Is Mexico winding down or winding up the drug war?
Whistling by the Drug War’s Graveyard
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Merida Initiative
Deadly Words: The Spike in Killings of Mexican Journalists
Mexico is the third deadliest place in the world to do journalism — and the U.S. is making things worse.
Hillary Clinton’s Dark Drug War Legacy in Mexico
Clinton’s State Department overlooked human rights abuses and corruption while keeping a lucrative flow of contracts moving to U.S. security firms working in Mexico.
In Mexico, Hunted Down for Speaking Out
Once a refuge, Mexico City has become a hunting ground where journalists end up reporting on the assassinations of their colleagues — and wondering who will be next.
Obama Has Nothing to Gain by Propping Up Mexico’s Government
If Washington gives the Mexican president a pat on the back, it will be a stab in the back for the Mexican movement for justice and transparency.
Enrique Pena Nieto and Mexico’s Drug War Opening
On December 1, Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) assumed the Mexican presidency amid a flurry of protests against the party, whose previous 70-year rule defined the country’s authoritarian past. Yet it’s difficult to imagine that the new president’s term could be worse than the unmitigated disaster of his predecessor’s, which was marked by a dramatic militarization of Mexico’s drug war, widespread human rights abuses, and tens of thousands of deaths.
Endangering Women Human Rights Defenders
While a significant chunk of USAID spending goes to education and health programs, pockets of aid enlarge the already bloated military budgets of recipient governments. The result: less security and more violence against women, particularly women human rights defenders.
Two, Three, Many Colombias
This past September, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton drew criticism for comparing the current situation in Mexico to “Colombia 20 years ago.” Most of that criticism questioned whether the analogy was appropriate or whether the statement was an unnecessary affront to a close U.S. ally, the Mexican government of Felipe Calderón. But the more significant part of Clinton’s comments was her enthusiastic praise for Plan Colombia—the massive U.S. military aid package started by her husband in 1999—and her insistence on the need “to figure out what are the equivalents” for other regions, particularly Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
