Mexico asks court to reject U.S. immigration law

Mexico on Tuesday asked a federal court in Arizona to declare the state's new immigration law unconstitutional, arguing that the country's own interests and its citizens' rights are at stake. Lawyers for Mexico on Tuesday submitted a legal brief in support of one of five lawsuits challenging the law. The law will take effect July 29 unless implementation is blocked by a court. The law generally requires police investigating another incident or crime to ask people about their immigration status if there's a "reasonable suspicion" they're in the country illegally. It also makes being in Arizona illegally a misdemeanor, and it prohibits seeking day-labor work along the state's streets….go to original article

Uruguay downs Mexico 1-0 to win Group A

Maybe Uruguay is the best example of how strong South American nations have been in the first round of the World Cup.The last team to qualify for the tournament, Uruguay needed to beat Costa Rica in a playoff to get to South Africa. The Uruguayans have looked like anything but an outsider, though, and on Tuesday beat Mexico 1-0 to win Group A."We knew we had two results that benefited us," said Luis Suarez, who scored the only goal. "But before the match our goal was to get the three points and be group leaders…..go to original article

 Mexican intellectuals and officials mourned the death of writer Carlos

 Monsivais

Mexican intellectuals and officials mourned the death of writer Carlos Monsivais at a ceremony in Mexico City's Fine Arts Palace on Sunday, a day after he died of respiratory illness at the age of 72.

A memorial service at the art-deco-style palace is an honor reserved for the country's top cultural figures."It will be harder to understand our times without his contributions," said National Arts Council President Consuelo Saizar at the ceremony, in which Monsivais' coffin was draped with a gay-pride banner, with a Mexican flag on top of it.Monsivais was a champion of gay rights, but never talked about his own sexuality….go to original article

Nogales, Arizona Border Town to 'Look the Other Way'

Police officers in a small Arizona border city are on heightened alert following a tip that a Mexican drug cartel will put them in its crosshairs if they conduct off-duty busts.

The threat stems from a marijuana seizure made this month by two off-duty police officers riding on horseback in an unincorporated area east of Nogales, a city of roughly 20,000, Police Chief Jeffrey Kirkham told FoxNews.com….go to original article

Hurricane Celia veers west away from Mexico

Hurricane Celia, the first hurricane of the 2010 eastern Pacific season, continued on a westward path away from Mexico on Tuesday, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

A Category 2 storm with sustained winds up to 165 kph, Celia was about 830km south of the port city of Manzanillo and moving west away from land at 13 kph….go to original article

Mexican Gangs Maintain Permanent Lookout Bases in Hills of Arizona

Mexican drug cartels have set up shop on American soil, maintaining lookout bases in strategic locations in the hills of southern Arizona from which their scouts can monitor every move made by law enforcement officials, federal agents tell Fox News. 

The scouts are supplied by drivers who bring them food, water, batteries for radios -- all the items they need to stay in the wilderness for a long time. …go to original article

FMM – The New Mexican Immigration Form

On April 30, 2010, Mexico launched a brand new form for people entering and exiting the country. As before, passport holders from countries on Mexico’s no visa required list do not need to apply for a formal visa to visit Mexico. They may, instead, use a visitor’s permit which is now known as a Forma Migratoria Multiple, or FMM….go to original article

Mexico Targets 'Dirty Dollars'

Mexico has imposed limits on the use of US dollars in an attempt to limit money-laundering by drug traffickers. Mexicans who don't have bank accounts will be able to exchange only up to $1,500 (£1,000) a month. Those with accounts could change a maximum of $4,000. The Mexican treasury estimates that $10bn of laundered money enters the country's banking system each year, fuelling drug-related violence….go to original article

Mexico stocks stretch win streak; Chile index at record high

-- Major Latin American equity markets rose Tuesday, with Chilean stocks at a record high ahead of an interest-rate decision by the country's central bank, and Mexican stocks notching their longest stretch of wins in three months….go to original article

Aftershocks rattle Calif-Mexico border region

Hundreds of aftershocks jiggled the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday after a moderate earthquake struck the seismically active region that was still recovering from a deadly Easter jolt.

There were no reports of injuries or serious damage from the magnitude-5.7 earthquake Monday night centered 85 miles east of San Diego….go to original article

Bank of America undecided on fee waivers in Mexico

Bank of America Corp. is undecided on whether it will continue an arrangement with a Mexican bank in which both waive ATM fees for their customers.

