The stoplight map indicates the coronavirus risk level state by state.
The risk of coronavirus infection has increased in Sonora, Sinaloa and Guanajuato and decreased in Nayarit, Michoacán and Quintana Roo, according to the federal Health Ministry’s latest stoplight system assessment.
The Health Ministry announced Friday that the risk level in the first three states will be raised to orange light “high” from yellow light “medium” on Monday while it will be lowered from orange to yellow in the other three.
Sonora, Sinaloa and Guanajuato will join 15 states that are already orange on the stoplight map and will remain at the same risk level for the next two weeks.
They are Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Coahuila, Colima, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico City, México state, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Yucatán and Zacatecas.
Nayarit, Michoacán and Quintana Roo will join eight states that are already yellow. They are Chiapas, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala and Veracruz.
Coronavirus cases and deaths in Mexico as reported by day. milenio
Campeche remains the only green light “low” risk state in the country. The risk level in the Gulf coast state was reduced to green in late September and it has seen no changes since.
The Health Ministry uses 10 different indicators to determine the stoplight color allocated to each state including the Covid-19 effective reproduction rate (how many people each infected person infects), the weekly positivity rate (the percentage of Covid-19 tests that come back positive) and hospital occupancy levels.
It also recommends coronavirus restrictions for each risk level but several states ease and tighten rules according to their own criteria rather than that of the federal government.
New coronavirus case numbers have recently risen in Jalisco, prompting the government to introduce a curfew on commercial activities, while rising hospitalizations in Mexico City were the main reason behind the introduction of tighter rules there.
Nationwide new case numbers have also risen recently, increasing 26.5% in October compared to September. Last month was the second worst for coronavirus cases in Mexico since the start of the pandemic, with 181,746 new cases – an average of 5,863 per day.
The Health Ministry reported 5,931 new cases on Friday, increasing the accumulated tally to 955,128, and 551 additional Covid-19 fatalities, lifting the official death toll to 94,323.
The ministry estimates that there are currently 48,250 active cases across the country.
Mexico ranks 10th in the world for accumulated cases and fourth for Covid-19 deaths after the United States, Brazil and India, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
It's not ideal for sunbathing, but Cuyutlán's beach hosts manta rays and turtles.
So I received a text message during the last week in October: “Richard says Cuyutlán in Colima has the best black-sand beach he’s ever seen and an incredible surf. Want to go?”
Since Richard is a geologist, I figured this was one place I didn’t want to miss.
“I’m in!” I texted back.
I then tried to invite another friend — not a geologist — to join the expedition.
“Why would you want to go to Mexico’s worst beach?” he replied. “Count me out, but if you do go, don’t miss the local ecological center. They’re doing amazing things.”
A newly released baby leatherback turtle races across the black sand toward the water in Cuyutlán.
This only piqued my curiosity, so off we drove to Cuyutlán, which lies 200 kilometers southwest of Guadalajara. Three hours later, we arrived, stepped out of the car and gasped.
“Holy cow!” exclaimed my friend Josh, “This town is a sauna!”
The temperature was 34 C with 82% humidity. It felt like we had walked right into the steamiest corner of a Turkish bath.
We wandered about the town, looking for a hotel, figuring that with a beach only a geologist could love, plenty of rooms would be available. Quite the opposite. Only one hotel had vacancies, and it was rather seedy.
Sad to say, the whole town doesn’t look too great, but I was told this is because the coast of Cuyutlán was affected by a powerful earthquake in 2003. Apparently, the town was devastated and simply never recovered. And, indeed, everywhere we looked, we could see the abandoned shells of once-grandiose hotels and spas.
Having secured somewhat smelly rooms in one of those hotels not quite ready for abandonment, we went to check out the beach.
Roseate spoonbills and a great egret are just some of the waterbirds you can encounter wading in the Palo Verde Estuary.
