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‘Don’t shoot yourself in the foot’: Inside Mexico’s campaign to save NAFTA

FILE PHOTO: The flags of Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are seen on a lectern before a joint news conference on the closing of the seventh round of NAFTA talks in Mexico City
FILE PHOTO: The flags of Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are seen on a lectern before a joint news conference on the closing of the seventh round of NAFTA talks in Mexico City, Mexico March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo

April 25, 2019

By Dave Graham

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – In April 2017, a group of Mexican executives filed into the Texas governor’s mansion in Austin for a meeting they hoped would help save a trillion-dollar trade deal.

They had a simple pitch for their audience – Republican Governor Greg Abbott, a handful of business leaders and some party donors: it would be in Texas’ best interest to preserve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Abbott was just one of the prominent names on a list of dozens of American politicians and business executives that Mexico would carefully compile to help save NAFTA from the relentless attacks of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Supplying them with up-to-date information on trade and investment flows, the Mexicans believed the Americans could persuade policymakers that scrapping NAFTA would hurt U.S. workers and companies. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2I9Q1Gb)

Rather than “be good to Mexico,” said Juan Gallardo, a prominent Mexican businessman who helped craft the strategy, the message was “don’t shoot yourself in the foot.”

The inside story of Mexico’s efforts to stop Trump from killing NAFTA – and to preserve its essence in a reworked accord – comes from interviews with more than 20 Mexican and U.S. officials, lawmakers and executives involved in the process.

After 18 months of talks and concessions by both sides, a deal was struck. Canada later signed on in what became known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which awaits ratification by lawmakers in the three countries.

But final approval has become more uncertain since Democrats took control of the House of Representatives from Republicans, a potential setback to Mexico’s best laid plans.

GIVING GROUND

Mexican business and political leaders, including the heads of the foreign and economy ministries, started scrambling to save the 25-year-old trade deal right after Trump’s election in November 2016.

Early on, they decided to avoid public confrontation with Trump, who had made blaming NAFTA for job losses, particularly in manufacturing, a centerpiece of his campaign.

“Tit-for-tat wasn’t going to work,” said Moises Kalach, head of the international negotiating arm of Mexico’s CCE business lobby. “We agreed not to even get into the ring.”

Trump showed no sign of backing off after taking office in January 2017, telling aides he wanted to withdraw simultaneously from NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), according to three Mexican business and government leaders.

When Trump pulled out of TPP that month, Mexican officials feared NAFTA would be next. In Mexico City, then-foreign minister Luis Videgaray and his counterpart in the economy ministry, Ildefonso Guajardo, flew to Washington to sketch out possible concessions for an overhauled trade pact.

Meeting with Trump’s economic advisors and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, they floated stricter content rules for auto manufacturing, tougher Mexican labor laws and changes to dispute resolution mechanisms, Mexican participants said.

Those early concessions would eventually evolve into new rules set out in the USMCA deal.

“I’m absolutely convinced that if that didn’t happen … NAFTA would have died in January 2017,” Videgaray told Reuters shortly before leaving office.

While Videgaray dangled concessions, Mexico’s private sector rolled out a lobbying operation underpinned by reams of data supplied by IQOM, a Mexican trade consultancy.

Headquartered in an old stone townhouse in Mexico City, IQOM collected data and intelligence to pinpoint U.S. businesses with the most to lose from a NAFTA repeal. Two top Mexican negotiators of the original NAFTA, Herminio Blanco and Jaime Zabludovsky, spearheaded the effort.

It was “a permanent, online, computer-based information-gathering drive,” said IQOM partner Zabludovsky. “And a lot of data crunching.”

Meanwhile, the CCE hired Washington lobbying firm Akin Gump in the summer of 2017 to help identify about 250 potential U.S. allies, Gallardo said.

Akin Gump and the CCE communicated daily and met regularly. The idea was to “engage with USMCA stakeholders on both sides of the aisle and in the Trump administration,” an Akin Gump spokesperson said, and build “CCE’s brand and reputation as a trusted partner.”

Throughout the process, Mexican negotiators were in close contact with their Canadian counterparts – even as Mexico also left the door open to a bilateral deal with the United States.

EYE-OPENER

During negotiations, Mexico’s private sector had some 200 representatives in Washington updating its negotiators on how best to pitch the case to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, according to sources involved in the process.

Each member of Mexico’s team also had politicians or executives to target. Kalach of the CCE said he spoke to 36 U.S. state governors about the value of cross-border trade.

Mexican participants often expressed surprise about how little U.S. politicians knew about the extent of bilateral economic ties. Even in Texas, the state doing the most trade with Mexico, some officials appeared not to have grasped fully what a NAFTA termination could cost, Gallardo said.

At the April 2017 meeting in the governor’s mansion, the Mexican delegation gave a detailed breakdown of trade between Mexico and Texas to Abbott and the others, who included Gerardo Schwebel, executive vice president of the International Bank of Commerce, and oil tycoon Paul Foster, sources said.

Economic ties were explained “by players, by amounts,” Gallardo said. “That was an eye-opener… no one had ever put that together into one paper.”

Abbott eventually sent a letter to Lighthizer defending NAFTA – emphasizing that Texas exported more than $90 billion of goods to Mexico annually and that nearly a million jobs depended on free trade with the NAFTA partners.

In a second letter to Lighthizer, Abbott asked the Trump administration to “reconsider” its demand for a sunset clause that could have killed the new agreement in five years, a major Mexican concern. In the end, the clause was left out.

John Wittman, a spokesman for Abbott, confirmed the Austin meeting, adding that the governor had been engaged with various stakeholders and White House officials throughout NAFTA talks.

Lighthizer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

HELP FROM WALL STREET

High among the list of prospective allies drawn up by Mexico were several top Wall Street executives, including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman and KKR’s Henry Kravis.

Dimon chairs the Business Roundtable, which, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, was viewed by the Mexicans as a powerful voice in support of NAFTA. The banking executive proved particularly effective, Mexican and U.S. sources said.

Among others, a source familiar with the situation said, Dimon met with Kushner, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, Trump’s chief economic adviser until April 2018.

Calling Mexico a peaceful neighbor, Dimon publicly argued a trade agreement would help “ensure that the young democracy in Mexico is not hijacked by populist and anti-American leaders.”

Mnuchin held multiple meetings with counterparts, and offered his input to Lighthizer as he negotiated USMCA, a U.S. Treasury official said. Mnuchin sees Canada and Mexico as important trading partners, and believes free and fair trade with them benefits the United States, the official added.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment about the meetings. Representatives for Cohn, Schwarzman and Kravis declined to comment or did not reply to requests for one.

Kansas City Southern Chief Executive Officer Pat Ottensmeyer, whose company runs trains through Mexico, was a staunch advocate for NAFTA in the United States, and also consulted with top-level Mexican officials.

Between Trump’s inauguration and the end of 2018, Kansas City Southern said it had organized or participated in 65 meetings with lawmakers or regulators, as well as 76 speeches or conferences in defense of NAFTA.

Ottensmeyer recalled speaking to several cabinet members, including Lighthizer and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when he was still head of the CIA.

The approach was to “literally talk to anybody and everybody who we thought was willing to listen and could be influential in the process,” Ottensmeyer told Reuters.

A representative for Pompeo declined to comment.

Within months, Mexico’s lobbying efforts began paying dividends: American politicians and business executives were making a case for NAFTA directly to the White House, pushing back on Trump’s ongoing threats to rip up NAFTA.

“From what I understand,” Gallardo said, “Trump never, ever in his wildest dreams imagined the kind of uproar this was going to create. And that’s what stopped him.”

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Frank Jack Daniel and Anthony Esposito in Mexico City, Jennifer Hiller in Houston, Richard Cowan in Washington, David Henry in New York; Editing by Simon Webb, Brian Thevenot and Paul Thomasch)

Source: OANN

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Young NATO states mark anniversary of alliance membership

Defense ministers from Central and Eastern Europe are celebrating the anniversaries of their countries' membership of NATO at a time when Russia's increased military activity has stoked concerns.

The nine ministers are meeting in Poland, the largest of the post-communist countries in the region.

Their nations joined the military alliance, which is based in Brussels, between 1999 and 2004, sealing their new links with the West and away from Russia.

Their membership also shifted the center of Europe's security eastwards, toward Russia, to the increasing annoyance of Moscow.

The two-day meeting that ends Friday is focusing on improving the alliance's combat readiness in the region.

