Blurring the lines between infiltrating and aiding organized crime, U.S. drug-enforcement agents have been supplying Mexican cartels with arms and helping them launder millions of dollars of drug money. In recent months the U.S. government has even been accused of protecting and turning a blind eye to the dealings of the world’s most wanted drug lord by a senior member of his organization.

A small but prestigious college whose library includes books over 500 years old is keeping the history of Guadalajara and Jalisco alive.

Arnulfo Castorena takes long, confident strokes, pulling himself across the blue width of the pool with his arm. It’s another in an endless series of training days stretching back 17 years. Castorena hopes to break his own world record for the 50 meter breaststroke—56.27 seconds—in this coming Paralympic Games, to be held this August 29 to September 9 in London, after the Summer Olympic Games.

Among fanfares of sparks and music, President Felipe Calderon January 7 inaugurated the country’s new bicentennial monument, Estela de Luz, in Mexico City.

Has the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) really changed from its authoritarian past or is it just adopting young, handsome faces to mask its true visage?

Stuart Andrews waves his printout in front of the waiter at California Wings at the corner of Manuel Acuna and Aztecas in Guadalajara. The name leaves no doubt as to the American-style sports bar perched over the edge of this trendy shopping plaza.