Mexico City - Last week, Mexican President Felipe Calderon gave the fifth state of the nation speech since his (many say fraudulent) election in 2006. He didn't have an easy time finding a positive spin for the escalating toll exacted by his war on drug gangs - 50,000 dead, mostly innocent civilians, in the last five years. Making his job even more difficult, just days earlier, the war's bloody cost was highlighted when 52 people, mostly working women and retirees on their lunch hour, were burned to death in a fire set by the Zetas in a Monterrey casino. Since then, Mexican newspapers have exposed a web of corruption linking businessmen, narcos and politicians from Calderon's own party in the enormous proliferation of gambling houses over the last several years.  read more »

San Cristobal, Mexico - This nation is caught in the grip of an escalating drug war that has cost 40,000 lives in the past five years. The daily body count varies but is usually measured in the dozens. Methods of extermination range from decapitation and mutilation to asphyxiation and a bullet in the head. Most Mexicans have become numbed to the extreme cruelty and hope they don’t get swept up in the river of blood.

Once in a while, however, a single incident can trigger a powerful reaction. Juan Francisco Sicilia was one of seven friends found bound and murdered on March 28 south of Mexico City, with evidence pointing to a drug cartel. His killing has sparked a national mobilization and a new movement aimed at shifting government policy away from perpetual warfare and toward an integrated political solution.  read more »

EVERYONE LIVING IN MEXICO SHOULD READ THIS
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC REALITY

First: A reality check on Mexico

Mexico is in a unique position to reap many of the benefits of the decline of the US economy. In order to not violate NAFTA and other agreements the U.S.A. cannot use direct protectionism, so it is content to allow the media to play this protectionist role. The U.S. media - over the last year - has portrayed Mexico as being on the brink of economic collapse and civil war. The Mexican people are either beheaded, kidnapped, poor, corrupt, or narco-traffickers. The American news media was particularly aggressive in the weeks leading up to spring break. The main reason for this is money. During that two-week period, over 120,000 young American citizens poured into Mexico and left behind hundreds of millions of dollars.  read more »

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC REALITY

First: A reality check on Mexico

Mexico is in a unique position to reap many of the benefits of the decline of the US economy. In order to not violate NAFTA and other agreements the U.S.A. cannot use direct protectionism, so it is content to allow the media to play this protectionist role. The U.S. media - over the last year - has portrayed Mexico as being on the brink of economic collapse and civil war. The Mexican people are either beheaded, kidnapped, poor, corrupt, or narco-traffickers. The American news media was particularly aggressive in the weeks leading up to spring break. The main reason for this is money. During that two-week period, over 120,000 young American citizens poured into Mexico and left behind hundreds of millions of dollars.  read more »

The Mayan ruins in Tulum, on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula overlooking the Caribbean. Photo courtesy of Mexico Tourism BureauThousands of American students are heading for Mexico these Easter holidays, travel industry experts say, despite near-daily reports of drug violence there. Cheap prices in Mexico, a slowly strengthening economy, the relative safety of many tourist resorts and the fact that the 2009 swine flu pandemic is now all but forgotten are all factors in Mexico’s resilience as a destination.

That’s particularly true of Cancun – Mexico’s top beach destination, said Patrick Evans of STA Travel, one of the biggest Easter break travel agencies.

“Cancun has always been the most popular among students, and it’s still tremendously safe, as long as people stay in the resort areas,” he said.  read more »

(AP) MEXICO CITY - Mexico's federal police agency has fired nearly 10 percent of its force this year for failing checks designed to detect possible corruption, a major obstacle in the country's battle against increasingly brutal drug gangs.  read more »

*** Governor Emilio Gonzalez issued a statement saying that the south-bound bridge will be re-opened for transportation for light passage (Read more below) ***

** Free maritime transportation offered by Vallarta Adventures from Paradise Village Marina to the Maritime Terminal API today (read below) **  read more »

2010 is the year of the Bicentennial Celebrations in Mexico. This wonderful country is commemorating 200 years of Independence from Spanish rule and 100 years of its Revolution that began in 1910 and toppled dictator Porfirio Diaz.  read more »

Mexicana Airlines, the busiest foreign carrier at Los Angeles International Airport, announced Tuesday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Mexico, blaming much of its financial trouble on high labor costs.

