8M Women Protest/New CCE President

AMLO reports his government supports the feminist cause. On International Women's Day, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stressed that his government promotes and defends gender equality in the country, especially within social and economic spheres. "We are going to continue creating a culture that does not perpetuate authoritarian or sexist attitudes in order to respect and protect women from hate crimes, especially femicides. We support the feminist movement of having a fairer society, where everyone is safe and respected."

Today, dozens of feminist groups will march across the country demanding to stop gender violence and institutional indifference. This year, approximately20,000 protesters are expected to march from Reforma Avenue to the Mexico´s National Palace. During López Obrador’s government, violence towards women has increased. Last year, Mexico reported the highest number of femicides and rapes with 1,006 and 21,188 respectively. Currently, the country has an average of 10.5 and 11 feminicides per day. Of all femicides, only one out of 10 is reported to the authorities. Of those reported, 95 percent go unpunished, while only 2 percent of the perpetrators end in prison.

AMLO: Political opponents infiltrated feminist groups. López Obrador assured that opposition groups infiltrated the feminist movement to damage the image of the government and generate social instability. In addition, he assured that many of these infiltrators are promoting violence against authorities and monuments during the march. “There is infiltration in the feminist movement by conservative groups. It is ironic that suddenly the most retrograde, those who have never defended women's rights, become feminists. They only do it for the purpose of harming us and inciting violence against the state.”

Mexico City´s Interior Minister Martí Batres said that this year's feminist march will be very violent and stressed that the government has already identified 15 groups that use dangerous objects and violence. As a result, the Ministry of Citizen Security of Mexico City announced there will be 3,000 female police officers to guarantee order and security. However, feminist groups have called on protesters to distrust the authorities and take precautions, since in past protests there have been arbitrary arrests, rubber bullets, gas, and repression against them and the media. According to government figures, last year 81 women were injured in clashes between police and protesters and attacks by men.

COVID-19 infections decrease. Deputy Minister of Health Hugo López-Gatell announced that for the sixth consecutive week, COVID-19 contagions have dropped throughout the country. López-Gatell said the week began with a 41 percent drop in cases and only 13 percent hospital occupancy. López-Gatell emphasized that despite the good news, Mexicans must not lower their guard as the pandemic is not over. “As long as the virus persists, there is always the possibility that it will rebound or there will be a new wave. However, today we have good news and it is possible that this situation will continue due to the extensive vaccination coverage that we have.”

The Ministry of Health reported that 42 deaths and 1,684 infections were registered yesterday, bringing the total number of infections to 5,566,669 and death toll stands at 319,901. Regarding vaccinations, the Ministry reported that 183,509,755 million doses have been administered and approximately 85,340,303 million people have been vaccinated, representing  90 percent of Mexico´s adult population.

New President of the Business Coordinating Council. López Obrador celebrated that Francisco Cervantes was elected as the new president of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) and assured he is a good leader. “He is a very good person. He has already helped us in the past when he was president of the CONCAMIN chamber. We will certainly maintain good relations with him.”

This week Cervantes was elected president of the CCE for the 2022-2023 period, replacing Carlos Salazar. Cervantes has more than 20 years-experience in the business sector, in which he has been president of companies like Cerplastik and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Security Council of the State of Mexico. Cervantes stressed that his priority is to achieve greater unity among business organizations in order to have a general consensus that allows for greater dialogue with the government. Cervantes previously worked with López Obrador, therefore, further cooperation between the public and private sectors is expected.

Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish