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FEDERAL COURT
MEXICO VIOLENCE
Bank fraud Two women plead not guilty on 10 counts By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Two women who were arrested accused of taking part in a Zapata National Bank fraud scheme have pleaded not guilty in a Laredo federal court.
A grand jury returned a 10-count indictment under seal Oct. 28, 2014 and it became unsealed upon the arrest of Petra del Bosque, 54, and Anita Arredondo, 52, both of Zapata. They are being charged with 10 counts of bank fraud. If
convicted, they could face up to 30 years in federal prison per count. Del Bosque and Arredondo had arraignment set for Friday. But the defendants waived their presence in court by submitting a written not guilty plea. Del
Bosque posted bond Friday while Arredondo is in federal custody on $50,000 bond with a $1,500.00 cash deposit and one co-surety, according to court documents.
See FRAUD PAGE 9A Photo by Eduardo Verdugo | AP file
Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto, right, speaks to his wife Angelica Rivera in this March 13, 2013 file photo.
AMERICAN LEGION POST 59
VETERANS DAY PARADE
Peña Nieto under pressure President faces protests, ethics questions in light of killings By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN AND MARK STEVENSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Victor Strife | The Zapata Times
Congressman Henry Cuellar, and Lt. General Kenneth E. Eickmann (right) pose for a photograph with WWII veterans Salomon Oviedo and Miguel Muñoz Tuesday morning during the annual Veterans Day Celebration at the historic San Agustín Plaza in downtown Laredo.
Henry Cuellar thanks vets for their service By PHILIP BALLI THE ZAPATA TIMES
Hundreds of Laredoans participated in a Veterans Day spectacle that took place in the streets of downtown Laredo. The revving of nearly 40 Harley-Davidsons alerted spectators to the coming of the annual Veterans Day
parade, which begins near St. Peter’s Plaza and ends at San Agustin Plaza. The procession trailing behind the motorcycles included various veterans groups, local high school bands, drill teams, law enforcement and the fire department. The American Legion Post 59 has spearheaded the
parade for nearly 50 years, said post commander Cesar Montemayor. “Participation in the parade has gotten bigger over the years,” Montemayor said. “In the past, we didn’t have all of the riders. The Harley-Davidson people really go all out to help us with the parade and other functions we have.”
The American Legion is one of the oldest and largest veterans associations in the nation. Post 59 has close to 300 members, according to Montemayor. The American Legion consists of all veterans. Erasmo Villarreal Jr., a Vietnam veteran who has
See VETERANS PAGE 9A
ACAPULCO, Mexico — President Enrique Peña Nieto’s government, which had seen smooth sailing through its first year and a half in office, is suddenly listing in the face of multiple crises. The administration scrambled Monday to respond to growing questions about the family’s multi-million-dollar mansion owned by a government contractor, even as it tried to calm continuing protests over the disappearance — and probable murder — of 43 students. The president has tried to shift Mexico’s focus away from a bloody fight against organized crime to a series of political and economic reforms his administration
successfully pushed through congress. But as he attended a summit in China on Monday, Peña Nieto’s aides were trying the quell doubts about what the administration called his wife’s 2012 purchase of a $7 million mansion from a company that had won extensive contracts from the State of Mexico while Enrique Peña Nieto was governor. According to a story published Sunday by Aristegui Noticias, the house was built and is still owned by Ingenieria Inmobiliaria del Centro, a company belonging to Grupo Higa. Grupo Higa also owns a company that was part of the Chinese-led consortium awarded a $3.7 billion high-speed rail project this year. The consortium was the only bidder.
See MEXICO PAGE 9A
ZAPATA COUNTY
Investigation reveals human smuggling conspiracy By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A routine traffic stop in Zapata County led to the discovery of several illegal immigrants at a Laredo motel, according to court records. Between late Oct. 30 and early Oct. 31, federal
authorities arrested Steve Hernandez-Uribe and Mario Benavides Jr. accused of bringing in and harboring illegal immigrants, according to a criminal complaint filed against them Nov. 3. Federal authorities also took custody of eight illegal immigrants. The case dates back to
Oct. 30, when Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office deputies requested the assistance of U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Zapata Station on a traffic violation on U.S. 83. Deputies told agents that all three passengers in the vehicle had “stories that did not match up,” the complaint
states. Two passengers, who did not have identification, did not speak English. Identified as the driver, Hernandez-Uribe stated he was a U.S. citizen during an immigration inspection. The two passengers, a man and a woman, admitted to being Mexi-
can nationals with no legal documentation to be in the United States. Deputies gave HernandezUribe a warning citation for speeding before turning him and the passengers over to Border Patrol. In a post-arrest interview with federal authorities, Hernandez-Uribe al-
legedly admitted transporting two illegal immigrants on his green 1997 Toyota Corolla from Rio Grande City to Laredo. Hernandez stated that a man he identified as Mario hired him. Mario, who was later identified as Be-
See CONSPIRACY PAGE 9A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Deportation law and the New American diaspora. 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. TAMIU Student Center Ballroom. Amy Palacios cswht@tamiu.edu or freetrade.tamiu.edu/whtc_services/ whtc_speaker_series.asp. Planetarium movies, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. Claudia Herrera at claudia.Herrera@tamiu.edu or tamiu.edu/planetarium.
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2014. There are 49 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov. 12, 1984, space shuttle astronauts Dale Gardner and Joe Allen snared a wandering satellite in history’s first space salvage; the Palapa B2 satellite was secured in Discovery’s cargo bay for return to Earth. On this date: In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party. In 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over Japanese forces.) In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal. In 1969, news of the My Lai Massacre in South Vietnam in March 1968 was broken by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh. In 1977, the city of New Orleans elected its first black mayor, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, the winner of a runoff. In 1987, the American Medical Association issued a policy statement saying it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person had AIDS or was HIV-positive. In 1994, Olympic track-andfield gold medalist Wilma Rudolph died in Brentwood, Tennessee, at age 54. In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 headed to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground. Ten years ago: A jury in Redwood City, California, convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body into San Francisco Bay. (Peterson, who maintains his innocence, remains on death row.) Five years ago: Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the Fort Hood, Texas, shooting rampage. (Hasan was later convicted and sentenced to death.) One year ago: An international panel of architects announced that the new World Trade Center tower in New York would replace Chicago’s Willis Tower as the nation’s tallest building upon its completion. Today’s Birthdays: Actorplaywright Wallace Shawn is 71. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 70. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 69. Rock musician Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (Blue Oyster Cult) is 67. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., is 65. Actress Megan Mullally is 56. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci (koh-muhNEECH’) is 53. Retired MLB All-Star Sammy Sosa is 46. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 44. Actress Lourdes Benedicto is 40. Actress Actress Ashley Williams is 36. Actress Cote de Pablo is 35. Actor Ryan Gosling is 34. Actress Anne Hathaway is 32. Pop singer Omarion is 30. Thought for Today: “It’s all right to have a train of thoughts, if you have a terminal.” — Richard R. Bowker, American publisher (18481933).
THURSDAY, NOV. 13 Rio pachanga. Noon to 8:30 p.m. Max Mandel Municipal Golf Course. Alberto Sandoval at alberto@rgisc.org or to register, Max Pro Shop at 726-2000. Questions, call Ruben Soto at 337-0435. Diabetes Awareness Event. From 8:30 a.m. to noon. City of Laredo Health Department, 2600 Cedar Ave. Erika M. Juarez at ejuarez@ci.laredo.tx.us or www.ci.laredo.tx.us/health/ healthindex.htm. Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club .From 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Country Club. Beverly Cantu at laredobev@yahoo.com or call 727-0589.
FRIDAY, NOV. 14 LBJ Tennis Turkey Classic Tournament. A two day event. Cielito Lindo Boulevard. Jose Flores at 645- 4832.
SATURDAY, NOV. 15 LULAC Council 14’s 7th annual Football Tailgating Cook-off at the El Metro Park & Ride. Team cook-off competitions in the brisket, finger ribs and chicken divisions, with trophies and cash prizes awarded to winners of most divisions. Fee is $250 per team. There will also be food, arts and crafts and miscellaneous merchandise vendors. Entry fee is $1 for adults. Contact LULAC 14 at 956-286-9055.. Register for the 35th Guajolote 10K Race. Register at Hamilton Trophies (1320 Garden), Hamilton Jewelry (607 Flores), or on-line at www.raceit.com, Guajolote 10K Race. Call (956) 724-9990 or (956) 722-9463. Planetarium movies, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. Claudia Herrera at claudian.herrera@tamiu.edu or tamiu.edu/planetarium.
