“Every day along the world’s busiest border, an expensive and time-consuming pantomime is acted out.” So begins the Economist’s coverage of the trucking agreement recently announced between Mexico and the United States. From that smart opening line the paper slips into an uncharacteristic fit of naïveté, arguing that Mexico stands to chalk major gains from […]
Maquiladora factories symbolize Mexico’s economic integration with the United States. While lower wages in China lured away many clothing, toy and TV outfits, today a manufacturing revival is evident in Mexico. Factories are humming at full tilt; some are expanding operations. This news carries two surprises. First, Mexican manufacturing is rebounding ahead of growth and […]
I was born in Georgia. Edilberto was not, but he has toiled in Georgia’s onion fields for the past 16 years. By all signs, he has led a contented, albeit hard, life in the state where his three children were born. Now though, he is planning to move to North Carolina. This is because on […]
I’m thrilled to join Mexico Today, a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and tourist destination. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work as a Community Manager for México Today, whereby I will generate content and manage other contributors. I also participated in an […]
The Global Commission on Drug Policy releases a study today that is unusually stark: “global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” It contends the “war on drugs” strategy needs to change by focusing more on demand, while acknowledging that US policy—America is the largest demand-source for drugs […]
Christine Lagarde visited Brazil on Sunday to buoy her candidacy for the IMF’s top post. At a press conference Lagarde stated: “I will ensure that the Fund represents the diversity of all its members.’’ She went on to indicate that a European should not automatically head the IMF. Perhaps this should be the last time? […]
In what was one of his longest speeches to date, last Friday Mexican President Felipe Calderón gave a resounding defense of his administration’s battle against organized crime and sought to compare critics of his governments’ security policies to those who doubted of Churchill’s resolve in confronting the Nazis. Calderón went on extend the comparison between […]
Agustin Carstens, Mexico’s central bank chief and possibly Michael Moore’s long lost brother, is the first official nominee for the post held until last week by Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Since its inception in 1945, the IMF has had a European as its head (America got dibs on the World Bank spot). Now the EU governments are […]
“Making Markets Work for Small-Scale Farmers” will air as a live video stream on May 25. Here is the link: http://www.iied.org/sustainable-markets/key-issues/market-governance/provocation-series-making-markets-work-for-smallhol The series is sponsored by the UN Research Institute for Social Development, the International Institute for Environment and Development, Hivos and Mainumby. This will be the fourth segment of a six-part series, and it […]
The total number of Ayapeneco speakers remaining in Mexico: two. The men live some 500 meters apart in the tropical lowlands of Tabasco state. But Manuel Segovia, 75, and Isidro Velazquez, 69, don’t like one another and refuse to talk. The Syndey Morning Herald reports that there are 68 indigenous languages in Mexico; many of […]
Earlier this week President Calderón appeared on the Charlie Rose Show. In his usual technocratic fashion, Calderón ticked off the security challenges posed by drug violence in Mexico, then detailed the countermeasures: taking on the criminals, building better law enforcement institutions, and addressing the socioeconomic roots of crime in Mexico. Also of interest, the president […]
Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, father of slain Juan Francisco, will headline a massive protest against the government’s drug war strategy tomorrow. The first protest took place on May 5 in the city of Cuernavaca, not far from where Juan Francisco died. Protests are scheduled in 31 sites across Mexico, and all manner of civil society […]
Of the 68 people rescued in the northern state of Tamaulipas on Wednesday, 12 are migrants from Central America. According to their accounts, gunmen identifying themselves with the Gulf Cartel seized the group off an autobus. Tamaulipas has been in the news because of the grizzly mass murder of 72 migrants in San Fernando last […]
San Fernando is quick becoming the murder center of Mexico. In recent days the bodies of 145 people have been uncovered, most in mass graves, about an hour-and-a-half drive south of Brownsville, Texas. Mexican federal investigators expect more bodies to be discovered there soon. In connection, 16 local police officers were arrested for collusion with […]
As pointed out by an article in World Politics Review, Mexico’s major drug gangs are being squeezed between the “war on drugs” and the global economy, forcing them to turn over a new leaf. So it seems they are looking to generate revenue by stealing legal commodities. Oil tapping is perhaps the most prominent tactic […]