Headlines from Mexico

1. The United States, Mexico, and Canada signed a new trilateral free trade agreement on Sunday night. The new agreement, which will replace NAFTA, is called USCMA (United States Canada Mexico Agreement).

Read more: Milenio, La Jornada, El Financiero

2. President Donald Trump and President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador had a phone conversation on Wednesday. They discussed the new USCMA, migration and border security.

Read more: El Financiero, La Jornada 

3. Elba Esther Gordillo prepares her return to the SNTE’s leadership. Gordillo was released last August after five years and six months in prison, after being accused of misappropriation of public resources.

Read more: El Universal, Forbes 

4. Members of the MORENA party in the Senate presented a bill proposal that introduces a rotation system of Supreme Court Justices and would limit their terms to 6 years, in an attempt to reduce corruption within the Judicial Branch.

Read more: El Universal, El Financiero 

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Headlines from Mexico

1.  A federal court sentenced Javier Duarte, former PRI governor of Veracruz, to nine years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the charges of money laundering and links to organized crime. The federal court also charged Duarte with a fine of 58 thousand pesos and confiscated 41 properties in Veracruz, Campeche, Guerrero, and Mexico City.

Read more: Reforma, Milenio, Expansión

2. President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador met with the relatives of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero on the fourth anniversary of their disappearance. López Obrador reiterated his disposition to create a truth commission and to invite international organizations to investigate the disappearance of the students.

Read more: El Economista, Milenio, El Universal

3. President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, addressed world leaders during the first day of the United Nations General Assembly’s annual debate. President Peña Nieto warned against isolationism and protectionism and urged the UN Member states to counter these trends by bolstering multilateralism.

Read more: Expansión, Excélsior, Forbes

4. The federal and state police, backed by the Mexican Army, took over security in the Pacific Coast city of Acapulco on Tuesday, responding to suspicions that the city police force had been infiltrated by organized crime. The decision to disarm the local police was prompted by rising crime in the resort city and the lack of response from local security forces.

Read more: El Finaciero, El Economista, El Universal 

5. Journalist Carmen Aristegui announced she and her team will return to the airwaves three and a half years after she was fired for reporting on President Enrique Peña Nieto’s 7 million USD mansion. Aristegui’s new news program will broadcast on Grupo Radio Centro.

Read more: El Financiero, El Universal, El Financiero

Headlines from Mexico

1. The Instituto Jalisciense de Ciencias Forenses, Jalisco’s Institute of Forensic Sciences, abandoned a semi-trailer truck with approximately 250 bodies of victims of drug-related crimes on the outskirts of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city. Civil society groups and relatives of missing individuals protested in the state’s capital and demanded better protocols to handle non-identified bodies.

Read more: El Universal, Excélsior, El Universal, El Occidental 

 

2. In a public ceremony at Mexico City’s Zocalo this Wednesday, President Enrique Peña Nieto remembered the victims of last year’s earthquake. It was the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake that killed 230 people in the capital alone and the 33^rd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake, which killed thousands of people in the city.

Read more: El Economista, Milenio, Expansion 

 

3. President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador said during a tour in Tepic, Nayarit that perhaps it would be impossible to accomplish all of the promises made during the campaign, as he is inheriting a country “in a situation of bankruptcy.” The current government and business leaders deny that the country is in bankruptcy and say the economy is stable.

Read more: El Economista, El Financiero, El Universal

 

4. The nominee to become Mexico’s next Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sanchez Cordero, has said that President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador will not accept $20 million in U.S. aid to remove Central American migrants and that Mexico will not police on behalf of the United States.

Read more: El Financiero, El Universal, SDPNoticias 

5. Mexico’s private sector insisted that Texcoco is the only viable option to build the New International Airport of the Mexico City (NAICM) due to “the available financing mechanisms, its sustainability, and its long-term vision,” and recommended the next government continue with the project as planned.

Read more: La Jornada, El Financiero, Milenio 

 

6. Mexico’s Federal Electoral Court ordered a total vote recount in the 26 electoral districts of the state of Puebla. Martha Erika Alonso Hidalgo celebrated the decision, and Miguel Barbosa believes that the vote recount will expose the manipulation of the gubernatorial election.

Read more: Forbes, El Economista, Excelsior, Reforma 

Headlines from Mexico

1. The Green Environmental Party of Mexico (PVEM) transferred five of its 16 members to the parliamentary group of MORENA, allowing López Obrador’s party to reach 252 members and attaining an absolute majority in the House of Representatives. MORENA will now be able to preside the Lower House’s Political Coordination Board (JUCOPO) for three years and the Lower House Presidency for one year. The five PVEM congressional representatives who are now in the parliamentary group of MORENA are Francisco Elizondo, Nayeli Fernández, Humberto Pedrero, Erika Uribe and Ann Patricia Peralta.  This political realignment occurred after MORENA modified its vote in the Senate to grant Manuel Velasco, PVEM Senator and current Governor of Chiapas, a leave of absence so that he could return to his role as governor.

Read more: El Universal, La Jornada, Proceso, Excélsior

2. President Enrique Peña Nieto gave his sixth and final State of the Nation Address. President Peña Nieto’ speech was a summary of a 738-page document that the Secretary of the Interior (SEGOB), Alfonso Navarrete Prida, presented to the presidents of the Lower and Upper House last Saturday. The speech covered five main areas: peace, inclusiveness, education, economic growth, and Mexico’s role in the world. President Peña Nieto emphasized that the structural reforms were the transcendental achievement of his administration since they have been the means to advance towards a freer, sustained and prosperous society.

Read more: La Jornada, Milenio, El Financiero, El Economista

3. Upcoming Secretary of Finance, Carlos Urzúa, announced that Santiago Nieto, former director of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Electoral Offenses (FEPADE) and key investigator of the Odebrecht activities in Mexico, would lead the Unit of Financial Intelligence (UIF) of the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP). Nieto will be the person in charge of tracking illegally obtained resources and money laundry. Nieto said that the UIF would work in conjunction with the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP), the General Attorney’s Office (PGR), and with the Auditing Technical Unit of the National Electoral Institute (INE) to fight corruption.

Read more: Milenio, La Jornada, El Financiero, Reforma

4. President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced the names of the three main Deputy Secretaries of the Economy. Luz Maria de la Mora will be in charge of Foreign Trade, Francisco Quiroga will be in charge of Mining, and Ernesto Acevedo Fernández will be in charge of Industry and Commerce. The future Deputy Secretaries of the Economy will support Graciela Márquez, the incoming Secretary of the Economy, to implement AMLO’s main economic policies: the creation of a duty-free zone alongside the U.S.-Mexico border, a program to assist small and medium entrepreneurs in alienated regions of the country, and a series of programs to attend mining communities.

Read more: El Economista, Excélsior, Milenio

5. President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declared that during the first days of his administration, the federal government would invite the private sector to bid for petroleum wells and to construct a new refinery in the state of Tabasco. With this, the incoming government will attempt by to revitalize the country’s hydrocarbons industry.

Read more: La Jornada, El Economista, Milenio 

Headlines from Mexico

1. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, commonly known as CJNG, is widely considered the last remaining major cartel functioning in Mexico. This week, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Mexican officials announced further security collaboration to combat cartel actions in both countries. They noted the goal of arresting the leader of CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho,” as a main goal. The Mexican government has put out a 30 million peso reward for the capture of “El Mencho”.

Read more: La Jornada, Milenio, Reforma

2. López Obrador discussed the future of the new Mexico City airport project today in a press conference. His administration plans on continuing consultations with civil society and experts. A consultation or national survey will be released the final week of October to gauge citizen opinions. López Obrador reiterated his position that the population’s opinion, and an active democratic exercise, is the most important factor.

Read more: La Jornada, Milenio, Reforma

3. López Obrador said on Monday his administration will invest more than $11 billion to boost refining capacity in order to curb growing fuel imports. This will be used to improve six existing refineries and build a new one in his home state of Tabasco.

