Mexico's ambassador to the US urges America to stop a flow of guns and cash which he says is fuelling the country's drug wars.
Saturday 11 April 2009 Eight men died in suspected drug attacks in northern Mexico, including three in Ciudad Juarez, where at least 15 police were detained for abuse of authority, officials said Friday. Some 7,000 people have died in suspected drug-related violence across Mexico, particularly in northern border areas, since the start of 2008, amid a government crackdown on drug cartels involving more than 36,000 troops.
Friday 03 April 2009 Mexico will request a $47-billion line of credit from the International Monetary Fund. It's the first time in 10 years that Mexico has requested such a loan. Mexico, Latin America's second-biggest economy, is making the financial request at a time when its neighbor's economy, the United States, is worsening. Mexico sends around 80 percent of its exports to the U.S. And since the start of the global economic crisis, the Mexican peso has dropped more than 50 percent against the U.S. dollar, while the central bank has sold off more than $21 billion in a bid to stabilize the currency.
Wednesday 01 April 2009 The death toll in drug-related deaths continues to climb. In the latest violence, nine people were reportedly killed in separate incidents over the past two days. Four police officers lost their lives in a shootout with kidnappers in eastern Michoacan state while five people were killed in northern Chihuahua state. Mexico's government is trying to reduce the drug violence that killed at least 5300 people nation-wide last year.
Saturday 28 March 2009 OTTAWA: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF IGNORING MEXICAN REFUGEE PROBLEM
Human rights and refugee advocate groups are accusing Canada's immigration minister of failing to understand the threat to thousands of Mexicans seeking refuge in Canada. The minister, Jason Kenney, said recently that most Mexican claimants were trying to abuse Canada's immigration system. He noted that 90 per cent of refugee claims were rejected for that reason. But the advocate groups say that the large majority of refugee claimants are fleeing violence and abuse in Mexico related to the illegal drug trade. Gloria Nafzinger, a refugee co-ordinator with Amnesty International Canada, accused the minister of prejudging asylum claims. She suggested that Mr. Kenney investigate the violence in Mexico, adding that there are serious human rights concerns in that country. Francisco Rico-Martinez of the FCJ Refugee Centre in Toronto said that the idea that Mexicans are economic migrants who invent stories is not sustainable. The Canada Border Services Agency has linked drug-cartel violence to a sharp increase in the number of Mexican refugee claims. Canadian officials are preparing for more refugee claims from Mexicans travelling through the United States rather than flying directly to Canada. Mexicans do not require a visa to enter Canada.
Friday 27 March 2009 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that an "insatiable" appetite in the United States for illegal drugs is to blame for much of the violence ripping through Mexico. Mrs. Clinton acknowledged the U.S. role in Mexico's drug cartel problem as she arrived in Mexico for a two-day visit during which she will discuss U.S. plans to step up border security with President Felipe Calderon. A surge in drug gang killings to 6,300 last year and fears the violence could seep over the border has put Mexico's drug war high on President Barack Obama's agenda, after years of Mexico feeling that Washington was neglecting a joint problem.
Wednesday 25 March 2009 The U.S. government will spend $184 million to make the border with Mexico more secure in a crackdown against that country's drug cartels. Home Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says 360 federal security agents will be hired to police border posts as well as the Mexican interior. As well, inspections of southbound traffic will be intensified, with 100-per cent inspection of rail cars, mobile X-ray units for cars and advanced license-plate readers to identify smugglers. The struggle between cartels and battles with law enforcement left 6,000 Mexicans dead last year. President Felipe Calderon has ordered the deployment of 45,000 soldiers across the country to fight the gangs. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Mexico on Wednesday to discuss border, economic and climate-change questions.
Wednesday 11 March 2009 Mexico police find severed heads
Five severed heads are found in ice coolers near a road in central Mexico, the latest killings blamed on drug gangs.
Saturday 07 March 2009 Inmates at a prison in northern Mexico staged a riot on Wednesday in which 20 people were killed. Among the victims were two federal prison officers. Hundreds of prison officials aided by helicopters brought the riot under control. A government official in the nearby city of Ciudad Juarez says that some rioters had firearms. The riot broke out between rival factions of a drug gang. Ciudad Juarez is one of the most violent cities in Mexico. Local drug gangs are battling for control of valuable drug routes into the United States across the nearby border. The U.S. and Canadian governments are warning citizens to stay away from Mexico's border cities this spring.
