Growth in the industrial sector was stagnant in October. (IMSS/Cuartoscuro)
Preliminary data released by the national statistics institute INEGI on Thursday indicate that the Mexican economy may have slowed in October, at the start of Q4 2024.
The negative news comes a day before INEGI releases official economic data for September, which is expected to reveal a contraction. INEGI’s revised preliminary report for September — also released this week — projected a 0.2% contraction of the economy.
If the October results pan out as indicated, Mexico could be looking at a third consecutive month of negative growth as August saw a 0.3% economic contraction.
Thursday’s preliminary report — referred to by its acronym as IOAE — suggests that economic activity slowed in October. The contraction was barely perceptible at less than 0.1% compared to the previous month, hinting that the fourth quarter could be off to a sluggish start
The IOAE report uses “nowcasting” methodology to produce estimates of seasonally adjusted economic performance and year-on-year GDP variations. It is important to recognize that the IOAE report only analyzes industry and services. It does not consider the agriculture sector.
The IOAE report for October found that monthly industrial growth remained stagnant, exhibiting almost no growth following 0.6% growth in September’s IOAE report, according to the newspaper La Jornada.
The IOAE indicator allows INEGI to quickly estimate economic activity, rather than waiting months for full reports from each sector. IGAE, on the other hand, is a slower, more accurate measurement based on finalized data.
At the same time, the October report showed no significant monthly change in the services and trade sectors after September’s IOAE report indicated a 0.7% contraction.
“The IOAE paints a gloomier picture than the GDP estimates we’ve seen,” Julio Santaella, former INEGI director, said, according to the newspaper El Economista.
The IOAE report indicates that although there was moderate annualized growth compared to August, September and October of 2023, this year’s data reflects a contraction with regard to previous months.
The GDP estimates to which Santaella referred project 1% third-quarter growth and 1.5% growth compared to the same period in 2023, according to El Economista.
Analysts at Monex, a Mexican foreign exchange company, said the IOAE report contrasts with recent consumer confidence surveys, although it is in line with the latest business sentiment report.
The online publication Animal Político reported that a recent survey of businessmen by the central bank found that expectations of economic growth had slipped. Whereas the Banxico survey found that in January the private sector anticipated GDP growth of 2.4% this year, businessmen surveyed in October expected only 1.4% growth.
A Monex analyst told El Economista that Friday’s release of both September’s GDP report and the official third-quarter data will be revealing.
“Attention will be focused on the construction sector,” the Monex analyst told El Economista, “especially as several public and private sector projects were completed.
Extremely cold and wIndy weather is hitting Mexico in its Gulf Coast states and in the Caribbean, which prompted the closure of several ports and restrictions on navigation starting Wednesday afternoon. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
The season’s 10th cold front has descended on Mexico, and with it has come warnings of a nortazo, or a norther, prompting the Naval Ministry (Semar) to close several key ports in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mexico’s National Water Commission (Conagua) issued alerts on Thursday morning that the norther — a cold gale or storm with north winds — would affect large sections of southeastern Mexico.
Mexico’s national weather service predicted heavy rains and strong winds in Gulf Coast states, prompting the navy, which runs Mexico’s ports, to order the temporary closures. (Conagua/Twitter)
Veracruz state residents were warned of heavy rains throughout the morning, and Conagua forecast that the norther would produce gusts of wind up to 80 km/h. Coastal areas of Veracruz were warned that waves could reach as high as 2 to 3 meters.
The online news site Urbis reported that municipal authorities in the cities of Veracruz and Boca del Río had urged residents to remain indoors.
The Conagua forecast for southeastern Mexico included heavy rains and thick clouds in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco. There, the norther was expected to produce gusts of wind from 80 to 100 km/h and waves reaching up to 5 meters in height in the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
Conagua also issued an advisory about possible flooding and mudslides, while also advising that the high winds could topple trees and billboards.
Some Gulf Coast states were already seeing windy weather as of Wednesday, when authorities began issuing advisories to port authorties.(PacoZea.com/Twitter)
Semar temporarily closed major ports in Tamaulipas (Tampico and Altamira), restricted navigation in the Veracruz ports of Tuxpan and Alvarado and closed the port of Seybaplaya in the state of Campeche.
Several smaller Veracruz ports — including Coatzacoalcos, Tecolutla, Tamiahua, Nautla, Cazones and Balzapote — were also ordered closed. Semar also ordered several ports to prohibit leisure navigation (lighter craft) in the Tampico ports of La Pesca and Matamoros, as well as at the Vicente Guerrero reservoir.
Leisure navigation was also prohibited at El Cuchillo Solidaridad (a Nuevo León port) and at all ports primarily devoted to tourist activities in the states of Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. The popular resort area of Isla del Carmen was also ordered to curtail all sailing and boating activities.
