December represents many things; the end of the year, evaluations, reflexion, and planning for a new year. It is also the month where the Virgen of Guadalupe and Christmas is celebrated for Catholics. Additionally, it is also when the International Day of the Declaration of Human Rights is commemorated, of which CASA would like to reflect on:

The “war on drugs” in Mexico is widely publicized in the United States, with newspaper coverage of the almost daily carnage, violence resulting from drug-trafficking and fighting it. However, the issue is more complex than a mere showdown between cartels and the military. Drug trafficking is Mexico’s largest source of income and the illegal activity functions based on a system of corruption in the military, police force, the government, and banks. The Mexican government itself has reported that 60% of police at all levels are under the control of narco-traffickers, and in the military, even those up to the level of general have been arrested and charged with being on cartel payrolls. Mexican cartels depend on a steady demand for drugs in the U.S. as its main supplier of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine. The cartels also depend on poverty and limited job opportunities in Mexico.

In Chicomuselo, Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, residents have been fighting the canadian mining firm "Blackwater" for destroying their communities and lands. On November the 27th, Mariano Abara Rolero, a member of the Mexican Netowork of People Affected by Mining, was murdered in front of his house. Witness stay a man on a motorcycle shot Mariano and a campanion, Orlando Vazquez, and rode away.

While most international news organizations took obedient dictation of the Honduras coup regime's claims of more than 62 percent voter participation in the November 29 "elections," authentic journalist Jesse Freeston did what real reporters are supposed to do: He went directly to the source, asked questions, took notes, and videotaped the evidence.