Wednesday 04 March 2009 OTTAWA: MEXICO'S DRUG WARS AFFECT CANADA
Canadian police say the recent gang violence in Vancouver, BC, and other Canadian cities is connected to Mexico's drug wars. The superintendant of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Pat Fogarty, says gang-related violence in B.C. and elsewhere is "directly related to this Mexican war." Most cocaine sold in Canada originates in Mexico, and is sold either directly by Mexican drug cartels or arrives by supply lines through the U.S. According to Sup. Fogarty, when the supply of cocaine decreases because of crackdowns in Mexico or the U.S., the result is violence in Canada. The RCMP also says that although Mexicans don't directly operate gangs in Canada, organized crime there does have contacts with the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels in Mexico. Seven-thousand people in Mexico have died in drug-related violence in the past year, 1,000 in January alone.
Hundreds of Mexican soldiers have begun patrolling the city of Ciudad Juarez, where local authorities are battling against drug traffickers. The army is trying to prevent a total collapse of law and order. Regular clashes between drug gangs and the police have terrified residents. More than 2,000 people have been murdered in the area over the past year. Last month, drug gangs used threats against police to force the city's police chief to resign. The army expects to have 7,500 soldiers and federal police in Ciudad Juarez by the end of the week.
Monday 02 March 2009 US ready to aid Mexico drug fight
Washington could offer more military help to Mexico to battle violent drug-smuggling cartels, the US defence secretary says.
Friday 27 February 2009 OTTAWA: QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT NEW MEXICAN ENVOY
Protests have arisen in Canada over the appointment of Mexico's new ambassador to Ottawa. Francisco Barrio Terrazas presented his credentials to Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean on Thursday. Human rights groups point out that Mr. Terrazas was governor of the state of Chihuahua at a time when hundreds of women were raped and murdered in the industrial city of Juarez. He refused for years to mount an inquiry, and suggested the attacks were not surprising because the victims walked in dark places at night and wore provocative clothing. The Quebec Federation of Women has written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper about its concerns about the new envoy
The authorities have decided to send as many as 5,000 more soldiers and federal police officers to Ciudad Juarez, joining the 2,000 already there. The city on the U.S. border is Mexico's most violent and 250 people have been killed in drug-related violence in the past month alone. A federal cabinet meeting in Ciudad Juarez was interrupted by three bomb scares. The city has been caught up in a struggle for control of the illegal drug trade between a local drug lord and a cartel based in the state of Sinaloa.
Saturday 21 February 2009 The police chief of the northern city of Ciudad Juarez has resigned after drug cartels threatened to kill a police officer every two days if he didn't. Roberto Orduna told a news conference: "The decision I am taking is an intelligent one of life over death." Drug murderers had killed Mr. Orduna's deputy chief and another officer and left messages on their bodies that more police would be targeted. The city near the border with the U.S. is one of Mexico's most violent, 1,600 people having been killed in drug-related violence since 2008.
Monday 16 February 2009 Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, announced on Sunday that the Mexican navy and U.S. Coast Guard had jointly intercepted a fishing vessel carrying nearly seven tonnes of cocaine. Five members of the crew were arrested. They are suspected of being Mexican nationals. The nationality of the seized vessel was not reported. The seizure was the biggest drug bust in Mexico in two years.
Monday 09 February 2009 MEXICO CITY: TWO LEADERS OPPOSE U.S. PROTECTIONISM
Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, and Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, say they will challenge any move to introduce protectionist measures in North America. The two leaders are concerned about statements made last year during the U.S. presidential election campaign by Barack Obama. Mr. Obama at the time wanted to make changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement signed in the early 1990s to ease trade restrictions. Mr. Obama said that the pact causes job losses for American workers. The Canadian prime minister and Mexican president say the best way to speed up economic recovery is by improving competitiveness. They spoke by telephone on Wednesday. U.S. president Obama will visit Canada later this month. Trade issues will be high on the agenda
Tuesday 03 February 2009 The Paris-based media rights group, Reporters Without Borders, says journalists in Mexico's city of Juarez face self-censorship, exile or death. There were more than one thousand drug-related murders there last year as drug cartels fight over territorial rights. Journalists who report on the cartels face constant harassment, including threats of death. Mexico is considered one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists.
