The subject of the future of democracy is much on the minds of many this election season, including one of Mexico’s most accomplished journalists, Ricardo Castillo, who will speak on the topic Tuesday, February 7, at 12:30 p.m. when Rotary meets at Hotel Mision, Salida a Queretaro 1.
Castillo will share an insider’s understanding of Mexican politics, how the Mexican political system functions and what to expect from the next two years of President Enrique Pena Nieto’s presidency. “The final two years of a president’s term in Mexico are the most important,” said Castillo. The meeting will be free and in English.
Castillo, who daily writes for The News, the leading English language newspaper in Mexico City for the past 65 years, has been a bilingual journalist for 50 years. His illustrious career includes earning a diploma from the prestigious Columbia University Graduate School of Broadcast Journalism in New York on a Ford Foundation grant when documentary TV legend Fred Friendly was the dean {Friendly and Edward R. Murrow are credited with bringing down McCarthism.]. It spans all the way to Chiapas where Castillo learned imaginative story telling from the local indigenous women. “Journalism is not just information, but entertainment, too,” said Castillo.
Castillo published the first bilingual newspaper in Puerta Vallarta, and later was a freelance journalist in Mexico City because he loved the diversity of various styles of reporting, whether they were research, interpretive, or interview formats, to name a few. He has covered everything from arts to industry to politics.
From 1988 – 1990 after a year of extreme inflation of 159-percent in Mexico, Castillo worked on trade articles in Tijuana where the explosive growth of maquiladoras went from 200 to 800 in two years. “There was a shortage of everything but stories,” he said.
Back to Mexico City he went thereafter for more than a decade with The News, including a stint as sports writer. One of the more interesting things he did then was to write a humorous adult comic book on the history of Mexico’s soccer teams, which was not a story of many victories…
A little over a decade ago he worked in Las Vegas at a Spanish language newspaper where he launched his political writing career when former president Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton were running for the presidential nomination. He was prized for his ability to understand them in English and translate them into Spanish for his readers.
Rotary is where neighbors, friends and problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders and take action to create lasting change. For more information, contact President Nate Fultz at nwfultz@yahoo.com and see RotarySMAMidday.org.
What: Rotary Presentation
Title: The Future of Democracy in Mexico
Date, time: Tuesday, February 7, 2017, 12:30 p.m.
Where: Hotel Mision
Address: Salida a Queretaro 1
Extra info: 415 112 3413
Cost: Free admission
By Robin Loving for the San Miguel Times.