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

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January 18, 2021

Spinach is a nutritional powerhouse of vitamins and minerals.

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

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

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

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

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

Bacon and cotija cheese make this breakfast decadent.

Bacon-Spinach Breakfast Tacos

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

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

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

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

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

Carefully flip these spinach leaves to distribute the olive oil.

Simple Sautéed Spinach

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

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

Sesame Spinach

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

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

Avocado is the secret ingredient in this pasta dish.

Creamy Spinach-Avocado Pasta

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

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

Spinach, Black Bean & Chipotle Quesadillas

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

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

Triple Green Salad Dressing

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

Combine all ingredients in blender and process till smooth.

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

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

By

MND Staff

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January 18, 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Reforma (sp), Milenio (sp)

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

By

MND Staff

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January 18, 2021

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A woman guards the highway into El Terrero.

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

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

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

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

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

[wpgmza id=”281″]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: AP (sp)

12-year-old girl gives birth in México state; will receive state support

By

Michelle Aguilar

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January 18, 2021

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The young parents at their home in Tecámac.

A 12-year-old who gave birth to a baby boy in México state last Wednesday will receive medical, health and wellness assistance as well as a 2,500-pesos-per-month stipend, her municipality’s mayor has promised.

The girl, who was not identified, gave birth uneventfully after eight months of pregnancy, said Tecámac Mayor Mariela Gutiérrez Escalante, who posted news of the birth on her social media accounts.

The father of the baby is also a minor — aged only 15. The new family will live together with his mother, the mayor said, in Santa María Ajoloapan. According to Gutiérrez’s post, the woman has expressed willingness to take care of the couple and her new grandchild.

The young mother assured the DIF family services agency that she also has the support of her own family.

“We haven’t been abandoned,” the young mother reportedly told the social workers. “[The father and I] are living together by our own decision, and we remain in contact with our families.”

The mayor said that besides the financial support and periodic follow-ups with the couple to check on their living conditions, mother and baby would also be offered free health services by the DIF, as well as family planning counseling.

Gutiérrez had publicized the birth to promote a new government social welfare program for minors in the state that has to date registered 70,000 children in order to document their physical and emotional health, a program which she said could avoid more cases like the one she was highlighting.

Gutiérrez said the 9,276 children the program has identified are in need of medical, psychological or nutritional attention and will begin to receive it in March.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Local official, self-defense force chief among 12 shot and killed in Veracruz

By

Michelle Aguilar

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January 18, 2021

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A stronger police presence has followed the massacre in Las Choapas.

Twelve men were found shot dead execution-style in southeastern Veracruz Sunday night, among whom were a self-defense group leader and a municipal official.

The bodies were found on a rural stretch of road in a community in the municipality of Las Choapas, authorities said.

Among the victims found bound and gagged and with visible signs of torture were a man said to be the 60-year-old leader of a self-defense group from Cerro de Nanchital, located in Las Choapas, and Isidro García Morales, the local municipal agent.

Police found ammunition shells indicating that an AK-47 and other high-caliber weapons were used in the killings. Unidentified police sources told the newspaper Al Calor Político that the victims were killed in one community of Las Choapas and then dumped on the roadway in another.

Various unconfirmed versions of events reported in different local media suggest that the root of the killings was over a kidnapping. However, details from there vary.

The most detailed version of events reported attributed the killings to a dispute between two self-defense groups — one from a town in Las Choapas and one from a town in the neighboring municipality of Minatitlán.

According to this account, the victims themselves had previously kidnapped a person identified as a member of the Minatitlan self-defense group on Sunday afternoon, prompting the aggrieved group to take retribution, kidnapping the 12 victims found Sunday, using a convoy of at least 20 vehicles.

Another version reported in local media claimed that the dispute was between a gang that had kidnapped the young son of a local rancher and a self-defense group that had tried to rescue him.

The southeastern corner of Veracruz is considered one of the most dangerous in the state due to the presence of various criminal groups fighting for control over the area, which borders Tabasco, Chiapas, and Oaxaca. Self-defense groups exist in the region as a result.

