A wave of gang violence left seven people dead, including two police officers, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on Monday.
The state Public Security Ministry (SSPM) announced that an officer died and his partner was wounded during an attack in an auto repair shop around 10 p.m. yesterday.
“We mourn the death of our colleague Carlos Andrés Ruvalcaba Villegas, victim of a cowardly attack on the part of criminal groups,” said the SSPM in a press release stating that it will provide support to the families of the fallen officers.
The other police death was officer Everardo Sánchez Coronado, who died during a separate attack on the same day.
Authorities found five other bodies in separate points across the city on Monday, all believed to be the results of organized crime.
Meanwhile, in Michoacán, a confrontation between rival criminal groups left a vehicle incinerated, a highway blocked and the municipality of Tocumbo in panic.
Despite Monday morning’s violent acts, police did not report any deaths or injuries from the gunfights. The battles were reportedly due to rival gangs fighting over control of territory.
As the pandemic raced around the globe, Norma Schafer watched the effects in Teotitlán del Valle, a small pueblo outside Oaxaca city, with growing alarm.
The small rural community, known for its beautiful rug weaving, is steeped in tradition and a simple way of life. The state of Oaxaca is full of tiny villages like this.
“It was early March, and people were starting food banks,” said Norma. “So many people were unemployed, lined up and waiting for food … it occurred to me there would be a need in Oaxaca for masks.”
A self-described textile lover and collector who sews, knits, quilts and dyes her own fabrics naturally, Norma has lived in Teotitlán del Valle since 2007 and been active within the community to support and promote their ancient arts. Making masks seemed like the natural way for her to help.
She saw that a few local seamstresses were making masks to sell, and had the idea to raise money to fund these women, giving them a source of income while also providing much-needed masks in Oaxaca city. Norma wanted to get the masks to “regular” people: street vendors, shoppers at the mercados, small store owners.
Mask maker Karen Nein.
The first challenge, strangely enough, was finding the right fabric. Tightly woven 100% cotton is not common in Mexico, and traditional manta is too porous to be effective. Eventually she connected with Pátzcuaro resident Cherie Verber, who had a source for quilting cotton. And as her network of friends in the U.S. heard about what she was doing, many offered either to send fabric or make masks and send those.
Working with two countries – the U.S. and Mexico – Norma began organizing.
“I call myself a Mask Jockey,” she said. “It’s a question of production and distribution, figuring out who has the highest need when, and where the next batch should go.”
Norma sent a pattern to all the sewers, wherever they were, and provided materials to those in Oaxaca. Her goal was to enlist helpers and get masks to the many villages around Oaxaca city. She knew they’d need hundreds of masks – which would be distributed free — plus money to pay local people to hand them out. But she quickly realized something else was needed.
“Many people here don’t believe there’s a virus,” she said. “It’s something they can’t see. Many are uneducated and poor and need to continue working to feed their families. Most have no savings to carry them through.”
So she created informative hang-tags that are pinned to each mask, in Spanish and the indigenous Zapotec language, explaining why it’s vital to use the mask to prevent the spread of infection and save lives.
Seamstress Inéz López Hernández and her helpers in Tlacolula.
“We can’t force people to wear them,” she said. “Some people are older and superstitious of anything that reeks of government intervention. Our help has no judgment. We just have to understand, and know that we’re not going to win every single battle.”
Donations started coming in. Other expats jumped in to help. One passed out masks to farmers and field workers whose livelihoods have been devastated because of restaurants closing. In Teotítlan, resident Cristy Molina has four local seamstresses making masks, which she delivers to tiny villages around the city.
Tlacolula tour operator Eric Ramírez found a seamstress to make 200 masks and then distributed them in the local market. Another tour operator, Alvin Starkman, took 300 masks to mezcal makers in remote villages. Retired journalist Gail Pellett mobilized her seamstress and got masks on every taxi driver who entered or left the small town of San Agustin Etla where she lives.
