Mexican community divided over president's visit

[Jean]

Mexican community divided over president's visit

Immigrants in city divided on Calderon
By Antonio Olivo

Tribune reporter

10:57 PM CST, February 11, 2008


Mexican President Felipe Calderon is scheduled to arrive in Chicago on Tuesday, part of a much-anticipated first U.S. tour since he was elected in 2006 that has stirred both hope and resentment among immigrants here.

While he discusses trade, immigration and other issues with Mayor Richard Daley, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other leaders, Calderon can expect to hear the shouts of both supporters and critics between stops.

Some groups, announcing plans for a protest outside a community meeting with Calderon at Little Village High School, complained Monday that the president's visit will be symbolic at best, coming too late to make a difference in a now-stalled debate in Congress over immigration reform.

Supporters argued the president's visit is testament to the economic importance of one of the largest Mexican communities in the U.S.

The visit comes on the heels of tensions among some Mexican immigrant groups brought on by complaints of poor service at the Mexican consulate in Chicago. Some say the complaints are emblematic of the divisions within the community over the Calderon administration.

"Why come?" asked community activist Juan Andres Mora during a news conference Monday held by groups which were not invited by the consulate to the Little Village meeting. "He did not come to visit with the people to hear legitimate concerns. He's only here to visit with those who applaud him."

At another news conference less than a mile away, members of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce praised Calderon for strengthening ties between Mexico and immigrants in Chicago.

The Calderon administration has kept alive a Mexican economic development program launched under former President Vicente Fox that has given Mexican hometown associations across the U.S. a stake in the creation of jobs south of the border by allowing them to invest remittances in specific projects.

Supporters of those efforts argue that such relations will help curb immigration into the U.S., while opponents criticize Calderon for not spurring more ambitious economic development.

"If it takes care of 10,000 to 20,000 jobs, that's going to be that many less people coming over," argued Gonzalo Gradilla, president of the Little Village chamber.

Both sides agreed that Calderon should help immigrants win a stronger political voice in their homeland.

"We urge President Calderon to give us a stronger voice," said Fabian Morales, an elected immigrant adviser to the Calderon administration who has been pushing for those electoral reforms.


www.chicagotribune.com

[Jean]

Mexican President Felipe Calderon arrives in Chicago
Meetings with Daley, Blagojevich on the agenda
By Antonio Olivo

Tribune reporter

1:37 PM CST, February 12, 2008

Mexican President Felipe Calderon arrived in Chicago Tuesday morning and was en route to McCormick Place, where officials said he'll meet with Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other leaders as part of a four-day U.S. tour meant to strengthen economic ties and muster support for immigration reform.

Arriving shortly before 9:30 a.m. from Boston, where he pleaded on Monday against "anti-Mexican" sentiments in the U.S. over illegal immigration, Calderon will likely face some protests from local Mexican groups and others who have been critical of his government.

The president also visited New York Monday, where he met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss counter-narcotics efforts and UN anti-poverty goals that could help his country.

The trip also includes planned stops in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Calderon has no plans to meet with President Bush or any of the presidential candidates before he departs for Mexico on Thursday, officials said.

Calderon's arrival in Chicago comes on the heels of tensions within the local Mexican community over what some argue has been poor service at the government's Ashland Avenue consulate in the West Loop.

Besides talks with Daley and Blagojevich, Calderon's agenda includes a private meeting with some Mexican community leaders at McCormick Place, where those attending have pledged to lobby the president to do more about job creation and help the thousands of illegal immigrants who've been deported from the Midwest. Others hope to persuade Calderon to pressure U.S. presidential candidates to commit to immigration reform.

"We will be there making our proposals to him in what we expect to be a sincere dialogue," said Salvador Pedroza, chairman of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce and leader of the Illinois chapter of Calderon's National Action Party.

In the afternoon, Calderon is expected to attend a town-hall-style meeting at Little Village High School on the Southwest Side.

Some Mexican groups who have been critical of his government are planning protests outside the school.

After Calderon met privately with Blagojevich, officials announced an agreement for a teacher's exchange program that would send Mexican educators to Illinois to help teach math, natural sciences, Spanish and other subjects in local classrooms.

"It's very important that we recognize the contributions Mexico has made to Illinois and the United States, by strengthening our mutual bond and improving the quality and scope of Mexican culture in Illinois," Blagojevich said in an e-mailed news release.


www.chicagotribune.com

[misterbill]

To Calderon
Senor President------do the right thing--build the Mexican economy. put an end to the Mexican practice of bigotry against your own countrymen , the meztizos. Stop looking down on them because they are shorter and darker than you and your fellow hidalgos.

Use the great wealth of the Mexican oil fields to educate your population. Pledge your life to eradicating corruption in your police force and your army. Try to change the daily acceptance of all things corrupt and illegal, bribery, thievery and prejudice against a large part of your population.

And on a personal note, get your darned nose out of my knickers. Do not come into my country and tell me and my fellow citizens how to treat your disenfranchised horde of undereducated, underemployed and unemployed countrymen who have violated our laws and have entered quite illegally.

Are these people unable to learn how to set up a help desk business?? Look what other countries have done. Go about your business and no about ours.
On another personal note--get out of our country--go home --try to ba an honest man!!! Should you care to return for a visit and to study how great countries are built and supported, then , welcome back, until then , stop trying to bring our economy down to your level.

PS Should you care to take Jorge and Ricardo with you, that would be great!!!!

[MountainDog]

I would guess that most illegals here could care less what Calderon does or says. They know he doesn't care, if he did they wouldn't be here.