IGIHE

Tag: InternationalNews

  • Czech court rejects suit over school veil ban

    {A Prague court rules in favour of a nursing school that banned a Somali refugee student from wearing a headscarf.}

    A Czech court has rejected a discrimination suit filed by a Somali refugee, who was banned from wearing her headscarf in a nursing school, the first case of its kind in the European Union state.

    “The suit, which the plaintiff lodged seeking an apology and 60,000 crowns ($2,350) in compensation, was rejected,” said Justice Daniela Cejkova, handing down the verdict in a Prague court on Friday.

    Ayan Nuur filed a lawsuit against the school after she was not allowed to attend while wearing a headscarf.

    The school argued that the young woman had never formally enrolled in the establishment. Ivanka Kohoutova, the school’s principal, also argued that wearing a scarf covering the hair, ears and neck, and revealing only the face contravened its safety and hygiene standards.

    Nuur, who was granted asylum in the Czech Republic in 2011, did not attend the trial, but was represented by her lawyer.

    During the trial, a group of female students came in support of the school and its rules against the head covering, reported the Czech news agency, CTK.

    A group of Muslims also came out in support of Nuur, the agency said.

    The Czech Republic is a secular country of 10.5 million people, with a Muslim community of only 10,000 to 20,000 members. It has no law covering the wearing of religious garments.

    But like elsewhere in Europe, anti-Muslim sentiment has been on the rise there following the 2015 refugee and migrant crisis when more than one million people, mostly refugees fleeing violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, entered the EU.

    Czech President Milos Zeman, known for his fiery anti-migrant rhetoric, insisted last year that it was “practically impossible” to integrate the Muslim community into European society.

    Members of the public present in court on Friday sang the Czech national anthem and applauded after the verdict was handed down.

    Czech Muslims have been trying to fend off rising Islamophobia in the country

  • Anti-abortion activists ‘march for life’ in Washington

    {Tens of thousands convene in the US capital, spurred on by Donald Trump who has vowed to end taxpayer-funded abortion.}

    Tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists marched in the US capital, Washington, DC, spurred on by the election of Donald Trump who has vowed to end taxpayer-funded abortion.

    Vice President Mike Pence, a longtime supporter of the anti-abortion movement, was the most senior government official to speak at Friday’s rally.

    “Life is winning again in America,” Pence told the demonstrators who hoisted signs saying “Choose life”, “I am the pro-life generation” and “Equal Rights For Unborn People”.

    Pence, who as governor of Indiana signed some of the nation’s strictest abortion laws, praised “the election of pro-life majorities in the Congress of the United States of America”.

    On Tuesday, Trump signalled his intention to nominate an anti-abortion justice to the Supreme Court and has already revived an old policy banning funding for groups abroad that pay for abortions or provide information about abortion.

    Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, reporting from the rally in Washington, DC, said many of the protesters were optimistic that they had an ally in the new president.

    “Many of the protesters hope that a Trump-nominated justice will help overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling in 1973 that a woman has the right to make her own medical decisions without any interference from politicians,” he said.

    Trump has said Roe v Wade should be overturned. He has also pledged to defund Planned Parenthood, which draws the ire of many Republicans because it provides abortions, along with other services.

    Dana Tilson, the Kenya director for Marie Stopes International, a family-planning clinic, told Al Jazeera that cutting funding to abortion providers could see poor women across the world turn to dangerous methods to end their pregnancies.

    “If women and girls are denied safe options, they will seek any method to end a pregnancy,” she said.

    “They will go to the streets and will be served by unskilled providers who use chemicals and sticks and other mechanisms that will damage their reproductive organs and some cases result in them bleeding to death.”

    The rally comes as the number of US abortions has fallen to a record low. The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health and rights organisation, said last week that it dropped below 1 million in 2013 for the first time since 1975.

    A Quinnipiac University poll released on Friday showed that 64 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 31 percent said it should be illegal in all or most cases.

    Many of the protesters were optimistic that they had an ally in the new president

  • Turkey threatens to cancel Greece migration deal

    {Turkey ‘may scrap’ migration deal after a Greek court refused to return eight soldiers allegedly linked to failed coup.}

    Turkey has demanded the retrial of eight soldiers who fled to Greece after a failed coup last year and said it may take measures, including scrapping an agreement on refugees and migrants with Athens, after a Greek court rejected an extradition request.

    Greece’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against extraditing the soldiers, who have sought political asylum, saying they feared for their lives in Turkey. Ankara says they were involved in the July 15 coup attempt and branded them traitors.

    “We demanded that the eight soldiers be tried again. This is a political decision, Greece is protecting and hosting coup plotters,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state broadcaster TRT Haber on Friday.

    “We are evaluating what we can do. There is a migration deal we signed, including a re-admission deal with Greece, and we are evaluating what we can do, including the cancellation of the re-admission deal with Greece,” Cavusoglu added.

    Subsequently, a European Union spokeswoman said it was confident its cooperation with Turkey on migration will continue to hold firm.

    Relations between Greece and Turkey, neighbours and NATO allies, have improved over the years but they remain at odds over territorial disputes and ethnically split Cyprus. In 1996, they almost reached the brink of war over an uninhabited islet.

    The two countries play an important role in the handling of Europe’s worst migration crisis in decades and the EU depends on Ankara to enforce a deal to stem mass refugees and migrants fleeing to Europe.

    The suspects – who landed a helicopter in Greece a day after a botched putsch in Turkey and asked for asylum – were also ordered to be released from police custody.

    Earlier on Friday, the Turkish justice ministry submitted a second extradition request to Greece for the return of the officers, state-run news agency Anadolu said.

    Cavusoglu said the ruling would have an “effect on relations whether we want it to or not”.

    The controversy also comes as Greece and Turkey are trying to work together to find a deal for the reunification of Cyprus in ongoing talks brokered by the United Nations.

    The officers deny having taken part in the attempted failed coup attempt and have claimed their lives are in danger should they return to Turkey.

    They have requested asylum in Greece but their applications were originally rejected in July.

    However, their appeals are currently being processed.

    Greek court refuses to send back eight Turkish soldiers accused of coup-plotting

  • Pena Nieto cancels Trump meet over border wall row

    {Donald Trump’s scheduled meeting with President Enrique Pena Nieto falls apart after Mexico refuses to pay for wall.}

    Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto cancelled on Thursday a scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump next week amid a deepening dispute over a border wall promised by America’s new leader.

    “This morning we informed the White House that I will not attend the work meeting planned for next Tuesday with the POTUS,” Pena Nieto said on Twitter, referring to Trump. “Mexico reiterates its willingness to work with the United States to reach accords that favour both nations.”

    The Mexican president’s rejection came after Trump said it was “better to cancel” the scheduled visit to Washington if Mexico was unwilling to foot the bill for a border wall.

    There was much debate over who would pay for the costly wall.

    Trump said throughout his campaign that he would force Mexico to pay, a proposal Mexico has repeatedly rejected.

    The White House said on Thursday that Trump wants a new 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico to pay for the barrier on the southern border.

    Trump wants the measure to be part of a broader tax overhaul package that the US Congress is contemplating, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.

    Explaining how the tax would work, Spicer said: “We have a new tax at $50 billion at 20 percent of imports -which is, by the way, a practice that 160 other countries do right now.”

    “Our country’s policy is to tax exports and let imports flow freely in, which is ridiculous. But by doing it that way we can do $10 billion a year and easily pay for the wall. Just through that mechanism alone,” Spicer said.

    {{No further details were available.}}

    Manuel Suarez-Mier, a columnist for Mexico’s Excelsior newspaper, told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC that Trump’s ultimatum came as a surprise for the Mexican government.

    “The minister of foreign affairs and the minister of commerce were in Washington from Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday to determine the details for the upcoming meeting of the presidents on Tuesday. And Trump comes out and announces that the wall will be built and Mexico will have to pay for it,” said Suarez-Mier.

    He said that the wall is “totally unnecessary”.

    “One third of the border is already fenced, another third has a vigorous river dividing the two countries, and the last part if full of mountains and deserts, so it is a very difficult terrain,” said Suarez-Mier.

    {{No intention of paying}}

    Pena Nieto has repeatedly condemned Trump’s move to build a border wall, and insisted that his country has no intention of paying for it.

    “I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us,” Pena Nieto said in a brief televised message on Wednesday.

    “Mexico does not believe in walls. I have said it time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall,” he said, referring to Trump’s vow to make his southern neighbour pay for the barrier.

    Trump’s plan has also been roundly condemned by other Latin American leaders .

    “Mexico gives and demands respect as the completely sovereign nation that we are,” Pena Nieto said.

    He said he would wait for a report from a high-level Mexican delegation holding meetings in the US capital this week and consult governors and MPs before deciding on “the next steps to take.”

    Pena Nieto said he had ordered Mexico’s 50 consulates in the US to act as legal counsel for the rights of Mexican migrants.

    “Our communities are not alone. The government of Mexico will offer legal counsel that will guarantee the protection they need,” he said.

    On Wednesday, Trump signed directives to order the building of the wall, and a crackdown on US cities that shield undocumented immigrants.

    “A nation without borders is not a nation. Starting today, the US gets back control of its borders,” Trump said in an address at the Homeland Security Department.

    Pena Nieto has said his country will not pay for the planned wall

  • Greek court blocks extradition of Turkey coup suspects

    {Turkish military officers, sought by Ankara over July’s failed coup, fled to Greece in helicopter and requested asylum.}

    Athens, Greece – Greece’s Supreme Court has ruled against extraditing eight Turkish air force officers, in a decision likely to complicate relations between the two countries.

    “It is a great victory for European values, for Greek justice,” said the claimants’ lawyer, Christos Mylonopoulos, after the ruling on Thursday.

    “The legal thinking is obvious. It is the observation of European values, the observation of legality, and the conservation of judicial civilisation.”

    Turkey said it would review its ties with Athens in light of the ruling.

    “We will carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of this decision – which we believe has been taken with a political motive – on our bilateral ties, cooperation in the fight against terrorism and on other bilateral and regional issues,” a Turkish foreign ministry statement said.

    Turkish authorities want the officers to stand trial for their alleged involvement in the coup last July, which nearly toppled the government, and issued arrest warrants for the eight men in an apparent response to the ruling.

    They stand accused of attempting to dissolve the constitution, overthrow parliament, placing civilian human life at risk and stealing army materiel.

    The eight have been in police custody since landing at Alexandroupoli airport in a Turkish army helicopter on July 16. The court set all of them free, but it wasn’t clear when that freedom would take effect.

    The group had sat petrified in court before the decision, but as the first rulings were read out, they began to smile and nod in acknowledgment.

    “We didn’t escape the war. We just saved our lives, and waiting has changed our lives,” one officer later told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.

    He said that he and his colleagues made up their minds to escape after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his supporters to rise up against the coup, leading to clashes with troops and bloodshed.

    “From our iPads we saw what was happening,” said the officer. “We couldn’t reach our commanders. We waited six or seven hours.”

    Turkey has dismissed an estimated 100,000 people from public sector jobs on suspicion of political affiliations hostile to the ruling AKP Party. An estimated 36,000 have been arrested on suspicion of collusion in the July 16 coup attempt.

    “The arguments were that first of all they were in danger to undergo inhuman and degrading treatment. The reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey was an additional danger,” Mylonopoulos told Al Jazeera.

    {{A tall order}}

    The request for extradition was always a difficult proposition because of the thickness of the legal requirements.

    Turkey is a signatory to the European Treaty on Extradition, which forbids extradition for political or military crimes, and gave Greece the right to refuse extradition if the crimes are punishable by death. Erdogan has said that he may hold a referendum on the return of capital punishment.

