Each year as winter descends on the United States and Canada, millions of monarch butterflies migrate as far as 4,500 kilometers to the oyamel forests in central Mexico.
But thousands do not make it to their destinations in Michoacán and the state of México as they end up killed by cars on the Saltillo-Monterrey highway.
Researchers in 2018 counted 11,280 dead monarchs in five 500-meter sections of the highway, leading them to believe that as many as 127,689 monarchs were killed in a 14-kilometer stretch of road over a 19-day period.
The group of researchers from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL) and the University of Western Ontario in Canada also studied another area of the highway known as La Muralla where they studied six sections of the road over 14 days and counted 601 dead butterflies, leading them to extrapolate that 23,520 butterflies were killed in that area.
Between the two areas, scientists estimate that at least 151,200 monarchs did not manage to complete their journey.
In an interview with the newspaper Milenio, Rogelio Carrera Treviño, coordinator of the wildlife laboratory at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics at UANL, noted that the deaths of butterflies on highways is a phenomenon that researchers are just beginning to examine. The only previous study that exists was carried out in Texas, but it is expected that monarch mortality in Mexico is much higher.
“In a previous study that was done with data from 2016 and 2017 in the state of Texas, they found 580 butterflies run over in those two years. With that they made a model to determine or predict how many monarch butterflies are killed in total on all roads (in that country), they estimated that depending on some variables, between 3 and 10% of the total population of butterflies was killed.
“However, that estimate was made only with data from Texas, precisely what we are trying to do is to do it with data from Mexico,” Carrera said.
According to Carrera, when crossing into Mexican territory, butterflies are concentrated in a funnel-shaped swarm and fly low to the ground so they can rest and feed, leaving them particularly vulnerable to being killed by cars.
Carrera said there is still a long way to go to understand the phenomenon of butterfly roadkill, and there may be actions that can be taken to mitigate mortality, such as the installation of infrastructure in sections of the road where the highest number of butterflies are killed to force them to fly at a higher altitude to avoid colliding with vehicles.
In Taiwan, nets have been erected along a highway in the migratory path to direct purple crow butterflies away from cars and deaths have dropped 80% as a result.
Another proposal is that during the migration, which only lasts a few days, the speed limit on the highway be reduced to 60 kilometers per hour with police enforcement.
“If they travel [at speeds of] 60 kilometers or less, even if the butterfly is in front of the car, it is able to avoid it,” Carrera said.
That speed limit is already in effect in some areas of Mexico, where signs have been posted advising that the limit is 60 km/h when monarch butterflies are present.
Soon he will be launching a new study in collaboration with Texas A&M University to study the monarch mortality rate on other highways in Mexico, including those of Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas.
Monarch populations have dwindled 80% in the past two decades mainly due to loss of habitat, but roadkill may also be playing a part, scientists now believe.
Treatment means isolation, for patients and family.
My husband Alejandro has officially been diagnosed with Covid-19 and it has been nothing short of a nightmare.
For months now, health authorities have been telling us to take Covid seriously. But how seriously do they take it? If my husband’s case is any indicator, I have a big question mark.
Because of life decisions over the past 17 years, I live very much like most middle-class Mexicans — read: my Mexican husband and I do not have the economic resources that many expats have. We make do with resources such as IMSS, the Mexican government insurance system.
I learned long ago to skip them for the little stuff. I am fortunate to be able to pay for a doc when I have an earache or such and thus can skip the long waits that usually come with IMSS.
But one constant praise IMSS always got was that the doctors were good, even if the administration was horrible. IMSS was best used for minor emergencies and major medical issues that needed attention right away, like a car accident. And to be fair, I had used the Urgencias satisfactorily, getting treated better as a human being than in my local clinic.
I have to rethink all of that now.
We both fell ill near the beginning of the month, but with different symptoms. At our local clinic on different occasions, he was diagnosed with tonsilitis and I with an upper respiratory infection. Neither of us were tested for Covid; it was not considered necessary. Again, to be fair, October is the beginning of the cold and flu season, and all of these illnesses share symptoms.
After our treatments, we both were getting better. Since the clinic’s Covid section cleared us, I even went to Guadalajara to do some research. I felt tired there, but more worrisome was coming back the following Monday to find my husband sick again. He was coughing and had a fever on and off.
