Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (C) addresses the
audience during a meeting of the annual Mercosur trade bloc presidential
summit in Mendoza June 29, 2012. (Credit: Reuters/Enrique Marcarian)

Chinese leader woos Latin America with deals

Chinese leader woos Latin America with deals
Chinese President Xi Jinping (4-L, first row) poses with leaders of the CELAC group of Latin American and Caribbean states, in Brasilia, on July 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/Nelson Almeida)
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)
(Subjects: Who/What is Kryon ?, Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" Managed Business, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)



Map of Latin America showing countries where major protests have occurred in recent months (AFP Photo)
.
A student holds a sign reading "Don't shoot, listen!!!" during a protest
on June 17, 2013 in Brasilia (AFP, Evaristo)

Paraguay police search S. American football HQ

Paraguay police search S. American football HQ
The Conmebol headquarters in Luque, Paraguay, is seen on January 7, 2016, during a raid within the framework of the FIFA corruption scandal (AFP Photo/Norberto Duarte)

'Panama Papers' law firm under the media's lenses

'Panama Papers' law firm under the media's lenses
The Panama Papers: key facts on the huge journalists' investigation into tax evasion (AFP Photo/Thomas Saint-Cricq, Philippe Mouche)

Mossack Fonseca

Mossack Fonseca

.

.
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …

Sunday, February 28, 2016

In jungle camps, Colombia rebels take peace lessons

Yahoo – AFP, Héctor Velasco, February 26, 2016

They still wear combat fatigues and carry rifles and machetes, but now FARC 
rebel troops sit down in the jungle to receive "classes" on how life will be when 
they lay down their arms (AFP Photo/Luis Acosta)

MAGDALENA MEDIO VALLEY (Colombia) (AFP) - In their secret jungle camps, Colombia's Marxist rebels used to learn how to fight. Now their leaders are trying to teach them how not to.

They still carry the rifles and machetes they have used for half a century in their war against the Colombian government.

While some young recruits yawn and 
struggle to follow during a "class" on the 
peace process, older FARC rebels listen
more closely and take notes (AFP
Photo/Luis Acosta)
But now troops of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are sitting down for classes on how life will be once they lay down their weapons.

Thousands of miles away at talks hosted by Cuba, their commanders are negotiating a peace accord they hope to sign with Bogota in March.

Meanwhile, here in the jungle, FARC soldier Tomas, 37, is acting as an instructor, explaining to his fellow recruits what is at stake.

AFP was granted exceptional access by FARC commanders to this mountain camp in northwestern Colombia.

After his 14 years spent marching and fighting in this jungle, Tomas must now convince his comrades to work to achieve the FARC's aims by political means.

"Some of them are looking forward to it. They are pleased about it, optimistic," he said.

"But others are keeping quiet about it. They are a bit reserved.

"How do we sever ourselves from the weapon we have carried for so many years?"

Among the members of the Revolutionary 
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are young
 women and boys scarcely out of puberty, with
rifles by their sides and pistols on their 
hips (AFP Photo/Luis Acosta)
Makeshift classrooms

Classes like these are going on in various camps around the country that are home to the FARC's 7,000 members.

At this camp in the Magdalena Medio region, a mustachioed commander in a green beret orders ranks of troops to sit down side by side.

They have built the makeshift classroom themselves, cutting down trees to make tables.

Among the fighters are young women and boys scarcely out of puberty, with rifles by their sides and pistols on their hips.

With the sun beating down on him, Tomas sits by his laptop computer and explains the issues covered by the peace talks.

"The problem, companions, is about the land. Access to the land must be democratized," he said.

Some of the young recruits yawn and shake their heads as they struggle to follow the presentation.

Older troops listen more closely and take notes, occasionally raising their voices to say "excuse me, comrade" and ask a question.

Among the elder members is Cornelio, who has spent 33 of his 55 years fighting in the FARC. He fears anarchy could break in the regions it controls, if its fighters disarm.

"They talk to us about laying down our weapons. They talk to us about turning into a political party," he said after the class.

"So the question we ask ourselves is: what will happen when we put the weapons away and delinquency breaks out?"

