1. Pemex elects new union leader

The Oil Workers Union elected its new union leader, politician Ricardo Aldana, who has been a member of the union for more than a decade. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador showed his support for the democratic process organized by the Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS), in a process of internal modifications considering the recent purchase of the Deer Park refinery from Shell, with the aim of promoting internal production.

The union election represents a historic event, following the use of the Remote Labor Voting System (Sirvolab) enabled by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. Ricardo Aldana won by 44,983 votes out of a total of 72,000 workers registered on the platform. The Federal Center for Labor Conciliation and Registration will be the authority in charge of qualifying the electoral result

La Jornada: Se respetó el voto de los petroleros; no conozco a Aldana: AMLO.
El Financiero: Quién es Ricardo Aldana, ganador de la contienda para liderar el sindicato de Pemex.

2. National economy enters technical recession

The national economy fell 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the previous quarter, according to the estimate of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi). The latest INEGI report confirms the stagnation of the economy, after two consecutive quarters in decline. Various economists have indicated a “technical recession” for the country.

In this context, the Ministry of Economy (SE) submitted an Economic Reactivation Plan for 2022, based on measures for the implementation of policies for the promotion of the digital economy through e-commerce, the digitalization of small and medium-sized companies, as well as the promotion of international trade and investment. On the other hand, remittances reached an increase of 27% with respect to the $40,604 million dollars recorded the previous year, which is a record.

El Financiero: ‘Rebote’ de economía de México fue de 5% en 2021 y Remesas enviadas a México alcanzan récord en 2021.
Forbes: Secretaría de Economía presenta plan de reactivación económica para 2022.

3. Government will create a state lithium company

Bearing the discussion of the Electricity Reform, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador revealed that the government plans the creation of a state company in charge of managing strategic mineral resources, specifically lithium, which is used to produce batteries, electrical and conductors for the technology industry.

The government also communicated measures for private companies, which must process special concessions for exploration and exploitation activities. In this sense, the permits granted by the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE), an autonomous body in charge of promoting incentives for national productivity, will be subject to evaluation, as well as the officials who approved said authorizations.

El Financiero: México tendrá empresa para explotar litio, anuncia AMLO.

4. Supreme Court consolidates question for mandate revocation

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) ruled in favor of the proposed recall question. The Court rejected making changes to the original text of the ballots due to a potential ambiguity in the question. The presiding minister, Arturo Zaldívar, acknowledged that the citizen participation process is at an advanced stage due to the number of signatures covered to support this democratic mechanism.

However, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) denied the National Electoral Institute (INE) an additional MXN$1,738 million pesos for the fiscal year, after the Chamber of Deputies cut MXN$4,913 million pesos for 2022. This would reduce the placement of boxes to only a third of what the INE advisers had proposed

Excélsior: Corte: partidos no promoverán la revocación; validan pregunta sobre la consulta.
El Financiero: Hacienda niega recursos adicionales al INE para la revocación de mandato.

5. Increases the number of extortions in the country

The president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex), José Medina Mora, reported an increase in the trend of victims of extortion based on data from DataCoparmex and its 68 business centers in 102 cities. In total, there are more than 9,407 cases in 2021, according to reports on criminal incidence from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.

The states with the highest number of extortion cases are Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and Querétaro, while Michoacán, Tlaxcala, Sinaloa are the states with the fewest cases nationwide. This crime grew 12.3% in the last year and its trend places it at record levels, compared to the first months of the last four administrations, based on investigations by the Ministry of Public and Citizen Security (SSPC).

El Financiero: Cada hora, una empresa o ciudadano fue víctima de extorsión en México en 2021: Coparmex.