Back he goes to the Covid squad, who then told him he had bronchitis. He received new antibiotics and stuff for his lungs. They did not believe he had Covid, but since he is 60 and mildly diabetic, they gave him the test anyway. We were told to wait five working days for the results — which meant a week.
His condition got somewhat worse but never critical. As we approached the date that his test results were due, he was actually getting better – he had more energy and was eating some. Nevertheless, he went back to the clinic to check and get a doctor’s note to extend his time off from work.
Neither of us anticipated what came next: I start getting frantic calls from him and the clinic to tell me he needed to be hospitalized and that I needed to go to the clinic NOW. This is where the nightmare begins.
Over the past 72 hours, I have lost track of how many times I have been told that “this is serious,” but …
At the clinic, we waited over five hours for a “special ambulance” to take my husband to our assigned hospital. During that entire time, I had no communication with Alex or his doctor at all after the first statement saying he needed to go to the hospital.
At the hospital emergency room, I got all kinds of misinformation about how I could visit my husband and get updates on his condition. By the time I said goodbye to Alex before going upstairs, all I knew for certain was to return to the hospital at 1:00 p.m. and bring a clear plastic bag with toiletries and even toilet paper. No one had taken my phone number or email. My head was so fuzzy from the stress and not eating all day that I had not thought of it.
At the hospital on that first day, they let only one family member enter. I went in, and there were signs everywhere at Reception with rules: talking to the patient only via video call system entirely within the hospital. No use of the internet. Updates on the patient’s condition once a day only – by email.
I ask the receptionist to check that they have my contact info. The woman looks at me like I’m an idiot but finally agrees. But the name and room number is not enough to pull the file; I must have his IMSS number, and I’m an idiot for not having his carnet (a 20th-century relic of a booklet that serves as both ID and a medical tracking document).
Now I’m in a dilemma. I can go and get the IMSS number — and miss my chance to talk to Alex, or I can talk to Alex and risk not getting back in time with the number so that they can take my email. No one will help me work this out. It is my fault for not having the carnet.
Luckily, I get a call to tell me my brother-in-law was outside. We decide to switch places. I will go home and get the information, and he will wait and do the call if I do not get back in time. I get the number, but he has to do the call and give my email to the receptionist. The waiting time is two hours to get one minute to talk to Alex.
I suspected that I would not get the promised daily email on Thursday — and I am not disappointed. I have no idea how he has been for the last 36 hours, no idea what treatment he has had and no idea of a prognosis.
We won’t even go into the fact that the staff assumes that I am supposed to speak perfect Spanish. Maybe it is too much to ask for an English speaker, but no one has any patience for someone struggling to understand.
One day later …
A light at the end of the tunnel: on Friday we finally have some news, but from my husband, not the system. As I suspected, my email was entered wrongly. It was re-entered, and I immediately got an email that allowed me to enter a website IMSS has set up to “inform” patients’ families.
The information given was laughable, basically his name, his IMSS identification information, in what area of the hospital he is being treated, his bed number, the date of his last checkup by the doctors, and a one-word description of his condition: “serious.”
The receptionist was able to give me the results of his most recent vital signs check (not even available online), but no idea of context.
The real and best news today came from my husband himself. He is responding well to treatment and the only reason he is still in the hospital is that he still needs supplemental oxygen. His doctor feels that he can likely go home after three days or so.
For some reason, after seven months of pandemic, the government cannot figure out how to put that information online. My one minute with Alex was taken up almost entirely by this explanation, but I admit I feel much better.
In case you are wondering: no, I have not had a Covid test. The doctor at the clinic said that as long as I do not have symptoms, I do not need one.
Yes, that is ridiculous, but I would not take one now even if they asked me. I will just assume I had/have it, go out as little as possible and when Alex is better, assume I am in the clear.
Overall, this system creates a very strong sense of isolation, both for the patient and for the family. There is no news, and I cannot have anyone with me to help deal with the bureaucracy.
To put some salt in the wound, on the day Alex was admitted the Mexico City government sent him a message on his cell phone, saying his test results were ready. The following day, someone called. I cackled and gave the guy an earful. He hung up almost immediately after hearing that Alex was in the hospital.
One serious problem is that most Mexicans accept this as normal. Alex’s family and friends tell me so and, yes, while it is “disgusting,” as one put it, there is nothing to be done. I also saw this attitude at both the clinic and the hospital, with family thanking low-level administrators as if they were gods.
