New GDAE report: U.S. Ethanol Expansion Cost Mexico Billions in Higher Import Prices

GDAE, 5/16/12

GDAE study estimates that ethanol added $1.5-$3.2 billion from 2006-11

How much have U.S. ethanol policies pushed up corn prices? And how much has these higher prices cost developing countries dependent on imports for their staple foods? According to a new Working Paper by Timothy A. Wise, Research and Policy Director at Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE), it cost Mexico between $1.5 and $3.2 billion from 2006 and 2011, when U.S. corn ethanol production expanded dramatically and food prices rose to alarming levels.

The Working Paper, “The Cost to Mexico of U.S. Corn Ethanol Expansion,” was released today in Mexico City on the eve of a key meeting of vice ministers of agriculture from the G-20 countries. They meet to set the G-20 agenda on food security in advance of the G-20 summit June 18-19 in Los Cabos, Mexico.

“Mexico is the chair of the G-20,” notes Wise. “The government has the opportunity to take a strong lead in that powerful body to address the underlying causes of the food crisis. Curbing the expansion of biofuels is crucial to that effort. Mexico bans the use of corn for ethanol to protect food security. Our study shows that Mexicans themselves have suffered from less restrictive U.S. biofuels policies.”

Carlos Fuentes, Mexican Writer, Dies at 83

The Associated Press / The New York Times, 5/15/12

Author Carlos Fuentes, who played a dominant role in Latin America’s novel-writing boom by delving into the failed ideals of the Mexican revolution, died Tuesday in a Mexico City hospital. He was 83.

Mexico’s National Council for Culture for the Arts confirmed the death of Mexico’s most celebrated novelist. The cause was not immediately known, said the culture official, who was not authorized to speak to the media. Mexican media reported Fuentes died at the Angeles del Pedregal hospital, where he was being treated for heart problems. The loss was immediately mourned worldwide via Twitter and across Mexican airwaves.

A message on President Felipe Calderon’s Twitter account said “I deeply lament the death of our beloved and admired Carlos Fuentes, a universal Mexican writer.” Fuentes himself tweeted only one day, March 19, 2011, his last saying: “There must be something beyond slaughter and barbarism to support the existence of mankind and we must all help search for it.”

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Medical Tourists Can Speed Through U.S.-Mexico Border Crossing

Fronteras, 5/3/12

The Mexican border town of Mexicali is making a push for more tourists from the American Southwest to visit that city’s dentists, surgeons and doctors. Starting April 30, medical tourists from the U.S. with the right documents will be able to skip much of the wait on the Mexican side of the border by using a new designated medical tourism lane.

Mexicali’s tourism director, Omar Dipp, says the new lane is one part of the city’s plan to boost medical tourism by 50 percent. “So you can drive to Mexicali, take care of your health, and you can only do 20 minutes to cross the border instead of two hours,” Dipp said.

Foreign patients will be able to request a pass from Mexican doctors who are participating in the program. That pass, plus a doctor’s receipt and foreign license plates, will allow patients access to the special lane. Once in the lane, vehicles are supposed to be able to bypass the traffic on the Mexican side of the border crossing, and cut to nearly the front of the line.

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Mexico ex-president calls drug war ‘useless’

Los Angeles Times, 5/2/12

Vicente Fox

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox on Wednesday labeled the global war on drugs “useless” and an “absolute failure,” saying it’s time to consider legalization as an antidote to the violence ravaging his country.

Fox, who governed Mexico from 2000 to 2006, said his successor’s 5-1/2-year-old offensive against drug trafficking groups had failed to reduce the availability or consumption of illegal drugs and led only to more bloodshed and mayhem. More than 50,000 people have died since President Felipe Calderon launched the crackdown in late 2006.

Fox said his country, caught between drug producers in South America and a sea of users in the United States, was paying an unfair price for U.S. laws criminalizing drug use. “The country that imposed the prohibition, the country that has punishments and considers drugs a crime is the country that uses the most drugs in the world,” Fox said during an hour-long meeting with foreign correspondents. “We must end this useless war,” he said.

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Nine Key Changes for Mexico [In Spanish]

Nexos, 5/1/2012

In its May edition, Nexos features nine articles that comprise a guideline for national change to: improve the education system, eliminate regressive subsidies, unleash Pemex, open the Federal Electricity Commission, punish violence, integrate the Army to civic life, have governments make responsible purchases, make social protection a universal right, and adequately invest in the development of babies.

