“I have to disguise myself as a duck, so the president looks at us,” read one sign held up by a demonstrator in a duck costume at a protest led by madres buscadoras, the “mothers who search.”
David Agren
David Agren has covered Mexico since 2005 for Catholic News Service and publications including the Guardian, USA Today and Maclean's magazine.
Posted inDispatches
500 years later, the Spanish conqueror of Mexico still stirs controversy on both sides of the Atlantic
While many Mexicans consider Cortés a rapacious historical villain, Hispanophiles, both in Spain and across the Americas, lionize him for bringing Catholicism and Spanish culture to Mesoamerica.
Posted inDispatches
In Peru, it’s no contest when President Trump takes on Pope Leo
Peruvians remember with gratitude Pope Leo’s (then Bishop Prevost) response to catastrophic floods in Chiclayo. They recall him procuring oxygen tanks during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pope had also responded decisively to the exodus of migrants fleeing Venezuela for other parts of South America.
Posted inDispatches
Mexico burns after drug cartel leader is captured and killed
Mexico exploded in violence after special forces killed drug cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, leader of the fearsome Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Its foot soldiers fanned out across 20 states, burning vehicles and buildings in attacks claiming at least 70 lives, including 25 National Guard members.
Posted inDispatches
Trump’s capture of Maduro has more support in Latin America than in the U.S.
More than a half dozen right-leaning, Latin American heads of state supported the U.S. intervention in Venezuela to depose Nicolás Maduro, including the pro-Trump leaders of Ecuador, Argentina and El Salvador.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Jesuit human rights center warn of growing state surveillance in Mexico
Fears of state espionage are surfacing again for Centro Prodh and other human rights groups in Mexico after legislators overhauled a suite of laws in security, military, telecommunications and intelligence matters.
Posted inFaith, News
Clues to Pope Leo’s governing style may lie in Chiclayo
Twenty days into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV’s appointment style remains largely unknown—but his years leading the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, may offer clues.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
How Mexico’s president is handling an unpredictable Trump—and gaining popularity
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s deft handling of the mercurial U.S. president has sent her approval rating soaring, reaching 85 percent in the latest survey from the newspaper El Financiero.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
In El Salvador, Catholic bishops and President Bukele are at odds over mining
The Catholic Church in El Salvador finds its voice in opposition to lifting of prohibition on mining.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The other border crisis: How Mexico is enforcing migration policies ahead of the U.S. election
While the candidates jousted through the end of the election season, migrant encounters along the U.S. southwestern border continued a sharp fall in fiscal year 2024. But why?