Under pressure to resign, PRI boss also under investigation for several crimes

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June 15, 2022

PRI heavyweights were all smiles for the photo at a meeting Tuesday but reports described the encounter as tense. Embattled leader Alejandro Moreno is fourth from the right.

Alejandro Moreno’s tenure as national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) – and perhaps his entire political career – appears to be hanging by a thread.

Less than a month after making headlines for a callous remark he made about journalists while governor of Campeche, Moreno, widely known as “Alito,” is facing pressure to quit as PRI chief as well as accusations of illicit enrichment, tax fraud, money laundering and other crimes.

The 47-year-old deputy met on Tuesday with former PRI national presidents, who asked him to step down from the party’s top job to avoid another electoral disaster. Roberto Madrazo, César Camacho and Claudia Ruiz Massieu were among the former PRI chiefs who explicitly asked Moreno to resign, according to a report by the Reforma newspaper. Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, a senator and interior minister during Enrique Peña Nieto’s 2012-18 presidency, also urged him to quit.

Moreno’s meeting with PRI heavyweights came just nine days after elections at which the ruling Morena party won four of six governorships up for grabs. Two of the states where Morena triumphed – Hidalgo and Oaxaca – are currently ruled by the PRI.

At Tuesday’s meeting, described in most reports as tense, the ex-party presidents reportedly told Moreno that there is growing internal dissatisfaction with his leadership of the PRI because he has managed the party’s affairs without consulting widely. They also said that this month’s poor election results would affect his capacity to lead the party.

In addition, Moreno’s reputation has taken a hit as a result of current Campeche Governor Layda Sansores’ recent dissemination of compromising audio recordings, including one in which he said that journalists should be starved to death.

Despite calls for him to resign, the party chief has vowed to stay in the job until his designated term ends in August 2023, two months after gubernatorial elections in México state – a traditional PRI heartland – and Coahuila. However, Moreno has conceded that he is not in a position to seek the party’s backing to run as a presidential candidate in 2024.

His ability to stay on as PRI national president and to continue to represent the party in federal Congress could be threatened by the criminal charges he faces in his home state of Campeche. The state Attorney General’s Office is investigating the former governor for illicit enrichment, tax fraud, money laundering, abuse of authority, embezzlement and improper use of powers, Reforma reported.

Morena leader Delgado and Moreno — Morena leader Delgado, left, would be happy to see Moreno, right, carry on as leader.

While a federal deputy between 2012 and 2015, Moreno allegedly bought at least 13 lots in an exclusive residential estate in Campeche and subsequently concealed his apparent ownership of the land. His purchase was plagued by “presumed irregularities,” Reforma said.

As part of its investigations, the Campeche Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday dispatched police to the Lomas del Castillo estate, where Morena owns a large home. The officers parked in front of the PRI chief’s residence and took photographs and video footage of it, Reforma said. The newspaper also said the officers asked to inspect a total of 25 homes and lots in the estate.

State Attorney General Renato Sales told Reforma that investigators are seeking to determine which properties are owned by Moreno. “There are some in his name in the public property registry and others are in the name of family members, acquaintances, friends, his brother,” he said.

Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI), a non-governmental organization, said in a report last week that Moreno “used his political influence and power to triangulate money through the purchase and sale of properties with the objective of leaving no trace on his declarations of assets or … [in documents submitted to] tax authorities.”

The PRI chief promptly issued a statement to deny the accusation. Despite the pressure he is currently under, Moreno is keeping up appearances – at least on his Twitter account.

“United, nothing can stop us,” he tweeted Tuesday above a photo in which he appears with the PRI leaders of all 32 federal entities. “Here we are united, moving forward as a team, putting the membership of each entity first,” Moreno wrote Wednesday in another post that featured him happily interacting with party officials.

