Seeking to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship.
11/25/19 – Reuters
By Andrea Shalal, Anthony Esposito
The International Monetary Fund said on Monday its executive board had approved a smaller two-year lending arrangement for Mexico worth $61 billion, replacing the current flexible credit line of about $74 billion.
It said the new arrangement would bolster market confidence at a time when trade uncertainty, a sharp pullback in capital from emerging markets and increased risk premiums posed continued external risks to the Mexican economy.
11/19/19 – Reuters
By Emma Farge
A rare species of porpoise is facing imminent extinction as fishing vessels appear to be flouting an international ban on them entering its last sanctuary, off the coast of Mexico, the head of a U.N. treaty said.
There are thought to be fewer than 30 vaquita porposies left worldwide, mostly due to deaths caused by entanglement in fishing nets, despite calls by conservationists and film star Leonardo DiCaprio for urgent steps to protect them.
11/11/19 – BBC Travel
By Megan Frye
Frankie was missing half his face. A fungal infection had come over the little axolotl, a native amphibian of the waterways of Mexico City.
But Frankie, along with other axolotls, have a special talent. Veterinarian and axolotl researcher Erika Servín Zamora, who was also Frankie’s caregiver, said she was astounded to see the animal’s remarkable regeneration abilities that she’d read about in her studies. Within two months, Frankie had grown a new, fully functional eye, and life was back to normal in his tank at the city’s Chapultepec Zoo.
10/29/19 – AP News
By Amy Guthrie
Thousands of Mexicans took to the streets of the capital to dance beside giant skulls and skeletons Sunday as Mexico City rolled out its fourth edition of a Day of the Dead parade inspired by Hollywood, part of an ever-expanding menu of festivities for the holiday.
The city once again borrowed props from the opening scene of the 2015 James Bond film, “Spectre,” in which Daniel Craig’s title character dons a skull mask as he makes his way through a crowd of revelers. Festivities in the capital have expanded in recent years to capitalize on growing interest in the holiday, with temporary art installations in public spaces and colorful weekend events. Yet another elaborate parade is scheduled to traverse the city’s iconic Reforma boulevard on Nov. 2, All Souls Day.
10/15/19 – Reuters
By Anthony Esposito and Lizbeth Diaz
Mexico’s Senate on Tuesday approved a controversial constitutional change that would give the public a chance to vote again to either retain or remove a president halfway through their six-year term.
The controversial plan for a “recall vote” now goes to the lower chamber of Congress, where it is expected to pass given the large majority held by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s leftist MORENA party in both houses.
10/15/19 – Reuters
By Diego Oré
Mexico’s Senate aims to pass a first raft of bills to regulate fees for financial services by the end of October, said Ricardo Monreal, Senate leader of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party.
Last November, shortly before President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office, MORENA lawmakers presented a bill to limit bank fees, sparking an investor backlash that pummeled the peso MXN=, Mexico’s S&P/BMV IPC stock index and banking shares.
10/08/19 – Sourcing Journal
By Arthur Friedman
Mexico has leapfrogged China as the top supplier of denim apparel to the U.S., according to new data from the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA), as the impact of the trade war with the U.S. caused major shifts in sourcing even before 10 percent tariffs on Chinese apparel went into effect on Sept. 1.
Imports of the blue denim apparel, 97 percent of which are jeans, from China fell 13.47 percent to a value of $517.78 million in the year to date through August compared to the same period in 2018, OTEXA reported. In the same period, jeans imports from Mexico increased 8.84 percent to $558.86 million.