Tuesday 27 January 2009 Relatives of missing people are demanding that the government dig up mass graves and identify human remains. The request was made this past weekend after a drug gang suspect confessed to dissolving the bodies of 300 murder victims with corrosive chemicals. Last week, Santiago Meza admitted to disposing of hundreds of bodies in recent years for a faction of the Arellano Felix drug cartel based in the border city of Tijuana. The state prosecutors' office said it was looking into more than 450 missing persons' cases from the past eight years. More than 5,700 people were killed in drug-related violence in Mexico last year, nearly double the number of 2007. Drug gangs are often involved in kidnappings that target anyone from wealthy businessmen to ordinary people.
Wednesday 21 January 2009 At least 17 people were killed in Mexico Monday in drug-related violence, including a police chief in the state of Chihuahua. His murder was blamed on the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. The federal government launched a clampdown on drug-related violence more than two years ago with the deployment of around 36-thousand troops across the country. Despite the crackdown, however, there were more than 5-thousand drug related deaths in the country last year
Thursday 08 January 2009 Mexico takes urgent economy steps
Mexico unveils emergency measures to protect its economy, including freezing fuel prices and creating thousands of new jobs.
Monday 05 January 2009 UNITED STATES
Mexico has extradited 10 suspected drug traffickers to the U.S. bring the total for the year to a record 95. The total for 2007 was 83. The U.S. justice department says the suspects are major drug brokers or members of cartels. One is a former official of the Mexican attorney general's office who is accused of having been the security chief for a cartel.
m2008
Monday 29 December 2008 Authorities have accused an officer in the presidential guard of being a spy for a drug cartel. Army Maj. Arturo Gonzalez Rodriguez was placed under house arrest for 40 days while he is investigated. He is accused of selling information about President Felipe Calderon's movements to the cartel known as Beltran Leyva for payments of up to $100,000. The Associated Press news agency reported that Maj. Rodriguez was not part of an elite army detachment that provides security for President Calderon. Mr. Calderon has dispatched thousands of troops and police against the cartels in an increasingly bloody war that has seen 5400 people murdered in drugs-related violence this year alone
Tuesday 23 December 2008 Mexico's drug war claims 9 lives (01:19)
Mexico's president strikes a defiant tone after the latest round of drug violence claims at least nine lives.
Drug-related killings throughout Mexico have more than doubled this year to more than 5,300. Katharine Jackson reports.
Sunday 21 December 2008 The United States deported more than 212,000 Mexicans and Central Americans in 2008. Officials say it's an increase of 46 per cent form the previous year. U.S. officials say the majority of those deported were Mexicans. The number of illegal immigrants has fallen sharply due to a series of U.S. measures, including an expanding border fence along the southern border between
Friday 12 December 2008 Officials in the northwestern state of Sinaloa says 10 suspected drug traffickers were killed in a shootout. A local prosecutor says the traffickers were meeting with other criminals under a bridge when a disagreement apparently occurred. Sinaloa is one of the country`s drug-producing states. The country's top prosecutor said on Tuesday that drug gang killings have doubled in 2008 compared with last year to almost 5,400.
Wednesday 10 December 2008 Drug-related deaths continue in Mexico, police reporting having found 17 bodies in the northern states of Baja California and Chihuahua. The country's top prosecutor said on Tuesday that drug gang killings have doubled in 2008 compared with last year to almost 5,400.
Tuesday 09 December 2008 Mexico drug gang killings surge
Nearly 5,400 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico this year, more than double last year's toll, officials say.
Drug-related violence continued on Monday. Ten suspected drug traffickers and a soldier died in clashes between troops, police and heavily armed men riding in cars in the northern state of Chichuahua. Six others lost their lives when gunmen opened fire on a pool hall at Ciudad Juarez, near the U.S. border. And the defence department announced the discovery of at least eight mutilated bodies in a shallow grave in Michoacan state west of Mexico City. Meanwhile, the country's top prosecutor, Eduardo Medina Mora, is reporting a 117 per cent increase in gangland killings in 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. He says it's mainly related to increased infighting among drug cartels.
