Federal agency plagued by corruption: officials stole what had been stolen

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September 22, 2020

Tacovid, the new viral flavor in León, Guanajuato.

Viral-flavored tacos don’t sound very appetizing but a 23-year-old man who closed his dance studio due to the coronavirus pandemic and repurposed it as a Covid-themed restaurant has made them a popular meal in León, Guanajuato.

Brandon Velázquez converted his dance academy into a taquería, or taco restaurant, at the end of July, and given that Mexico and the rest of the world was – and is – in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic decided to call it Tacovid Sabor Viral (Tacovid Viral Flavor).

“I had to close my dance academy during the pandemic [but] then an opportunity arose to return to the same place,” he told the newspaper El Universal.

“I’d always wanted to open a taquería and at the end of July the opportunity came up to do it. … I took advantage of the moment to establish this coronavirus-themed business.”

Velázquez said that all of the dishes on the menu have Covid-themed names.

Tacovid's menu and the waitress cum nurse. — Tacovid’s menu and the waitress cum nurse.

Among them: tacovid – steak, chorizo, chuleta (pork chop) or chicken tacos; pandemia, a mega-torta ( large sandwich) with steak, chorizo and cheese; cuarentorta (a play on the Spanish word for quarantine), a regular sized torta; and quesanitizante (a portmanteu of queso – cheese, and sanitizante – sanitizer), a quesadilla stuffed with meat.

There are also dishes called brote (outbreak), cubrebocas (face mask), OMMMMS (a play on the Spanish-language acronym for the World Health Organization), la cura (the cure), la vacuna (the vaccine), la peste (the plague) and asintomático (asymptomatic).

The Covid theme doesn’t end there – a waitress dressed as a nurse who goes by the name of “Susana” takes customers’ orders.

The waitress’s mock name comes from Susana Distancia (Your Healthy Distance), a cartoon superheroine created by the federal government to promote its social distancing initiative.

Velázquez said that sales have been good despite the pandemic and that diners enjoy its Covid theme.

“I’m surprised because we’ve had very good sales despite the circumstances,” he said, adding that his business has done so well that he opened up a second branch.

A cheeky ad — ‘Dr. Gatell, I love my curve’ — is a play on the many times Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell has announced a decline in the curve indicating the number of Covid cases.

“The customers think that the theme we’re using is funny and they’re delighted with the dishes we’re serving.”

Velázquez said he hopes to add new Covid-themed dishes to the menu and even franchise his business model and name to other would-be taquería owners.

As for his dormant dance studio, the young entrepreneur said he planned to reopen it and operate it concurrently with his popular taco restaurant, which like its offerings has gone viral (online).

“I plan to continue with the dance academy and the food business because I have the time I need to attend to both. A lot of the time we make up excuses due to the fear of failure but we should be more afraid of not trying something [we want to do] because life goes by in a flash.”

Source: El Universal (sp)

Mexico investigates medical procedures at US detention center

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September 22, 2020

'This has to be cleared up,' declared Marcelo Ebrard on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced that Mexico is investigating a whistleblower’s claim that at least six migrant women have been subjected to improper gynecological procedures including hysterectomies while being detained in the United States.

Ebrard said that if the allegations of abuse in the complaint filed on behalf of nurse Dawn Wooten are true it would be “unacceptable.”

“This has to be cleared up. If it is confirmed it would be a major issue and not only punished but also other measures would be taken,” he said in a press conference.

“Although so far we have no news that the alleged hysterectomies that have been performed at the center have been performed on Mexican citizens, we need to be certain of what is happening,” said Karen Quiroga Anguiano, gender equality spokeswoman for the Democratic Revolution Party.

“We know that the government of Mexico has a good relationship with that of the United States and does not want fights or controversies,” she added, “but it cannot put that kind of interest before the integrity of the people.”

The women mentioned in the complaint are being held at the Irwin County, Georgia, immigration detention center (ICDC). Their nationalities have not been revealed.

Advocacy groups Project South and the Government Accountability Project filed the complaint based on Wooten’s claims of abuse with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) office of the inspector general on September 14.

In addition to unnecessary hysterectomies, the complaint mentions “jarring medical neglect at ICDC including refusal to test detained immigrants for Covid-19 who have been exposed to the virus and are symptomatic, shredding of medical requests submitted by detained immigrants, and fabricating medical records.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have denied the allegations set forth in the complaint, although interim ICE director Tony Pham pledged to investigate and that “individuals found to have violated our policies and procedures should be held accountable.”

