Wildlife photog decries selfies with jaguars as abuse

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February 7, 2020

A Tacoma on the assembly line in Apaseo El Grande.

Toyota inaugurated a new assembly plant in Apaseo El Grande, Guanajuato, on Thursday, where it showcased its first Tacoma model pickup truck made in Mexico.

The company’s second in Mexico, the plant was built with an initial investment of US $700 million. It is expected to build 100,000 Tacoma trucks per year and generate 1,000 jobs in the area.

The president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Guanajuato, Francisco García, said that 60% of the employees are from Celaya and the rest from Apaseo El Grande.

The plant began trial operations at the end of last year but Thursday marked the beginning of formal production. The two Mexican plants are expected to produce 266,000 Tacoma pickups a year.

Guanajuato Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo attended the inauguration ceremony and said that the plant will give a “historic boost” to the development of the surrounding 15 municipalities as well as the rest of the state.

He added that it will also bring new revenue to other commercial and service sectors in Guanajuato to the benefit of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses.

The industry and trade undersecretary for the federal Secretariat of Economy, Ernesto Acevedo, said the investment is a visionary and strategic move with respect to the current global economy and also strengthens ties between Mexico and Japan.

Although the Mexican auto industry saw declines in 2019, and the trend will most likely continue into this year, the ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is expected to bring more certainty and growth to an important sector of the economy.

On top of the initial investment, Toyota plans to commit another $247 million to the plant over the next nine years.

As for the security situation in the state, Toyota Mexico’s director of legal and institutional relations, Luis Lozano, said that it is a matter of collaborating constantly with local authorities.

“We’re aware that there is a security issue and we’re taking measures to improve the situation,” he said.

Guanajuato saw more homicides than any other state in Mexico in 2019 with 3,540.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Coronavirus will arrive in Mexico within weeks: health specialist

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February 7, 2020

Information about coronavirus is being translated into English and Mandarin. — Information about coronavirus is being translated into English and Mandarin for the benefit of travelers.

It is only matter of weeks until the coronavirus makes its way to Mexico, according to a researcher at the National Autonomous University (UNAM).

UNAM epidemiologist Samuel Ponce de León said that chains of transmission will sprout up around the world within the coming weeks.

“The infection is going to arrive in Mexico. Exactly when, we don’t know, but in the following weeks we’re going to have transmission here,” he said.

He said that it is too early to tell whether or not the country’s hospitals are ready to confront an epidemic.

“That’s what we’re trying to plan, consider and organize in order to respond adequately,” he said, adding that the country will actually face three epidemics: that of the coronavirus as well as the alarm and the fear associated with it, which are often unwarranted and based on false reports.

Pediatric allergy and infectious disease specialist Gerardo López said that there is some cause for alarm, however, as the country’s high rates of obesity, allergies and pollution levels make it a high-risk area for transmission of the virus.

He said that people who suffer from obesity or allergic conditions such as hay fever and asthma, especially children, are especially at risk for contracting the disease.

“We must take into account that, according to national statistics, one of every three Mexican children is obese. So the risk to this population is high,” he said.

It is also estimated that 18% of the population suffers from asthma and 30-40% suffers from hay fever. These conditions debilitate the immune system, making it more likely that these sectors of the population will be affected.

But both specialists stated that there are steps the public and health workers can take to protect themselves.

The working group led by Ponce de León will design information packets for both doctors and the public, contribute to research and social response plans and be involved in working on a vaccine among other efforts.

Linguists at UNAM and the National School of Languages, Linguistics and Translation are working to translate informational materials into both Mandarin and English in order to keep foreign visitors aware of how to protect themselves and others.

López said that people can protect themselves by regularly washing their hands, covering their mouths with the inside of their elbows when they cough or sneeze and avoiding contact with people with flu-like symptoms.

He also recommended eating a balanced diet and for mothers to feed babies breast milk to keep the immune system reinforced.

“It is also necessary to avoid exposure to environmental pollution, which creates a higher risk that the population will be vulnerable to this type of virus,” he said.

Avoiding self-medicating or the indiscriminate use of antibiotics is also vital to protecting oneself from the coronavirus. López stressed the importance of seeing a doctor in the case of showing any signs of respiratory illness.

Sources: Milenio (sp), Diario de Yucatán (sp)

Journalist who was attacked by gunman challenges AMLO

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February 7, 2020

Blogger Velázquez speaks at AMLO's press conference.

An independent journalist who survived a murder attempt in December has confronted President López Obrador, urging him not to forget about the dangers that media workers in Mexico face.

Wearing an eye patch and with surgical pins in his face, Paul Velázquez, a video blogger who denounces corruption on YouTube and Facebook, appeared at the president’s news conference on Wednesday to demand justice for journalists who have been attacked and murdered.

