Mexico Elects First Woman President in Sweeping Victory for Governing Party
Former Mexico City Mayor and climate scientist Claudia Sheinbaum won the country’s presidential election and will become the first woman and first Jewish person to lead Mexico; preliminary results suggest she won by more than thirty points, while the ruling Morena party is also expected to hold large majorities in both houses of Congress (NYT)
Sheinbaum pledged to continue the policies of incumbent president and close ally Andrés Manuel López Obrador to uplift Mexico’s poor but also said she would “respect business freedom” and attract “private national and foreign investment;” López Obrador’s tenure was marked by tensions over high levels of crime, rising migration, government efforts to increase control over the energy sector, and water stress (FT)
At Least Fourteen Political Candidates Killed in Attacks in Chiapas
Drug cartels have battled for control in the southern state; at least 134 people have been killed countrywide, twenty-four of them candidates, in politically motivated attacks this year, watchdog Data Civica tallied (AP)
Claudia Sheinbaum, the frontrunner in Mexico’s upcoming presidential election, denied critiques that the legal reforms will negatively impact the rule of law in Mexico, instead arguing that the constitutional changes will promote democracy by allowing supreme court justices and election officials to be appointed by popular vote (FT)
Three Tourists Shot Dead in Mexico
Authorities stated that the bodies of one American and two Australian men, believed to have been killed over resisting truck theft, were found in a well in Baja California state. (BBC)
Felipe de Jesus Gallo’s statement calling Mexico the “champion” of fentanyl production opposed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s previous remarks in which he denied his country’s role as the producer of the drug (AP)
Protesters Set Fire to Government Building and Cars
The protesters in the city of Chilpancingo demanded answers regarding the 2014 incident on the disappearance of forty-three students, during which the local police handed students to a drug gang that murdered them; last year, the truth commission found that local state authorities collaborated with the gang to murder the students (AP)
Mayoral Candidate Murdered in Mexico
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador mourned the Monday death of mayoral candidate Bertha Gaytán, the latest victim in a string of at least fifteen candidates who have been killed since the start of this year; López Obrador did not announce new protections for candidates, though Gaytán requested an increased security detail just hours before she was killed (AP)
Mexico Says It Will Not Accept Deportations From Texas as Courts Weigh Controversial Law
Immigration policy should be decided between federal governments, Mexico’s foreign ministry said amid a legal battle over whether Texas authorities should be allowed to arrest and deport undocumented individuals who cross the southern U.S. border into the state (NYT)
The U.S. Supreme Court greenlit the law yesterday, only to have a lower court block it (WaPo)
Mexican Journalist Kidnapped by Armed Assailants
According to the chief prosecutor of Jalisco state, where the abduction occurred, radio and television host Jaime Barrera was taken in broad daylight by unidentified men and is still missing; the journalist’s daughter currently works for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party (AP)
Security Experts Warn of Record Rise in Attacks of Political Figures
Watchdog group Data Civica counted thirty attacks on political hopefuls and party officials between September and February 10 as the country moves toward its largest elections in history; last week, two mayoral candidates in the state of Michoacán were killed (AP)
United States Looked Into Allegations Mexican President Had Cartel Ties
U.S. law enforcement officials looked into claims that allies of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met with and took money from drug traffickers, but ultimately decided not to launch a formal investigation, the New York Times reported (NYT)
López Obrador said the allegations were “completely false” and read the phone number of a Times reporter who had contacted him for comment aloud at a press conference yesterday, prompting denunciation from press freedom groups and Mexico’s own freedom of information institute (NYT)
At Least Twelve Dead Following Shootout With Security Forces Along Texas Border
According to the local security agency in Tamaulipas state, the soldiers on patrol were attacked by armed civilians (Reuters)
Drug Dispute Crossfire Kills American Bystander in Mexico
An American woman and Belizean man were caught in an apparent shootout between drug dealers at a beach club in Tulum; while the prosecutors denied the woman’s connection to the dispute, the man was believed to be a dealer after authorities found drugs in his possession (AP)
