By RICARDO CASTILLO Let the fireworks light up the cloudy Mexican economics sky. The great news deserves the glow in the heavens. The economy grew in the second quarter of 2019 by 0.1 percent and, according to the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (Inegi), which carries out the official econometrics gaging, “there is no recession.” The news was made
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Esperanza Gutiérrez Rojano ran like hell out of the plush southern Mexico City Artz Pedregal mall on Wednesday, July 24, a little past 5 p.m., to no avail. Less than a block away, she was stopped by a city policeman and, in no time, she was surrounded by patrol cars. She was laden onto a pick-up converted
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By RICARDO CASTILLO It’s the end of July and figures are beginning to trickle in regarding the state of Mexico’s economy. The first one landed on Friday, July 26, from the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (Inegi), which is the nation’s foremost authority in gauging financial and industrial trends and the news is not good since the Gross Domestic
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The word “recession” currently seems to be striking terror in the heart of most Mexicans. And given the humongous volume of antagonism President Andrés López Obrador (AMLO) is confronting, the word is even more threatening to his opponents. Not only that, AMLO is fighting a war of economic terminology in which the truth is in the voice
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By RICARDO CASTILLO It was no coincidence or mistake that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) on Thursday, July 25, signed before a notary public his sworn statement vowing that he will not seek reelection as president in the 2024 electoral campaign. In case you think this is weird, then think again. It just so happens that all of
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The Baja California state electoral controversy may have finally come to an end. Late Tuesday, July 23, the Baja state congress met at the municipality of Rosarito Beach to confirm that the governance period for Governor-elect Jaime Bonilla Valdéz from two to five years is valid. Early the next day, the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) in
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Every now and then, more often than not, the name of Mexico’s fourth-wealthiest man, Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco, dominates the media with controversial reports. In fact, at the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat), there are a myriad of files open charging Larrea with crimes of pollution. And if we gauge the amount of media space devoted
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The Baja California state Congress majority vote to extend from two to five years the tenure of governor-elect Jaime Bonilla Valdéz is an issue that promises to reshape Mexican politics. (For background info, see my July 15 article on this news item.) Many are against the extension, while others defend it not just because it is the
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By RICARDO CASTILLO There was really very little to discuss on Sunday, July 21, during the just-over-an-hour-long meeting in Mexico City between visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard. It was clear previous to the meet that Mexico had achieved the goals demanded of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO)by U.S. President Donald
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Regardless of the fact that the United States still does not have an ambassador in Mexico, diplomatic relations are intensifying to the point that this coming weekend there are two mini-summits planned that will deal with some of the many pressing issues between the two nations. First, Mexican Foreign Relations Undersecretary for North America Jesús Seade Kuri
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