Mexico

MEXICO CITY — A mysterious explosion at the headquarters of Mexico’s state-owned oil company here on Thursday killed at least 25 people and injured 101, according to government officials, as windows shattered, the ground shook and thousands of employees fled into a panicked downtown. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. It occurred just before 4 p.m. in the basement of an administrative building next to the 52-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Mexico will join forces to help in the reconstruction of Haiti in the medium and long-term, particularly in the area of health and the provision of tents and shelters.
In a Declaration issued at the conclusion of the first Mexico-CARICOM Summit held in Mexico on 21 February, the Heads of State and Government of Mexico and CARICOM acknowledged the urgent need to contribute to the international cooperation efforts to reconstruct Haiti and to ensure its long-term development.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Mexico are to explore mechanisms for enhanced relations when the two sides meet at the headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana on 16-17 March, 2006 for the Fourth Meeting of the CARICOM-Mexico Joint Commission.

Among the issues earmarked for discussion by the Joint Commission are recent developments in CARICOM and Mexico, as well as collaboration in the areas of education and training, air and sea transportation, and energy.

INFORMAL PUEBLA MEETING A POSSIBLE ‘LIFE-LINE’ FOR STALLED FTAA TALKS CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – Senior Trade Officials from several Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) countries will gather in Puebla, Mexico Thursday August 25 to discuss future funding arrangements for the Americas-wide trade talks. The informal meeting is being convened by the Government of Mexico, which currently hosts the temporary FTAA Administrative Secretariat located in Puebla City.

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – The Seventeenth Meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) was not reconvened as previously scheduled, on March 18 to 19. A decision has been taken to postpone the TNC. The decision came at the close of an Informal Meeting of FTAA Vice-Ministers (from selected countries), held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 9 to 10. The announcement was revealed in a March 10 joint communiqué, issued by the TNC Co-Chairs. The TNC will resume in Puebla, Mexico, April 22 to 23.

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – Announced last year, leaders from thirty-four
countries in the Americas were called to focus and deliberate on three principal
topics, inter alia_ combating poverty, promoting social development, and
strengthening democratic governance, at a Special Summit in the city of Monterrey,
Nuevo León, Mexico, January 12 to 13, 2004. Caribbean leaders were amongst the
invited Heads of State.
The Special Summit’s purpose was slated as “advancing the implementation of

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) continues to benefit from collaborative efforts with the Government of Mexico through that country's Maritime Education Trust Fund (FIDENA). For this year, one CARICOM student is about to graduate from the institution which has been ratified by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as reputable, while another has begun studies.

Two CARICOM nationals, the first, graduated from Mexican Naval Academies this week , the result of the CARICOM/Mexican Cooperation Programme.

In 1995, the Government of Mexico, under the aegis of the CARICOM/Mexico Technical Cooperation Programme, awarded full four-year scholarships to five CARICOM cadets to pursue courses leading to a first degree in naval studies.