Police with their two suspects on Tuesday. They were freed shortly after their arrest.
Guerrero state police officers were outnumbered Tuesday when a gang of armed men forced them to release two suspects in custody.
The 12 state police officers were traveling on the Chichihualco-Chilpancingo highway when they saw two armed men in a pickup truck whom they ordered to stop.
However, the men ignored the officers and fled.
But the two were arrested after a chase and identified themselves as members of the La Sierra and the Los Tlacos cartels. However, they didn’t remain in custody for long.
On the way to Chilpancingo, the officers were intercepted by around 100 men in some 50 vehicles, who surrounded and threatened them.
The police returned the suspects, their weapons and the pickup truck to the gang.
A police report identified the arrested men as members of the La Sierra cartel.
La Sierra is in a territorial battle with Los Tlacos to grow and transport opium.
The two cartels have battled for years, provoking terror, deaths, kidnappings and displacing hundreds of people in the Guerrero Sierra, the newspaper Reforma reported.
Four girls who disappeared from an orphanage in Michoacán more than a month ago still haven’t been found.
Laura Ximena, 14, Sandra, 11, Sandra Mareli, 16, and Evelin, 9, ran away from the Casa Hogar Alegría orphanage in Zitácuaro — 106 kilometers east of Morelia and near the México state border — just after 9 a.m. on November 21. It’s not clear where they were going or exactly why they left.
Sandra Mareli’s sister, Amairani, said the 16-year-old was having difficulties at the orphanage. “She told me that she wanted to see me because there were problems with her companions [in the orphanage]. Those companions were fighting and she got involved and they got annoyed with her,” she said, speaking about her last conversation with Sandra Mareli on November 19.
The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office has requested the help of other states in the search.
Sandra Mareli was wearing black pants, a backpack, a black sweatshirt and sneakers and has a spot on her nose. Laura Ximena has short, black hair and was dressed in purple pants, a navy blue sweatshirt and sneakers. She wore a yellow backpack.
Sandra has short, black hair and was wearing jeans; a black, gray and white sweatshirt; and a black backpack. Evelin weighs 27 kilograms and had on navy blue pants, a navy blue sweatshirt, black sneakers and a backpack. She also has a spot on her nose.
The threat of violence is very real for girls Michoacán: the newspaper La Voz de Michoacán reported earlier this month that it’s the worst state in the country for child femicides.
AMLO will write a book about conservatism after his retirement to Palenque.
President López Obrador intends to maintain a low profile after leaving office at the end of his six-year term.
He told reporters Tuesday that he will retire in September 2024 provided a majority of citizens support the continuation of his presidency at a planned “revocation of mandate” referendum next year.
AMLO, as the president is best known, has pledged to leave office early if his rule is rejected at the vote, which was slated to be held in April but was indefinitely postponed by the National Electoral Institute on the grounds it doesn’t have sufficient funds to organize it.
“If … we have the confidence of the people and they want us to continue, [I’ll stay on as president] but only until September of 2024,” AMLO said.
“… I’m going to retire; I’ve already said that I won’t participate in political activities or conferences or any public act or ceremony,” he said.
“… I’m not going to … make declarations of any kind,” López Obrador added, asserting that he won’t even intervene to help his friends if they find themselves in problematic situations.
“I’m going to turn off my phone. My sons and my grandchildren will always be welcome [at my Palenque ranch], but zero politics because we have to hand the baton to those who come behind us.”
López Obrador has previously said that he intends to retire to his ranch to write a book. He said Tuesday that it will be on “conservative thought,” one of his favorite punching bags.
(The president frequently describes his critics and predecessors as conservatives and neoliberals, and blames conservatism and neoliberalism for all manner of ills in Mexico.)
“I’m going to dedicate myself to researching and writing a book … about conservative thought, which is an extremely important issue that I’m very interested in. … [The book] will be a contribution to the new generations. That’s basically what I’m going to dedicate myself to,” AMLO said.
“What will I live on? Well, I have, or I will have, the right to my Issste [State Workers Social Security Institute] pension. … And [my wife] Beatriz has her work, she’s a researcher, and [we have] savings, that’s what we’ll live on. Besides I’m not used to a … life of luxury,” said the famously austere president who has eschewed personal bodyguards and makes a habit of eating in humble eateries while touring the country.
“… I believe in humility, I believe that one should have the basics, the essentials, and that’s what I want for all the people of Mexico. … In my philosophy money has never interested me, never.”
López Obrador, who triumphed at the 2018 presidential election after finishing second at the previous two, said that he will dedicate himself completely to his work in the coming years so that he can leave the presidency with no regrets.
“I’m not going to fail the people, … from now until September [2024] nothing but hard work,” he said.