Equally happy, and perhaps more so, is Morena party leader Mario Delgado. He tweeted on Wednesday that his rival should continue as leader. “He has helped us a lot in the growth of our movement …”

With reports from Reforma

US Coast Guard rescues 2 Mexican fishermen who spent 23 days at sea

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MND Staff

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June 15, 2022

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US Coast Guard rescues Mexican fishermen in Huatulco — US Coast Guard members found the Mexican fishermen floating in waters off Huatulco, Oaxaca. The men said they'd be adrift for 23 days. Photos courtesy of US Embassy

Two Mexican fishermen who said they had been adrift for 23 days have been rescued on the high seas by the United States Coast Guard more than 200 kilometers off the coast of Huatulco, Oaxaca.

“They survived by drinking rainwater,” said a Twitter update posted June 13 by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. “The Coast Guard took them safely to Manzanillo” in the state of Colima.

They also survived by eating fish, a report in the newspaper El Universal said, and received medical attention after they were brought to Manzanillo, approximately 900 kilometers from where they were found in Huatulco.

El Universal also noted that, despite the rescue, port captains in the Oaxaca coastal areas of Huatulco, Puerto Escondido and Salina Cruz had not reported any missing fishing vessels recently.

US Coast guard rescue fishermen in Oaxaca waters — One of the two rescued Mexican fishermen, in the plaid pants, is assisted by US Coast Guard members.

The embassy did not provide any information about the fishermen’s home port, what type of USCG vessel was used in the rescue or how the adrift boat was located. The effects of the recent Hurricane Agatha, which hit the Oaxaca coast on May 30, might have been responsible for dragging the small boat further out into the ocean.

The U.S. Coast Guard operates in Mexico under a joint agreement that targets drug smugglers off the Pacific coast, according to the Associated Press. Much of the South American cocaine in the United States ends up first in Mexico by seafaring smugglers using fishing boats, skiffs, commercial cargo ships and even submarines. The USCG in Mexico also participates in search-and-rescue operations and responds to ships in distress.

The rescue of the castaways was announced less than a week after a homemade submarine was found abandoned about 10 kilometers from Santiago Astata, on the Oaxaca coast. The acrylic and fiberglass craft, about 10 meters long and 1 meter wide, allegedly was used to transport cocaine, according to the newspaper Milenio.

It was found by local authorities after an anonymous call to 911, and then the site was secured in a joint operation of the Mexican navy, army and National Guard. One publication called it a “semi-submersible.”

With reports from El Universal and Milenio

10 killed in clash between security forces and Familia Michoacana cartel

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MND Staff

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June 15, 2022

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Police at the scene of Tuesday's confrontation in Texcaltitlán.

At least 10 presumed cartel members were killed in a clash with police in México state on Tuesday morning.

The confrontation occurred during an operation in southern México state to apprehend a leader of the Familia Michoacana crime group, according to a report by the newspaper El Universal.

The state Attorney General’s Office (FGJ) said state police came under attack by a heavily armed group on the Toluca-Texcaltitlán highway in the municipality of Texcaltitlán, located about 65 kilometers southwest of Toluca. Officers responded with “legitimate force,” it said.

The FGJ said that 10 aggressors – presumably members of the Familia Michoacana – died at the scene of the clash and four others were injured. El Universal put the death toll at 11.

The FGJ also said that police arrested seven people – four men and three women – and seized weapons, ammunition, tactical equipment and five vehicles. Soldiers, marines and members of the National Guard provided support to the state police.

Three state police were wounded in the clash and two required medical treatment and were taken to hospital by helicopter. The FGJ reported that they were out of danger.

The Familia Michoacana, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and smaller local criminal groups operate in southern México state, where police have been targeted on several previous occasions.

In Coatepec Harinas, which borders Texcaltitlán, 13 police were killed in March 2021 in a clash against the Familia Michoacana, while four officers were wounded last month when armed men attacked a police station in the municipality of Sultepec.

With reports from El Universal

Security forces deployed in San Cristóbal, Chiapas, after armed gang sows terror

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MND Staff

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June 15, 2022

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Security forces parade through San Cristóbal but Tuesday's five-hour shooting spree was over by the time they arrived.

A large group of armed men sowed terror in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, on Tuesday, firing guns into the air, burning tires and vehicles and blocking streets in the southern colonial city.

Soldiers, members of the National Guard and municipal and state police were deployed to restore peace but not until the armed men had had free rein for hours, firing their weapons at will and causing panic among residents. Tuesday’s aggression was related to a dispute over control of a market on the northern side of San Cristóbal, according to the mayor.

About 100 armed men – some wearing bulletproof vests and balaclavas – acted with impunity for almost five hours, according to a report by the newspaper El Financiero. Identified as members of a crime group called Los Motonetos, the men fired shots into the air outside the Mercado del Norte (Northern Market) and blocked its southern entrance as well as the highway to the municipality of Chamula, among other roads.

The men also set tires on fire at a location near a gas station and a department store, the newspaper El Universal reported. El Financiero said the men – who were not confronted by security forces at any stage – torched vehicles as well.

Citizens take cover in a store in San Cristóbal de las Casas — Citizens take cover in a Walmart store in San Cristóbal de las Casas on Tuesday.

“Go and arrest them, go and arrest them, I need to [pick up] my son,” one desperate man shouted at police amid the chaos.

No injuries or deaths were officially reported Tuesday, but an image of a young man who was allegedly killed by a stray bullet circulated on social media. President López Obrador confirmed Wednesday that one person had been killed. “It’s regrettable that these acts of violence continue to occur. … In the case of San Cristóbal, there are two groups fighting for control of a market. … Unfortunately one person lost his life,” he said.

People in the area where the show of force occurred either fled or took shelter in shops, hotels or houses. Shoppers in a Walmart supermarket and employees of a medical center lay on the floor to reduce the risk of being hit by a stray bullet, while some students were unable to leave their schools due to the aggression, which began in the morning and continued until mid-afternoon. By the time security forces arrived at the market area at around 4:30 p.m., the armed men were nowhere to be seen.

A woman wrote on Facebook that she was among a group of people hunkering down in a hotel as shots rang out.

“We’ve been here since approximately 1:40 p.m. and we haven’t seen the National Guard, the military or municipal police go by. They’ve been conspicuous by their absence. This is the peace that the mayor brags so much about. It’s now 3:23 p.m. and the gunshots continue, some very close. Please don’t go out,” she wrote.

San Cristóbal Mayor Mariano Díaz Ochoa said in an interview that the aggression was related to a dispute over control of the Mercado del Norte between two “groups of vandals.”

“We can’t solve the problem on our own,” he said. “The most regrettable thing is to see the individuals shooting into the air.”

Security sources cited by El Universal said Tuesday’s aggression was triggered by an attack perpetrated by the Mercado del Norte administrator on a female stall holder. The stall holder required medical treatment but the administrator refused to pay. The actions of the armed men were apparently intended to intimidate him into resigning.

Control of the market – San Cristóbal’s largest – appears to be especially coveted because the area in which it is located is a hub of illegal commerce. Residents told El Financiero that drugs, weapons and stolen cars can all be bought in that area of San Cristóbal, one of Chiapas’ main tourism draws.

With reports from El Universal, El Financiero, El País and UNO TV

Chiapas skulls were deformed to resemble jaguar heads: INAH researcher

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MND Staff

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June 14, 2022

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Researcher Javier Montes with bones and skulls found in Chiapas.

Some of the 150 skulls found in a Chiapas cave 10 years ago had been deformed to look like jaguar heads, according to a National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) researcher.

INAH announced earlier this year that the skulls found in a cave in a municipality on the border with Guatemala in 2012 are not the craniums of recent victims of violent crime as investigators originally thought but belonged to Mayan people who were likely killed in a sacrificial ritual between A.D. 900 and 1200.

