China and Latin America

its new generation of tablets and devices All in One, the firm Meebox Ochoa starts 2012 with the goal of a foothold in the Mexican market, but are also looking for a place in the Asian giant.

Ahora nos presentan sus nuevas tabletas Slate Pro 9 y 10, que cuentan con sistema operativo Windows 8 de Microsoft, cámara de 1.3 Megapixeles y 64 GB de disco duro, que les da vida un procesador Intel Atom Z670 1.5Ghz HT, además de contar con dos puertos USB, conectividad Wifi, 3G y Bluetooth. Now we present their new tablets Slate Pro 9 and 10, which have operating system of Microsoft Windows 8, 1.3 megapixel camera and 64 GB hard drive, which gives life a 1.5Ghz Intel Atom Z670 HT, in addition to two USB ports, WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth.

Su precio de lanzamiento será 16% inferior a la versión anterior, al pasar de 11,640 pesos a los 9,724 pesos. Its launch price will be 16% lower than the previous version, from 11.640 pesos to 9.724 pesos.

“La estamos lanzando aquí (en el CES 2012) y esperamos que en los próximos 30 días ya tenerlas disponibles en el mercado”, dijo a El Economista Carlos Koch de Santiago, director y fundador de la compañía mexicana. "We're launching here (CES 2012) and hopefully in the next 30 days and have them available in the market," said economist Carlos Santiago Koch, director and founder of the Mexican company.

Entre sus planes de expansión está en la búsqueda de nuevos canales de distribución. Among its expansion plans is looking for new distribution channels. Por ahora, la cadena jalisciense Laboratorios Julio ya través de su sitio web son los canales de venta, pero Koch de Santiago confía en que en este mes cerrarán un acuerdo con “una compañía de telecomunicaciones” para expandirse a lo largo del país, incluyendo la capital mexicana. For now, Jalisco chain Laboratories in July and through its web site are the sales channels, but James Koch is confident that this month closed a deal with a "telecommunications company" to expand across the country, including the Mexican capital.

“Estamos posicionando la marca, nos hemos favorecido con muchos clientes y esperamos que en este 2012 tengamos un crecimiento de un 30 por ciento”, dijo el directivo. "We're positioning the brand, we have helped many clients and hope that this 2012 we have a growth of 30 percent," said the manager.

Sus tabletas han llegado a Estados Unidos, Costa Rica y Holanda, pero la prioridad de Meebox, según Koch de Santiago, es afianzarse en el mercado local. Their tablets have arrived in the U.S., Costa Rica and the Netherlands, but the priority of Meebox as James Koch is a foothold in the local market.

Entre sus clientes, la firma tapatía ya trabaja con la Comisión Federal de Electricidad y con la Suprema Corte de Justicia para impulsar la modernización y agilidad de sus procesos. Among his clients, the firm works with Ochoa and the Federal Electricity Commission and the Supreme Court to promote the modernization and agility of its processes.

“Estamos trabajando con instituciones de gobierno, con la CFE y con la Suprema Corte para que en algunos juzgados se tengan nuestros equipos y puedan orientar a la ciudadanía para agilizar la atención de los servidores públicos”, comentó Carlos Koch de Santiago. "We are working with government institutions, with the CFE and the Supreme Court that in some courts take our equipment and can advise the public to expedite the service of public servants," said Charles Koch of Santiago.

La empresa creó un prototipo de tableta de uso rudo para fines industriales –Koch incluso la visualiza en las plataformas de Pemex- al estar diseñado para soportar golpes, caídas, y el contacto con líquidos. The company created a prototype of a rugged tablet for industrial-Koch even displayed at Pemex platforms to be designed to withstand bumps, drops, and liquid. Ésta podría ver la luz el primer semestre del 2012. This could see the light of the first half of 2012.

Actualmente se encuentran desarrollando pruebas con un proyecto de la policía de China, que de aprobarse, posicionará alrededor de 60,000 tabletas de uso rudo con sistema operativo Android, lo que daría a Meebox su llave de acceso al mercado asiático. Tests are currently developing at a project of the police in China, which if passed, it will allow the delivery of about 60,000 heavy-duty Meebox tablets with Android operating system, thus giving to Meebox a foothold in the Asian market.

[video=youtube;MkL9ieL-iCc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkL9ieL-iCc[/video]

Not too familiar with Latin American politics.
Is it a widely held views there that US may be secretly fueling the drug wars in Mexico to keep its giant southern neighbor weak ?



Joe Biden Mexico Visit: Calderon Asks Vice President To Stop U.S. Arms, Money Flow

...............At a meeting earlier in the day, Calderon asked Biden for Washington to do more to halt the flow of weapons and drug money into Mexico.

Mexico's president "repeated the urgent need to strengthen actions against the trafficking of weapons into our country and money laundering," his office said in a statement.

Biden said that even in the absence of an assault rifle ban, President Barack Obama's administration was doing as much as it could to stop the flow of arms by conducting inspections of border checkpoints and requiring reporting of multiple sales of large weapons.

Biden's trip takes place amid unprecedented pressure from political and business leaders to talk about decriminalizing drugs. The presidents of Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Mexico, all grappling with the extremely violent fallout of a failing drug war, have said in recent weeks they'd like to open up the discussion of legalizing drugs.........................................

No matter what the problem, you can always count on Hugo Chavez to find a way to blame the "Yankee Empire."
It's absurd to think that the US might be plotting the deaths of leaders it considers allies, such as Rousseff, Lula and Kirchner. But we can't really blame Chavez for at least thinking it, even partly in jest. The US has caused a lot of havoc in Latin America in the past (Chile and Salvador Allende, just to name one). That was then, of course, and this is now. But sometimes old wounds take a long time to heal.

Chinese weapons are no longer considered cheep copies of old Soviet equipment. It has now emerged as a respectable arms supplier, with numerous indigenous designs. Chinese eagerness to supply the region with weapons is likely to trigger a “soft arms race” and present itself as a threat to the United State’s historic control of weapons sales in the Western Hemisphere. The problem here is that America’s point of view persist in looking at Beiging through a nostalgic Cold War lens that sees China as a growing and certain threat to U.S. national security.

A report called “Arms-R-Us: South America Goes Shopping,” issued by the Washington Office on Latin America found that “whether or not you call it an arms race, the increase in arms sales is substantial; in 2008, the 12 South American countries together channeled more than USD 50 billion into military expenditures, about 30% more than in 2007.”