Immigration chief charged in connection with fatal Cd. Juárez fire

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April 25, 2023

Francisco Garduño head of the National Migration Institute in Mexico — Francisco Garduño remains the head of the National Migration Institute but was formally criminally charged on Tuesday. (File photo/Cuartoscuro)

National Immigration Institute (INM) director Francisco Garduño now faces a formal criminal charge in connection with a fire in a Ciudad Juárez detention center that claimed the lives of 40 migrants.

Garduño was accused of improper exercise of public service during a court appearance in the Chihuahua border city on Tuesday. The official, who reportedly declined the opportunity to speak at the hearing, faces a prison sentence of up to seven years if found guilty.

Emergency responders outside immigration detention center — The fire started on the night of March 27, killing 40 migrants in the deadliest tragedy ever to occur at a Mexican immigration detention center. (Juan Ortega/Cuartoscuro)

The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) said April 11 that Garduño and the INM’s general director of immigration control and verification Antonio Molina Díaz allegedly committed “criminal conduct” by “failing to fulfill their duty to supervise, protect and provide security to the people and facilities” under their control.

That announcement came two weeks after a fire in a provisional INM detention center that was allegedly lit by a Venezuelan man after he and other migrants were informed they would be deported or moved to another facility. In addition to the fatalities, close to 30 men were injured in the blaze.

Video footage posted to social media showed that migrants were left in a locked section of the detention center despite the outbreak of the fire.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that conditions at the detention center fell short of the standards required to house migrants. They alleged that Garduño was aware of that, but took no action to address the situation.

Prosecutors also said there is video footage that shows that private security guards employed at the Ciudad Juárez detention center asked INM officials for permission to release the migrants after the fire started, but were denied.

A video leaked shortly after the tragedy showed a security guard and an INM agent apparently evacuating the building without unlocking the door to the section where the migrants were being held. President López Obrador later said they didn’t have keys.

Vice News reported that the victims of the fire could not or chose not to pay a US $200 bribe to security guards to be released. Most of the men who died or were injured were reportedly detained earlier the same day while they were begging or washing car windscreens in Ciudad Juárez.

Mexico’s immigration detention centers are notorious for overcrowding and poor conditions. The National Human Rights Commission has described the conditions in INM detention centers as prisonlike and documented a range of abuses suffered by migrants at the hands of immigration officials and private security personnel.

Clothing and blankets collection for migrants event in Asuncion, Chihuahua — INM Chihuahua Commissioner Salvador González Guerrero, second from right, also faces criminal charges and is being held in preventive detention. (INM)

In addition to Garduño and Molina, four other INM officials who the FGR said are “directly linked to conduct that caused homicides and injuries” face charges in connection with the March 27 fire, the worst ever tragedy in an immigration detention center in Mexico.

One is the head of the INM in Chihuahua, Salvador González Guerrero, who was ordered to stand trial on charges including homicide and improper exercise of public service at a hearing on Saturday. He is in preventive (pre-trial) detention in a Ciudad Juárez prison.

Among the other suspects are three INM agents and a security guard who worked at the Ciudad Juárez detention center.

The agents and guard, and the Venezuelan man who allegedly started the fire by setting mattresses alight, face charges of homicide and causing injury and are in detention awaiting trial.

It was unclear when Garduño would next appear in court. The charge he faces doesn’t warrant mandatory preventive detention, and for the time being, at least, he will remain at the head of the INM.

With reports from El País, El Universal and AP

Transparency agency still out of action after failed legal challenge

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MND Staff

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April 25, 2023

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INAI banner — Senator Xóchitl Gálvez points to a banner protesting inaction over the appointment of new INAI commissioners, which has hobbled the transparency agency.(SEDEMA/Cuartoscuro)

The Supreme Court has ruled that the governing body of Mexico’s transparency agency cannot convene with just four of its seven members, a situation in which it currently finds itself due to the federal Senate’s failure to appoint three new commissioners.

The work of the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and the Protection of Personal Data (INAI) has come to a halt this month as the agency has only had four commissioners since April 1, one fewer than quorum. Over 2,300 appeals related to information requests that were denied or not adequately filled have been left pending due to the INAI’s current impasse, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Headquarters of the INAI, CDMX — The transparency agency has been called “useless” by President López Obrador. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)

Late last month, the INAI launched a legal challenge against the Senate due to what it described as an attack on its constitutionally-enshrined autonomy. It asked the Supreme Court to hand down a ruling that would allow its pleno, as the agency’s governing body is called, to convene with just four commissioners while they wait for the appointment of additional officials.

Justice Loretta Ortiz on Monday declined to issue the suspensión sought by the INAI, but the reasons for her ruling were not disclosed. The INAI said it would appeal the decision, and indicated it would even consider taking the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

“I understand that there is a lack of consensus in the Senate … to designate the people who will occupy the positions of INAI commissioners, but we will keep working and fighting,” said Adrián Alcalá Méndez, one of the four active members of the pleno.

The Senate last month named two new INAI commissioners, but their appointments were subsequently vetoed by President López Obrador.

Loretta Ortiz Ahlf, Mexican Supreme Court justice — Justice Loretta Ortiz declined the agency’s request to operate with only four of seven commissioners. (File photo/Twitter)

“The INAI thing was vetoed, which is my constitutional right, because there was an agreement — I do not know who carried it out, but everything indicates that one candidate was selected by [the ruling] Morena [party] and one by the National Action Party, and that should not be allowed,” the president said March 16, referring to allegations that selection was based on negotiations between the political parties and not on the candidates’ qualifications.

Since then, the upper house hasn’t reached a consensus on any appointments to replace commissioners whose terms have ended. Senators appear unlikely to come to an agreement before the summer congressional recess begins May 1, even as the United Nations pressures them to do so. Senator Ricardo Monreal, Morena’s leader in the upper house, has accused his own party of preventing a new vote to appoint INAI commissioners.

Almost a month after the president’s veto, the news outlet Latinus released leaked audio in which Interior Minister Adán Augusto López is heard informing senators that López Obrador had told him that he was trying to push INAI toward a “period of impasse.”

The president’s veto was consequently seen as an attempt to hobble the transparency agency.

Adán Augusto López and Ricardo Monrel — Ricardo Monreal (right), seen here with Interior Minister Adán Augusto López, has accused his own Morena party of stalling the vote on INAI appointments. (Ricardo Monreal/Twitter)

López Obrador has long been a critic of the INAI, saying in early 2021 that it is not needed as the federal government maintains “permanent communication” with citizens and guarantees the right to information.

He said last week that the INAI is “useless,” asserting that it “has not helped in any way to combat corruption” since it was created under a different name during the 2000-2006 presidency of Vicente Fox.

On the contrary, the institute has “legitimized thefts and hidden information,” he said, adding that it has cost the Mexican people 1 billion pesos (about US $55.2 million at the current exchange rate) a year since its creation.

“Hopefully the Congress does something so that the [transparency] function can be carried out by another institution … and the 1 billion pesos per year [can be] used to support the people who need it,” López Obrador said March 18.

He said in January 2021 that his government intended to incorporate autonomous organizations such as the INAI and the Federal Telecommunications Institute into federal ministries and departments. However, the plan – widely denounced as an attempt to further concentrate power in the executive – didn’t come to fruition.

The INAI commissioners are staunchly defending the transparency agency in the face of the attacks by López Obrador and other high-ranking federal officials.

“At INAI we will continue defending … the rights of access to information and the protection of personal data,” Blanca Lilia Ibarra, the agency’s chief commissioner, tweeted Tuesday. “… They are achievements of citizens that must be strengthened, not suspended or limited.”

During a recent discussion with The Los Angeles Times, Ibarra and two other commissioners said that the INAI functions as an essential check on government power.

