Mexican News
The latest news from and about Mexican issues.Tuesday, July 29, 2008
U.S. Recession, Drug War Violence Cause Crisis in Mexico Tourism.
IRC Americas Program, July 29, 2008 - “At first, a song about the Mississippi Delta belted out on the moonlit shore of Zihuatanejo Bay, Mexico, seemed out of place. But the bluesy tune performed by U.S. musicians at this year’s Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival struck a chord in the Mexican town. These days, many locals know the blues very well. Wandering along Zihuatanejo’s small waterfront, harpist Jose Luis Ramirez lamented the absence of foreign tourists to serenade. Wearing a resigned look on his face, jewelry seller Margarito Batalla sat alone at his jewelry stand. And silver salesman Rolando Pineda Fernandez expressed the sentiments of many in the Pacific Coast resort. ‘We were expecting more people, but they didn’t come,’ Pineda shrugged. ‘Who knows what happened?’ In 2008, Zihuatanejo and other Mexican tourist destinations are suffering a downturn in international tourism. The reasons are multiple: U.S. recession, high fuel costs, air route cancellations, new U.S. passport requirements, narco-violence, and environmental contamination.” Read more.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Mexico’s capital, 9 states vote on nation’s oil industry.
LA Times, July 28, 2008 - “A bitter debate on how to rescue Mexico’s troubled state-owned oil company went directly to the people Sunday as residents of the capital and nine states voted in a nonbinding referendum on President Felipe Calderon’s plan to open some portions of the petroleum industry to outsiders. The vote, organized by the opposition Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, has no official bearing on energy legislation making its way through Congress. But opponents of Calderon’s reforms hope a decisive ‘no’ vote will force legislators to back off. The balloting was the first of three so-called Citizen Consultation referendums over the next month that will eventually cover Mexico’s 31 states and federal district.” Read more.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Privatization of Mexican Oil Will Advance SPP Objectives.
Granite Bay, July 23, 2008 - “Mexican President Felipe Calderon has proposed sweeping reforms to its state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). He denies that his reforms constitute privatization and claims they will serve to make PEMEX stronger. Many view his proposals as a threat to Mexican sovereignty and nothing more then an energy grab. It is through NAFTA and the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) that the U.S. is further securing access and control to Canadian and Mexican resources.” Read more.
Immigration and the Right to Stay Home.
Alternet, July 24, 2008 - “ For almost half a century, migration has been the main fact of social life in hundreds of indigenous towns spread through the hills of Oaxaca, one of Mexico’s poorest states. That’s made the conditions and rights of migrants the central concern for communities like Santiago de Juxtlahuaca. Today the right to travel to seek work is a matter of survival. But this June in Juxtlahuaca, in the heart of Oaxaca’s Mixteca region, dozens of farmers left their fields, and women weavers their looms, to talk about another right, the right to stay home.” Read more.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Pemex May Drill Abroad for First Time If Reforms Fail.
Bloomberg, July 22, 2008 - “Petroleos Mexicanos, struggling as oil production declines, may drill for crude outside Mexico for the first time unless lawmakers approve hiring foreign partners for domestic offshore projects. Chief Executive Officer Jesus Reyes Heroles said the company, known as Pemex, may court partners on the U.S. side of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Cuba and in Latin America unless Congress adopts oil reforms proposed by President Felipe Calderon. Pemex needs foreign help because it doesn’t have the technology to drill in water deeper than 500 meters (1,640 feet), he said.” Read more.
Mexican president visits Juarez.
El Paso Times, July 22, 2008 - “Three murders in public areas and a small group of protesters greeted Mexican President Felipe Calderon during his trip Tuesday to Juárez. During his visit, Calderon praised maquiladoras, vowed to strengthen the country’s oil company and the city’s security efforts. Calderon helped inaugurate the second Electrolux assembly plant in the city, and also mentioned the recent maquiladora expansions announced by Ford and Foxconn.” Read more.
Pemex Oil Production Falls 11% in June on Aging Field.
Bloomberg, July 22, 2008 - “Petroleos Mexicanos, the state-owned energy company, said oil output fell 11 percent in June from a year earlier as new wells failed to keep pace with a four-year decline in the aging Cantarell field, the nation’s largest. Production dropped to 2.839 million barrels a day in June from 3.206 million a year earlier, the Mexico City-based company, known as Pemex, said today on its Web site. At Cantarell, where a drop in pressure is making it more difficult and costly to extract oil, the company pumped 1.017 million barrels a day, down 35 percent from a year earlier and the fastest rate of decline in 12 years, Pemex said.” Read more.
Maquila bordering New Mexico to employ up to 30,000.
El Paso Times, July 22, 2008 - “A Taiwan-based company will open a massive maquiladora across the border from Santa Teresa that will employ anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 people in the next four years and create an economic boost on both sides of the border, officials said Monday. The plant, which may be the largest in Mexico, will be in San Jeronimo, according to an announcement by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s office Taiwan-based Foxconn broke ground a few days ago, officials said.” Read more.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Mexican President Demands Energy Reform By Consensus.
RedOrbit, July 20, 2008 - “ The political forces represented in the Congress of the Union must reach an agreement to approve an energy reform that includes the different viewpoints of all of the parties, President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa said. The federal chief executive started up a programme to improve the air quality in the Guanajuato cities of Salamanca and Leon, where pollution rates are very high because of intense industrial activity. There, accompanied by oil workers’ union leader Carlos Romero Deschamps, Energy Secretary Georgina Kessel, and Mexican Petroleum (Pemex) Director General Jesus Reyes Heroles, the president asked legislators to reach a consensus on a pluralist energy reform.” Read more.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Bridges, not walls.
Newspaper Tree, July 18, 2008 - “In his poem ‘Mending Wall,’ Robert Frost was not advocating that ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ The reference is to a statement by his neighbor who believes in keeping the fence between his property and the persona in the poem in good repair. We assume the persona in the poem is Robert Frost whose opinion is: ‘Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.’ In the current flap over building a wall between Mexico and the United States, it would be well to keep in mind Robert Frost’s injunction “something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” That “something” is that a wall is a barrier.” Read more.
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