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When a river that winds through the mountains of central Mexico suddenly turned into a crushing wall of water this week, it practically wiped the 400-person village of Chapula off the map. Residents only had time to shout, warning neighbours living along the riverbanks, and desperately seek shelter from the deadly flooding and landslides that have cut off 300 towns in central and eastern Mexico from the outside world. Thousands of soldiers and workers scrambled on Tuesday to rescue civilians and unblock roads. "There is nothing left. It wiped out houses, it wiped out the bridge, it wiped out everything. The only thing left standing was the church and the warehouse where we were seeking refuge," said 21-year-old Stephanie Ramrez, who was part of a group of elderly, women and children who stumbled off a rescue helicopter on Tuesday. The government confirmed that at least 64 people have died due to the torrential rains. Dozens are still missing and officials warn the full extent of th
The death toll from Mexico's torrential rains increased to 44 on Sunday as the fallout mounted from flooding and landslides across the country, prompting President Claudia Sheinbaum to convene governors from hard-hit states to direct an emergency response plan. Mexico's National Coordination of Civil Protection reported that as of Sunday, the heavy rains had killed 18 people in Veracruz state on the Gulf Coast and 16 people in Hidalgo state, north of Mexico City. At least nine people were killed in Puebla, east of Mexico City. Earlier, in the central state of Quertaro, a child died being caught in a landslide. That toll could still rise as rescue workers continued to dig through sodden villages clogged with mud and debris on Sunday. In Veracruz and Puebla, hundreds of army personnel, police officers and firefighters conducted rescue operations and set up temporary shelters where stranded residents could find food and medical attention. Thousands of residents across the country were
Some people in the low-lying working-class neighbourhoods of Poza Rica heard the wall of water before they saw it. The loudest sound was from the cars crashing together as they were swept along by the water that had escaped from the banks of the Cazones River and flooded the streets with more than 12 feet (4 meters) of water at dawn Friday. On Saturday, much of that water had flowed away. What was left was pure destruction, and the sometimes head-scratching combinations made when nature collides with the man-made: like cars hung in treetops and even a dead horse wedged inside the cabin of a pickup truck. The death toll from landslides and floods set off by incessant rainfall in central and southeastern Mexico rose to 41 people on Saturday, authorities said, a sharp increase as thousands of soldiers cleared blocked roads to rescue the missing. Here in Veracruz state, some 540 millimetres (more than 21 inches) of rain fell from October 6 to 9. In Poza Rica, an oil town 170 miles (275
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum celebrated her government's handling of its tumultuous relations with the Trump administration, progressive gains and controversial judicial reforms in her first state of the nation address Monday. Sheinbaum, who is nearing the end of her first year in office, notably left out some of the major problems still simmering in Mexico, including ongoing cartel violence plaguing much of the country and democratic concerns over wider concentration of executive power. Mexico's first female president took office in October and has led the Latin American nation of 131 million at a time of radical global shifts. Despite that, the 63-year-old progressive leader has enjoyed soaring approval rates between 70% and 80% in Mexican polls. Things are going well, and they're only going to get better, she promised. Here are some of the top takeaways from Sheinbaum's State of the Nation address. Navigating the Trump era Chief among Sheinbaum's challenges has been ...
US President Donald Trump raised the tariffs on Canadian goods to 35 per cent last week, but a key exemption for Canada and Mexico shields the vast majority of goods from the punishing duties. Goods that comply with the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade pact that Trump negotiated during his first term are excluded from the tariffs. Here is a look at Trump's tariffs on the two countries and their exemptions: Most Canadian exports reaching the US duty free Canada's central bank says 100 per cent of energy exports and 95 per cent of other exports are USMCA compliant. The Royal Bank estimated that almost 90 per cent of Canadian exports appear to have accessed the US market duty free in April. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the commitment of the United States to the core of USMCA, reaffirmed again last week, means the US average tariff rate on Canadian goods remains one of its lowest, and over 85 per cent of Canada-US trade continues to be tariff free. "Canada
The United States and Mexico have signed an agreement outlining specific steps and a new timetable to clean up the longstanding problem of the Tijuana River pouring sewage across the border and polluting California beaches, officials from both countries announced Thursday. Billions of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals from Tijuana have polluted the Pacific Ocean off neighboring Southern California, closing beaches and sickening Navy SEALs who train in the water. That's despite multiple efforts and millions of dollars that have been poured into addressing the problem over decades, including under the first Trump administration. There is a great commitment by the two countries to strengthen cooperation, Mexico's Environmental Secretary Alicia Brcena said Thursday after meeting with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in Mexico City for the signing of the memorandum of understanding. The accord comes three months after Zeldin flew to San Diego to meet with ...
The US government said Monday it is placing a 17 per cent duty on most fresh Mexican tomatoes after negotiations ended without an agreement to avert the tariff. Proponents said the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking US tomato industry and ensure that produce eaten in the US is also grown there. Mexico currently supplies around 70 per ccent of the US tomato market, up from 30 per cent two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange. But opponents, including US companies that grow tomatoes in Mexico, said the tariff will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for US buyers. Tim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, said US retail prices for tomatoes will likely rise around 8.5 per cent with a 17 per cent duty. The duty stems from a longstanding US complaint about Mexico's tomato exports and is separate from the 30 per cent base tariff on products made in Mexico and the European Union that President Donald Trump announc
The Trump administration hasn't decided where it would deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he is freed from a Tennessee jail, but a US immigration official said Thursday that Mexico and South Sudan could be willing to accept the El Salvador native. Thomas Giles, an assistant director for US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, testified in a Maryland federal court that ICE would detain Abrego Garcia as soon as he's released to await trial on human smuggling charges. US District Judge Paula Xinis is considering Abrego Garcia's request to order the US government to send him to Maryland instead, a bid aimed at preventing the Trump administration from trying to deport him again. Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint over Republican President Donald Trump's immigration policies when the Salvadoran national was wrongfully deported to his native country in March. Facing mounting pressure and a US Supreme Court order, the administration returned him last month to face the smuggling charges. The ..
