MORENA / Aviation Safety Rating

Presidential Candidate. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that he gave recommendations regarding MORENA’s internal process to choose its candidate. "It was a kind of bylaw approved by everyone."
Claudia Sheinbaum won MORENA's internal poll, making her the party's presidential candidate for the 2024 elections. These elections mark a historic event in Mexican politics, as two women will compete for the presidency: Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez, candidate of the Frente Amplio por México coalition.

MORENA's candidate selection was based on the results of the party’s main poll and four additional mirror polls, conducted from Aug. 30 to Sep. 4. Following the counting of the ballots, MORENA’s National Council detailed that the results of its poll, conducted by the party's Center for Social Statistical Studies Commission, showed Claudia Sheinbaum in the lead with 39.4% of the votes, followed by Marcelo Ebrard (25.6%), Gerardo Fernández Noroña (12.2%), Adán Augusto López (10%), Ricardo Monreal (6.5%) and Manuel Velasco (6.3%).

Marcelo Ebrard. López Obrador assured that former Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has the doors open in MORENA despite his disagreement with Sheinbaum's selection. "The doors are open, but he can also make his own decisions about what he wants to do." 

Ebrard came in second place in MORENA's internal poll with 25.6% of the votes. While MORENA summoned the six candidates to announce the results, former Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard decided not to attend the meeting in protest. Hours before the results were announced, Ebrard sent a message to the media asking MORENA to invalidate the process and repeat the poll. In the absence of a response, Ebrard denounced the alleged incidents in the vote-counting process and called his supporters to an assembly next week to decide what to do next. 

Aviation Safety Rating. López Obrador said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alicia Bárcena, was notified that next week Mexico will regain its Category 1 safety rating. “They are going to formalize it next week. We are very grateful to the US President Joe Biden. The requirements were met and that is why they already decided to return to Mexico to have that category. "

In May 2021, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded Mexico’s safety rating to Category 2. Initially, the Mexican aerospace industry expected the FAA to restore Mexico’s Airport Category 1 status in a short time span. However, the country did not recover its rating, thus limiting the growth of the country’s aviation market. Recently, the Association of Aeronautical Engineers (AIA) announced it will aid Mexico’s Federal Agency of Civil Aviation (AFAC) to recover the country’s Category 1 rating. AIA claims to have a bill for civil aviation, which would complement AFAC’s lobbying efforts with the FAA.