Source: Reuters (en)

Mexico City postpones reopening offices; hospital occupancy down

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September 22, 2020

The number of hospital beds occupied by coronavirus patients decreased on the weekend, Mayor Sheinbaum said.

Mexico City government workers won’t return to offices in October as planned, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.

She also said that private offices are being told to remain closed as part of efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

“We’re going to postpone the return to both public and private offices in Mexico City to avoid infections. In the case of public offices it had been established that [the return would be in] October but we’re postponing it,” Sheinbaum told a virtual press conference.

The mayor said that a new tentative opening date will be announced in the coming days.

She noted that offices, schools, nightclubs and bars are the only establishments that haven’t been permitted to reopen after they were told to close in late March. However, bars are currently allowed to operate at reduced capacity provided they offer table service and food to patrons.

Despite the reactivation of most sectors of the economy, Sheinbaum said there haven’t been large new outbreaks of the coronavirus in the capital.

She said the government’s program to detect and isolate people with the coronavirus in 158 neighborhoods across Mexico City has helped to contain the spread of the virus.

Sheinbaum acknowledged that the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals didn’t decline in the first 18 days of September but stressed that it didn’t increase either.

However, the number of beds occupied by coronavirus patients decreased on the weekend, she said, adding that authorities hope it’s the beginning of a downward trend.

There are currently just over 2,700 coronavirus patients in Mexico City hospitals including more than 700 who are on ventilators, according to government data.

The capital has been Mexico’s coronavirus epicenter since the beginning of the pandemic, recording far more cases and deaths than any of the country’s other 31 states.

Coronavirus cases and deaths in Mexico reported by day. milenio

As of Sunday, 117,808 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in Mexico City and 11,571 people were confirmed to have died from the infectious disease.

Mexico’s nationwide coronavirus case tally passed 700,000 on Tuesday with 2,917 new cases reported by the federal Health Ministry. The case tally now stands at 700,580, the seventh highest total in the world.

The Health Ministry also reported 204 additional Covid-19 fatalities, lifting the official death toll to 73,697. Only the United States, Brazil and India have recorded more Covid-19 deaths than Mexico.

The risk of coronavirus infection is currently orange light “high” in 24 states, according to the federal government’s stoplight system, and yellow light “medium” in eight.

Source: El Universal (sp), Expansión Política (sp)

La Paz cafe boasts world’s biggest coffee bag

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September 22, 2020

Restaurant says its talega is the world's biggest.

Hundreds of residents of Los Cabos and La Paz in Baja California Sur traveled to a truck stop cafe outside the capital city on Saturday to witness what the restaurant’s owner billed as the largest talega, or coffee bag, in the state, if not the world.

A talega is a cloth sack with a wire frame typically used on ranches in northern Mexico to filter coffee, although it also has a vulgar meaning and is used to refer to a part of the male anatomy.

The one on display at La Garita de Chilpa restaurant is 2.4 meters across and five meters high and was hung outside the restaurant’s entrance at kilometer 29 of the La Paz – Los Cabos highway.

La Garita invited customers to attend the talega’s unveiling via social media. The restaurant provided coffee and bread free of charge to those who came to see the large sack, but specified that it would not actually be used to brew coffee. Masks and social distancing were mandatory.

Many families took photos of themselves standing beside the giant bag and popped in to sample La Garita’s machaca, burritos and empanadas.

A search of the Guinness World Records website turned up no previous talega records, but it did reveal Mexico’s fondness for breaking sundry world records.

In Mazatlán, Sinaloa, in 2011, 80 chefs filled a specially made Plexiglas cocktail glass with 538.5 kilos of shrimp cocktail, breaking the previous world record held by the Netherlands.

Residents of Mexico City set the world record for the most number of people playing foosball at the same time with 1,080 players set up in the capital city’s zócalo in June 2018.

Mexico was home to the longest line of hot dogs at 1,464.03 meters, created in Jalisco in 2018 when 10,000 hot dogs were positioned to spell out the word “hot dog.”

In March 2020, 70 chefs in Irapuato, Guanajuato, made the world’s largest jar of strawberry jam, which weighed 1,005 kilos, nearly double that of the previous world record which was set in Michoacán.

Mexico has also broken world records for the largest serving of octopus, the largest caesar salad, and the largest enchilada, among hundreds of others.

Source: El Sudcaliforniano (sp)

Nationwide flu shots begin October 1; 35 million doses available

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September 22, 2020

Flu vaccinations will begin October 1 for the general public, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell announced Monday, whereas the campaign to vaccinate medical personnel is already underway.

He said the Ministry of Health has purchased 35 million doses of this year’s vaccine and distribution to the states has begun.

The flu shot campaign will kick off with a vaccination station and ceremony at the National Palace in October. The Health Ministry’s goal is to administer all doses of the vaccine by December 31 in order to help the population build up immunity to the flu by the peak months of January and February.

Health officials are wary of the dangers of battling a flu epidemic at the same time as the coronavirus pandemic. Flu symptoms are often similar to that of the coronavirus — fever, cough, body aches and fatigue — and distinguishing between the two will likely be a challenge for medical personnel. In addition, people with flu-like symptoms might not seek medical help, and the possibility that a patient could be infected with the flu and the coronavirus at the same time could severely tax healthcare providers.

“When influenza comes, which is undoubtedly going to happen, we could have an exacerbation and it could be that we need new restrictive measures. That is why we must manage the risk, reducing as much as possible the contagions,” Hugo López-Gatell said on Saturday.

The vaccine is obtained after the World Health Organization conducts technical consultations with specialized centers around the world to predict which are the new strains most likely to spread during the next influenza season. Approximately 40% of those vaccinated will become immune to the flu virus.

López-Gatell specified that all states will receive the necessary doses and if they do not have them already it is because distribution has been based on the states’ cold storage capacities.

Priority will be given to pregnant women, children, people over the age of 60 and those who have chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, respiratory illness, heart disease, immunosuppression disorders, cancer, or HIV, López-Gatell said.

In the past, vaccinations began at the end of October. Last year they were moved to the middle of the month but this year the campaign will get an even earlier start.

The number of vaccine doses available this year is also much higher than in previous years. Last year 31.2 million doses were applied for the H1N1 “swine” flu. This year a total of 35.3 million will be applied.

Flu vaccines have been available free of charge in Mexico since 2017.

Source; El Heraldo de Mexico (sp), Xataka (sp)

UNAM announces plans to provide students with tablet computers

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September 22, 2020

The National Autonomous University's 350,000 students all studying online. — The National Autonomous University's 350,000 students are studying online.

The National Autonomous University (UNAM) announced Tuesday it would provide 20,000 tablet computers to students of limited economic means so that they can attend virtual classes and complete online coursework.

The university said in a statement that the aim of the scheme is to ensure that all high school and degree-level students can continue to study remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.

UNAM’s 2020-21 academic year officially commenced Monday with all 350,000 students studying online. In-person classes will resume gradually on a faculty-by-faculty basis.

Even though virtual classes have commenced, the university said the terms, conditions and procedures for the loan of the 20,000 tablet computers will be announced in the coming weeks.

UNAM also said that computer centers will be available for use by students at all its campuses once the coronavirus risk level is downgraded from orange light “high” to yellow light “medium.”

Mexico City and México state, where UNAM has several campuses, are both currently orange light states.

UNAM also announced Tuesday that it would expand its scholarship program to avoid students abandoning their studies during the pandemic.

In his welcome message to students who began or resumed their studies on Monday, UNAM rector Enrique Graue said the university’s teaching staff have a clear understanding of the difficulties they will face studying remotely.

Staff will make an extra effort to “overcome the new challenges the reality we’re living imposes on us,” he said.

About 6,500 professors have already completed courses to improve their capacity to teach online, the UNAM statement said.

Graue said that when health conditions permit, students will gradually return to the university’s campuses, where measures to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection will be in place. The use of face masks will be mandatory in all university spaces, he said.

Once campuses reopen, students will have the opportunity to live the full UNAM experience, the rector said.

“You’ll make lifelong friends, you’ll become familiar with our rich diversity, you’ll have the pleasant experience of walking in our facilities,” Graue told students.

UNAM is Mexico’s largest and most prestigious university. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria (University City), is located in Mexico City’s south.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

With a photo in front of lens, lawmaker accused of faking presence on Zoom

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September 22, 2020

Valentine Batres denies faking her presence in Zoom video.

A Mexico City congresswoman has been accused of skipping out on a virtual session of Congress by placing a photo of herself as background during a Zoom meeting on Friday.

Fellow lawmaker Jorge Gaviño Ambriz, a of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), posted a video of the meeting in which it appears Valentina Batres Guadarrama of the Morena party used Zoom’s background function to simulate her attendance, although the video did not make it clear how long she stepped away from the meeting.

