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Pemex, which had financial debt totaling nearly $108 billion at the close of last year, pays a profit sharing rate (DUC) - effectively a tax paid to the government - of 40%. Delaying Pemex's payment of the DUC should give the oil giant some $2 billion in cash flow, said Yorio. "We can do this quickly to provide liquidity to Pemex, not through a capitalization, but by allowing it not to immediately pay the royalty, the profit sharing rate," said Yorio. Separately, Yorio said Mexico would not need to issue debt to finance its $6 billion deal to buy 13 power plants from Spanish energy company Iberdrola (IBE.MC). Lopez Obrador has described the deal, which will boost state power utility Comision Federal de Electricidad's (CFE) market share to nearly 56% of Mexico's total power generation from about 40%, as a "new nationalization".

☆ Justice Department to announce charges against more than 24 Mexican drug cartel members
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Mirna Alsharif | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Justice Department plans to announce charges against more than 24 Mexican drug cartel leaders and members, according to senior law enforcement officials. The announcement is expected on Friday morning and is part of the Drug Enforcement Administration's push to target the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) groups, the officials say. "The Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco cartel and their affiliates control the vast majority of the fentanyl global supply chain, from manufacture to distribution," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told Congress last month. The Sinaloa cartel "remains the most powerful" drug trafficking organization in Mexico despite the conviction of El Chapo, experts said. El Chapo's arrest also led to intensification of bloody clashes with the CJNG, which split from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010.

☆ BBVA, Santander, Bank of America want to back Mexico's $6 billion power deal, Bloomberg reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of Spanish utility company Iberdrola is seen outside its headquarters in Madrid, Spain, May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Perez/File PhotoApril 13 (Reuters) - Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA.MC), Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) together plan to fund Mexico's $6 billion deal to purchase power plants from Spain's Iberdrola (IBE.MC), Bloomberg News reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the talks. The three lenders are among a consortium looking to finance the deal, the report said, with local banks such as Grupo Financiero Banorte and billionaire Carlos Slim's Grupo Financiero Inbursa also interested. The Bank of America declined to comment on the report, while Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Banco Santander SA and Iberdrola did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mexico eyes U.S. return of $246 million confiscated from former official
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, April 12 (Reuters) - The United States has said it will return money and assets confiscated from a convicted former senior Mexican state official that were worth over $246 million, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday. The U.S. Justice Department this week notified Mexico's attorney general's office that it had accepted a request from the Mexican government to recover the assets, which Lopez Obrador said were worth more than $246 million. Lopez Obrador told a news conference he wanted some of the money to go to programs focused on preventing drug consumption. Villarreal, who served under the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), was ultimately convicted in Texas of money laundering. Lopez Obrador is hoping his National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) can change that, but opinion polls suggest the party is facing an uphill struggle due to internal splits.

☆ Prosecutors probe Mexico immigration chief over fire that killed 40 migrants
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A view shows migrants camp outside the immigration detention center where several migrants died after a fire broke out at the center, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico April 10, 2023. The fire, which authorities say began after one or more of the migrants set alight mattresses as a protest, claimed the lives of 40 male migrants, most of them from Central America. "Today we discussed the possibility of some being accused of negligence, others of homicide," Lopez Obrador said, noting prosecutors have yet to give more details of the probe. Lopez Obrador said Tuesday the migrants were unable to escape from the facility located near the U.S. border because the person holding the key to their cell was absent. The prosecutors' statement Tuesday accused top immigration officials of failing to "watch over, protect and ensure the safety of the people and facilities in their charge."

☆ Mexico investigates top migration officials after deadly fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, April 11 (Reuters) - Mexican prosecutors have launched criminal proceedings against top immigration officials as they investigate a fire that killed 40 migrants in a detention center last month, the Attorney General's office said on Tuesday. The Attorney General's office said in a statement it had launched criminal proceedings against six public officials in connection with the fire, identifying them only by first name, as is customary in Mexico. It did not specify whether the people had been charged or would face charges, and neither the office nor INM provided additional details. "They indicate a pattern of irresponsibility," the Attorney General's office said. The statement also alleged that Gonzalez and three other officials were linked to conduct that led to the deaths of the migrants.

