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Mexico’s presidential frontrunner Sheinbaum’s lead narrows slightly, poll shows
Mexico’s presidential frontrunner Sheinbaum’s lead narrows slightly, poll shows
Former Mexico City mayor and ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum’s lead has narrowed slightly ahead of Mexico’s presidential election scheduled for June 2, an opinion poll showed on Friday, even as she remains the clear frontrunner.
The April 25-29 survey by polling firm Parametria showed Sheinbaum of the leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) with 44% support, well ahead of Xochitl Galvez, candidate of a right-left alliance of three parties, with 31%.
A survey in February by the same firm showed Sheinbaum with 49% support and Galvez with only 29%.
The poll gave a third contender, Jorge Alvarez Maynez of the opposition center-left Citizens’ Movement (MC), backing of 8%, a three-point increase over the February survey.
It showed 17% of respondents offered no preference.
The face-to-face poll of 800 people had a 3.5% margin of error.
Francisco Abundis, head of Parametria, said the increase in Maynez’s support was notable and suggested he may ultimately capture a double-digit percentage of the vote in the election.
Sheinbaum, a 61-year-old scientist who has been a close ally of the current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for decades, could become the first woman to rule the country.
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Mexico Is Fighting Over 100 Active Wildfires Amid a Heat Wave
Mexico is fighting 159 active wildfires across the country amid the year’s second heat wave that has also put the nation’s power grid under stress.
Mexico’s national weather service issued an alert that at least 12 states would experience temperatures higher than 45°C (113°F), with large swathes of the rest of the country expected to see temperatures higher than 30°C.
The heat wave has increased demand for power, prompting the country’s grid operator to declare the system in a state of emergency on Thursday evening for the second time this week. That means the available power was below adequate levels. On Wednesday, operator Cenace also declared the system in a state of alert.
Mexico’s national forest commission (Conafor) said the wildfires spread across 75,474 hectares (186,500 acres). It also said that 30 of the fires were in protected natural areas.
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Rolling Blackouts Hit Several Cities as Heat Wave Scorches Mexico
Cities were plunged into darkness as scorching temperatures strained the national energy grid.
The electrical grid in Mexico has been strained after soaring temperatures, leading to blackouts on Tuesday.
There were rolling blackouts in multiple cities across Mexico on Tuesday, as people in several states reeled from soaring temperatures and the national energy authority briefly declared a state of emergency.
A heat wave has scorched Mexico in recent days, bringing temperatures in multiple states into the triple digits. Mexico City on Tuesday reached a high of 92 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest temperature recorded there on May 7 in over 20 years.
Mexico’s energy authority, Cenace, announced a state of emergency for the national grid early Tuesday evening, meaning that available power had dropped below adequate levels. It said less than an hour later that the system had returned to normal.
But local news media outlets reported on blackouts in municipalities across the country throughout the evening. Social media users uploaded photos and videos of darkened city skylines.
Local officials confirmed several blackouts in the state of Mexico, including in San Mateo Atenco and Metepec, near Mexico City. And during a blackout in the city of Nuevo Laredo, near the Texas border, they asked people to avoid driving.
In a statement, the national energy agency attributed the electricity shortage on Tuesday afternoon to a series of factors, including a drop in wind and solar power generation. Some power plants were also offline at the time, it said. The statement did not mention the heat wave.
An increase in nighttime demand later required rolling power interruptions across Mexico, the agency said. Electricity was gradually being restored starting at about 8 p.m., in a process that was expected to last until 11 p.m.
Mexico has experienced blackouts before, including during extreme weather events, such as hurricanes or heat waves. During power failures in the country last June, local officials reported hundreds of heat-related deaths even as federal and state governments underplayed them.
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For some residents of Mexico’s Cancun, beach seems world away
‘Those of us who live and work here hardly have time to go and enjoy the beach and sea,’ says Yazmin Teran, a schoolteacher living in the Mexican beach resort city of Cancun
The sun-kissed beaches and turquoise waters of Mexico’s Caribbean resort of Cancun attract millions of visitors, but schoolteacher Yazmin Teran is lucky if she enjoys them a few times a year.
Like other Mexicans living on the fringes of the major tourist destination, she feels her working-class suburb and the luxury hotel zone are worlds apart.
In 2023 alone, 32.7 million visitors touched down at Cancun airport — 63 percent of them foreigners, according to official data.
