The third annual heat wave has been prolonged, and the high temperatures may continue in July. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico continues to swelter on Tuesday, with temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in nine states: Campeche, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Yucatán.
TheNational Meteorological Service (SNM) also predicts temperatures of 40 to 45 C in Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Colima, Durango, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla and Sinaloa; from 35 to 40 C in Aguascalientes, Baja California, México State, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Quintana Roo and Zacatecas; and 30 to 35C in Mexico City and Tlaxcala.
Low levels of rainfall across Mexico have caused drought in many states, including in Campeche (seen here). Rain is finally in the forecast for some parts of the country this week. (Michael Balam/Cuartoscuro)
People are urged to take precautions in the extreme heat, including avoiding sun exposure, hydrating properly, and looking out for children, the elderly and the chronically ill.
The Health Ministryreported eight deaths nationwide in relation to extreme temperatures as of last Friday, however, Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said on Tuesday at the President López Obrador’s morning press conference that deaths associated with the heat wave have not been confirmed.
This is the third heat wave to hit Mexico so far this year which scientists attribute to “El Niño”, a cyclical climate phenomenon that can cause extreme weather around the world. Researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) have warned thata fourth wave could hit as early as July 1.
Mexico has also experiencedhistorically low rainfall during the year so far, sparking severe droughts and depleting the water supply in the country’s system of reservoirs.
However, the SNM does forecast heavy rains and winds in some states this week, caused by a channel of low pressure across the interior of the country.
The heaviest rains are predicted in Chiapas (75 to 150mm) and Oaxaca (50 to 75mm), with lighter showers in other regions. The rains could be accompanied by lightning and hail in the southwest, including the Yucatán Peninsula.
An oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana owned by Woodside Energy, who will partner with Pemex to exploit the Trion deepwater oil field in the Gulf in Mexico. (Woodside)
The Australian firm Woodside Energy Group announced Tuesday that it had approved a multibillion-dollar investment to develop a large Gulf of Mexico oil field it jointly owns with Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex.
Woodside, which has a 60% stake in the Trion oil field, said it would contribute US $4.8 billion to the project. The company said that the forecast total capital expenditure to develop the ultra deepwater field is $7.2 billion.
The Trion deepwater oil and gas field is located in Mexican waters about 30 km south of the Mexico-U.S maritime border (BHP)
“The expected returns from the development exceed Woodside’s capital allocation framework targets and deliver enduring shareholder value. First oil is targeted for 2028,” Woodside said in a statement.
“The development is subject to joint venture approval and regulatory approval of the field development plan, expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.”
Woodside, Australia’s largest oil and gas producer, also said that development is expected to deliver “economic and social benefits to Mexico.”
The company said it is “aligned” with Mexico’s ambition to increase oil production and that over US $10 billion in cumulative taxes and royalties would flow into Mexican government coffers. Its investment “is expected to deliver an internal rate of return greater than 16% with a payback period of less than four years,” it said.
A diagram of how a floating production and storage unit — the setup Woodside and Pemex will use to drill and store oil from Trion — functions. (Wikimedia Commons)
Trion, discovered by Pemex in 2012, contains an estimated 479 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent. It is located at a depth of 2,500 meters about 180 kilometers off the Gulf of Mexico coast and 30 kilometers south of the Mexico-United States maritime border.
“The subsurface has been extensively appraised, with six well penetrations undertaken across the field, informing Woodside’s understanding of this large, high-quality conventional resource,” Woodside said.
“The resource will be developed through a floating production unit (FPU) with an oil production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day. The FPU will be connected to a floating storage and offloading vessel with a capacity of 950,000 barrels of oil.”
Woodside’s $4.8 billion outlay is the company’s first major investment since its merger last year with the petroleum division of the Melbourne-based company BHP Group, from which it inherited the majority interest in Trion. BHP acquired the 60% stake in Trion in 2017 during former president Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration.
