Mexico
Holiday in the United States? Not this time
A good friend of mine, Juan, was denied a tourist visa to the United States this week. It’s technically known as a B-2 visa. Juan’s girlfriend is from the U.S, and he wanted to travel with her to her home state later this year to attend her sister’s wedding and to meet her parents for […]
Arrest warrants issued for Cacho case
Warrants for the arrest of five public employees involved in the illegal detention of journalist Lydia Cacho (pictured) have been issued in Mexico after the nation’s Supreme Court decided at the end of last year not to pursue legal proceedings against those involved in the case. The Attorney General’s office, which represents a special office […]
Mexicans spending more on bribes
The fact that there exist official statistics on the amount and size of bribes paid in Mexico is perhaps indicative of the level to which corruption and the ‘informal economy’ is ingrained in Mexican Society. The latest figures from Transperencia Mexico show that Mexicans spent 42% more on bribes last year than in 2005, splashing […]
Threats against journos continue through April
The month of April started off badly, and it doesn’t look like letting up anytime soon. Two journalists received menacing phone calls this week as a result of reports they’ve written.
Travel alert issued for Mexico
The U.S State Department issued a travel warning for Mexico yesterday, prompted by the increasing violence on the U.S – Mexico border. ‘Violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border. Attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, […]
April update: Violence against journalists continues
April is shaping up to be a bad month for journalists in Mexico.
Absolut Fallout
It’s been a full week since the eruption of fury over the Absolut advertising campaign that ran in Mexico. Since we broke the story it has gone international, appearing on the Los Angeles Times, Reuters, AP , the Drudge Report, The UK’s Independent, Radio Five Live and other major media outlets, as well as thousands […]
Absolut fallout
It’s been a full week since the eruption of fury over the Absolut advertising campaign that ran in Mexico. Since we broke the story it has gone international, appearing on the Los Angeles Times, Reuters, AP , the Drudge Report, The UK’s Independent, Radio Five Live and other major media outlets, not to mention thousands […]
Spoofs of Absolut’s spoof…
Following, Absolut’s controversial Mexico advertising campaign, here are some spoofs that have sprung up over the last 48 hours:
Sparks continue to fly over Absolut ad
Since the publication of the Absolut Mexican ad campaign story, the comments have been flooding in and controversy around the campaign has been growing. You can see MexicoReporter.com’s 130+ comments here and comments on the La Plaza post, which have pushed past the 7000 mark, here. Here’s an update on La Plaza with some more […]
LATimes.com Blog: Absolut campaign ruffles feathers in el norte
The latest advertising campaign in Mexico from Swedish vodka maker Absolut promises to push all the right buttons south of the U.S. border, but it could ruffle a few feathers in El Norte. Please go to the blog post here to read the complete version.
California reclaimed by Mexico? That’s the Absolut truth
Your humble correspondent was tickled to see this poster advertising campaign running across Mexico City this week. Absolut’s global advertising agency TBWA, and in this case their Mexican branch TERAN\TBWA, came up with an excellent, geographically specific angle. The agency makes a play on Mexico’s ambiguous, love/hate relationship with its northern neighbour the United States. […]
On the radio
You can hear me and my fellow Frontline Club bloggers Anita in Zimbabwe and Kyle talking about what we blog about. dslkdflksdjfslkdjfsdjf;sjdf;lsdj Podcast Notes: Emo’s attacked, Zimbabwe and AC Milan’s Tech. Click here to listen to the podcast of the show in which I was interviewed about the persecution of Emos in Mexico. If you […]
Mexican Human Rights Commission to investigate attacks against emos
Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission is to investigate all of the reported cases of aggression against the emo youth subculture in Mexico, following a spate of violence and hostility across the country directed at the group. According to El Universal, the Commission called for tolerance yesterday and voiced concern that attacks against emos violate the […]
Unrest around ’emos’ continues in Mexico
The peace rally organised by the Mexico City government last week to try and settle differences between emos and what is thought are other youth groups seems to have failed. As covered by Daniel Hernandez here on his blog, which has provided excellent coverage of the disturbances, a march for tolerance which took place yesterday […]
Video: Mexico making peace with los emos
MexicoReporter.com headed down to Insurgentes yesterday with the Los Angeles Times to cover a kind of peace rally organised by the leftist city government following the friction between emos and other youth groups, reported earlier this week. The result was this blog post by correspondent Ken Ellingwood and myself featuring a video interview with 18-year-old […]