In New Mexico, Karen Nein made 200 masks that Norma sent to San Martín Tilcajete, a small village known for making traditional alejibres, carved and painted phantasmagorical creatures. Hundreds of masks were sent to an Episcopal church to distribute to people who live in the dump in Zaachila, 30 minutes outside the city.In the city itself, Kalisa Wells is the point person, receiving shipments of masks and fabric at her centrally located home, where other volunteers can easily pick them up.
By April, Norma felt like “command central.” And by May 20, the tally was impressive: almost 20 volunteers making masks in two countries; 10 people organizing local seamstresses and distributing the masks in 17 different villages and Oaxaca city. A total of 2,480 masks had been made and distributed, and more than US $6,000 donated.
“We can touch so many with so little!” said Norma, who added that a donation of $25 will buy and distribute 10 masks with hang-tags. “And with the dollar even stronger and the peso much weaker, this support goes a long way. I would encourage readers to find a place in Mexico they can support, a family they can support directly, an organization that is feeding people.”
A woman puts on a face mask produced through a network of volunteers.
As this story was being written, coronavirus cases were soaring in Oaxaca and the state’s Health Minister warned that an even bigger increase is expected in October. Although many small villages have shut themselves off to non-residents, the tiny town of Maquilxochitl announced its first case May 19.
“This is not over; another wave is coming,” said Norma. She’s continuing to monitor public health in Oaxaca and her village, and has partnered with two other organizations to include mask distribution along with despensas (bags of food basics).
“As we say in Mexico, vamos a ver [we shall see].”
Citing irregularities in the issuance of a building permit, Cancún has halted construction of the 449-room, US $90-million hotel Gran Solaris Cancún located next to Playa Los Delfines in the city’s hotel zone.
The permit, issued by the previous administration, was “issued without taking into account the validity of certain documents that are part of the administrative file, which were expired at the time of the issuance of the license,” said municipal secretary for ecology and urban development Armando Lara De Nigris.
Prepping of the construction site involved surrounding the property with a concrete wall and removing one of the beach’s emblematic sand dunes, drawing fire from ecologists and citizens concerned about the privatization of public beaches.
Plans for the site call for a 14-story hotel with underground parking, six restaurants and two pool areas on the 18,844-square-meter beachfront property.
The hotel’s construction permit was first granted on June 19, 2017, and later rescinded on September 21, 2018.
However, six days later and after lobbying from the hotel group, the then director of urban development issued a new construction permit, effective from September 27, 2018, to September 27, 2020.
Part of the controversy surrounding the hotel is that the municipal permits were issued prior to the hotel obtaining federal environmental permits from Semarnat, which by law must come first.
Mayor Mara Lezama has made the protection of public beaches a cornerstone of her administration, and she is backed by citizens and non-profits that have decried the loss of beach access to development.
“We will not allow any privatization. They are spaces for today and for the future, it is our legacy,” Lezama said.
The coronavirus pandemic continues to grow across Mexico but one state had cause for celebration on Monday: not a single new case was reported in San Luis Potosí.
Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía told a press conference Monday night that 71,105 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, an increase of 2,485 compared to Sunday.
He also said that there are 29,509 suspected cases across the country and that 225,650 people have now been tested. Just over 14,000 of the confirmed cases are considered active, according to Health Ministry data.
The official coronavirus death toll increased to 7,633 on Monday with 239 additional fatalities reported. Mexico has now recorded more Covid-19 deaths than all but eight countries, according to global data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.
In addition to the confirmed Covid-19 deaths, 641 fatalities are suspected to have been caused by the disease but have not yet been confirmed.
Daily report of Covid-19 cases and deaths as of Tuesday.milenio
Mexico City continues to be the epicenter of the national coronavirus outbreak, leading the country for accumulated cases, active cases and deaths.
