Academic literature on the topic 'Sex crimes – mexico'

Human sexual behavior is a very complex matter that has been the subject of interesting studies throughout history. Sex is understood as the set of somatic, functional and psychic characteristics that distinguish a man from a woman. Sexual instinct, an hereditary derivation, is moderated and repressed by the intelligence and the conscious, in addition to being governed by the social norms of the environment in which the individual relates to others; on the other hand, there are those with behavioral problems that break all established rules. In the catalog of sex crimes in Mexico there are several criminal types: sexual abuse, rape, solicitation, sexual harassment, child molesting, among others, which can be prosecuted when they conjure the legal asset of the subjects of the crime, the typical norm, its material object and normative elements that may determine the unlawfulness and, consequently, the guilt, judicable by the authorship or participation. From a medical-legal standpoint, proving a crime of this nature represents a monumental challenge, because sometimes there isn't physical evidence manifested, and other times the nature of the circumstantial evidence does not help to determine whether or not a crime was committed.

Human trafficking is a pervasive issue in the United States (Florida State 2003:16). While an estimated 18,000-20,000 persons are trafficked across the nation's borders each year, this may be a dramatic underestimation of actual occurrence due to the hidden nature of human trafficking crimes and the fact that this number does not include domestic trafficking incidents (Florida State 2003:16). Federal anti-trafficking legislation defines "trafficking in persons" to mean those compelled into commercial sex acts (sex trafficking) or labor and services (labor trafficking) through force, fraud or coercion (United States Congress 2000). Although exact data regarding the incidence of human trafficking in Florida are currently unavailable, it is considered a lucrative trafficking hub—often being cited as one of the top three states in which the crime occurs. This is principally because of its agriculture- and tourism-based economy, two industries in which trafficking can thrive with relatively little resistance (Florida State 2003:27). Indeed, Miami International Airport has ranked among the "top points of entry for trafficking" since as early as 1999 (Florida State 2003:28). The lack of comprehensive data also precludes a clear picture of the demographics and nationalities of all trafficked persons in Florida, but figures from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops provide a snapshot of certified victims of trafficking who are receiving federal benefits. In a four-year period ending August 2010, 274 trafficked persons received federal benefits; of these individuals, 127 were female, 147 were male, and the top five nationalities were those from Haiti (81), the Phillipines (65), Mexico (42), Guatemala (13), and Honduras (12) (Florida State 2010:39-40).

In this article, we discuss the experience of Victoria, a trans woman who was trafficked in the context of the criminal war in Mexico. Drawing on anthropological and feminist perspectives that privilege the dialogue of knowledge, Victoria’s experience allows us to problematise two central elements of the phenomenon of human trafficking in Mexico: first, the relationship between organised crime groups and human trafficking, and its effects on daily life in local contexts in Mexico, specifically in the experience of a trans woman. And second, the functioning of the Mexican anti-trafficking apparatus which, by focusing on the rescue of victims of sexual exploitation in places where independent sex work occurs, overlooks the identification of other forms of trafficking, such as trafficking for labour exploitation and servitude, both experienced by Victoria at the hands of organised crime groups.

Suicides and homicides are public health problems around the world. The rates of suicide and homicide have increased in the past years. The objectives of this study are to estimate the rates of suicide and homicide in Mexico City, and to determine the rates of suicide and homicide by sex in the different municipalities of Mexico City during 2019. Data analyzed were obtained from files of governmental organizations in Mexico City. From the general victims-in-research-folders, we choose “victims of crime” or “loss of life by suicide” that happened in 2019. Sex and municipality of residence were obtained. The rate of suicide was of 5.65 cases per 100,000 habitants. Stratified by gender and by municipalities, the highest rates observed were 6.8 suicides per 100,000 males and 29.6 suicides per 100,000 females. The sex ratio was 4.2:1 (males: females). Regarding homicides, the rates were 16.68 homicides per 100,000 females and 67.41 homicides per 100,000 males. The Venustiano Carranza Municipality showed the highest homicide rate in men with 131.72 homicides per 100,000 males. The homicide sex ratio was 7.8:1. The findings of the present study highlight that death by suicide is more common in men with 7.8 more times than in women. The municipalities with higher deaths by suicide have lower rates of homicides and the municipalities with higher deaths by suicide showed lower rates of suicide in men.

This article explores the relationship between the photographic regimentation of sex workers and ideas of modernity in Porfirian Oaxaca City, Mexico. In particular, it examines the development of the commercial sex trade and how it played an integral role in the construction of the mutually defining discourses and practices of tradition and modernity. Following an examination of the era's reigning medical-legal notions of crime, deviance, and race and the city government's attempts to define and regulate the trade, the article focuses on different ways in which city officials and female sex workers utilized photographs in registries of prostitution among other elements of the capital's regulatory apparatus to harness dominant notions of modernity for their own separate ends.

As Agent 15 of the Mexico City judicial police made his way home for lunch on a day early in December 1926, he saw a balloon floating in the breeze. He rushed to the rooftop observatorio of his apartment building, where he spotted a girl around 14 years old, wearing a lilac-colored dress, standing on a nearby roof and holding a string. Certain that the balloon had been released from this location, he ran down the stairs, and, while crossing the street, looked up to see yet another balloon. Balloons had been drifting through the sky since early morning, so many and from so many directions that police struggled to find where they were coming from. When the balloons popped, flyers came tumbling down, urging Catholics to engage in peaceful protest against government anticlericalism by adorning their houses with yellow and white stripes in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe on her upcoming feast day, December 12. Accompanied by a beat policeman, Agent 15 approached two men in the building where he had seen the girl with the string, surmising that they had aided the launch. Although a search yielded nothing more incriminating than a stick with four strings, he arrested the men. He and other balloon-chasing police officers were obeying specific orders in hunting down the perpetrators that day, but in a broader sense they had become enforcers of laws introduced in the 1917 constitution that sharply restricted the scope of religious expression and observation in public.

ABSTRACTThis paper analyses data from the World Health Organization's Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) on the prevalence of reported fear of crime at home and on the street among older people in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. SAGE provides nationally representative data for 35,125 people aged 50 and over. These reveal large national variations in reported crime fear: for example, 65 per cent of older South Africans felt unsafe on the street, compared to only 9 per cent of older Ghanaians. The paper examines factors potentially associated with crime fear, including age, socio-economic status and frailty, and relates these to different theoretical models of crime fear. Female sex and frailty are associated with higher rates of crime fear across the study countries. Other associations are less consistent, e.g. urban residence is associated with higher levels of fear in some countries and lower levels in others. The paper considers the potential effects of crime fear on mobility beyond the home, health status and quality of life. A strong association is found for mobility, but effects on health and quality of life are harder to interpret as the direction of causality can be two-way. Overall, the paper demonstrates the potential impact of crime fear on older people's wellbeing and highlights a need for further, more contextualised research.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008.
Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 18, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 88-94).

AbstractThe 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) was a call from the UN that brought together key players with the objective to provide potential solutions for transforming current food systems and increasing their sustainability, resilience, equitability, nutritional value, and efficiency. Key actors from science, business, policy, healthcare, the private sector, civil society, farmers, Indigenous Peoples, youth organisations, consumer groups, environmental activists, and other key stakeholders came together before, during and after the Summit, to review how food is produced, processed, and consumed across the world in order to bring about tangible, positive changes to the world’s food systems.The White/Wiphala Paper on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems (FAO, 2021a) was a critical reference, an evidence-based contribution to the 2021 UNFSS that highlights the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples and their food systems as game-changers and shows us how we can respect, better understand, and protect said systems. The paper resulted from the collective work of Indigenous Peoples’ leaders, scientists, researchers, and UN staff. More than 60 Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributions from 39 organisations and ten experts in six socio-cultural regions were received by the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems. The Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems is a knowledge platform that brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts, scientists, and researchers to co-create intercultural knowledge and provide evidence about the sustainability and resilience of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems (https://www.fao.org/indigenous-peoples/global-hub/en/), which coordinated the writing and editing of the paper through a Technical Editorial Committee.The White/Wiphala paper emphasised the centrality of a rights-based approach, ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ rights and access to land, natural resources, traditional territorial management practices, governance, and livelihoods, as well as addressing the resilience and sustainability of their foods systems. The paper demonstrates how the preservation of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems is necessary for the health of more than 476 million Indigenous Peoples globally while providing valid solutions for addressing some of the challenges humankind faces on sustainability, resilience, and spirituality.It is essential to note critical developments that have occurred since the White/Wiphala paper was published in mid-2021, the July Pre-Summit in Rome, and the September Summit in New York, followed by COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021.For example, at COP26, little attention was given to food systems, despite their contribution to the climate crisis, with responsibility for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions (FAO, 2021b). COP26 highlighted the need to focus on mitigation strategies and adaptation in the face of the current climate crisis. These strategies must include Indigenous Peoples’ food systems as game-changers for effective climate adaptation strategies that they have been testing and adjusting for hundreds of years.At the UNFSS Pre-Summit in Rome, the Indigenous Peoples’ delegation voiced their concerns and presented three key proposals: the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems as a game-changing solution; the launching of a coalition on Universal Food Access and Indigenous Peoples’ food systems; and the request to create an Indigenous Peoples’ fund. All their concerns and proposals were rejected at the Pre-Summit, including launching a Coalition on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems and Universal Food Access.In the aftermath of the UNFSS Pre-Summit, and thanks to the leadership of the Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), Indigenous leaders following the UNFSS, seven countries, and the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit (PSUI), timely discussions and collective work led to the creation of a new Coalition on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems.Thanks to the leadership of Mexico and the support of Canada, the Dominican Republic, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and Spain, along with the support of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, and FAO, this Coalition was announced at the New York September UNFSS Summit.The Coalition on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems builds upon the White/Wiphala Paper, establishing the objective of ensuring the understanding, respect, recognition, inclusion, and protection of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems while providing evidence about their game-changing and systemic nature. To support this objective, the Coalition organises its work around two main goals: Goal 1: Respect, recognise, protect and strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ food systems across the world; and Goal 2: Disseminate and scale-up traditional knowledge and good practices from Indigenous Peoples’ food systems with potential to transform global food systems across the board.