The Charlotte bank last week disclosed plans to sell the 24.9 percent stake it owns in Banco Santander SA’s Mexican subsidiary. After Bank of America made that investment in 2003, both banks allowed customers in the U.S. and Mexico to use their machines without incurring extra surcharges….go to original article

New Mexico Republican Candidate Suggests Land Mines Along Mexico Border

The Republican nominee for a New Mexico congressional seat suggested during a radio interview that the United States could place land mines along the Mexican border to secure the international boundary.

Asked Monday to clarify, Tom Mullins emphasized that he does not advocate doing so…..go to original article

Mexico's Infonavit To Finance 25,000 Homes With Solar Heaters

Federal housing fund Infonavit on Thursday launched a two-year program to finance the purchase of 25,000 homes equipped with solar water heaters as Mexico's largest mortgage lender seeks to promote the construction of energy-efficient housing.

The program, which ends June 2012, was set up with the help of German development agency GTZ and a EUR2.5 million from Germany's environment ministry, Infonavit Housing Director Estela Garcia Heredia said at a press conference….go to original article

uzanne Stephens Waller - Presidencia de la República
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June 25, 2010

	Through these actions Federal Government will support the automobile industry and persons with lower incomes as well as boosting the recovery of the Mexican economy. - President Calderón

Mexico City - President Felipe Calderón signed a decree for the gradual phase-out of the ownership tax for new cars for a value of up to $250,000 pesos.

“This measure will come into effect as of the publication of the decree I have just signed until December 31 2011, when the Federal Tax on Car Ownership will be abolished,” he explained.

Accompanied by Secretaries of Finance and Public Credit, Ernesto Cordero Arroyo and Economy, Gerardo Ruiz Mateos, the President explained that persons buying a new vehicle at agencies will have their ownership tax paid by car distributors.

He explained that this measure will not affect the states, since in any case, they will receive the full amount of the corresponding tax.

"I hereby repeat my conviction and full respect of the legal mandate whereby the Federal Car Ownership Tax will be eliminated by the end of 2011.

It should be noted that Federal Government currently does not receive a single peso for payment of the ownership tax, since all the money collected is sent to the state treasuries,” he added.

Another measure included in the decree is that, in the case of companies, firms purchasing automobiles will be able to deduct tax payment on the ownership of vehicles with a value of $250,000 or less through tax incentives.

Lastly, a Guarantee Program will be implemented to make more credits available to Mexicans.

Through these actions, declared President Calderón, Federal Government will support the automobile industry and persons with lower incomes as well as boosting the recovery of the Mexican economy.

“By eliminating payment on the acquisition of new vehicles, we are supporting national industry, creating jobs in the production and distribution of vehicles throughout the country and also, and above all, contributing to Mexican families' income.

By eliminating payment of the ownership tax for new cars, we are also taking a step towards eliminating the ownership tax as a Federal Tax, which we pledged to do by the end of 2011,” he explained.

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Alex Could Become Hurricane Monday or Tuesday
Adrian Virgen - Reuters
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June 28, 2010

 

Forecasters say Alex is again a tropical storm as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico and may become a hurricane as it swirls toward Mexico's east coast. (Associated Press - June 27)

Campeche, Mexico - Tropical storm Alex became better organized as it slowly moved away from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, and forecasters said it could become a hurricane on Monday or Tuesday.

Coast Guard officials have said they do not think the storm poses an imminent threat to oil-siphoning efforts at BP Plc's blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.

But Shell Oil Co (RDSa.L) shut subsea production at the Auger and Brutus platforms in the Gulf due to the storm threat. It has evacuated nonessential workers from production platforms and drilling rigs in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico oilfields.

Forecasters from the U.S. National Hurricane Center said "additional strengthening is forecast in the next 48 hours and Alex could become a hurricane" on Monday or Tuesday.

The storm is expected to make landfall again between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano in Mexico, mostly sparing BP oil collection efforts.

Alex, the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, had sustained winds of about 50 mph (85 kph) with higher gusts and was located about 75 miles (115 km) west of Campeche, Mexico. The system was moving northwest at 6 mph (9 kph).

