By RICARDO CASTILLO

Erstwhile Aztec and Spaniards Meet in Court

A major political war between the modern conquest version of the Aztec versus the Spaniards is now being wagered in Mexico between conservative and liberal forces.

The conflict was sparked by the controversial ruling made by Second District Court for the Administration, Economic Competency and Broadcast Services for Mexico City Judge Juan Pablo Gómez Fierro.

The judge issued a habeas corpus (amparo) writ that indefinitely paused President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) new electricity mandate from going into effect.

The problem is, Gómez Fierro issued the amparo just 24 hours – a record time — after the law was announced in the Federal Gazette, a publication which made the electricity mandate effective.

Although Gómez Fierro did not outright cancel the new law, his decision was enough to outrage AMLO, who asked the Supreme Court to investigate Gómez Fierro’s integrity as a judge.

An almost invisible player in the conflict apparent between the judge and AMLO is the law office of Javier Mijangos y González, which represents several private-sector energy producing companies and which directly promoted the amparo with Gómez Fierro.

It is worth noting that the Mijangos law firm is composed mostly of Mexican lawyers who did master degrees in Spanish universities after graduating in Mexico. They are nicknamed by some as “los churumbeles,” a moniker applied in Mexico to Spaniards doing business in the country or to Mexicans favoring Spanish interests.

In referring to recent Mexican history, AMLO likes to call the era that began in 1982 with the advent to power of President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado — who headed a political group also known as “los churumbeles” –“the nefarious neoliberal period.”

That period ended in 2018 with President Enrique Peña Nieto.

This period was long enough to approve laws that AMLO claims unjustly protect foreign investments (from Spain, in this particular case), laws which will not be easy to remove, even with a presidential mandate.

Regardless of how much coverage this issue is receiving in the Mexican press, it will now be up to the country’s courts of law to come up with a solution.

And in the eyes of AMLO, it comes down to a modern-day Moctezuma trying to prevent Cortés from conquering Mexico, only now, instead of bloody battles, it’s all going to be happening in a court of law.

Pemex Union Boss Resigns

Under heavy political attack from the president, the highly polemic former Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) union leader Carlos Romero Deschamps resigned from his job as worker of Pemex on Monday, March 15.

Romero Deschamps was known for his Rolex watches, luxurious homes and Ferrari gifts to his sons while he was leader of the union up until 2019.

AMLO said during his daily press conference on Tuesday, March 16, “I want to inform the people of Mexico that as of today, Romero Deschamps has resigned and has ceased to be  an active worker of Pemex. He’s doing this out of his own free will, and also, in response to the request we made.”

Bankers Want Security and State of Law

Economic stability, a state of law and clarity regarding legal applications are the three most important factors in attracting foreign investment and promoting economic reactivation, Daniel Becker, head of the Mexican Banking Association (ABM) said Monday, March 15.

Just days after the conclusion of the annual two-day bankers conference in Acapulco, Guerrero, last week, Becker said that the only way to bring in fresh capital — both from national and international investors .. is to create an economic environment that ensures security and federal respect for the rule of law.

He also said that there must be a robust national market, which, due to the effects of the still-raging covid-19 pandemic, has dried up.

Becker’s comments came after the decision by a federal judge to pause the implementation of AMLO’s controversial electricity bill, which has been challenged nationally and in the United States, Canada and Europe as potentially violating international treaties and existing government contracts.

Banxico Governor Recognized

Central Bank Of México (Banxico) top official Alejandro Díaz de León was named bank governor of the year by trade magazine and portal Central Banking Journal, which covers most of the world’s central banks.

“Díaz de León implemented a prudent monetary policy at a moment that the peso was under pressure, and Banxico managed a heavy load of answers given the economic crisis brought about by the covid-19 pandemic,” the journal said.

Speaking of the peso, it has begun to regain ground against the U.S. dollar this week, selling for less than 21 to the greenback on Tuesday, March 16.

Street Name Changed

The name of the Mexico City street Puente de Alvarado is being changed to Mexico-Tenochtitlan as of Aug. 13.

The street has held that name for nearly five decades and it was the exit path for Spaniards to flee from the onslaught of the Aztec during the Mexican conquista.

History tells us that Pedro de Alvarado had recently committed a slaughter at the main temple in what is now downtown Mexico City, and that during that battle, besieged, Pedro de Alvarado used a long lance as a pole to jump over a wide canal then on that street.

The name of the street actually means “Alvarado’s Bridge” referring to that pole jump, which saved the conquistador’s life.

Mexico City Revving Up

On Monday, March 15, the Mexico City government allowed the opening of 1,231 different companies in order to start restoring, without risk of a pandemic reactivation, the city’s once-robust economic life.

The activation brought back 16,510 to their jobs.

Though limited in its scope, the reactivation was welcomed both by workers and customers alike, even though bars – without serving liquor – were only able to sell food at 20 percent occupancy.

“The Sax” Goes Silent

The famous Mexican rock sax player Eulalio Cervantes passed away from covid-19 on Sunday, March 14.

He gained international recognition with the popular group La Maldita Vecindad (The Cursed Housing Conglomerate), which over 35 years recorded numerous top chart hits in Mexico.

His sax playing style was uniquely Mexican, and his band was considered to be one of the most influential in the country.

Cervantes and his band also collaborated with other musical groups and participated in tribute albums for José José and the Tigres del Norte.

Mexican Tennis Open

Mexico’s top international racquet tournament got under way on Monday, March 15, in Acapulco, with top-notch player Alexander Zverev ousting 6-3, 6-2, 17-year-old Spanish contender Carlos Alcaraz.

Sverev, ranked second in the Mexican Tennis Open, had a tough first set, with many first serve misses and double faulting several times.

But after game six of the first set, Sascha, as Zverev is nicknamed, took control of the match.

Over 3,000 people attended the opening night ceremony at the Princess Hotel in Acapulco.

…March 16, 2021