A crowd began gathering early today for AMLOFest in Mexico City's zócalo.
Fans of President López Obrador started gathering in Mexico City’s zócalo early this morning for an event to celebrate the first anniversary of his victory in the 2018 presidential election.
Dubbed AMLOFest, the celebration is open to everyone and was to start at 3:00 pm with a performance by flautist Horacio Franco and double bassist Víctor Flores. Later, there are to be performances by the Symphonic Band of Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, and Margarita, La Diosa de la Cumbia (The Goddess of Cumbia).
López Obrador was to deliver a speech highlighting his administration’s economic achievements in its first seven months. A performance of the national anthem by the army band was to follow and a performance by an army mariachi band was to close the event.
Cabinet members, foreign diplomats, state governors and other officials were expected to attend.
The first AMLOFest was held last year to celebrate the president’s landslide election victory.
Remittances sent home by Mexicans working abroad hit a record high of just over US $3.2 billion in May, according to the central bank.
The figure is the highest since the Bank of México began keeping records of such transfers in 1995 and 1.5% above the previous record set in May of last year.
It’s only the third time that remittances have exceeded $3 billion in a single month.
Financial analysts told the newspaper El Financiero that Mother’s Day and United States President Donald Trump’s protectionist and immigration policies were the two main reasons behind the increase in remittances sent in May, whose value was 12% higher than in April.
The payments were sent in a total of 9,956 transactions – also a record – meaning that the average remittance was $322.
During the first five months of 2019, a total of $13.724 billion was sent to Mexico via remittances, an increase of 4.7% compared to the same period last year. Most of the cash comes into the country from the United States.
Mexico ranks third in the world in terms of the value of the remittances it receives after India and China.
The chef behind the celebrated Mexico City’s Que BO! won five bronze medals with his micro batch dark chocolate bars, orange and rosemary bonbons and almond, cardamom and milk chocolate sweets, and a silver medal for his micro batch milk chocolate bars.
The winners were chosen by professional chocolate judges from the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Guatemala and Ecuador.
“It’s a panel made up of 70 judges,” Castillo said, “and this year they received more than 970 [chocolate] samples from all over the Americas, from Canada to Argentina. To take home six medals is a big deal; it’s not an everyday kind of achievement in a competition with so many people. Between 15 or 20 chocolate masters from each country attend to show off their work.”
The Mexican chocolate maker said his principal endeavor has been to elevate Mexican chocolate, in everything from quality to aesthetic questions such as color and texture.
“My raw material is always Mexican. I always try to look for criollo beans from cacao-growing regions such as Tabasco or Chiapas, and from that I begin to make the chocolate. We look at different roasts and formulas until we arrive at the flavor and aroma we want. Then we make the chocolate bars, bonbons and truffles, making daily adjustments through trial and error.”
However, Castillo said it has not always been easy to convince consumers to pay more for Mexican artisanal chocolate, but he has made it his mission over the course of 15 years to educate chocolate lovers about the value and work behind each morsel.
“At the beginning it was very hard because there were many who dismissed Mexican chocolate; the best chocolate was thought to be Belgian . . . . But now, Que BO! has positioned itself as a brand with high aspirations, and many people travel to Mexico City just to try our products.”
In 2012, the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development recognized José Ramón Castillo’s work and honored him as the face of Mexican chocolate.
Its popularity as a destination for domestic tourism is growing.
Beautiful beaches, cenotes, archaeological sites, Pueblos Mágicos and other attractions are bringing more and more people to visit the city of Mérida this summer.
According to trips purchased on the travel booking portal Despegar, the capital of Yucatán is the third fastest-growing national summer vacation destination for Mexican tourists, showing a 41% growth in domestic trips booked on the service compared to last summer.
Only Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo and Mexico City were ahead of Mérida, growing 77% and 57% respectively. Classic tourist destinations like Puerto Escondido, Huatulco, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas showed lower growth than Mérida.
But Mérida is still not on the list of the top seven destinations that account for 47.57% of domestic tourism: Mexico City, Acapulco, Cancún, Guadalajara, Veracruz, Puebla and Mazatlán.
Of all the trips booked on Despegar, 67% were to destinations in Mexico, while the rest were to other countries.
According to Ezequiel Rubin, Despegar’s Mexico country manager, the peak summer season for Mexican travelers is between July 15 and 28.
In an interview with the newspaper Novedades Yucatán, Rubin said that this year Mexicans are looking for new destinations to visit, which he considers a good thing because it will promote domestic tourism.
Despegar is offering a new set of special promotions for domestic travel in Mexico, which will be available between July 1 and 7 and will include options for different budgets.
According to Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco Marquéz, Mexicans will spend 36.6 billion pesos (US $1.9 billion) on hotels this July and August, 3.6% more than in 2018. And 9.1 million people will take domestic flights, 4.1% more than last year.
Yucatán Tourism Secretary Michelle Fridman Hirsch said the good performance is the result of collaboration between the state government, private companies and other states to connect Mérida to more air travel routes across the country.
Last year, direct flights to Mérida began from Chihuahua City and León, Guanajuato. In 2019, travelers will be able to fly direct to Mérida from Oaxaca city, Hermosillo, Sonora, and Tijuana, Baja California.
On the first anniversary of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s election as president, many financial analysts believe that the economy is in worse shape than a year ago – but it’s not all bad news for the leftist leader.
But according to a report published today in the newspaper El Financiero, the public policy decisions taken by the government have had a negative impact on the economy, leading it to its “worst moment since the financial crisis” of 2007-2008.
Marco Oviedo, chief economist in Mexico for the financial services company Barclays, said that López Obrador’s decision to cancel the new Mexico City airport project – made before he was sworn in as president after a controversial public consultation – was particularly damaging to the economy because it raised doubts about the way the political veteran would govern and generated market volatility and investor suspicion.
Now, seven months into the government’s six-year term, the head of Latin America economics at Goldman Sachs believes that there is clear evidence that the economy has declined.
Specialists surveyed by the central bank in June predicted growth of just 1.13% for this year.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about the direction of macroeconomic policy. There are several factors that have contributed to this, such as the conservatism that the Bank of México has taken with respect to its monetary policies, the credit rating downgrade threatening Pemex and the general employment slowdown. They’re unequivocal signs that the country’s economy has weakened,” Alberto Ramos said.
He acknowledged that there has been an increase in salaries but added “that also has macroeconomic implications as the [pay] rises represent an increase in labor costs for employers.”
If the higher salaries being paid are above productivity gains, they could “lead to less job creation in the medium term,” he said.
In an interview with El Financiero, Fernando López Macari, president of the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives, chose to focus on the positives of the government’s economic management.
He said the commitment shown by López Obrador to financial discipline and the maintenance of a primary surplus are worthy of praise, adding that he should continue that approach for the duration of his presidency.
“The four pillars that will give confidence to investors and analysts that study the country’s public finances are compliance with fiscal discipline, not increasing sovereign debt, not raising company taxes and finally respecting the autonomy of the Bank of México,” López said.
But even as the government complies with those recommendations, the short-term outlook for the economy, especially in terms of growth, looks less than rosy.
The central bank, also called Banxico, said today that private sector economic specialists consulted for its June survey predicted growth of just 1.13% in 2019 compared to 1.32% in the May survey.
“As in May, all of the analysts consulted think that the economy is not better than a year ago,” Banxico said, explaining that they cited concerns about political uncertainty and insecurity.
In contrast, López Obrador asserted yesterday that “the economy is good” and has pledged to deliver average 4% growth during his administration. Despite widespread downgrades of growth expectations, he has also expressed optimism that 2% growth in 2019 remains feasible.
Predictions in Banxico’s June survey for other aspects of the economy make better reading for the government and the people of Mexico.
Analysts predicted that the year will end with an inflation rate of 3.63% compared to a forecast of 3.75% in May, while the peso is expected to finish 2019 trading at 19.85 to the US dollar, up slightly from 19.92.
The former mayor of Centla, Tabasco, was sentenced to 22 months behind bars after she was found guilty of unlawful imprisonment, wrongful persecution and illegal arrest of a local journalist.
Felipe Eladio Jiménez Solís took a series of pictures in December 2016 showing a relative of ex-mayor Gabriela López Sanlucas using an official municipal vehicle for personal use.
After the photos were published, López ordered police to arrest Jiménez.
He later filed formal complaints against López before the federal Attorney General’s Office and the National Human Rights Commission.
Jiménez told reporters he spent 2 1/2 years filing complaints and traveling to Mexico City. Now, he said, Mexico could celebrate the first conviction of a mayor for attempting to violate freedom of expression.
Two municipal police have already been found guilty of taking part in the aggression against Jiménez.
The mayors’s sentence also included a fine of 12,462 pesos (US $652).
Vehicles burn at a blockade in Tabasco this morning.
As the National Guard deploys 70,000 troops to fight crime around the country, criminal elements in Tabasco gave the new security force a message, but not a welcoming one.
Traffic was blocked Monday morning with four burning vehicles left on the Villahermosa-Teapa highway, one of Villahermosa’s busiest thoroughfares.
Along with the vehicles, which were left on the highway around 7:00am, was a threatening message for the National Guard.
“Welcome, National Guard. We know you’re bringing all you’ve got, but let’s see how many leave alive.”
Signed by “El Pelón, from Playas de Rosario,” it also warned the Guard to “get in line, or we will get you in line.”
Firefighters and Civil Defense extinguished the fires and removed the vehicles from the roadway and traffic was moving again by 10:00am.
In addition to the National Guard troops that have already been deployed for immigration enforcement on Tabasco’s border with Guatemala, 300 troops will be deployed to perform security functions around the state.
The priorities of the National Guard in Tabasco will be to fight high-impact crimes like drug dealing and fuel theft.
Agents from the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) arrested the nephew of the former leader of the Gulf Cartel yesterday in Naucalpan, México state, in the greater Mexico City area.