More than 20,000 Covid-19 cases have now been detected in the capital and on Monday it passed the grim milestone of 2,000 coronavirus-related deaths. However, several media reports have claimed that authorities are drastically undercounting Covid-19 fatalities in Mexico City and that the real death toll is therefore much higher.
The capital currently has 3,654 active cases, two and a half times the number in neighboring México state, which has the second largest active outbreak in the country with 1,422 cases.
Tabasco has the third largest active outbreak followed by Veracruz, Sinaloa, Baja California and Puebla. All five states have more than 500 active cases.
After every state in the country reported at least one new case every day last week, San Luís Potosí bucked the trend Monday with no new infections detected. The Bajío region state has recorded 662 cases since the start of the pandemic of which 214 are active. It has the sixth lowest coronavirus death toll in the country with 40 fatalities.
After Mexico City, which has now recorded 2,024 fatalities, México state has the second highest coronavirus death toll among the nation’s 32 states with 872 people having lost their lives to Covid-19 as of Monday.
Coronavirus cases reported as of Monday.milenio
Nine other states have recorded more than 200 deaths: Baja California (705); Tabasco (416); Sinaloa (406); Veracruz (372); Quintana Roo (294); Puebla (260); Chihuahua (255); Morelos (239); and Hidalgo (215).
Across Mexico, 68% of the more than 7,000 Covid-19 fatalities have been men while women account for the other 32%. The three most common underlying health conditions among those who have died are hypertension, diabetes and obesity.
Based on confirmed cases and deaths, Mexico’s coronavirus fatality rate is currently 10.7 per 100 cases, well above the global rate of 6.3.
Almost three months have now passed since the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Mexico and the national social distancing initiative has been in effect for more than two months.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said Monday night that the end of the national social distancing initiative – during which nonessential economic activities have been suspended and authorities have urged citizens to stay in their homes – is no cause for celebration.
“What will be celebrated on May 30? From my point of view nothing in particular. What we’ll have to do on May 30 is be aware that, with respect to Covid, we still have an active epidemic,” he said.
López-Gatell stressed that some states could be allocated a red light, meaning that there will be few if any changes to the coronavirus mitigation restrictions currently in place, while others will be assigned orange or yellow lights.
“That means that there will be restrictions. If you don’t work in an essential activity, you won’t be able to go to work if the stoplight in your state is red. If you live in a state where the stoplight is orange, you won’t be able to return to public spaces for recreational activities. … There’s nothing to celebrate; [we should] simply be aware that we’ve managed to reduce the intensity of infections by 75%, that we’ve still got a long way to go [in the pandemic] and that success depends on everyone in society.”
The CFE's Bartlett charges fraud in the renewable energy sector.
The director of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has vowed to put an end to “simulation and fraud” committed by renewable energy firms at the expense of the state-owned company.
In an interview with the newspaper La Jornada, Manuel Bartlett said the CFE has filed complaints against renewable energy firms with the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), an ostensibly autonomous federal body.
He said that renewable firms have an unfair advantage because they don’t pay the CFE for using its transmission lines to transport the energy they generate nor do they pay the state-owned company for the backup power they use.
Not paying for transmission or backup power allows the private firms to save billions of pesos, Bartlett said.
The CFE chief also charged that renewable firms have acted fraudulently by passing off other private companies as their business partners rather than their customers.
Bartlett said that large companies like corporate conglomerate Grupo Salinas, convenience store chain OXXO, big-box store Walmart, cinema chain Cinépolis, manufacturer Kimberly Clark and others pay very low electricity rates because they are passed off as partners of firms such as Iberdrola, Enel Energía and American Light and Power.
Their “simulated” partnerships allow the client firms to receive electricity without paying for transmission costs, he said.
Bartlett told La Jornada that he hopes that the CRE resolves the issues soon and corrects “illegal, irrational and unfair” decisions it took in favor of private firms during the six-year term of the government led by former president Enrique Peña Nieto.