TUESDAY, NOV. 18 Planetarium movies, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Building. Claudia Herrera at clauda.herrera@tamiu.edu or tamiu.edu/ planetarium. Tennis for the blind. 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Hillside Rec Center. Contact Claudia Villarreal 740-5200.
THURSDAY, NOV. 20 Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society presents “The Origin of the Gonzalez Last Name” and American Indian Heritage Meeting. 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at St. John Neumann Catholic Church. Sanjuanita Martinez-Hunter at 722-3497. Pediatric Orthopedic Clinic by Dr. William Edwards from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 12220 N. Malinche. Norma Rangel at program.manager@laredo.twcbc.com.
FRIDAY, NOV. 21 USTA Adult Open Tournament. Three day event. Market Tennis Courts. Cecy Abboud at 724-7179.
Photo by Nathan Lambrecht/The Monitor | AP
University of Texas-Pan American art professor Douglas Clark poses with his clay rendering of what the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaquero mascot may look like in his the sculpture lab Thursday, at the UTPA Art Annex in Edinburg, Texas. The Vaqueros was chosen by the UT Board of Regents as the UTRGV mascot during a meeting in El Paso Thursday.
Protests over mascot By REEVE HAMILTON TEXAS TRIBUNE
The Broncs have been busted by the Vaqueros, and a fair number of South Texas college students are none too happy about it. Last week, Vaqueros was officially chosen as the mascot name for the nascent University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, set to open next year. The new university will merge the University of Texas-Pan American and the University of Texas at Brownsville. For some members of the UTPA community, Vaqueros is disturbingly unlike Broncs, which has been their school’s nickname for decades. Protests have broken out, and on Monday, UTRGV President Guy Bailey tried to quell the discord. The new nickname, Spanish for "cowboy," was chosen because it "embodies toughness, tenacity, intelligence and perseverance," Bai-
ley said in a statement. He did not indicate any plans to change it. Bailey said the new university must have "a fresh identity." "I understand that change is challenging," he said. "And that letting go of something one holds dear is difficult. As a university, we will never forget our roots." Even before regents signed off on Bailey’s choice last week, UTPA students had been pressing to retain the Broncs. Alex Del Barrio, an alumnus of UTPA, has collected thousands of pro-Bronc signatures. "The fury has gotten a little wider, because not only are those that were unhappy about losing the Broncs name unhappy, but the people around the Valley — and especially the Hispanic community — are upset because of the name that was chosen and the way it was chosen," he said.
Texan hurt in Boston bombing loses part of leg
Galveston to do $4.8M beach restoration project
Suspect found dead after Texas RV park slaying
KATY — A Texas woman injured in the deadly Boston Marathon bombing has had surgery to remove part of her left leg. Rebekah DiMartino was listed in good condition Tuesday at Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital near Houston. The 27-year-old DiMartino had surgery Monday to remove her left leg below the knee.
GALVESTON — Sand will be dredged from the Galveston Ship Channel for a $4.8 million beach restoration project that begins Dec. 1. The project is being paid for by the city, the Texas General Land Office, the Galveston Park Board of Trustees and some condominium owners. The project aims to construct a large dune and replenish nearly 300 feet of beachfront.
MOUNT VERNON — A suspect sought after the fatal shooting of a woman at a Texas recreational vehicle park has been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Franklin County Sheriff ’s Office issued a warrant for 55year-old Keith Lynn McDowell after the slaying early Tuesday.
Police: Houston airport employee steals $47,000
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio police have charged a photographer who they say sexually assaulted an intoxicated model. Police charged 45-year-old Roland Aguilar on Monday with sexual assault. They say Aguilar met with the woman at a bar in September. A security guard at a hotel called police later that night and told them Aguilar carried the unconscious and nearly nude woman into a room. — Compiled from AP repors
Jailer charged with child sex crime DALLAS — A Dallas County jailer has been arrested after police say he tried to force a 14year-old boy to have sex with him. Thirty-two-year-old Fernando Hernandez was charged on Sunday with criminal solicitation of a minor. Police say the boy was walking along a road Sunday night when Hernandez drove up and asked him to have sex.
HOUSTON — Houston police have arrested a George Bush Intercontinental Airport employee who they say used her position to steal more than $47,000. 35-year-old Demetris Authorities say Domino worked in the Houston Airport System’s business opportunity office and stole money intended for the city.
Police: Photographer assaults Texas model
MONDAY NOV. 24 Monthly meeting of Laredo Parkinson’s Disease Support Group. 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, Tower B, First Floor Community Center. Patients, caregivers and family members invited. Free info pamphlets available in Spanish and English. Richard Renner (English) at 645-8649 or Juan Gonzalez (Spanish) at 237-0666. Planetarium movies at TAMIU. 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. Claudia Herrera at claudia.herrera@tamiu.edu or tamiu.edu/planetarium.
SATURDAY, NOV. 22 Planetarium movies. 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium.Claudia Herrera at claudia.herrera@tamiu.edu or www.tamiu.edu/planetarium.
THURSDAY, NOV. 27 Register for the 35th Guajolote 10K Race. Register at Hamilton Trophies (1320 Garden), Hamilton Jewelry (607 Flores), or on-line at www.raceit.com, Guajolote 10K Race. Call (956) 724-9990 or (956) 722-9463.
AROUND THE NATION 4 Amish relatives die in van crash after funeral AIRVILLE, Pa. — Four members of an Amish family are dead after their hired van was struck by a cement truck as they traveled home from a funeral in central Pennsylvania. The York County coroner’s office says 22-year-old Elizabeth Esh was pronounced dead Tuesday, a day after she delivered a stillborn boy. Her relatives Emmanuel Esh and Melvin Esh were pronounced dead at the scene of the wreck Monday in rural southeastern York County.
California candidate leads in race after death BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A candidate for a seat on a Central California board may win his race, despite having died last month in a small plane crash. Kern County Elections Chief
CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Account Executive, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 765-5113 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Managing Editor, Nick Georgiou ................. 728-2565 Sports Editor, Zach Davis ..........................728-2578 Spanish Editor, Melva Lavin-Castillo............ 728-2569 Photo by Yi-Chin Lee/Minnesota Public Radio | AP
Mike Hines runs his usual lunch route in the snow on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn. Forecasters say round two of this cold front will bring frigid temperatures which should stay below freezing for the remainder of the week. Karen Rhea told the Bakersfield Californian on Monday that votes are still being counted, but 68-year-old Michal Hill is a frontrunner among three candidates vying for a pair of seats on the Mojave Air and Space Port board.
Rhea says that if Hill is elected, the position will remain vacant. She says the board could then appoint somebody or hold a special election. — Compiled by AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Mexican police shoot US teen near border ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Police in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas wounded a pregnant 14year-old U.S. citizen after the truck she was in failed to obey police commands to stop. The Tamaulipas state prosecutor’s office said
late Monday the teen and her four-month-old fetus are not in danger of dying. The office said the shooting happened around midnight on a Reynosa street near the international bridge leading to Pharr, Texas. State police officers approached the girl and a boy who was driving the
truck outside a convenience store, and ordered them to stop. The driver took off, and police fired at the truck’s tires to stop the vehicle. When it stopped, the driver fled and the girl was found wounded in the belly, and taken to a hospital. The prosecutor’s office said the state police offi-
cers would be questioned in the case. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said it was aware of reports that an American citizen had been shot in Reynosa, but could not provide further details. Meanwhile, inquiries continue into the deaths of three American siblings found shot to death outside
Resaca restoration begins at Brownsville zoo
the nearby city of Matamoros in late October. The parents of Erica, Alex and Jose Angel Alvarado Rivera of Progreso, Texas, said armed men dressed in uniforms identifying them as “Grupo Hercules,” a specialized police unit in Matamoros took them and Erica’s boyfriend from a taco restau-
rant near the border town of El Control on Oct. 13. Their bodies were found on Oct. 29, in a rural area outside Matamoros. Grupo Hercules is made up of former soldiers and marines who have been vetted by state police to provide security for city officials and target crime in high-risk areas.
