Mexico

July 3, 2020

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1. Secretary of Economy:
“The USMCA will be a lever for development”

On July 1, the new Trade Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA) took effect. President Andres Manuel López Obrador affirmed that the treaty will help to revive the Mexican economy and to combat the decline caused by the COVID-19, representing an increase in foreign investment.
 
Secretaries Graciela Márquez (Economy), Marcelo Ebrard (Foreign Affairs) and Julio Scherer (Presidential Legal Counsel) highlighted the importance of the agreement, pointing out the regulatory improvement and the addition of chapters that would allow to promote SMEs, the fight against corruption, environmental protection, inclusion of workers’ rights and trade facilitation policies, among others. Secretary Márquez stressed that this agreement will allow more regions, sectors, goods, and social groups to benefit from international trade.

Política Online: La 4T asegura que el T-MEC será palanca de desarrollo y dará certidumbre sobre México

2. AMLO with 68% approval despite insecurity and feminicide

Two years after his electoral victory, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has a 68% approval rate among Mexicans. However, most of them have a negative assessment of his handling of the security crisis and the femicides and consider that the government does not have the coronavirus pandemic under control.
 
On the other hand, it is important to note that towards the July 2021 elections, where the 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, 15 governorships, 29 local congresses and 2,000 mayoralties will be renewed, the wear of the ruling party (MORENA) have affected the intention to vote: only 28% of those who voted for them in 2018 would be willing to repeat their choice. The survey was presented by the newspaper El País, Mexico edition.

El País: El 68% aprueba el mandato de López Obrador, pese a rechazar su gestión de la inseguridad y los feminicidios

3. Mexico: sixth country with the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in the world

With 28,510 deaths, Mexico became the sixth country with the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in the world, according to data from the John Hopkins University real-time map. Likewise, Mexico is already in the top 10 of the nations with the highest number of cases, with 231, 770 confirmed cases accumulated.
 
During the pandemic, Hugo López-Gatell, Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion, said that in Mexico there will be no massive testing to detect cases of coronavirus.

Excélsior: México supera a España en número de muertes por Covid-19

4. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will make his first foreign tour in the US

The Mexican Government and the White House have confirmed the meeting between Presidents Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Donald Trump, on July 8 in Washington. While President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador seeks to celebrate the take-off of the USMCA, the presence of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not been confirmed.
 
Mexican analysts consider the visit unnecessary, in addition to giving a message of support to President Trump, who is seeking re-election next November.

CNN: Le llueven críticas a Andrés Manuel López Obrador por visitar a Trump en medio de año electoral

5. Tourism and restaurant sector: most affected by COVID-19

Strong impacts on the restaurant and tourism sector were announced this week. Aeromexico, and some of its subsidiaries, have begun a restructuring process under the Bankruptcy Law in the United States. On the other hand, Grupo Posadas reported that the demand for its hotels has decreased in ways never seen before in the last 50 years.
 
Likewise, despite the change of colour into orange at the traffic lights of risk in Mexico City, restaurants, bars, and cafes have not reached the quota allowed by the authorities.

La Silla Rota: Las grandes empresas que se tambalean con la crisis de Covid