Parents of cancer victims reproach AMLO for dismissing claims of shortages

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May 25, 2021

A parent protests the shortage of cancer medications.

Parents of children with cancer have rejected President López Obrador’s claim that the federal government has brought an end to shortages of medications in the public health system.

The president said on Monday that his administration has bought medications in foreign countries whereas it wasn’t able to do so when he took office in late 2018.

“Medications have been bought abroad. … This decision was taken because when we came into the government, there were 10 companies that monopolized all sales of medications to the government, 10 companies. I remember there were three [companies] that sold about 80 billion pesos [worth of medications] to the government, … distributors; they weren’t even pharmaceutical companies, [they were] companies that were closely linked to politicians that dedicated themselves to selling medications at extremely high prices,” López Obrador told reporters at his morning news conference.

“Medications couldn’t be bought abroad. There were decrees, laws that prevented it. We resolved that in order to buy medications in any country of the world, only making sure that they were good, high-quality medications at a good price and that there was no corruption,” he said.

“We established an agreement with the United Nations, with UNOPS [the United Nations Office for Project Services], so that this institution would help us with the brokering with the world’s large pharmaceutical companies in order to make the purchases. … And now contracts have been signed, and we’re buying medications in better conditions.”

López Obrador went on to claim that there is a reliable supply of medications thanks to the collaboration with the UN.

“We went through very difficult situations because those who controlled the sale of medications, these monopolies linked to politicians, carried out actions of sabotage and a media campaign against the decisions we took. But it was the only way to guarantee that there was no shortage of medications, the only way,” he said.

“… [It was] a very painful situation. Imagine facing up to complaints from parents with children who are sick with cancer, to accusations that we weren’t attending to them and that there were no medications. In effect, there was a shortage of medications at the start [of my government] because there was sabotage,” López Obrador said.

Later on Monday, two associations of parents of children with cancer and the Cero Desabasto (Zero Shortage) collective, a group that monitors the availability of medications in the public health system and pressures the government to keep up the supply, issued a statement challenging the president’s claim that shortages have come to an end.

The shortages are well-documented on the Cero Desabasto website, the statement said. The collective’s most recent report, delivered to the federal government at the start of the year, clearly documents “the serious problem of the shortage of medications” in the public health system, it added.

The parents of cancer patients rebuked López Obrador for refusing to meet with them despite their repeated requests.

“Mr. President, you have never listened to us. You have never deigned to set foot in a hospital where children with cancer are treated. On the contrary, you have used all the power of the state to defame us and intimidate us; for this reason, with active indignation, we say to you that you lie … by asserting that everything is OK with respect to the supply of medications,” the statement said.

“First of all, Mr. President, we say to you that the victims are our children, who have been left without medicines,” the parents said, adding that the consequences for many young cancer sufferers have been “grave.”

Parents of children with cancer have protested on numerous occasions against the shortage of essential drugs and the deaths of some young cancer sufferers have been attributed to the lack of supply.

The newspaper Reforma reported in late March that medication shortages were still plaguing Mexico eight months after the government signed the agreement with UNOPS to collaborate on the international purchase of medicines, medical supplies and vaccines. Cero Desabasto said at the time that there were supply problems with one of every four medications the government purchased in 2020.

Source: El Universal (sp)

US proceeds with downgrade to Mexico’s aviation safety rating

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MND Staff

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May 25, 2021

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Volaris jet — The Federal Aviation Authority downgrade ends for now plans by Aeromexico and Volaris to expand US services.

The United States government downgraded Mexico’s aviation safety rating on Tuesday, a move that prevents Mexican airlines from adding new flights to the U.S.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that it downgraded Mexico from Category 1 to Category 2 after finding that it doesn’t meet standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.

“The FAA identified several areas of noncompliance with minimum ICAO safety standards,” the aviation authority said in a statement.

“A Category 2 rating means that the country’s laws or regulations lack the necessary requirements to oversee the country’s air carriers in accordance with minimum international safety standards, or the civil aviation authority is lacking in one or more areas such as technical expertise, trained personnel, recordkeeping, inspection procedures, or resolution of safety concerns.”

The downgrade, which places Mexico in a group of countries that includes Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand, means that U.S. airlines will be barred from selling seats on flights operated by Mexican airlines. That will mainly affect Delta Air Lines, which has a codesharing agreement with Aeroméxico.

