News Summary for March 7th, 2009

++ The Attorney General’s Office announced that Boris Del Valle Alonso, advisor and brother-in-law to the Mayor of Cancún Gregorio Sánchez is connected to the Los Zetas hired hit men’s group… He was taken-in for questioning to the anti organized crime unit.

++ A National Law Enforcement Meeting wrapped up in Cancún… Participants agreed to restructure joint units that seek to battle illegal drug distributors.

++ Authorities located the Tancítaro, Michoacán, Mayoralty Secretary Gonzalo Paz Torres, who had been abducted on Thursday an armed group from his home… The lcoal official had been shot several times and was also tortured.

++ An attack by an armed group in San Francisco del Rincón in Guanajuato left four people wounded… The attackers were riding on a van that was about to undergo a routine inspection at a checkpoint… They tried to avoid the checkpoint and opened fire.

++ The Mexican currency recovered ground trading for 15.43 pesos at the selling rate, seven cents lower than Thursday’s close.

++ Unemployment in the United States rose to 8.1 percent, its highest rate since December 1993.

++ The Agriculture Secretary printed a decree in the Official Gazette reforming a regulation on biosecurity of genetically modified organisms… With this move, the Mexican government finally opens the door to planting genetically modified corn in this country.

++ The Public Education Secretariat said that on March 24 an OECD International education levels test will be carried out… 53,000 students aged 15 will take the test in 1,578 schools… The test will show how Mexican students fare in terms of knowledge compared to their peers in other countries.

Why the world wide mortgage crisis has not affected Mexico (has much)..

Mexico's mortgage solution

Imagen News analyst, Jose Luis Romero Hicks, comments on the BBC on how Mexico has avoided a rise in foreclosures like the one in the United States. The Mexican government reformed its mortgage industry more than a decade ago to help struggling homeowners lower their payments in times of economic stress. Click here

News Summary for March 6th, 2009

++ Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont said that organized crime uses all methods within its reach to intimidate authorities… He called on officials and authorities not to be intimidated, since security is something that cannot be postponed, decreed or negotiated.

++ Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said that the Mexican state will win the battle against criminals and will not give up in its commitment to pursue those who undermine security.

++ President Felipe Calderón said that the federal government cannot nor should it confront organized crime on its own… For the second consecutive day the president called on state and municipal governments to take part in the battle and coordinate efforts towards the task.

++ U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said that his country has a problem with drug use and said that in order to resolve it Washington must back other countries in their struggle against narcotics trafficking.

++ Attorney General Office agents interrogated the mayor of Benito Juárez, Quintana Roo, Gregorio Sánchez, as a witness in the murder of Brigadier General Mauro Enrique Tello Quiñones and another two people.

++ One of the inmates who took part in a riot in the Ciudad Juárez prison died in hospital, pushing the death toll from the clash between two rival gangs to 21.

++ The Bank of Mexico will place 19 billion dollars on the market during the rest of the year to generate financial certainty.

++ PRD and PRI senators warned they will pass laws to regulate bank commissions and interest rates, despite opposition from bankers.

++ The IFE annulled a decree approved by the Executive General Board in which the electoral councilors had officially renounced a 46-per-cent increase to their salaries.

News Summary for March 5th, 2009

Blame game begins…
++ Deputy Foreign Affairs Secretary for North America Carlos Rico Ferrat said that it is not “in the Mexican government’s hands” to resolve the issue of drug trafficking to the United States as long as there is a market for it… Therefore, he said, it is the Mexican government’s task to reroute drug stopover routes to other nations.

++ President Felipe Calderón said that drug trafficking to the United States is also linked to U.S. authority corruption… He insisted that it is the United States which is responsible for narcotics trafficking and said he was certain President Obama would fully assume that responsibility.

++ Former president Vicente Fox denied he was guilty of omission in battling narcotics trafficking during his term, as Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont charged.

More problems in Juarez…
++ A fight among rival gangs in a prison in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, killed 20 inmates and wounded another seven… Authorities ruled out that the incident was a riot.

Some good news…
++ The Mexican Stock Exchange market rose 4.28 per cent, its biggest increase this year.
The peso also rose, by 19 cents… At the selling rate the peso closed at 15.39 pesos per dollar and the buying rate was 14.69 pesos per dollar.

Banks facing thought regulations…
++ The Senate Finance Committee began an initial review of proposals seeking to regulate banking commissions and interest rates…

++Chief of the Mexican Banking Association Enrique Castillo Sánchez said he opposed limits or controls on the interest rates banks charge saying that those kinds of measures would affect credit availability.

++ PRI deputy Jorge Estefan Chidiac said his party would propose a bill to annul the car ownership tax, but that measure would hinge on President Calderon’s government allotting to states the 30 billion pesos they would lose by nixing that tax.

Cartoon from El Milenio...

