Posts Tagged ‘Mexico City’
Guardian Angels to patrol Mexico City
12:06 pm By Maegan La Mala · crime| mexico| society · Comments Off
23 Oct 2007
The other day as I walked around downtown San Francisco I was reminded that the Guardian Angels — those groups of beret-sporting urban watchdogs I remember from my childhood — are alive and well, and still patrolling our streets. And as part of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard’s plan to clean up the capital city, the Angels are off to D.F., where they will be watching the streets of the Centro Historico, the city’s historic center and tourist destination for many visitors which has been plagued by petty crime throughout the years.
The Angels that will be working in Mexico City aren’t a Mexican offshoot but are from U.S. According to Mexico City’s La Jornada, they will be paid by the tourism sector and will assist English-speaking visitors to the city. On a rather strange note, La Jornada reports that the Angels will also report “outsiders to the commmunity” to the authorities. Indeed, the headline in the paper translates roughly to “Foreigners to report the presence of ‘outsiders’ in the community”. Hmm…
Not everyone is happy with the impending arrival of the Angels. Some politicians aren’t sold yet, and want clarification that the group will be there to also train Mexican citizens and not “carry arms or assume the role of police,” reports La Jornada.
Via / La Jornada
In spite of strides, Mexico still discriminatory
8:54 am By Maegan La Mala · GLBT| mexico| society · Comments Off
24 Sep 2007
While many outsiders consider the strides being made towards a more progressive society in Mexico’s capital — among them the legalization of civil unions for gay couples — and on the national level, a national study shows that if the country’s youth are an indicator, there is still quite a long way to go with regard to a truly equal society.
According to a survey called The National Youth Survey:
53 percent [of youths] don’t want a gay person as a neighbor. [Nearly] the same percentage rejects having to be around people with HIV and 25 percent don’t want indigenous people close by.
According to Mexico’s La Jornada, Emilio Álvarez Icaza, head of the Human Rights Commission in the Federal District, warns that the youth of the capital are becoming more and more discriminatory in their views.
Mexico City earthquake: 22 years later
6:51 pm By Maegan La Mala · Media| history| mexico| society · Comments Off
19 Sep 2007
It was 22 years ago today when, at 7:19 a.m. local time, Mexico City was shaken by an earthquake which is said to have released the energy of 1,114 20-kiloton atomic bombs. The Richter scale registered 8.1 that morning, and in only two minutes huge portions of the city were destroyed. The earthquake’s epicenter was situated off the coasts of Guerrero and Michoacan states, but affected the Valley of Mexico, the center of which is Mexico City, much more intensely.
The magnitude of the damage is illustrated by the official numbers:
- 2,831 buildings were structurally damaged; 31 percent in ruins (880)
- 13 hospitals were destroyed
- An estimated $9-12 billion dollars in damage
- 50,000 city residents were left homeless
- 10,000 people lost their lives
More bomb threats in Mexico City
12:43 pm By Maegan La Mala · crime| mexico| society · Comments Off
4 Sep 2007
Mexico City’s La Jornada is reporting that the Federal District has had four consecutive days of bomb threats since last week’s discovery of a pipe bomb in Latin America’s tallest skyscraper, located in the Mexican capital.
Anonymous calls have been received by police alleging that bombs were located in various buildings on Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma, as well as in downtown’s emblematic Torre Latinoamericana. None of the threats have proven to be true, but some observers are warning that after the bombing of a Sears store in Oaxaca and the pipe bomb incident last week, things might get even worse.
Who’s behind the bombs is still technically a mystery, though most fingers are pointing towards the EPR, the rebel group that claimed responsibility for pipeline blasts earlier this year as well as the Oaxaca Sears bombing.
Via / La Jornada and Latin Business Chronicle
10,000 evacuated in Mexico City bomb scare
31 Aug 2007
Destruction and potential death and injury were averted yesterday morning in Mexico City’s Torre Mayor skyscraper. At around 11:00 a.m. 10,000 employees and visitors to the building were evacuated from the premises after a bomb made of pipes and containing a quick combustion powder was discovered.
The bomb was found after police received an anonymous call which revealed a description of the car where the explosives were eventually found, and the license plate number.
According to Mexico City’s La Jornada newspaper, employees of the Torre Mayor said that it took them about 40 minutes to reach the ground floor after hearing the alarms go off. Employees had to remain on the street for several hours, and were finally allowed to re-enter the building at around 3:00 p.m.
