Study: Lighter-skinned Have Better Job Prospects in Mexico, as Racial Discrimination Endures

Fox News, 2/19/2015

MEXICO CITY –  A new study says racial and ethnic discrimination continues to be an obstacle for many in the Mexican labor market.

The Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America reports that the study determined lighter-skinned Mexicans with a university education are 11 percent more likely to win a higher-paying job than their darker-skinned counterparts.

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Monarch Butterflies Rebound in Mexico, Numbers Still Low

By Mark Stevenson, 1/27/2015

The number of Monarch butterflies that reached wintering grounds in Mexico has rebounded 69 percent from last year’s lowest-on-record levels, but their numbers remain very low, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Last year, the Monarchs covered only 1.65 acres (0.67 hectares), the smallest area since record-keeping began in 1993.

This year, the butterflies rebounded, to cover 2.79 acres (1.13 hectares), according to a formal census by Mexican environmental authorities and scientists released Tuesday.

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Pope Francis: Crossing Into U.S. From Mexico Would Be A ‘Beautiful Gesture’

By Roque Planas, 1/20/2015

Reuters/Tony Gentile

Pope Francis told a group of reporters Monday that he doesn’t plan to travel to Mexico this year.

But next time he does visit, the pope raised the possibility of walking across the U.S.-Mexico border to show support for immigrants, according to a report from Spanish newswire EFE.

“To enter the United States from the border with Mexico would be a beautiful gesture of brotherhood and support for immigrants,” Francis told reporters aboard the papal airplane returning to Rome from the Philippines.

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Aztec App Brings Historic Mexico Codex Into the Digital Age

ABC News, 1/15/2015

A 16th century document considered one of the most important primary sources on the Aztecs of pre-Columbian Mexico went digital Thursday with a new app that aims to spur research and discussion.

The Codex Mendoza is a 1542 illustrated report ordered by Spanish viceroy Antonio de Mendoza that details sources of riches, Aztec expansion and territorial tributes, and chronicles daily life and social dynamics.

The new interactive codex lets users page through the virtual document, mouse-over the old Spanish text for translations into English or modern Spanish, click on images for richer explanations and explore maps of the area.

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Filled with artifacts, ancient Mexican tunnel may lead to royal tombs

10/29/14 Reuters

A sacred tunnel discovered in the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan is filled with thousands of ritual objects and may lead to royal tombs, the lead Mexican archaeologist on the project said on Wednesday. The entrance to the 1,800-year-old tunnel was first discovered in 2003, and its contents came to light thanks to excavations by remote-control robots and then human researchers, archeologist Sergio Gomez told reporters. The site is located about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Mexico City. The ruins have long been shrouded in mystery because its inhabitants did not leave behind written records. The artifacts found inside the tunnel, located below the Temple of the Plumed Serpent, include finely carved stone sculptures, jewelry and shells.

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Negro? Prieto? Moreno? A Question of Identity for Black Mexicans

10/25/14 New York Times

Candido Escuen, a 58-year-old papaya farmer, is not quite sure what word to use, but he knows he is not mestizo, or mixed white and native Indian, which is how most Mexicans describe themselves. “Prieto,” or dark, “is what a lot of people call me,” he said. This isolated village is named for an independence hero, thought to have had black ancestors, who helped abolish slavery in Mexico. It lies in the rugged hills of southwestern Mexico, among a smattering of towns and hamlets that have long embraced a heritage from African slaves who were brought here to work in mines and on sugar plantations in the 16th century. Just how many people are willing to share that pride may soon be put to the test as Mexico moves to do something it has not attempted in decades and never on its modern census: ask people if they consider themselves black.

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Zapatistas Today: These Photos Show Life in a Revolutionary Part of Mexico

09/22/14 Business Insider

Twenty years ago, in direct protest against the then-recently signed North American Free Trade Agreement, a makeshift uprising of Mayan farmers seized a collection of cities and towns in Chiapas, in Mexico’s remote southeastern corner. They were demanding rights for Mexico’s indigenous people, who they thought had long been treated unfairly and would suffer even more under the landmark economic deal. Naming themselves the Zapatistas after Emiliano Zapata, a principal leader of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, they emerged as a populist left-wing movement that openly called for a new revolution in Mexico, one that would replace a government which they argued was completely out of touch with the needs of its people.

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