Sources: Al Calor Político (sp), Presencia (sp), López-Dóriga (sp), Reporte Indigo (sp)

Doctor in charge of national Covid vaccination program resigns

By

MND Staff

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January 18, 2021

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The federal government’s vaccination chief has resigned just as Mexico is ramping up immunization against Covid-19 but a health official says her departure won’t affect the national program to inoculate citizens against the virus.

There were some media reports that Miriam Veras Godoy, the now former director of the National Center for Child and Adolescent Health – which manages Mexico’s broad vaccination program –stepped down because she didn’t agree with aspects of the Covid-19 vaccination plan presented last month.

But federal health promotion chief Ricardo Cortés said Sunday that the reasons behind her resignation were purely personal.

“She took the decision without being in disagreement with anything,” he said.

While Veras was involved in the planning and administration of the Covid-19 vaccination program that is currently underway, her departure won’t leave a “hole” in it, Cortés said.

“We will continue moving forward with an operation that has great challenges [but] whose objectives we are meeting,” he said.

Cortés stressed that the Covid-19 vaccination program is different from programs to administer other vaccines because the entire federal government, rather than just the Health Ministry, is involved in the efforts to immunize citizens against the infectious disease that has claimed more than 140,000 lives in Mexico.

He said Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell, the government’s coronavirus point man, and Health Minister Jorge Alcocer will choose a replacement for Veras in the coming days.

According to data presented at the Health Ministry’s Sunday night coronavirus press briefing, almost 469,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have been administered in Mexico since the program began on December 24.

The program is still in stage 1, meaning that only frontline health workers are currently eligible for the vaccine, but there were reports over the weekend that federal government employees responsible for conducting censuses to determine eligibility for government social programs had been inoculated in parts of Jalisco and Guanajuato.

The news precipitated an outpouring of anger on social media because some health workers in those states are still waiting for a first shot of the Pfizer vaccine.

Tight security: an armed guard watches over the vaccination of healthcare workers.

Although the vaccination plan clearly stipulates that health workers will be prioritized, López-Gatell asserted Saturday that the so-called “servants of the nation” had not jumped the queue.

He noted that they are part of brigades of health workers, military personnel and volunteers that have been tasked with distributing and administering Covid-19 vaccines and claimed that made them eligible for early inoculation.

“The national servants … are in fact coordinating the brigades … and it’s specified in the vaccination plan that the members of the brigade will also be vaccinated. [The early vaccination of national servants] is not an anomaly, it’s not an abuse – it’s part of what is planned,” López-Gatell said.

With only a very limited number of vaccine doses currently in the country at a time when Covid-19 is claiming more lives than any other since the start of the pandemic, there is no end in sight to Mexico’s coronavirus crisis.

The government did significantly increase the number of vaccines being administered on a daily basis after receiving a shipment of almost 440,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine last Tuesday but with a population of almost 130 million, Mexico has a long way to go to reach the level of protection required to bring the pandemic to an end.

A potential threat to the government’s efforts to increase the pace of immunization is that Mexico has agreed to a United Nations proposal to delay some of its shipments of the Pfizer vaccine so that doses can get to poorer countries more quickly.

President López Obrador said Sunday that the UN had asked the United States pharmaceutical company to reduce the number of doses it is sending to countries with which it has contracts – Mexico has an agreement to purchase 34.4 million doses of the two-shot vaccine – so that it can receive more and distribute them to poor countries that have been unable to secure access on their own.

“We agreed with that,” the president said, adding that the all of the doses pledged to Mexico will still eventually arrive.

Although the Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine currently being used in Mexico, López Obrador claimed that the national vaccination program won’t be affected by the delay.

“We’ve already made deals so that the Cansino vaccine from China begins to arrive as well as a vaccine from a Russian laboratory [the Sputnik V],” the president said, noting that the government also has an agreement to purchase 77.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine.

“We’re going to have enough vaccines,” López Obrador said before criticizing countries that are stockpiling large quantities.

Source: Infobae (sp), Expansión Política (sp), Proceso (sp)

In first two weeks of January, Covid deaths soared 35%, new cases 28%

By

MND Staff

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January 18, 2021

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Mexico City restaurants are allowed to open as of Monday, but only with outdoor seating. They will be permitted to use sidewalks and parking areas for seating patrons.

Covid-19 deaths increased 35% in the first 16 days of January compared to the last 16 days of December while new case numbers rose 28%, federal data shows.

The Health Ministry reported 14,434 fatalities attributable to the infectious disease between January 1 and 16, an increase of 3,726 deaths compared to the 10,708 registered between December 16 and 31.

An additional 463 fatalities were reported Sunday, lifting Mexico’s official Covid-19 death toll to 140,704.

A daily average of 876 fatalities was reported in the first 17 days of January, meaning that Mexico is likely to record more than 27,000 deaths this month. That would make January the worst month of the pandemic in terms of deaths. December was the deadliest month to date with 19,867 fatalities.

New case numbers are also on track to hit a new monthly high in January. The Health Ministry reported 204,164 in the first 16 days of the month, 45,272 more than in the final 16 days of last year when 158,892 cases were registered.

Coronavirus cases and deaths in Mexico as reported by day. milenio

An additional 11,170 cases were reported Sunday, pushing Mexico’s accumulated tally to just over 1.64 million. A daily average of 12,667 cases was reported in the first 17 days of January, meaning Mexico could record more than 392,000 cases this month.

That figure would represent an increase of about 25% compared to December, when a monthly record of 312,551 cases was set. The single-day record for case numbers has been broken six times this month, most recently on Friday when 21,366 cases were reported. That new peak was almost matched on Saturday when health authorities reported 20,523 cases.

Mexico City leads the country for both Covid-19 deaths and cases with 25,002 of the former and 407,254 of the latter.

Maximum risk red on the coronavirus stoplight map since December 19, the capital has been Mexico’s coronavirus epicenter since the start of the pandemic and its outbreak has worsened considerably in recent weeks. Hospital occupancy across the Mexico City health system is currently 88%, according to local authorities.

Almost 7,000 coronavirus patients are currently hospitalized in the capital including 1,799 on ventilators. A new daily record for calls to 911 was set on Friday, providing more evidence of the gravity of the situation. The emergency service fielded 787 calls, and that figure was almost matched on Saturday with 737 calls.

A total of 603 ambulances were dispatched during the two-day period, and 114 people were taken to hospitals in the capital.

Estimated active cases across Mexico as of Sunday night. milenio

México state, which includes many municipalities that are part of the greater Mexico City metropolitan area, is also facing a difficult coronavirus situation. It ranks second among the 32 states for both Covid-19 deaths and cases with 16,279 of the former and more than 168,000 of the latter as of Sunday.

México state currently has a hospital occupancy rate of 84% for general care beds. It is one of seven states with an occupancy level above 70%. The others are Mexico City, 88%; Guanajuato, 86%, Hidalgo, 81%; Nuevo León, 79%; Puebla, 78%; and Nayarit, 72%.

Five of those seven states are currently red on the stoplight map while Puebla and Nayarit are high risk orange. As of Monday there were 10 red light states across the country (Morelos, Coahuila, Jalisco, Querétaro and Tlaxcala are also at the maximum risk level) and 19 high risk orange ones.

Chiapas and Chihuahua are the only yellow light medium risk states while Campeche is low risk green.

There are 108,550 active coronavirus cases across the country, according to Health Ministry estimates, while almost 469,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine have been administered since Mexico’s vaccination program began on December 24.

Mexico News Daily

Morena candidate for governor of Guerrero holds a party for 500

By

MND Staff

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January 17, 2021

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Salgado flashes a thumbs-up to guests at his big birthday party.

A controversial former senator who will contest this year’s gubernatorial election in Guerrero held a massive birthday party last week in violation of coronavirus restrictions.

Félix Salgado Macedonio, who has been selected to represent President López Obrador’s Morena party at the June 6 election, held a party for his 64th birthday in the Guerrero capital of Chilpancingo on Thursday that was attended by more than 500 guests.

Photographs of the event circulating online show that there was little social distancing and that many guests didn’t wear face masks.

The risk of coronavirus infection is currently orange light high in Guerrero, according to the federal government stoplight system, and gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited.

But Salgado, who will be a third-time candidate for governor at this year’s election, ignored the prohibition. Among the attendees at the party, which featured performances by mariachi musicians and a band, were local Morena party officials.

Salgado was elected to the Senate in 2018.

The candidate, who left his position as Morena party senator last August, is accused of raping a teenage girl in 1998 and a woman in 2016.

