NYT: Reach of Mexico's drug cartels

Mexican drug trafficking cartels “represent the greatest organized crime threat to the United States,” according to a recent Justice Department report. The cartels have waged increasingly violent battles with one another, as well as with the Mexican government, which began an aggressive crackdown in 2006. 

The NYT presents, once again, a very instructive interactive map of the main drug cartels, their main areas of control in Mexico (see figure below), and where they are present in the United States. The latter is very impressive. They have at least 3 identified trading points in Hawaii and even 1 in Alaska!! An example of multinational supply chain management...

There is also a related article that goes about analyzing the role of undercover agents that work in Mexico to try to find leads to the cartels' kingpins. 

de extinción y política

Guillermo Sheridan publicó una columna muy buena del PVEM en El Universal esta semana. No es noticia que el partido recibe tantísimo dinero sólo en subsidios (3 mil 700 millones de pesos entre el año 2000 y 2011). Pero ahora resulta que, para seguir dando finta de partido ecologista, hizo una generosísima donación de 100 mil pesos a una asociación que se dedica a combatir el riesgo de que el águila real mexicana* pase al catálogo de especies en extinción. Descarados. Y para seguir con su consistencia ideológica, ya declararon su apoyo oficial al candidato del PRI, Enrique Peña Nieto. El autor no lo pudo decir mejor:

No deja de ser original, y podría ser hasta chistoso, de no costarle al erario.

* Me voy enterando buscando una foto del águila mexicana que el árbol nacional es el ahuehuete. ¿Quién lo iba a decir? Y pensar que manejé en la completa ignorancia por la calle patriótica de "Ahuehuetes Norte" todos los días mientras fui a la secundaria y a la prepa.

Momento de confesiones: Soy fan de Sheridan.... Y admito que lo conocí por un link de facebook :-).

NYT: Better Lives for Mexicans Cut Allure of Going North

I knew that the recession was dampening the illegal immigration rate; it even made some people want to go back to Mexico because of lack of work in American soil. Now it turns out that due to a combination of circumstances our beloved Mexico is actually becoming more alluring for people to stay. That sounds to me like good news!!

The whole article is definitely worth a read, but here are some quotes that caught my attention (along with some of my thoughts):

When I was reading the article, at this point I thought "give me some evidence!". I like this piece :-).

The Mexican census recently discovered four million more people in Mexico than had been projected, which officials attributed to a sharp decline in emigration.

Applied cost-benefit analysis at its best.

But Mexican immigration has always been defined by both the push (from Mexico) and the pull (of the United States). The decision to leave home involves a comparison, a wrenching cost-benefit analysis, and just as a Mexican baby boom and economic crises kicked off the emigration waves in the 1980s and ’90s, research now shows that the easing of demographic and economic pressures is helping keep departures in check.

And finally, there is something that I was already thinking of myself:

 Though Mexicans with Ph.D.’s tend to leave for bigger paychecks abroad, “if you have a college degree you’re much more likely to stay in Mexico because that is surely more valuable in Mexico,” said Jeffrey S. Passel, a demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center.

OK... at this point I will say, spend less time on facebook and read the full article :).


Have a good day!