Chihuahua water protest: Mexico has just 38 days to pay 74% of this year’s water quota

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September 18, 2020

Her government has stamped out the corruption in the granting of permits for real estate projects, Mayor Sheinbaum said.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted a 57% reduction in homicides in her second annual report on Thursday as well as her government’s efforts to combat corruption.

During a virtual address to the Mexico City Congress, Sheinbaum said the number of homicides per day in the capital was 2.6 in August compared to 4.9 in January 2019 and 6.1 in May last year.

“There was a 57% reduction in homicide victims,” she said referring to the difference between the daily figures for May 2019 and last month.

The mayor said that high-impact crimes, which include homicides, kidnapping, extortion, vehicle theft and robberies, declined 50% between January last year and August, dropping from 168 per day to 84.

Violent vehicle theft declined 40% in the 20-month period, vehicle theft without violence fell 39%, violent robberies of businesses decreased 64% and robberies on the Metro dropped 84%, according to figures cited by Sheinbaum.

Robberies on public buses declined 72% and muggings of people after they withdrew money from a bank declined 47% to just one incident per day last month, she said.

Despite the reductions, the mayor said that her government still has work to do to reduce the incidence of some crimes, noting that home burglaries have not declined since she took office in December 2018.

Sheinbaum acknowledged the work of her security cabinet in improving the security situation in the capital, particularly that of Police Chief Omar García Harfuch, who was wounded in an armed attack in June that killed three people.

“In the face of adversity, he always puts in his best effort. … In the name of the residents of the city, thank you very much Omar. You are an example of courage and honesty and a role model for all members of the police,” she said.

Sheinbaum told lawmakers as well as a select number of guests who attended her address at the government palace in person that her government has stamped out corruption that previously flourished in the granting of permits for real estate projects.

Projects approved by the previous government were canceled and criminal complaints have been filed against those involved in the corruption, she said.

A select group of people attended the mayor's presentation in Mexico City Thursday. — A select group of people attended the mayor’s presentation in Mexico City Thursday.

“There was so much corruption that today there is an arrest warrant against the former minister of urban development and housing,” Sheinbaum said.

The mayor said that her government’s wider efforts to eliminate corruption and put an end to the privileges previously enjoyed by high-ranking officials generated savings of 25 billion pesos (US $1.2 billion) in her first year in office.

The savings were directed to education, infrastructure projects and to increasing the salaries of police and administrative workers, Sheinbaum said.

“This is only achieved with a policy of austerity and without corruption. In my case I donated two months of my salary and my entire end-of-year bonus as did many other public servants,” she said.

The Morena party mayor, a close ally of President López Obrador, acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic has hit the capital hard both in terms of lives lost – Mexico City’s official death toll is currently 11,403 but the real figure is almost certainly much higher – and economically.

Some 215,000 jobs were lost and government revenue has dropped about 8% due to the pandemic, Sheinbaum said.

“We’re living through difficult times. The Covid-19 pandemic hit the city very hard, … it’s up to all of us to not drop our guard [and] continue with the fundamental health measures,” she said.

Confronted with the dual health and economic crisis, the government redirected 4.7 billion pesos to healthcare and financial support for citizens and business, Sheinbaum said.

The mayor also spoke of the infrastructure projects her government is carrying out including the expansion of public bus lines and the construction of five high schools.

In addition, Sheinbaum announced that she has sent an initiative to the Mexico City Congress that proposes that when a woman suffers domestic abuse, the perpetrator of the violence must leave the family home.

“There’s no reason to send a woman and her children to a shelter; she must [remain in] her own house … where she has greater security. … The aggressor must leave the home,” she said.

The mayor’s remarks came after women in Mexico City and several states protested against gender violence this week as Independence Day celebrations were taking place.

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

School’s owner found guilty in deaths of 26 in 2017 earthquake

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September 18, 2020

The Enrique Rebsamen school after it collapsed in the 2017 earthquake. — The Enrique Rébsamen school after it collapsed in the 2017 earthquake.

The owner and director of a Mexico City private school at which 26 people died during the 7.1 earthquake in 2017 has been found guilty of manslaughter.

After 10 hours of court proceedings yesterday, judges declared Mónica García Villegas, former owner of the Enrique Rébsamen school, guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of 19 children and seven adults during the September 19 quake.

Shortly after the collapse of the school, authorities filed a criminal complaint against García, alleging she was negligent in constructing an apartment for her personal use on the roof of a wing of the building.

Previous remodeling at the school had already damaged the building’s structural stability, of which García was well aware.