☆ Missing key to cell sealed fate of migrants in Mexico fire, president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Jose Luis GonzalezMEXICO CITY, April 11 (Reuters) - The 40 migrants who died in a fire at a detention center in Mexico last month were unable to escape because the person with the key to their locked cell was absent, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday. "The door was locked, because the person with the key wasn't there," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference. Five people so far have been arrested, including private security personnel and agents from Mexico's National Migration Institute, and another arrest warrant is still pending. Hearses carrying the bodies of victims from Guatemala and Honduras were taken to the Ciudad Juarez airport to be repatriated on Tuesday. Reporting by Kylie Madry, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mexican officials to hold talks in U.S. on fentanyl smuggling -president
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The meeting's agenda will include other topics, including arms trafficking, the president said, without providing details on which U.S. officials would participate. U.S. officials say almost all fentanyl on U.S. streets is mass produced by powerful crime groups on Mexican soil, a claim Lopez Obrador denies. Lopez Obrador on Monday repeated that no fentanyl is synthesized inside Mexico, a claim the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) disputes. "In Mexico fentanyl is not produced, the raw material for fentanyl is not produced. Who is producing it?," Lopez Obrador said during a regular news conference Monday.

☆ Trump, newly charged, urges defunding US Justice Department and FBI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Rami Ayyub | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

But Trump faces two Justice Department criminal investigations led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. "REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SHOULD DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO THEIR SENSES," Trump wrote on his social media platform. The FBI, part of the Justice Department, is the U.S. domestic intelligence and security agency. Trump backed spending increases for the Justice Department while serving as president from 2017 to 2021. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

☆ Mexico inflation eases to 17-month low of 6.85% in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 5 (Reuters) - Mexico's annual inflation slowed in March by more than expected to 6.85%, the lowest rate in nearly 1-1/2 years, although core price pressures remained elevated, data from national statistics agency INEGI showed on Wednesday. The March reading was the lowest since October 2021, and came in below the consensus forecast of 6.90%, as determined by a Reuters poll. Still, a measure of core inflation, which strips out some volatile items, slowed less than anticipated to 8.09% from 8.29% the previous month. Month-on-month, Mexico's headline consumer price index rose by 0.27%, less than the 0.31% forecast in the Reuters poll. Banxico has raised rates by 725 basis points since its rate-hiking cycle started in June 2021 to combat inflation.

☆ Mexican Government to Buy Power Plants From Spain’s Iberdrola
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Anthony Harrup | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iberdrola said it would continue to develop renewable energy in Mexico with the backing of the Mexican government. MEXICO CITY—The Mexican government reached an agreement to buy 13 power-generation plants from Spanish electricity company Iberdrola SA for around $6 billion, the latest bid by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to recover state share of the industry, the government and the company said. Mr. López Obrador, whose government has been in disputes with Iberdrola in recent years, met in Mexico City on Tuesday with Iberdrola executives.

☆ Mexican president criticizes Trump felony charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Brendan O'Boyle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, April 5 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday said he does not agree with the criminal charges brought against former U.S. President Donald Trump. "Supposedly legal issues should not be used for electoral, political purposes," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference. Trump, the first sitting or former U.S. president to face criminal charges, pleaded not guilty. "It should be the people who decide," said Lopez Obrador, who said he could not say whether Trump was guilty or not. Lopez Obrador went on to lose the 2006 and 2012 presidential election - results he did not accept, alleging massive voter fraud.

☆ Mexico asks China for help to control fentanyl shipments
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, April 4 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday he had sent a letter to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping urging him to help control shipments of the synthetic opioid fentanyl sent across the Pacific. U.S. and Mexican officials argue that the ingredients used to make fentanyl are chiefly sent from Asia, but Lopez Obrador argues Mexico is not a production hub for the drug. Some Republicans have urged Washington to authorize the use of military force in Mexico to tackle the problem, a suggestion that has been vigorously rejected by Lopez Obrador. In his letter, Lopez Obrador complained to Xi about interference in Mexico's affairs by U.S. lawmakers. Lopez Obrador then asked Xi if he could provide Mexico with information on when, where, and how much fentanyl was being sent across the Pacific, and by whom.