Source: Fox News World

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Iraq war hero's family accepts Medal of Honor from Trump

The son of an Army staff sergeant awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor by President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he wants his father to be remembered as the best parent and best soldier anyone could ever ask for.

And that's exactly how Travis Atkins will be remembered, Trump assured Atkins' son, Trevor Oliver.

"You can't get better than the Congressional Medal of Honor. You just can't," Trump explained. The medal is the nation's highest military honor for bravery against an enemy, and Trump had just presented the eighth one of his presidency to Trevor Atkins.

Atkins, 31, of Bozeman, Montana, died in June 2007 while trying to subdue a suspected Iraqi insurgent in a town near Baghdad.

After realizing the man was trying to detonate a suicide vest, Atkins wrapped his body around the man and threw him to the ground, away from three of his soldiers who were nearby. Atkins, who was on his second tour of duty in Iraq and leading a 15-soldier squad after he had become "bored" with civilian life, was killed instantly.

At a somber White House ceremony, Trump said Atkins had called his son days before that fateful June day to wish the boy a happy 11th birthday. Neither knew it would be the last time they'd speak, Trump said, adding that Oliver has always known that his father sacrificed himself for his country.

Invited by Trump to address the audience, which included the three surviving soldiers, Oliver said he takes "a lot of pride" in the Medal of Honor. He described the moment as "surreal" and something he could not put into words.

Atkins' had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, which was upgraded to a Medal of Honor after a Defense Department review.

Trump can choose to recognize individuals for a variety of contributions to society, including the arts and science. But the Medal of Honor, which is instigated by the military itself through a nomination and lengthy review process that does not involve the president, is the public award ceremony Trump prefers to host.

Trump so far has recognized gallantry during World War II, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, including three posthumous honors.

Presidents claim the public spotlight for presenting the medal to service members or on behalf of those who are no longer living, but they have little say in who ultimately is recognized since the White House is not part of the process. Cases work their way up the chain of command at the Pentagon to the service secretary and defense secretary, both of whom have authority to disapprove of a recommendation.

The president, as commander in chief, has the final say after the defense secretary gives his approval.

Some 3,523 people have received the Medal of Honor since President Abraham Lincoln awarded the first one in 1863, during the Civil War, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. There are 72 living recipients.

After the ceremony, two Republican members of Montana's congressional delegation — Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, announced that they introduced legislation Wednesday to put Atkins' name on a Veterans Affairs clinic in Bozeman.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Source: Fox News National

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India asks Pakistan for concrete crackdown on terror groups

India is demanding that Pakistan take concrete steps against terrorists operating from its territory, while at the same time returning its top diplomat to Pakistan's capital amid an easing of tensions between the nuclear-rivals.

Pakistan also announced this week that its high commissioner to India was returning to New Delhi, weeks after the two countries recalled their top diplomats for consultations as tensions flared after suicide attack on a convoy of Indian paramilitary soldiers in the Indian-held Kashmir.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Saturday that a reported Pakistani crackdown this week on seminaries, mosques and hospitals belonging to outlawed groups and arrest of dozens of people were not enough.

He said Pakistan should take concrete steps "against terrorists and terror infrastructure" on its territory.

Source: Fox News World

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Costa Rican accused of sexual abuse expelled from priesthood

Roman Catholic officials in Costa Rica's capital say that a cleric accused of sexually abusing minors has been expelled from the priesthood.

Church spokesman Jason Granados says that the Vatican expelled Mauricio Viquez two weeks ago, but has been unable to locate him to notify him of the decision.

A Costa Rican court has issued an international detention request for Viquez, who is accused of abusing two teenagers in 2003. He took a leave of absence from teaching at a local university last month and immigration records indicate he left the country on Jan. 7.

The Vatican is also investigating San Jose Archbishop Jose Rafael Quiros, who is accused by Viquez's reported victims of covering up the abuse.

Source: Fox News World

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Japan father, son win release before US trial in Ponzi case

A father and son from Japan can be freed from federal custody to live with relatives in a rented Las Vegas apartment pending trial on fraud charges in what prosecutors call a $1.5 billion international Ponzi scheme, a judge decided Wednesday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach acknowledged a federal prosecutor's argument that former MRI International Inc. executives Junzo Suzuki and his son, Paul Suzuki, had the money to flee the country before trial and could be motivated to avoid trial and the possibility of spending the rest of their lives in prison.

Ferenbach also was told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could deport the two men if they're freed.

