In recent weeks, the world spotlight has fallen on the drama of Central American refugees crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Yet little attention has been accorded to the ongoing, forcible population movements within Mexico caused by similar outbreaks of criminal and state violence that are propelling Central Americans north.
When the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and other law enforcement agencies cracked down on protestors March 30, 2014, the city’s finest rolled out a military-style force.
In a series of preliminary opinions, an international tribunal of conscience has condemned massive violations of human rights in Mexico.
Twenty years after the promoters of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) heralded a new age of prosperity, tens of millions of people in the member nations of the trinational trade and investment pact look forward to an impoverished retirement.
Catalyzed by a teachers’ strike against federal education reform, a new popular movement is gaining momentum in Mexico. And in expanding its agenda to encompass long-standing grievances ranging from environmental destruction to insecurity and indigenous rights, the movement is posing a serious challenge to not only the policies of new President Enrique Pena Nieto, but the broader economic and political direction of a country ravaged by three decades of neo-liberalism as well.
n the first few months of the administration of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, the human rights thermometer is burning red. Migrants, indigenous communities, women, social activists, journalists and many others confront mounting threats.
Despite the ongoing and historic repression directed against them, Mexico’s indigenous communities push forward in defense of their lands, their cultures and their ecosystems. The year 2012 reminded the world of the relevance of the slogan that was popularized after that New Year’s Day nearly two decades ago when the Zapatista National Liberation Army burst into history: “Never a Mexico without Us!”
El esfuerzo por renovar la imagen de la ciudad fronteriza de Ciudad Juárez sigue a toda marcha. Con niveles de violencia bajos ya a finales del 2012, los líderes políticos y empresariales alaban el regreso de la seguridad al inaugurar obras públicas y abrir restaurantes nuevos. De acuerdo a la revista profesional de la industria electrónica maquilaportal.com, las fábricas que hacen ensamblaje para exportación, llamadas maquilas, han contratado a más de 22,000 trabajadores, mostrando mejoría particularmente en las industrias de autos y de electrónicos. Pero ¿qué tanta de esta campaña de relaciones públicas es un despliegue publicitario y qué tanto es una reflexión de la realidad?
The push to rebrand and re-sell the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez is in full swing. With violence way down as 2012 draws to a close, business and political leaders are extolling the return of security, inaugurating public works and opening new restaurants. According to the electronic industry trade journal maquilaportal.com, upwards of 22,000 workers have been hired this year in the assembly-for-export factories called maquiladoras, with especially strong rebounds in the auto and electronics sectors. But how much of the public relations blitz is hype and how much is real? And who benefits from the new Juárez?
La transición mexicana desde el estado autoritario del Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) en el siglo XX hacia una democracia incierta ha sido un asunto […]
