Sisal, Yucatán, residents say yes to tourism but no to rapid development

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June 30, 2022

Sisal, Yucatan — Sisal resident Don Zurdo with his granddaughters. Unsustainable overexpansion is bulldozing through his beloved hometown, he says.

For Mexican towns, getting designated as a Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town) is often seen as a boon.

Getting to call yourself one makes your town more attractive to tourists and gives it federal money for things like the renovation of historic districts, beautification of homes and businesses and free promotion by the federal government.

More tourism dollars coming in mean more employment and business opportunities for residents and more development investment — and thus more tax revenues.

So why would residents say no to an offer to be a Magical Town?

El Palmar State Reserve — A labyrinth of canals in the El Palmar state nature reserve. Sisal is located wholly within the nearly 48,000-hectare reserve, a Ramsar site.

But that’s exactly what happened in Sisal, Yucatán, a colonial port that became a quiet fishing village when Progreso was built in 1844. When the federal government awarded it Magical Town status in 2020 in response to applications by the Yucatán state government, which would like to expand Sisal’s tourism profile, most residents wholeheartedly rejected their town’s new title, saying that they would lose their homes and be reduced to workers for foreign investors. By the end of that year, residents began circulating petitions against the designation. By July 2021, they were staging protests.

Many locals who oppose the designation say that the construction of luxury hotels and reclamation projects already here — as developers and the tourism industry look for the next Cancún — have destroyed large sections of important mangroves crucial to preserving the area’s rich ecosystem.

Sisal also lies within the dense El Palmar state nature reserve, 47,931 hectares of dense jungle and swamp with mangroves protecting hundreds of birds and aquatic life.

Most opponents say they don’t object to tourism. Sisal already attracts plenty of tourists annually, mainly during Easter Week. But these residents say they desire a more measured approach to the state’s large-scale tourism plans.

However, their pleas have gone largely unanswered, and so activists are making their point by example — promoting ecologically sustainable tourism as an alternative to what they consider the pursuit of rapid capitalistic gain — at any cost.

Don José, 67 — or Don Zurdo as he is known locally — is one of those fighting against the “unsustainable overexpansion” that he says is recklessly bulldozing through his beloved hometown.

“It’s horrible, and it makes us feel as though there is nothing we can do about it,” he says. “We have been fighting for many years to convince the government to do things in a different way that respects our way of life, but to no avail.”

Don Zurdo belongs to the Ziz-Ha cooperative, a group that promotes ecotourism in Sisal by offering guided tours of the mangroves and the beaches here. He considers himself a “man of nature” who has spent more than 50 years maintaining the unique cultural heritage of barely 2,000 residents.

The veteran guide by no means rejects the arrival of more tourism and investment in Sisal, so long as it is ecologically sustainable and protects local tradition. The closest thing to his heart, and what gives him the youthful exuberance that drives him forward, he says, is his love for the ciénega (swamplands).

“What I like the most about my job is this, the ciénega, going on tours, duck hunting and fishing. I know most of the land like the back of my hand, and I am a person who appreciates nature, I love it, especially the work I do in tourism,” he says. “I do it with the most pleasure imaginable, and do you know why that is? Because I like to watch the birds and the fish that live in the cenotes.”

Don Zurdo recalls his childhood when his father would take him into the swamp to hunt lagartos, the local name for Morelet’s crocodiles, and other exotic game, a legal activity in those days. Today, he’s limited to the annual quota for the migratory pato canadiense (lesser scaup), a quota never exceeded due to the vast numbers of birds and small numbers of skilled hunters here.

Sisal — The view of the *ciénega* (swamplands) at sunset from Don Zurdo’s palapa.

This brings high-end niche tourism and international export sales, which he believes works in tandem with the natural surroundings and is a strong lure for tourists.

“I started fishing when I was about 13 years old,” he says. “I was a rather restless boy, and I didn’t really like school, so I learned how to fish from my father and my grandparents.”

“Things were very different back then. My father could live solely off fishing in good times, during July and August,” he explained. “When bad weather came around December, he dedicated himself to hunting… That’s where I took all my knowledge from.”