The sand was indeed as black as what you’d find inside a volcanic crater, probably consisting of small particles of basalt. The surf was so high, and the pounding waves so ferocious, that I did not see a single soul in the water the whole time I was there, neither by day nor by night. I had imagined we’d spot a surfer or two out there, actually enjoying those treacherous waves, but perhaps they were all discouraged by the big “Danger! Manta Rays!” signs prominently displayed up and down the beach.
Accepting the fact that we were not going swimming on this trip, we headed the following morning for the turtle sanctuary (tortugario) located just three kilometers southeast of Cuyutlán via an easily drivable road.
At the entrance to Centro Ecológico de Cuyutlán, we came upon the place’s director, Maricruz Rivera. She told us about the center and about El Tortugario, the name of the turtle sanctuary within the center.
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“This is a wildlife management site dedicated to education and research,” she told us. “We feel it’s important that people should not look at us as a tourist attraction. In reality, our center is involved in many wildlife conservation and protection projects. For example, we are responsible for protecting 30 kilometers of Pacific Coast beach. During the period when turtles come to lay their eggs, it’s our job to collect and transfer them to a place where they can incubate in complete safety. On average, 2,000 female turtles make their nests here every year, and this center has been assisting and protecting them for 26 years.”
Rivera told us that the workshops they give, both to students and to the general public, have opened the eyes of locals.
“Knowledge and understanding of these creatures have awakened love and respect for them. Everybody living around here is convinced they have to protect them.”
A panga (skiff) ride among the Palo Verde Estuary’s mangroves.
The center has a staff of eight biologists to watch over their 30-kilometer stretch of beach. I was surprised to learn that these ecologists receive no outside funding of any kind and that the whole operation depends on the admission fee people pay to visit the place and to go on a boat ride into the estuary right next to the turtle sanctuary.
We immediately signed up for that boat ride.
A few minutes later, we found ourselves seated in a big panga (skiff), silently gliding through a tunnel in a dense forest of mangroves. Suddenly we emerged into the bright Palo Verde Estuary, a favorite place for local fishermen, according to our guide. He told us that the tide sometimes carries big ocean fish into the estuary and leaves them stranded there, where they are dead easy to catch.
The water in the estuary is only about 30 centimeters deep. For an hour, our boatman navigated by following two-meter deep channels that our eyes could not detect.
What our eyes could detect, however, were waterbirds of all kinds — egrets, cormorants, anhingas, great blue herons, ospreys, frigate birds, black-necked stilts, roseate spoonbills, and, of course, crocodiles, some of which were all of four meters long.
During our panga ride we learned that this estuary houses both white and red mangroves. The red ones turned out to be really curious, as their new roots come out of their highest branches and then grow straight downward until they finally reach the water and the thick layer of mud beneath it.
Turtle eggs are transferred from the El Tortugario sanctuary to this protected area for safe incubation. About 2,000 a year are laid on Cuyutlán’s Pacific Coast beach.
After the boat ride, it was time for a turtle release, which typically takes place on Saturday afternoons. Because visitors to the sanctuary release the baby turtles, this event is very popular with kids.
Three kinds of sea turtles come to lay their eggs on the beaches of Colima: green turtles, olive ridley turtles and leatherbacks. It’s the leatherback sea turtle you’ll be releasing if you visit the Cuyutlán Tortugario. Amazingly, the tiny creature in the basket they give you is destined (if it survives) to grow into the largest species of turtle in the world.
The leatherback sea turtle is so called because it is covered with skin instead of a bony shell. The biggest verified specimen ever found measured over two meters in length and weighed 650 kilos.
At night, newly hatched sea turtles rely on light to find their way to the ocean. In a natural setting they would easily distinguish between the glow over the ocean and the dark silhouette of hills or jungle inland. Today, however, bright streetlamps and hotel lights do great damage to a multitude of species. Perhaps the worst example is how artificial lights along the sea coast lead baby turtles to their deaths.
At the sanctuary, the tiny turtles are released during daylight hours and, thanks to the careful procedures which the releasers must follow, all of them make it into the water, even though the strong surf may throw them back a few times.
