Mexico Archives - Page 15 of 16 - Americas Quarterly

Mexico’s Elections: The Presidency and Beyond

On July 1, Mexicans will elect their third government since the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) relinquished their grip on Los Pinos after 71 years ruling the country. But as election day approaches, anxiety and polarization continue to grow among both the electorate and political class. More importantly, this uncertainty stirs concern about the future of … Read more

Mexico’s Silicon Valley

Mexico is quietly emerging as a capital of Latin America’s growing information technology (IT) outsourcing industry. More than 600,000 people already work in IT, with another 65,000 new professionals graduating each year from the dozens of technical and engineering schools clustered throughout Mexico. The industry includes more than 2,000 IT companies, ranging in size from … Read more

[i]AQ[/i] Up Close: East Meets South

Mexico’s Chinese population and links between the two cultures continue to grow as new business and trade opportunities bring the two countries together. In these “AQ Up Close” videos, Americas Quarterly speaks with the director and instructor of the Instituto Confucio (Confucius Institute) in Mexico City about the linguistic interest that Mexicans are displaying toward … Read more

Mexico’s Fiscal Conundrum

Mexico’s reliance on deficit spending to fund environmental, social and income redistribution programs is a rising concern for its long-term fiscal situation. This is a challenge compounded by its historic reliance on declining oil tax revenue and the need for a structural fiscal reform. Without it, federal government debt will increase and future generations of … Read more

Maturing Microfinance

Two decades ago, most articles on microfinance would have begun with a detailed definition of the concept and an explanation of why the provision of microcredit was fundamental to microenterprise and economic development. Today however, microfinance has become a household term that, generally speaking, describes the provision of financial services (mainly loans, savings and insurance) … Read more

From Tradition to Trade

Uriel Arroyo is a ceramics producer from Capula, a small community in Michoacán, Mexico, whose family-run business used a centuries-old method to craft clay table- and cookware. Arroyo, like roughly 10,000 artisanal ceramacists across Mexico, used lead-oxide glaze to finish his pieces. Now, with the help of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and Mexican public agencies, Arroyo … Read more

Escaping Juarez: A Photographic Essay

Once the crown jewel of the maquila miracle that was going to be the cornerstone of Mexico’s development, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua is being abandoned these days by those who were lured there with promises of decent, well-paid jobs. The city’s fate is now in the hands of rival drug gangs who operate with absolute impunity … Read more

The Fulcrum of Our New Relationship in the Americas

Ever since President John F. Kennedy launched the Alliance for Progress in 1961, every new U.S. administration has pledged to dedicate itself to our common hemispheric agenda. Too often, our efforts have fallen short. Today, a truly galvanizing challenge—the threat of catastrophic climate change—offers the United States a chance to break that pattern and reengage … Read more

Mexico’s Fragile Middle Class

Can Latin American governments tackle inequality in the midst of the global economic downturn? Although some countries—most notably Brazil and Chile—have made dramatic gains in reducing poverty and expanding the middle class, Latin America remains, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, one of the world’s most unequal regions. Inequality has deep roots in … Read more

Transparency and e-Government in Mexico: Who’s Complying and Who Cares?

The movement for transparency in government has made great advances in Mexico since the defeat of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) in 2000. Parallel to the legal and constitutional reforms that opened up reams of government records and even the salaries of public officials, the Internet has improved the tools available for common citizens to … Read more

The Watchdog Generation: Wired Politics

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In 2004 the Mexico City newspaper, El Universal, sparked a shake-up like no other at Los Pinos, Mexico’s White House. It reported that then-Mexican President Vicente Fox’s wife, Marta Sahagún, plunked down up to $1,000 on dresses during a one-day shopping spree, and that Fox himself spent the same amount on suits.

Don’t Trash NAFTA

Fifteen years after its passage by a closely divided Congress, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provides an important lens through which to consider United States trade policy, U.S. politics and some of the effects of globalization. With a new president taking office next year, it is vitally important to draw the right lessons … Read more

Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants

There are few straightforward, objective accounts about Mexican immigration to the U.S., which partly explains not only the widespread misconceptions about immigrants but also the backlash that has developed in recent years. Amidst a complex debate and a wide range of publications adding contrasting interpretations about its costs and benefits, it is difficult for the … Read more

SAME SEX: Rights to get married

Reading Time: < 1 minute

“To marry or not to marry?” For Latin America’s gays and lesbians this is not the existential dilemma that it is for most heterosexual couples. It is the object of an intense political struggle waged country by country. With some notable exceptions, same-sex couples across the region cannot enjoy conjugal or parental rights.

Interview

CNN/U.S. and CNN en Español are perfect examples of how information media are integrating in the Americas. More than 90 million households receive CNN/U.S., while CNN en Español reaches 19.4 million households in Latin America and an additional four million U.S. homes. Americas Quarterly sat down with Soledad O’Brien, CNN anchor and special correspondent, and … Read more