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Deborah Bonello on Muck Rack

Deborah Bonello

Mexico City
As seen in: NARCAS: The Secret World of Women in Organized Crime, BBC, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Yahoo News UK, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times en Espanol, Chicago Tribune, France 24, Milenio and
Covers:  economy and business, human rights, central america, mexico, social justice, culture, crime, drug war
Ex @VICENews. "NARCAS: The Secret Rise of Women in Latin America's Cartels." Out in Spanish soon via @edit_planeta @IWMF grantee @insightcrime managing editor
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Musical Tributes for Mexico's Dead

Musical Tributes for Mexico's Dead

nyti.ms — In Iztapalapa, a violent Mexico City neighborhood, two musicians with a guitar and an accordion are hired to ease the strains of grief, celebrate the dead and remind mourners of more festive memories.
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The priest who built a stadium in Honduras

The priest who built a stadium in Honduras

www.bbc.com — Juticalpa is an unlikely place for a football stadium. A dusty cattle-ranching town in the rural state of Olancho, it seems hard to believe there is an urgent need for a 20,000-capacity sporting arena in this part of Honduras. Yet amid the thick vegetation and rolling grasslands, a team of mud-caked workers is putting the finishing touches to the Estadio Juan Ramon Breve Vargas, the biggest stadium of its kind outside the capital, Tegucigalpa. Furthermore, the brains behind the project is neither an architect nor a civil engineer but a chain-smoking Franciscan priest from Malta, Father Alberto Gauci - whom everyone here simply calls Padre Alberto.
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The boys who fail as World Cup men

The boys who fail as World Cup men

www.bbc.com — There's a short list of favourites to win football's World Cup this year: Spain, Germany, Argentina and host-country Brazil. One team that's never mentioned is Mexico. It's curious, considering the Mexicans have done exceedingly well in international tournaments in recent years. But those triumphs came at the youth level - the under-17 World Cups in 2005 and 2011, as well as the London Olympics in 2012. Jason Margolis of PRI's The World - a co-production with the BBC - went to Mexico City to explore why the Mexicans always seem to falter when the boys grow up and become men.
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How Mexico's west was won: It took a village, and plenty of AK-47s

How Mexico's west was won: It took a village, and plenty of AK-47s

GlobalPost — The story of how vigilante militias took their western Mexican towns back from Knights Templar meth lords - for now.
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GlobalPost: Why so many people in Mexico still go missing

GlobalPost: Why so many people in Mexico still go missing

www.globalpost.com — Sept 20 2013 - The federal government says 26,000 people have been reported missing across Mexico since 2006, and yet just two states have a local prosecutor's office dedicated to the investigation of such cases. Even there, those who have disappeared are rarely found. Some have been caught up in the drug trade; others forcibly recruited to work for the gangs. Cases of mistaken identity are also common, and some are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Across the country, very few cases are properly investigated, and reports of the involvement of authorities are frequent. Deborah Bonello for GlobalPost.
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These Women Bike Alongside the Boys in the Mean Streets of Mexico City

These Women Bike Alongside the Boys in the Mean Streets of Mexico City

Fusion — Mexico City--infamous for its maddening traffic--is becoming an unlikely cycling hub. From blocked-off cycle lanes along main avenues, to fixies in every shade of neon you could ever want, to public rent-a-bike schemes, and even critical mass groups, this city is moving on two wheels more than ever. But there's still a long way to go before cyclists are safe and respected on these pothole-ridden streets among drivers more suited to bumper cars. And for women it's even tougher to feel confident on a bike.
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On Location Video: Mexico's drug cartels recruit migrant labor

On Location Video: Mexico's drug cartels recruit migrant labor

GlobalPost — Central American migrants passing through Mexico on their way to the US are accepting job offers from the drug cartels.
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BBC Fast Track: Mezcal drink embraced again by Mexico

BBC Fast Track: Mezcal drink embraced again by Mexico

BBC — BBC Fast Track: Mezcal drink embraced again by Mexico from Deborah Bonello on Vimeo. November 6th 2012 - Mezcal has been made in Mexico at least since the time of the conquistadors. For years, it was seen as the poorer cousin of the national drink, tequila. But now mezcal is making a return from the wilderness. The BBC's Will Grant reports for Fast Track (or watch below, 18 minutes in). Shoot and edit by Deborah Bonello. Production assistant Ulises Escamilla Haro.
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Clear eyes, full hearts in Juarez (VIDEO)

Clear eyes, full hearts in Juarez (VIDEO)

GlobalPost — The Juarez Jaguars fight violence with football.
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Village gets mobiles for first time

Village gets mobiles for first time

BBC — People in a small village in Mexico are able to use mobile phones for the first time, after building their own mobile network. The villagers of Talea de Castro in the state of Oaxaca have delivered important messages by loud speaker for decades, because telecoms companies said they could not justify a network. Will Grant reports.
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Mexico City's 'alcoholímetro' making headway in dangerous driving battle

Mexico City's 'alcoholímetro' making headway in dangerous driving battle

www.guardian.co.uk — It's late on Friday night in downtown Mexico City. The streets are packed with traffic as people unwind from a hard week's work. The police are hard at work too. They pull over a huge SUV, driving at speed up a major road. As the car comes to a stop, the driver almost mounts the kerb. He staggers as he steps out of the car, his face ruddy from the beer he's been drinking. For Mexico City's alcoholímetro police, Friday nights keep their breathalysers busy. "Sadly, people don't know how to be responsible drivers", says police officer Diana Gonzales (video).
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'You don't know how much I miss my son'

'You don't know how much I miss my son'

BBC — In Mexico around 25,000 people have disappeared since the drug war began six years ago.
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Metropolis TV - Topics - Homosexuality - Muxes in Mexico

Metropolis TV - Topics - Homosexuality - Muxes in Mexico

www.metropolistv.nl — It's hard to be homosexual among all the macho men in Mexico, but in Juchitan de Zaragoza homosexuals have found a way to express their sexual preference. They call themselves muxes instead of gays: men who dress and act as if they were women.
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On Location Video: A Third Gender

On Location Video: A Third Gender

GlobalPost — Southern Mexican town's Zapotec culture makes it a a haven for gay and transvestite men, called Muxes.
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Mexico City's water farms - FT World - World & Global Economy Video - FT.com

Mexico City's water farms - FT World - World & Global Economy Video - FT.com

Financial Times — Small producers are growing crops in fertile soil around the city's ancient waterways. Deborah Bonello reports.
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