In northern Mexico no rain means no pasture. Beef herds have been ravaged and the crops are decimated. Without water cattlemen are losing their livelihoods while farmers are facing ruin.
In northern Mexico desiccated cattle carcasses signal a changing climate. Local farmers look to new products, such as non-toxic grains that help retain moisture, to solve their problems.
In the midst of a killer drought, a lake in Chihuahua has dried up, 350,000 cattle have died, and farmers are spending up to $10,000 a month pumping underground water for irrigation.
A former school drop-out, Esteban Ruiseco is the type of teenager Mexico's drug cartels prey upon. And he might have joined them, if the clarinet hadn't given him hope for a better future.
A federal trial in Memphis connects a local crime to the international drug trade.
Juarez is one of the most violent cities in the world and home to many Ninis, young people with little education and no jobs. One youth found refuge in an orchestra.
Staggering crime rates and economic decline in Ciudad Juarez offer little prospect for young people with no jobs and no education. Many of them are turning to drug cartels for work.
With at least 48,000 casualties in the last five years, the drug war in Mexico has resulted in widespread desensitization to the violence that permeates daily life.
Pulitzer Center grantee Dominic Bracco II speaks with KERA News about the impact of Mexico's bloody drug war on those living in Ciudad Juarez.
Increased border security after the 9/11 attacks has led to an upsurge in violent crime, drug use and economic distress in Mexico.
The money that drug users spend in your community may be helping Mexican cartels pay their employees, bribe officials, buy weapons, and hire people to torture and kill rivals.
Daniel Connolly's Blood Trade series for the Memphis Commericial-Appeal runs in the Mexico City-based newspaper Excelsior.
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