Best-case scenario for tourism this year is 26% fewer visitors than 2019

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January 19, 2021

International tourist numbers will increase 33.7% in 2021 compared to last year in a best-case scenario, according to the federal Tourism Ministry (Sectur), but even if that upturn is achieved tourism would still be well below 2019 levels.

According to Sectur’s most optimistic projection, 33.1 million international tourists will come to Mexico this year, 8.3 million more than in 2020 when tourism slumped due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, 33.1 million visitors would be 26% lower than the record 45 million international tourists who traveled to Mexico in 2019.

In a “conservative” scenario, 30.4 million international tourists will visit Mexico this year, Sectur said in a statement Monday, while in a “pessimistic” scenario the figure will be 25.2 million.

The figure for the latter would represent a 1.5% increase compared to 2020 but a 44% decline compared to 2019.

Sectur said that whether an optimistic, conservative or pessimistic scenario unfolds will depend on the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic around the world as well as progress in the application of Covid-19 vaccines, “which has already begun in our country and the main markets for tourists to Mexico.”

Spending by international tourists while in Mexico is predicted to be US $16 billion in 2021 in the best scenario, which would be an increase of 42% or $4.7 billion compared to 2020. However, that level of expenditure would represent a decrease of abut 35% compared to 2019 when international tourists spent $24.8 billion here.

In a conservative scenario, international tourists will spend $14.4 billion in 2021 while in a pessimistic one the outlay will be $11.5 billion, Sectur said.

The Tourism Ministry predicted that average hotel occupancy across 70 Mexican destinations will be 56.6% in 2021 in an optimistic scenario.

That would be 4.7% lower than the average in 2019. In a conservative scenario, average occupancy will be 50.9%, 10.4% lower than in 2019, Sectur said, while in a pessimistic scenario hotels will be 46.1% full, a decline of 15.2%.

Mexico News Daily

Marriott to open new ‘lifestyle hotel’ in Tulum next month

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Michelle Aguilar

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January 19, 2021

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Marriott’s Aloft Tulum boutique hotel is opening on February 1.

Marriott International will open a US $25-million, 140-room, “boho-chic” lifestyle hotel in Tulum on February 1.

The four-story space on Coba Maz Avenue is dubbed Aloft Tulum, part of the corporation’s Aloft chain of lifestyle hotels, which emphasizes emerging modern art and music in its decor and smaller, more intimate social spaces.

The hotel, located halfway between Tulum’s downtown area and its beaches, is meant to appeal to “boho chic” visitors looking for a more affordable boutique hotel experience but also to business clients and families, hotel officials said.

In hospitality-industry vernacular, a “lifestyle hotel” is a new type of boutique hotel that offers luxury at a more affordable price than more exclusive boutique hotels, according to the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association.

Aloft Tulum general manager Sergio Parra told the newspaper El Financiero that the hotel was built by an unnamed group of developers with other properties on the Mayan Riviera.

Tulum is becoming one of the most recognized destinations worldwide, Parra said. An airport and the Mayan Train, both of which are scheduled to be completed in 2023, will make the resort city an even more attractive vacation area, he said.

“Tulum is currently having its moment as one of the hottest travel destinations,” he said.

However, due to Covid-19, Parra said, the hotel is not expecting to see more than 50% occupancy this year. Currently, hotels in Tulum are not allowed to have more than 60% occupancy due to coronavirus restrictions. The municipality is currently at yellow or “medium risk” on the coronavirus stoplight map.

Guests at Aloft Tulum will be treated to luxurious and high-tech touches, including 10-foot ceilings and walk-in rainfall showers in guest rooms, which also will feature keyless entry and use of the Concierge tablet app, which allows guests to order room service and get other types of concierge services via the guest’s own Android device. The hotel is also making a play for business clients, with three conference spaces that can accommodate 240 people once large gatherings are again allowed, said Parra.

“Leisure and business travelers alike can enjoy an unplugged vacation, yet stay plugged in through the hotel’s innovative technology.”

Families have been traveling less often to Mexican Caribbean vacation destinations such as Tulum since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the executive director of strategic planning for the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo. Benjamín Jiménez Hernández said travelers are returning to Mexican Caribbean cities but are most often coming alone or in couples.

Source: El Financiero (sp), NITU (sp)

Political group says poor have been hit hardest by Covid, lack of support

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MND Staff

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January 19, 2021

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Abrimos o morimos — We open or we die — has been the rallying cry of restaurants shuttered by measures to combat Covid. The same slogan can be applied across the economy given the lack of fiscal stimulus.

The coronavirus pandemic and the lack of government support to mitigate its economic impact have significantly increased inequality in Mexico, according to a recently formed political organization.

Sí por México, a group of citizens and organizations opposed to the federal government, conducted an analysis using data from the national statistics institute Inegi that found that the gap between the salaries received by the country’s best and worst paid workers almost doubled between March and September.

The incomes of the lowest-paid quintile fell 44% in that period while the earnings of the best-paid 20% only declined by 8%, Sí por México said.

“This means that the distance between the two groups almost doubled,” the organization said, noting that workers in the top quintile earned on average 15 times more than the poorest 20% in March but almost 30 times more in September.

Sí por México said it was regrettable that the federal government didn’t provide more support for small and medium-sized businesses – assistance has been limited to small loans – amid the sharp coronavirus-induced economic downturn. There has been less government support in Mexico than in any other Latin American country with the exception of Nicaragua, the organization said.

Data compiled by the statistics portal Statista shows Mexico had only spent 0.7% of GDP on support for people and businesses struggling financially due to the pandemic as of last October. In contrast, Canada spent 16%, the U.S. 13.2%, Brazil 12% and Argentina 6%.

Miguel Székely, director of the Center for Educational and Social Studies, a think tank, said that the increased inequality precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic is a consequence of the lack of a safety net for the nation’s poorest.

“What we’re seeing now in Mexico is that those who are lowest on the salary scale are those who suffer the most because they’re the one who are fired,” he said.

Székely said that Mexico’s poorest have run out of any savings they might have had and have already pawned all they could pawn.

“They’re hitting rock bottom,” he said, adding that the situation has the potential to cause “social tension.”

Székely condemned the government for not providing financial support for the country’s poorest amid the pandemic – although President López Obrador says they are assisted by his administration’s various welfare and social programs – and called into question its stated commitment to “the poor come first.”

The instinct of a government that uses such a slogan should have been to help that segment of the population but it turned its back of them instead, he said. “Nothing is being done to protect this population,” Székely added.

Source: Reforma (sp)

‘Overtaken by organized crime:’ 9 murdered in Fresnillo, Zacatecas

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Michelle Aguilar

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January 19, 2021

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Authorities have confirmed that nine people in two communities in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, were shot dead and three people were kidnapped from their home by armed gangs overnight Monday.

In one of the incidents, the victims’ house was set on fire.

According to state security forces, armed groups in the community of El Salto attacked two homes minutes after 2 a.m., the first located near the town center and the other on the community’s outskirts. A total of eight people were killed in that community, three people in the house near the center, which was also set on fire, and five people in the home at the outskirts of town.

In the community of Plateros, a person was found shot to death in a home, and police said witnesses told them that three other people from the home had been kidnapped.

Fresnillo Mayor Saúl Monreal Ávila acknowledged that “the municipality has been overtaken” by organized crime activity.

“The municipality does not have much capacity [to deal with crime]. I have said so a thousand and one times …” he said, telling local media that he had no information on the incidents beyond what they already had from state sources.

He called upon the state Attorney General’s Office to inform the public about the outcome of their investigations.

For years, Fresnillo has had among the highest homicide rates in Zacatecas. In June then-security minister Alfonso Durazo characterized the situation in Fresnillo as “extreme” in terms of per-capita homicides. Durazo noted that the municipality had one of the highest rates in the country.

