Headlines

1. President Enrique Peña Nieto ordered his cabinet to review cooperation mechanisms and agreements currently held with the U.S. government. This decision comes amid tensions between the administrations of migration policy.

Read more: Reforma, Expansión, El Universal, Excelsior

2. The National Electoral Institute complied with the ruling of the Electoral Court of the Federal Judicial Branch (TEPJF), adding Jaime Rodríguez Calderón to the presidential ballot. Rodríguez Calderón, known as “El Bronco,” was Governor of the State of Nuevo Leon and is running as an independent candidate.

Read more: Excelsior, El Universal, El Financiero, Milenio

3. The Special Commission of the National Electoral Institute approved a proposal that eliminates the final debate round in order to create space for the fifth candidate, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón. The first debate will take place on April 22, and the second one on May 20.

Read more: Reforma, Excelsior, Milenio, Jornada

4. President Enrique Peña Nieto welcomed Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg. Norway is currently an investor in the Mexican energy sector. Statoil won Round 1.4 for the extraction of hydrocarbons in deep waters and will begin to drill at the end of this year.

Read more: Excelsior, El Universal, Milenio, Jornada

5. The Summit of the Americas starts today April 13^th in Lima, Peru. This is the beginning of a series of meetings between the leaders of the countries in the continent, with corruption and governance as main themes. U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will be absent.

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

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Headlines

1. Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, Jose Antonio Meade, challenged the Frente Ciudadano por México coalition candidate, Ricardo Anaya, and Morena’s candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to a public debate about issues pertaining to real estate and property holdings. Meade stated the importance of public officials submitting a certification of their income and public records of the property, as required by law.

Read more: Reforma, Excelsior, Milenio, El Financiero

2. Several hundred Central American migrants who form part of a migrant caravan headed to the U.S.-Mexico border were stranded in the state of Oaxaca. Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) has granted 600 transit visas to migrants. These visas will allow the migrants to move freely within Mexico for up to thirty days. Approximately 250 of 1,200 migrants boarded buses headed to Puebla and Mexico City.

Read more: El Universal, Milenio, El Financiero, Excelsior

3. Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Videgaray, clarified on social media that the migrant caravan “[is] gradually disbanding by migrant choice.” In addition, Secretary Videgaray assured that the implementation of migration policy in Mexico is not due to external threats. In regards to President Trump’s intention to send the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto stated that the Mexican government will not take a stance on the issue until the Trump administration clarifies their plan. The Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) issued a press release stating that the Mexican government will maintain a permanent communication with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Read more: Excelsior, El Financiero, El Universal, Jornada

4. Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Videgaray, were in Washington, DC on Wednesday and Thursday. The purpose of their visit was to reengage in high-level talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced there is a “great possibility” that there will be a NAFTA deal in the coming days.

Read more: Milenio, Jornada, Reforma, El Universal

Headlines

1. The presidential campaigns have officially begun. The Frente Ciudadano por México coalition candidate, Ricardo Anaya, and independent candidate Margarita Zavala kicked-off the campaign season with two events in Mexico City. Morena’s presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s (PRI) presidential candidate José Antonio Meade will hold their kick-off events this upcoming Sunday.

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

2. Miguel Ángel Mancera announced his departure as Mayor of Mexico City. José Ramón Amieva will be appointed as the city’s new mayor. In addition, Mancera announced his intent to run for a seat in the Mexican Senate in the upcoming July election.

Read more: Milenio, Jornada, El Economista, Excelsior

3. There were several protests across Mexico regarding the disappearance of three film students from the state of Jalisco. Javier Salomón Aceves Gastélum, Daniel Díaz, and Marco Avalos have been missing since March 19, 2018. The Attorney General of the State of Jalisco ordered the release of two men allegedly involved in the disappearance of the students.

Read more: Jornada, El Universal, El Financiero, Milenio

4. A video recording released by the United Kingdom’s Channel 4 News confirms Cambridge Analytica’s operations in Mexico. In 2017, Cambridge Analytica opened an office in Mexico City; the firm’s operations were led by Arielle Karro. The news report alleges that Cambridge Analytica worked with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) until this past January.

Read more: El Universal, Excelsior, Jornada, Reforma

Headlines

1. The National Electoral Institute (INE) confirmed that Margarita Zavala, former member of the National Action Party (PAN), is the only independent candidate to have received the proper accreditation to run as an independent in the 2018 presidential election. Benito Nacif, an INE advisor, confirmed that Margarita Zavala received 870,168 citizen signatures across twenty-one of Mexico’s federal entities. The National Electoral Institute (INE) will officially confirm all candidates who will be in the ballot on March 29^th.

Read more: Milenio, Excelsior, El Economista, El Universal

2. Mexico’s Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) praised the National Electoral Institute’s (INE) decision to implement a fast track vote counting process. The INE will use an operations sheet (hoja de operaciones) that will record the following information for each precinct: election results, null votes, unused ballots, incidents, and any other relevant information. The Mexican Green Ecological Party (PVEM) appealed the INE’s decision to the Federal Electoral Tribunal, stating that the fast track vote counting process would impact the precinct’s scrutiny and calculation of the votes.

Read more: Reforma, Milenio, Excelsior, El Financiero

3. It is expected to take two years to transition operations from Mexico City International Airport (AICM) to the International Airport of Mexico (NAIM). Federico Patiño, the director general of Airport Group of Mexico City (GACM) who oversees the NAIM project, stated that once the airport’s infrastructure is complete operations will being “almost immediately.” Yet, Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced he is preparing legal protections to stop the federal government from awarding contracts to build the new airport.

