Biden, 81, is the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, but his performance at last night’s debate led to increased speculation that he could be replaced by a younger candidate.

Trump, 78, is certain to be the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, even though he is now a convicted felon.

Illegal immigration into the United States from Mexico is set to be a major issue in the Nov. 5 presidential election, while the opioid crisis — mainly fueled by illegal fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico — is also a significant concern for many voters.

Mexico and the United States collaborate on immigration issues and the fight against fentanyl, but some politicians in the U.S., especially Republicans, argue that Mexico isn’t doing enough to stem the flow of migrants and narcotics across the two countries’ shared border.

Below you’ll find a selection of remarks made by Biden and Trump during Thursday night’s presidential debate relating to immigration and other issues between Mexico and the United States.

Immigration and border security 

U.S Customs and Border Protection encountered a record high of almost 2.5 million migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2023, which ended in September.

Arrests of people crossing illegally from Mexico into the U.S. reached a record monthly high of almost 250,000 last December, but the numbers decreased significantly in the first five months of 2024.

Migrants typically enter Mexico at the country’s southern border with Guatemala before making the long, arduous and dangerous journey to the northern border on buses, atop trains, in tractor trailers and on foot. Mexican authorities detain and deport significant numbers of migrants, but many others make it to the northern border before attempting to make asylum claims in the United States or cross into the U.S. illegally.

Biden on immigration

“When … [Trump] was president, he was … separating babies from their mothers, putting them in cages, making sure the families were separated. That’s not the right way to go,” Biden said early in the debate.

The U.S. president claimed “there are 40% fewer people coming across the border illegally*” since he issued an executive order in early June that prevents migrants from making asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border at times when crossings between legal ports of entry surge.

* PBS News fact-checked the statement and determined that it was “mostly true.”

Trump on immigration

“We had the safest border in the history of our country [when I was president]. … All he had to do was leave it. He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, … terrorists,” Trump said.

He later said that Biden “allowed millions of people to come in here from prisons, jails and mental institutions,” a remark PBS News determined was significantly exaggerated given that just over 100,000 noncitizens with criminal convictions were arrested in the past three years.

On Biden’s June 4 executive order, Trump said:

“Now all of a sudden he’s trying to get a little tough on the border, he came out with a nothing deal and it reduced [immigration] a little bit. … It’s insignificant, he wants open borders. He wants our country to either be destroyed or he wants to pick up those people as voters. And we just can’t let it happen.”

Trump also asserted that “because of [Biden’s] ridiculous, insane and very stupid policies, people are coming in and they’re killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen.”

“We call it migrant crime*. I call it Biden migrant crime,” he added.

* Reuters reported in April that “a range of studies by academics and think tanks have shown that immigrants do not commit crime at a higher rate than native-born Americans.”

Trump and Biden debate the fentanyl crisis 

Around 107,500 people died from a drug overdose in the United States in 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fentanyl — large quantities of which are manufactured by Mexican cartels with precursor chemicals imported from China — were responsible for almost 70% of the overdose deaths.

In recent years, Mexican and U.S. authorities have increased their cooperation on the fight against fentanyl, and the issue has been a key focus of bilateral security dialogue.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged last month that the current Mexican government has seized “a record amount of fentanyl” — more than eight tonnes between December 2018 and May 2024.

Some Republicans, including Trump, have advocated the use of the U.S. military in Mexico to combat Mexican drug cartels, two of which — the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — pose “the greatest criminal threat the United States has ever faced,” according to Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram.

Biden on the fentanyl crisis

“[The entry to the U.S. of] fentanyl and the byproducts of fentanyl went down for a while. And I wanted to make sure we use the machinery that can detect fentanyl, these big machines that roll over everything that comes across the border, and it costs a lot of money. That was part of this deal we put together, this bipartisan deal,” Biden said.

“More fentanyl machines, more being able to detect drugs, more numbers of agents, more numbers of all the people at the border. And when we had that deal done, he went and he called his Republican colleagues and said ‘don’t do it. It’s going to hurt me politically,'” he continued.

“He never argued it’s not a good bill. It’s a really good bill. We need those machines. … And we’re coming down very hard in every country in Asia in terms of precursors for fentanyl. And Mexico is working with us to make sure they don’t have the technology to be able to put it together*. That’s what we have to do. We need those machines.”

* As The New York Times noted, it was unclear what Biden meant when he said that “Mexico is working with us to make sure they don’t have the technology to be able to put it together.”

He was possibly referring to Mexican authorities’ efforts to stop criminal groups from obtaining pill presses and other machinery used in the production of fentanyl. 

Biden’s assertion that Mexico is working with the United States on the fight against fentanyl is correct.

Trump on the fentanyl crisis

“We were doing very well at addiction until the COVID came along. We had the two-and-a-half, almost three years of like nobody’s ever had before, any country in every way. And then we had to get tough. And it was the drugs pouring across the border, … it started to increase,” Trump said.

“We got great equipment. We bought the certain dog. That’s the most incredible thing that you’ve ever seen, the way they can spot it. We did a lot. And … we were getting very low numbers. Very, very low numbers,” he added.