I just hope the next generation can take my work and that of others into the future,” he says, “and we can avoid becoming like the Port of Progreso, which has been completely paved with concrete.”

Hugo Antonio Curiel Durán, 38, originally from Guadalajara, works for Don Zurdo as a tour guide. He sees the pros and the cons in Sisal’s recent developments.

“This increase in construction can be viewed as good and bad in some ways,” he says. “There is less space for people to build their new homes, and those who are not dedicated to tourism inevitably suffer.”

“The village is converting into a touristic town, and people from outside arrive with their riches, which makes local properties more unaffordable for sisaleños (people from Sisal). The richer class can buy large plots of land, while locals are forced to live over four generations in the same humble space.”

Curiel’s huge admiration for Yucatan’s coastal culture convinced him to enroll in the Autonomous University of Sisal. He then decided to settle in the area. “They know how to preserve their traditions [here], but sometimes too much external touristic influence doesn’t help,” he admitted. “The loss of local culture is an interesting question.”

“The people love the annual Carnival [celebration],” he added. “They dress up and have fiestas; this will not be lost, I hope. The fishing festival is also unique to Sisal and its traditions. I believe this is still strong here, and it is truly beautiful. It certainly helps to preserve cultural identity.”

Curiel wants the Yucatán government to listen to residents’ demands and warns that if cultural spaces fall into the hands of unsympathetic investors, it could eventually obliterate valued traditions.

“I hope this does not happen,” he says. “They are trying to preserve these [traditions] with the help of the church to put on these festivals. I am not from here, but I have seen many other villages grow into towns and towns grow into cities, all through the medium of tourism. Some will be in favor, and others may not be, but those in favor will surely take advantage.”

Sisal has been a tourist attraction for many years, Curiel says, perhaps historically for even longer than Progresso, but in a very different way, “one that has always incorporated sisaleño customs.”

“Most locals prefer their cultural way of life, but others by the same measure want more investment in their forgotten town,” he adds.

Both can work together, Curiel believes.

“But tourism is coming whether people like it or not,” he says. “We just need it to be done in the right way.”

Mark Viales writes for Mexico News Daily

Archaeologists find burial site with remains of 4 Mexica children in Mexico City

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MND Staff

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June 30, 2022

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Skull analysis showed that the oldest Mexica child died of an illness related to anemia, disease and dietary imbalance. INAH

Archaeologists in Mexico City have discovered the remains of four Mexica children buried in the early years of Spanish colonial rule.

National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) archaeologists found a burial site with skeletons inside what they believe was a traditional four-room Mexica home. Located in what is now the Lagunilla neighborhood in Mexico City’s historical center, the burial site has been dated to between 1521 and 1620, a period that corresponds to the first century of Spanish colonial rule.

Juan Carlos Campos Varela, the archaeologist who led the excavation project, said the sex of the four minors hasn’t been determined and doing so is difficult, but researchers believe they died of illness during a period of crisis before being buried in a traditional pre-Hispanic style. There is no evidence that the children were killed as part of a ritual sacrifice, Campos said.

Based on the size of the bones and teeth, INAH believes the oldest child died between the ages of six and eight. An analysis of the skull suggested that the child suffered “an illness directly associated with anemia, infectious processes, parasitic disease and dietary imbalance,” INAH said in a statement.

Lead archaeologist Juan Carlos Campos Varela at the burial site. INAH

The youngest child may have been a baby “spontaneously aborted due to a dietary deficiency or maternal stress,” the institute said.

Campos said the offerings buried with two of the children are of special interest. “Two didn’t have offerings … [but] the probable aborted baby was accompanied by two tripod ceramic bowls and was lying in a globular pot of 35 centimeters diameter and a height of 50 centimeters,” he said.

“This speaks of the survival of a funerary practice that sought to return [the baby] to the mother’s womb, represented by the pot.”

The oldest child was buried with five small pots, two winches for yarn and a figurine that shows a woman holding a young girl, INAH said. The figurine offering suggests that the skeletal remains are of a girl, it said.

