Mexico City's electric buses, launched in early 2023, will soon recharge with power from a solar farm that also powers the capital's municipal public market. (Cuartoscuro)
Mexico City’s municipal public market will soon use its solar panels to power city buses in the nation’s capital, according to Bloomberg News.
Solar panels affixed to Mexico City’s Central de Abasto — one of the largest markets of its kind in the world — will be used to power the capital’s electric buses, helping President Claudia Sheinbaum “achieve her goal of boosting clean energy in the fossil-fuel dependent country,” Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Sheinbaum with her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at Sheinbaum’s inauguration October 1. During her first speech as president Sheinbaum recommitted to campaign promises to boost renewable energy use in Mexico, a change from López Obrador’s policies that prioritized fossil fuels. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
In 2022, Sheinbaum, as Mexico City’s mayor, oversaw the installation of 32,110 photovoltaic modules at the sprawling 327-hectare (810-acre) market in the eastern borough of Iztapalapa. The initial cost was estimated at 661.4 million pesos (US $34.3 million).
The system has already reduced the market’s electricity bills by nearly 3 million pesos (US $155,323). This second phase — set to begin in January — will distribute power to the city’s transit system via a 16.6 megawatt photovoltaic center.
The project is expected to save the city about 18 million pesos (US $934,000) per year, according to the newspaper Global Energy.
The panels have the capacity to generate 26.5 gigawatt hours of electricity annually and will help reduce the generation of CO2 in the capital by roughly 13,550 tonnes each year.
Sheinbaum is determined to make a dramatic departure from the fossil-fuel reliance promoted by her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The new president — Sheinbaum was inaugurated on Oct. 1 — promised during her presidential campaign to invest US $13.6 billion in new power generation projects. She reiterated the pledge during her first public speech on Tuesday, hours after being sworn in as the country’s first female president.
Sheinbaum, as mayor of Mexico City inaugurated the electric buses that soon will go solar. She was also responsible for building the solar farm that the buses will use. (Victoria Valtierra/Cuartoscuro)
“We are going to boost renewable energies. The goal is that by 2030, they will have a 45% share (of total electricity production),” she said, according to The Associated Press.
The task won’t be easy. Bloomberg reported that only 31% of the energy produced in Mexico is derived from clean sources, and the newspaper El Sol de México reported last month that a mere 2.3% of the capital’s public transport system is electric or hybrid, a sharp contrast in comparison to regional peers Brazil and Colombia, which produce more than 80% and 70% of their power, respectively, from green sources, Bloomberg reported.
López Obrador, a feisty defender of fossil fuels, spent more than US $20 billion on a new oil refinery and canceled auctions that would have allowed developers to build solar and wind farms in Mexico.
Thursday’s revelation suggests Sheinbaum aims to resume an energy transition that López Obrador had in many ways halted. Details will be forthcoming, the AP reported, as the president is set to unveil an “ambitious energy transition program” aimed at reducing greenhouse gasses.
However, Sheinbaum also announced she plans to strengthen the Federal Electricity Commission—whose antiquated plants primarily burn fossil fuels—and state-owned oil company Pemex.
Several news reports have put the number of homicides in Guanajuato over the past few days above 20. (@emeequis/X)
Twelve bodies were found in Salamanca, Guanajuato, on Thursday, two days after four men were killed in an armed attack in the same city.
The bodies of eight men and four women were located Thursday morning at five different points in Salamanca, a municipality near the geographical center of Mexico’s most violent state.
#Sucesos | AM acudió este miércoles al sitio donde asesinaron a cuatro hombres e hirieron a cinco más, un anexo ubicado en la colonia El Rosario, de Salamanca.https://t.co/YAXzVUAi07
Four young men were killed and five others were wounded in an attack at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in the Salamanca neighborhood of El Rosario on Tuesday night.
All 12 victims had been shot, and some of the bodies had signs of torture and their hands and feet tied together.
State authorities attributed the violence in Salamanca to a turf war between two criminal organizations, namely the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Narco-banners allegedly signed by the former cartel were found next to some of the 12 bodies.
No arrests in connection with the 12 murders had been reported by midday Friday.
The grisly discoveries on Thursday came after four young men were killed and five others were wounded in an attack at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in the Salamanca neighborhood of El Rosario on Tuesday night.
