As physical classrooms are replaced with a distance learning program due to the coronavirus pandemic, children from low income and rural families are often finding themselves at a disadvantage as essential tools for learning are financially out of reach.
But a hotel in the heart of Oaxaca’s capital is looking to level the playing field.
Hotel Don Nino, which is closed due to the pandemic, has opened its doors to children in need, providing two rooms and the dining room as classrooms, complete with a television, computer and high-speed internet.
“Being at home, my daughters shared their concern for those students who do not have television or internet,” hotel manager Carlos said. “Last weekend we prepared the restaurant area and the meeting room. In addition, the television channels were adjusted and the internet connection was checked.”
Carlos reasoned that since he has to pay for basic services such as electricity, water and internet anyway, it made sense to take advantage of the space and keep children in school by opening it up to distance learning.
Study time at Hotel Don Nino in Oaxaca city.
The hotel is open daily, free of charge, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Children must be accompanied by an adult and everyone must wear masks. Capacity is limited to 15 students, who are greeted with anti-bacterial gel and a temperature check.
University students are also taking advantage of the hotel-turned-study-hall. Clara Montaño Bautista, who studies communication science at Oaxaca’s Vasconcelos University, says she uses the hotel for school because the town where she lives, Teotitlán Del Valle, is 31 kilometers away. Cell phone coverage there is spotty and the internet speed is slow and irregular.
According to government data, Oaxaca has the second-lowest percentage of internet users in Mexico at 60.5%. One in four homes in the state does not have a television.
Libby Townsend in Rarámuri dress at the Feria Maestros de Arte. leigh thelmadatter
Let’s be frank: Libby Townsend caught my attention because here was a white woman in full Rarámuri (Tarahumara) dress at the Feria de Maestros de Arte handcraft fair. But before anyone accuses anyone of “cultural appropriation,” it’s a good idea to know the full story.
Townsend’s story is about creating bridges of mutual respect when life presented her with the chance.
She was traveling in Chihuahua in a Jeep with friends when it broke down in the middle of nowhere and the weather was turning bad. Fortunately, a group of Rarámuri men appeared, but no one in either group spoke Spanish. With the few words they did know, plus a lot of gestures, the men promised to get help.
“Some time later, the world’s oldest logging truck appeared …” and pulled the Jeep to the next village, then from there to Creel, the center of Rarámuri country in Chihuahua. At the time there were no bank machines or cell phone reception, and the travelers were stuck in Creel as parts were located for their vehicle.
They had no money, but the townspeople gave them credit. After two weeks, parts arrived, the Jeep was fixed, and the group was able to settle their bills and be on their way.
Rarámuri country: Valle de los Hongos, Chihuahua. orlando gonzález
The experience deeply impressed Townsend.
Some years later, she saw a report about a particularly bad winter in Rarámuri country. The image on her television was of two girls walking barefoot in the snow to school. The reporter asked why not stay home for a few days and the girls said they could not as one wanted to be a teacher and the other a doctor to help their people.
Townsend’s grandfather also grew up poor in the cold mountains of Montana. She decided to pay back the kindness she was shown by collecting donations of clothes and other necessities. It was slow at first, but she managed to collect enough to make the trip down to Mexico, 1,000 miles away, worthwhile.
It was supposed to be a one-time thing.
When she returned from Mexico, there were enough donations waiting for her for another trip. The problem was financing the haul. This was resolved by taking donations of items the Rarámuri did not need and holding yard sales.
These trips bloomed into The Tarahumara Project, which has moved into other activities beyond donating old clothes and blankets. It has not only benefitted the Rarámuri, but Townsend herself, giving her a mission in life, and a Rarámuri identity.
Rarámuri crafts at the Feria de Maestros de Arte. libby townsend
According to Townsend: “On one of the trips we were unloading blankets, etc. at the hospital … A man approached with a little girl with him and he said something. I had recognized the word for hello, so I answered him with hello. He spoke to me some more [but] all I understood was the word for gift, so I repeated it in an affirmative manner. He then took my hands in his, and put his hands on my forehead and then mine on his while talking the whole time in Rarámuri … he doesn’t speak Spanish.
