Migrant caravan treks 'route of death' after Mexico denies bus transport

ISLA, Mexico — Thousands of wary Central American migrants resumed their push through Mexico on Sunday, a day after arguments over the path ahead saw some travelers splinter away from the main caravan, which is entering a treacherous part of its journey. The majority of the roughly 4,000 migrants are now headed along what some called the “route of death” toward the town of Cordoba, Veracruz, which is about 124 miles (200 kilometers) up the road. The daily trek will be one of the longest yet, as the exhausted group of travelers tries to make progress any way it can. The arduous trip has already taken its toll.

A day prior, the group was beset by divisions as migrants argued with caravan organizers and criticized Mexican officials before setting out on their own for Puebla and Mexico City. Some were disappointed after caravan organizers unsuccessfully pleaded for buses after three weeks on the road. Others were angry for being directed northward through the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, calling it the “route of death.” A trek via the sugar fields and fruit groves of Veracruz takes them through a state where hundreds of migrants have disappeared in recent years, falling prey to kidnappers looking for ransom payments. Authorities in Veracruz said in September they had discovered remains from at least 174 people buried in clandestine graves, raising questions about whether the bodies belonged to migrants.

But even with the group somewhat more scattered, the majority of migrants trekking through Veracruz on Sunday were convinced that traveling as a large mass was their best hope for reaching the U.S. “We think that it is better to continue together with the caravan. We are going to stay with it and respect the organizers,” said Luis Euseda, a 32-year-old from Tegucigalpa, Honduras who is traveling with his wife Jessica Fugon. “Others went ahead, maybe they have no goal, but we do have a goal and it is to arrive.” Mynor Chavez, a 19-year-old from Copan, Honduras, was determined to continue. “I have no hope. I graduated as a computer technician and not even with a degree have I been able to find work,” he said of life in his home country. In his desperation to flee, Chavez was one of the many people who crossed a river from Guatemala into Mexico, defying authorities deployed to patrol that country’s southern frontier.

It remained to be seen if the main group will now continue directly north through Veracruz to the closest U.S. border, or veer slightly westward and make a stop in the country’s capital. The capital could serve as a better launching pad for reaching a broader array of destinations along the U.S. border. They could also receive additional support, although Mexican officials have appeared conflicted over whether to help or hinder their journeys.

Mexico now faces the unprecedented situation of having three caravans stretched over 300 miles (500 kilometers) of highway in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz, with a total of more than 6,000 migrants. On Friday, a caravan from El Salvador waded over the Suchiate River into Mexico, bringing 1,000 to 1,500 people who want to reach the U.S. border. That caravan initially tried to cross the bridge between Guatemala and Mexico, but Mexican authorities told them they would have to show passports and visas and enter in groups of 50 for processing. Another caravan, also of about 1,000 to 1,500 people, entered Mexico earlier this week and is now in Chiapas. That group includes Hondurans, Salvadorans and some Guatemalans. The first, largest group of mainly Honduran migrants entered Mexico on Oct.19.

Immigration agents and police have at times detained migrants in the smaller caravans. But several mayors have rolled out the welcome mat for migrants who reached their towns - arranging for food and camp sites. Mexico’s Interior Department says nearly 3,000 of the migrants in the first caravan have applied for refuge in Mexico and hundreds more have returned home. With or without the government’s help, uncertainty awaits.

President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. troops to the Mexican border in response to the caravans. More than 7,000 active duty troops have been told to deploy to Texas, Arizona and California ahead of the midterm elections. He plans to sign an order next week that could lead to the large-scale detention of migrants crossing the southern border and bar anyone caught crossing illegally from claiming asylum.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/4/migrant-caravan-treks-route-death-veracruz-mexico/

'Watch what we do': Mike Pompeo puts Russia, China on notice over Iran

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday issued a thinly veiled warning to Russia and China putting both countries on notice that it will suffer the consequences if they continue to purchase Iranian oil after U.S. economic sanctions on such exports snap back this week. Washington’s top diplomat refused to comment on what specific actions the Trump administration may take against Moscow and Beijing, should both countries decide to continue to do business with Tehran. “Watch what we do” on China and Russia, Mr. Pompeo said during an interview on Fox News Sunday. “Watch the Iranians. That is who really understands the actions we are taking,” he added. His comments come a day after Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow would continue to buy Iranian oil, even after U.S. sanctions go back into place on Monday. “We believe we should look for mechanisms that would allow us to continue developing cooperation with our partners, with Iran,” Mr. Novak said in an interview with the Financial Times. “We already live in the condition of sanctions. We do not recognize the sanctions introduced unilaterally without the United Nations, we consider those methods illegal per se,” he said.

