Train agency created for strategic planning

Jessika Becerra

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, July 21, 2025, p. 23

The Integrated Public Transport and Train Agency will be a new decentralized agency with legal personality, its own assets, and technical and management autonomy assigned to the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transport (SICT), in accordance with the decree amending, adding to, and repealing various provisions of the Railway Service Regulatory Law.

The new entity's functions will include strategic planning, construction, maintenance, modernization, regulation, supervision, promotion, and design of the national railway system and associated multimodal transportation. It will also coordinate the construction of railways and the acquisition of equipment, with responsibilities for integration with urban public transportation.

Through the agency, passenger rail transport is being reactivated and prioritized, and freight service is being expanded as another driver of national connectivity , the SICT stated in a statement.

Alejandro Alegría

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, July 21, 2025, p. 24

Smuggling, as the introduction of goods without clearing customs is known, represents a loss of up to 25 percent to toy sales in the country, said Miguel Ángel Martín González, president of the Mexican Toy Industry Association (AMIJU).

In an interview with La Jornada , the leader of the organization that represents 38 companies in the sector commented that this problem is not new, as it has been present for a long time and is tremendously damaging to the industry .

While there is also some harm from the undervaluation of goods at customs, the real problem is smuggling, which enters without any paperwork, because we have borders everywhere .

Smuggling has always represented around 20 or 25 percent of our sales. That's been a constant , he acknowledged. However, with Operation Cleanup , carried out by the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, the proportion of sales damage has been contained to an average of between 18 and 20 percent.

Martín González acknowledged that all the seizures made since November 2024 have been helpful, but the problem has not been eradicated.

Furthermore, changes in customs are working, but they come at a price. Containers entering through ports used to be cleared in 15 days at the most; now, they take between 40 and 50 days.

AMIJU points out that this translates into delays for the industry, especially when it comes to a trendy toy. Demand lasts only eight weeks; it's no longer years of demand for the same toy , explained Martín González.

He commented that China is a very strong competitor. It's a market economy with subsidized toys and industries, thanks to a wide range of support . However, it was demonstrated that Mexico also has strengths, such as its proximity to the United States, an important factor in logistics.

The president of AMIJU commented that the country needs to have production lines. Mattel, LEGO, Hasbro, and many other companies are looking to bring more lines to Mexico to supply the U.S. market, where this great opportunity exists .

Data from the agency indicates that the United States consumes $40 billion worth of toys annually, while Mexico exports only $1.3 billion annually.

Dora Villanueva

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, July 21, 2025, p. 24

Mexico City and the Nuevo León State Highway Network (REA) have combined liabilities of 14 billion 917 million 395 thousand 522.32 pesos in which CIBanco is involved, according to debt records published by the Ministry of Finance.

The most recent information from the Single Public Registry shows that Mexico City has three outstanding loans totaling 5.575 billion pesos with the financial institution accused by the U.S. Treasury of facilitating money laundering for drug cartels.

Meanwhile, the Nuevo León State Highway Network issued two securities with maturities in 2038 and 2048, with a combined balance as of March of 9,342,395,522.32 pesos, an amount that has been increasing since its contract was signed.

CiBanco, one of the three institutions identified by the U.S. Treasury Department, along with Intercam and Vector Casa de Bolsa, as facilitating money laundering for drug cartels in Mexico, not only has a significant presence in the trust market but also maintains a significant stake in local debt.

According to the Treasury Department, the debt issued by the Nuevo León Regional Government (REA) during the administration of Jaime Rodríguez, known as "El Bronco," had to be justified because it exceeded the limits on expenses and costs related to obtaining financing.

In a pair of letters signed by Mauricio Zavala Martínes, general director of REA, it is explained that both issues, one for 4.76 million pesos and the other for 2.5 billion pesos, would have a cost above the limit. Financing costs and payments alone would represent 85.12 million pesos and 45.521 million pesos, respectively.

In both trusts, CIBanco acted as the common representative of both the REA and Invex, trustee of the instruments maturing in 2048 and 2038, with current balances of 6 billion 411 million 533 thousand 310 and 2 billion 930 million 862 thousand 212 pesos, respectively.

▲ Photo by Cristina Rodríguez

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, July 21, 2025, p. 24

Banco del Bienestar is celebrating its sixth anniversary, has more than 3,000 branches, and serves more than 30 million people. The financial institution has focused its efforts on incorporating beneficiaries of the Mexican Government's Welfare Programs into the banking system, as well as consolidating its support distribution system.