US mother gives birth at border
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BROWNSVILLE — Divers are clearing out debris from a resaca, or a former channel, at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville. The dredging is part of the Brownsville Public Utilities Board’s resaca restoration project. It covers four resacas in all in the southern Texas city, The Brownsville Herald reported. Divers with Fort Worthbased American Underwater Services are using a pipe connected to powerful pumps to collect silt and other rubbish that’s found its way into the zoo’s resaca. It started work last week at the resaca’s north end. Zoo Director Pat Burchfield said the zoo will plant more native plants to encourage the return of marine animals that used to live there. “I’m sure some of our zoo visitors will recall coming here and seeing 40- and 50-pound catfish that they fed and big gar and sailfin mollies and Rio Grande cichlids,” he said. “This place was a plethora of native resaca inhabitants.” Burchfield said that ideally, the zoo would be able to establish a maintenance program for the resaca. The dredging should take care of the resaca for the next 40 years, he said. Water resource manager Rene Mariscal for the utility board said all of the city’s resacas are full of silt and trash.
PRESIDIO, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers helped deliver a baby boy when his mother arrived in labor at a West Texas port of entry. The agency says Ana Suez Rey, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen who lives in the Texas border city of Presidio, arrived Saturday night at the Presidio port of entry from Mexico and gave birth minutes after arriv-
ing. After officers helped deliver the baby boy, named Derrick, they wrapped him in their jackets until an ambulance arrived. Rey and her son were taken to an area hospital in good health. Port director John Deputy says that while U.S. Custom and Border Protection has a long-standing tradition of welcoming U.S. citizens returning home, it’s rare to welcome a new citizen into the world.
Ex-Mexican border mayor indicted in US ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Brad Doherty/The Brownsville Herald | AP
Eric Jacobson a diver who works for American Underwater Services removed trash and debris Monday from the bottom of a resaca that runs through the Gladys Porter Zoo.
MCALLEN — Federal agents are on the lookout for a former mayor of the Mexican border city of Matamoros, who is charged in a U.S. indictment with fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Federal officials unsealed an indictment returned in Brownsville in July against Erick Agustin Silva Santos, who served as Matamoros from 2008 through 2010. They’ve also obtained an arrest warrant for Silva, who
hasn’t been arrested. The indictment alleges that Silva, beginning with his 2007 campaign, embezzled campaign contributions, took kickbacks and defrauded Matamoros of public money. Silva’s accused of placing those funds in U.S. bank accounts after making false statements to bank officials and submitting falsified documents. Civil forfeitures filed over the course of the yearlong investigation included a Brownsville residence and a Bermuda annuity worth almost $3 million.
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Communism: The legacy of fear By DAVID BROOKS NEW YORK TIMES
Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the biggest surprise is how badly most of the postcommunist nations have done since. There was a general expectation back then that most of these countries would step out from tyranny and rejoin the European club of prosperous nations. Most of us did not appreciate the corrosive power of distrust and how long it would take to heal the mental scars caused by it. Branko Milanovic, an economist at the City University of New York, measured the wreckage in a recent essay on his blog, Global Inequality. He looked at the growth rates of post-communist countries and broke them down into four groups. In the bottom group are basket-case nations that haven’t even recovered the level of real income they had in 1990, as measured by real GDP per capita. These failures include Ukraine, Georgia, Bosnia, Serbia and others - about 20 percent of the post-communist world. "Basically," Milanovic writes, these "are countries with at least three to four wasted generations. At current rates of growth, it might take them some 50 or 60 years - longer that they were under communism! - to go back to the income levels they had at the fall of communism." The next group includes those nations that are merely moderate failures, with per capita economic growth rates under 1.7 percent a year. These are nations like Russia and Hungary that continue to fall steadily behind the West about 40 percent of the post-communist world by population. The third group includes those with growth rates between 1.7 percent and 1.9 percent. These countries, like the Czech Republic and Slovenia, are holding steady with the capitalist world. Finally there are the successes, the nations that are catching up. This group includes Poland, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. But Milanovic points out that many of these nations are growing simply because they have oil or something valuable to dig out of the ground. There are only five countries that have emerged as successful capitalist economies: Albania, Poland, Belarus, Armenia and Estonia. To put it another way, only 10 percent of the people living in post-communist nations are living in a place that successfully made the transition to capitalism. Ninety percent are living under failed transitions of one sort or another. This fact is already yielding screwed up poli-
tics in places like Hungary and Russia and will shape the 21st century. Why did some countries succeed while others failed? First, leaders in some countries simply made better political decisions. Most of these countries enacted economic reforms, like deregulating prices and privatizing nationalized companies. Some nations like Estonia and Poland enacted reforms radically and quickly, while others tried to do them gradually or barely at all with expensive security blankets for protected interests. The quick and radical group saw a slightly bigger output drop over the near term but much more prosperity over the long run. Then there is the level of institutions. Many Western advisers focused on the headline reforms writing new constitutions and creating stock markets. But Larry Lawson, an economist who worked with the Poles and Ukrainians, points out that these nations lacked the basic building blocks we take for granted. Before you have a stock market, for example, you have to have publicly available data about companies, credit records and accounting systems. Finally, and most important, there is the level of values. A nation’s economy is nestled in its moral ecology. Economic performance is tied to history, culture and psychology. Poland, for example, had been invaded throughout its history, yielding a pragmatic, survivor ethos. The Poles had a keen desire to initiate reforms on their own. Poles also had a clear sense of justice and injustice, since they had seen the Russians do things the wrong way on their own territory. They placed a high value on education and social mobility. Other countries lacked this cultural brew. Worse, life was marked by fear, by arbitrary power, by suspicion that people are watching you, by distrust. People raised in this atmosphere of distrust have trouble forming companies and associations. They are more likely to be driven by a grab-what-youcan logic - a culture of corruption and appropriation. They are more likely to hunker down and become risk averse. Many of the ailing countries are marked by distant power relationships. Those with power - even in an office or neighborhood - are aloof and domineering. Those without power hanker for security at all costs. They’re nostalgic for the imagined stability of communism. When everything seems arbitrary and crooked, people tolerate strongman rule.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters. To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure our
readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-calling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
COLUMN
Fake news, real threats THE WASHINGTON POST
The FBI was pursuing an important case in 2007 when it attempted to find out who was making anonymous terrorist threats against a Seattle high school. The bureau had a suspect who was a teenager, and it sent the suspect a link to a bogus news story that appeared to come from the Associated Press, an article that appeared to be about the threats. Then an FBI agent impersonated an AP reporter and contacted the suspect online to encourage review of the bogus article. When the teenager clicked on the link, hidden software sent his location to the FBI. The teenager was arrested and later convicted. What’s wrong with this story? The FBI certainly
was right to investigate the threat. The bureau obtained from a court a warrant to carry out the operation, although it apparently did not tell the judge it would use a fake news report from the AP. The ruse was the work of a special agent in Seattle working with FBI behavioral scientists. "We do use deception at times to catch crooks, but we are acting responsibly and legally," FBI Director James B. Comey said Thursday in a letter to The New York Times defending the operation. He said the techniques were "proper and appropriate" under guidelines existing then: They fooled only the suspect, led to an arrest and ended the threats. Today, he said, such a deception would require a higher level of approval but would
still be lawful and appropriate. Mr. Comey is missing something important. What was wrong about the Seattle operation was the potential damage to the credibility of the Associated Press by the creation of a false news account by the government and by the impersonation of a reporter. The technique threatens to undermine all reporters - not just those from the AP who seek information from sources and represent themselves truthfully as independent journalists. The Post has joined other news media in a protest to Mr. Comey. Just imagine the next time a reporter from the AP or The Post or any other news organization asks difficult questions about a terrorist threat, questions
that might come up in Boston or Beirut. The slightest suspicion that the reporter could be a government official would change the nature of the answers given and may well endanger the journalist. The business of gathering the news has been risky enough in recent years. The U.S. government should not make it more so by impersonating reporters or creating bogus news articles. To avoid undermining the credibility of all journalists, the FBI ought to announce that, as a matter of policy, it will not impersonate reporters nor create fake news articles in carrying out its duties. Certainly, the FBI can catch crooks without damaging the credibility of all news organizations or endangering their reporters.