Governor Libia García Muñoz Ledo, who took office just last week, gave instructions to bolster security in Salamanca. (@LibiaDennise/X)
On Thursday afternoon, dozens of soldiers arrived in Salamanca and the state police presence was beefed up, the newspaper El Universal reported.
State government secretary Jorge Jiménez Lona said that Governor Libia García Muñoz Ledo, who was elected in June on a National Action Party (PAN) ticket and took office just last week, gave instructions to bolster security in Salamanca, which borders state capital Guanajuato city and currently ranks as the 49th most dangerous municipality in Mexico, according to crime data website elcri.men.
Jiménez said that state and federal authorities “know the places where [the rival cartels] operate.”
“We have to confront them, we have to use intelligence, provide results and above all not allow these events to happen,” he said.
“… There is goodwill, but goodwill is not enough. We have to see the presence and coordination of federal forces,” Jiménez said.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has said she will present a new national security plan next week.
The ongoing battle between the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the CJNG is considered the main cause of the high levels of violence in Guanajuato. The state has been Mexico’s most violent in recent years in terms of total homicides.
The news website Infobae reported that there were 26 homicides in Guanajuato between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon.
The newspaper El Financiero reported on Tuesday that there had been 20 murders in Guanajuato in the first five full days of the governorship of Libia García. Four of the victims were killed in an attack in a bar in Irapuato, while four others were shot dead at a home in León, the largest city in the state.
During his presidency, López Obrador was critical of the efforts of the Guanajuato Attorney General’s Office to combat crime.
“What worries me about Guanajuato is insecurity because there is a lot and the [state] government, the Attorney General’s Office in particular, isn’t taking action,” he said in 2021.
“… We’re doing everything we can but we don’t have support. The attorney general [Carlos Zamarripa] has been there a long time and there are no results,” López Obrador said.
García revealed this week that Zamarripa will resign as attorney general at the end of the year after 15 years in the job.
Wednesday’s shooting occurred on Caracol Beach behind the Riu Palace Las Americas hotel. Witnesses said two gunmen dressed in black and wearing orange life vests approached the victim on foot shortly before noon, shooting the victim at least four times.
The man killed on Wednesday was allegedly responsible for firing the bullet that killed a 12-year-old boy in July. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Beachgoers and hotel guests ran for cover as the attackers raced to a pair of jet skis and made their escape. Hotel officials activated emergency protocols as scores of police vehicles, as well as officials from the Army, the Navy and the National Guard responded to the 9-1-1 reports.
A Navy boat was sent out in search of the jet skis and the attackers, while the authorities secured the location and scoured the beach for clues. The unidentified victim was declared dead at the scene by paramedics.
“A relationship has been established with the July 28 event this year in which a minor lost his life in the same area,” the FGE reported, declaring that Wednesday’s victim had driven the getaway jet ski after firing the bullet that killed the young Mexican tourist. The July incident — which was also declared as gang-related — happened behind the Riu Hotel Cancún, right next door to Wednesday’s shooting.
The FGE added that Wednesday’s victim was involved in the shooting of two people on a Cancún city bus on July 1.
The increasing presence in Cancún of organized crime gangs involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion has led the United States Department of State to raise travel advisories dating back to 2019 when an attack in a nightclub left five people dead.
In 2023, the department issued a travel alert warning travelers to “exercise increased situational awareness” especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. A Sept. 6, 2024, Mexico Travel Advisory urged U.S. citizens to “exercise increased caution” when traveling to Quintana Roo.
Sheinbaum said that the increases to the minimum wage to reach the objective would be gradual so as to not put upward pressure on inflation. (Presidencia)
President Claudia Sheinbaum would like to see Mexico’s minimum wage increase by around 12% per year during her six-year term in government.
Federal minimum wage increases do not extend to Mexico’s 32 million informal workers, many of whom are women. (Magdalena Montiel/Cuartoscuro)
The minimum is higher in the northern border free zone, at 374.89 pesos (US $19.53) per day or 11,246 pesos (US $586) per month.
Sheinbaum, who was sworn in on Tuesday, told her morning press conference on Thursday that the objective of her government is for the minimum wage to cover the cost of 2.5 basic food baskets per week.
The canasta básica (basic basket) is a selection of 24 products including a kilogram of rice, a kilo of beef, 18 eggs, four kilos of tortillas and five liters of milk. On average, it cost 810 pesos (US $42) across Mexico in late September.
Sheinbaum said that federal officials would hold talks about the minimum wage with employers and unions in order to reach a consensus on annual increases, which are ultimately determined by the National Minimum Wage Commission, an autonomous government agency.
