had been telling him no, so he kind of dug in his heels and wasn’t backing down, so he’d show up to work for his shift and he’d be there for a full day and get paid, but his job was that they would take him to a small room, maybe a six by ten foot room and lock him in. And that’s what he did. And they’d only let him out on breaks and at the end of his shift.”

In response to this escalation in the psychological intensity of management control, Hawhee said workers were asking for help with corporate research.

“So right now there is a period where they are looking to figure out how to do some economic analysis,” says Hawhee, reporting that this is also a new feature of the conversation he is encountering.

Says Hawhee, Mexican workers want to know from workers in the USA, “What kinds of tricks get played? And economically speaking, realistically, where are they? What should we be doing on this end?”

“They’ve got some very specific pieces of information they want so that they can do an analysis and figure out what buttons to push and what buttons not to push,” says Hawhee.

“Realistic” is a word Hawhee used to describe the workers’ attitudes. They want a better life, so they don’t want to act in ways that will run the companies out of town.

“We’re looking for some human dignity,” says Hawhee reflecting the voices he has heard. “We’re looking to be treated like human beings. And we expect to have a modicum of well being in our lives, and especially for our children. And we really don’t mind doing this kind of work, working really hard, and that sort of thing, but we want to be treated right and we want to think that this is going somewhere.”

Rosenberg organizes four trips per year to the maquiladoras, resuming in October. She has avoided public relations tours of factories, preferring to listen to workers.

“We never go in,” says Rosenberg. “It’s harder and harder to get in. But either way, you get a public relations tour and we’ve never wanted to do that. We have this position that if you want to know what’s going on inside the factories, ask the workers. And don’t ask them while they’re in the factories, because they won’t be able to tell you then. There’s somebody breathing down their neck.”

Instead, Rosenberg organizes small tours that pass through worker neighborhoods where visitors from the USA can listen to stories of life and work. She co-founded Austin Tan Cerca (Austin So Close) as a way to support workers’ rights and fight sweatshop conditions in the maquiladoras. In addition to the tours, the group sends money to support an organizer and office in the border town of Piedras Negras.

Rosenberg was drawn into the activism after meeting Mexican labor organizer Julia Quinones of the Comite Fronterizo de Obreras (Border Committee of Workers).

“It’s been a very important thing for me,” says Rosenberg. “I think it’s historically extremely important to all of us, and we don’t know about it.”

The complete interview has been pulished as part of the Empire edition of the online journal State of Nature:

http://stateofnature.org/listeningAcross.html

Sister of Death Row Inmate asks Texas to Stop Execution of the Man who Could Still Clear Her Brother

June 16, 2006

Hello,

My name is Delia Perez Meyer. I have an innocent brother on Texas’ Death Row, Louis Castro Perez. Our family has been fighting for Louis for the
past 8 years to attempt to find the truth is this case.

The Travis County District Attorney, Mr. Ronnie Earle, recently announced that they would re-open this case and do some further testing on DNA evidence and
fingerprints acquired at the crime scene. This includes foreign DNA and foreign fingerprints. This is currently being tested at the Texas
Department of Public Safety DNA Laboratory, and we are awaiting the results.
We have had multiple reports from the infamous railroad serial killer, Angel Maturino Resendiz, that it was he who killed Louis’ friends in September 1998 – Michelle, Cynda, and Cynda’s daughter, Stacy. The “MO” or modus operandi, in this case, matches exactly the other crime scenes for which Angel has been connected to. He is a brutal murderer and this
was a heinous crime just like the many others he is responsible for. In addition, Michelle, Cynda and Stacy lived within 1/2 of a mile from the railroad system in Austin.

Angel Maturino is scheduled for execution on June 27, 2006 for the murder of Dr. Claudia Benton. Mr. Resendiz has also discussed murdering “two
women” in Austin with private investigator, Lisa Milstein, and newspaper reporter, Lise Olsen (both of Houston). He has also spoken to other inmates on death row, and said he was the killer in this case. He
recently spoke to the media and confessed that he has killed other people; cases that have not been fully investigated.

Because Angel Maturino Resendiz is related to this case we are adamant that he should not be executed on the 27th and are asking for your assistance to ensure that he not be executed until this case is resolved.

If we execute Angel, it prevents the court from ever being able to ask him any questions regarding this case. Justice for the victims’ families is not being served if the wrong person is being executed for these murders.

We want to see justice served for all the persons involved and we want the actual killer to answer for his crimes. Technically, the families of the victims have the right to witness the true murderer’s execution and they will not be allowed that right if Angel Maturino is executed on the 27th.

We would like for you to take a few moments to call, write, or e-mail a letter to Louis’ attorneys, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, Judges, District Attorney, and the Governor.

We sincerely appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and actions surrounding Louis’ case. Louis is so appreciative of everyone’s support and always asks me to convey that message. We need to bring him home to his four children and two grandchildren who have grown up for the past 8 years without him. It is
time to exonerate Louis and ensure that the true killer is brought to justice.

Sincerely,
The Ernest R. Perez Family
Ernest, Gloria (deceased), David, Delia, Irene, Louis, and Ernest, Jr.

