Yucatecans not ready for gay marriage, says chief judge

*Updated July 17*
Mérida, Yucatán -
Mexico, like the United States, has a dual judiciary. State judges here concern themselves with garden variety civil disputes and petty offenses, while federal judges handle serious criminal cases, constitutional issues and matters which may impact the nation as a whole. As in the U.S., federal courts in Mexico are frequently at the vanguard of emerging legal notions on controversial social and political issues, such as abortion and same sex marriage. And just as frequently state courts are resistant to fundamental change, finding it less disruptive to maintain the legal status quo in all.

Venezuela offers Snowden "humanitarian asylum"

A bad week for the U.S. in Latin America

*Updated July 8*
Guadalajara -
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro today announced that his country will grant "humanitarian asylum" to former NSA security contractor Edward Snowden, who tonight remains holed up in Moscow's international airport.

Yesterday Maduro quickly rebuffed an American request to extradite Snowden should the fugitive contractor show up in Caracas. Nicolás Maduro rejects U.S. request on Snowden.

Nicaragua "disposed to accept" Edward Snowden

Compañeros of the Latin revolution, Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega

Guadalajara -
In Managua today Nicaraguan president José Daniel Ortega Saavedra said his country is ready to grant political asylum to former NSA security contractor Edward Snowden "if circumstances permit."

"We're very open to the idea, and we respect his right to seek asylum. If conditions allow us to receive Mr. Snowden, of course, we'd gladly accept him here in Nicaragua," said the president.

Evo Morales: "We will close the U.S. embassy in La Paz"

Bolivian prez says "ciao" to Washington

*Updated July 13*
Guadalajara -
Still fuming over his unbooked tour of Vienna this week, Bolivian president Evo Morales said today he will close the U.S. embassy in his country. His comments appear to leave no room for maneuvering.

Ex-Russian spy Anna Chapman proposes marriage to Edward Snowden

Their wedding march will be Midnight in Moscow

Guadalajara -
Earlier this week Russian president Vladimir Putin again ruled out any extradition of former NSA security contractor Edward Snowden to the United States, where the turnkey awaits him. Putin did acknowledge that Russia has occasionally swapped secret agents with the West. One of those was Anna Vasilyevna Kushchyenko in the summer of 2010. Putin: Snowden can stay, but no more NSA leaks.

Now comes word that on Wednesday, Anna Chapman - her married (now dissolved) name - proposed to Snowden via her Twitter account. That would not only give the harried fugitive a visa, it would entitle him to Russian citizenship as well, as the spouse of a Russkie. A Russkie who is purportedly the daughter of a former high ranking KGB officer, it should be noted.

President Putin was unavailable for immediate comment. He's busy today hunting down gay foreigners who are trying to adopt Russian kids. "Putin: I've had it with those same sex couples".

© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.

Mérida never forgets - even when it should

It's the anniversary of the Great Battle of the Glorieta

Mérida, Yucatán -
It's a strange feeling - disconcerting, really - to spend the Fourth of July sweating out a mini-revolution in a Latin country, especially when the cause is but an underpass. Yes, an ordinary underpass. But that's what I did two years ago today in the White City. Instead of a Kansas backyard barbecue with endless delicacies and plenty of cold beer, I found myself at a midtown intersection in this steamy capital, trapped between noisy protesters on one side and stern countenanced estatales on the other, trying to figure out why everybody was in such a stew.

Nicolás Maduro rejects U.S. request on Edward Snowden

¿Y que sobre el caso del prófugo Luis Posada Carriles, Señor Obama? - Nicolás Maduro, today

Guadalajara -
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is safely back home in Caracas today, after his trip to Moscow earlier this week. He's probably thankful to have made it in less time than it took Bolivia's Evo Morales to land in La Paz.

This morning Maduro formally rejected a U.S. request to hand over former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, should the latter somehow manage to teleport himself from self-imposed confinement in the Russian capital to the Bolivarian Socialist Republic.

Putin signs Russian law prohibiting gay foreign adoption - with some nasty comments to boot

Out of the frying pan and into the fire

Guadalajara -
One week to the day after the United States Supreme Court handed down two landmark decisions further legitimizing same sex unions in the U.S., Russian president Valdimir Putin yesterday signed into law a sweeping bill which prohibits the adoption of Russian children by foreign gay couples, and even by single persons who live in nations where gay marriage is legal.

The bill easily passed both houses of Russia's parliament in late June.

241 enduring words, still a beacon 237 years later

"This Day the Congress has passed the most important Resolution that ever was taken in America" — John Adams

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Mexico solidly backs Bolivia on Evo Morales grounding

Guadalajara -
As the fallout continues from Tuesday night's forced landing in Vienna, Austria of Bolivian president Evo Morales, whom several European nations suspected of carrying former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Mexico's foreign ministry has issued a statement firmly supporting the La Paz government, calling the incident "regrettable" and suggesting poor judgment was exercised in the matter by several European countries.

