The medical forensic service (Semefo) morgue in Acapulco has been the target of complaints.
Complaints about fetid odors emanating from the Acapulco morgue have prompted a no-nonsense response from the facility’s director: “There are 250 bodies there, it won’t smell like perfume.”
A morgue will always smell no matter how clean it is kept, Ben Yehuda Martínez Villa told the newspaper Reforma after residents of the resort city’s Progreso neighborhood complained.
He also said there is no evidence that the smell of cadavers is harmful to human health.
“We would all be sick. I’ve been working at the morgue for more than 30 years, … if [the smell] was harmful, a colleague would have already died,” Martínez said.
He acknowledged that only three of the morgue’s five refrigerated chambers are currently in operation because the doors of two of them don’t close properly. For that reason, 100 bodies were recently transferred to the morgue in Chilpancingo, Martínez said.
Overcrowding in morgues is not just a problem in Guerrero, the state where Acapulco is located, but across the country, the director added.
High levels of violent crime in Mexico mean there is a constant stream of bodies to government-run morgues. One that has struggled to meet demand for its services is that in Tijuana, the country’s most violent city.
There are currently more than 52,000 unidentified bodies in morgues, according to data disseminated by Movimiento por Nuestros Desaparecidos (Movement for Our Missing People), a non-governmental organization.
Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese.
Criminal groups in Guerrero have diversified their activities well beyond the trafficking of narcotics, according to a bishop with an intimate understanding of the southern state.
Mining, logging and even the distribution of beer and soft drinks are now among the interests of such groups, Salvador Rangel Mendoza, bishop of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese, told the newspaper Milenio in an interview.
He also warned that many politicians and other public officials are controlled by organized crime.
“There are criminal groups behind a lot of politicians and behind a lot of leaders,” he said. “In this last vote on June 6, organized crime installed a lot of mayors and some deputies.”
Rangel, who warned in July that Guerrero was at risk of being governed by criminal interests, also said that criminals are now calling local leaders with whom they don’t have ties and instructing them to follow their orders.
Criminals are also extorting mine owners and workers, said the bishop, who frequently travels to communities in his diocese and beyond to listen to the concerns of residents.
“ … Guerrero is rich in … gold and silver [and] these men have already taken control of the mines [and are extorting] both the owners and workers,” Rangel said.
“… It’s the same with logging, [organized] crime is now diversified,” he said. “[Criminals] control pork and beef, they control bread and beer, they control soft drinks in certain areas,” he said.
“… [Only] the soft drink that they want to be sold is sold; meat, chicken and eggs are distributed at the price they want. … That’s why I’ve appealed to federal, state and municipal authorities … to do something for the good of the people.”
In Chilpancingo, the state capital, crime has increased in the past eight months, the bishop said.
Crime is on the rise the state capital of Chilpancingo, the bishop said.
“We managed to pacify [the city] about three and a half years ago,” Rangel said, explaining that the dominant criminal group in the capital had not been a frequent perpetrator of violence.
However, that group was ousted by another gang whose modus operandi includes carrying out kidnappings and homicides, he said without naming either.
Guerrero recorded 1,130 homicides in the first 10 months of the year, making it the country’s ninth most violent state. Acapulco and Iguala – where 43 students were abducted in 2014 – are among Mexico’s 50 most violent municipalities, but violence is also a significant problem in poverty-stricken mountainous areas of Guerrero where opium poppies and marijuana are grown as well as the state’s Tierra Caliente region.
“For me the exit [from this problem] is to provide economic opportunities … and education. … There’s a need to sell children in order [for families to have enough money] to eat,” he said.
Mexicans traveling from the U.S. to San Luis Potosí for the holiday season will once again be greeted by friendly Santas. In what has become an annual tradition, transit police in Santa Claus costumes will offer information and aid to visiting migrants in Soledad, San Luis Potosí.
One such “Santa cop” is Gerardo Ontiveros, who is participating in the program for the sixth time. He said that while wearing the Santa suit is hot and uncomfortable, seeing the joy on children’s faces makes it worth it year after year. Sometimes children even give the police letters for Santa, he said.
“The happiness of the children is what motivates most. It makes people happy. They stop to take photos with us,” Ontiveros said.
