Science!!!

Mexico and the United States signed here on Monday an agreement on cooperation in science and technology for security issues.

The agreement was signed by Mexico's Interior Secretariat Juan Camilo Mourino Terrazo and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on the sidelines of the ongoing North American leaders' annual summit here.

The aim of the agreement is to establish a framework to promote, develop and facilitate bilateral cooperation activities in science and technology and other national security issues, according to a press release from the Mexican delegation.

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Importance: Mexico will probably gain alot from this agreement since the U.S. is showing them their technological toys.

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Mxico and U.S.

DALLAS (AP) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon made an investment pitch Tuesday to business officials, saying his country has "solid economic fundamentals" and is dealing with transportation needs and crime.

And while Calderon has criticized U.S. immigration policy, he said U.S. investment in his country could ease the pressure for Mexicans to move -- legally or otherwise -- to the United States.

"The goal is not to see every year Mexican people trying to cross the border to the United States," Calderon said. "Our goal is to create opportunities for our people in Mexico. That is absolutely possible."

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Importance: If Calderon can make his words come true no only will Mexico's economy grow but, the U.S. government will have a maller immiration problem.

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Mexico Sweetens the U.S.

MEXICO CITY, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Mexico sugar producers said on Wednesday they plan to export 750,000 tonnes of sugar mostly to the United States over the next three months to fill demand after a blast destroyed a major U.S. sugar refinery.


The exports take advantage of new trade rules that lifted all barriers to free trade in sweeteners on Jan. 1 between Mexico and the United States, one of the last protected industries under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

U.S. sugar producers fear an increase in Mexican sugar imports will crush U.S. prices but Mexico says they can fill demand after last week's fire and explosion in a Georgia sugar refinery owned by Imperial Sugar.

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Importance: Mexico is taking advantage of its new freedoms, which is a great thing. Since they seem to want to intergrate our economies they are moving in t right direction.

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US drug czar: marijuana now biggest moneymaker for Mexican cartels

MEXICO CITY - Marijuana is now the biggest source of income for Mexico's drug cartels and the U.S. is committed to cracking down harder on traffickers, U.S. drug czar John Walters said Thursday.

"We're trying to increase the force with which we're attacking this problem," Walters said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "This is a focus because of the overlooked importance marijuana has in the violence."

Walters made the comments following a meeting with Mexican officials who want the U.S. to prosecute marijuana cases more zealously to reduce the amount of cash gangs can spend on guns.

Full story here

Importance: The war on drugs is acknowleged by many to be the greatest problem facing Mexico today. Here we see that Mexico is trying to work with the U.S. to cut down on marijuana. This includes stiffer and more harsh punishments.

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Mexico peso off on US worries; stocks up on miners

MEXICO CITY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Mexico's peso currency weakened for the third straight session on Thursday as investors worried about the health of the U.S. economy, while stocks jumped on international metals prices.

The peso MEX01 lost 0.05 percent to 10.7930 per dollar, while the benchmark IPC stock index .MXX rose 0.47 percent to 29,361.32 points.

Data in the United States showed manufacturing output in the mid-Atlantic region slowed to a seven-year low in February.

Economists say trouble in the U.S. economy could translate into less demand for Mexico's exports and the peso.

Full story here

Importance: This is important not only to Mexico but also to the world economy. The article indicates that because of this, there is less demand for Mexico's exports and the Peso. On a different note, U.S. manufacturing in the mid-atlantic is at a seven year low. This could also be relevant to the apparent upcoming recession.

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Helping Deportees

Carlos Martinez was in a state of total panic after being deported from the United States to the Mexican border city of Matamoros — he had no money, nowhere to go, and, worst of all, he didn't speak Spanish. The 30-year-old New Yorker had left Mexico as a baby; when the Department of Homeland Security sent him south last May after he had served a prison term, he landed in a foreign land.

"I was crying when I went over the border. It was just a big joke to the U.S. immigration officials to have this Mexican who doesn't speak Spanish. But I was terrified," Martinez said.

Eventually, a fellow deportee invited Martinez to his family home in Santa Maria Zoyatla, a dirt-poor village of corn farmers, and they hitchhiked 1,000 miles south from the border. Having worked as a limo driver in New York, Martinez had no idea how to work the land, and after a few months he moved onto a nearby town to sell clothes in a market.

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Importance: Mexico is helping out the people the U.S. sends to them, and it will be the next step to see if the people Mexico helps try and return to the U.S. (legally or illegally) or if they decide to stay in Mexico.

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The Fence

Of all the issues in this year's US presidential election, immigration is the one that touches the rawest of Democratic and Republican nerves.

After last year's failure by President George W Bush to get his comprehensive immigration plan past Congress, it has become fertile and divisive ground for candidates in the race.

But there is one area of immigration policy that is proceeding, despite the political stalemate: the building of the border fence between the US and Mexico.

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Importance: The fence between Mexico and the U.S. is going up fast. However, after reading this article it seems the people of Mexico that want to come to the U.S. still plan to do so. The real question is what will the Mexican government do about this since many Mexicans are so open about wanting to break international laws.

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Seeing US Slowdown, Mexico Cuts Growth

Mexico indicated Wednesday it expects the downturn in the U.S. will mean much slower growth this year for its own economy, which depends on its northern neighbor for the bulk of its trade and investment.

The Treasury Department said it was lowering its forecast for Mexico's 2008 economic growth to 2.8 percent from 3.7 percent — a 24 percent drop.

"It is expected that the prevalent international economic scenario in 2008 will be less favorable for Mexico than what was anticipated," the department said in a report posted on its Web site.
More than any other country in Latin America, Mexico's economic fate is tied to the U.S., its partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico sends more than 80 percent of its exports to the U.S., which is also Mexico's largest source of direct foreign investment and remittances.

Full story...here

Importance: This shows that Mexico relies heavily on the U.S. in terms of economic growth. When our economy drops, Mexico's does as well. This coupled with the economic problem of farming and farmer's income has many wondering when the Mexican economy will get back on track.

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The American Mexico

MEXICO CITY - Mexico indicated Wednesday it expects the downturn in the U.S. will mean much slower growth this year for its own economy, which depends on its northern neighbor for the bulk of its trade and investment.

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Imortance: It seems that Mexico might be leaning on the U.S. a little to hard if so much of there hopes ride on the U.S. economy alone, but now that NAFTA is doing their thing and Mexico is losing their farmers it could be a bad situation.

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Mexico Seeks U.S. Aid on Drug War

Even as President Felipe Calderón dispatched more than 24,000 military and security forces to pacify areas overrun by drug gangs, the country saw more than 2,500 deaths related to the drug trade in 2007.

Mexico has logged important successes, from extraditions to drug seizures, and Mr. Calderón's administration has been lauded by many observers as the boldest in recent history in the face of organized crime. On Monday, officials announced the arrest of one of Mexico's top operatives, a suspected leader of the infamous Sinaloa cartel.

But with each victory comes another daylight shootout, another federal agent down, and a heightened perception that the problem is bigger than Mexico can solve alone.

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Significance: Mexico is looking for help to fight their drug war however; the U.S. drug war isn't the most succesfull project in the world. We'll see how much the U.S. actually helps.

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