Mario Alberto Cárdenas Medina, also known as “El Betito,” is the nephew of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén and has been identified by authorities as the leader of a gang called Los Metros. He is accused of arms and drug trafficking and blamed for being a major instigator of violence in Tamaulipas.
Cárdenas Medina was located and arrested in a Naucalpan shopping mall by FGR agents. He was in the company of a woman identified only as Miriam M., who was also placed under arrest.
Agents seized a handgun and a loaded magazine, 23 bags containing a narcotic substance and four burner cell phones.
Cárdenas is the son of Mario Cárdenas Guillén, who became leader of the Gulf Cartel after the arrest of his brother Osiel, and founder of the Metros gang.
Cárdenas Gullén was arrested in Altamira, Tamaulipas, in 2012 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for organized crime. There is also a pending extradition order requested by the government of the United States against him.
President López Obrador officially launched the National Guard in Mexico City Sunday.
President López Obrador formally inaugurated the National Guard at a ceremony in Mexico City yesterday during which he acknowledged that his government has not yet made progress in combating the high levels of insecurity.
The president said that 70,000 members of the security force will initially be deployed to 150 regions across Mexico and that its ranks will swell to 150,000 by 2021.
Addressing 10,000 new National Guardsmen as well as lawmakers and officials gathered at a military field in the capital, López Obrador said that under his administration “the economy is good, we’re doing well in policy” and corruption and impunity are no longer tolerated.
However, he added that “solving the serious problem of insecurity and violence is something we still have to do.”
“In that area, we can’t say that we’ve advanced. Unfortunately, in that area the same conditions that we inherited from previous governments prevail . . .” López Obrador said.
But the government is confident that the National Guard will be successful in reducing crime rates, and the president yesterday told its members that he had faith in them while also urging them to act professionally and with honesty and integrity.
“Don’t forget that the carrying out of the fourth transformation of public life by all Mexicans is going to depend a lot on your work. You, the members of the National Guard, have to . . . be the principal actors of this transformation . . .” López Obrador said.
He pledged that all National Guard members will be paid good salaries and receive attractive benefits – adequate remuneration is considered essential in order to dissuade troops from engaging in corruption.
For his part, Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo described combating the security situation inherited from past federal administrations as the government’s biggest challenge but added that he was optimistic that it is one to which the National Guard will rise.
“The National Guard will mark the beginning of the end of the violence in our country. With complete responsibility, we can say that . . . the darkest days of insecurity will stay in the past,” he said.
The beginning of the end of the violence: Security Secretary Durazo
In contrast, National Guard Commander Luis Rodríguez Bucio urged caution with regards to expectations for the new security force in consideration of the magnitude of the task it faces.
“. . . However, in the medium and long term, the expectations with respect to the National Guard are of the highest level,” he added.
Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, and Secretary of the Navy, José Rafael Ojeda, both expressed their full support for the Guard, which despite being made up chiefly of military personnel is legally considered a civilian security force.
Several human rights groups spoke out against the creation of the National Guard, charging that it its deployment would only perpetuate the unsuccessful militarization model that was implemented by former president Felipe Calderón and continued by the previous government.
To counter concerns, Durazo said in January that the government had asked lawmakers to modify the original plan in order to create a National Guard with a civilian command.
However, in an opinion piece published today in the newspaper El Universal, and in a series of Twitter posts, prominent security analyst Alejandro Hope asserted that the National Guard is a “military institution, whatever the constitution says.”
He pointed out that the force’s commander is a current military general, that all of its regional coordinators are from the armed forces and that 75% of its first members will be soldiers or marines.
Hope also said that induction courses are being carried out at military barracks, that state and municipal governments are donating land for National Guard facilities to the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) rather than the Secretariat of Security and that Sedena is purchasing equipment for the new force.
In light of a series of violent clashes between police and organized crime in the coastal city of Guaymas, Sonora, Mayor Sara Valle Dessens is asking the city’s residents to avoid congregating in public places.
Then on Saturday, armed men ambushed officers who were buying fuel at a gas station. One officer was killed and three others were wounded. An employee of the gas station was also hurt.
On Monday morning, a group of individuals wearing masks hung a banner near the Jesús García Corona primary school in Guaymas. It bore the names of several men who are allegedly responsible for violence and crime in the city and urged the federal government to take action against the supposed criminals.
It read: “Dear citizens of Guaymas, here are those who are truly responsible for the wave of violence in the port, those who kill every day and poison our children with drugs . . .”
Police quickly removed the banner.
The banner identifying alleged criminals was hung this morning outside a school.
The warnings from the mayor came the same day that tens of thousands of National Guard troops are being deployed around the country, including 1,800 in the state of Sonora.
Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich Arellano said the federal troops will support the efforts of state and municipal security corporations to fight crime and violence.
But General Luis Rodríguez Bucio, commander of the new security force, is warning Mexicans that a decline in violence and insecurity may not come as quickly as some would like.
“Because of the magnitude of the task, it’s important that we ration our short-term expectations,” he said. “However, in the medium and long term, our expectations for the National Guard are very high.”