Orange no-entry signs posted by the US military in English and Spanish dot the New Mexico desert, where a border wall cuts past onion fields and parched ranches with tufts of tall grass growing amidst wiry brush and yucca trees. The Army has posted thousands of the warnings in New Mexico and western Texas, declaring a restricted area by authority of the commander. It's part of a major shift that has thrust the military into border enforcement with Mexico like never before. The move places long stretches of the border under the supervision of nearby military bases, empowering US troops to detain people who enter the country illegally and sidestep a law prohibiting military involvement in civilian law enforcement. It is done under the authority of the national emergency on the border declared by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. US authorities say the zones are needed to close gaps in border enforcement and help in the wider fight against human smuggling networks an
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded sharply Thursday to US government sanctions to block transfers from three Mexican financial institutions, saying Washington hasn't shown evidence of its allegations of money laundering. The US Treasury Department announced the sanctions Wednesday on the banks CIBanco and Intercam Banco and the brokerage Vector Casa de Bolsa, alleging that they had facilitated millions of dollars in money transfers for Mexican drug cartels. Sheinbaum said during her morning news briefing Thursday that the administration of US President Donald Trump had showed no evidence proving that the institutions carried out any money laundering, despite repeated requests for such evidence. The Treasury Department hasn't provided a single piece of evidence to show that any money laundering was taking place," she said. We aren't going to cover for anyone, there isn't impunity here. They have to be able to demonstrate that there was actually money laundering, not with .
Mexico's ruling Morena party appeared to be heading towards control over the Supreme Court, preliminary vote tallies of the country's first judicial election indicated. While votes were still being counted for the majority of the 2,600 federal, state and local judge positions up for grabs in Sunday's judicial elections, results rolled in for the nine Supreme Court positions. The majority of the newly elected justices share strong ties and ideological alignments with the ruling party, shifting a once fairly balanced high court into the hands of the very party that overhauled the judicial system to elect judges for the first time. Experts warned the shift would undercut checks and balances in the Latin American nation: The governing party would now be close to controlling all three branches of government, and President Claudia Sheinbaum and her party also would have a easier path to push through their agenda. "We're watching as power is falling almost entirely into the hands of one .
Mexico has sued tech giant Google over its labelling of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a change made by US President Donald Trump via executive order, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday. Sheinbaum did not provide details of the lawsuit during her daily press briefing, but said that Google had been sued. Mexico's Foreign Relations ministry had previously sent letters to Google asking it to not label Mexican territorial waters as the Gulf of America. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The body of water has shared borders between the United States and Mexico. Trump's order only carries authority within the US, Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change. Mexico argues that Gulf of America should only apply to the part of the gulf over the United States continental shelf. In February, Sheinbaum shared a letter from Cris Turner, Google's vice president of government affairs and
In a rickety white Nissan, nurse Sandra Aguirre and her vaccination team drive past apple orchards and cornfields stretching to the desert horizon. Aguirre goes door to door with a cooler of measles vaccines. In one of Latin America's biggest Mennonite communities, she knows many will decline to be vaccinated or even open their doors. But some will ask questions, and a handful might even agree to get shots on the spot. We're out here every single day, said Aguirre, pausing to call out to an empty farm, checking for residents. To gain trust of the Mennonites -- because they're reserved and closed-off people -- you have to meet them where they're at, show a friendly face. Aguirre's work is part of an effort by health authorities across the country to contain Mexico's biggest measles outbreak in decades, as cases climb not only here but in the US and Canada. In Mexico, cases have been concentrated in the Mennonite community -- long skeptical of vaccines and distrustful of authorities --
The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and direct federal agencies to update their documents and maps to incorporate the new name. President Donald Trump already signed an executive order during his first day in office to rename the Gulf. House Republicans are looking to show their support, though it is unclear whether he Senate will go along. The bill passed by a vote of 211-206. The body of water has shared borders between the United States and Mexico. Trump's order only carries authority within the US, Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognise the name change. Democrats said the vote demonstrated that Republicans are not focusing on the priorities of most Americans. New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House's top Democrat, asked Democrats to vote against this silly, small-minded and sycophantic piece of legislation. It's easy to mock this legislation because it's so in
President Donald Trump on Sunday said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected his proposal to send US troops to Mexico to help thwart the illegal drug trade because she is fearful of the country's powerful cartels The comments by Trump came a day after Sheinbaum confirmed that Trump pressed her in a call last month to accept a bigger role for the US military in combating drug cartels in Mexico. Trump said it was true that he proposed sending the troops to Mexico and lashed into Sheinbaum for dismissing the idea. Well she's so afraid of the cartels she can't walk, so you know that's the reason," Trump said in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. "And I think she's a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman, but she is so afraid of the cartels that she can't even think straight. The US military presence along the southern border with Mexico has increased steadily in recent months, following Trump's order in January to increase the army's role in .