“I got all tingling. It isn’t common for the traditional Tarahumara to speak to outsiders, much less a man to a woman who isn’t related. … The people who work at the hospital were dumbfounded … it turns out that he said I was good for his people, a blessing to them, good medicine. He said he would consider me to be a member of his hearth (loosely translated). The hospital staff explained that it was like making me a member of his family. I later found out that he was the head spiritual leader.”
Townsend uses traditional dress because the Rarámuri decided that she could as she is family and represents them in the outside world. This relationship has grown over decades, not only by working to get needed supplies and fair prices for Rarámuri crafts, but she is a godmother, which has great importance in Mexican and Rarámuri societies.
The world knows little of the Rarámuri, except perhaps that they can run fast in sandals. They live in some of the most inhospitable of Mexico’s environments precisely to maintain an existence that is as separate as possible. Like the Amish, the most traditional eschew things we take for granted. They will not cut down trees, or build houses, instead living under rock outcroppings blocked with stone and deadfall.
But it is not possible to be 100% self-sufficient as families need income for certain expenses, and “European” encroachment continues, today in the form of organized crime trafficking in drugs and people. Townsend and her mother have since moved to Mexico, living and working in Guadalajara as a base, but she regularly drives into the Chihuahua mountains in some of the most dangerous areas of Mexico today.
Townsend still collects donations for the communities in Chihuahua with the support of her employer, the Guadalajara Reporter. To find out how you can help, contact Libby at the_tarahumara_project@yahoo.com.
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.
The president waves the starter's flag at inauguration of construction of the Maya Train in June.
Civil society organizations and a news website have rejected a claim by President López Obrador that they received funding from foreign foundations to oppose the federal government’s Maya Train railroad project.
López Obrador made the allegation at his morning news conference Friday, where his communications coordinator provided more details about the alleged arrangements.
Jesús Ramírez Cuevas claimed that the Ford, Kellogg, Rockefeller, Climate Works and National Endowment for Democracy foundations, all of which are based in the United States, have provided resources to Mexican organizations to fund critical research and coverage of the Maya Train, the government’s signature infrastructure project which is currently under construction in Mexico’s southeast.
Among the organizations that received funds for that purpose, Ramírez said, are México Evalúa, a public policy think tank; Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI); Indignación, a human rights-focused NGO; the Mexican Center for Environmental Law; the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Forestry; the Due Process Foundation; the Indigenous Regional Popular Council of Xpujil (a town in Calakmul, Campeche) and Animal Político, an independent news site.
MCCI responded in a statement that the government’s claim is false.
“MCCI has not received any international funding to criticize the Maya Train. … The research priorities and editorial line that MCCI follows … don’t respond to the interests of national or foreign donors,” the organization said.
“No donation compromises the mission nor the activities of the organization,” MCCI said, adding that it decides its own agenda.
The anti-graft group charged that the use of the “presidential podium” to attempt to discredit civil society organizations amounts to an “abuse of power.”
“Their words [those of López Obrador and Ramírez] are a new attempt to silence critical voices,” the group said.
The director of México Evalúa also rejected the claim that it received funding to criticize the Maya Train, writing on Twitter that “what was said at the president’s [press] conference is not true.”
AMLO launches a broadside at organizations deemed to oppose his signature infrastructure project.
Edna Jaime said that México Evalúa has received donations to analyze justice system reforms but not the train.
“We don’t oppose anyone,” she added. “We’re [a] civil society [organization] that thinks, analyzes and builds a better country. At México Evalúa we work with data, evidence, statistics and facts. We don’t oppose – we propose that public money be used honestly.”
Indignación responded to López Obrador’s claim using one of the president’s own favorite catchphrases to reject criticism leveled at his government.
“Mr. President, in response to the comments and opinions you expressed today, this working team would like to inform you that after 30 years walking with the Mayan people of the Yucatán Peninsula, WE HAVE OTHER INFORMATION,” the human rights group said.
