Argentine-Mexican Alliance/ No Intervention in Elections

COVID-19 cases have decreased for six weeks in a row. Minister of Health Jorge Alcocer highlighted that the cases of COVID-19 in Mexico have shown a steady decrease over the past six weeks. He added that the occupancy rate at hospitals is between 50 and 69 percent only in Mexico City, the State of Mexico and Puebla. "There is a 70 percent increase in elderly vaccinated, for a total of 604,110 people. Only 0.4 percent of side effects attributable to vaccination have been reported," said Jorge Alcocer.

Covax mechanism has not delivered vaccines. Minister of Foreign Relations (SRE) Marcelo Ebrard emphasized that the Covax mechanism "has not delivered a single vaccine," and that he expects to be informed when the doses will be distributed in Mexico. "We are concerned that it is taking time, while at the same time, new purchases from developed countries are being announced," Ebrard said.

New Argentine-Mexican alliance. President of Argentina Alberto Fernández applauded President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's efforts to improve the country. "Mexico finally has a president that Mexicans deserve; a president with moral and ethical values." Fernández explained that his visit seeks to strengthen ties between both countries and thanked the Mexican government for supporting Latin American refugees. He emphasized that both countries must work together to promote the development of Latin America. "It is an obligation that we have, from the northernmost country to the southernmost country."

Inequality in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. López Obrador asked the UN to guarantee a fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, since it has not been fair or successful, he said. López Obrador recalled that he presented a resolution six months ago, which was adopted almost unanimously, to prevent the hoarding of medicines and vaccines. López Obrador emphasized that the Covax mechanism, created by the UN to provide vaccines to poor countries, is not working. “Of the 80 countries that have access to the vaccine, only 10 are concentrating 80 percent of the doses. Where is the universal brotherhood? The UN has to intervene because right now it looks like a vase, which is only good for decoration,” López Obrador said.

COVID-19 vaccine as a global good. COVID-19 vaccines should be considered a global good "to transfer intellectual rights and produce it in other countries,” Fernández said, announcing that Argentina would like López Obrador’s support in presenting that call to the G20. “Mexico is part of the G20, and we need its help," Fernández said. In addition, Fernández announced that Argentina would support Mexico's complaint over the hoarding of COVID-19 vaccines, since there are more than 100 countries that do not have a single dose of the vaccine.

AMLO asks for non-intervention in upcoming elections. López Obrador announced that today he will send a letter to governors asking them to not intervene in the June elections and proposed a national agreement to not support any candidate. “I call everyone to make history together; the national pact for democracy and its effective implementation will allow the long-awaited democracy to be achieved. This will elevate our country to the top with other nations and will leave behind bad memories of centuries of electoral impositions and fraud,” López Obrador said. The elections will be held on June 6 with 500 federal deputy positions at staek, 300 by relative majority and 200 by proportional representation. In addition, 15 states will elect governors and Mexico City will elect 16 mayors.

Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish