ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR

Officials from Mexico and the United States are developing a new framework for their governments’ security relationship that is more “holistic” in addressing crime and will tackle a broader range of issues than the previous initiative.

But that law was passed in 2019, and the scientists got the $2.5 million years earlier when it was apparently legal. A judge at the Altiplano prison denied prosecutors’ request for arrest warrants against the academics Wednesday. But the whole episode lent heft to accusations that López Obrador’s government has sought to politicize academic life in Mexico. Gertz Manero's office defended the charges Wednesday, saying the academics “used federal funds meant for scientific research on a private organization, buying furniture, vehicles, properties, and paying salaries and other services.”The office said it would re-file the charges. “Western science has produced the most splashy, and perhaps most useless advances, like reaching the Moon," Álvarez-Buylla said in 2020.

Mexico has so many criminals to deal with that critics are openly wondering why the government has sought to lock up 31 academics, professors and researchers in the country's top maximum security prison.

Whether or not Saturday’s meeting in Mexico City of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC, culminates in a rumored mass exodus from the Organization American States, Mexico has signaled that it wants a leadership role in Latin America after years of focusing almost exclusively on its bilateral relationship with the U.S. Mexico was the organization’s president last year and its membership voted that Mexico continue in that role this year. Unlike the OAS, the United States and Canada are not members, nor is Brazil, which withdrew in January 2020. Along with its vaccine efforts in the region, Mexico has recently hosted a new round of dialogue between the Venezuelan government and that country’s opposition in Mexico City. Ana Vanessa Cárdenas Zanatta, a political science professor at Monterrey Technological and Anahuac universities in Mexico City, said on one hand, Mexico’s move to take a greater role in Latin America is positive.

A gathering of leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean here this weekend is the latest sign of Mexico flexing its diplomatic muscle as it looks to assert itself as the new mediator between the region and the United States.

Mexico Cuba Cuba's Miguel Diaz-Canel, center, accompanies Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, during Independence Day celebrations in the Zocalo in Mexico City, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) (Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — The big highlight of Mexico’s Independence Day Thursday was the visit by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador welcomed the Cuban leader on the reviewing platform for Mexico’s annual Sept. 16 military parade. López Obrador called on the United States to end the economic blockade of Cuba. “Hopefully President (Joe) Biden has enough political sensitivity to act with greatness and put an end to the political attacks on Cuba," López Obrador said.

The mayor of Acapulco, Adela Román, said there was no major damage, but the 7.1 magnitude temblor rattled buildings hundreds of miles away in the capital.

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) (Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — Mexico has faced immigration pressures from the north, south and within its own borders in recent weeks, putting it in an increasingly difficult position. Tapachula’s shelters are full, leaving many asylum seekers to live in unsanitary conditions while they wait. MEXICO'S NORTHERN BORDERConcern has been growing in northern Mexico since the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the restart of the controversial program that made asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases are processed. On the ground, asylum seekers trying to enter the U.S. have been frozen out. Shelters in northern Mexico fear they could soon be overwhelmed again by returned asylum seekers.

Mexico is facing immigration pressures from the north, south and within its own borders, putting it in an increasingly difficult position.

Pictures of the Week Latin America and Caribbean Photo Gallery Immigration agents detains a Haitian migrant and his son as they walked along a highway in Escuintla, Chiapas state, Mexico, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed frustration with a strategy of containing migrants in the south on Thursday and said he would write to U.S. President Joe Biden to insist that country contribute to his favorite development projects in the region. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) (Marco Ugarte)

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Mexico President Protest FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2021 file photo, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a military parade introducing the new army commander in Mexico City. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File) (Fernando Llano)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — The SUV carrying Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was stopped and surrounded by a radical teachers’ group Friday, preventing him from leading his usual daily morning news conference. But López Obrador also stressed that the incident was an example of his policy of non-violence and avoiding the use of force. “This is what (Nelson) Mandela did, this is what (Martin) Luther King did, this is what (Mahatma) Gandhi did, non-violence,” López Obrador said. By Friday, even López Obrador admitted that the union leadership in some states had gone bad.

The SUV carrying Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was stopped and surrounded by a radical teachers' group, preventing him from leading his usual daily morning news conference.

It also notched its third-highest daily number of new COVID-19 cases as the highly contagious delta variant overwhelms many hospitals. On Thursday, Beshear reported new record highs in Kentucky, with 2,115 virus patients hospitalized, including 590 in intensive care and 345 on ventilators. ___MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:— U.S. may reach 100,000 more COVID-19 deaths by Dec. 1. In November, the hospitals counted 987 virus patients, accounting for 32% of hospitalizations. ___MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee’s most populous county has reached the highest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients since the start of the pandemic.

Sanders’ death came days after the state reported the death of an infant. Children under 18 made up about 30% of cases reported Thursday in Louisiana. The two states on Wednesday reported the most COVID-19 patients in their hospitals since the start of the pandemic. ___MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee’s most populous county has reached the highest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients since the start of the pandemic. The move comes as Texas reported the most COVID-19 patients in its hospitals since the start of the pandemic.

