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Mexico Strikes Deal With US On Migrant Deportation

Mexico agreed with the US administration to deport migrants from its border cities to their home countries and take necessary action to deter migrants from using its soil in border crossings to the US…reports Asian Lite News

In a major breakthrough to solve the border crisis, the US has influenced Mexico to deport migrants from Central and South America using its soil to enter the US using its border state of Texas and California, as Democrat and Republican states struggle to maintain the unprecedented influx of migrants from nations that have become politically and economically unstable.

Mexico agreed with the US administration to deport migrants from its border cities to their home countries and take necessary action to deter migrants from using its soil in border crossings to the US, media reports said.

Mexican officials met US Customs and Border Protection officials on Friday in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, bordering El Paso, Texas, as illegal crossings spiked to the US, which has temporarily closed an international bridge and paused Mexico’s main cargo train system.

The Mexico-US border pact now enables Mexico to “depressurise” its northern cities, bordering El Paso, San Diego and Eagle Pass, Texas, where the mayor has declared a state of emergency. 

On the cards are also a series of measures that seek to prevent migrants from risking their lives by using trains to reach the US-Mexico border, according to Mexico’s National Migration Institute.

The agreement comes close on the heels of the US Department of Defense ramping up security at the US-Mexico border with the Department of Homeland Security sending an additional force of at least 800 new active-duty personnel to join the 2,500 National Guard members already serving on the southern borders.

About 6,500 migrants have been taken into custody in El Paso, Texas as the lone star state is under pressure to handle the influx of migrants, Mayor Oscar Leeser said at the news conference on Saturday. 

“We have come to what we look at (as) a breaking point right now,” the mayor said.

El Paso has been receiving more than 2,000 additional migrants every day, an official said, adding the city is expecting a “large influx” over the next few days.

Migrant crossings are surpassing 8,600 over a 24-hour period this week, up from a daily average of 3,500, according to a Department of Homeland Security official. 

Border arrests have become difficult after the expiration in May of the Title 42 clause that screened or blocked migrants from entering during Covid-19 phase. There were more than 8,000 apprehensions on Monday of illegal entries, media reports said.

The busiest sectors are Del Rio, El Paso, Lower Rio Grande Valley and Tucson; each facing more than 1,000 encounters over the last 24 hours, according to the official. Eagle Pass is in the Del Rio sector.

Friday’s meeting was attended by Customs and Border Protection’s Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, the commissioner of Mexico’s National Migration Institute, the governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, members of Mexico’s national defence and national guard and representatives of Ferromex, a Mexican railroad operator, according to the institute, CNN reported. 

Mexican officials have promised to carry out a series of 15 actions as part of the agreement, some in coordination with Customs and Border Protection and Ferromex, which includes deporting migrants to their home countries by land and air.

Mexico said it would negotiate with the governments of Venezuela, Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia and Cuba to confirm receipt of their citizens deported from the US-Mexico border. Mexico will permit US border patrol agents to expel migrants through the Ciudad Juarez international bridge, which connects with El Paso.

Mexico had deported more than 7,88,000 migrants to their home countries from January 1 to September.

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-Top News China

Mexico Commits to Active Role in G77+China

The move reflects “a frank desire to strengthen the bloc’s negotiating position in the complex international scenario,” it added…reports Asian Lite News

Mexico declared its intention to actively participate in the Group of 77 plus China (G77+China) to strengthen the bloc’s negotiating position in the complex international scenario.

“Mexico will analyse the group’s agenda to find those areas where it can contribute by joining together to act in one voice,” the Mexican Foreign Ministry said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Once officials have identified the relevant topics and forums, “Mexico will present its request to participate in the work of the Group of 77 plus China,” the ministry said in a statement.

The move reflects “a frank desire to strengthen the bloc’s negotiating position in the complex international scenario,” it added.

Mexico hopes to “continue contributing to giving a voice to the people of the South in the search for development that does not exclude any country,” the ministry said.

At the G77+China Summit of Heads of State and Government in Havana, Cuba, on Friday and Sunday, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said it was “a great honor” for Mexico to be invited to the gathering by the host country.

Barcena also underscored the importance of the bloc’s role as a coordinating mechanism to address the most urgent issues on the international agenda for the Global South.

ALSO READ-Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalises abortion

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Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalises abortion

In 2007, the country’s capital, Mexico City, became the first to decriminalise abortion. In Latin America, elective abortion is legal in Colombia, Cuba, Uruguay and Argentina…reports Asian Lite News

The Supreme Court of Mexico has decriminalised abortion across the country, two years after it ruled in favour of a challenge to an existing law in Coahuila state saying that criminal penalties for terminating pregnancies were unconstitutional, the media reported on Thursday.

