1. President delivers third government report

On September 1st, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador delivered his third government report. One of the main talking points is his intention to send a constitutional reform for the electricity sector. He affirmed that there is a historical record in remittances, foreign investment, an increase in the minimum wage and no devaluation. He highlighted the implementation of the Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC), noting that it involves production, jobs, salary improvement and growth.

Animal Político, a Mexican outlet, counted the false and misleading statements that the president pronounced during the report, which dealt with economic issues, migration, and actions in the face of the pandemic. These had already been previously identified during the broadcast of 13 advertising spots to promote the achievements of his administration.

Animal Político: Tercer Informe: Los dichos falsos y engañosos de AMLO sobre economía, migración y apoyos (primera parte). 
El Financiero: Tercer Informe de AMLO: Las 15 mejores frases por si te lo perdiste.

2. Senate endorse the Revocation Law

The Plenary of the Senate approved in general, with 101 votes in favor and 2 against, the Law of Revocation of Mandate. This will allow citizens in March 2022 to remove President Andrés Manuel López Obrador from his position due to loss of confidence or, alternatively, allow him to conclude his period. The endorsement of the Mexican Senate was obtained after the Morena bench agreed to change the formulation of the question of revocation of mandate. With this change, Mexicans will be able to vote “to have his mandate revoked due to loss of trust” or “to continue in the Presidency of the Republic.”

The revocation will proceed if 40% of the people registered in the nominal list of voters is obtained, which implies around 37.5 million votes. Although the Morena senators relented in drafting the question, they obtained the possibility for political parties to participate in promoting citizen participation.

El Sol de México: Senado aprueba Ley de Revocación de Mandato y modifica pregunta.
El País: El Senado mexicano aprueba la ley de revocación de mandato tras modificar la pregunta.

3. President appoints Estela Ríos as Legal Counsel

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that María Estela Ríos González will be the new head of the Legal Counsel’s Office. Ríos González was a litigator with experience in labor law, union and worker’s counseling, and Legal Counselor and Legal Services of the Federal District during the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, with whom she worked for more than 20 years. The counsels office will continue to participate with the public administration agencies and entities to define the legislative agenda that the federal government submits to Congress.

One of the most important tasks for the Legal Counsel’s Office will be to implement the reform that was planned to have an impact on the electoral system. So far, President López Obrador’s cabinet totals 11 resignations since he took office in December 2018. It is worth highlighting the resignation of 6 high-level officials, in the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Finance, Communications and Transportation, Environment, Social Security, in addition to the President of the Energy Regulatory Commission are included among these resignations.

La Razón: Renuncia de Julio Scherer: estos han sido los cambios en el gabinete de AMLO.
Expansión: Quién es María Estela Ríos González, la nueva consejera jurídica de Presidencia.

4. Insecurity, pending task for authorities

In the framework of the International Day of the Victims of Forced Disappearances, relatives of victims of the disappeared agreed that, contrary to the official discourse, they see no progress in the investigations of the cases or in the search for people. There are more than 90,000 missing persons. Through the Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico, different groups of relatives demanded the search for their loved ones and a meeting with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Two years after the president made seven commitments to those families, there are still pending issues that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner and through regular channels of dialogue with the authorities. The new appointment of Adán Augusto López as Secretary of the Interior presents an opportunity to consolidate the Secretary’s commitments on the matter, in addition to considering the impact on development that this social climate has on the country.

El Economista: Activistas y organizaciones sociales exigen la atención de AMLO para localizar más de 90,000 personas.

5. Mexican economic outlook improves

The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) estimated that the Mexican economy will grow 6.2% in 2021, an increase with respect to its previous forecast, since, in May, when the country was not yet affected by the third wave of COVID-19, the projection put forth by Banxico was 6%. Should the rebound reach 6.7%, Banxico affirms that economic activity would recover its pre-pandemic levels in the last quarter of the year. Meanwhile, the peso appreciated against the dollar, ending at 19.99 units per dollar.

In addition, family remittances grew during the first 7 months of 2021 totalling USD $28 billion, which implies an increase of 23.5% over the same period in 2020, becoming the highest flow from January to July on record. The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, considered that, at this rate, Mexico will be the sixth or seventh regional recipient this year and families will capture more resources than those registered last year, which ended at historic levels of USD $40.6 billion.

El Financiero: Prevé Banxico crecimiento de 6.2% en 2021.
El Economista: Peso comienza septiembre con el pie derecho y extiende su recuperación y Envío de remesas hila cinco meses con envíos sobre 4,000 millones de dólares.