Mexico will ask the United States to send at least 3.5 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccine as the country faces a third wave of infections, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) (Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — The United States will send Mexico 8.5 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccine as the delta variant drives the country’s third wave of infections, Mexican officials said Tuesday. “With this velocity that we are seeing, the risk of saturation of the hospitals is very high.”Mexico has received 91.2 million doses of five different vaccines, about 73 million of which have been applied. In June, the U.S. government sent Mexico more than 1.3 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following a visit by Harris to the country. __Associated Press journalist Alexis Triboulard in Mexico City contributed to this report.

The United States will send Mexico 8.5 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccine as the delta variant drives the country’s third wave of infections.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a planned phone call on Monday with Vice President Kamala Harris he would urge the United States to reopen the two countries' shared southern border "completely."

Human rights and press freedom activists are up in arms about a new report on NSO Group, the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company.

The video is the second video showing a brother of the president accepting large amounts of money

Mexico President Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said evidence indicated that 15 of the victims were innocent bystanders. The other four dead were suspected gunmen from a group that drove into the northern border city of Reynosa and opened fire indiscriminately. “Everything indicates that it was not a confrontation, but rather a commando that shot people who were not involved in any conflict," López Obrador said. But those disputes usually target rival gunmen or security forces.

Mexico's president is vowing to investigate the border shootings that left 19 dead.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said meetings on the migration crisis with Kamala Harris went so well that he called her "president."

Vice President Kamala Harris closes out her first foreign trip Tuesday in Mexico. She'll meet with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a key but complicated ally in the Biden administration’s efforts to curb migration at the U.S. border. (June 8)

Guatemala Harris Latin America Vice President Kamala Harris and Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, pose for an official photograph, Monday, June 7, 2021, at the National Palace in Guatemala City. But on Tuesday, her meeting with Lopez Obrador isn’t expected to deliver as many concrete commitments. Harris will spend the rest of the day meeting with female entrepreneurs and labor leaders in the nation. Still, while aides say corruption was a central focus of her meeting with Giammattei, it’s unclear whether she’ll raise the issue with Lopez Obrador. Mexico agreed to take back its own citizens under Title 42 authorities, as well as people from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Vice President Kamala Harris is telling the poor and threatened populations of Latin America that the United States has “the capacity to give people a sense of hope” in the region so they can make better lives without fleeing to the U.S. Harris closed her first foreign trip as vice president unapologetic for her decision not to visit the U.S.-Mexico border as part of her mission to address migration to the U.S. She said her meetings with leaders and others in Guatemala and Mexico were vital...

Vice President Kamala Harris is closing out her first foreign trip Tuesday with a visit to Mexico and a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a key but complicated ally in the Biden administration’s efforts to curb the spike in migration at the U.S. border. While Lopez Obrador committed in a previous virtual meeting with Harris that the U.S. can “count on us” to help address the issue of irregular migration, the Mexican president has in the past blamed President Joe Biden for the increase in migration at the border.

Mexico Elections Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador thumbs up after voting in congressional, state and local elections in Mexico City, Sunday, June 6, 2021. It would also deprive the president of a qualified majority of two-thirds required to approve constitutional reforms. López Obrador appeared to acknowledge that new reality Monday. The opposition alliance made up of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, National Action Party and Party of the Democratic Revolution were estimated to win between 181 and 213 seats. But the president's party was battered in Mexico City, long considered his stronghold and where he once served as mayor.

Mexico Elections Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador thumbs up after voting in congressional, state and local elections in Mexico City, Sunday, June 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) (Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s party and allies appear poised to maintain their majority in Mexico's lower chamber of the congress, according to initial results. López Obrador's critics had depicted the elections as a chance to stop the still-popular president from concentrating more power and weakening checks and balances. The president said the opposition is dominated by conservatives who oppose his campaign against corruption and wasteful spending. Mexico City housewife Dolores Martinez said she was pleased with López Obrador's anti-corruption fight, after decades of corrupt administrations.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s party and its allies appeared poised to maintain their majority in Mexico’s lower chamber of the congress.

Mexicans are awaiting results after voting for the entire lower house of Congress, almost half the country's governors and most mayors.

The good news about Latin America is that the region’s economy will rebound much faster than expected, mainly because of a sharp rise in U.S. and Chinese imports. The bad news is that the region’s politics will most likely ruin the recovery.

It’s routine preparation for a campaign stop for Guillermo Valencia, who's running for mayor in Morelia, capital of the troubled Mexican state of Michoacan.

Mexico will says it will buy Shell's 50% share in the jointly owned Deer Park refinery near Houston.

"Mexico is now overwhelmed and out of capacity," a Catholic priest in southwest Mexico told Insider.

Mexico's president has presented an apology for a 1911 massacre in which over 300 Chinese people were slaughtered by troops and residents in the northern city of Torreón.