National Public Security System figures released in December showed that between January and November of last year, Zacatecas also saw the sharpest increase in the number of homicides, a 64.9% rise from 567 to 935.

Perhaps one small note of victory against crime in the area also occurred Monday: two National Guardsmen who had been taken by force Saturday from a Guard substation in the municipality of Jerez were found around 4 a.m. in the Fresnillo community of San Cristóbal, alive and unharmed, after a coordinated search by federal, state and municipal security forces.

Meanwhile, a search for a state police officer who was kidnapped Sunday in the municipality of Villa de Cos, about 60 kilometers from Fresnillo, continues, said Security Minister Arturo López Bazán.

Sources: El Financiero (sp), TV Azteca Noticias (sp), Zacatecas Online (sp)

Environment ministry to declare new protected area in San Luis Potosí

By

MND Staff

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January 19, 2021

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The San Miguelito Sierra in San Luis Potosí.

A mountainous area of San Luis Potosí will be declared a natural protected area (ANP) in the second half of this year, federal Environment Minister María Luisa Albores said Monday.

A 12,000-hectare section of the San Miguelito Sierra, which is known for its rich biodiversity, already has state reserve status but the federal ANP designation will cover an area eight times larger.

Albores held a virtual meeting Monday with San Luis Potosí Governor Juan Manuel Carreras, the chief of the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas, Roberto Aviña, and the mayors of three municipalities across which the sierra extends – San Luis Potosí, Villa de Reyes and Mexquitic de Carmona – at which they agreed to work together to ensure the ANP designation occurs in the second half of 2021.

The initiative has the support of President López Obrador, who instructed environmental authorities to work towards the ANP declaration. The president gave his instruction to protect the natural wealth of the San Miguelito Sierra because that’s what the residents of San Luis Potosí asked for, Albores said.

Aviña said the new ANP will have the status of a flora and fauna protection area. Governor Carreras expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work together with federal and municipal authorities and acknowledged the work of environmental experts who prepared a report in favor of the ANP designation.

The San Miguelito Sierra will become one of more than 180 ANPs across Mexico among which are national parks, biosphere reserves, marine parks and flora and fauna protection areas.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Zihuatanejo’s Paella Fest gets creative in the face of Covid-19

By

Elisabeth Ashe

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January 19, 2021

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Zihuatanejo's Paella Fest has been a hit two years running.

For the past two years in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, the local Rotary Club has held its successful Paella Fest fundraising event, where attendees can come together to sample the best paellas area restaurants have to offer and raise money for social causes.

While last year’s festival, held on the beach in front of the municipal museum, was a roaring success, it was apparent to Rotary members putting on the event that with the advent of Covid-19 a whole new strategy would be needed to keep everyone involved safe. With that in mind, this year’s Paella Fest is being organized a little differently.

The 2021 event that will happen on February 6 will be Covid-safe, say organizers.

Instead of large crowds in one place trying out paellas from various restaurants, says Rotarian Claudia de León, this year’s ticket purchase will allow attendees to choose just one restaurant out of 10 participating. They will visit the restaurants instead of the restaurants coming to them. And each of the establishments, scattered throughout Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo, will be allowed to host only 15 diners in total to ensure everyone’s safety.

The event still benefits the same good cause: the local hospital. Last year, funds raised went to its pediatric wing. This year, due to Covid, the Rotary Club and the doctors may direct money to other areas at the hospital as need dictates.

Last year's Paella Fest was set on Municipal Beach, but this year, Covid-19 has changed the event's format, and there will be measures in place to avoid crowds. — Last year’s Paella Fest was set on Municipal Beach, but this year, Covid-19 has changed the event’s format and there will be measures in place to avoid crowds.