I have no doubt that the way IMSS isolates patients to such an extreme has something to do with its lousy treatment record with hospitalized Covid patients.
OK, one more shot at being fair. This situation is not what I have seen at IMSS hospitals in the past. This is my first rodeo in having a close family member in the hospital, but Alex’s experience with his family over the years always had meant having someone in the room with the patient, with IMSS taking advantage of this by having family doing a lot of the work other countries use orderlies and aides for.
But from here on in, I will have to be within shouting distance of Saint Peter before I let them admit me. I refuse to put Alex through anything like this, and I refuse to be cut off from the few people who can give me support emotionally and linguistically.
Leigh Thelmadatter is Mexico News Daily’s culture writer.
Daylight saving time is ending once again and on Sunday most of Mexico will move the clocks back one hour, a tradition that is not without controversy.
Last April when daylight saving time began, some legislators asked President López Obrador to eliminate the time change, arguing that the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis, together with the confinement measures and the time change, could generate anxiety and stress.
Studies from the National Autonomous University’s Faculty of Medicine show that turning the clock back or forward can affect people physically, emotionally and intellectually. In addition, it can alter children’s sleep cycles and appetites, and cause insomnia and anxiety in older adults.
Baja California Sur, Sinaloa and Mexico City have all requested to be allowed not to observe daylight saving time, but their arguments have gone unheeded.
The practice was first implemented in Mexico in 1996 during the administration of President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León to make better use of daylight hours and conserve electricity.
The official time change occurs at 2 a.m. on Sunday, although most people set their clocks back one hour on Saturday night before going to bed.
But citizens of Sonora, Quintana Roo and 33 municipalities along the northern border with the United States will not be changing their clocks.
Sonora will remain on the same time as Arizona, which does not observe daylight saving time, the result of an agreement reached in 2016 to create a cross-border commercial region. Border cities in Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Baja California will set their clocks back on November 1, observing the same schedule as the rest of the United States.
Quintana Roo elected to adopt the same time zone as the east coast of the United States in 2015 in order to offer tourists one more hour of sun and its clocks will remain unchanged.
President López Obrador has a long history of challenging daylight saving time, dating back to when he was mayor of Mexico City. Some have speculated that his administration might put the matter to a referendum, but no such move has been made.
Professional soccer player Joao Maleck has been found guilty of two counts of aggravated homicide resulting from a traffic accident in 2019.
The son of Jean-Claude Maleck, a French-Cameroonian soccer player who came to Mexico in 1998 to play for the Tecos soccer club, Joao Maleck plowed his Ford Mustang into a car at 9 a.m. on June 23 in Zapopan, Jalisco, killing a newlywed couple who had married the night before.
Maleck, who was playing for the Seville Athletic Club at the time and vacationing in his hometown of Guadalajara, had posted numerous photos to social media the night before from a nightclub where he had been partying until very late.
Maleck, 20 at the time, was found to have been speeding and had alcohol in his system at the time of the accident.
The soccer star, who has been jailed in Guadalajara since June 24, 2019, was found guilty Friday after a three-day trial. His sentencing will take place on October 30, and he could face a 10-year sentence minus time served, although his lawyers are hoping for four years of probation.
Maleck will also have to pay a fine for damages to the couple’s relatives that is expected to be between 800,000 and 1 million pesos, or US $38,300 to $47,900.
Coronavirus risk levels by state effective Monday. Red indicates extreme risk, orange is high risk, yellow is medium and green is low.
Three northern states are at risk of regressing to the red light “maximum” risk level on the federal government’s coronavirus stoplight system, health authorities said Friday.
Presenting an updated stoplight map that will take effect Monday, federal health promotion chief Ricardo Cortés said that the orange light “high” risk states of Coahuila, Durango and Nuevo León will turn red if their coronavirus outbreaks don’t wane.
As of Monday the coronavirus risk level will be orange light “high” in 19 states, an increase of two compared to the current number, and yellow light “medium” in 11, a decrease of three.
Five states will switch from yellow to orange on Monday. They are Baja California, Baja California Sur, San Luis Potosí, Quintana Roo and Michoacán.
They will join Aguascalientes, Mexico City, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, México state, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Yucatán and Zacatecas, which are already orange light states.