News Summary for March 4th, 2009

++ There’s been a shake-up in the Cabinet… President Felipe Calderón announced that Luis Téllez had resigned as Communications and Transportation Secretary and he appointed Juan Molinar Horcasitas to replace him… Téllez was not left totally out in the cold… He was set to become an economic adviser to the presidency. Calderón also appointed Daniel Karam Toumeh as new IMSS chief.

++ PAN leader Germán Martínez Cázares hailed the appointment of Juan Molinar Horcasitas as new Communications and Transportation Secretary… Martínez Cázares said the new official will be loyal to the president.

++ PRI senate caucus leader Manlio Fabio Beltrones said the cabinet shakeup proves the necessity to review Mexican government, since it hinges too much on the figure of the president and to avoid appointing friends and to return political favors.

++ The full Lower House of Congress approved reforms to the Federal Radio and Television Law that stipulate that the Federal Electoral Institute is the only body with authority to administer government publicity spots at a local and federal level.

++ The peso inched up rising nine cents to be sold at 15.53 pesos per dollar… At the buying rate the peso closed at 14.83 pesos per dollar.

++ Chairman of the Banking Association of Mexico Enrique Castillo Sánchez acknowledged that four or five of the 42 banks operating in Mexico receive foreign government support, putting them in a situation similar to that of Banamex.

++ The National Commission for the Defense and Protection of Financial Service Users (Condusef), said that economic and political players must take quick action to lower interest rates being paid by financial service users.

Universal Blog... Let´s talk about instinct.

A unos días de celebrarse el día internacional de la mujer, en la entrega del día de hoy, quiero dejar a un lado el análisis y debate político, y escribir sobre uno de los temas que más me ocupa y preocupa: La creciente ola de violencia en contra de las mujeres. ¡Alto! ¡No se vayan! Ya sé que como se ha escrito tanto sobre este tema, yo me imagino que muchos de ustedes están a punto de abandonar mi blog y dirigirse a los blogs sobre tecnología o de deportes.

Les pido que me acompañen, porque hoy vamos a tratar el tema de la violencia e inseguridad en contra de la mujer de una forma diferente.

Después de muchos años de investigar y escribir sobre temas de seguridad pública, además de impartir cursos de seguridad personal, he llegado a la siguiente conclusión: La mayoría de las mujeres no nos responsabilizamos por nuestra seguridad. En otras áreas de nuestra vida, nosotras hemos buscado tomar más control, por ejemplo en lo que se refiere a nuestras finanzas, nuestra salud física y mental, nuestra educación. Y es sorprendente que se hable poco, de la importancia de que las mujeres también nos responsabilicemos por nuestra seguridad personal, especialmente al ver las cifras más recientes. Con decir que las mujeres debemos de asumir más control sobre nuestra seguridad, no significa de ninguna manera que estoy culpando a las víctimas de la violencia y del crimen, de ser responsables de su victimización. Lo que sí creo es, que hay decisiones que podemos tomar que nos ayudan a vivir una vida más segura, reduciendo la posibilidad que seamos las siguientes víctimas de la criminalidad. To continue click here

Tonight on Seguridad Total TV

We will analyze the story of a women who confronted her rapist and stop the attack. Joining me will be three experts on personal defense. What did she do right? Tonight, March 3rd, 23:00hrs on Seguridad Total TV on Channel 40 (Sky and Cablevision 140) For local channels around Mexico click here. Also, you can watch prior programs at www.proyecto40.com or go to my Youtube channel clicking here.

News Summary for March 1st, 2009

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that the United States is willing to help Mexico “more than it has in the past” in the battle against drug cartels that are operating on their shared border.

The Pentagon chief lauded courage shown by President Felipe Calderón to confront narcotics trafficking gangs and said the reason things have become worse is because previous Mexican governments has never taken a head-on strategy to confront the problem.
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Spanish newspaper "El País" ran a reportage on drug-related violence in Mexico, focusing on Ciudad Juárez… According to the reportage, titled “Unstoppable Death,” Juárez is one of the most dangerous places in the world struck by at least five violent deaths a day.
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Army troops were flown in to Ciudad Juárez over the weekend to flesh out the joint operation against organized crime there…
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The California state Supreme Court threw out a lawsuit filed against Cardinal Norberto Rivera for allegedly covering up a pedophile priest.
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The Aguascalientes Attorney General’s Office is probing the incident in which a helicopter carrying the chief of the National Water Commission, José Luis Luege Tamargo and another nine people, plunged to the ground… No one was killed in the incident…
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Green Party deputies are calling for the head of the National Water Commission, José Luis Luege Tamargo to appear before congress to explain why water has to be rationed in the Federal District…
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The Mexican currency is undervalued because the fundamentals of the Mexican economy are healthy, said Mexican Finance Secretary Agustín Carstens, speaking from Portugal, where he was set to attend an Ibero-American meeting of finance officials.
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There are 28 million households in Mexico in which about 107 million people live – of those 25 million are families, meaning that at least two of their members are linked either by blood or affinity… The other 11 percent is made up of people who are not related or who live alone… These figures were released by the National Population Council in connection to Family Day…