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Mexico
A 6.3- magnitude earthquake has hit eastern Mexico, with no immediate reports of damage or injury.
A 6.3- magnitude earthquake has hit eastern Mexico, with no immediate reports of damage or injury
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake was centered in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, about 260 miles east-southeast of Mexico City. The epicenter was relatively deep, 59 miles below the surface.
Local news media in Veracruz reported the 5:46 AM quake was felt strongly there, and it rocked buildings at least as far away as Mexico City.
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Texas Governor Rick Perry is sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the US border with Mexico to protect against what he described as criminals, human traffickers and drug cartels.
Republican Rick Perry said he had to act because the federal government had failed to secure the border.
He said the troops would work alongside law enforcement.
The move comes after a surge of unaccompanied Central American children crossed the border illegally.
More than 57,000 children, many fleeing gang violence and extreme poverty at home, have crossed the border since October.
In a news conference, Rick Perry said criminals would see the influx of children as an opportunity to be exploited. And he said that more than 203,000 “criminal aliens” had been held in Texas jails since 2008.
Texas Governor Rick Perry is sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the US border with Mexico
“There can be no national security without border security, and Texans have paid too high a price for the federal government’s failure to secure our border,” said Rick Perry, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 and has been named as a possible contender in 2016.
“The action I am ordering today will tackle this crisis head-on by multiplying our efforts to combat the cartel activity, human traffickers and individual criminals who threaten the safety of people across Texas and America.”
The Texas National Guard deployment will cost the state of Texas as much as $12 million per month.
President Barack Obama, a Democrat, has called for comprehensive immigration reform that would provide some path to legal status for the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the US as well as strengthen security at the border.
In response to the recent flood of illegal-immigrant children, Barack Obama has asked Congress for $3.7 billion to hire extra immigration judges, provide drone surveillance of the border, and fund medical services. Republicans in Congress rejected the request.
In Texas, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party accused Rick Perry of “photo-op politics” that ignored the need for comprehensive immigration reform.
“Local law enforcement, elected officials, and faith and community leaders in the Rio Grande Valley have expressed concerned about militarizing the border, the need to create a short-term humanitarian solution, and solving the long-term need for comprehensive immigration reform,” Emmanuel Garcia said.
“Today, Governor Rick Perry ignored those voices.”
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Mexico has decided to restrict TV commercials for high-calorie food and soft drinks, as part of its campaign against obesity, the government says.
Such ads will be banned with immediate effect on terrestrial and cable TV between 14:30 and 19:30 on weekdays and between 07:30 and 19:30 at weekends.
Restrictions will also be imposed on similar ads shown at the cinema.
Mexico is restricting television advertising for high-calorie food and soft drinks, as part of its campaign against obesity
According to official figures, 70% of adults and 30% of children in Mexico are obese or overweight.
Overall, 40% of commercials for soft drinks, confectionery and chocolates will disappear from TV, in favor of products which “meet nutritional standards”, the health ministry is quoted as saying.
As an additional measure, from 2015, manufacturers will be made to label the sugar, fat and saturated fat content on their food and drink products.
Mexicans have the highest incidence of diabetes among the 34 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
They are also the world’s heaviest consumers of sugary drinks, at 163 liters per year, and their diet is rich in fried food.
Health experts estimate Mexico’s weight problems will cost the public health care system $11.7 billion by 2017.
Last year, the Mexican government introduced taxes on high-calorie foods and drinks, as part of its obesity prevention strategy.
Mexico has begun to swear in members of self-defense groups for its newly created rural police force, as part of a drive to disarm local vigilantes.
The move is designed to bring the militias fighting the Knights Templar drugs cartel in the western state of Michoacan under official control.
The vigilantes say they “cleaned” a number of towns before federal forces joined them in recent months.
But there have also been clashes among vigilantes and with police forces.
Mexico has begun to swear in members of self-defense groups for its newly created rural police force in Michoacan
More than 3,000 people have registered guns and signed up for the new force, officials say.
But many refused to join, despite warnings that they would be arrested.
The Mexican government’s deadline for registering the firearms expired on Saturday.
An initial 240 self-defense group members marched in Tepacaltepec in their new blue uniforms, carrying state-issued guns.
The federal envoy to Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, personally greeted the new members of the State Rural Force.
“Those who 15 months ago said ‘Enough’ and decided to confront those who did them harm – because of them today we have the State Rural Force that carries the same conviction of justice, of courage, valor, bravery needed to protect those, who we love the most, our families,” Alfredo Castillo told the farmers.
