On July 7, elections were held in 15 Mexican states for mayoral and congressional office, and one governorship in Baja California. The PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) took eight of the thirteen capital cities at stake, Veracruz suffered violence at the polls and everywhere there were complaints and glitches reported about the computer-based vote counting program, […]
They say bad things happen in threes. Or that’s maybe what you blurt out when someone tells you about their poor friend Jerry: his wife is leaving him, her new boyfriend gave him a black eye and his goldfish just died. So you say something silly and superstitious as a sort of vicarious comfort to […]
Sin Embargo, a favorite site for in depth news about Mexico, recently ran an article called Las Nueve Cartas Pendientes de la PGR which loosely translates to Nine Cards the Attorney General has Yet to Play. The faces on those cards are the faces of impunity in Mexico – union bosses, former presidents, ex-governors, a […]
On April 23, the municipality of Benito Juarez – where developers were planning to construct Dragon Mart Cancún – announced that the project was denied construction permits because the plan they received is too high-density for the area and was not the same as that received by other government agencies. “The project isn’t in compliance […]
An irresistible headline popped up on the Washington Post blog on April 12: “How to Win the Mexican Drug War” by Viridiana Ríos, a Harvard PhD candidate. Those of us living down here would REALLY like to know how to win this war and thus go back to the peaceful days of Mexico before “the […]
I co-wrote this series of articles in 2009 with my mother, N.J. Blake, after being awarded an investigative journalism grant by the AVINA foundation. They were originally published on openDemocracy.net. “Oral trials only protect the criminals.” This is the conclusion reached by an indignant citizen of Salina Cruz, a coastal city in Oaxaca, regarding the […]
I co-wrote this series of articles in 2009 with my mother, N.J. Blake, after being awarded an investigative journalism grant by the AVINA foundation. They were originally published on openDemocracy.net. Transparency, security, individual rights, the end of impunity, justice, hope. These are the promising words on the lips of Mexico’s politicians, pundits and public today […]
I co-wrote this series of articles in 2009 with my mother, N.J. Blake, after being awarded an investigative journalism grant by the AVINA foundation. They were originally published on openDemocracy.net. The words “judicial reform” imply change; a system that has been struggling will be transformed into something new and improved. This sounds simple enough, […]
After many hours of debate, the house of representatives approved the telecommunications reform bill presented by President Peña Nieto in the wee hours this morning – with 12 modifications. The bill passed with 410 votes in favor, 50 against and 8 abstentions and it will now go to the Senate for review. The approved version […]
As Elba Esther Gordillo marshals her defense against the government’s charges of embezzlement and organized crime, President Peña Nieto’s administration has begun to do battle with another challenger to executive authority: the telecommunications monopolies. This week, the President presented his reform initiative which proposes breaking up the monopolies in fixed and cellular phone service, television […]