But after a warrant was issued for her arrest in 2017, García went into hiding and an Interpol red notice was issued for law enforcement worldwide to assist in her apprehension.

miss monica — Miss Mónica, left, during an interview with a reporter before her arrest and, right, supervising construction at the school.

She was taken into custody in a Mexico City restaurant in May 2019 after her brother alerted authorities to her location and collected on a 5-million-peso reward.

The trial of the woman students called “Miss Mónica” began on August 12 in Mexico City’s superior court.

According to a statement from the prosecutor, evidence in the case “was conclusive to establish that the woman was remiss by not complying with the provisions established in construction regulations and urban development law,” which put at risk the school’s students and faculty.

“It should be noted that the defendant was not only the general director of the private school but also served as senior partner and administrator, ranging from preschool education to secondary education; According to the accusation, she failed to comply with the provisions established in the aforementioned regulations and law,” the statement read.

Mexico City’s Attorney General’s Office requested a 57-year prison sentence. She could face between two and five years for negligence in the deaths of each of the 26 victims, plus a five-year sentence for her culpability in her role as supervisor of the construction project.

The sentence will be handed down on Monday.

Parents of 10 of the dead children addressed the court, demanding justice and urging the judge to hand down a precedent-setting sentence “that makes it clear that no one plays with people’s lives.”

García was remanded to Santa Martha Acatitla women’s prison in Iztapalapa where she has remained since her arrest. She was found guilty two days before the third anniversary of the quake, in which 370 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured.

Earlier this month Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced that a memorial for those who lost their lives at the school will be constructed.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

The antigrita goes viral: women’s protests spread across Mexico

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September 17, 2020

Women march in Guadalajara on Wednesday.

Anger among women over gender violence and a perception that government is doing little to address the issue has been surfacing once again, spreading across Mexico into at least eight states this week.

Female activists in Mexico City demonstrated their anger with a boisterous protest on Monday at which they called for justice with an antigrita, or anti-cry, to draw attention to the security situation for women in Mexico.

It was their own version of the grito, the September 15 cry of independence that celebrates the anniversary of the start of the independence struggle against Spanish forces.

And it was was heard beyond the historic center of the capital where their protest took place.

Women in Chihuahua, Quintana Roo, Jalisco, Morelos, Baja California, Tamaulipas, Oaxaca and Puebla followed suit and mounted their own protests on Tuesday and Wednesday with antigritas and declarations that there was little to celebrate.

In Chihuahua, about 50 women managed to get past police and break down security barriers to enter Plaza Hidalgo in the state capital where Governor Javier Corral was presiding over a cry of independence ceremony on Tuesday night.

Shouting “murderer!” they asked him what he was celebrating given that more than 200 women have been victims of femicide in the northern border state this year.

In Quintana Roo, women protested Tuesday night at state Human Rights Commission offices in Chetumal, Cancún and Tulum, where they called for justice for daughters, friends and mothers who were murdered or disappeared.

In Guadalajara, hundreds of women called for justice with an antigrita as they marched through the city streets on Wednesday afternoon.

As they passed the metropolitan cathedral the women chanted, “Remove your doctrine from our vaginas, get your rosaries off our ovaries,” according to a report by the newspaper La Jornada.

In Cuernavaca, Morelos, members of several feminist collectives protested at the state Attorney General’s Office where they declared that they were fed up with the violence women face in the state and the country as a whole.

Women at the antigrita in Mexico City this week.

They said they had nothing to celebrate despite it being Independence Day, saying they were all victims of successive bad governments.

“We’re tired of government authorities not assuming their responsibility [and] being incapable of guaranteeing our security,” the women said.

Members of women’s collectives in Tijuana, Baja California, also said that they had nothing to celebrate as they gathered outside a cultural center on Tuesday night. The women graffitied part of the spherical Tijuana Cultural Center and its forecourt with messages that denounced gender violence and the government.

In Tamaulipas, women protested in Ciudad Victoria and Reynosa on Tuesday because they were not consulted about a new law that sets harsher penalties for cyber-harassment and the online dissemination of intimate photographs. They argued that the law doesn’t do enough to protect women from online abuse.

The protests over the past two days came as activists in Mexico City continue to occupy the headquarters of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) in the capital’s downtown. The Ni Una Menos (Not One Woman Less) Collective took over the building two weeks ago and converted it into a shelter for victims of gender-based violence.

Monday’s antigrita event, attended by at least 300 protesters, was held outside the CNDH headquarters, located a few blocks from Mexico City’s central square.