    Under the European Convention on Human Rights, which Greece has ratified, the officers are deemed to be refugees if they are at risk of torture, execution or inhumane treatment or serious bodily harm in Turkey. Also under Article 6 of the Convention, they may not be extradited for legal process unless they are assured of a fair trial.

    Partly on these legal and humanitarian grounds, three Supreme Court criminal prosecutors have in the past weeks come down against extradition. All outside legal opinions the court has heard have also come down against it.

    The decision is final and cannot be overturned by the Greek government. Asked if this raises the possibility of more Turkish nationals fleeing what they fear is political persecution, Mylonopoulos said: “The circumstances under which these people came here were very eloquent. It was very obvious that their prosecution was due to political reasons. This does not mean that everybody who has a problem with Turkish authorities can come to Greece to find a shelter.”

    The officers have applied for asylum in Greece, a process likely to take months. Asked what they want to do now, one officer replied: “We would like for none of all this to have happened. We would like to go home and be with our families.”

    The officers deny having taken part in the putsch and claim their lives are in danger

  • TV host Aamir Liaquat banned over ‘hate speech’

    {Media regulator bans popular TV personality Aamir Liaquat after he accuses abducted activists of blasphemy.}

    Pakistan’s media regulator has banned one of the country’s most popular television talk show hosts over “hate speech” and “incitement to violence”, according to a statement, after he hosted a series of shows accusing five abducted activists and their supporters of blasphemy.

    The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) banned Aamir Liaquat from appearing on his network Bol TV for an indefinite period on Thursday, until the body’s complaints unit issues a final verdict.

    Liaquat is one of Pakistan’s most popular television personalities, having previously hosted a religion-themed show, as well as a major gameshow. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    In the past week, Liaquat levelled a series of accusations of blasphemy against five activists who were abducted within days of each other earlier this month, accusing them of insulting Islam and its prophet, and of running anti-military Facebook pages.

    He also accused those calling for the release of the activists of supporting blasphemy, as he called out some activists by name while flashing their pictures on screen.

    Blasphemy charges

    Insulting the Prophet Muhammad carries a mandatory death sentence in Pakistan, while other forms of “blasphemy” carry sentences ranging from a fine to life imprisonment.

    There is also a significant risk of mob violence in blasphemy cases in Pakistan, where the matter is considered particularly sensitive.

    At least 68 people have been murdered over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to an Al Jazeera tally.

    A right-wing group attacked at least one rally calling for the release of the abducted activists in the last week.

    Activists say allegations of blasphemy are aimed at silencing dissent.

    “Aamir Liaquat … has willfully and repeatedly made statements and allegations which [are] tantamount to hate speech,” said PEMRA.

    The regulator added that Liaquat’s accusations of people being “anti-state and anti-Islam” constituted “incitement to violence against citizens”.

    Liaquat has been banned from appearing on Bol TV and from declaring anyone an “infidel” or a “traitor” on any other television news channel, the statement said.

    PEMRA said it made the ruling in response to hundreds of hate speech complaints.

    “I am not in favour of banning speech, but this was not just speech. This was the only kind of speech that should be criminalised, because this is incitement to violence,” said rights activist Gul Bukhari. “Incitement to violence in the Pakistani context is different, because vigilantes can and do come and kill you here.”

    READ MORE: Pakistan delays Asia Bibi blasphemy appeal

    Jibran Nasir, an activist who was repeatedly accused by Liaquat of supporting blasphemy, welcomed the decision, saying he has also registered a legal case against Liaquat under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws.

    “Clearly there were many Pakistanis who felt extremely distressed, and I’m glad that that good sense has prevailed among the masses to identify someone who was spreading hate speech,” he told Al Jazeera.

    “In the end it is the constitution that prevails, which provides everyone [with] the right to dignity, freedom of expression [and] also safety, liberty and protection from harm,” said media analyst Adnan Rehmat.

    “In the presence of these clear guidelines on what is permissible and what is not, the insidious, incendiary, wanton and deliberate campaign by Aamir Liaquat was in violation of the constitution and the PEMRA laws,” he said.