“President, they are killing us, don’t forget it please, they are killing us,” he said.

Velázquez was shot in the face on December 19 while walking to his studio in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. He told the news agency Reuters that the attack occurred after a close collaborator of the mayor of Ahome, of which Los Mochis is the municipal seat, threatened his life.

Security camera footage shows a man stepping out from behind a car and shooting Velázquez. Another video, apparently recorded on a cell phone by a bystander, shows the journalist walking unsteadily into a grocery store, where he receives assistance as his blood flows across the floor.

Ahome Mayor Chapman: 'unconcerned' by the accusation against him. — Ahome Mayor Chapman: ‘unconcerned’ by the accusation against him.

Velázquez spent more than three weeks in the hospital, where he was given a tracheotomy and fed through a tube. He was unable to speak for 16 days. Since leaving the hospital, he has been receiving protection from the federal government.

On Wednesday, the journalist accused Mayor Manuel Guillermo “Billie” Chapman of ordering the attack on his life.

“President, I want to remind you that investigative journalists are not trophies for corrupt rulers to hunt down,” Velázquez said. Journalists are being attacked for speaking out against the embezzling of public money, he added.

The journalist previously appeared at a López Obrador news conference in April 2019, at which he accused Chapman of corruption and sought the president’s help to remove him from office. In response to Velázquez’s latest accusation, the mayor said that he was unconcerned.

For his part, López Obrador assured the journalist that his government will bring peace to Mexico and ensure that there is no impunity for criminals, including those that perpetrate attacks on journalists.

“We’re going to pacify the country; this is the great challenge … Impunity has to end [including] in your particular case,” he said.

López Obrador previously pledged in December to review Velázquez’s case but there have been no arrests.

Julio César Colin, a spokesman for the press freedom advocacy organization Article 19, said that the attack on the journalist was clearly related to his work and should be investigated by the special prosecutor for crimes against freedom of expression.

Mexico is considered the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists, after Syria. A total of 131 journalists have been killed since 2000, according to Article 19, including 11 since López Obrador took office in December 2018.

The president has been accused of contributing to a culture of violence against journalists by launching scathing verbal attacks on reporters and news outlets that are critical of his government.

After López Obrador criticized a story published by the Mexico City-based newspaper Reforma in April last year, the paper’s editor received death threats and was a victim of harassment.

Article 19 said at the time that the president’s “stigmatizing discourse [against the media] . . . has a direct impact in terms of the … risk it can generate for the work of the press because [his remarks] permeate the discourse of the rest of society and can even generate attacks.”

Source: Reuters (en), Infobae (sp)

Police network suspected of protecting CDMX gang

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February 7, 2020

Six of 12 suspects arrested Thursday in Xochimilco. All are presumed members of Los Rodolfos.

The Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJ) is investigating a network of city police officers suspected of providing protection to the drug trafficking gang Los Rodolfos, considered among the main purveyors of violence in the capital.

The criminal organization is known to control over 200 drug dealing locations in the boroughs of Xochimilco and Milpa Alta alone, and operates in the Tlalpan and Tláhuac boroughs as well.

According to investigative reports, police in the network charge 200-500 pesos (US $11-27) per shift in order for gang members to utilize a drug dealing location with impunity.

During investigations, FGJ agents found that when police officers detected their presence, they alerted gang members operating in the area by activating the lights and sirens of their patrol cars, frustrating the operations.

Some officers even investigated the undercover FGJ agents looking into their operations under the pretext that they had “received complaints of suspicious people” captured on the city’s security cameras, the reports stated.

On Wednesday, the FGJ arrested David “El Gnomo” Castillo Hernández, 36, identified as an associate of the Los Rodolfos leader nicknamed “La Cotorra” (the parrot).

The operation carried out in the Xochimilco borough also resulted in the arrest of Víctor Velasco Pereda, who investigations found acted as a direct link between La Cotorra and police, possibly providing weekly cash bribes.

Los Rodolfos is a criminal organization founded by ex-convict Rodolfo Rodríguez Morales after he split off from the Tláhuac Cartel, led by Felipe de Jesús Pérez Luna, aka El Ojos, who was shot dead in July 2017 during a confrontation with marines.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Raffle for presidential plane will go ahead, says AMLO

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February 7, 2020

president's plane — Regardless of the raffle, the plane is still for sale.

The presidential plane will be raffled off, President López Obrador said on Friday, but there is a catch: no one will actually walk away with the luxuriously-outfitted Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

“After analysis, reflection and consultation, the decision was taken. The plane will be raffled . . . and all Mexicans who want to help can participate,” López Obrador said at his regular news conference.

