After protests, some unpaid artists get their due, and an apology

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February 6, 2020

Though jaguars have long been tracked down for their body parts to sell on the black market, scientists have observed the first case of a Mexican jaguar being poached for its genitals, according to the National Jaguar Conservation Alliance (ANCJ).

At a symposium on at-risk mammals and recovery strategies held on January 28, ANCJ vice president Heliot Zarza said that investigators late last year found the body of a jaguar from which only its penis had been removed.

The cadaver found in the Lacandona Jungle in Chiapas showed the same signs of poaching practiced by traffickers in Bolivia and Peru, where authorities have seized jaguar body parts from Chinese citizens.

Zarza ruled out the possibility that the jaguar had been poached to supply the domestic black market, since the poachers left intact its fur, claws and canine teeth, the parts customarily marketed in Mexico.

“There has been trafficking in Mexico for many years. We’ve seen decades of trafficking in products such as the pelts, teeth and claws for use in handicrafts. What has happened recently with the entrance of the Chinese market is the [removal of this] delicate part, because they want the jaguar’s penis as an aphrodisiac,” he said.

The ANCJ announced in December that the Chinese market is the biggest threat facing jaguars in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.

In January, the organization urged authorities to make a coordinated effort to combat trafficking of the species.

It sent a letter to the National Guard requesting that its personnel who were part of the former Environmental Gendarmerie be deployed for such purposes.

“What we’re asking of the National Guard is that it takes the people that were trained in the Environmental Gendarmerie and direct them toward environmental measures,” said Zarza.

He added that the Maya Train project poses a threat to jaguar habitats in Mexico and said that the ANCJ will petition the government not to allow the train to pass through protected areas and to construct wildlife crossings so that the animals can move safely through their habitat.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Seismic signs may foretell the birth of a new volcano in Michoacán

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February 6, 2020

The 77-year-old Paricutín Volcano in Michoacán. — The Paricutín Volcano appeared 77 years ago.

A team of about 50 experts is carrying out studies in Michoacán to determine whether increased seismic activity could be a precursor to the birth of a new volcano.

There have been more than 2,000 earthquakes with magnitudes between 2.9 and 4.1 in an area northwest of Uruapan, Michoacán, since January 5, according to the National Seismological Service (SSN).

The earthquake swarm, as a sequence of similar magnitude seismic events occurring in a local area in a relatively short period of time is known, could be related to either tectonic or magmatic events, the director of the Institute of Geophysics at the National Autonomous University (UNAM) told the newspaper El Financiero.

A magmatic event, Hugo Delgado explained, occurs when magma – the molten or semi-molten material from which igneous rocks are formed – ascends to the surface of the earth.

Large volumes of magma can potentially break through the surface and form a volcano, as occurred in Michoacán in 1943 with the sudden emergence of the Paricutín Volcano, which eventually rose to a height of more than 300 meters.

Volcano specialists at work in Michoacán.

However, there is no certainty that that will happen near Uruapan, Delgado said. Even if the earthquake swarm is related to a magmatic event, “we still have to see if there is sufficient magma for it to rise” from beneath the Earth’s surface, he said.

The expert also said that while seismic activity that preceded the birth of the Paricutín Volcano was felt by local people, the recent earth tremors were not.

Recent history suggests that the formation of a new volcano is unlikely.

The UNAM volcanologist said that earthquake swarms also occurred in the same area of Michoacán in 1997, 1999 and 2006 but they were related to tectonic rather than magmatic activity.

“While it’s not common, it’s not rare for these kinds of phenomena [earthquake swarms] to occur. The previous events were related to fault lines and fractures in the [earth’s] crust below Michoacán,” Delgado said.

Still, the location of the seismic activity near both the Paricutín and Tancítaro volcanos has attracted the attention of experts from several universities as well as government agencies including the SSN and the National Disaster Prevention Center (Cenapred).

Cenapred said that the experts on site in the area where the seismic activity has occurred have installed seismometers and other measuring equipment, and are analyzing water and gas samples collected there. They are also closely monitoring the surface of the earth for any signs of deformation.