The decisions taken by the CRE during the term of the previous government allowed private, mainly foreign companies to make huge profits at the expense of the CFE, he said.
Bartlett asserted that the federal government is “not against clean energy” and that “what’s established by the [2014] energy reform will be respected” but stressed that “what we’re not going to allow is for this large social vocation company, the CFE, to continue to be used to bolster private companies.”
“That would … go against the national interest,” he said.
‘Bartlett is lying,’ accuses industry organization Concamin.
“The large companies of Mexico, those with the most capital, are cheating in order to pay a lot less for the electricity their businesses consume while at the CFE we’re struggling, counting every centavo so that the impoverished people of Mexico pay as little as possible,” Bartlett said.
“It’s not a [fair] electricity market, it’s theft, heaven on earth for the [renewable energy] investors that have illegally seized [the business of] large consumers,” he said.
Bartlett accused Peña Nieto of attempting to kill off the CFE and leave the energy market in the hands of private foreign companies.
Both President López Obrador and the CFE chief, an 84-year-old former federal cabinet minister and ex-governor of Puebla, say they are committed to “rescuing” the state-owned firm while keeping power costs down.
Bartlett charged that private companies were allowed to establish wind and solar projects “wherever they wanted” and without proper planning. As a result, their energy generation capacity is frequently interrupted, he said.
“Every time that a cloud goes by or the wind doesn’t blow, they don’t generate energy,” Bartlett said, explaining that at such times renewable companies tap into CFE-generated base load power to maintain supply.
“It’s called backup and they don’t pay for it either. That’s why the energy they generate is cheaper; it proves the falseness of [the claim] they’ve disseminated: that our power is more expensive and that our infrastructure is obsolete,” he said.
“Now that we want to put an end to this plunder and fraud … they’re accusing us of being inefficient and of wanting to put an end to clean energy. … Whoever comes to do business here has to pay for transmission costs, distribution costs and backup. We have no reason to continue subsidizing them,” Bartlett said.
He made similar remarks in an interview with the news agency Reuters on Friday, asking: “Do you think it’s fair for the CFE to subsidize these companies that don’t produce power all day?”
In response, the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) denied that private energy companies are getting a free ride.
“The private companies that operate in the electricity market do pay the CFE to use the transmission lines to transport the energy they produce to their clients. The payment is made monthly according to the regulated rate set by the Energy Regulatory Commission,” Concamin said in a statement.
“Therefore, Bartlett is lying when he suggests that private companies are not paying to use the CFE transmission lines,” the business group said.
With regard to his subsidy claim, Concamin asserted that “renewable energy is not subsidized in Mexico.”
“Mr. Bartlett should know” that plants that produce base load power receive an additional payment that “recognizes their capacity to produce all day” whereas renewable energy plants are only paid for the power they generate, the business group said.
Concamin also highlighted that it’s not just renewable energy companies that generate power intermittently, pointing out that the CFE has hydroelectric plants that depend on rain as much as wind and solar-powered plants depend on gust, gales and sunshine.
“Will Mr. Bartlett apply the backup payment to his intermittent hydroelectric plants? We don’t think so,” it said.
Will privately owned-plants that produce base load power be allowed to collect the backup power payment? asked Concamin before again responding “We don’t think so.”
Tensions between the federal government and the renewable energy sector have intensified this month after the National Energy Control Center published an agreement in late April that suspended national grid trials for new clean energy projects.
The federal Energy Ministry subsequently published a new energy policy in mid-May that imposes restrictive measures for the renewable energy sector that could effectively prevent its expansion in Mexico and consolidate control of electrical power in the CFE.
The government also has its eyes on renegotiating contracts with three companies that operate wind farms in Oaxaca, according to a report by the newspaper El Universal.
Anonymous energy sector sources told El Universal that the government wants to set new conditions for the purchase of energy by the CFE from the Oaxaca wind projects operated by Spain’s Iberdrola, Acciona and Grupo Cobra.