But the judge said that wouldn't make sense after the 70-year-old father and 40-year-old son were extradited from Japan to the U.S. They arrived in custody in Las Vegas last week and pleaded not guilty to charges against them.

Prosecutor Danny Nguyen told Ferenbach the Suzukis reaped a combined $22.5 million in four years of a scheme that led a jury to find company chief Edwin Fujinaga guilty in November of 20 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

In court documents, U.S. attorneys compare Fujinaga to the biggest-ever U.S. Ponzi schemers: Bernard Madoff in New York, Allen Stanford in Houston, Scott Rothstein in Miami and Thomas Petters in Minnesota. Prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence the 72-year-old Fujinaga to 50 years in prison. He's due for sentencing May 23.

Prosecutors said that from about 2009 to early 2013, more than $1 billion from more than 10,000 Japanese investors was wired to bank accounts in Las Vegas under Fujinaga's control. Investors were told they were buying claims from a medical collection business.

Fujinaga was found guilty of using new investors' money to pay off previous investors while he lived a lavish lifestyle in Las Vegas, California and Hawaii.

Nguyen said the Suzukis could face a theoretical sentence of up to 300 years in prison if they're convicted of all charges.

Defense attorney Junji Suzuki, representing Junzo and Paul Suzuki, told Ferenbach they were in Japan and "didn't have an idea what Fujinaga was doing here in the United States."

Paul Suzuki also spent several years living and working in Hawaii, his lawyer said.

Junji Suzuki is not related to his clients. He said they have few financial assets remaining after settling a civil lawsuit related to the MRI International scheme.

"We are sincerely trying to make a resolution before this case reaches trial," the attorney said.

Source: Fox News National

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Taiwan president denounces Chinese military ‘coercion’

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen says Chinese attempts at what she calls military coercion only strengthen the resolve of the self-governing island republic to defend itself.

Tsai's comments Tuesday follow what the island's defense ministry called a major foray by Chinese military planes into airspace just south of the island on Monday.

That included bombers, fighter jets, and early warning and control aircraft.

Tsai told a security forum in Taipei that such actions "only serve to strengthen our resolve."

China's ruling Communist Party considers Taiwan its own territory, although it has never governed the island, which split from the mainland amid civil war in 1949.

Beijing cut ties with Tsai's government following her 2016 election and has been stepping up military threats and efforts to isolate Taipei diplomatically.

Source: Fox News World

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said his government must make men aware of the dangers of poor hygiene after expressing dismay over the 1,000 penis amputations that apparently occur in his country each year.

“In Brazil, we have 1,000 penis amputations a year due to a lack of water and soap,” he said while speaking to reporters in Brasilia after visiting the Education Ministry. “We have to find a way to get out of the bottom of this hole.”

The far-right leader called the figure “ridiculous and sad,” Reuters reported. A spokeswoman for the Brazilian urology society told the news agency the number is based on its official data for penis amputations.

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The amputations were conducted out of necessity over untreated infections, along with complications from HIV and various cancers, she said.

Source: Fox News World

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A California man who allegedly fatally shot his ex-girlfriend in broad daylight last month before fleeing the country has been returned to the U.S. following his arrest in Mexico on Wednesday, authorities said.

Julio Cesar Rocha, 25, of Montlcair, is accused of shooting his 25-year-old ex-girlfriend Thalia Flores and a second unidentified male victim March 21 around 2:45 p.m. while the two were sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot of a discount store in Chino. Both communities are about 36 miles east of Los Angeles.

ARREST MADE IN DOUBLE HOMICIDE OF EX-PRO HOCKEY PLAYER, COMMUNITY ADVOCATE, POLICE SAY

Julio Cesar Rocha, 25, of Montlcair, Calif. was located in Mexico Wednesday and returned to California where he faces murder and attempted murder charges related to the death of his ex-girlfriend, Thalia Flores.

Julio Cesar Rocha, 25, of Montlcair, Calif. was located in Mexico Wednesday and returned to California where he faces murder and attempted murder charges related to the death of his ex-girlfriend, Thalia Flores. (City of Chino Police Department)

Flores died at the scene. The man, whose name was not released, walked to a nearby hospital where he’s recovering from his gunshot wounds.

Rocha allegedly fled the scene and remained at large for more than a month, the Daily Bulletin reported. He was formally arrested at 4:30 p.m. after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport from Mexico, KTLA-TV reported.