One of the children was buried with a figurine of a woman holding a young girl. INAH

INAH also noted that “a blue-pigmented vessel” containing the bones of a bird was found in a separate location on the site of the Mexica home. “Although it lacks the attributes of Tláloc, god of rain, its coloring could associate it with the aquatic world, still revered in the pre-Hispanic way,” the institute said.

Campos said the Mexica people faced harsh conditions after the arrival of the Spanish in their capital, Tenochtitlán, and were unable to escape during the siege and after the fall of the city.

The discovery of the skeletons of the four children came three years after archaeologists found seven graves from the early colonial period near the site of the Mexica home.

“Three years ago we excavated in front of the property we’re working on now and we found three adult graves and four children’s graves, also from the early colonial period,” Campos said.

“If we add those children to those we have today, the evidence indicates that at least in this neighborhood … those who were dying the most were infants,” he said.

The discovery of remnants of the Mexica culture is fairly common in Mexico City. Last December, INAH announced the discovery of a post-conquest Mexica altar at a property near Plaza Garibaldi, Mexico City’s home of mariachi music, while archaeologists in 2020 found 119 human skulls in a circular skull tower on a street behind the metropolitan cathedral and next to the Templo Mayor, the main temple of Tenochtitlán.

Mexico News Daily

Sanctuary prepares for massive turtle arrival in Manzanillo, Colima

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Lydia Carey

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June 30, 2022

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A sea turtle on the beach in Manzanillo.

Volunteers in Manzanillo, Colima, are gearing up for a busy season collecting turtles eggs on the beaches in the area. The yearly nesting season runs from July to December and during that period in 2021 the Tortugario Manzanillo (Manzanillo Turtle Sanctuary) collected 108,000 eggs from 1,660 nests. This year they expect similar collection numbers.

The center has about 30 volunteers, according its director, Sonia Quijano, who will begin night watches along the beach starting this weekend. In 2021 they expanded the extension of beach that they are watching and protecting, which has led to even greater number of eggs retrieved and turtles hatched at their facilities.

Scientists have shown that sea turtles are important in many ways for healthy oceans, performing roles as varied as maintaining delicate coral reefs to transporting nutrients from the oceans to beaches. Every year thousands of sea turtles come to the shores of Mexico to lay their eggs and then head back into the water to continue their global migration.

Of the world’s seven species of sea turtles, the most common species on the Manzanillo beaches are the Olive Ridley sea turtles as well as leatherbacks and green sea turtles.

Long threatened by poachers, many organizations along Mexico’s Pacific coast work to protect turtles and their eggs. Even with the assistance of their human partners, there is only a 1 in 1,000 chance that sea turtles released back into the ocean will survival the perils of their adolescence in the ocean (but if they make it they can live up to 150 years).

With reports from AF Medios

Puebla town’s last standing pyramid at risk of disappearing

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MND Staff

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June 29, 2022

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A small, overgrown pyramid with some rocks removed, apparently by humans — It appears someone has already begun to dismantle the small, overgrown pyramid, which could be more than 1,000 years old.

The only remaining pre-Hispanic pyramid in a community near the city of Zacatlán, Puebla, is at risk of being demolished by a private citizen who reportedly plans to appropriate the land on which it stands.

The approximately 6-meter-high structure is located on a piece of cultivated land in San Pedro Atmatla, a community about 2 kilometers from Zacatlán in northern Puebla. The pyramid, which looks more like a hillock as it is covered with dirt, grass and other vegetation, was likely built between the 10th and 16th centuries, according to a report by El Sol de Puebla.

The newspaper reported that a local plans to appropriate the land where the pre-Hispanic ceremonial temple stands. Residents who spoke with El Sol de Puebla said a man is planning to demolish the pyramid.

There is already evidence that the structure has been recently damaged, apparently “by the hand of man,” the newspaper said. Some of the stones used to built it have been removed and now lie beside the structure’s side. It was unclear whether local authorities planned to intervene to stop the destruction of the pyramid.

The land where Zacatlán is located was inhabited by the Chichimeca people early in the second millennium of the Common Era, but local historian Sergio Ramos González believes the pyramid may have been part of an Olmec settlement.

