Mexican Coke firms fined for strong-arm tactics
Mexico’s competition watchdog upheld on Thursday fines totaling almost $15 million against 15 Coca-Cola (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) bottlers and distributors for forcing shops to sell only their soft drinks.
The distributors, many owned by Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (KOFL.MX: Quote, Profile, Research), the world’s No. 2 Coke bottler, as well as the Coca-Cola Export Corp., owned by Coca-Cola Co. (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research), were fined about $1 million each for insisting that stores in Mexico only sell Coke brand products and not competitors’ drinks.
The Federal Competition Commission said the fines were handed down “for carrying out monopolistic practices in the distribution and sale of carbonated d(PBG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Mexico has the highest per capita consumption of Coke in the world, making it a strategic battleground for cola giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.
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The fines are a victory for upstart bottler Ajegroup, the maker of Big Cola soda, and for the owner of a small corner store in Mexico City who began to sell Big Cola alongside Coca-Cola products.
More: today.reuters.com
MEXICO: Coke fined by competition authority
Coca-Cola’s Mexican subsidiary and some of its bottlers have been fined US$15m after failing to convince Mexico's competition watchdogs that it had not broken trade laws.
The Federal Competition Commission upheld a fine imposed on Coke and its bottlers for allegedly pressurising small shops into refusing to stock other brands of cola.
The Commission received a complaint from Raquel Chavez in 2003. She accused a Coca-Cola distributor of refusing to sell to her small shop because she had started stocking the rival brand Big Cola.
Big Cola, a Peruvian-based supplier of cheap-end colas, joined the action against Coca-Cola.
Pepsi's antitrust complaint brings $54 million levy
Mexico's antitrust commission has hit Coca-Cola and its bottlers with a $54 million fine in response to 5-year-old complaints by rival Pepsico that it used exclusive deals with stores to shut out competitors.
If it sticks, the fine would be one of the largest ever levied against the Coke system for anti-competitive violations.
Coke said it plans to appeal. If the company loses, it will be responsible for about $1 million of the fine. Six bottlers are responsible for the rest, and each would decide on its own whether to appeal, said Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch.
Pepsi's
Fines against Coca-Cola in Mexico upheld
Mexico's federal competition commission has upheld a $15 million fine against Coca-Cola's Mexican subsidiary for anti-competitive practices.
The commission began investigating the company when a complaint was made in 2003 by Raquel Chavez, a Mexican shopkeeper. Ms Chavez claimed that her Coca-Cola supplier refused to sell to her shop when she began to stock a rival brand, Big Cola. The complaint led to the commission finding other similar incidents.
The fines have been imposed on 15 of the distributors and bottlers of Coca-Cola in the region and will be a victory for Ajegroup, the maker
Mexico rights watchdog says police torture persists
Mexican police and prosecutors still use torture and their tactics have grown more sophisticated, despite President Vicente Fox's pledges to end such abuse, the national rights watchdog said on Tuesday.
Jose Luis Soberanes, president of the national human rights commission, said torture increasingly comes in the form of psychological rather than physical abuse.
"Unfortunately, torture is not a thing of the past," Soberanes told reporters, urging the government to become more zealous in combating it. "Torture has been modernized."
Threats, simulated executions, forcing the victim to hurt others or to watch others being tortured are among the
FIFA Slaps Mexico Football with Heavy Fines for Doping
Football's (soccer's) world governing body FIFA has fined the Mexican football federation after two of its players were expelled from last month's Confederations Cup in Germany following positive doping tests.
In a statement Wednesday, FIFA said it fined the Mexican Federation more than $583,000 after Aaron Galindo and Salvador Carmona tested positive for the steroid nandrolone.
The Mexican Federation tested the players before the tournament, which began on June 15. However, the men were not expelled until June 22, after they played in Mexico's 2-1 victory over Japan and 1-0 win over
U.S. firms say Mexico boycott could backfire
U.S. lobbyists lashed out Wednesday at the Mexican Nothing Gringo campaign timed for May 1 to coincide with the Day Without Immigrants boycott in the United States.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico said organizers are risking a backlash and foolishly targeting some of their best allies, since U.S. corporations have actively lobbied the U.S. Congress for immigration reform.
The chambers president said Mexicans refusal to buy American on May 1 could further polarize the debate and make reform supporters seem anti-American.
Migrants and their supporters in the United States are being encouraged to skip work
In Mexico, Taking Fizz Out of the Cola Giants
The founders of the upstart cola maker Ajegroup know a thing or two about guerrilla marketing.
When Shining Path rebels took to hijacking Coca-Cola Co. trucks in the late 1980s during Peru's civil war, the Ananos family started peddling its own line of soft drinks in recycled beer bottles to meet local demand. Today the company controls more than one-fifth of the cola market in Peru.
Ajegroup is still taking potshots at Coke, but the battle has shifted north to Mexico, where the Peruvians are once again making gains through unorthodox methods. In a
Mexico medical students learn on 'breathing' robots
On Monday, Mexico City's UNAM University opened the world's largest "robotic hospital" where medical students practice on everything from delivering a baby from a robotic dummy to injecting the arm of a plastic toddler.
The robots are dummies complete with mechanical organs, synthetic blood and mechanical breathing systems.
"The country's rapid increase of medical students has not kept up with the number of medical facilities," said Joaquin Lopez Barcena, an associate dean at the university's medical school. "This a very a good learning opportunity for our students."
The $1.3 million facility has 24 robotic patients and
Thacher Proffitt's Mexico Office Announces New Partner Luis Enrique Graham
Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP, a 150-year- old law firm, announced today that Luis Enrique Graham has joined its Mexico City office as a Partner, effective December 5, 2005. Luis Enrique will lead the litigation and arbitration department in Mexico. This increases the total number of attorneys in the Mexico City office to 24.
"We are delighted to welcome Luis Enrique to Thacher Proffitt," said Paul Tvetenstrand, the firm's managing partner. "He is an immeasurable asset to our Firm. We're one of the fastest growing law firms in
MEXICO CITY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Mexico's stock exchange said on Thursday it will not replace steel maker Hylsamex when it delists and cuts the company from the IPC index next week, further narrowing the market's already reduced breadth.
Acquisitions by big foreign players in Mexico in recent years have led to a string of delistings of blue-chip firms like cement maker Apasco, Bancomer bank and other financial groups, cutting into trading volume on the country's bourse.
Hylsamex, which Argentine firm Techint is buying for $2.25 billion, will be delisted from the market as of Monday, leaving only 34 stocks in the
