Mexican diplomat starts jostling for 2024 nomination
Ebrard, Mexico’s top diplomat, began the open jostling to win the 2024 nomination of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party on Monday, June 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool, File) (Patrick Semansky)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — Mexico’s top diplomat began the open jostling to win the 2024 nomination of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party on Monday. López Obrador can’t run for a second term, but given that the Morena party was built around him, whoever the president supports would get the party’s nomination. Also in the running are Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and Interior Secretary Adán López. Ebrard’s political career has been dented by problems with a subway line built when he was the mayor of Mexico City.
wftv.comKerry calls for keeping power markets open in Mexico
Many U.S. companies operating in Mexico either invested in cleaner power plants themselves or rely on cheaper energy produced by them. Those refineries often produce dirty fuel oil as a byproduct, which has to be burned at government power plants because few other buyers want it anymore. The only thing we want to do at the same time is strengthen the CFE,” Mexico’s state-owned Federal Electricity Commission. The plan would also declare “illegal” an additional 239 private plants that sell energy directly to corporate clients in Mexico. Almost all of those plants are run with renewable energy sources or natural gas.
wftv.comUS and Mexico begin work on new security framework
MEXICO CITY — (AP) — Mexico and the United States began work Tuesday on the new framework that will govern their security relationship going forward and replaces the Merida Initiative, which had focused on building up Mexico’s capabilities to battle the drug cartels. The U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities seeks to move beyond the Merida Initiative. Just last Thursday, 55 migrants were killed when a semi-trailer packed with people flipped in southern Mexico. “They are actions, immediate actions,” Salazar said. Ebrard and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had announced the general outlines of the new framework in October.
wftv.comMexico, US draw up outlines of new security framework
Mexico US Blinken Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador speaks during a working breakfast with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the National Palace in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. The so-called U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities seeks to move beyond the 13-year-old Merida Initiative that focused on building Mexico’s crime-fighting capabilities and rule of law projects. López Obrador has been saying for months that Mexico cannot continue to simply detain migrants and try to contain them in the southern part of the country, far from the U.S. border. Mexico has also been pressing for the U.S. government to do more to stop illegal guns from pouring in from the U.S. López Obrador attacked U.S. prosecutors’ case against the general and accused the Drug Enforcement Administration of fabricating the case.
wftv.comMexico, US draw up outlines of new security framework
High-level delegations from Mexico and the United States have laid out the outlines of a new security framework for the bilateral relationship that at least conceptually mark a departure from the mindset that steered their cooperation over the past decade.
Officials: Many Haitian migrants are being released in US
U.S. officials say many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, undercutting the Biden administration’s public statements that Haitians who enter the country illegally face immediate expulsion.
Assertive Mexico seeks leadership role in Latin America
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.
wftv.comUS, Mexico restart high-level economic talks after 4 years
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON — (AP) — The United States and Mexico restarted high-level economic talks Thursday after a four-year pause as top advisers to presidents Joe Biden and Andrés Manuel López Obrador expressed eagerness to make headway on issues important to both nations such as infrastructure, trade and migration. The talks were launched by Biden in 2013 when he was vice president under Barack Obama but were halted under President Donald Trump, whose hard-line immigration policies complicated the United States' relationship with its top trade partner. “We are very excited about this next stage of the relationship and partnership between the United States and Mexico,” said Harris, who visited Mexico City in June for talks with López Obrador. “Mexico is our closest neighbor … and a strategic partner and one of our most important economic relationships. Mexico’s economic stability is in the interest of the United States."
wftv.comVenezuelan government, opposition leaders continue dialogue
Mexico Venezuela Talks Venezuelan opposition delegate Gerardo Blyde Perez, from left, Norwegian diplomat Dan Nylander, Venezuelan President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodriguez and Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, attend talks in Mexico City, Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. The government of Venezuela and its opposition are set to begin a new dialogue this week looking for a change in the South American nation's prolonged political standoff. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) (Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — Government and Venezuelan opposition representatives on Friday continued a dialogue aimed at finding a common path out of their country’s political standoff. But the decision to end economic sanctions is in the hands of foreign governments — notably the United States — not those at the table in Mexico City. The organization Human Rights Watch this week urged the opposition and government to adopt measures to restore respect for human rights and allow free elections.