“Deputy @valentinabtg: and I thought that you were paying a lot of attention to my speech when I realized that that attentive look was a photograph,” Gaviño wrote on his Twitter account. The tweet and video have been viewed more than 55,000 times.

Batres says she was indeed present at the meeting, which requires a digital scan of fingerprints both to sign in and to vote but had to step away for a moment to solicit technical help from relatives.

“My lack of knowledge of digital tools made me make a mistake. I put up a wallpaper that showed my frozen image. I stopped for a second to request technical help at home,” she said in a statement posted on social media early Tuesday.

“If you can see in the full video you can see that during the session I appear moving and making various gestures and movements,” Batres wrote.

She went on to say that she has been an active participant in Congressional sessions and has presented more than 60 bills. The only times she has ever missed a session were due to health reasons, she said.

“I had a technical error and I acknowledge my inexperience in handling digital tools, but by no means did I simulate my job,” she concluded.

Zoom gaffes have become common in the era of the coronavirus as more meetings and procedures are held virtually.

In May, Senator Martha Lucía Mícher appeared topless in a meeting with officials from the Bank of México to discuss coronavirus strategies. “I am not fluent in new technological forms of remote communication, which has sometimes played against me,” she said at the time.

“I am a 66-year-old woman who has breastfed four children, three of whom today are professionals and responsible men, and I am proud that my body has fed them,” she said.

In July, an attorney attending court proceedings via Zoom in a button-down shirt and boxers was caught in flagrante delicto by a judge when he stood up in front of the camera.

“Counselor, you are not wearing pants [and] you are in court,” admonished the judge.

“I am wearing pants, your honor,” responded the young lawyer, unconvincingly.

“I saw you,” the judge replied.

Source: El Universal (sp)

As National Guardsmen look on, teachers renew rail blockades in Michoacán

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September 22, 2020

Railway blockades continue in Michoacán this week.

Teachers and teachers in training blocked railway tracks at four different points in Michoacán on Monday to demand the payment of bonuses and scholarships and the automatic allocation of jobs to teaching graduates.

Members of the dissident CNTE teachers union stopped trains in the municipalities of Pátzcuaro, Múgica, Maravatío and Uruapan.

Six trains traveling to Michoacán from Nuevo León and three that departed the port city of Lázaro Cárdenas were affected by the blockades, according to the Michoacán Industry Association (AIEMAC).

The blockades were reestablished after being removed at the end of last week. Teachers and teaching students known as normalistas had blocked rail tracks for more than three weeks, causing extensive economic damage.

The National Guard attended all four blockades in Michoacán on Monday but took no action against the protesters.

AIEMAC, which estimated last week that each day of blockades costs industry about 50 million pesos (US $2.3 million), said it was regrettable that teachers and students had returned to the tracks. Their actions damage the state economy and Mexican families, the association said.

AIEMAC president Carlos Alberto Enríquez Barajas said the protesters justify their blockades by saying “this is the way things are done in Michoacán.”

But he rejected that sentiment, declaring that the disgruntled teachers and their way of protesting “don’t represent us.”

Enríquez said the rail blockades scare off investors and drive up logistical costs that reduce Michoacán’s competitiveness.

He said Michoacán’s geographical advantage – its Pacific coastline provides trade access to the west coast of the United States as well as Asian markets – is being squandered due to problems in the state, including the teachers’ protests.

Enríquez urged the federal government to intervene to end the rail blockades so that third parties aren’t affected and “we can all continue carrying out our operations.”

Indigenous Yaqui people in Sonora have also blocked railway tracks this year to protest against the government’s failure to fulfill social commitments, while farmers in Chihuahua have done the same to denounce a 1944 bilateral water treaty that requires Mexico to send water to the United States.

There have also been blockades of tracks in Puebla, Veracruz, México state and Tamaulipas.

Felipe de Javier Peña, president of the transportation commission of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers, said there have been rail blockades on 100 separate days this year, 36 more than during all of 2019.

He said the blockades affect the transportation of goods within Mexico and are an impediment to exports via Pacific coast ports such as Lázaro Cárdenas and Manzanillo, Colima.

“Hopefully [the government] can negotiate [with the protesters] because they’re paralyzing the country,” Peña said.

He called on federal and state authorities to uphold the rule of law and promptly seek solutions to the issues that cause different groups to erect blockades on Mexico’s rail network.

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

5 killed in attack on taco shop in Irapuato, Guanajuato

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September 22, 2020