Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 121, No. 146 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
NC VETS CONSIDER GIVING ZOO ELEPHANT CONTACTS
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — After C’sar the bull elephant lost weight, grew depressed and underwent surgery because of eye trouble, his keepers at a North Carolina zoo began to consider ... - PAGE A3
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Community commemorates... • Rain, steady progress on Little Bear • Lawrence Bros. honors first... • Sage looking for few good men • Fister picks up first win
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
June 19, 2012
Obama-Putin talks candid at G20 Summit LOS CABOS, Mexico (AP) — President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Monday that Syrians should choose their own next government, marking a subtle shift for both the United States and Russia as they confront the prospect that Russia’s main ally in the Mideast could slide into civil war. Sharing pledges of common ground, yet hardly much eye contact or obvious kinship in front of reporters, Obama and Putin met for the first time since the Russian leader returned to the presidency last month. Obama spoke at greater length, emphasizing several areas of cooperation between the onetime Cold War enemies, but the unending bloodshed in Syria hung over the talks. The two leaders “agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war and the kind of horrific events that we’ve seen over the last several weeks,” Obama said. Putin, seated next to Obama following
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the private meeting, said: “We’ve been able to find many commonalities” on Syria. But he of fered no specifics on what those were, and it was unclear how much the closed twohour talk did to close strategic gaps about how to end the violence. Russia has refused to call for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, an ally, and neither leader mentioned him by name Monday. In a departure from previous statements, Obama called for a “political process,” that would end horrific violence in Syria, but he did not say Assad must go. Obama’s careful language appeared designed to give the Russian some elbow room. In other settings, he and other White House officials have been forceful in insisting that Assad must step aside. The United States and Russia share a goal of a “political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system that would be implemented by the Syrians themselves,” a
joint statement issued on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit said. Obama and Putin had a brisk handshake at the end, and their tones cool and businesslike. Putin campaigned last year with some of the harshest antiAmerican rhetoric from Russia in a decade, and his return to the top job in Russia ensures that cooperation with the United States will come at a cost. Syrian opposition groups estimate 14,000 people have died in the brutal clashes between anti-gover nment protestors and pro-Assad forces. Hopes for a diplomatic resolution have rested on Washington and Moscow agreeing on a transition plan that would end the four -decade Assad family rule. Russia, as Syria’s longtime ally and trading partner, is seen as the best broker for a deal that could give Assad political refuge. So far, Moscow has said no. Pressure increased on Russia over the weekend, when the United Nations suspended its unar med
AP Photo
President Barack Obama listens to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in a bilateral meeting during the G20 Summit, Monday, in Los Cabos, Mexico.
monitoring mission in Syria out of concern for the monitors’ safety. The move was widely interpreted as a challenge to Russia to intervene with Assad to preserve a U.N. role Moscow sees as a brake on any armed foreign intervention. The United States has refused to arm anti-Assad rebels in part to avoid a proxy fight in which Iran, Russia and others arm one side and the U.S. and Sunni Arab states arm the other. In the days leading up to the G-20, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Weather conditions helping tame Little Bear fire
INSIDE SPORTS
SIMPSON SPINS ‘WEBB’ AROUND US OPEN SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Open yields few birdies or big celebrations. At Olympic Club, they always come in strange places. Webb Simpson walked off the 18th ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S • • • • • • •
OBITUARIES
Joe D. Fresquez Edubigues G. Fuentes Jose Anacleto Diaz Giocondo Marcelli Jr. Ted William Shull Ruben Archuleta, Jr. Ruben Archuleta, Sr.
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HIGH .102˚ LOW ....68˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
INDEX CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A3 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
AP Photo
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signs a New Testament for Frankie Pirelli, left, a Firefighters for Christ volunteer. Firefighters say they are continuing to take advantage of favorable weather conditions to battle a wildfire in southern New Mexico that has destroyed 242 homes and businesses. Meanwhile, officials said Monday that the raging blaze in the Gila Wilderness, already the largest wildfire in state history, grew another 1,000 acres and is now 463 square miles. That fire is 80 percent contained. More than 1,100 firefighters remained Monday in Ruidoso as they fight to hold the Little Bear fire that is now 60 percent contained. Officials say that relative humidity of 25 percent is helping crews tame the fire that is around 60 square miles.
