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☆ Mexico finds 'serious irregularities' in labor probe at VU Manufacturing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Carparts.Com Inc FollowMEXICO CITY, March 16 (Reuters) - Mexico's government on Thursday said it concluded there were "serious irregularities" hindering free association and collective bargaining at U.S. auto parts maker VU Manufacturing's operations in northern Mexico. "It was determined that there are serious irregularities and decisive actions on the part of the company to obstruct the free exercise of the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining within VU Manufacturing," the government said in a statement. It added that it would seek to ensure workers can fully exercise their collective rights without disrupting bilateral trade. Michigan-based VU Manufacturing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. government earlier said it received a petition in December from two Mexican labor organizations stating that workers at VU Manufacturing were being denied the right of free association and collective bargaining.

☆ US, Mexico aim to find 13,000 Mexican migrant workers owed $6.5 mln in wages
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. and Mexican officials on Tuesday said 13,000 Mexican migrant workers are owed a total of $6.5 million in unpaid wages from U.S. workplaces, and will work to help beneficiaries now living in Mexico claim their pay from U.S. labor authorities. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said the effort marked an unprecedented collaboration between the U.S. and Mexico to support workers who for years have been short-changed. "In past governments, this would not have happened," he said at an event in Mexico City alongside Mexican labor officials. Mexico will also launch a public campaign to encourage workers to come forward if they believe they qualify for checks. "The work ahead is to find these 13,000," Mexican Labor Minister Luisa Alcalde said.

☆ Walmart to invest nearly $1.5 bln in Mexico and Central America in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY, March 7 (Reuters) - Walmart's unit in Mexico and Central America, known as Walmex (WALMEX.MX), plans to spend around 27 billion pesos ($1.49 billion) in the region in 2023, it said on Tuesday. Just under half of the investment will go to remodeling and maintaining existing stores, while nearly 30% will go to new stores and clubs, Walmex said in a filing following an event with investors and analysts. ($1 = 18.1026 Mexican pesos)Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Daina Beth SolomonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesla could begin producing autos in Mexico next year -Mexican official
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Tesla Inc FollowMEXICO CITY, March 6 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) could begin producing its first cars in Mexico next year, with the electric vehicle maker close to receiving its final permits allowing factory construction to begin in Nuevo Leon near the U.S.-Mexico border, the state's governor said on Monday. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk announced the investment last week, saying the Austin, Texas-based company had selected Mexico for its next "gigafactory" with plans to produce a "next gen vehicle." Mexican officials have said the factory will be the world's biggest to produce electric vehicles, with investment worth $5 billion. "The president, by authorizing and backing Tesla, sent a message to the world that they should come to Mexico." Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 103 unaccompanied minors found in abandoned trailer in Mexico, govt says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, March 6 (Reuters) - Mexican authorities found 103 unaccompanied minors mostly from Guatemala inside an abandoned truck trailer in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, the government said on Monday, in one of the biggest recent discoveries of migrant children traveling through Mexico. In addition to the 103 children, authorities found 212 adults from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador in the trailer, the National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement. Another 28 migrants traveling as families from Guatemala and El Salvador were also in the trailer, bringing the total number of passengers to 343. It was outfitted with fans, a partially ventilated roof and a structure that created a second level inside the trailer. Earlier this year, Mexican authorities found 57 unaccompanied minors from Guatemala at a checkpoint near the U.S.-Mexico border, and 20 other unaccompanied minors in a group of mostly Central Americans in the southern state of Chiapas.