Blanca Lilia Ibarra of INAI — The INAI’s chief commissioner Blanca Lilia Ibarra (center) at an anti-corruption conference this month. (Blanca Lilia Ibarra/Twitter)

It “empowers society to pressure government to be transparent, to pressure government to be accountable, and it allows society to participate in public decisions,” Ibarra told the Times.

The newspaper reported that the institute has “helped shape the course of Mexico’s history, ordering officials to grant previously denied information requests that have allowed journalists and activists to uncover massive corruption schemes, locate clandestine graves and investigate large-scale infrastructure projects.”

The Times said that the INAI resolved more than 18,000 appeals for information during the most recent fiscal year, and noted that it also “protects citizens’ rights to access personal data, such as medical records, and sanctions private and public entities for stealing personal information.”

With reports from El País, El Economista, El Universal and The Los Angeles Times

Navy finds 11,250 tequila bottles filled with liquid meth in Manzanillo

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MND Staff

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April 25, 2023

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Bottles of liquid methamphetamine — Discovered after a sniffer dog alerted customs teams, the drugs were disguised as bottled of "añejo" — aged tequila. (Semar)

The Mexican Navy reported Monday that it had seized nearly 10 tons of concentrated liquid methamphetamine hidden in 11,520 tequila bottles bound for export.

The interception occurred on Sunday at the Pacific seaport of Manzanillo, Colima, while marines were inspecting 960 cardboard boxes containing what appeared to be tequila bottles.

A cargo ship leaves port in Manzanillo, Colima. Strong demand for exports has helped sustain economic growth this year. — The bottles of liquid methamphetamine were seized in the port of Manzanillo, Colima. (Depositphotos)

According to the Associated Press, a sniffer dog alerted inspectors to the boxes, which contained liquid the color of añejo tequila.

After an examination of the liquid by the Navy’s pharmacology and toxicology laboratory, the 750-ml glass bottles tested positive for methamphetamine.

The bottles contained some 8,640 kilograms (about 19,000 pounds) of the illegal drug.

The Navy reported that so far this year it has “seized and destroyed approximately 114.3 tons of methamphetamine.”

Pallets of onions were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after finding packets of methamphetamine hidden in the shipment. — Methamphetamine is often smuggled in creative ways — including in this bust from February 2022, where it was hidden inside onions in an attempt to traffic the drug into the United States. (U.S. CBP)

In March, the U.S. State Department said it was alarmed by the expansion of Mexican criminal groups, which lead global production and drug trafficking of substances such as methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl and dominate the import and distribution of such drugs into the U.S.

Mexico has become one of the largest producers of methamphetamine in the world, according to the latest United Nations World Drug Report. The drug is mainly produced in the states of Baja California, Sinaloa, Jalisco and Michoacán.

To import methamphetamine, smugglers often fill windshield washer fluid tanks or other containers in their cars. The liquid meth is then taken to specialized facilities to extract the water and return it to its crystal form.

With reports from El Economista, AP News, Infobae, Council on Foreign Relations and El País.

Forest fires trigger air quality alert in Guadalajara area

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MND Staff

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April 25, 2023

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A firefighter in Guadalajara looks at a wildfire. — The Guadalajara Environment and Territorial Development Ministry issued the air quality alert Monday night. (@EnriqueAlfaroR/Twitter)

As three wildfires in Jalisco continued to blaze Monday and into Tuesday morning, the state Environment and Territorial Development Ministry (Semadet) declared an air quality alert on Monday night for the municipalities of Guadalajara, Zapopan and Tala.

“It seemed like we had woken up in a city filled with fog,” María Fernanda Solís, a Guadalajara resident, told Mexico News Daily. “The smell was so strong I had to close all the windows in my house,” she added.

According to authorities, two of the three wildfires had been contained by Tuesday afternoon. (@EnriqueAlfaroR/Twitter)

Schools stayed open — but had to cancel all outdoor activities.