CONTACTS:

Alexander Calhoun, Attorney at Law
11319 Long Branch
Austin, TX 78736
alcalhoun@earthlink.net

David Dow, Attorney at Law
University of Houston Innocence Project
University of Houston Law School
4800 Calhoun
Houston, TX 77204
ddow@central.uh.edu

A. Richard Ellis, Attorney at Law
75 Magee Avenue
Mill Valley, CA 94941

Mary Kay Sicola, Attorney at Law
707 W. Lynn
Austin, TX 78703

Joe James Sawyer, Attorney at Law
507 W. 10th Street
Austin, TX 78701

Rob Owen, Attorney at Law
510 S. Congress Ave., Suite 308
Austin, TX 78704

The Honorable Jon Wisser
299th Judicial Criminal District Court
Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice
Center
509 West 11th, 8th Floor
Austin, Texas 78767

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Presiding Judge Sharon Keller
Judges Meyers, Price, Womack, Johnson, Keasler, Hervey, Holcomb, and Cochran
PO Box 12308
Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711

Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P. O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2428

Rissie Owens, Presiding Officer
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
P. O. Box 13401
Austin, TX 78711-3401

District Attorney Ronald Earle
509 W. 11th Street
Austin, TX 78701

Buddy Meyer, Travis County Assistant District Attorney
509 W. 11th Street
Austin, TX 78701

Claire Dawson-Brown, Travis County Assistant District Attorney
509 W. 11th Street
Austin, TX 78704
Send A Quick Message to Gov.

Who isn’t talking about the heat? Here’s a reminder that Texas Prisons are also summer infernos.–gm

PAPA’s CITIZEN IN ACTION aka CIA SPECIAL FORCES ALERT #71706

PRISON HEAT

ATTENTION

PAPA’s CIA SPECIAL FORCE MEMBERS You are being called to ACTION

Honorable Governor Rick Perry of Texas
The Capitol
Austin, Texas 78711

Re: EMERGENCY TDCJ INMATES HEAT

Dear Honorable Governor Rick Perry:

WE THE PEOPLE, who are the Voting, Taxpaying, Citizens of TEXAS, ARE BEGGING “YOU” The Governor of TEXAS , for Human Compassion on the Inmates housed in the TEXAS Department of Criminal Justice and all other Dentention Centers in the State of Texas. The Austin Statesman Newspaper today ran an article referencing the sweltering heat.
THE PEOPLE of TEXAS consider this an EMERGENCY

WE, THE PEOPLE of TEXAS, are requesting that you, as the GOVERNOR of TEXAS, issue an immediate EMERGENCY EXECUTIVE ORDER today from your OFFICE for the following to be done:

1.Fresh, Clean, Cool Water at “ALL” times for “ALL” Detainees. Cooled bottled water would be the most efficient to be handled. These bottles could be frozen, then passed out to the detainees, which would allow it to stay cooler longer

2.Containers of ICE to be furnished at “ALL” times for “ALL” Detainees

3.That ALL the UNITS’ exhaust fans “MUST” be working at all times in all areas of the facilities

4.Blowing AIR and Fans for “ALL” Inmates

At the same time that this EMERGENCY EXECUTIVE ORDER BE ISSUED TODAY from your OFFICE should definitely state for this to be done immediately in “ALL” Texas Facilities; then request that a team be set up to follow up this EXECUTIVE ORDER seeing that this Executive Order is followed thorugh. Forming Teams to be sent to different facilities all over the State of Texas testing the heat index in the areas where Inmates are trying to survive.

The lack of the above is “IN-HUMANE” treatment

A.Excessive Cruel and Unusual Punishment

B.The Elderly be given special privileges to stay cool

C.The Mentally Ill and Physically Challenged be given special privileges to stay cool

D.Those that are sick, have heart problems, breathing problems, on medications that require staying away from excessive heat and any other Inmates that needs special care or treatment be given special privileges to stay cool

E.The Inmates being held in solitary confinment, Isolation cells, and Administrative Segregation be given special attention and privileges for enduring the heat

F.The Inmates that are working outside and in the fields be given special priveleges to stay cool with plenty of cool fresh water

Yours truly,

(name)
(address)
(city,state,zip)
(email)
(phone number)
Note: if your name, address, are not included your contact will be of no avail.

cc:
1. Send to your Representative where you Live

2. Send to the Representative over the area where your Love One is being housed in a dentition center

3. Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, Chair, Texas Legislative Council, The Captiol, Austin, Texas 78711-2098, 1-512-463-0001, Fax: 1-512-936-6700, 1-800-441-0373

4. Representative Jerry Madden,Chair, Correction Committee,Capitol Office: EXT E1.506, P.O. Box 2910, austin, TX 78711, 1-512-463-0544

5. Senator John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice,Capitol office: CAP 1E.13, Austin, Texas 78711, 512-463-0115

6.Sunset Commission Advisory, 1400 North Congress, Capitol Extension, Suite E2.002, Austin, TX 78701
view the web page at peopleagainstprisonabuse.com