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Energy
Pemex: January-August Crude Output Down 9.2% At 2.83 Million B/D
September 22, 2008
Pemex reported that average oil production for the first eight months of this year slid 9.2% on year to 2.83 million barrels a day (b/d). Mexico has repeatedly had to lower its oil production target for 2008 due to a faster-than-expected decline at the Cantarell offshore oil field. Cantarell's production plummeted 29.2% during the period to 1.1 million b/d. Pemex said exports fell 16% between January and August, compared to the same period in 2007. However, Pemex earned USD 34.38 billion from exports, or about 51.4% more than in 2007, due to soaring oil prices.
IMF: Raises In Oil International Prices To Cost Mexico MXN 200 Billion
September 25, 2008
According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mexico will have to absorb a MXN 200 billion cost in coming months due to the international hikes in crude oil prices, a figure equivalent to approximately 2% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Gas Natural Completes MXN 761 Million Sale Of 15% Of Mexican Unit
September 22, 2008
Spanish gas producer Gas Natural announced that it has completed the sale of 15% of its Mexican unit Gas Natural Mexico to Mexican investment company Sinca Inbursa. Inbursa paid MXN 761 million for the stake. The sale was originally announced in June 2007. Gas Natural will retain management control of Gas Natural Mexico, in which Spanish power company Iberdrola also holds a 13.25% stake.
ICA Fluor Gets USD 45 Million Pemex Crude Oil Dehydration Contract
September 24, 2008
The industrial engineering, procurement, and construction company jointly owned by U.S. Fluor and Mexican ICA, ICA Fluor, said that it has signed a USD 45 million contract with Pemex to build a crude oil dehydration facility. The project consists of modifying two 500,000-barrel crude storage tanks in the state of Tabasco into first-stage "gun-barrel" dehydrators for Maya crude. The contract has a time span of 180 days.
PRD Resolved To Veto Energy Reform
September 22, 2008
Leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) unanimously agreed to veto the energy reform proposed by President Calderon. During its 11th National Congress, the PRD passed a resolution to instruct their legislators and officers not to support, under any circumstance, the federal government's presumed campaign to privatize Pemex. The PRD also suggested that something should be done to crack down on corruption among the important functionaries of Pemex, as well as in the Oil Workers' Union.
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Mining
Asarco Seeks USD 10.2 Billion From Grupo Mexico
September 24, 2008
Attorneys for Asarco LLC have asked a U.S. federal judge to award the Tucson-based copper producer the equivalent of USD 10.2 billion in money and stock from its former parent company Grupo Mexico (GMex). A U.S. judge ruled last month that GMex had fraudulently transferred shares of copper mines in Peru to its own subsidiary, Americas Mining, leaving Asarco without sufficient operating cash and struggling to survive. Asarco asked for USD 3.5 billion in monetary damages and the return of its shares in the Peruvian copper mines, currently valued at USD 6.7 billion.
Creditors To Vote On Asarco Bankruptcy Exit Plans
September 23, 2008
A U.S. judge cleared the way for creditors of bankrupt copper miner Asarco LLC to vote on competing plans filed by two suitors to restructure the company and allow it to exit bankruptcy protection. Judge Richard S. Schmidt, of the U.S. bankruptcy court in Corpus Christi, Texas, approved a plan filed by Asarco and sponsored by a USD 2.6 billion bid for the company from Sterlite Industries, as well as a competing plan from its Mexican parent company Grupo Mexico. Asarco said its plan will include a USD 1.6 billion cash settlement, including interest, to federal and state governments for the pollution and asbestos claims.
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Trade & Investment
INEGI: Mexico August Trade Deficit At USD 2.2 Billion As Car Exports Drop
September 24, 2008
According to the National Statistics Institute (INEGI), Mexico posted its biggest trade deficit in August since late 2004, as a slowdown in the U.S. economy hit exports of cars and other manufactured goods. INEGI estimated the trade deficit for the month stood at USD 2.243 billion, more than twice as big as analysts had forecast. It was also more than twice the size of the trade deficit reported in July. Auto exports to the U.S. dropped 16.4% in August from a year earlier.