US Mexico Harris Obrador Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a virtual meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington on Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Manuel Balce Ceneta)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — Just before an online meeting with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris Friday, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador very publicly accused the U.S. government of violating Mexico's sovereignty. The issue apparently didn't arise in the meeting with Harris: “It's not on the agenda and it's not our intention to create a bad atmosphere," López Obrador said ahead of the talks. “We are going to help” on immigration, López Obrador told Harris. A U.S. State Department spokesman said Friday: “As the Vice President said today, Mexico is our closest neighbor.

Hawaii officials are moving forward with a plan to allow people who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to skip pre-travel testing and quarantine requirements for flights between islands.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has defended the 2013 ruling that freed one of the drug lords most wanted by U.S. authorities, even though Mexico’s Supreme Court later ruled it was a mistake.

(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s elections agency has withdrawn ballot registration for a ruling-party state candidate who was nominated despite accusations of rape against him. The decision drew the wrath Friday of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has defended candidate Félix Salgado and criticized women's groups who objected to his candidacy. “This is an attack on democracy,” Lopez Obrador said, saying that “high powered, mafia interests” wanted Salgado disqualified as candidate for the governorship of southern Guerrero state. Salgado was chosen as candidate by a poll of Morena party members despite nationwide protests over the fact two women accused him of rape. AdFormer Guerrero state prosecutor Xavier Olea told The Associated Press that the current governor of Guerrero, Hector Astudillo, ordered him in 2017 not to investigate one of the rape accusations against Salgado, though Astudillo has denied that.

Thousands of women marched in Mexico City Monday to mark Women’s Day, focusing the spotlight on López Obrador’s contradictions. “He should start really fighting, but for the women of Mexico,” said marcher Ana De la Toba, a 39-year old Mexico City lawyer. “Half of the cabinet are women,” López Obrador said at his daily morning news conference. Attention focused on the barricades erected in fronts of the colonial-era National Palace where López Obrador lives and works. “The barricades were put up because the conservatives are very upset,” López Obrador said.

Also pictured is Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, third from right. Among Biden’s 23 nominees with Cabinet rank, just 13 have been confirmed by the Senate, or a little over half. On Tuesday, Biden's Cabinet was thrown into further uncertainty when his nominee to lead the White House budget office, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration after her nomination faced opposition from key senators on both sides of the aisle. That must change.”The Biden administration has prioritized confirming those nominees who are key to national security, the economy and public health decisions. The Biden administration has not been completely hamstrung by the slow pace of confirmations, however.

Also pictured is Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, third from right. Among Biden’s 23 nominees with Cabinet rank, just 13 have been confirmed by the Senate, or a little over half. On Tuesday, Biden's cabinet was thrown into further uncertainty when his nominee to lead the White House budget office, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration after her nomination faced opposition from key senators on both sides of the aisle. That must change.”The Biden administration has prioritized confirming those nominees who are key to national security, the economy and public health decisions. The Biden administration has not been completely hamstrung by the slow pace of confirmations, however.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his regularly scheduled morning press conference known as "La Maanera" at the National Palace in Mexico City, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. It is not the first time that López Obrador's casual attitude toward his personal security has raised concern. López Obrador, who enjoys pressing the flesh in crowds of supporters but has not been able to do so during the coronavirus pandemic, downplayed the incident. López Obrador also downplayed that incident. Soon after he was elected in 2018, López Obrador said: “The people will protect me.”

– As President Joe Biden looks to dismantle the last administration’s hardline immigration agenda, he worked Monday to build a partnership with someone who found an unexpected understanding with Donald Trump: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Biden and López Obrador met for a virtual bilateral meeting, with immigration, the coronavirus pandemic and climate issues on the agenda. “We haven’t been perfect neighbors to each other,” Biden acknowledged in brief remarks at the start of his video conference meeting with the Mexican president. Ahead of the meeting, White House officials reiterated that Biden remained focused on first vaccinating U.S. citizens before turning his attention to assisting other nations. Early in his term, the Mexican president pursued a counter-narcotics strategy that largely ended the pursuit of high-profile arrests and focused more on poverty alleviation.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, speaks during a virtual meeting at the State Department in Washington, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, with Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau who is in Ottawa, Canada. But they were geographically far apart Friday as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, because of the pandemic, started a new chapter in North American relations with virtual visits to Mexico and Canada in what was billed as his first official trip. “The United States has long-standing relationships with both Mexico and Canada," Blinken said afterward. The secretary began his virtual visits with Mexico, a country Trump repeatedly disparaged in his campaign and early in his presidency, though relations turned more cordial under López Obrador. AdBiden last week made his first bilateral meeting, also virtual, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who at times had a frosty relationship with Trump.

Lpez Obradors quixotic bid to sell off the presidential jet has now stretched into its third year in 2021, with no sign of a buyer in sight. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s quixotic bid to sell off the presidential jet has now stretched into its third year, with no sign of a buyer in sight. Ever since he took office on Dec. 1, 2018, the president has vowed to sell off the plane because it is too luxurious. But on Wednesday he acknowledged the jet is hard to sell because it is too specialized and made-to-order. Experts say it would be costly to reconfigure into a typical passenger jet that would carry up to 300 passengers.