The self-defense groups in Michoacan started an offensive against the Knights Templar drugs cartel more than a year ago.
Residents of Michoacan say the cartel terrorized them.
Local farmers, shop owners and other residents were victims of extortion, robbery and kidnappings.
During incursions backed by federal reinforcements in the last months, the head of the Knights Templar cartel, Nazario Moreno Gonzales, has been shot dead and many of the group’s leaders arrested.
Following the success in anti-cartel operations, the government demanded the self-defenses to stand down and leave the task of guaranteeing their security to the state.
But some fear that might encourage a come back from the cartel.
There have also been splits in some self-defense groups and the rise of fake vigilantes, correspondents say. The government now wants the rural force to work alongside the police.
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Public memorials to Nobel prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who died on Thursday in Mexico City aged 87, are being hold in Mexico and Colombia.
The presidents of Colombia and Mexico are due to attend a formal ceremony with funeral cortege in Mexico City, where Garcia Marquez lived for decades.
At the same time residents in his home town of Aracataca in northern Colombia will hold a symbolic funeral.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez was considered the finest writer of the Spanish language since Cervantes.
The author was cremated at a private family ceremony in Mexico City last week.
A funeral cortege is taking Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ashes from his house to the historic centre of Mexican City for the memorial ceremony.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez was considered the finest writer of the Spanish language since Cervantes (photo EPA)
The event in the majestic Palace of Fine Arts will be attended by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto and the author’s wife, Mercedes Barcha, and sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo.
Thousands of members of the public who are mourning his loss will also say goodbye to Gabriel Garcia Marquez at the cultural venue, which is where Mexico pays tribute to its late artistic icons.
It has been adorned with yellow flowers, the author’s favorite, and a string quartet will perform music by the Hungarian Bela Bartok, among other composers.
In Colombia, residents are holding a ceremony of their own in his birth place of Aracataca, the inspiration for Macondo, the setting for his 1967 seminal masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude, which sold millions of copies around the world.
On Tuesday, the Colombian government will hold a formal ceremony at the main cathedral in the capital Bogota, which will be televised.
Then on Wednesday, Colombians will have readings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel No One Writes to the Colonel in hundreds of libraries, parks and universities across the country.
There may be an element of disappointment in Colombia that the first main event to commemorate Gabriel Garcia Marquez is taking place in Mexico rather than his country of origin.
But rather than a diplomatic spat, it simply reflects the degree to which both countries – indeed all Latin Americans – considered Gabriel Garcia Marquez to be their own.
One solution being posited is that Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ashes be divided between Mexico and Colombia, but his family has not yet revealed its wishes.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez fled Colombia in 1981 after learning that the country’s military wanted to question him over links to left-wing guerrillas.
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Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman – Mexico’s top drug lord and one of the world’s most wanted drug baron – has been arrested in Mexico.
El Chapo (Shorty) Guzman was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles huge amounts of illegal drugs into the US.
He had been on the run since escaping a high-security prison in a laundry basket in 2001.
Mexican police arrested him in Sinaloa state, in a joint operation with US anti-drugs forces.
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto used his Twitter account to praise the forces involved in the arrest in the north-western resort of Mazatlan, in Sinaloa state.
Joaquin Guzman was taken to Mexico City and paraded before the media, before boarding a helicopter surrounded by heavily armed troops.
He was taken straight to prison, Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said.
The US state department had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest.
US Attorney General Eric Holder described Shorty Guzman’s arrest as “a landmark achievement” for Mexico and “a victory for the citizens of both Mexico and the United States”.
Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles huge amounts of illegal drugs into the US (photo Reuters)
Shorty Guzman has been indicted in the US on federal trafficking charges.
The Sinaloa cartel controls much of the flow of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine to the US.
Joaquin Guzman’s arrest is a big boost for the administration of Enrique Pena Nieto.
Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office just over two years ago, said he intended to change the “war on drugs” policy of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, which critics say led to a rise in violence throughout Mexico.
But Mexican police and troops have killed or arrested key figures in the drugs cartels since Enrique Pena Nieto came to power.
The US has also arrested several associates and relatives of Shorty Guzman.
In May 2012, the US Treasury Department put two of his sons – Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Ovidio Guzman Lopez – on its blacklist of drugs kingpins.
Their assets were frozen and US nationals and companies were prevented from doing business with them.
Shorty Guzman’s father-in-law, Ines Coronel, was arrested nearly a year ago. He was accused of smuggling drugs into the US.
Joaquin Guzman was born in the town of Badiraguato, probably 56 years ago, and became an important figure in the drug cartels in the 1980s.
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At least 97 people have been killed by storms that hit Mexico earlier in the week, according to authorities.
In the village of La Pintada, near the Pacific coast, a landslide partially engulfed the town.
At least 15 bodies have been recovered and almost 70 residents are missing, the authorities said.
A helicopter involved in the rescue effort in the area has disappeared with three crew on board, according to Mexican media.
Officials are hoping that the helicopter had to land amid bad weather conditions and that the crew has been unable to update their base on their location.
Police and navy teams are to begin looking for the helicopter early on Friday when visibility improves, the Excelsior newspaper reports.
Meanwhile, President Enrique Pena Nieto has announced in a statement that he is cancelling a planned trip to the UN in New York next week to focus on relief efforts.
Tropical Storm Manuel, which on Thursday briefly became a hurricane, has now moved north, forcing hundreds from their homes in Sinaloa state.
As it hit land, Hurricane Manuel brought torrential rain and winds of up to 75mph and caused flash floods in Sinaloa.
Schools in the region have been closed and a fishing village of Yameto was evacuated as Hurricane Manuel approached.
At least 97 people have been killed by storms that hit Mexico
More than 100,000 were affected by the hurricane, the State governor, Mario Lopez Valdez told reporters.
It then gradually began losing strength, according to the United States National Hurricane Center, going back to being a tropical storm.
Hurricane Manuel is now expected to dissipate before the weekend.
However, weather conditions are expected to remain poor over the coming days as a third storm is forecast.
With the Gulf Coast having been hit by Hurricane Ingrid, this week was the first time since the 1950s that Mexico has had to deal with two storms simultaneously.
The resort town of Acapulco and its surrounding areas were worst hit by Hurricane Manuel earlier in the week.
Since then, more than 10,000 stranded tourists have been airlifted by military planes out of the resort town of Acapulco.
Several stores have been looted and residents of the outskirts of Acapulco have complained about being left to fend for themselves.
Residents of La Pintada, a remote village of about 600 people north-west of Acapulco, described how the hillside buried their homes as they were holding independence day celebrations on Monday evening.
The landslide tore through the middle of the village, destroying the church, the school and the kindergarten.
“We were eating when it thundered, and when the mountain collapsed the homes were swept away and the thundering noise became louder,” Erika Guadalupe Garcia told AFP news agency.
Ana Clara Catalan, 17, described the noise as “ugly, worse than a bomb”.
“More than half of La Pintada was demolished, few homes were left,” Maria del Carmen Catalan said.
Most of the residents have been now been evacuated by helicopter.
Hurricane Ingrid made landfall on Monday in the town of La Pesca on Mexico’s Gulf Coast. It mainly affected the state of Tamaulipas, where thousands of people were moved from low-lying areas to higher ground.
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Tropical Storm Manuel, which has battered the south-west of Mexico, has gathered strength and is now a category one hurricane, US meteorologists say.
Hurricane Manuel is now approaching north-western Mexico and threatens more destruction, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
The tropical storms Ingrid and Manuel killed 80 people earlier this week.
Now 58 people are reported missing after a landslide buried a village in the south-west of the country.
US experts say Hurricane Manuel is sustaining winds of 75mph and moving towards the coast.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said that 58 people were missing after the landslide in the village of La Pintada in Guerrero state.
“It doesn’t look good, based on the photos we have in our possession,” said Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, saying it was a “very powerful” landslide.
“Up to this point, we do not have any [confirmed] dead in the landslide,” he added.
Tens of thousands of tourists, cut off by landslides caused by Manuel, are still being transported out of the Mexican resort of Acapulco.
Tropical Storm Manuel, which has battered the south-west of Mexico, has gathered strength and is now a category one hurricane
More than 2,000 tourists have been airlifted from the Air Base Seven military facility north of the resort.
Since the weekend, passengers have been stranded in hotels and at Acapulco’s international airport, where water flooded the terminal.
Manuel was almost immediately followed by Hurricane Ingrid, causing widespread devastation in the east of the country. It was the first time since 1958 that two powerful storms hit Mexico within 24 hours.
Main roads out of Acapulco have been blocked by landslips, leaving tourists and local residents stranded in the city and along Mexico’s west coast.
At Air Base Seven, soldiers guarded families who waited for hours outside the base until they were allowed to board one of the few aircraft which would take them to Mexico City.
In Acapulco, passengers were being taken directly from shelters to the runway because the main airport terminal remained closed.
Dozens of other towns in the south-western Guerrero state have also been hit by Manuel since it made landfall on Sunday.
There are fears that remote hillside communities may be particularly affected.
In the east, Hurricane Ingrid was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly before it made landfall on Monday near the town of La Pesca.
More than 20,000 people have since been evacuated in the state of Veracruz.
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Lady Gaga has shed 30 lbs and displayed her new bikini body while on holiday in Mexico earlier this week.
Lady Gaga, 27, displayed her toned figure in a floral two-piece while soaking up the sunshine with her friends.
Looking back to her confident best, Lady Gaga smiled widely as she was photographed.
Clearly conscious of the strong sun, Lady Gaga teamed the bikini with a wide-brimmed white hat and sunglasses to protect her pale complexion.
Later, Lady Gaga was seen wearing a pair of wide-legged cream trousers over the bikini as she made her way back to her hotel.
Her footwear choice could have been slightly more sensible, however, as the singer was seen wearing a pair of black heeled court shoes, which she them removed to walk along the sands.
The heels were even more inappropriate considering Lady Gaga’s recent operation on her hip back in February for a labral tear.
Lady Gaga was forced to cancel her Born This Way Ball tour and doctors told her to take six months off.
Lady Gaga has shed 30 lbs and displayed her new bikini body while on holiday in Mexico
She revealed on Twitter that she dealt with chronic pain for several months prior to seeking medical help, but chose to ignore its effects rather than disappoint her fans.
Lady Gaga’s impressive bikini body comes after some unflattering pictures of her on stage in Amsterdam last September led to the singer revealing she had gained 30 lbs.
Following the shots, Lady Gaga admitted in an interview that she had put on weight, telling Stylist magazine: “I don’t really care if people think I’m fat, because, quite honestly, I did gain about 30 pounds.”
Lady Gaga later blamed the weight gain on her restaurant owner father’s cooking.
The singer told radio host Elvis Duran: “I love eating pasta and pizza. I’m a New York Italian girl. That’s why I have been staying out of New York. My father opened a restaurant. It’s so amazing.
“It’s so freaking delicious, but I’m telling you I gain five pounds every time I go in there. So my dad wants me to eat at the restaurant, and I’m, like, I’ve got to go where I can drink green juice.”
Lady Gaga added: “I really don’t feel bad about it, not even for a second. I have to be on such a strict diet constantly. It’s hard because it’s a quite vigorous show, so I tend to bulk up, get muscular, and I really don’t like that. So I’m trying to find a new balance.”
Hurricane Barbara has been lashing parts of Mexico’s Pacific coast after making landfall near Salina Cruz in the southern state of Chiapas.
Hurricane Barbara has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
The US National Hurricane Center predicts it will bring heavy rain for a prolonged period of time.
Hurricane Barbara has been lashing parts of Mexico’s Pacific coast after making landfall near Salina Cruz
Four to 20 inches of rain is forecast, along with a storm surge of up to 5 feet above normal tide levels.
Hurricane Barbara made landfall some 80 miles east of Salina Cruz, home to Mexico’s biggest oil refinery.
A hurricane warning has been issued for the stretch of coast between Puerto Angel and Barra de Tonala.
Thousands of people in Chiapas state have been evacuated. Roads have been closed and sea traffic suspended in the area.
The storm that preceded the hurricane caused floods in many coastal areas, including the resort city of Acapulco, further north.
Hurricane Barbara is expected to lose strength and dissipate in the next 24 hours.
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French citizen Florence Cassez, who was jailed in Mexico in 2007 for 60 years for kidnapping, has been freed, after the Supreme Court ruled her rights were violated.
Florence Cassez had denied the charges and many irregularities were found in the case, including a staged televised police raid.
Three judges on a panel of five voted to have Florence Cassez released immediately.
The case provoked tensions between Mexico and France, where news of her release was widely welcomed.
Florence Cassez was driven to Mexico City’s international airport, where she boarded an overnight Air France flight to Paris.
Her mother, Charlotte Cassez, told French television the case had been full of suspense right to the end.
“It’s an explosion of joy. I can’t quite believe it,” she said.
In a statement, French President Francois Hollande said the decision marked the end of a “particularly painful period”.
“France thanks all those who, in Mexico as well as here at home, have fought so that truth and justice prevail.”
Francois Hollande spoke to Florence Cassez by phone on Wednesday evening. Details of the conversation have not been revealed.
Florence Cassez, who was jailed in Mexico in 2007 for 60 years for kidnapping, has been freed, after the Supreme Court ruled her rights were violated
“This is a historic day for Mexican justice,” said her lawyer Frank Berton.
Florence Cassez was arrested on December 8, 2005, at a ranch near Mexico City where several hostages were found.
She denied knowledge of the kidnappings, carried out by a gang – the Zodiacs – led by her Mexican then-boyfriend Israel Vallarta, who confessed.
The next day, Mexican TV showed what it described as live footage of a police raid, which it later transpired had been a reconstruction performed at the request of the media.
The Supreme Court judges ruled that the reconstruction had violated Florence Cassez’s rights.
The decision to release her has been sharply criticized by one of the hostages, Ezequiel Elizald.
Ezequiel Elizalde testified against Florence Cassez and has condemned the Supreme Court’s decision as “disgusting”, describing Mexico’s institutions as “filth”.
This was the second time that the Supreme Court had taken a vote on freeing Florence Cassez.
Last March, however, the judges decided against her release, despite acknowledging serious irregularities in the process.
When first convicted, Florence Cassez was jailed for 96 years, but, in 2009, a court of appeal reduced the term to 60 years.
French authorities tried to extradite her, but the move was blocked by the Mexican government.
Francois Hollande’s predecessor in the Elysee Palace, Nicolas Sarkozy, championed the case and repeatedly clashed with the Mexican government of then-President Felipe Calderon.
Diplomatic tensions reached a peak two years ago when Mexican authorities cancelled a high-profile cultural event in Paris.
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Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico’s new president, has been inaugurated amid tight security in the capital Mexico City.
He wants to boost economic growth and cut drug-related violence, but analysts say it is not clear how he will do so.
Some 60,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence during the rule of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon.
As Enrique Pena Nieto’s motorcade approached Congress, petrol bomb-wielding protesters clashed with riot police who fired tear gas outside the building.
One protester was gravely injured after being hit with a tear gas canister.
The demonstrators are angry at what they say was vote-buying by the president’s campaign.
They were also protesting more generally against the return to power of Enrique Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) after a 12-year absence.
Amid a cacophonic trumpet fanfare, outgoing President Felipe Calderon handed a sash with the colors of the Mexican flag to Enrique Pena Nieto, who was expected to address the nation from the presidential palace later on Saturday.
Enrique Pena Nieto has been inaugurated as Mexico’s new president
All week in Mexico City, a ring of steel had been in place around the Congress building ahead of the ceremonial presidential inauguration.
It had created massive traffic jams in the already congested city as authorities tried to prevent protesters from gaining access to parliament.
Earlier, the new president, who is 46, named a 20-member cabinet.
His foreign minister will be Jose Antonio Meade, who was treasury minister in Felipe Calderon’s outgoing government.
Enrique Pena Nieto spent his final days as president-elect in talks with leaders in the US and Canada, Mexico’s partners in the regional trade organisation, Nafta.
The PRI governed without interruption for 71 years until 2000, and its opponents often accused it of being authoritarian and corrupt, and of having links to the drug cartels.
But during his election campaign Enrique Pena Nieto was adamant the party had evolved.
“I can say categorically that in my government, there won’t be any form of pact or agreement with organized crime,” he said.
“It’s not the path nor the route to greater security for the Mexican people.”
Earlier this month, he denied the PRI’s return to power would be a return to the past.
“It is not, because this is a different country,” he said.
Enrique Pena Nieto has indicated he will focus on tackling extortion, kidnapping and murder, and he has drafted in support from Colombia’s former top policeman.
The outgoing president is due to take up a position at Harvard University and maintains he has made Mexico safer.
But for many Mexicans, Felipe Calderon’s legacy as president is of an estimated 10,000 drug-related killings a year for the past six years.
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An improvised raft carrying 23 Cuban refugees has sunk as it approached Mexican island Isla Mujeres near the popular resort of Cancun.
Two people have died and 11 are missing and presumed dead.
Survivors told Mexican media that their home-made raft sank as it hit the reefs surrounding Isla Mujeres on Friday morning.
The refugees said they headed for Mexico in the hope of joining relatives in the United States.
The accident happened some 150 metres (140 yards) off Isla Mujeres, in an area known for its strong currents, the Mexican Navy said.
Ten Cuban refugees managed to swim to safety.
But they said the others were taken away by the currents or fatally injured as they were pushed towards the rocks by the big waves.
“One of them head a head injury and died on the beach. The other one, a woman, was taken to hospital but also died of her injuries,” said a Navy official, Ismael Gonzalez Gil.
There were no children among the 23 Cuban refugees.