Chapter 5 shifts attention away from Cubans and their Mexican supporters to examine the mind set and experiences of Spanish immigrants in Mexico and the Mexicans who rallied to the cause of Spanish colonialism, or “Cuba Española.” Starting with an exploration of Spanish ideas about nation and empire in late nineteenth century Spain and Mexico, the chapter goes on to consider the Mexican states’ strategic alliance with Spain and the ensuing verbal and physical battles between Spaniards, Cubans and Mexican in Mexico over the fate of the island of Cuba and Mexico’s allegiances. The chapter ends with a debate between two prominent Mexican intellectuals regarding Mexico’s diplomatic or historical responsibility toward Cuba in the on going crisis, which was intended to quell the passions of all parties involved by making a case for Mexico’s neutrality, but instead made clear the alliance between Mexican conservatives and Spanish immigrants and the links between late nineteenth-century liberalism and Pan-Hispanism.

Abstract Any lingering doubt after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) about Mexico’s importance to the United States was dispelled by the unprecedented $50 billion U.S. bailout of Mexico in January 1995. The bailout, intended to rescue Mexico from an economic crisis set off by the decision to devalue the Mexican peso in December 1994, was organized by the Clinton Administration with support from Republican leaders in Congress. There were arguments for and against bailing out Mexico, but the fact that the money was spent on Mexico and not on the simultaneous bankruptcies of Orange County, California, and Washington, D.C., is testimony to the stake that the United States has in Mexico. Mexico is a large country with a population approaching 100 million that is embarked on a process of marketization and democratization. As a result of NAFTA and GATT, the United States has expanded trade and investment ties with Mexico. Moreover, Mexico is a gateway on our border to Central and South America with a combined population of 460 million, a potential market larger than the United States and Canada or the European Community. As modernization takes root in Latin America, economic opportunities abound.

This chapter presents a first attempt at a methodologically sound history of the crime of kidnapping—in particular, its evolution from the 1970s to today in Mexico and specifically in Mexico City, from existing only as a political tool used by radical groups to promote their struggle or raise funds for their cause, to a crime that is simply economical in nature. Kidnapping has become a crime that affects mainly the working and middle classes as opposed to its traditional wealthy victims. The chapter analyses the evolution of kidnapping gangs and also how the government responded to them via a diverse set of policies. It also describes the gangs which took part in this crime.

This chapter documents the violence, murders, human rights violations, public security crisis, and the failed war on drugs during the six-year term of President Felipe Calderón. Mexico has high levels of violence, which is documented in the nota roja (“red press”). While NAFTA and drugs devastated rural communities, other segments of Mexican society thrived. Fears of future violence, extortion, and exploitation caused communities across Mexico to form self-defense groups and community police and protest government security forces.

Chapter 5 treats the first of Canal 11’s modern series, which, striking a blow against clichéd machismo, takes as its theme the crisis in contemporary manhood. Set at a fictional magazine, this workplace drama addresses the conflict between public interest and private profit in the media, even as it explores the relationships between varied models of men: old and young, rich and poor, straight and gay. More specifically, the sex scenes between men here provoked complaints to the Mexican authorities. The chapter argues, however, that the educational remit of the channel, previously expressed in dutiful documentaries, is properly extended here in a compelling fiction that charts new paths for men in modern Mexico.

This essay examines changing conceptions of sovereignty in Mexico and the United States by tracing their evolving policies with respect to fugitive slaves. In the wake of its war with the United States, the Mexican government adopted policies that granted freedom to all enslaved people who set foot on its soil. Territory accorded rights, rather than race. In the United States, the conquest of Mexican territory—the first time that the United States had acquired territory where slavery was abolished by law—also transformed understanding of sovereignty. With the balance of power between the slaveholding and nonslaveholding states under threat, southern politicians adopted the view that the Constitution protected enslaved property everywhere in the United States, even in states and territories where slavery was abolished. From this perspective, slavery was no longer a legal condition, from which enslaved people could escape, but a permanent status, defined by race.

During the American Civil War, the borders between civil and military authority crumbled, as United Sates generals asserted independent authority to set government policy. In the aftermath of the conflict, generals continued to make decisions outside of civilian control, ranging from domestic military tribunals in Memphis, Tennessee, to ignoring the Secretary of State’s foreign policy in dealing with the French invasion of Mexico. The army has often been considered an instrument of sovereignty, but at least during the Civil War era the army often appropriated sovereignty to itself.

