June 2012
Hedge fund fights Mexican elite in legal showdown
Submitted by mexbiznews on Tue, 06/26/2012 - 4:58am
By Kambiz Foroohar and Brendan Case / Bloomberg
On a scorching April morning in Monterrey, Mexico, Enrique Garcia, Vitro’s local plant manager, crosses under a mural that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the company’s first glass factory.
Then, Garcia heads toward a steel and tin building where machines the size of minivans churn out 3 million bottles a day for Avon Products Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and Francis Ford Coppola Winery.
The whir of activity gives no indication that Vitro has been fighting its way through Mexican and U.S. courts -- or that it’s waging a bare-knuckle brawl with a number of hedge funds, including Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp.
U.S.tomato farmers say they want to dump deal with Mexico
Submitted by mexbiznews on Tue, 06/26/2012 - 4:27amBy Doug Palmer
Reuters
U.S. tomato growers said they have formally asked the U.S. Commerce Department to tear up a pricing agreement with Mexican producers that they say has become "a charade."
Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, told Reuters on Monday that U.S. producers want the pact voided so they can file a new anti-dumping complaint against Mexico.
The rare request comes in a dispute that dates back to 1996, when U.S. industry filed a petition accusing Mexican producers of selling in the United States at unfairly low prices.
Brown said the Commerce Department found that Mexican producers were dumping their tomatoes in the United States at nearly 188.5 percent below fair market value.
The department later agreed to suspend action on the petition and negotiate a "suspension" agreement with Mexican producers and exporters that established a minimum reference price for Mexican tomatoes in the United States.
In following years, two more suspension agreements were negotiated to replace the original pact, but the reference price barely changed, Brown said.
www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/us-usa-mexico-tomatoes-idUSBRE85O1AX20120625
Supreme Court to take up Carlos Slim TV case
Reuters - Mexico's Supreme Court will decide if billionaire tycoon Carlos Slim can enter the lucrative television market in a legal case that centers on whether the government botched a regulatory filing or officials intentionally let a deadline pass.
www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/us-telmex-slim-idUSBRE85O0NF20120625
Oil slips to below $79 a barrel on Europe concerns
Associated Press - The price of oil fell below $79 a barrel Monday due to concerns over Europe’s economic and financial woes. The drop was limited somewhat by a supply disruption from a storm that shut downa quarter of crude output in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mexico posts trade deficit in May as exports dip
Reuters - Mexico posted a $267 million trade deficit in May when adjusted for seasonal swings as exports fell 1.56 percent. Slowing job growth in the United States could crimp the demand for Mexican exports.
www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/mexico-economy-idUSL3E8HP40X20120625
Spain and Mexico forge new tourism links
RCI Ventures - Mexico and Spain have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) that aims to increase tourism and enhance co-operation between the two countries.
www.rciventures.com/2012/06/mexico-spain-forge-tourism-links/
Mexico admits to error in arresting wrong person
Financial Times - Mexican authorities have admitted that the man they arrested last Thursday as the suspected son of the country’s most-wanted drug trafficker was, in fact, a second-hand car salesman with no apparent blood ties to organized crime.
www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/644794a2-be21-11e1-83ad-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1yoSMR7MH
14 mutilated bodies found in truck in parking lot
Reuters - Fourteen mutilated corpses and a threatening message aimed at a drug cartel were found inside a truck in the parking lot of a supermarket in the northern Mexican city of Mante, local media reported.
www.chinapost.com.tw/international/americas/2012/06/25/345488/14-mutilated.htm
U.S. fines Volaris $130,000 over baggage fees
Dow Jones - Mexico's Volaris became the first airline to be fined by U.S. regulators under new consumer-protection laws that include requiring carriers to disclose all taxes and fees, such as those levied for checked-in bags.
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304898704577482664100764708.html
Journalist missing in central Mexico, family says
EFE - Federico Manuel Garcia Contreras, a journalist with Mexico City daily Punto Critico and the radio program "Voces del mediodia" (Voices of Midday), has been missing since May, his family said.
latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/06/23/journalist-missing-in-central-mexico-family-says/
