Carrie Kahn

Mass Kidnapping Puts Mexican Legal System On Trial

Carrie Kahn — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:52:00 +0000

Josephina Garcia Rodriguez and Leticia Ponce Ramos sip coffee and console each other at a restaurant in front of Mexico City's prosecutor's office. They're about to head into a meeting with the lead investigator in the case of their kidnapped sons.

"We're going on three weeks since they were kidnapped," Garcia says. "It's been some difficult days, really hard for us mothers. We just want our sons back home with us."

Garcia's 19-year-old son, Said, was taken from the Heaven bar at about 11 a.m. on May 26.

Honduras Claims Unwanted Title Of World's Murder Capital

Carrie Kahn — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:26:00 +0000

Latin America is riddled with crime, and no place is more violent than Honduras. It has just 8 million people, but with as many as 20 people killed there every day, it now has the highest murder rate in the world.

It would be easy to blame drug trafficking. Honduras and its Central American neighbors have long served as a favored smuggling corridor for South American cocaine headed north to the U.S.

But there are a number of factors that have contributed to Honduras' out-of-control killings.

Extortion Common For Latin American Businesses

Carrie Kahn — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 10:32:00 +0000

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Latin America has some of the highest crime rates in the world. And that includes extortion, which doesn't just terrorize but also takes a huge economic toll on ordinary citizens. In many Latin American countries, it's costing billions of dollars and hindering development. As part of our series on violence in Latin America, NPR's Carrie Kahn takes us to Mexico, where some estimates say extortion costs more than $30 billion a year.

As Stigma Eases, Single Motherhood In Mexico Is On The Rise

Carrie Kahn — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:15:00 +0000

On her daily route delivering laundry in her working-class neighborhood in southern Mexico City, Maria Carlotta Santa Maria, or Mari, as she is known, seems to know everyone: the mailman, the woman on the corner selling salty nuts, and her favorite greetings are for the guys at the corner gas station.

Mari is the kind of person that can make this inhospitable and overwhelming megacity seem almost small and friendly.

Former Guatemalan Dictator Found Guilty Of Genocide

Carrie Kahn — Fri, 10 May 2013 23:23:00 +0000

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity, that's the verdict today against Efrain Rios Montt, a former dictator of Guatemala. The general ruled the Central American nation in the early 1980s, one of the bloodiest periods of its 36-year-long civil war. Rios Montt, now 86 years old, was found responsible for atrocities committed against the Maya Ixil indigenous group.

Violence, Hardship Fuels Central American Immigration To U.S.

Carrie Kahn — Sun, 05 May 2013 09:24:00 +0000

William Ordonez and his wife, Carolia, thought that starting a new business in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, was a great idea.

But just two weeks after they started selling chips, candy and soda, gang members showed up and ordered them to pay about $25 a week.

"We tried explaining to them that we just opened, we aren't making that much, we can't pay you," Ordonez says.

The men didn't care, so Ordonez went to the police. He says instead of helping, the police told the gang that Ordonez and his wife had complained.

On Mexico Trip, Obama Maintains Economic Focus

Carrie Kahn — Sat, 04 May 2013 09:51:00 +0000

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. President Obama is in Costa Rica today. He's talking with leaders of Central American nations about security and economic trade. Yesterday, the president wrapped up a two-day visit in Mexico, where he tried to steer the focus away from contentious issues like immigration and drug violence.

Ahead Of Obama Trip, Mexico Alters Cooperation Agreements

Carrie Kahn — Thu, 02 May 2013 08:41:00 +0000

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne. Mexico's agonizing war on its drug cartels is about to change and President Obama is about to hear it personally from Mexico's new president. On a trip to Mexico that begins today, Mr. Obama will also focus on trade and economic opportunities between the two countries.

But the trip comes at a time when Mexico is altering its cooperation agreements with the U.S. on the fight against drug trafficking.

U.S. Men's Soccer Team Ties With Mexico

Carrie Kahn — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:40:00 +0000

Brad Guzan swatted away shot after shot and the U.S. team hung on for a 0-0 draw with Mexico Tuesday night. The U.S. earned only its second point in a World Cup qualifier at Azteca Stadium.

Three Decades On, Ex-Guatemalan Leader Faces Genocide Charges

Carrie Kahn — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:20:00 +0000

In a Guatemalan courtroom Tuesday, prosecutors will present their case against a former military dictator who ruled during one of the bloodiest periods in the Central American nation's 36-year civil war.

