by the El Reportero’s wire services
Mexico must abandon the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Tlcan), said the National Coordinating Plan of Ayala (CNPA), a peasant group opposed to neoliberalism.
Jose Narro, the leader of the group, considered that in the long run Mexico will have benefits for abandoning the treaty, which is renegotiated at the Donald Trump’s administration, whose representatives maintain exclusive and rigid positions against their Mexican and Canadian partners.
‘The position is that we withdraw from NAFTA. Mexico does not deserve that deal. Let’s make a treaty with Canada alone and strengthen agreements with the rest of the world, ‘Narro stressed.
He condemned in a press conference that the Mexican negotiators ‘are sitting there enduring mistreatments; that is unworthy.’
If there is no deal of respect they should get up from the table, he underlined.
Alan Cruz, an economic analyst at the CNPA, acknowledged that in principle Mexico would pay a fee to leave the treaty, mainly because of the depreciation of the Mexican peso against the dollar.
However, he predicted that in the future the country would be better off by reducing dependence on imports.
Narro assured that many countries have turned their backs on the neoliberal and globalizing model. ‘Let us promote a development model for Mexicans. This is possible and necessary, ‘he concluded.
Dominican Republic to modernize education
The Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic will reportedly invest nearly 400 million dollars in technology to modernize education in this country in the next tree years.
According to statements by the Education Minister, Andrés Navarro, in the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic, computers will be delivered to 950,000 high school students ‘to be the daily instrument of students in the classroom.’
In addition, 80,000 teachers throughout the country will also receive computers and blackboards will be installed in classrooms.
86 people sign up for presidential race
But the road ahead is long. Each must gather 866,593 signatures of support
There could be a wide range of choices when voters elect a new president next year: 86 people registered as independent candidates by Saturday’s deadline, the National Electoral Institute (INE) announced.
The INE reported that it had received statements of intent to run in the July 1 election from 79 men and seven women.
It will be the first presidential election to allow the participation of candidates who are unaffiliated with political parties.
But the final ballot is likely to contain somewhat fewer names.
Of the 86 declared aspirants, eight have already been ruled ineligible because they failed to comply with at least one of the requirements set by the INE, while a further 38 were given an additional 48 hours to fulfill all of the relevant criteria. The remaining 40 have received accreditation.
The final number will not be finalized until February after candidates have gathered signatures to demonstrate they have enough popular support to warrant inclusion.
To qualify, each candidate is required by law to collect 866,593 signatures of support by February 12, a number that corresponds to 1 percent of all voters on the electoral roll.
