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
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The cancellation of the Constellation Brands brewery construction in Mexicali has so many political and economic offshoots that they are impossible to cover in one journalistic article. But here are some of them: The people of Mexicali voted against the brewery not because they do not want foreign investment in their region, but because the Constellation Brands
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Corona “Beerus” Brewery Nixed at Border A poll carried out by Mexico’s Interior Secretariat (SeGob) over the past weekend (Saturday, March 21, and Sunday, March 22) resulted in an overwhelming vote against the establishment of Corona beer manufacturer Constellation Brands mega-brewery in the Mexican border city of Mexicali, on the Mexican side of Calexico and Imperial Valley,
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The much-expected ideological clash between Mexican business and government is now here. It had not happened before because there had been civility on the part of the business community regarding the authentic democratic victory achieved by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in July 2018. But it is now apparent that the business-AMLO friendly relationship may be,
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Mexico-U.S. Border Shut for Nonessentials U.S. President Donald Trump perhaps was not precise enough when he announced on Friday, March 20, that with the agreement of the Mexican government, he was “closing the border” as of midnight. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency had to come to the immediate rescue with a press release clarifying the
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The Return of the Swaps The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) struck a deal with eight national central banks, including the Banco de México (Banxico), to back up dollar-denominated loans in global markets in an attempt to stabilize the exchange market, now under stiff pressure from the Covid19 pandemic. Banxico issued a press release explaining: “The swap mechanism
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The good news is that thus far in these coronavirus adventurous times, Mexico has registered only about 120 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 syndrome, and only one death. But in the eyes of Mexican Public Health Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell, now the official government spokesman on the pandemic, the ordeal is just getting started and the projected worse
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Early Vacations Due to the imminent threat of a Covid-19 contagion, Mexico’s Public Education Secretariat (SEP) opted for stopping classes altogether for two weeks as of Friday, March 20. The two weeks will link up with the upcoming two week Easter vacation, slated to start on April 4. Classes will restart on April 20, providing for a
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Weathering a Perfect Storm Over the past few days, representatives of all o Mexico’s major banks have held separate press conferences previous to the annual Mexico Banks Association Convention, now being held in Acapulco. Each of the interviewed representatives showed acceptance for the policies of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). This is an indicator that
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