Semar said it would issue updates later in the day, forecasting that the norther would likely weaken by Friday.
Opposition lawmakers in the lower house of Congress protested the constitutional bill but were unable to prevent its passage. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
The lower house of federal Congress approved on Wednesday a constitutional bill that seeks to eliminate seven watchdog agencies including the national transparency agency.
Lawmakers with the ruling Morena party and its allies voted in favor of the bill that former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent to Congress in February targeting several autonomous government bodies.
The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill on Wednesday, but still needs to review individual articles of the proposed constitutional reform. (Cámara de Diputados)
The final count was 347 votes in favor — 13 more than the number needed to reach the two-thirds majority required to approve constitutional bills — and 128 against.
The Chamber of Deputies’ approval of the constitutional reform proposal was en lo general, or in a general sense. Individual articles of the bill were set to be considered by lawmakers on Thursday ahead of a vote en lo particular.
The bill, which has not yet been considered by the Senate, seeks to disband the following seven autonomous agencies:
The National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and the Protection of Personal Data (INAI).
The Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece).
The Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).
The National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval).
The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE).
The National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH).
The National Commission for the Continuous Improvement of Education (Mejoredu).
If the bill becomes law — essentially a fait accompli given Morena’s congressional dominance — the responsibilities of the autonomous agencies will be absorbed by government ministries and departments in most cases.
INAI’s responsibilities, for example, would be transferred to the Anti-Corruption and Good Governance Ministry (formerly called the Ministry of Public Administration), while the Energy Ministry would take over the work of the CRE and the CNH.
The work of Cofece, Mexico’s antitrust agency, and the IFT could be taken over by a new “decentralized” body that would have “technical independence” from the government. Morena lawmakers are seeking to create such a body.
Lawmakers affiliated with the government led by President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the main aim of the reform is to save money — more than 4 billion pesos (US $196.5 million) annually, according to an El País newspaper report.
The responsibilities of the autonomous National Institute for Transparency, Access to Public Information and Data Protection (INAI) would be transferred to the the Anti-Corruption and Good Governance Ministry. (INAI/X)
Morena Deputy Olga Sánchez said that the reform will lead to the creation of regulatory systems similar to those of the United States and Canada.
Opposition lawmakers argued that it will have an adverse impact on transparency in Mexico and independent assessment of government policy. They claimed it is conducive to government opacity rather than transparency.
“Not even in the worst periods of the PRI and the PAN … did we think that we would arrive at a moment like this, of destruction … of the autonomous bodies” said Citizens Movement Deputy Anayeli Muñoz in reference to the periods when the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the National Action Party were in office.
If the bill becomes law, regulation of key sectors of the Mexican economy, the provision of information to citizens, including journalists, and compliance with transparency laws will become responsibilities of government ministries and departments that follow the directives of Sheinbaum and her cabinet ministers.
The government will be responsible for being transparent about its own actions, expenditure and decisions.
Critics have long argued that the incorporation of autonomous agencies into government ministries and other federal departments would eliminate important counterweights to government power and represent a backward step for democracy. The reform is seen by many as an attempt to concentrate power in the executive branch of government.
Mexico’s lower house approved a reform to disappear 7 autonomous agencies, including INAI, the transparency agency. (Modifications to be debated Thurs.) The functions of these organs would be absorbed into other government agencies, raising concerns about independence. https://t.co/tssnizfoTF
Sheinbaum said Thursday that the reform will lead to “more transparency” and help to eliminate corruption.
López Obrador was an outspoken critic of autonomous government agencies, accusing them of corruption and other ills and railing against their large budgets. Sheinbaum has made the same criticisms.
She said earlier this month that the creation of a “body with technical independence” to take on the work of Cofece and the IFT would ensure compliance with the USMCA, the North American free trade pact.
“I suggested to the deputies … to have a body with technical independence because that is the wording of the agreement, so that there is no problem [with the United States and Canada],” Sheinbaum said.
The bill aimed at eliminating the seven autonomous agencies is one of several constitutional reform proposals considered by Congress since lawmakers elected in June assumed their positions on Sept. 1.
When Sheinbaum entered office, Mexico was already entangled in a human rights crisis caused by "extreme violence by organized crime groups and widespread abuse by state agents," the report found. (Presidencia)
In addition to being Mexico’s first female president, Sheinbaum is the first woman to serve as supreme commander of the Mexican armed forces and thus became the first woman to lead the annual Mexican Revolution Day parade.
Así fue el desfile de la Revolución Mexicana 2024 en la CDMX - En Punto
The parade began in Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo, and concluded at the Campo Marte military complex west of the historic center.