This chapter set out the main arguments of the book, as well as its structure and the ways in which it relates to existing literature on crime in Latin America and the broader sociological and criminological literature. It begins with the case of Mr X, whose daughter was kidnapped and subsequently murdered. It then goes on to describe a case in which thirteen youths were abducted from a nightclub in Mexico City, their bodies discovered months later. These cases are illustrative of the kind of situations that, on both a personal and an academic level, inspire this book and, more specifically, the questions of how people can deal with the ensuing fear and protect themselves from this kind of crime when the state is incapable, or unwilling, to provide this protection.

In this chapter the recent history of the rule of law in Mexico is examined. The legitimation crisis that accompanied the dismantling of the state that had been built on import substitution industrialization (the development of industry inside Mexico) was met with a new project: the introduction of the rule of law. This ideal hitched its fate to the star of the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that provided international institutional mechanisms to buttress rule of law. The chapter explores the limitations of this project and the impasse that developed between the politicization of the economy and the protection of rights.

To realise how crises are disseminated is relevant for policy makers and regulators in order to take appropriate measures to prevent or contain the propagation of crises. This study aims to analysis the financial contagion in the six main markets of Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru) and the USA, in the period 2015-2020. Different approaches have been undertaken to carry out this analysis in order to consider the following research question, namely whether: (i) the global pandemic covid19 has accentuated the contagion between Latin American financial markets and the US? The results of the autocorrelation tests are totally coincident with those obtained by the BDS test. The rejection of the null hypothesis, i.i.d., can be explained, among other factors, by the existence of autocorrelation or by the existence of heteroscedasticity in the stock market index series, in which case the rejection of the null hypothesis is explained by non-linear dependence on data, with the exception of the Argentine market. However, significant levels of contagion were expected to occur between these regional markets and the US as a result of the global pandemic (Covid-19), which did not happen. These results may indicate the implementation of efficient diversification strategies. The authors consider that the results achieved are relevance for investors who seek opportunities in these stock markets, as well as for policy makers to carry out institutional reforms in order to increase the efficiency of stock markets and promote the sustainable growth of financial markets.

A comienzos de la segunda mitad del siglo pasado, las ciudades centrales del México comenzaron a sufrir un proceso constante de crecimiento e integración de sus comunidades aledañas, proceso que se ha definido como metropolización. Guadalajara, como segunda ciudad más importante del país es, obviamente parte de dicho fenómeno. Esto se agudiza, especialmente a partir de la crisis de los ochentas, lo que ha permitido una estructura territorial caracterizada por la desigualdad regional, concentración metropolitana, expansión urbana anárquica, desigual distribución de las infraestructuras, entre otros fenómenos asociados. Esta situación se ve acentuada aún más, por los impactos devengados en el proceso de Globalización, mismo que ha cambiado la manera, ya no sólo de cómo se concibe, sino también cómo se estructura la ciudad. Estudiar un fenómeno de apariencia tan compleja puede ser muy difícil; es por ello que en este documento se considera analizar la evolución que ha presentado el uso del suelo a partir de la explosión demográfica previa de la Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara y el periodo reciente, particularmente en el municipio de Tlajomulco de Zúñiga para, de manera inductiva, generar un modelo explicativo de la situación presente y, así, poder comprender mejor la expansión urbana de las zonas metropolitanas mexicanas. Lo anterior se pretende lograr a través de la investigación documental teórica de modelos previos realizados por otros investigadores en el área, así como el uso de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, generadas en el Instituto Nacional de Geografía e Informática (INEGI), así como otras instituciones gubernamentales nacionales. Después de la integración teórica y el análisis de los datos agregados disponibles se ha generado un modelo teórico general inicial que ha develado una ciudad integral, compuesta por tres dimensiones esenciales, a saber, sociales, económicas y políticas, propiciadas por el entorno internacional, fundamentalmente económico. Asimismo, la ciudad debe ser interpretada, con base en un referente histórico, compuesta y modificada por la tecnología, para poder explicar la expansión urbana como un fenómeno multidimensional y en constante cambio, por lo que no se habla de modalidades de desarrollo, sino de estadios de desarrollo. *** ENG: Early in the second half of last century, the cities of central Mexico began to undergo a constant process of growth and integration of their surrounding communities, a process that has been defined as metropolización. Guadalajara, the second largest city in the country is obviously part of that phenomenon. This is more acute, especially after the crisis of the eighties, which allowed a spatial structure characterized by the uneven regional, metropolitan concentration, uncontrolled urban growth, unequal distribution of infrastructure, among other phenomena associated. This situation is exacerbated further by the effects due to the process of globalization, which has changed the way, not only of how they conceive, but also how to structure the city. Studying a phenomenon as complex appearance can be very difficult, and so in this document is considered to analyze the developments that have submitted land use from the previous boom in the Metropolitan Zone of Guadalajara and the recent period, particularly in the town ofTlajomulco de Zúñiga to, so inductively generate a model explaining the situation and thus better understand the urban sprawl of the metropolitan areas of Mexico. It seeks to achieve through the desk research prior theoretical models by other researchers in the field, and the use of Geographic Information Systems, created the National Institute of Geography and Informatics (INEGI), and other institutions national government. After integration and theoretical analysis of aggregate data available there is a general theoretical model that initial city has unveiled a comprehensive, consisting of three key dimensions, namely social, economic and political, provided by the international environment, primarily economic. Also, the city should be interpreted, based on a historical reference, made and modified by technology, to explain urban sprawl as a multidimensional phenomenon and constantly changing, so do not talk about development patterns, but stages of development.

The pandemic has posed many challenges for the academic continuity of clinical training. The social responsibility of universities and the professionalism of physicians inspired residents on taking the leadership in the front line of COVID-19. Their direct involvement in patient care required the establishment of protocols to offer mentoring and support services for self-care and mental health strategies to prevent burnout. The objective of this study was to describe the design and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to transform the Multicentric Program of postgraduate medical education in northern Mexico to continue academic and clinical training activities amid the pandemic. The participants in this study include six training centers which represent 290 physicians in 17 medical specialties programs. The results of the designed strategy focus on three specific activities: 1) offering formal curricular elements through online platforms and mobile devices, 2) adaptative clinical training for the residents participating directly in SARS-Cov2 patient care, and 3) specific training on COVID-19 for all participants on patient safety protocols and use of protective equipment. All 17 programs achieved academic continuity by the use of digital platforms. The protection and safety of the educational community were privileged with the purpose of training by providing residents specific safety training on COVID-19, personal protection equipment, periodical PCR testing and by the vaccination strategy. The responsibility and responsiveness of educational institutions to address the challenges to continue the clinical training during the health crisis will significantly affect the educational results and preparedness of the next generation of health professionals. The commitment of universities should be beyond academic continuity or sharing content online, it should address as well self-care and wellbeing strategies that could provide graduates with the skills that are essential to thrive in the current pandemic. Keywords: higher education, educational innovation, postgraduate medical education, residents’ education, COVID-19

With a few exceptions, research on ride-hailing has focused on North American cities. Previous studies have identified the characteristics and preferences of ride-hailing adopters in a handful of cities. However, given their marked geographical focus, the relevance and applicability of such work to the practice of transport planning and regulation in cities in the Global South is minimal. In developing cities, the entrance of new transport services follows very different trajectories to those in North America and Europe, facing additional social, economic, and cultural challenges, and involving different strategies. Moreover, the determinants of mode choice might be mediated by social issues such as the perception of crime and the risk of sexual harassment in public transportation, which is often experienced by women in large cities such as Mexico. This paper examines ride-hailing in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, unpacking the characteristics of its users, the ways they differ from users of other transport modes, and the implications for urban mobility. Building on the household travel survey from 2017, our analytical approach is based on a set of categorical models. Findings suggest that gender, age, education, and being more mobile are determinants of ride-hailing adoption. The analysis shows that ride-hailing is used for occasional trips, and it is usually done for leisure and health trips as well as for night trips. The study also reflects on ride-hailings implications for the way women access the city.

This paper sheds light on the personal security dimension of ride-hailing from a gender perspective. We explore how features of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) services affect riders perceptions of security when commuting in ride-hailing services, and how general perceptions of fear of crime shape the way people value such features. Moreover, we analyze the strategies women and men are using to enhance their own security in ride-hailing and factors influencing these strategies. We conducted a survey of users of the TNC DiDi in Mexico City. The statistical methods used are structural equation models SEM and ordered logit models OLOGIT. Results show that women are more likely to value the information made available by ride-hailing applications (e.g., knowing your location or knowing driver information) and the presence of a panic button. The value given to information also increases if a person feels insecure in the streets, in a public transit station or in public transit. People who perceive higher insecurity in the streets have increased positive perceptions of the possibility of travelling without transfers. We also find that women are 64.4% less likely to share ride-hailing trips (pooling) and 2.14 times more likely to share details of their trips through their cellphones.

Utilizando los microdatos de empleo del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, de enero de 2019 a junio de 2021, se analizan las afectaciones registradas por el COVID-19 sobre la probabilidad de separación laboral y las variaciones salariales mensuales a nivel nacional y regional por grupos de edad y sexo. Los resultados indican mayores incrementos en la probabilidad de separación en el empleo para los hombres que para las mujeres en los primeros meses de la crisis sanitaria en relación con el periodo previo a la pandemia. Asimismo, se estima una reducción en las variaciones de los salarios que afectó proporcionalmente más a hombres que mujeres, si bien estas diferencias desaparecen con el tiempo. Por grupos de edad, los resultados muestran que los trabajadores de 60 a 65 años son el grupo más afectado en términos de probabilidad de separación del empleo, mientras que el grupo más joven de trabajadores registró las mayores reducciones en las variaciones salariales. Finalmente, se encuentra heterogeneidad en los resultados por regiones.