Comments Maricruz Rivera, “I’m proud to say that since our founding, we have successfully released over 2 million turtles.”
Visitors meet turtles at the Cuyutlán Ecological Center’s El Tortugario sanctuary.
Following all the proper pandemic protocols, El Tortugario is open daily (except Wednesdays) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Before leaving Cuyutlán, we stopped to visit its unusual Salt Museum. Long before the Spaniards arrived in the new world, people were producing salt at Cuyutlán. In fact, they are still gathering and selling it to this day.
So there you have it. A non-geologist might detest Cuyutlán’s sizzlingly hot black beach, but there are things to do in this little town. People also tell me that the seafood is great. Just hold off your visit until winter, when it won’t feel like you’re in a sauna.
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The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for 31 years, and is the author of “A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area” and co-author of “Outdoors in Western Mexico.” More of his writing can be found on his website.
Another Covid patient is wheeled into a Mexico City hospital.
The number of coronavirus patients in Mexico City hospitals increased 12.6% over the past month, meaning tighter restrictions are coming.
As of Thursday, there were 2,910 hospitalized coronavirus patients in the capital, 325 more than on October 5. The number of intubated patients increased 13.8% in the same period from 664 to 756.
A total of 5,852 hospital beds have been set aside in Mexico City for seriously and gravely ill coronavirus patients. Just under 50% of them are currently occupied.
Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday there were 3,872 hospitalized coronavirus patients in the greater Mexico City metropolitan area, which includes several México state municipalities. She said that hospitalizations have been on the rise for the past three weeks.
Despite the uptick, Mexico City will remain at the orange light high risk level on the federal government’s coronavirus stoplight system for another week, Sheinbaum told a virtual press conference.
The capital has remained at the orange light risk level since late June, although authorities have gradually eased restrictions over the past four months.
However, Sheinbaum announced slightly stricter restrictions today.
She said that restaurants, gyms and casinos will be required to close one hour earlier for the next two weeks and that events will be limited to a maximum of 10 people in enclosed areas and 25 in open air spaces.
The normal operation of nightclubs, cantinas and bars remains “strictly prohibited,” Sheinbaum said.
However, cantinas and bars will be permitted to continue operating as long as they serve food with drinks and offer table service to customers.
Sheinbaum also provided an update on her own coronavirus infection, saying that she had mild symptoms in recent days but felt better. She said she would get tested again on Saturday.
The mayor is one of 166,121 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in Mexico City since the start of the pandemic, a figure that accounts for 17.5% of all cases detected across the country. The national tally currently stands at 949,197 with 5,567 new cases reported on Thursday.
The capital’s official Covid-19 death toll is 15,450, or 16.5% of the national toll, which rose to 93,772 on Thursday with 544 additional fatalities registered.
The metropolitan area of Mexico City, which includes the most populous parts of México state, has been the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic. México state, which adjoins the capital to its east, north and west, ranks second among the country’s 32 states for both confirmed coronavirus cases and Covid-19 deaths.
With case numbers and hospitalizations spiking, the Mexico City government launched a new information campaign this week to warn residents of the ongoing coronavirus threat and the risk that the capital could regress to the red light maximum risk level on the stoplight system.
Sheinbaum said that advertisements featuring the slogan “Let’s not drop our guard” are being put up all over the city.
“[The campaign] is already beginning in the entire city. … [The advertisements] say: ‘Watch out, we don’t want to go to the red light [risk level], let’s not drop our guard,’” she said. “It’s so people continue to look after themselves and protect others.”
Two states – Chihuahua and Durango – are currently at the red light risk level on the stoplight system while 18 are at the orange light level.
The federal Health Ministry will present a new stoplight map at Friday night’s coronavirus press briefing. Any changes will take effect on Monday.
Most film festivals in this year of the pandemic — from Cannes to the Morelia Film Festival — have had to adapt and adopt a new hybrid format, partly online and partly in person.
But the Los Cabos Film Festival is distinguishing itself by committing to a fully digital format and by offering its content to all at no charge.