The suspect was booked at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on murder and attempted murder charges, the City of Chino Police Department said on Facebook.

Flores ended her seven-year relationship with Rocha just two months before her death and still lived in fear of him until that point, a sister of the victim, Bernice Flores, told the Daily Bulletin.

“He said himself so many times to other people, ‘If I can’t have her, no one will.’ ” Flores said, adding that her sister stayed in the relationship longer that she would have liked in fear that Rocha would hurt her or her family if they broke up.

Rocha was convicted on misdemeanor battery in 2016 and sentenced to 60 days in prison. He was originally charged with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon, but the charges were lowered in a plea deal, the Daily Bulletin reported.

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Rocha was convicted of misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a peace officer in 2014. A second charge of misdemeanor battery was dropped in a plea deal, and Rocha was ordered to complete a 26-week anger management course, according to San Bernardino County Superior Court records. Rocha was later arrested and sentenced to 10 days behind bars for failing to complete the course.

Source: Fox News National

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Multiple people died Thursday when a semitrailer plowed into stationary traffic that resulted in explosions and flames on a Colorado freeway, authorities said.

The incident occurred just before 5 p.m. in the Denver suburb of Lakewood when a truck driver lost control while traveling east on Interstate 70, according to a preliminary investigation. The collision started a chain reaction and a diesel fuel spill, Lakewood police spokesman Ty Countryman told the Denver Post.

“This is looking to be one of the worst accidents we’ve had here in Lakewood,” he said.

The driver of the runaway truck survived. At least one truck was carrying lumber, another was hauling gravel and the third may have been carrying mattresses, KDVR-TV reported.

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Lakewood police tweeted there were multiple fatalities but did not give a specific number. Six people were taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not released, according to the paper.

Lanes in both directions were closed and expected to remain so into Friday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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President Trump will address members and leaders of the National Rifle Association on Friday at the group’s annual convention in Indiana.

Around 80,000 gun enthusiasts and more than 800 exhibitors are expected to pack the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis for the three-day event, the Indianapolis Star reported. It will mark the third straight year that Trump will deliver the keynote address, where he is expected to champion the rights of gun owners.

“Donald Trump is the most enthusiastic supporter of the Second Amendment to occupy the Oval Office in our lifetimes,” Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (ILA), said in a statement. “President Trump’s Supreme Court appointments ensure that the Second Amendment will be respected for generations to come. Our members are excited to hear him speak and thank him for his support for our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.”

“Donald Trump is the most enthusiastic supporter of the Second Amendment to occupy the Oval Office in our lifetimes.”

— Chris Cox, executive director, NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action

COLORADO ENACTS ‘RED FLAG’ LAW TO SEIZE GUNS FROM THOSE DEEMED DANGEROUS, PROMPTING BACKLASH

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Dallas last year. (Associated Press)

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Dallas last year. (Associated Press)

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at last year’s convention in Dallas. During his speech, Trump assured gun owners that he would protect their Second Amendment rights, according to the paper.

“Your Second Amendment rights are under siege,” Trump told the cheering audience in Dallas. “But they will never, ever be under siege as long as I am your president.”

Trump has supported some gun control measures in the past. Last year, his administration imposed a ban on bump stocks, attachments that enable semiautomatic rifles to fire in rapid bursts. Although, he most recently threatened to veto two Democratic gun control bills.

This year’s convention comes as the NRA faces outside pressure and internal problems. The group has seen its legislative agenda stall amid a series of mass shootings — including a massacre at a Parkland, Fla., high school in February 2018 that left 17 dead and launched a youth movement against gun violence.

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It’s also grappling with infighting in its ranks, money problems and investigations into whether Russian agents courted officials and funneled money through the group.

“I’ve never seen the NRA this vulnerable,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control measure.

The convention will run through the weekend and conclude Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk past the Debenhams department store on Oxford Street in London
FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk past the Debenhams department store on Oxford Street in London, Britain December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Ailing British retailer Debenhams said two proposed company voluntary arrangements (CVA) could see all its stores remaining open during 2019, with 22 closures planned for next year, putting about 1,200 jobs at risk.

Debenhams’ lenders took control of the retailer earlier this month in a process designed to keep its shops open at the expense of shareholders.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

Source: OANN

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