“Our objective is that … each [weekly] minimum wage reaches 2.5 basic baskets. At the moment it’s [equivalent to the cost of] 1.6 basic baskets,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that the increases to the minimum wage to reach the objective would be gradual so as to not put upward pressure on inflation.
“How will it be done? Well, it’s a process of consensus — the majority of businesspeople agree [with the government’s objective]. This will mean a salary increase of around 12% next year, and around 12% each year. And we’ll be working toward that, seeking a consensus so that it can be a reality,” she said.
According to the national statistics agency INEGI, around 40% of Mexico’s workforce earns the minimum wage or less, as many Mexicans work in the country’s vast informal sector, which doesn’t guarantee the minimum or provide any benefits to workers.
A 12% increase to the minimum wage would lift it to 279 pesos (US $14.55) per day or 8,364 pesos (US $436) per month in 2025.
A 12% increase during every year of Sheinbaum’s term would result in a minimum wage of 491.34 pesos (US $25.62) per day or 14,740 pesos (US $769) per month in 2030.
In February, López Obrador sent a constitutional reform proposal to Congress that aims to guarantee that annual minimum wage increases outpace inflation. Sheinbaum supports the initiative, which will likely pass Congress in the near future.
Sheinbaum is also seeking a constitutional guarantee of equal pay for equal work as part of a package of reform proposals aimed at boosting women’s rights.
Mexican ports, like the port of Lázaro Cárdenas seen here, could end up benefiting from the strike, if US exporters decide to reroute shipments through Mexico, one expert said. (Juan José Estrada Serafin/Cuartoscuro)
An ongoing strike by port workers in the United States will have an impact on Mexico, and potentially a “significant” one, according to the president of an umbrella group that represents Mexican industry.
Some 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) went on strike on Tuesday, walking off their jobs at 36 ports on the East and Gulf coasts of the United States.
Auto manufacturing and assembly plants in Mexico, like this Volkswagen plant in Puebla, will likely be the most affected by a protracted strike. (Volkswagen de México)
On Monday, the ILA said in a statement that “the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) continues to block the path toward a settlement on a new Master Contract by refusing ILA’s demands for a fair and decent contract and seems intent on causing a strike at all ports from Maine to Texas beginning in almost 12 hours.”
Disagreements over wage increases and port automation are the main causes of the dispute.
Reuters reported that “the strike, the biggest of its kind in nearly half a century, has blocked unloading of container ships from Maine to Texas, threatening shortages of everything from bananas to auto parts, and triggering a backlog of anchored ships outside major ports.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that he believed progress toward resolving the contract dispute between the ILA and the USMX was being made. However, he didn’t provide
Foreign ocean carriers have made record profits since the pandemic, when Longshoremen put themselves at risk to keep ports open.
It’s time those ocean carriers offered a strong and fair contract that reflects ILA workers’ contribution to our economy and to their record profits.
Meanwhile, the president of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin), Alejandro Malagón Barragán, said at a shipping industry event that while the strike is taking place in the United States “it will affect us” in Mexico.
“The problem is that if [goods] don’t leave [ports] there they won’t arrive here,” he said.
Malagón predicted that Mexico’s auto industry, which relies on parts shipped from the United States, will be the worst affected sector.
“But we still have to see what arrives by road or train,” he said, adding that Concamin is discussing options with the Washington D.C.-based National Association of Manufacturers and the Texas Association of Business.
President of Mexico’s Confederation of Industrial Chambers Alejandro Malagón Barragán said at a recent shipping industry event that Mexico will be affected by the strike, pointing out Mexican industry is dependent on goods shipped from the United States. (Concamin)
Malagón said that if the strike lasts eight or nine days, it will have “a significant impact” in Mexico.
Claudia Sánchez Porras, general director of the National Chamber of Freight Transportation, said that the organization she leads is looking at the possibility of bringing more goods into Mexico from the U.S. by road.
However, she said that moving freight overland is “extremely costly” compared to transporting it by sea. Costs could increase by 80-100%, Sánchez said.
Mexican exporters that ship goods to ports on the U.S. East and Gulf coast are also set to be affected by the strike.
An opportunity for Mexican ports?
Gerardo Tajonar, president of the National Association of Importers and Exporters of the Mexican Republic, said that there will “definitely” be a “strong impact on the supply chain because our main access to the United States will be by land … [at a time when] maritime transactions were increasing a lot.”
