These guys will be illegal as of October 1 because labels will not allow the depiction of celebrities, athletes, mascots and other figures.
“Fat-shaming” is a 21st century generational word. In 2013, the United Nations, the world’s biggest NGO, crossed into the Health Maintenance Organization universe by fat-shaming the entire nation of Mexico.
Naming it the world’s fattest nation, knocking the United States off its No. 1 perch as the world’s fattest with a seismic thud, the UN ignited a national reaction from the Rio Grande to the Rio Suchiate, Mexico’s northern and southern borders, respectively.
Since 2013 the Mexican government, with a notable lack of success, has crusaded to change that image if not that reality.
The word “fat” is by nature subjective. Few would call Dutch painter Reubens’ models fat, most would prefer voluptuous. Although history is silent on the issue, it is unlikely that any of King Henry VIII’s surviving wives used the 16th century F-word in his presence.
Yet for most of the 20th century many newspapers’ comic pages carried a strip called simply Gordo, created by a Mexican American. Judging by its widespread use, gordo, or fatso, is still a common, almost affectionate nickname in Mexico, the government’s best efforts notwithstanding.
Say goodbye to Mamut, the character that appears on packages of the popular biscuits.
Those efforts included banning salt shakers on restaurant tables, a measure that lasted about 30 days and may have generated a never-caught-on Ranchero ballad called Where Have All the Salt Shakers Gone?
Undeterred, the government escalated the battle, slapping a special tax on soft drinks. “How’d that work out?” I asked Bruno (not a nickname), my local Walmart manager. “Great,” he said, “We sold out completely of soft drinks,” presumably thanks to canny Mexican shoppers racing to beat the tax.
The Mexican government has continued on the same course.
With effect October 1, the Mexican government has dropped the Big One, employing the Nuclear Option and turning America’s favorite M&Ms and Mexico’s favorite Mamuts (Mammoths) into collectors’ treasures, if not fossils.
Uncatchily-named NOM-051, legislation to fat-shame the packaged food industry and its customers, passed the Mexican Congress by a hefty —anything but a Weight Watchers — margin.
Accordingly, as of October 1 the packaging in which M&Ms and Mamuts are sold will be illegal. In a country where guns are generally illegal and selling stolen or smuggled gasoline is universally illegal, both iconic sweets feloniously use caricatures and mouth-watering words to lure Mexico’s Hansel and Gretels into a witch’s calorie cage.
How it will work out this time around is speculative. I foresee consumers stripping the shelves of their favorite packaged foods, cartels adding M&Ms and Mamuts to their product lines, and tourists from abroad being strip searched by zealous customs officials, but I hope the movement stops short of turning Mexico into the world’s thinnest nation: North Korea.
Carlisle Johnson is a frequent contributor to Mexico News Daily. He writes from his home in Guatemala.
The partially dismantled wooden cage in which a man had been confined by his daughter.
Police freed an 87-year-old man in Celaya, Guanajuato, who was being kept in a wooden cage by his daughter.
The caged man, identified only as Bonifacio, was discovered when officers arrived at his 54-year-old daughter’s home in the Jacarandas neighborhood to execute a court-ordered seizure of personal property as payment of a debt she owed to the National Workers Housing Fund.
While removing the property in question, officers heard cries for help and went to investigate. They discovered the man locked inside a wooden-planked box with a small hole at the top through which he had been fed.
The cage had to be dismantled in order to free the man, who was dirty, disheveled and appeared to be in poor health with a condition that affected both his legs. Bonifacio was unable to tell authorities how long he had been inside the box.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment while his daughter was taken into custody.
According to Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), the country’s elderly population generally does not report abuse due to the family ties that exist with their aggressors, economic and physical dependence on their abuser, or the lack of access to law enforcement agencies.
A 2017 study estimated 12.6 million senior citizens in Mexico had experienced abuse and mistreatment.
A UFO enters the crater of El Popo, the volcano in central Mexico.
So the Pentagon has admitted studying UFOs, and not a single person is shocked. I thought it would be fun to find out if our alien friends visit Mexico as well. Looks like they do!
In fact, Mexico ranks seventh in the world for the number of UFO sightings. One of Mexico’s ufologist pioneers was Pedro Ferriz, who even advised former president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz on the matter in the 1960s.
