Mexico
Photographer documents Mara Salvatrucha in prison
The intricate tattoos on the faces, chests, arms and legs of members of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha gangs of Los Angeles and Central America are on display this month in downtown Mexico City. The striking, close-up portraits of male gang members and the tattoos that tell the tales of their lives are part of an […]
Grasshoppers on guard in Mexico City
Walking through Bosque de Chapultepec this morning, I did what I’ve been meaning to do for months – I took a shot of one of the many chapulines that stand guard around Mexico City’s biggest park. Chapultepec means “hill of grasshoppers” in Nahuatl, the ancient Mexica language. Luckily I had my camera with me and […]
Two years on, dead U.S journalist remembered on both sides of the border
Activists and rights groups marched in remembrance of Brad Will yesterday in the state of Oaxaca, marking the second anniversary of the fatal shooting of the U.S videographer. Will was filming violent street battles in the southern Mexican state two years ago when he was shot dead, and controversy has surrounded the search for those […]
Video: Naked Protesters, the director’s cut
I shot this video for the LATimes a couple of weeks ago, but due to their understandable editorial policy, I had to take out all of the naked shots. But since MexicoReporter.com is an independent publisher, I wanted my version to be complete. The nudity of the protesters is the most important part of the […]
Video: Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard’s daily hassles
Traffic, protesters and street vendors are some of the biggest daily headaches for Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard. This video corresponds to a profile of Mayor Ebrard written by Ken Ellingwood. “Marcelo Ebrard has turned this balmy city into an ice skaters’ wonderland. He’s conjured sandy beaches far from the sea. He’s made hordes of […]
Video: Recovering drug addict tells his tale
Rodrigo Sonck realized that he had to do something about his coke habit when he took a beating from drug thugs. We caught up with him at an addiction recovery center in Huitzila, in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, where he had been for a month. Married with two children, Sonck and around 25 other […]
Bajo Juarez campaigns for the dead women of Ciudad Juarez
“She said some words to my mother that I’ll never forget: ‘Don’t be scared, but they just said on TV that they’ve found a girl that fits Alejandra’s description. We still don’t know if it’s her. Don’t be frightened but call and ask,’†said Maria Luisa Garcia, who stayed outside to speak to their neighbor […]
Mexico memory march turns violent
Thousands of Mexicans took to the streets yesterday to demand justice for the victims of a mass-killing by Government troops on the night of October 2nd forty years ago. Survivors of that bloody night and Mexicans who had not been born then joined forces, chanting “Dos de octubre! No se olvide!” (Oct. 2! Don’t forget!) […]
Marchers remember the dead of October 2nd 1968
Hundreds of students and other Mexicans congregated on Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma, Thursday at 3pm, to march in memory of the hundreds who died that night 40 years ago. These protesters (above) carried a banner that said “Terrorists!” presumably in reference to the Mexican authorities, who have failed to punish those responsible for […]
Mexico to remember massacre 40 years later
Today, people of all ages will march in memory of a massacre that took place forty years ago in Mexico City – an event that remains one of the darkest in the country’s recent and bloody history. On October 2nd 1968 the country was gearing up for the opening of the Olympics here in Mexico […]
In Photos: Police torture, Stormtroopers and the next Mexican Revolution
Coyoacan is a sleepy (at least for Mexico City), leafy and green middle class suburb in the south of Distrito Federal, home to many of the capital’s intellectuals and politicians. It is also where the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM – one of the largest and most important universities in Mexico – has its […]
The disappeared in Mexico
Monica Campbell and Maria Salazar publish a special report for the Committee to Protect Journalists on the dangers facing journalists working in Mexico. 21 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000 and seven reporters have vanished in the past three years. The report suggests the disappearances are either a new tactic by organised crime […]
Arrests made in Mexico grenade attack raise questions
The attorney general’s office announced Friday afternoon that it arrested three men in connection with the two grenade explosions in Morelia, Michoacan, last week that killed 8 people and left more than a hundred injured. According to a statement from Asst. Atty. Gen. Maricela Morales Ibañez, the suspects were arrested in the town of Apatzingan, […]
Nightmare bureaucracy in Mexico? Share your story
The Mexican government launched a competition Thursday to find the worst examples of inefficiency within the bureaucratic machine. The initiative is asking people to submit the most outrageous examples of inefficiency and corruption they have experienced when dealing with officials and government agencies in Mexico. The effort is being overseen by la SecretarÃa de la […]
Gael Garcia Bernal mocked for essay on Mexico attacks
