In this article, Time Magazine describes the reason why not all of Mexico is happy for Carlos Slim, the world’s 2nd richest man according to Forbes Magazine.
The main reason is this quote:
Whereas Gates’ wealth reflects America’s tech leadership, Slim’s riches —despite the sweat and savvy that built them — tend to symbolize Mexico’s archaic system of monopolies and oligopolies, which helps keep almost half the nation’s population in poverty by choking oxygen away from the rest of the economy.
Hopefully, Slim will become more of a philanthropist in the near future, and hopefully, some of the monopolies that he owns will get some competition, causing the economy to improve.
Here are some clips from a recent article on beliefs about abortion in Mexico. The congress is seriously considering passing legislation to legalize abortion, but the current president says he will veto any such laws.
While a strong majority of people favored using condoms or birth control to prevent pregnancies, only 32.1 percent of those polled said they agreed with abortion.
The poll also found that 49 percent of Mexicans oppose legalizing abortion there with a slightly lower percentage supporting legalizing at least some abortions.
Mexico City currently allows abortions in cases of rape or incest and when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother while the rest of the nation only allows abortions in cases of sexual abuse.
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Today, we went to our local tianguis, the traveling market that comes near our neighborhood every Monday. You can buy all sorts of things at a tianguis: clothes, toys, fruits and vegetables, and, of course, pirated DVDs and CDs.
When we got there today, we walked past a stand that was selling DVDs. Right away, we both noticed that there were two cops there, looking to buy some movies. It didn’t appear that anyone was worried about being shut down or thrown into jail for selling bootlegged copies of the latest movie titles.
Today is Benito Juárez Day. Actually, Wednesday is. But it’s being celebrated today because that way it is a three day weekend (I think that got imported from US culture). Anyway, there’s no work today at the seminary or pretty much anywhere else.
Benito Juárez is considered one of the great presidents of Mexico. He was the president who helped with the separation of church and state, which in Mexico meant that the Roman Catholic Church lost some of its political power during his time. If you know anything about church history, you know that absolute power corrupts absolutely, so this was a good thing.
He’s also the president who fought for the rights of the indigenous population. During his presidency, he stopped paying the Mexican debt to some foreign countries, causing problems in foreign affairs. It actually led to the invasion of Mexico by France. A Mexican victory against France in Puebla is the victory commonly celebrated (more in the US than in Mexico City) as Cinco de Mayo, but that’s a story for another day.
Check out the story of Benito Juárez here, and enjoy the day.
Monument to Benito Juárez in downtown Mexico City.
Here are three important headlines about Mexico City from this week. These three headlines have a lot to do with Mexican culture and ministry in Mexican society.
Mexico seizes 206M in drug money: Federal agents seized $206 million believed to be tied to the methamphetamine trade and detained seven people at a luxury home in one of Mexico City’s most upscale neighborhoods, officials said Friday.
Mexico City considers ending abortion ban: Legislators in Mexico City have begun deliberations on a bill that would legalize abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy.
First gay couple unite in Mexico City, inaugurating new civil union law: An economist and a journalist became the first couple united under Mexico City’s new gay civil union law Friday, kissing while an orchestra played “Besame Mucho” and police guarded their white wedding tent filled with guests.