At its commencement, Sheinbaum traveled around the Zócalo in a military vehicle to inspect the troops who participated in the parade. The president, who stood in the vehicle, was flanked by the chiefs of the Mexican Army and Navy.
Some 2,600 military personnel took part in the parade, including men and women dressed in attire used by the revolutionary soldiers who participated in the 1910-20 revolution. In its early stages, the revolution succeeded in ousting Porfirio Díaz, who ruled Mexico as a virtual dictator for over 30 years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Horses — some of which took a tumble on the slick surface of the Zócalo — and children dressed in period costumes also participated in the parade. Military aircraft flew overhead.
The parade featured hundreds of riders on horseback and many more participants decked out in revolutionary costumes. (Presidencia)
At the end of the parade, a girl and a boy handed a floral arrangement to Sheinbaum, telling the president that it symbolized “hope for a better Mexico in your hands.”
In a Revolution Day speech, Sheinbaum said that Mexico is an “extraordinary” nation and offered an overview of its history, focusing on “the first transformation: the independence of Mexico,” the “second transformation”: 19th liberal reforms and “the third transformation”: the Mexican Revolution.
The president noted that Francisco I. Madero, Porfirio Díaz’s opponent in the 1910 presidential election, called for Mexicans to take up arms against Díaz’s regime on Nov. 20, 1910.
Later in her address, Sheinbaum declared that the “fourth transformation” of Mexico began when former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in 2018.
“Today we’re living the second story of the fourth transformation. It’s based on the consolidation of justice, of democracy and of freedoms in order to achieve full happiness for our people,” she said.
“… We’re going through a profound transformation and believe me — the whole world looks at Mexico with admiration,” Sheinbaum said.
“… One hundred and fourteen years after the start of the Mexican Revolution we affirm that we are a free, sovereign, independent, caring, generous and democratic country and we don’t forget where we came from,” she said.
“That’s why we commemorate the Mexican Revolution. … Long live Mexicans! Long live the hardworking and brave people of Mexico! ¡Qué viva México!”
A new adaptation of the legendary novel Pedro Páramo has hit streaming service Netflix. It's every bit as good as the original book. (Netflix Latam/X)
Recently released on Netflix, “Pedro Páramo” is the fourth onscreen reimagining of Juan Rulfo’s classic 1955 novel of the same name. This sharp new adaptation is directed by Rodrigo Prieto, the enigmatic and brilliant 58-year-old responsible for the cinematography of films including “Silence,” “Barbie,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Amores Perros” and “Brokeback Mountain.”
The film presents the pilgrimage of Juan Preciado, played by Tenoch Huerta, a grieving man who travels to the remote village of Comala in search of a father he never knew, a wealthy landowner named Pedro Páramo, played by Manuel García-Rulfo of “The Lincoln Lawyer.” However, in Comala, nothing is what it seems.
Pedro Páramo | Tráiler oficial | Netflix
It is no exaggeration to say that Juan Rulfo’s novel changed the course of Latin American literature. A precursor of magical realism, novelists and critics from various around the world, including Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez and Susan Sontag, agree in describing Juan Rulfo’s short book as one of the greatest works of literature ever written. To date, the novel has been translated into more than 45 languages.
What you need to know about ‘Pedro Páramo’
For the uninitiated, Rulfo’s novel is a deeply fragmented and surrealistic rural tale that throws away the boundaries between the living and the dead. Set in the context of the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero War, the plot is essentially composed of two constantly meandering narrative threads.
The story of Pedro Páramo is, at first, that of the eponymous character’s son, Juan Preciado, who heads to Comala to fulfill the promise he made to his recently deceased mother: to search for his father, the heinous boss of the Media Luna hacienda. From there, Preciado, our narrator, finds himself in a ghost town, on the “burning embers of the earth, at the very mouth of Hell,” and several spectral villagers help him reconstruct his unsuspected and lurid family history.
The novel, by author Juan Rulfo, focuses on the titular character and the town of Comala, blending past and present in an examination of the human condition.
The second plot focuses on Pedro’s life, his adolescence as a failed scion and his rise to power as a feudal lord. The father of countless illegitimate children, we learn that Pedro is an unscrupulous tyrant driven by overwhelming evil. It seems that his only weakness is his first and only love, Susana San Juan, played by Ilse Salas. In a way, Pedro Páramo, the “living resentment,” is the man who had everything and ended up with everything and everyone out of sheer viciousness.
As the ghosts of Comala guide Juan Preciado between the present and the past, truths that cross time, space and generations are exposed.
Without contradicting the original text, the adaptation becomes a meditation on people and their sins, touching on themes such as abandonment, the search for one’s origins, violence, hate, death and the afterlife. “This film is an exploration of the destructive power of rancor, of how someone like Pedro Páramo, like you, can hold power and screw everyone else,” director Rodrigo Prieto told newspaper El Universal in October.