Delta Airlines and Aeromexico — Delta Airlines president Glen Hauenstein said that Delta will remove its codes on Aeroméxico flights but the Mexican carrier can keep its codes on Delta flights.

Delta president Glen Hauenstein stressed Tuesday that the downgrade was not a reflection of Aeroméxico’s safety standards.

“This is not about Aeroméxico. This is about the Mexican version of the FAA not having some of the right protocols in place,” he said at a conference.

Hauenstein said that there will be “very little impact for our customers booking through Delta,” although the airline might have to issue new tickets to people who bought Aeroméxico flights through it.

What the downgrade does do is “restrict Aeromexico’s ability to grow into the United States,” he said.

Other Mexican airlines such as Volaris will also be prevented from adding new flights to the U.S. at a time when the tourism industry is starting to recover from the pandemic-induced slump.

Hauenstein said that Delta will have to remove its codes on Aeroméxico flights as a result of the downgrade, but the Mexican carrier will be able to keep its codes on Delta flights.

Members of Delta’s loyalty program will still be able to receive SkyMiles on Aeroméxico flights that would normally carry the Delta code, the airline chief added.

The FAA said that it will increase its scrutiny of Mexican airline flights to the United States, but existing flights to the U.S. won’t be immediately affected.

“The FAA is fully committed to helping the Mexican aviation authority improve its safety oversight system to a level that meets ICAO standards. To achieve this, the FAA is ready to provide expertise and resources in support of the Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil’s (AFAC) ongoing efforts to resolve the issues identified in the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) process,” the agency said.

“Both AFAC and FAA share a commitment to civil aviation safety. Sustained progress can help AFAC regain Category 1.”

According to one expert, Mexican aviation officials should attend air safety workshops to stay up to date with changes in the aviation sector. That could help Mexico to be better prepared for international air safety audits such as that carried out by the FAA, said Heriberto Salazar Eguiluz, president of the Pilots College of Mexico.

Speaking at a recent transport forum, Salazar said that Mexico is no longer a regional leader in the aviation sector and is now completely reactive to changes in the industry when it should be proactive.

“Not only is Mexico reactive, there has to be an external audit for us to do what we should have done 10 years ago,” he said.

Due to the dynamism of the aviation sector, when a country doesn’t stay up to date with requirements, it quickly becomes evident, Salazar said.

Mexican officials should participate in aviation workshops organized by the ICAO and various foreign governments, he said.

“For example, we know that there will be an amendment next year to one of the ICAO manuals. If Mexico was a participant in the workshops, we could prepare for the changes that are coming instead of waiting for the amendment to be published and then seeing how to carry out the changes,” Salazar said.

Source: AP (en), Reuters (en), A21 (sp)

Government can’t attend to drought due to election rules: AMLO

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MND Staff

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May 25, 2021

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Drought conditions are affecting much of Mexican territory.

President López Obrador said Tuesday that his government cannot react to the nationwide drought because election silence rules prevent it from doing so, and only after the June 6 elections can it attend to the emergency.

The dissemination of political propaganda is prohibited in the lead-up to an election.

“We are going to help but we are waiting for the electoral silence to pass, because we cannot now carry out any action, even in emergencies,” the president said.

“We want to be careful not to allow public money to be used, which is the people’s money and everyone’s money, for electoral purposes. The budget should not be used to help any party or any candidate and I don’t know of any pretext or excuse,” he added.

Yesterday, opposition legislators urged the government and Conagua to implement an emergency plan to mitigate the damage of the drought, which is considered the worst in 30 years.

Farmers have called on the Ministry of Agriculture to reallocate resources and the National Confederation of Livestock Organizations has called for help, since the policy of agricultural disaster insurance was discontinued by the current administration.

The president took the opportunity to denounce other forms of electoral corruption. “I take this opportunity to remind everyone that handouts should not be given to obtain votes. That is undemocratic and it is also a crime. Tell everyone to help, to report, if there are trucks or trailers with handouts, or to report if public money is being used to favor parties. We all have to ensure that there is democracy in Mexico, authentic democracy,” he said.

The president’s comments were made at this morning’s mañanera news briefing, an event which itself has come under scrutiny for breaching electoral rules.