Javier Montes de Paz, a researcher with INAH, told the newspaper Reforma that the skulls belonged to women, children and men who were captured and decapitated by a rival group. Teeth were removed from the skulls, which were placed on a skull rack called a tzompantli, according to INAH, which has studied the craniums over the past decade and determined they are approximately 1,000 years old.

“It was an altar — not to venerate so much as to show to the opposing people,” Montes de Paz said.

The skulls were discovered in a cave 10 years ago, and were initially thought to be victims of narcos.

He said that some of the skulls showed signs of “intentional cranial deformation,” but they weren’t deformed by the captors. Rather, the skulls of people destined to become warriors were modified from birth to resemble jaguar heads, Montes de Paz said. The plasticity of young skulls allowed them to be modified, he said, adding that the purpose of the distortion was to make them look ferocious. In addition, the jaguar is revered by Mayan people, and there are numerous jaguar deities.

“They deformed the head because they wanted to look like [jaguars],” Montes de Paz said. The desire for would-be warriors to resemble the feline was so great that they didn’t just modify the shape of their heads but also performed “surgery to cause a squint because the jaguar has stereoscopic vision,” he said.

“The deformation mainly occurred among warrior groups or those who were destined to be military chiefs, because they had to instill fear in the enemy,” the researcher added. To achieve the desired cranial alteration, he explained, a couple of thin wooden boards or ceramic slabs were attached to a person’s head to place pressure on certain parts of the skull. The sought-after effect could take up to five years to achieve, Montes de Paz said.

The researcher said that warriors or would-be warriors who were captured were stripped of the ferocity their deformed skulls afforded them via decapitation and the removal of their teeth, which were also altered to resemble those of jaguars. He said it hasn’t yet been determined whether the teeth were removed before or after the victims were sacrificed. Montes de Paz predicted that further study of the skulls will allow researchers to understand even more about the people they belonged to and those who captured and killed them.

The researcher noted in a previous interview that 124 toothless skulls were found in the 1980s in a cave in the Chiapas municipality of La Trinitaria, which is also on the border with Guatemala. Five other skulls that were also probably part of a tzompantli were found in 1993 in a cave in Ocozocoautla, a municipality in Chiapas’ northwest.

With reports from Reforma

Pozo de Luna wine brand aims to put San Luis Potosí vintages on the map

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Diana Serratos

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June 14, 2022

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Pozo de Luna wines from San Luis Potosi — Pozo de Luna's first vintages arrived in 2016, but the brand already has plenty of national and international recognition. Photos courtesy of Pozo de Luna

Vinicola Pozo de Luna, a winemaking project in the perhaps unexpected state of San Luis Potosí, sits in an area that once formed part of a colonial wine route of far-flung vineyards planted by Mexico’s first missionaries.

During the colonial period, the Catholic Church was the only entity allowed to produce wine in New Spain, but in modern times, winemaking has returned to many of these regions. For that reason, even though winemaking in San Luis Potosi is a relatively new development in the modern era, the area has a long history of grapes in the ground.

Pozo de Luna is also a bit of a newcomer. The wine brand was founded only in 2008, but it’s already made waves in the short time since José Cerrillo Chowell and Manuel Muñiz Werge, two friends from the area who had some land, decided to start a business and expand wine tourism in the area.

In the Soledad municipality, just minutes from the local airport, they built a vineyard with all the finest and most advanced technology that they could import from abroad.

Pozo de Luna vineyards in San Luis Potosi — Founders and friends José Cerrillo Chowell and Manuel Muñiz began their business with grapevines they brought back from France in 2010.

In 2010, with the guidance of Dr. Joaquín Madero Tamargo, a wine scientist and viticulturist (a wine grape growing expert), they brought vines from France to Mexico.

The vineyard sits at 1,870 meters above sea level, in a semi-desert climate that provides an excellent climate for sauvignon blanc, viognier, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, Syrah, malbec, and other varietals.

Their business has grown little by little: from their first 10 hectares, they have expanded to 15, and the quality of Pozo de Luna’s wine is a testament to Dr. Madero’s excellent work. Their incorporation of new, increasingly popular varietals is proving that Pozo de Luna is a sustainable business with advanced winemaking techniques that each day is drawing increasing wine tourism to its door.

When San Luis Potosí eventually joins the country’s extensive wine route, Pozo de Luna will be one of the reasons it did.

These days, Pozo de Luna hosts visitors for all types of tastings and tours of the vineyard led by company sommelier Alfredo Oria. Their location near the capital’s historic center and the San Luis Potosí airport is an additional plus.

Pozo de Luna’s first vintages arrived in 2016, using grapes from the 2013 harvest. They included three varieties: a Syrah, a merlot (which later became a single-vineyard wine, meaning that all the grapes used for the bottle came from the same parcel of land) and, finally, a blend of cabernet, Syrah and merlot.

Their red wines generally spend two years in either French or American oak barrels.

In 2017 they produced their first white wine, a sauvignon blanc. And since then, they have continued expanding their line with a viognier, a malbec (another single-vineyard wine), and a nebbiolo rosé. This year, they launched a pinot noir that spent nine months in new barrels, a new young Syrah, a grand reserve Syrah, a malbec and a merlot.

The Pozo de Luna Syrah is a 2016 vintage that’s won both a gold and silver medal at the Decanter Awards.

Any wine collection worth its salt will want to have wine from Pozo de Luna — reds that are elegant, long and structured, whites that are classic and sophisticated. I tried the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, a fresh single-vineyard wine with a soft yellow color and greenish hues. It was aromatic, very herbal and citric, with pear, pineapple and honey in the nose.

With a fresh and silky mouthfeel, this is a great wine for accompanying seafood and fresh cheeses.

Also from a single vineyard, the 2016 Syrah has an excellent evolution. The aging process was done nicely, with tannins that though present remain polished. Plum and blackberries flavors jump out at you. This wine is begging for a demiglace cut of meat or a spread of charcuterie.

Their first white wine has already won several international awards and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The full list (so far) of their wines’ accolades is below:

vineyards of Pozo de Luna, San Luis Potosi — Working with a wine scientist and viticulturist appears to have helped the vineyard greatly; it’s already producing medal-winning wines.

Pozo de Luna Sauvignon Blanc 2017

Gold Medal at the San Luis Potosí International Wine Competition Festival (2017)
Best Wine of its Class gold medal, San Luis Potosí International Wine Competition Festival (2018)
Gold Medal, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, México selection (2018)

Pozo de Luna Viognier 2018

Silver medal, San Luis Potosí International Wine Competition Festival (2019)
90 points score out of 100 in the Guía Peñín wine guide (2020).
Bronze medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (2020)

casks at Pozo de Luna, San Luis Potosi — The vineyard’s red wines generally spend two years in either French or American oak barrels.

Pozo de Luna Merlot 2016

92-point rating in the Mexican wine guide, Guía Catadores (2019)
90-point score in the Guía Catadores (2021)
Bronze medal at the Decanter Awards (2021)
Bacchus de Oro award at International Bacchus Competition (2021)

Pozo de Luna Ensamble Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot 2016

92-point rating in Guía Catadores (2019)
90-point rating in Guía Catadores (2021)
Bronze medal at the Decanter Awards (2021)

Pozo de Luna Malbec 2017

The Great Gold Medal, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (2020); also named a Revelation Wine
90-point rating, Guía Catadores (2019)
9-point rating, Guía Peñín (2020)

Pozo de Luna Syrah (2016)

Bronze medal, Decanter Awards (2020)
Silver medal, Decanter Awards (2021)

You can find Luna de Pozos wine in Mexico and in the United States in California.

Sommelier Diana Serratos writes from Mexico City.

