Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, May 01, 2002, Page 8, Image 8

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    May 01,2002
Page A8
Portsmouth
Sets Cinco
De Mayo
Party
Portsm outh M id d le School w ill be celebrating C inco de M ayo on Friday,
M a y 3rd w ith speakers, singing and dancing. W e are w elcom ing our
co m m u n ity to come and share w ith us in celebrating the proud Hispanic
Culture. M any o f o u r H ispanic students, fam ilies and com m unity members
w ill be there. M a rtin Gonzales w ill be o u r featured speaker. Several o f our
students w ill read poems they created that share their history and culture.
The Portsm outh C h o ir w ill sing several Spanish songs, in clu d in g the
M exican N ational Anthem . F or more inform ation, contact Portsmouth
M id d le School at 503-916-5666. Portsmouth is located at 5103 N W illis .
Castro Lashes Out at Mexico
(A P ) — For decades, Cuba
counted on M e xico as a lo ya l
friend, a neighbor that never ques­
tioned its socialist system and
never succumbed to U.S. pres­
sures to cut d ip lo m a tic relations
w ith the Caribbean island at the
height o f the C o ld War.
B u t a series o f incidents this
year has le ft Fidel Castro feeling
betrayed by the one country in
the region he once knew he could
depend upon in his defiance o f
the U nited States.
F ir s t, M e x ic a n P re s id e n t
Vicente Fox met w ith p o litica l dis­
sidents du rin g a v is it to the island
in February. Then the M exican
fo re ig n secretary was accused o f
in c itin g several young men to
crash a stolen bus through M e x i­
can embassy’ s gates in Havana,
h oping fo r p o litic a l asylum. A n d
fin a lly , M e xico voted fo r a U .N .
Hum an Rights C om m ission reso­
lu tio n condem ning Cuba, revers­
in g a tra d itio n o f abstaining from
such votes.
Last Tuesday, M exican Foreign
Secretary Jorge Castaneda called
C astro’ s governm ent an “ anti­
democratic and human rights-vio-
lating regime” — an unthinkable
stages
Vicente Fox, a former Coca
Cola executive and rancher
from Mexico's pro-business
National Action party, became
the first Mexican president
ever to meet with Cuban
dissidents on Cuban soil.
statement ju s t a few years ago.
Fed up, an enraged Castro f i ­
n a lly exploded. A ckn o w le d g in g
he was riskin g 100 years o f d ip lo ­
m atic relations, he aired a tape
recording o f Fox suggesting that
the Cuban leader not attend a U .N .
poverty conference in M exico.
C astro attended the M a rch
conference, but le ft a b ruptly after
his speech, c itin g a “ special situ ­
ation” created by his presence
there.
F ox has n o t addressed the
matter o f the tape recording pub­
lic ly , but Castaneda said Tuesday
that the M exican governm ent had
“ absolutely n othing” to apolo­
gize fo r — and that Fox never
asked Castro to stay away from
the summ it.
It was clear, though, that the
decades o f w arm th between the
tw o governm ents had ended. The
topic has already generated pro­
tests and violence, and a gasoline
bom b was th ro w n against the
Cuban Embassy in M e xico C ity
last week but fa ile d to ignite.
A lth o u g h Castro said M onday
that “ the fraternal and h isto rica l
bonds between the peoples o f
M e xico and Cuba w ill last fo r­
ever,” he said that the M exican
governm ent’ s human rights vote
against his country last week had
le ft h im “ despicably betrayed.”
M e x ic o ’ s vote after years o f
abstaining du rin g the annual ex­
ercise indicated that M e xico ’ s first
opposition president is not w ill­
ing to turn the same b lin d eye that
his predecessors d id to C uba’ s
human rights record.
House Votes to Abolish Immigration Service
OHS®
(A P )— The House overwhelm­
in g ly agreed to abolish the em­
battled Im m ig ra tio n and N atural­
iza tio n Service on Thursday and
create tw o new agencies to handle
enforcement and im m igration ser­
Friday Night
Admission
Adults $6
Seniors (62+) $3
Kids 10-12 $3.00
Children 9 snd under free M m < ti
«*> «oo<a t» o m
Entry free Thursday-Friday 11 am-5pm only.
Thursday, May 2nd - Saturday May 4th 11am-11pm
w
,
Sunday. May 5th 11am-9pm
For more Information, go to www.dncodemayo.org or cal (503) 222-9807.
Dus to high Isvsl ol Mcurtty. POSCA discourage» bringing personal Seme Io the event such ee backpacks and other Heme as they ere Sable to be searched.
vices.
The b ill passed the House 405-
9 ju s t hours after A tto rn e y Gen­
eral John A sh cro ft made a special
trip up to the C apitol to endorse
the legislation.
House Republicans and D em o­
crats both got behind the b ill. “ I
am convinced it is tim e fo r re­
fo rm ,” said House D em ocratic
Leader D ick Gephardt, D -M o. “ W e
w ill have taken a b ig step in h elp­
ing the federal governm ent m an­
age im m ig ra tio n ,” said Rep. John
Linder, R-Ga.
H ow ever, A sh cro ft said the
W hite House w o u ld lik e ly w o rk
w ith the D em ocratic-controlled
Senate to get a plan m ore to its
liking.
The overhaul w o u ld scrap the
IN S and create one agency to
enforce laws and keep out un­
q u a lifie d people and another to
smooth the w a y to possible c iti­
zenship fo r legal im m igrants. The
new agencies w o u ld stay under
A s h c ro ft’ s co n tro l at the Justice
Department.
Rep. M e lv in W att, D -N .C .,
called the proposal a “ two-headed
monster.”
“ Y o u ’ ve got one in e ffic ie n t
unproductive IN S now. It seems
to me w hat y o u ’ re going to end up
w ith is tw o in e ffic ie n t agencies,”
said W att, w ho acknow ledged he
d id not have enough votes to
stop the b ill.
viva
el Cinco de Mayo !
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Todas las familias de American Family Insurance celebran
orgullosamente la tradición de la fiesta del Cinco de Mayo.
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American Family Mutual Insurance Company and its Subsidiarles
Noms Odios ■ Msálson, Wlsoonsln 53783
www.smfsm.com
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