☆ Mexico sees growth of up to 3% this year, eyes nearshoring boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Anthony Esposito | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Mexico's inflation rate by the end of this year is seen slowing to 5.0%, and then to 4.0% by the end of 2024. Mexico's central bank raised rates 25 basis points to 11.25% Thursday, but hinted the hiking cycle could be nearing its end. Mexico is also primed to benefit from private investment fueled by "nearshoring," the trend of moving production to North America and away from Asia, the ministry said. Nearshoring could add up to 1.2 percentage points to GDP the ministry said, without specifying a time frame. In particular, the ministry anticipated a boost to foreign investment in manufacturing, and said the automotive industry was a "natural candidate" to take advantage of nearshoring.

☆ Mexican probe into missing students beset by delays and failure, watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI), human rights experts who have tracked the investigation, on Friday urged the military to cooperate with informational requests, and for prosecutors to issue more arrest orders. "We have insisted on the need for verifying and carrying out these arrest orders," she told a news conference. Prosecutors last year called for the arrests of 83 military, police and government officials, among others, with 21 of the arrest orders later withdrawn. Buitrago said the GIEI has now sent evidence to prosecutors supporting the arrest orders that were dropped. The rights experts said the military had told them that certain documents and records did not exist even after the GIEI had obtained some of those same records.

☆ Exclusive: Canada's ATCO gives Mexico troubled pipeline after damage award -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Dave Graham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Lopez Obrador afterward met representatives from Canadian energy companies, including ATCO, and details of the transfer were concluded in late February, one of the sources said. Neither ATCO, CFE, the Canadian government or Lopez Obrador's office immediately replied to requests for comment. Arguing that past governments skewed Mexico's energy market in favor of private capital, Lopez Obrador has taken a series of steps to bolster state control of the sector. Last July the U.S. and Canadian governments launched formal dispute resolution talks with Mexico over energy. The company argued Mexico had not done enough to enable the pipeline's completion, and the London Court of International Arbitration agreed, Reuters reported.

☆ Mexico Probes Possible Staff Negligence in Fire That Killed 38 Migrants
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Anthony Harrup | Santiago Pérez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY—Mexican federal prosecutors will investigate possible negligence in the response to a fire at a migrant detention center in the border city of Ciudad Juárez that left at least 38 migrants dead as actions of staff at the facility came under scrutiny, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday. A surveillance video shows migrants trapped in locked cells as the fire erupted on Monday night, while two guards appear to make no attempt to release the detained men as smoke filled the detention area. The authenticity of the video was confirmed by Interior Minister Adán Augusto López.

☆ El Salvador condemns staff at Mexican migrant center after deadly fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 29 (Reuters) - El Salvador condemned on Tuesday the action of detention center staff in Mexico during a fire that killed at least 38 migrants, including "several" Salvadorans, and demanded a thorough investigation. Pope Francis prayed in Spanish for the migrants who died yesterday in a tragic fire in Ciudad Juarez. Let us pray for that" the Pope said during his weekly address to crowds in St Peter's Square on Wednesday. A video shared on social media appears to show three people at the center in what appear to be official uniforms failing to open a cell door as the fire began. By the end of the video the smoke is so thick the cell can no longer be seen.