El presente estudio documenta la evolución del mercado laboral mexicano en el año 2020, en el que la pandemia por COVID-19 generó una contracción significativa de la economía. Si bien el efecto de la crisis fue generalizado se encuentra que dos grupos específicos sufrieron impactos importantes. En primer lugar, las mujeres enfrentaron una mayor afectación en su nivel de empleo, lo cual parece estar cercanamente ligado a la dinámica sectorial. En segundo lugar, los jóvenes registraron las mayores pérdidas de empleo y de ingreso, con fuertes incrementos en el número de jóvenes que no estudian ni trabajan. Sin embargo, las dinámicas fueron más complejas de lo esperado, con una fase de cuasi parálisis de la economía, y luego una desigual reapertura, que tuvo repercusiones sobre las trayectorias del mercado de trabajo. Finalmente, en línea con lo esperado se encuentra que hubo un aumento en el porcentaje de la población en pobreza laboral y un incremento en la desigualdad medida por el ingreso per cápita del hogar.

Banco de la República is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. This is a very significant anniversary and one that provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution the Bank has made to the country’s development. Its track record as guarantor of monetary stability has established it as the one independent state institution that generates the greatest confidence among Colombians due to its transparency, management capabilities, and effective compliance with the central banking and cultural responsibilities entrusted to it by the Constitution and the Law. On a date as important as this, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (BDBR) pays tribute to the generations of governors and officers whose commitment and dedication have contributed to the growth of this institution.1 Banco de la República’s mandate was confirmed in the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991 where the citizens had the opportunity to elect the seventy people who would have the task of drafting a new constitution. The leaders of the three political movements with the most votes were elected as chairs to the Assembly, and this tripartite presidency reflected the plurality and the need for consensus among the different political groups to move the reform forward. Among the issues considered, the National Constitutional Assembly gave special importance to monetary stability. That is why they decided to include central banking and to provide Banco de la República with the necessary autonomy to use the instruments for which they are responsible without interference from other authorities. The constituent members understood that ensuring price stability is a state duty and that the entity responsible for this task must be enshrined in the Constitution and have the technical capability and institutional autonomy necessary to adopt the decisions they deem appropriate to achieve this fundamental objective in coordination with the general economic policy. In particular, Article 373 established that “the State, through Banco de la República, shall ensure the maintenance of the purchasing power of the currency,” a provision that coincided with the central banking system adopted by countries that have been successful in controlling inflation. In 1999, in Ruling 481, the Constitutional Court stated that “the duty to maintain the purchasing power of the currency applies to not only the monetary, credit, and exchange authority, i.e., the Board of Banco de la República, but also those who have responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of the general economic policy of the country” and that “the basic constitutional purpose of Banco de la República is the protection of a sound currency. However, this authority must take the other economic objectives of state intervention such as full employment into consideration in their decisions since these functions must be coordinated with the general economic policy.” The reforms to Banco de la República agreed upon in the Constitutional Assembly of 1991 and in Act 31/1992 can be summarized in the following aspects: i) the Bank was assigned a specific mandate: to maintain the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy; ii) the BDBR was designatedas the monetary, foreign exchange, and credit authority; iii) the Bank and its Board of Directors were granted a significant degree of independence from the government; iv) the Bank was prohibited from granting credit to the private sector except in the case of the financial sector; v) established that in order to grant credit to the government, the unanimous vote of its Board of Directors was required except in the case of open market transactions; vi) determined that the legislature may, in no case, order credit quotas in favor of the State or individuals; vii) Congress was appointed, on behalf of society, as the main addressee of the Bank’s reporting exercise; and viii) the responsibility for inspection, surveillance, and control over Banco de la República was delegated to the President of the Republic. The members of the National Constitutional Assembly clearly understood that the benefits of low and stable inflation extend to the whole of society and contribute mto the smooth functioning of the economic system. Among the most important of these is that low inflation promotes the efficient use of productive resources by allowing relative prices to better guide the allocation of resources since this promotes economic growth and increases the welfare of the population. Likewise, low inflation reduces uncertainty about the expected return on investment and future asset prices. This increases the confidence of economic agents, facilitates long-term financing, and stimulates investment. Since the low-income population is unable to protect itself from inflation by diversifying its assets, and a high proportion of its income is concentrated in the purchase of food and other basic goods that are generally the most affected by inflationary shocks, low inflation avoids arbitrary redistribution of income and wealth.2 Moreover, low inflation facilitates wage negotiations, creates a good labor climate, and reduces the volatility of employment levels. Finally, low inflation helps to make the tax system more transparent and equitable by avoiding the distortions that inflation introduces into the value of assets and income that make up the tax base. From the monetary authority’s point of view, one of the most relevant benefits