Few are likely to visit Villas Otoch Paraiso, where Teran lives.
A quick internet search shows that the housing development, established in 2007 and home to about 40,000 people, is considered to be “Cancun’s most dangerous neighborhood.”
Teran remembers how excited she was when she arrived in Cancun 15 years ago from the southern state of Oaxaca so her husband could work in the tourism sector.
“You see the beaches, the tourist places and the hotel zone on television and you say ‘wow!’ the 41-year-old said.
“But when you come here to Cancun you realize that it’s not all like that,” Teran said.
“Those of us who live and work here hardly have time to go and enjoy the beach and sea,” she said, adding that such visits happened “about five times a year.”
Families without cars must make do with limited public transport.
And although the beaches are public, in practice access is restricted to hotel guests.
– High prices, low incomes –
“Going to the beach can be expensive,” said Teran, a community leader who organizes activities to help children and the elderly.
“We have to find a way to get there, buy things once we’re there or bring our own lunch,” she added.
She estimates that a family needs about 500 pesos ($30) to spend a day at the beach in the hotel zone.
The average monthly salary in Cancun is around 7,500 pesos (450 dollars), according to the specialized portal Talent.com.
In high season, a single night in a five-star hotel on Cancun’s luxury hotel strip can cost $2,000.
When Villas Otoch was built its affordable homes attracted construction and tourism workers from impoverished southern Mexican states such as Chiapas or Tabasco, as well as countries such as Guatemala or Cuba.
Seen from above, the symmetrical blocks of 14,000 identical homes measuring just 35 square meters give an impression of order.
At ground level, the street furniture is decaying and drug dealers who work in the tourist zone are also present.
According to local authorities and media, violence has increased since 2018 due to increased flows of weapons and turf wars between the country’s two most powerful drug cartels.
– ‘Last frontier’ –
Every day when their parents go out to earn a living, many children are left alone — 40 percent of them do not go to school, said Sofia Ochoa, a cultural manager who has been working in the neighborhood since 2022.
Some children stay inside while others play in the streets or are recruited by gangs.
Shootings and sexual abuse involving children are common, Ochoa said.
“Many don’t know the beach” and adjoining area, which to them “seems like the last frontier — very far to reach,” she added.
Ochoa and residents organize events to revive public spaces in Villas Otoch, such as parks that were at once time abandoned to gang members.
Rosalina Gomez, 36, came to Cancun from the southern state of Chiapas fleeing poverty and an abusive father.
Her main experience of Cancun’s tourism industry has been her job as a cleaner at the airport.
“Sometimes tourists give you clothes, a tip, a soda or say thank you because the bathroom’s clean. That’s what I like the most,” she said.
Gomez, whose 15-year-old daughter Perla del Mar has cerebral palsy, last visited the sea four years ago.
“I don’t feel comfortable going to have fun at the beach knowing that I have a bedridden daughter,” she said.
She hopes that her 17-year-old son Ricardo, who is studying food and beverages, will be able to get a job in tourism.
“Once he finishes his studies, I’ll stop working and dedicate myself to her — if God allows us,” she said.
35-41 Storms Forecast for 2024 Hurricane Season in Mexico
By:BanderasNews
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Meteorological experts anticipate an above-average hurricane season for Mexico in 2024. The country’s vulnerability stems from its location between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, both of which are expected to see heightened cyclonic activity.
The official season commences on May 15 in the Pacific and June 1 in the Atlantic. Forecasts predict a combined development of 35-41 systems, with 15-18 forming in the Pacific and 20-23 in the Atlantic. Between the two oceans, at least five hurricanes are expected to impact Mexico.
Due to the ‘La Niña’ phenomenon, the probability of tropical cyclone formation in the Atlantic Ocean exceeds 50% of the historical average, which is 14 systems. Historically, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Quintana Roo, and Veracruz are most susceptible to landfall.
The Pacific season is anticipated to bring:
8-9 tropical storms
4-5 Category 1 & 2 hurricanes
3-4 major hurricanes (Category 3-5)
Civil Protection and National Meteorological Service personnel will closely monitor weather developments to provide timely warnings and minimize potential catastrophes. Residents are urged to stay informed, prepare for potential cyclone impacts, follow official instructions, and take necessary precautions to safeguard lives and property
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Quintana Roo was the only state to record double-digit growth in 2023, bolstered not only by revenue from tourist destinations (like Playa del Carmen, pictured) but by government investment in projects like the Maya Train and new Tulum airport. (Cuartoscuro)Quintana Roo, Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí recorded the strongest economic growth among Mexico’s 32 federal entities, or states, in 2023, according to data published by the national statistics agency INEGI.