“Then he came along. The numbers — have you seen the numbers now? … The amount of drugs and human trafficking in women coming across our border, the worst thing I’ve ever seen, at numbers that nobody’s ever seen — under him because the border is so bad. But the number of drugs coming across our border now is the largest we’ve ever had by far.”

* Drug overdose deaths in the United States have increased during the Biden administration compared to the Trump years. The number of overdose deaths last year was 17% higher than 2020, the last full year of the Trump administration, and 52% higher than 2019.

Trump’s immigration plan: Deport undocumented migrants en masse  

Trump was specifically asked about his plan to deport large numbers of undocumented migrants, which could affect millions of Mexicans who live and work in the United States.

“President Trump, … you’ve said that you’re going to carry out, quote, ‘the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,’ unquote. Does that mean that you will deport every undocumented immigrant in America, including those who have jobs, including those whose spouses are citizens, and including those who have lived here for decades? And if so, how will you do it?” asked CNN’s Jake Tapper.

After railing against “migrant crime,” Trump accused Biden of opening the United States borders before he declared:

“We have to get a lot of these people out and we have to get them out fast, because they’re going to destroy our country. Just take a look at where they’re living. They’re living in luxury hotels in New York City and other places. Our veterans are on the street.”

For his part, Biden announced new immigration rules last week prior to the presidential debate. The new rules will allow certain undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens to apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country. As many as 400,000 Mexicans could obtain permanent residency in the U.S. through the program and eventually become American citizens, according to Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Roberto Velasco.

Mexico News Daily  

The post Mexico and immigration issues take center stage in US presidential debate appeared first on Mexico News Daily

My Mexico is a country of racial diversity, where members of any minority should be able to aspire to the highest offices in the land, and I am glad that our future president reflects that.

However, as a firm believer in both economic and political freedoms afforded by liberal democracy, as well as a staunch advocate for strong and independent institutions, I am worried by her party’s legislative agenda.

As of 1997, Mexico built what became the most sophisticated electoral system in the world, which gave the country free (if not always fair) elections, for nearly thirty years. I think we run the risk of losing those very real democratic gains.

I also think that we run the risk of squandering the immense opportunities afforded by the nearshoring phenomenon. Simply put, if Mexico were to liberalize its energy industry and quickly shore up at least some of its serious public security issues, the country could join the ranks of the developed world within a decade.

With a much stronger economy and some political will, the rule of law would be within reach and Mexico could finally fulfill the dreams of so many of its people in ways that it hasn’t been able to until now. As an added benefit, this would also mean that Mexico would no longer export its people, meaning that one of the main drivers of the dangerous radicalization of the U.S. electorate would be gone. It is no stretch to say that a prosperous Mexico would improve the chances of a prosperous and more peaceful world.

But it looks like this is not to be; at least not in the short term. Instead, Mexico joins in the worldwide zeitgeist, entering a period of — you guessed it — increased uncertainty.

What used to be shared values of equality of opportunity in the context of economic and political freedom are no longer in vogue for majority voting blocs around the world and Mexico is no exception.

In what is proving to be an uncanny repeat of the 1930s, xenophobic authoritarianism is on the march pretty much everywhere, even in those countries where freedom and democracy were formerly a given. Whether you believe in the theory of 80-year historical cycles and the overproduction of elites, or in the powers of the planets to mold our fate, this is a world that has stopped making sense. Particularly for people who, like me, came of age during what was supposed to be “the end of history.” Our optimism regarding markets, democracy and enlightened self-interest, the pillars of Pax Americana which were to lead us into a new Golden Age, is over.

For those of us who care about Mexico’s future, this leads to a number of recommendations. The first is to love Mexico for what it is, and not for what we want it to be. As the son of a Mexican diplomat who grew up in several countries (including Switzerland), I have heard versions of Mexico’s obituary for as long as I can remember. And, yet, the country remains one of the most attractive places in the world to invest and to live in, hosting (by far) the largest community of U.S. expatriates in the world.

While it is true that we could well be seeing the end of an independent judiciary, the basic ingredients that make living in Mexico attractive, its destinations, culture, people — and its food — look to endure. In fact, if the latest international rankings are to be believed, there is even an argument to be made that they will improve.

Second, it’s important not to have expectations based on our biases. Mexico is guaranteed to break your heart, but it will also make you fall in love with it. Sometimes these two things will happen on the same day. Just like everywhere else, this country has important challenges, but the world doesn’t need more Mexico catastrophizing. Observations and constructive criticisms are welcome, but no one benefits by propagating the old “Mexico is doomed” trope.

That goes double for expatriate Mexicans who, despite owing their family and fortune to Mexico, speak ill of their country from their perch in the Woodlands, or Miami. Harmful words are never a good look.

As the world enters a period of increased volatility, perspective is more important than ever. Europeans peer over Poland’s eastern border (which is also the border of NATO and the European Union) and see war being waged by an expansionist Russia. In Asia, China is also engaged in a frenzy of saber-rattling hostility.

Here in North America, we have many challenges, including a dangerous concentration of political power and organized crime in Mexico, as well as alarming political polarization in the United States. Add to that, the “polycrisis,” which is a bizarre metastasis of existential threats that include, but are not limited to, nuclear war, bioweapons, accelerated global warming and artificial intelligence.

In this context, the results of Mexico’s election, for good, or ill, are a footnote. I do not believe that the basic ingredients of what makes Mexico one of the top international destinations will change. And for those of us who want to contribute, we can always do so  as individuals, through being positive and productive members of our communities. 

In sum, it behooves us to appreciate everything that Mexico offers, even if circumstances are forcing us to also be mindful of a world that is more dangerous and less predictable than it should be.

Agustín Barrios Gómez is the founder of International Capital Partners, a former Mexican Congressman, and a member of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI).

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.

The post Opinion: A big picture view of Mexico’s present and future in uncertain times appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Sheinbaum, who will be sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on Oct. 1, received Joly at her “transition headquarters” in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa. Mexico’s future foreign affairs minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente also attended the meeting.

Sheinbaum revealed on X that she spoke about “the future” of the Mexico-Canada relationship with Joly and the “importance” of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the free trade pact that superseded NAFTA in 2020.

“The foreign minister’s main interest is to know our position on USMCA,” she told a press conference on Wednesday.

“We agree with her and the idea of strengthening the agreement,” Sheinbaum said.

The USMCA, the product of trilateral negotiations that began in 2017, is scheduled to be reviewed in 2026. While expressing support for a strengthening of the pact, Sheinbaum said she believed the review would be “minor.”

The president-elect also said she and Joly discussed “the possibility of maintaining and increasing [the number] of work visas for Mexicans” interested in working in Canada.

The two countries collaborate on the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, in which tens of thousands of Mexicans travel to Canada to work every year.

Sheinbaum also told reporters that she and Joly discussed Canadian investment in Mexico, and Julian Assange’s release from prison after the Wikileaks founder accepted a plea deal from the United States.

“We acknowledged his fight for freedom of speech and the right to information. We were very pleased that he was finally released,” she said.

For her part, Joly said on X that she and Sheinbaum discussed “how we can continue to strengthen the Canada-Mexico relationship and advance our shared priorities as North American partners.”

The Canadian government said in a statement that the foreign minister congratulated Sheinbaum on “her historic electoral victory that will see her become the first woman president of Mexico.”

The statement also said that Joly, Sheinbaum and other officials “reflected on 80 years of friendship and robust relations between Canada and Mexico.”

“… While highlighting the 50th anniversary of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and its successes, Minister Joly and her counterparts underscored the importance of regular migration pathways for both countries’ economies,” the Canadian government said.

“They agreed to continue to regularly review the broad range of issues affecting mobility, including visa processes, to support safe and orderly migration.”

Among other issues, the Canadian government statement said that Joly and Sheinbaum “discussed the importance of collaborating to advance North American economic competitiveness” and “the need to work together to combat climate change.”

Joly also met with Mexico’s incoming economy minister Marcelo Ebrard, with the former saying on X that they discussed the “importance of working together to advance North American economic competitiveness and how our counties can collaborate to expand trade and investment.”

In an interview with the El Universal newspaper, the Canadian foreign minister weighed in on the proposed judicial reform President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent to Congress earlier this year.

The proposed reform — which if approved would allow citizens to directly elect Supreme Court justices and other judges — is a decision for the Mexican government, “but at the same time we hope that a country like Mexico respects the rule of law,” Joly said.

She emphasized the need for stability and predictability in Mexico because “it’s difficult to invest in a business environment where there are too many risks.”

Among other remarks, Joly said that Canada, Mexico and the United States have the opportunity to establish a “fully integrated” supply chain and to be “one of the most successful [economic] partnerships in the world.”

With that comes an opportunity “to bring lots of Mexicans out of poverty, increase the middle class in Canada and Mexico, and fundamentally be a hub for talent and innovation,” she said.

“I’m really optimistic, but at the same time we need to do the work. So that’s why I’m here,” Joly said.

With reports from Milenio, Quadratín and El Universal

The post Claudia Sheinbaum meets with Canada’s Foreign Minister appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Sheinbaum, who will take office on Oct. 1, announced that Luz Elena González Escobar, a former finance minister in the Mexico City government, will be her energy minister, and David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz, ex-director of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition, will be her health minister.

Raquel Buenrostro Sánchez, the current federal economy minister, will become public administration minister, a role in which she will have responsibility for the ongoing government fight against corruption.

Sheinbaum also announced that Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina, the current public works and services minister in the Mexico City government, will be her infrastructure, communications and transport minister.

The fifth and final cabinet appointment the president-elect announced Thursday was Edna Elena Vega Rangel as minister of agrarian, land and urban development. Vega is currently a deputy agrarian, land and urban development minister.

Sheinbaum described her new appointees as a “great team,” and noted that Buenrostro, Esteva and Vega will remain in their current government roles for the time being.

