Stories of note today: Western intervention in Syria, Pakistan’s political dramas and more deadly protests by Tibetans in China.
Mexico
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 11, 2012
Must reads for June 11: What will Spain’s bailout really achieve? Who killed Li Wangyang? And will any of Mexico’s presidential hopefuls solve the country’s bloody narco crisis?
Must-Reads From Around the World: April 24, 2012
China’s Crisis – As the Bo Xilai saga continues, the New York Times reveals that for much of the last decade, while the now-disgraced official was moving up the ranks of the Communist Party, his relatives were using his …
The Pope and Fidel: A Meeting of Two Old Dogmatics
Sure, Fidel Castro kept the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba buried under his cigar ash for decades, shutting down its schools, exiling priests and declaring the Communist island an atheist state until the 1990s. But it’s likely …
Must-Reads from Around the World: March 23, 2012
Non-cooperation – The Jerusalem Post reveals Israel will not cooperate with an international probe into the effects of settlements on Palestinian human rights, after a 36 to 1 U.N. Rights Council vote in favor of the fact-finding mission Thursday. The U.S. was the only country to vote against it. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu labeled …
Not So Apocalypto: What the Mayan Calendar Tells Us About Latin America in 2012
According to scholars, the fact the Mayan calendar ends by the winter solstice of 2012 is not an omen of the apocalypse, but a rather savvy political move by an ancient monarch. To that end, Global Spin offers its predictions for …
Did a Gaddafi Scion Try to Enter Mexico?
TIME’S Dolly Mascareñas reports out of Mexico that Saadi Gaddafi, one of the sons of the late Libyan dictator, attempted to enter Mexico on Sept. 6 under the name Daniel Bejar. The Mexican government said Saadi Gaddafi’s wife and two daughters would have accompanied him. Mexican intelligence sources said they prevented them from using …
Hiring Narcos to Murder the Saudi Ambassador? If It’s True, Tehran Is Pretty Dumb
If Iranian government operatives really did try to contract a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., as the Obama Administration alleges today, then they weren’t just being diabolical. They were being fairly stupid.
Granted, the Zetas – the drug mafia that Iranian-American Manssor Arbabsiar …
“Caravan of Solace” Moving Towards Peace, Slowly
William Lloyd George explores the “Caravan of Solace” anti-drug violence movement for TIME. Just as hundreds of Mexicans screamed “Justice” during the final stop of the Caravan, many of the activists associated with the protest questioned both the success and the overall mission of the week-long tour. While Mexican activists agree that …
Slim Gets Slapped: Is Mexico Finally Confronting Its Monopolies?
Maybe it’s because it’s Semana Santa, or Holy Week, when everyone in Mexico heads for the beach or their country homes. But the record $1 billion fine levied over the weekend against América Móvil – the mobile telephone giant controlled by the world’s richest man, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim – hasn’t generated the buzz …
Mexico’s New Top Cop Pick: Can Its First Female Attorney General Rein In the Narcos?
Mexican President Felipe Calderón could stand to build a few bridges with Washington at the moment. Last month saw the resignation of the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Pascual, who many believe was forced out by Calderon’s unusually public complaints about confidential U.S. diplomatic cables, released last December by WikiLeaks, …
WikiLeak Pique: Mexico’s Calderon Drives Out a U.S. Ambassador Over Leaked Cables
When WikiLeaks released U.S. diplomatic cables last fall expressing fears and criticism about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, the Pakistani government largely shrugged. That’s because its leaders understood that frank private discussion is what any country’s taxpayers expect of their diplomats. They knew that …
Can Obama and Calderon Solve Mexico’s Bloodshed — and the Bad Blood?
Are the U.S. and Mexico in “distant neighbors” mode again?
In the wake of last month’s murder of a U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, by narco-criminals on a Mexican highway, the façade of U.S.-Mexico drug-war camaraderie appears to be cracking. Already irked by recently WikiLeaked cables between U.S. diplomats …