Mexico 2003

Mexico Border Map

In 2003, Mexico was a country located in the southern part of North America. It had a population of around 107 million people, primarily speaking Spanish and indigenous languages. According to computergees, the capital city was Mexico City, which is home to the Presidential Palace and several other important government buildings and monuments. The economy relied heavily on its manufacturing sector with oil being the main export item. Tourism was also becoming increasingly popular due to its stunning beaches, ancient ruins and vibrant cities such as Cancun and Guadalajara. In addition to its natural beauty, Mexico had a rich cultural heritage with traditional music, cuisine and art that blended European influences with those from Mesoamerica. Despite its many challenges including poverty and political unrest in 2003, Mexico remained a vibrant country that held great promise for its future generations.

Yearbook 2003

Mexico. According to Countryaah.com, Mexico Independence Day is September 15. The ruling party PAN (Partido Acción Nacional) lost big in the various regional elections held during the year. In the March 9 municipal and state congressional elections in the state of Mexico, which is Mexico’s largest electoral district with 8 million eligible voters, the opposition party PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) won both in the capital Toluca and in the largest city of Ecatepec. The elections were considered a prelude to the National Congress elections held on July 6. There, too, PAN’s representation weakened, while PRI strengthened its. The most remarkable result was the PRD (Partido de la Revolución Democratica). The party increased from 55 seats to close to 100, which is considered to strengthen the party’s chances ahead of the 2006 presidential election, especially as the PRD won big in Mexico City’s electoral district.

A financing scandal did not prevent PRI from achieving a good election result. The party was ordered by the federal election authority to pay $ 90 million in fines for violating the campaign finance law in connection with the presidential election of 2000, when $ 50 million was funneled to the party’s campaign fund from state oil company Pemex.

On January 21, the western state of Colima was hit by an earthquake that measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. 21 people were killed.

The tension in the southern state of Chiapas, where the Zapatist guerrillas started a riot in 1994, increased during the year. In April, the military set up a camp near the Indian village of San Isidro, one of the strongholds of the Zapatis. The increased military activity in the area led to the guerrilla leader “Subcomandante Marcos” declaring a new strategy for the movement on 11 August. Among other things, the autonomy of the 30 Indian villages is unilaterally increased.

Three of the leaders of Mexico’s largest drug force were arrested during the year: the head of the so-called Gulf cartel Osiel Cárdenas in March, the Sinaloa cartel’s Manuel Medina Campos in July, and in August, Armando Valencia of the Millennium cartel, who is considered responsible for one-third of all cocaine smuggled from Colombia was arrested. to the USA.

On the 84th anniversary of the revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata’s death on April 10, peasants held a mass demonstration in Mexico City to demand renegotiation of the customs regulations that will, from January 2008, allow duty-free imports of corn and beans. The 3 million Mexican farmers who live from corn and bean cultivation fear competition from cheap US imports.

During a trip to the United States in late May, President Fox declared that he could not support illegal immigration of Mexicans to the United States, and he called for a bilateral solution to the problems. He further stated that Mexico was ready to change its own border police to enforce its borders.

In June, Washington began setting up hundreds of cameras in Texas along the Mexico border to film live from the border. The images are posted on the Internet, and anyone connected to the network can thus act as a “virtual border police” and inform the North American authorities if they see emigrants crossing the border fence between the two countries.

The July presidential election triggered a crisis that jeopardized the entire electoral system. Initially, the result showed only 0.57% difference between the two candidates’ votes. Only after 2 months of scrutiny and recounting did the Supreme Electoral Commission declare PAN’s Felipe Calderón victor over center-left Andrés López Obrador of the PRD. Immediately after the announcement, Obrador took legal action, declared electoral fraud, demanded all votes to be spoken by hand and, if necessary, the conduct of new elections. The Electoral Commission acknowledged that there had been some irregularities, but stated that the scope could not justify the conduct of a new election.

The election meant further weakening of the PRI, which in Parliament was now only the 3rd largest party.

In 2007, the BBC released alarming figures for the violence in Mexican homes. By 2000-06, 6,000 women and children had been killed at home. On average, one murder every 8 hours. Acc. The BBC made the killings both in cities and in the countryside, and in all social strata.

As a result of the election process and the close race between the two main candidates, Calderón was a weak president from the start. He sought to compensate for this situation by creating and strengthening political and economic alliances. It stabilized his power base, but at the same time restricted his ability to reform.

One of the country’s most important challenges was still the rising drug crime. On the same day Calderón was inaugurated as president, he announced a salary increase for soldiers and the federal police, to reduce the incentive to cooperate with the drug cartels. However, the effect was limited as the cartels have enormous resources at their disposal. The president then sent the army and federal forces into the cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez to fight the cartels. The army also instructed the local police to hand in their weapons as they were supposed to work for the cartels. However, despite a number of positive results, the cartels failed to shake the basics. The huge market in the US, the illegality and the huge sums involved ensure the cartels viability despite the efforts of the Mexican state.

Mexico Border Map

United Mexican States Brief Guide

According to AbbreviationFinder, Mexico is a country with more than 100 million inhabitants in southern North America, bordering the United States, Belize, and Guatemala. The capital of the country is Mexico City, of which the English version of Mexico City is also often used. Mexico is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world in terms of population.

Security
We stay in safe areas on our travels, but pickpocketing is possible, especially in cities, and moving around at night in certain areas can be unsafe. However, general caution within common sense is desirable throughout the journey. Current security warnings for all countries can be found on the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ website

Food and drink
Mexican cuisine has also earned a reputation in the world as one of the best in the world. Corn, beans, rice, onions and tomatoes are used as staples. Mexican cuisine combines Spanish and Aztec cuisines. The influence of Portuguese, Austrian and French cuisines also extends to Mexican cuisine. Characteristic features of Mexican cuisine are the use of chili peppers, tortillas and black beans. Tortillas are pancakes made from corn, which are also used to make tacos and enchilados. Spices are widely used and the heat of the food is the basis of Mexican food. The Spaniards brought to Mexico e.g. onion, garlic, cinnamon, pork and rice. Central American raw materials such as sweet potato, avocado, cocoa, pumpkin, corn, peanut, Tomato and vanilla are also used. As a special feature, eating insects is quite popular in Mexico and different species of insects are eaten more than in any other region in the world. Mexican flag colors; green, red and white form the basis of the meal. Red is in tomato salsa (salsa Verde, salsa Picante), green in avocado sauce and white in corn chips. Typical Mexican desserts include fruit as well as various jellies. The most well-known Mexican spirits are tequila and mezcal.

Drinking tap water is not recommended in most parts of the country. Water and beverages should be industrially bottled. Reheated foods should be avoided. It is possible that a different strain of bacteria may cause stomach upset, so your own judgment should be used.