☆ US files new labor complaint in Mexico, eyeing allegations at Unique Fabricating
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Daina Beth Solomon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, March 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Monday filed its seventh labor complaint in Mexico under a trade pact that aims to improve workplace conditions, asking Mexican officials to probe alleged rights abuses at a plant owned by U.S. firm Unique Fabricating Inc (UFAB.A). "The union alleges Unique Fabricating refused to grant the union access to the facility and interfered with its organizing efforts," the Department of Labor said in a statement. Unique Fabricating did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mexican officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nissan and Mexican workers agree to 9% raise at Morelos plant, union says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, March 3 (Reuters) - Labor representatives at a Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) plant in the central Mexican state of Morelos have reached an agreement with the Japanese carmaker to hike pay 9% as of April, the union said. Leobardo Herrera, head of the Independent Union of Nissan Mexico Workers, said the union aimed to boost pay beyond inflation - which stood at 7.76% in early February - and came to a deal quickly with the company. The new salaries will be in place for a year before the union and company re-negotiate, Herrera said. Nissan Mexicana, as the company's Mexico unit is known, said it negotiated with the union in February and is committed to ensuring labor rights for the roughly 1,500 unionized workers at its Morelos plant, which produces the NP300 pickup truck. The automaker produces other models at plants in the state of Aguascalientes a few hundred miles northwest of Morelos, which are represented by a different union.

☆ Site of Tesla Mexico factory near double size of Texas plant, local official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Daina Beth Solomon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jesus Nava, the mayor of Santa Catarina in the state of Nuevo Leon, said in an interview that Tesla is purchasing the site from private owners. He said the land spans nearly 4,200 acres in an industrial zone, more than double the size of Mexico City's international airport. Tesla's factory in Austin, Texas - one of three existing Tesla vehicle plants - sits on 2,500 acres, according to Tesla's website. Nava said Tesla will reveal what vehicles it will produce at the Nuevo Leon factory when it breaks ground, which it plans to do in three months. Tesla uses recycled water, and such companies typically use minimal liters of water per second, he added.

☆ Tesla plans 6,000 jobs in Mexico and eyes more investment, government says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BMW, General Motors and Ford have all recently announced plans to begin or step up EV production in Mexico as automakers transition away from fossil fuels. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is expected to detail his Mexico plans at an Investors Day event on Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT). "(Musk) is interested in investing more in Mexico," Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, noting the two had discussed the government's plans to develop the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico when they recently talked. This closeness was very good for them," she told Mexican television. The factory will employ 5,000 to 6,000 people, she added, noting that similar Tesla plants elsewhere employ up to 10,000.

☆ Tesla's new Mexico plant could create up to 6,000 jobs - foreign ministry official
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY, March 1 (Reuters) - Electric carmaker Tesla could create 5,000 to 6,000 jobs at a new plant planned for the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, said Martha Delgado, a Mexican deputy foreign minister. Speaking in an interview on Mexican television late on Tuesday, she also said the company is considering building an electric battery plant in central Mexico. Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Brendan O'BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Jose Luis GonzalezMEXICO CITY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Dozens of migrant families are splitting up at Mexico's northern border as they struggle to secure U.S. asylum appointments on a government app beset by high demand and persistent glitches, migrants and advocates say. The 15-year-old decided to turn himself in at the border after his pregnant mother could only secure a solo appointment, Santiago said. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration made the app, called CBP One, directly available to asylum seekers in mid-January, aiming to make asylum requests at the border safer and more orderly. On a recent morning at a shelter in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, migrants awoke in the middle of the night to upload applications, including a selfie photo scan prone to slow processing. Her husband traveled to the Mexican border city of Nogales alone last week for his appointment, scheduled for March 3.

☆ Tesla can't build in northern Mexico if water is scarce, president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc. would be denied permits to build a plant in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, where it has eyed investing, if water is scarce, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday. Lopez Obrador called out arid Nuevo Leon for its water scarcity earlier this week, instead touting the benefits of Mexico's poorer southern region where he has sought to increase development. In 2020, he said he would withhold permits for a Constellation Brands (STZ.N) brewery in the northern state of Baja California after criticizing the project for consuming too much water in a dry zone. On Friday, the leftist leader praised Constellation for choosing to relocate to a state in southeastern Mexico. "They understood very well," Lopez Obrador said.

