Research Library

Though authorities have launched a massive manhunt for drug kingpin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexicans across the board— fed up with their government's inability to function effectively — are on the cusp of a popular revolution that could change the political landscape of the nation.

Mexico’s Senate is currently deliberating an amendment to the constitution that aims to eliminate corruption — an endemic problem in Mexico. However, the National Anti-Corruption System Act is not as the government and its allies would have the public believe. Instead, it is full of contradictions.

Pedro da Motta Veiga, nonresident fellow for the Latin America Initiative, and Sandra Polónia Rios, director of the Centro de Estudos de Integração e Desenvolvimento, discuss the shift away from protectionism in Brazil's trade negotiations.

Mexico Center director Tony Payan testifies before a House subcommittee on the major threats to the implementation of Mexico's energy reforms.

Nonresident fellow Gary Hale, former chief of intelligence in the Houston Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, pulls no punches in a blog on the escape of Mexican drug lord Chapo Guzman.

This issue brief explores the relationship between the opening of Mexico’s energy sector and the future of the country’s automotive industry.

With two corporate groups dominating Mexico's television sector, the country’s 2014 telecommunications reform established constitutional “must carry” and “must offer” (MC/MO) regulations. These regulations mandate that free-to-air broadcasters must allow pay TV companies to retransmit in the same coverage area without payment (must offer) and that pay TV companies must provide audiences with these free-to-air broadcasts without passing fees along to subscribers (must carry). While the reform legislation places rhetorical importance on promoting culturally diverse and pluralistic content for all broadcast audiences, there is little substantive commitment to these ideals. The Mexican variation of MC/MO is an ad hoc policy with many flaws. Ultimately, the Supreme Court will determine the future of MC/MO in Mexico. Given the reform’s legal framework, however, content diversity and pluralism will not be enhanced by MC/MO in Mexico.

As the implementation of Mexico’s historic energy reform gets underway, the debate has tended to overlook a key question at the intersection of technology and the new legislation: How can Mexico create an institutional framework supported by policies, laws and organizations to facilitate technology transfers and foster local innovation? Simply put, how will international oil companies transfer technology to Mexican companies and research facilities?

Part 2 of a two-part blog on China’s economy. Part 1 can be found here.

At this point, projections indicate that a…

On Jan. 12-13, 2015, the Baker Institute Latin America Initiative and Mexico Center, in conjunction with the AJC's Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs, hosted the symposium "Co-Responsibility and Reform: Foreign and Domestic Perspectives on Immigration." The organizers convened a select group of stakeholders — including diplomats, policy experts, scholars, journalists, activists and government officials — to explore foreign and domestic immigration policies and develop recommendations for effective strategies on both sides of the border.