Q&A: Mexico and the Rediscovery of South America

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, known as the ‘moral leader’ of the Mexican left, said that his country and Central America “focus very much on the North” and should make a shift towards South America and its integration processes, in order to achieve less-dependent, alternative development conditions.

Cybercrime Treaty Could Be Used to Go After Cyberespionage

Governments of countries that engage in large-scale electronic espionage, like the United States, and companies that develop spying software could theoretically face legal action for violating the Convention on Cybercrime.

Latin America Stirs the Marijuana Pot

In Latin America, where marijuana is the most widely consumed illegal drug, there is basically no home-grown research into its effects and properties. But possible legalisation in Uruguay and the Mexican capital could open the door to new studies.

When Mexico Let Big Brother Spy

Non-governmental organisations are urging the United Nations Human Rights Council to demand explanations from the Mexican state for the weak protection it provided its citizens from large-scale spying by the United States.

Schools in Mexico: Funding but not for Phys Ed or Desks

On his first day of fourth grade, Efraín found there were no desks or benches in the classroom in his Mexico City school. His parents had to help the teacher haul in furniture from other rooms so the children wouldn’t have to start the new school year sitting on the floor.

Bitcoins Catching On in Latin America

The Bitcoin, a virtual currency that circulates outside regular financial systems, is catching on in Latin America.

Migrant Rights Defenders in Mexico Face Growing Pressure

"No one can stop me from working for migrants' rights, because no one is above my own conscience," said Mexican Catholic priest Alejandro Solalinde.

Opponents of Fracking Seek to Thwart Shale Gas Finance

Non-governmental organisations are putting pressure on multilateral financial institutions not to finance production of shale gas by hydraulic fracturing or fracking because of the high environmental costs they say are associated with this method.

Push for Legal Production of Hemp in Mexico

Marijuana and the closely related hemp can provide medicinal, food and textile industrial materials that could attract substantial investment and development in Mexico if cannabis were legalised and its cultivation and sale regulated, experts say.

Mexico City Marijuana Legalisation Would Challenge Conventional Approach

If marijuana is legalised in the Mexican capital, as the local government proposes, this country would have to review its adherence to the three international drug control treaties, a trail already blazed by other nations.

OP-ED: If You Build It, They Will Go Around It

Puzzled by the immigration debate in the United States? Remember the Maginot Line.

Activists Demand Justice for Victims of Clerical Sex Abuse in Mexico

Human rights groups are calling for the Committee on the Rights of the Child to bring the Mexican state to account, as it has done in other countries, for failing to investigate widespread reports of sexual abuse of minors in Catholic institutions.

Thou Shalt Not Eat Meat… On Mondays At Least

Nutritionists are promoting an 11th commandment in Mexico: “Thou shalt not eat meat… at least one day a week.”

Civil Society Pushes for More Active Participation in Green Climate Fund

The Green Climate Fund (GCF), created under the auspices of the United Nations to finance the huge investments demanded by climate change, was opened up to participation by civil society and private sector representatives as observers in March.

Mexico Ducks Commitment to Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Civil society organisations are pressing the Mexican government to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in force since May 2013.

Q&A: “Did 100,000 People Have to Die, or Disappear?”

The violent drug war in Mexico's borderlands has changed the face of the country, injecting fear into both average citizens and the journalists trying to tell their stories.

Monitoring of GM Maize Falls Short in Mexico, Activists Say

Mexico lacks an effective system for monitoring genetically modified organisms, even though they have been regulated by law since the middle of last decade, experts say. In the case of maize, this situation has stood in the way of obtaining data that could help block commercial production, they say.

Mexico’s Cities Not Ready for Climate Change

Towns on Mexico’s Caribbean coast are behind schedule on the design and implementation of plans to face the challenges of climate change, in spite of the urgency of measures to reduce vulnerability.

Green Economy Not Taking Off in Latin America

A year after endorsing the principles of the green economy at the Río +20 summit, Latin America is making little progress towards sustainable development models, according to experts.

Locals Risk Their Lives Fighting Mining in Mexico

"They brutally repressed us. The mining company buys off people’s consciences, it divides the community, but we’ll keep fighting it. Some people have had to flee the community,” Rosalinda Dionisio, a Zapoteca indigenous woman in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, told IPS, sobbing.

Effective Smog Monitoring Urgently Needed in Mexican Cities

Mexican cities with populations of more than 500,000 face serious obstacles in monitoring air quality and reducing air pollution, but as of July local authorities will be required to do both, and to submit mandatory reports on their efforts to the federal government.