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.

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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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New Mexican Airport

MEXICO CITY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Mexican airport operator Asur will fight to take part in the bidding process for a planned airport in the Riviera Maya region which will drain passenger traffic away from its key runways at the resort of Cancun.

Chief Financial Officer Adolfo Castro said on Thursday Asur will take the case to court if government authorities do not allow the company to bid for the rights to build and run the airport in Quintana Roo state.

The government has not yet decided if Asur can participate in the bidding process. The sticking point is competition because Asur already operates nine airports in Mexico's southeast, including Cancun.

"If they do not allow us to participate we will use all the legal tools that we have in hand in order to protect our rights and in order to be part of the bidding process," Castro told a conference call with analysts.

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Importance: Yet another case of stifling "monopolies" in the name of competition in the Mexican government-business relationship. With the world economy in a decline, I find it odd that the Mexican government is increasing its business taxes. On an economic side note, the Mexican stock market gained on Thursday and the peso strengthened (another Reuters story...)

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Human Rights follow up

Mexico's human rights commission on Wednesday said it was investigating allegations that soldiers opened fire on a car at a checkpoint south of the Texas border, killing a man and wounding a U.S. citizen.

Jose Antonio Barbosa Ramirez solicited the National Human Rights Commission's help after the Mexican army opened fire on a car he was traveling in with his brother-in-law, Sergio Meza Varela, early Saturday morning in the border city of Reynosa in Tamaulipas state, the commission said in a statement.

The statement said the men had been drinking and doing drugs and decided to drive around the city. At about 4 a.m. Saturday, they were chased by a military-style Jeep and ended up at an army checkpoint where they attempted to flee by putting the car in reverse.

Barbosa, who said he was a U.S. citizen living in Reynosa, then felt a pain in his arm, lost control of the car and crashed into a pole. The soldiers fired more than 10 shots at the pair, the statement said.

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Importance: Another bad hit for human rights in Mexico. The troops that Calderon has sent to control drug trafficking have been accused of several violations of rights including torture and rape. The High Commissioner for the human rights commission has vocalized his warning about using military for the persecution of domestic crimes, but it has fallen on deaf ears.

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Mexico and Cuba Sitting in a Tree...

MEXICO CITY, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government said Tuesday that it would continue to push for the development of Mexico-Cuba relations to realize the normalization of bilateral ties at an early date.

The Foreign Ministry statement was issued following the announcement by Cuban leader Fidel Castro that he is stepping down as president of the Council of Ministers and president of the Council of the State of Cuba.

The statement reaffirmed Mexico's willingness to promote the development of its relations with Cuba, adding that Mexico respects the independent decision and the will of the Cuban people on the issue.

Read the full article.

Importance: Mexico is jumping to get a foot in Cuba since Castro seems to be out. Some rumors are going around that he's actually dead already, but we'll see. It's hard to guess how this will all turn out since Cuba has been introverted for so long.

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Smokers on the Run

On February 21st, the Mexican Senate is scheduled to vote on an anti-tobacco measure which, if it becomes law, would severely restrict public smoking nationwide.

This proposed law is not to be confused with a Mexico City smoking restriction law which is only for that city. The new measure is for the whole country.

Smoking tobacco has a long history in Mexico. It was practiced by the Mayan culture at least since the 900s. A carving from a temple in Palenque, Chiapas, portrays a Mayan priest smoking.

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Importance: The Mexican government already has enough problems with the Durg War, and by enacting this law the problem is only going to grow. What will the solution be? Stay tuned to find out.

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Drug Violence Reaches Mexico City

MEXICO CITY - A lunchtime blast that killed one person and injured two on a main street near a tourist district has shocked residents of the Mexican capital, which has so far largely avoided the drug violence raging in the rest of the country.

City and federal officials say the homemade bomb, which exploded two blocks from a Mexico City police compound Friday afternoon, was likely the work of organized crime rather than leftist rebels.

The country has suffered from a wave of shootouts, grenade attacks and execution-style killings that left more than 2,500 dead nationwide last year. But authorities say Mexico City traditionally has been more of a meeting place for traffickers looking to close drug deals than a base for their operations.

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Importance: Mexico City has never before been a target of drug cartel's violent plans. Though no one has yet taken responsibility for the explosion, most indicators point to one of the many divisions of organized crime that are beginning to control Mexico. This new attack marks a new extent to which the cartels have come due to President Calderon's increased drug survelliance and crack down.

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Pemex and Petrobras

Brazil's state oil company Petrobras is trying to interest its Mexican counterpart Pemex in joining one of its offshore exploration projects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a Petrobras executive said on Thursday.

State-controlled Pemex is banned by law from forming joint ventures in oil exploration and production within Mexico, but it is allowed to form joint ventures abroad.