The companies signed contracts with the government for 20 years in 2010, meaning that they are only at the halfway point of their lifespan. In those 10 years, the CFE has paid the companies just over 19.7 billion pesos (US $872.5 million at today’s exchange rate).
Asked about its knowledge of the plan to modify the contracts, the Mexican Association of Wind Energy (AMDEE) acknowledged that “it’s something that could happen.”
However, the association said that if the CFE were to breach its obligations under the contracts, the companies could sue the government for lost income.
The government cannot unilaterally modify or terminate contracts, the AMDEE said, charging that the Finance Ministry might have to involve itself in the matter in order for a resolution to be reached.
The association noted that federal authorities have said that will not seek to alter previously-signed contracts but added that they have not always kept their word.
The CFE last year filed requests for arbitration in international courts as part of efforts to annul clauses in seven gas pipeline contracts before reaching an agreement with three private companies that López Obrador said would save Mexico US $4.5 billion.
This Mango Icebox Cake is a traditional Filipino dish but works perfectly in Mexico.
Woo-hoo, it’s mango season!
What’s not to love? Especially in Mexico, where they’re plentiful, cheap (or free) and delicious. Plus it’s kind of fun to gloat to friends and family north of the border about the eight pounds of fresh mangos you just bought for 50 pesos.
And they’re healthy, too: mangos are low in calories, high in fiber and antioxidants, and have generous amounts of vitamins A and C.
Do experiment with as many different varieties as you come upon. Each is unique in terms of texture, sweetness, general flavor and juiciness, and different parts of Mexico grow different types. Around Acapulco, you find a strain of the original mangos that came to Mexico from India via Spanish galleons in the 1700s.
In Veracruz, the most widely grown is the Manila, which arrived through England in the 1800s (again, by way of India) and remains one of the most popular varieties today.
It’s mango season in Mexico.
Here on the west coast, one of my favorites is the Kent mango: highly perfumed and very sweet, it’s rounded, partially red and quite pretty. The flesh is juicy with none of the characteristic stringiness of some other types.
Also common are Ataulfos, which are a bit tart and have a flat shape with a “beak” at one end. These have a more fibrous texture that makes them good for dehydrating as well as eating.
I once went on a mango-picking excursion to a huge abandoned orchard north of Mazatlán that had hundreds of trees and many different varieties. There I discovered banana mangos – so-called because yes, they’re shaped like bananas! – which I’ve never seen anywhere else. They were delicious, but admittedly a little strange.
Every country claims to grow the sweetest and best mango in the world, but India grows the most. It produces more than half the world’s mango crop, followed by China and then Mexico. The U.S.A. is the biggest importer (no surprise there).
Wise cooks know that mango season is short; it’s best to freeze chunks or purée for later use. Simply peel and pit the mangos, cut into chunks and freeze overnight on a cookie sheet. Then put in an airtight container or freezer bag. Purée can be frozen in containers or ice cube trays, then popped out and kept in freezer bags.
Meanwhile, use the abundance of fresh mangos to make salsas, smoothies, syrups, margaritas, muffins, cobblers and pies … the list is endless. Enjoy!
Substitute mango for tomato in these Mango & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.
Mango & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Using sweet mango instead of tomato changes this classic sandwich into a tropical treat. Use an aged, softer cheese and grill the mango slices first if you like.
Ciabatta or soft sourdough bread
1 ripe mango
Gruyere or Gouda cheese
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp. butter
Optional: hot sauce or salsa
Peel, pit and slice mango into thin slices. Assemble sandwich by layering cheese and mango slices between slices of bread; adding salsa if desired. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat; place sandwich in pan and cook, pressing down or laying a heavy plate or bowl on top to compress the sandwich. Cook for 2-3 minutes, till brown; lift sandwich with spatula, add more butter, and when melted, cook the other side the same way.
Mango Icebox Cake
A traditional Filipino cake that works perfectly for the Mexican palate!