Two of the fires were extinguished as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Semedet, and air quality is expected to improve throughout the day, according to the governor.

However, throughout Tuesday, Semadet encouraged the population to avoid all outdoor activities, use face masks outdoors, avoid smoking, drink plenty of fluids and close doors and windows to prevent pollutants from entering homes and buildings.

On Tuesday, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro also tweeted that César Uriel “P,” 26, was detained by Zapopan police on the highway to Saltillo last night as a suspect in setting the fires.

According to the newspaper El Informador, when detained, the suspect was in possession of a flammable substance in a container as well as several lighters.

Fires in Guadalajara are frequent at this time of year, and according to local authorities, are mostly caused by arson or negligence.

In 2021, after seven fires broke out in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Alfaro claimed that those blazes were lit simultaneously and deliberately to “destabilize” Jalisco.

With reports from El Informador

Health Minister reports that AMLO’s health is ‘good’

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MND Staff

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April 25, 2023

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Mexico's health minister Jorge Alcocer — Health Minister Jorge Alcocer told reporters that President López Obrador is experiencing inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, fever and fatigue. (Photos by Galo Cañas Rodríiguez/Cuartoscuro)

President López Obrador has mild COVID-19 symptoms, but his overall health is good, Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said Tuesday.

The 69-year-old president announced Sunday that he had tested positive for COVID but asserted that his illness wasn’t serious. It is the third time that he has contracted the disease.

AMLO in Veracruz April 21, 2023 — The president, who is on his third bout with COVID, travels frequently to personally visit infrastructure projects and commune with supporters. He was on such a trip over the weekend when he developed cold-like symptoms. (Presidencia)

Alcocer told reporters at the government’s morning press conference that López Obrador’s symptoms include inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, fever and fatigue. He is taking paracetamol, staying hydrated and resting, the health minister said.

Alcocer noted that the president suffered a heart attack in 2013 but stressed that his heart health is not a current concern. In a social media post announcing that he had tested positive for COVID, López Obrador said himself that his heart was “100%” fine.

Alcocer said that the president’s blood pressure is lower than normal because he’s not carrying out his normal “dynamic” activities that can cause his blood pressure to rise. López Obrador said last September that he takes a “cocktail” of medications for several medical conditions, including high blood pressure and thyroid issues.

Alcocer said that the president, who is currently isolating at his apartment within the National Palace, would be “discharged” in a few days. “Basically what he needs is rest,” the health minister said.

Mexico Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez — Interior Minister Adan Augusto López, who is believed to be interested in becoming Morena’s presidential candidate in 2024, is currently running AMLO’s daily press conferences.

López Obrador, who has had at least three shots of COVID-19 vaccine, began experiencing cold-like symptoms while on the Yucatán Peninsula to inspect progress on the construction of the Maya Train railroad last weekend. He returned to Mexico City from Mérida slightly earlier than scheduled on Sunday.

Interior Minister Adán Augusto López Hernández, who is presiding over the government’s morning press conferences in the president’s absence, rejected a report by the newspaper Diario de Yucatán that said that López Obrador fainted in Mérida due to an apparent heart attack and was transferred to a military hospital in Mexico City after taking an emergency flight to the capital on a Mexican Air Force jet.

“There was no emergency transfer, there was no fainting episode,” he said Monday.

With reports from El Universal, Reforma and El Financiero

From Hollywood to Mexico, actor Eduardo Minett is making his mark

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Patrick Leet

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April 24, 2023

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Eduardo Minett photo3 — Teen actor Eduardo Minett stars in the Netflix film "¿Encontró lo que buscaba?" In an interview with MND, he remarks on the movie business in Mexico, starting college at 16, and his parallel career as a rock musician (Photo courtesy of the author).

At 15, Eduardo Minett made his Hollywood debut alongside Clint Eastwood in the 2021 feature film “Cry Macho.” Now, he’s back home in Mexico, where he is shooting to stardom.