He said that six million tickets will be offered at a price of 500 pesos (US $27) each with the aim of raising a total of 3 billion pesos (US $159.7 million). The tickets will go on sale on March 1 and a draw will be held at the National Lottery building in Mexico City on September 15, the president said.

But no one will win the plane that was purchased by the government of former president Felipe Calderón in 2012 for US $218 million and used by his successor, Enrique Peña Nieto. Instead, 100 winners will each receive a prize of 20 million pesos, López Obrador said.

“We did not want to award a prize that would be a problem. You know, the memes, ‘where would I park it?’” he said.

plane raffle ticket — Tickets go on sale March 1.

The combined prize pool of 2 billion pesos (US $106.4 million) is equal to the value of the plane, according to a sample ticket presented by the president, although it has been valued at US $130 million.

The prizes will not actually be funded by the sale of raffle tickets, according to the director of the Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People. Ricardo Rodríguez Vargas explained that they will be financed by a fund made up of money seized from criminals.

“In the coming days, we’re going to work very intensely in order to make use of the fund, which contains about 4 billion pesos,” he said.

Despite his declaration that the plane will be raffled off, López Obrador clarified that it is actually still for sale.

“We’re doing all this so that we don’t [have to] sell it off cheaply, so that we’re not in a hurry. In other words, the plane is still for sale,” he said.

López Obrador said that 400 million pesos raised by the raffle will go to the air force, which will be responsible for the maintenance of the plane until a buyer is found. Other funds raised will be used to purchase medical equipment, he said.

“He who buys a number, a ticket, will be helping us to solve the problems we were left by pharaonic governments, both the one that bought the plane and the one that accepted it and used it,” the president said.

“The most important thing is that the money will be used for a very important humanitarian cause.”

López Obrador first floated the idea of holding a raffle to offload the plane last month after it was announced that it would return to Mexico after failing to sell during a period of almost a year it spent at the Southern California Logistics Airport in the United States.

The idea was widely ridiculed, criticized by opposition lawmakers and spawned countless memes, many of which focused on the problem a raffle winner would face in finding a place to park the plane.

The 80-seat aircraft has a full presidential suite with a bedroom and private bathroom. Reconfiguring it for commercial use, which would entail increasing the number of seats to about 300, is not financially viable, according to experts.

López Obrador, who takes commercial flights, has vowed never to set foot on the plane, claiming that it is too luxurious for him to use. “There can’t be a rich government with a poor people,” he often quips.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Financiero (sp), Notimex (sp), Reforma (sp)

Skeleton found in Tulum cave at least 9,900 years old, study concludes

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February 7, 2020

A study published Wednesday provides new details about the 2016 discovery of the remains of a woman who lived on the Yucatán Peninsula at least 9,900 years ago.

Divers Vicente Fito and Ivan Hernández found the remains, including a deformed skull, in September 2016 while diving in the Chan Hol cave near Tulum, Quintana Roo. The woman was dubbed Chan Hol 3 because the ancient remains of two other people have been found in the same cave.

The study says that the skull of the woman – one of the earliest known inhabitants of the land that is now Mexico – showed signs of three different injuries, indicating that she was hit with something hard.

Deformations in the form of craters that appear consistent with lesions caused by a bacterial relative of syphilis were also found on the cranium.

“It really looks as if this woman had a very hard time and an extremely unhappy end of her life,” Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, the lead researcher of the study, told the science news website Live Science.

The woman's skeleton is about 30% complete. — The woman may have been expelled from her group and killed in the cave.

“Obviously, this is speculative, but given the traumas and the pathological deformations on her skull, it appears a likely scenario that she may have been expelled from her group and was killed in the cave, or was left in the cave to die there,” said the professor of biostratigraphy and paleoecology at the Institute for Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University in Germany.

While the woman’s skeleton is only about 30% complete, researchers have established that she was approximately 1.64 meters tall and about 30 years old when she died.

Dating the remains was challenging because her skeleton had no remaining collagen, leading researchers to look at uranium-thorium isotopes in a stalagmite that had become encrusted in the woman’s finger bones. The technique, which isn’t considered the most accurate for determining the age of human remains, enabled the formulation of a fairly reliable estimate about when the woman lived.

While the skull deformations have led researchers to believe that the woman had Treponema peritonitis, a disease related to syphilis, study co-researcher Samuel Rennie told Live Science that the possibility that the cranial irregularities were caused by erosion of the skull while in the cave could not be ruled out.

The researchers plan to carry out a CT scan on the skull to help them reach a more conclusive diagnosis about the lesions and trauma it presents, he said.

Rennie also said that Chan Hol 3 had a slightly longer and narrower brain case and face than other ancient people who lived in the land now known as Mexico.

That suggests that there were at least two different groups of humans living here at the end of the last ice age, he said.

