Mexico

Pollution and Mexico City.  The two seem to go together in a lot of people’s minds.  We were first in Mexico City in 1993.  The government was trying hard to control the smog in new ways.

It had gotten to the point where children coloured the sky brown or gray instead of blue.  Birds actually fell out of the sky.  During emergencies, cars were supposed to stay off the streets and people were urged to stay indoors.

The good news is, it seems to be getting a little better.  You can actually see blue sky overhead.  A couple of times each month you can even see the snow-capped volcanoes.  Where we they the last few decades?  Mexico City is no longer in the top 10 most polluted list (I think Linfen City in China wins the #1 place).

So what happened?  Well, there are a lot of factors.  Strict government regulations over the last few years are a piece in the puzzle.  But a big part of it may just be that newer cars are cleaner.

In Mexico City, there are certain days you can’t drive your car (depending on your license plate number).  The idea was to lessen the number of cars on the road, and increase car pooling and use of the (excellent) public transportation.  But we were told that the plan kind of backfired – many people simply went out and bought another vehicle, so they could keep driving!

Now some researchers are concerned about another trend – the trend toward vehicles with worse emissions.  It may just be that the improvement won’t last long.  But there are so many factors – forest fires, wind direction – we’ll just have to wait and see.  Meanwhile, we can breath a little easier next time we visit the big city.

The opposition calls it a “national security issue”.  It involves investigations into price manipulations, international politics, American oil production, business monopolies, and Mexico’s struggling poor.  What has caused the anger and power struggles so early in Mexican President Calderón’s term?  It’s the battle over the tortilla.

This really is serious business, serious enough to make news around the world.   Tortillas have been a staple in Mexico for a thousand years.  But over a year, the price has increased by 14%, in some areas people are paying three times what they were a year ago.  Would you be upset if your grocery bill doubled and your income stayed the same?  I should say.  Especially if you were already struggling to survive a year ago.

Increased worldwide demand has contributed to the rise in prices.  Not only are people eating more corn (maize), it’s being used for other things as well.  In a search for alternatives to oil, the United States is making more ethanol from corn.  And are there people manipulating the prices for their own advantage?  So political corruption, globalization, and everyone’s favourite – the USA – are all being blamed for the current crisis.

While the government debates how to get the prices down, the country suffers, and especially the poor.  Read more about the tortilla price spike here.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) recently posted a Google Map entitled World in Conflict.  The map shows the 15 top disputes in the world today.  There are two categories – major conflicts, and then long running disputes.

Five countries, according to the map, had major conflicts – Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Sudan, and Mexico.

Actually, there’s more than one conflict going on in Mexico.  The one that’s mentioned is the war involving drugs, particularly in the state of Michuacan and the border city of Tijuana.  The map doesn’t even mention another major conflict in Mexico, the ongoing conflict in Oaxaca which has been so much in the news.  You can click on the links to see recent Google news on these two issues.  But even these don’t cover all the major struggles in Mexico.

Don’t get the idea that we personally are surrounded by troops and ducking bullets.  However, this does go to show again some of the deep challenges that Mexican people face.  It’s another reason to pray for the people of this nation.

This is also a good time to mention Shari’s sister Amy, who is heading to another of the hot spots – Sudan.  If you want to learn more about what’s happening there, check out her blog – Under the African Rain.

Here are a couple of missionary blogs in Tijuana, Mexico – Mexicanucks’ Updates and Money Missions.

To see the World in Conflict map from the CBC, just click the graphic above.