We got a chance to sit down with Eduardo to hear about his new Netflix movie, how Mexican movie production compares to Hollywood and a new music project he is heading up.

Eduardo Minett with Clint Eastwood on the set of “Cry Macho” (@eduardominett/instagram).

Your big screen debut in 2021 was at age 15, co-starring with Clint Eastwood in the film “Cry Macho.” What can you tell us about that experience?

Before “Cry Macho” I never had the opportunity to do movies. I was always trying to do casting [calls], but, yeah, “Cry Macho” was a wonderful experience. It represents a before-and-after because I grew so much and now have new opportunities.

How does making movies in Hollywood compare to making movies in Mexico?

I thought I was going to see a lot of differences, but, no, the main difference I saw comes down to food. In American productions, the food is a little better. My [only] experience is with “Cry Macho” which was a big Hollywood production. In Mexico, the food is not bad – I’m not saying that – but in “Cry Macho” they always gave me chocolate, candy, and treats, hahaha.

There is a recent Mexico News Daily article about an agreement between the Mexican government and six Hollywood film studios. What do you think this means?

I think it means more opportunities in general for actors and actresses, producers and the entire industry. In Mexico and Latin America, we have a great [film] industry. Some people think that the Latino film industry is not good but that is simply not true. I think the big U.S. studios are paying more attention to Mexico, maybe even as an entry into Latin America.

From left to right, Eduardo Minett, Álvaro Guerrero, and Andrea Chaparro in the new Netflix film “¿Encontró lo que buscaba?” (Photo courtesy of the author)

Is it fair to say that the Mexican film industry has grown substantially in recent years?

Yes, I think so. When I first started acting over 10 years ago, the industry in Mexico was relatively small. Now we have more opportunities and great people like Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu. In the last three or four years the Mexican industry has been growing very fast.

Not only is it acting but also directing, producing, even the music. In the last “Black Panther” movie, we had [the Mexican actor] Tenoch Huerta and [the Mexican rapper] Santa Fe Klan, who did music for the movie.

You have a new movie recently released on Netflix: “¿Encontró lo que buscaba?” (Have a Nice Day!) What does this latest movie mean to you?

I worked with Yibrán Asuad, a director I have been waiting years to work with. We did the movie in a small town in San Luis Potosí. The experience of being on set with Àlvaro Guerrero and Andrea Chaparro, the other main actors in the movie, was great. I think what I most enjoy about acting is being with other actors, not only [while filming] the project, but also talking about our lives and developing relationships.

The movie has multiple elderly characters who play refreshing roles that challenge typical depictions.

Yeah, one of the things I love about this movie is that there is a mix of a lot of different generations, as you mention, with different themes that emerge.

“¿Encontró lo que buscaba?” follows the life of an ex-radio personality who is forced to bag groceries among young kids who help him pursue a romantic mission. (Photo courtesy of the author)

We have had to postpone this interview a couple of times due to auditions that have come up. Can you tell us about new projects on the horizon?

I have been doing a lot of [acting] auditions recently, as well as music. I also received an offer to direct theater which would be a first for me. It makes me nervous when I think about it because it is something of a dream for me. I have a lot of experience in theater but this would be new.

I know that you also have a music project in the works. What can you tell us about that?

I am working with my rock band Maddox. We have a team that helps us and [we] have already recorded six songs … we are looking to finish our first album with around 10. We write the songs; the creative part is all us.

You mentioned you are now a freshman in college studying music. How are you able to balance everything?

I don’t know! I started college in January as a 16 year-old so the first few days I was scared but I have adapted and fit in now. I love acting but have been studying acting since before I was 6 years old. It is time to study my other passion: music.

Eduardo (R) performing with his band Madoxx (@madoxx.band/instagram).

I understand you play guitar, sing, you write music, and are also teaching yourself how to play the drums.

