July 2012
Clandestine grave with 2 bodies found in Mexico state
EFE - A clandestine grave containing two bodies was found by investigators in in San Juan Yautepec, a community outside the city of Huixquilucan in the state of Mexico, on Monday, the Mexico state Attorney General's Office said.
Peso leads Lat Am currency dip on Spain fears
Reuters - The Mexican peso led Latin American currencies lower on Tuesday as persisting fears of a Spanish bailout drove investors out of emerging markets for a third consecutive session. The peso slid 1.1 percent.
in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/24/markets-latam-forex-idINL2E8IOA3I20120724
Stocks end in red despite Modelo, Wal-Mex earnings
Dow Jones - Mexican stocks fell Tuesday after a dour read on manufacturing in the central-Atlantic region of the U.S. and as pressure on Spain continues to mount. The IPC index lost 250 points, or 0.6 percent, to 40,698 points.
online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120724-717980.html
Opinion: Mexico is flunking in education
Submitted by mexbiznews on Wed, 07/25/2012 - 5:20am
By Arjan Shahani / Americas Quarterly
On July 22, the Mexican Education Ministry published the results for the Knowledge, Ability and Teaching Skills National Exam, the annual test the Mexican government uses to award teaching positions in the country. The outcome paints a grim picture for children seeking quality education in Mexico.
A year ago, I wrote about the fact that the test in itself is not exigent enough and that the passing grade is a meager 30 percent. Back then I took a deep dive into the way the test is structured and concluded that it was practically impossible to fail.
Well the results are in, and unfortunately, I underestimated the level of ignorance in the people responsible for preparing Mexico’s youth for the challenges of tomorrow. There’s something categorically wrong in Mexico’s education system when out of 134,704 people that took this simple test, over 70 percent don’t get half of it right and only 309 (0.2 percent) get a perfect score.
Study finds Mexico City's gridlock costs the economy $2.5 billion a year
Submitted by mexbiznews on Wed, 07/25/2012 - 4:47amAFP
Traffic jams in the gridlocked Mexican capital are costing the country's economy more than $2.5 billion each year, a study showed Tuesday.
"The figure is evidence of the high social and economic costs of the lack of a national urban development policy," Center for Sustainable Transport director Adriana Almeida told reporters.
Researchers obtained the figure by multiplying the time each resident lost in traffic by the average hourly wage, Almeida said, presenting results from the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness study.
The sprawling city is becoming "paralyzed by traffic," diminishing its ability to compete in the global market, added Alfonso Iracheta of Mexican urban policy think tank Foropolis.
Cars are crawling through the city at an average speed of just 17 kilometers (10 miles) per hour, more than twice as slow as in 1990, according to the study.
The average car ride is also nearly a half hour longer than it was four years ago -- from 53 minutes to an hour and 21 minutes per day -- despite huge investments to expand the city's metro, create a network of buses with designated lanes and build a second level on several major roadways.
PRI says left violated campaign finance rules
EFE - Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, says leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's campaign should be investigated for using grassroots organizations as "parallel structures" to evade campaign finance rules.
latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/07/24/mexico-pri-says-left-violated-campaign-finance-rules/
Climate law to face challenge under new president
Reuters - Mexico's new president is unlikely to implement much of the sweeping climate change law signed in June by outgoing President Felipe Calderon amid inevitable resistance from industry and his party's focus on accelerating economic growth.
www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/24/us-mexico-climate-policy-idUSBRE86N0A220120724
Inflation quickens on effects of bird flu outbreak
Dow Jones - Mexican consumer prices rose more than expected in the first half of July, pushing the annual inflation rate to its highest level in 18 months as an outbreak of bird flu in western Jalisco state led to higher egg and chicken prices.
Grupo Modelo profit is up 26% on weaker peso
Dow Jones - Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo said Tuesday its net profit rose 26 percent in the second quarter from the year-earlier period, with financial benefits of a weaker peso complementing double-digit gains in sales and operating profits.
5.2 earthquake rocks southern Mexico
EFE - A magnitude-5.2 earthquake rocked southern Mexico early Tuesday, but there are no damage or injury reports, the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS, said. The quake's epicenter was near San Juan de Cacahuatepec, a town in Oaxaca state.
latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/07/24/earthquake-rocks-southern-mexico/
