The dogs of Ciudad Juarez as a metaphor for the ambitions, corruption and failure of people. Published September 4 by Al Jazeera America. Excerpt: Imagine, then, the upheaval that upended this imperfect but functioning system when a manageable 20,000 street dogs morphed into a teeming population of 200,000 mutts, German Shepherds, Labs, and the favored […]
Category Archives: Reports
Uruguay makes international headlines news as marijuana legislation moves ahead. In the July/Aug 2013 issue of the Boston Review I compare Uruguay and Mexico’s drug strategy through the lens of democratic values. Excerpt: The scale of the problem differs between the countries: Uruguay lacks Mexico’s entrenched, politically connected organized crime apparatus, and Uruguay doesn’t play […]
The Business of Border Security. I take a look at who stands to gain from tightening the border. Excerpt Another potential winner are organized crime groups such as the Los Zetas. From Mexicali to Brownsville, Texas smuggling costs have increased exponentially as border security has tightened becoming a revenue source for violent groups. “Organized crime […]
Myths of Mexico/Columbia Journalism Review/Nov.-Dec. 2009 In 1891, my great-great-uncle, Catarino Garza, attempted to overthrow the Mexican dictator, Porfirio Díaz, by launching an armed revolution from my family’s south Texas ranch. One year into his campaign, Garza agreed to an interview with The New York Times to explain the reasons behind his insurrection. “The impression […]
All stories were reported in the New York City area and appeared in The Washington Post. Links are to pdf versions of the reports. NYC_Latinos_CAFTA For some Latinos with financial and familial connections in CAFTA countries, the trade agreement inspires optimism that open markets will create business opportunities and jobs, and reduce the need for immigration to […]
Below is a sample of some of the trials that grew out of the Sept 11 2001 attacks on New York City. All reports were published in The Washington Post. The case of Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan Moayad drew particular attention after Attorney General John Ashcroft labeled him Osama Bin Laden’s “spiritual advisor.” It emerged […]
To access piece on Sojourners site, click here. ON A FLIGHT from New York City to Guatemala some years back, I met a woman from Oklahoma on her way to visit her soon-to-be internationally adopted daughter. “I just found them, the Guatemalan children, on the internet and thought they were so beautiful,” she said. She […]
There’s a bottle of Jimador brand tequila, half full, in the kitchen, the remains of a conversation about the Mexican student movement. But I didn’t buy it. The bottle of J&B holds just one swig and I never touched. It landed in my kitchen after a book party I didn’t attend, brought over by someone […]
The Pope laid it all on the deadly sin of greed. Greed was behind the 50,000 deaths in Mexico, behind the terror, loss and pain. Young people sick with greed, he said, have caused tremendous ‘human suffering’ across the country. It was a simple phrase but the synopsis of the message Pope Benedict XVI intended […]
This piece appeared on Salon.com on November 14, 2011 CIUDAD MIER, Mexico — A Mexican army commander sent to protect a region of villages and ranches in northern Mexico from the Gulf Cartel and Zetas can describe, in detail, the profile of his assigned enemy, the country’s notorious drug cartels. “These guys are sick in […]
Michelle García 