According to The Guardian newspaper, one woman whose daughter and sister have disappeared held up documents from their CNDH case files as she denounced the authorities’ lack of action against those responsible for the crimes.

“I did this correctly,” she said of the effort she made to follow official protocols. “I sat here for hours and nothing happened,” she shouted before tearing the documents up and throwing them off the CNDH building’s second floor balcony. “The institutions can go to hell, because they don’t respect people’s human rights.”

About 10 women per day were killed in Mexico last year, while the murder of a 7-year-old girl earlier this year and the particularly brutal killing of a 25-year-old woman by her partner – as well as a newspaper’s publication of her mutilated body – triggered massive protests and Mexico’s first ever national women’s strike in March.

A lot of the anger then and now has focused on López Obrador, who has refused to acknowledge the full extent of the crisis.

In May he claimed that 90% of calls made by women to denounce domestic violence and seek help are false, and after the takeover of the CNDH building claimed without evidence that the activists have a partisan political agenda and are backed by “conservatives,” a byword the president uses for his political opponents.

López Obrador also criticized the activists for defacing portraits of erstwhile presidents that hung in the CNDH building, taking particular umbrage at the embellishment of revolutionary hero Francisco Madero’s likeness with lipstick and an anti-police message.

The mother of a 7-year-old girl who was unable to get authorities to investigate abuse against her daughter promptly hit back at the president with a response that went viral.

“The president was indignant about a portrait – but why wasn’t he indignant when my daughter was abused?” Erika Martínez asked.

Emboldened by the activists’ success in seizing control of the CNDH headquarters in Mexico City, a group of women last Thursday took over the offices of the México state Human Rights Commission in Ecatepec, a municipality that borders the capital that is notorious for violence against women and crime in general.

But in the early hours of Friday morning, police entered the building and “beat the women and children with them,” The Guardian said, before taking them in unmarked vehicles to a prosecutor’s office in another México state municipality.

Source: La Jornada (sp), Infobae (sp) El Universal (sp), The Guardian (en)

Migrating to Mexico with an aging parent proved to be right for US couple

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Greg Custer

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September 17, 2020

Many boomers cozy up to the idea of living overseas. Many have chosen Chapala. — Many boomers cozy up to the idea of living abroad. Many have chosen Chapala.

If you’re in your 60s and from the United States it’s likely you are pondering a “What next?” dilemma, appraising lifestyle choice in the glaring light of America’s Covid-19 medical care debacle, a dearth of savings, and a pending social security train wreck.

Adding to the complexity is a likelihood that your parents’ futures are part of this life 2.0 decision. Like never in our history, our parents are living longer, staying active, and facing (with their grown-up children) an uncertain future. The question for many is, “Can we afford quality senior care, while not draining a lifetime of assets and savings?”

For my family, this quandary was more than philosophical. Things up north in Bend, Oregon, changed as my wife and I were joined by a new roommate — my 83-year-old mom. We embraced this change with open arms — yet over time came to accept how tenuous our situation had become.

Today, millions of Americans are at least considering abroad options (some nine million U.S. passport holders now live outside the U.S.), choices scarcely considered a generation ago. And for many, the reality of taking along aged parents is now squarely part of our “what next” lifestyle decision.

Many of us boomers cozy up to the idea of living abroad. It might have started as a trivial, somewhat voyeuristic form of inquisitiveness, peeking from our U.S. living rooms at media outlets such as House Hunters Abroad and International Living. A “Wouldn’t it be fun?” form of escapism has seeped into our retirement consciousness.

For us, the first decision to resolve was, “Is migrating with Mom the right thing to do?” An unsuccessful and expensive go at assisted living in Oregon (more and more like all-inclusive resorts for active boomers and/or their parents), left us seriously talking about options. There had to be a better way.

The jaw-dropping cost and insular, institutional memory care experience convinced us to do some exploring, and led to our first of many “Ah ha!” moments.

It’s not unlike the path many of you have entered upon over the last 30 or so years. Go on vacation, find a place that clicks, make the timeshare down payment, and start to wonder why your special place can’t become your year-round home.

For some places, like Mexico, the boom began long before the 2007 housing crash. No one really knows the real number, but a commonly-sited statistic is that over one million Americans are now residing full-time under the Mexican sun.

Another “Ah ha!” moment came following a visit with a friend in Guadalajara when my wife Jane brought me two 1940s books about Mexico lakeside living by writer Dane Chandos (he’s really Englishman Peter Lilley), who adopted Lake Chapala as his home and lived lakeside for over 30 years.

His “House in the Sun” still stands lakefront in San Antonio Tlayacapan. In an era before gated expat communities, the books recount the challenges and everyday curiosities that enchant so many norteamericanos with Mexico.

A commonly-sited statistic is that over one million Americans reside full-time under the Mexican sun.

“Chapala, huh? Didn’t Americans and Canadians used to go there to retire?” In fact, yes; the villages lining the lake’s northern shore have been attracting expats for decades. Chapala is both a town and a lake (Mexico’s largest). Tucked between shoreline and sierra is a string of cobbled and colorful colonial-era villages.

At a quite comfortable 5,000 feet altitude, Chapala is half an hour from Guadalajara’s international airport and under an hour to the nearest Costco and the city’s world-class medical care. We’d be under a three-hour drive to the coast (Manzanillo), be able to get familiar brands at Ajijic’s “scenic-view” Walmart and be sure to find an assortment of home rentals for under US $800 a month.

But we weren’t really looking for a gringo bubble of country clubs and expat-led organic markets. What cinched the deal for us was Chapala’s amalgamation of Mexican village simplicity, spectacular scenery, the world’s best climate, and a better place for Mom.

Yes, there are going to be decisions and trade-offs – and some hard ones. You will collaborate with your spouse and perhaps conclude that it’s just not practical, it’s not the right time, we won’t see our grandkids, we need to work a few more years before retiring, we don’t speak any foreign languages.

Picking up and moving abroad is daunting to even the most seasoned global traveler. And it’s not everyone’s path to a successful, sustainable lifestyle migration. But many, many of us overcome our apprehensions and take the proverbial plunge.

We moved with Mom to the Chapala lakefront in 2015. Mom passed away on Easter Sunday, 2020.

Demographers tell us that an astounding 10,000 Americans reach retirement age every single day, and few are either financially equipped or emotionally prepared to manage our own retirement – and even fewer of us are able to do so while caring for an aging parent.

Your first inclination might be to jot down a short list of “Why we CAN’T do this now.” Be careful! You might find writing down the obvious obstacles becomes a roadmap rather than an offramp to a new generational partnership in a foreign land.

For us, fulfilling a decades-old dream became something much more than an escapist TV show. Ironically, it was Mom’s fading memory that helped us decide that it was time to start making new memories, while living atop Mexico’s hospitable altiplano.

Greg Custer lives lakeside in Ajijic and helps expats find their own village in the sun with his company www.choosingmexico.com.

Media attacks seen as distraction that threatens freedom of expression

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September 17, 2020

Although the federal government’s frequent attacks on the media are designed to divert attention from its lack of results they also threaten freedom of expression, says the Mexico representative for a United States non-governmental organization that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.

In an interview with the newspaper El Universal, Jan-Albert Hootsen of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed concern that state and municipal officials have followed the lead of President López Obrador and other federal functionaries by denigrating the media for their own political gain.

Asked to give an assessment of the current situation in Mexico in terms of freedom of expression, Hootsen responded:

“The political climate in Mexico doesn’t encourage freedom of expression. When the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office we saw some positive signs; for example, the commitment to put an end to impunity, censorship and the murder of journalists.”

“Unfortunately,” he added, “almost two years later there is a climate of significant polarization, … a rhetoric of confrontation with the press [and] a division between good press and bad press.”

(López Obrador has described sections of the media critical of his government as prensa fifi, or elitist press, and “conservatives” among other disparaging terms.)

Hootsen said that it is clear that the president and other officials use such language to try to gain a political advantage.

“When there is a decision or … policy that hasn’t had the results the government wants, attacking the media is a kind of distraction,” he said, adding that the leaders of other countries use the same strategy.

“There is a very clear political communication strategy and we don’t just see this in Mexico. It also happens in the United States with Donald Trump, in Brazil with Jair Bolsonaro and in El Salvador with Nayib Bukele,” Hootsen said.

He said that attacks on the media can have serious repercussions for journalists, explaining that reporters who have been criticized by López Obrador at his weekday news conferences have received thousands of adverse and hostile messages on social media and even death threats.

“It’s a situation that all of Mexico knows about, it’s not new … and it’s something that the federal government also knows, although its practices continue to be the same in the morning [press] conferences in the National Palace,” the CPJ representative said.

lopez obrador and reforma — The president went after Reforma again on Thursday, calling it ‘a trashy rag.’