The debt-ridden airline made the announcement one day after suspending a total of 31 flights in Mexico and across the U.S., including some of its departures from Los Angeles, New York,  read more »

President Felipe Calderon: Mexico's presidentMexico City: President Felipe Calderon said on Monday that Mexico is facing a new stage in its war with drug cartels as gangs escalate their attacks on the government and civilians, including journalists.  read more »

The Grito de Dolores:

In the early hours of September 16th, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a priest in the small town of Dolores, rang the church bell to gather the townspeople. He called for the people of Mexico to rise up against the Spanish Crown, thus initiating Mexico's War of Independence. The country did not achieve independence until 1821, but it is this event, known as the Grito de Dolores which is commemorated every year with the Grito in town squares across Mexico.  read more »

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico enacted a controversial law on Thursday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marihuana (marijuana), cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging government-financed treatment for drug dependency free of charge.

The law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution; the law goes into effect on Friday.  read more »

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's former ruling party made a strong comeback in midterm elections Sunday, defeating President Felipe Calderón's conservative party and setting the stage for more gridlock in a country already politically divided, early returns showed.

With nearly all the votes counted, the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, won 37% of the vote compared with 28% for Mr. Calderón's National Action Party, or PAN, in the race for 500 congressional seats, 565 mayors and six governorships.  read more »

On June 26, the small Mexican town of Apaseo el Alto, in Guanajuato state, was the scene of a deadly firefight between members of Los Zetas and federal and local security forces. The engagement began when a joint patrol of Mexican soldiers and police officers responded to a report of heavily armed men at a suspected drug safe house. When the patrol arrived, a 20-minute firefight erupted between the security forces and gunmen in the house as well as several suspects in two vehicles who threw fragmentation grenades as they tried to escape.

When the shooting ended, 12 gunmen lay dead, 12 had been taken into custody and several soldiers and police officers had been wounded. At least half of the detained suspects admitted to being members of Los Zetas, a highly trained Mexican cartel group known for its use of military weapons and tactics.  read more »

CUARTOSCURO/GERMAN ROMEROPublic infrastructure projects are one of the keys to combat poverty and recover from the global economic recession, said State of Mexico Governor Enrique Peña Nieto before the leaders of the Board of Latin American Businesspeople (CEAL).

Unfortunately, funding for those types of projects has been abandoned due to "political reasons," the governor said.

Lawmakers must also be efficient and prevent polarizing and alienating citizens, he asserted during the meeting with representatives from 18 countries at the Casino Español in Mexico City.  read more »

NOTIMEX PHOTO/CABACAXALAPA - Governor Fidel Herrera Beltrán ordered State Health Secretary Manuel Lila de Arce to take preventative measures in municipalities in the bordering areas of Chiapas and Oaxaca to avoid dengue from spreading. Beltrán said that in Veracruz it is highly controlled. Public Health Director Luis Fernando Antiga Tinoco said that even though instances of dengue have been reduced by 40 percent during the first half of the year, but Arce said it shouldn't be ignored and urged residents to participate by cleaning their patios and yards.  read more »

NOTIMEX PHOTO/LUIS LOPEZPresident Felipe Calderón's proposal for a global warming fund that rich and poor countries both pay into is gaining support as negotiators enter the last six months of U.N. climate talks leading to an international treaty.  read more »

The CONCACAF zone qualifier for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and 2009 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship that was scheduled to be played in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) from Wednesday 29 April to Sunday 3 May, and was postponed due to the growing concerns over the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, has been rescheduled to take place from June 17-21.

Mexicans are getting back into the swing of normal life as the government announced that the worst is over and has eased curbs on commercial and public activity. For this reason CONCACAF and BSWW jointly took the decision to start setting new dates for the North and Central American Qualifying competition.  read more »

Discovery Channel's "The Amazing Race" is coming to Latin America and the producers are putting it to you, the public, to cast your vote and decide what country they will feature in the upcoming season of this popular program.

Mexico could certainly use some positive PR right now and this show has brought millions of dollars in tourism to the countries shown during the series.  read more »

($1.5 billion) in funding because of the peso's slump.

The currency's decline led to a "distortion" in Pemex's budget, Carlos Morales, Pemex's director for exploration and production, said Tuesday in Mexico City. The company may finalize an agreement with the government within days, he said.  read more »