of low inflation is the credibility that economic agents acquire in inflation targeting, which turns it into an effective nominal anchor on price levels. Upon receiving its mandate, and using its autonomy, Banco de la República began to announce specific annual inflation targets as of 1992. Although the proposed inflation targets were not met precisely during this first stage, a downward trend in inflation was achieved that took it from 32.4% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1998. At that time, the exchange rate was kept within a band. This limited the effectiveness of monetary policy, which simultaneously sought to meet an inflation target and an exchange rate target. The Asian crisis spread to emerging economies and significantly affected the Colombian economy. The exchange rate came under strong pressure to depreciate as access to foreign financing was cut off under conditions of a high foreign imbalance. This, together with the lack of exchange rate flexibility, prevented a countercyclical monetary policy and led to a 4.2% contraction in GDP that year. In this context of economic slowdown, annual inflation fell to 9.2% at the end of 1999, thus falling below the 15% target set for that year. This episode fully revealed how costly it could be, in terms of economic activity, to have inflation and exchange rate targets simultaneously. Towards the end of 1999, Banco de la República announced the adoption of a new monetary policy regime called the Inflation Targeting Plan. This regime, known internationally as ‘Inflation Targeting,’ has been gaining increasing acceptance in developed countries, having been adopted in 1991 by New Zealand, Canada, and England, among others, and has achieved significant advances in the management of inflation without incurring costs in terms of economic activity. In Latin America, Brazil and Chile also adopted it in 1999. In the case of Colombia, the last remaining requirement to be fulfilled in order to adopt said policy was exchange rate flexibility. This was realized around September 1999, when the BDBR decided to abandon the exchange-rate bands to allow the exchange rate to be freely determined in the market.Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the fundamental objective of this new policy approach was “the achievement of an inflation target that contributes to maintaining output growth around its potential.”3 This potential capacity was understood as the GDP growth that the economy can obtain if it fully utilizes its productive resources. To meet this objective, monetary policy must of necessity play a countercyclical role in the economy. This is because when economic activity is below its potential and there are idle resources, the monetary authority can reduce the interest rate in the absence of inflationary pressure to stimulate the economy and, when output exceeds its potential capacity, raise it. This policy principle, which is immersed in the models for guiding the monetary policy stance, makes the following two objectives fully compatible in the medium term: meeting the inflation target and achieving a level of economic activity that is consistent with its productive capacity. To achieve this purpose, the inflation targeting system uses the money market interest rate (at which the central bank supplies primary liquidity to commercial banks) as the primary policy instrument. This replaced the quantity of money as an intermediate monetary policy target that Banco de la República, like several other central banks, had used for a long time. In the case of Colombia, the objective of the new monetary policy approach implied, in practical terms, that the recovery of the economy after the 1999 contraction should be achieved while complying with the decreasing inflation targets established by the BDBR. The accomplishment of this purpose was remarkable. In the first half of the first decade of the 2000s, economic activity recovered significantly and reached a growth rate of 6.8% in 2006. Meanwhile, inflation gradually declined in line with inflation targets. That was how the inflation rate went from 9.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2006, thus meeting the inflation target established for that year while GDP reached its potential level. After this balance was achieved in 2006, inflation rebounded to 5.7% in 2007, above the 4.0% target for that year due to the fact that the 7.5% GDP growth exceeded the potential capacity of the economy.4 After proving the effectiveness of the inflation targeting system in its first years of operation, this policy regime continued to consolidate as the BDBR and the technical staff gained experience in its management and state-of-the-art economic models were incorporated to diagnose the present and future state of the economy and to assess the persistence of inflation deviations and expectations with respect to the inflation target. Beginning in 2010, the BDBR established the long-term 3.0% annual inflation target, which remains in effect today. Lower inflation has contributed to making the macroeconomic environment more stable, and this has favored sustained economic growth, financial stability, capital market development, and the functioning of payment systems. As a result, reductions in the inflationary risk premia and lower TES and credit interest rates were achieved. At the same time, the duration of public domestic debt increased significantly going from 2.27 years in December 2002 to 5.86 years in December 2022, and financial deepening, measured as the level of the portfolio as a percentage of GDP, went from around 20% in the mid-1990s to values above 45% in recent years in a healthy context for credit institutions.Having been granted autonomy by the Constitution to fulfill the mandate of preserving the purchasing power of the currency, the tangible achievements made by Banco de la República in managing inflation together with the significant benefits derived from the process of bringing inflation to its long-term target, make the BDBR’s current challenge to return inflation to the 3.0% target even more demanding and pressing. As is well known, starting in 2021, and especially in 2022, inflation in Colombia once again became a serious economic problem with high welfare costs. The inflationary phenomenon has not been exclusive to Colombia and many other developed and emerging countries have seen their inflation rates move away from the targets proposed by their central banks.5 The reasons for this phenomenon have