INE Accused of Favoritism/New Security Alliance

INE accused of favoritism. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reproached National Electoral Institute (INE) President Councilor Lorenzo Cordova for attending a meeting of the National Action Party (PAN), since he should be politically impartial. In addition, López Obrador said the country is going through a stage of political transformation due to the electricity reform and the expected Revocation of Mandate referendum, for which INE must show itself as a fair institution. “Yesterday, I was seeing Mr. Lorenzo Cordova going to a PAN meeting. Imagine the director and coordinator of INE going to a meeting of a political party when he should be an impartial authority. These people do not care how it looks, they do not care about democracy. This should not be like that."

After Cordova attended the plenary session of the PAN Parliamentary Group in the Chamber of Deputies, he was heavily criticized by members of other parties who said he was favoring the PAN. Cordova denied accusations and stressed that he meets with all the political forces in the country. At the meeting with the PAN, he said that the country is weakening, as the current government has attacked INE, which safeguards the country's democracy.

Minors are at less risk when infected with COVID-19. Deputy Minister of Health López-Gatell said that those under 15 years of age are 274 times less likely to suffer complications or die from COVID-19 than other groups. In addition, López-Gatell highlighted that child deaths related to COVID-19 represent 0.5 of every 100,000 minors. “Every boy and every girl are very important. We believe that childhood is one of the stages that deserves greater protection. However, the chance that a child will have a complication and die is very low. They are not a vulnerable group, older adults are."

Given the increase in claims to vaccinate those under 15 years of age, the government has explained that they are not included in the Vaccination Plan because they are a low-risk group and there are other groups that urgently need the vaccine. Last week, the total number of child deaths rose to 826 while infections rose to 86,568. Although the numbers are much lower than other groups, family members and advocates say minors need protection and highlighted that other groups would not be affected since most already have received two shots. 

Oxxo is accused of lying about electricity payments. General Director of the CFE Miguel Reyes said that a video broadcast by OXXO, where the company says that it pays fairly for electricity, is full of lies. Reyes pointed out that 50 percent of Mexicans pay more for electricity than the company because it is part of an illegal electricity market. “We think it was unnecessary for OXXO to spend so much money on the video. The best way to respond to our accusations will be a debate between us and the OXXO team. We invite Mr. José Antonio Fernández Carbajal or whoever the FEMSA company designates to discuss the data they have and the data we have at this conference.”

Yesterday, through a video, OXXO, owned by FEMSA, responded to the accusations from López Obrador and CFE about its electricity payment. In the video, a worker explains to a client that it is not true that OXXO pays less for electricity than individuals and breaks down all its expenses. In addition, it is explained that the company receives energy from wind farms, which costs around MX$14,000 (US$671) per month. The video has been criticized by López Obrador and the CFE. They say that OXXO, Walmart and Bimbo are part of an illegal electricity market created in 1992 by former President Carlos Salinas. The claim has not been proven.

AMLO asks the US government to provide data on the case in Quintana Roo. López Obrador announced that the government has asked the US authorities to release the report on the recent attack in Quintana Roo so that the population knows about the case and how cooperation between US and Canadian security agencies works. “The FBI has just participated in a case in Quintana Roo. As a result, we are asking the US ambassador to provide us with information. I can assure you that there were reports about the case and that the cooperation was carried out in accordance with the law. We are not opposed to working in a coordinated manner against crime but we cannot allow our sovereignty to be violated.”

This week, Quintana Roo Gov. Carlos Joaquín González announced that the Canadian Mounted Police, the DEA and the FBI will work together to review and exchange key information to prevent crimes like that which occurred last week at Xcaret.  On Jan. 24, an argument between Xcaret guests led to the shooting of three Canadian tourists, resulting in two deaths and one person seriously injured. The authorities said that the suspect has been identified and that the crime was a planned attack since the three Canadians were linked to drug trafficking.