North America’s Largest City Moves to Legalize Pot

TIME
By Ioan Grillo
Oct. 14, 2013

Though deprived of sunlight and breathing the smog-ridden air of Mexico’s mountain capital, the marijuana plants, from a strain known as purple kush, reach 0.9 m in a brick home at a middle-class suburb. They are alimented with electric lights and kept behind closed curtains by the owner, who says he grows them to smoke himself. If police found them, he could be nailed for drug production and face a hefty prison sentence under laws designed to tackle the country’s ultraviolent cartels.  Read more. 

Nations Should Quickly Heed Advice of Greenwald, Assange

La Jornada - Editorial 

Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

October 11, 2013

In reference to the scandal about spying by U.S. government agencies on the governments, institutions, companies and individuals in many countries, journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has published classified material obtained by former analyst Edward Snowden, talks of the need to eradicate U.S. dominance of the Internet and form groups of nations to operate independent paths of access to the Worldwide Web. The Guardian reporter has suggested that Argentina and Brazil, as well as the European Union, would be well advised to build their own Internet - something only China has done so far. Meanwhile, Edward Snowden, being pursued by Washington, has taken refuge in Russia. Read more. 

MORE THAN FIFTEEN JOURNALISTS ASSAULTED DURING MEXICO CITY MARCHES

Reporters Without Borders
October 3, 2013

Reporters Without Borders condemns the assault of more than fifteen journalists by demonstrators and police in Mexico City yesterday while they were covering parades marking the 45th anniversary of a student massacre in 1968. The figure is conservative.

“Reporters Without Borders calls on the Special Attorney’s office for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) to open independent investigations to get to the bottom of these assaults and punish those responsible,” the press freedom organization said.

“We have previously noted that that abuses directed at journalists covering demonstrations will continue unless they are punished. The trivialization of violence against journalists undermines media coverage of events of this nature. We point out that, without journalists, the demonstrators’ message would not be heard by the public.”

Guillermo Barros of the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) told Reporters Without Borders: “I was covering the parade when the police started hitting the demonstrators to disperse them. Even though I identified myself as a journalist, a police officer struck me on the head with his baton.”  Read more. 

Mexico Police Clash With Protesters Opposing Pena Nieto Plan

Bloomberg 
By Nacha Cattan and Eric Martin
October 3, 2013

Mexico City police blocked the entrance to the stock exchange yesterday as thousands rallied on the main business boulevard and clashed with officers to protest President Enrique Pena Nieto’s economic agenda.

Police said about 30,000 students, teachers and supporters closed off the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard, with hundreds outside the Bolsa Mexicana (BOLSAA) and U.S. Embassy. Officers clad in riot gear used fire extinguishers and tear gas to defend themselves against protesters attacking with sticks, rocks and Molotov cocktails in the capital’s historic center. Thirty two officers were injured and 102 protesters detained, Mexico City police said in a statement.  Read more. 

Protesters clash with police in Mexico City

Hurriyet Daily News 
Mexico City - Agence France-Presse


Protesters clashed with riot police in Mexico City on Wednesday, leaving dozens injured as thousands of people marched to mark the anniversary of a massacre of students in 1968.

The Red Cross said at least 51 people were injured as a group of masked protesters threw rocks and firebombs at police who used tear gas and threw stones back at them.

The city's public security department said 32 officers were injured by mostly masked and "self-declared anarchists." At least 97 people were detained.  Read more. 

Women teachers in Mexico protest new restrictive education law

Womens News Network 
Katherine Ronderos
October 3, 2013

Excluded from the debate on educational reform, women teachers in Mexico, who represent more than 96 percent of teachers in preschool, 66 percent in basic education and 51 percent in secondary school, are protesting against a new law that will affect them negatively, especially those working in rural and indigenous communities.

Mainly women teachers in the states of Veracruz, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Guerrero and Chiapas (Mexico) went on strike while more than 30,000 teachers from some of the country’s poorest states moved into Mexico City and set up camp in the Zócalo, the city center, for three weeks in September. They are protesting en masse after the government pushed through “secondary” laws aimed at reforming the Education Act, in particular aspects related to teachers’ careers. They are demanding that the government moderate its education reforms.  Read more. 

Mexico Kidnappings Top 105,000 In 2012, But Few Reported

Huffington Post
October 3, 2013

The most frequently cited statistic to illustrate the extent of Mexico’s problem with organized crime is the 70,000 people killed since ex-President Felipe Calderón launched his frontal assault on the country’s drug cartels. Here comes a new one.

Mexico saw 105,628 kidnappings last year, according to a survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, a government agency. The statistics didn’t show much faith in law enforcement to address the problem -- only 1,317 cases were reported to police.  Read more.