The Mexican Center for Environmental Law and the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Forestry also rejected the claim that they received international funding to oppose the US $8-billion Maya Train project, which some experts say poses a range of environmental risks in the five states – Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas – through which it will run.
For his part, the director of Animal Político asserted that the news outlet “doesn’t receive funding conditional on praising or criticizing any public program.”
“We haven’t even published any extensive report about the Maya Train. We deeply regret that the president is insinuating without proof that there is something irregular,” Daniel Moreno said on Twitter.
“We also regret that the president uses his morning press conferences to make accusations without carrying out research beforehand. Those of us who produce Animal Político demand that he clarify this information that damages the journalistic work we’ve been doing for 10 years with the sole objective of serving our readers,” he wrote.
The news website said in a report published Friday that it received funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to carry out a 2017-18 project about racism and inequality, and that it accepted resources from the Ford Foundation between 2016 and 2020.
Animal Político said it signed an agreement with the Ford Foundation to deliver workshops and provide training for journalists working in several states, adding that it used Ford money to develop a journalism manual that has been distributed to hundreds of students and active journalists.
The news outlet said it is currently using a Ford Foundation grant to conduct research and publish articles about impunity, corruption, inequality and climate change.
The Kellogg Foundation also responded to the government’s claim in a statement issued on Friday.
“Well before the Mayan Train project, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has been supporting organizations in southern Mexico that strive to make the communities they work in ones in which all children can thrive. The grants the foundation provides support areas such as health, education, food production and language interpretation for access to justice,” it said.
“They also support work in the defense of human rights, indigenous rights and environmental protection. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation respects its grantees’ active pursuit of these issues, as they determine; but the foundation does not direct the use of funds.”
The foundation said it has been working in Mexico since 1944 and that it now supports more than 100 organizations here including grassroots entities as well as public universities and research centers.
“The foundation’s focus on the Yucatán Peninsula began in 2010 – eight years before public conversations about the Mayan Train project began. All of the work of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Mexico complies with all transparency and other requirements of the governments of both the United States and Mexico. The foundation verifies that all of its grantees do so as well.”
Tortillería owner Dalia Ávila passes a laptop to a student in the improvised classroom.
A Mexico City tortilla maker began providing food for the hungry a few months ago. Now they have turned to helping children who don’t have access to the technology they need to go back to school.
Tortillería owner Dalia Ávila has converted the bed of a pickup truck bed into a virtual classroom for disadvantaged children.
Furnished with a desk, television, laptop, smartphones and notebooks, the truck provides an improvised classroom for children in the Mexico City borough of Tlalpan.
Ávila calls it the “Rinconcito de Esperanza,” or Little Corner of Hope, and dedicates the project to the memory of her infant son Leo who died in February.
Ávila says she was inspired by the charity of strangers while tending to her ailing son in the hospital, and after his death she vowed to pay it forward in his name.
A school for ‘the new normal’ in Tlalpan, Mexico City.
“They infected us with love, hope and empathy, and all that they gave us we are replicating here,” she says.
Her Tortillería La Abuela has been providing daily meals to the hungry, free tortillas to the elderly, and groceries to the needy.
Opening a study area for children of working mothers was a natural transition that began as a way to help her own employees make sure their children had access to education through the coronavirus-triggered distance learning program.
“Many children do not have internet, a laptop or television to be able to watch the classes. I saw the suffering and stress of the mothers who had to decide between work and their children’s education,” she says.
The initiative started with five children but has grown substantially. Groups of children now climb into the study truck on an appointment basis. When school supplies such as notebooks run out, Ávila improvises by handing children the paper she wraps tortillas in so they can continue their homework.
Masks and hand sanitizer are provided, and only children who live together can be in the truck at the same time. The truck bed is disinfected daily.
According to the Ministry of Communication and Transportation, 35% of the country’s population over six years old does not have internet access.
After just a week of operation, 50 children have signed up to attend virtual classes in the back of Ávila’s pickup.
An angry #Lady3Pesos at a Mexico City Walmart Friday.
A woman was fired from her job at a real estate firm after she was captured on a video berating a Walmart security guard Friday in the borough of Azcapotzalco in Mexico City.