Salgado has also faced allegations of receiving bribes in exchange for protecting criminals during his term as mayor of Acapulco between 2005 and 2008.

Morena secretary general Citlalli Hernández said this week that Salgado should be stripped of his candidacy, saying the party “cannot remain silent in the face of possible cases of rape and gender abuse.”

But the controversial candidate appears to have the support of López Obrador, who claimed that the sexual abuse allegations are politically motivated.

“It’s a partisan matter and product of the [electoral] season,” he said January 8. “There is competition in some states because the elections are coming; all this generates controversy and accusations. The only thing that I can say is that when there are elections or [political] competition, it’s about discrediting the opponent in one way or another.”

Source: Infobae (sp)

Mexico City residents fight crime’s arrival in their neighborhood

By

Leigh Thelmadatter

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January 17, 2021

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Yo Amo Polanco distributing food packages to local police. — Yo Amo Polanco distributes food packages to local police.

The obvious wealth that pervades Mexico City’s tony Polanco neighborhood has its pros and cons.

Given that it’s home to a street like Avenida Masaryk, Mexico’s version of 5th Avenue, you might think that the neighborhood stays free of the sort of crime plaguing much of the rest of the city. And, indeed, having money does help. But its location and social dynamics also leave it vulnerable.

Polanco was established in the 20th century, part of a series of upscale neighborhoods built as Mexico City’s well-to-do moved westward, away from the city center. But there is a cultural split among these upscale neighborhoods: Polanco, Roma and others like it were developed before the age of the automobile in Mexico, with houses and apartment buildings that face onto the street. It is also closer to the city center, which means that it is closer to poorer, more crime-ridden areas. Later colonias extending out as far as the State of México consist of walled fortress-like houses with the principal entrances being for cars.

Resident Salvador Dondé de Teresa, who grew up in Polanco and raised his family here, stresses that while the socioeconomic levels of Polanco and the more isolated neighborhoods are similar, their lifestyles are quite different.

“Polanco is a place where we walk …. a lot,” he says. “Residents go out onto the street to walk their dogs, shop and do errands. Sidewalk cafés and restaurants are popular here. Streets are bustling, and neighbors tend to know each other.”

Polanco's culture is more social and oriented toward walking than similarly wealthy city neighborhoods, but that leaves residents more susceptible to crime. — Polanco’s culture is more social and oriented toward walking than similarly wealthy city neighborhoods, but that leaves residents more susceptible to crime.

The downside, he says, is that people here are more “exposed,” not only to petty street crime but to the organized type. The walled, isolated houses one neighborhood over in Lomas, for example, were developed to avoid exactly this problem.

“We love our lifestyle here and do not wish to change it,” Donde says.

However, that lifestyle gives criminals easier access to Polanco’s residents, and the neighborhood’s money makes it a tempting target for criminals. And so it was perhaps not surprising that starting in the mid-2010s, organized crime began to be an issue in the neighborhood, starting with drug dealing in the streets and in nightclubs. By 2018, it had expanded into the extortion of businesses.

Through the neighborhood grapevine, the issue came to the attention of resident Eduardo Klein of Klein’s Restaurant on Masaryk Avenue. A customer at the restaurant told him the Unión de Tepito crime gang had arrived and was forcing a protection racket upon restaurants. He realized it was just a matter of time before the criminals got to his family’s establishment, started by his American immigrant father in 1962 as a hamburger joint.

Klein’s solution was to leverage the neighborhood’s traditional community ties. A gregarious and charismatic sort, he also decided to take the issue to the media, arranging a television interview with the Telemundo news organization, putting the extortion going on under the spotlight.

Confronting organized crime in this manner is very dangerous but it paid off, getting the attention of both city and federal authorities. It likely helped that Polanco is home to more than a few embassies and their staff. Klein’s other solution was the founding of Yo Amo Polanco (YAP), a community organization that is a formalization of the social network the neighborhood’s retail businesses and residents have always had.

Eduardo Klein with Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch.

In only a couple of years, it has had a major influence on borough politics.

Victor Hugo Romo de Vivar Guerra, mayor of Polanco’s borough Miguel Hidalgo, has taken YAP’s ideas, particularly the notion of communication through community chats facilitated through the WhatsApp phone application, and brought them to the borough’s 89 colonias. He says the community chat groups are especially “fundamental,” and believes that organizations like YAP and the communication they foster are the future of governing — encouraging people to get directly involved instead of waiting for “Father Government” to solve their problems.

These efforts have improved the crime situation in the neighborhood, although the solutions have not been easy black-and-white ones. If this were a Hollywood movie, Polanco’s story would end with all the bad guys kicked out of town, never to return. Alas, this is real life in Mexico. So while the efforts of Klein and YAP have put pressure on the gang — and even sent some members to jail — it was not possible to get rid of them completely. In the end, YAP and Unión de Tepito members negotiated a compromise that tolerates the sale of drugs in Polanco (which Klein believes is impossible to eradicate anyway) but keeps the extortion of businesses out.

Today, YAP’s main function is to keep that accord alive. The organization began with only eight members but now has over 200, mostly connected by social media.

“People do not believe in government anymore,” says Klein. “People believe in individuals they know.”

It’s imperative to fight back, he says, because criminal organizations never quit expanding. If you just let it happen, he says, in the end “you have to sell your business because you cannot keep up with their demands.”

California-style mansion from Polanco's beginnings in the early 20th century. — California-style mansion from Polanco’s beginnings in the early 20th century.

Essentially, what the residents of Polanco have done is to formalize the social networks they have always had and to include the government, especially the local police, in the fold. Borough Police Chief Albino Ariza Ruíz also appreciates the collaboration that YAP provides.

Citizen initiatives can have a very positive effect, he says, not only because crime statistics go down but also because people feel safer.

“They know us better, and we know them,” he said.

Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 17 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture. She publishes a blog called Creative Hands of Mexico and her first book, Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta , was published last year. Her culture blog appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.

Mexico accused of violating treaty after releasing US evidence against Cienfuegos

By

MND Staff

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January 17, 2021

0

salvador cienfuegos — The retired general was cleared after 'the fastest investigation in Mexican history.'

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected President López Obrador’s claim that the drug trafficking case against former defense minister Salvador Cienfuegos was fabricated and accused the Mexican government of violating a bilateral treaty by releasing U.S. evidence against the retired army general.

The federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced Thursday that it had exonerated Cienfuegos, defense minister between 2012 and 2018, of drug trafficking and money laundering charges less than two months after he returned to Mexico from the United States. He was arrested in Los Angeles last October but under pressure from Mexico the U.S. dropped the case against him and allowed Cienfuegos to return home to be investigated here.

López Obrador claimed Friday that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) fabricated accusations against the ex-army chief, who the U.S. alleged had conspired with the H-2 Cartel to smuggle thousands of kilograms of drugs into the United States.

In a statement sent to the Associated Press after the federal government released a 751-page file the FGR received from United States authorities, the DOJ said it was “deeply disappointed by Mexico’s decision to close its investigation” into Cienfuegos.

“The United States Department of Justice fully stands by its investigation and charges in this matter. … The materials released by Mexico today show that the case against General Cienfuegos was, in fact, not fabricated,” it said.

“Those materials also show that the information relied upon to charge General Cienfuegos was lawfully gathered in the United States, pursuant to a proper U.S. court order, and in full respect of Mexico’s sovereignty.”

The DOJ said it could reopen its case against the former army chief. It also said it was disappointed by Mexico’s decision to publicize information it shared “in confidence.”

(Intercepted text messages contained in the U.S. file were marked: “Shared per court order, not for further distribution.”)

“Publicizing such information violates the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance between Mexico and the United States, and calls into question whether the United States can continue to share information to support Mexico’s own criminal investigations,” the DOJ said.

The file released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) on Friday includes intercepted text messages between Daniel Silva Gárate, a leader of the Nayarit-based H-2 Cartel known as “El H9,” and his boss and uncle, Juan Francisco Patrón Sánchez, the cartel’s now-deceased chief who was known as “El H2.”

The former, who is also no longer alive, allegedly acted as a cartel intermediary with Cienfuegos.

Cienfuegos, left, was defense minister during the government of Enrique Peña Nieto.