There are three other pyramids in the broader local area but they are not in San Pedro Atmatla. Five others have been lost over the years.

With reports from El Sol de Puebla

In Hidalgo, residents check the time in style

By

Leigh Thelmadatter

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June 29, 2022

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British clock of Pachuca, Hidalgo — The famous British clock of Pachuca, built by miners from Cornwall. Diego Delso

If you have ever seen promotional materials about the city of Pachuca, Hidalgo, you have seen an image of its bright, white monumental clock dominating the main square. The clock tower is the pride of the city and the main symbol of its British heritage. So, where did it come from?

In the 19th century, British companies took over the area’s silver and other mines as Mexican companies had tapped them out with the technology previously available. Along with new techniques and machinery, the British companies brought over Cornish miners, who settled in Pachuca and the surrounding communities.

They also brought soccer, but that is another story.

Integrating themselves into their new town and country, the British community decided to build the clock in 1904 for Mexico’s upcoming 1910 independence centennial. Francis Rule, a mining magnate, provided the initial funding, and other area companies pitched in.

clock tower of Jacala, Hidalgo — The now eye-catching monumental clock of Jacala, thanks to recent mural work. OrgullosamenteHidalguense

The resulting edifice was a 40-meter tall Neoclassical building in white stone. On the third level, there are marble statues related to the history of Mexico, but the clockworks were made in Europe to be an exact replica of those of London’s Big Ben.

Pachuca is not the only place in Hidalgo to boast of a monumental clock. As is common in Mexico, smaller communities follow the lead of those with economic, political and or social power. At least 10 exist in the state.

But the Pachuca clock was part of a first “wave” of clock towers in the state, which was prompted by a federal decree requiring cities and ports to construct some kind of monument for the independence centennial.

These clocks are made from tuff, an extremely common volcanic stone that has been used in monumental construction in central Mexico for centuries. The colors of this stone vary, depending on where it is mined.

In the north of the state, the small city of Huejutla constructed a clock at the same time as Pachuca. Inaugurated in 1908, it is technically the first monumental clock, but it is only half the height of Pachuca’s. Some sources say that the clock was inaugurated on the date of the centennial, September 15, 1910, but the municipality insists on the 1908 date.

Given their original patriotic purpose, both the Pachuca and Huejutla clocks play the Mexican national anthem at 6 p.m.

The clock tower in Tecozautla began construction around the same time, but because of the Revolution, the project was not completed until 1921. Interestingly enough, the Porfirian eagle, a symbol of the pre-Revolution regime, survived the turmoil and is still prominently displayed.

Similarly, the towns of Cuautepec de Hinojosa and Metzquititlán finished their clock towers in the 1920s. The Metzquititlán one is distinguished by a large bronze eagle cast in Mexico City.

Pachuca clock tower circa 1915 — Pachuca’s newly built clock tower circa 1915.

These clocks became popular and symbolic of the towns in which they were constructed. The design and materials of these clocks also reflect the decades in which they were built.

The clock in Acaxochitlán is Art Deco in design with a mixed construction of brick, steel and cement. Locally mined tuff was used for the facade.

Due to a lack of records, it is not known when construction started or finished nor where or when the clockworks were purchased. The style and what little information exists point to a completion date of the early 1930s.

Most of the rest are of more recent construction. For Mexico’s independence bicentennial, the town of Atlapexco decided to build its own clock tower, finishing it in 2012. It is a very modern structure of block and cement, listing the names of all the communities in the municipality.

The clock towers of Tecozautla and Pachuquilla, Hidalgo. Limo 5 & Rube HM

More recent additions include the clock built in 2017 in La Lagunilla, a small community outside the city of Tulancingo. Yet another was constructed in Pachuquilla, the municipal seal of Mineral de la Reforma, located just outside of Pachuca.

And then there’s the monumental clock of Jacala, a tiny town in Hidalgo’s portion of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. It didn’t turn that many heads. It is of a simple, square design with a tile roof. Until recently it was painted in a drab two-tone color.

In 2020, the municipality decided to liven up the structure by doing something very Mexican: painting murals on the large, flat surfaces. Today, it is the first thing by far that draws the eye in the main square, presenting images of the town’s founder, its agriculture, its food and the local huapango dance. At 6 p.m., instead of the national anthem, a huapango song is played.