3 Mexicans among winners of National Geographic’s Wayfinder awards

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MND Staff

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June 14, 2022

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A photo by Yael Martínez whose work focuses on fractured communities and the impact of organized crime.

Three Mexicans are among 15 recipients of National Geographic‘s 2022 Wayfinder Award, which recognizes innovative individuals engaged in groundbreaking work in a variety of mediums.

Mónica Alcázar-Duarte, a photographer and visual artist, Yael Martínez, a photographer, and Carlos Velazco, a biodiversity consultant, are the three Mexican winners. They will join the National Geographic Society’s global community of explorers and receive a monetary prize to support their work.

Alcázar-Duarte, a Mexico City native, is a Mexican-British multidisciplinary artist and photographer whose work acknowledges her indigenous heritage while exploring current ideals of progress, National Geographic said. “In her projects, Alcázar-Duarte mixes images and new technologies, such as augmented reality, to create multilayered work, producing meaning through seemingly disconnected narratives,” the magazine said.

Her personal website features projects with intriguing titles such as Red Mist, Possible Landscapes and Mexico: An Inside Outsider.

Wayfinder award winners Alcázar-Duarte, Martínez and Velazco.

Martínez’s work focuses on “fractured communities” in Mexico, National Geographic said, adding that his images “often reflect the sense of emptiness, absence, pain, and suffering of those affected by organized crime.”

The Guerrero native, a nominee member of the acclaimed photographic cooperative Magnum Photos, showcases projects on his personal website with titles such as La casa que sangra (The House that Bleeds) and La raíz oscura (The Dark Root).

Meanwhile, Monterrey-based Velazco has documented more than 5,600 species (including undescribed species) and logged more than 24,300 observations on nature site iNaturalist while helping other users make more than 131,000 identifications, National Geographic said.

The magazine also said that Velazco’s life goal is to continue to promote biodiversity protection and documentation while empowering local communities and individuals to protect nature through knowledge and respect.

According to National Geographic, the Wayfinder Award “recognizes and elevates a group of individuals who are leading a new age of exploration through science, education, conservation, technology and storytelling.”

“These individuals have proven themselves as the next generation of influential leaders, communicators, and innovators whose critical work demonstrates the power of science, and inspires us to learn about, care for, and protect our world,” it said.

Recipients of the award – previously called the Emerging Explorer Award – are “engaged in groundbreaking work that challenges the most entrenched stereotypes in the animal kingdom, focuses on inclusive and community-based conservation, blends social justice with ecological scientific research, and promotes racial literacy in education.”

Information about all 15 of the Wayfinder Award recipients is available here.

Mexico News Daily

Attacks against wholesalers shut down chicken sales in Guerrero capital

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MND Staff

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June 14, 2022

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closed chicken sellers in Chilpancingo, Guerrero — Chicken vendors in Chilpancingo have closed after eight people with connections to the local industry were killed.

A string of murders is making it hard to buy fresh chicken at markets in Chilpancingo, Guerrero.

Eight people – seven men who worked in the poultry industry and the 12-year-old daughter of one of them – were killed last week, leading virtually all chicken stalls in the state capital’s main markets to close.

Fresh chicken distributor Tomás Ramírez was the first victim, shot dead Monday, June 6, in the Baltazar R. Leyva Mancilla central market. Chicken stall owners told the newspaper Reforma that Ramírez had only returned to Chilpancingo three days before he was murdered, after leaving the city due to threats. Armed men torched six public transit vehicles in Chilpancingo on the night of the homicide, the newspaper El Universal reported.

Another poultry industry worker was murdered at the same market last Thursday. Two gunmen killed an employee of a chicken distribution company as he was leaving the market in a delivery truck. Another man in the same truck was wounded.

Miitary at scene of poultry farm attack in Chilpancingo — Armed men killed farm owner/chicken distributor Víctor Vega at a poultry farm on Saturday.