wftv.comUS to send 8.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Mexico
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.
wftv.comFrance, Mexico sign deal against trafficking in artifacts
France Mexico Artifacts French Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, right, and Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard sign documents during their meeting in Paris, Thursday, July 1, 2021. France and Mexico signed an agreement Thursday on cooperating against the trafficking of cultural artifacts, a deal that the Mexican foreign minister called an important step toward recovering and protecting Mexico's cultural heritage. (Yoan Valat, Pool photo via AP) (Yoan Valat)PARIS — (AP) — France and Mexico signed an agreement Thursday on cooperating against the trafficking of cultural artifacts, a deal that the Mexican foreign minister called an important step toward recovering and protecting Mexico's cultural heritage. It came after Mexico lodged a complaint with the French government against a big auction of pre-Hispanic sculptures and other artifacts by Christie’s of Paris earlier this year. “The recuperation and protection of our cultural goods is a huge issue for us," Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.
wftv.comReport blames poor welds for Mexico City subway collapse
Mexico Metro Collapse FILE - In this May 4, 2021 file photo, subway cars dangle at an angle from a collapsed elevated section of the metro in Mexico City, the day after the collapse. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File) (Fernando Llano)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — A preliminary report by experts into the collapse of a Mexico City elevated subway line that killed 26 people placed much of the blame Wednesday on poor welds in studs that joined steel support beams to a concrete layer supporting the track bed. Previous reports by engineering firms revealed Ebrard’s city government had made a series of startlingly wrong choices when the subway line was designed and built. The Gold Line line chattered, bumped and shrieked. Mexico City’s subway, which serves 4.6 million riders every day, has never had the one thing it needs most: money.
wftv.comUS and Mexico seek ways to do more on irregular immigration
In consecutive visits this month, Vice President Kamala Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have conveyed to the most important U.S. partner that the Biden administration is taking a more nuanced approach to immigration than its predecessor, but still asking what more Mexico can do.
The Latest: Johnson & Johnson shots arrive in Mexico from US
(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) (Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY — Mexico received 1.35 million doses of Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines donated by the United States on Tuesday. Japan has pledged $1 billion and 30 million vaccine doses to a U.N.-led COVAX program for low-income nations. They are expected to suffer financially from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement to delay the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in England by four weeks to July 19. ___TOKYO — Japanese companies have joined the effort to speed up the country’s lagging coronavirus vaccine rollout before the Tokyo Olympics begin next month. Users can download proof of their coronavirus vaccination status onto a smartphone app.
wftv.comSan Diego gives vaccines to Mexican workers at border plants
San Diego County and private businesses have donated 10,000 coronavirus vaccines to vaccinate workers at U.S.-owned border assembly plants in Tijuana known as maquiladoras, Mexico’s top diplomat said Tuesday. Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the program is aimed at helping equalize vaccination rates at closely connected points along the U.S.-Mexico border. “The purpose is to try to equalize vaccination rates along the northern border, above all in the cities that have a high degree of interconnection, like San Diego and Tijuana,” he said.
news.yahoo.comMexico's long delay of vaccines for Latin America nears end
Virus Outbreak Argentina Mexico FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2021 file photo, a nurse prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File) (Natacha Pisarenko)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — Mexico’s top diplomat said Tuesday that shipments of a long-delayed lot of AstraZeneca vaccines will finally be sent to Argentina this weekend. Mexico, Argentina and other countries in Latin America were expecting millions of doses to start flowing in March, but probably won’t be able to start using them until June. In February, Mexican officials had said they expected to get 10 million AstraZeneca doses in March, 15.7 million in April and the same number in May, for a total of 41.1 million shots. Instead, as of Tuesday, Mexico had received only about 6.8 million AstraZeneca doses from abroad.
wftv.comMexico's long delay of vaccines for Latin America nears end
Mexico’s top diplomat said Tuesday that shipments of a long-delayed lot of AstraZeneca vaccines will finally be sent to Argentina this weekend. Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said about 800,000 doses will be flown to Argentina. Mexico will get a similar amount, and he expressed hopes that later shipments can be sent to other Latin American countries.