UNCTAD: Mexico Falls One Place On Most Attractive Countries To Invest In List
September 24, 2008
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Mexico fell from the 10th place in the 2007-2009 period to the 11th place in the 2008-2010 period amongst a series of countries that are considered more attractive to invest in. UNCTAD said that some Latin-American states will be the most affected by the reduction of FDI caused by the U.S. economy slowdown. UNCTAD estimated that FDI flows will fall 10% this year.
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Banking, Insurance & Finance
Banxico Governor: U.S. Crisis Has Little Impact On Local Banks
September 25, 2008
The Governor of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) Guillermo Ortiz said that the U.S. banking crisis will have little impact on the Mexican financial system, but warned that Mexico will be affected by the economic slowdown in the U.S. Ortiz said Mexico will feel the pinch of a recession in the U.S. through lower exports and remittances. Experts say that Mexico's banks are in much better shape than their peers in the U.S., thanks to stricter lending standards and government regulation. Even so, banks face the challenge of increased credit card loan defaults.
Fitch Sees Mexico Banks Under Pressure From Rising Bad Loans
September 24, 2008
Fitch Ratings said that the performance of Mexico's banks will continue to weaken until the sector addresses rising levels of bad debt following several years of easy lending. The agency said that profitability has been declining from the historically high and unsustainable levels it had reached recently, according to the regular phases of the business and credit cycles, adding that deteriorating assets and a slowdown in loan growth have accelerated this trend. Fitch said it doesn't expect downward pressure on the ratings of the country's largest banks in the near future.
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Business & Industry
Hanesbrands To Close Plants In Several Countries, Move Output To Asia
September 24, 2008
U.S. underwear and hosiery maker Hanesbrands announced it will close nine plants in five countries, including facilities in Mexico and the U.S. Hanesbrands said that it will close down a plant in Mexico and its last large knit-fabric textile plant in the U.S. by next summer. Most of the sewing production will be moved to the company's new Asian facilities. The moves will affect about 8,100 employees, or 16% of its total workforce. Hanesbrands plans to post USD 76 million in restructuring and other charges related to the closures.
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Automotive
Ford Mexico Sees Annual Output Of 500,000 Cars By 2012
September 26, 2008
U.S. automaker Ford Motor Company said that investments totaling USD 5 billion over the past five years will allow its Mexican subsidiary to produce 500,000 cars a year from its Mexican plants by 2012. Ford de Mexico also expects to produce 700,000 engines and 300,000 transmissions a year at its plants in Hermosillo, Chihuahua, and Cuautitlan, as well as a plant it is building in Guanajuato in association with Getrag. Ford added that it plans to begin producing a hybrid version of the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan in its Hermosillo plant.
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Construction & Infrastructure
U.S. Labor Department Sues Cemex For USD 5 Million In Drivers' Overtime
September 25, 2008
The U.S. government said it is taking legal action against the U.S. unit of Mexican cement maker Cemex, seeking USD 5 million in overtime wages for drivers. The U.S. Labor Department said Cemex, based in Houston, failed to pay more than USD 5 million in overtime to 2,000 drivers of ready-mix trucks in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina between 2005 and 2008. Cemex had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.
Transportation
Mexico City Begins Building New Subway Line
September 23, 2008
Mexico City (DF) Mayor Marcelo Ebrard inaugurated the construction of the 24-km-long Subway Line 12, dubbed "Golden Line" or "Bicentenary Line," which is the longest stretch of the country's collective transport system Metro. Ebrard said it is the largest-scale construction in a decade, with an investment of MXN 17.583 billion that will provide direct employment to 25,000 people and create 60,000 indirect jobs. The new line will pass through 7 of DF's 16 districts east to west.
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Telecommunications & Technology
Mobile Phone Providers Earnings Up 18.9% In 1H
September 25, 2008
According to telecomm consulting group the Competitive Intelligence Unit (CIU), Mexico's mobile telephony services providers' earnings were up 18.9% in 1H when compared to the like 2007 results and amounted to approximately USD 9 billion. CIU noted that Spanish Telefonica Movistar and Nextel de Mexico were the two firms whose earnings grew at a higher rate.
Senate Approves Bill For Mobile Phone Database
September 25, 2008
Senators voted in favor of a bill calling for the creation of a national database of mobile phone users, proposed as a way to combat crimes committed using cell phones. The bill, which still needs to go through the Lower House of Congress, was submitted by members of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), but had all parties' support in the Senate. If signed into law, it will require wireless operators to create a register of all postpaid and prepaid mobile phone users with personal information, including addresses and fingerprints. It will also require operators to keep detailed records of voice and data communications for one year.
Telmex, MVS, EchoStar Work On Last Details On Pay TV Deal
September 25, 2008
Telmex, Mexican satellite TV provider MVS, and U.S. digital media equipment company EchoStar are working on the final details on a commercial deal that would allow MVS to offer cheaper services and charge for them through Telmex's telephone bills. The project is expected to be officially announced later this month. The firms are trying to define the number of channels the service will feature and the tariffs, but they are currently working on a package of between 25 and 35 channels for MXN 200.
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Media & Entertainment
Legislators: Nearly 800 Gambling Establishments Operate Illegally
September 24, 2008
According to a study by the Lower House's Games and Raffles Under-commission, there are approximately 800 gambling establishments operating illegally in the country, while there are only 409 businesses that actually have the Interior Ministry's (SEGOB) permission to operate. The study revealed that only 34.23% of the gambling activities carried out in Mexico are legal and are correctly regulated by corresponding authorities.
Televisa Launches New Internet Portal To Air Old Content
September 26, 2008
Mexican media conglomerate Televisa announced that it is posting 600,000 hours of its old and current programs on the brand-new portal tvolucion.com. The massive video archive includes soaps, movies, game shows, and newscasts. U.S. viewers, however, will be able to see only a fraction of the programs on the portal because of a lawsuit pending between Univision Communications and Televisa over Internet distribution rights. Officials did not specify how many programs U.S. viewers can see.
Televisa Signs Deal To Show Mexican Soccer In The U.S.
September 28, 2008
Mexican media conglomerate Televisa has signed a deal with U.S. Spanish-language network Telemundo to broadcast Mexican soccer matches in the U.S. Televisa signed the agreement as it fights an ongoing court battle in the U.S. with Telemundo's rival network Univision over programming rights in the U.S. market. Telemundo, part of NBC Universal and controlled by General Electric, will have rights to broadcast matches played by Mexico's leading soccer teams.
Televisa Taps Betty La Fea For China's TV Market
September 24, 2008
Mexican media conglomerate Televisa will begin airing a Chinese version of the runaway Colombian soap opera Yo Soy Betty la Fea (Ugly Betty) in an attempt to penetrate China's competitive television market. Televisa plans to eventually air four other soap operas in China as it looks to penetrate in other foreign markets, including Russia and India. The Chinese versions of the soaps will be transmitted by Hunan Television, use Chinese actors and adjust the plots to cater to a Chinese audience.
Farming & Agriculture
Mexico Resumes Meat Exports To The U.S.
September 22, 2008
Mexican meat producers will start shipping meat again to the U.S. after temporarily halting exports to inspect sanitary conditions at processing plants. Mexico informed U.S. authorities on August 29 that it was suspending meat shipments voluntarily after U.S. inspectors found violations at seven Mexican processing facilities last month.
Dairy Producers Demand Government Support
September 22, 2008
Thousands of Mexican dairy producers hit the streets all over the country with the aim of pouring a million liters of milk onto the pavement to demand that the government take measures in favor of their industry. The president of the National Front of Milk Producers and Consumers said that the producers are demanding that the price they currently receive per liter, some MXN 4, be increased by MXN 1. The dairy market uses the price paid by the public firm Liconsa as a milk reference price.
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Hospitality & Tourism
SECTUR: January-July Tourism Revenues Up 6.3% To USD 8.48 Billion
September 22, 2008
The Tourism Ministry (SECTUR) said that Mexico's tourism revenues rose 6.3% in the first seven months of the year from the like 2007 period to USD 8.48 billion, due to increasing arrivals of tourists. SECTUR said Mexico received 13.6 million foreign tourists from January to July this year, up 5.2% from the first seven months of 2007. The number of tourists traveling beyond border areas was 8.4 million, an increase of 4.5%, and they spent an average of USD 788 each.
