6A Monday, November 19, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
WORLD
MICHAEL SOHN I Associated Press
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and France’s
President Emmanuel Macron, right, shake hands Sunday,
Nov. 18, after a joint statement prior to a meeting at the
chancellery in Berlin, Germany.
French, German
leaders approach
issues similarly
BY DAVID MCHUGH
Associated Press
FRANKFURT, Germany — French President
Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel consulted Sunday on migration, fixing the euro
currency, Europe’s defense, taxing digital companies and
other issues as the two leaders looked to preserve their
influence abroad while their authority flags at home.
Macron, who came to Berlin to take part in Germany’s
national remembrance day for the victims of war and
dictatorship, urged European government to seize more
responsibility for their own fate, especially regarding
defense.
Macron said that the French-German alliance “is
invested with this obligation not to allow the world to slide
into chaos, and to accompany it on the road of peace.”
He said that Europe can’t play its role “if it doesn’t take
more responsibility for its defense and security and is con
tent to play a secondary role on the international scene.”
Macron looked ahead to the European Parliament elec
tions in May, which will give populist and anti-EU parties
another chance to test their appeal with voters.
“We must do a great deal by May next year to achieve a
more united, more sovereign and more efficient Europe,
which we so urgently
need,” he said.
The two biggest coun
tries in Europe can be a
powerful force, but their
leaders at the moment
are hampered by falling
domestic support.
Macron has seen his
poll ratings sag at home,
where more than a
quarter-million people
protested Saturday over
proposed gas tax hikes.
Merkel has been a lame
duck since saying she
wouldn’t seek another
term.
Merkel has offered
support for Macron’s
proposal for a European
army someday. Both
leaders have said Europe
needs to depend less on
others — such as the U.S.
— for its defense.
U.S. President Donald Trump has unsettled NATO
allies by demanding member countries either pay more
for defense or “protect themselves,” as he put it in a
recent tweet.
However, ceremonial appearances and warm words
offered ahead of a December summit on the euro can’t
hide the persistent friction between the French and Ger
man approaches to the European Union’s economic
issues.
Germany and France have apparently struck a deal
on a common budget for the EU countries that use the
shared euro currency, something Macron pushed for.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told the dpa news
agency the proposal was to be presented to European
finance ministers Monday.
The size of the budget — mentioned by French Finance
Minister Bruno Le Maire as 20 to 25 billion euros — is far
short of Macron’s idea. The amount is only 0.2 percent of
the eurozone economy, less than the several percentage
points of gross domestic product originally mentioned by
Macron.
The compromise underscores German reluctance to
sign off on anything seen as transferring taxpayer money
from richer countries like Germany to more fiscally
shaky ones such as Italy or Greece.
The European summit in December is to take up lim
ited proposals to strengthen the euro currency, such as
upgrading the eurozone’s bailout fund and a long-term
road map for introducing EU-level deposit insurance.
The two sides can’t agree on a tax on digital companies
such as Amazon and Google.
‘We must do
a great deal by
May next year to
achieve a more
united, more
sovereign and
more efficient
Europe, which
we so urgently
need.’
Emmanuel Macron
French president
Tijuana protesters want
migrant caravan to leave
Photos by RODRIGO ABD I Associated Press
Police stand guard to protect a migrant shelter Sunday, Nov. 18, as demonstrators protest the presence of thousands of
Central American migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. Protesters accused the migrants of being messy, ungrateful and a danger to
Tijuana; complained about how the caravan forced its way into Mexico, calling it an “invasion,” and voiced worries that their
taxes might be spent to care for the group as they wait possibly months to apply for U.S. asylum
US processing about 100 asylum claims a day at border crossing
Demonstrators with signs that read in Spanish: “No more
Caravans”, and “Let’s save Tijuana, no more caravans,”
stand under an statue of indigenous Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc
Sunday, Nov. 18, to protest the presence of thousands of
Central American migrants in Tijuana, Mexico.
BY YESICA FISCH AND AMY
GUTHRIE
TIJUANA, Mexico —
Hundreds of Tijuana resi
dents congregated around
a monument in an affluent
section of the city south of
California on Sunday to pro
test the thousands of Central
American migrants who
have arrived via caravan
in hopes of a new life in the
U.S.
