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☆ Analysis: Security, migration trump energy dispute at Biden Mexico summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Dave Graham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The U.S. government appears reluctant to antagonize Mexico on energy lest it interfere with cooperation on the border and security, two far bigger U.S. domestic issues, analysts said. Under pressure from Republican opponents to curb record illegal crossings, the administration of Biden, a Democrat, has focused much of its dealings with Mexico on border security. Trump threatened Mexico with trade tariffs if it did not stem migrant flows, but he did little to upbraid Lopez Obrador over energy policies that U.S. firms say are unfair. And the Biden administration did contact U.S. energy companies ahead of the Mexico City summit to ask them how Mexico's policies have impacted their business operations there, according to a document seen by Reuters. Two Mexican officials said there was little advance on the energy dispute between Mexico and Washington this week.

[1/18] U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with border patrol officers as he walks along the border fence during his visit to the U.S.-Mexico border to assess border enforcement operations, in El Paso, Texas, U.S., January 8, 2023. Biden on Thursday said his administration would tighten immigration enforcement by blocking Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants at the border, expanding the nationalities of those who can be expelled back to Mexico. But that has not impressed Republicans like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who accused him of failing to enforce immigration laws. Biden told reporters he had not yet read the letter. On the ground in El Paso, migrants greeted the new policy with trepidation.

[1/3] Julio Marquez and Yalimar Chirinos, migrants from Venezuela, display signs near the border between the United States and Mexico, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, January 7, 2023. He has the same message for U.S. President Joe Biden, who visits the Texas city of El Paso, just across the border, on Sunday. "We hope he helps us, that he lets us pass, since we're suffering a lot here in Mexico," said Marquez, 32. "Send me wherever you want, I'll come back," said Jonathan Tovar, 29, speaking on Friday from behind the fence of Mexico's migration office in Ciudad Juarez. "I want the president of the United States to give me and my family a chance."

[1/4] Migrants queue near the border fence, after crossing the Rio Bravo river, to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 5, 2023. Initial backlash to Biden's policy shift also signals it could be challenged in court, from both those who favor restricting immigration and advocates for asylum seekers. The restrictions, known as Title 42, allow U.S. authorities to rapidly expel migrants caught at the border back to Mexico without the chance to claim asylum in the United States. The Biden administration tried last year to end the Title 42 border restrictions, but U.S. courts have left them in place and legal challenges are ongoing. The court rulings that left the Title 42 order in place give the Biden administration time to experiment with different strategies.

[1/5] A government official talks to migrants waiting to regularize their migration status outside Mexico's Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico January 3, 2023. Title 42 was originally put in place to curb the spread of COVID, but U.S. health authorities have since said it is no longer needed for public health reasons. Immigrant advocates say the policy is inhumane and it exposes vulnerable migrants to serious risks, like kidnapping or assault, in Mexican border towns. 'GIVE US A CHANCE'Police in Tapachula and the National Guard erected fences around COMAR offices to block large crowds of migrants, Reuters images show. Nearly 400,000 migrants were detained in Mexico through November, twice as many as in 2019, official data show.

☆ General Motors, Mexico economy ministry talk EV production - ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY, Jan 3 (Reuters) - General Motors (GM.N) discussed plans to produce only electric vehicles at its Ramos Arizpe plant in northern Mexico, the country's economy ministry said in a tweet on Tuesday, following a meeting with the U.S. carmaker. (This story has been corrected to remove reference to 5,000 new jobs after the government officially clarified these were 4,500 jobs already created at separate plants over the course of the past four years)Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Daina Beth SolomonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Audi workers in Mexico extend strike deadline to Jan. 11
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Worker representatives at German automaker Audi's Mexico plant have extended a strike deadline to Jan. 11 from Jan. 1 as they aim to reach an agreement with the firm over pay raises, a union document seen by Reuters on Friday showed. The Independent Union of Audi Mexico Workers (SITAUDI) and Audi had previously negotiated two options to raise wages for the plant's 4,000 unionized employees in the central state of Puebla. Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Writing by Anthony EspositoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] Migrants run to hide from the U.S. Border Patrol and Texas State Troopers after crossing into the United States from Mexico, in El Paso, Texas, U.S., December 23, 2022. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a request by a group of Republican state attorneys general to put on hold a judge's decision invalidating Title 42. The court said it would hear arguments on whether the states could intervene to defend Title 42 during its February session. "If they don't end Title 42," he said, "we're going to keep entering illegally." Elsewhere along the border, other migrants said they felt they had run out of options.

After the U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled that restrictions known as Title 42 could stay in place temporarily, many migrants are facing a Christmas weekend of what Mexico's weather service called a "mass of arctic air." said Walmix Juin, a 32-year-old Haitian migrant preparing for the weekend in a flimsy tent in the city of Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas. Title 42 allows the United States to return migrants to Mexico or certain countries without a chance to request asylum. Without clarity on when it will finish, some officials worry their cities could be overwhelmed if more migrants turn up. "U.S. migration policy has a big impact here on the border," Reynosa Mayor Carlos Pena Ortiz said on Friday.