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Economy
Calderon: Finances Are Solid, Economy May Slow
September 25, 2008
President Calderon and the Governor of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), Guillermo Ortiz, said a widening U.S. credit crisis could crimp Mexico's economic growth but that the country's financial system is healthy. Calderon told investors at the New York Economics Club that Mexico has strengthened its finances in recent years by cutting foreign debt, building foreign reserves, increasing taxes, and balancing its budget. but he warned that a deeper slowdown in the U.S. economy would also be felt in Mexico.
Mexican Markets Surge On U.S. Bailout Plan Hopes
September 25, 2008
Mexican financial markets and the peso (MXN) soared as hopes the U.S. Congress would approve a sweeping bailout for troubled banks emboldened investors to get back into emerging markets. The MXN broke a two-day trend of steep losses to gain 0.98 to MXN (U.S.) 10.728 per dollar. The benchmark IPC stock index surged 2.77% to 25,635 points, while bonds rallied for the second day in a row.
Annual Inflation Falls In Early September
September 24, 2008
The central bank (Banxico) said that Mexico's annual inflation fell in early September for the first time in three months, suggesting a price spike driven by soaring world food prices may be ending. Banxico figures indicated that 12-month inflation in the first half of September was 5.42%, down from a more than 5-year high of 5.57% at the end of August. However, food prices in Mexico have increased twofold in the past 12 months.
INEGI: 2Q Private Consumption Up 3.2% On-Year
September 22, 2008
According to the National Statistics Institute (INEGI), private consumption in Mexico rose 3.2% on-year in the second quarter, contributing to a 4.3% year-on-year rise in aggregate demand. INEGI said supply and demand in the quarter were positively influenced by the Easter holiday falling in 1Q this year, giving 2Q more working days than the year-ago period. Exports were 6.3% higher, government consumption rose 0.7%, and fixed investment was 8.1% higher than in 2Q of 2007. Gross domestic product rose 2.8% in 2Q, while imports rose 9.1%.
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Border & Migration
Calderon Calls On U.N., States To Give Immigration An Integral Focus
September 25, 2008
President Calderon said that the migration phenomenon cannot be narrowed to security issues or to its treatment as an economic matter, and he called on the United Nations (U.N.) and the international community to give migration an integral focus to provide it with legality, security, order, and respect for human dignity. Calderon made the call in the framework of the 63rd U.N.'s General Assembly under the principle of shared responsibility.
Mexico To Step Up Vehicle Searches At U.S. Border
September 24, 2008
Mexico's Federal Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said that the government plans to search 10% of all vehicles entering the country from the U.S. in an effort to curb arms smuggling. Most illegal weapons in Mexico come from the U.S., according to officials in both countries. Medina Mora said the stepped up vehicle searches will start soon at Mexican custom checkpoints, although he did not provide an exact date.
U.S. Census Bureau: 35 Million People Speak Spanish In The U.S.
September 24, 2008
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people speaking Spanish in the U.S. is 35 million persons, or 12.3% of the country's total population. In states where Hispanics are most numerous such as Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, one out of five inhabitants speaks Spanish. Figures from the Bureau also indicate that in 2007, 38.1 million people living in the U.S. were born abroad, of which 12 million are Mexicans.
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Politics
IFE Fines PRI, PAN After Disputed 2006 Election
September 30, 2008
The Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) fined the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) MXN 57 million for blocking downtown Mexico City (DF) for two months after narrowly losing the vote, and for disrupting former President Vicente Fox's state-of-the-nation address around the same time. IFE also ordered the ruling National Action Party (PAN) to pay MXN 38 million because Fox illegally supported his party's candidate, current President Calderon.
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Justice, Safety & Crime
Calderon Calls On U.N. To Fight Terrorists, Drug Traffickers
September 24, 2008
President Calderon has called for the United Nations' (U.N.s') mediation to solve threats to global security, including terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and crimes related to migration. Calderon said that Mexico and other Latin American nations are a good example of countries facing serious security challenges since the number of violent deaths is too high when compared with other parts of the world. Calderon said Mexico fights local and transnational organized crime groups, but that it is a battle to be led by the whole international community. Meanwhile Mexico's governors have pledged to fight crime alongside Calderon but demanded that urgent measures to be taken do not violate institutions and federalism.
Mexico Discards Any Possibility Of Negotiating With Organized Crime
September 23, 2008
Public Security Minister Genaro Garcia Luna and Federal Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said while appearing in front of Senators that the government has completely discarded negotiations with organized crime as a way to reduce violence in the country, which now has reached civilians. Legislators criticized Garcia Luna and Medina Mora's performance in providing security to Mexicans and demanded answers.