He has since been followed by others including UFO hunter Salvador Guerrero and journalist Laura Castellanos. By far, the best-known is Jaime Maussan, who has hosted a show on UFOs and the paranormal called Tercer Milenio (Third Millennium) since 2005.
There are reports of UFO sightings from all over Mexico, but some places seem to be more popular with aliens. One early incident is something that appears on a home video taken at Mexico City’s 1968 Olympic Games during the opening ceremony. Perhaps the best known are the sightings that occurred on July 11, 1991 during a total eclipse.
In both Mexico City and Puebla, one or more gray disk-shape objects were reported in the skies and were even filmed in both places. The event remains unexplained and launched a new generation of UFO enthusiasts.
An object that looked like a flying saucer was captured over the Colima Volcano.
In 2017, the X Files filmed an episode in Mexico City, even bringing a “damaged gray flying saucer” into the main square of the capital. The capital has, by far, the most reports of UFOs. One area with many sightings is the San Mateo corridor, where planes coming in from the north approach the international airport.
Sightings here usually describe a light or spherical object that moves off to the side as a plane approaches and returns after it has passed. Even more reports come out of an area called the “Ruta OVNI” (UFO Route) that extends around the southern perimeter of the megalopolis.
The big magnet for the aliens seems to be the Popocatépetl volcano. Because of its height and location, sightings related to it have been reported from Puebla, Morelos, the state of México and Mexico City. The installation of 24/7 webcams to monitor the volcano’s activity has only served to heighten interest in strange lights, and movements are regularly seen around the crater, especially during eruptions.
Such images have made the news at various times, including those in which an object appears to pass through the eruption, come out from the crater, or dive into it. Even lenticular cloud formations around the crater lead to speculations about alien activity. Popocatépetl has drawn foreign ufologists such as Scott C. Waring, who believes that there is an alien base kilometers below the crater’s opening.
Like in Egypt and other places, there has been speculation that aliens had something to do with the advanced ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica. Some claim that there are artifacts that indicate extraterrestrial contact, and UFO sightings are still associated with pyramids. Chichén Itzá was featured in UFO specials produced by NatGeo, Discovery Channel and Fox.
In November 2017, Uruguayan Matias Ferreira and a film crew reported a sighting at Teotihuacán where they were working and claim to have caught something on film. Local residents in Tepoztlán, just south of Mexico City, regularly claim that strong blue and yellow lights can be seen flying around the small pyramid on a nearby crag.
Authorities in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, erected a statue of a martian at Miramar Beach in 2013.
Other sightings have occurred in Guerrero, in southwest Mexico. In 2019, a UFO was spotted over Acapulco, causing a local government official to quip that the tourist destination was “not only recognized nationally and globally, but also outside of the planet.”
But the best known incident occurred in the rural town of Mezcala. For three days starting on December 31, 2007, circular lights appeared in the sky over the Pie de Minas Mountain, with one person recording video of part of the event.
Sonora has had more than its share of reports in various parts of the state, including the capital of Hermosillo. One of these sightings was later proved to be a hoax when a helium balloon with LED lights was found in the area where the UFO “landed.”
Monterrey is noted for one particular sighting over the city’s iconic Cerro de la Silla mountain, filmed accidentally during the making of a commercial for Coca-Cola. No one saw it at the time, but review of the footage showed an elliptical object moving fast, in daylight hours.
Sightings in Durango date back at least to 1955 when two adolescents reported being stopped in their car by a light that then disappeared over the horizon.
Not to be outdone by Popocatépetl, residents of Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, also talk of an alien base. The “evidence” for its existence includes the fact that there have been no major hurricanes in the area since 1966. Supposedly, the aliens divert them northward to Texas. The stories prompted the erection of a statue of a “Martian” on Miramar Beach, where sightings are reported regularly, but the statue was stolen.
The interest in UFOs is not going way anytime soon in Mexico. There are various groups that watch the skies and document sightings and other evidence of extraterrestrial visits to the country. One of the most active groups is Vigilantes del Cielo (Sky Watchers), whose work can be seen on Facebook.
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 Mexicoand her first book, Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta, was published last year. Her culture blog appears weekly on Mexico News Daily.
