Chinese Goods Compete for Local Business in Mexico

DALLAS -- The influx of Chinese goods into Mexico represents major competition for local businesses, writes commentator Rocío Ortega in Dallas’ Spanish-language Diario La Estrella. The black market for Chinese goods goes unchecked and without quality control, Ortega reports.

Traditional Mexican artisan goods are copied by the Chinese and smuggled into the country illegally, she writes. China even makes copies of representations of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint. Some Mexican business owners wonder what China is doing -- that Mexico isn’t -- to compete successfully in the international economy.

The answer may stem from cultural differences, according to Ortega, but that doesn’t mean Mexico can’t learn from China’s business model and do its own copying. One group of some 200 Mexicans, calling itself the Mexican Association of Secretaries of Economic Development is attempting to do just that. Their objective: “to facilitate Mexican professionals, leaders and experts to develop trade between Mexico and China, acting as agents of change and bringing Mexico into a competitive global context.”

The Rest @ NCM Online

War Between Zetas and Sinaloa Drug Cartels Heating Up

June 2, 2007, 3:08AMPolice find 3 unexploded grenades in Mexico City subway

MEXICO CITY — Police found unexploded grenades in two Mexico City subway stations Friday, and said the explosives were accompanied by messages against the "Zetas," a gang of hit men tied to the Gulf drug cartel....

....The Zetas are engaged in a bloody turf battle with the rival Sinaloa cartel that has left hundreds dead. But most of those deaths have occurred in a few provincial states, while Mexico City has largely been spared the kind of drug-gang battles that have terrorized other cities.
The grenades appeared to be part of a wave of threats against the Zetas that appeared across the Mexican capital. Hours earlier Friday, at least two banners were found strung across busy thoroughfares in the capital with threatening messages.

The Rest @ The Houston Chronicle