The woman was nicknamed #Lady3Pesos on social media after she launched into an expletive-laden classist tirade against security personnel who refused to let her enter the store with her child, a policy clearly stated at the entrance of the store in order to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“What an asshole, what are you going to tell me? I need to do the shopping for my children, you’re an asshole. I’m a lawyer, I’m going to go to [the consumer protection agency] Profeco right now, fuck all of you,” the woman shouted.
“Ridiculous shit, you earn 3 pesos, right? Oh, poor thing, go eat pork rinds in salsa verde [green sauce] in your little house, you fucker,” she continued. “Enjoy your 3,500 pesos per month.”
The woman demanded to see a manager and be reimbursed for the 5-peso parking fee she had paid.
The security guards refused to do either.
“What’s your name, idiot? Have balls and tell me your name. Asshole, what’s your name? Little asshole!” shouted the woman before shoving one of the security guards and walking away, daughter in tow.
“We regret with great sorrow and disappointment what has happened, and we completely dissociate ourselves from the inadmissible conduct of this consultant who, as of the issuance of this statement, has been removed from our offices and from the entire network,” Century 21 House Hunters wrote in a letter posted to their Facebook page yesterday.
“Respect, honesty, inclusion, transparency and service are non-negotiable, fundamental values for all our members,” the statement read.
Denizens of the internet have responded to the video with endless memes and comments, mostly expressing outrage at her derogatory attitude toward pork rinds in salsa verde.
“#Lady3Pesos can mess with my studies, with my life, rip off my legs, but nobody messes with my chicharrón in salsa verde,” one Twitter user wrote.
Zihuatanejo’s La Ropa beach has been awarded the prestigious Blue Flag distinction, joining El Palmar I, II and III as the four beaches in the popular tourist destination to have achieved the international certification.
At Friday’s flag-raising ceremony, Guerrero Governor Héctor Astudillo Flores expressed his approval of the achievement, thanking residents for their cooperation and efforts to keep the beach safe and clean.
Mayor Jorge Sánchez Allec, in turn, thanked the governor for supporting Zihuatanejo.
“It is a great coordination job that we have done with the state government. Today we can guarantee that we have an orderly beach with clean sand but also clean water,” he said.
The Blue Flag designation “helps us to promote the beach destination. Having the certification was a dream that all the restaurateurs, neighbors and residents of this town had,” he added.
Beaches, marinas and tour boats can earn the international distinction once they have met the Foundation for Environmental Education’s stringent environmental, educational, safety and access-related criteria.
Among other requirements, Blue Flag beaches must offer environmental education activities, display a code of conduct, and provide information about water quality. Garbage cans, water, and restrooms are required, and lifeguards and first aid services must also be in place.
According to the Blue Flag Mexico website, the country has 62 Blue Flag-certified beaches, three Blue Flag marinas and 25 certified tourist vessels.
Quintana Roo leads the nation with 45 Blue Flag beaches and boats, followed by Baja California Sur with 23 beaches and a marina.
Mexico changes color as the coronavirus risk level drops in more states.
The risk of coronavirus infection will be yellow light “medium” in 10 states as of Monday, the Health Ministry announced Friday, while Colima will be the only state at the red light “maximum” risk level.
Health Promotion chief Ricardo Cortés presented a new coronavirus “stoplight” risk map that showed that Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua and Sonora will start next week as yellow light states.
The only state that is yellow on the “stoplight” map currently in effect is Campeche, which switched to that color on August 17. Cortés said the 10 yellow light states now look forward to reaching the green light “low” risk level.
The nine states switching from orange to yellow on Monday will be able ease coronavirus restrictions with the federal government’s blessing.
Each stoplight color is accompanied by recommended restrictions to slow the spread of the virus but some states have chosen to follow their own guidelines rather than those drawn up by federal authorities.
Coronavirus cases and deaths reported by day. milenio
The new “stoplight” map showed that 21 states will start next week as orange light “high” risk states.
They are Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Mexico City, México state, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Yucatán and Zacatecas.
The risk level has been downgraded from red to orange in five of those states – Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Hidalgo, Nayarit and Zacatecas.