Woodside, which has been a frequent target of criticism from environmental activists, said that its “greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets remain unchanged by the decision to approve investment in Trion.”
CEO Meg O’Neil said that the company has “considered a range of oil demand forecasts and believe Trion can help satisfy the world’s energy requirements.”
Former president Enrique Peña Nieto oversaw the signing of the contract between Pemex and former partners BHP Petroleum, which was bought out this month by Woodside. (Diego Simón Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
“Two-thirds of the Trion resource is expected to be produced within the first 10 years after start-up. We are developing Trion because we believe it will deliver value for Woodside shareholders and benefit for Mexico, including generation of jobs, taxation revenue and social benefit.
“We value the ongoing relationship with Pemex and the support of the Mexican Government and regulators,” she said.
Another major Gulf of Mexico oil field to be jointly developed by Pemex is the Zama field, which is believed to hold some 700 million barrels of oil.
Also participating in the Zama project — in which oil production is not expected before 2026 — are United States company Talos Energy, Germany’s Wintershall DEA, United Kingdom firm Harbour Energy and Mexico’s Grupo Carso, the latter of which announced it was on track to acquire nearly a 49.9% stake in Talos México.
Marath Bolaños López will continue in his current role as head of the Labor Ministry. (Marath Bolaños/Twitter)
President López Obrador announced Tuesday that Marath Bolaños López will replace Luisa María Alcalde Luján as labor minister.
Bolaños is currently deputy labor minister for employment and labor productivity, and previously served as an official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The deputy labor minister (left) will replace Luisa María Alcalde (right), who was named as the new interior minister on Monday. (Marath Bolaños/Twitter)
López Obrador said Monday that Alcalde would become interior minister following the resignation of Adán Augusto López Hernández, who is seeking the ruling Morena party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
Marcelo Ebrard also resigned last week to pursue Morena’s candidacy, prompting the president to appoint Ambassador to Chile and former United Nations official Alicia Bárcena as foreign affairs minister.
López Obrador noted at his Tuesday morning news conference that Bolaños has been responsible for the Youths Building the Future apprenticeship scheme in his role as deputy labor minister.
Among his challenges as labor minister will be dealing with labor issues related to the USMCA free trade pact. Last Friday, the United States requested a labor rights review at a Grupo México-owned mine in Zacatecas in light of allegations that the company violated workers’ rights.
López Obrador also observed that Bolaños is young and therefore would further contribute to “generational change” in his government.
“I believe he is the same age as Luisa María [35]. Tomorrow we’ll announce another change,” he said without offering further details.
John Heathco and Abby Lutz, both reportedly from Newport Beach, California, were found dead in their hotel room in El Pescadero, Baja California Sur. There were no signs of violence, authorities said. (Internet)
Gas poisoning appears the most likely cause in the deaths of two Americans whose bodies were found at a luxury hotel in Baja California Sur last week.
John Heathco, 41, and Abby Lutz, 28, were found Tuesday night inside their room at Rancho Pescadero, a US $600-a-night boutique hotel owned by Hyatt in the coastal village of El Pescadero, located about 70 kilometers north of Cabo San Lucas.
Both victims — who prosecutors said had been dead for 11 to 12 hours when their bodies were discovered — reportedly lived in Newport Beach, California.
The Baja California Sur Attorney General’s Office (PGJE) said last Thursday that autopsies suggested that Heathco and Lutz died of “intoxication by an undetermined substance.”
The PGJE said that no signs of violence were found on the victims’ bodies. Local police previously said that the suspected cause of death was gas inhalation.
The PGJE didn’t specify what steps were being taken to establish the exact cause of death.
Rancho Pescadero is a boutique luxury hotel owned by Hyatt. (Rancho El Pescadero)
Current and former Rancho Pescadero employees who spoke with The Los Angeles Times said that managers ignored repeated signs of a gas leak at the hotel and deactivated carbon monoxide detectors so that their alarms wouldn’t disturb guests.
