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MEXICO CITY, March 3 (Reuters) - Mexico would not be able to match the incentives offered under a U.S. act to tame inflation if Tesla Inc builds a battery plant in the country, Mexico's finance minister said on Friday, days after Tesla announced the construction of a "gigafactory" there. Tesla (TSLA.O) has not confirmed whether it will also build a battery plant in Mexico, but local officials say Tesla has visited the central states of Hidalgo, Queretaro and Puebla to scout potential sites. A decision on a battery plant in Mexico has yet to be announced. "The battery plant was not in (Tesla's) original plan, it was the Mexican government's suggestion," Ramirez said. Without legislation, Ramirez said, Mexico would not be able to match U.S. incentives.
BOGOTA, March 3 (Reuters) - A group of 88 police officers and employees of oil firm Emerald Energy taken hostage in Colombia amid a deadly protest against the company have been freed, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday. Rural and indigenous protesters also took 79 police officers and nine Emerald employees hostage, blocked access to an oil field, and set a fire to demand the company fix roads in the area, authorities said. Petro confirmed the hostages had been freed Friday, calling on investigators to find those responsible for the deaths. Emerald Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Massive forest fires rage on in eastern Cuba
  + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Nelson Acosta | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
HAVANA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Forest fires raged on in Cuba's eastern region on Monday, inching toward more populated ground more than a week after sparking near a national park. More than 2,000 hectares of forest, including plantations and coffee crops, have been devoured by the flames, authorities said, as firefighters, park employees and soldiers battled the blaze. The fires have moved away from the Mensura-Piloto National Park and toward the province of Santiago de Cuba, home of the populous city of the same name, according to officials. The latest fires add to the dozens in January, which authorities said was a higher-than-average figure. Pinar del Rio and Artemisa, in western Cuba, and Camaguey and Holguin, in the central-eastern region, were the areas most affected.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The United States asked Mexico's government to extradite Ovidio Guzman, son of jailed drug boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, so that he can face criminal charges in a U.S. court, two Mexican government sources told Reuters on Monday. "El Chapo" rose to power as the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, before he was extradited to the United States in 2017. Soldiers detained Ovidio in 2019 but he was quickly released as his capture sparked a massive influx of gunmen into Culiacan. In 2021, the U.S. State Department had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Ovidio's arrest or conviction. Ovidio has been charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to traffic cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the country.
[1/8] A prison agent guards gang members as they are transported to their cells, after 2000 gang members were transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Center, according to El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in this handout distributed to Reuters on February 24, 2023. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via REUTERSSAN SALVADOR, Feb 24 (Reuters) - El Salvador's government moved thousands of suspected gang members to a newly opened "mega prison" on Friday, the latest step in a controversial crackdown on crime that has caused the Central American nation's prison population to soar. "This will be their new home, where they won't be able to do any more harm to the population," President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter. Around 2,000 accused gang members were moved to the 40,000-person-capacity prison, considered to be the largest in the Americas, early Friday morning. In a video posted by Bukele, prisoners stripped down to white shorts, with their heads shaved, are seen running through the new prison into cells.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris is "optimistic" the country will recover the coveted Category 1 safety rating, which allows airlines to open new routes to the United States, in the next six months, the airline's chief executive said on Wednesday. Mexico was downgraded in May 2021 by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which argued that the country fell short of regulation airlines in accordance with international safety standards. Since then, the FAA has made a number of visits to Mexico, even establishing an office in the country in December. Mexico has proposed reforming its aviation laws, although the most significant proposals remain stuck in Congress. One such proposal would allow "cabotage," a rare practice allowing foreign carriers to open domestic routes in the country.
[1/12] Visitors gather near marijuana plants as farmers host a harvest festival to showcase farms that have been converted to produce medicinal cannabis, in Aguerito, Paraguay February 19, 2023. REUTERS/Cesar OlmedoAGUERITO, Paraguay, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A marijuana harvest festival in a region of Paraguay usually known for drug trafficking has sparked hopes from local farmers that legalization could follow that will allow them to grow the plant for medicinal use. They hope the festival will catch the eye of lawmakers, encouraging them to back new legislation to help small farms. Paraguay is already a major global producer of illegally-sold cannabis, exporting largely to neighboring Brazil and other South American countries. Just a handful of labs import cannabis into Paraguay for legal medicinal use, but sell it at exorbitant prices, said Jorge Rolon, the farmers' legal adviser.
[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.
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.
LIMA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Peru's Congress passed a constitutional complaint on Friday against ousted former President Pedro Castillo for alleged corruption, a step towards a formal judicial charge. Castillo has been held in pre-trial detention in Lima since his abrupt Dec. 7 ouster and arrest after he tried to illegally shutter Congress to avoid impeachment over the corruption accusations, which he denies. Friday's complaint allows Attorney General Patricia Benavides to formally accuse Castillo before Peru's judiciary. During the congressional debate, Castillo, via his lawyer Eduardo Pachas, declined to present a defense, saying that he wanted to participate in person. Pachas only reiterated Castillo's denial of corruption and denial of the charge that he belonged to a criminal organization.
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.
Heineken, as well as an investment vehicle controlled by the Heineken family, are expected to participate in the offering, FEMSA added in a filing to Mexico's main stock exchange. Heineken has committed to repurchasing around a billion euros worth of its shares, both Heineken and FEMSA said Thursday. FEMSA, which saw its own share prices rise near 9% around midday Thursday, had announced plans to divest its stake in the world's second-largest brewer the day before. It has previously reported a 14.8% combined stake in the Heineken Group, in which the Heineken family holds just over 50%. The final prices in the share and notes offering will be determined and announced Friday, FEMSA said.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Mexican telecommunications firm America Movil expects to invest between $8 billion and $8.2 billion in 2023, which includes radio-frequency concessions, fiber-optic network expansions and digitalization, a company executive said Wednesday. The estimate is in line with the company's plan to invest $24 billion over three years, Chief Financial Officer Carlos Garcia said in a call with analysts. The firm, controlled by the family of billionaire Carlos Slim, saw its fourth-quarter profit slide by 90%, it reported Tuesday. America Movil expects to enact price hikes in 2023, though it is still evaluating which countries will see the increases, executives said Wednesday on the call. Reporting by Kylie Madry, Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Cassandra Garrison Editing by Caitlin WebberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Ride-hailing app Cabify shutters Ecuador operations
  + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Ride-hailing application Cabify will end its operations in Ecuador in mid-March after a "constant process of analysis" on the market, the company said on Wednesday. Late last year, the company, which says it has more than 42 million registered users, said it would invest $300 million through 2024 to expand its presence in Latin America. It did not specify how many users or drivers were affected by the closure in Ecuador. Cabify, which is headquartered in Spain and a considered a "unicorn," a start-up with a valuation above 1 billion euros, is planning to go public soon. Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Anthony EspositoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday he met with senior executives from electric automaker Tesla, teasing that "good news" is on the way, as speculation runs high over expected high-stakes investment decisions. Ebrard met with Rohan Patel, Tesla's senior global director of public policy and business development, and Eugenio Grandio, director of business development and policy for Latin America, Mexico's senior diplomat wrote in a post on Twitter. He did not go into further detail over what Tesla announcements are imminent. Two local locations are primed for a potential Tesla plant, the country's president said last week, which would mark a major advance for Mexico's well-established auto sector. Ebrard told Reuters earlier this month that Mexico was gearing up to build several manufacturing hubs for electric vehicles across the country.
Feb 10 (Reuters) - Risks over El Salvador's embrace of bitcoin "have not materialized," but use of the cryptocurrency still requires transparency and attention, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday in a statement after a visit to the Central American country. "Given the legal risks, fiscal fragility and largely speculative nature of crypto markets, the authorities should reconsider their plans to expand government exposures to bitcoin," the IMF said in a statement. El Salvador's move to make bitcoin legal tender in September 2021 effectively closed the doors to IMF financing. El Salvador's Congress last month passed a law regulating the issuance of digital assets by both the state and private entities. The IMF highlighted the "full recovery" of El Salvador's economy to pre-pandemic levels, "driven by the effective government response to the health crisis."
Unilever to build Mexico plant as part of $400 mln investment
  + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
MEXICO CITY, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Unilever Plc (ULVR.L) will build a manufacturing plant in the northern Mexican border state Nuevo Leon as part of a $400 million investment in the country over the next three years, the company said on Tuesday. The plant, which will be located in Salinas Victoria on the outskirts of Monterrey, will manufacture beauty and personal care products, Unilever said. Unilever already operates four plants in the country, which is a key center for exports to other nations, the company said. The newest plant is set to open in 2024, Unilever said. Reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Mexican government said on Monday it is opposed to a possible restart of the U.S. immigration policy known as "Remain in Mexico" which required asylum seekers to wait for U.S. hearings in Mexico. President Joe Biden has sought to end the program, which had been introduced by the Trump administration and is currently suspended. Activists argue the policy, officially called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), leaves migrants in dangerous border cities where they face threats of kidnapping and extortion. Some 74,000 migrants went through Mexico under the program when former President Donald Trump was in power, the foreign ministry said. Marsha Espinosa, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement to Reuters on Monday that the Biden Administration will keep trying to terminate MPP through the courts.
[1/4] Milan Nedeljkovic, BMW’s head of production, and Harald Gottsche, President and CEO at BMW Group Plant San Luis Potosi, shake hands during the announcement of a multimillion dollar expansion at the plant of German automaker BMW in San Luis Potosi, Mexico February 3, 2023. REUTERS/Toya Sarno JordanSAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico, Feb 3 (Reuters) - German automaker BMW (BMWG.DE) will invest 800 million euros ($866 million) in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi to produce high-voltage batteries and fully electric "Neue Klasse" models, the carmaker said Friday. Gottsche added the Mexico plant was in the process of increasing its solar production on-site and swapping out natural gas for biomethane. Mexico has also increasingly made the push for EVs as it looks to turn half of auto production electric by 2030. ($1 = 0.9236 euros)Reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Toya Sarno Jordan in San Luis Potosi; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Cargo airlines operating out of Mexico's busiest airport will have until July to leave the hub, a decree published in the country's national gazette Thursday evening said. The decree comes from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has said he would have cargo flights moved due to lack of space at the Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City. Around 3% of flights at the airport in 2022 were for cargo, according to flight data. The closest airport is the Felipe Angeles International Airport on the northern outskirts of the city, one of Lopez Obrador's flagship public works projects opened last March. The decree will still allow flights carrying both cargo and passengers to operate out of the Benito Juarez airport.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Mexico is gearing up to build several manufacturing hubs for electric vehicles across the country, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told Reuters, and is in talks with some of the world's top carmakers. Ebrard said in an interview late on Thursday that Mexico was keen to capitalize on the global shift to electric vehicles. "What they are more concerned about is having a guaranteed supply of clean energy, having water, having the personnel they need, facilitate electric power transmission lines," he said. Harald Gottsche, head of the BMW plant in the state of San Luis Potosi, which will produce fully electric cars, said Mexico also needs to push the consumer shift to electric vehicles. In addition to electric vehicles, Ebrard said he was also keen to attract more semiconductor and battery businesses - and build out transport infrastructure in the port of Coatzacoalcos, in the Gulf of Mexico.
Costa Rica's economic growth seen slowing down this year
  + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
SAN JOSE, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Costa Rica's economic growth will likely slow this year, according to a central bank forecast released on Tuesday that also estimates faster growth in 2024. The central bank sees gross domestic product growing 2.7% this year and 3.5% in 2024. Income from tourism, a key sector, had increased from a year ago, as had exports, the central bank said. "The performance of economic activity had a positive impact on business and consumer confidence," it said. By 2024, the inflation rate should drop and economic activity was likely to pick up steam, the bank added.
Peru elections could come later this year, president says
  + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
[1/3] Peru's President Dina Boluarte speaks as she meets with foreign press, in Lima, Peru January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Angela PonceJan 27 (Reuters) - Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said on Friday she was considering moving up general elections to later this year, as the Andean leader struggles to keep a hold on protests demanding her resignation that have left dozens dead. Congress is set to debate a proposal later on Friday to move national elections forward to April 2024, from 2026, but several legislators have proposed amending the bill to move up the elections even earlier, to late 2023. "They won't let us go ahead with our peaceful march, we're demanding Dina Boluarte resign," one protester, Abraham Copatayapa, told Reuters. She added on Friday that national elections could come in December or sooner, depending on how quickly the proposal is passed.
REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMEXICO CITY, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Citigroup <C.N> Chief Executive Jane Fraser is planning to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a government spokesperson told Reuters on Friday, amid the bank's attempt to finalize the sale of its local unit. A spokesperson for Lopez Obrador, Jesus Ramirez, said he did not have further details on the meeting, and said it was subject to final confirmation. The planned meeting comes as Citi aims to sell its Mexican unit, Banamex, as part of the company's planned withdrawal of its retail services in the country after 20 years, first announced last January. Two bidders, which sources told Reuters were Mexican conglomerate Grupo Mexico and Banca Mifel, are vying for Citi's local unit, Lopez Obrador said in December. Reporting by Kylie Madry and Isabel Woodford; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Cassandra Garrison and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
[1/3] Peru's President Dina Boluarte speaks as she meets with foreign press, in Lima, Peru January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Angela PonceJan 26 (Reuters) - Peru withdrew its ambassador to Honduras, Jorge Raffo, due to Honduras' "unacceptable interference" in the internal affairs of Peru, the South American nation's foreign ministry said on Thursday. The step is part of a deepening showdown between Peru President Dina Boluarte and her regional peers, including the leftist leaders of Mexico, Bolivia and Honduras. "As a consequence of the position adopted by Honduras, bilateral relations with said country will be maintained, indefinitely, at the level of chargé d'affaires," the foreign ministry said on Twitter. Boluarte became president in December after Castillo attempted to illegally dissolve Congress, was ousted and detained.
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