Latin America: Week in Review
Grupo Mexicana Suspends Service Of Three Airlines; Cites Financial Problems
August 30, 2010 By Staff
The tail of a Mexicana de Aviación airbus.
Today in Latin America
Top Story — On Saturday, Grupo Mexicana suspended the operations of three of its airlines “until further notice,” due to financial issues that arose when the group changed owners a week ago.
Flights for the groups’s three main airlines – Mexicana Airlines, MexicanaClick and MexicanaLink – halted flights at midday on Saturday.
“Today’s decision is a painful one for the 8,000-strong Grupo Mexicana family, but we will continue seeking out ways of securing the company’s long-term financial viability, so our passengers can once again enjoy the quality services they are accustomed to,” a statement from the group said, according to CNN. “We hope to be back in the air soon and would like to thank everyone involved in this process for their support and understanding.”
In early August, Mexicana de Aviación also cancelled several international flights as a cost cutting measure.
Following unsuccessful talks with trade unions aimed at reducing costs, the airline filed for bankruptcy protection, according to Business Week. The company’s proposal included pay cuts for employees and a 40 percent reduction of the workforce, The BBC reports.
“Mexicana Group deeply regrets the inconvenience to its passengers,” the group added in its statement.
Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch
- After losing in a second-round election to Alán García in 2006, controversial Peruvian nationalist Ollanta Humala is running for the presidency again. Get to know him in this interview with Paul Alonso.
- An Afro-Colombian community is facing expulsion to make room for gold exploration. The eviction — originally scheduled for Aug. 18 — has been suspended by the courts twice, but the community’s situation remains precarious. Roque Planas has more.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- The Obama administration is moving to release as many as 17,000 undocumented immigrants detained at facilities across the country, if the immigrants have a potential path to legal residency.
- The murder of Arizona Robert Krentz five months ago, allegedly committed by a Mexican drug smuggler sparked outrage against immigrants. Now, it appears that a U.S. citizen may have been responsible for the killing. Whatever the case, a spate of violent incidents led Alison Bowen to take a look at the complex relationship between immigration and crime at her blog Beyond Borders.
- Federal authorities said Saturday they will take over the investigation into the massacre of 72 migrants at a ranch in northern Mexico because evidence suggests drug traffickers were responsible.
- Authorities in Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Tabasco are evacuating about 7,000 people and preparing to dig relief channels to avoid further flooding from the Grijalva River.
- Grupo Mexicana, Mexico’s largest airline group, is suspending operations after an investor group pledging to turn Mexicana around failed to reach an agreement with unions, the company and Mexican authorities said Friday.
Caribbean
- Cuba has begun allowing foreign investors to lease government land for up to 99 years, a step toward a future that could be filled with golf courses ringed by luxury villas, beachfront timeshares and vacation homes for well-heeled tourists.
- An American citizen who worked for the Department of Homeland Security has been shot to death in Haiti during a home invasion, his friends and officials said Sunday.
- Islanders have set up emergency shelters and airlines have canceled flights Sunday as newly born Hurricane Earl churns toward the northern Caribbean. Cruise lines have also diverted ships to avoid the storm’s path.
- Police in the Dominican Republic say kidnappers have seized an Italian citizen and are holding him for ransom.
Central America
- Due to human rights violations affecting the indigenous peoples of the country, Guatemala risks becoming “ungovernable” according to the U.N. official in charge of indigenous rights after a visit in June.
- Floods and landslides have killed at least 34 people and affected some 84,000 others in Nicaragua this rainy season, which began on May 15, officials said Friday.
- The Czech government announced on Saturday that it would be closing its embassy in Costa Rica.
- U.S. and Panamanian officials said on Friday that the recent PANAMAX military exercises have boosted the security of the Panama Canal against potential threats.
Andes
- A Venezuelan National Guard helicopter crashed during a counter-drug mission near the Colombian border, killing all 10 soldiers on board, President Hugo Chávez said Saturday.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is accusing the international press of working with local opposition forces to slander his government and turn voters against the ruling socialist party in key upcoming elections.
- A Peruvian journalist deported by the U.S. to Russia in a spy swap was accused on Friday of falsifying documents in Peru, and a prosecutor said she will be questioned by police if she returns.
- A bus ran off a highway and overturned on Sunday, killing at least 36 people, Ecuadorean officials said. At least 12 others were badly hurt.
- Bolivian biologists say they have finished rescuing 12 pink, freshwater dolphins who were trapped in a river.
- The leader of a conservative group opposed to President Hugo Chávez has been charged with hiding explosives in his home — allegations he called a farce in comments sent from his jail cell.
Southern Cone
- NASA plans to send a team of experts to Chile to help advise how to keep 33 miners trapped underground physically and mentally fit until they are rescued.
- Argentina’s two leading newspapers responded to allegations that they had conspired with the military dictatorship in 1976
Image: KristaLAPrincess @ Flickr.
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