In one message, Silva told Patrón that he had been picked up by a group of men with military-style haircuts and taken to Defense Ministry headquarters in Mexico City for a meeting with “The Godfather,” which was apparently Cienfuegos’ nickname among his alleged criminal conspirators.

Silva told his uncle that The Godfather told him, “Now we are going to do big things with you … that what you have done is small-time.”

Patrón responded that he wanted unobstructed routes to ship drugs from Colombia. Silva texted back: “He [Cienfuegos] says that as long as he is here, you will be free … that they will never carry out strong operations” against the H-2 Cartel.

Silva also told Patrón that The Godfather had told him: “You can sleep peacefully, no operation will touch you.”

According to the Associated Press, other exchanges intercepted by the DEA describe The Godfather purportedly offering to arrange a boat to help transport drugs, introducing the traffickers to other officials and acknowledging helping other traffickers in the past.

The FGR dismissed the incriminating messages, saying in a statement Thursday: “The conclusion was reached that General Salvador Cienfuegos never had any meeting with the criminal organization investigated by American authorities, and that he also never had any communication with them, nor did he carry out acts to protect or help those individuals.”

According to a report by the newspaper El Universal, the FGR concluded that Silva deceived his uncle, making him believe that he had met with Cienfuegos when in fact he had not. His objective in doing so, according to FGR sources, was to obtain money from Patrón under the pretext that he needed to pay a bribe to Cienfuegos.

In the U.S. file published by the SRE, the DOJ said that Cienfuegos was never the main target of the DEA. It said the anti-drugs agency discovered information that incriminated the former defense minister while carrying out an investigation into heroin dealers in Las Vegas, Nevada, who apparently received shipments of the drug from the H-2 Cartel.

The FGR’s exoneration of Cienfuegos adds to a crisis in security cooperation between Mexico and the United States less than a week before Joe Biden is sworn in as U.S. president.

Even though the U.S. yielded to Mexico’s pressure and sent the former defense minister home, Mexico last month approved legislation that regulates the activities of foreign agents in Mexico, removes their diplomatic immunity and allows for their expulsion from the country. That legislation, described by the Associated Press as a “slap in the [United States’] face,” went into force Friday.

In addition, United States Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau revealed this week that Mexico rejected U.S. offers to help control cross-border arms trafficking.

The decision to clear Cienfuegos of the drug trafficking allegations after such a short investigation – and after Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that to bring the former defense minister home and then do nothing would be “almost suicidal” – amounts to a betrayal of the confidence the United States apparently showed in Mexico’s capacity to hold him to account.

dea agents — The US evidence consisted of text messages intercepted by the DEA.

Gladys McCormick, an associate professor in history at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, told the Associated Press that it wasn’t surprising that Cienfuegos was exonerated but added:

“One would think that they would have at least followed through on some semblance of an investigation, even if it was just to put some window dressing on the illusion that the rule of law exists. From the Mexican side, this signals the deep-seated control the military as an institution has on power.”

Three analysts who spoke to El Universal said the rapid exoneration of Cienfuegos creates more doubt than certainty about his innocence, and poses a threat to the relationship with the United States. The latter view is supported by the DOJ’s indication that the United States could stop sharing intelligence with Mexico.

César Gutiérrez Priego, a lawyer who specializes in military matters, said the exoneration raises questions because it came so quickly. The FGR normally acts very slowly, he said.

Gutiérrez said it was regrettable that the FGR hasn’t been transparent in its management of the case and charged that the accusations against Cienfuegos will damage the army’s reputation even though the former defense minister has been cleared of wrongdoing.

Raúl Benítez Manaut, a security expert and professor at the National Autonomous University, said it was hard to believe that the FGR had carried out a thorough investigation in such a short period of time.

“We’ll have to congratulate Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero because it’s the first time that the FGR has completed an investigation so quickly,” he said sarcastically. “It’s the fastest investigation in the history of the Mexican legal system and that causes a lot of suspicion.”

Benítez criticized López Obrador for speaking about the case, saying that he should leave the matter to the FGR, which is supposedly completely autonomous of the federal government.

He said it was possible that the United States will reopen its case against the former defense minister and seek his extradition in light of his exoneration in Mexico.

“This could lead to a strong conflict between the two countries,” Benítez said.

Source: AP (en), El Universal (sp)