☆ Mexico president flags water-scarcity of northern state eyed for Tesla plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An aerial view shows a part of the urban area in the state of Nuevo Leon, where Tesla could build a new electric car plant, in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico December 19, 2022. "There are favorable conditions in Nuevo Leon. Lopez Obrador said he would emphasize to Tesla the need for careful planning around water, electricity and other services, noting certain northern zones ban water extraction while the southeast holds 70% of Mexico's water. Lopez Obrador has made it a priority to draw investment to southern Mexico, which has lacked the level of industrialization that has flourished along Mexico's northern border. Following Lopez Obrador's remarks on Monday, Nuevo Leon Economy Minister Ivan Rivas said water access had not been an issue for companies or held back investment, according to Mexican outlet Milenio.

☆ A burned-out tech worker quit her job at a gaming company to spend time filming ocean critters. It helped her reset.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Daina Buchner quit her tech job at a gaming company last year over burnout concerns. Daina Buchner touching a whale. Courtesy of Daina Buchner. Courtesy of Daina Buchner. Courtesy of Daina Buchner.

Hidalgo, just outside Mexico City, is hundreds of miles from the border yet land and labor costs are lower. The United States and Canada have formally entered a trade dispute over Mexico's energy policy. It remains unclear exactly what Tesla's investment in Mexico will look like and what the company plans to produce in the country. Yet Mexico's capacity for a nearshoring boom has been held back by Lopez Obrador, particularly his energy policies, analysts said. Reporting by Diego Ore and Daina Beth Solomonin Mexico City Additional reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesla's Musk to hold call with Mexico president, factory announcement imminent -Ebrard
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) will soon confirm it has chosen Mexico as a location for a new plant, and CEO Elon Musk is planning to speak with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico's top diplomat said on Friday. He declined to give a time for the phone call or the location for Tesla's Mexico investment. "It will be talked about in the call," said Ebrard, who spoke at an event with Mexican business leaders. Several potential sites have been pitched for Tesla's move to Mexico, with Lopez Obrador saying earlier this month that the states of Nuevo Leon and Hidalgo were leading the race. Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City Additional reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City Writing by Kylie Madry and Stephen Eisenhammer Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Walmart's Mexico unit posts nearly 12% jump in Q4 net profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico unit on Wednesday posted a nearly 12% annual jump in its fourth-quarter net profit, standing at 14.82 billion pesos ($759.65 million), boosted by strong same-store sales in both Mexico and Central America. Revenue for the company stood at 237.82 billion pesos for the quarter, up 11% from the prior October-December period. Same-store sales in the period grew 12.7% in Central America and 10.2% in Mexico, although the company's gross margin fell 20 basis points overall. The company's EBITDA in the quarter stood at 25.34 billion pesos, up 7.5% from last year's 23.56 billion. ($1 = 19.5089 Mexican pesos)Reporting by Valentine Hilaire and Marion Giraldo; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Jacob GarciaMEXICO CITY, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Mexico's overwhelmed asylum agency is strengthening efforts to weed out high numbers of applicants who "abuse" the system while passing through Mexico to reach the United States, Mexico's top asylum official said on Monday. Mexico has the world's third highest number of asylum applications after the United States and Germany, reflecting growing numbers of refugee seekers that have strained resources at the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR). Once migrants request asylum, they are exempt from deportation and are eligible to seek work, motivating many to file applications even without the intent to stay in Mexico, said Andres Ramirez, COMAR's director. "It's an abuse of the asylum system," he told reporters at COMAR's busy Mexico City office. "In the United States, there's a much bigger Afghan community than what we have here."

☆ Not told until the runway: freed Nicaraguan prisoner recounts journey to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Daina Beth Solomon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"It was at that moment (as the bus turned into the airport) that I realized - we all realized - that we were not going to the Modelo prison, but outside the country," Chamorro told an online news conference. "We were not told until we got to the runway." Ortega has described the release as a push to expel criminal provocateurs who sought to undermine Nicaragua. He added he was not ready to discuss what prison was like inside El Chipote, but said, "No human should be in these conditions." Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Over 200 Nicaraguan prisoners, including top Ortega critics, freed and sent to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANAGUA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - More than 200 political prisoners in Nicaragua were released and flown to the United States on Thursday, including leading critics of President Daniel Ortega, in what Washington described as a "constructive step" towards improving human rights. The mass release "opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua regarding issues of concern," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. A Nicaraguan judge denounced the 222 prisoners as "traitors" in a televised statement, and said they had been "deported." The released prisoners will go through the humanitarian parole process, the Biden administration said in a note to Congress. It added that the Nicaraguan government had made "its own decision" to release the prisoners, and urged further steps to ensure human rights in Nicaragua.