Yeah, I am starting to pick up different instruments. I don’t have experience and have never really played the bass [guitar] but yesterday in class I said “Hey, I’ll try it.” We were playing “Even Flow” by Pearl Jam. Actually, the teacher was surprised and said I played very well. It is cool to do things that represent a challenge for you.

So, you are a big Beatles fan and give them credit for helping found the hard rock genre. Can you tell us more about that?

The Beatles played such a role in the founding of the music we know and listen to nowadays. One of those genres that we listen to is hard rock.

When I listen to the White Album and the song “Helter Skelter,” I think about that moment … it was very hard. The bands at that time were playing softer rock, and the Beatles made this song. That is part of how the Beatles helped to create hard rock.

Lastly, what are some of your musical influences or music that you gravitate towards?

I have a lot: B.B. King, John Mayer or Stevie Ray Vaughn. I love the blues and I love playing the blues. In general, I would say my influences include Michael Jackson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Slash from Guns ‘n Roses, Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee.

In Mexico we have Jay de la Cueva. Wow. He is a guitarist, a composer, a drummer… he plays everything. He is one of my idols in Mexico. We also have Ximena Sariñana and Adan Jodorowsky…there are just so many great artists here to mention.

Patrick Leet is a professor and freelance writer based in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Berries beat out beer for Mexico’s top agro-export spot in 2023

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MND Staff

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April 24, 2023

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Berries were Mexico’s top-grossing agricultural export in the first two months of the year, bringing in US $777 million in revenue, according to the Bank of Mexico.

Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries earned more from sales abroad in January and February than better-known Mexican agro-industrial products such as beer, tequila and avocados.

Berries grown in Mexico do well abroad, but here, the price tag on a basket of blueberries is higher than most Mexicans are willing to pay. (miflippo/Depositphotos)

Mexico exports berries to almost 40 countries, but its biggest market is the United States.

The Agriculture Ministry said last October that berries are grown commercially in 22 of Mexico’s 32 states and that the sector employs over 500,000 people. It also said that export volumes of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries all increased in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period of the prior year.

According to María Blanca Martínez Barajas, a Puebla-based academic who has researched Mexico’s berry industry, national berry production has almost quadrupled in the past 10 years.

Martínez told Forbes México that the berry sector is export-oriented due to the high prices paid for the fruit in foreign countries. In Mexico, berries are considered a luxury product and are unaffordable for a large sector of the population, Martínez said.

Berries beat out beer in export sales during the first two months of 2023. (igorgolovniov/Depositphotos).

Mexican cerveza, including major brands such as Corona, Pacífico, Tecate and Dos Equis, generated US $757 million in revenue from foreign sales in the first two months of 2023 to rank behind berries as Mexico’s second largest agricultural export.

Tequila ranked third, with US $616 million in sales abroad followed by tomatoes with $574 million; avocados with $545 million; and beef with $454 million.

The total value of Mexican agrifood exports in January and February was just over US $8.25 billion, according to the Bank of Mexico, a 7.9% increase compared to the same period in 2022.

With reports from Forbes México

Reform allowing state-owned airline passes in Chamber of Deputies

By

MND Staff

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April 24, 2023

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Plane flying over Mexican flag — This administration has said it seeks to lower the cost of airfare and improve connectivity by creating an army-run commercial airline. (Depositphotos)

The Chamber of Deputies approved a reform of the Civil Aviation and Airport laws on Friday, paving the way for a new state-owned airline operated by the Defense Ministry.

The new legislation states that the Infrastructure, Communications and Transport Ministry (SICT) can authorize public agencies – such as the Olmeca-Maya-Mexica company operated by the military – to operate and manage airlines.

Planes on the tarmac — A combination of economic crises and regulatory obstacles has caused the closure of 21 Mexican airlines in the last two decades. There are only three national commercial airlines currently operating in the country: AeroMéxico, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris. (mathes/Depositphotos)

The vote was tightly contested, but ultimately passed with 256 in favor and 219 against. Voting largely reflected congressional support of the government, with Morena and parties supportive of AMLO’s policies voting in favor.