Part of the federal Héroes Paisanos (Compatriot Heroes) program, the initiative is designed to help Mexican migrants returning home from the north for the holidays, but the Santas are likely to end up helping migrants of other nationalities as well. In 2021, the municipality of Soledad — the second largest in the state and located right next to the state capital — expects to receive 10,000 returning Mexican citizens. The state is also likely to host more than 50,000 migrants passing through in caravans as they head north from the southern border.
Mauricio Ordaz, director of transit and road security in Soledad, said the Santa cop program is first and foremost a humanitarian effort. The police who participate receive special training from the national and state human rights commissions, the state Attorney General’s Office and immigration authorities.
A member of Soledad’s Social Proximity police force awaits traveling migrants in a center set up for them to get information, food, medical aid and rest.
The Soledad program, which started this year on December 8 and runs 24 hours a day, includes 30 participating officers who will provide medical aid, food and rest areas to whoever needs them, as well as information on safe traveling routes.
“They are motorcycle police who receive our fellow citizens in a more sensitive way, without the extreme repression that there was before. [Returning citizens] used to expect to be sanctioned,” Ordaz said.
But with teams of Santas on motorcycles providing aid and prompting smiles, that perception is likely changing.
Viva serves 45 national and international destinations, but New York has not been among them on a regular basis. Starting this December, it will be. (File Photo)
The stand-off continues between the federal consumer protection agency Profeco and the airline Viva Aerobus, which faces mounting fines as it continues to charge for hand baggage.
Viva Aerobus has accumulated more than 20 million pesos (nearly US $960,000) in fines for charging passengers for carry-ons weighing 10 kilograms or less.
Profeco first accused Viva Aerobus and two other airlines of committing the “abusive practice” of charging for hand baggage in November, and initiated proceedings against Volaris and Viva Aerobus. While Volaris and Aeroméxico have since fallen into line, Viva Aerobus continues to charge, saying that its practice does not violate the law.
“Unfortunately Viva Aerobus continues to be stubborn, but we are now applying sanctions,” Profeco chief Ricardo Sheffield said. “… We sent a warning and they will end up paying the fines.”
But Viva Aerobus continues to insist that their baggage fees are in line with the law.
“Viva Aerobus does not charge for ‘hand baggage.’ The airline respects the rights of passengers as established in the Civil Aviation Law, in which it is clearly specified that if the passenger decides to travel without baggage, they obtain a preferential rate as a benefit,” the company said in a December 3 statement.
“Rather than assisting the consumers, [Profeco’s actions] hurt them,” the airline said.
At least 55 migrants are dead and over 100 more are injured after a horrific truck crash near Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, on Thursday afternoon.
A tractor-trailer transporting more than 150 mainly Central American migrants overturned on the Chiapa de Corzo-Tuxtla Gutiérrez highway at approximately 3:30 p.m. as it rounded a curve at high speed.
The trailer became detached from the tractor unit and overturned while the tractor unit crashed into the base of a pedestrian overpass.
Forty-nine migrants were reported dead at the scene of the accident while six more sustained serious injuries and died in hospital. Most of those killed were Guatemalans, authorities said.
Chiapas Governor Rutilio Escandón said that 105 other people – 83 men and 22 women – were injured, and at least three were in serious condition. Children were among the injured.
Bodies of the victims lined up on the Chiapas highway.
The federal Attorney General’s Office said it will conduct an investigation into the crash. The truck passed through a state police checkpoint just 500 meters before it crashed but was not stopped despite officers having infrared cameras that could have detected the presence of people in its trailer.
Photographs and video footage showed shocking scenes in the aftermath of the accident, with scores of bodies and badly injured people lying on or next to the highway. Some motorists provided first aid and other assistance as they waited for emergency services to arrive.
The truck driver fled the scene and reportedly sought assistance in a nearby mechanic’s workshop. “He stopped at the door and asked us to go and help those injured in an accident a few minutes from here,” a worker told the newspaper Reforma.
“I thought he would follow me to help but he went in the direction of Tuxtla Gutiérrez.”
Some migrants who survived the accident also fled the scene, fearful that they would be detained by immigration authorities.
However, the National Immigration Institute said it would offer shelter, food and humanitarian visas to the survivors.
President López Obrador and his Guatemalan counterpart Alejandro Giammattei offered their condolences to the families of the victims.
“I deeply regret the tragedy caused by the overturning of a tractor-trailer that was transporting Central American migrants in Chiapas. It’s very painful. A hug to the families of the victims,” López Obrador wrote on Twitter.
The porous border between Chiapas and Guatemala is the main entry point for Central American migrants seeking to reach the United States. Near record numbers of migrants have entered Mexico this year, and many pay smugglers to transport them to the northern border.
Thursday’s tragedy came a month to the day after 12 migrants were killed when two transit vans collided on the Palenque-Playas de Catazajá highway in Chiapas.
Fired official Miguel Ángel Martínez was hired by former head of the president's legal office, Julio Scherer Ibarra, seen here, who resigned in August. President's Office
A senior legal official in the office of the president has been fired for authorizing a dress code that banned employees in the president’s legal office from having tattoos and piercings, as well as prohibiting them from posting their opinions of the president on social media.
Miguel Ángel Martínez Lara, the fired official who approved the dress code, was the subject of an exposé by the newspaper Reforma last week. He also distributed the code to workers via the messaging application WhatsApp.
After the first Reforma report came out, President López Obrador’s office ordered an investigation and released a statement denying that the office had issued such a dress code. If such a code existed, it was not legitimate or officially approved, the statement said and shared a link to the authorized code of conduct.
The investigation apparently confirmed the code’s existence as Martínez was dismissed on December 1 and no one has replaced him, according to Reforma. The scandal also took down other employees, an inside source told the newspaper.
“They fired [Martínez] because of the news, and other low-profile people like his secretary because of the scandal. They treated them the same,” the source said.
Lara Martínez was fired from his National Palace position on December 1, according to the newspaper Reforma. deposit photos
Martínez was part of the team of employees hired by Julio Scherer Ibarra, the previous head of President López Obrador’s legal office. Scherer was at times a controversial figure who was reportedly often in conflict with former Interior Minister Olga Sánchez.
Scherer was also named by several federal legislators as the author of a judicial reform bill addendum voted on in the federal legislature that would have extended the term of Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Saldívar by two years to 2024, a bid which, although opposed by Zaldívar himself, was passed by the legislature earlier this year, though it was ultimately rejected by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional last month.
Scherer resigned as head of the president’s legal office in August.
Former interior minister and current Senate President Olga Sánchez.
Former interior minister Olga Sánchez said Wednesday that she was a victim of sexism while serving in President López Obrador’s cabinet.
Speaking at a conference on violence and harassment in the workplace, the senate president and former Supreme Court judge said that people close to the president adopted macho attitudes toward her and devalued her work.
“[My work was] permanently devalued even though I took great pains to fulfill the responsibilities of the position of interior minister, one of the most important and difficult positions [in the government],” Sánchez said.
She said it appeared that the “few people” who sought to devalue her work did so in an attempt to “prove their superiority.”
“There have been times when … my opinion was not taken into account, … even if I was right and even if I was contributing something important,” she said in October 2020.
However, days later she walked back her remarks, saying that that it was only her “perception” that she has been discriminated against. Sánchez said that her “hypersensitivity” about issues related to the “patriarchal structure” caused her to perceive that there was misogyny in the security cabinet.
On Wednesday, the senator revealed she has also faced challenges since leaving the interior minister position, telling the conference that even her “closest collaborators” opposed her taking up the Senate presidency on the grounds she lacked the experience needed for the position.
“… You think that reaching the highest spheres of power that everything is easy, but it’s much more complicated,” Sánchez said.
“ … When you get there they undermine you and everyone around you permanently undermines your work,” she said.
Combatting imbalances between men and women in social settings and the workplace is a “vital mission of these times,” the senator added. She also said that women and girls have to value themselves and their work.
“Self-esteem and self-worth are what will take us forward, despite the belittling, the harassment and everything we’ve been suffering for so many years.”
Guillermo del Toro with his Nightmare Alley co-writer and wife Kim Morgan.
A film directed by Guadalajara native Guillermo del Toro is among the American Film Institute’s top 10 movies of 2021.
Nightmare Alley, based on William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel of the same name, is an American neo-noir psychological thriller starring Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper.
Del Toro, director of Academy Award-winning films Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, co-wrote its screenplay with his wife, Kim Morgan.
Among the other directors with films considered the year’s best by the AFI are Steven Spielberg, Denis Villeneuve, Paul Thomas Anderson and Jane Campion. The honorees will be celebrated at a private reception in Los Angeles on January 7.
The AFI movies of the year are Coda, Don’t Look Up, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, tick, tick… BOOM!, The Tragedy of Macbeth and West Side Story.
Nightmare Alley | Official International Trailer | Searchlight Pictures
The AFI also announced its top 10 television programs of 2021 on Wednesday. They are Hacks, Maid, Mare of Easttown, Reservation Dogs, Schmigadoon!, Succession, Ted Lasso, The Underground Railroad, Wandavision and The White Lotus.
“AFI is honored to shine a proper light upon the most outstanding screen stories of 2021 and those who worked collaboratively to bring them to screens large and small,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO.
“From soaring in spirit to dark and dangerous, from heartbreaking to hilarious, these are the stories that have united us in uncertain times and continue to drive culture forward.”
According to Atlixco's tourism office, one million people attended the Christmas-themed walking tour in 2019. Photos by Joseph Sorrentino
A year after the pandemic led authorities in the city of Atlixco, Puebla, to cancel its famous Christmas lights walking tour, the Villa Iluminada (Illuminated Village), the tradition is back, and the city’s zócalo, streets and walls are once again strung with countless lights, attracting visitors from all across Mexico.
This is the 10th year of the event, which runs through January 9. In addition, there’s a Feria de Nochebuena, the Poinsettia Fair, where you can buy your live Christmas poinsettias, but that only runs through December 12.
According to Alejandro Pérez López at the city’s tourism office, one million people attended the event in 2019. Despite the ongoing pandemic, it’s expected to be well attended this year.
With a large crowd and narrow streets, social distancing simply isn’t possible, but there are precautions being taken to protect people’s health.
“Masks are required,” said Pérez. Also, at several stops along the way, hand gel is available.
Jorge Alberto Guerra, whose nine-member clown troupe, Payaso Chimbombin Junior, performs along the tour.
The lights on the trees and buildings in Atlixco’s zócalo — including the municipal palace and the Natividad de Nuestra Señora church — are turned on around 5:30 p.m. each night. At 6:30 p.m., the Villa Iluminada begins.
From the zócalo, the route wends its way up Hidalgo avenue for a short distance, the street lit by colorful flowers hanging overhead, before continuing along 16 de Septiembre street. Don’t worry if you’re as directionally challenged as I am: the route’s well-marked, there are few turns and all you really have to do is follow the lights and the crowd.
Although the tour is mostly flat and easy, it’s a good idea to wear comfortable shoes and also to stay alert: most but not all of the route has been blocked off (although some motorcyclists chose to ignore this part) but the cross streets are open to traffic. There are police at most of the crossings, but not all drivers pay attention to them.
But it’s worth the little precautions: several of the streets have been turned into colorful tunnels with snowflakes, stars and bells hanging overhead. Just before the end, at a plaza named Plazuela de la Danza about halfway up Cerro de San Miguel (St. Michael’s Hill), there’s a large gingerbread house featuring an illuminated flower.
And for kids of all ages, in the Plazuela de la Danza, there’s a performance by Payaso Chimbombin Junior, a Mexico City-based clown group.
“Chimbombin is a character with Mexican humor,” said Jorge Alberto Guerra Moreno, the director and one of the performers. “The character was created … when I was four years old when — with my father, who is a clown — we started a comic clown duo.”
A lit-up Iglesia Natividad de Nuestra Señora in the city’s zócalo.
Guerra put “Junior” in his group’s name to honor his father. There are nine performers and technicians in the group. “There is juggling, tumbling and music in the show,” he said.
There’s also a bit of audience participation, so if you’re averse to that sort of thing as I am, it may be best to sit in the back.
“What I like [about audience participation] is that people dare to come … and they liberate their collective fears,” Guerra said. “I like the laughter.” There was plenty of that on the night I attended.
Strolling to the end of the Villa Iluminada takes a bit over an hour, and it’s easy to work up a thirst and an appetite. Fortunately, there are lots of options to satisfy both. It seemed like almost every other house along the route has turned a room into a small restaurant.
At a small stand in front of his house, Daniél Guillermo García was offering ponche (punch), a delicious hot drink that helps warm you as the temperatures dip during the night. García was initially reluctant to reveal his secret recipe. But after some gentle prodding, he did at least give up a list of ingredients, including guayaba, apples, tamarind, sugar cane, plums, raisins and lemon tea.
“You have to know how to prepare it,” he said, without elucidating further. “This is authentic ponche. The fruit is the most important part so that the ponche does not get watered down.”