Delgado said that while meteorologists have the capacity to forecast rain, for example, because they can look at cloud formations using both satellites in space and instruments on earth, seismologists and volcanologists cannot accurately predict when or where an earthquake might occur or a volcano may form.

“… unfortunately we can only see [what’s happening beneath the earth’s surface] using equipment at the surface” and not from beneath the crust, he said.

“That’s why follow-up and monitoring near the phenomenon is very important in order to be able to understand, as far as is possible, what is happening. . .”

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

Outrage over a narco wedding and grotesque opportunities

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Sarah DeVries

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February 5, 2020

Father of the bride, left, and the wedding couple.

My own outrage surprised me when I read about the daughter of El Chapo getting married in the Culiacán, Sinaloa, cathedral to the nephew of another well-known criminal.

The church was closed off with yellow tape and armed guards stood at the doors. Even her brother, Ovidio Guzmán, was in attendance, as I suppose he was in the mood to celebrate after his attempted arrest led to the eruption of the entire city and his quick release.

Talk about untouchable.

Many are offended by the sight of people they deem undeserving of receiving any kind of help or favors — take the myth of the Welfare Queen as Exhibit A (and beggars on the street as Exhibit B, for that matter). I personally am offended by people who already have every privilege they could possibly want being handed even more.

I can’t help but wonder if, in the face of rare public criticism, the cartel families will take a page from U.S. Republican politicians and B-level soccer players alike, falling down and pretending to be judged and persecuted victims.

“Don’t we have a right to celebrate, too?” I imagine them saying.

On second thought, they obviously don’t give much thought to public opinion, and why should they? They’re criminals and the ruling elite of Mexico, and they know very well that no one can do anything about it (or at least hasn’t been able to yet).

Because when you can hire your own military force, the option of the official state is to either go to war (we already know how the first attempt at that one turned out) or “go along to get along,” neither of which is a fine choice. (For an excellent analysis of how these criminal organizations get and hold power, have a look at this interview with author Ioan Grillo).

There’s a lot to be outraged about these days, and normally a social event would be fairly far down on my own personal list. But the fact that these families have the ability to close a church to the public — and that the church is apparently “very close” to the families — is just too much for me.

The story of Mexico — and perhaps the world right now — is of powerful, shameless people doing pretty much whatever they want and getting away with it. WHAT is happening? Is there any hope left for us?

AMLO took power promising a new strategy against narco gangs and their recruitment schemes. Criminal gangs prey on kids with pretty much no hope of ever “making it” in life, which is easy to do when there are so few real opportunities to get ahead in an honest way.

After all, why go through all the trouble of getting an education and competing for a job that’s only going to pay you 6,000 a month working some of the highest number of hours in OECD countries anyway?

Our continuing failure to change this in any fundamental way can’t, of course, be blamed solely on the president, who inherited this issue. And I agree that improving the economy and society in general is a major key to reducing the gangs’ power. But while we work on that we need a military strategy, too.

How do narcos keep their power? Money and guns, and to a large extent by presenting a kind of grotesque opportunity and benefits to those who have little through legal means.

As Grillo says, we need three things to reduce the power of criminal gangs: drug policy reform (in the United States as well), fighting “for the hearts and minds of young people who are recruited into cartels,” and building trustworthy and effective police forces. We may not be able to do too much about U.S. drug policy, but can definitely make some dents in the other two with money, of which Mexico has plenty.

It’s time to offer real opportunities and decent compensation for honest work — including police work. Until we do, the cartels will continue along their terrible path of constant regeneration and unchallenged rule.

Sarah DeVries writes from her home in Xalapa, Veracruz.

9 states resist new health service; AMLO welcomes the competition

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February 5, 2020

National Action Party governors and the president agreed on a group photo but little more.

Nine states that continue to hold out against inclusion in the federal government’s new universal healthcare scheme will have to provide their own programs and they will be in competition with the federal service, President López Obrador said on Wednesday.

Speaking at his regular news conference, López Obrador said that it will be up to citizens to decide who provides the better service.

“Competition is good, it’s part of democracy. We shouldn’t be alarmed by it,” he said.