Tuesday 25 November 2008 The former director of the Mexican agency fighting organized crime has been arrested. Noe Ramirez, the former head of the Special Organized Crime Investigation Division, is the latest in a number of senior officials arrested in recent weeks by Mexican officials. The government has launched a massive operation into links between senior officials and drug cartels. Recently, the head of Interpol's office in Mexico, Ricardo Gutierrez, was arrested for allegedly working for a powerful drug cartel. Widespread corruption among Mexico's under-paid police is undermining President Felipe Calderon's army-backed war on drug gangs which has claimed more than 4,300 lives this year.
Saturday 15 November 2008 Transport and Communications Minister Luis Tellez says sabotage did not appear to be the cause of the plane crash last week in downtown Mexico City that killed Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino and eight other people. There had been speculation that the country's warring drug cartels perpetrated a crime. Mr. Mourino was the head of the government's war against the cartels. But Mr. Tellez says an investigation has shown the likely cause was turbulence from the bigger Boeing 767 in which the Learjet became caught.
Wednesday 12 November 2008 President Felipe Calderon has named an influential criminal lawyer as his new interior minister. Fernando Gomez Mont will be in charge of carrying out reforms to help fight the country's drug cartels. He replaces Juan Camilo Mourino who died in a plane crash in Mexico City last week. The crash killed all nine people on board and five others on the ground. Mexican officials have ruled out sabotage. Drug-related violence in Mexico has left some 4,000 people dead so far this year
Wednesday 29 October 2008 Mexico passes oil industry reform
The Mexican Congress approves a controversial bill allowing some private investment in state oil company Pemex.
Oct 22 - 2008 Mexico announces drug arrests
(01:23) Report Mexican authorities have arrested 16 suspected drug traffickers believed to be linked to the Sinaloa drug cartel.
The men were arrested after an evening shootout a and chase through Mexico City.
Tuesday 21 October 2008 TORONTO: MEXICAN REFUGEES FLOCK TO CANADA
The Globe and Mail reports that record numbers of Mexicans are seeking refugee status in Canada on the grounds that their country's authorities cannot protect their safety. The newspaper says that are now 9,070 refugee claims filed by Mexicans, the greatest number since the Immigration and Refugees Board was established in 1989. More than 3,000 Mexicans have been killed in the past year in violence related to wars between drug cartels and between them and the public security forces. Mexicans account for one-third of all refugee claimants but only 11 per cent of the claims are accepted, compared with a rate of 34 per cent overall. The Board has said it believes the stories of violence but contends that the refugees must turn to their own governments for protection. However, Federal Court of Canada has recently overturned half-a-dozen such decisions on the grounds that people cannot have recourse to the state for protection when the police themselves are perpetrators.
Friday 19 September 2008 Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino says two men in the city of Zacatecas have been arrested in connection with the grenade attack in the city of Morelia against a crowd of people celebrating independence day. Seven people were killed and more than 100 injured. Morelia is the capital of the state of Michoacan west of the capital, where the cartel drug wars are raging. More that 2,700 people have been killed this year. The attack on Monday is believed the first directed against people unconnected to the gangs.
Wednesday 17 September 2008 At least three people have died during a grenade attack at independence day celebrations in Morelia in Michoacan State. About 50 people were also wounded. The explosions occurred during the re-enactment of the cry of independence known as El Grito, a traditional ceremony celebrated throughout the country. President Felipe Calderon's office condemned the attack. No one claimed responsibility. Drug-related violence has increased across Mexico despite the government's crackdown on crime.
Sunday 31 August 2008 Mass anti-crime rallies in Mexico
Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans attend nationwide protests against a wave of killings and kidnappings.
Friday 22 August 2008 Mexico to combat rising violence
Mexican leaders agree a series of tough measures to tackle rising kidnap and murder rates which have shocked the public.
Friday 22 August 2008 The world's biggest cement maker, Cemex, says it will seek World Bank arbitration to oppose Venezuela's nationalization of its subsidiary there. Cemex says it will take its case to the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The Mexican firm says it considers the seizure a violation of Venezuela's constitution and that country's expropriation laws. Cemex also contends that the government's offer of US$650 million in compensation undervalues the subsidiary's real worth.
Wednesday 20 August 2008 HAMILTON: GEORGIA EVENTS COULD HAVE BUSINESS REPERCUSSIONS
The Prime Minister, Mr. Harper, says the conflict between Russia and Georgia could compromise business contracts between Canada and Russia. The prime minister says the government is re-examining all aspects of the relationship between the two governments. Last May, the Russian energy giant Gazprom concluded a contract to provide natural gas to the Canadian firms Gaz Métro and Enbridge as well as Gaz de France. The contract provides for the construction by 2014 of a methane gas terminal at Rabaska on the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City. The $1-billion project would enable Gazprom to export liquified natural gas to North America. Mr. Harper also supported the declaration by NATO foreign ministers issued Tuesday calling on Russia to respect its promise to withdraw its troops from Georgia.
Wednesday 20 August 2008 NGOs report that at least 24 journalists and news media employees have been murdered over the past eight years. Groups including Reporters Without Borders and the Foundation for Press Freedom emphasize in a report that most of the cases remained unpunished and that a culture of impunity has led to an increase in numbers of such killings. The report says that the main obstacles to the free exercise of journalism in Mexico are organized crime, which generates an atmosphere of fear, corruption and impunity and direct attacks by the police and armed forces.
Tuesday 12 August 2008 OTTAWA: TRADE MINISTER ON LATAM TRIP
Federal Trade Minister Michael Fortier will start a visit to Mexico, Panama and Ecuador this week. The visits, which started in Mexico on Monday, are intended to reinforce economic relations with the three host nations. Mr. Fortier was to make a speech before the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, his first major address since assuming his post in June. Trade has quadrupled between Canada and Mexico since the North American Free Trade Accord came into effect in 1994, exceeding $20 billion a year. Mr. Fortier will then meet business people and government officials in Panama and Ecuador. The minister is to visit the new international airport in Quito, a project in which a Canadian consortium took part.
Saturday 09 August 2008 President Felipe Calderon has requested that Congress approve proposed legislation that would impose life prison terms without possibility of early release on kidnappers. The legislation was presented days after the body of the son of a wealthy owner of sporting goods stores was found in the trunk of a car in Mexico City. The teenager was kidnapped more than a month ago and killed despite the family's payment of a ransom. Several police officers have been arrested in connection with the crime.
MEXICO
An AIDS lobby founded by the UN's former envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis of Canada, has accused Zimbabwan militiamen of engaging in mass rape as a political weapons. Representatives of AIDS-Free World are attending the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. The group's legal director, Noah Novogrodsky, says it will send lawyers to southern Africa to collect testimony about alleged rapes committed by the youth wing of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. Mr. Novogrodsky says his group believes that members of Mr. Mugabe's inner circle have turned the militiamen into rapists and killers. Betty Makoni, the founder of a Zimbabwan grassroots group for girls called Girl Child Network says that one of the rape victims' greatest fears is to have become infected with AIDS. Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, 15.3 per cent of the population being infected.
Friday 27 June 2008 A top police officer and his bodyguard have been shot dead while eating in a restaurant in Mexico City. Igor Labastida was director of the federal police division that monitors drug trafficking and contraband. The attack was the latest against police officers involved in the fight against drugs and organized crime. In May, the country's acting federal police chief, was shot to death outside his apartment in the capital.
Sunday 22 June 2008 A stampede at a crowded nightclub in Mexico City has claimed the lives of at least 12 people. Most of the victims were young people who panicked when police raided a party at the club to check for illegal sales of alcohol to minors. Three of the dead were policemen. A narrow emergency exit was partly blocked by beer crates. In Mexico, alcohol sales to youngsters under 18 years is illegal. The owner of the nightclub has been taken into custody.
Tuesday 17 June 2008 Police say they have discovered 154 illegal migrants inside a semi-trailer in the Gulf state of Tabasco. An official in Mexico City says the migrants, 140 of them Guatamalans, were suffering from severe dehydration after spending almost a week in the vehicle. The driver has been put under arrest and the migrants are in custody pending their deportation.
Friday 30 May 2008 MONTREAL: BOMBARDIER INVESTS HEAVILY IN MEXICO
Bombardier Aerospace says it will invest $250 million more in its facilities in the city of Querétaro in central Mexico. The company says the factory will construct the structure of composite materials there for its new Learjet 85. Final assembly, flight tests and the delivery of the final product will take place at Bombardier's plant in Wichita, KA. The Querétaro plant employs 3,000 workers. The Learjet 85 is scheduled to go into service in 2012.
>P>Thursday 29 May 2008 Police say they need heavier weapons to be able to deal with drug cartel criminals on even terms. Police Gen. Rodolfo Cruz told reporters in the northern city of Culiacan in Sinaloa state that police involved in the struggle to destroy the cartels need machineguns and that pistols are useless against their adversaries. Seven police officers were killed in the city on Tuesday while making a raid. Cartel gunmen have been often arrested armed with grenades, machineguns and rocket launchers able to take out helicopters. About 1,380 people have died in drug-related murders this year, a greater pace than in 2007.
Wednesday 28 May 2008 Seven police officers lost their lives on Tuesday in a gun battle with drug traffickers in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa. Police were searching a drug hideout in Culiacan when they were fired upon from inside it. Four officers were injured. Public Security Minister Genaro Garcia said later that the authorities have to improve the firepower of police and the bulletproofing of their vehicles. Earlier in the month, President Felipe Calderon deployed 2,700 more police and soldiers to Sinaloa, a centre of the country's drug trade, but so far with little result. About 1,400 people have died in drug-related violence this year, up 50 per cent from the same time last year.
Friday 16 May 2008 WASHINGTON: FORMER MEXICAN PRESIDENT WARNS AGAINST REOPENING NAFTA
Former Mexican President Carlos Salinas warned that there's a misperception that is would be opportune to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement between his country, the U.S. and Canada when in fact such an eventuality would lead to its cancellation. Mr. Salinas was in office when NAFTA was agreed in 1994. In remarks to the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, he compared reopening the accord to "a Pandora's box" of special interests seeking to have the deal skewed in their favour. The former president says the agreement has benefited all three trade partners by eliminating costly tariffs and encouraging cross-border investment. The two Democratic Party presidential candidates, Sens. Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton, have stated that if elected they would negotiate stronger environmental and labour protections within the framework of NAFTA. The event was also attended by the deputy head of mission at the Canadian embassy. Guy Saint-Jacques told the Reuters news agency that under NAFTA Canada has to share its resources with the U.S., which has turned out of advantage to the Americans with regard to energy security.
Saturday 10 May 2008 Brenda Martin released on full parole
After more than two years behind bars in two countries...
Saturday May 3, 2008 It was a bad year for press freedom in the world
10. Mexico. Drug trafficking, organized crime and official corruption are deadly beats.
Friday May 2, 2008 Martin back from Mexico jail
A tired but relieved Brenda Martin finally stepped onto Canadian soil yesterday, after more than two...Martin signed the documents on the advice of her Canadian criminal defence lawyer, who told her she would be immediately eligible for parole because she had already served more than a third of her sentence.
Sunday 27 April 2008 Running gunbattles broke out between suspected drug traffickers in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday, killing 13 people and wounding nine others. All of the dead were believed to be drug traffickers. Eight suspects and one federal police officer were injured, none seriously. Police recovered 21 vehicles, many with bullet holes or U.S. licence plates, and a total of 54 guns at various points in the city where the battles broke out in the pre-dawn hours.
Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary
Mexico Faces America’s Slump - February 13, 2008
Mexico has demonstrated its resilience through a number of global financial storms in recent years. Can that continue, with the U.S. economy teetering on the edge of recession? Past issues | his WN page
Commentary podcast. 
Monday 11 February 2008 Nafta Is a Sweet Deal, So Why Are They So Sour?
