All Blog Posts from World Watch

"The past year has been a different year," said President Felipe Calderón during his third state of the nation address Wednesday.

Different must be a euphemism for horrible. This was bound to be a difficult year to summarize for Mexico’s beleaguered President. In the past year he has been battered with several challenges: the world economic recession, the influenza outbreak, diminishing oil resources, the worst drought the country has seen in years, escalating drug violence, topped by the world’s belief that Mexico is ungovernable.

Surrounded by heavy security, Calderon delivered the annual address at the Palacio Nacional, rather than risk the jeering of an aggressive opposition at Congress, where the address was traditionally held. Calderon´s past addresses became almost undeliverable because of the heckling from opposition lawmakers after the disputed 2006 election.

In contrast, Wednesday´s beautifully choreographed address was all smiles and applause, far away from the heckles of opposition congressmen. His "informe" as the annual round-up of government activities is called, marked the crucial midway point in the conservative, pro-U.S. president’s six-year term. Calderon was eager to point out that despite the year’s "historic challenges," Mexico has been able to step up to the plate.

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President Obama’s trip to Guadalajara will focus on trade and drugs at a difficult time for the U.S. - Mexican relationship, in part because the administration has postponed its comprehensive immigration reform program until 2010.

The Mexico "three amigos" trip will focus on issues important to the U.S. domestic agenda even more than foreign policy – because Mexico remains the main transit point for drugs entering the U.S. and because Mexican drug gangs' principal source of guns is from the U.S.

For the Obama administration, visiting Mexico is high on the President’s agenda particularly since the U.S. Census bureau reported a few months ago that 14 percent of the U.S. population is Hispanic and Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment, with 25 percent of live births nationwide.

On the U.S. – Mexico – Canada agenda are other issues related to the proximity of the three neighbors and their North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ties, including climate change and the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus.

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With no suspected or confirmed cases of swine flu, Cuba is going ahead with plans for it biggest annual gathering, the May Day parade through the capital’s Revolution Square on Friday.

The traditional early morning event draws tens of thousands of marchers bused in on city vehicles from neighborhoods in 11 municipalities throughout the city and across the bay.

Smaller celebrations will be taking place in cities across the island.

It is the sort of public gathering that most countries where cases of the H1N1 flu have appeared would not even consider.

And despite the fact that the World Health Organization says closing borders will not help and that countries should simply try for containment of the new variant of swine flu, Cuba remains closed to flights from Mexico.

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When I first saw the images of bloodied bodies and heard the tales of severed heads coming out of Mexico, I was riveted. It reminded me of Iraq, the shock value of chopping off heads and leaving the bodies on display, as powerful in Mexico as it was on the streets of Baghdad or Mosul or Falluja.

But when I went to Mexico, what I discovered was even more disturbing, as unsettling as the savage nature of the violence is to anyone.

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Walking through an evidence room at the ATF headquarters in el Paso, an agent points out a variety of deadly weapons — seized before they could make their way across the border into Mexico.

"This is a typical AK-47," he says, pulling one from the rack. Pointing out another firearm, he explains that it is capable of high-caliber rounds that can penetrate armored vehicles. Yet another has a huge scope, "which could be used as a sniper-type rifle."

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U.S. border patrol agent Jose Romero tells CBS News that a recent surge of Mexican military troops along the border has reduced violence and drug trafficking.

But Romero, like many others who live and work along the Rio Grande, is keeping his fingers crossed that the powerful drug gangs aren't just laying low — gathering strength to wage the next battle in the "real war" next door.

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says Mexico is “not at this point” in danger of becoming a failed narco-state. But she says the ongoing drug cartel related violence is a threat to both Mexico and the United States.

Napolitano will be traveling to Mexico City April 1-3 to meet with her security counterparts and attend a conference on arms trafficking. Attorney General Eric Holder will also be there.

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It is the excessive amount of money from the illicit trade in cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines and weapons that not only seduces and corrupts, but is getting so many people killed in Mexico every day, writes CBS News producer Susana Seijas.

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Much has been made of the supposed audacity of embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for refusing to resign. But "Lighting Rod" ain't got nuthin' on former Mexican police chief Victor Gerardo Garay who was arrested on charges of helping a drug cartel. According to a report yesterday in the Mexican newspaper Reforma, Garay turned a raid on Colombian drug dealers into "an orgy and alleged robbery of half a million dollars, jewelry, and even the robbery of an English bulldog." Garay even took a little time out for a hot tub with a few of the many prostitutes on hand.

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