World Bank Releases its Migration and Remittance Trends 2009 Report

World Bank, 11/5/09

Duration of Mexican migration has increased–return rate has declined–as controls have been tightened at the US-Mexico border.

Remittance flows to South Asia grew strongly in 2008 despite the global economic crisis, but now there are risks that they may slow down in a lagged response to a weak global economy. East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa also face similar risks. By contrast, remittance flows to Latin America and the Caribbean, and Middle East and North Africa have been weaker than expected in 2009; yet, they appear to have reached a bottom already, with the expectation of a recovery in 2010 and 2011.

In all the regions, remittance flows are likely to face three downside risks: a jobless economic recovery, tighter immigration controls, and unpredictable exchange rate movements. Despite these risks, remittances are expected to remain more resilient than private capital flows and will become even more important as a source of external financing in many developing countries. Policy responses should involve efforts to facilitate migration and remittances, to make these flows cheaper, safer and more productive for both the sending and the receiving countries.

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Gunmen Kill U.S. Airman in Attack on Bar in Mexico

The Associated Press, 11/5/09

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A gang of gunmen killed an off-duty U.S. airman and five other people early Wednesday at a bar in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, authorities said.

Meanwhile, gunmen assassinated an army general recently named police chief of Garcia, a town in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. It the latest attack against a military official appointed to take over municipal police forces, which President Felipe Calderon has acknowledged are plagued with corruption.

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Mexico Passed Budget ‘Test,’ World Bank Official Says

Bloomberg, 11/4/09

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) — Mexico passed a “big test” of political maturity by raising taxes to tame its widening deficit during a recession, the World Bank’s chief economist for Latin America said. Whether it’s enough to satisfy ratings companies, which have threatened a downgrade, remains to be seen, he said.

The watered-down version of President Felipe Calderon’s 2010 budget approved by Congress reduces a dependence on oil revenue that previous governments weren’t able to address, Augusto de la Torre said in an interview in Washington.

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Mexico Senate Asks Supreme Court to Rule on Banamex Bank Case

Bloomberg, 11/4/09

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) — Mexico’s Senate asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether the Finance Ministry has authority on its own to permit foreign banks such as Banamex, a unit of Citigroup Inc., to operate in the country.

The request for an opinion addresses the ministry’s decision on March 19 that Banamex, Mexico’s second-largest bank, didn’t run afoul of the country’s ban on foreign-government ownership of banks even after the U.S. government bailed out Citigroup. The Senate approved the petition on Oct. 13.

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At 4.9%, Mexico’s Rate of Inflation is Rising in the OECD (in Spanish)

El Economista, 11/4/09

In September, Mexico was one of four countries with the highest annualized rate of inflation amongst the 30 OECD countries, according to that organization.

The OECD said that annualized consumer prices in the OECD fell 0.3% in September 2009, the same rate as in August, while in a monthly comparison, inflation was 0.2%, similar to the previous month.

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Play Béisbol! America’s Favorite Pastime in Mexico

San Francisco Chronicle, 11/4/09

Nothing can replace fútbol — known here as soccer — as the most popular sport in Mexico, but baseball comes in a strong second. From Tijuana to Tampico, in the large cities and the smallest villages, you find ballparks.

Some are impressive stadiums with manicured grass, many more are just dirt fields where corn used to grow. I have driven thousands of miles along the back roads of Mexico, and I am always amazed and heartened to see, even in otherwise impoverished towns and villages, a group of adults or kids throwing the ball — playing a pick-up game. It reminds me of life in small-town America not so long ago.

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Seizures of Weapons, Cash Increase Along Border

Los Angeles Times, 11/4/09

Federal authorities today announced a sharp increase in seizures of bulk cash and weapons along the Southwest border, the apparent result of bolstered efforts to intercept contraband destined for Mexico.

More than $40 million in illicit cash was seized from March through September, nearly double the amount intercepted during the same period a year ago, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. Weapons seizures also jumped by more than 50% — to about 600 weapons — from April through September, compared with the same period a year ago.

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Reporter Kidnapped and Killed in Northern Mexico

Associated Press, 11/4/09

A news reporter who wrote about violent drug crimes has been strangled in the northern Mexican state of Durango, authorities said Tuesday.

El Tiempo de Durango journalist Jose Bladimir Antuna was kidnapped Monday morning, said Ruben Lopez, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office. Authorities found his body that night in a vacant lot in the state capital, about 400 miles southwest of Laredo, Texas.

State authorities are investigating the murder. Lopez would not specify whether they suspected connections with organized crime.

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Mexico Mayor Announces Death Before Body is Found

Associated Press, 11/4/09

Mauricio Fernandez couldn’t have been happier.

Here he was, being sworn in again as mayor of one of northern Mexico’s most exclusive communities, and he had wonderful news to share: “Black Saldana, who apparently is the one who was asking for my head, was found dead today in Mexico City,” he told his cheering supporters Saturday in San Pedro Garza Garcia, near Monterrey.

The problem was that the barefoot, blindfolded corpse of “Black Saldana” — whose real first name is Hector — wasn’t found for another 3 1/2 hours, according to Mexico City prosecutors. And he wouldn’t be identified for two days.

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Report: Reducing Emissions Growth in Emerging Economies Could Be Cheap

New York Times, 11/3/09

How much would it cost to stop increasing greenhouse gas emissions in Mexico? According to a new study from the World Bank, not very much.

The bank estimates that Mexico could flatline its emissions growth, using a variety of measures, for about $64 billion over the next 20 years — or $3 billion annually.

That amounts to just 0.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product each year, according to the study, to keep emissions levels from rising significantly over the 659 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent released in 2008.

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