May 2012
Stocks end higher on Euro Zone hopes
Dow Jones - Mexican stocks rose moderately Monday in thin trading, as concerns over the euro zone crisis eased on polling data that showed Greek voters favoring pro-bailout parties. The IPC index gained 0.4 percent, to 37,643 points,
Families of drug war victims berate candidates
Submitted by mexbiznews on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 3:58am
BBC
Families of people killed or missing in Mexico have met the four candidates in July's presidential poll to demand more be done to end drug violence.
One by one, the candidates faced a barrage of criticism.
Javier Sicilia, whose son was murdered by suspected hit-men last year, accused the politicians of failing to highlight the plight of victims.
Some 50,000 people have died and more than 5,000 are missing since the crackdown on cartels began in 2006.
Mexico suspects cartel in attacks on Pepsi subsidiary Sabritas
Submitted by mexbiznews on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 3:43amBy Mark Stevenson
Associated Press
A drug cartel lieutenant has been detained in a series of firebombing attacks on Mexican potato-chip company Sabritas, a subsidiary of U.S. food giant PepsiCo.
Businessmen and experts said Monday the attacks were the first coordinated targeting of a multinational company in Mexico's 5 ½-year-long drug war.
Five Sabritas warehouses and vehicle lots were attacked Friday and Saturday in the Mexican states of Michoacan and Guanajuato. Witnesses in one case described armed, masked men who tossed firebombs and torched dozens of the company's distribution trucks and some warehouses.
Gerardo Gutierrez, president of Mexico's Business Coordinating Council, said that it was "an isolated case" of the kind of extortion that gangs have previously practiced with small and medium-sized businesses. He called on authorities to act immediately to prevent the practice from spreading.
"What we cannot allow is for this kind of isolated case to become generalized," Gutierrez said. "The authorities have to take forceful action."
In a speech to an anti-crime conference Monday, President Felipe Calderon said drug cartels threaten growth and development and called them "an obstacle to prosperity because they attack companies large and small."
The state attorney general's office in Guanajuato confirmed Monday that several suspects had been detained in the attacks there, and that one was identified as a lieutenant of the Knights Templar drug cartel. The office did not suggest a possible motive.www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hyD-abQfqtAOm4cspIiW_KEJRnpw
Social networks are playing an emerging role in the Mexico election
Submitted by mexbiznews on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 4:07amBy Sofia Miselem
AFP
Online social networks, a newcomer in Mexican elections, are making a mark on the country's presidential campaign, forcing candidates to respond to issues and protests enabled by the Internet.
"If it wasn't for the social networks, the campaign would be really boring," said Roy Campos, head of the polling company Mitofsky.
Enrique Pena Nieto, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, has a seemingly insurmountable 15 point lead over his nearest rival in the presidential race.
With little public debate among the candidates and rigid controls imposed by election authorities, social networks have take on a crucial role in engaging the public, and the candidates have taken note.
"There is a parallel campaign on the network," said Campos, adding that "its influence is such that they are now setting the agendas of the campaign."
Pena Nieto, in particular, has faced flash demonstrations organized over the Internet.
A week ago, 50,000 students marched through Mexico City against against Pena Nieto after PRI leaders criticized students at a private university for harshly questioning the candidate, and suggested they weren't really students.
The students then posted videos of themselves on You Tube holding out their student identification cards.
On Wednesday, thousands more students protested in Mexico City and other cities around the country against an alleged pact among Mexican media to swing its support behind the PRI.
www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h_9K1KWpCkeTvman8cKHu7MCmY9g
Mexico's movie enfant terrible Carlos Reygadas
Submitted by mexbiznews on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 3:47am
By Rory Mulholland /AFP
Mexican Carlos Reygadas, whose puzzling "Post Tenebras Lux" bagged him best director prize at Cannes on Sunday, is a darling of the festival that has showcased all four of his often impenetrable films.
His latest took Cannes' Camera d'Or -- which rewards the best first feature film -- and was the start of a prize-winning streak that culminated in Sunday's scoop for "Post Tenebras Lux".
The film, whose Latin title means "After Darkness, Light" and derives from the biblical Book of Job, is a semi-autobiographical portrait of the director's family, featuring his own children.
But it baffled festival-goers with a host of unexplained elements such as a cartoon devil carrying a tool-box, a trip to a French-speaking sex club, and a rugby match in an English school.
www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gAwQiFn5SCfKdKPJbFuuO6J_5-OA
Carlos Fuentes, 1928-2012: A voice of Mexico past, present and future
Submitted by mexbiznews on Sun, 05/27/2012 - 12:56pm
By John Timpane / The Philadelphia Inquirer
What will become of Mexico? How can a country so powerful, so concerted, so modern, be so impotent, so chaotic, so backward? And how can Mexico, and all Latin America, take ownership of their futures?
Of the many themes of Carlos Fuentes, the celebrated Mexican writer who died May 15 in Mexico City at 83, those were always uppermost.
This tireless writer in many genres, from screenplays to op-ed pieces, gained fame for his trenchant, postmodern fables of a people, country, and continent struggling into the light.
www.kansascity.com/2012/05/23/3623482/carlos-fuentes-1928-2012-a-voice.html
Downgraded Hurricane Bud dumps rain on Mexico
Reuters - The remnants of the first hurricane of the 2012 season, Bud, dumped heavy rain along Mexico's coast early on Saturday but caused little damage before it turned back into the Pacific.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/26/hurrican-bud-mexico-pacific-coast_n_1547868.html
"Chicharito" Hernandez to be UNICEF ambassador
Fox News Latino - Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, who plays futbol for Manchester United and the Mexican national team, has agreed to serve as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF Mexico.
latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2012/05/27/mexico-chicharito-hernandez-to-be-unicef-ambassador/
U.S., Mexico discuss deeper deportations
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - The United States and Mexico are negotiating plans to start deporting criminal illegal immigrants deep into Mexico rather than releasing them at the border, hoping to stop adding to the criminal chaos just south of the border.
PRI suspends ex-governor accused of accepting bribes
AP - Mexico's PRI on Saturday suspended the membership of former Tamaulipas governor Tomas Yarrington accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from a drug cartel until the accusations are cleared up.
www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/26/2819146/mexicos-former-ruling-party-suspends.html