been analyzed in recent Reports to Congress, and this new edition delves deeper into the subject with updated information. The solid institutional and technical base that supports the inflation targeting approach under which the monetary policy strategy operates gives the BDBR the necessary elements to face this difficult challenge with confidence. In this regard, the BDBR reiterated its commitment to the 3.0% inflation target in its November 25 communiqué and expects it to be reached by the end of 2024.6 Monetary policy will continue to focus on meeting this objective while ensuring the sustainability of economic activity, as mandated by the Constitution. Analyst surveys done in March showed a significant increase (from 32.3% in January to 48.5% in March) in the percentage of responses placing inflation expectations two years or more ahead in a range between 3.0% and 4.0%. This is a clear indication of the recovery of credibility in the medium-term inflation target and is consistent with the BDBR’s announcement made in November 2022. The moderation of the upward trend in inflation seen in January, and especially in February, will help to reinforce this revision of inflation expectations and will help to meet the proposed targets. After reaching 5.6% at the end of 2021, inflation maintained an upward trend throughout 2022 due to inflationary pressures from both external sources, associated with the aftermath of the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and domestic sources, resulting from: strengthening of local demand; price indexation processes stimulated by the increase in inflation expectations; the impact on food production caused by the mid-2021 strike; and the pass-through of depreciation to prices. The 10% increase in the minimum wage in 2021 and the 16% increase in 2022, both of which exceeded the actual inflation and the increase in productivity, accentuated the indexation processes by establishing a high nominal adjustment benchmark. Thus, total inflation went to 13.1% by the end of 2022. The annual change in food prices, which went from 17.2% to 27.8% between those two years, was the most influential factor in the surge in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Another segment that contributed significantly to price increases was regulated products, which saw the annual change go from 7.1% in December 2021 to 11.8% by the end of 2022. The measure of core inflation excluding food and regulated items, in turn, went from 2.5% to 9.5% between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022. The substantial increase in core inflation shows that inflationary pressure has spread to most of the items in the household basket, which is characteristic of inflationary processes with generalized price indexation as is the case in Colombia. Monetary policy began to react early to this inflationary pressure. Thus, starting with its September 2021 session, the BDBR began a progressive change in the monetary policy stance moving away from the historical low of a 1.75% policy rate that had intended to stimulate the recovery of the economy. This adjustment process continued without interruption throughout 2022 and into the beginning of 2023 when the monetary policy rate reached 12.75% last January, thus accumulating an increase of 11 percentage points (pp). The public and the markets have been surprised that inflation continued to rise despite significant interest rate increases. However, as the BDBR has explained in its various communiqués, monetary policy works with a lag. Just as in 2022 economic activity recovered to a level above the pre-pandemic level, driven, along with other factors, by the monetary stimulus granted during the pandemic period and subsequent months, so too the effects of the current restrictive monetary policy will gradually take effect. This will allow us to expect the inflation rate to converge to 3.0% by the end of 2024 as is the BDBR’s purpose.Inflation results for January and February of this year showed declining marginal increases (13 bp and 3 bp respectively) compared to the change seen in December (59 bp). This suggests that a turning point in the inflation trend is approaching. In other Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Perú, and Mexico, inflation has peaked and has begun to decline slowly, albeit with some ups and downs. It is to be expected that a similar process will take place in Colombia in the coming months. The expected decline in inflation in 2023 will be due, along with other factors, to lower cost pressure from abroad as a result of the gradual normalization of supply chains, the overcoming of supply shocks caused by the weather, and road blockades in previous years. This will be reflected in lower adjustments in food prices, as has already been seen in the first two months of the year and, of course, the lagged effect of monetary policy. The process of inflation convergence to the target will be gradual and will extend beyond 2023. This process will be facilitated if devaluation pressure is reversed. To this end, it is essential to continue consolidating fiscal sustainability and avoid messages on different public policy fronts that generate uncertainty and distrust. 1 This Report to Congress includes Box 1, which summarizes the trajectory of Banco de la República over the past 100 years. In addition, under the Bank’s auspices, several books that delve into various aspects of the history of this institution have been published in recent years. See, for example: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República: 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 This is why lower inflation has been reflected in a reduction of income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient that went from 58.7 in 1998 to 51.3 in the year prior to the pandemic. 3 See Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borradores de Economía, No. 202, March, available at: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 See López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando and Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “The inflation targeting strategy in Colombia. An historical view.” Borradores de Economía, No. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 According to the IMF, the percentage change in consumer prices between 2021 and 2022 went from 3.1% to 7.3% for advanced economies, and from 5.9% to 9.9% for emerging market and developing economies. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3