The president’s remarks came after Health Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell announced on Tuesday that Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas have not agreed to allow the National Institute of Health for Well-Being (Insabi) to provide healthcare services to people with no other insurance.

Tasked with providing free medical care to millions of Mexicans who previously qualified for the disbanded Seguro Popular scheme, the new department started operations on January 1 but was plagued with confusion during its first month of operation. Both patients and medical personnel have expressed uncertainty about how the program actually works.

López-Gatell said that five of the states that haven’t signed on to the Insabi scheme – Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Guanajuato, Jalisco and Nuevo León – don’t have any hospitals run by IMSS Bienestar, a Mexican Social Security Institute service that provides primary and secondary healthcare services to people who live in rural areas and low-income urban neighborhoods.

As a result, the federal government will have no way of guaranteeing free medical care and medicines to the residents of those states.

“. . .There will be no federal government participation. They [the five states without IMSS Bienestar] will have to provide [medical] services and medicines to their residents,” López-Gatell said.

Later Tuesday, López Obrador met with Mexico’s nine National Action Party (PAN) governors, among them five who have not agreed to the operation of Insabi.

However, the president was unable to convince the dissenters to sign on to the scheme over lunch even though the governors had reached a preliminary agreement with Health Secretary Jorge Alcocer last Friday that was expected to be ratified at the meal.

“It was a good meeting, a respectful one, but also very frank,” López Obrador told reporters Wednesday morning.

“They suggested that there could be partial agreements. We maintain that this would lead to there being no responsible authority. In other words, it wouldn’t be known who is doing their duties and who isn’t – half measures aren’t good,” he said.

Aguascalientes Governor Martín Orozco, who is also the current president of the PAN governors association, told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting that the state leaders who have not signed on to the Insabi scheme were now awaiting a “counterproposal” from the federal government

“We’ll have to see the details. . .they present to us,” he said, adding that he expected that to happen in coming days.

Orozco said that the main sticking point precluding agreement between the federal government and the states was that the latter want services provided by Insabi to become free for qualifying patients over time rather than straight away.

Insabi currently guarantees free care at primary and secondary public healthcare facilities, but not at specialist, tertiary hospitals. However, Undersecretary López-Gatell said Tuesday that all of Mexico’s 23 national health institutes, which provide specialist medical services, have committed to offering free care to Insabi patients from December 1.

Another disagreement between the governors and López Obrador was over how federal funding will be allocated to the states, whether they have consented to Insabi or not.

The president said this morning that states that haven’t signed on to the federal universal healthcare scheme won’t be financially penalized, adding that he instructed Insabi on Tuesday to release funds to them.

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

Hugging the coast, literally, at Ensenada, Baja California

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February 5, 2020

For those seeking adrenaline-fueled adventures to round out their beach holidays, tour operators in Ensenada, Baja California, have begun to offer a new ecotourism activity that has visitors rappelling down oceanside cliffs and plunging into turquoise tide pools.

Similar to canyoning, “coasteering” first arose as a guided tourism activity on the rocky coastline of Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the 1990s. Ensenada is the first and only place to offer it in Mexico.

Baja California Tourism Undersecretary Ivette Casillas said the activity is currently not even offered in the United States.

The four-hour tour takes place in Ensenada’s Bahía del Papalote, where emerald waters crash against the craggy coastline and form crystalline tide pools among the rocks.

It consists of two rappelling sections and a bit of swimming. The first rappel descends a 25-meter cliff for which participants must take that first heart-stopping step backwards over the edge of the rock face and manage their way down in the traditional method, by using their feet to guide them along the precipice.

After a short hike through the rugged terrain, the second rappel is a bit more like a zipline than the first descent. At 35 meters it’s taller, but easier to manage, as guides control the coasteerer’s fall with climbing ropes to a small rocky island among the waves.

The last leg of the tour is a 20-meter swim through the refreshing waters of the tide pool formed by the cliffs and the island of stone.

The best time of year to go coasteering in Ensenada is in the summer, when the waters are warm. There are wetsuits available for the chilly waters of winter.

The coasteering tour is offered by Baja Excursions (website in Spanish) and costs 950 pesos (US $51) per person. Participants must be at least 8 years old.

