Headlines from Mexico

1. AMLO announced on Thursday the establishment of the Consejo Asesor de Empresarios (Business Advisory Council), a group of advisors to the president that will be made up of high profile Mexican business people. The purpose of the Consejo is to support economic growth in Mexico.

El Universal, Excelsior

2. AMLO presented the Plan Nacional de Paz y Seguridad 2018-2024 (National Plan for Peace and Security) this week. The plan is based on eight main objectives, which include guaranteeing education, health and employment, promoting human rights, eradicating corruption, etc. It will also create a National Guard and establish more regional security coordination.

Excelsior, La Jornada, El Universal

3. On Friday, Mexico’s Supreme Court declared the controversial Homeland Security Law unconstitutional. According to the Supreme Court, Congress violated several legislative procedures during the lawmaking process, did not consult indigenous communities, did not make a proper distinction between homeland security and public security, and ignored national legislation and international accords that protect human rights by promoting the normalization of the use of the Armed Forces in public security keeping.

La Jornada, El Universal, Reforma

4. On Tuesday, the so-called “trial of the century” against Joaquín “EL Chapo” Guzmán Loera began in a Brooklyn federal court under strict security measures. Guzmán has declared himself innocent of the charges of international drug trafficking, conspiracy to murder rivals, money laundering and possession of weapons. If found guilty, El Chapo will face life in prison.

La Jornada, Reforma, Excelsior

5. President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced a new round of consultations to determine the future of a train project in Southern Mexico, an oil refinery and ten social programs. The new consultation will take place on November 24 and 25.

El Universal, La Jornada, El Financiero

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U.S., Mexico, Canada ministers to sign trade pact Nov. 30, official says

11/09/2018 – Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at NAFTA talks in Mexico City, Mexico March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Cabinet ministers from the United States, Mexico and Canada will sign a new trade agreement on Nov. 30, Mexico’s economy minister said on Thursday.

The deal will be signed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters at an event in Mexico City. Argentina is hosting the G20 international forum for governments and central bank governors.

It was yet to be determined whether the presidents and prime minister will participate in the signing, Guajardo said.

“What’s clear is that the signing will take place on Nov. 30,” Guajardo said.

Read more…

Headlines from Mexico

1. Mexico’s Supreme Court (SCJN) ordered the suspension of any investigation by the government of Chihuahua against federal officials, including President Enrique Peña Nieto.

El Universal, La Jornada

2.  President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that construction on the New International Airport of Mexico (NAIM) would be discontinued. On Sunday, the polls closed for the nation-wide consultation about the future of the airport and the results of the poll showed that nearly 70% of voters opposed continuing the construction of the airport.

El Universal, Milenio

3. Mexico’s Supreme Court declared that the ban on recreational marijuana is illegal. This ruling opens the door to the potential for the nation-wide legalization of marijuana.

El Universal, Dinero en Imagen

4. Mexico’s Senate passed the ‘Federal Law of Salaries for Public Servants’, commonly known as the ‘Maximum Salary Law’. This law holds that no public servant can make a higher salary than the president, which will lead to salary reductions of Supreme Court justices and election advisors, among others. The law also eliminates pensions for former and future presidents.

Excelsior, Milenio

5. Mexico’s Attorney General, Alberto Elías Beltrán, revealed that Mexico has formally asked English authorities to extradite Karime Macías, wife of Javier Duarte, from England, where she currently resides.

El Financiero, El Universal

 

Mexico Agency Orders Video Released From 1994 Assassination

11/01/2018 – The New York Times

By Reuters

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s national transparency agency has ordered prosecutors to release 13 video recordings related to the 1994 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio.

Agency chief Blanca Ibarra Cadena says the matter is of “social and historic transcendence” and the release will shed light on the case and its investigation.

The classified videos have been requested by an unidentified private party. Prosecutors have argued it would expose lines of investigation.

The agency said Wednesday in a statement that the videos show Colosio in Tijuana on the day of his assassination, as well as what happened after he was shot.

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Foreign leaders, including Maduro, to attend Mexican inauguration

10/29/2018 – Reuters

REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – At least 15 heads of state will attend the December presidential inauguration of Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, including fellow leftist Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, the president-elect’s pick to be foreign minister said on Friday.

Among the confirmed presidents who will attend are fellow leftists like Maduro and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, but also conservatives like Colombia’s Ivan Duque and Paraguay’s Mario Abdo Benitez.

Marcelo Ebrard, who is set to serve as Lopez Obrador’s foreign minister, revealed the updated attendee list for the Dec. 1 swearing-in ceremony in a series of posts on Twitter.

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Headlines from Mexico

1. On Thursday, the incoming government of Andres Manuel López Obrador opened polls for a nationwide public consultation, in which the Mexican people will vote on whether or not to continue with the construction of a new airport in Mexico City. The polls will be open until this Sunday, October 28^th.

El Universal, Milenio, La Jornada

2. Hurricane Willa hit Mexico on Tuesday night, bringing 120 mph winds that have caused several areas of the country to lose power. It has also caused a significant amount of damage to infrastructure and homes in Sinaloa, Durango, Michoacán and Nayarit.

El Universal, Milenio, Excelsior 

3. The migrant caravan that started its journey in Honduras is about 1,000 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border this Friday. Estimates suggest that there are anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 migrants walking together. President Trump has called the caravan a national emergency and has even claimed that he will send American troops to the border to meet the migrants. It is predicted that the media and political attention that the caravan is drawing could have an impact on the U.S.’s midterm elections.

El Universal, Milenio, La Jornada

4. The PRI suspended former governor of Chihuahua Cesar Duarte’s political rights. Although he will remain a member of the party, he no longer has a voice or vote within the political party. AMLO has promised that once he becomes president, he will order Duerte’s extradition.

El Universal, Milenio, La Jornada

5. AMLO announced two new secretaries that will serve under his incoming administration. General Luis C. Sandoval will serve as the next National Defense Secretary and Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán will serve as the next Secretary of the Navy.

El Universal, Milenio

Sickness, Fear, Harassment in Mexico Whittle Away at Caravan

10/25/2018 – The New York Times

The Associated Press

Little by little, sickness, fear and police harassment are whittling down the migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. border, with many of the 4,000 to 5,000 migrants who resumed their journey Thursday complaining of exhaustion.

The group, many with children and even pushing toddlers in strollers, departed Mapastepec at dawn with more than 1,000 miles still to go before they reach the U.S. border.

They had advanced about 95 miles (150 kilometers) as the crow flies since thousands burst across Mexico’s southernmost border six days earlier.

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