Tensions have built as
nearly 3,000 migrants from
the caravan poured into
Tijuana in recent days after
more than a month on the
road, and with many more
months ahead of them while
they seek asylum. The fed
eral government estimates
the number of migrants
could soon swell to 10,000.
U.S. border inspectors
are processing only about
100 asylum claims a day at
Tijuana’s main crossing to
San Diego. Asylum seekers
register their names in a tat
tered notebook managed by
migrants themselves that
had more than 3,000 names
even before the caravan
arrived.
On Sunday, displeased
Tijuana residents waved
Mexican flags, sang the
Mexican national anthem
and chanted “Out! Out!” in
front of a statue of the Aztec
ruler Cuauhtemoc, 1 mile
from the U.S. border. They
accused the migrants of
being messy, ungrateful and
a danger to Tijuana. They
also complained about how
the caravan forced its way
into Mexico, calling it an
“invasion.” And they voiced
worries that their taxes
might be spent to care for
the group.
“We don’t want them
in Tijuana,” protesters
shouted.
Juana Rodriguez, a
housewife, said the gov
ernment needs to conduct
background checks on the
migrants to make sure they
don’t have criminal records.
A woman who gave her
name as Paloma lambasted
the migrants, who she said
came to Mexico in search
of handouts. “Let their gov
ernment take care of them,”
she told video reporters cov
ering the protest.
A block away, fewer than
a dozen Tijuana residents
stood with signs of support
for the migrants. Keila
Samarron, a 38-year-old
teacher, said the protesters
don’t represent her way of
thinking as she held a sign
saying: Childhood has no
borders.
Most of the migrants who
have reached Tijuana via
caravan in recent days set
out more than a month ago
from Honduras, a country
of 9 million people. Dozens
of migrants in the caravan
who have been interviewed
by Associated Press report
ers have said they left their
country after death threats.
But the journey has been
hard, and many have turned
around.
Alden Rivera, the Hon
duran ambassador in Mex
ico, told the AP on Saturday
that 1,800 Hondurans have
returned to their country
since the caravan first set
out on Oct. 13, and that he
hopes more will make that
decision. “We want them to
RODRIGO ABD I Associated Press
return to Honduras,” said
Rivera.
Honduras has a murder
rate of 43 per 100,000 resi
dents, similar to U.S. cit
ies like New Orleans and
Detroit. In addition to vio
lence, migrants in the cara
van have mentioned poor
economic prospects as a
motivator for their depar
tures. Per capita income
hovers around $120 a month
in Honduras, where the
World Bank says two out of
three people live in poverty.
The migrants’ expected
long stay in Tijuana has
raised concerns about the
ability of the border city of
more than 1.6 million people
to handle the influx.
While many in Tijuana
are sympathetic to the
migrants’ plight and trying
to assist, some locals have
shouted insults, hurled rocks
and even thrown punches
at them. The cold reception
contrasts sharply with the
warmth that accompanied
the migrants in southern
Mexico, where residents of
small towns greeted them
with hot food, campsites and
even live music.
Tijuana Mayor Juan
Manuel Gastelum has called
the migrants’ arrival an
“avalanche” that the city is
ill-prepared to handle, cal
culating that they will be
in Tijuana for at least six
months as they wait to file
asylum claims. Gastelum
has appealed to the federal
government for more assis
tance to cope with the influx.
Mexico’s Interior Ministry
said Saturday that the fed
eral government was flying
in food and blankets for the
migrants in Tijuana.
Tijuana officials con
verted a municipal gym
nasium and recreational
complex into a shelter to
keep migrants out of public
spaces. The city’s privately
run shelters have a maxi
mum capacity of 700. The
municipal complex can hold
up to 3,000.
At the municipal shelter,
Josue Caseres, 24, expressed
dismay at the protests
against the caravan. “We
are fleeing violence,” said
the entertainer from Santa
Barbara, Honduras. “How
can they think we are going
to come here to be violent?”
Some from the caravan
have diverted to other bor
der cities, such as Mexicali,
a few hours to the east of
Tijuana.
U.S. President Donald
Trump, who sought to make
the caravan a campaign
issue in the midterm elec
tions, used Twitter on Sun
day to voice support for the
mayor of Tijuana and try
to discourage the migrants
from seeking entry to the
U.S.