Tickets cost 250 pesos (alcohol and tip not included) and are valid only on the day of the event from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., except for three restaurants that are holding lunchtime servings from 1 to 5 p.m. The participants are donating their paellas, says de León, something that is remarkable to see in these challenging times, she said.

Participating restaurants include:

In Ixtapa: Bistro Soleiado (participating restaurants El Cielo and Kau Kan have already sold out)
In Zihuatanejo: El Mediterraneo, El Vigia, Carmalitas, Hotel Bella Vista, Angustina, Sotavento Beach Club by Bandidos, Garrobos, Chez Leo, Ristorante D’Maria
Barra de Postosi: Bella Vista Hotel.

Last year, tickets went fast, so you might want to order yours early, especially if there is a particular restaurant you want to try. You can reserve your spot by contacting a member of the Rotary Club through the group’s Facebook page.

The writer divides her time between Canada and Zihuatanejo.

Pfizer cuts vaccine deliveries; a shipment arrived Tuesday with half the expected doses

By

MND Staff

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January 19, 2021

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doctor and covid patient — The vaccine delay complicates the administration of the second shot for healthcare workers who have already received the first one.

As Mexico faces its worst month of the coronavirus pandemic in terms of case numbers and deaths, the national Covid-19 vaccination program will be delayed by work to upgrade the Pfizer factory in Belgium.

The federal government said Monday that a shipment of 219,350 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine would arrive in Mexico on Tuesday but no further consignments are expected until February 15. The number of doses scheduled to reach Mexico today is just 50% of what was expected.

The delay, which the United States pharmaceutical company said Friday was a temporary issue as it worked to upgrade its factory in order to boost production, leaves Mexico in a difficult situation as its capacity to administer the second of the two required shots will be limited.

According to data presented by the Health Ministry on Monday night, 485,983 people – mainly frontline health workers – have received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine but only 6,456 people have received two. The two shots are supposed to be administered 21 days apart but Mexico will not be able to meet that schedule for all those who have already received a first dose.

Nevertheless, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said Monday that a second dose is guaranteed for everyone who has already received one shot. He said the second dose can be administered up to 42 days after the first according to World Health Organization guidelines.

Three experts who spoke to the newspaper El Universal agreed that the delay in the delivery of Pfizer vaccines, of which Mexico has committed to buy 34.4 million doses, is a significant setback.

Alejandro Macías, an infectious disease doctor, a member of the National Autonomous University’s coronavirus commission and the federal government’s point man during the swine flu pandemic in 2009, said the delay will have a substantial negative impact.

He said that vaccinating all health workers against Covid-19 is urgent, adding that the vaccine can bring relief to medical personnel who are fatigued and depressed by the lengthy pandemic. “Unfortunately that [relief] will be delayed,” Macías said.

Indeed, Mexico will have received just over 766,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine after the arrival of Tuesday’s shipment – enough to inoculate 383,000 healthcare workers. But Mexico has 750,000 such workers, meaning that 1.5 million doses are needed to inoculate all of them with the Pfizer vaccine.

Antonio Lazcano, a biology researcher, said “the delay of the vaccines is terrible news given the demonstrated inability of the Mexican government to control the pandemic in the country.”

Describing the situation as a “bucket of cold water” for Mexico and a “very serious” setback, Lazcano said it was a mistake for the government to base its strategy to combat Covid-19 solely on the administration of vaccines.

“In recent weeks the health authorities have concentrated their fight against the pandemic on the application of the vaccine [rather than confinement measures]. … It’s clear that they haven’t followed other strategies that are not medical and epidemiological,” he said.

Malaquías López, a public health professor at the National Autonomous University and spokesperson for the university’s Covid-19 commission, not only said the delay is bad news for Mexico but lamented the government’s contradictory statements about its cause.

President López Obrador said Sunday that the United Nations had asked Pfizer to reduce the number of doses it is sending to countries with which it has contracts so it can receive more and distribute them to poor countries. Now the government says the reason is the upgrade at the Pfizer facility in Belgium.

The three experts said the government needs to discuss and decide whether it’s better to use the limited number of Pfizer vaccines it has to inoculate health workers who haven’t received a first shot or use them to administer second doses. (According to Pfizer, its vaccine is about 52% effective in preventing Covid-19 after one dose.)

Confronted with the delay, the government has been at pains to emphasize that Mexico’s vaccination program is not entirely dependent on that vaccine.

President López Obrador said Monday that the government already has or is reaching agreements to purchase doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, China’s CanSino biologics shot and the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine, which has already been approved by the health regulator Cofepris.

The president said that Cofepris’ approval of the Sputnik vaccine was imminent, asserting that the government has options available to it to ensure that the vaccination plan is fulfilled as promised.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced Tuesday that 400,000 doses of the two-shot Sputnik vaccine will arrive next week and that 7.4 million doses will come into the country during January, February and March. He also said that 6.95 million doses of the single-shot CanSino vaccine will arrive by the end of March and that 2 million doses of the two-shot AstraZeneca/Oxford University will be available by the last week of that month

Ebrard said the government expects to inoculate almost 14.2 million people by the end of March, a figure that represents about 11% of Mexico’s total population. According to the five-stage national vaccination plan, people aged 80 and over are second in line after health workers followed by those in the 70-79 and 60-69 age brackets.

The urgent need for a wider rollout of Covid-19 vaccines cannot be overstated. The Health Ministry reported 15,441 Covid-9 deaths in the first 18 days of January including 544 on Monday. Mexico’s official death toll currently stands at 141,248, the fourth highest total in the world.

A total of 223,408 new cases was reported in the first 18 days of the year including 8,074 on Monday. The accumulated case tally is just under 1.65 million, the world’s 13th highest total.

Mexico’s Covid-19 death toll and case tally are widely believed to be significant undercounts due to the low testing rate here.

Source: El Financiero (sp), El Universal (sp)

Forget Popeye’s canned stuff: fresh spinach is the chieftain of leafy greens

By

Janet Blaser

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January 18, 2021

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Spinach is a nutritional powerhouse of vitamins and minerals.

Spinach is one of my favorite vegetables, at least as an adult. If we ate it when I was a kid, chances are it was canned (yuck) or frozen, which didn’t score points in my childhood calculations.

Nowadays, packaged baby spinach leaves can be found year-round in big grocery stores, and while they’ll do in a pinch, there’s nothing like a bunch of fresh spinach, especially from a farmers’ market. (A little time-consuming to clean, but so worth it!) Fresh spinach, which is 91% water, loses most of its nutritional value after just a few days of storage; packaged spinach loses its nutrients over the course of about a week.

References to aspānāḵ have been found in Persia dating back 2,000 years, and the earliest known English cookbook, from 1390, mentions it too, calling it spinnedge and spynoches. In Spain, it was known as the “chieftain of leafy greens.” In Mexico, it’s espinaca.

Spinach is in the same family as chard, beets and quinoa. It’s an early spring vegetable that’s a nutritional powerhouse of vitamins and minerals. And while Popeye knew that a can of spinach made him strong because of the high iron content, it needs to be cooked thoroughly for that to be true.

Nutritionists tell us that spinach in general, and raw spinach in particular, has high levels of oxalates, which block the absorption of iron and calcium. So spinach must be thoroughly steamed or cooked to lower the oxalate levels and allow your body to absorb the iron. According to the USDA, a 100 gram serving of cooked spinach has almost double the iron as a hamburger patty the same size.

Bacon and cotija cheese make this breakfast decadent.

Bacon-Spinach Breakfast Tacos

4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into ¼ -inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 quart packed spinach leaves, roughly chopped
Salt & pepper
1 Tbsp. butter
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup salsa verde
4 soft flour or corn tortillas, warmed
Garnish: queso cotija, lime wedges, scallions, cilantro

Cook bacon until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving fat in pan.