What the Netflix adaptation brings to the table
The Jalisco-born Rulfo is not one of the easiest writers to adapt to the big screen, and even less so in the case of a fragmented and elusive work like “Pedro Páramo.” However, Rodrigo Prieto, four-time Oscar nominee for best cinematography, and his screenwriter Mateo Gil, present a generally faithful look at the lord of Comala, his land, his lovers and his children.
The new show is produced by streaming giant Netflix. (Netflix Latam/X)
Although Gil’s adapted screenplay sometimes feels dizzyingly condensed, the new film manages to retain the core elements of the source material and translate Rulfo’s singular narrative structure to the screen. As in the novel, the story interweaves the present of the deceased and the past of the living in an unsettling way. Both times slide side by side and intertwine without room for loss.
From flying animals to black and white images of a woman surrendered to the sea, Netflix’s “Pedro Páramo” is an ingenious display of magical realism. This film will be remembered, among other things, for its dazzling cinematography by Nico Aguilar, formidable production design by Eugenio Caballero and Carlos Y. Jacques, compelling sets by Daniela Rojas, and inspired musical score by Gustavo Santaolalla.
In this sense, Prieto and his team construct impressive filmic spaces that aptly capture the aesthetic, emotional climate and rhythm of the different epochs through which Comala passes. We see a world in ruins and decay, full of grieving souls and decomposing bodies and simultaneously find a Comala brimming with life. As the narration explains the Comala that once was, we understand its decline and the tragedy it represents.
As always with the adaptation of an iconic literary work, the stakes are high. But Rodrigo Prieto understands the monumentality of Rulfo’s work, and his debut feature does justice to the Mexican classic. Prieto’s “Pedro Páramo” is the most convincing film version of the novel to date. For 130 minutes, we are treated to a deeply disturbing, labyrinthine, dreamlike and beautifully rendered film.
Carolina Alvarado is a Venezuelan journalist and has devoted much of her career to creative writing, university teaching and social work. She has been published in Lady Science, Latina Media, Global Comment, Psiquide, Cinetopic, Get me Giddy and Reader’s Digest, among others.
A close associate of the Madero family during the revolution and a founder of Lomas de Chapultepec, Albert Blair came from abroad to leave his mark on Mexico. (Casa Rivas Mercado)
Albert Edward Blair may not appear in many history books or be remembered as a figure of the Mexican Revolution. But his story is nothing short of extraordinary and completely bound up with the Revolution, which he took part in. When the fighting was over, Blair became a successful businessman and ultimately founded one of Mexico’s most upscale neighborhoods.
Born into a conservative family in 1890 in England, Blair moved as a child to Kentucky, in the United States, where his family owned a coal mine. His parents, fundamentalist Protestants, expected him to become the mine’s manager and follow the same conservative path. The young Albert, however, had different plans.
The Michigan School of Mines, where Albert Blair met the Madero brothers. (Library of Congress)
In May 1910, Blair had traveled to Mexico City as part of a research trip from the Michigan Mining School to study the underground challenges architect Antonio Rivas Mercado faced during the construction of the Angel of Independence monument. There he met Antonieta, Antonio’s 10-year-old daughter, who would eventually become Blair’s wife.
Albert Blair in the Revolution
Blair’s trip to Mexico, paired with the stories of social unrest he had heard from his university roommates Raúl and Julio Madero, enhanced his love for the country and anguish over its situation under the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. Raúl and Julio were the younger brothers of Francisco I. Madero, the northern liberal leader who would soon overthrow dictator Díaz to become president of Mexico.
The Maderos were amongst the wealthiest families in the country. They owned vast cattle ranches and cotton plantations in the north, henequen plantations in Yucatán, mines, breweries and smelting plants, as well as the oldest winery in the Americas. Francisco I. Madero used the family fortune to cover the expenses of his revolution.
Inspired and fascinated by the Madero family, Blair joined the Revolution after Francisco called on the country to revolt against the dictator on Nov. 20.
Madero’s triumphal train as it made its way towards Mexico City. (Archivo General de la Nación)
“Read about Serdán. Long live Madero. Inform me of the situation. Meet in San Antonio when you send a signal. Albert.”
Upon arrival to San Antonio in March 1911, Blair became a lieutenant in Madero’s army and was assigned to General Venustiano Carranza’s general staff. He served as part of a detachment with the mission of receiving and delivering ammunition in the border between Texas and Chihuahua, and participated in several battles
Blair’s bravery and loyalty to the Revolution earned him a place on the “victory train” which took Francisco I. Madero and a select group of allies from northern Mexico to Mexico City, where he entered as Mexico’s new President on June 7, 1911.