The survivors said group’s intention was to reach the Mexican coast, which lies some 220 km (140 miles) west of Cuba, and eventually cross the border into the United States.
More than 130 prisoners are on the run in Mexico after a mass breakout from Coahuila jail close to the US border.
The inmates escaped through a tunnel dug out from the prison’s carpentry workshop to a perimeter fence.
The prison director and two other employees are being held over the incident at the facility in Coahuila, the state’s attorney general said.
A massive manhunt is under way, and the US authorities are on alert in case any escapees attempt to cross the border.
Some 132 men managed to escape from the prison in the city of Piedras Negras, which borders Eagle Pass in Texas to the north.
More than 130 prisoners are on the run in Mexico after a mass breakout from Coahuila jail close to the US border
One by one, the inmates fled through a tunnel measuring 2.9 m (9.5 ft) deep and 7 m long, attorney general Homero Ramos said in a statement broadcast on local TV.
The state government has offered rewards of 200,000 pesos ($15,600) for information leading to the arrest of each prisoner.
This is not the first time such a mass breakout has taken place in Coahuila, but it is by far one of the biggest in recent years.
Such events only go to underline further to the incoming government of President Enrique Pena Nieto the dire state of the prison system in Mexico.
Enrique Pena Nieto is to take office on 1 December. However, prison reform is not expected to be one of the main priorities of his government.
Mexico has beaten Brazil with 2-1 at Wembley and has won the men’s Olympic football gold medal for the first time.
Oribe Peralta struck from the 18-yard box after 32 seconds following some poor Brazilian defending.
Fabian Marco hit the Brazil crossbar before a completely unmarked Oribe Peralta headed his team’s second goal.
Brazil, also hoping to win gold for the first time, pulled a goal back through Hulk in injury-time, before Oscar headed wide when well positioned.
But the South American side scarcely deserved to take the game into extra-time after a very patchy performance, particularly in defence.
Mano Menezes’s team had scored three in each of their previous five games and were treating the tournament as an important staging post ahead of hosting the World Cup in 2014.
But if they are to succeed on home soil they will have to show a significant improvement from what they produced at Wembley, with star forward Neymar a largely peripheral figure.
Mexico has beaten Brazil with 2-1 at Wembley and has won the men's Olympic football gold medal for the first time
Mano Menezes went into Saturday’s match under huge pressure to deliver gold and fill the one significant missing blank for the Brazilian team, but if the game was to be Brazil’s coronation as Olympic champions then Mexico clearly had not read the script.
They defeated Brazil 2-0 in a friendly earlier in the summer and stunned Wembley when Peralta’s low strike nestled in the bottom corner while many inside the stadium were still taking their seats.
Manchester United defender Rafael was partly at fault for the goal, his sloppy pass allowing Javier Aquino to nip in and dispossess Sandro, with the ball running invitingly into the path of Oribe Peralta.
Brazil could not find their stride – a situation not helped by a series of niggly fouls that broke up play and angered coach Mano Menezes, who could be seen waving an imaginary card on the touchline.
And their disappointing start was put into stark perspective when Mano Menezes made a change just after the half-hour mark, bringing on Hulk for Alex Sandro.
The substitution made a difference and Jose Corona managed to palm clear a swerving strike from Hulk while Marcelo shot wastefully wide after he had linked with Oscar and Leandro Damiao to carve open the left side of the Mexican defence.
By the early stages of the second half it was obvious that Mexico had opted to try to defend their lead.
This seemed to play into the hands of their opponents, particularly Neymar, who had disappointed in the opening half but briefly relished the chance to repeatedly run at the Mexico defence.
He twice shot wide and saw another effort blocked, but his influence soon faded and Mexico almost struck with a swift break.
There was more shoddy Brazilian defending involved too, as Fabian dispossessed an opponent far too easily and eventually saw his overhead effort rebound off the crossbar.
An unmarked Oribe Peralta later slotted home from six yards but Brazil were saved by the offside flag. There was to be no reprieve with 15 minutes remaining.
A free-kick was delivered from the right and the Mexico striker was left completely alone to head home from eight yards.
Brazil’s frustrating afternoon saw team-mates Juan Jesus and Rafael square up to each other in the final minutes.
Hulk’s injury-time strike into the bottom corner briefly ignited hope of a spectacular comeback and Oscar then headed wastefully wide at the near post as Mexico held on.
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Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Mexico, being greeted by thousands in central city of Guanajuato, and welcomed by President Felipe Calderon.
The Pope is at the start of his first visit to Spanish-speaking Latin-America.
President Felipe Calderon said the visit had enormous importance as Mexico was suffering greatly from drug-related violence.
Before his arrival, the Pope said it was vital “to fight this evil” and urged the young to renounce drugs. After Mexico, he will travel to Cuba.
Pope Benedict XVI said Marxism there was no longer working.
He said the ideology no longer corresponded to reality and called for “new models” to be found.
The Pope made it clear that “the Church is always on the side of freedom of thought and of religion”.
Pope Benedict was welcomed by cheering crowds at Guanajuato on Friday. Supporters at the airport chanted: “Benedict, brother, you are now Mexican!”
The pontiff then led a short blessing on a specially erected platform within the airport.
Pope Benedict XVI was welcomed by the Mexican President Felipe Calderon
All day under a hot sun, thousands of cheering followers – dressed in white and yellow T-shirts and waving flags – lined the route to the city of Leon to catch a glimpse of Benedict as he passed in the armour-plated Popemobile.
Security is tight – with the federal police and military deployed in large numbers.
Pope Benedict XVI is due to hold talks with President Calderon later on Saturday.
He will also spend time in the city of Silao, near Leon.
On Sunday some 300,000 people are expected to attend Mass, and huge camp sites have been set up to give pilgrims somewhere to stay.
Earlier, while on route to Mexico, Pope Benedict told journalists: “I share Mexicans’ joy and hope but also their anguish and grief,” referring to the country’s drug related violence, which has taken 50,000 lives in the past five years.
One Mexican supporter said: “With this wave of violence that we’re living, not just in individual states but across the country, the Pope’s visit could be a great source of comfort.”
Some 88% of Mexicans – almost 100 million people – are Roman Catholic, and the Pope’s predecessor, John Paul II, was a regular visitor to the country.
Pope Benedict XVI is not regarded with the same affection yet, but there is undoubtedly excitement about the visit among the faithful.
The Pope faces sensitive issues in Cuba.
This week the campaign group Amnesty International reported that life was getting harder for dissidents there.
Earlier this month, activists were evicted from a church they had occupied in the capital, Havana, demanding an audience with the Pope.
In Havana, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the government was open to opinions that differed from its own, in a reference to the Pope’s comments that Marxism there was no longer working.
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At least 38 inmates have died in Apodaca prison riot in northern Mexico.
Security officials said the inmates had either forced or bribed a number of guards to open the doors between two separate wings of the jail.
A fight broke out between the prisoners, in which the killings occurred.
Deadly prison fights between rival gangs are not uncommon in Mexico: last month 31 inmates were killed in similar circumstances in Tamaulipas state.
Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said inmates at the Apodaca prison had also set fire to mattresses and other flammable objects.
“Until now, we have counted 38 dead,” he said.
At least 38 inmates have died in Apodaca prison riot in northern Mexico
Jorge Domene said investigations were under way to establish the causes behind the fight, but that so far the evidence pointed towards a confrontation between rival gangs.
He said the security forces were now in control of the situation.
Relatives of the prisoners have gathered outside the prison, north of the city of Monterrey, to find out news about who has been killed and injured.
Jorge Domene asked them to be patient.
“We have more than 3,000 inmates in this jail and we have to account for all of them first,” he said.
Mexican jails are notorious for overcrowding, corruption and rioting.
In January, 31 inmates were killed at a prison in Altamira, in Tamaulipas state, when rival gangs confronted each other with homemade weapons and knives.
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook Mexico on Saturday killing at least two people and knocking out power in the capital.
The quake, which struck the western state of Guerrero at 19:47 local time, was strongly felt in Mexico City.
At least two people have died in the state, but reports suggest the country has escaped major damage.
An 18-year-old man was killed when a roof collapsed in Iguala, a small city between the capital and the tourist resort of Acapulco.
A second man, aged 25 was killed when a rock fell on a small van on the Mexico City-Acapulco highway, according to Reuters news agency.
The epicenter of the quake was 28 miles from Iguala in Guerrero and the tremor was 40 miles (65km) deep, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The quake, originally reported as 6.7 on the magnitude scale, was also felt in other states including Michoacan, Puebla and Hidalgo, local media reported.
“I was dreadfully afraid, I thought it was never going to end,” Laura Gonzalez, who was in a bar in the capital at the time of the quake which lasted 40 seconds, told Reuters.
A severe earthquake in 1985 killed thousands of people and wrecked parts of Mexico City, and many residents live with the fear of a repeat.
Shoppers at a popular department store in Condesa rushed out to the street, some of them crying and shouting, and traffic lights were out at several intersections, causing traffic jams.
