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 Editorials | At Issue
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Mexico's Lasting European Influence
 Jose Antonio Burciaga
Had Mexico not defeated the French at Puebla on May 5, 1862, France would have gone to the aid of the South in the U.S. Civil War, and our destiny could have been very different. Justo Sierra (1848-1912), a great Mexican writer who wrote "The Political Evolution of the Mexican People," made this observation at the turn of the last century.
Important Change in Mexico
 Los Angeles Times
Mexico’s federal government officially allows abortions if a woman’s life is in danger or if she has been raped, but actually getting the procedure done can be prohibitively difficult for the poor. Rape victims are often treated dismissively or openly humiliated by the justice system.
Illegal Workers or Convicts?
 Domenico Maceri
After having passed some of the toughest laws against illegal immigration, some Colorado officials are beginning to have second thoughts about them because fearful workers are leaving the state. As a result, Colorado farmers don’t have enough people to pick their crops.
FBI Launches Civil Rights Inquiry into Violence at Los Angeles Immigration Rally
 Jeremiah Marquez
The FBI will open a civil rights inquiry into the Los Angeles Police Department's actions at an immigration rally at which officers cleared a park by wielding batons and firing rubber bullets, the bureau said Thursday.
Migration to US Tops Death in Mexico
 Associated Press
Mexico has lost more people to migration to the United States than death since 2000, according to a government report released Thursday.
Police Action on Journalists at Melee Is Assailed
 Anna Gorman & Stuart Silverstein
One day after several reporters and camera operators were injured while covering an altercation at an immigrant rights rally in MacArthur Park, news organizations condemned the Los Angeles Police Department for its use of batons and riot guns against members of the media, and some said they were considering legal options.
Iraq Generals to President: You've Failed Us
 The National Security Network
Tuesday, two retired Generals who led troops in Iraq expressed outrage at the President's veto of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act.
Around the World, Protesters Call for Action on Darfur
 Agence France-Presse
Protests took place around the world on Sunday to demand that world leaders act to prevent further bloodshed in Darfur on the fourth anniversary of the conflict's start.
Mexican Journalists Decry Weak Efforts Against Violence on Peers
 Oscar Avila
Mexican journalists have grown impatient as more of their colleagues are murdered, kidnapped or threatened because of their work. Increasingly, the media have directed their frustration toward the office designed to provide them justice: the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Journalists.
Mexican Lessons for Election Reform
 AEI-Brookings
n March 26, 2007, the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project hosted a discussion moderated by AEI's Norman J. Ornstein on the lessons the United States and other democracies can learn from the Mexican electoral system.
US Presidential Candidate Wants to Supplement Social Security
 Peace and Freedom Party
Peace and Freedom Party candidate for president, Stewart A. Alexander, wants to give more to an aging America by establishing a universal basic income for all seniors to guarantee a basic standard of living.
Druglords Seize People-Smuggling Routes
 Olga R. Rodriguez
Mexican druglords are taking over the business of smuggling migrants into the United States, using them as human decoys to divert authorities from billions of dollars in cocaine shipments across the same border.
May Day - the Real Labor Day
 l.gaylord
May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in every country except the United States, Canada, and South Africa. This despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880s in the United States, with the fight for an eight-hour work day.
Mexican Cartels Thought to be Hoarding Arms for Turf War
 James Pinkerton
In the last 60 days, the Mexican attorney general's office announced the confiscation of 117 guns, 23,000 rounds of ammunition, two armored SUVs, 19 grenades, scores of bullet-proof vests, radios and police uniforms.
UN Rights Expert to Probe US Treatment of Illegal Immigrants
 Eliane Engeler
A United Nations human rights expert will head to the United States later this month to investigate a highly criticized Texas center for detained immigrant families and two border areas where U.S. officials have announced they would crack down on Mexicans illegally crossing the border.
