The Guadalajara Reporter
Guadalajara's Largest English Newspaper
Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) gave itself a pat on the back at the start of the year, highlighting the advances made in protecting the rights of Mexican citizens abroad.
The good news is that if you live in Colordao, you may – if it’s your bag – set aside your beginning-of-year blues with a few spliffs of legal weed.
January 1, 1994 marks the 20th anniversary of two consequential events in Mexico’s history: one still fiercely debated and the other largely forgotten.
New banking regulations introduced on January 1 stipulate that the maximum amount that a check can be made out to “Portador” (similar to checks made out to “cash” in the United States) is now 5,000 pesos.
New taxes approved last year on high calorific food – defined as products with 275 calories or more per 100 grams – will kick in January 1, as the federal government seeks to combat Mexico’s growing obesity problem. In late October Mexico’s legislators also agreed to a one peso per liter surcharge on all sugary soft drinks.
Notorious drug kingpin Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villareal was not killed in an army raid in Guadalajara in 2010, as the Mexican government claimed and was widely reported at the time, according to acclaimed investigative journalist Anabel Hernandez.
Refreshed tax code to bring in the new year 
Significant changes to Mexico’s taxation code, approved by Congress last year, take effect on January 1, 2014, as federal authorities seek to clamp down on tax evasion and widen the country’s taxable base.
Mexico’s daily minimum wage was increased by 3.9 percent January 1 – exactly the same figure as last year.
After a 20-hour session, the Mexican Senate Wednesday morning approved historic legislation that will open up the country’s stagnant energy sector to private investment.