“They knew there were problems with gas leaks,” said Ricardo Carbajal, a former night manager at the resort, which reopened about a year ago after undergoing major renovations.
He told the Times that carbon monoxide detectors went off frequently during a period of about three months in late 2022, possibly due to the presence of several outdoor fire pits.
Carbajal, who left his job at Rancho Pescadero in March due to a pay dispute, said that managers disabled the detectors in January after repeated complaints from guests about the loud alarms.
Three current employees who spoke with the Times on condition of anonymity also said the carbon monoxide detectors were deactivated. However, one said they believed that only the detectors’ alarms were disabled and that security guards at the hotel still received alerts when gas was detected.
A total of four current employees told the Times that hotel managers, over a period of months, ignored complaints from both guests and workers about strong gas odors.
Former staff at the hotel have told the media that managers ignored what appeared to be a gas leak problem for months. (Rancho El Pescador)
“Housekeepers reported gas leaks, security reported gas leaks, maintenance workers reported gas leaks,” one employee said, adding that a housekeeper became sick due to suspected gas poisoning just a dew days before Heathco and Lutz were found dead.
Another employee said workers were concerned that an explosion could occur due to the presumed presence of gas.
“We are indignant that we reported this and this tragedy still happened,” the employee told the Times.
The Los Angeles Times also reported that “new accounts from two paramedics who responded to the deaths lend credence to the theory that gas poisoning was likely to blame.”
Fernando Valencia Sotelo and Grisel Valencia Sotelo, siblings who work for the local firefighters and paramedics service, fell ill immediately after going into the room where the two Americans died, according to a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds to cover their medical expenses.
“They were able to exit the room just in time before Grisel collapsed to the ground. Fernando was able to get himself and Grisel back to their ambulance and administer oxygen to himself and to her. They were then rushed to the hospital by other team members,” the page says.
According to Abby Lutz’s family, the couple checked themselves into a hospital overnight on June 11 because they believed they had food poisoning. They received intravenous fluids and were discharged, according to Lutz’s stepmother. (Facebook)
“… Our chief, Griselda Lorena Sotelo Amaya, is the first female fire chief of Mexico and the loving mother of Fernando and Grisel. As we grieve for the families of Abby and John, we are overcome with emotion that our chief almost lost two of her own children on this terrible night.”
The siblings are very tired but “on the mend,” according to an update posted to the GoFundMe page on Friday.
Lutz’s stepmother told the “Good Morning America” program that her stepdaughter had informed her family that she and Heathco spent the night of June 11 in hospital because they were unwell and believed they had food poisoning.
Raquel Lutz said her stepdaughter explained that they were given fluids intravenously and they subsequently started to feel better.
Chad Richeson, an uncle of Abby Lutz, said that his niece, in conversations with her family, didn’t mention any unusual or powerful odors at the hotel.
Carbon monoxide (CO), which can leak from gas water heaters, stoves and other faulty equipment, is odorless. Inhalation can cause headaches, dizziness, confusion and death.
It is possible that CO was among a mix of gases leaking at Rancho Pescadero.
The Times reported that Hyatt officials initially said they didn’t believe the deaths were connected to a gas leak or another problem with hotel infrastructure.
The hotel chain issued a statement on Friday, saying that it was “deeply troubled by the recent allegations and speculation about the tragic isolated incident at Rancho Pescadero.”
“Authorities have not yet released the cause of this incident, and the hotel continues to cooperate on their investigation to understand a cause,” Hyatt said.
“We understand authorities immediately tested the air quality in the room after responding to the situation, and at the time, did not report any findings of gas or carbon monoxide and advised that the hotel was cleared to continue normal operations. The hotel continues to monitor air quality.”
United States Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said that U.S. authorities are “closely monitoring the investigation into the cause of death and we stand ready to provide any appropriate consular assistance.”
There have been other cases in which foreign tourists died in Mexico due to apparent gas poisoning.
