Local Mexican Diplomacy Newsletter April 2021

Next June 6, the largest midterm elections in the history of Mexico will take place; both for the number of charges to be renewed, and for the expected citizen participation.

During the month of April, the electoral campaigns of the candidates for the different positions began. In this regard, Article 41, base III, section C, second paragraph of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, establishes that:

"During the time that the federal and local electoral campaigns comprise and until the conclusion of the respective electoral day, the diffusion in the social communication media of all government propaganda, both from the federal powers and from the federative entities, must be suspended, as well as the Municipalities, the territorial demarcations of Mexico City and any other public entity”.

In this sense, most of the official pages of social communication and press of the country's local governments, monitored by the Local Diplomacy Studies Commission (CEDL) of the Mexican Center for International Relations (CEMERI), have Its content has been removed or it has been restricted to the publication of information on educational, civil protection, and health services, related to the monitoring of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the CEDL presents the bulletin corresponding to the month of April, maintaining the selection of international activities of local governments, known as Local Diplomacy, from valid and reliable sources of consultation.

In the Northwest region, it stands out that the governments of Baja California and Baja California Sur seek to obtain vaccines against Covid-19 with the support of the United States, through the lieutenant governor of California, Eleni Kounalakis, who contacted the vice president, Kamala Harris, and the President, Joe Biden in this regard; In the Northeast region, Tamaulipas authorities received representatives from UNICEF, UNHCR and IOM to assist and guarantee compliance with the rights and support given to migrants who are in the temporary shelter of the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas.

Regarding the Western region, the two meetings of Jalisco government officials stand out, including the Governor, Enrique Alfaro, with the Italian Ambassador to Mexico, Luigi de Chiara, and the Honorary Consul, Fabio Toticchi, where cultural issues were discussed , innovation, economic cooperation and environment; in the eastern region, the Government of Puebla and the French Embassy in Mexico signed a Letter-Intention on health.

Regarding the Central North region, the fact that Grupo Modelo and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) will invest 192 million pesos in the "Aguas Firmes" project stands out, to restore aquifers and reduce the deficit through green infrastructure works and reforestation in Zacatecas; In the Central South region, once again the Head of Government, Claudia Sheinbaum, highlighted Mexico City, this time by thanking the prize awarded by UNESCO to the Mexican capital, "Netexplo Linking Cities 2021", in recognition of resilience of the capital's population in the face of earthquakes and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the actions implemented in water matters, care for the environment and sustainable mobility.

In the south of the country, in the Southwest region, special mention is made of Guerrero, the state of which its Governor, Héctor Astudillo, signed an Agreement for the Execution of the PAHO/WHO Accompaniment Plan with the PAHO representative in Mexico, from April to September from 2021; Finally, in the Southeast region, it is worth noting the interest expressed by the Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Aqeel Al-Khateeb, and the Ambassador of the same country in Mexico, Haitham Bin Hassan Al-Malik, in establishing a tourist, commercial and with Yucatan, after his working meeting with the governor, Mauricio Vila Dosal.

Inside this newsletter you will find detailed information on the aforementioned events, as well as other important events for Mexican Local Diplomacy last April.

CEDL hopes that this information is of interest to you and appreciates the interest shown by its readers.