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) started in the mid-1960s as
 a peasant uprising against perceived state oppression, and are now classed as 
a terrorist organization by powers including the US and the EU (AFP Photo/Luis Acosta)

No more killing

The FARC started in the mid-1960s as a peasant uprising against perceived state oppression and took over areas where state control was absent.

They are classed as a terrorist organization by powers including the United States and the European Union.

The conflict has ground on for decades as a territorial dispute between various armed groups.

Now, as negotiators close in on a March 23 deadline to sign an accord, Latin America's last armed conflict could soon be over.

But lingering disagreements over disarmament and other points in the negotiations still risk delaying the accord.

The conflict has killed 260,000 people and displaced 6.6 million, according to the United Nations.

With the sun beating down on him Tomas (L), a member of the Revolutionary 
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), sits by his laptop computer and explains the 
issues covered by the peace talks (AFP Photo/Luis Acosta)

Even with the prospect of peace, some FARC members are afraid.

Franky, 27, has been a FARC soldier since he was 17.

"We hope they don't let us down," he said.

"That we don't lay down our weapons and then find they carry on killing us just for the sake of it."

Then, there is the risk from within, said Tomas.

For some of the younger recruits, politics is far less exciting than having rifles in their hands.

"We have to guarantee that, when we lay down our arms, those kids get down to the work of political activism," he said.

And "that is a real challenge."

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Bolivia's Morales vows to forge on despite referendum loss

Yahoo – AFP, Raul Burgoa, 25 February 2016

Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma answers questions from the press at 
Quemado palace in La Paz on February 24, 2016 (AFP Photo/Aizar Raldes)

La Paz (AFP) - Bolivia's President Evo Morales vowed Wednesday to pursue his Socialist "struggle" despite a stinging defeat in a referendum to extend his rule that confirmed strong headwinds across Latin America for leftist leaders.

"We have lost a democratic battle, but not the war," the indigenous 56-year-old said after accepting that his proposal for a constitutional reform to lift his term limit had met defeat in a Sunday plebiscite.

"We respect the results, it is part of democracy," he said, but declared: "The struggle goes on."

A tally of virtually all ballots cast showed 51 percent had voted against his reform and 49 percent were in favor.

The referendum defeat was Morales' first direct election loss since taking office a decade ago. It means he will have to step down at the end of his current mandate, in 2020.

Morales is already Bolivia's longest-serving leader since independence from Spain in 1825.

Anti-left backlash

His loss highlighted what appears to be a regionwide backlash against leftist leaders and governments that enjoyed power across much of Latin America in the early years of this century.

In next-door Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff, the deeply unpopular anointed successor to working-class hero Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is struggling against an impeachment push, a huge corruption scandal and a crumbling economy just ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

In Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, chosen successor to the late Hugo Chavez, is being forced to adapt to an opposition-run parliament while also overseeing a tanking economy.

An Aymara indigenous woman places her vote in the ballot box on February 21, 
2016 in Huarina during a referendum (AFP Photo/Aizar Raldes)

And in Argentina, a new, business-friendly president, Mauricio Macri, is busy setting about undoing the protectionist policies of his populist predecessor, Cristina Kirchner.

In Morales' case, the poll defeat had less to do with a conservative pushback than perceptions of corruption.

"Unlike other Latin American presidents, he remains a popular and respected figure," noted Gaspard Estrada, a Latin America expert at the Sciences Po university in Paris.

Morales' support remains especially high among indigenous groups and grassroots organizations that have prospered during his time in power, which saw Bolivia's mineral and gas-rich economy more than triple in size.

But his reputation took a hit on allegations he used his influence in favor of contracts for CAMC, a Chinese engineering company that employs his ex-girlfriend.

Rural leaders close to him are also being investigated in a $2.5-million fraud case, and the opposition has accused him of wasteful spending.

'I can leave happily'

Under Bolivia's constitution, the president gets a five-year mandate renewable just once.

Morales already had the constitution changed once, three years after taking power in 2006.

Under that revised constitution he was again elected president in 2009, then won his one-off renewal in 2014. His current term ends in 2020.

Morales blamed the vote against the referendum on a "dirty war on social networks."

He predicted that, even with his departure in four years, the Socialist momentum he had given to the economy and politics would continue through "the Bolivian people."

Graffiti on a wall in opposition to the Bolivian referendum, in El Alto, Bolivia 
on February 21, 2016 (AFP Photo/Aizar Raldes)

"The program is not in debate," he said.