The new ruling which came on Wednesday, will legalise abortion across all 32 states, reports the BBC.

In its verdict, the court said that the denial of the possibility of a termination violated the human rights of women.

“In cases of rape, no girl can be forced to become a mother – neither by the state nor by her parents nor her guardians,” the BBC quoted  Arturo Zaldivar, head of the Supreme Court, as saying.

“Here, the violation of her rights is more serious, not only because of her status as a victim, but also because of her age, which makes it necessary to analyse the issue from the perspective of the best interests of minors.”

In 2007, the country’s capital, Mexico City, became the first to decriminalise abortion. In Latin America, elective abortion is legal in Colombia, Cuba, Uruguay and Argentina.

While countries allow abortions in circumstances such as rape or health risks, outright bans apply in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Order to remove floating barriers on US-Mexico border

A federal judge has ruled that the state of Texas must remove floating barriers it set up to deter migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border in heavily trafficked areas of the Rio Grande river.

“Unfortunately for Texas, permission is exactly what federal law requires before installing obstructions in the nation’s navigable waters,” Federal District Judge David A. Ezra wrote in his order on Wednesday, issuing a preliminary injunction to remove these barriers and stop building further obstructions in the river.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office immediately appealed Ezra’s ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, claiming that the state “is prepared to take this fight all the way to the US Supreme Court”.

“Today’s court decision merely prolongs President Biden’s willful refusal to acknowledge that Texas is rightfully stepping up to do the job that he should have been doing all along,” the Governor’s office said in a statement.

In the wake of the end of Title 42 in May, Abbott ordered the deployment of the 1,000-foot string of buoys in the middle of the border river next to Eagle Pass, western Texas, which shares the border with the Mexican city of Piedras Negras.

President Joe Biden’s administration filed a lawsuit against Texas in July, alleging that thr Republican-led state and its Governor violated the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act by building a structure in American waters without permission from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The state argued that the barrier isn’t a structure that requires authorisation, and that it notified the International Boundary Water Commission, the binational body that regulates the Rio Grande, before the installlation.

The Mexican government has repreatedly condemned the establishment of water barriers in the Rio Grande, calling the Texas move a “violation of our sovereignty”.

“We express our concern about the impact on the human rights and personal safety of migrants that these state policies will have, which go in the opposite direction to the close collaboration between our country and the federal government of the US,” the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

ALSO READ-Indian national fatally shot, another injured in Mexico robbery

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Indian national fatally shot, another injured in Mexico robbery

Police said there were four bikers on two motocycles, who attacked the Indians and fled the scene….reports Asian Lite News

An Indian national was shot dead and another injured after being ambushed and robbed by a group of bikers in Mexico City.

Confirming the incident, which took place on August 19 in the capital city’s Algarin neighbourhood, the Indian Embassy in Mexico asked authorities to apprehend the culprits at the earliest.

“In an extremely regrettable & heart-wrenching incident,an Indian national living in Mexico has been tragically shot dead,” the Embassy posted on X on Sunday.

“Embassy & @IndianAssoMex are in touch with his family & extending all support. We’re demanding Mexican authorities to apprehend the culprits at the soonest.”

The unknown assailants robbed $10,000 from the Indian nationals, who had exchanged the money at a place near Mexico City International Airport, the El Universal newspaper reported.

Police said there were four bikers on two motocycles, who attacked the Indians and fled the scene.

One of them lost his life due to the shots he received, and another was treated at the scene, without injuries, the report said.

According to the police, the foreigners did not speak Spanish, but they found identification among their belongings.

Posting again on X on Monday, the Indian embassy said it is working with the law enforcement in Mexico to nab the culprits.

“In the extremely regrettable & tragic death of an Indian national shot by unknown assailants in Mexico City, the Embassy is in constant touch with the law enforcement agencies to apprehend the culprits at the soonest & give justice to family of the victim,” it added.

The Indian community in Mexico is small, numbering about 8,000 with about one fifth of them in Mexico City, and the rest spread in Guadalajara, Monterrey, Cuernavaca, Queretaro, Cancun.

The bulk is formed by IT professionals working for IT companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro.

Others comprise executives of Indian and international companies, academicians, and some businesspersons mostly in pharmaceuticals, textile and garment business.

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Mexican President slams US for espionage

Lopez Obrador said that his administration will protect state information for national security reasons, as well as in defense of Mexico’s sovereignty….reports Asian Lite News

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has accused the US Pentagon of espionage, saying his government will protect its national defence information.

In his daily press conference, the Mexican President said that as part of this, Mexican media receive leaks from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Xinhua news agency reported.

“We are going to guard the information from the Ministry of the Navy and the (Ministry of National) Defense because we are being spied on by the Pentagon and a lot of media in Mexico are leaking information provided by the DEA,” he said.

