Weekly News Summary for January 1st to 7th

• This week the so called “Operativo Conjunto Tijuana” was implemented as part Felipe Calderón{s effort to curb organized crime. In this operation, 2,296 members of the Army, the AFI (Mexico´s FBI) and members of the Federal Police will take part in activities coordinated by local authorities in Baja California, according to Interior secretary Francisco Ramírez Acuña. The operation highlights the disarmament, depriving of rights and detention of people suspected of links to organized crime. Also, the registration numbers of police members will be checked against official registries of the federal police. Meanwhile, in Michoacán, federal police operations continued this week. Police were also paid a visit by President Felipe Calderon, who urged them to intensify their fight against organized crime. National Defense secretary Guillermo Galván announced the figures drawn from Operation Michoacán. Eighty drug dealers and kidnappers were arrested; 540 hectares of marijuana fields were destroyed; and more than 6 tons of marijuana were confiscated. In Acapulco, one city with widespread drug-related violence, Mayor Feliz Salgado Macedonio rejected the possibility of hosting a similar operation on the grounds that Acapulco is a “peaceful town,” and that a federal police operation would scare off tourists. PRI and PAN legislators expressed support for the deployment of armed forces, while officials with the PRD called them “a propaganda measure”. In this week´s customary New Year´s presidential message, President Calderon acknowledged Congress´s approval of the 2007 budget, and stressed his commitment to bring security back to Mexico.

• In other issues, Guillermo Ruiz Mayagoitia was voted in as the new presiding justice for Mexico´s Supreme Court for the 2007-2010 term. Opposition legislators called the appointment a continuation of his predecessor, Mariano Azuela.

• In Oaxaca, the Public Education Institute said school activities had resumed in nearly 100 percent of the state´s 14,000 schools, in spite of incidents between Section 29 teachers and parents in almost 450 schools, where classes were not resumed.

• After a press release in London announced former Finance secretary Guillermo Gil Díaz as a new board member of HSBC bank, PRD legislators asked the Permanent Commission in the Lower House investigate and sanction him, since the Administrations Responsibilities Act for Public Officials states that no former official is allowed to take a post within the first year of leaving office.