López Obrador appeared “with resolute spirit, working and looking good,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who is also isolating and awaiting test results, said on Twitter. On Monday, the WHO chief said via Twitter: “I am sorry to hear that you have tested positive for #COVID19, President @lopezobrador— . Stay strong!”At the start of the pandemic López Obrador was criticized for leaning into crowds and giving hugs. López Obrador is known to be stubborn and more often doubles down on a position rather than retreat in the face of criticism. ___Associated Press video journalist Lissette Romero and AP writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City and writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

Mexico President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador says he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is under medical treatment, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Sunday he has tested positive for COVID-19 and that the symptoms are mild. Early in the pandemic, asked how he was protecting Mexico, López Obrador removed two religious amulets from his wallet and proudly showed them off. At the start of the pandemic López Obrador was criticized for still leaning into crowds and giving hugs. Besides López Obrador, other Latin American leaders who have tested positive for the coronavirus are Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, Guatemala’s Alejandro Giammattei, Honduras’ Juan Orlando Hernández and Bolivia’s then-interim President Jeanine Ánéz.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his regularly scheduled morning press conference known as "La Maanera" at the National Palace in Mexico City, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Also in Mexico City, Amalia Meléndrez tunes in after her morning bath. López Obrador, 67, has never once left the stage, or even sat down, when others are speaking. In the morning talks, López Obrador has shown off the amulets he claims protect him from evil and the coronavirus. “The president made it clear that he had to take this head-on,” said the president’s press representative, Jesús Ramírez.

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Sunday the army will run the Maya train project and several airports, and use any profits to finance military pensions. But López Obrador said Sunday that “so there won’t be the temptation to privatize” the $6.8 billion project, the army will operate it once built. López Obrador has already given the army more tasks than any other recent Mexican president, with military personnel doing everything from building airports to transporting medicine and running tree nurseries. López Obrador said the army is among the most trustworthy and honest institutions in the country. In July, López Obrador inaugurated the start of construction on the train, a pet project of his that would run some 950 miles (about 1,500 kilometers) in a rough loop around Yucatan.

The moves came a day after electors nationwide formally cast votes affirming Biden's victory in last month's presidential election. As Republicans began discussing a Biden presidency more openly on Tuesday, Trump still pledged to press forward with almost nonexistent legal options. There has never been anything like this in our Country!” Trump tweeted just as members of his party were publicly recognizing Biden's victory. The Electoral College has spoken.”The bureaucratic transition from Trump's government to Biden’s actually began weeks ago, despite the president’s legal challenges. Unless Democrats win both those races, Senate Republicans will have the power to block many of Biden's Cabinet nominations, not to mention thwart his policy initiatives.

The moves come a day after electors nationwide formally cast votes affirming Biden's victory in last month's presidential election. As Republicans began discussing a Biden presidency more openly on Tuesday, Trump still pledged to press forward with almost nonexistent legal options. There has never been anything like this in our Country!” Trump tweeted just as members of his party were publicly recognizing Biden's victory. The normally humdrum political ceremony didn’t change the facts of the election, but was nonetheless used as political cover by leading Republicans. Unless Democrats win both those races, Senate Republicans will have the power to block many of Biden's Cabinet nominations, not to mention thwart his policy initiatives.

Other leaders who supported Trump, including President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, congratulated Biden, indicating they rejected Trump’s claim the election wasn’t over. Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia told reporters he looked forward to a “great partnership” with Washington. Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan said he looked forward to working together to end illegal tax havens and on peacemaking in Afghanistan. Others expressed hope Biden will help to heal divisions in American society and global politics. Prime Minister Janez Jansa was the only leader who congratulated Trump even before all votes were counted and showed support after Biden’s win was announced.

In this court artist sketch, former Mexican defense secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda's appears in federal court, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 in Los Angeles. SAN DIEGO – A judge denied bail to Mexico's former defense secretary on Tuesday on charges of helping a Mexican cartel smuggle drugs to the United States in exchange for bribes, casting aside an argument that the retired general wouldn't flee because he was determined to exonerate himself. Lyons said the retired general could post up to $750,000 bail, calling it his life savings. The judge said he wouldn't order a transfer until Friday to allow the retired general time to meet with a Mexican attorney who traveled to Los Angeles. He could face a mandatory sentence of at least 10 years in prison if convicted on the conspiracy charges.

The head of the U.N. agency charged with promoting gender equality said there has been progress, but not enough and too slow. In Africa and Asia, she said, there are governments “that have not felt any pressure” to move forward on gender equality. When the United Nations was founded in 1945 on the ashes of World War II, Mlambo-Ngcuka said, not a single woman was a head of state or government. Among the countries unable to give their speeches were the United States, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, Russia, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan. DeVos praised the “incredible gains” for American women since the Beijing conference and denounced “evil regimes” elsewhere that deny women’s rights and freedoms, singling out Venezuela, Cuba, Iran and “the worst violator of all,” China.

