News Summary for May 9th, 2009

The IFE General Council decided to fine the PAN more then 930,000 pesos for attacking rival PRI with the so-called “letter soup” propaganda, considered denigrating… The Federal Electoral Tribunal had ordered the general council to increase an earlier fine.

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Federal congressional candidates belonging to the Labor Party (PT) said they will disregard sanitation requirements for meetings and campaign events ordered by the Health Secretariat after the influenza outbreak.

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Finance Secretary Agustín Carstens said the country’s economy will resume growth in the fourth quarter or early 2010… Meanwhile, Bank of Mexico governor Guillermo Ortiz said that the economic crisis has probably hit bottom.

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Business Coordinating Council chairman Armando Paredes said that to economic recovery and permanent growth, requieres broad fiscal reforms.

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Health Secretary José Ángel Córdova confirmed 1,364 cases of A H1N1 virus infection and 45 deaths… An analyst from the World Health Organization, Oscar Mújica, said that had Mexico not acted immediately to stem the flu epidemic, 8,000 persons could have died from flu and thousands more would have been infected.

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U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States is still not over the influenza problem… He warned of the possibility of a more virulent outbreak at a time when the number of confirmed infections for the first time is greater than those in Mexico.

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China lifted the 7-day quarantine it placed on passengers on a plane that landed in Shanghai from Mexico carrying a Mexican citizen infected with the AH1N1 virus.

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Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard warned that Mexico’s economic situation after the flu epidemic is difficult… He said tax incentives are not enough and that a National Plan for Economic Activation is urgently needed.