☆ Migrants were locked behind bars during deadly Mexico fire, witnesses say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Lizbeth Diaz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, March 29 (Reuters) - Migrants were locked in a cell as a blaze spread killing 39 people at a detention center in Mexico, witnesses and a survivor said on Wednesday, as Mexico's president vowed to bring to justice those responsible. "There'll be no attempt to hide the facts, no attempt to cover for anyone," he told a news conference in Mexico city. All the victims were male, and Mexico's government is under pressure to find out why they died after officials said the women migrants at the center were successfully evacuated. Outside a hospital in Ciudad Juarez, which sits across the border from El Paso, Texas, family members anxiously waited for news of their loved ones who had been injured in the fire. Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Ciudad Juarez and Daina Beth Solomon, Dave Graham and Valentine Hilaire in Mexico City; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 2022 was most dangerous year for journalists in Mexico -advocacy group
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People march as they attend a demonstration to protest against the murder of journalists in Mexico City, Mexico, May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Edgard GarridoMEXICO CITY, March 28 (Reuters) - Last year was the most violent on record for journalists in Mexico, the free-speech group Article 19 said on Tuesday, citing security forces and other state agents as the main offenders. In 2022, Article 19 recorded 696 crimes against media workers, ranging from intimidation and harassment to kidnapping and murder, the organization said in its annual report. "In Mexico, journalists are killed, but they are also intimidated and silenced systematically and recurrently through harassment, stigmatization, threats and the illegitimate use of public power," the report said. Article 19 compared the level of attacks on journalists in the fourth year of previous Mexican presidents.

☆ Fire Started in Protest at Mexican Migrant Detention Center Kills Dozens
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Santiago Pérez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

At least 39 migrants were killed and 29 seriously injured in a fire at a migrant detention facility in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, started by occupants protesting against their impending deportation, authorities said Tuesday. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said according to initial reports, the fire was started when some of the detained migrants lighted mattresses as a protest when they heard they would be deported.

☆ What’s John Kerry Doing in Mexico?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Mary Anastasia O Grady | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

During a visit to Mexico last week President Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry , heaped praise on President Andrés Manuel López Obrador . “I see wisdom in his leadership that wants to undo some of the mistakes of the past and help to promote the interests of the people,” Mr. Kerry said of the 69-year-old career politician who sat nearby whispering to his team and grinning. Mr. Kerry apparently saw no irony in linking arms for a photo-op, on the same trip, with Manuel Bartlett , one of the most notorious “dinosaurs” of Mexico’s one-party state during the 20th century. Mr. Bartlett is now the director of the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission, or CFE, which is at the center of a dispute with American renewable-energy investors.

☆ Mexico will not prohibit Chinese-owned TikTok app, says president
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a news conference at the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection in Mexico City, Mexico March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Henry RomeroMEXICO CITY, March 27 (Reuters) - The Mexican government will not ban the popular video sharing social media application TikTok, the country's president said on Monday, even as the United States moves closer to a possible prohibition on the Chinese-owned app due to security concerns. The Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday the United States has not presented any evidence that TikTok presents a threat to national security. Meanwhile, Canada announced last month a ban on the app from government-issued devices, also citing risks to privacy and security. Other countries and entities have also elected to ban TikTok.

Obrador's decision to roll back reforms aimed at opening Mexico's power and oil markets to outside competitors sparked the trade dispute. If not, the U.S. will request an independent dispute settlement panel under the Unites States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USCMA, they said. The United States and Canada demanded dispute settlement talks with Mexico in July - 250 days ago. Under USMCA rules, after 75 days without a resolution, they were free to request a dispute settlement panel, a third party that rules on the case. In my view, it’s long past time to say enough is enough and escalate this into a real dispute settlement case," Wyden said.

☆ Mexico government to challenge Supreme Court suspension of electoral reform
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A general view of the Supreme Court building where Ministers elected a new President for the Supreme Court, in Mexico City, Mexico January 2, 2023.REUTERS/Henry Romero/File PhotoMEXICO CITY, March 26 (Reuters) - The Mexican government said Sunday it would challenge the Supreme Court's temporary suspension of parts of a controversial electoral reform pushed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The Supreme Court on Friday halted parts of the reform, which was a scaled-down version of a failed constitutional reform originally sought. The court also confirmed it will consider a lawsuit from independent electoral institute INE that seeks to overturn it. The Supreme Court's statement said in its statement Friday that the case involved "the possible violation of citizen's political-electoral rights." The government has said the reform seeks to reduce the bureaucratic costs of elections and strengthen democratic principles.

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