XINHUA At least 12 people were killed in a confrontation between police and armed civilians in the town of El Salto, in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, Governor Enrique Alfaro said Thursday, June 23. Four police officers were among the fatal victims, Alfaro said via Twitter. “Municipal and state police shot down eight criminals on Wednesday (June 22) and
Read more
By KYLIE MADRY Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has long been disliked by members of the opposition parties, who formed the country’s ruling class until AMLO and his National Regeneration Movement (Morena) took power. That distaste is turning into open revolt, as the president faces threats from the rightwing National Anti-AMLO Front (Frena), the newly formed Sí por
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO In 10 separate gatherings of the so-called Federalist Alliance, the governors of as many Mexican states held meetings to demand that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) not drastically cut their income in the 2021 national budget. They also protested against the recent elimination of 109 federally funded trusts that sprinkled money into their states. In tandem,
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Cleavage at Conago Ten Mexican governors met Monday, Sept. 7, in the northern city of Chihuahua. The purpose of their gathering was to vote on whether to continue to participate in the National Governors Commission (Conago), an organization that aims to be one voice before the president. The outcome of the meeting was that all10 voted to
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO War of the Judiciaries Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) sent a clear message to two top prosecutors, Fiscal General of the Republic Alejandro Gertz Manero and Financial Intelligence Unit of the Treasury Secretariat Santiago Nieto Castillo: Get your act together! A week ago, on Friday, July 10, Gertz Manero told a Mexican daily newspaper that
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Politicking Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) tossed a boa constrictor into the national political swamp on Tuesday, June 9. No doubt all political toads, snakes and even crocs and other amphibians quietly swimming around jumped out of the water, scared as hell. AMLO had his press secretary Jesús Ramírez Cuevas read aloud a document that
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Police Brutality Accusations After a raucous weekend of protests and arbitrary arrests, the Jalisco State Human Rights Commission (CEDHJ) is demanding that all police commanders who participated in the detentions be removed from their posts. At the top of the list is the state attorney general, Gerardo Octavio Solís, who allegedly ordered the arrests of the protesters,
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Alfaro’s Political Ambitions Squelched Up until last week, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro had been looking a lot like a 2024 presidential hopeful. But then all hell broke loose on his would-be candidacy. It all started with the arrest and apparent murder of a 30-year-old construction worker named Giovanni López at the hands of municipal police in Ixltahuacán
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Jalisco Skids Deeper in Debt As pressure grows on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) “to make use” of credits available from international funding organizations, the president becomes more adamant and intrinsic about pushing the nation into further debt. Much of that pressure is coming from opposition state governors, who convened last week in Parras, Coahuila,
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO AMLO’s Virtual Powwow with G-20 Leaders In what was his first international encounter — even if only virtual — with the Group of 20 (G-20) world leaders on Thursday, March 26, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) vowed the nation’s solidarity with all affected nations and explained his point of view as to how to proceed
Read more