Lopez Obrador said that his administration will protect state information for national security reasons, as well as in defense of Mexico’s sovereignty.

The President’s remarks came a day after he accused the DEA of “abusive meddling” and “arrogance” for an alleged operation to infiltrate the Sinaloa drug trafficking cartel.

The US government claims Mexico is responsible for the illegal trafficking of fentanyl into its territory.

In response, Mexico said the US is not doing enough to combat the causes that lead its population to resort to illicit drugs.

ALSO READ: UN not okay with US spying on Guterres

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AMLO: Mexican economy healthy despite US banking crisis

Mexico’s economy, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, grew by 3.1 per cent in 2022….reports Asian Lite News

Mexico’s economy is “solid” and able to withstand external shocks such as the crisis roiling several banks in the US, said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

With Mexican banks registering record profits, “the majority of Mexicans are doing well”, Lopez Obrador said at a press conference.

“There is macroeconomic stability in the country and no crisis is on the horizon,” Xinhua news agency quoted the President as saying.

There may be unforeseen events and external factors, such as the financial turmoil caused by the collapse of two banking institutions abroad this month, said Lopez Obrador, describing Mexico’s economy as “solid”.

Mexico’s economy, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, grew by 3.1 per cent in 2022.

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India, Mexico ink multi-sectoral deal

The multi-sectoral agreement was signed in the presence of Union Minister for Science & Technology, Jitendra Singh, and the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard…reports Asian Lite News

India and Mexico on Saturday signed a partnership deal on research, technology and innovation collaborations with focus on several key technology areas like aerospace, electronics instrumentation and strategic sectors — civil, infrastructure, engineering, biotech, healthcare and others.

The multi-sectoral agreement was signed in the presence of Union Minister for Science & Technology, Jitendra Singh, and the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, at the India Science Centre here in the presence of high-level delegation from both sides.

Welcoming Ebrard and his delegation, Singh said the government delegation coming with successful private startup ventures is a welcome sign and both the sides will exploit the innovative eco-system fully to have sustainable startups.

The minister conveyed to the Mexican delegation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives high priority to scientific innovation and highlights scientific projects in each of his speech, like marine science, climate change and bio-fuels, among others. Terming India and Mexico as ‘privileged partners’, the minister said the two countries can complement and supplement each other in many areas.

Singh also informed that as a way forward to identify specific collaborative proposals, topical interaction meetings between scientists from CSIR and institutions in Mexico are planned in this month itself, specifically focusing on health, energy, aerospace and environmental protection aspects.

Ebrard thanked Prime Minister Modi for sending Covid vaccines during the peak of the pandemic and underlined that India was the first country to send vaccines to Mexico, when many other advanced powers and friends showed initial reluctance.

Ebrard said that Mexican President Andreas Manuel Obrador has instructed the delegation to forge close ties with India and work for joint strategic vision.

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29 killed during arrest of drug lord El Chapo’s son

The capture of Ovidio Guzman on Thursday left 19 assailants and 10 military troops dead and 35 others wounded

At least 29 people were killed in clashes sparked by an operation to capture a son of jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in northwest Mexico’s Sinaloa state, Defence Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval has confirmed.

The capture of Ovidio Guzman on Thursday left 19 assailants and 10 military troops dead and 35 others wounded, Sandoval was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Army and National Guard troops led the operation to capture Ovidio Guzman, a leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, leading to armed clashes and the exchange of heavy gunfire in the Jesus Maria district of the city of Culiacan.

According to Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez, Ovidio Guzman was arrested for a range of crimes, including possession of military weapons and attempted homicide.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed that the US requested Ovidio Guzman’s extradition back in September 2019, adding that the process could take several weeks.

Mexican law requires US authorities to first submit the evidence they have against Ovidio Guzman to a Mexican judge, who will then decide whether to proceed with the extradition request, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.

Ovidio Guzman faces charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana in the US, media reports said.

ALSO READ: UAE arrests head of major human trafficking network

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-Top News UAE News

Sharjah, Emirati culture celebrated at Mexico book fair

The emirate’s pavilion also attracted a host of diplomats, cultural personalities, representatives of cultural entities and librarians as well as key publishers from across Latin America…reports Asian Lite News

Draped in the colours of the UAE national flag, and in a vibrant, festive atmosphere that merged history and tradition to bring alive the rich, cultural legacy of the nation, hundreds of visitors including authors and writers from around the world flocked to Sharjah’s Guest of Honour pavilion at the 36th Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) in Mexico on the opening day.

