The New York Times
August 24, 2013
By Karla Zabludovsky
Mexico’s highly anticipated education overhaul program — intended to weed out poorly performing teachers, establish professional hiring standards and weaken the powerful teachers’ union — is buckling under the tried-and-true tactic of huge street protests, throwing the heart of the capital into chaos.
A radical teachers’ group mobilized thousands of members in Mexico City last week, chasing lawmakers from their chambers, occupying the city’s historic central square, blocking access to hotels and the international airport, and threatening to bring an already congested city to a halt in the coming days.
These mobilizations, analysts said, suggest how difficult it may be for President Enrique Peña Nieto to get through this and other changes he has pushed since taking office in December, including an energy and telecommunications overhaul deemed vital to revving up the economy. Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the CIP Americas Program monitors and analyzes international press on Mexico with a focus on the US-backed War on Drugs in Mexico and the struggle in Mexico to strengthen the rule of law, justice and protection of human rights. Relevant political developments in both countries are also covered.
Aug 26, 2013
Aug 23, 2013
Laura's Blog: Mexican Government Loses Millions in Bomb Detector Hoax
We've been saying for years that the drug war is a waste but this story proves just how absurd the waste is. As the Mexican government admits that thousands of children go to bed hungry every day, it spent some $30 million dollars on more than a thousand "empty boxes with handles and antennae" attached that supposedly detected explosives, drugs and cash.
The boxes were sold to federal and state governments by Segtec (Seguridad e Inteligencia con Tecnología de Vanguardia) owned by businessman Hugo Fernandez, according to information released by the Mexican Institute for Access to Information. Gary Bolton, the British conman who managed to sell the boxes, made for around $3.00 each, for up to $23,000 each, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
The British courts will reportedly determine property to expropriate to pay back those who fell for the hoax.
How is it possible that the Mexican security forces didn't even check the equipment before shelling out millions in public funds? Why weren't all the "GT200s" as the useless box is named, recalled immediately when word of the hoax came out?
Is it because the whole war on drugs is a hoax?
The boxes were sold to federal and state governments by Segtec (Seguridad e Inteligencia con Tecnología de Vanguardia) owned by businessman Hugo Fernandez, according to information released by the Mexican Institute for Access to Information. Gary Bolton, the British conman who managed to sell the boxes, made for around $3.00 each, for up to $23,000 each, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
The British courts will reportedly determine property to expropriate to pay back those who fell for the hoax.
How is it possible that the Mexican security forces didn't even check the equipment before shelling out millions in public funds? Why weren't all the "GT200s" as the useless box is named, recalled immediately when word of the hoax came out?
Is it because the whole war on drugs is a hoax?
Aug 20, 2013
Fight over revered ex-president’s image dominates Mexico’s oil reform debate
The Washington Post
August 16, 2013
The son of Mexico’s most revered modern president, known for nationalizing Mexico’s oil industry, says his dad is rolling in his grave.
In fact, both sides in the heated debate over proposals to open Mexico’s oil industry to private companies are using the image of former president Lazaro Cardenas, roughly Mexico’s equivalent of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Current President Enrique Pena Nieto has launched a blitz of TV ads that prominently feature photos of Cardenas, who expropriated foreign oil companies and nationalized the industry when he was president from 1934 to 1940.
Like FDR, who was known for helping pull America out of the depression with his ‘new deal’ public works programs, Cardenas is remembered for handing out land to poor farmers and standing up to the foreign oil companies that once took the lion’s share of profits from Mexican oil. Read more.
August 16, 2013
The son of Mexico’s most revered modern president, known for nationalizing Mexico’s oil industry, says his dad is rolling in his grave.
In fact, both sides in the heated debate over proposals to open Mexico’s oil industry to private companies are using the image of former president Lazaro Cardenas, roughly Mexico’s equivalent of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Current President Enrique Pena Nieto has launched a blitz of TV ads that prominently feature photos of Cardenas, who expropriated foreign oil companies and nationalized the industry when he was president from 1934 to 1940.
Like FDR, who was known for helping pull America out of the depression with his ‘new deal’ public works programs, Cardenas is remembered for handing out land to poor farmers and standing up to the foreign oil companies that once took the lion’s share of profits from Mexican oil. Read more.
Leftist leader wants to repair, not privatize Mexico's oil industry
Los Angeles Times
By Tracy Wilkinson
August 19, 2013
Mexico’s most prestigious leftist leader on Monday challenged President Enrique Peña Nieto’s proposal to open the national oil industry to private investment, setting the stage for what is sure to be a pitched political battle.
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas said the state oil monopoly, Pemex, is in dire need of repair, but that amending the Constitution, as Peña Nieto plans, is unnecessary and makes Mexico’s resources dangerously vulnerable to outside exploitation.
Instead, Cardenas offered an eight-point plan that would give Pemex financial and administrative autonomy, relieving it, he said, of the onerous state bureaucracy that cripples its ability to grow and become more efficient [link in Spanish]. The plan would also lower Pemex’s tax burden; currently, the company pays up to 70% of its revenue to the government. Read more.
