MEXICO CITY, Nov 14 (IPS) - "I don't see any investigation, only grief and despair," said Heyman Vázquez, a Catholic priest who runs a shelter for migrants on the border between the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, referring to the recent kidnappings of 20 Central American women by groups of armed men."They promised to investigate, but no one has even come to make enquiries," Vázquez told IPS from Arriaga, where the women, most of them under 30, boarded a freight train heading north. A short distance from there they were kidnapped, in two separate incidents on Nov. 5 and 11. Every day, dozens of Central American migrants en route to the United States arrive at Arriaga, some 500 kilometres from the border between Mexico and Guatemala, after having walked for up to 15 days. Until mid-2007 they came by train, but now they travel on foot or by bus, because the railway lines south of Arriaga are damaged and no trains are running. On the night of Nov. 5, at a place called Las Anonas, a group of armed men in a 4 x 4 all terrain vehicle forced the freight train to stop and took away 12 Central American women. They have not been seen or heard from since. Six days later at a nearby spot, a similar armed group burst into a small migration post and took away another eight women, according to eye witnesses.
CAPE TOWN, Nov 15 (IPS) - For four days, Cape Town's convention centre will be filled with a profusion of languages, colours, and ideas as some 2,200 delegates from 144 countries take part in the 11th International Forum on Women's Rights and Development, organised by the Association of Women in Development (AWID).The conference theme, "The Power of Movements," is an expression of AWID's mission to advance women's rights worldwide by strengthening the impact and influence of women's organisations.
