Corn / Presidential Candidate

Youth Building the Future Program. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador highlighted that thanks to the Youth Building the Future program, 6,756 young people from Jalisco have found work and receive a good salary. "These young people receive a minimum wage and work as apprentices in workshops, stores and small businesses."

The program seeks to bring young people that do not study or work into the labor force, through companies, workshops and institutions. Young people can develop skills relevant to the labor market and increase their chances of being hired in the future. In the first stage of the program, the Mexican government allocated between MX$60 million (US$3 million) and MX$100 million (US$5.1 million). The program is expected to expand to more states in 2023.

Corn. López Obrador reported that he signed a decree to increase tariffs on yellow corn imports to guarantee the purchase of the national corn. "I have just signed a decree to increase tariffs on imported non-white corn. We are already taking measures to guarantee that it is not transgenic."

In February, 2023, the Mexican government issued a new decree on GM corn, which allows its use for animal feed and industrial manufacturing, but not for human consumption. The Biden administration said those restrictions would violate USMCA, since Mexico's proposed restriction on corn for human consumption is expected to affect white corn imports, used primarily for tortillas, according to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report. In March 2023, the US government requested trade consultations with Mexico as the first formal step toward a dispute settlement panel.

Presidential Candidate.  López Obrador said he already knows who will be the opposition's presidential candidate, but that he will talk about it later.

In 2024, presidential elections will be held on June 2. This month, López Obrador announced that about eight members of his cabinet will resign to participate in the upcoming elections. So far, Marcelo Ebrard resigned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) to fully dedicate himself to his pre-campaign for the 2024 presidential run, together with MORENA, followed by Mexico City Major Claudia Sheinbaum. According to a Reforma poll, MORENA is in the lead with 47 percent of the voters’ support. Meanwhile, PAN has 19 percent of the vote, PRI 18 percent and Movimiento Ciudadano 6 percent.