An acrobatic performance in the zócalo with some help from audience members.
Another hot drink — my personal favorite — is chile atole, a thick soup made with corn meal, corn kernels, spices and pretty much any kind of chile the cook likes. The most popular choice in Puebla is probably poblano chiles, although serrano, jalapeño and chicuarote can also be used.
If, like me, you’re somewhat obsessed with chile atole — or just want to be able to try it — be sure to buy yours early: the first three stands I stopped at had run out by the time I wanted mine. Every family has its own recipe for ponche and chile atole, and it’s worth trying a few varieties. If you do, you’ll be happy to know that there is also a plethora of bathrooms available for a mere 5 pesos.
There are also plenty of options for heartier fare, with quesadillas, tortas (hearty sandwiches) and gorditas available along the way. My companion and I opted for tostadas, which cost a mere 25 pesos. Four tostadas and two ponches set us back US $7. The tostadas were so good, I ate a third. What the heck, I figured: Christmas is coming, and it’s time to prepare by overeating.
Despite the crowds, there have been few problems, possibly because of the significant police presence. “There is a police officer every 100 meters [a little over 300 feet],” said Max Saavedra, a local policeman working on his day off.
At this time of year, he and other municipal officers work double shifts, something he doesn’t mind too much. “This is good because I can use the extra money for Christmas,” he said.
A short distance from the zócalo, in the Convention Center, 17 plant vendors were displaying their poinsettias at the Feria de Nochebuena, with an estimated 18,000 plants. Vicente Nieto Castillo, owner of the Vivero Encanto nursery, sells 25 varieties. Red ones typically account for 75% of sales, he said. Although now primarily used decoratively, “in pre-Hispanic cultures, the nochebuena was used as medicine,” he said, explaining that it was also used for dye.
Atlixco, famous for its nurseries, produces about 1.5 million poinsettias.
In addition to bringing some much-needed Christmas cheer, the Villa Iluminada has a major economic impact on Atlixco: according to the state’s website, the event generates about 320 million pesos (US $15 million).
Be aware that there’s some confusion surrounding the event this year because there are actually two simultaneous events: the free Villa Illuminada tour starts in Atlixco’s zocalo and a different event called BrillaFest costs between 150 and 600 pesos (US $7 to US $30).
• The Villa Iluminada tour runs through January 9, open every day from 6:30 p.m. until midnight. The Feria de Nochebuena plant fair runs through December 12 and is open from 10 a.m. until 11:45 p.m.
• Payaso Chimbombin Junior’s performances take place Monday–Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Businessman and former Querétaro gubernatorial candidate Juan Carlos Martínez, 51, has been arrested in the United States for allegedly committing a US $30 million fraud and encouraging illegal immigration.
Martínez was taken into custody in Houston on Monday.
Martínez allegedly carried out the fraud through two of his companies: Mobile Coatings Management (MCM) and Uberwurx, a car repair and refurbishment company (known as RhinoPro in the U.S.). U.S. authorities say he marketed himself to potential investors as a way to get a coveted E-2 U.S. visa.
E-2 visas are designed to allow foreign entrepreneurs to work in the U.S. based on a substantial investment in a legitimate business.
Through Uberwurx, Martínez supplied E-2 visas to “investors” by selling them franchises and then giving them instructions on how to successfully apply for the visas. The investors obtained them ostensibly for the purpose of managing their Uberwurx franchises.
But in reality, Martínez was managing the franchises through his business, MCM. The arrangement left investors free to travel or live in the U.S. as they pleased. It is unclear whether the investors knew that their visas were fraudulently obtained.
However, Martínez did specifically instruct investors not to mention that their franchises were managed by MCM during the visa application process, U.S. authorities said.
Karina Hernández, a business associate of Martínez and part-owner of Texas Franchise and Business Consulting (TFBC), is also in custody. TFBC caters to Mexican nationals looking to start a business in the U.S.
“Martínez and Hernández perpetrated this scheme on at least 120 different investors between January 2017 and December 2021 with a loss of more than $30 million,” a U.S. Department of Justice statement said.
Both Martínez and Hernández are accused of four counts of wire fraud and four counts of inducing illegal immigration for private gain. If convicted, the pair face 20 years of prison time per count of wire fraud and 10 years per count of encouraging illegal immigration.