However Morales' loss could disrupt the remainder of his term and his Movement to Socialism (MAS) party, a grouping of unions and social movements, analysts say.

It "will probably cause an internal struggle to replace him," analyst Andres Torres predicted.

Analysts at the Eurasia Group consultancy said, though, that Bolivia's relatively strong economy made it "unlikely" that the country would suffer instability in the short term.

Morales himself has insisted he is ready to go quietly into political retirement when the time comes.

"With my record, I can leave happily and go home content. I would love to be a sports trainer," the Spanish newspaper El Pais quoted him as saying. Morales is a noted football fan who plays with local teams.

Messi sends autographed jerseys to his little Afghan fan

Yahoo – AFP, 25 February 2016

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi proudly wears one of the jerseys sent by his idol
Lionel Messi (AFP Photo/Mahdy Mehraeen)

Kabul (AFP) - Argentine football star Lionel Messi has sent not one, but two jerseys to the five-year-old Afghan boy who became an Internet sensation last month when he was pictured wearing a plastic bag with "Messi" scrawled on it in marker pen.

Murtaza Ahmadi travelled with his family from eastern Ghazni province to Kabul to receive the gifts sent by Messi through UNICEF, where he is a goodwill ambassador.

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi is
hoping to meet his idol Lionel
Messi (AFP Photo/Shah Marai)
"Murtaza couldn't stop smiling. He kept repeating: I love Messi," UNICEF Afghanistan spokesman Denise Shepherd-Johnson told AFP.

Messi autographed the jerseys, writing "With much love" in Spanish on them, and added a football to the treasure trove, UNICEF said.

Purchasing a Messi jersey was beyond the means of Murtaza's poor family, members of the persecuted ethnic Hazara minority living in volatile Ghazni, near Kabul.

His elder brother Homayoun, 15, improvised the blue-and-white-striped plastic shirt with Messi's name scrawled in black marker, and posted the photos of Murtaza wearing it on Facebook in mid-January.

The image touched a chord with football fans around the world, and earned Murtaza the sobriquet "little Messi" on social media.

The Afghan Football Federation had said Messi was in contact with them to arrange a meeting with Murtaza as soon as possible, with the Spanish embassy in Kabul telling AFP it would do whatever possible to facilitate.

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi earned the nickname "little Messi" 
after pictures went viral of him wearing an improvised shirt made out
of a plastic bag (AFP Photo)

But a source close to Messi's entourage said earlier this month they could neither confirm nor deny the speculation regarding a possible meeting.

Setting up a meeting in Afghanistan, in the grip of a fierce Taliban insurgency, is fraught with security challenges.

Football and cricket are the two most popular sports in the war-ravaged country -- but sports were rarely played under Taliban rule, and the football stadium in Kabul was a notorious venue for executions, stonings and mutilations.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Russia vows to ensure Damascus observes ceasefire: Putin

Yahoo – AFP, 22 February 2016

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, pictured on February 20, 2016, said Russia will
do "whatever is necessary" to ensure that Damascus respects a Syrian ceasefire
agreement (AFP Photo/Mikhail Klimentyev)

Moscow (AFP) - Russia will do "whatever is necessary" to ensure that Damascus respects a Syrian ceasefire agreement that Moscow and Washington say will take effect on February 27, President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

"We will do whatever is necessary with Damascus, with the legitimate Syrian authorities," Putin said during a televised address after speaking by phone with US President Barack Obama.

"We are counting on the United States to do the same with its allies and the groups that it supports."

Putin said the United States and Russia were "ready to put in place an effective control mechanism" to ensure respect of the ceasefire, adding that a "direct line of communication will be created as well as, if necessary, a working group to exchange information".

"Finally a real chance to bring an end to the years of bloodshed and violence is emerging," Putin said.

The Russian president said the ceasefire agreement had come out of "intense work by teams of Russian and American experts", made easier by the "positive experience" of a US-Russian deal on the dismantling of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, signed in September 2013.

"All fighting groups should confirm to us, or to the United States, their commitment to this truce," Putin said of the deal signed between Moscow and Washington on Monday.

"The Russian and American militaries, together, will define the territories on which these groups are operating. There will be no military operations against them."