The most recent case before this suspected one involved three U.S. citizens who were found dead last October in a Mexico City apartment they rented through Airbnb.
The Mexican dorado fish, also known as mahi mahi, is not legal for commercial fishing, but fishers are allowed some dorado bycatch when looking for other fish. This creates a legal gray area that leads to de facto commercial fishing. (NOAA Fisheries)
Also known as mahi mahi or dolphinfish, the average dorado is a meter-long package of muscle and puts up a hard fight once hooked, making it a prized trophy catch for sport fishers.
Foodies and restaurateurs love its sweet, mild meat — easily available and firm enough for a wide range of recipes. The sought-after fish is often present year-round in the Mexican Pacific. It matures quickly and spawns prolifically, producing millions of eggs a year.
Dorado is legally categorized as a sport fish in Mexico. (Distad/Wikimedia Commons)
For those and other reasons, dorado is an “excellent candidate” for commercial fishing, according to fishery biologist Dr. Fernando Márquez-Farías of the Sinaloa Autonomous University (UAS).
In fact, the United States and half a dozen Central and South American countries already have commercial dorado fisheries, mostly on the Pacific coast, where dorado are more common.
But for the time being, most dorado fishing in Mexico exists in legal gray areas, making it a prime example of what is known as IUU fishing — an acronym that stands for illegal, unreported and unregulated.
IUU fishing is “one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems due to its potent ability to undermine national and regional efforts to manage fisheries sustainably” and “can lead to the collapse of local fisheries, with small-scale fisheries in developing countries proving particularly vulnerable,” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
Experts say the industrial bycatch of dorado, or when fishing boats unintentionally catch dorado while fishing for other species, is underreported and poses an overfishing threat. (Wikimedia Commons)
Under Mexican law, dorado is technically reserved for sport fishing. But it can also be caught as bycatch in fishing operations that aim for other species. This opens a loophole the size of Baja California itself. A patchwork of laws establishes the percentage of bycatch allowed for different locations and for different species.
Industrial fleets targeting fish like tuna and sardines are expected to report the number and weight of dorado bycatch to Conapesca, the Mexican government agency that regulates fishing. But there’s little oversight, and experts interviewed for this article agreed that industrial bycatch is likely massively underreported.
For small fishers, dorado can offer economic stability when other species are out of season. One Mazatlán fisher said that dorado fishing was allowed under his general commercial fishing permit.
But he and another fisher in Escuinapa, Sinaloa, both said that when fishing dorado, they avoided government patrol boats or threw the fish overboard as a last resort. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
So how much dorado is fished in Mexico? Industrial bycatch reports may not be reliable, and small fishers certainly aren’t telling the government how much fish they catch illegally. Without reliable numbers, it’s difficult for scientists and regulatory authorities to know if dorado populations are thriving or struggling.
Black and gray market dorado is fished around the country before being sold in markets, restaurants and even exported as “white fish.” (Wikimedia Commons)
Gllen Bercovich is a sport fishing captain in Baja California Sur, the president of the Los Cabos Union of Sport Fishing Vessel Owners. He’s advocated for keeping dorado fishing limited to sport fishers. He said that he has seen a noticeable decline in dorado in his area.
“It’s been months without dorado,” he said. “In the past, it was [available] all year round. … It’s a little less in some months because the water gets a little colder, but we are realizing how the flow of dorado in this area is decreasing,”
Another of Sinaloa’s dorado fishers agreed there had been less dorado in recent years, though he felt they are still abundant.
“When we go to fish, we see a lot in the sea, ”he said. “… You can see [them] all over the place, jumping and eating.”
If the population is down, even a bit, it could be the standard ebb and flow of nature. Or it could be a sign that dorado, despite being a productive and fast-growing species, are starting to feel the pressure of illegal fishing, changing climate or other factors.
Figuring out what’s really going on is crucial to balancing the needs of small independent fishers, the bottom line of industrial fishing companies and the reality that there aren’t infinite fish in the sea.
