Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 10 april 2019
Border chaos forces truckers to wait hours, sometimes days

By CEDAR ATTANASIO times have increased.
Associated Press "There's no point in redirect-
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico ing commerce elsewhere.
(AP) — To deal with a surge There's no solution. Every-
of migrating Central Ameri- one's feeling this."
can families, the Trump ad- The traffic congestion
ministration has reassigned comes as a growing num-
so many inspectors from ber of families from Central
U.S.-Mexico border cross- America have been arriv-
ings that truckers are wait- ing at the border in recent
ing in line for hours and months, overwhelming the
sometimes days to get ship- federal government.
ments to the United States. So far, the administration
Truckers have been sleep- has reassigned 541 bor-
ing in their vehicles to hold der inspectors to other
spots in line in Ciudad jobs, including processing
Juarez, across the border migrants, providing trans-
from El Paso, Texas. The city portation and performing
brought in portable toilets, hospital watch for migrants
and an engine oil compa- who require medical at-
ny hired models in skin-tight tention. It is unknown when
clothing to hand out bur- A row of trucks wait to cross the border with the United States in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Tuesday, they will return to their regu-
ritos and bottled water to April 9, 2019. lar duties.
idled drivers. Associated Press Border inspectors, who are
"My family doesn't rec- trained to screen people
ognize me at home any- at 10 at night." ers and shoppers with its struction sites. and cargo for smuggling,
more," Jaime Monroy, a The waits are a reminder redeployment of customs "This is a systemwide issue," are now serving as aides to
trucker who lives in Ciudad that even though President agents. said Paola Avila, chair- Border Patrol agents, learn-
Juarez, said after sleeping Donald Trump walked back Business leaders are start- woman of the Border Trade ing data entry for asylum-
overnight in his cabin with his threat to close the bor- ing to lose patience as they Alliance, a group that ad- seeker paperwork and
a truck full of wooden fur- der, the administration has struggle to get products to vocates for cross-border shuttling migrants to hospi-
niture. "I leave at 3 in the created significant impedi- American grocery stores, commerce. All along the tals, shelters and transpor-
morning and come back ments for truckers, travel- manufacturers and con- 2,000-mile border, wait tation hubs.q

Heavy rains cause floods, kill at least 10 in Rio de Janeiro

By DIANE JEANTET dents complained about
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — the lack of warning.
Heavy rains killed at least The mayor, acknowledging
10 people and left a trail the city's lack of prepared-
of destruction in Rio de Ja- ness for the deluge, said
neiro on Tuesday, raising sirens did not sound in Babi-
questions about the city's lonia because the water
preparedness to deal with had not reached the mini-
recurring extreme weather. mum threshold to activate
Torrents of water gushed the alarms. He said officials
down streets, sweeping up would look into lowering
cars and uprooting trees af- this threshold in the future.
ter rains that began around Hillside slums are particular-
rush hour Monday evening. ly vulnerable to mudslides
Rains slowly weakened by and city officials said more
Tuesday evening, but May- than 100 communities in
or Marcelo Crivella said the Rio have been identified
city was still in "crisis" mode, as having "high geological
the highest of three levels. risks." Crivella said Rio has
Schools were closed and plans to improve safety,
people urged to avoid but complained of a lack
non-essential traffic until of federal funding.
further notice. The mayor said a recent
City officials said 6 inches A relative of missing persons is comforted by a friend at a site where rescue workers search for study carried out by the city
(152 millimeters) of rain fell victims after heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, April 9, 2019. identified about 200,000
in just four hours Monday Associated Press road potholes and rainwa-
night, more than the aver- ter networks that needed
age for the whole month of limeters) in a 24-hour pe- a schoolbus on a flooded But no alarm was given in fixing.
April. riod. Local television sta- street. the Babilonia slum, which "We're talking about hun-
The botanical garden tions showed firefighters in Sirens sounded in 20 flood- sits on a hill behind the dreds of millions" of reals,
neighborhood, a tourist that neighborhood wading prone areas of the city, iconic Sugarloaf mountain. the mayor said on Globo
destination, was one of through knee-deep water alerting people to make The fire department said TV news, pressing President
the most badly hit areas, pulling a small boatload of their way to pre-established two women there died in Jair Bolsonaro for more fed-
receiving 9 inches (231 mil- children evacuated from safe spaces. a mudslide, and local resi- eral funding.q