Developments in Murder Investigations/Salaries Will Increase

Feminicide of Debanhi Escobar. Deputy Minister of Security Ricardo Mejia announced that a third opinion will be included in the autopsy of Debanhi Escobar, since there have been differences between the results of two autopsies carried out. “We want to emit a technical opinion for Debanhi's cause of death. We want to find the truth."

On April 21, the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) reported that a body rescued from a water tank in Nuevo León matched the description of Escobar, the 18-year-old girl who disappeared on April 9. The Attorney General's Office autopsy exposed that Escobar's cause of death was due to an intracranial hemorrhage. It is believed that she drowned and did not experience sexual abuse. Nevertheless, the autopsy provided by the family confirmed that she died before falling into the water tank and that there were signs of sexual abuse.

Developments in the investigations of murdered journalists in Veracruz. Deputy Minister of Security Ricardo Mejía said there are arrests warrants against those responsible for the death of journalists Yessenia Mollinedo and Sheila García. In addition, he stated that since their deaths are not related to their profession, the number of journalists killed in 2022 has not increased. “The figures that report there are 11 journalists murdered so far in 2022 are wrong, the prosecution's investigation reports that the fact that they were journalists was not the reason for their murder. Therefore, the number of journalists killed in 2022 remains at nine.”

On May 1, an unidentified man shot Mollinedo and Garcia inside their car in Veracruz. Both worked for the newspaper "El Veraz". Mollinedo was director while García was a reporter. Although the government emphasized that their profession was not the reason for their murder, journalists and family members argue that the theory has not been fully proven, for which their death should be included as part of the statistics. Taking into account the death of both journalists, the number of journalists killed in Mexico rises to 11, making 2022 the most violent year for journalists.

Salaries will increase for the health sector and the armed forces. López Obrador announced that the salary of police officers, soldiers, sailors, doctors and nurses will be increased. “Let's start with the soldiers, sailors and police. Followed by the doctors and nurses because the main priority is to rescue the entire health system.”

On May 15, López Obrador announced that the salaries of teachers who earn around MX$14,300 (US$718.05) a month would be increased. The new plan proposes that the 123,259 teachers who earn less than MX$10,000 (US$502.13) would have their salary increased by 3 percent; the 504,618 teachers who earn between MX$10,000 (US$502.13) and MX$15,000 (US$753.20) will have their salary increased by 2 percent and finally the 329,158 teachers who earn between MX$15,000 (US$753.20) and MX$20,000 (US$1004.27) will have their salary increased by 1 percent. Until now, it has not been explained how the new salary scheme will be distributed among police officers, soldiers, doctors and nurses. The news comes after López Obrador's 0controversial initiative to hire 500 Cuban doctors, therefore, he promised to improve the salaries of Mexican doctors.

Vitol gave the names of PEMEX officials who accepted bribes. López Obrador stressed that Vitol has given the names of PEMEX officials who accepted bribes to favor the company. The president stressed that the government can take legal action against them. "I have good news. Vitol provided the names of the corrupt officials. With the names we can legally proceed against them. I thank Vitol and applaud its honesty."

Last week, López Obrador threatened Vitol, a company accused of bribery during Peña Nieto’s government, to close its operations in the country if the names of the people involved were not revealed. Consequently, this week Vitol handed over to the government the names of those allegedly involved. So far, the names have not been made public.