A massacre occurred two days later at a poultry farm in Petaquillas, a community in the municipality of Chilpancingo. Armed men killed farm owner/chicken distributor Víctor Vega, his 12-year-old daughter and four farm employees in a brazen attack on Saturday morning. Two other employees were wounded. Reforma reported that one of the murder victims was Víctor Vázquez, half-brother of slain chicken distributor Tomás Ramírez.

Chicken stalls in Chilpancingo’s six biggest markets closed in response to the three attacks, whose motives have not been clearly established. El Universal reported that a section of the central market where more than 30 chicken stalls are located remained empty on Monday afternoon. “There are no vendors nor buyers. Hardly anyone walks through there,” it said.

Reforma reported that state police, soldiers and members of the National Guard visited the market on Saturday afternoon and took photographs of vacant chicken stalls. One vendor told the newspaper Sunday that sales have declined at all stalls since Ramírez’s murder.

One of the other Chilpancingo markets where chicken vendor stalls have been closed in recent days is the San Francisco market. An employee of a butcher shop located just outside the market said Sunday that she was selling pork and beef but not chicken because none had arrived. “We don’t know when there will be [more],” she said.

A police officer stands watch at the Baltazar R. Leyva Mancilla market. — A police officer stands watch at the Baltazar R. Leyva Mancilla market in Chilpancingo.

In the central market, where the only chicken available on Monday was leftover frozen stock, a vendor told El Universal that no one knows when the distribution of fresh chicken will recommence and when the stalls that sell the product will reopen. She also said that stall owners had no guarantee that they wouldn’t be targeted by criminals.

In light of the recent violence, the Guerrero government announced it would increase security in the capital, but the police presence in the central market on Monday was minimal. According to the state Attorney General’s Office, two criminal organizations – Los Ardillos and Los Tlacos – operate in Chilpancingo.

The newspaper El Sur cited an anonymous source that told them that the attacks are the result of a truce between the two criminal groups being broken by the killing of Guerrero transportation leader Francisco García Marroquín on May 31 in Chilpancingo. The source told El Sur that García was close to Los Tlacos.

However, former Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese bishop Salvador Rangel claimed that the recent attacks against poultry industry workers were committed by a third group that is seeking to displace the other two. Rangel, who has an intimate knowledge of organized crime in Guerrero, didn’t name the organization, but asserted that authorities are aware of it.

“This will affect all of us,” one central market vendor said, referring to the recent shootings in the state capital. “People aren’t coming [to shop], they’re afraid.”

With reports from Reforma, El Universal and El Sur

Policy change: Health Ministry announces COVID vaccination for children 5-11

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MND Staff

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June 14, 2022

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child is vaccinated — A court decision may have contributed to the government's decision to vaccinate children. deposit photos

After long maintaining that vaccinating young children against COVID-19 wasn’t necessary, the federal government on Tuesday announced that it will offer shots to minors aged five to 11.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said that children in that age bracket (or their parents) will be eligible to register their interest in getting vaccinated on the government’s vaccination website starting this Thursday. They will be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, he said.

“There is a new change in the national policy against COVID-19,” López-Gatell told reporters at President López Obrador’s regular news conference. “… A contract has already been signed with the company Pfizer for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, of which we’re going to purchase about 8 million doses that will allow us to begin this vaccination process.”

López-Gatell, who has led the government’s pandemic response since the first coronavirus cases were detected here in early 2020, said the dates on which young children will be able to get a shot will differ depending on the municipality in which they live. “You have to be attentive to the official announcement in each municipality, it won’t be simultaneous in the whole country,” he said.

The announcement comes after the government extended its national COVID-19 vaccination campaign to children aged 12 to 15 in late April. Health officials had previously asserted that inoculating younger adolescents and kids – with the exception of those aged 12 to 14 with underlying health problems – was not necessary.