President López Obrador had confirmed plans to create a state-owned commercial airline operated by the armed forces in October 2022, after media outlets reported on information contained in leaked Defense Ministry documents.

The federal government bought the defunct Mexicana de Aviación airline brand (commonly known as Mexicana) in January, with the intention of using the name for the new army-run airline.

Mexicana was founded in 1921, which made it one of the world’s oldest commercial airlines when it ceased operations in 2010.

Mexicana plane — The airline Mexicana, inaugurated in 1921, ceased operations in 2010 and declared bankruptcy in 2014. In January, the federal government purchased the rights to the brand. (Wikimedia)

In February, the Chamber of Deputies passed legislation that gives the military control over Mexican airspace, with the stated aim to increase security and to deter drug traffickers. The law permits the creation of a new monitoring center to detect activity often associated with traffickers, including turning off transponder codes, unexplained route changes and failure to communicate with air traffic control services.

Critics of the reform said that the bill is another move towards militarization. This administration has relied on the military and advocated increasing the scope of its responsibilities, including the control of the National Guard (GN) – a move deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last week.

The government has been exploring ways to further promote competition in the aviation industry, including a controversial cabotage law that would have allowed foreign airlines to operate domestic routes within Mexico. However, in a second package of legislation addressing the downgrading of the country’s U.S. FAA safety rating category – also passed in the Chamber of Deputies on Friday – the ban on cabotage was upheld.

The Federal Competition Commission has said that the launch of a state-owned airline would be anti-competitive by allowing the government to operate both airlines and airports. President López Obrador has said that the state-owned airline will allow tickets to be offered at a lower price point, increasing access for low-income Mexicans.

The reform bill will now move to the Senate for debate.

With reports from Debate and El Universal

At 6.24%, inflation drops to lowest level in 18 months

By

MND Staff

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April 24, 2023

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A man shops in a Tiangüis — The headline inflation rate was at its lowest since the first half of October 2021, according to the national statistics agency INEGI. (@dejoselapiz/Twitter)

Annual headline inflation fell to an 18-month low of 6.24% in the first half of April, official data shows.

The headline rate, reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) on Monday, is 0.61 percentage points lower than that recorded in March, and the last time inflation was lower was in the first half of October 2021, when the headline rate was 6.12%.

Food market in San Miguel de Allende — Prices of fruit and vegetables rose 2.83% in the first half of March, although overall prices were down 0.16%. (Miranda Garside/Unsplash)

INEGI reported that the annual core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 7.75% in the first half of April, down from 8.09% across March.

The headline and core rates were both slightly below the consensus forecasts of analysts polled by the news agency Reuters.

Despite the annual decline recorded in the first half of April, general inflation remains well above the central bank’s target of 3%. The Bank of México (Banxico) raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a record high of 11.25% at the end of March, continuing an almost two-year-long cycle of monetary policy tightening, aimed at bringing inflation down.

The chief Latin America economist at the economic research consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics said that declining inflation will likely lead Banxico to keep its official rate at 11.25% after its governing board meets to discuss monetary policy on May 18.

“Inflation is falling rapidly,” Andrés Abadia said, adding that there are indicators that point to a continuation of the downward trend over the next three to six months.

Jason Tuvey, an emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients that his research firm believes another rate increase is “more likely than not” next month. However, he observed that the latest data means that a 25-basis-point hike following Banxico’s May meeting “no longer looks nailed on.”

Andrés Abadia, chief Latin American economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, says indicators point to a continued downward trend in inflation rates in Mexico over the next three to six months. (Pantheon Macroeconomics)

INEGI data shows that prices for processed food, beverages and tobacco were 12.38% higher in the first half of April than a year earlier, while meat was 7.81% more expensive.

Prices for fruits and vegetables were up 2.83%, while the cost of services rose 5.42%. Energy prices, including those for fuel and electricity, were 1.21% lower than a year earlier.