2 cups heavy cream
One 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs (“Maria” cookies work great!)
4-5 ripe mangos, diced
Combine the cream, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until double in volume, about 4 minutes. In an 8-inch square baking dish, layer cream mixture, cookie crumbs and mango to make 3-4 layers, ending with mango. Chill at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.
Spicy Mango Steak Sauce
This works equally well with grilled chicken or even a veggie-rice bowl.
2 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
1 small red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 very ripe mangos, peeled, pitted and chopped
½ cup mango nectar
2 Tbsp. ancho chile powder
¼ cup prepared horseradish
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add mangos, mango nectar, ancho powder and cook, stirring occasionally, until mangos are very soft and mixture has thickened, about 15 minutes. Transfer to food processor or blender. Add horseradish, honey, mustard, maple syrup and Worcestershire; season with salt and pepper, blend until smooth. Scrape sauce into bowl and let cool to room temperature. – Bobby Flay
Mango Butter
Be sure to use the best quality honey you can find, preferably from a local producer. Commercial honey is often diluted with corn syrup and other sweeteners.
½ cup honey
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup finely chopped ripe mango
In a small bowl, beat honey, butter and mango until evenly mixed, by hand or with a mixer, being careful not to overmix. Transfer to a ramekin, smooth off the top, and serve with warm breakfast breads or toasted sourdough. If you like, spread the butter on a long sheet of plastic wrap and roll up into a cylinder. Refrigerate or freeze and cut off disks of the butter as needed.
Mango with Ginger-Mint Syrup
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
¼ cup packed fresh mint leaves
2 ripe mangos, peeled, pitted and thinly sliced
Vanilla ice cream, yogurt or Greek yogurt
Bring water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan and cook until sugar is melted, stirring occasionally. Add ginger and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in the mint and steep for 5 minutes. Place mango pieces in a bowl and strain syrup mixture over them’ cover and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Serve over vanilla ice cream or yogurt. – Bobby Flay
Janet Blaser of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, has been a writer, editor and storyteller her entire life and feels fortunate to write about great food, amazing places, fascinating people and unique events. Her work has appeared in numerous travel and expat publications as well as newspapers and magazines. Her first book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, is available on Amazon. Contact Janet or read her blog at whyweleftamerica.com.
There is nothing more to see at Coco Bongo than police and a few birds.
It was to be a blowout celebration of Cancún’s 50th anniversary as a tourist destination, but as the coronavirus spread throughout the world and made its way to Mexico, the party has been postponed.
More than 25 major events had been scheduled to begin on Cancún’s birthday April 20, but in mid-March the celebrations were officially rescheduled for an undetermined date, possibly later this summer.
For now, tourism is non-existent, hotel occupancy stands at just 2% and the resulting losses thus far are estimated to be US $1 billion.
Of the city’s 36,000 hotel rooms only 700 are occupied, but by essential personnel and not tourists.
Nightspots such as The Hard Rock Café and Coco Bongo, where in times past 10,000 people would congregate each night, are empty and sealed off by yellow security tape.
Cancún’s world-famous beaches with their turquoise water and white sands are empty, their access blocked by police officers.
Traffic on Kukulkán Boulevard in the city’s hotel zone is virtually non-existent. A drive during high season that could take an hour and a half can now be managed in just 15 minutes.
The only restaurant open in the hotel zone is El King, a Chinese food establishment that now serves employees of the Chedraui supermarket across the street.
“Everything we are experiencing is very dramatic,” says an El King employee. “When there is a hurricane, the closure lasts only 15 days, but now it has been two months and it seems that it will not improve. Taxi drivers and store employees are our consolation. Otherwise, we would no longer have a job.”
Mayor Mara Lezama says that as air travel and hotel reservations have ground to a halt, losses in revenue are staggering. Even with a gradual reopening, which the tourist destination hopes can begin between June 8 and 10, it will take time for visitors to return and a challenge for the city to ease restrictions while still doing its best to safeguard public health.