The head of the National Electoral Institute (INE) previously called for broadcasts of the briefings to be suspended during the campaign, arguing that they violate electoral rules by dispersing government propaganda.

Broadcasts have continued, but the president was ordered to remove content on April 16 which promoted the government’s social projects. The INE then delivered a list of 11 topics that should not be discussed at the conference.

Mexico News Daily

Election observers issue alert over violence and illegal campaign funding

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MND Staff

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May 25, 2021

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The remains of a burned-out truck driven by Chilón, Chiapas, mayoral candidate Pedro Gutiérrez. — The remains of a truck in which Chilón, Chiapas, mayoral candidate Pedro Gutiérrez was killed with his son in March.

A Canadian nongovernmental organization has raised a range of concerns about the electoral process in Mexico, including the prevalence of political violence and the funding of campaigns with ill-gotten money.

Six election experts from Canada and the United States who work with the Delian Project — which describes itself as an NGO dedicated to helping jurisdictions implement positive change in the democratic voting process through the application of technology — participated in a virtual press conference on Monday to share their views about the current electoral season in Mexico.

Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, an international election observer and senior associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, said three of the biggest concerns with regard to the period leading up to the June 6 elections are violence — more than 80 candidates and politicians have been killed since September, the infiltration of illicit money in candidates’ campaigns and tensions between the federal government and electoral authorities.

“The most concerning challenge in the Mexican election is the growing trend of political violence in Mexico, which has resulted in the murder of candidates and politicians … seeking reelection,” he said.

The Delian Project experts cited four reasons for the high levels of violence: the growing trend for criminal groups to “buy” or install candidates; the greater incursion of cartels into the electoral process, especially at the municipal and state levels; the absence of government control in certain parts of the country; and the weakening of political parties.

Peschard-Sverdrup said that even greater violence can be expected on election day, adding that winning candidates could be targeted in the period before they take office.

“This phenomenon [electoral violence] obviously occurs in countries where organized crime tries to influence the candidates” in order to protect their interests, he said.

“This type of violence has an impact on the foundations of democracy,” said Jean-Pierre Kingsley, an election observer and former chief of Elections Canada, the agency responsible for administering Canadian federal elections.

“And the people who perpetrate it are saying to Mexicans: ‘We don’t care about the electoral process, we don’t care about basic rights.’ It’s concerning because there are murders and physical intimidation. One candidate was kidnapped in broad daylight so that she wouldn’t participate in the [electoral] process; it’s unacceptable.”

To reduce the illicit funding of campaigns, Peschard-Sverdrup proposed the strengthening of authorities’ auditing of spending by political parties and candidates. He said that parties and candidates have made it more difficult for the National Electoral Institute (INE) to effectively audit their spending by using “irregular financing strategies such as the use of cash, triangulation [of resources], the simulation of services and false invoicing.”

Ann Ravel, former chair of the United States Federal Election Commission, said that auditing of campaign resources is fundamental in order to guarantee a level playing field for candidates and parties.

With regard to tensions between the government and the INE — President López Obrador lashed out at the institute for disqualifying two ruling party candidates for governor after they didn’t report their pre-campaign expenses, Kingsley said the strained relationship could cause some citizens to question the legitimacy of the elections. It could also have an impact on voter turnout, he said.

The Delian Project experts did identify some positives in Mexico’s electoral process, including the high participation of women and the planned implementation of health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“The [Delian Project] delegation recognizes Mexico as one of the most progressive nations in terms of legislation to increase the participation of women in electoral positions,” said Laura Villalba, a senior principal consultant for the political consulting firm Politics and Policy, LLC, who served as an observer in Puebla’s 2019 election.

Richard W. Soudriette, founding president of the International Foundation for Election Systems, which has collaborated with Mexico’s electoral agencies — the INE and its predecessor, the Federal Electoral Institute — on election policy and reform since the 1990s, said the Covid-19 health protocols designed to keep citizens safe during the election are “amazing.”

“… It seems that it will be a very healthy election,” he said.

The delegation from the Delian Project arrived in Mexico April 19 and has met with representatives of the electoral institute, several other agencies and political parties. But requests to meet with the federal government and the ruling Morena party were ignored.

It sought meetings with Morena president Mario Delgado, Senator Ricardo Monreal and Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard but received no reply.

Source: El Economista (sp), Reforma (sp)

Cyclist on 4-year (and counting) trip to Alaska currently in Mexico

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Joseph Sorrentino

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May 25, 2021

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Uruguayan amateur bicyclist Tabaré Alonso — Tabaré Alonso began cycling from Uruguay to Alaska in 2017. He is currently traveling through Mexico.

When Tabaré Alonso first announced his plans to his friends, they doubted him. “They said, ‘Tabaré will be home in a month,’” he said.

He was living in José Enrique Rodó, a tiny pueblo in Soriano, Uruguay, and working in information technology.

“I was having what I would call an existential crisis,” he explained. “I worked, I bought things I did not need for no reason. I always saw the world from a screen — a computer screen or the television.

“I did not know Palenque, did not know Bolivia.” He paused and added, “What was I doing?”

So he decided he was going to make a change, one that was more than a little radical. He was going to ride a bike — alone — all the way from Uruguay to Alaska.

Tabaré Alonso explaining his planned route through Mexico on a map. Joseph Sorrentino

It really wasn’t surprising that his friends had doubts. He weighed about 260 pounds at the time that he made his plans, and he wasn’t a cyclist.

“I did not even know how to repair a bike,” he said. Yet, he was undaunted. “I wanted to live the process. I wanted to live on the road. The project is to document the Americas — all three.”

So he started pedaling from Uruguay in 2017. Fifteen countries, four years and 30,000 kilometers (18,600 miles) later, he found himself in Alemeda Park in Mexico City being peppered with questions by a writer who happened to pass by.

He arrived in Mexico City in early April.

“I was completely alone, and I slept in parks, outside [at first]. The cycling community opened doors for me,” he said. “I now have many brother cyclists in many places in Mexico City, and I’m grateful for this. Many people have opened their home to me.”

While his stay in the capital has been positive, he had challenges in other parts of the country. He had problems with police “everywhere” but was able to talk his way out of trouble. He was threatened with deportation by Mexican immigration agents.

“I have a visa to cross, but they wanted to deport me,” he said.

He was once asked for 1,000 pesos (US $50) but was let go when he showed agents the videos he was posting online. The agents then asked to take a photo with him. He had more problems in Lechería when immigration took his passport and phone and threatened to deport him until he gave them some money.

Police and immigration weren’t the only ones to give him trouble. His bike was stolen twice, once in Brazil and once in Honduras, although “the cycling community helped me get it back.”

And then there have been the internal battles and doubts to overcome.

“In the desert and in the Amazon, I had the most fear,” he said. “In Bolivia, in the salt desert, it was very cold. I almost abandoned the project, but I waited a day for the sun to come up, warmed up and continued.”

He has no set schedule, trying to take things as they come. Although he’s partly financing his trip by selling his book, there have been times when he ran out of money and was forced to stay in one place, working, as he has done throughout May in order to save money. He’s worked construction and on a fishboat to earn cash.

Uruguayan biker Tabaré Alonso in Mexico City — Alonso being treated to an impromptu meal and companionship by Mexico City cyclists. From Facebook

He’s been posting photographs and videos online and has published a book, Uruguay-Alaska: Un viaje por America en bicicleta.

Here in Mexico, he’s not taking the shortest, most direct route to reach Alaska. After Mexico City, he’ll head north to Querétaro, Guanajuato and several other states before taking a ferry to Baja California.

He figures it’ll take him about eight more months to reach the United States border, which he plans on crossing in Arizona.

There are certainly more challenges ahead for him. For example, at some point, he’ll face a winter in the U.S. Is he prepared for that?

“No,” he said simply, but apparently unconcerned. If the weather’s too bad, he said he’ll walk or wait.

He brushed off concerns about traveling during a pandemic.

“I am not afraid of the virus. I exercise, stay healthy,” he said.

He doesn’t plan on stopping when he finally does reach Alaska, which he figures will be about two years from now. His next trip will be to Russia, he’s decided, then Mongolia, China, and India.

After more than four years on the road, Alonso has learned something important about himself.

“I learned that, ‘Si, puedo’ [Yes, I can],” he said. “That if something is in my heart, I can do it. I always considered myself a failure because I never was able to complete my projects, [to achieve] my objectives. And to undertake this … to say, ‘I am going to the peak of Orizaba, I am going to Panama, I am going to Venezuela.’ Completing these stages fills the heart. If it is what you want from the heart, you can do it. That was the greatest teaching: Si, puedo.”