news.yahoo.comMexico: Russia's Sputnik V shortages mean limited 2nd doses
Mexico will begin bottling and packaging the Russian vaccine, Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Wednesday, April 28, 2021, during a visit to Russia. The Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund which has bankrolled Sputnik V and is in charge of marketing it abroad, denied the Mexican reports. It has been forced to rely more on the Pfizer vaccine, of which it has received 10.6 million doses, as well as about 10 million doses of two Chinese vaccines. It said the vaccine delivered to Slovakia was different from the original, two-dose Sputnik V vaccine that is considered 91% effective, according to a study in the medical journal Lancet. Dozens of countries have approved the use of Sputnik V, and many signed deals with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to get shipments of the shot.
wftv.comMexico: Russia's Sputnik V shortages mean limited 2nd doses
Mexico will begin bottling and packaging the Russian vaccine, Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Wednesday, April 28, 2021, during a visit to Russia. Mexico has so far received only 1.9 million Sputnik V doses, out of a total of 24 million it has signed a contract for. It has been forced to rely more on the Pfizer vaccine, of which it has received 10.6 million doses, as well as about 10 million doses of two Chinese vaccines. It said the vaccine delivered to Slovakia was different from the original, two-dose Sputnik V vaccine that is considered 91% effective, according to a study published in the medical journal Lancet. Russia has been actively marketing Sputnik V abroad despite the comparatively slow rollout at home and limited production capacities.
wftv.comMexico City subway collapse was a tragedy foretold
APTOPIX Mexico Metro Collapse An aerial view of subway cars dangle at an angle from a collapsed elevated section of the metro, in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) (Fernando Llano)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — The Mexico City elevated subway line that collapsed this week, killing 25 people, was problem-plagued and poorly designed from the day of its inauguration in 2012. “Here in Mexico, nothing is taken care of until a tragedy occurs,” said López Meza, who also is a seismic consultant who has worked on government projects. The Gold Line line chattered. While the problem with a lack of rebar might have been repeated throughout the hundreds of columns on the line, López Meza said it probably wouldn’t have contributed directly to Monday’s collapse.
wftv.comMexico City subway collapse was a tragedy foretold
The Mexico City elevated subway line that collapsed this week, killing 25 people, was problem-plagued and poorly designed from the day of its inauguration in 2012. Passengers and authorities alike came to fear that the screeching and bouncing of wheels on the line’s tight curves were quickly wearing away the tracks, raising fears of a derailment. José Antonio López Meza said the defects detected in the subway system report — a sagging section of too-weak steel near the latest accident — is the kind of thing that could have contributed to Monday’s collapse.
news.yahoo.comFamilies mourn victims of Mexico City subway collapse
Mexico Metro Collapse Firefighters work to lower to the ground a subway car dangling from a collapsed elevated section of the metro, in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. The elevated section of Mexico City's metro collapsed late Monday killing at least 23 people and injuring at least 79, city officials said. Hernández Martínez was killed instantly, his son Luis Adrian Hernández Juarez said, one of 24 people who died in one of the world's largest subway system's worst accidents. Line 12 is Mexico City’s longest and newest, but has been plagued with problems since it began operating in 2012. Rioja finally found him Tuesday at a morgue in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa.
wftv.comOverpass collapse on Mexico City metro kills at least 24
Mexico Metro Collapse Subway cars dangle at an angle from a collapsed elevated section of the metro, in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) (Fernando Llano)MEXICO CITY — (AP) — The death toll from the collapse of an overpass on the Mexico City metro rose to 24 Tuesday as crews untangled train carriages from the steel and concrete wreckage that fell onto a roadway. The Mexico City Metro — which is among the world's cheapest with tickets costing about 25 cents —has had at least three serious accidents since its inauguration half a century ago. Despite the fact that the coronavirus situation remains serious in Mexico City, they crowded together waiting for news. Allegations of poor design and construction on the subway line emerged soon after the Ebrard left office as mayor.
wftv.comOfficial: Mexico to begin bottling Sputnik V vaccine
Mexico will begin bottling and packaging the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Wednesday, two days after Brazil refused to approve the shot. Mexico has already received more than 1 million doses of Sputnik V in recent months. Ebrard said the state-owned company Birmex is working with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to prepare the bottling operations.
news.yahoo.comMexico to rely heavily on Chinese vaccines
An elderly woman gets her shot of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 in Mexico City, Monday, March 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY – Mexico announced a huge bet on Chinese vaccines Tuesday, without making public any information about their efficacy. The total of 32 million doses, plus at least 4 million doses of the CanSino shot, would dwarf the estimated 5 million vaccine doses Mexico has acquired so far from other sources. Mexico has administered only about 4.7 million doses of all vaccines, a tiny amount given the country’s population of 126 million. AdInoculations with Chinese vaccines already have begun in more than 25 countries.