“The most damage was in Iguala because the epicenter was very close to there,” a spokesman for Guerrero emergency services told Reuters.
Landslides had closed highways in the Pacific coast state but the duty fire officer in Acapulco said that while residents of the port city felt the earthquake and telephone services were down, there were no reports of major damage.
Power was knocked out in many districts of the capital and one building was evacuated, but Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said water services,
the subway and the airport were working normally.
“The city center is fine, there are people skating on the ice rink,” Mexico City emergency services spokesman Manuel Mondragon said of the winter entertainment facility set up in the central Zocalo square.
“At the moment, there is no reason for concern,” he told Reuters.
A source from phone operator Telcel said services went out briefly in some sections of the city as the mobile network was overloaded with people trying to call family and friends.
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A ten-year-old girl from Mexico gave birth to a baby boy, according to reports.
The girl arrived at a hospital in the city of Puebla, suffering from life-threatening complications in her 31-week pregnancy, including seizures.
The 10-year-old girl gave birth by Caesarean section to a boy weighing 3.3 lb (1,500 g) at the Women’s Hospital in the city, 60 miles south-east of Mexico City.
A ten-year-old girl from Mexico gave birth to a baby boy
The premature baby is now said to be in intensive care following a bout of pneumonia, but officials said his young mother visits her son every day to breastfeed, according to the New York Daily News.
The newspaper said the hospital revealed the baby boy is in a good condition considering his premature birth and the mother is recovering well after first coming to the centre on October 22.
However, hospital director Rogelio Gonzalez told UpFrontNewswire that the birth had been reported to the state’s Attorney General’s Office, which is investigating whether the girl could have been raped and who the father is.
Mexican state laws prevent young mothers having abortions unless they can prove they were the victim of sexual assault.
The legal age of consent is 12 and women who have abortions in Puebla face a fine or prison sentence if they are unable to prove they were sexually abused. However, the laws are currently under review.
The shocking case is not the first of a young girl giving birth in Mexico.
In August 2010, an 11-year-old known only as Amalia had a child two weeks prematurely after being raped repeatedly by her stepfather when she was 10 years old.
When the girl’s mother discovered her daughter was pregnant, she had a nervous breakdown and demanded to know how it happened, said local aid workers.
Amalia told her mother she had been raped by her stepfather and the attack was immediately reported to the police.
The city of Cancun had passed a law banning most elective abortions, but women’s rights groups claimed the girl wasn’t told by doctors that the new legislation allowed for rape victims to have abortions.
And in 1999, a 13-year-old rape victim in the state of Baja California became a cause celebre after medical authorities refused to give her the abortion she was entitled to by law. She later gave birth to the child.
The girl, Paulina Ramirez, brought her case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2002, drawing international attention and sparking a high-profile campaign seeking reparations from the Mexican government.
The Mexican government later agreed to pay her more than $30,000.
Police have found five severed heads stuffed in a sack outside a primary school in the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco, in Mexico.
The macabre discovery comes after drugs gangs threatened to attack elementary school teachers if they did not pay half their wages to the drugs cartels.
The extortion demands forced around 130 schools in the city to close earlier this month, after administrators and parents decided it was not safe enough to start classes.
The severed heads were found on Tuesday inside a sack that had been placed inside a small wooden crate, the Guerrero state public security secretariat said.
According to Mexican police say the five heads were positioned next to a handwritten message threatening three alleged drug traffickers and Guerrero State Governor Angel Aguirre, who had promised a series of measures to combat the criminal gangs.
A police officer in Acapulco stands next to the sack containing five severed heads which has been placed in a small wooden crate
The message, in an apparently sarcastic tone, told people to thank the governor for continuing “this war”.
All heads appear to be of men, but some of the five headless bodies found elsewhere in the city the previous day were too badly burned to immediately determine their gender.
The horrific event comes just days after police found a woman’s decapitated body in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, alongside a handwritten sign saying she was killed in retaliation for her postings on a social networking site.
At the end of August, as the new school year began, dozens of teachers in Acapulco said drugs gangs had threatened them with violence if they did not hand over half their salaries from October 1.
Administrators and other personnel also refused to go to work and many schools were left empty and padlocked for two weeks.
The teachers have since been on strike, leading to the closure of more than 100 schools. Earlier this month, they took to the streets to protest at the situation.
Guerrero State Governor Aguirre has promised a series of measures, including increased police patrols and the installation of security cameras and panic buttons in schools.
Even with those security measures, teachers say they still fear for their own and pupils’ safety.
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