Cortés urged residents of orange light states to continue acting with caution in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus and thus allow the risk infection level to be reduced.
The infection risk level in Colima, now the sole red light state, remains at maximum because case numbers, hospital admissions and Covid-19 deaths are still trending upwards, the health official said. The small Pacific coast state has recorded a total of 3,542 confirmed coronavirus cases and 414 Covid-19 deaths.
Cortés explained that the new “stoplight” map was formulated for the first time using 10 different indicators, rather than four, to assess the risk level in each state.
Ricardo Cortés of the Ministry of Health presents the new Covid-19 risk map at Friday’s press briefing.
The 10 indicators are: the Covid-19 effective reproduction rate (how many people each infected person infects); estimated case numbers per 100,000 inhabitants; the weekly positivity rate (the percentage of Covid-19 tests that come back positive); total case numbers; the number of coronavirus patients per 100,000 inhabitants; hospital occupancy rates for general care beds; occupancy rates for beds with ventilators; hospital admission trends; Covid-19 mortality rate (deaths per 100,000 inhabitants); and Covid-19 death trends (whether the number of deaths per week is increasing or decreasing).
Earlier in Friday night’s press briefing, Cortés reported that Mexico’s accumulated case tally had increased to 585,738 with 5,824 new cases registered.
Confirmed case numbers have trended downwards in recent weeks but fewer than 3,000 cases have not been reported on a single day since June 8.
The Health Ministry estimates that there are currently 42,822 active cases across the country while the results of 83,357 Covid-19 tests are not yet known.
The official Covid-19 death toll rose to 63,146 on Friday with 552 additional fatalities registered. National data shows that 36% of general care hospital beds set aside for coronavirus patients are currently occupied while 31% of those with ventilators are in use.
Mexico currently has the eighth highest case tally in the world, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and the third highest Covid-19 death toll after the United States and Brazil.
'Maintain healthy distance,' Mayor Sheinbaum reminded citizens Friday.
Guerrero will be the second state in Mexico to switch from orange to yellow on the federal government’s coronavirus “stoplight” risk map while the infection risk level will remain at orange light “high” in Mexico City for a 10th consecutive week between August 31 and September 6.
Governor Héctor Astudillo announced Friday that Guerrero will become a yellow light “medium” risk state as of Monday.
He said the move to yellow will allow the state to ease restrictions and as a result welcome more tourists. The governor highlighted that hotels will be able to open more rooms and restaurants will be able to seat more diners.
Astudillo said the loosening of restrictions will boost the state economy, especially in the main tourism destinations of Acapulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Taxco.
“It’s good news but we still have to look after ourselves; face masks, healthy distance and … a lot of hand washing,” he said.
Guerrero has recorded 14,432 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to state data, and 1,654 deaths. There are 658 active cases in the state including 257 in the state capital Chilpancingo and 156 in Acapulco.
Hospitalizations of coronavirus patients, Covid-19 deaths and new cases have all recently declined in the state. It will become the second yellow light state in the country after Campeche, which switched to that color on August 17.
Federal health officials are expected to present a new “stoplight” map at Friday night’s coronavirus press briefing. Most of Mexico’s 32 states are orange on the current map although six – Zacatecas, Hidalgo, Baja California Sur, Nayarit, Aguascalientes and Colima – are painted red.
In Mexico City, there will be no change to the risk level next week, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced Friday.
“We’ll continue at the orange light [level],” she said before urging citizens to remain aware that the pandemic hasn’t ended and reminding them that maintaining a healthy distance from each another is still important.
Sheinbaum said that hospitalizations of coronavirus patients have slightly increased in recent days and therefore moving to the yellow light risk level is not currently possible.
Although Mexico City has remained orange for the past two months, the city government has gradually eased some restrictions in that period.
Bars, cantinas and other entertainment venues were permitted to reopen at reduced capacity almost three weeks ago although they had to tweak their business model and operate as if they are restaurants while theaters were allowed to reopen at 30% capacity last week.
Museums, public swimming pools, sports centers and cinemas are now also open in the capital but operating at a reduced capacity.