Top US diplomat 'visits' Mexico, Canada on virtual trip
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.
The Latest: Tennessee probe finds wasted vaccines
___WASHINGTON — Coronavirus vaccine makers tell Congress to expect a big increase in the delivery of doses over the coming month. AdLooking ahead to summer, Pfizer and Moderna expect to complete delivery of 300 million doses each, and J&J aims to provide an additional 100 million doses. ___MADRID — Spain has registered 7,461 new coronavirus cases and 443 more deaths. AdThe country has reached a total of 3.1 million cases and 68,000 confirmed deaths. Ad___GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization is criticizing the lack of access to coronavirus vaccines for the world’s poor.
The Latest: Hong Kong ease pandemic rules as cases decline
FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2020 file photo, people wearing masks attend a vigil for Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)HONG KONG — Hong Kong is reducing social distancing rules following a sharp drop in new coronavirus cases, including restarting indoor dining and reopening gyms. More than two-thirds of the new cases were in Seoul area, home to half of South Korea’s 51 million people. The company has contracted to provide 100 million doses — enough for 100 million Americans — by the end of June. “We just need the vaccine to arrive.”___ATLANTA — Snowy and icy weather across much of the nation has “significantly” delayed shipments of COVID-19 vaccine to Georgia, state health officials said Wednesday.
UN chief urges global plan to reverse unfair vaccine access
The coronavirus has infected more than 109 million people and killed at least 2.4 million of them. America's top diplomat said the U.S. also plans to provide “significant financial support” to COVAX through the GAVI vaccine alliance, and will work to strengthen other multilateral initiatives involved in the global COVID-19 response. India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also called for a halt to “vaccine nationalism” and encouragement for internationalism. he said Russia is ready to discuss progress on implementing the only resolution the Security Council has adopted on the pandemic. After three months of difficult negotiations, the council last July 1 endorsed fhe secretary-general’s call for cease-fires in major global conflicts to tackle COVID-19.
Mexican president works from isolation after virus test
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's president says he's tested positive for COVID-19
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.
Mexico starts giving first shots of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine
The country's 1.4 million health workers will be the first to get the shots, followed by the elderly, those with underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the disease, and teachers. Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico was the first country in Latin America to get the vaccine, though others were close behind. In Costa Rica, which is the third country in the region to begin using the Pfizer vaccine, the first shot was given Thursday to Elizabeth Castillo, 91. Argentina, which has run into problems obtaining the Pfizer vaccine, received a flight carrying 300,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Argentina plans to become the first country in Latin America to administer the Russian vaccine starting next week.
The Latest: Brazil is latest to ban flights from Britain
A demonstrator wears a face shield with a red handprint, mimicking blood, to protest Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the deadly coronavirus pandemic in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. ___NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dozens of Tennessee hospitals have stopped taking transfer patients because they are overwhelmed during one of the nation’s worst recent outbreaks of COVID-19 cases. ___DENVER — Colorado has started vaccinating correctional workers as the state sees a surge of coronavirus cases in its prisons. ___BOSTON — Help is on the way for Massachusetts small businesses struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, with Gov. COVID-19 cases have been declining in New Mexico, but the economic fallout from the pandemic continues.
Mexican president wants to restrict US agents in Mexico
(AP Photo / Marco Ugarte )MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has tossed another hot potato to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden with a proposal that would restrict U.S. agents in Mexico and remove their diplomatic immunity. “The proposal is that foreign agents will not have any immunity,” according to a summary of the president's proposal to the Mexican Senate published Friday. “The proposal requires that foreign agents give Mexican authorities the information they gather,” according the proposed changes. It’s going to be leaked, it’s going to compromise agents, it’s going to compromise informants," Vigil said. “Ninety percent of the information sharing goes from the DEA to Mexico, rather from Mexico to the US.