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Announces Series of Constitutional Reforms
AMLO is sending proposals to Congress that include banning fracking, modifying Mexico’s pension system, and reforming the electoral system; analysts say many of the bills are long shots that appear designed to energize López Obrador’s base ahead of elections in June (Bloomberg)
AMLO Denies Financial Ties With Drug Cartel
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador rejected allegations that his first presidential campaign in 2006 was financed by drug cartels in exchange for future help from his government with criminal operations (Reuters)
ProPublica: Drug Traffickers May Have Funded President López Obrador’s 2006 Campaign
Witnesses told investigators from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that a close aide to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was involved in receiving donations from a drug cartel during López Obrador’s 2006 presidential campaign; the DEA also gathered evidence that traffickers were told they could help choose some police commanders (ProPublica)
Supreme Court Rules Federal Government Can Remove Razor Wire on Border With Mexico
Texas authorities said they installed the razor wire on part of the state’s border with Mexico to deter unauthorized migration; while the justices did not provide an explanation for their 5–4 vote, the wire has injured several migrants and the Joe Biden administration has argued the wire inhibits federal authorities’ ability to do their jobs (AP)
Meanwhile, a U.S. appeals panel in Boston voted that a 2021 Mexican lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers can proceed, reversing a previous decision that blocked it; the suit claims gunmakers should be liable for failure to track their firearms that end up in the hands of violent Mexican cartels (NYT)
Mexico Registers Slight Decline in Homicides in 2023
Mexico recorded 29,675 intentional homicides last year, a government secretariat said yesterday; the number is a 4.18 percent decrease from the previous year and down from the country’s all-time high of 34,690 homicides in 2019 (EFE)
Kidnappers Thirty-Two Migrants in Mexico Planned to Extort Them, President Says
The armed men who kidnapped the migrants near the northern Mexican city of Reynosa over the weekend aimed to demand money from them and their families, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said; human rights activists have warned in recent months about a growing kidnapping crisis in Reynosa (Reuters)
U.S. to Reopen Four Crossings on Border With Mexico
Washington had closed the crossings last month as U.S. authorities struggled to cope with large levels of undocumented migrants arriving at the southern border, but Mexico has since then stepped up its immigration enforcement, with migrant arrivals declining by the end of December; U.S. lawmakers are currently debating potential new steps in migration enforcement as part of a deal that would also extend war funding for Israel and Ukraine (Reuters)
U.S., Mexican Officials Hold Migration Talks in Mexico City
The U.S. Secretaries of Homeland Security and State will meet today with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss migration policy in the wake of U.S. congressional talks on a potential deal to tighten U.S. immigration laws (AFP)
In December, as many as ten thousand undocumented migrants were arrested daily at the U.S.-Mexico border (AP)
While U.S. lawmakers adjourned for recess without a deal, Republicans have demanded tighter border controls in exchange for providing more military aid to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine; some measures they demand would require Mexico’s collaboration (WSJ)
López Obrador has said he is willing to help but seeks more development aid for the region and progress in U.S. relations with Cuba and Venezuela (AP)
Army-Run Airline Carries Out Its First Flight
The Mexicana plane was forced to land earlier than planned due to poor weather, the company said; the airline’s development demonstrates President López Obrador’s expansion of the military’s control over the country’s economy and governance (AP)
Thousands of Migrants Arrive in Town of Álvaro Obregón En Route to U.S.-Mexico Border
The group had walked fifteen kilometers (about nine miles) before continuing on the next day, and comprised roughly eight thousand people per day, local authorities estimated (Reuters)
Fourteen Killed in Clash Between Cartel Members and Residents Near Mexico City
Four residents and ten gunmen from the notoriously violent Familia Michoacana drug cartel, including the group’s leader, died in a shootout in the village of Texcaltitlan, about eighty miles outside of Mexico City (AP)
Five University Students Found Dead in Car in Central Mexico
Local media said that the young men had been shot to death near the town of Celaya in Guanajuato state (ABC)