Efrain Rios Montt is accused of genocide in the murder of tens of thousands of Guatemala's Indians.

Mexican President Shifts Focus From Drugs To Progress

Carrie Kahn — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:17:00 +0000

Mexico's new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has been in office for three months, and despite his claims that he's fighting drug violence with a new strategy, there are no signs the situation is any better. The president prefers to focus on Mexico's economic potential and has been touring the country, giving pep talks wherever he goes.

Venezuelan Oil Subsidies Still Buoy Neighbors, For Now

Carrie Kahn — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 10:40:00 +0000

Venezuela's late president, Hugo Chavez, was a tremendous supporter of Latin American countries, especially those sympathetic to his socialist ideals.

The country's vast oil reserves are a key source of economic aid, but the Chavez didn't just help out his ideological peers like Cuba and Nicaragua. He was also a great benefactor to key U.S.

The Pope Emeritus' New Shoes And The Mexican Man Who Makes Them

Carrie Kahn — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:33:00 +0000

As Pope Benedict XVI left the Vatican and his papacy, he slipped out of his trademark red shoes and put on a pair of Mexican leather loafers. The shoes, actually three pairs, two burgundy and one brown, were a gift to the Pope during his trip last year to Mexico.

Armando Martin Dueñas is the Catholic cobbler who made the pope's new favorite footwear. Martin Dueñas hails from the Mexican city of Leon, which has a 400-year history of shoe making. His great grandfather started the family tradition.

Mexico's 'Crisis Of Disappearance': Families Seek Answers

Carrie Kahn — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Maximina Hernandez says she begged her 23-year old son, Dionicio, to give up his job as a police officer in a suburb of Monterrey. Rival drug cartels have been battling in the northern Mexican city for years.

But he told her being a police officer was in his blood, a family tradition. He was detailed to guard the town's mayor.

In May 2007, on his way to work, two men wearing police uniforms stopped Dionicio on a busy street, pulled him from his car and drove him away. That same day, the mayor's other two bodyguards were also abducted.

The Mexico-Canada Guest-Worker Program: A Model For The U.S.?

Carrie Kahn — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 23:22:00 +0000

In the U.S., farmers and farm workers alike say the current system to import temporary workers, especially in agriculture, is slow and fraught with abuses.

But the shape of a new guest-worker program is still being hashed out. Some say the U.S. should import temporary workers the same way Canada does. For nearly four decades, the governments of Canada and Mexico have cooperated to fill agriculture jobs that Canadian citizens won't do, and that Mexicans are clamoring to get.

On a recent day, the line outside the state labor office in downtown Puebla, Mexico, is long.

'Sick And Tired,' Residents In Southern Mexico Defend Themselves

Carrie Kahn — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 10:31:00 +0000

On the main road into the Mexican town of Ayutla, about 75 miles southeast of Acapulco, about a dozen men cradling shotguns and rusted machetes stand guard on a street corner.

Buyback Program Gets Some Guns Off Mexican Streets

Carrie Kahn — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:10:00 +0000

In Mexico, a country plagued by drug cartel violence, the mayor of the capital city is offering residents cash, new bikes and computers in exchange for their guns. He says the buyback program will get dangerous weapons out of the hands of residents and make the streets safer.

But not all mayors in Mexico — where it's extremely difficult to legally buy a gun — are rushing to replicate the program.

Mexico's New President Changes Drug Trafficking Tactics

Carrie Kahn — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 10:08:00 +0000

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It has been a busy year in Mexico's war on drugs. The administration of former President Felipe Calderon struck major blows to the country's largest cartels, slowing the violence that has claimed more than 50,000 lives.

But the new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, says he'll change tactics. He wants to go after the crime associated with drug trafficking instead of taking down crime bosses.

Maya Struggle With Poverty, Honoring Their Roots

Carrie Kahn — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:04:00 +0000

The Mayan people of Mexico and Central America received quite a bit of attention this month thanks to a misinterpretation of their calendar. Word spread all over the globe that the ancient culture had predicted the world would end on Dec. 21.

The news attracted tens of thousands of tourists, who flocked to Mayan sites to await the prophecy. Since the world didn't end, the tourists went home.

High Expectations Welcome Mexico's New President

Carrie Kahn — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 11:28:00 +0000

It's Inauguration Day in Mexico, and President Enrique Pena Nieto inherits a country with a mixed record.

Most of Mexico is embroiled in a deadly drug war that has claimed the lives of as many as 50,000 people, but Pena Nieto is also taking over an economy that is doing surprisingly well — thanks, many say, to the outgoing head of state.