Lawyers for Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán have filed a second appeal to overturn his conviction and sentence of life plus 30 years handed down last year after he was found guilty of drug trafficking, money laundering, homicide,kidnapping and other charges.
The 245-page appeal was filed with the New York Second Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday night. “Chapo Guzmán’s prosecution was marred by rampant excess and overreach, both governmental and judicial,” lead attorney Marc Fernich wrote in the motion.
Last summer lawyers for the imprisoned Sinaloa Cartel leader filed an initial appeal the day after his sentence was handed down, arguing that a member of the jury told ViceNews that several jurors regularly followed the case on social media during the trial in violation of the judge’s orders.
The appeal was denied.
“This request is the textbook definition of a fishing expedition, rather than clear, strong, substantial and incontrovertible evidence that a specific, nonspeculative impropriety has occurred,'” the judge wrote at the time.
Mariel Colón Miró, a 27-year-old attorney who is part of Guzmán’s legal team, hopes the latest motion will result in a new trial for the former cartel kingpin. “We are very optimistic that something positive will come out of this,” she told reporters, noting that the process could take from two to five years.
Guzmán, 63, is serving out his sentence in Florence, Colorado’s “Supermax” prison, the most secure penal institution in the country and known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.”
The new appeal repeats the allegations of jury misconduct and also argues that because Guzmán was maintained in total isolation following his extradition to the United States in January 2017 he was prevented from collaborating with his lawyers on his defense before and during his trial.
“These measures of total confinement, extreme torture even when his innocence had to be presumed (before his conviction) violated his fifth and sixth amendments,” Colón said.
The attorney, who joined the defense team right after passing the bar exam, says her last visit with her client was in March before visits to the prison was banned due to the coronavirus. She said solitary confinement has left him anxious and depressed.
“He’s even more alone now after Covid-19,” Colón told CNN last month. “They completely canceled all visits, legal and social. He was allowed three hours a week of outdoor exercise but that has also been suspended in order to limit his contact with the guards, so of course this has been hard, or harder on him and it has affected Mr. Guzmán emotionally and psychologically in my opinion.”
Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Ray Donovan, who spent years investigating the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, hds little sympathy for the drug lord, who he said was convicted on a “mountain” of evidence.
“Thousands of people died or were ordered killed because of the Sinaloa Cartel. So yeah, he doesn’t leave his cell. It is boring. It’s monotonous. It’s a daily routine. It is very sad but here’s the difference. He’s alive.”
A casino is disinfected in Nuevo León, where they have been allowed to reopen.
The decline in new coronavirus cases in Mexico has stalled due to the further reopening of the economy, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said Friday.
Mexico City reported a record 1,367 new cases in a 24-hour period yesterday.
“In weeks 33 and 34 [August 9-15 and 16-22] there was no decrease in the epidemic; this is certainly disconcerting because we all would like it to decrease until it disappears,” López-Gatell noted, conceding that for social and economic reasons “we cannot keep society permanently cloistered.”
He also observed that some countries are seeing new case numbers spike at a rate that is higher than it was during the first outbreak, and a similar scenario could occur in Mexico.
“In European countries that began with the epidemic in the last two weeks of January or early February, there are very large outbreaks today,” he said. “This can happen at any time in a municipality, state, in the country or even worldwide,” he said.
Coronavirus cases and deaths reported by day. milenio
The five states with the highest number of accumulated cases are Mexico City, the state of México, Guanajuato, Nuevo León and Veracruz, which together make up 41.5% of all cases registered in the country.
Mexico City, the state of México, Veracruz, Puebla, and Baja California continue to rank as the five states with the most deaths, 44.3% of the total.
Officials said Friday that the pandemic has hit Mexico so hard that one million new official death certificates are being printed and distributed after supplies in Baja California, the México state and Mexico City were nearly depleted
There were 6,196 new cases reported Friday, bringing the accumulated total to 623,090. Another 522 fatalities were reported, bringing that total to 66,851.
A waiter cleans a table with a coronavirus partition at a bar in Mexico City.
Authorities in Mexico City, Nuevo León and Quintana Roo have announced the easing of some coronavirus restrictions.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that the infection risk level will remain at orange light “high” in the capital for an 11th consecutive week between September 7 and 13.
Nevertheless, restaurants will be permitted to extend their closing time by one hour to 11:00 p.m. as of Monday and shops, department stores and malls will be allowed to remain open an additional 1 1/2 hours until 6:30 p.m.
Businesses will still have to limit their capacity to 30% of their normal level, Sheinbaum said.
The mayor said that construction work will be permitted on Saturdays starting next week and that authorities will meet with the owners of gyms to discuss the development of health protocols that will allow them to reopen.
The Mexico City government allowed the reopening of bars, cantinas and other entertainment venues almost four weeks ago. However, under current restrictions they are required to operate as if they were restaurants, meaning they must offer food and table service to patrons.
In addition to announcing the easing of some restrictions, Sheinbaum told a virtual press conference that hospital occupancy levels have decreased in the past three days after increasing last week.
She said that 2,857 coronavirus patients are currently in general care beds in Mexico City hospitals and that 673 are on ventilators. At the “most difficult time” of the pandemic, about 1,200 patients were intubated, Sheinbaum said.
Mexico City has recorded more than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, far more than any other state, and 10,725 Covid-19 deaths, according to official data.
In Nuevo León, where the coronavirus risk level is also orange light “high” according to the federal government’s stoplight system, a range of businesses were permitted to reopen Friday as only two of 10 risk indicators for the state are currently red.
Governor Jaime Rodríguez announced during a virtual meeting with mayors that cinemas, gyms, spas, tattoo parlors, museums, theaters, casinos, circuses and convention centers could reopen at 30% capacity after remaining closed for more than five months.
Reopening Monday in Quintana Roo.
He also said that local sports leagues could recommence activity. However, some business including bars, nightclubs and children’s party halls were not given the green light to reopen despite the decreasing risk level. Stadiums, public swimming pools and daycare centers also remain closed in Nuevo León.
Rodríguez urged residents of the northern state to continue observing health recommendations and wearing a face mask in order to decrease the possibility of new outbreaks and avoid the need to tighten restrictions that have been eased.
Nuevo León has recorded 30,311 confirmed coronavirus cases, the fourth highest tally among Mexico’s 32 states, and 2,362 Covid-19 deaths.
Meanwhile, Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquín González announced that the northern half of the Caribbean coast state will switch to the “yellow” light medium risk level next week.
Beaches, gyms and archaeological sites in the northern region, which includes Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Isla Mujeres and Cozumel, will all be permitted to reopen at reduced capacity between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., the governor said.
He said that people will not be permitted to take alcoholic beverages or food to the beach and urged citizens to continue observing coronavirus mitigation measures.
Gyms and sports centers will be permitted to operate at 70% capacity in open areas and 50% in enclosed ones. Restaurants, hotels, theme parks, theaters, cinemas, department stores, hair salons and places of worship will be permitted to operate at 60% capacity under yellow light restrictions but bars and nightclubs must remain closed.
Quintana Roo, which has recorded 10,543 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,416 Covid-19 deaths, is currently painted orange on the federal government’s stoplight map.
But the Quintana Roo government, like those in some other states, has established its own guidelines to determine which coronavirus restrictions can be eased and when.
Authorities are keeping an eye out for fish poachers in Cabo Pulmo National Park.
The Mayor of La Paz, Baja California Sur (BCS), Rubén Muñoz, paints a relatively rosy portrait of the capital city whose beaches opened Friday as the coronavirus continues its hold on Southern Baja.
The number of hospital beds in use has been decreasing for the past month, and some neighborhoods are coronavirus-free. However, the number of cases continues to grow slightly across the state, reaching a total of 8,000 accumulated cases with 127 new diagnoses registered today alone, as well as three deaths. BCS and Mexico City are the states with the highest rate of infection.
But financially, the city is poised for a rebound with seven new hotels set to open.
Within the city, Grupo Hábitat will open a hotel called Casa de las Perlas, and the new Hampton Inn should provide 250 jobs.
ThePueblo Mágico of Todos Santos will see three new hotels, one by Ernesto Coppel of Pueblo Bonito, an 80-room beach hotel from Habitas and a third boutique hotel.
A new hotel is also being built in the El Sargento/La Ventana area on the Sea of Cortés.
In addition, the mayor declared that for the third month in a row, La Paz is the safest city in Mexico although no source was provided for that claim.
He also announced that funds were approved to go forward with a solar energy park, which will cover 85% of consumption and make La Paz the first municipality to sell energy to the Federal Electricity Commission when the park begins operating next year, Al Cabo Noticias reports.
Free range?
Government officials in Comondú are weighing whether to impose sanctions on ranchers who allow their cattle to roam the streets of Ciudad Constitución in violation of Article 70 of the municipal code, which allows the city to impose fines of up to 5,000 pesos (US $232) or a 36-hour jail sentence for those found to be in violation.
Cows and horses roam through neighborhoods ruining gardens and knocking over trash cans, not to mention the damage they can cause to motorists if they wander onto the trans-peninsular highway, and municipal authorities say they’ve had enough.
Cattle on the highway in Comondú.
Violators have been warned, BCS Noticias reports.
Fish poachers
Cabo Pulmo National Park is a true gem of the Baja Peninsula, a marine reserve with a living coral reef that famed explorer and conservationist Jaques Cousteau called “the world’s aquarium.”
Aquatic activities within the park, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, are regulated to preserve the flora and fauna and fishing of any kind is prohibited, BCS Noticias reports.
So far this year there have been four reported cases of illegal fishing, mostly with a rod and reel but there are others who spearfish clandestinely along the reefs.
Park director Carlos Godínez Reyes says he has implemented a surveillance system and regular patrols. He uses radar to track all boats within the park’s boundaries, which are especially vulnerable at night when most of the poaching takes place.
If irregular activity is detected, Godínez will dispatch guards to investigate. Tips also come from community members who value the pristine setting, which has turned into a lucrative tourism draw for the town, and they seek to keep it that way.
A Herculean effort
Known as Baja Sur’s Hercules, 23-year-old Raúl Enrique Manríquez Collins, a member of Mexico’s weightlifting team, took fourth place in the first-ever International Online Weightlifting Cup organized by Uzbekistan.
The event was held August 28 through 30 and featured 109 athletes who competed through Zoom and a livestream on YouTube. Manríquez joined in from the state’s sports facilities in La Paz.
Manríquez entered the 109-kilo-and-up weight class and lifted a total of 360 kilos. He was bested by Armenia’s Varazdat Lalayan who lifted 425 kilos, Andrew Witte from the United States with 390 kilos and Spain’s Velazco Ruiz, who managed 374 kilos.
Manríquez says he has not been able to train with the intensity he would like during the pandemic and admitted that he did not give his best performance.
Weightlifter Raúl Manríquez.
He and his local coach, Horacio Maldonado Arce, are looking to get back up to speed in order to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Metropolimx reports.
Baja’s Hercules took third place at last year’s International Weightlifting Foundation World Cup. He is 1.86 meters tall and weighs 165 kilos.
Shaken not stirred
Residents of La Paz experienced a series of earthquakes over the past few days that have some people on edge, Metropolimx reports. Wednesday night a temblor registering 4.1 on the Richter scale was recorded, and a total of nine small quakes have occurred between September 1 and 3, a phenomenon known as a seismic swarm. Most of the quakes have been imperceptible, and they may continue to occur for the next several weeks or months, scientists say.
Missing
A biker from Argentina who rode his motorcycle down the peninsula from Dallas has been missing since August 28. Marcelo Lucero was last seen by acquaintances around 2:30 in the morning as the group set out from the town of Santiago north of San José del Cabo toward nearby El Chorro hot springs.
Marcelo Lucero, last seen August 28.
Lucero lagged behind the rest of the group and has not been seen since.
Civil Protection had been in contact with his relatives to give them information about the eight-day search which was conducted by firefighters, the National Guard, the army, the navy and Los Cabos police. Divers were even brought in but had no luck.
Authorities are not ruling out an accident or a possible kidnapping, El Debate reports, but called off the search as of today with no leads.
Bookworm alert
BCS has made a portion of the Pablo L. Martínez Historical Archives available to download for free, which is great news for history buffs who read in Spanish. Documents, books, maps, photos and videos can now be easily accessed online free of charge.