Festival directors Maru Garzón and Alejandra Paulín recently told El Universal newspaper that taking the event fully online will be quite a feat, but it is not the first daunting challenge the festival has successfully weathered in its previous seven years: it’s dealt with budget cuts, changes in administration and even hurricanes.
The pair say they consider this year to be nothing more than another challenge that will teach them to adapt and evolve.
“Making a digital festival certainly implies challenges,” Paulin said. “We had to assess ourselves, learn about digital platforms. It has been about learning new things [this year] to make this a different festival. The cost is different from an in-person version. We’re also working with a very reduced budget this year.”
Despite this, Garzón chooses to see the advantages of the online format. The events and the films they’ll be presenting can have a bigger impact, she said.
“To do it this way gives us the opportunity to democratize the festival, because it’s free and because of the reach that the digital format will give us to everyone who wants to experience it.”
President López Obrador has betrayed his leftist ideals and veered to the right since taking office in late 2018, according to some of the contributors to a new book of essays.
Eighteen essays in the book Balance temprano: Desde la izquierda democrática (Early Assessment: From the Democratic Left), analyze federal government actions (and inaction) across a range of areas.
One of the authors who asserts that López Obrador has turned to the right since becoming president is Jacqueline Peschard, the former president of the National Anti-Corruption System.
At a virtual press conference, she said that a “very large part of his policies are closer to the right and neoliberalism than to the left,” which he supposedly represents and identifies with.
Without offering concrete examples, Peschard charged that the president’s rhetoric belies his actions.
“There is an enormous gap between his discourse, … in favor of opening space for debate, in favor of democracy, in favor of inclusion” and his actions, she said.
To identify AMLO, as the president is known, as a leftist is to go against common sense, Peschard said.
She also said that the president, through his repeated assertions, appears to have convinced the public that corruption has decreased when in fact studies show that it has not.
Another contributor to the book claimed that López Obrador has shifted to the right in a range of areas.
Mariano Sánchez Talanquer, a politics professor at the Center for Research in Teaching and Economics, a Mexico City University, said at the same press conference that the government austerity drive is one example of the president’s conservatism.
Peschard: many of AMLO’s policies are closer to the right and neoliberalism than to the left.
López Obrador has cut funding in a range of areas, slashed officials’ salaries and his response to the coronavirus-induced economic crisis has been widely criticized for its inadequacy.
Sánchez also cited the president’s “quasi-religious moralizing discourse,” attacks against several institutions and a greater dependence on the military – which is carrying out public security tasks and building the new Mexico City airport, among other non-traditional jobs – as examples of his shift to the right.
“He’s betraying a large part of the principles of a democratic leftist,” he said.
The academic also asserted that López Obrador’s opposition to tax reform and failure to strengthen Mexico’s education and health systems are examples of “neoliberalism from the left.”
In addition, Sánchez charged that AMLO displays intolerance on a daily basis – he frequently uses his morning press conferences to attack his critics and opponents – and has an obsession about concentrating political power in the executive, a criticism also made by a group of 10 dissident state governors.
Rolando Cordera Campos, coordinator of the development studies program at the National Autonomous University and another contributor to the book, was critical of López Obrador’s refusal to provide greater economic support to businesses amid the pandemic. Providing additional support would have prevented business closures and avoided the loss of jobs, he said.
Ricardo Becerra, an economist and one of two editors of the collection of essays, said he is not hopeful of a change of course from the president in his final four years in office.
He said the aim of the book is to “contribute to the public debate in Mexico,” not attack AMLO or other government officials.
“The issues and the problems are at the center of the debate, not people,” Becerra said.
Jorge lives in a middle-sized town about 30 minutes from the Mexico-Guatemala border. His wife is friendly with his neighbor’s spouse, but his neighbor is almost never there.
About once every month or so he returns, often with his brother, and they sit in front of their house, garrulous and talkative, catching up on the latest happenings. Jorge never asks what the neighbors do for work — when something isn’t obvious it can be better not to know.