    Pakistan’s media regulator, which is connected to the government, has in recent months taken a more active approach in imposing a code of conduct on the country’s vibrant electronic news media, which consists of more than 45 24-hour news television channels.

    Media rights activists and senior journalists have pushed, however, for self-regulation, fearing a crackdown on dissent by the state.

    “We are all advocating not for a ban of any channel or individuals, but for self regulation,” said Owais Tohid, a senior journalist. “The media should hold itself accountable and implement its own code of conduct.”

    Liaquat also accused those calling for the release of the activists of supporting blasphemy

  • Senior management team of US State Department resigns

    {Four leading department officials and country’s border police chief quit posts under Donald Trump’s administration.}

    An entire senior management team of the US State Deparment has resigned under the new adminstration of President Donald Trump, local media has reported.

    Four leading US officials from the State Department, which advises the US president and leads the country in foreign policy issues, left their posts on Wednesday, but the reason for the walkout has not been confirmed, the Washington Post said .

    Patrick Kennedy, the department’s undersecretary for management; Joyce Anne Barr, assistant secretary of state for administration; Michele Bond, the assistant secretary of state for consular affairs; and Gentry Smith, director of the office of foreign missions, resigned unexpectedly, the US newspaper reported on Thursday.

    According to the Reuters news agency, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas Countryman will also leave his post by Friday.

    Turnover is the rule, rather than the exception, among the top officials in the US government when the White House changes hands from one party to another, in this case from Democrat Barack Obama to Republican Donald Trump.

    A week ago, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman Rex Tillerson, was confirmed by the Senate foreign relations committee. He has yet to be confirmed by the full Senate.

    In a separate development, the US Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan, a former longtime FBI agent, has left the agency, a source familiar with his departure told the Reuters news agency on Thursday. The reason for his departure was not immediately clear.

    The resignations came soon after Trump signed an order for a controversial wall on the border with Mexico. He has also in his first week of office signed orders restricting visas and immigration from countries including Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Yemen and Iraq, and the entry of refugees.

    Reports of State Department resignations came as Trump's order for wall on the Mexico border caused a rift with President Enrique Pena Nieto

  • Taraneh Alidoosti boycotting Oscars over Trump visa ban

    {Taraneh Alidoosti will not attend Academy Awards whether or not US President Trump’s ban includes cultural events.}

    The Iranian star of Oscar-nominated film “The Salesman” said on Thursday she would boycott the awards in protest at President Donald Trump’s “racist” ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority nations.

    “Trump’s visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural event or not, I won’t attend the #AcademyAwards 2017 in protest,” tweeted Taraneh Alidoosti, the film’s 33-year-old lead actress.

    Trump is reportedly poised to stop visas for travellers from seven Muslim countries, including Iran, for 30 days.

    He told ABC News on Wednesday that his plan was not a “Muslim ban”, but targeted countries that “have tremendous terror”.

    “The Salesman”, directed by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi is nominated for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards, which take place next month.

    Farhadi won an Oscar in 2012 for his film “A Separation”.

    Visa applications from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen are all expected to be stopped for a month under a draft executive order published in the Washington Post and New York Times.

    The draft order also seeks to suspend the US refugee programme for four months as officials draw up a list of low risk countries.

    The Oscars are due to take place on February 26.

    Taraneh Alidoosti poses on the red carpet ahead at the Cannes Film Festiva

  • Mexican president: We will not pay for a wall

    {President Pena Nieto condemns US President Donald Trump’s order that a wall be built along the US-Mexico border.}

    Mexico’s leader Enrique Pena Nieto has condemned US President Donald Trump’s move to build a border wall, and insisted that his country has no intention of paying for it.

    “I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us,” President Pena Nieto said in a brief televised message on Wednesday.

    “Mexico does not believe in walls. I have said it time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall,” he said, referring to Trump’s vow to make his southern neighbour pay for the barrier.

