Mexico has sent soldiers to patrol a suburb of Mexico City to combat escalating drug-related violence that is beginning to encroach on the capital for the first time .

Nezahualcoyotl is an area located to the East of the city centre which has suffered recently from a conflict between two rival drug cartels. Up until now, Mexico City and its suburbs has been one of the areas least affected by gang-related problems.

Since late Wednesday night, 1000 soldiers, federal and state police have been manning the streets in an attempt to restore order in the neighbourhood.

The decision to initiate the military operation, which is being termed ‘Neza’, was taken following the assassination in Nezahualcoyotl last weekend of Jaime Serrano, a local state congressman and member of President Elect Enrique Peña Nieto’s Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).

The principle drug gang in the neighbourhood is called La Familia. In an interview with Reuters local said “people here have got used to paying these people (the cartels). If you don’t, they say they are going to kill you and your family”.

The required payments range from 100 pesos a day (US$ 7.5) to 8,000 pesos per month (US$ 615) according to local testimony.

However, the reinforcement of the area, which has a population of 1.1 million, is unlikely to yield positive results according to Alberto Islas, a security expert at consultancy Risk Evaluation. He told Reuters that “the military won’t be able to stop the drug-dealing, they won’t stop the piracy and they won’t stop the impunity that exists in Nezahualcoyotl”.

The streets of Mexico City are alive in protest, as thousands of dissatisfied voters continue to denounce Enrique Peña Nieto’s victory in this month’s presidential election.

Officials estimate about 30,000 turned up for Sunday’s protest, many of them young members of Yo Soy 132, a social-network influenced student movement that gained notable attention in this year’s campaigns.

Protestors, and supporters of runner-up Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD), accuse Peña Nieto of buying votes, laundering money and arranging favourable coverage via the Televisa network.

Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, has denied the accusations.

Protestors marched to Mexico City’s main square, holding banners and chanting “Out with Pena” and “Fraud, Fraud.”

López Obrador has personally challenged the election results, announcing plans to invalidate Peña Nieto’s win at the Federal Electoral Tribunal. The tribunal must decide on the election’s validity by early September. Peña Nieto is due to take office on 1st December.

A final poll recount had Peña Nieto with 38.21% of the vote and López Obrador with 31.59%.

López Obrador made headlines in 2006 when he protested his loss to Felipe Calderón in the presidential election. The 2006 election’s margin of loss was 250,000 votes, versus this month’s margin of 3 million votes.

The Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Mexico has revealed that 77,919 women have terminated pregnancies in Mexico City in the past five years.

In 2007 a law was passed in the Federal District Assembly, amending the Criminal Code and Health Law. The reforms allow women to terminate their pregnancies until the 12th week of gestation and have access to free hospitals of the Ministry of Health.

The Network revealed that 83% of the women who have resorted to this method are Catholic and that 40% are married or living with a partner.

The former director of Mexico City’s Women’s Institute, Martha Micher, said that 4,476 underaged women have resorted to this practice in the indicated period.

It should be noted that in 17 Mexico states, abortion is still a criminal offense. In the wake of Mexico City 2007 reforms, each state altered their constitution to declare that life begins at conception.

The Network has stated that the decriminalisation of abortion allows women to make decisions about sexual and reproductive health without having to face stigma or put their health at risk.

Two earthquakes occurred in Mexico City early this morning, although neither inflicted damage. These are the third and fourth earthquakes to hit the country in the last six days.

The first one was felt at 5am this morning, reaching 5.2 on the Richter scale, while the second (5.0 on the Richter scale) occurred at around 8am.

Yesterday, a 6.5 earthquake struck near the western state of Michoacan, and later in the day another 6.9 earthquake was felt in the Gulf of California.

Town mayor Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon insisted through his twitter account @m_ebrard that no significant damage to buildings, and no casualties have been reported.

Damage to the power supply was reported in several cities, and the largest tremors were felt 200 miles away in Mexico City, but no emergency called were reported.

An earthquake with a 7.4 magnitude on the Richter scale sent towns near Acapulco, Mexico, into a state of panic yesterday. Local reports say that at least eight aftershocks were recorded shortly thereafter, with magnitudes ranging from 4.7 to 5.2.

At least eleven were left injured after the initial shock and two of them are in serious condition, said interior minister Alejandro Poire. No fatalities have been reported as of yet.

The tremors additionally made their way up to the nation’s capital. Dreading a recurrence of Mexico’s catastrophic 1985 earthquake, several office workers in Mexico City flooded the streets in fear of their buildings collapsing.

“I swear I have never felt one so strong,” said Sebastian Herrera, a businessman who survived the 1985 quake, to BBC Mundo.

While human harm remained at a minimum, at least 800 homes were damaged in the area. Authorities have also reported cracks in walls and roof of public buildings, as well as difficulties in phone networks and water supply systems.