“That will affect us,” he said.
Auto manufacturing and assembly plants in Mexico, like this Volkswagen plant in Puebla, will likely be the most affected by a protracted strike. (Volkswagen de México)
Shortages of imported products shipped to Mexico from the U.S. could lead to price increases here.
But there could be a silver lining for Mexico.
Tajonar said that Mexican ports stand to benefit if some U.S. exporters decide to reroute their shipments via Mexico.
“It’s a great opportunity for ports like Lázaro Cárdenas [in Michoacán] to increase operations,” he said.
Fernando Con y Ledezma, president of the Mexican Association of Shipping Agents, said that a strike “always causes [economic] damage” and predicted that “the North American economy will be brought to a standstill” if the job action continues for a prolonged period.
International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett told CNN that if the strike goes on for a couple of months, “this world will collapse.” (ILA)
According to the Associated Press, “J.P. Morgan estimated that a strike that shuts down East and Gulf coast ports could cost the economy [US] $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day, with some of that recovered over time after normal operations resume.”
ILA President Harold Daggett told CNN that “if we have to be out here a month or two months, this world will collapse.”
“Go blame them [USMX]. Don’t blame me, blame them,” he said.
For its part, USMX said it is “proud of the wages and benefits” it offers its employees, and “strongly supports a collective bargaining process that allows us to fully bargain wages, benefits, technology, and ensures the safety of our workers, day-in and day-out.”
Remittances both entering and leaving Mexico in August this year significantly increased compared to 2023. (File photo)
Remittances to Mexico increased more than 9% annually in August to reach their second highest monthly level on record, according to data from the Bank of Mexico.
A total of US $6.09 billion in remittances flowed into the country in August, a 9.3% increase compared to the same month of 2023.
Since records were first kept in 1995, the only month in which Mexico received a higher amount in remittances was June of this year, when inflows totaled $6.21 billion.
Alberto Ramos, head of Latin America economics at Goldman Sachs, said that the depreciation of the Mexican peso against the US dollar in August incentivized the transfer of money to Mexico. The vast majority of remittances to Mexico come from the United States, where millions of Mexicans live and work.
The peso depreciated to close to 20 to the US dollar in late August after starting the month at around 18.6 to the greenback.
Mexico is on track to receive a record amount of remittances this year. (Shutterstock)
The more than $6 billion in remittances in August arrived in Mexico in almost 15 million individual transfers, each of which was worth $407 on average.
Mexico on track to receive record remittances in 2024
On Wednesday, the Bank of Mexico also published remittances data for the first eight months of the year.
Millions of Mexican families depend on remittances to help cover their essential living expenses.
Both former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and current President Claudia Sheinbaum have heaped praise on Mexicans who work abroad and send money back to Mexico, describing them as “heroes.”
The Bank of Mexico reported that remittances sent abroad from Mexico totaled $104 million in August and $900 million in the first eight months of the year.
The total for August was up 12.3% compared to the same month last year, while outgoing remittances increased 29.2% annually between January and August.
Based on the Bank of Mexico data for the first eight months of 2024, around $6.75 in remittances came into Mexico for every $1 that went out.
The new United route is the only direct commercial flight between San Francisco, California, and Monterrey, Nuevo León, in operation. (Wenjie Zheng/Shutterstock)
United Airlines will launch nonstop service from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Monterrey, Nuevo León, offering two flights daily beginning on Oct. 27.
United will be the only airline offering direct flights between these two cities, boosting Monterrey’s status as the principal air hub in northern Mexico. United Express partner Skywest will operate the service using Embraer EMB-175 aircraft. Tickets for these flights are already available.
The new flights, which could make travel between Monterrey and Asian cities easier, via San Francisco, come as good news for the northern Mexico state, whose governor actively courts companies from Asia to set up shop in Monterrey. (Daniel Escobedo)
Rolf Meyer, United’s director general of sales in Mexico and the Caribbean, said “We are proud to add this new route to our extensive selection of flights between Mexico and the United States.”
Meyer said the new route reinforces United’s objective to be the airline of choice for Mexicans traveling to the United States and beyond. United already flies to 22 Mexico cities from eight United States locations.
“We are thrilled to welcome nonstop United Airlines flights from SFO to Monterrey this fall. For more than 80 years, United has been offering SFO travelers more destinations than any other airline, and this new service allows United customers from Asia to connect seamlessly through SFO to the ‘Business Capital of Mexico.’ … We are confident this new service will be a success.”
