Thursday, April 1,1983/The Battalion/Page 3B
exican grocery raid motives debated
United Press International
AREZ, Mexico — The
ing-swift raid on El Paso
ry shoppers by the Mex-
Customs last week has cre-
raore controversy on the
Serthan Pancho Villa’s 1916
ion Columbus, N.M.
iustoms officials stopped ev-
[Utomobile trying to return
Paso and confiscated
:eries. At the end of one
activities, El Paso shoppers
been relieved of some 10
of food.
he officials then separated
goods, with perishables
edly destined for agencies
work with the poor and the
perishables set aside for a
ire auction.
in the process, long lines de-
ped at the international
ges, adding to the usual
y influx of visitors during
(Easter holidays.
Some El Paso shoppers,
ting on their usual weekly
ery order, were seen in tears
abridges. Others reacted in
■erand shouted obscenities at
e Customs officials as they
im ® edoff, tires squealing and re-
dying never to return.
dfiEti lrhe confiscation of groceries
Inot conducted in any other
I along the 1,920-mile U.S./
border.
he grocery raid apparently
I a wildcat venture, with no
plan for a continued effort on
the part of the Mexican federal
government.
On Thursday, it was business
as usual, except for a decreased
number of tourists who were
discouraged by the long lines
and frightened at the thought of
having goods confiscated at the
bridges.
By Friday and Saturday,
shoppers with small amounts of
groceries in the trunks of their
cars crossed into El Paso with no
hassles from Mexican author
ities.
Historians say revenge was
the main motive for Villa’s ac
tion 67 years ago. But Mexico
watchers have yet to determine a
reason why the federal customs
service confiscated groceries
from El Paso shoppers trying to
get back home.
The customs officials said
American shoppers, taking
advantage of Mexico’s devalued
E eso, have stripped supermar-
ets in Juarez of basic food items
and created shortages for Mex
ican citizens who are having a
hard enough time to survive.
Juarez business leaders don’t
agree with the customs inspec
tors. They claim there is ample
food for everyone, including El
Paso tourists who spend needed
dollars in Juarez and help Mex
ico with its ailing balance-of-
payments problems.
The economies of El Paso and
J uarez — as well as other border
cities from Brownsville and
Matamoros to Tijuana and San
Diego — have been so intimately
entwined for so long that rash,
radical actions such as the groc
ery raid, only serve to annoy and
produce no positive results.
Ironically, the most opposi
tion to the Mexican customs ac
tion is not from Americans.
Juarez Chamber of Com
merce president Artemio Jaime
Salazar predicts the grocery raid
will cost commercial firms hun
dreds of thousands of dollars in
lost trade, not to mention the
negative effects on tourism.
Antonio Payan Porras, a well-
known Juarez lawyer, accused
the customs officials of violating
the Mexican constitution by con
fiscating goods without allowing
the tourists to return to the
stores where the goods were
purchased and not compensat
ing the owners. He demanded
the customs inventory all confis
cated items.
A spokesman for the right-
wing opposition party, Partido
Accion Nacional (PAN), Jesus
Hernandez, called the action a
raid against the business com
munity and regaled the customs
for harassing friendly El Paso
housewives instead of catching
the real enemies of Mexico, the
professional smugglers.
The chief of the Juarez Cus
toms, Adolfo Paredes Doming
uez, however, has ignored the
massive protests from newspap
ers and radio and television sta
tions in Juarez and said the cus
toms will continue cracking
down on grocery shoppers until
Juarez food shortages are over.
The real culprit is the Mex
ican peso.
Devalued at 150 against the
dollar, border shoppers are hav
ing a field day.
Good quality meat, including
juicy steaks, are now selling in
Juarez for the equivalent of ab
out $1 a pound. Mexicans,
whose minimum wage is about
$3 a day for those lucky enough
to be employed, can’t afford to
pay that much and have learned
to live without meat in their diet.
Affluent Mexicans and El Paso
shoppers have taken up the
slack and kept Juarez super
markets from going broke.
Meat isn’t the only bargain.
With the devalued peso, sugar
now sells for about 15 cents a
pound. Top quality coffee can
be purchased for about 50 cents
a pound and a loaf of whole
wheat bread sells for less than 30
cents while a quart of milk goes
for about 15 cents.
Budget-conscious El Paso
shoppers, taking advantage of
the devalued peso, have been
cutting grocery bills by two-
thirds.
Caffeine affects heart’s
hythm, research shows
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United Press International
jOSTON — Two cups of cof-
jcontain enough caffeine to
ise a change in the heart’s
hm that can be dangerous
tiin people with no history of
jormal heartbeats, new re-
ch shows.
he study of 19 people with
without a history of heart
igularities found caffeine
ted a mild to moderate
hm change in all but two
e. Two patients experi-
:d a severe heartbeat change
it could be fatal, researchers
hio State University said.
The findings will be pub-
d today in the New England
nal of Medicine,
he study showed a moder-
change in the heart rhythm
1 It lasted one to five minutes in
tpatients who reported a caf-
nesensitivity, including palpi-
)ons, dizziness or a light-
aded feeling after drinking a
einated beverage.
There is absolutely a cause-
effect relationship here,”
dDr. Stephen F. Schaal, who
the Ohio State study. “Caf-
edoes, in fact, have an effect
the electrical system of the
rt.”
he patients drank two cups
toffee or received an injection
n equivalent amount of caf-
e, but researchers said
nking tea or soft drinks con
ning caffeine could produce
ilar results.
Tie rhythm irregularities —
al flutter or atrial fibrillation
— were brief and relatively be
nign in all but two patients and
could cause light-headedness or
fatigue, said Schaal.
Two patients with a history of
heart irregularities developed a
condition called ventricular
tachychardia, a very rapid beat
ing of the heart ventricles, after
taking the caffeine.
“This is a rhythm change that
can cause sudden death,” said
Schaal.
'e pa
of i
tory of rhythm disturbances
associated with caffeine all had
arrhythmias — the name for a
variety of heartbeat irregular
ities — after taking caffeine, the
researchers wrote.
“Caffeine’s effects are much
more profound if a person has a
history of difficulty with the
drug,” said Schaal. “In most inst
ances, the rhythm problems
worsened after caffeine.”
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