Tomes like Baja California’s Accession Act to the Federal Republic of Mexico or the Jesuit Chronicles of Antigua California are just two of the 86 books available for download. Maps can also be useful in resolving land disputes, Cristopher Amador Cervantes of the Southern Californian Institute of Culture said.
Earlier this summer, President López Obrador suggested that officials at the Economy Ministry share computers to support the government’s push for a lean administration.
The country’s revolutionary heroes had not needed such devices, so public servants could implement his policies without them, the left-wing nationalist explained at his daily press conference.
The idea was dropped after the ministry realized it would struggle to store its data if computers were sacrificed. But it was a proposal emblematic of López Obrador’s views: for the son of shopkeepers, a shoestring government is a sign of efficiency and honesty in an economy belonging to the G20 but where half the population is poor.
However, López Obrador’s demand for frugality has alienated civil servants and left some struggling to make ends meet. “My salary has gone down by 50% since before the pandemic,” said one experienced public servant who asked not to be named. She is still in her job, but many others have quit in the face of the government’s preference for political loyalists over experts.
As Covid-19 deepens Mexico’s economic pain — GDP is expected to contract more than 10% this year — López Obrador has stepped up cost cuts, slashing ministerial operating budgets by 75% and asking senior officials to forgo bonuses voluntarily.
He has abolished eight deputy minister positions, wants to cut two more and says this frugality drive has saved 560 billion pesos (US $26 billion) since he took office, allowing funds to be redirected to welfare.
No saving appears too small: Pemex, the debt-laden state oil company, slashed its spending on soap by three-quarters in 2019, López Obrador’s first year in office.
The savings have continued during the Covid-19 pandemic: the national health insurer spent 22% cent less in the first six months of this year, compared with the same period in 2019, according to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, a think tank.
The strain of the belt-tightening was showing, even among supporters of López Obrador’s self-styled “fourth transformation” of Mexico — which he says will be as epoch-changing as the 19th-century liberal reforms and independence from Spain and the revolution of the early 20th century.
“I’m clearly annoyed at some of these cuts — they don’t make any sense,” said another official. With cash likely to be even tighter next year as the pandemic squeezes tax revenues, “I’m scared about what will happen — the only way López Obrador reacts is to be more aggressive in his austerity.”
The president, who kicked off his term by scrapping a $13-billion partially built airport in Mexico City that he said was too expensive and plagued by corruption, has resisted stimulus measures he says Mexico cannot afford and has refused to take on new debt. Instead, he has urged people to shun “consumerism … luxuries, extravagances and frivolities.”
President to civil servants: ‘Don’t be selfish.’
He flies economy class on commercial airlines — even to visit Donald Trump in July — and is trying to sell the presidential jet, with its king-size bed and running machine, that he refuses to use.
But not all share his thrifty tastes. Days after the president appealed to Mexicans not to fixate on material things, Marcelo Ebrard, his foreign minister who is seen as a potential successor, was caught on camera surreptitiously sliding what appeared to be a $14,000 Rolex up his sleeve.
Even Mexico’s Covid-19 bailouts have been on a shoestring, largely consisting of small loans, even though 12 million have lost their jobs and incomes.
For one former senior finance ministry official, “the great paradox is that by not spending, you damage public finances more. If you don’t spend more to smooth the shock, you will have a bigger contraction than you would otherwise have had.”
Government cuts “go beyond austerity — it’s austericide,” he said. “You make it very difficult to provide basic public services.”
A government agency charged with protecting the rights of victims of crime and abuse complained in June that budget cuts would “paralyze” it, leaving just 175 million pesos to spend on fulfilling its activities for the remainder of the year after paying rent, telephones and utilities.
Jorge Andrés Castañeda, an energy consultant, also noted that as the government slashed spending on advisers and travel, “that’s money that isn’t going into the economy.”
López Obrador says public servants must not be selfish and that eradicating corruption will mean that “however much or little we have will be distributed fairly, it will be enough for everyone.”
But the official who called some of the cuts senseless disagreed: “If I get a new salary cut, I’m going to start looking for another job.”
The site of the new Mexico City airport has become “mammoth central” – more skeletons of the extinct mammal have been found there than anywhere else in the world.
