AMLO’s Return/Seeking Triqui Solutions

AMLO will return after getting approval. Olga Sánchez Cordero, head of the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB), said that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s health is good and he is recovering well from COVID-19. Sánchez added that the health authorities will decide whether the president can return to delivering the morning conferences. "We are implementing strategies that are coordinated with the three levels of government. The authorities have been responsible in their actions and we are awaiting the return of the president soon," Sánchez said.

Pension payments to be doubled. The head of the Ministry of Welfare, Javier May, announced that the government will make two pension payments to the elderly and people with permanent disabilities. The first payment will be deposited in March-April and the second in May-June. “For this year, the payment for these two programs will be doubled and the government expects to invest more than US$7.4  billion in them," May said.

Crime in Mexico City falls. Sánchez said that in Mexico City, "all crimes have decreased" and applauded the efforts of the authorities to combat criminal organizations. "There are criminal groups in Mexico City, and we know them very well because most of them operate in Tepito, Tlahuac and Tlalpan. In my opinion, both the Prosecutor’s Office and the Minister of Security have done a great job," Sánchez said. According to Omar García Harfuch, Mexico City police chief, these criminal groups are fragmented cells of larger organizations such as La Unión Tepito, el Grupo de Juan Balta, la Célula de El Lunares y Gota a Gota.

The church is acting responsibly. Sánchez said the church has been very responsible in closing churches and not calling for pilgrimages while COVID-19 cases have been increasing. “I recognized its social responsibility because the pilgrimages in December would have resulted in serious contagions,” Sánchez said. In December, the Archdiocese of Mexico closed the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe to avoid contagions among the 10 million visitors it receives each year on Dec. 12 for the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe.  

Defense of Mexican accused of being a Russian spy. Sánchez said that Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes, who has been accused of being a Russian spy in the US, is being defended by excellent lawyers. Sánchez emphasized that the government “provides legal advice and a correct representation to any Mexican abroad who is being processed for a crime.” Sánchez added that the government will provide more information on the progress of the case in a press release. US federal authorities arrested Cabrera Fuentes for allegedly following orders from Russian officials to collect information about the US government. US prosecutors claim he was recruited by a Russian official with promises of helping his family and identified the target of Fuentes’s surveillance as a “confidential informant who previously provided information regarding (Russian Intelligence Service) activities that had national security implications for the US,” reported The Washington Post.

Progress in the Triqui conflict in Oaxaca. Sánchez said that Deputy of Human Rights, Population and Migration Alejandro Encinas will go to Oaxaca due to the increase in violence during the Triqui armed conflict. Sánchez said Encinas is seeking solutions to the problem through meetings with members of the Triqui community. “Tomorrow, the deputy will hold a conference about the progress that has been made with the Triqui community,” Sánchez said. Between 2009 and 2010, an escalation of violence in the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala, in the Triqui region of Oaxaca, led to the forced displacement of hundreds of people. The violence in the Triqui region has historical origins and is related to the dispute over political and territorial control of the area. Since 2009, several attacks in the area have resulted in several deaths and the forced displacement of more than 600 people. More than 10 years later, the problem continues and the violence is increasing, reported Animal Politico.

Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish