Suchergebnisse

A place to work, a place to live -- Though hell and high water -- Mexican faces, American dreams -- Where the dollar is king -- "It's the law!" -- A pox on both your houses -- Don't kill the cash cow

Today's Mexico is presented through the experiences, opinions and adventures of hundreds of Mexicans from all walks of life: not politics, nor statistics, but the personality of a nation grafted onto deep, indigenous roots by a European invader that still was entwined in feudal customs and superstitions. This narration takes readers through Mexico City, through its suburbs rich and poor, into its ceremonies--Christian and pre-Christian--and on journeys with reformers, rebels, manipulators, workers. It unravels "The Imaginary State of Petroleo," explores the landed estates of northeastern Mexico and the deserts where ancient cave paintings mark lost cultures and where drug dealers have hidden landing strips. From Tarahumara villages in the northwest through Tijuana and life on the US-Mexican border, and from Baja and the cultivated coastal plains to the changing rhythms of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Yucatan, Stout brings Mexico to life

What the leader of the so-called 'Sinaloa cartel' Joaquin ('El Chapo') Guzman wanted, he informed the government of Mexican president Felipe Calderon, was to be allowed to run his business without interference from the military. Some members of the bureaucracy and Senate and House of Deputies quietly supported this concept, harking back to the presidency of the PRI's Carlos Salinas de Gortari between 1988 and 1994, when drug exportations enriched participating politicians without arousing bloody criminal confrontations. Nonetheless, Calderon and his administration remained committed to U.S.-financed policies of militarized action. Although Calderon and his inner circle were loath to admit it the militarization provoked greater violence and bloodshed without diminishing the flow of drugs northward (and rapidly increasing narcotics use and addiction in Mexico). As proof of the success of the military operations Calderon cited increases in the street price of cocaine in the United States, but he did not mention how much those increases stimulated importers and producers to greater activity. In her 'America's Program' column on September 3, 2009, entitled 'Drug War Doublespeak,' Laura Carlsen insisted: 'Drug-war doublespeak pervades and defines the United States-Mexico relationship today. The discourse aims not to win the war on drugs, but to assure funding and public support for the military model of combating illegal drug trafficking, despite the losses and overwhelming evidence that current strategies are not working.'. Adapted from the source document.

This American journalist & author gives a vivid account of the violence he suffered at the hands of the police in Oaxaca & describes the government violence perpetrated against hundreds of journalists, teachers, human rights activists, & others in that Mexican state. Among other cases recounted, supporters of Oaxaca governor Ulises Ruiz beat a retired professor to death because he participated in an attempt to block a roadway to prevent Ruiz from making a campaign appearance in 2004. Mexican president Felipe Calederon has made no effort to investigate the violence. Perhaps free-spending tourists are safe in Oaxaca, but Oaxacans are not, especially those who protest. S. Stanton