Read more: El Financiero, El Universal, Reforma

4. On Tuesday, President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced the amplification of the ‘Tren Maya’ from 900 to 1,500 km. It will now include the states of Tabasco, Campeche, Chiapas, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo. The train has been both praised and condemned, with critics cynical about the current timeline of the project and others raising concerns over the environment and the local indigenous population.

Read more: El Universal, La Jornada, Reforma

5. Fabio Melanitto, a former member of the band Uff!, was killed Tuesday. He was riding his motorcycle with his partner when he was shot. It is being considered a purposeful assassination and authorities think it may have to do with financial extortion.

Read more: El Universal, Milenio, Reforma

Headlines from Mexico

1. On Wednesday, AMLO was formally declared the President-elect of Mexico. Mexico has one of the longest transition periods, and this is one of the many formal mechanisms in securing the presidency.

Read more: El Universal, Forbes MX, Reuters MX

2. AMLO began his peace forums in Ciudad Juarez on Tuesday, bringing together local authorities, victim groups, and civil society. Durazo, the incoming head of the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP), laid out the administration’s plan to tackle the rising violence in the country.

Read more: La Jornada, El Universal, Reuters MX

3. Just days prior to the first forum on pacification, 11 were murdered over the weekend in Ciudad Juarez. While violence lowered in the city after its 2011 height, it is on the climb again, and local officials are concerned about it worsening.

Read more: Excelsior, Milenio, Proceso

4. Peña Nieto and AMLO met yesterday to discuss the transition of administrations. The meeting included raising the issue of Peña Nieto introducing the legislation to make the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) once more prior to AMLO’s inauguration. This would be a big win for AMLO as he spearheads his public security program and peace forums.

Read more: El Financiero, El Pais, El Universal

5. On Wednesday, Elba Ester Gordillo, the former leader of the teacher’s union in Mexico, was exonerated. She had been accused of corruption, amongst other charges. Her supporters were ecstatic while her critics called it a sign of impunity.

Read more: El Universal, Jornada, Reforma

Headlines from Mexico

1. An Aeromexico flight carrying 103 people crashed after taking off from an airport in Durango. Mexican officials confirmed there were no fatalities as a result of the crash, but 49 passengers were hospitalized due to minor injuries; the pilot and another passenger are in critical but stable condition. The plane was on route from Durango to Mexico City, when it rapidly descended due to heavy rains and strong winds.

Read more: Reforma, Excelsior, El Universal, Milenio

2. Mexico’s Minister of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo, and Secretary Robert Lighthizer reported some progress in the NAFTA renegotiation talks with the United States, but some issues remain. Guajardo emphasized a particular desire to finish up on details regarding rules of origin, while stating that the “sunset clause” topic wouldn’t be discussed this week.

Read more: El Universal, Reforma, El Economista, El Financiero

3. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry condemned protesters shouting racist comments and distributing anti-migrant leaflets outside its New York consulate. Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray declared, “on Saturday a group of racist, ignorant and xenophobic people were at our consulate in NY, we reject and condemn these events.” The protests were conducted by members of a group called Identity Evropa, a group said to be dedicated to defending people of European heritage.

Read more: Proceso, Excelsior, Reforma, Mural

4. AMLO declared his energy plan will require an investment of 175 billion pesos in the first year, and it will consist primarily of revitalizing oil and gas extraction. AMLO plans to rehabilitate the six refineries so they can operate at 100% of their capacity within 2 years, along with the construction of a new refinery in Dos Bocas Paraíso, Tabasco in 2019. AMLO also confirmed two appointments, Octavio Romero to PEMEX and Manuel Bartlett to CFE.

Read more: Jornada, El Financiero, El Economista

5. AMLO announced he is contemplating an investment of $10 billion MXN pesos for his health plan. The plan will consist of finalizing the construction of 57 inconclusive hospitals throughout the country, affirming they must finish the construction of the abandoned hospitals first before starting on new ones.

Read more: El Financiero, Reforma, Proceso, El Universal