On January 1, López Cabrera, 35, will be municipal agent of Santiago Ixtaltepec, a Zapotec village 320 kilometers east of Oaxaca city.
A member of the Muxe community became the first person from the “third gender” to win an election on Sunday, doing so under the indigenous governing code known as usos y costumbres.
Bulmaro López Cabrera, 35, better known as Carisia, will be municipal agent of Santiago Ixtaltepec, a Zapotec village of 1,500 residents, 320 kilometers east of Oaxaca city.
The Muxe are a group in the primarily Zapotec Isthmus of Tehuantepec region in Oaxaca, born male but identify as female or simply Muxe.
Carisia — a businessperson and human rights activist — achieved victory without party affiliation but favors the ruling party Morena and will assume the three-year role on January 1.
However, the political novice said the new administration would be forced to operate on scant resources. “They [the former administration] didn’t even leave us a pen,” López said, explaining that the plan was to ask locals to help out.
The Muxe, a group in the primarily Zapotec Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca, are born male but identify as female or simply as Muxe.
“They [the community] gave me soft drinks, water and food when I was campaigning. Now, once again, I will ask for help to get paper, pens, buckets, brooms. What I want is for all of us to help each other because this government is community-made,” López said. “I want them to accept me as I am, for them to call me Carisia and to allow me to show that I can govern.”
The newcomer said improving access to healthcare would be a priority. After the first year, López also said, the community would be consulted to gauge its support for López remaining in the post.
State Morena Deputy Yesenia Nolasco wrote on social media that López’s victory was symbolically important. “I congratulate with great affection my friend Carisia for being the first Muxe to win elections … This event is transcendent and a reference point for advances in inclusion.”
Carisia’s triumph isn’t the first time a Muxe has run for a political post. Three Muxes competed in recent elections in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec: Joseline Sosa Gómez ran for Tehuantepec federal deputy, and Krital Aquino and Gabriela Montero ran for the local government of Juchitán de Zaragoza.
Pemex and Shell have been partners in the Houston refinery for 30 years.
The United States government has approved Pemex’s purchase of Shell Oil Company’s share of the jointly-owned Deer Park oil refinery near Houston, Texas.
President López Obrador told reporters at his regular news conference on Wednesday that authorization was granted Tuesday.
“It’s very good news,” he said after describing the purchase as “historic.”
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States gave the green light to the purchase after determining there were no unresolved national security concerns.
López Obrador announced in May that the state oil company would buy Shell’s 50% share in the refinery, which has been a joint venture with Pemex since 1993.
The total outlay for Shell’s share will be US $1.192 billion, a figure that includes the purchase price and settlement of refinery debt.
López Obrador said that the acquisition of Shell’s share will help keep fuel prices down. Upgrades to Pemex’s six existing refineries in Mexico will be completed next year and the new Dos Bocas refinery on the Tabasco coast will begin operations soon after, he added.
With eight refineries, Mexico will have the capacity to process 1.2 million barrels of crude per day by 2023, López Obrador said.
“It will mean producing all our fuel in Mexico,” he said, apparently temporarily forgetting the Deer Park refinery.
“It’s an important change of direction with regard to oil policy. For many years Mexico didn’t buy gasoline, it was produced here … [but] the policy changed – selling raw materials [crude] and buying gasoline [from abroad] was opted for and that’s going to change,” López Obrador said.
Pemex CEO Octavio Romero emphasized that Mexico, through the state oil company, will become the owner of the Texas refinery, located about 30 kilometers east of Houston near Galveston Bay in the western Gulf of Mexico. The money for the purchase will come from the National Infrastructure Fund and it will be finalized in early 2022, Romero said.
The Pemex chief noted that the Deer Park facility has the capacity to process 340,000 barrels of crude per day and is the 16th biggest of 129 oil refineries in the United States. Fuel can be shipped from Texas to Mexico via train and petroleum tankers.
López Obrador has made strengthening the heavily indebted state oil company and achieving self sufficiency for fuel central aims of his administration.
But some analysts have questioned the wisdom of investing in refineries, arguing that doing so diverts resources from Pemex’s more profitable oil exploration business.
A garbage truck blocks a road in Oaxaca city on Tuesday.
Thousands of municipal workers took to the streets of Oaxaca city on Tuesday to protest the government’s failure to pay their end-of-year salary supplement.
Members of five unions, among whom are administrative workers, waste collectors and transit police, demanded payment of their aguinaldo, a payment usually equivalent to an employee’s fortnightly wage. By law, it must be paid by December 20.
The workers directed their ire at Morena party Mayor Oswaldo García during a second consecutive day of protests over nonpayment of the legally required benefit.
The newspaper Reforma reported that at least 16 blockades were set up in Oaxaca city, causing traffic chaos. Protestors also blocked entrances to supermarkets.