COLUMN
North Korea’s pressure points THE WASHINGTON POST
Deciphering the motives behind North Korea’s behavior is inevitably a matter of guesswork. Still, it’s not hard to discern a couple of reasons why the reclusive Stalinist regime would have decided to release two Americans it had sentenced to hard labor just before President Obama arrived in neighboring China for an Asian summit meeting. One is familiar: North Korea is hoping to draw the Obama administration back into negotiations about a normalization of relations. In the past, Pyongyang has used such charm offensives, along with promises to dismantle its nuclear weapons arsenal, to extract economic and political concessions from the United States and its allies. Invariably it has
cheated on its commitments and then abruptly reverted to hostility and provocations. In this instance, the regime of Kim Jong Un is not even suggesting that it could disarm. Instead, its goal seems to be to induce the United States to abandon that goal. The Post’s Anna Fifield reported that a senior North Korean official dispatched to Europe last month told officials that the only basis for U.S.North Korean dialogue would be as "one nuclear state to another." By releasing prisoners Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, the regime may be hoping to induce Chinese President Xi Jinping to put pressure on Mr. Obama to break a two-year hiatus in formal negotiations without more substantive concessions. Fortunately, Mr. Obama
appears resistant to engaging with the North on its terms. Administration officials say the U.S. position remains that Pyongyang must take concrete steps toward disarmament for a diplomatic process to resume. Though the Kim regime recently has reached out to Japan and South Korea in addition to Europe and the United States, there’s no evidence it is even considering such concessions. Another plausible explanation for the release of U.S. prisoners is that it was a purely defensive act. Diplomats in contact with the North say it has become genuinely concerned about a United Nations investigation of its appalling human rights abuses and an incipient movement to refer Mr. Kim and other top leaders to the International Criminal Court for prose-
cution. That call was made just two weeks ago by Marzuki Darusman, the U.N. special rapporteur on North Korean human rights, who said it was time to take action against the regime "to a new level" given its "continued state of denial of (its) widespread, grave and systematic human rights violations and crimes against humanity." A vote by the U.N. Security Council to refer North Korea to the court could be blocked by China or Russia. Nevertheless, the Obama administration should press for one - and dare Beijing or Moscow to shield a regime that, according to the U.N. investigation, is subjecting 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners to horrific treatment. If pressure on human rights explains North Korea’s recent actions, that is another reason to step it up.
CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
State
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Bush urges Jeb to run By JAY ROOT TEXAS TRIBUNE
Photo by Charles Slate/The Sun News | AP
Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during the Grand Strand Patriotic Alliance Veterans’ Day program at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center Tuesday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
‘You’ll see me again,’ Perry tells audience By CHRISTY HOPPE THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
This week alone, Texas Gov. Rick Perry spent two days in New Hampshire, the first presidential primary state, and two days in South Carolina, the second primary state. And his frequent references to a future presidential campaign means new hints shouldn’t come as a surprise. But he did inch even closer to an announcement on Tuesday. At a lunch sponsored by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, he
told the crowd that, "I’ve got about 60 more days of being the governor of the state of Texas and then I’m going to do something different." He concluded with, "You’ll see me again," according to the Myrtle Beach Sun News. Over the past year, Perry has said he’s been getting prepared for his next step, especially after his disastrous first run for the Republican presidential nomination. Perry has been in frequent discussions with foreign and domestic pol-
icy wonks from the George W. Bush administration and from Mitt Romney’s campaign. He’s talked about America being a country of second chances and he’s visited Iowa, the first caucus state in the nation, more than any other potential contender in the past year. In January 2012, after finishing fifth in Iowa and New Hampshire, Perry chose to drop out of the race a few days before the South Carolina primary. He appears ready to erase that memory.
COLLEGE STATION — Former President George W. Bush, invoking what he said were the wishes of his 90-year-old father, practically begged his brother Jeb to run for president Tuesday. “I can speak for 41 when I say this,” Bush said, referring to his father, George H.W. Bush, the 41st United States president. “He ought to run for president and he would be a great president should he win.” Bush, who was at his father’s presidential library to promote a new book he’s written about him, was careful to say that his brother, the former governor of Florida (and father of Texas Land Commissioner-Elect George P. Bush) was “making a very personal decision” and could not be pressured into following his sibling and father into a White House run. But the 43rd president pointedly shot down one of the misgivings his brother has aired publicly: that going back and forth between Bushes and Clintons (first Bill, and now possibly Hillary) highlighted a potentially worrisome trend. “I heard him say he doesn’t like the idea of a political class, the idea of Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Bush,” the former president said. “I said, ‘Well, how does this sound? Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Clinton.’” The crowd inside the au-
Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP
Former President George W. Bush discusses his new book "41: A Portrait of My Father" at George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. ditorium at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum erupted in laughter and applause. “The point is you don’t get to pick the environment in which you run,” Bush added. The 41st president, who now uses a wheelchair, entered the auditorium at his presidential library before the event began and took a seat next to his wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush. He waved to the crowd and received a sustained standing ovation. After a serious health scare in 2012, George H.W. Bush has given up speaking engagements, so Tuesday was a rare public sighting. George W. Bush said he was inspired to write a book about his father after learning that the last son to follow his father into the White House — John Quincy Adams — had never written a biography of John Adams, robbing history of valuable insight that only a person in that
situation could deliver. The younger Bush acknowledges in the author’s note at the front of the book that he is not attempting to offer an objective view of his father. He calls the tome a “love story — a personal portrait of the extraordinary man who I am blessed to call my dad.” Tuesday’s discussion of Bush’s new book also came off as something of a love story. It was conducted by his former chief of staff, Andrew Card, who didn’t exactly grill his former boss on stage about the controversies associated with his, or his father’s, presidency. But there were some revealing moments. When speaking of his victory over Democrat Ann Richards in the 1994 governor’s race, George W. Bush said he does not believe he would have won had his father won his re-election race in 1992. “I could not have run for governor had he been reelected,” Bush said.
Abbott discuses transition to Texas governorship ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Gov.-elect Greg Abbott is to reveal to the news media plans for his transition into his new
job. The Republican attorney general’s Tuesday news conference at the Capitol is the second of its kind in the week since he bested
his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Wendy Davis, in the midterm elections. On Monday, Abbott met with Texas Department of Transportation officials to
discuss top infrastructure priorities heading into the legislative session convening in January. Abbott has promised to increase state spending on
key transportation projects he says are vital to keeping Texas competitive in the business world. Abbott takes office Jan. 20. The longest-serving gov-
ernor in state history, Gov. Rick Perry, didn’t seek reelection but may run again for president in 2016. His 2012 White House bid fizzled.
PÁGINA 6A
Zfrontera FRAUDE BANCARIO
Ribereña en Breve
Niegan culpa
CLIMA El martes se empezó a sentir el sistema frontal número 11, impulsado por una amplia e intensa masa de aire polar, ocasionando marcado descenso de temperatura, vientos fuertes de hasta 50 kilómetros por hora y potencial de lluvias fuertes con posibles bancos de niebla. El frío permanecerá hasta el 14 de noviembre, con probabilidad de lluvias fuertes, dio a conocer la Comisión Nacional del Agua de México. Se recomienda evitar que niños y adultos de edad avanzada salgan de casa, si no es urgente, así como abrigarse cubriéndose boca y nariz. Extremar precauciones al conducir en zonas de niebla y asfalto mojado; y, en caso de ser necesario, acudir a los refugios temporales.
DECOMISO En Miguel Alemán, México, fueron arrestadas tres personas tras que autoridades decomisaran más de 1.000 kilogramos de narcóticos. Tras recibir una denuncia ciudadana sobre actividad sospechosa, la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional junto con la Policía Estatal Acreditable, arrestaron a José Rubén Rosas Serrano, José Arturo Martínez Muñiz y Mirna Serrano Sifuentes en una casa ubicada en la colonia Lindavista. Dentro de la casa fueron descubiertos 102 paquetes envueltos en papel cinta adhesiva transparente, con un monto total de 1.030 kilogramos de marihuana en un subterráneo localizado en el patio de la casa, informaron autoridades. Los detenidos, la droga, los vehículos y algunos cartuchos de diferentes calibres, fueron puestos a disposición del Ministerio Público de la Federación.
POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Dos mujeres que fueron arrestadas y acusadas de tener parte en un esquema de fraude bancario en Zapata National Bank, se han declarado no culpables en una corte federal de Laredo. Un gran jurado regresó una acusación formal de 10 cargos sellada el 28 de octubre de 2014, y fue abierta una vez que se llevó a cabo el arresto de Petra Del Bosque, de 54 años de edad, y Anita Arredondo, de 52 años de edad, ambas de Zapata. Ellas son acusadas de 10 cargos por fraude bancario. En caso de ser condenadas podrían en-
FUTBOL AMERICANO Zapata County ISD informa que el viernes 14 de noviembre, a las 7:30 p.m., Zapata se enfrentará a Rockport Fulton en Falfurrias.
ra defraudar a ZNB, muestran registros de la corte. Arredondo, quien era empleada por una compañía de Zapata como secretaria de los departamentos de cuentas por pagar y recursos humanos, fue responsable de emitir cheques a contratistas, remunerando el trabajo que habían realizado, a nombre de la compañía. Arredondo supuestamente emitió más de 300 cheques falsos de la empresa a nombre de los contratistas, que no realizaban el trabajo, según la acusación. “Arredondo aseguró los cheques al colocar firmas falsas de los contratistas. Luego entregó los cheques endosados a Del Bosque”, se-
ñalan documentos de la corte. “Del Bosque hizo declaraciones falsas a cajeros de ZNB y a otros empleados del banco, causando que ZNB cambiara los cheques y proporcionara el dinero a Del Bosque”. Del Bosque fue una recepcionista en ZNB y asistente para cuentas nuevas, muestran los registros. La acusación alega que Del Bosque y Arredondo dividen las ganancias de los cheques cobrados entre ellas. Hubo una pérdida total de más de 800.000 dólares, de acuerdo con documentos de la corte. (Localice César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
CONDADO DE ZAPATA
PRIMERA PIEDRA
Arrestan a dos por albergar migrantes POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Nuevo Laredo
El Secretario de la Defensa Nacional en México, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, colocó la primera piedra de la 6ta. Brigada de la Policía Militar en Escobedo, Nuevo León, México. En la ceremonia participaron los gobernadores de la región noreste de México, Egidio Torre Cantú de Tamaulipas, Fernando Toranzo Fernández de San Luis Potosí, y Rodrigo Medina de Nuevo León. Además, los gobernadores firmaron el convenio de colaboración con la Sedena.
REYNOSA, MX
Joven grávida recibe tiro POR ALBERTO ARCE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MÉXICO — Una menor estadounidense embarazada resultó herida por arma de fuego tras una persecución policial en Reynosa, México, según informaron autoridades locales el martes. La menor, de 14 años y embarazada de cuatro meses, salía el domingo junto a un acompañante de una tienda de conveniencia cercana al puente internacional que comunica Reynosa, con Pharr. El Gobierno de Tamaulipas identificó a la menor como Indira Michelle Blanco González. La Procuraduría General del Estado explicó en un comunicado que los hechos sucedieron cuando tres patrullas de la policía del estado de Tamaulipas persiguieron la camioneta pick up Chevrolet Silverado que manejaba el acompañante de la
menor después de que éste se diera a la fuga cuando se les pidió que se identificaran. La persecución terminó cuando los agentes dispararon a las llantas del vehículo en fuga y tuvo que detenerse. El conductor tuvo tiempo de darse a la fuga dejando a la menor embarazada dentro del vehículo con un disparo en el vientre. Los informes oficiales indican que la menor y el bebé se encuentran fuera de peligro, ingresados en un hospital local. Los policías que dispararon, de los que no se especificó el número, se encuentran a disposición de la Procuraduría General del Estado, que investiga si existe algún tipo de responsabilidad penal en su comportamiento durante la persecución. Otros 15 nacionales o residentes en Estados Unidos han muerto en el estado de Tamaulipas desde enero de 2013.
Los últimos hasta el momento son tres hermanos de nacionalidad estadounidense que murieron en Matamoros a finales de octubre. Los jóvenes, ejecutados de un disparo en la cabeza y quemados, se desplazaban entre Tamaulipas, donde residían y Texas, donde trabajan en labores agrícolas. Testigos de los hechos reportaron que los tres hermanos fueron secuestrados por hombres vestidos de policías que se identificaron como “Hércules”, una unidad estratégica de seguridad en Matamoros. Nueve de los 40 agentes de la unidad están siendo investigados por su presunta responsabilidad en el secuestro y posterior asesinato de los jóvenes, dijo el procurador general del estado de Tamaulipas, Ismael Quintanilla Acosta. (Con información del Gobierno de Tamaulipas)
INVESTIGACIÓN
FESTIVAL VAQUERO La Ciudad de Escobares invita a su Noveno Festival del Día Vaquero, el sábado 15 de noviembre, desde el mediodía y hasta las 10 p.m. en Terrenos de la Ciudad, 4829 Old Hwy 83. Habrá una competencia de platillos, juegos, escalar montañas, toro mecánicos, y comida. Habrá un concurso de acordeón a las 6 p.m.; y la música en vivo estará a cargo del Grupo Tremendo de Juan P. Ramos. Informes en el (956) 847-1200.
frentar hasta 30 años en una prisión federal, por cada cargo. Del Bosque y Arredondo tenían la lectura de cargos programada para el viernes. Pero las acusadas condonaron su presentación ante la corte al presentar una declaración de no culpabilidad por escrito. Del Bosque salió libre bajo fianza el viernes, mientras que Arredondo se encuentra en custodia federal con una fianza de 50.000 dólares con 1.500 dólares en efectivo como depósito y una co-fiaza, de acuerdo con documentos de la corte. Desde alrededor de 2006 al 1 de octubre de 2008, Arredondo y Del Bosque ejecutaron un esquema pa-
SEXTA BRIGADA POLICIAL
CAMPAMENTO DE SOFTBALL La Comisión de Parques y Recreación de Roma invita al Campamento de Softball 2014, el sábado 13 de diciembre, en Roma High School Softball Field, de 9 a.m. a 3 p.m. Para participar, hoy miércoles 12 de noviembre se llevará a cabo el registro de 6 p.m. a 7 p.m. en el Little League Softball League. El campamento está abierto a personas de 8 años a 14 años. Se tocarán las bases del bateo, lanzamiento, infield, outfield, atrapadas, correr a las bases, y barridas, entre otros temas. La cuota de registro es de 25 dólares, e incluye una comida y una camiseta. Pida informes con Joel Hinojosa Jr. al (956) 3531442.
MIÉRCOLES 12 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2014
EU acusa ex alcalde Matamoros POR JASON BUCH SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Fiscales anunciaron el lunes que un ex alcalde de Matamoros, México, ha sido acusado. Una acusación secreta regresada en julio acusa a Erick Agustin Silva Santos, de 44 años de edad, con conspiración para lavado de dinero, fraude bancario, fraude postal y fraude en transacciones, de
acuerdo a un comunicado de prensa dado a conocer por la Oficina del Fiscal de EU para el Distrito Sur de Texas. La acusación fue abierta el lunes, y Silva, quien fue alcalde de la ciudad fronteriza con Brownsville del 2008 al 2010, es considerado un fugitivo, de acuerdo al comunicado de prensa. Fiscales sostienen que Silva, iniciando con su campaña en el 2007,
malversó contribuciones de campaña y aceptó sobornos, para después movilizar el dinero sucio a los EU. Silva es acusado de colocar los fondos en cuentas bancarias de EU después de realizar testimonios falsos a oficiales bancarios y presentar documentos falsos. Enfrenta hasta 20 años en prisión en caso de ser encontrado culpa-
ble por los cargos de conspiración de lavado de dinero, fraude postal y fraude en transacciones. El cargo de fraude bancario conlleva una pena máxima de 30 años en prisión. Fiscales también están intentando decomisar una casa en Brownsville y 2.8 millones de dólares en una cuenta de banco en Bermuda, de acuerdo al comunicado de prensa.
