By KELIN DILLON The controversial new changes to Mexico’s electricity law will now see the nation’s Secretariat of Energy (Sener) and Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) review more than 20,000 permits granted to private individuals and enterprises in the energy sector under previous presidential administrations. The review will look into permits to operate and open service stations outside of the Petróleos
Read more
By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS From Fuel Thief to Candidate The former head of Mexico’s left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) in the northern state of Tamaulipas, Miguel Ángel Almaraz Maldonado, who was arrested in 2009 by the Federal Attorney General’s Office for allegedly working with the Zetas organized crime group to steal oil from the state-run oil giant Petróleos Mexicanos
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Roberta’s Back In May 2018, then-outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson made a prediction, saying that she was not saying goodbye but rather “so long.” On Tuesday, March 23, Jacobson kept her promise and returned to Mexico, this time as U.S. President Joe Biden’s southern border affairs representative. Jacobson led a committee of U.S. officials in
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO An Irate Response After Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) asked Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldivar to order an investigation into Judge Juan Pablo Gómez Fierro (who indefinitely suspended the president’s controversial new electricity bill), Zaldivar complied and requested the officer in charge of the Council of the Judiciary, Carlos Alpízar, to pay a visit
Read more
By ANTONIO GARZA, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Erstwhile Aztec and Spaniards Meet in Court A major political war between the modern conquest version of the Aztec versus the Spaniards is now being wagered in Mexico between conservative and liberal forces. The conflict was sparked by the controversial ruling made by Second District Court for the Administration, Economic Competency and Broadcast Services for Mexico City
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO New Mexican Tourist Resort Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) Saturday visited the largest of the three islands, popularly known as “Las Marías,” off the coast of Nayarit in the Pacific Ocean. During his visit, AMLO announced that in three months the archipelago, which once served as a federal prison, would open up to tourists as
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Lozoya Case Postponed The start date for the trial of former Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) Director Emilio Lozoya Austin was postponed on request of the Mexican Attorney General’s Office due to pandemic-related complications. The deadline was supposed to be last Sunday, March 7. Judge José Artemio Zúñiga Mendoza, however, granted investigators more time to conclude the presentation of
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Women March Nationwide From A and B to Y and Z, Mexican women will protest in Monday, March 8, International Women’s Day, against macho violence in the nation. Though in the past, much of the attention of previous demonstrations has been centered around the Mexico City main square Zócalo, this year the programming for the protests will
Read more
By RICARDO CASTILLO Pemex Drops Fitch, But It’s Not Reciprocal The Mexican state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) dropped the international ratings firm Fitch from its budget on Tuesday, March 2, saying that it “no longer needs” the New York-based company’s services. Fitch’s ratings of the humongous Pemex debt has been harsh, and in its latest move. Fitch downgraded
Read more