Movie ‘La Zona’ thrills with its ambiguous take on Mexico’s class divide
This brilliant directorial debut from Uruguayan-born Rodrigo Pla poses some of life’s most fundamental moral questions in a film that grips the viewer right from the start. The feature also brings to the cinema, with very little exaggeration, some of the social dynamics of Mexican society and its obstacles to justice. Set in a gated […]
‘Emos’ under attack in Mexico City, Gov tries to peacemake
The Mexico City Government called a meeting today for the coming Tuesday between the city’s ‘urban tribes’ to try to put an end to the increasing violence and animosity against emos that is currently sweeping Mexico – see Daniel Hernandez’s blog here for an excellent synopisis of the current situation. Since the first attack against […]
‘La Misma Luna’ splits critics
La Misma Luna, or Under the Same Moon, made its Mexico City debut last week to a full house. The movie, which is the first Latino-centric feature from Fox Searchlight, tells the story of the separation of mother and son against the backdrop of thorny issue of immigration between Mexico and the United States. The […]
Mexico: Impunity and Collusion
Threats to reporters from government and criminals are making investigative journalism impossible, writes Deborah Bonello In February this year, the car of Mexican journalist Estrada Zamora was found empty on the side of the road in the southern state of Michoacán with its engine running. Zamora was not inside and has not been seen since. […]
Los Angeles Times: La Misma Luna
[video:bliptv:720717] The focus of the latest film from LA-based Mexican director Patricia Riggen is torn from today’s headlines and deals with the issue of families separated by borders. The Los Angeles Times talked with director Patricia Riggen and screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, about making the film and Mexicans in LA. This […]
Severe human rights problems persist in Mexico: US State Department
The headline might be stating the obvious, but for the record, according to the 2007 country report from the US State department, released this week: ‘The [Mexican] government generally respected and promoted human rights at the national level by investigating, prosecuting, and sentencing public officials and members of the security forces. However, impunity and corruption […]
Violence censors journalists in Mexico
This is a version of an article which appeared in Press Gazette last month. While traveling home through Pánuco, Veracruz with his 16 year old son in late January this year, Octavio Soto Torres, journalist and director of the Mexican daily Voces de Veracruz, was shot at by four masked gunmen. This was just the […]
‘Innocent until proven guilty’ to underlie Mexican justice system
Sweeping overhauls to Mexico’s criminal trial system announced last week could bring the country into the modern world, according to the Financial Times. People suspected of crimes will be presumed innocent until proved guilty, according to the reforms backed by President Felipe Calderon. ‘For the first time – and assuming that a majority of the […]
Ethical living? Stop taking cocaine
There is a great Leader in this Sunday’s Observer which makes a point I’ve often debated – how cocaine takers in Britain and the US, which provide the demand for the illegal drug industries in Latin America, tend not to think too hard about the impact their weekend drug habits might be having on other […]
Debacle disperses in Latin America, but more Mexicans involved
Just as quickly as it blew up a week ago, the disagreement between Ecuador and Columbia over an incursion into Ecuador by Columbia to kill a leader of the Farc rebel group has blown over. President Correa of Ecuador, Uribe of Columbia and Chavez of Venuezuela shook hands during a conference of Latin American leaders […]
Video: Las Mariachis celebrate International Women’s Day for BBCMundo.com
Tomorrow is international women’s day, so we went down to Plaza de Garibaldi to ask Mariachi Sonidos de America Feminil to sing a song for BBCMundo’s viewers across Latin America. Please click here to watch the film.
Rights group attacks impunity in Mexico
The limited attempts of the Mexican Government to tackle the high levels of violence against journalists testifies ‘to the inability or unwillingness of the Mexican authorities to make the fight against impunity,’ according to Article19, the freedom of expression NGO. Dr. Agnes Callamard, executive director of the group, said in a statement that the impunity […]
Video: The shooting of Brad Will
It occurred to me that many of you may as yet have not seen the last few minutes of the life of journalist Brad Will – he taped his own shooting. It is strong stuff: be warned. This is a link to the video on YouTube.[video:youtube:brt4YFnMdZ8]
Brad Will’s parents announce indy investigation into journo’s death
Kathy and Hardy Will, parents of the Indymedia journalist Brad Will who was shot dead in Oaxaca more than a year ago, have branded the Mexican investigation into the journalist’s death “frustrating and disappointing” for its failure to find those responsible. Will was shot dead by plain-clothed armed men on October 27th 2006 whilst covering […]