All these clocks were constructed in the main squares of their towns, with the express purpose of becoming community focal points; they are often the scene of civic and cultural events. For example, one of the highlights of Huejutla’s Xantolo festival is the lighting of hundreds of candles in front of the clock tower in the main plaza.

In most cases, these clock towers have also become symbols of their communities, regions and even the entire state of Hidalgo.

That said, the clocks do sometimes have problems with maintenance and the need for restoration. Just about all the older clocks have recently had work done — or are in need of it — on the facades, the clockworks or both.

Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture, in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.

13 years after summer program at NASA Puebla woman builds space telescopes

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Lydia Carey

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June 29, 2022

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dominguez — Margaret Domínguez: 'We aren't geniuses, we are just people who like to research.'

Margaret Domínguez didn’t know it but her life was about to change when Jonathan P. Gardner from the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) came to a physics conference she organized at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP) in 2008.

Gardner encouraged the young physics student to apply for a summer internship at NASA and her acceptance took her career down a new path that has led to forming a part of a team of scientists and engineers building some of the world’s largest and most advanced telescopes at NASA.

Now an optical engineer, Domínguez grew up in rural Puebla state in the municipality of Tecamachalco, in a country where only 12% of engineers nationwide are women. She went on to obtain a Masters at the University of Arizona, but even in the United States she was a minority in her field: only 13% of engineers are women in the U.S.

At this week’s Woman + Science Week 2.0 at the Monterrey Tec university, Domínguez encouraged other women with a passion for science and math to follow in her footsteps.

“’Life is not easy for any of us. We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.’ That’s a quote by Marie Curie, the first person to win Nobel prizes in both physics and chemistry. If she could do it, we all can,” said Domínguez addressing the conference.

Domínguez seems to have been blessed with those qualities. She was part of the team that launched the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018 and is now helping to design what was the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), renamed the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope after the American astronomer and first female executive of NASA.

Following some delays due to COVID, the Roman Telescope is set to launch some time before 2027 and will study dark matter, exoplanets, and the formation of the universe. The telescope will have 100 times the visual field of the Hubble, which will allow it to study up to 10,000 galaxies at the same time.

At 31, Domínguez has become an example for young women interested in the sciences and is often asked to speak at events dedicated to women in science as well as at a Ted Talk in 2018. But despite her growing celebrity she insists that her feet are on the ground even if her eyes are in the heavens.

“Normal people work at NASA, we aren’t geniuses, we are just people who like to research and work hard.”

With reports from El Sol de Puebla and Muy Interesante

Tasty insects take center stage at the Chiapas Edible Ant Culinary Festival

By

Lydia Carey

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June 29, 2022

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Festival organizers and guests serve up ant-centric local specialties.

The nucú flying ant, a beloved Chiapas delicacy, was the star attraction at the Feria Gastronómica del Nucú (Edible Ant Culinary Festival) in the capital city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez last weekend.

Hosted by the city government and the Tuxtla Institute of Art and Culture (ITAC), the gastronomy fair presented 50 unique dishes developed by 40 traditional cooks and chefs, all including nucú edible ants (also known as chicatana ants).

More than just good eating, the fair included presentations about edible ants as a gourmet delicacy, as well as workshops on how to prepare them, and even a book dedicated to the topic. An important part of the regional Zoque cuisine, the edible ant is only one of six insect species that are consumed in Chiapas and 35 nationwide, said Omar Velázquez Toledo, a chef and the director ITAC.

“This is a custom of ancient cultures,” said Velázquez about the use of edible insects. Historical information dates their use back at least as far as the 1920s as a primary ingredient in regional cooking. Though the most traditional way to consume ants has long been boiled or toasted with salt, nowadays you will find them incorporated into flour for baked goods, as an ingredient in mole, in tamales, salads, sweets, and ice cream.