The Mexican government kept the ports of Dos Bocas and Cayo Arcas, which handle 80 percent of all its export shipping in the Gulf of Mexico, closed Sunday afternoon citing bad weather and strong surf in the area.

State-run oil giant Pemex said its platforms in the Campeche Sound were working normally and there was no evacuation plan yet due to Alex.

"We are on alert but platforms remain working," a Pemex spokesman told Reuters Sunday via text message.

Pemex's "emergency plan for hurricanes is constantly monitoring" systems in the area, he said.

EL SALVADOR DEATHS

Two men drowned in El Salvador after they were swept away by a river swollen with rain dumped by Alex, civil protection head Jorge Melendez told reporters Sunday.

Alex was expected to bring 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of rain to the Yucatan Peninsula, southern Mexico and parts of Guatemala through Tuesday. Isolated amounts of up to 15 inches (38 cm) were possible over mountainous areas. Forecasters warned the rain could cause flash floods and mudslides.

"Heavy rainfall could reach the coastal area of Tamaulipas and Veracruz Tuesday night and Wednesday," the Miami-based center said.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and meteorologists predict this year will be a very active one. Hurricanes feed on warm water and the sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are higher than usual this year.

 Darts champs at Crazy Nelly's

Los Angeles Film Festival: 'Revolucion' Directors Muse on a Mexico in Revolt
Reed Johnson - Los Angeles Times
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June 22, 2010

Ten of Mexico's finest young filmmakers mark the 100 anniversary of the Mexican revolution with "Revolucion," an omnibus of 10 short films. (LAFF)

Gael Garcia Bernal, Carlos Reygadas, Patricia Riggen and Diego Luna are among the 10 Mexican filmmakers who take up the theme of the Mexican Revolution.

Carlos Reygadas admits that when he first heard the concept behind the new movie "Revolución" — a compilation of 10 short films by 10 different Mexican directors — he felt "a little reluctant" to join in.

Omnibus movies, he knew, often add up to less than the sum of their parts. And the theme of this particular film came spring-loaded with significance: the legacy of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. Furthermore, the movie's release would be timed to coincide with this year's heavily hyped centennial celebrations taking place on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

But Reygadas, the director of the critically praised "Japon" ("Japan") and "Luz Silenciosa" ("Silent Light"), changed his mind when he realized that, for a Mexican, reflecting on one's revolutionary heritage is a kind of national birthright. "It's something we have heard since we were children."

As for the films themselves, he says, given the variety of directors, "I knew like the styles and everything would be different. But I thought this would be an advantage rather than a disadvantage."

Judging by the compelling and provocative finished product, which will have its North American premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival — playing June 22 and 23 at downtown's Regal Cinemas — his hunch was correct.

Tonally and in subject matter, the vignettes in "Revolución" run the gamut. Some have the rounded coherence of short stories. Others are more like dreams (or nightmares) than narratives, registering as impressionistic snapshots or tone poems. Some bristle with caustic humor and bitterness. Others ache with nostalgia, expressed in images of the country's rugged, sweeping landscapes and its stoic, resilient populace.

Collectively, the films raise many unanswered and perhaps unanswerable questions about where Mexico has been and where its people, politics and culture are headed. They offer a lively cinematic rejoinder to the rhetorical queries posed 60 years ago by the late Nobel laureate Octavio Paz in his landmark study of Mexican character, "The Labyrinth of Solitude."

"One of the things I'm observing in the films, as different as they are stylistically, they all have a pain of what our country is going through right now," says another participating director, Patricia Riggen, best known for her 2007 feature "Under the Same Moon" about a Mexican boy's perilous journey to reunite with his migrant mother in Los Angeles.

For U.S. audiences, the two most recognizable names among the contributors likely will be those of Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, the stars of "Y tu Mamá También" (2001) and other touchstones of Mexico's resurgent national movie industry. "Revolución" was conceived through the two actors' independent film company, Mexico City-based Canana, and spearheaded by their production partner, Pablo Cruz.

Canana is also represented in the L.A. Film Festival with three selections from Ambulante, the traveling documentary festival started by Luna and García Bernal. Last year Canana formed a partnership with LAFF to begin screening Ambulante films here. That relationship helped the festival, which is sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, to secure the U.S. premiere of "Revolución."