Last summer the brothers invited Jorge on an overnight fishing trip, to what they said would be a secret spot in the jungle on the border. Jorge felt uneasy about it but felt he had no choice but to accept. The three men left after dark and started driving to the unknown spot, which Jorge had assumed would be 20 or 30 minutes away; three hours later they were still driving and by this point completely off-road, on tracks that were barely present as the vehicle passed through heavy brush.
At about 1:00 a.m., when they finally stopped in front of an enormous lagoon alongside a little wooden jetty and a rickety boat, Jorge was relieved. “At that point I thought maybe it was really just a fishing trip after all, and, honestly, I breathed a big sigh.”
The fishing for its part was quicker than expected, and within an hour they had filled the boat and four big boxes full of huge specimens. On returning to land they lit a fire and started cooking as much as they could eat, and as they finally left at dawn the brothers said they had one more stop to make.
Half an hour later the 4×4 full of fish pulled into another clearing, smaller this time, completely empty. They parked, got out, and 20 yards away from the vehicle the brothers started scratching around in the dirt, unearthing a metal door in the ground. They unlocked it with two separate keys, and motioned Jorge to join them, then stepped down into an underground concrete room.
One brother switched on an air-conditioning unit, the other an overhead light, then the first opened a fridge and pulled out a six-pack of beer. Now the room was lit, Jorge could see that the walls were lined with semi-automatic weapons and other high-end military hardware; the snack spot for the brothers also doubled as a concealed arsenal in the middle of the jungle.
Borders the world over are complicated, whether those divided by natural landforms or an artificially conceived line in the sand, what there is on one side is different to what there is on the other, and the push-me/pull-you of this division generates all manner of behavior and commerce, legal and illicit.
The Mexico-Guatemala border is no different but, outside of perhaps the only two significant border crossings at Chetumal in Quintana Roo and Tapachula in Chiapas, much of the rest of this frontier is really a nebulous, non-linear space which only exists in maps and legislative contexts. On the ground, the fundamentals are that it is a wild and rule-free place for both animals and humans.
In Mexico, the vast majority of media coverage and interest looks north, to the border between the supposed first and developing world, while Mexico’s southern edge with Guatemala and Belize receives scant attention. It is of little geopolitical interest beyond when journalists and news cycles cover migration from Central America, which in any case is also a topic which has more bearing on the northern border than its southern counterpart.
When Guatemala closed its borders at the very start of the ongoing pandemic, for instance, no one even blinked; there is almost no international cross-border commerce to speak of in the area, and those who flit across the imagined line do so unpoliced anyway, so nothing really changed.
The fundamentals of the southern border are that the section which Mexico shares with Guatemala runs for 871 kilometers (541 miles) and connects the Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche with north and west Guatemala, and to the east a small section connects Mexico with Belize and runs for a much shorter 250 kilometers, almost entirely along the Hondo river which separates the two.
In large part, the majority of the border area continues to be jungle or river surrounded by jungle, an area which, both traditionally and more contemporaneously, was inhabited by bandits. Of late, these are not the recognizable bandits of yesteryear, but rather individuals and groups who find niches in the no man’s land to leverage local components of much bigger economies, most obviously the illicit movement of people and — of course — narcotics.
In some areas, indigenous communities continue to exist in relative, isolated autonomy, often leading a cross-border existence where the line of separation is largely nominal, except in times of geopolitical crisis. In Frontera Corozal, for instance, the Ch’ol Mayans of the area live on both sides of the Usumacinta River and have regular, daily contact as though there was no division at all.
In fact, on the Mexican side, all local cell phone numbers are Guatemalan, given that Tigo has much better coverage than Telcel in the area. Even more interestingly, during the Guatemalan civil war the Ch’ols from the eastern side almost all moved to the Mexican bank of the river to seek refuge, and stayed for 10 years until the situation cooled enough for them to return.
In many ways the southern border is a throwback to what borders used to be and so rarely are anymore: amorphous and unmediated spaces which consist much more of a border area than a line in the sand.