A seasonal delicacy, the nucú, or flying ants of the area, fly from their nests at the beginning of the rainy season when they are “hunted” by local families, many who have spent generations collecting insects in the area. The nucú, also called zompopo, nacasmá, tzim tzim and cocosh by the native peoples of Chiapas, are known most commonly as chicatana ants in the rest of the country. The labor required to collect just a few grams of ants or their eggs (another gourmet delicacy), means your next ant omelet won’t be cheap: they can sell for almost 1,500 pesos (US $75) a kilo in markets across Mexico.

The last decade has seen many international organizations, including the United Nations, calling on countries to incorporate more bugs into their national diets to fight world hunger. The slightly crunchy, peanut-flavored chicatanas are certainly high in protein and nutrients, and can provide many benefits for humans, including improving the digestive system. But while chefs and diners ooh and ahh over ants as a gourmet ingredient, scientists warn that ant populations are decreasing, partly due to over-collection by humans and partly to loss of habitat.

With reports from EFE

From local hero in Oaxaca to Russian spy in the US: scientist sentenced to 4 years

By

MND Staff

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June 29, 2022

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Héctor Cabrera led a double life with two different families.

A scientist from Oaxaca who pleaded guilty to spying for Russia in the United States was sentenced last week to four years and one day in U.S. federal prison.

Héctor Cabrera Fuentes, a microbiologist from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region who led a double life with two different families, was sentenced June 21 in Miami federal court. After maintaining his innocence for two years, the 37-year-old pleaded guilty in February to acting on behalf of the Russian government in the United States without notifying the U.S. attorney general.

Cabrera was arrested in February 2020 at Miami International Airport, where he and his Mexican wife – he also has a Russian wife – were waiting to board a flight to Mexico City.

According to an Associated Press report, the commencement of the scientist’s “botched intelligence mission” can be traced back to a 2019 trip his Russian wife and their two daughters took from Germany to Russia to take care of a bureaucratic matter. An FBI agent said in an affidavit that accompanied the original indictment against Cabrera that the woman was prevented from leaving Russia when she attempted to return to Germany. Cabrera subsequently traveled to Russia to see his Russian family and while in the country was allegedly contacted by a Russian official he had met years earlier in a work-related meeting.

The Russian official, who isn’t identified in U.S. court documents, told Cabrera that his family shouldn’t go to Europe or apply for a United States visa. According to the FBI, AP reported, it was around that time that the scientist began to suspect that the official worked for the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, or FSB.

At a later meeting in Moscow, the official showed Cabrera emails he had written when he was apparently looking for real estate in Miami. According to the original indictment, the Russian subsequently told the Mexican, “we can help each other.”

Cabrera agreed to the official’s request to travel to Miami, and – using the name of an associate – rented an apartment in the same complex where a U.S. government informant lived. The Russian official asked the scientist to keep tabs on the informant and take note of the location of his vehicle. Cabrera told U.S. authorities that he agreed to act as a spy in exchange for Russia allowing him to remove his two daughters from that country.

AP noted that the individual Cabrera was tasked with monitoring is not identified in court documents and is described only as a United States government “confidential human source” who had provided information about Russian intelligence activities that affect U.S. national security interests.

The day before he was arrested, the scientist and his Mexican wife “attracted the attention of a security guard as they were caught on surveillance tape tailgating another vehicle onto the premises of a Miami-area condominium and snapping a photo of the U.S. source’s car and license plate,” AP said. By taking a photo, Cabrera ignored Russia’s instructions not to take pictures but to just jot down the location of the informant’s vehicle, the news agency said.

Before he was arrested, Cabrera worked at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, which is jointly run by North Carolina’s Duke University and the National University of Singapore. It was unclear how he maintained that job while apparently carrying out surveillance for Russia in Florida during a period of approximately one year.

In 2018, the FEMSA Biotechnology Center at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Nuevo León appointed him director. When appointing him, the center noted that Cabrera had a doctorate in molecular biology from a Russian university and a doctorate in molecular cardiology from a German university.

According to AP, the now-imprisoned scientist is “something of a local hero” in his hometown of El Espinal – located about six kilometers from the Isthmus hub of Juchitán – where he is “remembered for his work to promote scientific research, heal those suffering from diabetes and assist in the rebuilding of homes after devastating earthquakes.”