☆ Audi union in Mexico sets Jan. 1 strike deadline as workers eye higher pay
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Worker representatives at automaker Audi's Mexico plant have set a Jan. 1 deadline to reach an agreement with the company over pay raises without launching a strike, the union said on Thursday. The Independent Union of Audi Mexico Workers (SITAUDI) and Audi had previously negotiated two options to raise wages for the plant's 4,000 unionized employees in the central state of Puebla. Workers last week voted down both proposals, sending their union and employers back into discussions. Audi, which is owned by German carmaker Volkswagen , said it would continue talks with SITAUDI in hopes of reaching a deal that benefits the company and workers. Workers at a nearby Volkswagen plant initially rejected an offer negotiated by their union for 9% raises, one of the highest at an automaker in recent years.

☆ Mexican president says authorities must examine alleged plagiarism by top judge
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday said authorities should resolve a case of alleged plagiarism by a Supreme Court justice he nominated who is in the running to take the helm of the country's top tribunal. Justice Yasmin Esquivel was this week accused by Mexican news outlet Latinus of plagiarizing her 1987 university undergraduate thesis, prompting calls for her to step down. Esquivel called the media report "totally false," and on Twitter posted letters of support from academics who supervised her thesis and further studies. When asked about the case during a regular news conference, Lopez Obrador said it was up to authorities to resolve the matter, and noted he could not be wholly objective on it. Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City Additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City Editing by Dave Graham and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/6] Migrants queue near the border fence, after crossing the Rio Bravo river, to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents and request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 21, 2022. Watching migrants trickle past gates into the United States, several Venezuelans lamented the last-minute move. Title 42 allows U.S. authorities to send migrants of certain nationalities, including Venezuelans, back to Mexico without a chance to seek asylum. Migrants in other border cities face a similar quandary. With temperatures forecast to chill further, he worries that those anxious to reach the United States will risk their lives crossing the river.

☆ Canada's First Quantum Minerals ordered to suspend operations at Panama mine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Elida Moreno | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PANAMA CITY, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Panama's government ordered Canada's First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) on Thursday to pause operations at its flagship copper mine in the country after missing a deadline to finalize a deal that would have increased payments to the government from the mine. The government had given Minera Panama, which is majority-owned by First Quantum Minerals, until Wednesday to sign an agreement reached in January to pay $375 million a year to the government from its Cobre Panama mine. Panama's government ordered the commerce and industry ministry to suspend Minera Panama's operations at the mine after a midnight deadline was missed. Months of talks between the miner and government continued until early morning Thursday, the commerce and industry ministry said. First Quantum Mineral's $6 billion investment in the open-pit mine, where operations began in 2019, is considered the largest private investment in the Central American country and accounts for roughly 3.5% of Panama's gross domestic product.

The kidnappings are a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants as they travel across Mexico, crisscrossing areas rife with drug violence and weak rule of law. The National Guard confirmed the details in a separate statement. Fernando Reverte, president of Mapimi, a municipality which the migrants passed through after their capture and release, said the group of kidnapped migrants totaled about 1,500. [1/6] Members of the security forces work on a rescue operation of kidnapped migrants, in Ciudad Lerdo, Durando, Mexico in this handout image released December 6, 2022. The migrants broke down the building's front door, and found members of the National Guard, the Army and the INM outside.

☆ Trade panel sides with Mexico, Canada in auto rules dispute, Mexico says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Dec 9 (Reuters) - A dispute panel under a regional trade pact has sided with Mexico and Canada against the United States in a disagreement over regional content requirements for the auto sector, Mexico's presidency said on Friday in a tweet that was later deleted. "The decision could generate more incentives to generate auto parts in our country," the tweet said. Mexico's economy ministry told Reuters it would speak on the subject "once the resolution becomes official." Mexico is also in a trade dispute with the United States regarding its energy policies, which the United States calls nationalist and unfriendly to U.S. firms and a violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Reporting by Kylie Madry and Adriana Barrera; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Uber, delivery apps propose offering Mexico drivers social security
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Tech giant Uber (UBER.N) and delivery apps DiDi and Rappi have proposed offering social security benefits to workers in Mexico for the first time ahead of a new government bill set to regulate the gig economy. They stopped short of agreeing to classify drivers as employees, however, and few details were given on how payments towards social security costs would be divided. It is also unclear if the bill will seek to make drivers employees, or propose other reforms in line with the apps' statement. Ridesharing and delivery apps worldwide have pushed back against calls to classify workers as employees rather than independent contractors, saying the change would hinder their business models and deny drivers flexibility. Reporting by Isabel Woodford, Editing by Daina Beth Solomon, Cynthia Osterman and Anna DriverOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Independent union wins bargaining rights at 3M in central Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Daina Beth Solomon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Independent Mexican union La Liga has won the right to represent workers at a 3M Co (MMM.N) plant, authorities said on Monday, marking a second victory for the fledgling group at a pivotal moment for workers to take on entrenched interests. Workers at 3M's plant in the central city of San Luis Potosi, which makes everything from Post-It notes to N95 masks, voted in January to reject the collective contract negotiated by their long-established union, the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), opening the door to new representation. The union now has six months to negotiate a new contract, and aims to ensure salaries that keep up with Mexico's climbing inflation, Saucedo said. It has previously said it aims to offer competitive salaries and ensure job stability and will negotiate with the union chosen by workers. Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ One factory worker takes on Mexico's powerful unions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Daina Beth Solomon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