“They have double duty because they’ll be participating in all the transition processes,” she said.

Two of the appointees, González and Esteva, were members of Sheinbaum’s government when she was mayor of Mexico City between 2018 and 2023.

The president-elect has now named 12 members of her cabinet.

The day after her landslide victory in the presidential election, Sheinbaum announced that current Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O would remain in his role after Oct.1, while last Thursday she named five additional ministers and the executive legal counsel.

Among the key appointments still to be announced are the interior minister, security minister, defense minister and welfare minister roles.

Based on the announcements made to date, Sheinabum’s cabinet — made up of six men and six women — is as follows:

• Economy minister: Marcelo Ebrard
• Environment and natural resources minister: Alicia Bárcena
• Finance Minister: Rogelio Ramírez de la O
• Minister for science, humanities, technology and innovation: Rosaura Ruiz
• Foreign Affairs Minister: Juan Ramón de la Fuente
• Legal counsel to the president: Ernestina Godoy
• Agriculture and rural development minister: Julio Berdegué
• Energy minister: Luz Elena González Escobar
• Health Minister: David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz
• Public administration minister: Raquel Buenrostro
• Infrastructure, communications and transport minister: Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina
• Agrarian, land and urban development minister: Edna Elena Vega Rangel

What are the backgrounds of the new cabinet appointees?

Luz Elena González Escobar

The soon-to-be energy minister served as administration and finance minister during Sheinbaum’s 2018-2023 mayorship in Mexico. She has degrees in economics, law and urban management.

González has held a number of other positions in the Mexico City government, including the directorship of the capital’s Passenger Transportation Network in the early 2000s.

She will succeed Miguel Ángel Maciel Torres as energy minister.

Sheinbaum has pledged to invest billions of dollars in a renewables-focused energy plan, but is also committed to continuing support for the debt-ridden state oil company Pemex.

David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz

Mexico’s next health minister is a veteran medical doctor and surgeon with more than 50 years’ experience in the field. The octogenarian has also worked as a professor of medicine at the National Autonomous University (UNAM).

Kershenobich was general director of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition between 2012 and 2022.

He will succeed Jorge Alcocer as health minister.

Raquel Buenrostro Sánchez

The soon-to-be public administration minister was appointed economy minister in 2022 after Tatiana Clouthier resigned. Before that, Buenrostro was head of the federal tax agency SAT for almost three years.

She has served in a range of other government roles, including as a high-ranking official in the federal Finance Ministry. She has degrees in mathematics and economics.

Buenrostro will succeed Roberto Salcedo Aquino as public administration minister.

Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina

The future infrastructure, communications and transport minister has been the minister of public works and services in Mexico City since 2018, when Sheinbaum became mayor.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Esteva was the Mexico City government’s director of infrastructure projects and subsequently worked as UNAM’s director of planning and infrastructure evaluation.

He has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a master’s in structural engineering.

Esteva will succeed Jorge Nuño Lara as infrastructure, communications and transport minister.

Edna Elena Vega Rangel

Mexico’s next agrarian, land and urban development minister was general director of the National Housing Commission for almost four years before becoming a deputy minister in the ministry she will soon lead in 2022.

Vega has also held a range of public roles in Mexico City, including head of the capital’s Housing Institute.

She has undergraduate and doctorate degrees in sociology, and a master’s in urban planning.

Vega will succeed Román Meyer Falcón as agrarian, land and urban development minister.

Mexico News Daily 

The post Claudia Sheinbaum names another 5 members of her cabinet appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Mexico’s bilateral relationship with the U.S. is “always difficult.”

“Mexico has immense potential. We just need to open the door.”

They are among the remarks Mexico’s next economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, made during an interview with La Jornada.

The Mexico City-based newspaper published its interview with the former foreign affairs minister on Wednesday, six days after President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced the appointment of her erstwhile rival for the ruling Morena party’s presidential nomination as her economy minister.

Here is a selection of Ebrard’s remarks.

On his appointment as economy minister 

“This was the product of a conversation I had with Dr. Sheinbaum, thinking of the years ahead and the great task for the 4T* – [the construction of] its second story,” Ebrard said.

* The “fourth transformation,” or 4T, is the name of the political project initiated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The term inherently equates the importance of the current “transformation” of Mexico to that of its independence from Spain, the enactment of 19th century liberal laws collectively known as La Reforma, and the Mexican Revolution.

On the United States and its trade relationships and policies 

“The United States is becoming a country on the defensive because it senses growing competition with China and suddenly realized they’re very dependent [on the East Asian country]. The United States will need Mexico to be able to compete [with China],” Ebrard said.

He also said there is “growing protectionism” in the United States and that Mexico is therefore faced with a “a different political position in the U.S. to that we saw some years ago.”

“That is the main risk. There is a kind of protectionist consensus [in the United States]. That’s why the review* of the trade agreement with the United States, and the trade relationship with them in general, could be more complex,” Ebrard said.

* A review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a free trade pact that superseded NAFTA in 2020, is scheduled for 2026.