The yellow light states as of Monday will be Sonora, Tamaulipas, Guanajuato, Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Chiapas, Tabasco, Oaxaca and Sinaloa.
The first nine states are already yellow and will remain at the same risk level for the next two weeks while Oaxaca and Sinaloa will make the switch back to the “medium” risk level after regressing to orange two weeks ago.
Campeche, which switched to green at the end of September, will maintain its “low” risk status for the next fortnight while Chihuahua, for the time being at least, will be the sole red light state.
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.
Coronavirus cases and deaths in Mexico as reported by day. milenio
Prior to the presentation of the new stoplight map at Friday night’s coronavirus press briefing, Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía announced that Mexico’s accumulated case tally had increased to 880,775, an increase of 6,604 cases compared to Thursday.
It was the third consecutive day that the single-day tally of new cases was above 6,000. The Health Ministry estimates that there are currently 51,532 active cases across the country.
The official Covid-19 death toll rose to 88,312 with an additional 418 fatalities registered. Mexico ranks fourth in the world for total Covid-19 deaths and 10th on a per capita basis with 70 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The per capita rate here is slightly higher than that of the United States, which has recorded 68.5 Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
“The strategy is the general plan and it already considers the possibility of having a favorable scenario, with a reduction of cases, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as the least favorable [scenario]. All scenarios … were considered from the beginning of the pandemic,” López-Gatell said.
“It’s not about changing the strategy but rather implementing specific interventions that the strategy provides for when the scenario changes.”
The government has been heavily criticized for not testing widely for Covid-19, not enforcing a strict lockdown early in the pandemic and not being forceful enough in its promotion of face masks.
López-Gatell, who has been dismissive of the value of widespread testing, gave no indication that the government plans to ramp up testing and stressed that it would not seek to implement restrictions with force.
“We need to maintain harmony and act by persuasion, not social coercion,” he said.
Mascota's history goes back well before the Spanish arrived in the Americas.
Mascota, Jalisco, is a charming little town located three-fourths of the way between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta as the cuervo flies, with a history that goes back countless centuries, long before the Spaniards arrived.
Twenty years ago, guide books like the Lonely Planet series had not a single word to say about Mascota, no doubt due to the ever-twisting, bone-rattling, rock-strewn, dirt road that used to connect the town to the rest of Mexico, inevitably smothering the traveler for endless hours in great clouds of choking white powder.
Nowadays, this road is beautifully paved, and despite its twists, more and more people are discovering that Mascota definitely deserves the title Pueblo Mágico, or Magical Town, which Mexico’s Tourism Ministry officially gave it in 2015.
The name of the town has nothing to do with the Spanish word mascota (pet or mascot) but seems to come from the Náhuatl word maza-ocotl-atl, meaning “place where you find deer, pines and snakes.”
Last weekend, I headed for Mascota with the intention of scouting out nearby El Malpais Volcanic Park, a lava field said to contain some of the world’s youngest minettes.
El Mesón del Refugio was Mascota’s first casona to be licensed as a hotel.
A minette is defined either as “a beautiful French girl” or as “an igneous rock with phenocrysts of biotite, hornblende, augite and olivine.” I figured we’d be happy if we ran into either one or both in the hills outside Mascota, so off I went with a group of friends interested in doing something different.
If you drive to Mascota from Guadalajara, there are two delightful spots you may want to visit along the way. One is the little town of Guachinango, whose gloriously shimmering church is covered with thousands of shards of porcelain plates, cups and saucers.
The second site is a small but surreal mountain called La Campana, or The Bell, situated right next to the highway and decorated with bizarre, wave-like rock shapes. Although you can walk from the bottom to the top in 20 minutes, most people spend a couple hours on La Campana, soaking up its good vibes.
At midday, we reached our hotel: El Mesón del Refugio, a fine example of Mascota’s attractive casonas, grandiose old buildings which now serve as hotels.
El Mesón del Refugio was, in fact, the very first casona in Mascota to be licensed as a hotel. Built in 1847, it has a delightful patio surrounded by big rooms with thick walls. The ceilings are so high, you need a fire truck to change the light bulbs. Don’t be surprised when you’re handed a room key so big it won’t fit in your pocket!
