Bienvenidos and Welcome

A long time ago--in the 1970s--I was a newspaper reporter at the El Paso Times, just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. I was there long enough to become fascinated by Mexico and its culture and politics. I was also there long enough to acquire the ability to read Spanish, thanks partly to a fellowship at the University of Michigan where I could study the language with an intensity I lacked as an undergrad.

I moved to the other border, Bellingham, Wash., in 1980, and felt cut off from Mexico for many years. I would occasionally amble down to the local international news stand to get a week-old copy of La Jornada or Excelsior, but that wasn't usually very satisfying. And U.S. newspapers and broadcast news pretty much ignored Mexico (and still do...)

At some point since then, the Internet happened, and now the news from Mexico is at all of our fingertips--not just the newspapers but the online comments to the news articles (often more interesting than the articles themselves) as well as other sources.

I'm guessing there are other people out there who want to know more about Mexico but may be hampered by language barriers. I'm going to try to do a quick, daily look at news from Mexico, looking for big news or news tidbits that interest me, and may interest you. I don't pretend to be an expert, so I'm not going to do a lot of pontificating on what it all means. Maybe experts, real or self-appointed, will find this blog and weigh in. Maybe nobody will read it but me.

Here goes.