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Mexico Institute: March Highlights

Each month, the Mexico Institute will review and highlight the month’s activities and feature them here. Visitors will be able to watch the recap from our most recent events, browse our new publications, and read articles that feature key media appearances of the Mexico Institute staff.

Mexico Institute: March Highlights

The Mexico Institute, March 2012

Each month, the Mexico Institute will review and highlight the month’s activities and feature them here. Visitors will be able to watch the recap from our most recent events, browse our new publications, and read articles that feature key media appearances of the Mexico Institute staff. We hope you will find this review useful and informative. Enjoy!

Analysis

  • March 27: “Christopher Wilson and Andrew Selee: Texas’ economic trailblazing with Mexico”.

When President Barack Obama meets with Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper April 2, he would do well to heed the example of Texas. After all, Texas is the state with the closest economic ties to Mexico, and as a result, its economy is growing much faster than the U.S. average.

Read analysis here.

  • March 21: “How Mexico Creates American Jobs,” by Andrew Selee and Christopher Wilson

Mexico has many advantages to help its economic relationship with the United States. As the countries cooperate economically, the United States will see many benefits.

Read analysis here.

  • March 20: “A new face for AMLO?” by Eric L. Olson and Diana Murray Watts.

Throughout history, much has been said about fallen giants who rise again from defeat. This is how many – both in Mexico and abroad – perceive Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the presidential candidate of the center-left coalition Movimiento Progresista that units three political parties – PRD, PT, and Movimiento Ciudadano – around his candidacy.

Read analysis here.

  • March, “The Week in Review”

Every week, Katie Putnam analyses and summarizes political events that have occurred in Mexico as the country prepares for its national elections in July. The reviews form part of the Mexico Institute’s Election’s Guide. February’s “Week in Review” includes the weeks of: March 5, March 12, March 19, and March 26

For a full list of analysis by the Mexico Institute, click here.

Publications

  • March 29:  “Considering New Strategies for Confronting Organized Crime in Mexico”, by Eric L. Olson.

The Mexico Institute presents a new publication on U.S.-Mexico security cooperation by Senior Associate Eric L. Olson that challenges the conventional wisdom about crime and violence in Mexico and suggests new strategies for effectively addressing the security threats posed by organized crime.

Read publication here.

  • March 15: “U.S.- Mexico Cross Border Energy Cooperation: a new era in the Gulf of Mexico”, by Duncan Wood.

First in his series of Monthly Reports on PEMEX and U.S.-Mexico Energy Cooperation, this article explores the implications of the recently signed Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement, which resolves the question of what to do with potential oil reserves along the dividing line between Mexico and the United States in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read analysis here.

For a full list of publications by the Mexico Institute, click here.

Events

  • March 15: Private discussion with E. Anthony Wayne, Ambassador of the United States to Mexico and David Jacobson, Ambassador of the United States to Canada

The Mexico Institute hosted a private breakfast event with the Ambassador of the United States to Mexico and the Ambassador of the United States to Canada. The discussion was centered on the importance of Mexico and Canada to the United States, particularly in its bilateral relationship in regards to trade, security and economic integration.

  • March 19: The Mexican Elections and the Future of Social Democracy in Mexico

The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute and the Inter-American Dialogue sponsored another installment in the ongoing series Dialogues with Mexico/Diálogos con México: “The Mexican Elections and the Future of Social Democracy in Mexico,” featuring Jesús Zambrano Grijalva, President of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

View event here.

  • March 19-20: Borders, Crime, and Security: Challenges for Human Security and Development

The third plenary meeting of the Regional Migration Study Group took place in Antigua, Guatemala. The two-day event included panel discussions on rule of law and border enforcement policies, the state of regional cooperation on security and migration, the relationship between migration and organized crime, and economic growth and development in the Latin America region

  • March 21: Drugs and Violence in Mexico Public Policy vs. Public Opinion

This event was held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and was co-sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute. It consisted in a panel discussion of the results of a public opinion survey conducted by the Center for the Study of Institutional Governance (CEGI) at the IPADE Business School, the Colectivo de Análisis de la Seguridad Con Democracia (CASEDA) and the Sistemas de Inteligencia en Mercados y Opinión (SIMO).

View event here.

  • March 28: Day at the Wilson Center featuring roundtable discussion titled: “How Are Immigrants Shaping America’s Character in the 21st Century?”

Andrew Selee, Director, Mexico Institute moderated the discussion. In the context of the recent economic crisis and changing migration patterns, the panelists discussed whether or not the United States could still be considered a nation of immigrants. The panelists also commented on the current migration debate and why immigration politics seem so divisive today, questioning if the tenor of the debate is the result of irreconcilable differences about real changes in the U.S. society or if it is mostly driven by political entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the panelists spoke about ways to restore a healthy relationship between immigration and the future of the United States and explored ways for the debate to move forward in policy terms.

For a full list of events by the Mexico Institute, click here.

 

News

  • March 12: “Mexico Drug Lord’s Fate is Focus of Election Year Speculation”

If Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, the world’s most wanted drug suspect, were to be captured before the Presidential elections, views of current President Calderón would be better, which would in turn help the PAN candidate.

Read news story here.

  • March 9: “Mexican Election May Change How War on Drugs is Fought”

Whoever is elected President of Mexico is likely to continue the war on drugs with a strategy that may shift to using more civilian police or a focus on preventing youth from joining cartels.

Read news story here.

  • March 6: “Biden Talks of War on Drugs with Calderón”

Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Mexican President Calderón and the three presidential candidates. The two governments work closely to fight the War on Drugs; Obama’s administration is hopeful that they will continue to work closely when a new President is elected.

Read news story here.

For a full list of Mexico Institute in the News, click here.

Related Programs

Mexico Institute

The Mexico Institute seeks to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship. A binational Advisory Board, chaired by Luis Téllez and Earl Anthony Wayne, oversees the work of the Mexico Institute.   Read more

Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more