Union leader Kathia Navarrete said that protests were necessary because dialogue had not yielded a favorable response from the municipal government, which argued that it was waiting for federal money to fulfill its obligations to employees.
Oaxaca city transit police on duty at a blockade point on Tuesday. They are among the city’s workers who have not received this year’s aguinaldos.
One person affected by the road blockades was a bride on the way to her wedding. According to a social media post, the woman had to get out of the vehicle in which she was traveling and proceed on foot to reach her wedding on time.
A photograph showed the bride crossing a street near the Oaxaca Institute of Technology in the company of two other women.
“She’s on her way! Hold on a little bit, father!” said one Twitter user who shared the photo.
A participant plays a conch as part of the opening to a Mexica solstice ceremony on the outskirts of San Gregorio Atlapulco.
In Tuesday’s predawn darkness, as the morning of the winter solstice readied itself to begin with a sunrise, a group of about 100 people gathered in Tenenec, an ancient ceremonial site at the edge of San Gregorio Atlapulco to perform a Mexica (Aztec) ceremony to mark the rebirth of the sun.
San Gregorio Atlapulco, located in Xochimilco, is a pueblo originario (an original town), designated as such because residents have held onto their indigenous ceremonies and rituals dating back to before the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
This solstice ceremony is one of those rituals.
Often considered to be the symbolic death and rebirth of the sun, the winter solstice was, and is, an important time in many indigenous cultures, one that’s often celebrated with festivals and rituals. In Mexica beliefs, the day marks the rebirth of Huitzilopochtli, the lord of the sun and of combat.
Tuesday’s ceremony was held in an area that has likely been used for such events for hundreds of years.
“It is believed that this area was used for solstice ceremonies and to make petitions for rain,” said Javier Márquez Juárez, who has studied and written extensively about indigenous ceremonies and rituals.
With the solstice’s sunrise complete, participants give thanks to the god Huitzilopochtli for the sun’s successful rebirth.
In the ceremony space, boulders formed a circle. One large boulder facing east has small holes — called pocitas, or small pools, on top; on one side of the rock canals and steps have been carved that mimic the soil terraces that the Mexica and other ancient indigenous groups used to plant their crops.
The carvings are at least 800 years old, Márquez said. “Water would be poured into the pocitas and would then flow down over the terraces. This would mimic rain falling on them.” This was done to ensure a bountiful harvest.
The group’s ceremony began with Aztec dancers performing a ritual to the four cardinal directions, something that’s required at the beginning of virtually all Mexica ceremonies. “It is to ask permission to have the ceremony,” explained Márquez.
Smoke billowed from incense pots as people faced toward each direction. When the sky began to lighten, the chanting and drumming began. A conch played.
As drummers beat their rhythms on large drums called huehuetls and on small, hand-held ones called tambores, participants performed a joyful song to give thanks to Huitzilopochtli. As the sun slowly began its ascent over Popocatépetl, one of Mexico’s active volcanoes, the chanting, which had begun softly, gained strength. The drumming intensified.
The fact that the sun rises over “El Popo” — as Mexicans affectionately call the volcano — is significant in Mexica beliefs because to them, it’s more than a volcano. “It is considered to be a god,” Márquez said.
Aztec dancers performed for hours, giving thanks.
During breaks in the chanting, people shouted the name of the Mexica god, Ometéotl. “Ome means ‘two’ and Teotl is ‘god’ or ‘the sacred,’ so it means ‘two gods,’” he said. “In Mexica beliefs, there is a duality: light and dark, male and female, positive and negative. Ometéotl is the Lord of Duality or the God of Duality. His name is shouted to give thanks and to show respect.”
The chanting and drumming continued until the sun had completely risen over Popo; it had been reborn.
Below, bread and atole (a hot drink made from corn) were served. It was time for conviviencia, a time for sharing food and companionship.
“This ceremony is to welcome the rebirth of the sun,” said Juan Carlos Torres Alonso, who traveled from Mexico City’s Iztapalapa borough, about an hour away, to participate in the ceremony.
“It is to capture the history of the Mexican pueblo — to commune with nature, with the land, and with the heavens.”
After the ceremony’s end, the Aztec dancers performed a short distance away to continue to give thanks for the sun’s rebirth. These dances typically go on for hours, and this one was no exception.
There was incense and more drumming on huehuetls, the air filled with the sounds from ayoyetes, an instrument that is tied around a dancer’s ankle, made from shells of the ayoyete tree. Some played sonajas, rattling instruments that look like maracas and are used to keep the time during a dance.
“[The ceremony] is important because it is a way to show respect for our ancestors,” participant José González Sánchez said. “It is a way to respect them and what they have given us. It is to continue our roots.”
But it is more than that.