In a bulletin announcing the new route, United claimed it will also improve connectivity via United Airlines to Asia and Australia.
“Destinations such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul and Sydney, Australia, will now be easy connections from Nuevo León via San Francisco.”
For his part, Nuevo León Governor Samuel García issued a statement calling the new route “a great opportunity to strengthen Monterrey as a destination, particularly as Nuevo León has flights to practically every city in Mexico, as well as new routes to Latin American and Europe.”
Nuevo León Tourism Minister Maricarmen Martínez Villarreal added that the new United flight will boost international connectivity while opening new tourism opportunities in the state.
President Sheinbaum answers press questions at her first morning briefing on Monday. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Weekly presentations on “healthy life” and “women in history” will be among the recurring features of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press briefings.
Sheinbaum presided over her first morning briefing, or mañanera, as president on Wednesday.
Early in the press conference, Sheinbaum said that her press conferences — which she called “mañaneras del pueblo,” or “morning pressers of the people” — would be conducted in a “special way.”
She said that information about a certain issue will be presented each day, noting that the topic could be “security, trains, infrastructure projects [or] social programs.”
Sheinbaum also confirmed that reporters will have the opportunity to ask questions of her on a daily basis, ensuring the continuation of what López Obrador called “circular dialogue.”
President Sheinbaum said Wednesday that she would continue López Obardor’s practice of answering questions from the press at her daily pressers. (Cuartoscuro)
The new presidenta also said that each mañanera del pueblo will include “a special section,” which will vary depending on the day of the week.
Healthy Mondays
“On Mondays we’re going to talk about healthy life,” Sheinbaum said.
“It’s very important that Mexicans know the effects on health of the food we call ‘junk,’ because the truth is we’re living through a pandemic of hypertension, diabetes, obesity in some cases, and it’s very important that we understand why this is happening,” Sheinbaum said.
Humanistic and historical Tuesdays
The “special section” on Tuesdays will focus on Mexican humanism and historical memory, Sheinbaum told reporters.
Mexican humanism is the name López Obrador gave to the ideology of his government and the “fourth transformation” movement he led, which is now headed up by the new president.
Sheinbaum said that historians will attend her press conferences on Tuesdays “to speak about important events” in Mexican history — a pet topic of AMLO, and one which he regularly spoke about at length.
Myth-busting Wednesdays
The president said that her Wednesday mañaneras will feature a “lie detector” section.
“We’re not just going to do a review of the lies that come out on social media or in some media outlets,” Sheinbaum said. “We’re also going to ask citizens to participate.”
The “lie detector” section looks set to be a continuation of AMLO’s “Who’s who in the lies of the week” mañanera segment, during which countless journalists and media organizations were named and shamed for allegedly false reporting.
López Obrador was a fierce critic of sections of the press, a posture for which he was widely criticized.
Under former President López Obrador, Elizabeth García Vilchis presented a segment every Wednesday called “Who’s who in lies of the week.” (Cuartoscuro)
Press freedom advocacy group Article 19 said in 2019 that the former president’s “stigmatizing discourse” against the media “has a direct impact in terms of the … risk it can generate for the work of the press because [his remarks] permeate in the discourse of the rest of society and can even generate attacks.”
Pedro Vaca also said that the “stigmatization” of the media by the government could provoke attacks against journalists in Mexico, which is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for press workers.
Herstory Thursdays
Sheinbaum said that the “special section” on Thursdays will be called “women in history.”
“We’re going to recognize women who have participated in the history of Mexico,” she said.
In her public remarks, Sheinbaum frequently refers to prominent women in Mexican history.
In his first speech as president, she made mention of various mexicanas who preceded her, including independence heroines Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez and Leona Vicario, Mexican Revolution fighter Adela Velarde and artist Frida Kahlo.
Patriotic Fridays
Sheinbaum said that a “suave patria” (tender homeland) section will be presented on Fridays.
It will focus on “moments that make us feel proud to be Mexican,” she said.
On Friday, the conferences will highlight Mexican pride. (Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum’s mañaneras will not only differ in substance from those of López Obrador, but also in style.
The Associated Press reported that AMLO’s pressers were “marathon affairs, featuring folksy dialogue, verbal jousting with the press, and, frequently, long history lessons.”