“The two groups must have been very different in aspect and culture,” Stinnesbeck said.

“While the groups from central Mexico were tall, good hunters, with elaborate stone tools, the Yucatán people were small and delicate, and to date not a single stone tool was found.”

Source: Live Science (en)

8-day state tours, a new tourism scheme, is set for launch

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February 6, 2020

El Señor de Tila church in Balancan, Tabasco, which will be the first state to offer the "Eight Days" tour packages.

An initiative that will offer eight-day tours around individual Mexican states has the backing of state tourism secretaries, according to the president of the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies (AMAV).

Eduardo Paniagua Morales said that the “Journey Across Mexico in Eight Days” project will be officially launched at the 2020 Tianguis Turístico, an annual tourism industry event that will be held March 22-25 in Mérida, Yucatán.

The initiative, which is being developed by the AMAV, will offer at least 15 eight-day tours featuring 24 “experiences” in each participating state, he said.

Paniagua said that the tourism secretary of Tabasco, which will be the first state to offer the tours, as well as those in Chihuahua and Coahuila have indicated that they are practically ready to support the project.

The Tamaulipas tourism secretary has invited AMAV tour operators to visit that state to identify destinations that can be included, he added.

The AMAV chief also said that tours are being prepared for Quintana Roo, explaining that buses will leave the Chetumal airport twice weekly to transport tourists to destinations including Bacalar, Mahahual, the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, Tulum and Cobá lagoon. A single tour in Quintana Roo will generate an economic spillover of 378,000 pesos (US $20,250), Paniagua said.

He said the AMAV plans to gradually include more states in the program and that meetings with the tourism secretaries of Nuevo León, Oaxaca and Zacatecas have been held to that end.

The aim of the initiative, Paniagua said, is to offer new products to tourists and generate business for hotel owners, tour guides and others who work in the tourism sector. At a national level, the program is estimated to benefit the tourism sector to the tune of 450 million pesos annually, he said.

All state tours developed by AMAV will be listed on the association’s website (Spanish only).

Source: El Economista (sp)

Private sector warns of damage to tourism by ending long weekends

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February 6, 2020

The president says he believes tourism will not be affected.

Private sector tourism organizations have warned that eliminating long weekends as proposed by President López Obrador would cause economic damage to the tourism sector – but the president himself rejects the claim.

López Obrador announced Wednesday that he would propose a reform at the end of the current school year to eliminate the long weekends known as puentes (bridges) in order to better honor the country’s history.

His proposal will move federal holidays that commemorate historical events to coincide with the actual dates on which they took place, rather than giving the public a day off work and school on a predetermined Monday.

The Federal Labor Law was modified in 2006 so that three historical events – Constitution Day, former president Benito Juárez’s birthday and Revolution Day – are commemorated on the first Monday of February, the third Monday of March and the third Monday of November, respectively, regardless of whether the actual date falls on those Mondays or not.

Many Mexicans take advantage of the long weekends to take short trips with family or friends, especially to beach destinations on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts.

In that context, the National Association of Chain Hotels (ANCH), the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM) and the Mexican Federation of Tourism Associations (Fematur) agreed that López Obrador’s proposal must be stopped.

In a letter sent to Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco, ANCH President Braulio Arsuaga highlighted the benefits that the most recent puente was expected to generate for the tourism sector.

“To give you an example of the benefits that [long weekends] have brought, allow me to share data that you yourself used. On January 29, you reported that for the vacation period from January 31 to February 3, around 1.6 million vacationers would travel. As a result, hotel occupancy would increase 62.7% and there would be an economic spillover of close to 4 billion pesos [US $214.4 million],” he wrote.

The AMHM said in a statement that getting rid of long weekends “would be a terrible mistake,” asserting that the tourism sector could be “severely” affected.

López Obrador claimed that moving holidays to the actual dates that historical events occurred would help educate people, especially schoolchildren, about Mexican history.

But the AMHM insisted that “there are other ways to raise awareness among our boys, girls and young people.”

“We believe that the elimination [of long weekends] is not a measure that guarantees the desired objective,” the association said.

Fematur president Jorge Hernández said that all tourism sector stakeholders should be consulted before any decision is made, highlighting that, in addition to the economic benefit of long weekends, the holidays afford Mexican families a better quality of life.

At his morning press conference on Thursday, López Obrador dismissed the concerns of the tourism sector, which generates about 9% of GDP and provides employment to approximately 3.8 million people.

“I believe that [tourism] won’t be affected. On the other hand, forgetting the past does affect us,” he said.

The president also stressed that his government is carrying out a range of measures to boost tourism, citing efforts to clear beaches of sargassum and the construction of the Maya Train.

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

Jalisco shutters business for polluting Santiago River

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February 6, 2020