We ate lunch at Restaurante Navidad, located near the plaza, said to be the most popular place to eat in Mascota. Afterward, we wandered over to the Centro de Cultura (Culture Center) to visit one of the very best small-town museums in all Mexico. The treasures you will find here are mainly thanks to the archaeological skills and hard work of Dr. Joseph Mountjoy, who lives in Mascota and has been exploring its surroundings for many years.
A stone pizza at Mascota’s quirky Museo de Piedra. Photo: Jim & Carole Cook.
Because the area abounds in petroglyphs, you’ll find a whole room of the museum dedicated to them, with excellent pictures taken by National Geographic photographers. Here you will also have an opportunity to gaze upon a genuine patolli, a pre-Hispanic version of the game of Snakes and Ladders, chiseled onto the surface of a large and flat horizontal rock.
Many of the extraordinary finds presented in this museum are well described in Jim and Carole Cook’s excellent blog, which also takes you on a tour of the town’s very curious Museo de Piedra (Stone Museum).
Next, we headed north out of town towards Parque Municipal Petrificado el Malpais, guided by Google Maps. We followed reasonably decent country roads for five kilometers and then found our way blocked by a locked metal gate. Next to the gate stood a rancher.
“Is this the way to Parque el Malpais?” we asked him.
“¡Este parque no existe!” said the farmer: “This park does not exist!”
My eye wandered up the hill behind the gate where even my poor old eyes could see the lava field we were looking for.
The Unfinished Temple of the Precious Blood’s towering arches leaves visitors awestruck with its scope and beauty.
“How about if we park outside your gate and go up on foot?” we tried.
“No existe este parque,” repeated the man, “and therefore there is nothing to see.”
So ended our excursion to El Malpais. I suggest you cross it off your bucket list and instead, perhaps, go for a walk around the grounds of Mascota’s Templo Inconcluso de la Sangre Preciosa (Unfinished Temple of the Precious Blood).
I doubt if you’ll find any minettes there, but you will surely be awestruck as you wander beneath its great arches and towering walls never joined together or roofed — a monumental wonder sprung from the mind of its architect.
Work on this church started in 1905, and as its name indicates, was never finished, although the builders certainly gave it their best shot.
Before leaving Mascota, we decided to pay a visit to Juanacatlán Lagoon, which lies 12 kilometers northeast of town and nearly 800 meters above it. The lagoon is the showplace of the Sierra Lago Resort & Spa, which I heard was beautiful and expensive but which I had never had a chance to visit.
Riding a rock wave on La Campana Mountain.
The road to Sierra Lago starts off paved with four strips of concrete. These are soon reduced to two strips, and at the end you are on cobblestone or dirt. The gain in altitude guarantees dramatic changes in flora and fauna, and the higher you go, the more breathtaking the scenery.
More than once, we stopped just to get out of the car and gawk at the extraordinarily tall pine trees and the gorgeous madroños (strawberry trees). There are also plenty of “sad pines,” Pinus lumholtzii, considered rare or endangered in many places.
Of course, one can’t gawk too long because the road is rather narrow and it’s no fun to meet a car coming the other way, especially at one of those points with a steep cliff on one side and a 200-meter drop on the other.
After driving 17 kilometers from Mascota, we reached the imposing gate to Sierra Lago, which we were told we could enter. However, we wouldn’t be allowed use of any of the facilities, including the restaurants, which are reserved for paying guests.
The moment we saw the lake down below, we were hooked by its beauty. Strolling along its shore simply enraptured us.
The Sierra Lago people have gone to great lengths to make the place even more attractive, circling the kilometer-long lagoon with a wide malecón (shoreline sidewalk) dotted with elegant sculptures and benches.
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Dressed for hiking through lava rubble, we felt a bit out of place in this posh setting, but Juanacatlán, like every other body of water in Mexico, is federal property, and so Mexicans, as well as foreigners, have a perfect right to jump into the water or stroll along the lagoon’s perimeter.
Recognizing this, Sierra Lago has even designated an area where the public can camp free of charge.
I am delighted to add Juanacatlán Lagoon to my list of Mascota’s secrets, and I definitely plan to continue investigating all of them, even the ones that “don’t exist.”
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 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.
A tumor and a shoulder injury have been among the challenges facing the 24-year-old.
Culiacán native Julio Urías has traveled a long, challenging and at times dark road to reach Major League Baseball’s 2020 World Series.
