UPDATE 1-Mexico’s Cablevision Eyes Q1 Cellphone Service Launch

Reuters, 11/19/09
Mexican cable operator Cablevision, owned by broadcaster Televisa, said on Thursday it could launch cellphone services in the first quarter of 2010.
“I think it would be in the first quarter,” Cablevision CEO Jean Paul Broc told reporters.
Cablevision (CABLECPO.MX) and other Mexican cable companies are rushing to stake out territory in telephone and Internet services [...]

WRAPUP 1-Mexico Says Credit Downgrade Wouldn’t Be Disaster

Reuters, 11/19/09
Mexican top government officials responded on Thursday to fears of an imminent credit downgrade by rating agencies, saying the country’s finances are on a “sustainable path” while ongoing infrastructure reforms will support economic growth.
Furthermore, a downgrade of Mexico’s BBB-plus rating wouldn’t bring major financing problems because the government has low external borrowing needs, Finance [...]

Geopolitical Analysis of Mexico

Stratfor, 11/18/09
As the southernmost portion of North America, Mexico was dealt a difficult geographic hand. It has a small and limited core territory surrounded by mountains, deserts and jungles that are inherently hard to control and nearly impossible to defend against threats from within or without.
The country is funnel-shaped, its high plateau anchored in the [...]

Moody’s Confirms Rating of Mexico (in Spanish)

El Economista, 11/17/09
The ratings agency Moody’s confirmed the rating of Mexico, which remains at investment grade, following the adoption of the tax package in the House of Representatives.
This is the first rating agency that maintains the sovereign rating of Mexico.
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Mexico Falls 17 Places in Transparency Rankings (in Spanish)

El Economista, 11/17/09
Corruption increased in Mexico last year, according to Transparency International. According to the Index of Corruption Perception 2009, the country dropped 17 places to number 89, a place Mexico shares with Malawi, Lesotho, Morocco and Moldova.
Since 1955, the organization has published the index annually ranging from a score of “10″ for a country [...]

Mexico Loses Leadership in Latin America (in Spanish)

El Universal, 11/16/09
Mexico was once boasted as a leader in Latin America, but is now an observer of the development of other nations. Academics and specialists confirm that the country has found itself stuck in several areas stymieing its competitiveness.
The majority agree: the country wasted its potential, never looked south to reassert itself [...]

Mexico House Committee Passes Spending Part of Budget

Bloomberg, 11/16/09
Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) — Mexico’s finance committee in the lower house of Congress approved the spending portion of the 2010 budget, calling for 3.18 trillion pesos ($243.9 billion) in total outlays.
The legislation calls for a deficit not including debt from state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos of 0.75 percent of gross domestic product. The [...]

Money Trickles North as Mexicans Help Relatives

The New York Times, 11/15/09
During the best of the times, Miguel Salcedo’s son, an illegal immigrant in San Diego, would be sending home hundreds of dollars a month to support his struggling family in Mexico. But at times like these, with the American economy out of whack and his son out of work, Mr. Salcedo [...]

WRI’s EMBARQ Wins Harvard University Award for Mexico City Bus Project

World Resources Institute, 11/12/09
EMBARQ – the World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport – today receives the 2009 Roy Family Award for Environmental Partnership from Harvard University for its work in establishing Mexico City’s Metrobus, a sustainable transit project in one of the world’s most populated and congested cities.
“We’re honored to receive this award,” said [...]

High Education Spending, Few Results (in Spanish)

Reforma, 11/12/09
Ciudad de México México is one of the countries that invests the most in education, but produces little human capital, said the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (Imco).
While the country invests 2,180 dollars per secondary student, 0.8 percent of students aged 15 score at the level of excellence in international tests.
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