The remains of at least 200 mammoths have been recovered at the Santa Lucía Air Force Base site in México state, archaeologists said Thursday, while the skeletons of many more are yet to be excavated.
Experts with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) also said they have found evidence that humans made tools with the bones of mammoths that died between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.
Located about 50 kilometers north of central Mexico City, the airport site sits on the shores of an ancient lakebed that apparently attracted the trunked mammals and trapped them in its boggy soil. Differing hypotheses suggest that they either died a slow, natural death or were killed by hunters, who may have steered them into the mud.
According to a report by the Associated Press, there are so many mammoths at the Santa Lucía site that observers always accompany construction workers using bulldozers to ensure that work is stopped when bones are uncovered.
There is evidence that the animals may have been carved up by humans.
INAH archaeologist Rubén Manzanilla López said the remains of about 25 camels and five horses have been found at the airport site in addition to the skeletons of 200 mammoths. The camel and horse remains are of species that are now extinct.
Manzanilla said that evidence is emerging that the remains of the mammoths that died at the site may have been carved up by humans.
Experts believe that occurred at a site 20 kilometers from the airport in Tultepec, México state, where two mammoth traps were found last year.
Tests are currently being performed on mammoth bones found at the airport in an attempt to detect butchering marks.
Archaeologists working at Santa Lucía have discovered dozens of tools made out of mammoth bones similar to ones found at Tultepec.
However, Manzanilla said that it is too early to say that there is “well-founded” evidence for the hypothesis that humans carved up mammoths for food using those tools.
Tools made from mammoth bones have also been found.
Paleontologist Joaquin Arroyo Cabrales said the Santa Lucía Air Force Base will “will be a very important site to test hypotheses” about the mass extinction of mammoths.
“What caused these animals’ extinction, everywhere there is a debate, whether its was climate change or the presence of humans. I think in the end the decision will be that there was a synergy effect between climate change and human presence,” he said.
There is plenty of evidence for archaeologists to examine. The number of skeletons uncovered so far is more than triple the number found at a site in Hot Springs, South Dakota. With about 61 sets of mammoth remains discovered there, the Hot Springs site was home to the world’s largest find.
The large number of mammoth skeleton discoveries at the Santa Lucía site may delay construction work but will not stop it, according to the army, which is building the airport.
Since 1985 I’ve been exploring country roads in western Mexico, inevitably discovering delightful, out-of-the-way places to hike, camp or just get away from the hustle and bustle of modern life.
By now, I should think I would have seen every attraction inside what I call The Magic Circle around Guadalajara.
And then along comes word of a waterfall, mountain or hot spring that I’ve never heard of. The latest such surprise is Parque el Jabalí — Wild Boar Park — which lies just 20 kilometers north of Guadalajara’s city limits alongside Highway 54 — but I could swear it wasn’t there the last time I drove down that road, less than a year ago.
“Not so,” says the owner of Parque Natural El Jabalí, Juan Barrera. “This wonderful place has always been here, hidden by the jungle. For years I’ve been working on making it accessible to visitors and finally we opened our doors six months ago.”
An ad for this park asks: “When was the last time you saw a firefly?”
The Montezuma cypress or ahuehuete is native to Mexico and Guatemala.
That question made me realize that I could practically count on my fingers the number of fireflies I’ve seen in the last few years and I easily found friends interested in visiting a place where we might see an abundance of luciérnagas, as they are called in Spanish.
The entrance to El Jabalí Park is only a half-hour drive from the city’s Ring Road. Next to the entrance is a large parking lot mainly for the benefit of people who come for the park’s firefly-viewing night hike. People who come for camping have the option of leaving their vehicle in the (guarded) parking lot or driving 470 meters along a rough, rocky “car-eating” dirt road.
We were in a Jeep and bounced along to the campground which features nicely shaded flat spots for pitching tents, a shower, toilets that actually flush and electricity. Nearby are two “luxury” tents (each with a cama matrimonial) for those who prefer glamping to camping. A five-minute walk from the campsite will take you to a picnic area next to the parking lot, featuring two swimming pools filled with clean spring water at “room temperature.”
Once we set up our tents, a young attendant named Felix suggested we have a look at La Presa (the dam), just 170 meters away.
