Expert says greater potential for reconsidering immigration policy with Obama (In Spanish)

El Universal, 1/21/2009
Andrew Selee, Director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, says there there will be a change in the United States’ willingness to collaborate with Mexico with Obama.
“Bush had a great love for Mexico, but he did not always want to cooperate with Mexico,” Selee said. With Obama, “there [...]

Obama faces challenges south of the border

PBS, World Focus, 1/21/2009
Shannon O’Neil of the Council on Foreign Relations appeared last night on PBS’s World Focus to discuss the Obama administration’s challenges and opportunities in Latin America. In the first half of the video, she discusses the need to end the hypocritical relationship the United States has with Mexico on drug trafficking. We [...]

Legislative leader to propose a lower salary for congressmen (in Spanish)

La Crónica de Hoy, 1/21/2009
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, César Duarte Jáquez, announced today that he plans to introduce a proposal for congressmen to lower their monthly wage by 10-20%, as solidarity with the rest of Mexico during the economic crisis.
Read more…

Organizations urge construction of a culture of reporting criminal acts (in Spanish)

El Universal, 1/21/2009
Mexico’s high level of insecurity has earned it fifth place out of 107 countries in a report by Interpol and the DEA.
Twenty-five variables were used in the study, including crimes related to the trafficking of drugs, weapons, stolen vehicles, and people. In response, leaders from 120 organizations came together as part of the [...]

Citigroup not planning to sell Banamex: sources

Reuters, 1/21/2009
Citigroup Inc views its Mexican banking unit Banamex as a solid business and has no plans to sell it, sources familiar with the matter said. Analysts and business columnists have speculated recently that leading businessmen in Mexico could be planning to buy Banamex as Citigroup tries to shed assets.
Telecommunications entrepreneur Carlos Slim, the world’s [...]

Editorial: Blacklisted (In Spanish)

Sergio Aguayo, Reforma, 1/21/2009
In the United States, Mexico has already been put on the black list of “failed states.” Felipe Calderón’s government rejects the label with indignation, yet the stubborn reality sews doubts.
Social sciences are imprecise because, except for life and death, human existence lacks the predictability of cells observed under microscope. There are [...]

Opponents of the Border Fence Look to Obama

Time, 1/21/2009
Federal bureaucrats call it the “border fence.” The residents along the Texas-Mexico border say it’s a wall echoing the Cold War. And south of the Rio Grande, Governor Humberto Moreira of the Mexican state of Coahuila has dubbed it a “wall of hate.” But no matter what the controversial barrier being constructed between Mexico [...]

President Obama’s inauguration speech in Spanish and reaction in Mexico

Mexico Institute, 1/21/2009
Alberto Serdán Rosales, author of the blog El Chicote Postmoderno, has a Spanish translation of President Obama’s inauguration speech on his website.
The New York Times article on January 20, Abroad, Many Hope for ‘New Chapter,’ reports on Mexico City’s reaction to the inauguration: “thousands gathered to watch Mr. Obama in offices, restaurants [...]

Mexico sees refinery costing up to $10 bln

Reuters, 1/21/2009
A planned new oil refinery in Mexico could cost up to $10 billion, the head of the state oil company Pemex said on Tuesday. Pemex pegged the cost of a new refinery at $8.17 billion in a report released in July. Pemex is currently evaluating where the new refinery will be built and hopes [...]