On Wednesday, “Sheinbaum kept her morning briefing shorter, less combative and more concise, in keeping with her character as a scientist and academic,” AP said.
However, the new president will hope that she can set the agenda for the Mexican media over the next six years, like López Obrador did throughout his term as president.
Six migrants are dead and 10 wounded after Mexican soldiers shot at a truck north of Tapachula, Chiapas, near the Guatemala border. (Cuartoscuro)
Six migrants died on Tuesday night after the Mexican Army opened fire on vehicles that attempted to evade military personnel carrying out patrols in the southern state of Chiapas, the Defense Ministry (Sedena) said.
Ten other migrants were injured in the incident, which occurred on a highway north of the city of Tapachula, located near Mexico’s border with Guatemala.
President Sheinbaum said the two soldiers who fired on the migrants have been stood down and the federal attorney’s general office will investigate. (Cuartoscuro)
President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday morning that those killed were from Egypt, El Salvador and Peru.
The Collective for the Monitoring of the Southern Border, an umbrella group of migrant advocacy and civil society organizations, said in a statement that four men, a young woman and a girl were killed.
The incident occurred just nine hours after Sheinbaum was sworn in as president, and on the eve of the 56th anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City, in which the Army opened fire on protesting students.
Sedena said in a statement on Wednesday that the shooting occurred on the highway between Huixtla and Villa Comaltitlán. The ministry indicated that soldiers mistook the migrants for criminals.
Ahora fueron balazos, no abrazos. Militares victimaron a balazos en Chiapas a 6 migrantes e hirieron a 12 más, al confundirlos con integrantes de cártel. Hechos anoche en tramo Villa Comatitlán-Huixtla. Fue hallado camión con víctimas; había árabes, hindús, nepalíes, cubanos. pic.twitter.com/nYXd2eJAs5
“At approximately 8:50 p.m. on Tuesday Oct. 1, 2024, members of the Mexican Army, while carrying out ground reconnaissance, detected a pick-up style vehicle traveling at high speed,” Sedena said, adding that the vehicle “evaded” the military personnel after its occupants saw them.
Sedena said that two stake bed trucks “like those that crime groups in the region use” were traveling behind the pick-up truck.
“Military personnel said they heard explosions so two soldiers fired their weapons,” the ministry said, adding that one of the stake bed trucks subsequently came to a halt.
“Upon approaching, military personnel identified 33 migrants of Egyptian, Nepalese, Cuban, Indian, Pakistani and Arabic nationality, of whom four had died, 12 were injured and 17 were unharmed,” Sedena said, apparently referring to Saudi Arabian citizens in the latter case.
“The military personnel administered first aid to the injured and immediately transferred them by vehicle to the General Hospital in Huixtla, Chiapas, where unfortunately two more [migrants] lost their lives,” the ministry said.
“The 17 unharmed migrants were placed in the custody of the National Immigration Institute,” Sedena said.
The Defense Ministry said that the two soldiers who fired their weapons were stood down.
It also said that the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) was notified of the incident given that “civilians were affected.”
Sedena said that the FGR would investigate and determine “responsibilities” in the case.
At her Thursday morning press conference, Sheinbaum said that the two soldiers who shot the migrants were in the custody of the FGR.
Correspondent Isaín Mandujano for @ElFinanciero_Mx in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas: @SEDENAmx suspended two soldiers for their role in a shooting yesterday, in which six undocumented migrants were killed and ten others wounded, pending investigation. https://t.co/sL8fkQowTB
“First of all it’s a regrettable event, and it has to be investigated and punished. The personnel of the Defense Ministry who fired are already in the custody of the Federal Attorney General’s Office,” she said.
“It’s the Attorney General’s Office that has to do the investigation about how the events occurred,” Sheinbaum said, adding that it will be up to the FGR to determine whether Army commanders are also at fault.
“A situation like this can’t be repeated,” said the new president.
Sheinbaum also said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Interior Ministry were in contact with the embassies of the countries from which the victims came.
The deaths of the six migrants came just one day after former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed into law a constitutional bill that places the National Guard under the control of Sedena. There are concerns that the increased militarization of public security in Mexico will increase the risk of abuses being committed by the country’s security forces.
Mexican Army and navy personnel have previously been accused and/or convicted of a range of crimes, including murder.
Peru condemns the killings
In a statement, Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “strongly” condemned the events that caused the deaths of six migrants, including one Peruvian national.