Guatemala To Send Troops To Mexican Border To Fight Drugs
September 28, 2008
Guatemalan army troops will be deployed in January along the border with Mexico to interdict bands of drug traffickers and the smugglers of both goods and people who operate in that region. The Guatemalan Defense Minister said that the plan includes the sending of about 2,400 soldiers to the zone. Also participating in the plan will be the National Civil Police and the SAT customs agency. The plan will be directed specifically at taking control of 12 points known as "blind passes," where the authorities currently do not maintain a presence.
Colombian Authorities To Train Mexican Personnel
September 22, 2008
The governor of the state of Nuevo Leon announced that he has sent government officials to Colombia to meet with intelligence officials and police from that country in order to be taught about Colombian authorities' antikidnapping experience, anticrime tactics and coordination schemes between different police units. The governor of Nuevo Leon also said that Colombian personnel will go to his state and train police.
Mexican Senator: U.S. To Deliver Part Of Merida Initiative Next Year
September 22, 2008
According to a document published in a Senator's personal website, the U.S. plans to deliver next year USD 264.8 million or 52.96% of the USD 500 million it has entailed for the Merida Initiative aid package to help Mexico fight drug cartels. However, the document also indicates that, of the aid package, only 2% will be destined to help the Center of Intelligence and National Security (CISEN), Mexico's CIA, to fight terrorism.
Political Parties Warned Over Drug Money
September 24, 2008
In an address to Congress, Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mouriño has admitted that there was a "latent threat" of drug money finding its way into the country's political campaigns and warned that the country's police forces had been "infiltrated" by powerful cartels. In addition, a candidate for the state of Guerrero's legislature has been slain recently with no apparent motive.
Lower Chamber Asks For MXN 1.2 Billion To Enhance CISEN
September 22, 2008
Legislators in the Lower Chamber of Congress said they will submit a budget proposal to award the Center of Intelligence and National Security (CISEN), Mexico's CIA, MXN 1.2 billion to fix its structural deficiencies and enhance it. Meanwhile, CISEN has asked for a 90% increase in its 2009 budget, from the current MXN 1.27 billion to MXN 2.43 billion.
Police Arrest Three In Independence Day Grenade Attacks
September 25, 2008
The Federal Attorney General's Office (PGR) said that police have arrested three men who admitted throwing grenades that killed 8 people and injured 106 others at an Independence Day celebration in the western city of Morelia, in the state of Michoacan. The three, who said they belonged to Los Zetas, the armed wing of the Gulf drug cartel, were arrested in Apatzingan, Michoacan. According to one of the men arrested in the killings, the attacks were meant to "frighten and provoke the government."
Mexico Busts Gang Suspected In Decapitations
September 22, 2008
The Public Security Ministry (SSP) said authorities arrested nine suspects who allegedly belonged to a gang that killed 12 people whose headless bodies were found in late August in the southeastern state of Yucatan. SSP said the suspects belonged to "Los Zetas," a group of army veterans and deserters who work for the Gulf drug cartel. Moises Escamilla May, reputed head of Los Zetas in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun, was among those arrested. Escamilla's organization included corrupt police officers who tipped him off about police operations.
U.S.: 20-Year-Old Gulf Cartel Top Operative Arrested In Atlanta
September 22, 2008
A U.S. court said that 20-year-old Edgar Rodriguez Alejandro, a.k.a. "El Temo," was the top operative for the Mexican Gulf drug cartel's activities in Atlanta, Georgia, which is the main bridge to traffic drugs from Texas to New York. Rodriguez was arrested in May with USD 7.6 million in cash and 12 kilos of cocaine, along with 34 other persons. Such arrests were part of the "Reckoning Operation" which resulted in the recent arrests of 175 drug cartel operatives in a joint effort between Mexico, the U.S. and Italy.
Aspiring PRD Candidate Slain In Guerrero
September 25, 2008
Police said that leftist candidate for state legislature in Guerrero, Homero Rios, was exercising outside with his 22-year-old daughter when gunmen in a car shot him several times. He died in a hospital shortly afterward. Police had no suspects or possible motives. Rios was the mayor of Ayutla de los Libres, a town about 60 miles southeast of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero.