He also learned that having possessions isn’t what’s important in life. He has very little with him on the road—his bike, some clothes, some books and supplies in his saddlebags—but he’s happy.

“I have nothing,” he said, “but I feel rich.”

Cyclist Tabaré Alonso — Alonso said that while he has encountered harassment from police and immigration agents in Mexico, many locals have also shown him generosity. Joseph Sorrentino

• You can contact Alonso to purchase his book via his Facebook page. You can also see videos of him all over Latin American on his YouTube channel.

Joseph Sorrentino, a writer, photographer and author of the book San Gregorio Atlapulco: Cosmvisiones and of Stinky Island Tales: Some Stories from an Italian-American Childhood, is a regular contributor to Mexico News Daily. More examples of his photographs and links to other articles may be found at www.sorrentinophotography.com He currently lives in Chipilo, Puebla.

Business seeks to revive Mexico’s Bajío region as a manufacturing hub

By

Jude Webber

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May 25, 2021

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Manufacturing has long been a mainstay of the economy in the Bajío.

From its silver mines of the 1500s to its modern high-tech factories, Mexico’s central Bajío region has long been a success story.

Georgetown University historian John Tutino credits it with fostering global capitalism by helping meet China’s demand for silver from the 16th century and as Mexico’s pre-eminent manufacturing region, it has enjoyed growth rates more than twice the national average for the past 20 years.

But even before Covid-19, the Bajío — spanning the states of Querétaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes and part of Michoacán — was seeing that stellar growth evaporate. Instead of average annual expansion of 4% to 5%, most of the region’s economy shrank in 2019-2020.

Business people partly blame President López Obrador’s policies that they say are investor-unfriendly. They cite the cancellation of a partially built airport in Mexico City and a U.S.-owned brewery project in Mexicali as well as abrupt changes to energy rules to favour state companies.

Claudia Jañez, president of Mexico’s Executive Council of Global Businesses, last year complained that the uncertainty was making it increasingly difficult for companies to persuade their head offices to invest in Latin America’s second-biggest economy.

The Bajío has felt the uncertainty. Department store Liverpool had been planning to move back-office operations to Michoacán, where it has a call center, “but national politics put the brakes on that,” said Javier Olavarrieta, commercial director of the developer Grupo Tres Marías.

Add in rising violence — the state of Guanajuato is the murder capital of Mexico, with homicide levels nearly four times the national average — and the outlook for a region which concentrates more than a quarter of Mexico’s manufacturing GDP is looking considerably less bright than in the past.

Local business leaders have decided it is time to step up — the region accounts for nearly a tenth of national GDP, so a vibrant Bajío is good for everyone.

After López Obrador scrapped Mexico’s investment promotion agency to save money after taking power in 2018, “we thought we had to be more aggressive, from the private sector,” said Marcelo López, a former economic development secretary in Querétaro. He helped pioneer the state’s development as an aeronautics hub, now home to Airbus, Bombardier and Safran. “We want to be proud of this region again,” he said.

Federico Quinzaños, a marketing specialist behind a string of successful tourism campaigns, including the “Mexican Caribbean” logo, came up with a plan to unite the private sector and rebrand the region “The Great Bajío” “to propel it towards the future and towards the world.”

Free trade with the U.S. and Canada, updated in the USMCA trade pact, has long given the Bajío a pivotal role in North American supply chains, such as in the auto sector, where it boasts a dozen car plants including Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, BMW and Honda. The Bajío also churns out 4 million Gilette razors a day and three-quarters of the broccoli eaten in the U.S., according to Luis Hernández, economy secretary of Irapuato in the state of Guanajuato.

Locals now want to develop it further as a hub for information technology and biotech.

“We’ve just established three big data centers in our developments,” said Francisco Estrada, vice president of Vesta, Mexico’s leading provider of industrial parks, who added that he was seeing “exponential growth” in logistics and e-commerce in the Bajío.

But Diego Bocard, whose Grupo Argo is one of the major industrial parks suppliers in San Luis Potosí, said: “I’d venture to say that we’re still in diapers when it comes to logistics and data centers.”

Estrada saw evidence that reshoring from China, spurred by global trade tensions and the coronavirus pandemic, was also starting. And Bocard noted that while reshorers naturally wanted to be close to the U.S. border, the cost of acquiring land and rents “is much cheaper in the Bajío.”

With about 90% of lost pandemic jobs now recovered, the region is beginning to bounce back.

Midterm elections on June 6 could complicate the picture by boosting uncertainty: a strong showing could embolden the populist López Obrador; a poor one might prompt him to mount legal challenges to the results.

“However, I think we have to look at this as we did 30 years ago — for the long term,” said Hernández. “What we have built won’t disappear overnight and U.S. growth is going to create more opportunities.”

Head-on collision kills 9 in San Luis Potosí

By

MND Staff

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May 25, 2021

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Scene of the accident in San Luis Potosí.

A head on collision killed nine people, four of them children, on a highway in San Luis Potosí on Sunday evening.

All family members in both vehicles were killed: one car carried two adults and four children and the other larger vehicle carried three adults.

All were declared dead when ambulances arrived.

The crash occurred on the Rioverde-San Luis Potosí highway at kilometer 42, close to the entrance to the Cerritos toll road.

Relatives of the family of six arrived at the scene and explained they had been returning to the state capital after an outing in Rioverde.

The three adults in the larger vehicle were from Jalisco.

The Red Cross and the Rioverde fire department took hours to free the bodies of three adults and two adolescents from the wreckage.

State police officers awaited the arrival of forensic experts to determine the cause of the accident.

Source: Código San Luis (sp)

President says replacing governor won’t mean change in bank’s economic policy

By

MND Staff

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May 25, 2021

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President Lopez Obrador — President López Obrador promised that his new choice of governor of the Bank of México won't bring disruptive changes.

Three days after he announced that he will replace the current central bank governor with an economist who supports a “moral economy,” President López Obrador asserted Monday that the change in leadership won’t result in a significant change to the bank’s economic policy.

“We’re going to put forward a good economist with experience in the management of the economy and finances — a serious and responsible person who will know how to run the Bank of México so that macroeconomic stability is maintained,” he told reporters at his regular news conference.

The appointment of an economist to replace current Governor Alejandro Díaz de León will not represent “a great turning point” in the bank’s direction, López Obrador said, adding that he was making the point so that everyone “can relax.”

Díaz de León’s four-year tenure concludes at the end of November.

“We’re going to comply with the commitment to respect the autonomy of the Bank of México,” López Obrador said. “We’ve done so until now, and we will continue doing so. We are not going to intervene in the policies of the Bank of México.”

Current Bank of Mexico Governor Alejandro Díaz de León. — Bank of México Governor Alejandro Díaz de León.

But the president also used the opportunity to take a shot at Díaz de León.

“I don’t agree with a lot of the technocrats from the previous government and the neoliberal period because they caused a lot of damage to the country,” López Obrador said, singling out Díaz for approving a 2015 loan when he was head of a government development bank so the state oil company Pemex could buy fertilizer plants at allegedly vastly inflated prices, a purchase that has been implicated in bribery investigations of Mexico’s former president, Enrique Peña Nieto.

“Due to that operation, we have a debt of US $1 billion. … If [Díaz de León] were a good, honest technocrat, he would have reviewed … the contract … and he would have realized that it was a contract contrary to the public interest, that it was a bad operation, and he wouldn’t have signed,” López Obrador said.

Díaz de León’s leadership of the central bank, however, is seen in a positive light by some opposition lawmakers.

Deputies Patricia Terrazas of the National Action Party, Fernando Galindo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and Antonio Ortega of the Democratic Revolution Party agreed that the Bank of México governor has done a good job during his tenure, noting that he has maintained economic stability and kept inflation under control.

The president’s decision not to extend his term is indicative of his scant knowledge of economic matters, they told the newspaper El Universal.

Bank of Mexico Governor Alejandro Díaz de León, Mexican president Andres Manuel López Obrador — Bank of Mexico Governor Alejandro Díaz de León, center, has come into conflict with López Obrador over policy issues.

Speaking before López Obrador’s remarks on Monday, the three lawmakers made their view clear that it would be unacceptable for the president to appoint one of his staunch supporters to the governor’s position.

