Page 12 - AT

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 11 december 2018

Goodyear halts tire production in Venezuela as economy slips

By JUAN CARLOS HERNAN- with a staff of about 1,100
DEZ from the depressed indus-
Associated Press trial city of Valencia.
VALENCIA, Venezuela (AP) Workers who arrived at
— Goodyear Tire & Rubber the plant Monday were
Co. is halting production in stunned to find it was no
Venezuela, making it the longer in operation.
latest international corpo- “They closed doors with-
ration to abandon a South out saying anything,” said
American nation in eco- Luis Aponte, a union work-
nomic crisis, officials said er who said government
Monday. workers were on site assess-
Spokesman Eduardo Ar- ing the situation.
guelles told The Associ- There was no immediate
ated Press that Goodyear- response from the govern-
Venezuela had made the ment. The announcement
“difficult decision” to no came after a letter issued
longer produce tires in the “to whom it may concern”
country, which has seen circulated online stating
an economic contraction the company had been
worse than the U.S. Great forced to cease operations
Depression. and that starting Monday
“Our goal had been to A Goodyear billboard emblazoned with the Spanish word for welcome, is posted near a plant no one in Venezuela would
maintain its operations, but entrance company where workers arrived to find the plant is no longer in operation, in Los be authorized to continue
economic conditions and Guayabos, Venezuela, Monday, Dec. 10, 2018. producing the company’s
U.S. sanctions have made Associated Press products.
this impossible,” Arguelles losses in recent years as the the U.S. dollar. The com- its Venezuelan subsidiary in The letter also said Good-
said. The company had Venezuelan bolivar plum- pany based in Akron, Ohio, the fourth quarter of 2015, year would fulfill its financial
endured tens of millions in meted in value against moved to deconsolidate but continued to operate obligations to workers.q

Migrants in Tijuana trickling over and under wall

Associated Press asylum claim with the U.S. local factories while they
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — A by getting over the wall wait as the U.S. govern-
steady trickle of Central and handing themselves ment processes about 100
American migrants have over to U.S. agents. Last asylum requests a day at
been finding ways to climb week, U.S. Customs and the San Ysidro crossing, the
over, tunnel under or slip Border Protection said the United States’ busiest. But
through the U.S. border wall San Diego sector had ex- by word of mouth, some
to plant their feet on U.S. perienced a “slight uptick” have realized they can
soil and ask for asylum. in families entering the U.S. simply cross into U.S. terri-
In recent weeks, Honduran illegally with the goal of tory, largely uninhibited by
migrant Joel Mendez fed seeking asylum. Thousands Mexican authorities. In twos
his 8-month-old son, Dan- of migrants are living in or threes — occasionally
iel, before handing him A Central American migrant lowers herself down from atop the crowded tent cities in Tijua- by the dozen — they ar-
over to his partner, Yesenia border wall onto the U.S. side, after crossing in Playas of Tijuana, na after undertaking a gru- rive at the border wall and
Martinez, who had crawled Mexico, late Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. eling journey from Central manage to get over. Often
through a hole in the rain- Associated Press America to the U.S. border. within minutes, border offi-
softened soil under the wall. nia, hoping that their ticket others jumping down onto A large number have de- cers quickly arrive to escort
A group of young people to a better life was finally U.S. territory. They all sought cided to make new lives in them to detention centers
hoisted themselves over the within reach. One migrant to skip the long official wait Mexico, applying for work and begin “credible fear”
wall to San Ysidro, Califor- offered a hand to help the on the Mexico side for filing permits and taking jobs at interviews. q