(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)MEXICO CITY – Mexico has issued 25 arrest warrants for those who carried out and knew about the abduction of 43 students in southern Mexico in 2014, including for the first time members of the military and federal police, the Attorney General’s Office announced Saturday. Included among those being sought are also current and former members of the Attorney General’s Office. Pursuing soldiers is a significant move, especially considering President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s coziness with the armed forces. The highest-ranking fugitive in the case is Tomás Zeron, who at the time of the abduction was the head of the federal investigation agency. Gertz Manero said that in addition to Zeron’s alleged crimes connected to the case, he also allegedly stole more than $44 million from the Attorney General’s Office budget.

Paleontologists work to preserve the skeleton of a mammoth that was discovered at the construction site of Mexico Citys new airport in the Santa Lucia military base, Mexico, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY The number of mammoth skeletons recovered at an airport construction site north of Mexico City has risen to at least 200, with a large number still to be excavated, experts said Thursday. Paleontologist Joaquin Arroyo Cabrales said the airport site will be a very important site to test hypotheses about the mass extinction of mammoths. There needs to be a means for them to be buried rapidly and experience low oxygen levels.The site near Mexico City now appears to have outstripped the Mammoth Site at Hot Springs South Dakota which has about 61 sets of remains as the world's largest find of mammoth bones. For now, the mammoths seem to be everywhere at the site and the finds may slow down, but not stop, work on the new airport.

In his second state-of-the-union address Tuesday, Lpez Obrador emphasized what he considers his major achievements: the fight against corruption and his governments austerity. But Mexicos teflon president no longer has the near sky-high approval ratings he once had and his honeymoon appears to be over. According to a Reforma newspaper poll published Monday, Lpez Obrador has a 56% approval rating; still a fairly high figure but down from a peak of 78% in March 2019. Mexico's president clearly hopes his main legacy will be going after corrupt politicians who stole hundreds of millions of dollars in past administrations. Lpez Obrador has already given signs of that.

Press photographers cover Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador arriving for a press conference in front of the former presidential plane at Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City, Monday, July 27, 2020. The president, who only flies commercial as one measure in his austerity government, has been trying to sell the plane since he took office. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY Efforts to sell Mexicos presidential jet appear to be going well, but a simultaneous effort to sell lottery tickets depicting the plane is struggling. With the Sept. 15 lottery drawing less than a month away, Lpez Obrador is facing the possibility the lottery might actually lose money, rather than achieving its stated goal of collecting funds to buy medical equipment. With only about 1.5 million tickets sold, the lottery currently is covering only about 38% of the guaranteed prize money of $90 million. The jet, like the lottery, is full of symbolism for Lpez Obrador, who has refused to even step foot into the Boeing Dreamliner since he took office in December 2018. Originally, he vowed to raffle off the plane, which drew jokes about where the winner would park the jet.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his daily, morning news conference at the presidential palace, Palacio Nacional, in Mexico City, Monday, July 13, 2020. If a mask was an option for the economys reactivation, Id put one on immediately, Lpez Obrador said Wednesday. At age 66, Lpez Obrador also falls into an at-risk group of people who should wear masks. On Wednesday, Herrera was sitting behind Lpez Obrador when he spoke and he asked the president to let him clarify his comments from the day before. Trump tweeted a photo of himself wearing a mask Monday and yesterday conceded that they had an impact.

President Donald Trump and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador arrive for an event in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

López Obrador had cordial words for Trump, too, saying that while they have disagreed, it was better to find common ground and avoid slinging insults. Trump has dialed back his harsh words since López Obrador took office a year and a half ago. And López Obrador signaled he wanted to put the insults in the past. Trump and López Obrador also pledged to cooperate in responding to the coronavirus, which has rocked both nations. When he arrived at the White House, López Obrador and Trump did not shake hands as would have been customary before the pandemic.

President Donald Trump and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gesture before signing a joint declaration at the White House, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has made building some 450 miles of wall on the U.S.-Mexico border a defining issue of his presidency, and long vowed that Mexico would pay for it. Trump has repeatedly falsely asserted that Mexico is paying for ongoing construction of the wall. Lopez Obradors predecessor, Enrique Pea Nieto, plainly stated in a May 2018 Twitter posting: Mexico will NEVER pay for a wall. At moments during his presidency, Trump has sought to offer a creative argument for how Mexico is paying for the wall.

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)MEXICO CITY For his first foreign trip as president, Mexicos Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador travels to Washington Tuesday to meet with President Donald Trump, a leader who has repeatedly used Mexico as a piata to rally his base. But Lpez Obrador has had a surprisingly warm relationship with Trump. If Trump wins a second term, Lpez Obrador could be calculating hell have a friend for the remaining four years of his administration. Lpez Obrador has repeatedly raised the importance of the remittances sent home by migrants and praised them as heroes. Were going to offer our opinion, but were not planning for confrontation, Lpez Obrador said Tuesday.