Samir Awad, executive manager for the Americas, Africa and Eurasia, said Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) (PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) suggested working together in U.S. waters as part of an informal cooperation agreement the two companies have had for some time.

"This was offered some time ago on a very informal basis, in a meeting between the two (chief) executives, without any particular block or area in mind," Awad said by e-mail.

He said Pemex's response was that it could not accept the offer in the near term, for internal reasons, but that it would evaluate the possibility of joining Petrobras in the U.S. Gulf in the medium to long term.

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Importance: Petrobras has been a model of sorts for Pemex as a state-run company that has embraced privatization at some levels. Drilling in U.S. oil, though, has some worried that it will draw revenue from the Mexican stores of oil.

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Mexican Human Rights

MEXICO CITY — A leading international organization charged Wednesday that the Mexican government's human rights commission has proved largely impotent in preventing abuses of its citizens.

Human Rights Watch, the New York-based organization, said in a report that Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, a semi-autonomous body, has proved adept at criticizing violations of citizens' rights but has failed to halt or prevent the practices.

"The commission could have a much greater impact on human rights in Mexico, but it doesn't," Jose Miguel Vivanco, the group's director for the Americas, said. "While it does a decent job documenting abuses and identifying problems, it doesn't take crucial steps needed to bring about change."

"The (commission) should be a catalyst for human rights progress, not merely a chronicler of the status quo," Vivanco said.

Full Story

Importance: Once again corruption in the Mexican government is detracting from the country's over all level of democracy and freedom. Currently, Calderon is touring the U.S. to promote better treatment of Mexican immigrants to the U.S., but apparently his efforts are needed just as much in Mexico itself.

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Mexico Anti-anti Immigration

Mexican President Felipe Calderón on Monday decried anti-immigrant perceptions in the United States and argued that Mexican immigrants complement American workers.

On his first trip to the U.S. as Mexico's president, Calderón said he is working to combat anti-Americanism in Mexico and to improve job prospects there to reduce migration. He said he hopes that Americans resist anti-Mexican sentiments.

“The worst thing that happened in this country is this anti-Mexican or anti-immigrant perception of people. We need to contain this,” Calderón said after a speech at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Read the whole article.

Importance: While the U.S. is building fences Mexico tries to build bridges. The way Calderon talks it sounds like he really wants to blend the two economies.

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Bus Saves Women

Fed up with lecherous men taking advantage of the cheek-to-jowl conditions in the North American country's crowded transport system, Mexico's most populous city is running women-only buses.
"There are good men in Mexico, but they’re not the ones on public transport," Mariana Vasquez, 30, told The New York Times on Monday, February 11.

"They try to touch you. They don’t give you a seat. Where are the gentlemen?"

Mexico City began in January running women-only buses to reduce unseemly behavior on public buses.

Read the full article.

Importance: It's always good to see people protecting others. Mexico seems to be making lots of steps to being for the people.

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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.

Read the whole article.

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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Judicial Reform and more Drug Violence

OVER the past few weeks, gunfights between police and drug gangs along Mexico's border with the United States have left dozens dead. At the same time, two assassination attempts against a senior official in the public prosecutor's office have been foiled—the latest on January 17th when three men with grenade launchers and assault rifles were arrested.

On taking over as Mexico's president a year ago, Felipe Calderón decided to deploy the army to combat Mexico's escalating drug violence. Originally sent in as a temporary measure, the troops are still there. Faced with a relentless drugs war, Mr Calderón is now seeking to overhaul the justice system, too. The measures are ambitious; whether they will actually work is a different matter.

The very size of recent drug seizures might be seen as a sign of failure, underlining the magnitude of the trafficking. In October officials seized 23.5 tonnes of cocaine, the largest seizure ever reported in Mexico, though only a tiny fraction of the estimated 530-710 tonnes that cross into the United States every year, according to a recent report commissioned by an American senator, Richard Lugar. Mexican gangs already control America's lucrative methamphetamine trade. They have also been expanding their custom in heroin. In 2006 Mexican heroin production leapt by 58%.

Sometimes an apparent victory can actually make matters worse—at least in the short term. Last month Mexican troops arrested Alfredo Beltrán, a big shot in the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico's biggest drug gangs. But this may create a power vacuum leading to even more violence. Osiel Cardenas, head of the Gulf cartel, another powerful gang, has been in jail in Houston, Texas, for a year, with little discernible effect on the flow of drugs.

Full Story

Importance: Drug problems continue to escalate in Mexico. President Calderon has delineated judicial reforms that will change the current Napoleanic system to an Anglo-American system, but many are skeptical whether this change will help correct the problem of corruption and drug violence. The recession pending in America is not going to help matters, giving the drug trade more impetus as the Mexican economy declines.

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Assessment Complete