Fourteen states recorded economic growth above the 3.2% annual figure for the Mexican economy as a whole last year, while growth was below that level in 18.
The economies of three states — Tamaulipas, Zacatecas and Nayarit — contracted in 2023.
Quintana Roo, the Caribbean coast state home to tourism destinations such as Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, was the only state in the country to record double-digit annual growth last year. Its economy grew 10.2% last year, according to INEGI data.
Oaxaca ranked second with annual growth of 8.3% in 2023, while San Luis Potosí ranked third with an economic expansion of 7.9%.
Rounding out the top five fastest-growing state economies in 2023 were Aguascalientes and Campeche, both of which recorded 5.2% growth.
What are the strongest state economies in Mexico?
The other states that recorded growth above the 3.2% national figure were:
- Tabasco, 5.1%
- Sonora, 4.9%
- Yucatán, 4.8%
- Colima, 4.4%
- Hidalgo, 4%
- Durango, 3.9%
- Mexico City, 3.8%
- Querétaro, 3.5
- Michoacán, 3.5%
Puebla and México state recorded 3.1% economic growth last year, while the economy of Nuevo León — a significant beneficiary of nearshoring investment — expanded 3%.
Six Mexican states — Baja California, Chihuahua, Veracruz, Morelos, Baja California Sur and Jalisco — registered growth of 2%-2.9%, while the economies of five states — Tlaxcala, Guerrero, Chiapas, Guanajuato and Coahuila — grew at a rate between 1% and 1.9%.
GDP in Sinaloa increased by a modest 0.6% in 2023.
Among the three states where GDP declined last year, Tamaulipas recorded the sharpest contraction, with the economy of the northeastern state shrinking by 1%.
The economy in Zacatecas declined 0.9%, while GDP in Nayarit fell by 0.1%.
What factors helped Mexico’s fastest-growing economies in 2023?
Hugo Félix Clímaco, president of the Oaxaca College of Economists, spoke to the newspaper El Economista about the factors that helped Quintana Roo, Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí record strong economic growth in 2023.
Tourism, public investment and the broad coverage of government social programs all benefited the economy of Oaxaca last year, he said.
The federal government has invested significant amounts of money in infrastructure projects in Oaxaca, including the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec — whose modernized railroad began operations late last year — and the new highway between Oaxaca city and the state’s Pacific coast.
Clímaco said that the 8.3% growth recorded in Oaxaca last year was also a product of its “very small [economic] base.”
“… So when a large public investment is made, like that on highways, the interoceanic corridor and the upgrade of the coking plant at the Salina Cruz refinery, it has a very big impact,” he said.
While Oaxaca recorded strong economic growth last year, Clímaco noted that there are many economic challenges in the southern state including high levels of poverty and the highest rate of informal workers in the country.
He also noted that the Oaxaca economy added far fewer jobs in 2023 than that of Quintana Roo, even though the former state has a much bigger population than the latter one.
Just over 9,000 additional jobs were created in Oaxaca last year whereas the figure for Quintana Roo was over 37,000.
The economy of Quintana Roo is heavily dependent on tourism, and thus the double-digit growth the state recorded last year can be attributed in large part to the strong performance of that sector, although it also received significant government resources via spending on projects such as the Maya Train railroad and the Tulum airport, which opened in December.
The number of visitors to Quintana Roo increased 8% to 21 million last year, while the state’s tourism revenue jumped 12% to US $21 billion.
“The challenges for Quintana Roo,” Clímaco said, “are ones of equity, greater inclusion and sustainability.”
“… While it is a tourism paradise, its greatest challenge is preserving this paradise. The environmental impact of the Maya Train can’t be denied, nor can the impact of establishing hotels in the Riviera Maya, sometimes with the destruction of mangroves,” he said.
With regard to San Luis Potosí, Mexico’s third fastest-growing state economy last year, Clímaco said that the state is benefiting from nearshoring investment and manufacturing activity. Located in the industrial-focused Bajío region, San Luis Potosí received over US $1.1 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, making the state Mexico’s ninth largest recipient of FDI.
