MEXICO CITY - To generate tools to facilitate the crossing of goods across borders and foster economic well-being, the Federal Government has launched the New Scheme Certified Companies (NEEC).

A BIG difference between Mexico’s presidential election next year and the previous one, in 2006, will be the role of the internet. Access has only recently become mainstream: about a fifth of Mexican homes had an internet connection last year according to the census, which is probably well out of date already.

Mr Calderon said attempts by drug gangs to manipulate elections was a "new and worrying fact". Speaking as his sixth and final year in office began, Mr Calderon also defended his decision to use troops to tackle the cartels.