Calderon's Violent Legacy

In his final days in office, now-former President Felipe Calderon kept a low profile.

Azerbaijan Leader's Statue In Mexico City Draws Protests

Carrie Kahn — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:47:00 +0000

In Mexico City's most prominent tree-lined park, you can find statues to such international heroes as Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King and now Heydar Aliyev. He's the Soviet-era autocrat of Azerbaijan. Its government paid for the park's latest statue and restoration of a nearby plaza. The gilded gift has upset many in the capital and is causing headaches for Mexico City's outgoing mayor.

L.A. Sheriff Rebuked For Alleged Inmate Abuse

Carrie Kahn — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 09:55:00 +0000

Los Angeles County's sheriff is under fire. A blue-ribbon commission issued a scathing report Friday accusing Sheriff Lee Baca of failing to address long-standing allegations of inmate abuse in his jails. The accusations include deputies beating inmates, cover-ups and a persistent culture of violence.

The sheriff has been able to weather many storms during his 14-year tenure, but this may be the toughest fight of his political career.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department is massive.

It's No Yolk: Mexicans Cope With Egg Shortage, Price Spikes

Carrie Kahn — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:36:00 +0000

There is a new crisis in Mexico. It's not the ongoing drug war or a plunge in the peso: It's eggs.

Mexico is suffering an egg shortage. An outbreak of avian flu this summer, in the heart of the nation's egg-producing region, caused a drastic dip in production and led to huge price increases.

San Fernando's Financial Crisis Burdened By Scandal

Carrie Kahn — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:14:00 +0000

The small Southern California city of San Fernando is facing a seven-figure fiscal crisis. But the town has been unable to address its money issues because the romantic entanglements of the city leaders are dominating the agenda.

Police Shootings Put Anaheim On Edge

Carrie Kahn — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:50:00 +0000

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

We've been hearing, in recent days, about the city of Anaheim here in Southern California. Violent protests shook that city following police shootings of two Latino men. Tensions there remain high, and tonight the city council will hold a special meeting to hear residents' concerns.

Aurora Shooting Survivor Focuses On 'Positivity'

Carrie Kahn — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:39:00 +0000

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Let's hear some of the sounds from last night in Aurora, Colorado. That's where thousands of people gathered to remember victims of last Friday's shooting. Twelve people were killed.

Aurora Police Dismantle Apartment's Web Of Traps

Carrie Kahn — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 10:08:00 +0000

Authorities in Aurora, Colo., on Saturday cleared scores of explosive devices from the apartment of the man suspected of killing 12 people and injuring more than 50 at a local movie theater.

Experts spent hours dismantling the labyrinth of trip wires and incendiary devices that filled the home of the suspect, 24-year-old James Holmes.

Yellow police tape stretched for blocks surrounding the apartment complex where Holmes lived.

From Top Student To Top Suspect: Unfilled Blanks

Carrie Kahn — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 10:02:00 +0000

Police are still not saying what motivated the gunman who walked into a crowded Aurora, Colo., movie theater, shot 12 people dead and injured more than 50. The shooter was well-armed and believed to have acted alone.

Police immediately apprehended the suspect, identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, outside the multiplex. Until recently, Holmes was a student in a graduate program at the University of Colorado, Denver.

The Gunman's Entrance

Jennifer Seeger got to the Aurora movie theater after midnight Friday morning. She was late.

Mexico's Former Ruling Party Returns To Power

Carrie Kahn — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:35:00 +0000

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

In Mexico, the party that ruled for more than 70 years is claiming victory in the presidential election. According to preliminary results, the PRI, or PRI candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto, won the most votes, but the apparent runner-up is refusing to concede. NPR's Carrie Kahn has more on this from Mexico City.

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Hundreds of supporters sporting red shirts and waving white flags emblazoned with the PRI's logo celebrated their candidate's apparent victory.

Youthful Candiate Favored To Be Mexico's President

Carrie Kahn — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 09:53:00 +0000

As Mexicans prepare to elect a new president Sunday, the clear front-runner is Enrique Pena Nieto, who is seeking to return his PRI party to power after 12 years.

The PRI, or Institutional Revolutionary Party, ruled Mexico for more than 70 years before being ousted in 2000. Most polls show Pena Nieto with a comfortable double-digit lead in the race.

But unlike the two most recent presidential elections, in 2000 and 2006, this one has not caught the imagination of voters or stirred passions.