On the USMCA review  

Ebrard said that the USMCA’s dispute settlement system* needs to be improved.

“We must strengthen the dispute resolution system, with the panels, where you can present your arguments to avoid unilateral measures,” he said.

Changes are also needed in other areas, Ebrard said. One issue he cited was labor mobility, an apparent reference to a need for workers to be able to move more freely across national borders in North America.

What is needed, Ebrard said, is to “bring a series of regulations into line to favor Mexican companies.”

“We have to support transport companies, for example, which have always had disadvantageous conditions,” Ebrard said, apparently referring to trucking and rail companies that move goods around the region.

“We have to limit unilateral decisions, like what happened in the avocado case, he added.

“… We should try to limit that as much as possible. That’s what we should seek in the review of the agreement, which, we must clarify, is not a renegotiation, but a review.”

Ebrard also said that, “unlike the [NAFTA] renegotiation in 2018,” which resulted in the creation of the USMCA, a “very important geopolitical factor” will be at play during the 2026 review — “competition between the United States and China.”

* Mexico is currently engaged in disputes with the United States over its energy policies and its stance on genetically modified corn.

On Mexico’s relationship with the United States 

“The bilateral relationship is always difficult” because the two countries have “different interests,” Ebrard said.

“But we have a good chance of succeeding because of the conditions I’ve just mentioned,” he said, referring to the growing economic interdependence of the two countries.

Ebrard said that Mexico and the United States have never previously been as close as they are today “in terms of trade, economic and financial exchange.”

Mexico, which is the United States’ top trade partner, “had never been so important for the United States,” he said.

* At bilateral security talks in late 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “more than ever before” in his 30 years of experience in foreign policy, “the United States and Mexico are working together as partners in common purpose.”

On the nearshoring opportunity 

“What North American companies that … import technology from Asia want is to bring [production] to North America in order to not depend [on Asia],” Ebrard said.

As an example, he noted that North American electric vehicle companies (such as Tesla) rely on microprocessors that are made in Asian countries. Those microprocessors should be manufactured in Mexico, the United States and Canada, Ebrard said.

“There is a great opportunity” to attract advanced manufacturing companies to Mexico, he said.

Asked what the “pillars” of the Mexican economy will be in the coming years, Ebrard nominated “the relocation” of companies to Mexico, but stressed that foreign investment in Mexico must serve “the country’s interests.”

He also said that Mexico shouldn’t wait around “to see who comes,” but rather “go after the companies we’re interested in having [here].”

Ebrard also mentioned President-elect Sheinbaum’s plan to create “development hubs” and industrial corridors, in which different areas of Mexico, including parts of the historically disadvantaged south, would focus on attracting and supporting investment in certain sectors.

He stressed that “the development, growth and wealth of the country” shouldn’t be concentrated in “just some of its regions.”

“We have to seek to spread out [development and economic growth]. We have to support new companies [in Mexico]. … They’re going to be the pillars [of the economy] in the coming years,” Ebrard said.

“I’m very excited because [Sheinbaum* and I] agree on the ideas. I agree with what the doctor is proposing. Mexico has immense potential. We just need to open the door,” he said.

* Sheinbaum has described the nearshoring trend as a “great opportunity” for Mexico and asserted that it will help drive significant economic growth during the 2024-30 period of the federal government.

With reports from La Jornada 

The post Marcelo Ebrard talks trade, nearshoring and US-Mexico relations in La Jornada interview appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Now the president-elect is also in possession of the “bastón de mando de las mujeres,” or women’s baton of command.

On behalf of Mexican women, Senator Olga Sánchez, a former interior minister and Supreme Court justice, presented the handmade symbol of confidence and leadership to Mexico’s soon-to-be first female president at an event in Mexico City on Tuesday.

The event, called “Con Claudia llegamos todas” (With Claudia All Women Arrive), was held at the University of the Cloister of Sor Juana, a former convent where Sor (Sister) Juana Inés de la Cruz — a nun, writer and iconic Mexican woman — once lived.

Sánchez, who served as López Obrador’s interior minister between 2018 and 2021, told Sheinbaum it was an “honor” to present “the women’s baton” to her on behalf of “millions of women who enthusiastically joined our collective cause during these months” and “fought to have this country’s first woman president.”

She noted that the baton was made by artisans from Oaxaca, specifically the southern state’s Mixteca region.

“This baton is an unequivocal sign of the confidence Mexican women place in you — in the woman, politician, mother and grandmother you are,” Sánchez said.

The senator and soon-to-be deputy said the baton is also a symbol of confidence in Sheinbaum’s “vision and commitment to the people of Mexico, especially women.”

Sánchez also read out a list of objectives for the incoming president to pursue in office. They included “guaranteeing a life free of violence for all women,” ensuring equality of opportunities and guaranteeing women’s right to health care.

In an address, the president-elect expressed gratitude for the honor of receiving the “women’s baton of command,” and reiterated her view that she won’t “arrive” in Mexico’s top job on her own, but rather in the company of all Mexican women.