Una detención de tráfico de rutina en el Condado de Zapata, llevó al descubrimiento de varios inmigrantes indocumentados en un hotel de Laredo, de acuerdo con registros de la corte. Entre la noche del 30 de octubre y la mañana del 31 de octubre, autoridades federales arrestaron a Steve HernándezUribe y a Mario Benavides Jr., acusados de transportar y acoger a inmigrantes indocumentados, de acuerdo con una querella criminal presentada en su contra el 3 de noviembre. Las autoridades federales también tomaron la custodia de los ocho inmigrantes indocumentados. El caso se remonta al 30 de octubre, cuando un oficial de la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Zapata, pidió la asistencia de agentes de Patrulla Fronteriza, de la Estación de Zapata, por una violación de tráfico cobre la carretera U.S. 83. Oficiales dijeron a los agentes que los tres pasajeros del vehículo tenían “declaraciones que no concordaban”, señala la querella. Dos de los pasajeros, quienes no tenían identificación, no hablaban inglés. Identificado como el conductor, Hernández-Uribe señaló que era un ciudadano de EU, durante una inspección de inmigración. Los dos pasajeros, un hombre y una mujer, admitieron ser ciudadanos de nacionalidad mexicana, sin documentación legal para estar en Estados Unidos. Los oficiales dieron a HernándezUribe una citación de advertencia por exceso de velocidad, antes de entregarlo, junto a los pasajeros, a elementos de Patrulla Fronteriza. En un interrogatorio posterior al arresto con autoridades federales, Hernández-Uribe supuestamente admitió haber transportado a dos inmigrantes indocumentados en su vehículo Toyota Corolla, color verde, modelo 1997, de la Ciudad de Río Grande a Laredo. Hernández señaló que un hombre, a quien él identificó como Mario, lo contrató. Mario, quien más tarde fue identificado como Benavides, supuestamente dio instrucciones a Hernández-Uribe de seguirlo de San Antonio a Laredo, de acuerdo con documentos de la corte. Benavides dio instrucciones a Hernández-Uribe de seguirlo a una estación de gasolina en la Ciudad de Río Grande, a donde llegó un Dodge Charger. El conductor del Charger, quien no fue identificado, llevó a Benavides y a HernándezUribe a una casa abandonada y sacó a dos inmigrantes indocumentados, a quienes hizo entrar en el vehículo de Hernández-Uribe. Entonces, Hernández-Uribe condujo a Laredo, hasta que los oficiales lo detuvieron en el Condado de Zapata. Durante el interrogatorio, Hernández-Uribe señaló que dos menores sin compañía fueron dejados en Laredo, en un Motel 9, señalan los reportes. Agentes de Patrulla Fronteriza del Sur de Laredo y oficiales de la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Webb acudieron al . Las autoridades dijeron que un hombre identificado como Benavides abrió la puerta. A pesar de que no se encontró a menores, los oficiales lograron ver a varias personas recostadas en dos camas separadas y en el piso. Las autoridades determinaron que Benavides estaba albergando a seis inmigrantes indocumentados dentro de la habitación.
Nation
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
NYC doctor recovers from Ebola By COLLEEN LONG AND JENNIFER PELTZ ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Hugging the health workers who cared for him, a doctor who recovered from Ebola said Tuesday he was a living example of effective treatment and urged support for those combating the virus at its West African epicenter. “Today, I am healthy,” a smiling Dr. Craig Spencer said as he was released after nearly three weeks in Bellevue Hospital, where he had been the last Ebola patient under treatment nationwide, at least for now. “Please join me in turning our attention back to West Africa,” where the virus has killed thousands of people this year, he added after thanking Bellevue staffers who treated him and getting a hug from the mayor. Spencer, 33, was diagnosed Oct. 23, days after returning from treating Ebola patients in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders. His was the first Ebola case in the nation’s largest city, spurring an effort to contain anxieties along with the virus. Spencer’s fiancee remains under quarantine at their East Harlem apartment, where “Welcome Home” balloons were tied outside to greet the doctor when he got home Tuesday. New York officials continue to monitor about 100 Bellevue workers and nearly 200 other people, mainly recent travelers from West Africa. Mayor Bill de Blasio praised New Yorkers for not panicking,
Photo by Richard Drew | AP
Dr. Craig Spencer, center, who was the first Ebola patient in New York City, is escorted by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to a news conference at New York’s Bellevue Hospital, Tuesday. the city’s public health system for its preparedness and effectiveness, and Spencer for showing “us what it means to help your fellow human.” The emergency room physician, who is expected to return to
work soon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University, had done medical work overseas several times before he spent over five weeks caring for Ebola patients, alongside Guinean colleagues he called “the
heroes that we are not talking about.” “I cried as I held children who were not strong enough to survive the virus. But I also experienced immense joy when patients I treated were cured,”
Ice Age infants’ remains found By RACHEL FELTMAN THE WASHINGTON POST
Photo by Jeff Chiu | AP
Registered nurses and supporters protest outside of a Kaiser Permanente facility in San Francisco, Tuesday.
California nurses strike By KRISTIN J. BENDER ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — As many as 18,000 nurses, who are in the midst of contract negotiations, have walked off the job and are picketing in front of Kaiser Permanente facilities in Northern California to express their concerns about patient-care standards and Ebola. With nurses holding red and yellow “strike for health and safety” picket signs, the two-day walk off started Tuesday morning and will last until 7 a.m. Thursday. It will affect at least 21 Kaiser hospitals and 35 clinics. Kaiser will remain open during the strike, though some elective procedures
Body found in park ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLOVIS, N.M. — Investigators are looking at surveillance video and conducting interviews, but they have yet to identify any suspects in the killing of a 23year-old woman whose body was found at a New Mexico park. The woman’s 6-yearold son was found unharmed in the parking lot, and what he told investigators has them considering the case as a homicide. Police found the body of Ariel Ulibarri of Clovis on Sunday after people heard screams at the Goodwin Lake Trails Walking Park. Investigators don’t know whether the woman was targeted by somebody she knew.
and routine appointments may be rescheduled, company officials said. Replacement nurses are in place, union officials said. A California Nurses Association union official said nurses are striking over claims there has been an erosion of patient-care standards in Kaiser facilities for months and that the company has failed to adopt optimal safeguards for Ebola But California Hospital Association spokeswoman Jan Emerson-Shea said the nurses’ union, which has been in contract talks since July, is using the crisis to further its own agenda. The association represents and advocates for California hospitals, patients and communities.
Scientists have found two infants buried under an ancient dwelling, sitting beneath a previously discovered set of toddler remains. At 11,500 years old, this Alaskan grave isn’t the oldest in North America — but it’s the oldest to show such elaborate burial practices, indicating that Native Americans put more care into burying their kin than we had thought. But because we have so little knowledge of life at that time, the remains present as many questions as they do answers. The burials of these children, who died around
the same time (probably even within the same season, the researchers report) showed an unprecedented level of care. Two of the children (one of whom died around six to 12 weeks after birth, and the other who was stillborn) were swaddled and buried with grave offerings — intricately carved and pounded hunting tools made from elk antlers and stones. They were buried in a pit dug into the hearth of a residential dwelling, with a new hearth created on top. Later, the 3-year-old was cremated in that hearth — probably right as the nomadic Native Americans were leaving the settlement.
