Chiapas rebel desertion: Nearly 200 families have abandoned the Zapatista rebel movement in Polho, one of its strongholds, turning to the government for aid at a time when the insurgents are complaining about the loss of outside support. On Wednesday, each family received initial payments of $43 in a ceremony with Salvador Escobedo, a top official with the federal government's Social Development Ministry. The government is promising similar payments every two months, as well as a school and medical center.
Calderón's U.S. visit: President Felipe Calderón begins a coast-to-coast U.S. trip today with visits to New York, Boston, Sacramento, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Levee border barrier: U.S. federal officials said Friday they will raise a stretch of Rio Grande levees in Texas, instead of building a small section of the controversial U.S.-Mexico border wall across the property of reluctant landowners. The compromise applies to about 22 miles along the border in Hidalgo County.
FBI kidnapping data: The FBI said at least 26 San Diego County residents were kidnapped and held for ransom last year in Tijuana, Rosarito Beach or Ensenada. Tourists are rarely targeted, as most of those kidnapped typically are Latinos who own a business in Mexico and have relatives there, the FBI said.
Polaroid factories to close: Polaroid is closing its factory in the Mexican state of Queretaro as well as plants in Massachusetts and the Netherlands as it focuses on ventures such as a portable printer for images from cell phones and Polaroid-branded digital cameras, TV sets and DVD players.
Guzmán sentences: The son and brother of fugitive drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán were sentenced to prison and fined for money laundering, Mexico's federal Attorney General's Office said Tuesday. Guzmán's son, Iván Guzmán, was given a five-year term and ordered to pay an $18,800 fine, while his brother, Miguel Angel Guzmán Loera, received 13 years in prison and a fine of $14,500.
Compiled from news reports by Foreign Editor David Gaddis Smith: (619) 293-2211; david.smith@uniontrib.com