But it will all be worth it if the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher is, as predicted, given the opportunity to take the field in Saturday’s fourth game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Urías, 24, moved to the United States as a teenager to pursue a baseball career after being signed to the Dodgers on his 16th birthday by scouting legend Mike Brito.
His talent as a pitcher was recognized at a very young age, recalls Carlos Urías, his father, in an interview with the newspaper Reforma.
“A lot of people who watched how my son played from the age of 5 said … ‘He can play good ball.’”
While recognizing his talent, Carlos Urías said he didn’t want to place any pressure on his son by making a big deal about his baseball skills, explaining that all he wanted was for him to enjoy the game.
Besides, Julio already had a significant challenge to deal with – he was born with a benign tumor on his left eye that grew larger as he did.
Carlos said he taught his son to accept the problem and see it as “something normal” but he was bullied by other kids who singled him out as being different.
Three surgeries to remove the tumor didn’t slow down Julio’s progression through the junior baseball ranks in Mexico. He began playing for the Mexican youth team in his early teens and caught the attention of Brito at a showcase event in Oaxaca in 2012.
A year later, at the age of just 16, he made his debut in the U.S. minor leagues, playing for the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League. In 2016, at the tender age of 19, he made the step up to the big time, debuting in the Major League as the Dodgers’ starting pitcher. He was the youngest starting pitcher to debut for the dodgers in more than 70 years.
Urías pitched 18 games in his debut season in the Major League but was sent back to the minor leagues in 2017 before suffering an injury to his valuable left shoulder that threatened to put an end to his fledgling professional career.
Urías after last week’s win over the Atlanta Braves.
But after surgery and a long rehabilitation process, he returned late in the 2018 season and his career got a further boost at the start of the 2019 season when he was selected as the Dodgers’ starting pitcher on several occasions.
But just as things were looking up, his career was abruptly put on pause as he was suspended for 20 games after being arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of domestic battery.
CBS Sports reported that Urías was arrested in May 2019 after witnesses said he shoved his girlfriend to the ground in a parking lot in L.A. While he was arrested, police didn’t charge the then 22-year-old because the woman didn’t suffer any injury and “she at no point indicated to either the uniformed police officers or to civilian witnesses that she believed she was a victim.”
Nevertheless, Major League Baseball suspended Urías, concluding that he had violated the league’s domestic violence policy.
The pitcher chose not to challenge the decision, saying in a statement that he took “full responsibility” for his “inappropriate conduct.”
“Even in this instance where there was no injury or history of violence, I understand and agree that Major League players should be held to a higher standard,” he said.
“I hold myself to a higher standard as well. I have taken proactive steps to help me grow as a person on and off the field, and in my relationships, including attending counseling sessions. I am deeply grateful for all the support I’ve received during this challenging time. I look forward to proving it is well deserved.”
Urías returned to the Major League later in the 2019 season and in January 2020 agreed to a US $1-million deal for this year’s pandemic-shortened season.
In the seven-game series against the Atlanta Braves that the Dodgers won 4-3 to qualify for the World Series, Urías played an important role, throwing a career high 101 pitches in game 3 before returning to the mound after three days’ rest to throw 39 pitches and claim the final nine outs in game 7.
The Los Angeles Times concluded that the Dodgers had “removed the last layer of bubble wrap from left-hander Julio Urías, the pitching prodigy who was eased into the major leagues as a teenager in 2016 and stamped with a “fragile: handle-with-care” label for a solid year after returning from major shoulder surgery in 2018.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said much the same, telling reporters last week that “we’ve kind of handled him over the last four years with kid gloves” and acknowledging that Urías “hasn’t really liked and appreciated” the treatment. He described his young charge as “very talented, very smart and very tough.”
He hasn’t yet pitched in the World Series (currently tied at 1-1 ahead of game 3 Friday) but according to ESPN, the Dodgers are “lining him up to start game 4 on Saturday.”
If he does take the field in Arlington, Texas, tomorrow, there is no doubt that he will have massive support both in his adopted home town of Los Angeles and back home in Mexico, something that is not lost on the pitcher.
“Ever since my debut, ever since the moment I signed, we all know which team is the most popular among Latino people, among Mexican people,” Urías said recently, attributing the Dodgers’ popularity with Mexicans to the fact that Sonora native Fernando Valenzuela played for the team throughout the 1980s.