Asked how the attacks on members of the media can be stopped, Hootsen responded:

“We have to continue on the path of dialogue and make it clear that certain types of statements are not acceptable. For example in the case of the magazine Nexos, it concerns me that the Ministry of Public Administration didn’t just announce an investigation against this media outlet but did so with clearly political rhetoric.”

Hootsen charged that powerful public officials and the media are not on a level playing field and that the former have a responsibility to moderate the way they express themselves.

“It’s a matter of proportionality; there are public officials who have an enormous platform with all the tools to attack the media but the media doesn’t have the same platform or reach,” he said.

The relationship between the president and the media should be based on “facts, mutual respect and a sense of equality,” Hootsen said, adding that hate speech toward the latter “doesn’t help in any way.”

“If the president believes that [media] coverage isn’t fair he can say it but he also has to respond in the correct way, … not just disparage,” he said.

Asked about the current security situation for journalists, the CPJ representative said that Mexico was the most violent country in the world last year and remains so this year.

(Press freedom advocacy organization Article 19 said this week that 2020 will likely be the most violent year in a decade for Mexico’s journalists, with four murders recorded to date.)

Hootsen said that mechanisms to protect journalists here are clearly insufficient to do the job properly because they don’t receive sufficient funding.

“They [the authorities] react after the aggression and the main factor that continues encouraging violence in Mexico is impunity,” he added.

With regard to the outlook for authorities’ treatment of the media in the final four years of López Obrador’s term, Hootsen said, “I hope that the federal and state governments reconsider their language in the public debate with the media but the reality will be quite complex because economically and socially, and in terms of security, we’re [in a] very bad [situation] in Mexico.”

In other words, the government is likely to have plenty of reasons for wanting to continue to divert attention away from its performance in managing the country’s myriad problems.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Mexico, US extend land border closure till October 21

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September 17, 2020

The border between Mexico and the United States will remain closed to nonessential travel until at least October 21, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

“After reviewing the development of the spread of Covid-19, Mexico proposed to the United States the extension, for another month, of the restrictions on nonessential land transit on their common border,” the Foreign Ministry reported on its Twitter account.

The governments of Mexico and the United States agreed to close nonessential travel in March in order to inhibit the spread of the coronavirus. This is the sixth renewal of that order, which is evaluated on a monthly basis.

The measure does not affect trade between neighboring countries or Mexicans who have work permits or essential business in the U.S. The closure mainly affects vehicular travel and residents of the border region. Citizens and permanent residents of the United States do not face restrictions entering the U.S., nor do those with temporary work visas, emergency personnel, students or government officials.

Access by land will be denied to those traveling for tourism or recreational purposes, such as people who cross into the United States or Mexico to shop, go on vacation or visit relatives.

Mexicans and Americans arriving in either country by plane are not affected and may travel freely.

Non-U.S. citizens may travel from Mexico to the United States via Tijuana’s Cross Border Xpress (CBX), a 390-foot pedestrian bridge for passengers linking the Tijuana International Airport with a terminal in San Diego, if they can demonstrate an essential reason to travel.

Passengers whose purpose for travel is considered essential may cross through CBX with official documentation.

However, there are no restrictions for CBX passengers headed south, but travelers have to fill out a questionnaire that is reviewed by Mexican authorities.

The United States eased its travel advisory for Mexico on September 8, from level 4 “Do Not Travel” level 3 “Reconsider Travel.”

The advisory reads, “Reconsider travel to Mexico due to Covid-19. Exercise increased caution in Mexico due to crime and kidnapping. Some areas have increased risk.”

Mexico’s border with the United States, which stretches for more than 3,000 kilometers, is normally one of the busiest in the world.

On the U.S. side, border states Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California have a combined total of 1.71 million accumulated coronavirus cases. On the Mexican side, border states Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Coahuila and Tamaulipas have a total of 137,548 cases, according to official records.

Limited Covid testing in Mexico could be a reason for the vast difference in the numbers.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

CORRECTION: Non-U.S. citizens heading north may use Tijuana’s Cross Border Xpress if they can demonstrate an essential reason for traveling. Incorrect information appeared in the earlier version of this story.

Financial Intelligence Unit unblocks Chihuahua municipality’s accounts

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September 17, 2020

Farmers protesting against water diversion at the dam in Chihuahua.

The federal government’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has unblocked 44 bank accounts of a Chihuahua municipal council led by a mayor who has participated in protests against the diversion of water to the United States.

The UIF sent an official letter dated September 14 to the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) advising it that the bank accounts of the Delicias government, which were only recently blocked, had been unfrozen.