Without reliable numbers, it’s difficult for scientists and regulatory authorities to know if dorado populations are thriving or struggling. (NOAA Fisheries)
Getting that information is the job of the National Fisheries Institute (Inapesca), the government institute responsible for fishery research, said Esteban García-Peña, fisheries campaign director for the ocean conservation organization Oceana.
“We need the scientific authority, which is Inapesca, to investigate or update the information on dorado to know how things are now,” he said.
Climatological events like hurricanes, El Niño and La Niña have “surely changed the dorado population and stocks” since the last major update in 2004.
Márquez-Farías had a different take. As a former Inapesca researcher, he acknowledged that the agency hasn’t produced the data on fish stocks that is normally required before commercial fishing is allowed, despite having been awarded funding in the past for that specific purpose.
“In theory, you couldn’t open a fishery if the National Fisheries Institute hasn’t recommended it,” Márquez-Farías said.
But Conapesca calls the shots and could give out provisional monitoring permits, he said, allowing some small-scale fisheries to start benefiting from dorado fishing while scientists use the permitted boats’ fishing reports to start planning better species management.
Inapesca, the scientific authority responsible for fisheries research, has not updated its information on the dorado since 2004. (Wikimedia Commons)
But what if opening up a dorado fishery leads to even more out-of-control fishing? That’s what worries Enrique Fernández, president of the Mexican Foundation for Billfish Conservation, a group that advocates against commercial dorado fishing at the national level.
Fernández said legalizing commercial dorado fishing could reduce population numbers and hurt Mexicans in the sport fishing industry. What is actually needed, he said, is better enforcement of existing rules.
In Baja California Sur, for example, he said there are only eight fishing inspectors for 2,500 kilometers of coastline, far too few to be effective even before taking into account corruption and inefficiency.
There’s one thing the experts interviewed for this article all agreed on: the system meant to protect and manage dorado isn’t working as it should. Black- and gray-market dorado is sold in markets and restaurants and even, according to Fernández, is exported as “white fish.”
Current law makes tracing seafood back to its origin difficult, but consumers can still ask questions about where their seafood comes from, said García-Peña.
Also, sport fishers can ask a charter to see their fishing permits and registration to operate in Mexico, and anglers should thoroughly research the species they hope to fish, García-Peña said. Information on catch limits is available online, and the National Fisheries Chart (Carta Nacional Pesquera) has more detailed information (in Spanish).
As small fishers hide from patrol boats and industrial fishers undercount their bycatch, Mexico’s dorado are soldiering on. Are they thriving? Struggling? Somewhere in the middle?
As long as commercial dorado fishing remains in the shadows, it’s anyone’s guess.
Mexico is already a leader in automotive manufacturing, with companies like BMW and Nissan well established in the country and increasing their investments as nearshoring heats up. (BMW Group)
I am a child of the NAFTA generation. I first came to Mexico during my junior year in college – a business student motivated and inspired by the promise of a free trade agreement that would bring new opportunities. While other students went off to study in Barcelona or Madrid, I chose Guadalajara, Mexico. I wanted to learn everything I could about the country.
After graduation, I interviewed for a Wisconsin-based company interested in doing manufacturing in the United States and Mexico for export around the world. They sent me, a 21 year-old kid, to Mexico City for an interview.
President Bill Clinton signs supplemental agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993. (Wikimedia Commons)
I remember the lunch interview in Polanco at a fancy restaurant, and being put up in a hotel on Reforma Avenue. I could not have been more excited! The company hired me and for years, times were very good. The company invested in manufacturing and talent in both Mexico and the United States and we were competitive, successful, and sold our products around the world.
But then, we started feeling competitive pressure from companies in China, who offered impossible prices and incredible production turnaround times. The company went to Asia, first to Taiwan and trade shows in Hong Kong, but ultimately to China. A few initial exploratory trips turned into me traveling over 50 times during a six-year period as we relocated manufacturing out there, out of the US and Mexico.
