Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Mexico

 

Monday Memo: Peru Protests – Bachelet and Matthei – Colombia Peace Talks – Cholera in Haiti – Mexican Vice-Admiral Killed

Likely top stories this week: demonstrators protest in Peru; a Chilean lawyer investigates the death of Michelle Bachelet’s father; FARC–Colombian government peace talks resume; a new report faults the UN for Haiti’s cholera outbreak; and assailants kill a Mexican vice-admiral. Protesters and Police Clash in Peru: Thousands of demonstrators clashed with hundreds of riot police … Read more

Blumberg 510x340

Cleaner Air, Better Health

In 2003, Mexico’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) started work on a standard to dramatically reduce the sulfur levels in fuels. By 2005, the standard was published, requiring ultra-low-sulfur fuels (15 parts per million or less) nationwide by 2009. However, today, only about 25 percent of the diesel sold in Mexico meets the … Read more

Bitles

Mexico is Still Waiting for “Los Bitles”

The Beatles never played a concert in Mexico, yet no other country in the region has been able to match its Beatlemania. Forty-three years after the band dissolved, Mexico boasts more than 50 Beatles tribute bands and holds the record for radio time—12 hours weekly—dedicated to music of “Los Bitles,” as they are known in … Read more

Panorama Mainpage

Panorama

Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and events from around the hemisphere with AQ‘s Panorama. Each issue, AQ packs its bags and offers readers travel tips on a new Americas destination.

Telecomunicaciones_Mexico

Policy Updates

A snapshot of policy trends and successes in the region.

 

Mexico’s New Undead Rapist Mayor-Elect

Yes, you read that title correctly. The small municipality of San Agustín Amatengo in the Mexican state of Oaxaca has recently attracted national attention due to what is likely the strangest story in electoral politics in the country. On July 7, Lenin Carballido, the candidate from a Partido Acción Nacional (National Action Party—PAN)-Partido de la … Read more

Pacto por Mexico_Enrique Peña Nieto 510x340

The PRI’s Losses are Peña Nieto’s Gains

MEXICO CITY —Mexico’s July 7 local elections, held in half of the country’s states, were the first since President Enrique Peña Nieto took office. As such, they served as a quasi-referendum on the president’s Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party—PRI), and provide the political backdrop against which Peña Nieto will push his agenda to remake … Read more

 

Incentive-Based Contracts in Mexico’s Oil Sector

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s plan to reform state-owned Petroléos Mexicanos (PEMEX) has attracted the attention of many analysts. Since President Lázaro Cárdenas nationalized the oil sector in 1938, no president has been able to push for reform to allow for foreign ownership of petroleum assets. Peña Nieto sees allowing foreign investment to be critical … Read more

 

Criminal Violence Becomes Political Ahead of Mexico’s July 7 Elections

Not since Mexico’s transition to democracy in the late 1980s has the country witnessed the high levels of political violence that have characterized the build-up to the July 7 local elections. Local politicians across the country have been the target of death threats, arson attacks and shootings. Although organized crime and drug-related violence in Mexico … Read more

 

Human Trafficking in Mexico

On June 4, the Mexican Army raided a house in the border town of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas and rescued 165 people being held against their will by a 20-year-old identified as Juan Cortez Arrez. Testimonies from some of the victims show that they had been kidnapped for nearly three weeks. News of their rescue … Read more

 

The Dragon Mart Controversy: Implications for the China-Mexico Trade Relationship

Mexico and China have often seen each other as rivals as they compete for market share in the United States.  However, this perception is outdated. Both countries’ economies have undergone transformations and now have the potential to play complementary roles. This was on full display this week when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Mexico and … Read more

 

OAS General Assembly to Elect Three New IACHR Members

The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) comes to a close today in Antigua, Guatemala, with a vote for three new members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) scheduled for this afternoon.  The elections, which will take place during the 3:00 p.m. (CST)/5:00 p.m. (EDT) plenary session, will replace three … Read more

Xi, Pena, and wives_Angélica Rivera de Peña 510x340

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Visit to Mexico

In 2002, former Mexican President Vicente Fox was recorded telling Cuban leader Fidel Castro over the phone, “You’ll eat and then you’ll leave” (“comes y te vas”) days before the UN Financing for Development Conference was held in Monterrey. Fox was referring to an evening dinner for heads of state hosted by the Mexican government … Read more

Sign up for our free newsletter