It said the accounts were unblocked because resources contained in them were essential for the council’s activities.

The municipal government of Delicias, led by National Action Party (PAN) Mayor Eliseo Compeán, had demanded that its accounts be unblocked so that it could pay salaries to 1,200 employees and purchase gasoline for police cars and council vehicles.

Compeán, who has joined recent protests against the National Water Commission’s diversion of water from the La Boquilla dam to the United States to settle a longstanding water debt, said Monday that there was just over 87.2 million pesos (US $4.15 million) in the 44 accounts.

In addition to demanding that they be unblocked, the mayor sought information from the UIF about why three of his personal accounts, containing a total of just over 72,000 pesos (US $3,400), had also been frozen.

Compeán himself called the move political persecution. The UIF also froze the accounts of former Chihuahua governor José Reyes Baeza and Chihuahua Irrigation Association President Salvador Alcántar.

Along with Mayor Compeán, they have been accused by the federal government of being behind the Boquilla dam protests.

Earlier the UIF publicly denied freezing the accounts of the municipality, a position contradicted by its letter to the CNBV.

“It’s interesting because the UIF had released a statement saying that the accounts in Delicias were not blocked,” a source close to the case told the newspaper Reforma.

The Delicias council also pointed out that the UIF had contradicted itself, while Compeán said in a statement that the council wasn’t notified when its accounts were blocked.

He also asserted that it was the first time that the federal government has frozen the bank accounts of a municipal council.

The UIF has taken on a leading role in the federal government’s fight against corruption and organized crime, and director Santiago Nieto has provided semi-regular updates about high-profile cases.

Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero insinuated in January that the UIF chief had made statements that failed to respect the presumption of innocence of those who he had mentioned, including former cabinet secretary Rosario Robles and ex-Pemex chief Emilio Lozoya.

Responded to Gertz’s insinuation, President López Obrador said that Nieto “doesn’t do anything without consulting with the president.”

That remark raises the possibility that the president directly ordered the freezing of the accounts of the municipality of Delicias as well as those of the mayor and other officials allegedly behind the Boquilla dam protests.

López Obrador claimed in July that PAN politicians are behind the protests, charging that they want to protect water in Chihuahua for their own business interests.

The conservative PAN is currently the main opposition party to the ruling Morena party, and with midterm elections to be held in 2021, the president and other federal officials are even more eager to depict it in a bad light.

Javier Corral, the PAN governor of Chihuahua, is one of 10 governors who decided to withdraw from the National Conference of Governors this month after deciding that López Obrador is a threat to democracy.

Corral, who said that there is a “hint of authoritarianism” in the president’s conduct, is strongly opposed to the diversion of water to the United States, which the federal government says must be sent there in compliance with a 1944 water treaty between Mexico and its northern neighbor.

While the president blames his political adversaries for the dam protests, Corral blames Conagua for poor management of the country’s dams and claims corruption within the agency has permitted the illegal use of water for irrigation.

Source: Reforma (sp), Sin Embargo (sp)

‘Shoot the narcos,’ declares mayor of Hermosillo, Sonora

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September 17, 2020

Drug dealers are traitors, says Mayor López.

Mayor Célida López of Hermosillo, Sonora, believes that drug traffickers should be shot.

López made the statement Wednesday during her second annual report on the state of the city, in which she offered that those who sell drugs to minors are traitors to their country.

“Drug trafficking should not be confronted with [a show of] weapons,” she said, “drug traffickers should be shot in this country, as happens in other countries of the world.”

“We do not only need more elements of the National Guard, we need to remove from our city each and every man who rises up with a gun in hand and is capable of murdering a minor,” she added. Prison sentences or freezing financial assets of drug dealers is not punishment enough, she said.

“These are traitors to the country, and we should shoot all those who give [drugs] to minors. It is not possible that this be allowed to continue,” she continued.

“I am not going to settle for keeping quiet for my safety. I know that I put my life and that of my family at risk, but what good is it being in authority if I do not have the courage to speak up when many men are silent?” she said, thanking her constituents for “not losing faith, for fighting against a strange virus, for maintaining Hermosillo as a place with opportunities, with economic development, with greater security, with greater social harmony, order and coexistence.”

Her tough talk comes two days after the mayor inaugurated a new rehabilitation center for young addicts which will open September 21 with space for 86 young people in recovery, fulfilling a 2018 campaign promise to combat drug addiction.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Hungry bear spoils family barbecue, makes off with grilled meat

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September 17, 2020