"It could've [premiered] in San Francisco, it could've been in Seattle, it could've been in New York, but I think the echoes with L.A. will be stronger," said Hebe Tabachnik, the festival's director of Latin American programming.

Although averaging only 10 minutes apiece, the movie's individual segments linger in the mind.

The opening film by Fernando Eimbcke is a delicate, black-and-white allegory that could've been penned by Samuel Beckett about a small-town band rehearsing and awaiting visiting dignitaries who never arrive.

Gerardo Naranjo's virtually wordless drama (or political parable?), involving two bleeding men stranded on a desolate highway combines beautifully abstracted topography with the grotesque; almost cartoonish violence plays like a shotgun wedding of Sam Peckinpah and a Road Runner cartoon.

In sharp contrast, Riggen's sweet-natured film wrings comic pathos from the compact tale of a cynical Mexican American daughter transporting her dead father across the U.S. border for burial in his native village.

"When I think of what the Mexican Revolution means today, of course I think of 40 million Mexicans in the U.S. trying to work," Riggen says. "I don't think [the revolution was] a complete failure, many things were achieved, but many things weren't. That's why we need a new revolution."

If not urging their audiences to rise up and revolt, the shorts in "Revolución" are decidedly more cautionary than celebratory. The movie offers no monuments, at least of the unambiguously patriotic variety.

Amat Escalante's "The Hanging Priest" is a haunting sketch about two young children who discover a clergyman bound to a tree and left for dead in the wake of an unspecified atrocity. Equally chilling, but appallingly funny in parts, is Reygadas' "This Is My Kingdom," which the actor filmed near his home in southern Mexico using friends and non-actor acquaintances.

Shot with 10 different cameras, it starts out in deliberately hand-held, homemade fashion as a vérité portrait of a rural fiesta. But the action quickly speeds up, growing scary and surreal, as if the viewer were gazing through a mescal haze at one of Diego Rivera's more ominous murals.

"Revolución" ends on a suitably ambivalent note with Rodrigo García's "7th and Alvarado." That address marks a well-known L.A. intersection near MacArthur Park, a hub of the city's huge Mexican and Central American citizenry.

García, a successful film and TV writer-director ("Six Feet Under") who was raised in Mexico but has spent much of the last 30 years in the United States, says that one thing the movie's directors appear to share is "a vision that many of the tenets of the revolution have been betrayed."

That feeling may be especially acute given the problems Mexico has endured recently, including a soured economy and a plague of drug-related violence.

"At other times I would say Mexico might not take kindly to this kind of criticism," he says. "I think most people will agree with the movie now."

But Reygadas believes that Mexico's troubling present someday may lead to a better, if still-elusive, future.

"To be honest, sometimes I feel like we are entering a tunnel," he says. "I feel like the glow of the country will diminish and we will probably have hard and dark times. But I think this will help for maturity, for real spiritual maturity."

reed.johnson(at)latimes.com

 

Delicious Salads             

Seasonal Riviera Nayarit residents, Val and Ted Mc, enjoy entertaining when they are in the area. Ted does most of the cooking; specializing in delicious grilled steaks and salad. “He loves going to the tiendas on the avenida for fresh ingredients and making dishes from scratch,” said wife Val.  “When he was in the hotel business, Ted had the opportunity to work with some great chefs who were willing to teach him. Coupled with his creativity and the view of the Pacific Ocean, every meal is an occasion!”  Below are ‘his and hers’ specialties:

 CAESAR SALAD DRESSING

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk coddled

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Squeeze of anchovy paste (or you can use canned anchovies)

1/2 cup olive oil

1 head romaine

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated) (Romano can also be used)

Ground Pepper

Croutons

Preparation:

In a bowl with a whisk, blend together the egg yolk, garlic, mustard, salt, lemon juice and anchovy paste (anchovies drained.)

To read the complete story by Tara  Click Here

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Getting Profiled, Staying Safe and the World Cup - A Visit to Mexico
Allan Wall - PVNN
June 21, 2010

	Mexicans continue to be killed in the ongoing drug war, which is a tragedy. Security is an important topic, so we are taking precautions to stay safe. So far we have been safe.

I resided for a decade and a half in Mexico, and met and married my wife there. Recently I was offered a job in the U.S. and moved back. However, since my wife is from Mexico we have already made several visits to Mexico and plan to continue. So I currently write from Mexico, where we are visiting.