The Human Face of Immigration Raids in Bay Area
 Tyche Hendricks
Many families across the Bay Area and the nation were turned upside down this year by Operation Return to Sender, a federal immigration crackdown begun last May. The raids focus on illegal immigrants who have ignored deportation orders.
California’s Primary: Toward a National Election?
 Domenico Maceri
Only five nations in the world had a GDP larger than California in 2005. The latest figures suggest that the state still has a strong economy which could easily rival that of many western European nations such as Italy, Spain, Russia, and even France.
Mexico Catholics to Go to Rights Court on Abortion
 Catherine Bremer
A group of Catholic lawyers will complain to an international human rights court next week about the legalization of abortion in Mexico City, a Roman Catholic Church spokesman said on Thursday.
Mexico Ex-President Fox Calls Chavez "Dictatorial"
 Reuters
Former Mexican president Vicente Fox said he was ready to ride his horse to Venezuela to defend the South American nation from the "dictatorial" government of Hugo Chavez, a Mexican newspaper reports.
Hispanics Leaving Imprint on Religion Across US
 Jeffrey Weiss & Dianne Solis
A major study released Wednesday offers a close look at how Hispanics are changing the way religion is practiced in the United States – and how American culture is affecting the faith of Hispanics.
Gay Rights Grow in Colombia
 Mike Ceaser
A Supreme Court ruling in February has already granted same-sex couples who have lived together for more than two years the same inheritance rights as married couples, pushing this traditionally conservative Roman Catholic nation into the forefront of the gay rights movement in Latin America.
Soberanes Insists Upon CNDH Version in ‘Rape’ Case
 Kelly Arthur Garrett
The top human rights official, facing tough questioning from skeptical legislators, insisted Wednesday that an elderly Veracruz indigenous woman had died of complications from stomach ulcers and not as a result of a sexual assault by soldiers.
Catholicism is Subtext of US Abortion Ruling
 Robin Toner
The five justices who turned the U.S. Supreme Court around last week and upheld a ban on one form of abortion have much in common. All are men. All were nominated by conservative Republican presidents. And, it was widely noted, all are Roman Catholic.
Ex-President Decries Border Fence Plans
 Sandra Dibble
During an awards ceremony last night, former Mexican President Vicente Fox spoke out against U.S. plans to extend the U.S.-Mexico border fence, saying, “We can do much better than building walls by working together.”
US to Make History Trying Alleged Child War Criminal
 Mark Tran
A human rights group today attacked a US decision to file murder charges against a Canadian national and alleged Taliban fighter who was captured in Afghanistan when he was 15.
Abortion Rights Gaining Ground South of the Border
 Mark Stevenson
Mexico City lawmakers voted Tuesday to legalize abortion, a decision likely to influence policies and health practices across Mexico and other parts of heavily Roman Catholic Latin America.
Mexican Officials Coached Witnesses In Border Patrol Murder Case
 corruptionchronicles.com
The key prosecution witnesses in the case of the Border Patrol agent charged with murder for shooting a confrontational illegal immigrant are themselves illegal aliens related to the shot man and coached by the Mexican government before U.S. authorities even spoke to them.
Do Presidents Need a Second Language?
 Frank Gomez
Few U.S. presidents have had second language skills. Does it matter? Beyond appealing to the Hispanic vote in the 2008 elections, is a second language important to our global leadership and competitiveness?
Kucinich's Impeachment Proposal Takes Antiwar Stand to New Lengths
 Marie Horrigan
Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich this week introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney for "high crimes and misdemeanors" related to his participation in the buildup for the war in Iraq and belligerent rhetoric toward Iran.
Stakes High in Mexico Abortion Debate
 Duncan Kennedy
There are only 46 of them, but the lawmakers of Mexico City who voted to change the capital's abortion laws may well have changed the course of the debate in Latin America and beyond.
Laws that Every U.S. Veteran Should Know
 David Lord
Most American Veterans who served during a period of war are unaware of laws that have passed since the 1970's. These laws give applicants additional benefits, and when done right, some 14 million Vets living at home or aboard could receive help.
"Bill Moyers Journal" Back on PBS
 Frazier Moore
He's coming back, and viewers will be the richer for it. Self-proclaimed "citizen journalist" Bill Moyers, who tore himself away from the TV grind a little more than two years ago, is returning to weekly television.
US Lawmakers to Open Tillman-Lynch Hearing
 Scott Lindlaw & Erica Werner
Lawmakers and the family of Pat Tillman want Pentagon officials to answer why was an American Predator drone flying over the scene of the friendly fire shooting? Did it record the scene, and if so, where is the footage?
Drug Wars Put Reporters at Risk
 David Ovalle
The country's bloody war between drug cartels has provided spectacular stories this year for those who write notas rojas, or so-called red news, as crime reports are known. But it's also instilled a sense of dread.
If Looks Could Kill
 Alice Wyllie
Beauty pageants have long been a controversial topic, criticised as shallow and superficial, opportunities to objectify and exploit women. However, despite being seen as desperately old-fashioned, they have a strange habit of making headlines.
Vote Could End Mexico's Abortion Subculture
 Cecilia Sánchez & Héctor Tobar
If lawmakers decide this week to legalize the procedure, it could signal the demise of a thriving herbal, medicinal and surgical black market.
On Narco Killings and Mexican Political Accords
 Enrique Andrade González
Today, some five months into the six-year term of Mexican President Felipe Calderón, the people of Mexico are experiencing an unprecedented and out of control phenomena — 400 executions connected with narcotics trafficking in various parts of the country.
A Shifting Tide
 Shannon O'Neil
As many in Congress, in the media and in homes across the nation debate the best way to stem the flow of undocumented workers across the Rio Grande, they don't seem to be aware that this perceived problem is becoming increasingly irrelevant
US Smuggling Abets Mexican Smuggling
 San Antonio Express-News
Problems do not respect international boundaries. Arms head to Mexico, and drugs come back, a pernicious, destructive cycle that creates chaos on both sides of the border.
Zapatista Cucapa Camp Defends Fishing Rights on Colorado River Delta
 Dan Bacher
The Cucapa Tribe on the Colorado River Delta in Baja California, 40 miles south of Mexicali, faces similar problems in the battle for environmental justice that the Winnemem Wintu and other California tribes face on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and California rivers and coastal waters.
Picture this if You Dare: More than 7,000 Nude Folks in a Photo
 Dane Schiller
To get naked or not get naked? That is the question people In Mexico City are asking as they ponder the arrival of Spencer Tunick, the New York photographer famous for persuading crowds to strip and strike a pose.
U.S. Citizen, Illegal Mother
 Domenico Maceri
Asked if he wants to live in Mexico, Saul said “no.” Why would he? Seven-year old Saul was born in the U.S. and his friends and his school are in Chicago. So is his mom. Except that she is an illegal immigrant who has received deportation orders.
Stop the Press: Censorship on the Rise in Latin American Democracies
 Martha Farmelo
As freedom of the press and information spread throughout Latin America, offering citizens greater opportunities to inform themselves and empowering them to pursue social justice, national and municipal governments are stifling democracy through politically motivated use of advertising money and regulations to control the press and access to information.
Pope Revises Views on Limbo
 Associated Press
Pope Benedict XVI has reversed centuries of Roman Catholic teaching on limbo, approving a Vatican report released Friday that says there were "serious" grounds to hope that children who die without being baptized can go to heaven.
Mexico’s Past Remains Unsolved
 David Ovalle
Human rights advocates say that hopes of a complete investigation into Mexico’s “dirty war” have vanished. That’s because responsibility for investigating extrajudicial kidnappings and murders dating to the 1960s has been shifted to the Mexican attorney general’s office.
More Women Rule, and Die, in Mexico's Drug Gangs
 Robin Emmott
Challenging the stereotype of macho Mexico, women are moving into positions of power in male-dominated drug cartels but in the process suffering gruesome deaths in turf wars among traffickers.
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