Tens of thousands of Mexicans have been killed since President Felipe Calderón began his war on brutal drug cartels after taking office six years ago. To date that war has killed more than 50,000. Four days before Sunday's presidential election, that's on the mind of every potential voter but, in the campaigns to replace Calderón, no candidate has come up with a persuasive strategy. We hear about the likely return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico for 71 years until it was rejected 12 years ago and about a youth movement against continued corruption. What's happened to the promises of real democracy and the end of corruption? What's the potential impact of a youth movement that began on college campuses and that's spreading on social media?
Before beginning our panel discussion, we hear a production from Sonic Trace, a project at KCRW, which is telling the stories of immigrants from Mexico and Central America. As an introduction to the presidential election, we hear from Luis, a 17-year-old, Mexican-born junior at a Los Angeles high school and what he learned about the politics of his homeland.
Sonic Trace is produced by Anayansi Diaz-Cortes and Eric Pearse-Chavez. It is part of Localore, an initiative of the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It's home is KCRW's Independent Producer Project. The project is co-produced by Zeega, a non-profit inventing new forms of interactive storytelling.
Thanks to Jacob Conrad, who edited the story, audio engineer Mario Diaz, and to Marco Morales. Follow Sonic Trace on Facebook and Twitter.