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☆ Peru extends state of emergency in protest-hit cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Marco Aquino | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LIMA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Peru has extended a state of emergency for another month in the capital city of Lima and two southern regions where deadly protests against the government have sparked the country's worst violence in 20 years. Peru first announced a month-long, nationwide state of emergency in mid-December, shortly after demonstrations broke out over the ousting of former leftist President Pedro Castillo, who had attempted to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. "She says sorry, sorry, but she doesn't come out to talk, she sends the police, the military to go kill." As of Jan. 12-13, a poll by Ipsos Peru published in newspaper Peru 21 on Sunday showed 71% of Peruvians disapproved of Boluarte's government up from 68% in December. Protesters have demanded Boluarte step down, and that Castillo, who was arrested for "rebellion," be released.

☆ Peru's economy grows 1.68% year-on-year in November
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LIMA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Peru's economy expanded 1.68% in November compared with the same month a year before, the national statistics institute (INEI) said on Sunday, marking a slight slowdown from the year-on-year rise of 2.01% in October. 2 copper producer drove growth in November, including mining, agriculture, power utilities, construction, retail, transportation and other services. From January to November, the economy grew 2.70%, INEI said. A central bank official last week said the Andean country's economy likely grew just under 2.9% last year, less than forecast, due in part to protests over the ousting in December of former leftist President Pedro Castillo. Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Peru extends state of emergency for one month in Lima, Puno and Cusco
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LIMA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Peru's President Dina Boluarte has extended a state of emergency for 30 days in the capital and two southern regions, according to a decree signed late on Saturday, following protests that have left more than 40 people dead. A demonstrator waves Peru's flag as security forces stand guard during a protest to demand the dissolution of Congress and democratic elections, rejecting Dina Boluarte as Peru's president, after the ouster of leftist President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru January 12, 2023. REUTERS/Alessandro Cinque/File PhotoThe extended measures, which grant police special powers and limit freedoms including the right to assembly, apply to Lima and the heavily indigenous southern regions of Puno and Cusco. Restrictions in Puno, which has seen violent clashes between demonstrators and police, include a 10-day curfew. Peru first announced a month-long, nationwide state of emergency in mid-December, shortly after protests broke out over the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo.

Launched in 2020, the app has previously been used to allow people crossing legally at land ports of entry to submit their information beforehand and for non-governmental organizations to request humanitarian entry for certain migrants. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration touts the app as a more regulated, potentially quicker alternative to crossing the border. Rodriguez has been camping in Matamoros, a Mexican border city across from Brownsville, since late November with over a dozen family members, some of whom have already crossed into the United States. Claudia Martinez, a 38-year-old Venezuelan waiting in Tijuana, was unable to access CBP One despite several tries. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Daina Solomon in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Jackie Botts in Oaxaca City, Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Audi Mexico and union avert strike in deal for 9.4% pay rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Volkswagen AG FollowMEXICO CITY, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Carmaker Audi's Mexico unit and worker representatives have agreed to 9.4% salary raises for 2023, forestalling a strike in reaching a deal for one of the highest automaker wage hikes in Mexico in recent years. The Independent Union of Audi Mexico Workers (SITAUDI) and Audi previously negotiated two options to raise wages for the plant's 4,000 unionized employees in the central state of Puebla, but workers in December rejected both. The 9.4% increase tops a recent deal at Volkswagen in Mexico for 9% wage raises this year, which also followed worker rejections of earlier proposals. The revamped deal "gives certainty and stability to the workers and their families," SITAUDI said in a statement. Audi said Tuesday evening that it had managed to avert a strike slated for Wednesday, and that the company prioritized the financial stability of workers.

☆ 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.

REUTERS/Jesus HernandezEL TOCUYO, Venezuela, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Julio Perez, a 38-year-old auto mechanic, sold his car and tools to make the dangerous journey from Venezuela to the United States. But like many migrants in the two months since the United States changed its immigration policy, he opted to board a plane back to Venezuela. Sandoval trekked through muddy pathways and waste-high rivers, only to find out the news of the Title 42 policy after emerging. "To be told this news was really, really awful after everything I experienced there in the jungle," Sandoval said. Like Sandoval, Perez - who says he would never attempt to cross the Darien again - is still haunted by his journey of broken dreams.

☆ 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.

☆ Moderna just used a personalized vaccine to treat cancer, and it could signal a major breakthrough in how we treat the disease
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Moderna's cancer vaccine lowered the risk of death or skin-cancer recurrence in a midstage study. Moderna's CEO Stéphane Bancel compared the cancer study results to the initial outbreak of COVID-19, when Moderna scrambled to respond and develop a vaccine. Bancel said Moderna and its partner, Merck, would launch multiple late-stage studies in 2023 to test the cancer vaccine in not just melanoma patients but other types of cancer. Merck paid $250 million earlier this year to jointly develop Moderna's vaccine, extending a partnership between the two drugmakers that began in 2016. Study results have yet to be presented at a conference or published in a journal.

☆ 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.

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