Add garlic; cook over medium heat, stirring, 1 minute. Add half of spinach; cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Add remaining spinach and cook until wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate; wipe out skillet.

Melt butter in now-empty skillet over medium heat. Add eggs and cook, stirring, until no longer watery but still moist, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

To assemble: Spread salsa over tortillas, then spinach and then eggs. Top with bacon. Serve immediately with crumbled queso cotija and other garnishes. — www.seriouseats.com

Carefully flip these spinach leaves to distribute the olive oil.

Simple Sautéed Spinach

2 big bunches of spinach, about 1 pound
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
Salt to taste

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute until just beginning to brown. Add spinach, pushing it down a bit in the pan. Using a spatula or wide spoon, carefully flip sections of the spinach so oil is spread through leaves. Cover and cook 1 minute. Uncover and turn the spinach over again. Cover again and cook for an additional minute. until spinach is completely wilted. Remove from heat. Drain any excess liquid, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Sesame Spinach

Top with seared tuna or a sautéed fish filet for a complete meal.
1½ Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
½ tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced or grated
6 scallions, finely chopped
1 big bunch fresh spinach
Garnish: 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Mix soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar; set aside. Heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic, ginger and scallions. Sauté over medium heat for 2-3 minutes till softened. Add spinach, stir-fry until cooked through but still crispy, 2-3 minutes. Add reserved soy sauce mixture and heat through. Serve topped with sesame seeds. — Recipes From A Kitchen Garden by Renee Shepherd

Avocado is the secret ingredient in this pasta dish.

Creamy Spinach-Avocado Pasta

10 oz. spaghetti or fettuccine
2 cloves garlic
1 avocado
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, packed
½ cup pecans, pine nuts, walnuts or combination
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
¾ to 1 cup pasta water
Salt & pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to the package instructions; reserve 1 cup cooking water. Process garlic, avocado, spinach, basil, nuts, cheese and lemon juice in blender or food processor till smooth. Slowly add pasta water till sauce is desired consistency. Toss with pasta and serve immediately.

Spinach, Black Bean & Chipotle Quesadillas

2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. vegetable oil, divided
1/3 cup chopped fresh spinach
Salt
¾ cup drained canned black beans
1 chipotle chili packed in adobo sauce, minced
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Heat 2 tsp. oil in a 10-inch cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add spinach, season with salt. Cook, stirring, until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl. Mix beans, chipotle and cheese with spinach. Spread half of mixture evenly over half of one tortilla, leaving a ½ -inch border. Fold tortilla over, sealing edges by pressing down firmly. Repeat with second tortilla. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in same skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook both folded tortillas, moving them around until golden brown and puffy on first side, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook other side until golden brown and puffy, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels, cut into triangles and serve immediately. — www.seriouseats.com

Triple Green Salad Dressing

1 cup tightly packed spinach leaves
¾ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1-2 small cloves garlic
½ cup olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in blender and process till smooth.

Janet Blaser is the author of the best-selling book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, featured on CNBC and MarketWatch. A retired journalist, she has lived in Mexico since 2006.

‘We won’t be silent over irresponsible investigation of Cienfuegos by US’

By

MND Staff

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January 18, 2021

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lopez obrador — López Obrador says US understands Mexico's decision, although the Department of Justice appears to have a different perspective.

President López Obrador declared Monday that his government won’t remain silent in light of an “irresponsible” United States’ investigation into former defense minister Salvador Cienfuegos.

The federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) exonerated ex-president Enrique Peña Nieto’s army chief last week, concluding that Cienfuegos had not colluded with the H-2 Cartel to smuggle drugs into the United States as the U.S. alleged.

López Obrador claimed Friday that the U.S. – which arrested Cienfuegos last October before dropping the charges and allowing him to return to Mexico in November – fabricated evidence against the ex-defense minister.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry subsequently released the file it received from the United States, while the FGR published a heavily redacted version of its own rapidly completed investigation into the retired general.

