Peter Gellert

  • Mexican hurricane spotlights social inequalities

    MEXICO CITY — A week after Mexico's worst storm in recorded history, the country's Pacific coast has barely started picking itself out of the rubble and destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Paulina. The hurricane lashed the

  • Mexico City marks May Day with huge marches

    MEXICO CITY — Mexican workers marked May Day with huge demonstrations in the country's capital. Workers have plenty to demonstrate about. At least 70 % of the population lives in poverty, the price of the basic foods and

  • Clinton in Mexico: differences papered over

    MEXICO CITY — US President Bill Clinton's May 5-6 visit here was designed to improve much deteriorated bilateral relations. In the past year, Mexican outrage over the Helms-Burton law, US congressional certification of the

  • US drug certification puts Mexico in a quandary

    MEXICO CITY — US government certification of Mexico's efforts to counteract drug trafficking have unleashed a storm of protest here. Washington's yearly certification process comes on the heels of several weeks of new and

  • Mexican sanitation workers win 8-year struggle

    MEXICO CITY — The eight-year struggle of sanitation workers from the south-east state of Tabasco ended on the evening of January 22, when an agreement was reached satisfying employee demands. The workers, initially fired for

  • Mexican government rejects Chiapas peace proposal

    MEXICO CITY — The peace process in the conflict-ridden southern state of Chiapas suffered a major setback over the weekend of January 11-12. In response to President Ernesto Zedillo's modifications to a bill on indigenous rights

  • Mexico plunges into deep crisis

    MEXICO CITY — In a desperate measure to shore up much-needed support for his crisis-ridden government, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo announced a major offensive on February 9 against the Chiapas

  • Cubans face their 'most difficult year'

    HAVANA — Cuban women bear the lion's share of the burden of the island's economic crisis, because they are responsible for keeping the household going and making do amid widespread scarcities. "We are facing a triple

  • Mexico's poverty gap widens

    Mexico's poverty gap widensMEXICO CITY — Mexico's much touted economic miracle is further and further out of reach for most Mexicans, according to a feature story published in the Mexican daily El Financiero. While

  • Air pollution tops news in Mexico City

    MEXICO CITY — Mexico city's air pollution crisis continues to occupy the attention of the 20 million inhabitants of the worlds's largest city. In recent weeks, record-breaking ozone levels brought the issue to a head.

  • Police implicated in Mexican kidnapping

    MEXICO CITY - Investigations into the case of disappeared left activist Jose Ramon Garcia are uncovering a trail of responsibility and police spying that could become a major scandal. Garcia, a leader in the Cuautla, Morelos

  • Business on the streets in Mexico

    MEXICO CITY — Miguel, a 50-year-old unemployed father of five, is a Mexico City street vendor. He sells corn-on-the-cob from a card table. Miguel works 70 hours a week, and on a normal day brings home $15, only half of which