November 2009
69 strikes have occurred during Calderon's term
El Economista - A total of 69 strikes have occurred in the first three years of the Calderon Administration, according to a report by the Federal Board of Conciliation and Arbitration . The figure is significantly lower than in the past two administrations.
eleconomista.com.mx/notas-online/negocios/2009/11/29/estallan-69-huelgas-tres-anos-gobierno-calderon
Reforms needed now, says CEESP report
El Economista - Mexico needs further reforms as soon as possible so as not to lose the last three years of the administration of President Felipe Calderon, said the Center for Private Sector Economic Studies (CEESP) in its weekly report.
Telecom pioneer Joaquin Vargas Gomez dies
El Semanario - The death of Joaquin Vargas Gomez, a pioneer of telecommunications in Mexico and the founder of MVS Comunicaciones, died in the Federal District over the weekend. A native of Linares, Nuevo Leon, he was 84.
Metro, water rates likely to increase in Mexico City
El Semanario - Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said residents of the federal district will absorb a 50 percent increase in Metro fares and an 80 percent jump in water rates next year if approved by the city council.
In mid-term speech, Calderon proposes public officials' re-election, citizen input and more economic reforms
Submitted by mexbiznews on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 6:56am
From El Semanario,
CNNExpansion and Reuters reports
In a speech Sunday marking the mid-point of his term in office, President Felipe Calderón said he will seek measures to allow legislators and mayors to be re-elected and to introduce citizen referendums and initiatives.
Calderon, making the address from the central courtyard of the national palace Los Pinos, said these and other substantive changes are necessary to forge a new relationship between the three branches of government and to change the political dynamic that keeps the country from advancing.
The inability of legislators to seek re-election has been criticized because officials have little desire to serve their constituencies while in office and, instead, focus on building power and wealth.
The reform was among numerous measures Calderon initiated, including giving the Supreme Court the right to initiate legislation, shrinking the size of the congress, amending the law on amparos, and giving the media more access during elections.
He also said more public-finance reforms are needed to offset waning oil revenue and make the country more competitive.
Lawmakers this month passed a 2010 budget with a watered-down version of Calderon's original fiscal overhaul plan, which would have increased the number of people who pay taxes in Mexico.
"While a package was passed that resolves the most immediate problems, it is still far from a long-term solution to the structural problems Mexico faces," Calderon said.
Fitch Ratings cut Mexico's sovereign debt rating by one notch last week, punishing the country for political gridlock that has prevented meaningful economic reforms since seven decades of one-party rule ended in 2000.
Mexican oil production has slipped about a quarter from a 2004 peak as reserves in the Gulf of Mexico dry up, hitting government finances as oil funds more than a third of the federal budget.
Also holding the economy back, monopolies or near-monopolies hold sway over key industries such as energy and telecommunications, keeping costs high for companies.
Calderon said those issues also will be addressed and sectors opened up during the final three years of his presidency.
http://www.elsemanario.com.mx/news/news_display.php?story_id=28856; http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN2940846820091129">www.cnnexpansion.com/actualidad/2009/11/30/calderon-anuncia-reforma-para-reeleccion; http://www.elsemanario.com.mx/news/news_display.php
Zambrano reveals how Cemex survived the crisis
Submitted by mexbiznews on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 5:53am
By Barbara Anderson and Adolfo Ortega
CNNExpansion.com
One Sunday last summer, Cemex chairman Lorenzo Zambrano got up early at his home in the San Pedro Garza Garcia neighborhood of Monterrey. For one of the first times the self-confessed workaholic contemplated just going back to bed.
Zambrano had spent the previous night with close relatives. A few hours before the get together, he had received word from his team in Madrid that negotiations to refinance Cemex's debt were not going well.
"It hurt a lot, but it was what was happening, many were even betting against Cemex, and that gave me more courage. We had been told that there were people spreading rumors against the company to cause the stock price to fall and make money doing it," he said.
But then he remembered what one of his advisers told him days before: “The markets don't believe that Cemex can fail."
Eventually, in August, he signed a new agreement with the company's creditors (almost a hundred including banks and private investors) that gave it more time to pay, but also imposed new restrictions.
"This was the first time that we had experienced this situation, and we do not want to live through it again," said Cemex's vice president of finance, Hector Medina.
Remittance rebound will help Mexican companies
Bloomberg - A revival in money transfers to Mexico might increase demand for everything from cement to mobile-phone service, improving the profit outlook for Cemex and America Movil, according to brokerage Vector Casa de Bolsa. Remittances are poised to climb as much as 5 percent in 2010 as the U.S. economy recovers.
Mexico meets UN HIV-AIDS goals
Latin American Herald Tribune - Mexico has met the U.N. Millennium Development Goal that demands that countries “halt and begin to reduce the spread of HIV-AIDS” before 2015. “The infection rate for HIV is 0.4 percent” at this time, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said.
Health improved, "Juanito" wants his political job back
Latin American Herald Tribune - Rafael Acosta, better known as “Juanito,” a former street vendor who this summer was elected chief of Mexico City’s largest borough before voluntarily stepping down for “health reasons” told authorities he wants his job back.
September manufacturing jobs fall 9.3 percent
El Economista - Employment in the manufacturing sector fell 9.3 percent during September compared to the same month a year ago but decreased only 0.09 percent from August, according to the national statistics agency Inegi.
eleconomista.com.mx/notas-online/negocios/2009/11/27/empleo-sector-manufacturero-cae-93
