Amid drug war, Mexico less deadly than decade ago

Washington Post, 2/8/2010

Decapitated bodies dumped on the streets, drug-war shootings and regular attacks on police have obscured a significant fact: A falling homicide rate means people in Mexico are less likely to die violently now than they were more than a decade ago.

It also means tourists as well as locals may be safer than many believe.

Mexico City’s homicide rate today is about on par with Los Angeles and is less than a third of that for Washington, D.C.

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U.S., Mexico closer to resolving trucking dispute

Reuters, 2/8/2010

In March 2009, U.S. lawmakers canceled funding for a test program begun by the Bush administration that allowed Mexican long-haul trucks to circulate in the United States, citing safety and security concerns.

The truck ban prompted Mexico to slap retaliatory tariffs on a long list of U.S. exports, including fruit and industrial goods, worth an estimated $2.4 billion.

But U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, visiting Mexico this week, said President Barack Obama had pushed Congress to remove the clause cutting funding for the program in recent legislation, a first step toward resolving the dispute.

“We have been able to work with Congress and Obama is very pleased that the language in the 2009 appropriations bill — that essentially cut off the funding for the demonstration safety program — was not included in the 2010 appropriations bill,” Kirk told Reuters in an interview.

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Leader of Feared Mexican Cartel Gets 17 Years

Washington Post, 2/5/2010

It started with a forgetful hotel guest – $42,000 left in a room in Boulder, Colo. It ended two decades later – the leader of a fearsome Mexican cartel sent to prison for 17 years.

The discovery in 1988 eventually led authorities to hundreds of pounds of marijuana and sparked an investigation of the leader of a drug ring that authorities say exported more than 100 tons of marijuana to the U.S. between 1985 and 1988.

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Mexico Massacre Response Fails to Convince

Los Angeles Times, 2/4/2010

Last weekend’s massacre of at least 15 people at a teen party in Ciudad Juarez was horrifying enough.

Then the authorities got involved.

Mexican officials have issued sketchy and conflicting information, including a death toll that went down. They initially said they were at a loss to explain why gunmen would open fire on decent kids in a private home. Then they produced a suspect who said the attack was part of a feud between drug-trafficking gangs, suggesting that at least some of those targeted weren’t so decent after all.

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Editorial: Seven fallacies in the debate on political reform

Luis Carlos Ugalde, El Universal, 2/2/2010

The political reform proposal by President Felipe Calderón is good for Mexican democracy: it attacks the political irresponsibility (impunity) of those who govern and seeks to increase the efficacy of the government decision-making.  The initiative could be perfected with additions or by eliminating parts that imply risks.  But in general terms it is a step on the correct path.

The author goes on to describe the seven fallacies he sees in the debate.

Read more from the original article in Spanish…

Read more from the English translation at Gancho Blog…

Families of 16 killed in Juárez massacre may seek safety in U.S.

Dallas Morning News, 2/4/2010

One by one, the coffins were carried out from small homes Wednesday, held carefully by grieving friends and relatives who demanded justice – but expressed little confidence they’ll ever get it.

Many, instead, said they are planning to abandon Mexico and move to Texas to save their other children.

Residents are looking elsewhere for a solution. In interviews, some asked that the United Nations send peacekeepers; others spoke openly about wanting the United States to intervene.

When a delegation from the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute stopped to pay their respects to the families, some residents mistook them for officials from the U.S. Consulate and asked them for political asylum. The Wilson Center is a Washington think tank.

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Editorial: It’s the future, stupid! (In Spanish)

Jorge Castañeda, Reforma, 2/4/2010

At an event launching the book  Un Futuro Para México: A Future for Mexico, organized by professor John Coatsworth the day before yesterday at Columbia University in New York, two interesting phenomena were emphasized.  The four panelists, Héctor Aguilar Camín, Santiago Levy, Jesús Reyes-Heroles and the author, agreed on one central point of understanding the current situation in Mexico.  And the majority of the almost 200 in attendance–students, professors, diplomats and writers–agreed in a discussion that contrasted with what can, on occaissions, be detected among external observors.  I would like to comment on both.

In summary, the first was on the absolute necessity of political reform before any of the other needed reforms, fiscal, security, labor, energy, etc., are feasible.  The second came from the public.  During a two hour discussion the theme of drugs and violence was only briefly touched upon.  It is not necessary to obsess over organized crime, drugs, and violence.

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Mexico says neighbor’s info led to massacre of 15

Washington Post, 2/3/2010

Gunmen who killed 15 people in this Mexican border city – many of them teenagers with no known criminal ties – were directed to the neighborhood by a resident who said members of a rival gang were planning a party, an official said Wednesday.

The mayor of Ciudad Juarez and other officials have said the victims had no criminal records and the gunmen may have been acting on mistaken information.

The detained suspect told investigators about the tip from the neighbor, state Attorney General Patricia Gonzalez told reporters.  Gonzalez refused to comment on whether any of the victims may have been gang members, saying it was part of the investigation.

But Chihuahua state Gov. Jose Reyes visited distraught parents Wednesday and assured them he believed in their children’s innocence.

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For Mexico’s journalists, story assignment can be a date with death

CNN, 2/4/2010

In most places, when 16 people are gunned down, the local media reports the incident without missing a beat.

But when the massacre described above happened last weekend in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the editors of the city’s largest daily newspaper had to have a long discussion before deciding to cover and investigate the story.

As drug cartel violence continues unabated throughout Mexico, journalists find themselves walking a thin line between covering the story and becoming part of it.

Already this year, three journalists have been killed in Mexico, reaffirming the country’s place as one of the most dangerous in the world for journalists.

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COMING SOON: Mexico Institute Senior Advisor Dolia Estévez recently traveled to Mexico to talk to journalists and media advocates about the dangers facing journalists.  An article on her trip is forthcoming.

Op-Ed: Candil Callejero (In Spanish)

El Norte, Sergio Aguayo Quezada, 2/3/2010

It is embarrassing that the President and Attorney General have undertaken a reactionary crusade to combat narcotics trafficking, while they simultaneously ignore what should be their priority: citizen security.

The massacre of students in Ciudad Juárez is a consequence of turning away from citizen security. It is offensive, that while massacres continue to occur, the Attorney Generals office has dedicated itself to elaborating and presenting as unconstitutional Mexico City’s legalization of gay marriage, and continues to support the PRI’s insistence on suspending transparency.

The attorney general Arturo Chávez Chávez does not act on a whim: he follows the instructions of the President. In order to understand the density of the conservatisim of the Pan party, just follow in his footsteps.

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