They are an entire region which operates to different rules, and give rise to drifting between communities, making stories like Jorge’s, outlandish as it may seem, a common occurrence.
Installation of the counter Thursday outside the Attorney General's Office.
Family members of a woman who disappeared three years ago installed an electronic counter outside the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJ) on Thursday to remind authorities that she hasn’t been found more than 1,000 days after she went missing.
Pamela Gallardo Volante disappeared in southern Mexico City on November 5, 2017, after attending an electronic music concert.
Assisted by the Human Rights and Social Action Justice Group, a non-governmental organization, family members of the missing woman plugged in an electronic sign outside the FGJ headquarters that showed that Gallardo had been missing for 1,095 days.
María del Carmen Volante, the missing woman’s mother, said the installation of the electronic counter was not meant to be an attack on Attorney General Ernestina Godoy, but to get her attention.
She said it will serve as a reminder to Godoy and other FGJ officials that she will never stop looking for her daughter and they shouldn’t either. Volante said she and her other children paid for the electronic counter with their own money.
Pamela Gallardo, missing since 2017.
David Peña, a representative of the human rights group, said the counter will remind the FGJ every day that it is “not doing its job.”
“We ask the authorities not to remove it because [installing] it is an act of remembering Pamela, it’s to tell her that we’re still looking for her, that we’re not going to rest until we find her,” he said.
Recent changes at the FGJ and the resignation of Nelly Montealegre as chief of the gender crimes division has stalled investigations into many cases, reported the newspaper El Universal.
It said that family members of victims have to ask personally that the FGJ restart investigations but in many cases have been unable to secure appointments.
Volante said the new chief of the gender crimes division, Laura Borbolla, has refused to meet with her. She also told El Universal about a group she formed two years ago to keep the pressure on authorities and carry out searches for missing people.
Called Hasta Encontrarles (Until We Find Them), the group is currently made up of the members of 16 families of missing persons, Volante said, adding that they joined forces “to demand justice.”
Volante won’t stop looking for her daughter and says authorities shouldn’t stop either.
She said that she became an activist out of love for her daughter and was soon joined by other like-minded mothers.
“This collective is built on love for our missing sons and daughters. We’ll continue the fight,” Volante said.
The federal government presented a report in July that said that there are more than 73,000 missing person in Mexico. Almost 98% of that number disappeared after 2006, the year in which former president Felipe Calderón launched the so-called war on drugs.
The 72-year-old former official allegedly colluded with the H-2 Cartel, a faction of the Beltrán Leyva Organization.
Cienfuegos appeared at a Brooklyn federal court hearing via video link from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where he was transferred this week. His not guilty plea was submitted by his lawyer, Edward Sapone.
Cienfuegos, the second high profile former security official to be arrested in the United States in the last year after ex-security minister Genaro García Luna was detained last December, is expected to face trial early next year.
García, who served in the 2006-2012 administration led by former president Felipe Calderón, is also being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. He faces charges that he colluded with the Sinaloa Cartel.
A day before Cienfuegos’ latest hearing, it was announced that Sapone was taking over his case.
The lawyer said in a statement Thursday that he and his legal team “will ensure that General Cienfuegos’ constitutional rights are protected as we zealously defend him.”
The case against the former army chief is based on incriminating Blackberry smartphone messages intercepted by United States authorities.
U.S. prosecutors say that Cienfuegos used his position to protect the H-2 Cartel, accusing him of ordering operations against its rivals and helping it secure maritime transport to ship drugs to the United States. His next court appearance is scheduled for November 18.
Sapone has previously represented Mexican government officials. A biography on his website says that he defended an advisor to a president of Mexico and that his defense resulted in no charges being filed.
Sapone has also represented the Mexican consulate in New York for 19 years. He said that his work for Cienfuegos is unrelated to that relationship but that the consulate was aware of it and was “pleased.”
President López Obrador last week ruled out any possibility that the federal government would fund the former minister’s defense.
“When Mexicans are detained and on trial abroad, they are supported. There’s consular assistance but [government] resources aren’t used to defend any alleged perpetrator of crimes; that possibility is not being considered,” he said.