Mexico says it wants its ex-officials tried in Mexico
Regarding drug traffickers and others whose crimes affect the United States, Ramírez said, “that justifies them being tried in the United States." Roberto Velasco, Mexico’s director general of North American Affairs, said generally, crimes in Mexico would be investigated and prosecuted in Mexico. He was also accused of introducing cartel leaders to other corrupt Mexican officials. That decision came after reports that Mexico had threatened to expel the Drug Enforcement Administration’s regional director and agents. Mexican officials complained that the U.S. failed to share evidence against Cienfuegos and that his arrest came as a surprise.
US drops case against ex-Mexican general after pressure
The officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case. He was also accused of introducing cartel leaders to other corrupt Mexican officials. Mexican officials complained that the U.S. failed to share evidence against Cienfuegos and that his arrest came as a surprise. In the case of Cienfuegos, Mexican officials have taken no official position on whether he is innocent or guilty, saying that was up to the attorney general’s office to decide. U.S. civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby said the Cienfuegos case marks an odd capstone to the Trump administration.
Mexican president taps loyalist as new security chief
MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposed a former journalist and long-time Mexico City government bureaucrat to be the country’s new security chief Friday at a time when the country is on track to set a new annual homicide record. López Obrador said he had not asked her in advance and she was currently in quarantine, recovering from COVID-19. When López Obrador was Mexico City mayor from 2000 to 2005, Rodríguez held posts in public security and was social development secretary. López Obrador has given more responsibility than any other president in modern times to the military and not just in the security realm. “We couldn’t pretend it was going to be easy to fix the problem.”__AP writer Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Low expections in Mexico as US election approaches
FILE - In this June 23, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump tours a section of the border wall in San Luis, Ariz. During his 2016 primary run, Trump sought to mark his ground as a hard-line immigration enforcer who would build a great, great wall on our southern border. Nearly four years later, Trump still has work to do completing his wall and much that has been completed has been paid by U.S. taxpayers despite promises otherwise. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Low expections in Mexico as US election approaches
For example, when Mexico was on the brink of defaulting on treaty obligations governing water-sharing this month, the Trump administration provided a graceful exit. Trump made Mexico an immigration waiting room for the U.S. and some say effectively pushed the U.S. frontier south for immigrants. Thousands of asylum seekers were forced to wait out their cases in Mexican border cities before the pandemic allowed the U.S. to effectively suspend its asylum system at the border. Mexico might expect greater recognition of shared responsibility from a Biden administration, but Mexico’s own security strategy has been difficult to decipher. The Trump administration has focused on deporting undocumented immigrants and narrowing the path to legal entry.
Tourism restricted across U.S.-Mexico border, says Mexican government
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Friday announced restrictions on crossings for tourism at the U.S.-Mexico border as a coronavirus contention measure, but emphasized that trade, work and medical trips would not be affected. Ebrard said the measures by U.S. authorities would affect who was able to cross the border at ports of entry. He did not say whether additional measures were being taken to restrict illegal migration. Yes, in cases of tourism and recreation, essentially, it will be restricted, he said. Roughly 3 million personal vehicles crossed legally each month in 2019 between San Diego, California, and the Mexican border city of Tijuana, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data.
feeds.reuters.comMexico to let U.S. return Central American migrants caught at border
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Friday that Mexico will allow the United States to return to Mexico Central American migrants caught trying to enter the United States illegally at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, Ebrard noted that Mexico will not permit the United States to send back migrants detained on the joint frontier who are not Mexican or Central American.
feeds.reuters.comMexico, U.S. to form coronavirus task force for border: minister
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Friday that Mexico and the United States have agreed to form a joint task force to work on measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus at the U.S.-Mexico border. Reporting by Raul Fernandez; writing Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Dave Graham
feeds.reuters.comMexico foreign minister urges U.S. to keep border open for trade, work
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Thursday that he held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and proposed that the two countries keep their shared border open for commerce and work, even as they seek to combat the coronavirus. Writing on Twitter, Ebrard said he had proposed that the measures the countries took to fight coronavirus do not paralyze economic activity and that his suggestions had been met with a good disposition.