German automotive manufacturer BMW was among the foreign companies that announced new investments in the state last year.
Clímaco said that manufacturing contributes to 37% of GDP in San Luis Potosí, and noted that the state also has a large agricultural sector.
“One of every five residents … works in the agricultural sector,” he said.
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Abducted retired Catholic bishop who mediated between cartels in Mexico is located, hospitalized
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A retired Roman Catholic bishop who was famous for trying to mediate between drug cartels in Mexico was located and taken to a hospital after apparently being briefly kidnapped, the Mexican Council of Bishops said Monday.
The church leadership in Mexico said in a statement earlier that Msgr. Salvador Rangel, a bishop emeritus, disappeared on Saturday and called on his captors to release him.
But the council later said he “has been located and is in the hospital,” without specifying how he had been found or released, or providing the extent of his injuries.
Uriel Carmona, the chief prosecutor of Morelos state, where the bishop disappeared, said “preliminary indications are that it may have been an ‘express’ kidnapping.”
In Mexico, regular kidnappings are often lengthy affairs involving long negotiations over ransom demands. “Express” kidnappings, on the other hand, are quick abductions usually carried out by low-level criminals were ransom demands are lower, precisely so the money can be handed over more quickly.Earlier, the council said Rangel was in ill health, and begged the captors to allow him to take his medications as “an act of humanity.”
“Considering his poor health, we call firmly but respectfully to those who are holding Msgr. Rangel captive to allow him to take the medications he needs in a proper and timely fashion, as an act of humanity,” the bishops’ council wrote before he was found.
It was unclear who may have abducted Rangel. The hyper violent drug gangs known as the Tlacos, the Ardillos and the Familia Michoacana operate in the area. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the crime.
If any harm were to have come to Rangel, it would have been the most sensational crime against a senior church official since 1993, when drug cartel gunmen killed Bishop Juan Posadas Ocampo in what was apparently a case of mistaken identity during a shootout at the Guadalajara airport.
Prosecutors in Guerrero state confirmed the abduction but offered no further details, saying only they were ready to cooperate with their counterparts in Morelos. Morelos, like Guerrero, has been hit by violence, homicides and kidnappings for years.
In a statement, Rangel’s old diocese wrote that he “is very loved and respected in our diocese.”
In February, other bishops announced that they had helped arrange a truce between two warring drug cartels in Guerrero.
Rev. José Filiberto Velázquez, who had knowledge of the February negotiations but did not participate in them, said the talks involved leaders of the Familia Michoacana cartel and the Tlacos gang, which is also known as the Cartel of the Mountain.
Bishops and priests try to get cartels to talk to each other in hopes of reducing bloody turf battles. The implicit assumption is that the cartels will divide up the territories where they charge extortion fees and traffic drugs, without so much killing..
Earlier, the current bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, José de Jesús González Hernández, said he and three other bishops in the state had talked with cartel bosses in a bid to negotiate a peace accord in a different area.
Hernández said at the time that those talks failed because the drug gangs didn’t want to stop fighting over territory in the Pacific coast state. Those turf battles have shut down transportation in at least two cities and led to dozens of killings in recent months.
“They asked for a truce, but with conditions” about dividing up territories, González Hernández said of the talks, held a few weeks earlier. “But these conditions were not agreeable to one of the participants.”
In February, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he approves of such talks.
“Priests and pastors and members of all the churches have participated, helped in pacifying the country. I think it is very good,” López Obrador said.
Critics say the talks illustrate the extent to which the government’s policy of not confronting cartels has left average citizens to work out their own separate peace deals with the gangs.
One parish priest whose town in Michoacan state has been dominated by one cartel or another for years said in February that the talks are “an implicit recognition that they (the government) can’t provide safe conditions.”n condition of anonymity for security reasons, said “undoubtedly, we have to talk to certain people, above all when it comes to people’s safety, but that doesn’t mean we agree with it.”
For example, he said, local residents have asked him to ask cartel bosses about the fate of missing relatives. It is a role the church does not relish.
“We wouldn’t have to do this if the government did its job right,” the priest said.
In February, Rangel told The Associated Press that truces between gangs often don’t last long.
They are “somewhat fragile, because in the world of the drug traffickers, broken agreements and betrayal occur very easily,” Rangel said at the time.
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