My book is now available at Amazon. It is a review of what I see as the cultural factors that give rise to the characteristic low levels of trust of the Mexican for government at the local or national level. I outline major aspects of the Mexican economy and seek to identify what may lie ahead for Mexico and the United States with special emphasis on Texas and my home community of Austin. You may go here for more information at Amazon: Failed State

With the return of the PRI to the control of Mexico we are seeing the expected increased suppression of the media and negative reports about Mexican violence. All of us are compelled then to ask friends what they are hearing. Here is an example that I have heard in the last few months and parallels reports recently from California of extortion cells operating in San Diego and Tijuana.

Extortion of Family Members

I have a friend that has worked for the University for many years and now has a business in Austin. He has mentioned that his wife will get a telephone call from her home town in the State of Durango and the caller will say that they are holding her brother and will harm him some way or kill him if she does not send money, usually about three thousand dollars, to an address in that state. They will provide personal information about the brother such as birth date. When she frantically calls and gets him on the phone, she finds that this is a ruse by some party in Mexico