Terrazas and Ortega claimed that the decision not to renew Díaz de León’s term is revenge for the governor not throwing his support behind initiatives of the ruling Morena party — he didn’t support a Morena-sponsored reform in which the central bank would be required to buy other banks’ surplus foreign cash — and not turning over the bank’s foreign exchange surplus to the government.

“… The president wasn’t very happy with these decisions,” Terrazas said before noting that the rulings weren’t taken unilaterally by the central bank governor but by the bank’s board. “Today there is economic stability in the country; that’s thanks to the decisions of the Bank of México board, but mainly because of he who leads that group of experts.”

Galindo acknowledged that the president has the authority to appoint the governor and members of its board but questioned why he was replacing Díaz de León when he has achieved good results. The future governor and board members must be chosen for their economic knowledge and capacity to keep inflation low rather than for political purposes, he said.

“We mustn’t combine fiscal policy with monetary policy,” Galindo said, adding that the commitment to avoiding “an economic crisis from the monetary side” has been a pillar of the central bank in recent years.

“That’s why the profile [of the appointees] must be carefully considered. They mustn’t have a political profile; they must have a completely technical profile,” the deputy said.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Students in Mexico City protest proposed return to in-person classes

By

Joseph Sorrentino

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May 25, 2021

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Students marching in Mexico City's streets on Monday to protest a federal government proposal that schools return to in-person classes next month. — Students march in Mexico City on Monday to protest a return to in-person classes without vaccination. joseph sorrentino/mexico news daily

Three thousand people — the majority of them students — marched from Mexico City’s Angel of Independence monument to the National Palace on Monday to protest the federal government’s proposal that schools reopen nationwide in June.

President López Obrador announced on May 18 that he wants students to return to in-person classes nationwide next month — although he also said that the choice of families and teachers about returning would be theirs to make.

“We are convinced that … it’s necessary to return before the school year ends due to the effect it has on children who see their classmates in person and not via the internet or on television,” López Obrador said, promising that every state would decide how to conduct their students’ return to classes, taking into account community needs.

However, protesters in Mexico City said that a return to classes when students are not vaccinated isn’t safe.

One of the student groups leading the protest, the Rafael Ramírez National Federation of Student Revolutionaries (FNERRR), which claims to have over 100,000 members from every state in the nation, summed up its opinion on their website: “Returning to classes without collective immunity is murder.”

"A return to classes without Covid immunity is murder," a Mexico City protester's flag says. — “A return to classes without Covid immunity is murder,” a protester’s flag says. joseph sorrentino/mexico news daily

Betsi Bravo García, a student at the National Autonomous University and one of the leaders of FNERRR, said after addressing a crowd gathered in front of the National Palace that their members will not return to school while students remain unvaccinated.

“We are protesting in every state simultaneously. We will return to classes when 70% of the population is vaccinated,” she said.

Several school marching bands accompanied the protesters as they filed down 5 de Mayo avenue, but despite the music, the mood was anything but festive.

Antonio Zacarías, a high school teacher who joined the protest, said he was worried about the reopening.

“They are vaccinating teachers, but we want them to vaccinate all the students as well,” he said.

Zacarías said 5.2 million students, fully 20% of Mexico’s student population, are neither studying online — likely because they lack internet or access to computers — nor working. He’s concerned about what will happen to them if they cannot return to school but also said, “The government and school authorities cannot force us to open schools. We want all students vaccinated.”

“We want the students to return,” María Mendoza, a mother at the protest with two children in school, said. “But what will happen without protection? Without vaccinations? The most important thing is health. We want them to return but only with proper protections and vaccines.”

Standing next to her was her nephew, Josué. When asked if he would return to in-person classes, he said, “With the vaccine, yes.”

Mexico has been wrapping up vaccinations of educational personnel this month and has made some initial forays into reopening schools. In Campeche, 137 schools in rural areas reopened in April to in-person classes, but state officials decided last week to close them again after the state went back this week from low-risk green on the national coronavirus stoplight map to medium-risk yellow.

In Guanajuato, 71 educational institutions — most of them private schools — have opened after the state education department organized a pilot reopening program that brought around 7,000 students back to in-person classes on May 11. Guanajuato concluded vaccination of its educational personnel on May 9.