Read more: Milenio, Jornada, Excelsior, Reforma

4. In a unanimous vote, the Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) ruled that photocopies of voter ID cards would not be accepted as a means to gather citizen support for independent candidates seeking public office. The tribunal’s decision comes after reviewing the legal challenge presented by an aspiring independent candidate from Michoacán. The legal challenge resolution issued by the Electoral Tribunal stated that an original voter ID card must be present when supporting the independent candidates.

Read more: Excelsior, Reforma, El Financiero, Jornada

Headlines

1. The National Electoral Institute (INE) has ordered the Office of the General Prosecutor (PGR) to remove press releases and video of pre-presidential candidate for the Frente Ciudadano por México coalition, Ricardo Anaya. The video shows Anaya arriving to the PGR office to request information on whether or not he  was a part of the investigation against Manuel Barreiro. The INE has also ordered the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to suspend all media ads against Ricardo Anaya as campaign media cannot favor nor discredit a candidate during the interim campaign period.

Read more: Reforma, Excelsior, Jornada, Milenio

2. David Rogelio Colmenares Páramo was confirmed to serve as the chief auditor of the Superior Audit Office (ASF) for an eight year term. The role of the chief auditor is to conduct independent investigations relating to corruption and present evidence to an administrative judge. Colmenares Páramo received 377 of 500 votes from the Chamber Deputies despite the abstention from members of the National Action Party (PAN) and some members of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

Read more: Excelsior, El Universal, Jornada, Milenio

3. The United Nations Human Rights Commission released a new report denouncing the use of torture and the manipulation of evidence during the Ayotzinapa investigation. According to the report, 34 people were either tortured or were victims of other human rights violations during the investigation into the disappearance of 43 students from the Iguala municipality. Amnesty International (AI) has recommended that Mexico “establish an independent, impartial criminal investigation system [as well as to] eradicate the human rights violations committed by investigators.”

Read more: Jornada, Excelsior, El Universal, Milenio

4. The Office of the General Prosecutor (PGR) arrested 18 members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Puerto Vallarta. Among the individuals who were arrested was Mauricio Varela Reyes, the individual presumed to have ordered the murder of two agents from Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) in Xalisco, Nayrit in mid-February.

Read more: Jornada, El Universal, Excelsior, Milenio

Headlines

1. In Mexico, seven women are murdered everyday according to a study published by the UN Women, the Mexican government, and Mexico’s National Institute of Women (Inmujeres). Colima, Guerrero, Zacatecas, Chihuahua, and Morelos were the states with the largest number of deaths. Jan Jarab of the UN Office of Human Rights urges the government to “provide the necessary resources to prevent and eradicate femicides.” A new installation of 60 Venus signs sculptures which resemble crosses in a cemetery are located in Parque de la Luz in Mexico City to commemorate the lives of women who have been killed.

Read more: El Economista, Proceso, Jornada, El Universal 

2. On March 5^th, the seventh round of NAFTA negotiations concluded in Mexico City. The following chapters have come to close at the end of the round: Good Regulatory Practices, Administration and Publication, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. The eighth round of negotiations will take place in the Washington, D.C. area in April.

Read more: El Economista, Excelsior, Milenio, El Universal

3. José Antonio Meade, presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has named federal deputy Sara Latife Ruiz Chávez as tourism coordinator for his campaign. Meade’s office stated that the integration of Ruiz Chávez will ensure that the campaign will develop mechanisms that will maximize the economic benefit of Mexican families who depend on the tourism. Ruiz Chávez served on the cabinet of former governor of Quinta Roo Roberto Borge, who was extradited from Panama to Mexico earlier this year.

Read more: El Universal, Reforma, Excelsior, Jornada

Headlines

1. The seventh round of the NAFTA renegotiation talks are underway in Mexico City. The good regulatory practices chapter was the only one that came to a close. Kenneth Smith Ramos announced substantial progress has been made chapters on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, telecommunications and technical barriers to trade.

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

2. The United States ambassador to Mexico, Roberta S. Jacobson, will leave her post in May. Ambassador Jacobson stated: “I have come to the difficult decision that it is the right time to move on to new challenges and adventures. This decision is all the more difficult because of my profound belief in the importance of the U.S.-Mexico relationship and knowledge that it is at a crucial moment.” The Trump administration has yet to announce its nominee to succeed Ambassador Jacobson.

Read more: El Universal, Jornada, Expansion, Excelsior

3. The Office of the General Prosecutor (PGR) has the authority to issue an arrest warrant for Manuel Barreiro Castañeda. Barreiro Castañeda is a  business man allegedly involved in a money laundry scheme that benefitted the pre-presidential candidate for the Frente Ciudadano por México coalition, Ricardo Anaya. Last Sunday, Anaya visited the PGR office to request he be informed whether or not he is being a part of the investigation against Barreiro. The National Electoral Institute’s (INE) electoral adviser, Marco Baños, stated that the Institute will not initiate an investigation against Anaya at this time.

Read more: Milenio, El Economista, El Universal, Excelsior

4. The Federal Police (PF) will provide protection to Mexico’s presidential candidates. National Security Commissioner, Renato Sales Heredia, stated that candidates will have security, “whether or not they want it”, as they travel across the country. Sales Heredia indicated that the Federal Police force will coordinate with the National Electoral Institute (INE) and the political parties to ensure that candidate’s safety as well as the safety of voters casting their ballots on July 1.

Read more: Excelsior, Milenio, El Universal, Reforma