Mexico 2018: Can AMLO Really Get to 20 Million Votes?
A question institutional investors often ask regarding Mexico’s presidential elections next year is: Can Andrés Manuel López Obrador actually win? Most polls do indeed put the leftist former mayor of Mexico City, known popularly by his initials, AMLO, ahead of hypothetical adversaries today. But the road to the 20 million votes he likely needs to … Read more
After Earthquake, Mexicans Vent Anger at Their Political Class
When Avelino Mendez, a local political leader, stopped by San Gregorio Altapulco to inspect the damage done by last week’s severe earthquake, he expected to find the southern Mexico City community grieving for its 13 dead. They were mourning. But they were also irate, and chased the portly chief of the Xochimilco borough through the … Read more
How Mexico’s Anti-Corruption Fight Went Off-Track
Eighteen months ago, I wrote in AQ about the success of Mexico’s citizen-driven corruption fight in Congress. Civil society groups, academics and activists had pushed for the rejection of a watered-down anti-corruption bill and instead presented their own, sharpened version of the legislation. This citizen’s bill, called #Ley3de3 (or #Law3of3) promised not only to help identify, … Read more
18 en Latinoamérica: Cuando problemas económicos amenazan con truncar un futuro alentador
Read in English A los 18 años, Andrés sabe exactamente lo que quiere: un trabajo en un laboratorio de química analítica y una esposa hermosa. Pero sin duda es difícil conseguir esto. Lograr su primera meta, convertirse en químico, significa levantarse a las 4 de la mañana en Puente Viejo, un pueblo rural a dos … Read more
18 in Latin America: When Economic Turmoil Threatens a Promising Career
Leer en español This article is adapted from AQ’s print issue on youth in Latin America. At 18, Andrés knows exactly what he wants: a job in an analytical chemistry lab and a beautiful wife. It sure is hard to get there, though. Reaching that first goal — becoming a chemist — means getting up at 4 a.m. in … Read more
Pardinas: Mexico Needs an International Commission to Explore Espionage Claims
Mexico is experiencing a dramatic crisis in leadership and should call an international commission to investigate reports that spyware bought by federal agencies to uncover criminal activity was instead turned on critics like lawyers, journalists and anti-corruption activists, said Juan E. Pardinas, one of Mexico’s leading transparency advocates and one of the espionage targets. Pardinas … Read more
If NAFTA Ends, Ford’s Move to China Will Be Just the Start
Ford announced this week that instead of building its new Focus – the best-selling car in the world – in a new $1.6 billion dollar Mexico-based plant, it will ship cars for North American customers from China. Ford has promised that its decision won’t reduce its workforce. Yet even if that is true, American workers … Read more
AQ VIDEO: A Mexico Border Tour With Alfredo Corchado
“This is the Ellis Island of the Southwest,” says author and journalist Alfredo Corchado. He knows from experience. Born in Mexico, Corchado’s family moved to El Paso when he was a boy, and he was a waiter in their restaurant just two blocks from the border itself. In this short video, Corchado shows AQ Editor-in-Chief Brian Winter how … Read more
Mexico Can’t Fix Its Criminal Justice System Alone
This month, facing public outrage over a spate of killings of journalists, Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto responded with promises of institutional change and improved cooperation between federal and state investigators. For Mexicans, this kind of official rhetoric has become part of a time-worn routine that does little to correct the country’s national crisis of … Read more
Trump Deportations Hit Immigrants With Strong U.S. Roots
This article has been updated It didn’t feel much like a homecoming when Luis Fernando Ortiz, 22, stepped off the plane in Mexico City after a decade away. His wrists and ankles were rubbed raw, chained for the duration of a 12-hour journey by bus and plane from Kentucky. His car, apartment, and family – … Read more
Why U.S. Tax Reform Threatens Mexico’s Financial Future
While tweets and speeches may continue to cause consternation in Mexico and Canada, the existential threat to NAFTA seems to have passed. President Donald Trump is now talking about giving “renegotiation a good, strong shot” rather than rescinding the free trade agreement entirely. On the docket will be intellectual property, labor rights, e-commerce, rules of … Read more
Does AMLO Have a Venezuela Problem?
This story has been updated, and a correction has been appended below. Attack ads comparing Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the late Hugo Chávez helped sink his first bid for the Mexican presidency over a decade ago. Now, with 14 months to go until the 2018 presidential election, he is once again the front-runner and … Read more
Tijuana Is for (Opera) Lovers
Leave the stereotypes aside. Tijuana’s annual Ópera en la Calle is a symbol of the city’s rich and evolving cultural identity.
Trump’s Border, As Seen on TV
This article is adapted from AQ’s special issue on the U.S.-Mexico relationship. To receive AQ at home, subscribe here. Those looking for affirmation of President Donald Trump’s “bad hombres” idea of the border are more likely to find it in fiction than in fact. Through much of its history, Hollywood has portrayed U.S.-Mexico relations through a lens of antagonism, or … Read more
Curating on the Divide
This article is adapted from AQ’s special issue on the U.S.-Mexico relationship. To receive AQ at home, subscribe here. Over the last two decades, inSite has established itself as a pioneering curatorial and artistic program for contemporary art in Latin America. In five editions held at the Tijuana-San Diego border, inSite has supported more than 150 commissions by Mexican and … Read more