The probability of a healthy child getting seriously ill or dying from COVID is “very, very low,” López-Gatell said in January, while Health Minister Jorge Alcocer claimed twice that COVID-19 vaccines could inhibit the development of children’s immune systems.

A court ruling in February may have contributed to the government’s decision to offer vaccines to primary school-aged children. A federal court ruled that children aged 5 to 11 have the right to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, the ruling obliged parents to go to court and obtain an injunction to access vaccines for their young sons and daughters.

Mexico is well behind many other countries in offering COVID-19 vaccines to young children. The United States and Canada, for example, began offering Pfizer shots to children aged five to 11 last November. Doses administered to kids in that age cohort are one-third the size of those given to adolescents and adults.

While young children haven’t yet had the opportunity to get vaccinated, the uptake among the eligible population has been high. The federal Health Ministry reported Monday that 91% of adults – over 81 million people – have been vaccinated with at least one shot. It said in a statement that 7.2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 have also been vaccinated, and that 66% of adults have had at least one booster shot.

The Health Ministry also reported that an average of 3,109 new infections was reported per day in the seven-day period from June 5 to 11. New case numbers have increased recently as a fifth wave of infections spreads across the country, but COVID-19 fatalities remain relatively low and occupancy levels in hospital COVID wards are extremely low. Over 6,000 new cases and 42 COVID-19 deaths were registered Saturday before reported numbers dipped on Sunday and Monday, as has occurred throughout the pandemic due to a drop-off in testing and/or the recording and reporting of test results on weekends.

There are currently 37,690 estimated active cases across Mexico, a 58% increase compared to a week ago, official data shows. Mexico City has the highest number of active cases with over 11,500 followed by Sinaloa with more than 3,600 and México state with just under 2,750.

On a per capita basis, Baja California Sur is currently dealing with the largest outbreak with over 180 active cases per 100,000 people. Mexico City ranks second with about 130 active cases per 100,000 residents followed by Sinaloa with almost 120, Quintana Roo with just under 80 and Yucatán with almost 70.

Mexico’s accumulated tally of confirmed cases is 5.82 million – a figure that is widely accepted as a vast undercount – while the official COVID-19 death toll is 325,205, a number that is also considered a significant underestimate. Based on official data, Mexico has the 32nd highest COVID mortality rate in the world with 254 deaths per 100,000 people. Peru ranks first followed by Bulgaria and Hungary.

With reports from El Universal

Contaminated cochinita pibil blamed for poisoning 30 at Yucatán market

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MND Staff

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June 13, 2022

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A taco made with cochinita pibil. — A taco made with cochinita pibil, a Yucatán specialty.

A dish at a market in Yucatán left some customers hospitalized with food poisoning on Sunday after more than 30 people became ill.

The cochinita pibil — a regional shredded-pork specialty — at the municipal market in Seyé, 35 kilometers east of Mérida, has been blamed.

People who suffered stomach pains, diarrhea, vomiting, shivers, a racing heart rate or headaches agreed that they had bought the same dish from the same vendor.

Some people who were severely poisoned were taken to Acanceh hospital, while a large number of people required medical attention in Seyé and police officers were required to maintain order outside a clinic.

The market was closed by local authorities and the case is being investigated by the state health ministry.

Cochinita pibil’s popularity is likely to continue: it topped a list of the world’s 100 best dishes in December, in a ranking compiled by the international food website TasteAtlas.

TasteAtlas said the dish’s name is a clue to how it was traditionally prepared. “Since cochinita means ‘baby pig,’ and pibil means ‘buried’ or ‘underground,’ it acts as a proof that the original recipe used a whole suckling pig that was buried in a pit for roasting,” it said on its website.

The pork specialty is made by marinating meat in a combination of annatto paste, bitter orange juice and garlic. It is shredded and served on tortillas, tacos, or on its own with shallots, pickled onions, salsa and various roasted vegetables.

With reports from Por Esto! and El Universal

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