Many times when writing on this blog I feel that the worst of Mexico comes out. For that reason, today's post reveals some of the best Mexico has to offer in a one of the provinces stricken by the drug war – Michoacan. This New York Times article exposes an interesting trip to Michoacan, leaving […]
Tropical storm Dolly was upgraded to a Level 2 hurricane only a few hours before it's due to hit the land border near Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros.
Last week Barack Obama and John McCain once again aimed to court the Latino vote in the United States by presenting their platforms at the annual gathering National Council of La Raza in San Diego. The text of their speeches is available here. John McCain talked about growing the economy through low taxes on minority-owned […]
On July 18th, the Mexican Navy intercepted a mini submarine that was transporting more than 5 tons of cocaine. This is a significant operation that highlights the ability of Mexican armed forces to combat drug trafficking by air, land, and sea. Bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico contributed to the capture of the […]
There were two finds in Mexico this week that I thought really interesting: 1) the Mexican navy for the first time caught a drugs submarine from Colombia carrying 6 tons of cocaine (see BBC video here) 2) a cemetery outside Monterrey that was thought to contain only Mexican soldiers from the Mexican-American war was found […]
The complaints this week from the Mexican Congress about being spied on by the nation's intelligence agency (CISEN) provide an interesting find. Although CISEN's Director, Guillermo Valdes, came under fire from the allegations, his findings allege that drug money is threatening the country's institutions, along with the strong possibility that drug money was directly involved […]
It seems that some municipalities are governed by criminal organizations. According to the Attorney General's Office, drug cartels control 80 municipalities. However, Mexico has more than 2,500 municipalities and controlling 80 of them is far from controlling the entire country. In spite of this, a qualitative interpretation of these events would suggest that things are […]
Members of the Senate have declared that the Mexican Center for Research and National Security (CISEN) has been spying on them. According to some Senators, the executive branch, through the CISEN, has been gathering information about them without authorization. The Senators' outrage comes from three sources. First, information about them was collected without permission. Second, […]
Mexico City's Police Chief, Joel Ortega, resigned today under pressure from the city's mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, to reconstruct the police force. Ortega's firing is a direct result of a botched police operation to catch underage drinking at a nightclub, which prompted a stampede that killed 12 people in late June (see story). Mexico D.F.'s human […]
The June 30 signing by President Bush of House Resolution 2642, the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008, not only includes the Merida Initative to help Mexico crack down on drug cartels, it also funds wide-ranging American policies of which Latin America forms part of the global war on terror (see the President's remarks here). To […]
John McCain's visit to Mexico in July 2nd and 3rd came as a surprise. The media in Mexico and the United States only reported McCain's travel plans to Colombia and Mexico just a few days before the trip was to take place. During the trip to Mexico, McCain met with captains of industry, politicians, diplomats, […]
On June 30th, President Bush signed into law the Merida Initiative. The initiative is part of the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008, and provides $465 million dollars for the war against drugs in Mexico and Central America. Mexico will receive $400 million dollars. The Senate passed the controversial bill on June 27th. The original bill […]
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