Speaking at his regular news conference on Monday, López Obrador asserted that the United States understands Mexico’s decision to exonerate Cienfuegos, although the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said that it stood by its investigation and that it could reopen the case against the erstwhile army chief.

“They know that the credibility of a government cannot be called into question. They wouldn’t accept that and we don’t either,” the president said, even though he accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of fabricating evidence and lacking professionalism.

“It’s not possible for an investigation to be carried out with so much irresponsibility, without support, and for us to remain silent,” López Obrador said. “Imagine what would happen if the government of Mexico that I lead kept quiet. We would lose authority, moral authority most importantly. We would end up as abettors in the eyes of Mexicans and the world.”

The president thanked the United States government for sending its file on Cienfuegos to Mexico without placing any conditions on his government. The DOJ was critical of the decision to make it public, asserting that Mexico had violated a bilateral treaty in doing so, but López Obrador claimed that the release of the file would not have a negative impact on the relationship with the United States.

He said Mexico had done the right thing in making the file public, asserting that doing so shed light on the fabrication of the evidence against Cienfuegos.

“This doesn’t affect [bilateral] relations. The relations are good with the current government and with that which will take office this week,” López Obrador said.

He also said that Mexico is willing to continue security cooperation with the United States, stating that his government didn’t want any ruptures in the relationship. (For its part, the DOJ said that the release of the U.S. file “calls into question whether the United States can continue to share information to support Mexico’s own criminal investigations.”)

The FGR’s exoneration of Cienfuegos was regarded as unsurprising by many analysts both here and in the United States, some of whom contended that it showed the immense power of the Mexican armed forces, upon which López Obrador is relying for the construction of infrastructure projects, distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine and public security in addition to traditional military roles.

However, there was some surprise over the speed with which the FGR cleared the former defense minister of wrongdoing – he returned to Mexico on November 18 and was exonerated less than two months later.

The Mexican authorities apparently relied heavily on a declaration Cienfuegos made on January 9. The heavily redacted report released by the FGR on Sunday revealed that the former army chief expressed incredulity that the DEA attributed credibility to incriminating cell phone messages between cartel members that it intercepted.

Some of Cienfuegos’ declaration of innocence is blacked out but in one part he denied ever having prohibited security operations against the Nayarit-based H-2 Cartel. He said that laws made it clear that it was not his role as defense minister to plan, conduct or participate in anti-narcotics operations.

Cienfuegos said that it is patently “false” to say that he ordered operations not to be carried out in Nayarit or any other state in the country. He asserted that a 2016 message the DEA attributed to him in which he supposedly tells a cartel figure not to worry about 300 troops being sent to Nayarit because they are only going to set up a military expo is also false. The expo in question was not held in Nayarit in 2016, Cienfuegos told the FGR.

He also addressed a physical description of him provided by a cartel member in one text message. Cienfuegos told the FGR that he is tall and and has brown skin, not short and fair-skinned as Daniel Silva Gárate, a now-deceased H-2 cartel member known as “El H9,” claimed in a message sent to his his boss and uncle, the also deceased H-2 Cartel leader Juan Francisco Patrón Sánchez, known as “El H2.”

“It’s evident that this criminal … never held any meeting with me” as he claimed, Cienfuegos said.

The former defense minister said that El H9 was attempting to deceive his boss and uncle in order to obtain money he supposedly needed to bribe him.

Cienfuegos asserted that “of course” he never received any money from the criminal organization. Another claim contained in intercepted messages – that he received 10 million pesos [US $507,000 at today’s exchange rate] in exchange for agreeing to carry out a coup to overthrow then president Peña Nieto – “borders on stupidity,” he said.

“[Messages] make mention of an armed uprising and even a revolution. It’s frankly ridiculous and more ridiculous that specialists [of the DEA] gave credit [to them] … when my loyalty toward institutions and the institution of the presidency is well known,” Cienfuegos said.