[1/5] A few of the more than 200 freed political prisoners from Nicaragua disembark from a bus after they arrived in the United States at Dulles International Airport in Virginia near Washington, U.S., February 9, 2023. A Nicaraguan judge denounced the 222 prisoners released as "traitors" in a televised statement, and said they had been "deported." The released prisoners will be allowed to enter the United States on emergency humanitarian grounds, the administration of President Joe Biden said in a note to Congress. She added: "This sovereign decision of the Nicaraguan state has been taken in the supreme interest of our country, to live in harmony." In addition to the 222 individuals who went to the United States, two others were freed but chose not to travel, the State Department said.

☆ Factbox: Who was freed in Nicaragua's surprise political prisoners release?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Cristiana Chamorro and Pedro Joaquin ChamorroCristiana Chamorro was placed under house arrest in 2021, just as she was leading Ortega in polls to unseat him as president at elections. Her brother Pedro Joaquin Chamorro was also arrested and jailed the same month, according to newspaper La Prensa. Arturo CruzAn academic who was Nicaragua's ambassador to the United States between 2007 and 2009, Cruz was arrested in 2021 after returning to Managua from Washington. Like Mairena, he was arrested in 2021 over accusations of crimes during the 2018 protests. On Thursday, he declined to board the plane to Washington, preferring to stay home instead, one of only two prisoners to do so.

[1/3] Mexico City's Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum speaks near Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (not pictured) during a news conference at the Old City Hall (Antiguo Palacio del Ayuntamiento), in Mexico City, Mexico January 20, 2023. "If accidents continue, like a cable or the signal system breaks, the National Guard is not going to detect that or make a difference," Miranda said. A school collapse that killed 19 children in a 2017 earthquake happened on her watch as a district mayor of Mexico City. She filed a criminal complaint accusing two prior attorneys for the district of failing to enforce the law after discovering illegal construction, and became Mexico City Mayor in 2018. Now, Lopez Obrador has backed her decision to use the National Guard, in a clear sign of support for her.

☆ Colombia arrests two more suspects in Paraguayan prosecutor's murder
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Courtesy of Colombian Attorney/Handout via REUTERSBOGOTA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Two more people suspected of participating in the May murder of a Paraguayan prosecutor have been arrested, the Colombian prosecutor's office said on Sunday. Prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, 45, known for fighting organized crime, was shot dead on the island of Baru near the Caribbean city of Cartagena while honeymooning with his wife. In the latest arrests, brothers Andres Perez and Ramon Perez are accused of arranging the logistics behind the murder, including hiring hitmen, who they planned to pay large sums of money, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. Attorneys for the Perez brothers could not be reached for comment. Officials seized documents, clothing and a car that had been used during the planning of the murder, the prosecutor's office added in a statement.

☆ Jamaica seizes $80 million worth of cocaine from cargo ship
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Kate Chappell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KINGSTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Jamaican authorities have seized an estimated $80 million worth of cocaine from a ship at the port of Kingston in one of the country's biggest-ever drug busts, authorities said. Jamaican officials discovered the shipment hidden inside a cargo ship from South America, the Jamaica Constabulary Force said in a statement late on Saturday, putting its estimated street value at $80 million. The search of the cargo ship yielded more than 1,500 kilograms (3,306 lbs) of cocaine, the police said. Neither the police nor the defense force named the ship found to be carrying the cocaine and no arrests have been made. In October, global police agency Interpol said Jamaican authorities had made a record bust of 500 kilograms of cocaine, worth around $25 million, slated to be shipped on a private jet to Canada.

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