The Torre Mayor is Latin America’s tallest skyscraper, but if developers have it their way, it won’t be for long. Mexico City will soon welcome an even taller building, the Torre Bicentenario, which will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence in 2010.
Via / La Jornada
Mexico City to woo gay travelers
2:15 pm By Maegan La Mala · GLBT| Marketing| mexico| travel · Comments Off
20 Aug 2007
As we’ve pointed out time and time again, Mexico City seems to be trying to win some kind of award for being the most liberal city in Latin America. And in fact, Mexico the country has won an award: gay Destination of the Year by the PlanetOut Travel Awards, which recognize gay-friendly tourist destinations. Past winners have included Barcelona and Buenos Aires.
According to Mexico City blog DFinitivo, the world’s largest city is going to begin actively courting the gay travel dollar, and the Secretary of Tourism for DF has joined the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association to prove it. Gay travelers will be welcomed with specialized maps outlining areas of interest for nightlife, cultural events and more.
Via / DFinitivo
Thousands of children abandoned in the streets
11:42 am By Maegan La Mala · children| mexico| society · Comments Off
14 Aug 2007
Even the casual visitor to Mexico’s capital city will notice an abundance of children working for a living in the streets as windshield cleaners and street performers at stop lights. Many are accompanied by their families, but others are completely alone. Mexico City’s La Jornada newspaper reports that poverty and hopelessness in the capital have led many families to abandon their children in the streets.
With severe psychological damage, anemia and addictions to various drugs, as well as histories of abuse and violence, close to 3000 children are attended to in the 30 public and private institutions which assist minors who are abandoned in the street or at risk of being abandoned. In the majority of cases it’s the parents, immersed in precarious economic situations, who abandon them.The Insitute for Assistance and Social Integration (Iasis), part of the Mexico City local government, says that in 28 of these institutions they assist children who are completely alone and helpless due to family poverty.
Mexico City: “City of the Future”
5:02 pm By Maegan La Mala · Media| Newspapers| business| mexico · Comments Off
10 Aug 2007
British newspaper The Financial Times has named Mexico City one of the its “Ten Cities of the Future”, after analyzing 108 cities in North America to create their list of cities with potential for economic competitiveness and ability to attract investments.
Mexico City ranked fourth out of the top five cities with the best economic potential and fourth among the top five most cost-effective cities.
The Editor of The Financial Times, Brian Caplen, presented Mexico City’s Mayor Marcelo Ebrard with a certificate of recognition, and said “Mexico City has done a lot and is doing a lot to increase its potential to attract direct foreign investment worldwide and that’s why it deserves a place among North America’s ‘Cities of the Future’.”
La Jornada newspaper reports that according to The Financial Times‘ ranking, Mexico City’s economy outranks those of Miami and Boston.
Via / La Jornada
In Mexico, cops watch the cops
6:04 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · crime| mexico| society · Comments Off
19 Jul 2007
In Mexico City, a bribe paid to a cop can get you out of the stickiest situations. But local government is looking to change all that by keeping an eye on police who blackmail motorists into coughing up the cash. A tough job indeed, but the tactics being employed are even more curious: they are paying cops to keep an eye on cops:
For 100 days, inspectors from local police will make sure that police behave with honorable conduct in the streets when ticketing traffic violations, and that they don’t ask for nor accept “mordidas” (bribes).
It’s a case of good cop, bad cop. But who’s to say that a good cop won’t go bad? I’ve said before that one of the reasons why corruption exists in the Mexico City police force is the incredibly low salary (between 400 to 500 USD per month). They get paid so little that it’s awfully cheap to make them go bad.
A testament to that is the fact that this program says it will reward “good cops” with boxes of food and a shot at a promotion.
Via / Diario de Yucatan
Image via Ed Fladung’s Flickr page
Mexico City : City of Sex Workers
4:13 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Labor| Women| mexico| sex · 2 Comments
14 Jun 2007
Mexico City is clearly trying to become the most liberal city in Latin America. It legalized early term abortion and same-sex legal unions. They’ve even discussed legalizing euthanasia. Leftists senators are at it again with a plan to to legalize sex work in the capital. Juan Bustos, a legislator with the leftist party that holds a majority in the city assembly who presented the bill said:
This activity must be regulated, it can’t just take place without control, without health support for the users or the workers.
Via / MSNBC
Image Via / Bay Area Indy Media
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