We traveled in our car, crossing the US-Mexican border. After crossing, I applied for (and paid for) a tourist permit for myself and an auto permit for the car. After all, I should obey Mexican immigration law!

After finishing the border business, we proceeded on into the interior. My wife was driving and I was in the front passenger’s seat.

Well, we arrived to a Mexican migration checkpoint, and guess what? The agent at the checkpoint didn’t even ask for my (Mexican-born) wife’s documentation, he just asked for mine. In other words, I was profiled!

It was quick though. The agent saw I had the document and we proceeded on our merry way. It was undeniable, however, I had been profiled.

Despite all the hoopla over profiling, we all do it. It's a valid police tool if used appropriately. And in this case, the Mexican migration officer was exactly right - the car's driver (my wife) was Mexican and the front-seat passenger (myself) was a foreigner.

We arrived to the metropolitan area in which I once resided. We've been spending a lot of time with my wife's parents. (In Spanish they are my suegros, the collective term for mother-in-law and father-in-law.) Our children have been spending a lot of time with their grandparents, which is good.

There are things in Mexico that I don't have access to in the U.S., so it's good to have such opportunities here. We have also been able to see relatives, friends from church and neighbors. We also had the opportunity to visit a first-rate agricultural operation in the country.

Mexicans continue to be killed in the ongoing drug war, which is a tragedy. Security is an important topic, so we are taking precautions to stay safe. So far we have been safe.

The biggest item in the news here though is not the drug war (which after all, goes on all the time) but the World Cup. The World Cup is sort of like the Olympics of Soccer, held every four years. It is a big deal in Mexico. (I myself knew almost nothing of it before I moved here.)

In the World Cup, national teams compete with each other for the championship. Four years ago, in 2006, the Italian team won. The Mexican team has never won the World Cup, but each four years Mexicans' hope is renewed again. This 2010 World Cup is being played in South Africa, and 20,000 Mexican fans traveled there to see it.

I'm not really a soccer fan or expert, but I enjoy the World Cup for its international flavor. I especially like to watch the opening of each game, when the two opposing teams line up and the national anthems are played.

So far the Mexican team has tied with host South Africa and has beaten France. Mexico's next opponent is Uruguay.

It should be interesting...

 

Fun in the Sun with Cervezas Mexicanas

                       © Tara A. Spears

One key Spanish phrase all tourists seem to master when vacationing in the coastal Riviera Nayarit is “Uno mas cerveza, por favor!”  Not only is the scenery spectacular, but so is the selection of Mexican beer and its low price here as compared to cost in other countries.  Perhaps you have been confused by the exotic brands when placing an order- consider this article your cervezas Mexicanas primer. All of the beers featured in this article are readily available throughout Mexico, but particularly in this area. Salud!

“A man is defined by the beer he drinks and the company he keeps, but mostly by the beer he drinks…”  anonymous Mexican saying

Beer story continues on page 2

 

Mexico Sees Kiwis in its Future
Associated Press
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June 24, 2010

Kiwi in your margarita? Mexico sees future in New Zealand's trademark fruit.

Mexico City - Mexico is scoping out its Pacific coast farmland for possible kiwi production with the help of technicians from New Zealand.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Mayorga says strawberries and other fruit that need similar conditions as kiwis are thriving in Mexico's central Pacific states.

The idea is still in the exploratory phase and there is no date for when production might begin.

Mayorga also said Thursday that Mexico plans to eliminate a 20 percent tariff on kiwi imports from New Zealand.

He said he was optimistic that could happen soon and expected little opposition from Mexico's farmers since there is no domestic kiwi production - yet.

David Perez - Yale Law School
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June 24, 2010

	The conflict that Calderon is waging isn't so much a "war on drugs," as much as it is Mexico's first War on Impunity.

The Blame Game: What War is Mexico Fighting?

While Mexican President Felipe Calderon has received endless plaudits for his strong stance against drug cartels, the United States has been blamed for doing too little to curb the violence, even though it is the biggest market for drugs. As the violence enters its fourth year, many fault American drug users for providing the cash incentive for cartels, and the American gun market for providing the cartels' firepower. The consensus is that the United States must reform its drug laws and tighten its gun laws for the violence to subside. In fact, Calderon himself recently took the U.S. to task, blaming America for his country's woes. But Calderon's much-vaunted crackdown has been terribly misunderstood by both sides.