The allure of such low costs, flexibility and lightning-fast production made the decision to move to China hard to resist. It seemed like everything there was possible – it was a manufacturer’s dream.
We all know how this story has turned out. Nearly every manufacturer around the globe did the same thing for years, but then things began to shift. China started to become more expensive. China demonstrated a complete lack of intellectual property protection that resulted in many companies finding competitors popping up almost overnight with an identical product at a much lower price. China started to lose appeal.
Ironically, it was the administration of U.S. President Trump that pushed through two initiatives that began to change the balance of business power from China to Mexico: tariffs on China, and the updated US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains around the world, there was even more incentive for companies to look elsewhere.
After losing investment to China for years, Mexico is now getting the business world’s attention again. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is at record levels and the investment is coming in from around the world. Companies from Germany, France, Italy, and The Netherlands lead the investment from Europe while China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and India lead the investment from Asia.
Companies from the U.S. and Canada are more active than ever. Perhaps most tellingly, China was listed second only to the U.S. for planned investments in Mexico this year, according to the Economy Ministry. In my opinion, Chinese companies see very clearly that a divided world is becoming a reality and they must have a second manufacturing base outside of China that allows them access to the U.S. market.
Some question Mexico’s ability to respond and react to this opportunity. My response is: no country is perfect for investment. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries, which were seen as rising stars, have lost some of their luster.
Nuevo León’s governor Samuel García on a recent trip to South Korea to meet with potential investors. (Samuel García/Twitter)
Europe is struggling with unpredictable energy costs, significant supply chain issues due to the war in Ukraine, and restrictive labor policies. The U.S. is clearly benefiting from the nearshoring boom with manufacturing returning to the country, but it also has low unemployment today, unpredictable immigration policies and increasingly high labor costs.
Mexico, the U.S. and Canada are in the midst of a once in a generation opportunity. If you aren’t in one of the big cities or manufacturing hubs of the country, it might be harder to see, but nearshoring to Mexico is real. A lot of good jobs are being created that provide a stable income, benefits, healthcare, and employee training. Jobs that provide a stepping stone into the middle class. Jobs that improve lives by keeping families together, instead of forcing one family member to go abroad to look for work. Jobs that pay taxes to governments that in turn can improve education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
I believe that the current nearshoring boom will result in significant benefits that will impact North America as a whole. We should embrace these potential benefits, and hold businesses and governments accountable to ensure that they in fact become reality.
It’s a great time for Mexico, and I personally couldn’t be more excited to see the world’s attention again on Mexico, almost 30 years after many first saw the promise of investing in this great country and its people.
Cocca, seen here during the 2-2 draw with Jamaica in the Concacaf Nations League, failed to bring success to the team. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has fired head coach Diego Cocca after just four months and a mere seven games in charge of “El Tri”, as the Mexican men’s national soccer team is known.
The 51-year-old Argentine, who left as head coach of the Liga MX Tigres earlier this season, oversaw a disastrous term for the national team, winning just 3 games and suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat by long-time rivals the United States on Thursday. His record of 3 losses, 3 draws and 1 defeat was enough to see him ousted by the FMF.
Jaime Lozano, a former Mexico player, and Under-23 coach, has been promoted to interim manager while the Federation undergoes significant restructuring. (FMF/Twitter)
Sporting Director Rodrigo Ares de Parga was also removed from his post, as part of an intensive restructure by the Federation.
“In the last week, I have found many deficiencies, in planning, logistics and leadership,” FMF president Juan Carlos Rodriguez said in a video statement on Monday.
“A game against the United States can be lost, there’s always that risk because this is football and the win can go one way or the other. What cannot be accepted was the way in which it happened,” he continued.
The appointment of Cocca and Ares de Parga was intended to represent a new dawn for Mexico after a disappointing 2022 World Cup performance, which saw “El Tri” eliminated in the group stages – and led to the departure of previous coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino.