The immersive cultural experience including live music and traditional performances offered insights into the UAE’s literature, music, heritage, and art, and drew large crowds of visitors to the Sharjah pavilion, which showcases the experience and expertise of several cultural entities in the emirate. The celebration of Sharjah’s cultural project at the largest book fair in Latin America also introduced visitors to the legacy and the ongoing achievements of the thriving creative movement in the UAE and the wider Arab region.

Sharjah’s Guest of Honour pavilion, located at the main entrance of the book fair, served as a unique gateway to the cultural experience and shared human values that bind Arab and Latin cultures. The heritage shows, music performances and panel discussions hosted at the pavilion attracted a massive turnout of Mexican and global visitors who were spellbound by the captivating showcase of cultural diversity from the UAE.

The emirate’s pavilion also attracted a host of diplomats, cultural personalities, representatives of cultural entities and librarians as well as key publishers from across Latin America. The pavilion convened more than 20 cultural entities from Sharjah, offering invaluable opportunities for communication and collaboration with other Mexican and international entities.

At the Sharjah pavilion, possibilities of hosting joint events with World Book Capitals and knowledge cities were discussed including broadening the scope of cooperation with cultural entities like libraries, writers unions and associations, cultural institutions and centres from countries around the world.

Pic credits Twitter @SharjahBookAuth

Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), said, “The massive turnout of visitors and their interest in Emirati culture at the Guadalajara International Book Fair is a manifestation of the wise vision of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. His Highness has always believed that culture and the written word reveal the universal ethics and values that connect peoples, which are far greater and more powerful than what differentiates humanity. This interconnectedness is the key to building sustainable close relationships between world countries, and we are proud to see the large footfall of the Mexican audience as they celebrate Sharjah and the Emirati and Arab cultures it is representing.”

The SBA Chairman added, “Our Emirati and Arab cultures are enriched with significant milestones that symbolise our contribution to human civilisation and culture. Sharjah’s leading efforts at the international level consolidates the uniqueness of our culture, and further reinforces its powerful presence and influence on different nations in diverse areas including literature, music and art. Sharjah’s crowning as the first Arab Guest of Honour at the Guadalajara International Book Fair is a message to every Emirati individual and organisation on the enduring belief in the power of the written word and its impact on bolstering our position on the global cultural map.”

ALSO READ: MBZ: Education UAE’s key strategic priority

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UK govt collaborates with Mexico to reduce deforestation

UK PACT is supporting four municipalities in Chiapas to harvest sustainably the resin while substantially increasing the output and raising annual incomes…reports Asian Lite News

Since March 2021, UK PACT has been addressing the deforestation that takes place in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas by supporting eco-friendly, sustainable economic activities.

Deforestation in Chiapas is a significant problem. According to Global Forest Watch, the state lost 574 thousand hectares of rainforest between the years 2001 and 2018, representing an average of 32 thousand hectares cleared every year. The main causes that drive deforestation are cattle ranching and farming, which local populations need to subsist. This is the reason why it is important to promote non-timber activities in the state, especially in protected areas.

Resin is the natural liquid produced by some tree species such as the ocote pine, endemic to Chiapas. It is used in the production of a variety of natural chemical products like varnish, adhesive and cleaning agents. Sustainable harvesting of resin helps preserve the rainforest in two ways. First, it recognises the long-term value of this tree species and, second, communities act together to protect these trees and their habitat.

UK PACT is supporting four municipalities in Chiapas to harvest sustainably the resin while substantially increasing the output and raising annual incomes. Currently, 200 local producers are participating in trainings to improve their technical skills in resin tapping, collection and storage, tool conservation and maintenance, and management of resin production areas. They also receive financial education to improve their business skills. In addition, resin producers from the state of Michoacán provide workshops to share their expertise and experience on forest care and resin harvesting.

A key market barrier in the resin value chain is the requirement to produce a minimum of ten tonnes. The capital outlay for this quantity is very high and was discouraging individuals and communities alike from participating in resin production. In response, UK PACT set up a credit facility called the “Resin Producers Fund” to cover up to 90% of their production expenses. Upon payment from the buyer, the producers return the loan plus a small amount to cover costs. Rising demand, including from Guatemala, has made the new system so cost-effective that it is attracting neighbouring communities to enter the resin business.

Alonso B, a resin producer from the ‘Corazón del Valle’ community, explains, “I have been producing resin for three years. At the beginning, I had enough production to fill four buckets. Now, thanks to the training I have received, I am producing 14 of them.” In 2019, the communities of California and Nuevo Vicente Guerrero abandoned resin harvesting, as it was no longer profitable. With UK PACT support, the situation has changed with resin production reaching an estimated ten tonnes.”

For the next year, this project will continue to strengthen the business and technical skills of the resin producing communities in Chiapas. This partnership between the UK and Mexico will continue to improve the livelihoods and incomes of resin harvesters while reducing deforestation in the south of the country.

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