By Tracy Wilkinson
August 19, 2013
Mexico’s most prestigious leftist leader on Monday challenged President Enrique Peña Nieto’s proposal to open the national oil industry to private investment, setting the stage for what is sure to be a pitched political battle.
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas said the state oil monopoly, Pemex, is in dire need of repair, but that amending the Constitution, as Peña Nieto plans, is unnecessary and makes Mexico’s resources dangerously vulnerable to outside exploitation.
Instead, Cardenas offered an eight-point plan that would give Pemex financial and administrative autonomy, relieving it, he said, of the onerous state bureaucracy that cripples its ability to grow and become more efficient [link in Spanish]. The plan would also lower Pemex’s tax burden; currently, the company pays up to 70% of its revenue to the government. Read more.
Mexico's new drug war strategy: More of the same
USA Today
August 18, 2013
Mexico City - With the capture of two top drug lords in little more than a month, the new government of President Enrique Pena Nieto is following an old strategy it openly criticized for causing more violence and crime.
Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino, a top leader of Mexico's Gulf Cartel, was detained Saturday in a military operation near the Texas border, just weeks after the arrest of the leader of the brutal Zetas cartel near another border city, Nuevo Laredo.
Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong took his post in December saying the strategy of former President Felipe Calderon to take out cartel leaders only made drug gangs more dangerous and violent. The new administration would focus less on leaders and more on reducing violence, he said. Read more.
August 18, 2013
Mexico City - With the capture of two top drug lords in little more than a month, the new government of President Enrique Pena Nieto is following an old strategy it openly criticized for causing more violence and crime.
Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino, a top leader of Mexico's Gulf Cartel, was detained Saturday in a military operation near the Texas border, just weeks after the arrest of the leader of the brutal Zetas cartel near another border city, Nuevo Laredo.
Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong took his post in December saying the strategy of former President Felipe Calderon to take out cartel leaders only made drug gangs more dangerous and violent. The new administration would focus less on leaders and more on reducing violence, he said. Read more.
Aug 19, 2013
Mexico's Drug War Strategy Remains Unchanged With New Government
Huffington Post
By Katherine Corcoran
Mexico City - With the capture of two top drug lords in little more than a month, the new government of President Enrique Pena Nieto is following an old strategy it openly criticized for causing more violence and crime.
Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino, a top leader of Mexico's Gulf Cartel, was detained Saturday in a military operation near the Texas border, just weeks after the arrest of the leader of the brutal Zetas cartel near another border city, Nuevo Laredo.
Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong took his post in December saying the strategy of former President Felipe Calderon to take out cartel leaders only made drug gangs more dangerous and violent. The new administration would focus less on leaders and more on reducing violence, he said.
Yet the new strategy appears almost identical to the old. The captures of Ramirez and top Zeta Miguel Angel Trevino Morales could cause a new spike in violence with battles over leadership of Mexico's two major cartels. Read more.
By Katherine Corcoran
Mexico City - With the capture of two top drug lords in little more than a month, the new government of President Enrique Pena Nieto is following an old strategy it openly criticized for causing more violence and crime.
Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino, a top leader of Mexico's Gulf Cartel, was detained Saturday in a military operation near the Texas border, just weeks after the arrest of the leader of the brutal Zetas cartel near another border city, Nuevo Laredo.
Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong took his post in December saying the strategy of former President Felipe Calderon to take out cartel leaders only made drug gangs more dangerous and violent. The new administration would focus less on leaders and more on reducing violence, he said.
Yet the new strategy appears almost identical to the old. The captures of Ramirez and top Zeta Miguel Angel Trevino Morales could cause a new spike in violence with battles over leadership of Mexico's two major cartels. Read more.
Aug 14, 2013
Mexico's officials wage PR battle to sell energy reform plan
L.A. Times
By Tracy Wilkinson and Richard Fausset
August 13, 2013
Mexico City - The little boy with the twinkling eyes smiles out from full-page newspaper ads. His hands are held out for us to see, covered in black oil, an offshore platform floating in the sea behind him.
"Oil is and always will be ours," the ad proclaims in large capital letters.
The Mexican government may not be selling its gigantic state oil company, but officials are going full steam in selling what they plan to do with it.
On Tuesday, the day after President Enrique Peña Nieto unveiled a broad package of energy-sector reforms, the government flooded the airwaves, newspapers and other media with slick messages defending the proposal. Government officials made the rounds of television and radio talk shows. Read more.
By Tracy Wilkinson and Richard Fausset
August 13, 2013
Mexico City - The little boy with the twinkling eyes smiles out from full-page newspaper ads. His hands are held out for us to see, covered in black oil, an offshore platform floating in the sea behind him.
"Oil is and always will be ours," the ad proclaims in large capital letters.
The Mexican government may not be selling its gigantic state oil company, but officials are going full steam in selling what they plan to do with it.
On Tuesday, the day after President Enrique Peña Nieto unveiled a broad package of energy-sector reforms, the government flooded the airwaves, newspapers and other media with slick messages defending the proposal. Government officials made the rounds of television and radio talk shows. Read more.
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