But "with regard to the Al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State and other terrorist groups recognised as such by the UN, a ceasefire is totally excluded. The strikes against them will continue," he added.

Russia and the United States said in a joint statement that the partial truce would come into force at midnight Damascus time on Saturday (2200 GMT Friday).


The United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria on 
February 24, 2016 at the UN in New York (AFP Photo/Mark Garten)

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Obama tells Putin Ukraine peace deal must be respected: US


US Secretary of States John Kerry (R) gestures beside of Russian Foreign Minister
 Sergei Lavrov (L) during a news conference after the International Syria Support 
Group (ISSG) meeting in Munich on February 12, 2016 (AFP Photo/Christof Stache)


"The Dysfunction of Darkness" - Nov 14, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Paris/ISIS/Dark-Old Energy/USA+Warning for Governments around the World !!!) (Text version) New

“…  No More Fence-sitting

We gave you another prophecy years ago. No one is going to be able to sit on the fence in the new energy. There is no government that can sit and watch, because they will all be involved. They're going to have to make the decision to fight the darkness or not. And if they do not fight the darkness, they will then be vulnerable to the dark army. We told you this information years ago. All governments on this planet will eventually be involved in eliminating the dark army. So when the dark army beats on the beehive, those who have been sitting on the fence will be ripped off and will see light and dark and must make a decision. The dark army, by its very actions, is seeding its own destruction. It does not understand light. It only understands one thing: Fear. This represents a very old energy. It goes like this: "If you can make people afraid, you will win any battle." This is an old energy consciousness, and there is truth to it, if you're a victim. If you're a transmitter of light, it won't affect you. You'll know better.

Funding is the Grease of the Engine of Darkness

Everyone on the planet will have to get off the fence in order to eliminate the dark army. Now we have told you before how to do it. And politicians will roll their eyes. Those on the inside of government who know how things work will roll their eyes. You can eliminate the dark army without death. The very thing they're afraid of losing, you can take from them now. Money! How does a dark army work when they can't eat? How will they function when they have no weapons? I guarantee you, even the darkest member of a dark army will go home if they're not fed, or there's no one around to organize them because the leaders are hungry and left. It's impossible, some say. The money is coming from unknown sources, they say. Let me tell you something. No, it isn't. It is coming from very known sources. Much of it comes from the resources of conquered land, but not all. They will start losing their land soon, so they will need funds all the more. If the sources of their income were totally exposed - there are those listening who need to hear this - if the sources of their income were totally exposed, it would make a big difference to the public, who would be shocked.

Let me talk to politicians. You regularly sit across the table from those who are from other countries and who are allies. They smile at you as they fund the dark side. After all, there is money to be made with war! This has been the way of it for years. But this won't last long. Politician, when it's found out that you knew about it, you are the one who will be held responsible. You didn't do anything about it.

I want to talk to Americans, because my partner [Lee] is an American. I'm going to tell you something now, and you're not going to believe it. Many of your hard-earned tax funds are finding their way to the dark army! And there are those within your government who know it. I'll give you an answer as to what to do about it in just a few words: International transparent forensic accounting. International transparent forensic accounting! It is time to clean up the funding of the dark, and kill their ability to make war.***

I have a warning for any of those in leadership who know about where the money is coming from, and are not doing anything about it. Your leadership days are numbered. The light is going to expose it and you will lose. Why not get on the right side of the fence now?

Is this too high-minded? Is this too simple? To think that the world could come together and pull the rug from under the darkness where they sit and the cocoon of money that they're in - could this actually happen? Watch for a wild card! [Kryon chuckles again.]

If you did this, would it change the kind of attack you had in Paris? After all, that wasn't an army at all, but just a few. The answer is yes - for the few answer to the many and were trained by the many. They saw the many as an established core to work from. Without the core, there is no purpose. The few are then on their own, without anything backing them up.

It's up to you listening, not the ones in this room. The ones listening and reading later may not even be into Kryon or channeling, but they hear this and know I'm right. This is not a dark message. It's a light message! The beginning is here. Things are changing. You are witnessing the change as we speak.

