Salem-News.com Mexico articles Page 28

Tourist Town at a Crossroads

Today's story is a general update on the situation in the town of Zihuatanejo on Mexico's Pacific Coast.

(ZIHUATANEJO Guerrero, Mexico) - Flanked by multi-colored palm trees sparkling in lights of psychedelia, a group of top-hatted singers entertains a crowd of locals and tourists with a rendition of Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York."

Later, backed by a bass-thumping band, 17-year old high school student Elida Salbasa belts out her version of Tejana legend Selena's "Like a Flower."

Mexico`s New Agricultural Crisis

Speaking in an urgent and commanding tone, the Mexican president said producers had 15 days to replant their crops.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - February's freezing fury has left a path of crumpled crops, pummeled harvests and dashed dreams in the countryside of northern Mexico.

Re-envisioning Mexico Tourism

Part two in a special series on Mexican tourism.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - Santos Santana takes in a breath and gives a long gaze at the man pounding away with his jackhammer on the pier, as a frogman dips in and out of the water splashing around the structure gradually being taken apart.

For the lanky, 30-year veteran of Puerto Vallarta's tourist trade, the project scheduled for completion sometime this year can't come soon enough.

Mexican Political Transition Underway

The political mix is a volatile one, with politicians jumping from party-to-party and forging alliances that once seemed unthinkable.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - As recent comments by Hillary Clinton and Janet Napolitano reaffirm, the Obama administration is wagering that Mexican President Felipe Calderon can largely dismantle powerful organized crime groups in the 22 months the conservative leader has left in office.

But in Mexico, the calendar operates in different ways than up north, and the post-Calderon years are already in swing.

Defending Mexico Tourism in Tough Times

Part one in a special series on Mexican tourism.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - Violeta Serrano takes a break from haggling with a couple from Seattle over the price of a beach towel.

Part of the wave of people that's gradually drifted from Acapulco to other vacation destinations in Mexico, Serrano runs a curio shop just off Puerto Vallarta's popular Los Muertos Beach. The small business owner has seen better days.

The Enduring Jaguar

"The jaguar performs a fundamental role in the our ecosystems" - Jalisco Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - An enduring symbol of indigenous cultures in the Americas, the jaguar continues to hang on despite illegal hunting, habitat pressures and delays in implementing conservation plans.

New Wave of Cross-Border Activism

"You can't have Juarez without El Paso and you can't have El Paso without Juarez" - Ana Morales - Peace and Justice without Borders

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - If anything marks the first weeks of 2011 in Mexico and the Paso del Norte border region, it is the growth of citizen activism in response to femicide, human rights violations and a broad range of atrocities stemming from the so-called drug war.

Galvanized by the recent murders of two women from Ciudad Juarez, activist mother Marisela Escobedo and poet Susana Chavez, public demonstrations were held in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua City, Monterrey, Culiacan, Pachuca and Mexico City.

Security News: A Positive Spin on Mexico Violence

According to a Mexican national news agency, 507 people were reported killed in gangland-style killings across Mexico during the first 14 days of the new year.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - In its second-to-last year in office, the Mexican President Calderon's administration is on a public relations offensive to counter a ceaseless barrage of criticism over the conduct and progress of the so-called drug war.

In response, Calderon administration officials-echoed by Washington-are increasingly claiming victories in various operations against organized crime.

Immigration News: Debate Simmers Outside the Beltway

Many immigrant workers and their families in New Mexico are now under pressure from Border Patrol checkpoints and patrols, in collaboration with local police agencies.

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - At the state and local levels, the debate over immigration continues to simmer in 2011. In Las Cruces, New Mexico, for instance, public forums on the immigration question are scheduled to be held at City Hall on Thursday.

A roster of speakers is lined up to address the legal, economic and human rights aspects of immigration.

A Nation of Farm Workers

“I’m not sure we’ll ever return to the type of full employment we’ve had in the past” - Charles McMillon, Washington, DC-based MBG Information Services

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - In New Mexico and the United States, farm work keeps undergoing historic transformations.

Globalization, mechanization, technological innovation, and job outsourcing have eliminated or changed thousands of jobs in cotton, pecan, chile, pecan, onion and other crops.