The mayor of El Espinal told AP shortly after Cabrera’s arrest that “it is very strange for this to happen because he is a very altruistic person with a lot of social conscience.”

“He helped people and all this seems strange. We don’t know what happened, but I bet it is a confusion or an attack for scientific reasons. He may have discovered something that upset some people or some business interests,” Hazael Matus said.

With reports from AP and Infobae

Mexico City airport prohibits Uber and other platforms but it’s business as usual

By

MND Staff

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June 29, 2022

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sign at aicm — A sign warns travelers that digital ride-hailing platforms are not permitted.

Drivers for ride-hailing apps such as Uber are defying a ban on pick-ups and drop-offs at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM), a rule authorities are currently doing little to enforce.

A ban on dropping passengers off at the airport took effect last week, while a prohibition on collecting passengers was already in place. The latter ban has long been ignored by drivers for companies such as Uber and Didi, and they are now also disregarding the former.

Signs warning passengers and drivers about the bans appeared at the AICM last week, but they are doing little to deter users of ride-hailing apps. Despite the erection of the signs – a move praised by taxi drivers – it’s business as usual with regard to the arrival and departure of private ride-hailing vehicles, the newspaper El País reported Tuesday.

“The app drivers continue dropping off and collecting passengers without interference from the police,” reported a journalist who visited the airport. “… A police officer … says he hasn’t received instructions to fine anyone. Another airport employee confirms the lack of instructions.”

Ride-hailing app driver Luis Alberto Pérez told El País he thought twice about accepting a trip to the airport because he heard about a crackdown last week. Drivers flouting the ban face fines of up to 43,000 pesos (US $2,130) and a person Pérez knows was threatened with that penalty while at the AICM last week.

“It’s excessive. We don’t even earn that much in a month,” the 52-year-old driver said as he took the El País journalist to the airport. “I don’t know if the application provides support for those kinds of situations. I’ll investigate,” Pérez said.

Any lingering doubts drivers had about going to the airport appear to have been largely alleviated by the lack of enforcement this week. Pérez predicted that people will continue to use apps to book trips to and from the AICM and drivers will meet the demand they generate. “The airport taxis are really expensive, almost double what we charge,” he added.

Mayra Moya, a 33-year-old soccer referee, flew into the AICM for a holiday in the capital and used her phone to book a trip shortly after leaving the terminal building. When alerted to the new signs by El País, Moya remarked that “the prohibition is on the signs only.”

She described the ban as stupid, asserting that it doesn’t consider the needs of airport users, especially women who feel safer traveling in private ride-hailing vehicles because they can digitally share the details of their trips with family or friends.

“We have the right to choose the means of transport [we use] because we pay for it,” Moya said.

Víctor Acevedo, who flew in from Zacatecas with his family, told El País he understood taxi drivers’ concerns about ride-hailing apps “because they pay the airport” for the right to use its taxi stands. However, his family chooses to travel by Uber rather than traditional taxis. “Uber’s service is better,” said Marcela Reyes, Acevedo’s wife, shortly before they loaded their suitcases into their driver’s car.

While drivers for companies such as Uber and Didi are still providing service to and from the AICM, taxi drivers do appear to have benefited from the broadening of the ban and the efforts to make passengers aware of it. A taxi ticket saleswoman told El País that demand for trips departing the airport has increased 30% since the new signs appeared. However, demand is still down compared to five years ago when Zaira Morales sold some 100 trips per day. Now she’s lucky to sell 50.

The lower demand means taxi drivers – who have staged protests against ride-hailing companies – have to wait longer for a fare. Wait times have recently been almost an hour, up from 30 minutes in busier times, El País said.

Arturo Arellano, a taxi driver, told the newspaper that the ride-hailing apps are “in fashion, but noted that they are not authorized to provide services to and from the airport. Unsurprisingly, he is happy about the implementation of the broader ban and the installation of the signs.

“There you go,” Arellano quipped after loading a tourist’s luggage into his vehicle. “When there are fewer app vehicles, we have work.”