    Trump’s plan has also been roundly condemned by other Latin American leaders.

    “Mexico gives and demands respect as the completely sovereign nation that we are,” Pena Nieto, who is due to meet with Trump at the White House next week, said.

    Without mentioning the trip, Pena Nieto said he would wait for a report from a high-level Mexican delegation holding meetings in the US capital this week and consult with governors and MPs before deciding on “the next steps to take.”

    Pena Nieto also said he had ordered Mexico’s 50 consulates in the US to act as legal counsel for the rights of Mexican migrants.

    “Our communities are not alone. The government of Mexico will offer legal counsel that will guarantee the protection they need,” he said.

    Al Jazeera’s John Holman, reporting from the Mexican side of the US border, said Pena Nieto was trying to be cautious in responding to Trump’s latest policy proposal.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Trump signed directives to order the building of the wall, and crack down on US cities that shield undocumented immigrants.

    “A nation without borders is not a nation. Starting today, the US gets back control of its borders,” he said.

    {{‘Rapists and drug dealers’}}

    The order, signed on Wednesday, will enable construction of “a large physical barrier on the southern border”, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

    “Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise, it’s a common sense first step to really securing our porous border,” Spicer added.

    In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said construction of the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the US “100 percent” of the costs.

    “We’ll be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico,” Trump said, repeating a campaign promise.

    During the campaign, Trump referred to Mexican migrants as “rapists and drug dealers”. He also visited Mexico, and later declared that Mexico will be paying for the construction of the wall.

    Reuters news agency reported Trump was also expected to take steps in the coming days to limit legal immigration, including executive orders restricting refugees and blocking the issuing of visas to people from several Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and North African countries including Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen.

    A second executive order signed during an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security was aimed stripping federal grant money from “sanctuary” states and cities, often governed by Democrats, that harbour undocumented immigrants.

    Trump, though, said “illegal immigrants brought to US as children shouldn’t be very worried”.

    “I do have a big heart,” he said.

  • Latin America leaders condemn Trump’s Mexico wall at CELAC summit

    {Heads of state gathered at annual CELAC Latin America summit discuss ways to confront new regional reality.}

    Punta Cana, Dominican Republic – Outrageous. Disgusting. Nauseating. These are just a few of the long list of qualifiers against the Trump administration’s announcement to go ahead with building the infamous wall separating the United States from the rest of Latin America.

    “We have to protect ourselves from the aggressive policy of persecuting migrants. The attacks against human rights is one of the central topics that brought us to this Summit,” said Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa as he arrived in Punta Cana.

    “Our commitment is to defend the right to migrate, the most important form of movement. It is not the flow of capital or the flow of merchandise, but rather the mobility of human beings, which is a human right,” Correa added.

    Ten heads of state and 33 foreign ministers gathered at the annual CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Summit in the Dominican Republic were already preparing to debate ways to confront a new regional reality.

    “The phantom of protectionism and closure of borders would have grave consequences. We must de everything we can to prevent a return to the past … We are facing an adverse international scenario. We need to stick together to defend our alliance,” said host President Danilo Medina as he inaugurated the summit.

    But the speed with which the Trump administration has decided to go ahead with his electoral vow to build a wall along the US-Mexico border apparently caught everyone off guard.

    Tuesday night, as his plane was preparing to fly him to Punta Cana for the Summit, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto abruptly cancelled his trip, attributing it to reason of “internal agenda”.

    The announcement came after Pena Nieto got wind of President Trump’s plans to announce details of “the wall of infamy”, as it is called in much of Latin America.

    It is not just Mexico that would be affected, but tens of thousands of Central Americas and Caribbeans who for decades have used the US-Mexican border to enter the United States without visas.

    The CELAC Summit is due to end late on Wednesday with a strong condemnation of White House policy towards Latin American, including the renegotiation of free trade agreements with Mexico (NAFTA) and probably Central America (CAFTA).

    Nevertheless, for now, Trump’s counterparts south of the border seem hard pressed to respond with something more substantial than just words.