An ad for lots in the neighborhood now known as Lomas de Chapultepec. (México Desconocido)
Two years later, in February 1913, Madero was killed during the coup known as the Ten Tragic Days. Blair kept a lower profile during the rest of the Revolution, but his partnership with the Madero family continued. At the age of 23, he became the representative in Mexico of all eight cotton haciendas owned by the Maderos, as well as the manager of their cattle farms and rubber haciendas. His power of attorney also included the collection of all dividends from the mines.
After the Revolution
As the Revolution came to a close, Albert married Antonieta Rivas Mercado in 1918. The couple had one son, Donald Antonio Blair. In 1921, Albert partnered with Mexican and foreign investors to develop an upscale neighborhood overlooking the Valley of Mexico, dubbed Chapultepec Heights. This neighborhood is today’s Lomas de Chapultepec, one of the country’s wealthiest neighborhoods.
Blair also became the Mexican representative of the Vacuum Oil Company, which sold its products in Mexico as Mobiloil; through a series of mergers, Vacuum eventually became the company we now know as ExxonMobil. With an avid eye for business, Blair managed to continue Vacuum’s business in Mexico after the oil expropriation decreed by President Lázaro Cárdenas in 1938.
Albert Blair (third from left, front row) and his team at Vacuum Oil. (ExxonMobil México)
Blair’s business endeavors thrived. His marriage, however, did not. He was controlling and jealous with Antonieta, which ultimately led her to request a divorce. This made her one of the first women to ask for a divorce in the elite circles of Mexico City.
The divorce trial lasted years. During that time, Donald lived with Antonieta while Blair took care of his businesses. Antonieta, meanwhile, was becoming one of Mexico’s most important arts patrons, funding theatrical and musical initiatives and editing books. Her divorce trial culminated with a Supreme Court ruling that granted Albert custody of Donald. Still, Antonieta kept the boy and took him to Paris without Albert’s knowledge after escaping the country due to political persecution following the failed presidential bid of José Vasconcelos, her lover at the time. Months later, in February 1931, a heartbroken Antonieta killed herself in Paris’ Notre Dame. Albert primarily lived in Mexico. To protect Donald from the gossip surrounding his mother’s suicide, he took him to live with his sister, Grace, in the U.S., where he visited the boy regularly.
Details on Blair’s later life are sparse, with no mention of the date of his death publicly available. Regardless of when it happened, it seems that Albert Blair’s story may not have ended with death: in 2019, no less than novelist Guadalupe Loaeza, author of “Las niñas bien,” published an article in which she revealed that she had owned the Lomas house where Donald and Kathryn Blair lived for many years and that Kathryn warned Loaeza that her father-in-law was a very annoying spectral presence around the house.
Sure enough, Loaeza’s time at Montes Alpes 625 was marked by disappearing trinkets and inexplicable squeezes on the rear. Finally, the novelist writes, she held a dinner and invited the Blairs. Donald went up to the room where his father had died; when he came back down, he was as white as a sheet. Father and son had made up. From then on, there were no more supernatural events around the house. It seems as if after seven decades, Albert Blair’s work in Mexico was done at last.
Gabriela Solis is a Mexican lawyer turned full-time writer. She was born and raised in Guadalajara and covers business, culture, lifestyle and travel for Mexico News Daily. You can follow her lifestyle blog Dunas y Palmeras.
The Mexican Navy (SEMAR) is in charge of the Nuevo Manzanillo Project, a massive overhaul of Colima's Port of Manzanillo that will make it Latin America's largest-capacity port. (Government of Mexico)
The Naval Ministry (SEMAR) will oversee the 64-billion-peso (US $3.15 billion) expansion of the Port of Manzanillo in the central Pacific Coast state of Colima between 2024 and 2030.
The Nuevo Manzanillo project will transform Mexico’s largest port into a major international logistics hub as installations are extended by 303% to cover 4,487 acres.
Mexico’s largest port, Manzanillo is the third busiest port in Latin America and a principal commercial route to Asia. (Asipona)
Financing will consist of 15.06 billion pesos ($741 million) in public investment and 48.56 billion pesos ($2.4 billion) in private funding.
The port’s TEU (container) capacity is expected to increase from 3.7 million in 2023 to 10 million in 2030, positioning it in first place in Latin America and displacing Panama’s seaport in Colón and Brazil’s Santos Port from the top spots.
“We are currently in position 53 in the world ranking of ports. We would be talking about the port of Manzanillo being positioned in 15th place in the international ranking,” Julieta Juárez Ochoa, Marketing Manager of Mexico’s National Port System Administration (ASIPONA) Manzanillo, told Excelsior.
The port is currently the third largest in Latin America for shipping and is the principal commercial route to Asia across the Pacific Ocean.