There'll come a day when you will never see this happen again, these organized groups of evil. This is the joyful message I have for you today. History will remember these times when the world finally got together and realized where they were going. It is tough now. It changes the paradigm of existence. Lives, governments and business will all start to understand the battle is here and is theirs to win. What is your reaction?

I want you to congratulate, love, and understand those who were lost yesterday [in Paris]. I've said this before: They are on my side of the veil now. They're all right. They're now looking back at you and - we have used the phrase before - they're saying, “We did our part. Now you do yours.” They will return to this planet, all of them, and participate in the beauty of the light you are creating at this time of shift on your planet.

Believe me, the end has already happened. This is the beginning.

I am in love with humanity, because of what I have seen you do.

And so it is.

KRYON

Thursday, February 18, 2016

At Mexico-US border, pope decries migrant 'tragedy'

Yahoo – AFP, Carola Sole, Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere, 18 February 2016

Pope Francis waves next to the US border before celebrating mass at the Ciudad
Juarez fairgrounds on February 17, 2016 (AFP Photo/Yuri Cortez)

Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) (AFP) - Pope Francis on Wednesday decried the human tragedy of migrants fleeing violence as he celebrated a huge mass on Mexico's border with the United States, where many have died while crossing it.

In a highly symbolic gesture, the pope climbed a ramp facing the Rio Grande that separates Mexico's Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas, laid flowers under a cross and blessed hundreds of migrants on the American side, who waved at him.

People wait for Pope Francis to celebrate 
mass at the Ciudad Juarez fairground in 
Mexico on February 17, 2016 (AFP Photo/
Yuri Cortez)
Francis then celebrated mass with more than 300,000 Catholic faithful on the Juarez side of the border, with tens of thousands more following it on a giant screen in an El Paso stadium.

Immigration is a hot-button issue on the US presidential campaign trail and White House hopeful Donald trump criticized the pope's decision to hold such a mass.

But Latin America's first pontiff did not talk directly about the politics across the border, focusing instead on the plight of migrants.

"We cannot deny the humanitarian crisis which in recent years has meant the migration of thousands of people, whether by train or highway or on foot, crossing hundreds of kilometers through mountains, deserts and inhospitable zones," Francis said.

"The human tragedy that is forced migration is a global phenomenon today," he said on the last day of a five-day trip to Mexico.

Central Americans have been leaving their poor and gang-infested countries in droves, crossing Mexico's porous southern border with Guatemala on their way to the United States.

The trek across Mexico is filled with dangers -- from gangs that steal, kill or seek to forcibly recruit them, to corrupt officials who demand bribes to let them travel.

A crowd waits for Pope Francis to celebrate 
mass in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on 
February 17, 2016 (AFP Photo/Yuri Cortez)
Many others have died under the US-Mexico desert's scorching sun.

"Injustice is radicalized in the young; they are cannon fodder, persecuted and threatened when they try to flee the spiral of violence and the hell of drugs. Then there are the many women unjustly robbed of their lives," Francis said.

"No more death. No more exploitation. There is still time to change, there is still a way out and a chance, time to implore the mercy of God."

'Political pope'

The fate of 11 million undocumented immigrants is the source of vivid debate in the United States.

Trump, who wants Mexico to pay to build a wall along the border, has called the pope a "very political person."

"I think that he doesn't understand the problems our country has. I don't think he understands the danger of the open border that we have with Mexico," the billionaire real estate tycoon told the Fox Business channel last week.

In response, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said that, while the pope's job was not politics, "one should not be surprised that his pastoral and spiritual message has political repercussions."

Pope Francis prays next to the US border before celebrating mass at the Ciudad 
Juarez fairgrounds on February 17, 2016 (AFP Photo/Gabriel Bouys)

Maria Ortega Cruz Bautista, 62, traveled from Chicago to be with her family at the mass in Ciudad Juarez, a city she left 14 years ago.

She voiced hope that the pope's message will prompt authorities "to have more compassion and more consideration for migrants."

In El Paso, Sandra Ovalle, 32, shared a similar feeling as she headed with her family to the Sun Bowl stadium, where the jubilant crowd performed a wave.

"We hope that the pope will make our leaders change, so that we get support and that things change for the better," said Ovalle, a native of Mexico's northern Chihuahua state who now lives in the US state of New Mexico.