Mexico City has announced that it will open its schools on June 7 on a staggered system to reduce class sizes. It finished its vaccinations of educational personnel on May 23. The return to in-person classes, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum stressed at a press conference on May 19, is entirely voluntary.

Student in Mexico City protesting government proposal to reopen schools nationwide in June — Mexico City has announced that it will reopen schools on June 7, although it has said that returning to in-person classes is voluntary. joseph sorrentino/mexico news daily

“At the first case [of Covid-19 detected at a school],” said Mexico City education minister Luis Humberto Fernández Fuentes, “it will be closed.”

But Martha Cabrera, a mother with school-aged children who attended the protest, said she is afraid of her children returning to classes.

“I will permit it if all the students and all the teachers are vaccinated and the schools have all the approved methods of sanitation in place. If only teachers are vaccinated, I will not let my children attend classes,” she said. “What is the plan if a student whose family is not vaccinated gets infected and that student returns to school? No one can guarantee that they will not infect other students.”

Bravo sees a cautionary tale in Campeche’s attempt at reopening schools and was adamant that students should not be returning to school in June.

“We cannot return to classes because of a possible outbreak of Covid,” she said. “An example is Campeche: they opened, and now they have suspended classes and there is an outbreak. Despite what they [authorities] say, we could all become infected.”

Mexico News Daily

Lack of irrigation water puts Chihuahua on brink of social and economic crisis

By

MND Staff

-

May 25, 2021

0

mexico drought map — Drought legend colors D0 through D4 indicate abnormally dry through moderate, severe, extreme and exceptional drought conditions, respectively.

A shortage of water for irrigation in Chihuahua could grow into an economic and social crisis as crops diminish, in turn slashing jobs and income.

Chihuahua is one of 25 states suffering from drought, and one of 16 states where drought is present in all municipalities.

In Guachochi, Balleza and Guadalupe y Calvo the Ministry of Agriculture reports up to 90% losses in corn, bean, potato and sorghum crops, with 80% of those affected belonging to indigenous communities.

One farmer said that livestock will soon be under threat. “Right now we do not have reports of livestock losses, but if it does not rain this year we reckon that by the end of the year there will be a minimum loss of 50% between deaths and sales,” he said.

Federal lawmaker Mario Mata detailed the lack of water in reservoirs: the Las Vírgenes reservoir is at 17% capacity and any further extraction could cause structural failings, in the La Boquilla reservoir water levels are at 24%, 200 million cubic meters short of what is needed for irrigation, and the El Granero reservoir is the lowest he has ever seen, at 40%.

Mata warned that the ecological disaster could spill into economic and social crisis. “It means more than 30 billion pesos will not circulate through these municipalities … there are 14 municipalities where 85% of the gross domestic product is from the agricultural sector. We are going to have a serious social problem that we hope will not become a problem of insecurity,” he said.

“Many people from the south of the country come here, from Guerrero, Oaxaca and Michoacán. They come to work in the fields. Now there are no jobs and … [there are] increase security issues in the populated areas of the district … homes have already been robbed,” he added.

Salvador Alcántara, president of the Irrigation Association of Chihuahua, addressed the the scale of the issue in the Conchos River. “We’re all in crisis and on top of that there could be an ecological problem given that the Conchos River is completely dry. There is no water running in the river … I’m 66 and it’s the first time I’ve seen [it] dry,” he said.

The drought has become a campaign issue for the elections on June 6, driven particularly by then federal deputy Juan Carlos Loera’s support for giving 400 million cubic meters of water to the United States in compliance with the 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty. Loera is now the Morena party’s candidate for governor and a target for other candidates seeking to win the governor’s office.

Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate Graciela Ortiz has proposed the creation of a state water agency to “defend of the interests of the people of Chihuahua … never again will a government come and steal our water, as was the case with Morena,” she said.

Citizens’ Movement candidate Alfredo Lozoya said, “Here there is no room for a coward like Loera who betrayed us and gave away the water of the people of Chihuahua.”

The most recent drought report by the National Water Commission says 75% of the country is facing moderate to exceptional drought conditions, up very slightly from the previous report, issued April 30.

But the report comes after rainfall was recorded in early May, bringing relief to some parts of the country.

The drought has already resulted in higher prices for basic products like corn, beans, milk and meat.

Sources: Milenio (sp), El Heraldo de Chihuahua (sp)