“Without light, without the sun, nothing lives. We understand how important nature, the environment, is. Sometimes we don’t respect them; we do not give thanks,” González added.
“[This ceremony] is to remember what we receive, to give thanks,” he said, “to have a fiesta.”
A typical taco stand, one of 1.6 million locations where one's craving for a taco can be fulfilled.
The taco is central to Mexican cuisine and a taco stand, or taquería, is never far from a hungry taco lover. Just how ubiquitous the taco restaurants are has been shown by a geographer from the National Autonomous University (UNAM).
Baruch Sanginés mapped all of the taquerías in the country with data from the national statistics agency INEGI via geolocation. His Taco Universe revealed 1.6 million sites and showed the correlation between population density and taco availability, presenting a high concentration of taco shops around urban centers.
“Here in Mexico City I could almost tell you that 95% of people have a taco stand 400 meters from their home. No matter where you live, almost 400 meters away you have a stall nearby. That speaks to the popularity of the taco,” he said.
However, Sanginés added that there was a dearth of sites in Lomas de Chapultepec, an exclusive and hilly neighborhood in the northwestern borough of Miguel Hidalgo.
Two other large cities were found to be taco-rich. In Monterrey, Nuevo León, 75% of residents are a short walk from a source of tacos, while in Guadalajara, Jalisco, 66% of residents can find them within easy reach.
The UNAM researcher’s Taco Universe.
Sanginés said he appreciated the dish for its wide and convenient availability. “They get you out of trouble sometimes. Because of the rhythms of work in the city, we often leave the house very quickly and don’t have time to prepare ourselves something to eat, so we go to a place and eat a taco,” he said.
The humble but beloved treat is central to Mexican cuisine. It is generally a corn tortilla — sometimes wheat — filled with meat, raw onion and cilantro, accompanied by a spicy chile sauce.
The dish predates the Spanish conquistadors’ arrival in Mexico. One suggested etymology for the word “taco” is tlahco, the Náhuatl word meaning “half” or “in the middle,” referring to where the filling would be placed in the tortilla.
Serledios Ph at the top of the antenna on the iconic Mexico City skyscraper.
A YouTuber reached dizzying new heights and posted a video of a phenomenal view by climbing the antenna atop the Torre Latinoamericana (Latin America Tower) skyscraper — without protective equipment — in Mexico City’s historic center earlier this month.
But he outdid himself a week later by scaling the antenna of the 207-meter World Trade Center (WTC).
Serledios Ph started his ascent from the roof of the 166-meter, 44-floor Torre Latinoamericana to climb the 16-meter antenna, where he was left completely exposed to the elements, as seen in an eight-minute viral video posted on December 12.
Once at the top, he filmed himself standing above the city with the Bellas Artes building and its neighboring Alameda Central park far down below, from an angle that few had ever witnessed.
It is not clear how Serledios reached the roof of the tower, which is located in the borough ofCuauhtémoc.
Serledios Ph’s video of his ascent of the Torre Latinoamericana.
However, there was no rest for the daredevil, who posted a video of himself climbing the antenna of the 207-meter WTC in Mexico City’s Benito Juárez borough on Sunday.
“Well, guys, we’re done up here. Everything went well, as you can see. Hopefully going down I don’t get stuck or anything like that,” he said before descending the WTC antenna.
The urban explorer warned viewers against imitating the Torre Latinoamericana feat at the start of the December 12 video, alerting them to the inherent physical danger of the pursuit and the undesired attention it could attract from police.
The iconic tower was Mexico’s first skyscraper and is anarchitectural landmark since it was the world’s first major skyscraper successfully built on a highly active seismic zone. It was the tallest building in Latin America when it was erected in 1956, and is now Mexico’s 17th tallest.
The 50-floor WTC is the country’s 10th tallest building. It first opened as the Hotel de México in 1972 but now largely contains offices.
The tallest building in Mexico is the T.Op Torre 1 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, at 305 meters.
Video footage released by the state indicates that a video published last week was in fact a year old.
Reports that the sons of jailed drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera threw a Christmas party in Culiacán, Sinaloa, last Friday are fake news, according to the state security minister.
“Information that is circulating that points to a recent event in Sinaloa … is false; the images being disseminated correspond to December 17, 2020. … There is no information of a recent event,” he wrote.
The security minister noted that last year’s party was shut down thanks to a security operation carried out by all three levels of government.
He shared photographs of the 2020 posada and compared them with those disseminated this week to support his assertion that no event was held last Friday.
The four Guzmán brothers have been in the spotlight in recent days after the United States government last week announced rewards of up to US $5 million each for information leading to their arrest and/or conviction.
All four are high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel and subject to indictments in the U.S. for their involvement in the illicit drug trade, the Department of State said.
