By RICARDO CASTILLO The key topic of talk in Mexi9co’s political circles last week was definitely the arrest of former Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex Director Emilio Lozoya Austin in Málaga, Spain. Lozoya was temporarily jailed to await extradition to Mexico. The Fiscal General of the Republic has issued four different arrest warrants for Lozoya, charging him with a battery of crimes,
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By RICARDO CASTILLO 69 New Barracks for National Guardsmen Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) spent the weekend inaugurating new barracks for the National Guard in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán and Guanajuato, the latter two known for a high presence of organized criminal gangs. Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said each barrack will house somewhere between 120 and
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Lozoya Nabbed in Malaga Former Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) Director Emilio Lozoya Austin was finally found and arrested in Malaga, Spain, by the Spanish police. The news was broken personally in radio interviews on Wednesday, Feb. 12, by Fiscal General Alejandro Gertz Manero. “It was a long pilgrimage (to track down Lozoya Austin) with the arrest warrant we
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The rumblings of an upcoming war at Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) began to be heard loud and clear a week ago. The reason behind the potential political warfare is that the INE held an impromptu reelection of its secretary general when it should have waited until April, when four of the 11 councilors will finish their
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Electoral Fraud at the INE? On Friday, Feb. 7, the 11 councilors of Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) carried out the reelection of its executive secretary to serve for six more years, with eight votes in favor and three against. The reaction in Mexico to the surprise reelection of Jacobo Molina and against INE president Lorenzo Córdova
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By RICARDO CASTILLO One person not mentioned in Mexico during last Sunday’s official ceremony commemorating the 107th anniversary of the Feb. 9, 1913, Loyalty March was U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson. The ceremony held at Chapultepec Castle was a reenactment of the march led by then-democratically elected Francisco I. Madero from his home to the National Palace. The date also
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Presidential Turkey Might Just Fly After several weeks of indecision, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has opted to hold a super lottery draw next Sept. 15 to “sell off” the onerous Dreamliner 757 deluxe transport presidential jet used by his predecessors Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto, valued at $130 million. During his daily morning
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Indigenous Design Rights International fashion design houses Louis Vuitton and Pineda Covalín are now in negotiations with the Mexican government to pay intellectual and creative rights to the country’s indigenous people after having copied some of their original designs without paying the corresponding copyrights. Legislative changes in Mexico, said Senator Susana Harp, include placing the indigenous communities
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The possibilities of a student strike shutdown at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) grow day-by-day. As of midday Wednesday, Feb. 5, there were at least 60,000 students in eight different preparatory schools not attending classes. The problem is that their rebellion does not seem to have a cause. The situation actually began on Nov. 4,
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Mexican Constitution Day Though officially sessions for both houses of the Mexican Congress kicked off on Saturday, Feb. 1, the first gathering to discuss legal issues will be on Mexico’s Constitution Day, Feb. 5. By now, 14 months after he was sworn in, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has most of his campaign legislative agenda laid
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