Stories written by Daniela Pastrana
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Conchita Martínez, standing, and other Mitz craftswomen. Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

MEXICO: Craftswomen Weave a Better Future Out of Recycled Garbage

Women's laughter fills the rectangular room on the ground floor of a building that houses a school for 250 local children, on the southern edge of Mexico City's sprawling metropolitan area.

A child who has seen his dying mother remains at the scene, to the indifference of soldiers. Credit: Courtesy of El Diario, Ciudad Juárez (printed by permission).

Mexican Govt Turns a Blind Eye to Orphaned and Disabled Children

A baby hits the floor when his father, who was holding him in his arms, is murdered in Mexico. A two-year-old watches from her stroller as six drug addicts are killed in a rehabilitation centre, including her mother. The mother of another three-year-old never makes it to collect him from his nursery.

Rural worker Esteban Martínez, in Mexico's Sierra Gorda.  Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

MEXICO: Conservation Can Be a Weapon Against Poverty

"I cut down all of that section," said Esteban Martínez as he pointed to a rectangle of land cleared of trees in the central Mexican state of Querétaro.

Rural worker Esteban Martínez, in Mexico's Sierra Gorda. - Daniela Pastrana/IPS

Conservation Can Be a Weapon Against Poverty

In the Sierra Gorda, in central Mexico, a new approach is being tested for protecting the environment in a way that also ends poverty.

From Paso del Norte bridge between El Paso and Juárez, a passerby filmed the murder of Sergio Hernández under the Puente Negro bridge, in background. Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

MEXICO-US: Wall of Hate and Poverty Divides El Paso and Juarez

"Sergio, your death will be avenged by the angry, organised people" reads graffiti under the Puente Negro railroad bridge connecting this border city with El Paso, Texas.

Oriana López at the offices of the Fondo de Aborto para la Justicia Social MARÍA.  Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

MEXICO: Extending the Reach of Safe Abortion

By 5:00 AM, dozens of women are already lined up outside of this clinic in the Mexican capital. Most come with their mothers, sisters, husbands, friends or boyfriends. A few show up alone.

Paula Flores and a grandchild, next to a photo of her murdered daughter Sagrario. Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

MEXICO: In Juarez, Years of Seeking Justice for Murdered Women

"Sometimes I'm cheerful, but other times I see no reason for working in the community or even for life," said Paula Flores, who has become the symbol of the fight for justice for the hundreds of women who have been murdered or disappeared in this northern Mexican border city.

Groups of promoters hit the streets, putting stickers on cars and collecting signatures.  Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

MEXICO: Taking Fight for Decent Childcare to the Streets

"Sometimes I feel sad when things don't go ahead as well as I would like them to, but we have no alternative but to keep on trying," says Lourdes Almada, a Mexican sociologist and activist for children's rights, as she drives her pickup truck in Ciudad Juárez.

Ten former LFC workers on hunger strike. Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

MEXICO: Women Electrical Workers at Centre of Struggle for Jobs

"Our male coworkers have had to acknowledge it: we have worked side by side in this struggle," says Emilia Peña, describing the role of women in driving forward the battle waged by thousands of workers to reopen a state power company in Mexico.

Lights of El Paso seen from Ciudad Juárez.  Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

MEXICO: Children in the Line of Fire in Ciudad Juarez

In Ciudad Juárez, the most violent city in Latin America, Mexico's war on drugs has left at least 110 children dead in the past three years, and over 10,000 have lost parents.

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