Mexican Radio Personality Killed While Hanging Antikidnapping Posters
September 24, 2008
A Mexican radio host was shot while putting up a poster denouncing a spate of kidnappings in the southern state of Tabasco and later died of his wounds. The medical specialists who treated him said that the three gunshots that hit Alejandro Fonseca Estrada pierced several vital organs. Police said Fonseca was shot after being threatened on a couple of occasions when he was putting up posters with a message against kidnapping on a main street in Villahermosa, the state capital.
Drug Trade Makes Mexicans Want To Leave The Country
September 22, 2008
According to a recent survey, more than a third of Mexicans have thought about leaving the country because of the drug cartels. The survey, conducted in seven major Mexican cities for the BBC's Spanish-American website, bbcmundo.com, by the pollster Synovate, found nearly two in five, or 37%, of respondents agreed that the impact of the drug cartels had made them contemplate leaving Mexico. When asked about their personal experiences, 9% of those surveyed said they had been directly affected by drug-related violence while 32% said they had been indirectly affected.
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Health & Science
Experts Praise Mexico's Genomic Medicine Development Program
September 22, 2008
According to an international group of experts from the Toronto McLaughlin-Rotman's Global Health Center who praised Mexico's genomic medicine development program, the latter is the most exhaustive among emerging economies and places the country in a leading position, along with other more developed countries. Mexico's program uses genetic information to prevent and treat more effectively some diseases, reducing future medical costs, improving sanitary efficiency and developing the country's economy.
Mexico Pushes National Campaign For Weight Loss, Physical Fitness
September 25, 2008
Mexico has launched the "Vamos Por Un Million de Kilos" (Let's Lose a Million Kilos) national campaign to get Mexicans to collectively trim about two million pounds. The project is one of several new efforts to fight obesity in Mexico, which is on track to catch up with the U.S. within a decade as one of the world's fattest countries, according to the Mexican government. Nearly half of Mexico's 110 million people are overweight, and the number of fat children has climbed 8% a year in the last decade.
Arts & Culture
Calderon Revokes Fox's Decree To Turn FIC Into A Decentralized Organization
September 25, 2008
A decree by President Calderon revoking one his predecessor Vicente Fox issued during his administration and which turned the Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC) into a decentralized organization with its own judicial personality and its own patrimony was published in the official gazette (DOF). The said measure ends a period of judicial uncertainty that surrounded the artistic festival, held in the state of Guanajuato every year.
Other
President Calderon Urges Countries To Fight Climate Change
September 24, 2008
In a speech before the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly, President Calderon said that one of the main challenges that the world community faces is reversing the effects of climate change. Calderon said that climate change indiscriminately affects rich and poor countries. He added that those who have contributed the least to it are often the most vulnerable and affected. Calderon said that Mexico has proposed creating a U.N.-monitored environmental protection program, the Green Fund, which would give countries incentives to contribute financially to the initiative.
Storms Kill Five; Thousands Of Homes Flooded
September 26, 2008
Storms flooded hundreds of people out of their homes in southeastern Mexico and caused the death of a woman and four children whose car plunged into a swollen irrigation ditch. Civil Protection officials said that more than two dozen rivers have overflowed in the coastal states of Veracruz and Tabasco, flooding thousands of homes, damaging bridges and cutting off some villages. Flooding in Tabasco last year killed at least 33 people and inundated more than 1 million homes.
Striking Teachers Storm Into Education Ministry
September 23, 2008
A group of about 100 teachers, members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CENTE), stormed into the office building of the Public Education Ministry (SEP) in protest against the "Alliance for Educational Quality," an agreement reached between the government and the Education Workers Union (SNTE) in May. They demanded to talk with Education Minister Josefina Vazquez Mota, who was not in the building at the time.
Bus Driver Dies In Crash With Escaped Elephant
September 23, 2008
A bus driver was killed in the State of Mexico (Edomex) when his vehicle collided with an elephant that escaped from a nearby circus. The animal also died in the crash. The Environmental Protection Office (Profepa) said that it closed down the Circo Union circus after it was found to be in noncompliance with laws governing the holding of large wild animals. Inspectors also seized ten Siberian tigers and two Asian elephants that were in the circus company's possession.
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