“The government of Peru, through its diplomatic representation in Mexico, will demand that the authorities of that country [carry out] an urgent investigation that … determines responsibility for this reprehensible act,” the ministry said.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide humanitarian assistance to … the family members of the [Peruvian] victim in these difficult circumstances,” it said.
The UN expresses concern
In a joint post to the X social media platform, the Mexico offices of the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed their “concern” about the events in Chiapas that led to the death of six migrants and the wounding of 10 others.
For its part, the Collective for the Monitoring of the Southern Border said that “these events are neither accidental nor isolated.”
“They are a consequence of the restrictive immigration policies that the Mexican state continues to implement,” the group said.
Under pressure from the United States to reduce the number of migrants who make it to the U.S. border, Mexican federal forces have detained increasing numbers of migrants. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
In recent years, Mexico has used federal security forces to detain migrants, large numbers of whom enter the country via the border with Guatemala and then travel northward via a variety of means with the ultimate objective of reaching the United States. Cartel violence has plagued the border region in Chiapas in recent times.
The hurricane, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm on Sept. 24, caused at least 22 deaths — including 18 in Guerrero — and severe damage across the states of Guerrero, Michoacán and Oaxaca. Acapulco is on the Guerrero coast.
Soldiers help an Acapulco resident escape knee-deep floodwaters in Acapulco Tuesday. The Defense Ministry said 3,455 people have ended up in temporary shelters as of Oct. 2 due to flooding and storm damage. (Sedena/Cuartoscuro)
As Sheinbaum arrived in the city to assess damage, locals demanded urgent aid and government support. Many do not have running water.
Driving to the coast in a pickup truck on the Autopista del Sol, Sheinbaum was also greeted at the La Venta toll booth by victims handing her documents outlining their needs. La Venta is a town in the municipality of Acapulco.
Later, in brief remarks, she emphasized that her visit aimed to assess damage with Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado and other officials.
Sheinbaum’s visit comes less than a year after Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 storm, devastated Acapulco, inflicting billions of dollars in damage to hotels and other properties when it struck on Oct. 25, 2023.
Acapulco had barely recovered from last year when Hurricane John struck last week and unleashed a year’s worth of rainfall in four days, leading to floods and landslides that compounded previous damages.
Sheinbaum headed a meeting at the Icacos Naval Base in Acapulco to plan for short-term and long-term storm damage recuperation. The governors of Guerrero and Michoacán attended the meeting. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
Miguel Gómez, leader of a local merchants’ union, said over 1,300 workers, many of them women, were unable to work due to damage along the coast. Vendors in areas such as Puerto Marqués and Majahua beach who sell goods like seafood, souvenirs and crafts saw their livelihoods shattered by the storm, Gómez said.
He said that in Puerto Marqués (a municipality about 10 kilometers south of Acapulco) two sinkholes have damaged the main avenue, collapsing at least 13 restaurants. He and others expressed fear that they won’t be able to reopen in the coming weeks.
“You’re strong, you can help us!” one woman from Tierra Colorada whose business was ravaged by the storm shouted at Sheinbaum as she passed.
During her visit, Sheinbaum did not fully tour the most damaged areas but flew over regions, including the municipality of Coyuca de Benítez — which is inland of the coast but has a river of the same name running through it — and the Diamante area, Acapulco’s hotel zone.
Amid the unrest, Sheinbaum also warned about the arrival of tropical depression 11-E, which has begun bringing heavy rains and winds to several western Mexican states. It was also announced that classes at schools throughout Guerrero have been suspended due to the new storm.
At a private meeting at the Icacos Naval Base in Acapulco with Salgado and Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, Sheinbaum discussed long-term recovery plans and emergency support to meet more immediate needs.
Underscoring the gravity of the situation, also present for the meeting were several ministers from Sheinbaum’s cabinet: Marcelo Ebrard (Economy), General Ricardo Trevilla (Defense), Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales (Navy chief), Rosa Icela Rodríguez (Interior), Omar García Harfuch (Public Security), David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz (Health) and Josefina Rodriguez Zamora (Tourism).
“We are leaving instructions with the National Water Commission [Conagua] and the Infrastructure, Communications and Transport Ministry (SICT) to expedite aid,” Sheinbaum posted on her Facebook account.
Sheinbaum committed to another meeting on Thursday to continue assessing damages and coordinating a support plan.
Meanwhile, some citizens have gone to Chilpancingo, the Guerrero state capital, to ask federal authorities to provide them with assistance.