Ever hopeful, hoteliers and restaurateurs are already preparing for the return of tourism. The two largest Mexican travel agencies, Best Day and Price Travel, began marketing vacation packages with discounts of more than 70% in Cancún and the Riviera Maya.
Tourism-related businesses are encouraged to register with the Ministry of Tourism to obtain health certificates and receive training on best practices to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Quintana Roo, the state where Cancún is located, currently has 1,609 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and has recorded 291 deaths.
From solid approval at 30% to solid disapproval at 14%, the latest survey of the president's performance.el universal
There are more than two Mexicans who approve of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s performance as president for every one who doesn’t, a new poll shows.
Conducted by the polling company Buendía y Laredo between May 15 and 21 for the newspaper El Universal, the poll found that 58% of 1,000 Mexican adults approved or strongly approved of López Obrador’s performance.
In contrast, 27% of those polled strongly or somewhat disapproved of his performance. Another 12% said that they neither approved nor disapproved of the way AMLO, as the president is commonly known, is performing his duties.
The poll yielded an even better result for the president in terms of his management of the coronavirus crisis, with 65% of respondents saying that he has done a very good or good job in confronting the pandemic.
However, the percentage of people who viewed AMLO’s response to the pandemic in a favorable light is eight points lower than a month ago.
Still, it is almost two and a half times higher than the 27% of respondents who said that the president’s management of the Covid-19 crisis has been very bad or bad.
Among those who took a favorable view of López Obrador’s management of the crisis, the preventative measures implemented by the federal government to stop the spread of Covid-19, such as the suspension of all nonessential economic activities, were the most popular aspect of his response, with 17% of respondents saying he has done a good job in the area.
Sixteen percent said that the president has done a good job promoting social distancing measures, 13% said that he has performed well in controlling the situation, 11% applauded his provision of financial support to people affected by the coronavirus-induced economic downturn, 8% praised his efforts to keep people informed about the crisis and 7% commended him for following the advice of experts.
Among those who were critical of López Obrador’s coronavirus response, 20% said that he failed to take the pandemic seriously, 17% said that he didn’t implement mitigation measures soon enough, 13% were critical of the lack of financial support for affected people, 11% expressed anger that the government restrictions caused a loss of jobs and 10% said that the president has not provided correct information to the public.
Referring to federal government officials more broadly, only 20% of respondents believe that they always tell the truth about the coronavirus situation, 20% said they never tell the truth and 56% said that they are truthful some of the time.
Almost half of respondents – 47% – said they believed Mexico is currently going through the worst phase of the pandemic, 39% said the worst is still to come and only 11% thought the worst has already passed.
Six in 10 of those polled said that AMLO has taken very good or good decisions with regard to reopening the economy, although support for his work in the area declined 17% compared to a month ago.
Although authorities have given the green light for more economic activities to resume June 1, 64% of poll respondents said that staying at home to reduce new coronavirus infections should be prioritized at this time over reopening the economy.
The poll found a clear majority in favor of the continuation of coronavirus mitigation measures even though almost one in two respondents – 48% – said that their personal economic situation had deteriorated compared to six months ago. In contrast, only 3% said that it had improved.
About one in five respondents said that they are equally as bad off now as six months ago, while 27% said that they are equally as well off.
Asked to offer an opinion about how long it will take for the economy to recover from the sharp downtown caused by the coronavirus crisis, 37% said less than a year; 39% estimated between one and two years; 9% predicted between two and three years; 3% suggested more than three years; and 3% concluded that it would never recover.
The peak of the epidemic curves won't be seen in some cities until June, July or August, says López-Gatell.
There are no guarantees that new outbreaks of Covid-19 won’t occur once restrictions on the economy and people’s movement are lifted, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said on Saturday.