With reports from El País

2 Mexicans charged in connection with deaths of 51 migrants in tractor-trailer

By

MND Staff

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June 29, 2022

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Police and emergency personnel at work with the open trailer in the background. — The trailer was found in an industrial area on the outskirts of San Antonio, with the rear door ajar.

Two Mexican men have been charged in connection with the death of at least 51 mainly Mexican migrants who perished after being trapped in stifling conditions in a tractor-trailer found abandoned in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday.

Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D’Luna-Méndez were charged in United States federal court on Tuesday. According to court documents and U.S. authorities, the Mexican nationals were charged with possession of firearms while living in the U.S. illegally.

Their arrest came after investigators traced the tractor-trailer’s registration to an address in San Antonio, located about 230 kilometers northeast of the northern border city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila. The residence was placed under surveillance and D’Luna-Bilbao and D’Luna-Méndez were detained separately when seen leaving.

A U.S. citizen identified as the person who drove the truck is also expected to face charges but he remained in hospital on Tuesday night, according to a Mexican official cited by the Reuters news agency.

Though its common for authorities to find trailers smuggling migrants is in Mexico, many likely evade detection and reach the U.S. border. — Though it’s common for authorities to find trailers smuggling migrants in Mexico, many likely evade detection and reach the U.S. border.

The truck and the deceased migrants – 39 men and 12 women – were found next to railroad tracks in an industrial area on the outskirts of San Antonio. Among the dead were at least 27 people believed to be Mexican as well as four Hondurans and three Guatemalans. The nationality of the other victims hasn’t been established.

Craig Larrabee, a high-ranking official with the investigative branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the death toll was the largest ever from a human trafficking attempt in the United States.

According to Texas authorities, the rear door of the trailer was open when the vehicle was found and “stacks of bodies” were inside. The bodies of other victims were found on the ground near the truck. The temperature rose to almost 40 C in San Antonio on Monday, heat that apparently created intolerable conditions in the trailer. Authorities said the victims were hot to the touch and that there were no signs of water in the truck, which didn’t appear to have air-conditioning.

Over a dozen survivors, including four children, were transferred to local hospitals for treatment for heat stroke and exhaustion. Other people in the trailer – which may have been transporting some 100 migrants – apparently fled.

Footage of the aftermath of the trailer’s discovery, from AFP via Infobae.

Anonymous United States and Mexican officials who spoke with Reuters said it appeared that the migrants had recently crossed into the U.S. and were picked up by the truck to be taken to an undisclosed location to work. Officials said the migrants had been sprinkled with a pungent substance, a tactic known to be used by some smugglers to conceal the scent of human cargo and thus evade detection by sniffer dogs.

The tragedy comes six months after at least 55 people were killed when a tractor-trailer transporting more than 150 mainly Central American migrants overturned on a highway in Chiapas. Ten migrants died in 2017 after being transported by a trailer found abandoned in a San Antonio Walmart parking lot. The driver of that vehicle was sentenced to life in prison.

The detection of trailers carrying large numbers of migrants is fairly common in Mexico, although it’s likely that many evade authorities and reach the northern border. More than 650 Central American migrants were found hidden in the refrigerated containers of three tractor-trailers traveling in Tamaulipas last October, while over 100 migrants were abandoned in a truck in Veracruz last June.

President López Obrador on Tuesday described the most recent deaths as a “terrible tragedy,” while U.S. President Joe Biden said the loss of life was “horrifying and heartbreaking.”

“This incident underscores the need to go after the multi-billion dollar criminal smuggling industry preying on migrants and leading to far too many innocent deaths,” Biden said in a statement.

“… Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy, and my administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott blamed Biden for the deaths, writing on Twitter that “they are a result of his deadly open border policies” and “show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.”

Earlier this year, Abbott implemented a stringent inspection process for commercial vehicles crossing the border into Texas but it was later lifted when he struck agreements with the Mexican governors of border states.

López Obrador and Biden – who has had to contend with a record number of illegal migrant crossings since he took office in January 2021 – are scheduled to meet in Washington D.C. on July 12. Migration cooperation will be one of the items on the agenda, according to a White House statement.

With reports from Reuters

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