But Lpez Obrador remains laser focused on completing one of his signature projects despite the legal challenges and even a pandemic that has killed more than 10,000 Mexicans. Lpez Obrador says it will create 80,000 jobs at a time that nearly a million have been lost to the lockdown caused by the novel coronavirus. Lpez Obrador originally conceived of it as an economic development project to help a long-neglected part of the country. Since then, the Mayan train has been the cure-all for every challenge. Ezer May, an anthropologist and historian from Kimila east of Merida, said initially many people were swept up in the nostalgia for the Mayan train.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum urged residents via Twitter on Monday to stay at home if it wasnt absolutely necessary to go out. On his way to Cancun, Lpez Obrador stopped at his ranch in Chiapas state and recorded a video he shared on social networks. I wanted to give you good news, Lpez Obrador said. __Verza reported from Mexico City. AP photojournalist Fernando Llano and videojournalist Gerardo Carrillo in Mexico City and AP writer Ignacio Martnez in San Jos de Los Cabos contributed to this report.

FILE - In this April 5, 2020 file photo, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks at the National Palace in Mexico City. Industry associations said it will affect 28 solar and wind projects that were ready to go online, and 16 more under construction, with a total of $6.4 billion in investments, much of it from foreign firms. Mexico also has been slow to build supplementary plants for the times when wind or sun power naturally decreases. But the situation really hit crisis levels when the pandemic caused a huge drop in electricity demand as factories closed. There was literally nowhere for the fuel oil to go if the state-run plants didn't burn it, and no money to subsidize the unused power plants.

Some Mexican auto factories are due to open as soon as Monday, in line with large U.S. assembly plants for the Detroit automakers. Despite President Donald Trump's "America First" policies, the U.S. auto industry heavily relies on Mexico for parts and vehicle production. Mexico, unlike many U.S. states, had not given direction on when auto manufacturing would be allowed to restart as the county's coronavirus cases have continued to rise. It's something auto industry executives have been closely watching as they reopen American factories. Prior to the reopening report, Fred Hubacker, a managing partner of consulting firm Conway MacKenzie, called Mexico a "wild card" in the restart of the U.S. auto industry.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubas President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Monday called a gun assault last week on its embassy in Washington a terrorist attack, while U.S. court papers said the suspected gunman was a psychotic Cuban emigre who heard voices. FILE PHOTO - Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel attends an official welcoming ceremony held by Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico October 17, 2019. REUTERS/Luis CortesThere were no injuries in the attack last Thursday, but gunshots riddled the facade and some penetrated the building. Police arrested Alexander Alazo, 42, at around 2 a.m. after he fired an AK-47-style semi-automatic rifle 32 times at the embassy, according a memorandum filed on Sunday in support of pretrial detention. USA, Land and Family, according to court papers.

Even as COVID-19 deaths soar at factories in Mexico, the United States is sending a clear message: Its time for plants that have stopped production to get back to work. AdvertisementMexican officials have begun to cave, despite warnings from health authorities here that reopening factories too soon could lead to widespread death. And authorities in the border state of Baja California have lifted closure orders on at least 12 factories. Avila said 390 businesses that her group represents have asked Mexican officials to deem the work of their suppliers in Mexico essential. AdvertisementAn April 18 letter from the company to employees confirmed three suspected COVID-19 deaths at the Juarez factory.

FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Henry RomeroMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday that the United Nations has been slow in ensuring fair prices and equal access to medical equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. With cases of coronavirus rising rapidly in the country, Mexico has sought to supplement its limited supply of ventilators by purchasing equipment from China.

President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States would "help Mexico along" with oil production cuts that it is meant to make under a global deal to shore up slumping crude oil prices, but said the details had yet to be worked out. The comments suggest that Trump could be considering an unprecedented effort to orchestrate a production cut in the United States, historically the world's most vocal proponent of the free market. The group of oil producers known as OPEC+, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, had hammered out the framework of a record oil cut on Thursday to lift oil prices slammed by the coronavirus crisis. President Lopez Obrador said earlier on Friday that Trump had agreed help out by cutting additional U.S. output after Mexico offered OPEC+ a cut of just 100,000 bpd, a quarter of what the group demanded. He said Trump "very generously said to me that they were going to help us with the additional 250,000 (bpd) to what they are going to contribute."

Seething anger over a rise in deadly violence against women in Mexico spilled into the streets of the nations capital on Sunday as tens of thousands of female demonstrators marched to demand that the government do more to protect them. Some of the countrys largest companies have endorsed the action Monday, giving women the day off. Theyre killing women in plain sight.Teresa Morales, 44, walked arm in arm with her two daughters. They do not represent me.Riot police filled the streets, but for the most part did not stop the women. Its not women killing women, its men killing women, and they are emboldened by Mexicos culture of impunity, said Mara de la Luz Estrada, an activist with a group that tracks femicides.

In a lawless stretch of western Mexico, children as young as 6 are taking up arms against organized crime. This week, 19 children were conscripted into a vigilante group that for years has been battling drug gangs in restive Guerrero state. If they are afraid, the criminals will kill them like little chickens.AdvertisementTwo of the children who were trained were 6, Sanchez said. Human rights officials across the country condemned the enlistment of young vigilante soldiers. They say were violating the childrens rights, Sanchez said.