Authorities said they aim to develop the port sustainably and have conducted an environmental impact study that identified mitigation measures to reduce the project’s impact on the area.
In addition to expanding the port’s operational capacity, the project will improve efficiency and competitiveness in the region, officials said. It is expected to create 11,132 direct and 28,626 indirect jobs and boost the local economy, according to government sources..
Greater digitalization will enhance efficiency and improve safety, while artificial intelligence will be used to support operations and monitor personnel.
Due to ongoing cartel violence in Manzanillo, Mexico’s authorities have reinforced security in and around the port. (SEMAR)
President Claudia Sheinbaum will tour the site on Nov. 23 to launch construction, with the project expected to be completed in 2030.
Security concerns
Safety concerns surround port development plans given that three cartels – the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the Independent Cartel of Colima and the Sinaloa Cartel – are fighting for control of the Port of Nuevo Manzanillo, according to reports from El Financiero.
Manzanillo is Mexico’s only Pacific port authorized for the entry of substances or chemical precursors, including those used in the production of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl.
The rivalry between the cartels has led to a wave of violence in Manzanillo and a 17% increase in the city’s homicide rate so far this year. Some of the victims have included members of the navy and Colima state police.
Other crimes that have gone up include drug trafficking and extortion, including the extortion of officials and customs workers.
On Nov. 11, authorities detained the Sinaloa Cartel’s main operator in the area, identified only by officials as Itania Noemí ‘N’. This was part of larger local and federal operations that led to a string of arrests and drug seizures.
Due to the ongoing violence, authorities have reinforced security in and around the port.
At her Wednesday press conference, President Sheinbaum told reporters about her discussion with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and about meeting China's leader. She also previewed new social programs in Mexico's 2025 budget. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)
At the top of her morning press conference on Wednesday – her first since last Friday – Sheinbaum noted that her mañanera would be brief as Wednesday is Mexican Revolution Day and she needed to head out to participate in a military ceremony and parade.
Claudia Sheinbaum met individually with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio. Both spoke positively afterward of the meeting. (Cuartoscuro)
During her engagement with reporters, she fielded questions on her attendance at the G20 summit, where she also held individual meetings with the leaders of various countries including the United States, Canada and China.
Sheinbaum: Trudeau wants USMCA to continue
Sheinbaum told reporters that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “doesn’t agree” with calls from the premiers of the provinces of Ontario and Alberta for Canada to consider making a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States rather than seeking an extension of the existing USMCA free trade treaty, which includes Mexico.
Doug Ford of Ontario and Danielle Smith of Alberta are concerned about Mexico’s trade and investment relationship with China and its alleged transshipment of Chinese goods to other parts of North America.
Sheinbaum said that Trudeau “agrees with maintaining the [free trade] agreement between the three countries and strengthening relations.”
Sitting alongside Sheinbaum in Rio, Trudeau told reporters that there are “a lot of opportunities” for Canada and Mexico “to continue to work together very closely.”
Besides meeting with Trudeau and other world leaders, Sheinbaum also met individually with China’s President Xi Jinping at the G20 Leaders’ Summit and discussed Mexico’s and China’s trade relationship. (Cuartoscuro)
During a press conference on Tuesday, the prime minister said that he had “a good and frank conversation with the president of Mexico,” during which he “highlighted some of the concerns that have been expressed publicly by a number of people around some of the investments in Mexico.”
“But I also know that Mexico is dedicated to continuing in this extraordinarily successful trade deal, and I think the Mexican administration is looking at ways of either adjusting or sharing why people shouldn’t be worried about these investments,” Trudeau said.
“… I shared as a partner and friend that there are concerns, but I look forward to lots of discussions over the coming year before we approach the [USMCA] review in 2026,” he said.
United States President-elect Donald Trump said last month that he wants to renegotiate the USMCA, which superseded NAFTA in 2020.
Despite USMCA, ‘room’ for a relationship with China
About her meeting with Xi Jinping, Sheinbaum said that she spoke to the Chinese president about Mexico’s relationship with China.
“I told him directly that we have a trade agreement with North America, but that there was room for a relationship with China, which was very important,” she said.
Chinese imports to and investment in Mexico have increased in recent years, raising concerns among some U.S. and Canadian officials, as well as President-elect Trump.
* Click here to read Mexico News Daily’s latest story on Chinese investment in Mexico.
Welfare programs a priority in the 2025 budget
“The objective of the [2025] budget … is to continue investing, guaranteeing all the welfare programs,” Sheinbaum said.
“… The Welfare Ministry has a budget of about 550 billion pesos, but in reality, all the welfare programs together have a budget of more than 700 billion pesos,” the president said, noting that funds have been allocated for three new programs, including one that provides financial support to women aged 60-64 and an educational scholarship scheme.