Inmates as 'prophets'

Before the mass, Francis visited a prison, nearly a week after a riot killed 49 inmates at another Mexican penitentiary.

He visited its chapel and addressed hundreds of inmates in the prison yard, telling them they should use their experiences to help "put an end to this cycle of violence and exclusion."

Pope Francis waves as he arrives on the popemobile to celebrate mass at the 
Ciudad Juarez fairgrounds on February 17, 2016 (AFP Photo/Yuri Cortez)

"The one who has suffered the greatest pain, and we could say 'has experienced hell,' can become a prophet in society. Work so that this society which uses people and discards them will not go on claiming victims," he said.

The Juarez prison was the scene of deadly riots a few years ago, with dozens of prisoners killed in recent years, but it has been held up as an example of efforts to improve Mexico's notoriously overcrowded prisons.

Ciudad Juarez stands as a grim symbol of Mexico's violence, but also of hope.

It became the country's most dangerous city a few years ago as the Sinaloa and Juarez drug cartels fought for control of drug routes.

Their turf war left as many as 3,000 dead in 2010, but the murderous rampage gradually eased afterward, with the toll falling to 300 last year.



Related Article:


Pope Francis on Zika: abortion a crime, contraception a lesser evil

Yahoo – AFP, 18 February 2016

A pregnant woman holds a mosquito net in Cali on February 10, 2016 after the 
Colombian Health Ministry began delivering mosquito nets free to prevent 
infection by Zika virus (AFP Photo/Luis Robayo)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis insisted Thursday that abortion was always a crime but hinted that the Church could exceptionally relax its ban on contraception for women at risk of contracting the Zika virus.

"Abortion is not a lesser evil. It is a crime," Francis said in response to a question about how best to combat the outbreak across Latin America of a virus linked to birth defects.

But he added: "Avoiding a pregnancy is not an absolute evil."

Pope Francis speaks to journalists aboard
 the flight from Mexico to Italy, on February
18, 2016 (AFP Photo/Alessandro Di Meo)
The 79-year-old pontiff recalled that one of his predecessors, Paul VI (1963-1978) had authorised nuns working in Africa to use contraceptives in light of a high risk of them being raped by soldiers.

"We must not confuse the evil consisting of avoiding a pregnancy with abortion," Francis said. "Abortion is not a theological problem. It is a human problem, medical. One person is killed to save another. It is evil in itself, it is not a religious evil, it is a human evil.

"On the contrary, avoiding a pregnancy and, in the cases of Paul VI which I have cited, it was clear.

"I would also urge doctors to do everything they can to develop a vaccine."

The United Nations and aid organisations have urged countries hit by the virus to ensure women have access to contraception to reduce the risk of infection and the right to abortion should they decide to terminate a pregnancy.

Many Latin American countries outlaw abortion or allow it only if the mother's life is in danger.

After initially saying little about the outbreak, Catholic leaders in the region have recently begun to assert the Church's opposition to what it terms "artificial" birth control and abortion.

Instead of using condoms or the contraceptive pill, Church officials have been recommending abstinence or what they term natural family planning -- scheduling sexual relations for the least fertile periods of a woman's menstrual cycle.

Francis was also questioned about the recent revelation that another of his predecessors, John-Paul II, had an "intense" 30-year friendship with a married woman.

The current pope said he had been aware of his Polish predecessor's friendship with philosopher and writer Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka.

"A man lacks something if he does not know how to have a good rapport with a woman," he said, adding for good measure that, "sexists are sick".

Every priest should seek out the feelings of women on different subjects, he said.

"I like to receive advice from women. A friendship with a woman is not a sin - a love affair, on the contrary, is."

Although he has given no indication of a change in current Church teaching on the question, Francis has said that the requirement of celibacy for Catholic priests is not set in stone and could be reviewed.

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) SoulsMidpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Pope Francis asks indigenous Mexicans for forgiveness

Yahoo – AFP, Yemeli Ortega, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, 16 February 2016

Pope Francis waves from the popemobile in San Cristobal de Las Casas on 
February 15, 2016 (AFP Photo/Ronaldo Schemidt)

San Cristóbal de las Casas (Mexico) (AFP) - Pope Francis reached out to Mexico's long-marginalized indigenous population, asking for forgiveness over their exclusion as he celebrated an open-air mass in native languages in impoverished Chiapas state.

