Hello, and welcome to the Latin America Weekly newsletter! In this issue: The agreement on a Tesla plant to be built in Mexico. Electoral shenanigans in Guatemala. And bird flu scares across the region.
☕ If you like our work and want to give us an extra boost, you can fill up our reporters’ coffee mugs. Supporters get exclusive perks! Find out more.
AMLO welcomes Tesla as nearshoring grows in Mexico
After tense negotiations with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Mexican President Andrés Manuel “AMLO” López Obrador announced on Tuesday that the electric carmaker will build a plant in Monterrey, Nuevo León state.
- Mexican authorities and Tesla representatives had bumped heads over location issues, but the deadlock was apparently resolved after a video call between both sides. “There is an understanding,” AMLO said, although neither side has provided any further detail.
Water worries. AMLO had originally opposed the plan to build the Tesla plant in Nuevo León, an arid region that suffers from water shortages. “If there’s no water, there are no permits [for the company],” the president said a few days earlier.
- A year ago, Nuevo León declared a state of emergency due to an extreme drought, with...