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 Editorials | At Issue
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A Cause Célèbre Clouds Mexican Sentiment on Kidnapping Scourge
 Elisabeth Malkin
Three years ago, morning news programs here broadcast the arrest of a Frenchwoman and her Mexican boyfriend in a police raid that rescued three kidnapping victims. The woman, Florence Cassez, was convicted of kidnapping and other crimes and was eventually sentenced to 60 years in jail. Case closed, it would seem.
Are Mexican Drug Traffickers Armed with US Guns?
 Patrik Jonsson & Sara Miller Llana
Most are, say US officials. But the NRA says the Obama administration is inflating the scope of the problem and threatens to undermine the Second Amendment.
Savvy Young Heirs Give Mexico Drug Cartels New Face
 Mica Rosenberg
Shunning the gem-studded pistols and gold chains flaunted by their fathers, a savvy new generation of drug smugglers is moving up the ranks of Mexico's cartels wielding college degrees and keeping low profiles to outsmart police.
Peru: Rights Groups Applaud Fujimori Conviction
 Marina Litvinsky
Human rights groups welcomed the conviction of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday on charges of murder and kidnapping.
With Victories, US Gay Rights Groups Expand Marriage Push
 Abby Goodnough
Gay-rights groups say that momentum from back-to-back victories on same-sex marriage in Vermont and Iowa could spill into other states, particularly since at least nine other legislatures are considering measures this year to allow marriage between gay couples.
Return of the Republican Hatemongers
 Doug Thompson
Led by hate-spouting iconoclasts like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, Republicans are comparing Obama to Hitler, Democrats to Nazis and invoking all the fear they can muster in an effort to turn back and the clock and restore their political fortunes.
Obama Administration Quietly Expands Bush's Legal Defense of Wiretapping Program
 John Byrne
In a stunning defense of President George W. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, President Barack Obama has broadened the government's legal argument for immunizing his Administration and government agencies from lawsuits surrounding the National Security Agency's eavesdropping efforts.
Mexico: Drug Fight Must Target Poverty, Addiction
 Traci Carl
Mexico's federal attorney general called Monday for a hemispheric battle against drugs that targets poverty and addiction, arguing that focusing on beating cartels in Mexico will only push the problem elsewhere.
Mexico's Death Cult Protests Shrine Destruction
 Kirsten Johnson
About 200 worshippers marched Sunday to protest the government's destruction of "Death Saint" shrines, saying Mexico's fight against drug cartels has veered into religious persecution.
Drug War Hits Mexican Economy in Crisis
 Robin Emmott
Mexico's economy, already in recession, is being dragged even lower by a brutal drug war that is frightening off some investors and hurting the Mexican currency.
U.S. Aid Delays in Drug War Criticized
 William Booth & Steve Fainaru
After promising $1.4 billion last year under a landmark initiative to help fight drug trafficking in Mexico, the U.S. government has spent almost none of the money, fanning criticism on both sides of the border that the United States is failing to respond quickly to the deepening crisis.
Mexico’s Brutal Drug War
 The Week
Ravaged by an escalating armed conflict between its army and five powerful drug gangs, Mexico is at risk of becoming a ‘failed state,’ U.S. officials say. Can the chaos at our border be contained?
Chile: Therapeutic Abortion - Hot Election Issue
 Daniela Estrada
The debate on the decriminalisation of therapeutic abortion has been revived ahead of the December presidential elections in Chile, one of the few countries in the world where abortion is illegal even under extreme circumstances, such as risk to the mother’s life or a severely deformed fetus.
 Beyond Elections in the Americas: An Interview With Michael Fox
 Benjamin Dangl
Benjamin Dangl interviews Michael Fox on the new documentary film, "Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas," co-produced by Michael Fox and Silvia Leindecker. Fox talks about how the film was created, what its aims were and what the film's impact has been among viewers in the US.
As Mexico Battles Cartels, the Army Becomes the Law
 Steve Fainaru & William Booth
President Felipe Calderón is rapidly escalating the Mexican army's role in the war against drug traffickers, deploying nearly 50 percent of its combat-ready troops along the U.S.-Mexico border and throughout the country, while retired army officers take command of local police forces and the military supplies civilian authorities with automatic weapons and grenades.
Mexico's Military Justice System Under Fire
 Diego Cevallos
The Mexican government, legislators and human rights organisations are calling for a review of the outdated military justice system, accused of letting human rights violators off the hook. But only activists seem to actually be doing anything to bring that about.
Hillary's Mea Culpa on Drug Violence
 Jose de la Ilsa
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton drew attention to the U.S. "insatiable" demand for drugs and U.S. arms sales that end up in the hands of narco-traffickers in a policy paradigm shift, characterized as a "mea culpa" in the Mexican press. Clinton's statement was taken as a major admission in the violent quagmire engulfing Mexico.