Officials: Contract prison worker busted for drug smuggling in NM
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A contract prison worker was caught trying to smuggle cocaine and heroin into a New Mexico prison in what authorities believe was one of the largest drug busts within the state prison system, corrections officials said Monday. The woman tried to bring 26 grams of cocaine and 46 grams of heroin into the Southern New Mexico Corrections Facility in Las Cruces, where she worked as a contract food service employee, according to the New Mexico Corrections Department. Her name was not released. Prison officials made the bust last week after secretly listening to calls between the woman and an inmate who worked in the kitchen and was described as her fiance, said James Mulheron, administrator for the department’s Security Threat Intelligence Unit. Officials identified the inmate as Frank Morales, a 31-year-old serving time for trafficking a controlled substance with intent to distribute. “It’s crushing,” Mulheron said at a news conference. “Any time you have someone inside the prison system working to smuggle in drugs, it compromises the safety of our facilities.” The drugs’ estimated value in prison was $5,000, officials said. Mulheron said the woman has yet to be formally charged but that she’ll face six felony counts related to drug trafficking. Morales also faces charges, Mulheron said. It was unclear if Morales had hired an attorney. The pair may have successfully smuggled drugs into prison at least once, Mulheron said. Mulheron said cocaine and heroin busts at New Mexico prisons normally involve a gram or less.
See SMUGGLE, Page A7
accused Russia of equipping the Syrian gover nment with attack helicopters that could be used against civilians. She later acknowledged they were only helicopters already owned by Syria that had been sent back to Russia for repairs, but Russia was already annoyed. Clinton was among the U.S. officials who participated in Monday’s meeting with Putin.
Russia insists that any arms it supplies to Syria are not being used to quell See OBAMA, Page A7
Friday night shooting leaves two men dead
Two men were shot and killed in the 300 block of East Bonney Street, late Friday night. Ruben Archuleta Sr., 49, died at the scene. His son, Ruben Archuleta Jr., 21, was transported to Eastern New Mexico Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries. A witness reported hearing the sound of gunfire and then saw a body in the street. The investigator said the Roswell Police Department has two persons of interest in this case, but was unwilling to release the names. RPD spokesman Sgt. Jim Preston said that no charges have been filed. The police do not think the shootings are gangrelated. “I’ve not heard anyone else say it, and I’m not saying either way,” Preston said. According to Preston, officials believe the shootings resulted from an ongoSee SHOOTING, Page A7
Two parties are worlds apart on how to fix economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Americans are desperate for work, runaway government spending clouds the future and Democratic and Republican candidates are busy making one thing clear: They’re light years apart on what to do about it. They do agree that in this election, the economy is everything. President Barack Obama calls it “the defining issue of our time.” But for voters wishing Washington would come together in a time of crisis, Obama, his Republican rival Mitt Romney and their congressional allies don’t offer much hope Instead, they’ve taken to describing the gulf on economic policy in galactic ter ms. Romney must be “on a different planet,” an Obama adviser declares. The president is “living in an alternative universe,” the Republican Party chief says. On planet Republican: The economy is backsliding, and the president is to blame. His stimulus spending did more har m than good, and his big-government rules are strangling
AP Photo
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, gestures during a campaign stop at Monterey Mills, Monday, in Janesville, Wis. Democratic and Republican candidates agree that the economy is everything in this election.
businesses. The answer is repealing health care, energy and financial regulations and cutting taxes. That should spark investment and create jobs. Tackling the deficit requires huge spending cuts, just not at the Pentagon. The unsustainable guarantee of Medicare and Medicaid must change.
In the Democratic universe: The economy’s slowly
improving, thanks to gover nment spending that helped fend off a depression. Another dose of targeted spending will help. Republican policies in the Bush administration — cutting taxes and eliminating rules — brought on the financial crisis and budget deficits. The rich should help dig us out by paying See ECONOMY, Page A7