Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Emilio Godoy the Mexican correspondent covering environmental, human rights and sustainable development for the Inter Press Service has published an article titled ‘Mexican Fisherwomen Organise Against Climate Change’, in which he states “The women’s [Mujeres Trabajadoras del Mar] cooperative emerged as a collective effort to adapt to climate change, the effects of which are increasingly being felt on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which bathes the shores of this fishing village at the top of the Yucatan Peninsula in southeast Mexico, 1,700 km from the capital. San Felipe, which has a population of 1,850, is one of the 25 coastal towns in Mexico most exposed to the effects of global warming, in the form of stronger hurricanes, heavier and more frequent flooding and increasing changes in the availability of seafood species, which has caused problems for fishing, the town’s main economic activity. In 2002, Hurricane Isidore devastated 90 percent of the plants along the coast, including the mangroves lining the edges of the huge nearby lagoon. The women in the cooperative, who were trained in “mangrove ecology” a year after the hurricane, have played a key role in restoring the mangroves, which are vital to keeping water temperatures from climbing too high in the lagoon, an important breeding ground for species ranging from lobsters to the longnose spider crab. But here, as in the rest of Mexico, women are absent from government programmes to combat climate change. However, like the fisherwomen of San Felipe, women in communities affected by climate change are slowly starting to organise and get involved in adaptation and mitigation measures.”

Inspired by IPS News ow.ly/eU5gR image source IPS News ow.ly/eU58q

Lydia Cacho the 49 year old Mexican journalist, feminist, and human rights activist, described by Amnesty International as “perhaps Mexico’s most famous investigative journalist and women’s rights advocate”, her reporting focuses on violence against and sexual abuse of women and children. Cacho has been profiled by Emine Saner for the The Guardian in an article titled ‘I don’t scare easily’ despite her investigations having led to attempts on her life, and now been forced to flee her country. Saner states “At 23, she became a reporter, and started writing about violence against women. In 1999, a man followed her into the bathroom of a bus station in Cancun and inflicted a brutal attack, in which she was raped and had several bones broken – an attack, she believes, that was “punishment” for her work. And so the threats continued, especially once she started trying to expose a paedophile ring in Cancun for her previous book… “You learn how to walk the street and be looking all the time for signs of somebody coming, like a motorcycle.” …As well as her writing, she has founded a women’s shelter in Cancun; last year, it provided refuge or psychological and legal help to 30,000 women fleeing abuse. Cacho never wanted to become the story, but the threats on her life also bring a spotlight to her work, and to the dangers faced by her colleagues. …We are journalists because we want to change the world.” She smiles. “I think my job has made a difference.”

Inspired by Emine Saner ow.ly/edebh image source Twitter ow.ly/ede7M

Ruth Milkman the 57 year old Professor of Sociology “likes to tell the story of a hotel housekeeper and her tip-stealing boss because it brings together so many features of the phenomenon of wage theft, the subject of her research” according to Katha Pollitt in her article titled ‘Wage Theft: A Crime Without Punishment?’ published in The Nation magazine. Pollitt states ““She was an undocumented Mexican immigrant with four kids, very humble, and she worked in a brand-name Los Angeles hotel, …she worked more than forty hours a week, but was paid only for forty hours—minimum wage. The law says supervisors and managers can’t get any part of your tip, but she said her supervisor would go into hotel rooms and take the tips before the housekeepers came in to clean. She complained about not getting paid for all her hours and was fired.” Female, undocumented, low-wage, not paid for all her hours, fired when she complains—it’s an all-too-typical story. Low-wage workers in the United States face many harsh and demeaning circumstances—not being entitled to paid sick days, for instance. But there’s something particularly shocking about wage theft, an element of insult added to injury: not only does your boss pay you as little as he can get away with; he keeps a nice chunk of it for himself, just because he can.”

Inspired by The Nation ow.ly/bJcTB image source ow.ly/bJdpS

Javier Sicilia the 56 year old Mexican poet, journalist and activist who launched a grassroots movement with aims to end the ‘War on Drugs’ after his 24 year old son was murdered by a drug cartel, has been interviewed by Connor Guy and Umar Farooq for The Nation magazine. Sicilia states “Cartels have a lot of bosses. We are talking now about fifteen cartels [in Mexico].  And they have multiplied since President Calderón’s [2006 military] strategy to make war on them. …A path to peace is to change the national security law to a human law for peace. And the allowance of regulated drug use, because its not a national security issue, it’s a public health issue, and attacking drug abuse is causing a tremendous harm to the country. …The US has forbidden drug use, which should be a public health issue. And then they set up for us this war. Over $2 billion have been invested in this war [on drugs]—mostly for guns, for weapons and military intelligence. …if we can get support from the media, we would be able to put this on the politicians’ agendas, because it’s a problem in the US and Mexico. It’s a bi-national problem. Not only that, it is a continental problem, and if we are really serious, it is a world problem.”

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A fresh faced telegenic candidate (April 16th 2012)

Enrique Peña Nieto the 45 year old Mexican politician former governor and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party that held power for 71 years before its dramatic decline, is surging in the polls in the lead up to the Presidential election to be held mid this year (2012). Peña Nieto’s surge is at the expense of current incumbent President Felipe Calderon’s conservative National Action Party, being held accountable for the 50,000 killed in Mexico in the current Drug Wars. In an Aljazeera report, a Latin American analyst Rodolfo Pastor stated, “The PRI made sure that there was order and progress, even if it was relative, even if it was also linked to profound inequality and poverty and, of course, pacts had to be made. I think that besides the wonderful discourse that Pena Nieto as a fresh face, as a telegenic candidate is making right now, there is this off-the-record message by the PRI to the Mexican people: ‘Listen, we may be corrupt, we may be authoritarian, but we’re going to take care of things, we’re going to make sure things work again’.” A third candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of leftist coalition parties missed out on winning the last election by only 1%.

Inspired by Aljazeera http://ow.ly/afV5Q image source Edgar Alberto Domínguez Cataño http://ow.ly/afV4a

Maria del Mar Arjona the 19 year old Mexican common law wife of a prison inmate is now likely to face prison time in aiding the attempted escape of her husband secreted inside a suitcase following a conjugal visit. Arjona was observed attempting to leave the Chetumal prison in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo after the conjugal visit, nervously struggling to pull along the suitcase she had taken along with her. Prison authorities intercepted Arjona and opened the case to reveal her husband Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled up in a fetal position inside. Tijerina is serving a 20 year sentence for illegal weapons possession. A prison guard became suspicious as Arjona dragged the bulky heavily laden suitcase towards the exit. Arjona was subsequently arrested and faces escape related charges relating to the attempted escape.

Inspired by Mark Joyella http://ow.ly/5DhnA image source Killmydaynow http://ow.ly/5DgYZ