The FMF named former Mexico Under-23 coach Jaime “Jimmy” Lozano as interim chief, while searching for a new coach.
The Mexico national team is currently ranked 15th in the world by FIFA, two places behind the United States.
Va por México is a coalition of three opposition parties to the ruling Morena Party: the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN) and Democratic Revolution Party (PRD). (Pedro Anza/Cuartoscuro)
The presidential candidate for the opposition Va por México alliance will be chosen from a field of eight aspirants, according to a report by the newspaper Milenio.
The National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) announced in January that they would select a common candidate to contest the presidential election on June 2, 2024.
Former PRI minister Claudia Ruiz Masseu is amongst those vying for the nomination from the PRI. (Claudia Ruiz Masseu/Twitter)
Each of the three parties will put forward two aspirants to participate in the Va por México selection process, while two additional hopefuls will be nominated by civil society, Milenio reported Monday.
The newspaper said that PRI sources with whom it spoke indicated that the plan was for each party to run a primary process to select two aspirants to contest the formal Va por México contest.
According to Milenio, the two PRI contenders will be chosen from a group of five people:
Senator Claudia Ruiz Massieu, a former PRI national president and cabinet minister in the 2012–18 government led by Enrique Peña Nieto.
Senator Beatriz Paredes, a former ambassador to Brazil who has also served as PRI national president.
Enrique de la Madrid, tourism minister in the Peña Nieto administration and son of former president Miguel de la Madrid.
José Ángel Gurría, a cabinet minister in the 1994-2000 government led by Ernesto Zedillo and secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development between 2006 and 2021.
Deputy Ildefenso Guajardo, economy minister in the Peña Nieto government.
Morena defector Lilly Téllez (center) is a frontrunner for a nomination. (Lilly Téllez/Twitter)
The PAN is slated to choose its two representatives from a field of aspirants that could include:
Deputy Santiago Creel, interior minister in the 2000-2006 government led by Vicente Fox.
Senator Lilly Téllez, who defected from the ruling Morena party to join the PAN’s congressional team in 2020.
Senator Xóchitl Gálvez, a former mayor of the Mexico City borough of Miguel Hidalgo.
Yucatán Governor Mauricio Vila, a former mayor of Mérida.
Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos, a former mayor of Chihuahua city.
The PRD has an easier job on its hands, Milenio reported, as Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera, a former mayor of Mexico City, and former Michoacán governor Silvano Aureoles are the only people within its ranks who have indicated they are interested in becoming the Va por México presidential candidate.
The former head of the Mexican Employers Federation, Gustavo Hoyos, businessman Claudio X. González and Gilberto Lozano, a leader of the National Anti-AMLO Front, are among the aspirants who could join the Va por México contest as representatives of civil society.
Once the eight aspirants have been decided, each contender would present their proposals on issues such as security, the economy, health and education at public forums and debates, Milenio said.
At a later date, Va por México is expected to hold a “free, secret and direct” vote open to citizens to select its candidate for the 2024 presidential election, the newspaper said.
Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera, a former mayor of Mexico City, is one of the PRD’s two nominees. (Miguel Ángel Mancera/Twitter)
PAN national president Marko Cortés said last week that each aspirant will have to seek donations from supporters to fund their campaigns. In contrast, the ruling Morena party has said it will fund the campaigns of each of its presidential aspirants to the tune of 5 million pesos (about US $292,000).
Va por México is expected to formally announce details of the process it will use to select its candidate next Monday. Milenio reported that the process wouldn’t start until September to ensure compliance with National Electoral Institute rules.
A Citizens Movement party candidate and independent hopefuls could also seek to contest the presidential election next year. Polls indicate that Morena is likely to win a second consecutive six-year term in government no matter whom the party puts forward as its candidate.
Claudia Sheinbaum, who stepped down as Mexico City mayor last Friday, and Marcelo Ebrard, who resigned as foreign affairs minister a week ago, are considered the leading contenders to secure Morena’s nomination in the contest to succeed President López Obrador, who will leave office on Oct. 1, 2024.
Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde Luján has been named the new interior minister following the resignation of Adán Augusto López Hernández last week. (Luisa Alcalde/Twitter)
President López Obrador has named Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde Luján as his new interior minister following the resignation of Adán Augusto López Hernández, who is seeking the ruling Morena party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
Alcalde, a former congressional deputy who has been labor minister since the current government took office in December 2018, is set to assume the powerful interior minister role later this week.
Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde has led Mexico through labor law reforms during her tenure. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
She will be just the second woman to hold the position after Olga Sánchez Cordero, who served in López Obrador’s cabinet between 2018 and 2021. Alcalde is already the youngest female cabinet minister in the history of modern Mexico, beginning her current position at the age of 31.
López Obrador told reporters at his Monday morning press conference that he expected Alcalde to assume the interior minister role in the middle of the week, explaining that she would consult with Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas – who is currently in charge of the Interior Ministry – on the transition.
“Luisa María Alcalde Luján is young; it’s very important to think about generational change, to give opportunities to young people,” he said.
“In addition, Luisa María is a lawyer and she was already a legislator,” López Obrador said, acknowledging his labor minister’s undergraduate and postgraduate studies in law.
Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas (left), has been the interim interior minister since Adán Augusto López Hernández (right) resigned on Friday. (Alejandro Encinas/Twitter)
He said that Alcalde has performed very well in her current role, noting that she played a pivotal role in negotiations that led to annual increases to the minimum wage during the current government. The president didn’t say who would succeed her as labor minister.
Alcalde said on Twitter that she “deeply” appreciated the trust López Obrador showed in her by naming her interior minister, a position generally considered the second most powerful in Mexican politics.
“It will be without a doubt the honor of my life to accompany him … in this final fundamental stage for the consolidation of the transformation,” she wrote.
According to the federal government, the Interior Ministry “takes care of the political development of the country and contributes to the management of relations between the federal executive power and other powers … and levels of government to promote harmonious coexistence, social peace, development and the well-being of Mexicans.”
López Hernández, who stepped down as governor of Tabasco in 2021 to become interior minister, resigned last Friday to focus on winning Morena’s candidacy for next year’s presidential election.
Around 30,000 people attended the boxing session in the Zócalo - an unofficial world record. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico City’s Zócalo square played host to its latest massive event, as some 30,000 people attended a free boxing class on Saturday – setting an unofficial new world record.
Coaching the class was legendary Mexican boxing champion Julio César Chávez, who led the crowd in the opening round. Former champions Irma “The Whirlwind” García, Erika “Dynamite” Cruz, and Ana María Torres also led sessions at the World Boxing Council-sanctioned event.
A host of Mexican boxing stars joined the coaching line up at the Zócalo. (Martí Batres/Twitter)
Chávez, who is 60 years old, is considered to be one of the greatest Mexican boxers of all time. He began the class by ringing a bell, warning the crowd “We will keep it simple, but hold tight, because I’m going to make sure you work.”
There were also messages of support for the participants from Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone – best known for his iconic role as battling boxer Rocky Balboa – and World Heavyweight Champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Evander Holyfield. Last year’s mass boxing class, which had an attendance of 14,299, was certified as a Guinness World Record, and that figure has been doubled this year. Since this year’s class was open to children as young as four years old and saw many participants in wheelchairs, the session was not eligible to take the official title again – though WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán said they would try for the record next year.
“The truth is that the number of people is impressive, it reminds me of the Azteca Stadium,” Chávez told Fox Sports. “I am happy and proud of all these young and not-so-young people who are here in the Zócalo.”
“Being around young people gives you energy, and they surround themselves with us, the older adults, since they see that we continue to give our best and we can inspire them,” José Luis Pérez, a 70-year-old attendee, told Reuters. Organizers say that the event will take place every year to help promote boxing and recreation in the city. Smaller events will take place in community centers across the capital on a more regular basis.