Overall prices declined 0.16% in the first half of April compared to the second half of March. It was the first time since last November that the National Consumer Prices Index fell from one quincena (the traditional 15-day payroll period) to the next.

With reports from Reforma, El Economista, El Financiero and Reuters

Thousands of migrants leave Tapachula in protest caravan

By

Cat Rainsford

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April 24, 2023

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Protestors carry a red cross to denounce the INM — The caravan is protesting asylum laws that they believe are reponsible for the deaths of 40 migrants in a Ciudad Juárez detention center. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)

A caravan of 3,000 migrants has left Tapachula, heading for Mexico City, hoping to speed up their asylum process and protest the deaths of 40 migrants in a detention center fire on March 27.

The migrants — mostly from Venezuela and Central America, but some from as far afield as Asia — started their march on Sunday. Many have been held up for months in the Chiapas town on the Mexico-Guatemala border.

A protest banner in Tapachula — Many protesters are also hoping that the march will help to expedite their asylum requests. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)

Many protesters are also hoping that the march will help to expedite their own asylum requests. Organizers said the march aims to demand changes in the way migrants are treated, after the death of 40 migrants in a fire in late March while in the custody of the National Migration Institute (INM). Video from the fire at the center showed that INM officials failed to unlock doors to let migrants escape as the fire spread.

Six INM officials, one security guard and one Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the fire are in custody. INM director Francisco Garduño is among those expected to face charges. His hearing is scheduled for April 25.

“It could well have been any of us,” Salvadoran migrant Miriam Argueta told the Associated Press (AP) at the start of the march, referring to those killed in the fire. “In fact, a lot of our countrymen died. The only thing we are asking for is justice and to be treated like anyone else.”

Many migrants on the march carried protest banners or wooden crosses, alluding to the “Viacrucis” (the biblical stations of the cross) theme of previous caravans that sought to raise awareness of migrants’ plights.

migrants in Alvaro Obregon, Chiapas — A few hours into their journey, some migrants took the opportunity of a river to bathe after walking in the hot sun. (Damian Sánchez Jesús)

“In this Viacrucis, we are asking the government that justice be done to the killers, for them to stop hiding high-ranking officials,” organizer Irineo Mujica, director of the NGO Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders) told the AP.

“We are also asking that these jails [migrant detention centers] be ended, and that the National Immigration Institute be dissolved.”

However, many of the migrants are expected to continue their march to the U.S. border to claim asylum, as similar caravans have done in the past.

“We joined the caravan to be safer and not to be detained,” a Venezuelan migrant called Yoani told Reuters, adding that he hoped to speed up his family’s U.S. asylum process in Mexico City.

The caravan successfully crossed the first checkpoint north of Tapachula, where small groups of migrants are usually stopped by immigration agents. On Sunday, the post was only manned by humanitarian organizations and state police, who made no attempt to block the migrants.

The caravan is expected to take between 10 and 14 days to walk the 1,200 km (750 miles) to Mexico City, departing before dawn each day to avoid the strongest heat.

Migrant caravan in Tapachula, CHiapas — Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, is known as ground zero of the migrant crisis in southern Mexico. Local activists estimate that there are around 40,000 migrants stuck in the city. (Damian Sánchez Jesús/Cuartoscuro)

Migrant caravans have been a phenomenon in Tapachula for several years, as impoverished migrants have grouped together for security on the long walk north. Several grew to huge size during 2018 and 2019, although numbers dropped during the pandemic.

Tapachula itself is known as the epicenter of southern Mexico’s migration crisis. Local activists estimate that there are around 40,000 migrants stuck in the city, mostly waiting to process humanitarian visas that would allow them to cross the country legally.

The volume of requests and, allegedly, pressure by the U.S. on Mexico to not allow the passage of these migrants, has caused long delays in processing these visas, leading to growing desperation among stranded migrants.

With reports from Reuters, Associated Press and El País