We followed an ever-narrowing, rock-paved path through exuberant foliage and suddenly … there it was! I’m afraid I shocked visitors up ahead when I shouted “Holy shit!” at the top of my voice.
That produced a lot of chuckles, but I couldn’t help myself. The huge, beautiful Montezuma Cypress tree which had suddenly appeared at the end of the trail was truly magnificent and had astonished me. Felix said that venerable tree was over 500 years old. I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s certainly healthy, happy and oh-so-majestic. With or without fireflies, it’s worth a visit to this park just to experience that awesome ahuehuete (Old Man of the Water in Náhuatl).
El Jabalí Park has four kilometers of pleasant trails.
Right behind the tree there is a picturesque lagoon where you could spend hours just watching a surprising variety of dragonflies.
At this point, the owner of the place, Juan Barrera, appeared. He told us he had first seen this amazing tree 30 years ago. “The property belonged to a friend and after discovering how marvelous it was and how badly it had been neglected, I told him ‘Someday I will own this place and you’ll see how I’m going to fix it up.’
“Well, my friend laughed because I was just a kid then. But 11 years ago I found him and convinced him to sell me this little paradise and since then I’ve been making trails and installing amenities. By the way, I’d like to show you one of the footpaths I’m most proud of. I call it The Stairway to Heaven.”
“I feel like I’m in paradise already,” I told Juan, “but lead on.”
Heaven turned out to be the peak of a very high hill offering a great view of the barranca. “To get to El Cielo you must climb 500 stone stairs,” Juan told us.
After climbing those stairs, I suspect some people might joke that you can only get to heaven after going through hell, as many of the steps are twice as high as what goes for a stair in most places.
The presa or dam is a good place to see dragonflies, fireflies and giant mesquite bugs.
“Are there really 500?” I asked Juan.
“Actually, I have no idea,” he replied, “but someone told me that’s how many it felt like.”
Well, the vertical distance from the lowest to the highest step is only about 50 meters, but the typical warm temperature of the barranca made sure we were all sweating by the time we reached the grassy peak called El Cielo where we were welcomed by a delightful breeze and a great view.
On the way down I counted the stairs and found out there were only 150, but they make for a fine workout!
The culmination of our visit was a night hike to the presa where we did see plenty of fireflies, but not the huge number I had been expecting. “Desgraciadamente,” lamented Juan, “we no longer see the huge numbers that were here in the past.”
Juan Barrera has made it a policy to use no pesticides at El Jabalí, which produces great quantities of mangos, sugar apples (Annona squamosa) and other tropical fruits. “But allthe other fruit growers in the area use insecticides and as a result we see fewer fireflies every year. I fear the very same thing is happening all over the world.”
If you don’t have a tent, you can rent a glamping “cabin.”
Like so many other places of outdoor beauty, Parque El Jaballí suffers from its share of problems caused by human beings, in this case in the shape of truck drivers who seem to be competing to see who can make their engine sound more like a rocket. Unfortunately, a deafening truck or motorcycle might come down the highway at any moment of the night or day.
That could put quite a wrench in your camping plan. I was able to sleep because I brought along my Howard Leight Max earplugs, but my compañeros had a hard time of it.
Another little problem at El Jabalí is chiggers. They are so little you can’t see them, but you’ll certainly notice the itchy red welts they produce. You can avoid the problem by dousing yourself with plenty of repellent … but that’s likely to keep away the fireflies as well!
Whatever the case, Parque el Jabalí is a welcome addition to the many outdoor attractions just minutes away from the city of Guadalajara.
Speaking of attractions, there is a restaurant called La Magueyera just an 1-minute drive from the park. It’s perched at the edge of a cliff and offers a stupendous view of the barranca and Guadalajara’s celebrated Cola de Caballo (horsetail) waterfall. Their specialties are sizzling hot molcajetes (stone mortars) filled with shrimp or arrachera (flank steak).
As for the Jabalí that the park is named after, Juan Barrera told me he has spotted both peccaries (small wild pigs) and true boars as well … but this is disputed by naturalists who say you can only find real boars in northern Mexico. If you’d like to settle the argument, bring along your camera and binoculars … but watch out for the chiggers!
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.