Possibly the most famous Mexican who will be cheering Urías on as he throws against the Tampa Bay Rays is President López Obrador, an avid baseball fan who took time out of his own batting practice this week to acknowledge the Culiacán pitcher’s performance in the final game of the series against the Braves.
“Julio Urías, our compatriot from Culiacán, got us out of a hole. He pitched very well and did a very good job. I’m supporting the Dodgers to be the champions of the 2020 World Series,” he said in a video message.
“[Urías’ performance] is a tribute to Fernando Valenzuela, … the best Mexican baseball player of all time, an extraordinary pitcher. Julio Urías is following in his footsteps.”
Early-morning shot of some of the boats at the Bisbee's Black & Blue this week in Cabo San Lucas.
Tourism appears to be rebounding in Baja California Sur (BCS).
Luis Humberto Araiza of the state’s Ministry of Tourism, Economy and Sustainability (Setues) says that BCS will close out the year with three million tourists, around 70% of the number of visitors the state saw in 2019.
Araiza said that Setues had projected that the national market would be the first tourism sector to recover. However, he was surprised to see that it was the luxury sector that came back first, BCS Noticias reports.
Araiza said travelers feel comfortable returning to BCS due to all the safety regulations and health certificates held by businesses in the state’s destinations. More than 500 companies have obtained “Clean Point” certifications from the federal Ministry of Tourism, more than any other state, he said.
“The change in the Covid-19 [risk level] stoplight has allowed more visitors to arrive through more flights, which has generated more reservations. There is optimism for Baja California Sur …” he said.
“Faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, Baja California Sur is consolidating itself as a safe and reliable destination, thanks to the actions and sanitary measures that we have taken together with the tourism sector to protect the health of both visitors and those who live here.”
As of Thursday, BCS had recorded 11,900 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which has killed 577 people.
Party patrols
Officials warn that bars and restaurants that hold Halloween or Day of the Dead parties this year run the risk of being shut down after celebrations of both holidays were canceled in the state.
With tourists returning to the region as it moves into high season, authorities want to make sure that another outbreak of the coronavirus does not occur.
Authorities will be particularly vigilant in Cabo San Lucas, where large costume parties are a tradition this time of year, and will be conducting security and surveillance patrols downtown, Metropolimx reports.
No costume parties this year, officials warn.
Bisbee’s Black & Blue underway
The world’s richest fishing tournament wraps up Friday after three days of fishing. Thus far no qualifying marlin has been caught, meaning that whoever catches the largest black or blue marlin over 300 pounds today stands a chance to go home with a serious chunk of the US $4.6 million purse, the largest ever.
This year, 127 teams are participating in the tournament, and just 15 of the boats belong to locals. The rest are from elsewhere in Mexico or other parts of the world, mainly the United States, BCS Noticias reports.
“All those that come from the United States or other states of the republic come with their family and obviously spend money on plane tickets … hotel rooms, breakfasts, meals,” said tournament coordinator Clicerio Mercado, noting that in fishermen alone the Bisbee’s has drawn 790 people to Cabo San Lucas who normally spend around US $12 million.
The largest fish ever caught in the tournament was a 993-pound blue marlin in 1994.
Cabeños celebrate beach access decree
After President López Obrador published a decree on Wednesday guaranteeing free access to beaches in Mexico, residents of Los Cabos cheered the new law which can levy fines of more than 1 million pesos against anyone who block paths to the beach.
For years local residents have battled with hotels and developers who block access with impunity, most recently in Puerto Los Cabos where the El Ganzo hotel has fenced off and padlocked the gate to a beach access path, outraging locals.
Beach access has also been blocked in Buenavista in recent days and is a daily occurrence in Cabo San Lucas where a hotel fences off a portion of El Médano beach, Diario El Independiente reports.
Los Cabos councilor Tabita Rodríguez Morales says that nearly 200 beaches in the municipality have their accesses blocked, and she hopes the decree will open them to the public.
“There are practically 192 closed accesses to beaches along the entire coastline, from Migriño to Buenavista, and when the municipal authority has taken action, the developers use legal arguments to continue to violate the regulations and municipal development plans,” she said.
“Citizens in the country will have this tool that will mark a watershed in the defense of our public beaches [and] free access.”
A gate blocks access to a beach in Puerto Los Cabos this week.