SUCHIATE RIVER, Guatemala/Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican security forces fired tear gas at rock-hurling Central American migrants who waded across a river into Mexico earlier on Monday, in a chaotic scramble that saw mothers separated from their young children. The mostly Honduran migrants numbered around 500, according to Mexicos National Migration Institute (INM). Five National Guard police were injured in the clashes, the INM said. The Reuters witness said that several kilometers from the border, Mexican immigration authorities had filled a bus and pickup trucks with detained migrants. Mexican authorities had already received nearly 1,100 migrants in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, the ministry said on Sunday.

They built ranch-style homes with orchards where the young children of growing families could ride their bikes and play all day outside. Other family members describe how kids suffer from recurring nightmares, and those relatives who have left fear coming back. Officials have suggested the attack may have been linked to a turf battle between two rival cartels known to fight over lucrative smuggling routes between Sonora and Chihuahua states, which both border the United States. Others have been provided with armed escorts from Mexican security forces. Bad things happen in every corner of the world, including in the United States.

The Trump administration on Monday downplayed a Mexican concern about a key piece of the North American trade deal the House aims to approve this week. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said language in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which the three countries signed last week, does not call for American "labor inspectors" in Mexico. "These personnel will not be 'labor inspectors' and will abide by all relevant Mexican laws," the agency continued. The White House aims to ease concerns during a pivotal period for the trade agreement one of President Donald Trump's top economic and political priorities. The administration won support for USMCA from skeptical House Democratic leaders after including tougher labor enforcement tools in the deal, among other provisions.

Earlier today, U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr traveled to Mexico. Attorney General Barr also accompanied Ambassador Landau in a visit to Mexicos National Shrine, Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Attorney General Barr and U.S. Secretary of the Navy Admiral Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo Montao, Attorney General Barr and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard CasaubonThe U.S. law enforcement relationship with Mexico is one of our most important partnerships to combat trans-border crime. Attorney General Barr looks forward to further dialogue on these important matters.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday said visiting U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr understood the importance of nonintervention in foreign policy, but there was no public indication that the two nations had resolved deep differences about the Trump administrations plans to classify Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. Those killings and others have emphasized Mexicos soaring homicide rate, much of it linked to organized crime, which controls the lucrative trafficking of drugs to the United States. If designated, Mexican drug gangs would join dozens of other international organizations on similar blacklists, including Islamist, separatist and other factions with more overtly political goals than Mexican drug syndicates which, while extremely violent, operate on a for-profit principle. The United States is also the source of much of the weaponry used by Mexican drug gangs.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to the media during her weekly press conference at the U.S. Capitol on November 21, 2019 in Washington, DC. Pelosi spoke about her legislative plans through the new year and the lack of progress she feels the Senate is making on passing legislation the House has already passed. She then took questions. Mexico's government will this week send a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging Congress to approve a new trade deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday. Speaking at a regular government news conference alongside various ministers, Lopez Obrador said he was sure that Pelosi and Democratic lawmakers would help Mexico, and that he believed the U.S. Congress would approve the deal before the end of 2019.

Bolivias interim government wants Mexico to muzzle Evo Morales, outspoken ex-president of the Andean nation. But he has not left quietly, assailing as illegitimate the government of self-appointed interim Bolivian President Jeanine Aez, who called Morales broadsides from Mexico inflammatory. Evo Morales, from his exile, is breaking all protocols because he should not be making public declarations, Aez told reporters in La Paz, the Bolivian capital. In Bolivia, Morales supporters have been staging daily demonstrations. Hopefully it is recognized how he [Morales] ... lifted Bolivia from being a country with much poverty, Lopez Obrador told reporters Wednesday.

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived Tuesday in Mexico, where authorities have granted him political asylum, as an opposition senator back in Bolivia declared herself interim president. But the United States, which has long opposed Morales for his socialist policies, appeared to recognize Aez as interim president. Former Bolivian President Evo Morales waves upon landing in Mexico City on Tuesday. Among those accompanying Morales to Mexico was the former vice president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, a longtime confidant. Before Morales arrived here, the Mexican foreign secretary dismissed suggestions that Mexicos decision to grant asylum to Morales a longtime critic of U.S. imperialism would elevate tensions with the United States.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a Keep America Great Rally at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, U.S., November 4, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri GripasWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, in a phone call on Tuesday with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, offered U.S. assistance to help Mexico bring to justice those who killed nine Americans, the White House said in a statement. President Trump made clear that the United States condemns these senseless acts of violence that took the lives of nine American citizens and offered Mexico assistance to ensure the perpetrators face justice, the statement said.

A family relative, Julian LeBaron, called the incident a massacre and said some family members were burned alive. Ill speak with President Trump to thank him for his support, and to see if in cooperation agreements theres the possibility of getting help, he told the news conference. Mexico has used its military in a war on drug cartels since 2006 but despite the arrest or killing of leading traffickers the campaign has not succeeded in reducing drug violence. The government has registered more than 250,000 homicides in the last dozen years, most of them related to the drug war. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI already work very closely with Mexico to combat the cartels.

FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attends a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero/File PhotoMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would speak on Tuesday with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump after officials said an ambush on a Mormon family living in northern Mexico left nine people dead, including three women and six minors. Lopez Obrador said he would speak with Trump about possible cooperation on security, provided Mexicos sovereignty were upheld. However, he noted he did not believe that foreign intervention would be necessary to deal with such cases.

The dead belonged to the LeBaron family from a breakaway Mormon community that settled in the hills and plains of northern Mexico decades ago. The government has registered more than 250,000 homicides in the last dozen years, most of them related to the drug war. Mexico has suffered a series of attacks in recent weeks, shocking even for a country inured to years of drug war violence. A relative of the family, Julian LeBaron, described the incident as a massacre, saying some family members were burned alive. In 2010, two members of the Chihuahua Mormon community, including one from the LeBaron family, were killed in apparent revenge after security forces tracked drug gang members.

AdvertisementOne of the vehicles caught fire, seemingly after a bullet hit the gas tank, killing a mother and her four children, family members said. In 2009, assailants captured and killed two members of the group, including Benjamin LeBaron, a great-grandson of its founder. She hasnt been back since February 2018 because of the increasing presence of cartels, which have stopped family members along the roads. Linthicum reported from Mexico City. Cecilia Sanchez in The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan said in July after the notorious Sinaloa leader was sentenced in a New York court to life in prison. AdvertisementLaw enforcement officials and the media alike had long portrayed El Chapo as Mexicos public enemy No. With his profitable drug-smuggling empire and two daring escapes from Mexican prisons, Guzman was worth billions of dollars and clearly wielded wide influence. But many experts maintain that Guzman was never the sole head of the Sinaloa cartel, and was rather the leader of one powerful faction within the group. This is not a vertically integrated organization where everybody has the same uniform, he said of the Sinaloa cartel.

Mexican police patrol in a street of Culiacan, state of Sinaloa, Mexico, on October 17, 2019, after heavily armed gunmen in four-by-four trucks fought an intense battle with Mexican security forces. Heavily armed cartel fighters surrounded security forces and made them free one of drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's sons, whose brief apprehension triggered intense gunbattles across the city of Culiacan. Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said a patrol by National Guard militarized police first came under attack from within a house in the city, 600 km (370 miles) northwest of Mexico City. After entering the house, they found four men including Ovidio Guzman, who is accused of drug trafficking in the United States. 'El Chapo' Guzman led the Sinaloa cartel for decades, escaping from prison twice before being arrested and extradited to the United States.

Seen are relatives of some of the 43 missing students of Ayotzinapa, after meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. AYOTZINAPA, Mexico (CNN) - Their faces have become emblematic in a country where violence seems to win over the rule of law. Surviving students and witnesses testified that they were attacked by local police, and according to Mexico's then-Attorney General, Jess Murillo Karam, the Ayotzinapa students were kidnapped in a scheme that allegedly involved local officials, and then later handed over to the criminal group Guerreros Unidos, which operates throughout Mexico's southwestern region. The move towards a new investigation has renewed hope for answers from many relatives of the missing students. The mother of one of the missing 43 was sitting on a panel at the University Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico City Monday.

We still suffer from insecurity and violence, Lopez Obrador conceded, citing the bad strategy of predecessors who declared a war against organized crime. (During the campaign, Lopez Obrador famously embraced hugs, not gunshots.)The young people were abandoned, Lopez Obrador told reporters. Bartlett, appearing with Lopez Obrador at the presidents regular morning news briefing, denounced the allegations as false and said he welcomed an inquiry. No opposition figure today has the standing and media presence to critique Lopez Obrador to a wide audience. Lopez Obrador doesnt have a Lopez Obrador to engage in battle with him.While projecting the image of someones likable uncle, observers say, Lopez Obrador is a figure of profound ambition who can be stubborn, even obdurate, possessing an almost messianic belief in the righteousness of his views.

FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attends a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File PhotoMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that devastating weekend shootings in the United States, including in El Paso in which Mexican nationals were among the casualties, should lead to reflection about indiscriminate arms sales. We are very respectful of what other governments decide, but we think that these unfortunate events, which occurred in the U.S., should lead to reflection, analysis and the decision to control the indiscriminate sale of weapons, Lopez Obrador said in his regular morning news conference.

A woman places a placard at the site of a mass shooting where 20 people lost their lives at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis GonzalezMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The number of Mexicans killed in a shooting in El Paso, Texas has risen to six, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Sunday, adding that seven other Mexican citizens were injured in the attack that killed a total of 20 people. We lament these acts and we affirm our conviction that social problems should not be resolved with use of force and incitement of hatred, he said at a public event.

Among the dead were seven Mexican nationals, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said. Many Juarez residents with means have relocated to El Paso and purchased homes there. But both El Paso and Juarez residents interviewed here seemed to suggest that Saturdays carnage would not change their travel routines. I think it was something unusual, an exception, what happened in El Paso, said Maria Jesus Felix, 65, who was among the steady stream of pedestrians and motorists crossing the Paso del Norte bridge to El Paso. A bus ticket from the international bridge in Juarez to the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso costs $10.