“The weak and circumstantial evidence against me completely lack support and … is sufficiently and forcefully discredited with the information my defense team has provided,” he said.

“… I have never received even a single centavo from any kind of illicit activity, nobody has ever offered me bribes or gifts, I have no remuneration beyond what the nation gives me, I have no companies, I’m not a partner or investor in any business.”

The FGR report also includes a military document that said that no Blackberry cell phones, which the U.S. alleged Cienfuegos used to communicate with criminals, had been distributed to the former defense minister or anyone serving in the army.

Source: Reforma (sp), Milenio (sp)

Women take up arms to protect their homes from CJNG in Michoacán

By

MND Staff

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January 18, 2021

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A woman guards the highway into El Terrero.

A group of women in Michoacán has taken up arms to protect their small town from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Mexico’s most powerful and violent criminal organization.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that an all-women self-defense group has emerged in El Terrero, a village in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán. The women tote assault rifles and set up roadblocks to defend the village from what they describe as the CJNG’s bloody incursion into the state.

Some of the almost 50 female vigilantes are pregnant and some take their small children with them as they patrol El Terrero. They told AP they fear CJNG gunmen could enter the town at any time via the rural area’s dirt roads.

Many of the vigilantes have lost family members in the violence that has long plagued the Tierra Caliente. Eufresina Blanco Nava said her 29-year-old son, a lime picker, was abducted by presumed CJNG members and never seen again.

“They have disappeared a lot of people … and young girls, too,” she said.

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Another woman who asked not to be identified because she has relatives in CJNG strongholds told AP that the Jalisco cartel kidnapped and presumably killed her 14-year-old daughter.

“We are going to defend those we have left, the children we have left, with our lives,” she said. “We women are tired of seeing our children, our families disappear. They take our sons, they take our daughters, our relatives, our husbands.”

One reason why an all-women self defense group has emerged in El Terrero is because “men are growing scarce” in the lime-growing Tierra Caliente region, AP said.

“As soon as they see a man who can carry a gun, they take him away,” said the unidentified vigilante. “They disappear. We don’t know if they have them [as recruits] or if they already killed them.”

The group doesn’t only use assault weapons and roadblocks to defend their town. They also have a homemade tank – a large pickup truck reinforced with steel plate armor.

Children play at a checkpoint on the highway in El Terrero.

El Terrero has long been dominated by the Nueva Familia Michoacana cartel and the Los Viagras gang, AP said, but the CJNG control nearby areas and is determined to increase its area of influence. Naranjo de Chila, a town just across the Grande River from El Terrero, is the birthplace of CJNG leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, Mexico’s most wanted drug lord.

The women vigilantes have been accused by some people of being foot soldiers of the Nueva Familia or Los Viagras but they deny the allegations, although AP said “they clearly see the Jalisco cartel as their foe.”

They told the news agency that they would be very happy if the police and army came to El Terrero and took over the job they are currently doing.

One person who doubts that the women vigilantes are bona fide self-defense force members is Hipólito Mora, founder of a self-defense force in the nearby town of La Ruana that took up arms against the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) cartel in 2013.

“I can almost assure you they are not legitimate self-defense activists,” said Mora, who three weeks ago announced his intention to run for governor of Michoacán at the elections in June.

“They are organized crime. … The few self-defense groups that exist have allowed themselves to be infiltrated; they are criminals disguised as self-defense.”

woman self defense force member — The self-defense force has been accused by some of working for the Jalisco cartel’s rivals.

However, Mora acknowledged that the same conditions that forced him to take up arms remain. The authorities and police still don’t guarantee security, he said.

AP noted that Governor Silvano Aureoles also rejects the legitimacy of the self-defense groups in the state.

“They are criminals, period. Now, to cloak themselves and protect their illegal activities, they call themselves self-defense groups, as if that were some passport for impunity,” he said.

Source: AP (sp)