This post features a summary of each of these nine articles and their proposals for improving Mexico.

Mexico Institute: April Highlights

The Mexico Institute, April 2012

Each month, the Mexico Institute will review and highlight the month’s activities and feature them here.

Visitors will be able to watch the recap from our most recent events, browse our new publications, and read articles that feature key media appearances of the Mexico Institute staff. We hope you will find this review useful and informative. Enjoy!

Analysis

• April 9: Eric L. Olson and Diana Murray Watts: “Mexico’s Lingering Struggle for Gender Equality in Politics”

Diana Murray Watts and Eric L. Olson analyze the gender quota imposed by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) requiring 40% of the each party’s Congressional slate to be made up of women candidates. “If a party did not meet the requirement, the IFE announced that it could prohibit the party from running any candidates in the general elections,” the authors state. Murray Watts and Olson explain why the issue of gender equality in Mexican politics is not new and argue that true gender equality in politics remains elusive. “In a year marking the first presidential candidacy of a woman backed by a major political party, the issue of gender in elections is front and center,” the authors contend.

Read analysis here.

Mexico shaken by several quakes

Reuters, 5/2/12

Several earthquakes rattled Mexico on Tuesday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage as the country celebrated a national holiday. The first quake shook near the northwest, off the coast of Baja California, just before 9 a.m. local time and there were no reports of damage.

That quake registered a 5.0 magnitude at a depth of 6 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The second tremor, in the central state of Michoacan, struck before noon and shook Mexico City, although the epicenter was more than 100 miles away. Traffic and street life in the capital continued as normal just moments after the tremor, witnesses said. “I’ve lived through plenty of earthquakes. But I didn’t feel that one,” said Elias Munoz, 70, who runs a kiosk in Mexico City’s central Roma neighborhood.

The USGS said the quake that hit Michoacan had a magnitude of 5.7 and was recorded at a depth of 56 miles. The magnitude was revised from 5.5 The epicenter was 128 miles southwest of the Mexican capital. Fausto Vallejo, governor of Michoacan, said on his Twitter account there were no reports of damage in the state.

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Study: Teen marijuana use on the rise

CBS News, 5/2/12

More teens are smoking dope, with nearly 1 in 10 lighting up at least 20 or more times a month, according to a new survey of young people. The report by The Partnership at Drugfree.org, being released Wednesday, also said abuse of prescription medicine may be easing a bit among young people in grades 9 through 12, but still remains high.

Partnership President Steve Pasierb says the mindset among parents is that it’s just a little weed or a few pills — no biggie. “Parents are talking about cocaine and heroin, things that scare them,” said Pasierb. “Parents are not talking about prescription drugs and marijuana. They can’t wink and nod. They need to be stressing the message that this behavior is unhealthy.”

Use of harder drugs — cocaine and methamphetamine — has stabilized in recent years, the group’s survey showed. But past-month usage of marijuana grew from 19 percent in 2008 to 27 percent last year. Also alarming, says Pasierb, is the percentage of teens smoking pot 20 or more times a month. That rate went from 5 percent in 2008 to 9 percent last year, or about 1.5 million teens toking up that frequently.

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New graphs from JOIN – Agencia Ciudadana de Noticias

Jovenes Informados: Agencia Ciudadana de Noticias, 4/25/12

The Mexico based Group ‘JOIN: Agencia Ciudadana de Noticias’ has released the latest graphs in its ongoing series “México rumbo al 2012, por un voto mejor informado”. 

According to the group, their graphs are based on publicly available information and are intended to inform the public on current issues in Mexico that will impact the upcoming presidential election.  This issue contains graphs that focus on the subjects of security and human rights in the country.

The first graph reveals data on the state of security in Mexico and includes a breakdown of crimes in the country by state. The graph can be viewed here.

The second graph details the state of human rights in Mexico and the dangers faced by citizens as well as migrants in the country. The graph can be viewed here.

Mexico to maintain U.S. beef trade after mad cow case

Reuters, 4/24/12

Mexico’s agriculture ministry said on Tuesday it had no plans to stop beef trade with the United States after U.S. authorities confirmed a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, in California.

The ministry said it would maintain the same regimen of inspections for trade across the border and that there had been no imports of beef into Mexico from where the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) had detected the disease.

The United States usually exports more beef to Mexico than any other country, sending 500 million lbs (227 million kgs) in 2010 worth some $670 million, according to the USDA. The detection in a California dairy cow was the fourth such U.S. case since the first domestic discovery of the disease in 2003.

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