Mexico Trying Harder to Catch Smuggled US Guns
 Alexandra Olson
Try to bring a refrigerator into Mexico in the back of your pickup, and you are almost certain to get stopped by Mexican customs officials. Stick a couple of AK-47 rifles in your trunk, and chances are you'll whiz right through.
U.S. Military Funded Mapping Project in Oaxaca: University Geographers Used to Gather Intelligence?
 Cyril Mychalejko & Ramor Ryan
"War was God's way of teaching Americans geography," once wrote Ambrose Bierce, an American journalist and social critic. Today, a University of Kansas (KU) professor may be using geography to teach Americans war.
Immigration Cases Fuel Rise in US Latino Federal Inmates
 Hiram Soto
The percentage of federal offenders who are Latino has risen dramatically in the past two decades, driven in part by an increase in illegal immigration and enforcement of immigration laws, according to a study released by the Pew Hispanic Center.
In Mexico, Indigenous Woman on the Offensive
 Diego Cevallos
Two years ago, Eufrosina Cruz was kept from running for mayor of her home village by the "traditions and customs" of her indigenous community in southern Mexico, just because she is a woman. But she refused to back down, and challenged the tradition.
US Anti-Drug Effort at Border Is Readied
 Spencer S. Hsu & Mary Beth Sheridan
President Obama is finalizing plans to move federal agents, equipment and other resources to the border with Mexico to support Mexican President Felipe Calderón's campaign against violent drug cartels, according to U.S. security officials.
The Fall of the US Presidential Pardon
 Maya Schenwar
In the last throes of the Bush presidency, reporters and citizens alike waited restlessly for the announcement that many were sure would come: the long list of pardons for administration officials at risk of prosecution, GOP pols mired in scandal and white-collar criminals with lucky Bush links. The list never arrived.
Mexico's Gun Controls Undermined by US
 Chris Hawley
There is one gun store in Mexico. Only one. And not just anybody can shop here. The "Directorate for Arms and Munitions Sales," as the store is called, is run by the Mexican army and occupies two rooms in an olive-green, heavily guarded building near the army's headquarters.
Seymour Hersh: Secret US Forces Carried Out Assassinations in "A Lot of" Countries, Including in Latin America
 Amy Goodman
The investigative journalist for The New Yorker explains his recent bombshell revelation about Dick Cheney's "executive assassination" squads.
Cuba Launches Anti-Homophobia Campaign
 Patricia Grogg
The 2009 campaign for respect for freedom of sexual orientation, under the slogan "Diversity is Natural", will try to contribute to "the education of society in general, with an emphasis on university students, about respect for people's free and responsible sexual orientation and gender identity, as an exercise in equity and social justice."
Press Spotlights US Veteran Concerns
 David Lord
US media is full of news about current and emerging disputes between a White House struggling to impose new restraints on federal spending, and advocates for military members and veterans who have borne the brunt of two long and difficult wars.
Mexican Immigrants Trying Their Luck Back Home
 James Pinkerton
For generations, people of central Mexico have trekked to the U.S. and labored on farms and ranches, in factories and construction. But now this traditional exodus is reversing itself in ways that could profoundly impact both Mexico and America.
 New Front in War on Drug Gangs
 Sandra Dibble
At a small roadside chapel overlooking Tijuana's Rodriguez Dam, followers of La Santa Muerte regularly came by with offerings and petitions – for health, for protection, for work. They were shocked last weekend when they found the concrete block structure smashed to pieces.
In US, More Senior Citizens Forced to Declare Bankruptcy
 Ana Veciana-Suarez
Hit hard by the slumping economy and surviving on fixed incomes, senior citizens have experienced the sharpest increase in bankruptcy filings.
With Mexico's Army in the War on Drugs
 Associated Press
The Associated Press spent five days on the front line of Mexico's drug war, embedded with the army's 8th Division in Tamaulipas state, one of many organized-crime hotspots now policed by 45,000 troops nationwide.
In Drug War, Mexico Fights Cartel and Itself
 Marc Lacey
The cartels bring in billions of dollars more than the Mexican government spends to defeat them, and they spend their wealth to bolster their ranks with an untold number of politicians, judges, prison guards and police officers — so many police officers, in fact, that entire forces in cities across Mexico have been disbanded and rebuilt from scratch.
Mexico Asks U.S. to Resist Temptation of Protectionism
 Reuters
Mexican President Felipe Calderon urged the United States to avoid raising new barriers to international trade, arguing that a resurgence of global protectionism will only make the world economic crisis worse.
Verdict Strengthens Dirty War Impunity
 Diego Cevallos
For decades, prosecutors, historians, activists and the families of victims of the political violence of the late 1960s and the 1970s in Mexico have blamed former president Luis Echeverría for the 1968 massacre of student protesters in Tlatelolco square in the capital and the disappearance of hundreds of people in the country’s "dirty war" on leftists and other dissidents.
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