Sheinbaum said that large new outbreaks of the coronavirus have been avoided despite the reopening of the economy.
Mexico City has recorded 95,185 confirmed coronavirus cases and 10,370 Covid-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, figures far higher than those reported in the other 31 states. The federal Health Ministry estimates that there are currently 6,710 active cases in the capital.
Meanwhile, the nationwide coronavirus case tally rose to 579,914 on Thursday with 6,026 new cases registered. There are an estimated 41,786 active cases across the country.
Mexico’s official Covid-19 death toll currently stands at 62,594 with 518 additional fatalities registered on Thursday. However, several independent studies have concluded that fatalities are being significantly underreported, mainly due to a lack of Covid-19 testing.
The president listens while Governor Rodríguez speaks at Thursday's press conference.
President López Obrador has ruled out any possibility of closing the oil refinery in Cadereyta, Nuevo León, due to the high levels of contamination it emits and charged that current concerns about it are politically motivated.
Speaking at a news conference in Monterrey on Thursday, López Obrador said the refinery, one of six in Mexico owned and operated by the state oil company Pemex, cannot be closed because it is needed to fulfill his government’s energy plan.
López Obrador said that concerns about the contamination the Cadereyta refinery produces – it’s one of the world’s worst sulfur dioxide polluters, according to Greenpeace – are legitimate but also claimed that environmental advocates, especially those seeking public office, become more active in the lead-up to elections.
Elections to renew the lower house of the federal Congress and to elect a new governor, deputies and mayors in Nuevo León will take place next June.
López Obrador said the government will seek to resolve the Cadereyta contamination problem through investment primarily aimed at making it more productive. He said that 2 billion pesos was invested in the facility last year and that more funds are being spent on upgrading it this year.
Speaking at the same press conference, Nuevo León Governor Jaime Rodríguez said the contamination from the refinery, located about 40 kilometers east of Monterrey, affects large parts of the state and urged the president to examine the issue.
He also said he had spoken with the representatives of several companies about how the contamination problem can be resolved. “It’s necessary that we start looking at this,” Rodríguez told López Obrador.
Earlier this month, the state government’s Ministry of Sustainable Development filed a complaint with the federal Attorney General’s Office against the Cadereyta refinery after liquid contaminants from the facility spilled into a nearby waterway.
But airborne pollutants remain the biggest concern. Toxic gases emitted by the refinery, which opened in 1979, affect several municipalities in Nuevo León including those in the metropolitan area of Monterrey and they also reach the neighboring state of Coahuila.
Considered one of the most productive and profitable refineries in Mexico, the facility has the capacity to refine 275,000 barrels of oil per day, although at the start of June it was operating at just over 40% of that level. In addition to gasoline, it produces ultra low-sulfur diesel, propylene, LP gas, asphalt and coke among other products.
As a result of its activities, the refinery is the biggest polluter of sulfur dioxide and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in the Monterrey metropolitan area. It also emits large quantities of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter smaller than 10 microns.
Playa Balandra wraps around the the bay of the same name, just sound of La Paz, Baja California Sur. (File photo)
Coronavirus restrictions will be lifted further next week in Baja California Sur (BCS), the Ministry of Health reported, as the state moves from level 5, or critical risk, to level 4, considered high risk on the state’s health alert system.
As of Monday, businesses will be able to operate at 40% capacity, up from 30%.
Churches, movie theaters and gyms may also reopen next week for the first time in five months.
The easing of restrictions stems from the fact that the epidemiological curve has plateaued in BCS, officials report. “Thanks to the responsibility and sacrifices of thousands of people, today we are taking another step towards reopening,” Governor Carlos Mendoza Davis said Friday afternoon.
The announcement was good news for the tourism-reliant resort towns of Los Cabos, which had the second-highest hotel occupancy in the country between August 10 and 16, Mexican Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco tweeted last week. Puerto Vallarta led the nation at 29.3% occupancy, while Los Cabos came in a close second at 27.4%
As of yesterday, the federal government reported 7,276 accumulated cases of the coronavirus in BCS, as well as 337 deaths, although the numbers are different from what the state lists. On the BCS website, which says it is updated in real time, 7,193 coronavirus cases have been reported and 370 deaths.