The Mexican government must revamp its own system of supports that now favor mainly big farmers, and provide small farmers with access to credit and know-how. see Nafta
Wednesday 09 January 2008 President Felipe Calderon is defending the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and the United States. He says that the 1993 agreement, known as NAFTA, has generally been beneficial for Mexicans because it has given consumers access to a greater range of high-quality products at better prices. He made the statement after Mexican farm groups protested against the removal of the last remaining tariffs on foreign crops. On January 1, Mexico abolished its last protective tariffs on basic crops like corn, beans and sugar under the terms of NAFTA. Mexican farmers have complained that they will not be able to compete with American farmers who can sell cheaper products thanks to government subsidies.
2007
Monday 26 November 2007 President Felipe Calderon Sunday unveiled a sweeping plan to curb logging and protect millions of monarch butterflies. The butterflies migrate to the mountains of central Mexico each winter, covering trees and bushes and attracting visitors from around the world. The plan will put $4.6 million toward additional equipment and advertising for the existing Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. It covers a 50,000-hectare swath of trees and mountains that for thousands of years has served as the winter nesting ground to monarch butterflies. The new initiative is part of ongoing efforts to protect the butterflies, which are a huge tourist attraction and the pride of Mexico. In some areas, officials can even be found standing guard along highways and slowing cars that might accidentally hit a butterfly flying across the road.
Tuesday 09 October 2007 Mexican President Felipe Calderon has criticized the plan to build a 1,000-kilometre fence along the U.S. border to stop illegal immigration. Mr. Calderon told the ABC television network that it's better to build bridges than fences. The president expressed regret that the proposal by U.S. President George W. Bush to regularize the situation of some 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. failed to meet the approval of Congress. Mr. Calderon pointed to complaints by U.S. farmers that they lack workers to harvest their crops. The Mexican leader says he hopes that Mexico and the U.S. can see each other as partners as both of their economies face challenges from Asia.
Tuesday 21 August 2007 The Canadian government has announced $2 million of emergency aid for countries stricken by Hurricane Dean. The state-owned Pemex oil company has ordered the abandonment of its offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and has evacuated the 18,000 workers who operate them as Hurricane Dean approaches the Yucatan Peninsula. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the hurricane could ascend from a Category Four storm to Category Five. The resort city of Cancun has arranged extra flights to enable visitors to flee. Cancun was devastated by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Hurricane Dean has already killed 10 people as it proceeds through the Caribbean.
Wednesday 11 July 2007 The Mexican government reports that 210 Mexicans have died this year trying to cross the U.S. border illegally. The authorities in Mexico City note that the most dangerous period of the year for attempted crossings hasn't even begun yet because the summer temperatures in the U.S. state of Arizona will rise yet further. Last year, 425 Mexicans died trying to immigrate illegally to the U.S
Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary
Mexican Resilience Increasing - May 9, 2007
Mexico has come a long way since the so-called Tequila crisis of 1994. Nowadays, Mexico gets caught up in global volatility just like everyone else, but is on the resilient end of the spectrum..
Consider how Mexico weathered the last couple of emerging market storms. In May of 2006, emerging markets retreated on evidence of slower global economic growth, declining commodity prices and rising international risk. The average emerging market bond spread widened by over 50 basis points, but Mexico’s rose by only 37. Mexico’s stock market fell by 18%, whereas Brazil fell by 26%. And, the Mexican peso fell by only 4% while Brazil fell by 16%. Past issues | his WN page
Commentary podcast.
Tuesday 13 March 2007
Bush to meet with new Mexican president
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has a tough message for President Bush: The United States must do more — "much more" — to solve thorny issues of drug-trafficking and immigration.
Friday 23 February 2007
Most Canadians not eager to visit Mexico, poll finds
Mexico as a vacation destination has suffered in the eyes of Canadians because of recent unsolved crimes which many blame on that country's incompetent police and corrupt legal system, a new poll reveals.
Saturday 17 February 2007
'Integration' talks spark fierce debate
A sweeping accord for the economic integration of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico has unleashed a firestorm of debate south of the border.
Tuesday 16 January 2007 Mexico's economy
A tumbling oil price may strain the budget
Less than two weeks into the New Year, Mexico’s oil export price has dipped below its budgeted level, raising the risk that the government might have to consider adjustments to the 2007 budget. While the finance minister, Agustín Carstens, says this is not yet needed, the price drop could give greater impetus to the administration’s planned fiscal reforms, designed largely to decrease the federal treasury’s dependence on volatile oil income.