Spencer recalled. Some of those patients called his cellphone from Guinea on hearing he had the disease himself, he said. Spencer’s treatment included a transfusion of blood plasma from another Ebola survivor, health officials said. Officials have stressed that Ebola is not airborne and can be spread only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person who is showing symptoms. Still, news of Spencer’s infection unnerved some New Yorkers, particularly after they learned that he rode the subway, dined out and went bowling in the days before he developed a fever and tested positive. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie responded by announcing a mandatory 21-day quarantine for travelers who have come in close contact with Ebola patients. That touched off a debate over how far government should go in keeping tabs on health care workers who treat Ebola. Spencer said he was “a living example” of the success of selfmonitoring procedures, quick detection and isolation, and he expressed concern about health and aid workers being stigmatized on returning home. “Volunteers need to be supported to help fight this outbreak at its source,” he said. Only a handful of people have been treated for Ebola in the United States. One, Liberian visitor Thomas Eric Duncan, died; the rest have recovered.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS
NFL: COWBOYS
Texans ready to improve
Brent back on roster
Ryan Mallett will start at quarterback By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — The Houston Texans returned to work after their bye refreshed and eager to see if quarterback Ryan Mallett can help turn around the offense in his first NFL start on Sunday at Cleveland. Coach Bill O’Brien benched Ryan Fitzpatrick in favor of Mallett before the break in an attempt to improve Houston’s struggling offense. O’Brien, who first coached him when he was an assistant with the Patriots in 2011, can’t wait to see the fourth-year player get a chance to start. “I’m excited,” O’Brien said. “This is his opportunity to go out there and lead this team, and he’s excited ... and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.” Because O’Brien made the move before giving the team off for the bye, Mallett chose to stay in Houston instead of getting away so he could get some extra work in. “Worked out a little bit, but a lot of film study,” Mallett said. “Just trying to get ready for these guys. They’ve got a good team. They’re 6-3 and we’ve got to execute to have a chance.” Mallett saw very limited action in three seasons as Tom Brady’s
File photo by David Phillip | AP
Coming off the bye week, the Houston Texans look to take their game to the next level with Ryan Mallett under center. They face the first place Browns on Sunday. backup, and has thrown just four passes with one completion and an interception in his career. Now he’ll face a Cleveland defense that is second in the NFL with 13 interceptions this season. “They all have good ball skills back there,” O’Brien said. “It’s a very challenging secondary to go against.” The Texans are 28th in the league with 209.7 yards passing a game and Fitzpatrick has thrown eight interceptions this season. Mallett, who starred in college at Arkansas, said he’s ready for the challenge of getting the unit back on track.
He’s waited years for his shot, but was OK with waiting one more week because of the bye. “It gives you a sense of calm,” Mallett said of having two weeks to prepare for the Browns. “You’re not rushing. You’ve got time to thoroughly digest what they’re doing.” Center Chris Myers thinks the transition at quarterback will be relatively seamless because of the work Mallett has done in practice. That doesn’t mean he thinks things will be easy for him. “He’s got all of the tools,” Myers said. “He had a successful college career. For him to be able to come
in here and prove himself it’s going to be a big test, but we’re all behind him 100 percent.” For veteran receiver Andre Johnson, Sunday will be less about Mallett and more about how the rest of the offense performs. Johnson is second on the team with 563 yards receiving. “Whoever is at quarterback, it doesn’t matter,” Johnson said. “We all have to go out and do our jobs. It’s not just going to be about him. It’s going to be about all of us. All of us need to step our game up and go out and play the way we know how to play.” He said there isn’t any secret formula to getting things going. They all simply need to start making plays that they weren’t making before the break when they fell to 4-5 on the season. While the Texans’ passing game has failed to find any consistency through the first nine games, they’re having no such problems on the ground. Running back Arian Foster has bounced back from back surgery that cost him eight games last season to rank second in the NFL with 822 yards rushing. His work has helped the Texans gain 137 yards a game this season, fourth-most in the league. But Foster injured his groin in Houston’s loss to Philadelphia and is listed day to day this week.
By SCHUYLER DIXON ASSOCIATED PRESS
IRVING, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys have activated defensive tackle Josh Brent, another step toward his return to the field almost two years after a drunken-driving crash that led to his conviction for intoxication manslaughter. Brent was placed on the 53man roster Tuesday. The NFL granted his petition for reinstatement before the season but suspended him for 10 games. Coach Jason Garrett hasn’t indicated when Brent will be ready to play. He says Brent, who has been practicing for two weeks, is overweight. The Cowboys have their bye this week before playing at the New York Giants on Nov. 23. The 26-year-old Brent’s last game was Dec. 2, 2012, six days before the crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown in the Dallas suburb of Irving.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
CONSPIRACY
VETERANS Continued from Page 1A participated in the parade for several years, said more veterans are participating in the parade. “We still get some veterans from the Korean War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq and even World War II,” Villarreal said. “I feel so humbled and honored to be among the group here with all my brothersin-arms.” A ceremony featuring several speakers was held at the end of the parade, in San Agustin Plaza. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who spoke during the ceremony, said veterans should be thanked every day for their service. “It is an honor to be here with
these brave men and woman,” Cuellar said. “They have made the ultimate commitment to secure our country, our people and our freedoms by serving in the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard and military reservists.” Cuellar also announced that he is working with the Laredo VA Outpatient Clinic to expand its services to include additional medical staff, a potential new chief medical officer, a licensed profession counselor for the Homeless Program, a dental hygienist, on-board EMS, radiology and laboratory work. Presented as a guest speaker at
this year’s guest speaker was retired Lieutenant General Kenneth Eickmann. Born in San Antonio, Eickmann lead the Air Force’s center of excellence research, development and acquisition of aircraft and aeronautical equipment and munitions. “Veterans are getting much more recognition now than in the past,” Eickmann noted. “I was in during Vietnam and it was really tough then because we weren’t recognized as much. I think it is really important that the country understand the contributions that all veterans make.” (Philip Balli may be reached at 7282528 or pballi@lmtonline.com)
FRAUD Continued from Page 1A From about 2006 to Oct. 1, 2008, Arredondo and del Bosque executed a scheme to defraud ZNB, court documents show. Arredondo, who was employed by a Zapata-based company as a clerk in the accounts payable and human resources departments, was responsible for issuing company checks to contractors for work they had performed on behalf of the company. Arredondo allegedly issued more
than 300 false company checks made payable to contractors who did not perform the work, according to the indictment. “Arredondo endorsed the checks by forging the signatures of the contractors. She then delivered the endorsed checks to del Bosque,” court documents state. “Del Bosque made misrepresentations to ZNB tellers and other bank employees causing ZNB to cash the checks and provide
the money to Del Bosque.” Del Bosque was a ZNB receptionist and a new accounts assistant, records show. The indictment alleges that del Bosque and Arredondo split the proceeds of the cashed checks between them. There was a total loss of more than $800,000, according to court documents. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Continued from Page 1A navides, allegedly instructed Hernandez-Uribe to follow him from San Antonio to Laredo, where they stayed three days at a motel, according to court documents. Benavides instructed Hernandez-Uribe to follow him to a Shell gas station in Rio Grande City, where a Dodge Charger arrived. The driver of the Charger, who was not identified, led Benavides and Hernandez-Uribe to an alley. The driver went inside an abandoned home and came out with two illegal immigrants who got in the car with Hernandez-Uribe. Hernandez-Uribe then drove toward Laredo until deputies stopped him in Zapata County. During the interview, Hernandez-Uribe stated that two unaccompanied children were left in Laredo at a Motel 9, 9017 San Dario Ave., records state. Laredo South Border Patrol agents and Webb County Sheriff ’s Office deputies responded to the motel to conduct a welfare check in Room 114. Authorities said a man identified as Benavides opened the door. Though no children were found, deputies were able to see several individuals who were lying down on two separate beds and on the floor, Authorities determined Benavides was harboring six illegal immigrants inside the room. Two immigrants held as material witnesses stated Benavides purchased pizza and soft drinks for them while they waited to be transported, according to court documents. Benavides denied those allegations. Benavides claimed he came to Laredo “to hang out, party and look for a Halloween costume for his girlfriend, Vanessa Alonso,” according to court documents. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
MEXICO Continued from Page 1A All other competitors bowed out, saying they had been given only two months to put together an offer on the extremely complex project. But three days before the Aristegui story was published, Peña Nieto abruptly cancelled the contract, and the government announced it would take new bids in the interest of transparency. Presidential spokesman Eduardo Sanchez denied there was anything improper about the housing deal in which the company granted first lady Angelica Rivera a loan to buy the mansion, saying she had money from her former career as an actress. Sanchez said the property borders Rivera’s existing home. “She needed to expand her house, she bought out her neighbor, regardless of who that neighbor was,” Sanchez said. “Why is she to blame for being the wife of the president, being successful, having savings and, forgive the expression, spending it anyway she wants?” But according to the Aristegui article, it wasn’t a random purchase of a neighbor’s property to expand. Rivera and Peña Nieto worked extensively with the architect, Miguel Angel Aragones, to build the home to their specifications. The plans posted on the website archdaily.com are dated October 2010 and the home is listed as being completed in 2011. Sanchez’s explanation was met with much skepticism. According to the Aristegui article, Grupo Higa and its affiliates won more than $8 billion pesos ($600 million) in construction projects in the State of Mexico, which borders Mexico City, while Peña Nieto was governor. It said an air-charter service owned by Grupo Higa ferried Peña Nieto during his 2012 presidential campaign, while another Grupo Higa company printed campaign materials. “It opens up a lot of questions ... If she needed a loan to buy a house, why didn’t she go to a bank?” said Mexico City-based security analyst Alejandro Hope. “When they realized it was a big government contractor, didn’t that set off an alarm bell ... that a transaction like that might represent a conflict of interest?”