According to the municipal government, total damages caused by Hurricane John amounted to approximately 50 billion pesos (US $2.5 billion). (Carlos Alberto Carbajal/Cuartoscuro)
President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced an 8-billion-peso (US $400 million) reconstruction package for Acapulco following the destruction caused by Hurricane John in September.
The package, the president said, aims to attract and “further elevate” tourism in Acapulco. However, she stressed this can not be achieved without the support of the business sector.
Me reuní en Palacio Nacional con servidores públicos, empresarias y empresarios para la reactivación integral de Acapulco, tras el huracán John. Consolidaremos el turismo entre todas y todos. pic.twitter.com/PYXL52vjCa
In October 2023, Hurricane Otis made landfall near Acapulco, in the southwestern state of Guerrero, as a powerful Category 5 storm, wreaking havoc on the popular resort city. Just 11 months later, Acapulco was hit by Hurricane John, a Category 3 storm that caused devastating floods and destruction across the city.
“Tourism is already returning to Acapulco,” Sheinbaum stated in a press conference. “But we also need the support of the private sector. There has already been a lot of progress in the reconstruction of hotels … but, we need [more] private investment in many areas of Acapulco,” she added.
The president met with business leaders on Nov. 14, who were reported to be satisfied with the federal reconstruction package. The task force involved in Acapulco’s reconstruction includes Tourism Minister Josefina Rodríguez, Undersecretary of Tourism Sebastián Ramírez, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and the head of the National Fund for Tourism Development (Fonatur), Lynda Quiroz Zavala.
Sheinbaum added that the $400-million reconstruction package will go towards improving Acapulco’s public services, specifically drinking water and roads, and upgrading the sewage system to prevent flooding during future storms. Full details of the plan will be disclosed in Acapulco sometime in January 2025, the president said.
the $400-million reconstruction budget will go towards improving public services, specifically drinking water and roads, and upgrading the sewage system to prevent flooding during future storms. (Cuartoscuro)
In October, the National Chamber of Commerce, Services, and Tourism (Canaco-Servytur) of Acapulco requested tax incentives from President Claudia Sheinbaum to aid in the rebuilding of hotels and tourist attractions.
Local media outlets have reported that state authorities are considering the chamber’s request.
Protests continue in parts of Guerrero
Many residents of Acapulco impacted by Hurricane John claim that federal and state authorities have not yet included them in the census of homes affected.
Since Monday, residents of surrounding communities have blocked three sections of federal highway Acapulco-Zihuatanejo to demand compensation from the government due to the property damages left behind by John.
All homes included in the census are scheduled to receive aid of 8,000 pesos (US $400) for clean-up. Additional support, ranging between 15,000 and 60,000 pesos, is to be allotted to each home depending on the level of damage.
According to the municipal government, total damages caused by Hurricane John amounted to approximately 50 billion pesos (US $2.5 billion).
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard at a seminar on Nov. 13 at the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City discussing the future of relations between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. (Rogelio Morales Ponce/Cuartoscuro
What share of Chinese investment in North America did Mexico receive between 2016 and 2023? Five percent? Ten percent? Twenty percent?
Not even close, according to Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard.
As this Economy Ministry graph shows, Chinese FDI in Mexico has never come close to US $1 billion per year, but in the last eight years, it has overall increased greatly. (Economy Ministry)
He told reporters on Tuesday that in the eight-year period from 2016 to 2023, Mexico received just four-tenths of a percent (0.4%) of the total Chinese investment in North America.
The United States received 68.1% of that total while Canada got 31.5%, Ebrard said.
The economy minister’s data was based on numbers he presented showing that foreign direct investment (FDI) by Chinese companies in North America was just under US $395.4 billion in that period.
Mexico got $1.68 billion of that amount. The United States received $269 billion of it, and Canada got $124.64 billion, according to Ebrard’s data.
Ebrard pointed out that this means that Chinese investment in the U.S. was 160 times higher than economic inflows to Mexico over the past eight years.
Chinese investment in the U.S. was 160 times higher than economic inflows to Mexico.
Both premiers believe that Canada should look at entering into a bilateral trade agreement with the United States rather than seeking an extension of the USMCA, the current trilateral trade deal that includes Mexico.
Ebrard called on the Canadian leaders to “review the data” on Chinese investment in North America.
“What are they talking about?” he said.
“… We have to avoid getting confused, I already sent them the data,” Ebrard said.
The economy minister said there are other officials, lawmakers and business leaders in both the United States and Canada who are questioning Chinese investment in Mexico without foundation.
He highlighted that some of those people have accused China of using Mexico as a “springboard” to get Chinese products into other parts of the North American market, namely the U.S. and Canada.