Hola Hernán
Cloudy skies and rainfall prevailed in BCS Friday as tropical depression Hernán rolled into the state east of Los Barriles with 75 km/h winds. The storm caused torrential rainfall in some parts of mainland Mexico as it worked its way north, but then lost considerable strength and was expected to further degenerate over the next 24 hours.
Fiestas canceled
Loreto’s patron saint festivities, scheduled for September 6 through 8, have been canceled due to the coronavirus, the municipality reports. Normally the city celebrates with religious, civic and cultural activities and a statue of the Virgin of Loreto is paraded through the city’s streets as townspeople gather along the parade route.
This year, the parade and other religious services will be carried out virtually, and residents are urged to remain in their homes, Peninsular Digital reports.
In Los Cabos, November’s popular international gastronomic festival, “Sabor a Cabo” will not take place this year.
Each year more than 3,000 people attend the festival which kicks off the start of the high season. Attendees sample dishes from 60 different restaurants as well as wineries and tequila and mezcal distillers with profits going to charities such as the Red Cross and the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation.
The festival’s organizing committee said sponsors have dropped out so it will refocus its efforts on bringing a new and improved version of the festival to Los Cabos in 2021, possibly organizing around a Day of the Dead theme, Metropolimx reports.
Tacos on TV
Through the taco, Mexico has conquered the world, and the Netflix series The Taco Chronicles that was released last year paid homage to the many flavors and forms this revered dish can encompass. Season one of the Spanish-language docuseries profiled six different tacos, ranging from al pastor to barbacoa.
Season two launches on September 15, and this time the series makes a stop in La Paz to explore the beauty of the fish taco, visiting the aptly named Taco Fish restaurant, a local favorite since 1992.
Animal shelter has seen a 35% increase in homeless pets, and a large decrease in donations.
Abandoned animals
Animal welfare activists in Los Cabos say that due to the coronavirus pandemic, they have seen a 35% increase in homeless pets and a 90% reduction in donations, cutting their staff to just four, BCS Noticias reports
The director of the Los Cabos Humane Society, Armando Martínez, says there may be as many as 90,000 pets roaming the streets. Support from municipal government is nonexistent, even though one of Mayor Armida Castro’s campaign promises was to protect animals, he says, and the organization is on the brink of collapse.
Adoptions are way down from normal levels. Currently, the society says, it adopts out just two or three animals a month, compared with 10 to 15 prior to the pandemic.
Caught
After a car chase through the streets of La Paz, police detained two people for robbing an Oxxo storeroom. Inside the trunk, authorities found 400 cans of stolen beer of various brands and a pilfered package of noodle soup. Both men, who were 18, were arrested and jailed.
Also this week, the National Guard in San José del Cabo gave chase to a Chevrolet Aveo which ended up striking a post. After making sure the driver’s injuries were not life-threatening, officers found six packages of hybrid marijuana in the vehicle, labeled as Amnesia, Champagne, Hydrolotus and Matermase. They also found 40 packages of generic cannabis and six doses of cocaine.
And in Cabo San Lucas, a man who was caught using the streets of Cabo San Lucas as a bathroom in full view of police officers was stopped and searched. On his person, police found two medium-sized packages of marijuana and another two of methamphetamine, BCS Noticias reports.
Beaches: there’s an app for that?
The president of the Hotel and Tourism Association in La Paz, Agustín Olachea Nogueda, announced this week that beaches in the municipality could potentially reopen, but by reservation only through an official app. “This application is new, it will be the only one in the country. It will also give excellent control to ensure the health of visitors to the beaches, and make it easy to control access to beaches,” he said.
The announcement was met with consternation by La Paz residents who had many questions about how the app would be administered. They expressed concerns about whether a hotel could simply block out all available appointments for their guests and that access to the beaches would be limited to people who have smartphones. Some called it a step toward privatizing beaches in the municipality, El Sudcaliforniano reported.