According to Milenio, the initial failures of Mexican mobile networks drove residents to social networking site Twitter to communicate with family and friends.

Government and other authorities tweeted the latest news as well, relaying information on subway lines, power interruptions and traffic situations.

Angel Aguirre, Guerrero state governor, told Milenio television that local authorities were still in the process of checking schools and public buildings for any further injuries.

In another drug related violence incident in Mexico City, two severed heads were found near the main military base on Monday.

Official authorities said that a gang calling itself The Hand with Eyes has left a message nearby declaring to be responsible for the act. The gang has been active in the State of Mexico, districts bordering Mexico City and some southern districts of the capital.

The crime is believed to be related to a drug shipment which has been seized at the airport.

Decapitations in Mexico are usually carried out by drug gangs to threaten their rivals.

A proposal for a new marriage license in Mexico is being discussed by legislators. If approved, the bill will entitle newlyweds to a 2-year marriage trial before signing the traditional contract.

The new contract would be a temporary commitment that allows a couple to terminate the marriage after two years if they wish to. If the couple decide to stay together after this period they can renew their licenses indefinitely.

The argument for the proposed legislation is to decrease divorce rates.

Although the marriage license is temporary, the couples that wish to dissolve their union before the 2 years will have to go through standard divorce proceedings.

The bill would also regulate childcare, schooling and budgeting, among other marital duties.

“Two years is the minimum amount of time it takes to know and appreciate what life is like as a couple,” says Lizbeth Rosas, legislator of the bill and member of the Party of Democratic Revolution (PRD).

“If you renew, that means you have an understanding with your partner, and that you are clear on the rules of the relationship,” he adds.

The conservative politicians of the Mexican capital, who failed to prevent gay marriage, are criticising the bill. Consuelo Mendoza, of the National Union of Parents declared that “these initiatives create a culture of disposability within important social values.”

“This reform is absurd. It contradicts the nature of marriage,” the spokesman for the Mexican archdiocese, Hugo Valdemar states.

On Sunday the ‘Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity’ carried out ​​a silent march against Mexico’s militarization movement to fight organized crime. The demonstration was led by poet Javier Sicilia. Around 3000 people joined the demonstration. The protest took place in downtown Mexico City and ended in the federal district in front of the Mexican Senate.

Prior to the procession, Sicilia protested against the reform of the national security law. According to the writer, the legislation aims to “legalize military involvement in the actions of public security”. The activist said that Mexico needs a security law, which guarantees democracy and peace in the country.

The Mexican activist demanded the creation of a comprehensive law on victims and a legal process to ensure the safety of people and compensate the families of those killed.

During the march, the leader of ‘Movement for Peace’ also expressed his concern about the connection the United States has to illegal arm trafficking in Mexico. He noted that about 2000 illegal weapons enter Mexico every day. Therefore, Sicilia also stressed the importance of regulating the sale of such weapons.

The National Security Act was originally formed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon in April 2009, in order to give new legal powers to the armed forces and police.

However, the security policy imposed by the president has left a total of 40,000 deaths since it took effect in 2006.

Story Courtesy of Agencia Pulsar.

Unusual winter floods have left at least 18 dead and thousands homeless in Mexico. The country is experiencing the heaviest rainfall in 25 years according to authorities. The worst affected areas are in the state of Michoacán in western Mexico. Mexico City and the State of Mexico have also been badly affected.

Three towns in Michoacán have been declared disaster zones by the federal government and will be supported by disaster relief funds. Mudslides in Michoacán have left 30 people missing, many feared buried under rock and mud. The Mexican army has arrived in the area with equipment to search for survivors, repair roads and reach cut off areas.

The most affected area of Michoacán is Tuxpan. The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, visited the area along with the governor of Michoacán state, Leonel Godoy Rangel. Calderón offered support to the victims through the introduction of vouchers for basic furniture and programs to facilitate temporary employment.

In Mexico City, sewage and drain water poured into homes. Emergency services have rescued 7,500 people stranded in waist deep water. Mexico City has a population of 20 million people and has a history of flooding due to being situated in an enclosed mountain valley. Marcelo Ebrard, mayor of Mexico City said: “This is one of the most difficult emergencies the city has experienced.” For the first time since the 1985 earthquake that devastated the capital, the army and navy have been called in to help rescue people.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food reported that 35 thousand hectares of crops have been damaged in the floods. In the most affected areas of Michoacán state schools have closed for the past week.

Rain in central Mexico normally falls between May and October and February is considered a dry month. In 2007 the states of Tabasco and Chiapas were devastated by floods. The floods left 100 people dead and 20,000 people were forced to seek emergency shelter. In total one million residents were affected.