The former Mexico City mayor also said that the “fourth transformation” political project she now leads is a “feminist” movement.

“It always fights for the recognition of all women’s rights. For the good of all, [the nation’s] Indigenous women, Afro-Mexican women and poor women come first,” said Sheinbaum, who will take office Oct. 1.

She noted that she competed against five men to become the ruling Morena party’s candidate at the June 2 presidential election, and asserted that on the first Sunday of this month, “the people of Mexico said: ‘it’s time for women and time for transformation.'”

Sheinbaum said that her government would seek to close the gender pay gap, increase the representation of women in elected positions, and support girls and young women in pursuing their dreams, no matter the field.

She also highlighted that she is committed to providing financial support to women aged 60-64, in recognition of the household and caring work they have done for their families over a long period of time.

Women from a range of fields attended the event, including renowned writer Elena Poniatowska, academic and feminist Marta Lamas and saxophonist María Elena Ríos Ortíz, survivor of a 2019 acid attack. Sheinbaum’s mother, biologist Annie Pardo, also attended the event, held a day after the president-elect turned 62.

With reports from La Jornada, El Financiero, Expansión and Debate 

The post Sheinbaum receives symbolic ‘women’s baton of command’ appeared first on Mexico News Daily

“I celebrate Julian Assange’s release from jail. At least in this case, the Statue of Liberty did not remain an empty symbol,” López Obrador wrote on social media on Monday night.

On Monday afternoon Mexico time it was revealed that Assange had agreed to plead guilty to a single felony count in the U.S. of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security material.

The 52-year-old Australian — who published troves of classified material on the Wikileaks website including a 2007 U.S. military video dubbed “collateral murder” that shows a U.S. helicopter in Iraq fatally attacking civilians, including two Reuters journalists — is scheduled to appear in a U.S. federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands at 5 p.m. Tuesday Mexico City time.

Assange, who spent more than five years in London’s Belmarsh Prison as he fought extradition to the United States on espionage charges, is expected to fly to Australia from the island of Saipan after his court appearance.

Because of the time he already spent in Belmarsh — following his 2019 arrest in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on a charge of failing to appear in court — he will not be required to serve any additional jail time.

His release, Wikileaks said on X, is “the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organizers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.”

AMLO: Assange’s incarceration ‘like having freedom in prison’

At his morning press conference on Tuesday, López Obrador said that his government was “very happy” with Assange’s release from jail and described his imprisonment as “a very unjust thing.”

“It was like having freedom in prison, especially freedom of speech,” said AMLO, who has been an outspoken supporter of the Wikileaks founder for years.

“… Now … the Statue of Liberty is happy,” he added.

López Obrador said he didn’t expect to speak to Assange or members of his family in the near future, but remarked that “they know what we did” in support of the Wikileaks founder’s quest for freedom.

He noted that his government lobbied the administrations of both former U.S. president Donald Trump and current president Joe Biden on the issue.

AMLO displayed a letter he sent to Trump in December 2020 in which he asked the then president to consider pardoning Assange and said that Mexico was willing to grant asylum to him if he was released from prison.

He also displayed a letter he gave to Biden during the U.S. president’s visit to Mexico for the North American Leaders’ Summit in January 2023. In that letter, López Obrador requested that Biden ask U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to “review the legality” of the accusations against Assange in the United States as well as the U.S. government’s request to have the Wikileaks founder extradited to the U.S.

“I dare to make this request because I believe that in addition to being an injustice, this case affects the image of the United States in the world,” he wrote.

López Obrador told reporters on Tuesday that he gave the letters to members of Assange’s family, with whom he met in Mexico City in April 2023.

During a previous visit to Mexico City in 2022, Assange’s father and brother, John and Gabriel Shipton, accepted the keys to the capital on behalf of the Wikileaks founder from then mayor and now President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum.

An overview of AMLO’s support for Julian Assange

• In January 2021, López Obrador said that Mexico would offer political asylum to Assange after a British judge blocked the Australian’s extradition to the United States.

“I’m in favor of him being pardoned. Not only that, I’m going to ask the foreign affairs minister to do the relevant paperwork to ask the government of the United Kingdom about the possibility of allowing Mr. Assange to be freed and for Mexico to offer him political asylum,” he said at the time.

• In June 2022, López Obrador said he would raise Assange’s case with Biden during his visit to Washington the following month.

“His crime, in quotation marks, was to report serious human rights violations in the world as well as interference of the United States government in the internal affairs of other countries – that’s what Assange did,” he said at the time.

“He’s the best journalist of our time in the world and, I repeat, he’s been very unfairly treated, worse than a criminal. This is a disgrace for the world,” AMLO added.

• In January 2023, López Obrador reiterated his view that “Assange is not a spy, but rather a journalist.”

“What he did was reveal information, the same information that The New York Times and other media outlets revealed,” he said “Why aren’t those media outlets being tried?”

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)

The post AMLO celebrates release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange appeared first on Mexico News Daily

In February, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) sent a constitutional reform proposal to Congress that aims to reincorporate the National Guard (GN) into the Defense Ministry (Sedena).