Traffic tickets discounted
For those who enjoy speeding, driving without a seatbelt or other minor infractions, the police in La Paz have good news. Until the end of the year, traffic fines will be discounted by 70%. The savings is not applicable to those who are ticketed for using their cell phones while driving, driving drunk or parking in handicapped zones, El Informante BCS reports.
Citizens are not encouraged to violate the law, but rather to take care of any outstanding fines they may have during the reprieve.
A motorist approaches toll plaza extortionists in Morelos.
Protesters who hijacked a toll plaza in Alpuyeca, Morelos, for 15 days were hired by organized crime, authorities say.
Adriana Pineda Fernández, head of the state’s specialized anti-kidnapping unit (UECS), said that the young people collecting fees from drivers at toll booths were paid up to 1,500 pesos, around US $72, per day to do so by a criminal group from Guerrero.
On Tuesday, three bus drivers who had been held hostage since October 12 by protesters at the Francisco Velasco Durán toll plaza were released after police intervened, Pineda noted.
In addition, 78 people — 43 men, 14 women and 21 minors — were arrested in the operation. The minors were turned over to the DIF family services agency.
On Thursday, 69 others — who were demanding the release of those arrested Tuesday — were arrested near police facilities in Cuernavaca after they threw rocks at police and damaged patrol cars.
Pineda says those hired by organized crime to extort money from drivers were recruited from Ometepec and Chilpancingo, Guerrero.
Pineda did not identify which criminal organization is responsible, citing an ongoing investigation.
Governor Cuauhtémoc Blanco said he had consulted with Interior Minister Olga Sánchez Cordero about the toll plaza situation and that the National Guard will be dispatched to protect the integrity of the toll plazas and arrest those who attempt to commandeer them.
Blanco also applauded the mass arrests. “I reiterate to all the people of Morelos that we are not a government with its arms crossed, but we are not an arbitrary state either. We respect all social causes and all ideas, but we are not going to stand by as the law is violated at the expense of the rights of the majority,” Blanco said.
“You are seeing the images, they are violent, they are people who attack drivers who are really desperate to get to their homes, and we are not going to allow this,” he said.
Hijacking toll plazas has become an important source of income for many people in Mexico. Last year alone the country saw revenue losses totaling 3 billion pesos (US $143.7 million), according to Capufe, the federal highways and bridges agency.
Córdova says government should do more testing, promote face masks and encourage people to go to the hospital sooner rather than later.
Mexico will see a large new wave of coronavirus cases in the next two months, predicts a former federal health minister.
In an interview with the newspaper El Universal, José Ángel Córdova Villalobos, health minister during the 2006-2012 government of former president Felipe Calderón, said the recent increase in case numbers is not the start of a new wave of infections but rather a spike in a lengthy first wave.
“This new outbreak that we’re seeing in Europe, which is truly very significant, is not what we’re seeing here. What we’re seeing here is a new ascent in the number of cases … [but] we’re still in the same wave,” he said.
Although Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said this week that there are already “early signs” of a new wave of infections, Córdova predicted that new case numbers will “probably” decrease from their current level before making a resurgence in November and December.
“The most dangerous stage is probably coming, … we’re talking about November and December, [that’s] when we’ll have a true new outbreak as is happening in Europe,” he said.
Córdova, a medical doctor, said the federal government should not be afraid to order a new lockdown to mitigate the impact of the second wave he predicts is coming.
He also urged the government to ramp up Covid-19 testing – Mexico has only tested about 17,000 people per 1 million residents, promote the widespread use of face masks and encourage people to go to hospital sooner rather than later.
Córdova criticized the government for not doing those things from the beginning of the pandemic. He is one of six former health ministers who last month presented a new national strategy to stop the spread of the coronavirus that includes a nationwide testing campaign and the mandatory use of face masks.
The government made no response to the former ministers’ proposals.
Asked whether the federal government has done anything in response to the pandemic that is worthy of praise, Córdova nominated its efforts to bring medical supplies into the country from China.
The former minister predicted that a vaccine could be available at the end of December or beginning of January but said that it is unlikely that Mexico will have access to a large number of does before the second quarter of 2021.
Until at least 70% of the population is vaccinated against the coronavirus, citizens and authorities need to continue taking steps to slow its spread, Córdova said.
Lifting all economic and social restrictions before the majority of people is vaccinated is “impossible,” he said. “We have to understand that.”