The Trump administration has worked to crush Tehran’s oil exports to zero since May, when Mr. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the multilateral deal endorsed by the Obama administration that eased global sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran’s suspect nuclear programs. The move incensed U.S. allies in western Europe, who had begun to make significant investments in Iran, as a result of the Obama-era nuclear pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPoA. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, along with German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström and Danish Foreign Affairs Ministe Anders Samuelsen held a conference call with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Saturday, to discuss the blowback to the European Union as a result of the reimposition of U.S. sanctions.

“[Ms]. Mogherini and the European ministers once again reiterated their commitment to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and emphasized the efforts to maintain financial channels with Tehran and the continuation of Iran’s oil and gas exports,” according to reports by Iranian state-run news outlet IRNA. Aside from economic opportunities, Trump White House critics claim Washington’s exit from the Iran nuclear deal and the renewal of sanctions would reignite Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. On Sunday, Mr. Pompeo affirmed the international community’s backing of Mr. Trump’s efforts against Iran. “The whole world understands these sanctions are real,” he said during an interview of CBS’s Face the Nation. When asked whether the administration’s efforts would push Iran closer to a nuclear bomb, he replied: “We are confident that will not happen.”

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/4/mike-pompeo-warns-russia-china-over-iran-sanctions/

>>3731376

GS is going to a very special place…soon!

Brazil's next president declares war on 'fake news' media

For Brazil’s right-wing President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, attacking critical press outlets almost daily on social media is not enough. Once in office, he vows to hit their bottom line. With half a billion dollars in public-sector marketing budgets coming under his discretion, the fiery former Army captain is threatening to slash ad buys with adversarial media groups, striking at the financial foundations of Brazil’s free press. After a campaign in which Bolsonaro dismissed investigative reporting as “fake news” invented by a corrupt establishment and his supporters went after individual journalists, the threats are sending a chill through the country’s newsrooms.

Asked in a TV interview last week if he would respect press freedom even for his favorite foil, newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil’s largest circulation daily, Bolsonaro’s answer was curt. “That newspaper is done,” Bolsonaro said in a tense TV Globo interview. “As far as I’m concerned with government advertising — press that acts like that, lying shamelessly, won’t have any support from the federal government.”

While public funds are just a fraction of revenue at most major media groups, the prospect of a president out to punish unfriendly coverage has put many reporters on edge. Several seasoned journalists working for Brazil’s biggest news organizations told Reuters in recent weeks they have started to throttle back their criticism, fearing backlash from a Bolsonaro government — and violence from his supporters.

Brazilian press watchdogs said there has been an escalation of threats and aggression against reporters. Investigative journalism group Abraji began tracking the incidents in Brazil’s most polarized election since the return to democratic government in 1985 after two decades of military dictatorship. Most of the attacks on journalists were by Bolsonaro supporters, according to Abraji, which recorded more than 150 cases of campaign reporters coming under threat. Roughly half involved physical violence and the rest were online hate campaigns. “Treating the press as an antagonist is not a new tactic, but the aggressive tone and frequency of Bolsonaro’s attacks are very worrying,” said the group’s coordinator, Marina Atoji.

Bolsonaro’s supporters said the Brazilian media has a leftist bias and they have turned to social media for news about him. “The worst thing was they tried to crucify Bolsonaro for his controversial statements on women, gays and blacks,” said Emilio Kerber, an Air Force major who ran for Congress in Bolsonaro’s small coalition. “But Bolsonaro has millions of followers on social media and he won anyway.” Press aides for Bolsonaro did not respond to a request for comment. The president-elect has disavowed any supporters who resort to violence. He said he respects freedom of the press and only asks that it be exercised responsibly.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics-media/brazils-next-president-declares-war-on-fake-news-media-idUSKCN1N90NN?il=0

Sounds very familiar!

Saudi Prince Alwaleed: Khashoggi probe will exonerate leader

Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, an international businessman from the kingdom, said on Sunday that an official investigation into the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi will exonerate the country’s leader. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of the Saudi government and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in early October.

Saudi Arabia should publicly release the findings of the murder investigation which would surely exonerate Saudi Arabia’s leader, Prince Alwaleed said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “I ask Saudi Arabia now publicly, through your program, to have the investigation made public as soon as possible,” he said. “I believe the Saudi crown prince will be 100 percent vindicated and exonerated.” Prince Alwaleed was detained last year with dozens of other wealthy Saudis in a move by the crown prince to consolidate power and reform the country.

On Sunday, Prince Alwaleed said his detention was “forgiven and forgotten.” The crown prince’s allies have said last year’s crackdown was a fight against corruption and Prince Alwaleed agreed. “Thank God that, after this incident, many of those that were detained had a big cleaning process,” he said.

Prince Alwaleed was freed from Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel along with other royals, senior officials and businessmen, most of whom reached financial settlements with the authorities. Prince Alwaleed denied reports that he had been tortured in custody and that officials stripped him of his wealth.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-politics/saudi-king-to-make-week-long-domestic-tour-amid-khashoggi-crisis-idUSKCN1N90P2?il=0