“It’s not guaranteed in Mexico nor anywhere else that there won’t be new outbreaks at the time of reopening,” he told reporters at the Saturday night coronavirus press briefing.
“We will have experiences of new outbreaks, that must be made clear. But it’s impossible … for a state of immobility to be maintained for a very long time,” López-Gatell said.
The national social distancing initiative, which officially commenced on March 23, will conclude this Saturday after which it will be up to state governments to determine which restrictions are lifted and which remain in place.
As state authorities ease restrictions, they will be required to constantly monitor the behavior of the epidemic at a local level, López-Gatell said. If large new outbreaks are detected, new restrictions must be placed on people’s movement in the areas where they are found, he added.
López-Gatell called on Mexicans to brace themselves for a long epidemic, pointing out that the peak for some parts of the country might not occur until much later in the year.
“[The peak of] the epidemic curves won’t be seen in some cities until June, July or August and in others, [such as] Guadalajara and Monterrey, it will be in September. It’s anticipated that the epidemic will extend until October when the flu season begins. It’s not guaranteed but it’s probable that with the arrival [of influenza] Covid cases will make a comeback,” he said.
The deputy minister said that scenario would provide a “significant challenge” because hospitals would be required to treat influenza and coronavirus patients at the same time.
He also said that a serological survey will commence in July or August to estimate what percentage of the population has had Covid-19 and consequently developed antibodies against the disease that will potentially make them immune.
“With respect to immunity, I would say there is hope but the scientific evidence is not very consistent. There is hope … that there could be a protective immune response [in people who have had Covid-19] but there is still a lack of evidence in the world to confirm it.”
Mexico has recorded 68,620 confirmed cases of Covid-19 as of Saturday, a figure that equates to about 0.05% of the population, or roughly one case for every 2,000 people.
However, federal health authorities have estimated that the real size of the pandemic is eight to nine times larger than that indicated by the official case numbers.
Although the area in and around Tulum National Park (PNT) has been an area protected by presidential decree since 1981 and construction is prohibited, a mega-mansion has been built next to the park’s walls in the last six months.
This despite complaints lodged with government agencies, including the environmental protection agency Profepa, dating back to November 2019 when construction first began, park director Fernando Orozco Ojeda said.
Orozco reported that a few weeks ago when park rangers returned to the area, they realized that the mansion had been completed and found it guarded by armed security forces. The PNT has been closed since April due to the coronavirus.
“We recently returned to the area, which is difficult to access and — oh, surprise! The house is finished,” he said.
The 692-hectare park protects the ecology of the area, as well as important Mayan ruins such as El Castillo, a temple once used as a lighthouse which dates back to the sixth century.
According to Orozco, the owner of the residence, identified as Rogeiro Dos Santos, claims to have “all the permits in order,” which would constitute another illegality as no municipal agency has the authority to issue such permits in an area that is not only protected but belongs to the federal government.
The home is also said to violate a December 15, 2007 ruling that confers the administration of 184,409 square meters of the federal maritime-terrestrial zone, adjacent to the PNT, to the Natural Protected Areas Commission (Conanp).
Further, the mansion allegedly violates the provisions of a December 7, 2016 decree which recognizes the area as part of the mega reserve of the Mexican Caribbean Natural Protected Area (ANP), a zone not suitable for urban development.
Over the past five years 27 complaints about illegal construction within the park have been filed, yet between 1990 and 2007 the Quintana Roo government issued 14 property titles without the legal authority to do so.
Margarito Molina Rendón of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Quintana Roo is preparing to visit the mansion to conduct a physical inspection of the property.
The beachfront mansion is located next to the park’s ancient limestone wall which surrounds important archaeological ruins, and part of the inspection will be to determine if its construction has damaged the park’s pre-Hispanic edifices.
Molina’s office will also be reviewing the permit process, and he admits that there is a lot to unravel.
“We are working in a coordinated manner with park authorities to enforce the presidential decrees and reestablish order,” Molina says.