Trump wrote that like
Tijuana, “the U.S. is ill-pre
pared for this invasion, and
will not stand for it. They are
causing crime and big prob
lems in Mexico. Go home!”
He followed that tweet by
writing: “Catch and Release
is an obsolete term. It is now
Catch and Detain. Illegal
Immigrants trying to come
into the U.S.A., often proudly
flying the flag of their nation
as they ask for U.S. Asylum,
will be detained or turned
away.”
Netanyahu takes on defense post amid call for early polls
BY TIA GOLDENBERG
Associated Press
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netan
yahu said Sunday he would take
on the defense minister portfolio,
rejecting calls to dissolve his gov
ernment even as early elections
appeared increasingly likely.
Netanyahu said heading to elec
tions now, amid repeated violent
confrontations with Gaza militants,
was “irresponsible” of his coalition
partners, who have been pushing
for early polls since the resigna
tion last week of Defense Minister
Avigdor Lieberman over a Gaza
cease-fire.
“Today, I take on for the first
time the position of defense min
ister,” said Netanyahu, speaking
from Israel’s defense headquar
ters in Tel Aviv in a statement
broadcast live at the top of the eve
ning newscasts.
“We are in one of the most com
plex security situations and during
a period like this, you don’t topple
a government. During a period like
ARIEL SCHALIT I Associated Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu delivers a statement
Sunday, Nov. 18, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
this you don’t go to elections,” he
said.
The sudden coalition crisis was
sparked by the resignation of the
hawkish Lieberman, who had
demanded a far stronger response
last week to the most massive wave
of rocket attacks on Israel since the
2014 Israel-Hamas war. He alleges
the cease-fire agreement reached
with Gaza’s Hamas rulers will put
southern Israel under a growing
threat from the group, similar to
that posed to northern Israel by
Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbol
lah group.
The departure of Lieberman
and his Yisrael Beitenu party
leaves the coalition with a one-seat
majority in the 120-member parlia
ment. Netanyahu’s other partners
say that makes governing unten
able and would leave the coalition
susceptible to the extortion of any
single lawmaker until elections
scheduled for November 2019.
Education Minister Naftali
Bennett, of the pro-settler Jewish
Home party, has already threat
ened to bring down the govern
ment if he is not appointed defense
minister. He and Justice Minister
Ayelet Shaked, also of Jewish
Home, are set to deliver a state
ment to the media Monday. If the
party leaves the coalition, it would
strip Netanyahu of his parliamen
tary majority.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon,
another senior partner, says
another year of such instability
will harm the economy. A meeting
between him and Netanyahu Sun
day meant to convince Kahlon to
stay ended with no results.
Netanyahu’s Likud allies are
already preparing to pin the blame
on coalition partners if the effort to
salvage the government fails.
“I think that there is no reason
to shorten the term of a national
government, not even for one
day, and at this moment it’s in the
hands of the education minister
and the finance minister,” said
Gilad Erdan, the minister of public
security.
No Israeli government has
served out its full term since 1988.
Since then, elections have almost
always been moved up because of a
coalition crisis or a strategic move
by the prime minister to maximize
his chances of re-election.
Though Netanyahu has been
reportedly flirting with the idea
of moving up elections himself in
recent months, the current timing
is not ideal for him.
He has come under heavy
criticism for agreeing to the Gaza
cease-fire, especially from within
his own political base and in the
working-class, rocket-battered
towns in southern Israel that are
typically strongholds of his Likud
Party. But with Lieberman forc
ing his hand and the other coali
tion partners appearing eager to
head to the polls he may not have
a choice.
Most opinion polls show Netan
yahu easily securing re-election,
which would secure him a place
in Israeli history as the country’s
longest serving leader. But several
factors could trip him up, includ
ing a potential corruption indict
ment that could knock him out of
contention.
Police have recommended he
be indicted on bribery and breach
of trust charges in two cases and
have questioned him at length on
another. The country has long been
eagerly awaiting the attorney gen
eral’s decision on whether to press
charges.
Netanyahu has angrily dis
missed the accusations against
him, characterizing them as part
of a media-driven witch-hunt that
is obsessed with removing him
from office.
