No help for Interjet/AHMSA reaches out

COVID-19 vaccine. Head of the Ministry of National Defense (SSPC) Luis Cresencio Sandoval reported that 94 percent of those hospitals that were to receive vaccine doses already have them. The missing 6 percent could not receive the vaccines due to weather issues. “It was not possible to conclude it due to weather conditions. There is a stationary front that prevented us from carrying out scheduled helicopter flights in two states,” Cresencio said. After that announcement, Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard said the Mexican government had requested that the US guarantee migrants get their dosage of the COVID-19 vaccine. “Providing the vaccine is the responsibility of each of the two countries. Guarantee that all workers, regardless of their immigration status, receive the vaccine,” he implored the US. “We would consider any exclusion of Mexican workers a violation of the (USMCA) free trade agreement.”

Interjet dilemma. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that the Mexican government cannot rescue the airline company Interjet. “Hopefully, the owners decide to rescue the company or look for partners and that the source of work is maintained,” he said. This is the second time Interjet workers have asked the president to rescue the company but he has declined in both cases.

Letter from AHMSA. The president announced that he received a letter from a principal entrepreneur of Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA), in which there was a proposition to pay back US$200 million to the government as part of a payment on the debt the company owes. “Now, the prosecution needs to decide whether it is convenient to reach this agreement and repair the damage if it is legal,” AMLO said.

Private prison contracts. Minister of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) Rosa Icela Rodríguez said that Genaro García Luna had been linked to contracts related to private prisons and added that MX$190 billion (US$9.6 billion) is owed. “The signing of these agreements took place at the time of the President Felipe Calderón when the Secretary of Security was Genaro García Luna,” she said. To this, AMLO added: “We will talk to the providers of these services to reach an agreement. A civil complaint will be prepared to cancel the contracts if there is no settlement.”

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish