At 9:15 a.m. on February 3, 2010, I steeled myself to enter the Central Penitentiary in Oaxaca, Mexico. Having heard stories of overcrowding, rampant drug use, filthy conditions, torture, inadequate food, poor health care, disease and corruption, my personal concern about entering such a place was great. Fortunately, I was not here as a prisoner […]
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Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest natural lake, is dying. The lake right now plays a vital role in a gigantic ecosystem, the River Lerma-Lake Chapala drainage basin, which includes more than 8 million people, 3,500 diverse industries, 750,000 hectares of irrigated farmland and 14 cities with populations in excess of 100,000. At the western extremity of […]
Continue Reading(Reproduced with permission from December 1997 “El Ojo del Lago” Guadalajara-Lakeside Volume 14, Number 4) “La Malinche.” Slave, interpreter, secretary, mistress, mother of the first “Mexican.” her very name still stirs up controversy. Many Mexicans continue to revile the woman called Doña Marina by the Spaniards and La Malinche by the Aztecs, labeling her a […]
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According to the reports of the first Europeans to visit the New World, slavery was almost universal in what is now Mexico and Central America. Theoretically, with the arrival of Europeans, that should have changed. In 1493 Pope Alexander VI, while granting Spain the right to colonize the New World, mandated that the indigenous people […]
Continue ReadingPosted by Alan Jones on March 30, 1997: I am gay and thinking of moving to Mexico. I would like to know what attitudes are like towards gays in Mexico. Also, I heard that there San Miguel de Allende has a “gay community”. Is that true? Is San Miguel more accepting of gays than other […]
Continue ReadingPosted by Jim on Marzo 28, 2000 This very interesting article appeared the other day in the Toronto Star Mexico’s Indians target of sterilization `sweep’ Villagers recall threats, gifts by No. 3 Brigade By Linda Diebel Toronto Star Latin America Bureau (Jump to Forum Comments) AYUTLA DE LOS LIBRES, Mexico – Jose Toribio, a Mixtec […]
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This article is Part 2 of Tony Burton’s series: “Can Mexico’s Largest Lake be Saved?” . Part 1: May, 1997 – Can Mexico’s Largest Lake be Saved? Part 3: March, 2001 – The Future of Lake Chapala–Suggestions For Discussion Part 4: May 2002 – Lake Chapala–Fish Farm, Farmland or Bungee Jump? Part 5: April 2003 – A review of “The […]
Continue ReadingPosted by Janis on August 12, 1999 Hola a Todos, This is not meant to be a political question, I know this may seem impossible, but I am looking for some factual info. Last evening I saw a documentary by Nettie Wild entitled “A Place Called Chiapas.” Wild is a Canadian filmmaker who spent eight […]
Continue Reading$7,500 pesos a month retake Posted by Jody Dinsmore on February 20, 1997: I would like to call attention to a discussion way down the list that has recently been renewed by Marvin’s return to Canada from his home in Sonora, apparently by his travel trailer. He is concerned that extremely well-off folks from the […]
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The Dark Side of the Dream (2012) By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez Egret Books, 2012 Available from Amazon Books: Paperback For citizens of both the United States and Mexico, the Mexican-American border, as well as the matter of Mexican immigration are topics of current political dispute, thinly masking a cultural stigmatism that does not fit well with American history […]
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