While Chiapas is the country's least Catholic state, tens of thousands of people packed into a sports field for the mass celebrated, under special papal decree, in the indigenous languages of the region.

Women wearing colorful embroidered dresses led biblical readings and hymns in the Chol, Tzotzil and Tzeltal -- all languages of the indigenous Maya people of the region.

The pope himself said a few words in one of the native languages and cited Popol Vuh, an ancient Mayan text.

Map of Mexico detail Pope Francis' itinerary on his forthcoming visit. (AFP 
Photo/Nicolas Ramallo, Gustavo Izus, Vincent Lefai)

"On many occasions, in a systematic and organized way, your people have been misunderstood and excluded from society," the 79-year-old Argentine-born pontiff said.

"Some have considered your values, culture and traditions to be inferior. Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have stolen your lands or contaminated them. How sad this is," he said.

"How worthwhile it would be for each of us to examine our conscience and learn to say, 'Forgive me!'"

The pope said Monday that the planet had much to learn from indigenous groups, especially their harmony with nature amid "the greatest environmental crises in world history."

Around 30 percent of Chiapas's population does not speak Spanish, the language of the colonial power that conquered Mexico in the 16th century, exploited indigenous people and sought to convert them to Christianity.

Francis already apologized for the church's colonial-era crimes during a trip to Bolivia last year.

A young girl attends a mass celebrated by Pope Francis with representatives of the 
indigenous communities of Chiapas in the municipal sport center in San Cristobal
de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico on February 15, 2016 (AFP Photo/Gabriel Bouys)

While Mexico's early 20th century revolution sought to end land oligarchies, indigenous groups remain among the poorest in the country to this day and feel abandoned by the government.

The continuing plight of indigenous groups triggered a revolt by Zapatista rebels who sought more autonomy for them in 1994.

Losing flock

"Long live the pope of the indigenous people!" some shouted from the roofs of their homes as the pope arrived at the field, where a replica of the yellow facade of the city's cathedral served as background to the large stage.

"I'm very happy because few people speak Spanish in my village and now they can receive the body of Christ in their language," said Mariano Perez, a 33-year-old Tzotzil who attended the mass wearing a rancher hat.

While Mexico is the world's second most populous Catholic nation after Brazil, with 82 percent of its population of 122 million identifying with the religion, only 58 percent are loyal to the Vatican in Chiapas.

Pope Francis kisses a baby from the popemobile upon arrival in San Cristobal de las 
Casas in Chiapas State for his second open-air mass, on February 15, 2016 (AFP Photo/
Ronaldo Schemidt)

"If the church is to stop the hemorrhaging of indigenous (populations) in Chiapas and across Latin America, it must offer more masses in indigenous languages and recruit indigenous priests who are very small in numbers," Andrew Chesnut, religious studies professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, told AFP.

The pope's visit comes in the middle of an intense, five-day trip that he has used to speak out against crime and corruption.

After the mass Francis visited San Cristobal's cathedral.

He stopped in front of the tomb of Samuel Ruiz, a controversial bishop who defended the Mayan people and acted as mediator between the government and the Zapatista guerrillas.

Lingering tensions over the state's social problems reemerged last week, when protestors spray-painted the words "we don't want the pope, we want justice" on the cathedral's yellow walls.

But the demonstrators dispersed over the weekend and authorities repainted the cathedral.

"We know that the government wants to hide things or make it seem that everything is all right," said Octavio Gomez, a 45-year-old Tzeltal from a nearby village.

Chamula's indigenous people attend the open-air mass officiated by Pope Francis
 in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas state, Mexico, on February 15, 2016
(AFP Photo/Mario Vazquez)

Family: basis of 'healthy society'

After the mass, the pope flew by helicopter to the nearby capital of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutierrez, to attend an event focused on family issues at a packed stadium.

Francis heard stories about marriage and divorce, and a single mother who had a chance to abort, but decided to keep the child.

"You were very brave," the pope told her.

Francis said family was "the basis of any healthy society" and warned about the "pretense of modernity" and ideologies that "destroy" it.

The pope heads Tuesday to the western state of Michoacan, where farmers rose up in 2013 to crush a cultish drug cartel, before ending his trip on Wednesday in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.