Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón
In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.
But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.
As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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Criminal Violence in Mexico
“…AMLO’s tactics have largely failed to curb violence. Though homicide rates have dropped marginally, the country still reports over thirty thousand crime-related deaths per year. Mexico’s 2021 midterm elections were its most violent in decades, attacks on journalists rose to record highs, and anti-corruption reforms have floundered…”
https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/criminal-violence-mexico
Mexican president urges Mexican-American voters to reject Abbott over border spat
“MEXICO CITY, July 17 (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday urged Mexican-Americans not to vote for Texas Governor Greg Abbott in response to Texas putting a barrier of orange buoys in the Rio Grande to stop migrants crossing into the United States…”
Mexican president taps UN veteran Barcena to be foreign minister
“MEXICO CITY, June 13 (Reuters) – Mexico’s president on Tuesday picked veteran U.N. diplomat Alicia Barcena to be the country’s new foreign minister after the incumbent resigned to campaign for the leftist ruling party’s candidacy in next year’s presidential election.
A trained biologist, Barcena served for nearly 14 years as executive secretary of the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and has been Mexico’s ambassador to Chile since last September…”
Buttigieg to meet Mexico’s president, aviation rating in the air
“MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON, June 7 (Reuters) – U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with the country’s president and cabinet members to discuss transportation, as Mexico awaits U.S. approval to regain a coveted air safety rating.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said talks would center on his country’s efforts to recover the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Category 1 rating, which would allow Mexican airlines to open new U.S. routes..”
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The Autocrat Next Door
“…Mexico’s erratic and authoritarian president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is scheming to end the country’s quarter-century commitment to multiparty liberal democracy. He is subverting the institutions that have upheld Mexico’s democratic achievement—above all, the country’s admired and independent elections system. On López Obrador’s present trajectory, the Mexican federal elections scheduled for the summer of 2024 may be less than free and far from fair…”
Black And Mexican Americans Displaced From Palm Springs, California, Neighborhood Seeking Reparations
“Lawrence W. McFarland grew up on a parcel of land on a Native American reservation in Palm Springs, California. One day, the family was told to leave their home. As a little boy, McFarland, his mother, and his brother packed their belongings and moved to Cabezon, California.
McFarland told The Associated Press that his childhood home had been burned down and destroyed.
“We thought they were just cleaning up some of the old houses,” McFarland said to The AP.
In 2021, Palm Springs City Council voted to apologize to former residents for the city’s decision to displace them during the 1960s. The Native American reservation known as Section 14 was the home of Black and Mexican families, the outlet reports…”
Activists’ network in Mexico helps U.S. women get abortions
“CHIHUAHUA, Mexico (AP) — Marcela Castro’s office in Chihuahua is more than 100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, yet the distance doesn’t prevent her from assisting women in the United States in circumventing recently imposed bans on abortion.
From the headquarters of Marea Verde Chihuahua, an organization that has supported reproductive rights in northern Mexico since 2018, Castro and her colleagues provide virtual guidance, as well as shipments of abortion pills for women who want to terminate a pregnancy on their own…”
https://www.metro.us/activists-network-in-mexico-helps-u-s-women-get-abortions/
Latin America Roundup: Mexico, Colombia and Cuba press for Pan-American regulatory body
“A frequent post-pandemic theme among Latin American agencies has been coordination and harmonization among regional regulators.
Earlier this year the Mexican government formally backed the creation of a Latin American Medicines Agency, a pan-Latin America body modeled after the European Medicines Agency, that would “lead to health self-sufficiency and guarantee access to quality, safe and effective medicines for the region.” Mexico Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard cited the pandemic as a rationale for the effort, noting that “we do not want to forget the lessons of the pandemic … we risk facing something similar again at any moment.”
The push toward a regional super-agency is being spearheaded by Mexico’s Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), with strong support from Colombia’s National Institute of Food and Drug Monitoring (INVIMA), and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)…”
Sunday Morning Eva Longoria: “You don’t have to be a politician to be political”
“When Eva Longoria invited “Sunday Morning” over to her Beverly Hills home for lunch, we assumed it was just that, lunch. But she also served up a tasty morsel of culinary history, too. “People think Mexico’s just about tacos and tequila,” she said. “Mexican cuisine is the only cuisine in its entirety protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage treasure – corns, beans, chili, chocolate, vanilla, avocado…”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eva-longoria-searching-for-mexico-desperate-housewives/
Explainer: What is the US-Mexico GM corn dispute about?
“…March 8 (Reuters) – The U.S. has requested formal trade consultations with Mexico over the Latin American country’s plans to restrict imports of genetically modified corn.
The North American neighbors will inch closer to a full-blown trade dispute under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade (USMCA) if there is no resolution during the talks, which Mexico says will last one month.
-old native varieties and has questioned their impact on human health….”
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/what-is-us-mexico-gm-corn-dispute-about-2023-03-08/
Immigrants and children of immigrants make up at least 15% of the 118th Congress
“…Children of immigrants, though, have increased their representation in Congress in recent years. Their share has increased from 10% (or 52 members) in the 115th Congress of 2017-18, when the Center began tracking this biographical information…”
This Mexican Activist Is Helping Americans Defy Abortion Bans, Time Magazine Woman of the Year
“For Verónica Cruz Sánchez, the past year has felt like traveling back in time. Since 2000, Cruz’s feminist activist network, Las Libres, has transformed the experience of getting an abortion in Guanajuato, a deeply conservative Mexican state that had criminalized abortion in almost all circumstances. Cruz and her colleagues have worked to distribute misoprostol, a WHO-approved abortion pill, across Guanajuato, helping women feel confident in its safety, and inspiring similar networks in other Mexican states. But north of the border, the mood is more tense. “In the U.S., the women we see are terrified,” Cruz says. “They have very little knowledge about the pills.”…”
Politicians say they’ll stop fentanyl smugglers. Experts say new drug war won’t work
“…Even if China and Mexico were willing or able to help fight the cartels, stopping fentanyl smugglers would still be incredibly difficult.
The U.S. is actually seizing record amounts of fentanyl in drug busts, but the drug is so cheap to manufacture, the cartels just make more.
That doesn’t mean the fentanyl crisis is hopeless. According to Trone, a more promising strategy is to focus on reducing American hunger for drugs.
“That’s the only chance we’ve got,” he said. “Without the Mexican government’s help, without the Chinese government’s help, we can’t win [against the smugglers]. So we have to go on the demand side, work on all the things with education, work on treatment, work on prevention.”…”
UCLA alumnus’ friends, family urge release from wrongful detainment in Venezuela
“…Eyvin Hernandez, a double alumnus and a Los Angeles County public defender, went missing in late March 2022 following a vacation in Colombia after he accompanied a friend to the Venezuelan border, according to the LA Times. Martinez said Hernandez had no intentions of entering the country, but in April, he was confirmed to be arrested, charged with criminal association and conspiracy, and detained in Venezuela, according to NBC…”
To advance ‘North American Idea,’ fortify bond between Canada, Mexico, experts say
“…Canada could also be taking a more active role in working with Mexico to protect against some of the threats to democracy that exist in Latin American countries like Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, Boehm added.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s last day in Mexico City was dedicated entirely to reinforcing ties with Mexico, beginning with a speech to business leaders that portrayed Canada as a free-trade champion and a wise place to invest.
Already, foreign direct investment in Canada in the last year has fuelled the growth of electric vehicle manufacturing and critical minerals development that has created some 17,000 jobs, Trudeau told his audience…”
What’s behind the Mexican wave of optimism?
“Mexico’s economy was relatively robust in 2022, while its equity market comfortably outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
In many ways the backdrop for 2023 looks considerably less favourable, yet there is optimism regarding Mexico’s outlook. Amid increased geopolitical concerns and a fundamental shift in global supply chains, Mexico stands to be a potential winner…”
As ‘Three Amigos’ meet in Mexico, experts call on leaders for North American vision
“With Canadian and Mexican manufacturers added in the 11th hour to Biden’s plan to encourage the sale of climate-friendly electric vehicles, there will be room to talk about more familiar irritants like trade disputes and U.S. protectionism…
…As a country that’s not immune to the influences of irregular migration and the flow of fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border, Canada will need to be part of that conversation as well, one that’s widely expected to dominate the agenda…”
I’m Mexican American. But the LA City Council audio leak reminded me that I’m Oaxacan too
“…I felt lightheaded as if I’d stood up too quickly as I processed their words. “Tan feos,” she said. So ugly. A prominent Mexican American had invoked stereotypes about a group that, for so long, has been among the most marginalized in Mexico, a country that has long refused to acknowledge systemic colorism and racism.
As shown in a transcript, then-Councilmember Gil Cedillo followed Martinez’s comments by saying, “I’m glad they’re wearing shoes.” Former Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera casually mentioned his mother used to call Oaxacans “Indios,” or Indians, a word often used not as an identifier but spat as an insult.,,”
Millions of Americans have left the country. Where are they going, and why?
“..After the 2004 reelection of George W. Bush, the 2020 election of Joe Biden and the 2016 election of Donald Trump, Google search interest in moving to Canada spiked. It happened again in June, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark abortion rights ruling Roe v. Wade. According to recent Gallup polls, as many as 15 percent of Americans say they want to leave the country permanently, and even more say they would consider expatriating under the right circumstances…”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/23/american-emigrants/
‘Emma Tenayuca Memorial Way’ first step in new effort to honor Mexican-American legacy in San Antonio
“…Tenayuca led the 1938 pecan-shellers’ strike of nearly 12,000 mostly Mexican-American workers. The strike protested unjust wages and horrible working conditions, and it is still the biggest in San Antonio’s history. Her niece and nephew, Sharyll Teneyuca — who spells her last name differently — and Dennis Campa, were present at the announcement and spoke about who Tenayuca was…”