feeds.reuters.comMexico pushes U.S. to designate El Paso shooting an act of terrorism
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexicos government on Wednesday amplified its assertion that the Aug. 3 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, was an act of terrorism against Mexicans, urging the United States to ensure the attack was designated as such. FILE PHOTO: A man places an American flag in the pile of flowers that has gathered a day after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019. Twenty-two people, including eight Mexican citizens, were killed in the shooting at a Walmart store in the U.S. border city, an event Mexico quickly said it would investigate as a terrorist act. Later, the foreign ministry issued a statement saluting Texas Governor Greg Abbotts announcement he was forming a domestic terrorism task force following the El Paso shooting in order to combat hateful acts and extremism in Texas. The attack caused widespread revulsion in Mexico at a time of persistent diplomatic tensions between Trump administration and the Mexican government over trade and immigration.
feeds.reuters.comMexico to open first terrorism probe of an event on U.S. territory
EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - Mexico will investigate the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that killed 22 people, including eight Mexican citizens, as an act of terrorism and may request the suspected shooter be extradited to Mexico for trial, the countrys foreign minister said on Monday. Ebrard said he would meet with the Mexican attorney general on Tuesday to share results of the U.S. investigation and build a terrorism case. We consider this an act of terrorism, in this case carried out in U.S. territory, but an act of terrorism against Mexicans, Ebrard said at the Mexican consulate in El Paso. It will be the first investigative case of this importance in the history of Mexico regarding terrorism in United States territory, he added. People gather to pay their respects at a growing memorial site two days after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 5, 2019.
feeds.reuters.comMexican man who shielded wife in Texas mass shooting dies
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican man who threw himself in front of his wife to shield her from bullets in a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, died on Monday, officials and his family said, raising the toll of Mexican nationals killed in one of two weekend mass shootings in the United States to eight. Juan de Dios Velazquez, who was caught in Saturday's shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, U.S., is seen in this undated photo provided by his family, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico August 5, 2019. He couldnt fight anymore, his heart started to fail, said Idaly Velazquez, a niece who confirmed his passing to Reuters. On Monday, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who was visiting El Paso, tweeted unfortunately, Juan de Dios Velazquez Chairez, originally from Zacatecas, died. The deaths on Monday raised the total to 22, El Paso police said on Twitter.
feeds.reuters.comMexico: Texas shooting 'act of terrorism' against Mexicans
Mexico's government said it considers a shooting at a crowded department store in El Paso, Texas that left eight of its citizens dead an "act of terrorism" against Mexicans and hopes it will lead to changes in U.S. gun laws. "An investigation will be opened for terrorism, because that's what it was," Ebrard said at a press conference. Ebrard also met with families of the victims and the injured and promised to speed up the repatriation process for the bodies of the eight Mexican victims. Many in Mexico were reeling from revelations that the shooting appeared to have been aimed at Hispanics, and Mexicans in particular. He then allegedly targeted a shopping area in El Paso that is about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the main border checkpoint with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
chicagotribune.comMexico considers litigation labeling El Paso massacre as 'terrorism'
Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard, gestures as he holds a news conference about the mass shooting in Texas in the U.S., in Mexico City, Mexico August 4, 2019. For Mexico, this individual is a terrorist, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a news conference, urging the United States to deliver a clear and forceful position against hate crimes. Ebrard said his ministry would request information from the United States on how the shooter acquired the weapon he used, and whether U.S. officials were aware of the purchase. Ebrard, who will visit El Paso on Monday, also named the seven Mexicans who died, and who mostly came from states along the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexicos deputy foreign minister for North America, Jesus Seade, decried the shooting as xenophobic barbarism and called for an end to rhetoric that incites such acts.
feeds.reuters.comMexico considers litigation labeling El Paso massacre as 'terrorism'
(Reuters) - Mexicos attorney general is considering litigation alleging that the mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, in which six Mexicans were among the 20 people killed, was terrorism, the countrys foreign minister said on Sunday. Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard, gestures as he holds a news conference about the mass shooting in Texas in the U.S., in Mexico City, Mexico August 4, 2019. For Mexico, this individual is a terrorist, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a news conference, urging the United States to deliver a clear and forceful position against hate crimes. El Paso is a heavily Latino city that sits on the U.S.-Mexico border across from Ciudad Juarez, a major gathering point for migrants aiming to cross into the United States and others waiting out requests for asylum in the United States. Mexicos deputy foreign minister for North America, Jesus Seade, decried the shooting as xenophobic barbarism and called for an end to rhetoric that incites such acts.
feeds.reuters.com