Seeking to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship.
09/16/16 The Atlantic
Your leaders have served you poorly.Americans celebrate Mexican heritage on Cinco de Mayo, but Mexicans themselves chose September 16 as their national day.
On September 16, 1810, the priest of a small town near Guanajuato summoned his followers to revolt against the colonial government of Spain. This incident is conventionally regarded as the opening of the long war that eventually brought independence to Mexico in 1821.
09/12/16 BBC News
Supporters of gay and lesbian rights marched to Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral in response to protests on Saturday opposing same-sex marriage.
Demonstrators carried banners saying “I respect your family, respect mine.”
The cardinal of Mexico City, Norberto Rivera Carrera, denied the Catholic church was behind the protests in cities across the country.
In May, President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed a bill which would legalise same-sex marriage nationwide.
08/30/16 The Economist
MANY of the songs—and there were more than 1,500 of them—were syrupy and sentimental, some more sobbed than sung. Juan Gabriel was not David Bowie. But his death on August 28th has brought forth a similar outbreak of mass mourning. Mexico’s greatest modern pop singer stirred the hearts of millions across the Spanish-speaking world, including that large bit of it that resides north of the Rio Grande. His meaning was deeper and more disturbing than some of his songs might suggest.
08/28/2016 The New York Times
Juan Gabriel, the prolific singer and songwriter who was one of Mexico’s most successful musical artists, died on Sunday at his home in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 66.
Juan Gabriel’s publicist told The Associated Press that he had died on Sunday morning. Univision said he had had a heart attack.
Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, offered his condolences on Twitter, calling him “one of the great musical icons of our country.”
Juan Gabriel released the first of several dozen albums in 1971 and continued to release records at a relentless pace, including two this year. He was nominated for six Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1996, he was inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame.
08/29/2016 The Star
MEXICO CITY—Tattooed hipsters on bikes. Same-sex couples walking hand-in-hand. Cafés with almond milk coffee and gluten-free bread. Artisanal mescal — three dozen different kinds.
This is not the Mexico most Canadians know. But in the chic eateries and cultural centres of the gentrifying La Roma neighbourhood in Mexico City, another side of the country is in full bloom.
“The city has such an intoxicating mix of culture, emotion, food, design and architecture that has really exploded in the last two or three years,” says Susie Neil, standing outside Toscano café, where she is producing a tequila commercial for a Canadian client.
08/20/16 The Economist
OMAR GARCÍA CERVANTES, an aspiring novelist, was brought up in the state of Veracruz but moved to Mexico City 16 years ago. As a gay man, he is happier there than anywhere else. Mexico City has grown only more welcoming since he moved there. In November last year the mayor, Miguel Ángel Mancera, signed a declaration proclaiming its gay-friendliness. Gay marriage has been legal in the city since 2010; under a law passed in 2014, people can change their legal sex simply by applying to alter their birth records. Hate crimes against gays are almost unheard of, says Alejandro Brito of Letra S, a gay-rights activist group.
08/21/2016 The Guardian
One of the rarest manuscripts in the world has been revealed hidden beneath the pages of an equally rare but later Mexican codex, thanks to hi-tech imaging techniques.
The Codex Selden, a book of concertina-folded pages made out of a five-metre strip of deerhide, is one of a handful of illustrated books of history and mythology that survived wholesale destruction by Spanish conquerors and missionaries in the 16th century.