U.S. likely to have more troubles with Bolivia, after aircraft carrying president Morales is forced down

Further fallout from L'affaire Snowden

Bolivia's Evo Morales with Russian president Vladimir Putin at this week's Moscow petroleum summit

*Updated July 3*
Guadalajara -
An aircraft carrying Bolivian president Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria this evening after European authorities suspected it might be carrying former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. But a search of the plane revealed that he was not aboard.

Peso, dollar remain volatile; Banixco has $169 billion USD banked abroad

Uncertain week for two currencies

*Updated Sept. 3*
Guadalajara -
Mexico's central bank, Banixco, reported yesterday that the peso should continue rising throughout the first week of July.

At the end of May the U.S. dollar staged a powerful rebound, trading at about 13.50 pesos by late June. But in the last week it has lost ground. The current exchange rate is under 13.

Banixco said that currency trading will remain volatile in expectation of June's employment report by the U.S. Dept. of Labor, which will be released in Washington on Friday.


Analysts in this country said that exchange rates will likely fluctuate between 12.75 and 13.05 pesos. Projections are made more difficult because Thursday is U.S. Independence Day, and American markets and banks will be closed.

Banixco recommended national institutions increase their dollar holdings if the price drops below 12.70, and reduce them if and when the price exceeds 13.10.

The central bank also reported yesterday that it held $166.53 billion in international deposits as of June 28, $154 million more than the previous week. Banixco said the increase was primarily due to changing currency exchange rates. Mexico had $163.5 billion dollars in foreign reserves as of Dec. 31.

Banixco reported that domestic cash on hand last week, including notes and obligations due the central bank, was 773.245 billion pesos. At an exchange rate of 13 pesos, that's about $59.5 billion USD, up 4% from one year ago.

The latter number is Mexico's basic money supply, known as MO. M0 is the most liquid measure of a nation's money supply, and includes cash, coins and demand notes (IOUs) in circulation, as well as other assets which are readilty convertible into cash. Money Supply M0 is called "narrow money," and theoretically represents all available liquidity in a country's economy in a particular moment.

July 5 - The U.S. economy added 195,000 jobs in June, the Dept. of Labor reported this morning. But that will not help reduce the official 7.6% unemployment rate - a number which does not include those working far below their educational or experience level, and those who have given up searching for a permanent position. In fact, the official underemployment rate was reported today at 14.3%.

Aug. 12 - Mexico's foreign reserves rose to $169.325 billion USD as of Aug. 9, Banixco has reported.

Sept. 3 - The U.S. dollar continues its climb the first week after Labor Day, hitting a buy price (gross value) of 13.44 Mexican pesos - meaning even sellers should be able to exchange for about 13 pesos.

Dec. 24 - Mexico had $176.55 billion USD banked on Dec. 20. Here's where the increase came from.

June 21 - Banixco raises storm flag warning on Mexican economy
June 20 - Mexican stock market takes the down elevator with Dow
June 12 - 59% of Mexicans remain trapped in underclass
June 12 - As peso continues its slide, Peña Nieto puts a trillion of them on the table

© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.

President Correa to Wikileaks' Julian Assange: ¡Cállate!

Enough already, says Ecuadorian president

Guadalajara -
Rafael Correa, never one to mince words, had two today for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who's been vacationing in Ecuador's London embassy for over a year: Shut up.

It was Assange, of course, who first encouraged on-the-lam U.S. contractor Edward Snowden to head south to La República Ecuatoriana, although the latest news suggests that Snowden may have opted for a significantly cooler climate.

Mexican drug war deaths fell to 18 month low in June

But 6,607 died in first seven months of Peña Nieto's watch

Guadalajara -
Mexico's Milenio news network published its tally of June drug war murders today, and reported that homicides have fallen to their lowest level in more than a year and a half.

In June there were 869 executions, occurring in 27 of Mexico's 32 jurisdictions. In November 2011 there were 756 murders. Milenio said drug war deaths fell 5.9% from the month of May.

In the period January to June, 2013 homicides fell 25% compared to 2012, according to the network.

Putin: Snowden can stay, but no more NSA leaks

Guadalajara -
Russian president Valdimir Putin, who said last week that former NSA security contractor Edward Snowden would not be deported or extradited to the United States, repeated the point in Moscow this morning, adding that "Snowden is not a Russian agent, nor is he working with intelligence services of this country."

"Russia doesn't hand anybody over to anybody, although on occasion we have exchanged foreign intelligence agents for our own," he said.

Putin made his comments at a Kremlin press conference during a summit of gas exporting nations.