2006
Sunday 26 November 2006 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced he'll attend the inauguration of Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon in Mexico City on Dec. 1. Mr. Harper says the two countries have a close friendship both on a bilateral level and as partners with the U.S. in the North American Free Trade Area, recalling as well that he welcomed Mr. Calderon in Ottawa at the end of October. Mr. Calderon was elected on July 2 to a six-year term as successor to President Vicente Fox.
Obrador 'inauguration' in Mexico
Sat 04/11/2006 rci Protesters demanding the governor's resignation in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca are getting fresh support from Mexico's largest leftist group. The Democratic Revolution Party says it will join the protesters in a demonstration planned for Sunday. On Friday, demonstrators forced federal police from one of their strongholds during violent clashes in the colonial city of Oaxaca. Striking teachers, native people and leftist activists have been staging protests there for the past five months. The violence has killed at least nine people. The demonstrators demand that Governor Ulises Ruiz be removed from office because of his alleged abuse of power. He says he has a mandate to govern and will not step down.
Saturday 04 November 2006 rci Mexican police again lost control of downtown Oaxaca on Thursday to protesters who had occupied the area for five months before the police temporarily beat them back last weekend. Thousands of protesters threw Molotov cocktails at the riot police, who retreated while using tear gas and water Canons. Local residents joined the protesters. The protesters forced the police out of Oaxaca entirely in June. The crisis in the city southeast of the capital started over a teachers' strike but expanded as leftists and Indians joined the protest. President Vicente Fox has vowed he'll end the conflict before he yields office on Dec. 1 to his successor, Felipe Calderon.
rci The standoff between protesters and police continues in the Mexican city of Oaxaco, southeast of the capital. The protesters have rebuilt several barricades in the city's downtown, one of them near a university campus that was the scene of clashes on Thursday. The police were forced to retreat under a hail of rocks and firebombs. President Vicente Fox sent thousands of federal police to Oaxaca last weekend who cleared the city's central square but have failed to control the rest of Oaxaca. The crisis in the city southeast of the capital started over a teachers' strike but expanded as leftists and Indians joined the protest. Mr. Fox has vowed he'll end the conflict before he yields office on Dec. 1 to his successor, Felipe Calderon.
Wednesday 01 November 2006 The Mexican government has acknowledged that its claim on Monday of having gained control of the city of Oaxaca south of Mexico City isn't accurate. The government of President Vicente Fox sent hundreds of police to Oaxaca to wrest control of the city from the protesters who have occupied its downtown for the past five months in an effort to force the provincial governor to quit. But the protesters have erected new barriers, while businesses around the central square remain closed, as do Oaxaca's schools. Groups of young people are roaming the city's streets throwing Molotov cocktails and stealing cars. The protesters accuse Gov. Ulises Ruiz of suppressing dissent and of having rigged the 2004 provincial election.
Sun 29/10/2006 Riot police with armoured trucks moved on Sunday into the centre of Oaxaca, where protesters demonstrated to have the local governor removed. Mexico's government has issued an ultimatum to protestors. President Vincente Fox says that they must lift barricades and end their occupation of the southern colonial city. At least six people have died in the unrest, which began in May to back demands for the ouster of Governor Ulises Ruiz who is accused of abuse of power. In one recent incident, three people, including a U.S. journalist filming the protests, were shot dead on Friday by masked gunmen.
Saturday 28 October 2006 Mexico's president-elect Felipe Calderon has ended a visit to Canada aimed at improving bilateral relations and increasing trade between the two countries. During his visit, he held talks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other top Canadian government officials. During a news conference, Mr. Calderon took the opportunity to criticize the United States for building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, calling it an embarrassment. The fence is to keep Mexican migrants from illegally entering the U.S. Mr. Calderon claims the fence will be expensive to American taxpayers and lead to more Mexican deaths. On Thursday, U.S. President George W. Bush signed a bill authorizing construction of an 1,100 kilometer fence along a the border with Mexico.
Thursday 26 October 2006 OTTAWA, MEXICO CITY: FUTURE MEXICAN LEADER VISITS
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