By RICARDO CASTILLO Political Lockup No sooner had Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) backed down Friday, Jan. 22, on permitting states government and private businesses to purchase anti-covid vaccines, then the 10 governors belonging to the opposition group Federalist Alliance (AF) fired back, complaining that AMLO’s change of mind had come “too late.” “The authorization to join this
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By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced Friday, Jan. 22, that municipal and state governments, as well as private enterprises, will be allowed to acquire and distribute covid-19 vaccines. Speaking in his daily morning press conference at the National Palace, AMLO said that he had instructed the Mexican Public Health Secretariat (SSA) to
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By RICARDO CASTILLO AMLO Welcomes Biden Newly instated U.S. President Joe Biden’s inaugural speech on Wednesday, Jan. 20, was welcomed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who said it was full of good news. Asked during his Thursday, Jan. 21, press conference whether he felt threatened by Biden, AMLO responded: “We have nothing to object to. On the
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Covid-19 Vaccines Politicized Ever since the Mexican government announcement on Friday, Jan. 15, that “the last batch” of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines — 219,375 vaccine units, to be exact, half the expected number of doses, would arrive in the country Tuesday, Jan. 19, the topic became a focus of a raging political debate. But at the root of that
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By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF The director of Mexico’s universal covid-19 vaccination program, Miriam Veras Godoy, announced her resignation from the government post Sunday, Jan. 17. Veras Godoy, who helped design the vaccination program, which prioritizes first health workers treating covid patients, followed by citizens ranked by their age brackets, previously served as the director general of the nation’s
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Vaccination Rush There are reports of complaints from all over Mexico that throngs of “influential” persons want to use their jobs in government to be the first in line to get access to the much-desired anti-covid vaccines. In Nogales, Sonora, on the border with Arizona, the Social Security for Government Employees (ISSSTE) officials pointed a finger at
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By RICARDO CASTILLO A Birds Story Birds of a feather flock together, says the old adage. This week began with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, Jan. 11, visiting part of his “wonderful wall” in Alamo, a township just east to McAllen, along the Mexico-Texas border. He took the occasion to praise Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) with
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Free Covid Vaccines Attention, expat seniors: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced Tuesday, Jan. 12, that vaccinations against covid will be free for all residents, regardless of nationality. The top priority groups in Mexico, in terms of urgency, are medical personnel on covid duty, who are first in line for the covid inoculation, followed by
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Politics and Vaccinations The inevitable mixture of pandemic vaccinations and Mexico’s electoral year politicking could be foreseen months ago. But, now that the antigen is trickling into the country in ever-growing numbers, so is the criticism of opposition political parties who claim President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is using the vaccines as a political tool to
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Ebrard and Sullivan Talk Migration A new era in Mexican-U.S. diplomatic relations began Wednesday, Jan. 6, with a video conference between Foreign Relations Secretary (SRE) Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón and President-elect Joe Biden’s National Security spokesman, Jake Sullivan. Both agreed that the most important issue in a new bilateral agenda is to collaborate in order to have a
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