Photo by Alejandrino Gonzalez | AP
Masked teachers carry clubs during a clash with riot police in Chilpancingo, Mexico on Tuesday. Supporters of the missing 43 college rural students, refusing to believe they are dead, have kept up the protests that have blocked major highways and set government buildings ablaze in recent weeks. Federico Estevez, a political science professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, said Peña Nieto’s administration is “just being backed into a corner” by repeated scandals. Peña Nieto began his term as the master of high-level political pacts to pass structural reforms, but made little progress on more chronic problems like corruption and violence. “The carpet sort of has been pulled out from underneath him,” Estevez said. “He’s really good at elite consensus ... but this is no longer about that.” Meanwhile, officials were still trying to respond to public horror at the disappearance of 43 teachers college students at the hands of a city police force on Sept. 26. On Friday, officials said members of a drug gang based in Guerrero — the state
where Acapulco is located — had confessed to killing the students and burning their bodies, leaving only charred fragments of bones and teeth. But supporters of the missing students, refusing to believe they are dead, continued protests on Monday, building on demonstrations that have blocked major highways and set government buildings ablaze in recent weeks. On Monday, relatives and supporters battled federal police in Acapulco, then blocked roads leading to the Pacific resort’s airport, forcing tourists to trudge for a half-mile (a kilometer) to the terminal. Many then had to make the same hike back after finding the airport closed. “We are carrying out a symbolic closures of the airport,” said protest leader
Felipe de la Cruz, who said outgoing flights would be blocked for a couple of hours to press demands that the government find the students. Protesters had left and roads reopened by later that afternoon. The airport returned to normal operations around 3:30 p.m., said security supervisor Rafael Fajardo. He added that flights were on time. Peña Nieto’s predecessors spent much of their terms lurching from one scandal to another, and the country’s outbursts of violence threaten to erase the president’s efforts to convince the world that Mexico has put the worst behind it. “I think we are going through some difficult moments,” Sanchez said. “I am sure we’ll get through this, and that something positive has to come out of this all.”
International
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
Iraqi forces retake strategic oil town By HAMZA HENDAWI ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Ariana Cubillos | AP
Shoppers look at the selection of Barbie dolls for sale at a store in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday. Venezuelans are grabbing armfuls of the dolls in toy stores across Caracas.
In socialist Venezuela, Barbie for the masses By HANNAH DREIER ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARACAS, Venezuela — Socialism has embraced Barbie, just in time for Christmas. Mothers, grandmothers and beaming little girls are grabbing armfuls of the dolls in toy stores across Caracas, taking advantage of the government’s order that large chains sell the plastic figurines at fire-sale prices during the holiday shopping season. No sooner had saleswoman Crystal Casanova begun mounting a display of gleaming pink boxes on a recent weekday than a horde of women descended. Soon, she and her co-workers were letting customers grab the Barbies straight out of the Mattel-stamped cardboard cartons. Within minutes, the entire stock was gone, with the dolls selling for as little as 250 bolivars — $2.50 at the widely used black market conversion rate. Venezuela’s socialist government has long imposed price caps on essential products, from milk to laundry detergent, and threatened merchants who hoard goods or sell them at unfairly high margins with jail time. Now President Nicolas
Maduro is making the Barbie doll, often derided by leftists as a training tool for capitalist consumerism, a highlight of this year’s “Operation Merry Christmas,” which he presented as an effort to prevent speculators from ruining the holidays. Maduro’s mentor, the late President Hugo Chavez, once denounced “the stupidity of Barbie” and called for Venezuela to develop its own iconic children’s toys. Feminists, too, criticize the doll for presenting an unhealthy image of the female body, though in Venezuela, a land of beauty queens and abundant plastic surgery, it’s an image many women strive to meet. The toy isn’t the only product affected by the initiative. Across town from the Barbie bonanza, the government is selling bigticket products directly to shoppers at a fraction of what they usually cost. Hundreds of Venezuelans have been camping out for a shot at buying plasma TVs, computers and refrigerators at a government-run fair that began this month. It’s the second year that the administration has sponsored this kind of Christmas special. Business leaders say that
mandatory discounts on products sometimes force retailers to sell at a loss, discouraging imports and feeding shortages, though retailers declined to comment on the case of the Barbies. Government inspectors allege the stores are speculating with unfairly high prices, taking advantage of people’s need to buy Christmas presents. For shoppers contending with chronic shortages, hour-long checkout lines and the world’s highest inflation, the sporadic price cuts are a rare bright spot that even critics of Chavez’s socialist ideology can enjoy. Andrea Alberto, a 22year-old student, managed to nab a stack of dolls for her stunned-looking 3-yearold, under whose arm she’d tucked an “I Can Be Cheerleader” Barbie, complete with sparkling pompoms. Last year, she had to pay dearly to put a brand-name doll under the tree. The more elaborate Barbie models go for 3,500 bolivars — three week’s pay for someone earning minimum wage. “It’s his fault we’re in this mess, but I guess I have to admit I am benefiting from Chavismo right now,” Alberto said, laughing with her friends.
BAGHDAD — Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State group recaptured most of the town of Beiji, home to the country’s largest oil refinery, state television and a provincial governor said Tuesday. The strategic town, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, will likely be a base for a future push to take back Saddam Hussein’s hometown just to the south, one of the main prizes overrun by the extremists last summer. But troops backed by Shiite militias faced pockets of stiff resistance around Beiji, hindering their advance. There was no word on the fate of the refinery, which lies on Beiji’s northern outskirts, but the advances in the town could help break the five-month siege of the facility by Islamic State fighters. Since June, a small army unit inside the refinery, resupplied and reinforced by air, has successfully resisted wave after wave of extremist assaults. Lifting the siege of the refinery, which sits inside a sprawling complex, was likely the next objective in the campaign to rid Beiji of the militants, according to military officials reached in the town by telephone. Hours after news from Beiji broke, a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a military outpost in the Tarmiyah district north of Baghdad, killing seven soldiers
and wounding 13 others, according to police and hospital officials. Those killed included the post’s commander, a major, and two other officers, a captain and lieutenant, they said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of the militant Sunnis of the Islamic State group. Also, nine people were killed and 24 injured in three separate blasts in and around Baghdad. State television quoted the top army commander in Beiji, Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, as saying troops recaptured Beiji’s local government and police headquarters at the center of the town. It aired footage taken Tuesday of army tanks and armored personnel carriers moving around the town’s dusty streets and a ball of white smoke rising in the background. Al-Saadi later spoke to state television by telephone but the line appeared to be cut off after he said his forces were meeting stiff resistance. Three military officials later reached by The Associated Press in the town said the advancing army troops and Shiite militiamen are being slowed down by boobytrapped houses and ambushes. Raed Ibrahim, the governor of Salahuddin province, where both Beiji and Tikrit are located, said the military had secured about 75 percent of the town as of Tuesday, retaking the center of the town and outlying districts. He said gov-
ernment forces continued to meet fierce resistance from the militants, whom he said were using suicide bombers to stall the military’s advance. Ibrahim, speaking to the AP by telephone, also said booby-trapped buildings posed an added threat in Beiji. Neither the military officials nor Ibrahim gave casualty figures for the government forces or the militants. The officials, however, said the forces had blocked access to Beiji from Anbar province, where militants control vast swaths of land, prior to their assault on the town to prevent militant reinforcements from reaching the city. The military, police and hospital officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Government officials in Baghdad offered no immediate comment on the news. The Beiji oil refinery has a capacity of some 320,000 barrels a day, accounting for a quarter of Iraq’s refining capacity. A fire raged for days back in June at one of its storage units, but the refinery is believed to have also suffered major damage elsewhere. Iraq’s army and security forces have partially regrouped after melting away in the face of the summer’s Islamic State group offensive. In recent weeks, they recaptured a string of small towns and villages.