The tour can be combined with a kayaking excursion to La Bufadora, a natural “chimney” in the coastal cliffs from which white water sprays 30 meters into the air when the waves crash into it.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Mexico-US trade breaks record at US $614.5 billion, up 0.5%

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February 5, 2020

Two-way trade between Mexico and the United States reached an all-time high of US $614.5 billion in 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported on Wednesday.

Mexico’s exports to its northern neighbor totaled a record $358.13 billion last year, a 3.5% increase compared to 2018. Meanwhile, imports from the United States declined 3.4% to $256.37 billion.

The combined value of the commercial exchange between the two countries was 0.5% higher than that recorded in 2018. The balance of trade showed a record surplus of $101.75 billion in Mexico’s favor, 26.2% higher than the 2018 surplus.

Data from the Department of Commerce also showed that Mexico is now the United States’ largest trading partner, having moved past both China and Canada. Trade between the two countries accounted for 14.8% of the U.S.’ total international trade last year.

Canada was the second biggest trade partner of the United States followed by China, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

China’s share of trade with the world’s largest economy took a hit as a result of the trade war between Washington and Beijing, which has helped Mexico increase its exports to its northern neighbor.

The record trade between Mexico and the United States last year came despite continuing uncertainty surrounding the new North American trade agreement and threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to impose blanket tariffs on Mexican imports if the Mexican government didn’t do more to stop the arrival of migrants on the two countries’ shared border.

Mexico, the United States and Canada finally signed a modified version of the USMCA in December while President López Obrador, who is determined to maintain harmonious relations with the U.S., averted the tariff threat by agreeing to deploy the National Guard to increase enforcement against migrants.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Long weekends may be history if AMLO has his way

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February 5, 2020

For many, a long weekend means a holiday at the beach.

The long weekends cherished by Mexico’s schoolchildren and workforce are secondary to historical accuracy, as far as the president is concerned.

President López Obrador announced that he will 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 aim to 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 the closest Monday or Friday.

“The commemoration of independence will be on the actual day, and the same for November 20, the anniversary of the Revolution,” he said at the celebration of the 103rd anniversary of the promulgation of the Constitution of 1917 in Querétaro.

“I know that it will create controversy, but those who don’t know where they come from don’t know where they’re going.”

“The constitution of 1917 enshrines the desires of the Mexican people who fought for democracy, liberty and justice. It’s very unfortunate that in recent years people have forgotten these historical dates. Schoolchildren, even in secondary school, talk of puentes, but not of the reason they’re not attending school on Friday or Monday — as has just happened,” he said.

“It turns out that no one remembers that the constitution was proclaimed on this day, the 5th of February.”

Former president Felipe Calderón criticized the announcement on Twitter, arguing that the long weekends have a socioeconomic importance that outshines historical accuracy.

“It’s a grave error returning the days off to the historical dates. For many families, the long weekends are the only opportunity to take a vacation. Without them, hundreds of tourist areas won’t have activity or employment,” he said.

Source: Reforma (sp), Milenio (sp)

Three vehicles pulverized by Oaxaca landslide; 6 people hurt

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February 5, 2020

One of the cars that was crushed by the slide in Oaxaca.

A landslide on the Oaxaca-Mexico City highway left six people injured and the roadway closed for several hours on Monday night.

Three vehicles were crushed when a retaining wall broke and part of the mountainside fell onto the highway 47 kilometers southeast of Tehuacán, on the Oaxaca side of the state line, at around 10:00pm.

One of the vehicles was overturned completely and one of the victims was reported to be in critical condition due to several serious injuries.

Federal Police and Red Cross paramedics were the first on the scene. They rushed the injured motorists to hospitals in Tehuacán while personnel from the Federal Highways and Bridges Agency (Capufe) worked to clear the road.

The National Guard was also called to the scene to redirect traffic via the Tehuacán-Huajuapan de León highway. The main highway was closed to traffic for five to six hours while the debris was removed.

Sources: Milenio (sp), El Sol de Puebla (sp)

Farmers clash with National Guard over diversion of dam’s water to US

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February 5, 2020