The real culprit here isn't America's addiction to drugs, but rather Mexico's addiction to criminal impunity. We don't all need to read Roberto Bolaño novels to discover that in Mexico rapes go unsolved, murders remain a mystery, bribery runs rampant, and yes, drugs move freely. So while it is pretty easy to scapegoat the United States, the main problem is not America's insatiable thirst for drugs (though that hasn't helped), but rather Mexico's ineffective criminal justice system. Indeed, President Calderon's real motive for cracking down on the drug cartels was to finally put an end to the lawlessness that reigns supreme throughout Mexico.

The conflict that Calderon is waging isn't so much a "war on drugs," as much as it is Mexico's first War on Impunity.

The Rule of Law in Mexico: Fostering a Culture of Impunity

Over the last twenty-five years most countries in Latin America have made great strides toward electoral democracy (Cuba is obviously an exception). Despite these advances, the rule of law has remained stubbornly porous. Although economic and social ills are often blamed, the region's antiquated criminal code is the biggest reason that Latin America's rule of law has languished, while other democratic pillars have flourished.

Accordingly, many nations in the region have begun to recognize how important criminal procedure reform is to democratic reform, and have enacted changes to their criminal code in an effort to curb impunity, reign in corruption, and cure the criminal epidemic. Guatemala and Chile are notable examples of countries that have reformed their criminal justice system -- moving away from archaic inquisitional models to embrace more adversarial elements. Mexico should pay attention.

In contrast, Mexico's criminal justice system isn't just broken; it's stuck in the past. In fact, Mexico's criminal code hasn't really changed in over 100 years: it still bears striking resemblance to the inquisitorial code it inherited from Spain 400 years ago.

For instance, pursuant to its civil law tradition, Mexico's criminal procedures often allow the same person who handled an investigation to also serve as the trial judge. This ensures that the proceedings are neither fair nor impartial. It is not difficult to understand why this concentration of procedural responsibility has been a lose-lose for Mexico. On the one hand, the process is easily short-circuited by bribes and threats, since criminals know that each step of the process pivots on the decision of one person, rather than many. On the other hand, if the proceeding does proceed to the trial phase, the system is rigged against the defendant since the same person who decided to bring charges will also often determine guilt or innocence.

In effect, Mexico's criminal procedure code presents a Catch-22: either criminals are let off the hook because judges are easily bribed or intimidated, or the proceedings are adjudicated in a biased manner to the detriment of those who could not afford to bribe or intimidate their way out. Criminals who are flush with drug money and supported by cartel artillery can easily avoid conviction by simply paying (or threatening) the right person.

But even if courts were willing to adjudicate more cases in an honest way, the inefficiencies inherent in Mexico's criminal procedure system have created an almost insurmountable backlog of cases. To illustrate, while 95% of all convictions in the United States end in plea bargains, in Mexico this procedure is largely unavailable. The inefficiency of not allowing plea bargains has been a major factor behind the astronomical levels of impunity because there simply are not enough courtrooms or prosecutors to try every criminal. Instead, most criminals walk free.

What Mexico needs isn't piecemeal legal reform; Mexico needs structural reform. The system that's tasked with enforcing its laws is utterly bankrupt. (What's the point of criminalizing drug trafficking if you can't enforce it? What's the point of murder and rape statutes if you can't prosecute murderers and rapists?)

As a result, the balancing act that every society confronts -- between individual rights and societal security -- has been completely perverted in Mexico. All too often Mexico's criminal justice system facilitates torture and police abuse for those too helpless too poor, while failing to actually combat crime. More than any drug cartel or criminal organization, Mexico's teetering criminal justice has been the biggest contributor to its absolute rate of impunity.

In particular:

• the police force is woefully understaffed, stretching resources and inviting abuse;

• prosecutors are imbued with tremendous powers, unchecked by a passive and corrupt judiciary, leading to prosecutorial indiscretions; and finally,

• poorly trained public defenders give defendants scant chance at a fair disposition, rarely challenging violations of substantive and procedural rights.

This institutional underdevelopment becomes both cause and effect of Mexico's culture of impunity. Now more than ever Mexico must rewrite its criminal code or risk becoming a narco-state, where the only real authorities will be the drug cartels.