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Mexico Wide Trends/Analyses


		29 killed, including two police, in Mexico attacks linked to drugs (AFP) 01/5/2010 - CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A total of 29 people were killed in 24 hours in Mexico's northern state of Chihuahua, including two state police officers and six women, local authorities said. Full story

		Thousands Mourn U.S. Teacher Killed in Suspected Mexican Drug Violence El Monte, California (CNN) -- Thousands stuffed the bleachers on both sides of a California high school football field Monday night to remember a beloved teacher who was slain in Mexico a few days ago. Full Story

	Key Arrest Made in Brutal Mexico Drug Dynasty Associated Press 1/3/2010 - The capture of a reputed kingpin following the death of his brother has knocked out most of a brutal drug trafficking dynasty after a Mexican crackdown on corruption stripped the Beltran Leyva cartel of many snitches within security forces. Full Story

ABOVE: Soldiers at a Mexico City military school line up before leaving to aid in drug crop eradication. Two former top officials write in a recent book critical of the government's campaign against narcotics traffickers, "If what is good for us is decriminalization, that is what we should fight for." (Dario Lopez-Mills / Associated Press / June 15, 2009)


	Book takes Mexico drug war to task The book by two former Mexican government officials criticizes President Felipe Calderon's campaign against the drug cartels. The authors say the focus should be on smaller-bore crimes. Los Angeles Times 1/1/2010 - Reporting from Mexico City - Almost everything to do with the Mexican government's war against drugs is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The threat from narco-trafficking is overblown. Fighting cartels won't stop the flow of illegal drugs or erase Mexican corruption. The real battle over drugs lies on the U.S. side of the border. That's the gist of a provocative new book that challenges virtually every premise on which Mexican President Felipe Calderon has based his 3-year-old offensive against drug cartels. Full Story
NOTE FROM EDITORS: Above story is only latest in cascade of stories coming out of Mexico that supports our forecast from months ago that Mexico's drug war will almost certainly end with the close of President Calderon's term in 2012, with unknown and possibly dire consequences for citizens of both Mexico and U.S.

		COUNTERPOINT: Why Mexico's Drug War is Worth Fighting Dallas Morning News 1/4/2010 - Our editorial today makes the case that, in spite of all the second-guessing and hand-wringing going on in Mexico and the United States about how (or whether) to fight the drug war in Mexico, the response from the drug lords themselves should be evidence enough of why the Mexican government must not give up. Full Story

		Mexico's drug 'saint' draws Facebook fans By DANE SCHILLER HOUSTON CHRONICLE 1/5/2010 - Jesus Malverde, the Robin Hood-like criminal hanged a century ago, has a fan page with hundreds of registered visitors. Requests come steady. Motives are hardly veiled. “Oh powerful Malverde, protect us from (the feds) and don't let the cops grab us with more than 5 grams of pot,” reads one posting. Full Story

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WATCHING MEXICO has been created to focus on the latest up-to-date news on Mexico's drug cartel, crime and corruption events, espeically kidnapping and narcotic-realated violence against Mexicans and foreigners. The site also carries frequent analysese of these events and their relationship to Mexico at large, i.e. politics and the economy, and towards its closest neightbors and global ramificaons.

Inside are pages that concentrate on.the special problems of taxi crime and kidnapping, car driving, street crime, con games aimed at foreigners and specific, current situatons to major cities and resorts, as well as rural doings.

Our audience includes Mexicos from all classes, when even farmers have laptops to download latest news that could affect crops, as well as foreigners in Mexico for busienss or pleasure, and those who married Mexicans or just fell love with the country, not a hard thing to do at all.

We recognize that Mexican culture is far more subtle and sophisticated than 99% of Americans have even a clue. Also, those of us who do have that clue still have little hope of penetrating the strong and supple veneer most Mexicans present to the outside world. Our Mexican associates can assist with that.

Mexicans themselves are the most vulnerable victims of the confluence of forces that has brought the drug and corruption wars to their homeland, and only they can win the struggle.

We want to make www.watchingmexico.com partially a kind of Mexican-focused Drudge Report, bringing links to the latest news articles from Spanish and English language media on Mexico, and the Mexican drug war, border problems, narcotics mafia, the kidnapping gangs often led by active duty police officers, but also the business successes and opportunities of living and working in Mexico. The second part will consist of analyses of major news, as well as in-depth looks at parts of Mexico and how it relates to current events, and advice from insiders on how to succeed in Mexico, not only in business and just living there, but avoiding kidnapping gangs, even the petty ones who use taxis to find victims to empty their ATM accounts over a period of days.

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