López Obrador has called on U.S. authorities to provide Mexico all its information about the Cienfuegos case. The general hasn’t faced any criminal charges at home.
The arrest of the former army chief is a major embarrassment for the armed forces and raises awkward questions for the president, who is relying on the military for public security, infrastructure construction and a range of other important tasks.
Despite Cienfuegos’ arrest, López Obrador says that he retains full confidence in the armed forces, asserting recently that he personally vetted the current army and navy chiefs and could vouch for their honesty.
The federal Ministry of Transportation says more than 2,000 bridges and overpasses are badly in need of repair, but only 90 will get attention next year due to budgetary constraints.
The 90 on the repair list are “ready to collapse” if not given early attention, the ministry said.
“… if these bridge repairs are not carried out, it puts at risk their structural stability, leaving open the possibility that some will collapse and endanger the safety of bridge users, as well as resulting in traffic stoppages, causing longer and more costly commutes for motorists.”
The ministry is allocating 300 million pesos in its 2021 budget for repair of the 90 bridges, which represent only 4.9% of the 2,000 in need of repair. It is also far less than what was allocated in previous years. In 2018, the ministry spent 1.35 billion pesos to repair 129 bridges.
The proposed emergency repairs could the extend safe use of the 90 bridges for another 20 years, the ministry said.
Nearly all of Mexico’s 32 states have at least one bridge on the list of the 90 most at risk. Information about the specific location of the bridges was not provided.
Aguascalientes and Guanajuato, one each.
Baja California, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Puebla, Querétaro and Zacatecas, two each.
Baja California Sur, Guerrero, Jalisco, Sinaloa and Sonora, three each.
Durango, San Luis Potosí and Tabasco, four each.
Tamaulipas has five.
Michoacán, Oaxaca and Tlaxcala, six each.
México state and Nuevo León, seven each.
Veracruz has eight.
Highway maintenance authorities attributed the bridges’ disrepair to factors like vehicle use over time and weather, including hurricanes and earthquakes in some states.
Two of the actors who enjoyed a sexual excursion in the Sumidero Canyon last week.
It’s best known as a tourist attraction but the Sumidero Canyon in Chiapas was used as the setting for an adult film last week. It didn’t sit well with local or federal authorities.
A group of pornographic actors filmed a sex scene aboard a boat while floating down the Grijalva River, which runs through the canyon.
Alex Marín, an actor and director for a pornography production company who featured in the scene, posted videos and photographs of the canyon cavorting to his Twitter account.
He boasted that it was the first time that sexually-explicit content had been filmed in the canyon, located near Chiapas capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
Marín’s posts went viral on social media and as a result caught the eye of the federal government’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp), which denounced the improper use of the Sumidero Canyon national park.
A sex scene on the Grijalva River.
Conanp said Wednesday that the filming of pornographic content in the park “damages the image of an icon that represents the pride of Chiapas” and exceeds “moral limits.”
It also said the filming violated environmental laws and that those involved hadn’t been granted permission to shoot in the canyon.
The commission said it will take legal action against the people who participated in the “illegal acts.”
Conanp also said it will file a complaint against the cooperative that rented a boat to the pornographic actors and facilitated their behavior.
The municipal government of Chiapa de Corzo, where the Sumidero Canyon is located, also denounced the actions of Marín and the three women who participated in the sex scene with him.
The footage that circulated online “denigrates the image of the municipality and one of the country’s main natural attractions,” it said.
The president of the Central Chiapas Hotel and Motel Association took a very different view.
Manuel Niño Gutiérrez said the sexually explicit video will help promote tourism in the southern state. He also praised the actors for following the proper “health protocols” while filming, although it was unclear exactly what he was referring to.
During a five-day promotional trip to Chiapas, the female actors also posed for erotic photos in front of Tuxtla Gutiérrez’s famous flower clock. City authorities asserted that they hadn’t granted permission for nude pictures to be taken there.