López Obrador, who inaugurated the National Guard as a civilian security force on July 1, 2019, placed the guard under Sedena’s control in 2022. The Supreme Court ruled in April 2023 that the transfer of responsibility from the civilian Security Ministry after the modification of secondary laws was unconstitutional.

At an event with the president on Sunday to inaugurate new National Guard facilities in Oaxaca, Sheinbaum said that starting Oct. 1, it was up to her government to “continue strengthening and consolidating the National Guard as part of the Defense Ministry with the constitutional reform that is before the Congress.”

She will be sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on Oct. 1, while the new Congress — in which the ruling Morena party and its allies will be in a strong position to pass a range of constitutional reforms proposed by AMLO — will commence on Sept. 1.

Therefore, it is possible that recently-elected lawmakers will have approved the proposal to put the National Guard under military command by the time Sheinbaum takes office. To do so, the Morena-led coalition will require the support of a few opposition senators as it fell just short of a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

Sheinbaum said Sunday that the National Guard, “in just five years, already has the recognition of the people of Mexico,” although insecurity remains a problem in various parts of the country and homicide numbers, while declining, are still very high.

She also said that the National Guard, which has more than 130,000 members, “has the objective of … looking after the people of Mexico with discipline, honesty and dedication, [while] providing justice and peace.”

“… Thank you to everyone who is part of this noble institution. Long live the National Guard,” Sheinbaum said during her address at the event held just south of Oaxaca city.

The president-elect, who has previously indicated support for all of the constitutional reform proposals AMLO sent to Congress in February, is committed to maintaining the current government’s security strategy, under which employment and welfare programs seek to address poverty, lack of opportunity and other root causes of crime.

López Obrador, who has argued that the National Guard needs to be under the control of the military to prevent corruption and guarantee the force’s professionalism, said Sunday that he was very pleased to hear Sheinbaum’s commitment vis-à-vis the security institution his government created.

“You can imagine the pleasure it gave me to hear … the president-elect of Mexico, the soon-to-be constitutional president and commander of the armed forces, announcing a moment ago that the National Guard is going to form part of the structure of the Ministry of National Defense, as it should,” he said.

“It’s very good news,” added the president, who has relied on the military for a broad range of tasks including public security, infrastructure construction and the management of customs, ports and airports.

Amnesty International warned before the National Guard was put under military control in 2022 that doing so would lead to more human rights violations. Opposition parties also opposed the move.

The National Guard, which effectively replaced the now-defunct Federal Police, has been criticized for lacking the capacity to investigate crimes, and the conduct of some of its members has been the subject of criminal investigations. Guardsmen have been accused of a range of crimes including sexual assault, kidnapping and murder.

With reports from La Jornada and Reforma

The post President-elect Sheinbaum confirms she will support military control of National Guard appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Sheinbaum, who will take office on Oct. 1, announced that former foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard will be her economy minister, while current Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena will be her environment and natural resources minister.

Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s former permanent representative to the United Nations and head of Sheinbaum’s transition team, will succeed Bárcena as foreign affairs minister.

The other three appointments to Sheinbaum’s cabinet include Rosaura Ruiz as minister for science, humanities, technology and innovation; Julio Berdegué as agriculture and rural development minister; and Ernestina Godoy as legal counsel to the president.

Ruiz will lead a new ministry that will incorporate the National Council of Humanities, Science and Technology.

The president-elect previously announced that current Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O would remain in his position after she takes office.

She said Thursday that the six additional cabinet members who will be sworn in with her on Oct. 1 are “first-class men and women with experience” who will “help us a lot to achieve our objectives in the next six years.”

Two of the appointees, Ruiz and Godoy, were members of Sheinbaum’s government when she was mayor of Mexico City between 2018 and 2023.

The president-elect, who won the June 2 presidential election in a landslide, said she will announce more cabinet appointments next week.

Among the key appointments still to be announced are the interior minister, security minister, defense minister and energy minister roles.

What are the backgrounds of the cabinet appointees?

Marcelo Ebrard

The soon-to-be economy minister served as foreign affairs minister in the current federal government between December 2018 and June 2023, when he stepped down to pursue the ruling Morena party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

He was runner-up to Sheinbaum in the polling process to select the candidate.

Ebrard was mayor of Mexico City between 2006 and 2012 and served as a minister in the capital during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s 2000-05 mayorship. He has also served as a federal deputy.

Ebrard will succeed Raquel Buenrostro as economy minister.

Alicia Bárcena

Mexico’s next environment minister has been foreign affairs minister for almost a year, succeeding Ebrard last July.

She was Mexico’s ambassador to Chile between September 2022 and June 2023 after serving almost 14 years as executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Bárcena will succeed María Luisa Albores as environment minister.

Juan Ramón de la Fuente

The soon-to-be foreign affairs minster was Mexico’s permanent representative to the UN between 2018 and 2023.

A psychiatrist by profession, de la Fuente was rector of the National Autonomous University (UNAM) between 1999 and 2007 and federal health minister during the presidency of Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000).

