Mexico: mothers of the disappeared march in Tijuana

Taking a cue from Argentina’s Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, relatives of disappeared persons staged a loud demonstration in Tijuana.

Mexico: massacre in Juárez, assassination in Michoacán

Gunmen massacred 16 at a drug rehab center in Ciudad Juárez, while the state sub-secretary for Citizen Protection was killed in a drive-by attack in Michoacán.

North American labor federations blast NAFTA

Three major Canadian, Mexican and US labor federations responded to “Tres Amigos” summit with a joint statement harshly criticizing NAFTA.

Mexico: sentences overturned in Acteal massacre

Mexico’s Supreme Court overturned the sentences of 22 men who were imprisoned in the 1997 massacre of 45 indigenous peasants at Acteal in southern Chiapas state.

Mexican bishops blast federal foray on Michoacán mass

The Mexican Catholic bishops’ conference issued a statement criticizing federal police for bursting into a Mass to apprehend an alleged cartel lieutenant.

Leahy blocks State Department rights report on Mexico

Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, blocked a State Department human rights report that would free $100 in Plan Mexico funds.

Mexico: narco-violence reaches new high

The Mexican newspaper Milenio finds that July was the bloodiest month in the country since President Felipe Calderón took office, with 854 killed in narco-violence.

Mexico: international unions back miners

A delegation of union leaders from 13 countries visited Mexico to support the miners union in its three-year struggle against the Grupo México transnational at Cananea.

Michoacán: Nahuas win land struggle

Some 1,000 indigenous Nahuas in the Mexican state of Michoacán won an agreement to have usurped lands returned to their communities after launching a protest occuaption.

“State of exception” in Michoacán

The left opposition bloc in Mexico’s congress issued a statement condemning President Calderón’s illegal and unconstitutional “occupation” of violence-torn Michoacán.

Michoacán: “La Familia” strikes back hard at federales

Gunmen tossed grenades and opened fire on Mexican federal police across Michoacán after the arrest of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, an alleged high-ranking member of La Familia drug cartel.

Oaxaca: activist gets prison in Brad Will case

Local activist Juan Manuel Martìnez Moreno to prison for the 2006 slaying of New York video journalist Brad Will—sparking a new wave of protests in Mexico’s conflicted Oaxaca state.