Gael Garcia Bernal, the Mexican actor and heart throb, has responded to the bombings in the Mexican state of Michoacan last week with a column for the newspaper El Universal. The article, written from Europe in complicated Spanish, is a poetic tribute to the eight people who died in last week’s bombings in Morelia, and […]
Morelia: informality characterizes bombing investigation
It’s been a few days since I returned from the bomb site in Morelia, Michoacán. I visited there on Wednesday; two days after a double-grenade attack in the city’s centre during its Independence Day celebrations killed eight people. The death toll rose from 7 to 8 at the weekend when a 13-year-old boy died from […]
Video: Mexico Bomb Victim Tells His Story
“And then I heard a thump. There was a patrol car parked in the street blocking the cars – a transport patrol – and I heard something hit the patrol car. I turned round to see and something rolled…when it stopped I realized that it was a grenade.” Rafael Bucio, a 30 year old car-parking […]
Morelia: the aftermath
I spent the day in Morelia yesterday – here are a few photos from the scene. A video and full report to follow…… Yesterday, the public paid their respects at a shrine to the side of the city’s main plaza in Morelia, remembering the seven people killed in Monday night’s bomb attack. A soldier stood […]
Video: Mexico’s Military Marches as Citizens React to Yesterday’s Bombings
Two explosions during Mexican Independence Day celebrations in the western state of Michoacan killed eight people Monday night and injured dozens more, we reported yesterday. I spent the day down on Reforma where, as Mexico’s military marched, people reacted to the bombings.
Video: Mexico’s police reform – what do the public think?
Drug violence is Mexico is soaring. Crimes against the public are at a high, with kidnappings increasing and people living in a state of insecurity. But corruption within the Mexican police is rife, and inefficiency is the rule, rather than the exception. This video was made to go with this Los Angeles Times report by […]
Mexico’s drug violence is bad for business
The drug violence that continues to sweep across Mexico isn’t only damaging citizen confidence in the country’s government and public security. It also is taking a toll on Mexico’s economy, according to Treasury Secretary Agustin Carstens. The Mexican government estimates that the violence has slowed economic growth by more than 1%. Increased safety concerns have […]
Video: The thrill of the Huamantlada
Watch last weekend’s festivities in Huamantla, Mexico in which 23 people were injured trying to challenge 500-kilo bulls.
Photos: Peace march in Mexico
A girl wielded a photo of Monica Alejandrina, who was kidnapped in 2004, during this Saturday’s march for peace across Mexico. Thousands of protesters of all social classes hit the streets of cities across the country, expressing their anger and indignation at rising levels of kidnappings and crime across Mexico. Click here for the video […]
Mexicans march for peace
Tens of thousands of people of all social classes and ages marched across Mexico Saturday (August 30th 2008) in protest against high crime levels and rising kidnappings.
Filming bullfights is not worth dying for
The Huamantlada pits man against beast in potentially disastrous circumstances. The annual event, which takes place in the otherwise sleepy town of Huamantla in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, saw 24 bulls let loose in the town’s narrow, uneven streets to be confronted by locals and visitors alike – many of which had been drinking […]
Amateur bullfighting festival in Mexico ends with 23 injuries
More than 20 people were gored or injured by bulls this weekend in Huamantla in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala after taking on one of the 24 bulls let loose into the streets as part of an annual festival. The Huamantlada, which is often compared to the running of the bulls event in Pamplona, takes […]
Alive in Baghdad founder detained in China
Brian Conley, who runs the award-winning video blog Alive in Baghdad, has been detained in Beijing whilst documenting pro-Tibet protests in the city running alongside the Olypmics. Conley has been of incredible help to MexicoReporter.com, helping me with video editing and filming tips during the early days, and also helped the Frontline Club promote the […]
The News finally launches website
Remember the English-language newspaper The News which launched last October, pledging independence? English language newspaper The News hit the streets of Mexico City today after a five year hiatus. Its directors have promised a more independent tone this time around. In its prior incarnation The News kept its head under the parapet, preferring to keep […]
Mexico wins its first gold medal in Beijing
Guillermo Pérez is to take home the first gold medal for Mexico from the Olympics in Beijing this year, after winning a four-round taekwondo match against Gabriel Mercedes of the Dominican Republic. “Perez won a decision over Dominican Republic’s Yulis Gabriel Mercedes by scoring early. Mercedes was unable to come back until just seconds before […]
Mexico church assailed for maligning miniskirt
Last week’s condemnation of the mini-skirt by the Mexican Catholic Church has enraged some Mexican women, who say that church’s statement that women should wear less provocative clothing makes it easier to justify rape and other forms of violence against them. Last week’s statement, which advised women not to get into “spicyâ€conversations with men if […]