He will replace Bárcena as foreign affairs minister.

Rosaura Ruiz 

The future science minister headed up the Mexico City Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation for four years during Sheinbaum’s 2018-23 mayorship in the capital.

Ruiz, who has a PhD in biology, was head of UNAM’s Faculty of Science between 2010 and 2018.

When she becomes minister for science, humanities, technology and innovation she will effectively succeed María Elena Álvarez-Buylla, the current director of the National Council of Humanities, Science and Technology. 

Julio Berdegué 

Mexico’s next agriculture minister was assistant director-general for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations between 2017 and 2022. He also served as the organization’s regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Originally from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Berdegué has worked for and with a number of other international organizations, including the International Institute for Environment and Development.

The agronomist will succeed Víctor Villalobos as agriculture minister.

Ernestina Godoy

The woman set to be Sheinbaum’s chief legal advisor was Mexico City attorney general between 2018 and 2024. She previously served as a federal and Mexico City lawmaker.

Godoy, who completed her law degree at UNAM in 1979, has held a range of other government positions in Mexico City.

She will succeed María Estela Ríos as legal counsel of the federal executive.

Mexico News Daily 

The post Claudia Sheinbaum announces first 6 cabinet appointments appeared first on Mexico News Daily

United States President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would take action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.

“The steps I’m taking today are overwhelmingly supported by the American people, no matter what the other team says,” he said at an event at the White House.

“In fact, polls show that over 70% of Americans support this effort to keep families together,” Biden said.

To qualify for the program, undocumented adult noncitizens must have lived in the United States for 10 years or more as of June 17, and must be legally married to a U.S. citizen, “while satisfying all applicable legal requirements,” according to a White House Fact Sheet.

They wouldn’t be eligible if they have a disqualifying criminal record or are considered a public security threat.

Undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens are already eligible for lawful permanent residence in the United States, but they must apply from outside the country. That often entails leaving their jobs and families to exit the United States indefinitely without any certainty they will be authorized to re-enter.

Under the new rules, “those who are approved after DHS’s case-by-case assessment of their application will be afforded a three-year period to apply for permanent residency,” the White House said.

“They will be allowed to remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. This will apply to all married couples who are eligible,” it added.

The White House said that Biden’s executive action will protect around half a million spouses of U.S. citizens and “approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.”

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the program “will achieve family unity, one of our immigration system’s fundamental goals.”

“It will also boost our economy, advance our labor interests, strengthen our foreign relations with key partners in the region, further our public safety interests, and more,” he added.

The announcement of the new immigration policy came two weeks after Biden issued an executive order that prevents migrants from making asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border at times when crossings between legal ports of entry surge.

The U.S. president acknowledged that the majority of likely beneficiaries of the spouse program would be Mexicans.

The program — which is set to commence in the coming months — is the largest to benefit undocumented migrants in the United States since the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy implemented by the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Reuters described Biden’s new policy as “an election-year move that contrasts sharply with Republican rival Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations.”

CNN said “the action is aimed at appealing to key Latino constituencies in battleground states, including Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, that will be crucial for Biden’s chances to claim a second term.”

Trump could revoke the policy if he succeeds in winning a second term as U.S. president, while the program “will almost certainly face legal challenges,” Reuters said.

Mexico welcomes Biden’s announcement 

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that Biden’s decision to implement a program that will benefit undocumented Mexicans is “worthy of recognition.”

“We’ve been insisting on the regularization of Mexicans who have been working honorably in the United States for years,” he said.

López Obrador acknowledged that many undocumented Mexicans in the United States won’t benefit from the new rules, but described the program for the spouses and children of U.S. citizens as a “step forward.”

“I’m pleased that President Biden is doing it,” he said.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) noted in a statement that some 500,000 spouses and 50,000 children of U.S. citizens could benefit from the new scheme, and highlighted that “the vast majority” of that number are “Mexican or Mexican-American.”

Roberto Velasco, head of the SRE’s North America department, said that as many as 400,000 Mexicans could obtain permanent residency in the U.S. through the program and eventually become American citizens.

The SRE said that the new “protections” would “prevent the separation of families and contribute greater stability and certainty to their future.”

“Mexico has repeatedly stated that one of its highest priorities in the bilateral relationship is the protection and regularization of our nationals in the United States,” the ministry said.

“We view the measures announced today in a positive light and are certain that strengthening our relationship under a policy of good neighborliness, respecting the sovereignties of our peoples and promoting economic cooperation is the right path for ensuring safe, orderly, regular and humane migration,” the SRE said.

The ministry also acknowledged a U.S. government announcement on Tuesday that will benefit DACA recipients known as Dreamers.

The Biden administration said it was “easing the visa process for U.S. college graduates, including Dreamers.”

“Today’s announcement will allow individuals, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education in the United States, and who have received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree, to more quickly receive work visas,” the White House said.

With reports from CNN, AP, Reuters and Milenio

The post Mexico welcomes new Biden immigration executive order to ‘keep families together’ appeared first on Mexico News Daily