United States President-elect Donald Trump said last month that he would “seek strong new protections against transshipment” in a renegotiated USMCA “so that China and other countries cannot smuggle their products and auto parts into the United States tax-free through Mexico to the detriment of our workers and our supply chains.”
Premier Ford said last week that “if Mexico won’t fight transshipment by, at the very least, matching Canadian and American tariffs on Chinese imports, they shouldn’t have a seat at the [North American trade] table.”
Ebrard said he will dispatch some letters – to exactly whom he did not say – to refute accusations that Mexico is a transshipment hub for Chinese goods. He expressed confidence that trade-related points of contention between Mexico, the United States and Canada will be resolved during the USMCA review process, which will formally commence in 2026.
Ebrard said that the Mexican government does not believe it will be in a position of weakness when the USMCA review takes place, or during the early days of the second Trump administration.
Former presidents Enrique Peña Nieto and Donald Trump and current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the USMCA in 2018. It’s up for review in 2026, and Chinese FDI in Mexico is gearing up to become a major talking point.
“Our negotiating power is relevant,” said Ebrard, who regularly emphasizes that Mexico and the United States are each other’s largest trading partners.
“Any action that places the [Mexico-U.S.] relationship at risk results in impacts on thousands of companies,” he said, noting that many major U.S. firms have a presence in Mexico.
The economy minister also said that Mexico’s trade and investment relationship with China won’t be an impediment to a successful USCMA review.
Indeed, Mexico is taking steps to reduce its reliance on imports from China, and could increase tariffs on Chinese products, such as electric vehicles, to match the duties imposed by its northern neighbors.
Ebrard said last month that Mexico would “mobilize all legitimate interests in favor of North America” amid the ongoing United States-China trade war that could escalate once Trump is back in the White House.
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard at a seminar on Nov. 13 at the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City discussing the future of relations between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. (Rogelio Morales Ponce/Cuartoscuro)
However, he said last week that Mexico would impose retaliatory tariffs on imports from the United States if the incoming Trump administration slaps tariffs on Mexican exports.
Is Ebrard’s data on Chinese investment accurate?
Ebrard on Tuesday presented Economy Ministry (SE) data on Chinese investment in Mexico over the past eight years, but there are claims that the ministry’s data is not accurate.
The reason, according to Enrique Dussel Peters, an economist and coordinator of the Center for Chinese-Mexican Studies (Cechimex) at the National Autonomous University, is that some Chinese investment comes into Mexico via United States subsidiaries of Chinese companies.
The foreign direct investment inflow is thus recorded as coming from the United States, when the money came from China.
Economist Enrique Dussel Peters, coordinator of the Center for Chinese-Mexican Studies. (UNAM/Twitter)
According to Cechimex, Chinese investment in Mexico between 2001 and late 2022 totaled $17 billion, more than six times higher than the amount recorded by the SE between 1999 and March 2024.
The establishment of joint ventures between Chinese and Mexican companies can also skew Chinese FDI figures in Mexico.
Past Chinese investment in Mexico is one thing, future investment is another
While the increase in Chinese investment that has already flowed into Mexico is a worry for some politicians and officials in the United States and Canada, an even bigger concern is the Chinese money that could come into the country in the coming years.
Donald Trump will be the next U.S. president in 2025, and he has threatened to impose heavy taxes on cars made in Mexico, especially if they are made by Chinese companies with plants here. (Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons)
“Those big monster car manufacturing plants you are building in Mexico right now and you think you are going to … not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the car to us – no. We are going to put a 100% tariff on every car that comes across the lot,” he said in March.
Leading electric vehicle manufacturer BYD and Jaecoo are among the Chinese automakers that have announced plans to open plants in Mexico, but there is no absolute certainty that they will follow through. BYD Americas CEO Stella Li said earlier this year that the company’s plan is to “build the facility for the Mexican market, not for the export market.”
A number of lawmakers in the United States are concerned about national security risks associated with the capacity of Chinese connected vehicles to collect sensitive data. A group of Democratic Party lawmakers wrote to Claudia Sheinbaum just before she was sworn in as president to request that her government take steps to address challenges related to the sale and manufacture in Mexico of vehicles made by Chinese companies and those firms’ potential plans to use Mexico as a base to enter the U.S. market.
If most Chinese companies that have made investment announcements for Mexico – there is a significantnumber that have done so – do act on their plans, the amount of Chinese money flowing into the country could increase significantly in the near future.
From Mexico’s perspective, there are some important questions to consider.
Is Chinese investment a blessing, a curse or both?
Should Mexico continue welcoming all Chinese companies, including automakers, in pursuit of investment-related benefits such as job creation and higher economic growth?
Or should it be very selective in the Chinese investment it accepts in order to avoid upsetting its North American trade partners?