CTM representatives say their unions defend worker rights, offer perks such as scholarships and sports programs and abide by Mexico's new labor rules. Along with La Liga, other new unions have also won victories over powerful rivals in the past year at GM, Japan's Panasonic (6752.T) and French glassmaker Saint-Gobain (SGOB.PA), pledging better pay. Even among the new crop, La Liga stands out for its broader vision: targeting companies no matter the sector, no matter the location. Leaving her three kids at home, she is traveling factory to factory seeking support. What's more, to drum up support, La Liga must fight a deeply embedded culture of fear and apathy around speaking out.

☆ Elon Musk eyes potential investment in Mexico's Nuevo Leon state - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk is considering investing in the Mexican northern border state of Nuevo Leon, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. Musk recently had a meeting in the state with Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia along with other local officials and Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, one of the sources said. A spokesperson for the Nuevo Leon government declined to comment. Neither Tesla nor the U.S. embassy immediately responded to requests for comment. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Dave GrahamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesla's Musk eyes potential investment in Mexican border state -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk is considering investing in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, which borders Texas, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. Musk recently held a meeting in the state with Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia along with other local officials and Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, one of the sources said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA spokesperson for the Nuevo Leon government declined to comment. Musk's visit to Nuevo Leon was originally reported by Mexican media. Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, has its own lane at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Nuevo Leon to facilitate trade for local suppliers, the state government said in August.

☆ Mexico will propose expanding U.S. humanitarian access for Venezuelans
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday he will propose to the United States expanding a program announced last week to grant up to 24,000 Venezuelans humanitarian access to the United States by air. "We are going to be asking that they give out more," he told a regular news conference. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Daina Beth SolomonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Walmart's net profit rises 10% in Mexico, even as expenses climb
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico unit on Thursday posted a 10% jump in third-quarter net profit, tracking analyst estimates, while expenses grew faster than revenue due to higher e-commerce and labor costs, the company said. Walmart de Mexico (WALMEX.MX), the biggest retailer in Mexico, posted a net profit of 12.15 billion pesos ($603.8 million), or 0.70 pesos a share, compared with the Refinitiv estimate of 0.69 pesos. The company known as Walmex said e-commerce makes up 4.8% of total Mexico sales, up from 4.5% a year ago. "The current environment requires a lot more focus and attention than the day-to-day business typically does," said Chief Executive Guilherme Loureiro in the results webcast. Annual inflation hit 8.76% in the first half of September.

☆ Walmart's Mexico unit sees quarterly net profit rise 10%
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico unit on Thursday said its third-quarter net profit rose 10% from the year-earlier period, helped by strong same-store sales as the retailer works to keep prices low at a time of swelling inflation. Walmart de Mexico (WALMEX.MX), the biggest retailer in Mexico, posted a net profit of 12.15 billion pesos ($603.8 million). The quarterly revenue of 197.89 billion pesos equated to a 12.4% rise from the prior July-to-September period. The company known as Walmex said in a statement it opened 26 stores in the quarter in Mexico and Central America, and invested in its e-commerce business, which now makes up 4.8% of total sales in Mexico. ($1 = 20.1271 pesos at end-September)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Noe Torres; Editing by Cassandra Garrison and Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Venezuelan migrants, some expelled from the U.S. to Mexico under Title 42 and others who have not crossed yet, protest new immigration policies on the banks of the Rio Bravo river, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico October 18, 2022. Ciudad Juarez, next to El Paso, has taken most migrants, with over 1,000 people, followed by Tijuana, opposite San Diego, with close to 700, according to local officials. Mexico, meanwhile, is worried many Venezuelans are still heading north to reach the U.S. border, a Mexican official said. Venezuelan migrant Franklin Pajaro told Reuters he was sent to Ciudad Juarez on Monday with his wife and two children after six days in U.S. detention, without food, clothing or money. "They left us on the street," he said, as his four-year-old son Saul wiped tears from his father's eyes.

☆ Mexican opposition lawmaker says he was target of Pegasus spyware
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Daina Beth Solomon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Federal lawmaker Basave from the center-left Citizens' Movement in the wealthy northern city of Monterrey said an analysis from leading cyber watchdog Citizen Lab found Pegasus on his phone in September 2021. Pegasus belongs to Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, which typically only sells the software to governments or law enforcement. When asked about Basave's case, NSO Group said Citizen Lab investigations are not able to differentiate between NSO tools and other cyber intelligence software. Citizen Lab said it rejects that assertion. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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