By RICARDO CASTILLO
A Show of Mutual Respect at Binational Summit
While at the White House in Washington, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) received three “gifts” from his host, U.S. President Donald Trump.
First, as we at Pulse News Mexico had forecast, AMLO talked baseball with Trump and both exchanged bats. The one Trump received was decorated with Huichol beads, an unusual feature for a regular bat.
In exchange, AMLO received a red lacquered bat from Trump.
Second, AMLO was awarded a political prize, the arrest of former Chihuahua Governor César Duarte Jáquez, wanted in Mexico on charges of rampant corruption and illegal enrichment. Duarte will be extradited back to Mexico soon. (See below.)
And third, the Foreign Relations Secretariat (SRE) received a much-requested report on the high-caliber weaponry smuggled into the country by Mexican cartels under the surveillance of DEA and ATF officials during the operation known as Fast and Furious. At least two of those weapons were used to kill U.S. officials.
Will the SRE divulge the content? That is another story.
Otherwise, the meeting went flawless, mostly because both presidents kept their promise to stick to the United States- Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the main subject of the meet.
The two exchanged pleasant phrases underlying the relationship of mutual respect they had since AMLO arrived to the presidency of Mexico on December 2018.
Kudos for the smoothness of the gathering should to Ambassador Chris Landau, SRE secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Mexico Ambassador to the US Martha Bárcena.
Duarte Nabbed
As already stated, former Chihuahua Governor César Duarte Jáquez was arrested in Miami on Wednesday, July 8, after a six-month pursuit, according to Mexico’s Fiscal General of the Republic.
Duarte had been hopping around the United States from New Mexico to Florida in order to evade being arrested.
But in the end, he could run but could not hide.
Duarte will be extradited to Mexico to face charged from 20 arrest warrants for alleged embezzlement and one federal arrest warrant for misuse of federal funds.
Following the announcement of Duarte’s arrest, there were street celebrations on Chihuahua, where the crowd demanded that the trial be held in that northern state ,where he committed the alleged embezzlement crimes.
Current Chihuahua Governor Javier Corral Jurado said that Durarte will be charged with stealing from public coffers, leaving the state 50 billion pesos in the hole.
Also — and this was most unusual for a National Action Party (PAN) politician — Corral congratulated AMLO for keeping his word on his anti-corruption promises and being serious about bringing Duarte Jáquez to justice.
Covid-19 Spread Numbers
The Geographic Information Center of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) said that the municipalities with the most active cases of covid-19 in the nation are Puebla. with 838 cases, Leon, Guanajuato, with 819 victims, Mérida, Yucatán, with 716, Villahermosa, Tabasco, with 676. and Iztapalapa, in Mexico City, with 598 cases.
Other covid-ridden municipalities in Mexico include, Monterrey with 589 active cases, Torreón, with 509, Acapulco, with 483, Gustavo A. Madero in Mexico City, with 450, and Guadalajara ,with 435.
The study said that the total number of registered active cases in Mexico as of July 6 was 29,639.
TIC to Be Constitutional
Senate Majority Whip Ricardo Monreal announced that legislation to make the use of information and communications technology is important because the use of them, known in Spanish as TIC, has improved efficiency and security in times of the covid-19 pandemic.
Monreal said that Constitutional Article 17 makes the government responsible for imparting and managing the law.
However, “one of the effects of the pandemic, given the risks it poses to people, has been the suspension of jurisdictional activity.”
An example is that the Supreme Court has been holding “virtual” meetings with judges staying home and communicating through different internet tools such as Zoom.
Monreal said legislation must pass in order to generalize the use of TIC so as not “to hinder the fundamental right of access to justice.”
Malls Mobbed
Mexico City went orange on the coved-19 traffic light scale on Wednesday, July 8, allowing for the partial opening of the city’s many commercial malls.
The malls were permitted to open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The result was long lines of eager buyers to get into the facilities.
Visitors to the mall are required to wear a facemask and those purchasing garments are forbidden from trying them on in dress rooms, as is customary.
Bathrooms must be fully disinfected every two hours.
Government officials are making sure that the malls are filled only to 30 percent capacity in order to comply with safe.distancing stipulation and avoid crowds.
Strip Down the Airport
The Mexico City Airport Group (GACM) announced that the bidding to buy the scrap steel at the government-closed New International Mexico Airport (NAIM) was awarded to Grupo Gilbert Estructuras de Acero, which offered the top bid of 4,030 pesos per scrap steel ton.
According to a Transportation and Communications Secretariat (SCT) press release, GACM received 13 different bids, with Gilbert coming out with the best offer.
The winning bidder will begin stripping with the control tower, the 21 tubular structures of what was to be the body of the building and all metals over and underground.
A special weighing station will be also installed at the site.