Musicians give a performance at the presidential press conference.
Today the National Palace in Mexico City, tomorrow … the Philharmonie de Paris?
Kevin Emmanuel Maya Martínez, an 11-year-old from the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, was one of 108 young musicians from the southern state who played before President López Obrador, other officials and reporters during the presidential press conference at the executive seat of power on Monday.
Now that he has performed in one of Mexico’s most famous and prestigious buildings, the young trumpet player said that his dream is to play in the Philharmonie de Paris – a complex of concert halls in the French capital – because he likes the way they play there.
The sixth-grader said that his grandfather started teaching him the brass instrument at the age of 7 after a false start two years prior.
“When I was 5, my grandpa wanted to teach me but I didn’t want to [learn]. . . I saw how he played, how he practiced and I started to like [the trumpet] and he gave me classes,” Maya said.
The youngster’s performance at the National Palace came after López Obrador handed over musical instruments to bands from the eight different regions of Oaxaca. The government purchased the instruments with money raised from auctions of assets seized from organized crime.
“A flute is a million times better than a gun,” the president declared.
The musicians played songs covering a range of traditional Oaxacan genres, transforming López Obrador’s news conference into a celebration of southern Mexican culture. Federal Consumer Protection Agency chief Ricardo Sheffield was one of several officials who got up and danced.
At one point, López Obrador looked at his watch and said: “It’s 7:30, there’s time, isn’t there? Not for questions, [but] to hear the Mixtec anthem by the master [Oaxacan composer José López] Alavez, composed in 1915, if you can — the Canción Mixteca.”
AMLO's performance rating since December 2018. Blue indicates approval, orange the opposite. el financiero
President López Obrador continues to enjoy strong support among Mexicans, according to a new poll that shows growing approval of the government’s crackdown on Central American migrants.
Conducted in January by the newspaper El Financiero, the poll found that 71% of 820 adult respondents approve of López Obrador’s performance as president.
The figure is just one point below the approval rating that AMLO, as the president is widely known, attracted in the newspaper’s December poll. In turn, the percentage of poll respondents who disapprove of the president’s performance increased 1% to 28%.
The survey shows that the perception of the government’s performance in the areas of public security and the economy improved but the percentage of respondents who approved of its approach to combating corruption, tackling poverty and providing healthcare declined.
Asked to rate the López Obrador administration’s performance on public security, 31% said it was very good or good, a 4% increase compared to December. The improved standing came despite the publication of statistics on January 20 that showed that 2019 was the most violent year on record with more than 35,000 murders.
Similarly, support for the government’s management of the economy grew 2% to 45% even though the economy underwent its first contraction in a decade last year.
The positive assessment of the government’s performance in the areas of corruption, poverty and healthcare declined by between three and six points to 38%, 34% and 36%, respectively.
Meanwhile, support for the government’s performance on education remained stable at 50%, while 26% of respondents said that it is doing very badly or badly in the area.
Asked about the government’s achievements in a range of other areas, 62% of those polled said that it had a lot or some success in reaching the new North American free trade agreement, and 58% said the same about job creation.
Half of those polled said that the government has had a lot or some success in the provision of public healthcare, while 47% said the same about the containment of Central American migrants, thousands of whom arrived on Mexico’s southern border in January.
The president’s approval rating is holding steady.
Six in 10 respondents said that the government has had little or no success in selling the presidential plane, a figure that is surprisingly low considering that a buyer has not been found for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner valued at US $130 million.
Although less than half of the respondents said that the government has been successful in dealing with the latest influx of Central American migrants, the poll found increased support for the use of the National Guard to stop them.
Seventy-three percent of respondents said that they approved of the use of the new security force to stop the flow of migrants, an 18-point increase over the 55% who told El Financiero the same last July.
Asked whether the government should close the southern border to migrants or support them and grant them free passage through the country, 64% opted for the former, a 15-point jump compared to November. Only 34% of respondents said that the government should let the migrants in, a 13% decline compared to November.
More than half of those polled – 52% – agreed that the government’s stricter enforcement against migrants had effectively turned Mexico into the border wall long promised by United States President Donald Trump.
Asked to identify the government’s most important infrastructure project, 44% of respondents cited the Santa Lucía airport, 26% said the Dos Bocas refinery on the Tabasco coast and 11% chose the Maya Train. Five in 10 respondents said that they expect the airport to be finished on schedule in March 2022 but 38% said that they believed it won’t be completed on time.
Finally, El Financiero asked those polled to describe López Obrador’s performance over the past month using the terminology of baseball, the president’s favorite sport.
One in 10 people said that AMLO had hit a home run, 44% thought that he’d scored a hit, 16% declared that he’d hit a foul and 21% concluded that he had struck out.
About 100 people left their inhibitions at home and stripped off to dine “au naturel” at the annual nudist festival at Zipolite Beach, Oaxaca, last weekend.
Seated at tables in front of the glistening Pacific Ocean, the diners enjoyed music, each other’s company, the temperate climate and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, according to a report by the newspaper El Universal.
They barely noticed that almost everyone showed up for the event in their birthday suit, the report said.
“To take one’s clothes off is to leave prejudices behind,” a man identified only as Fabián told El Universal.
Seated next to his wife Sofía at a table shared with two other unclad couples, he said that stripping is to “free oneself” and bid farewell to any stress, problems and worries one might have.
Sofía explained that she and her husband have been active nudists for 12 of the 15 years they’ve been together.
Another diner, José, declared that, “once you remove your clothes and experience that freedom, the sea, the beach, there’s no turning back.”
He said that although he and his wife have been part of the nudist community for just a year, he had actually been interested in the practice since he was a child. After he suggested the idea to his wife, José explained, they decided it was something they would like to try.
“The first thing I did was nude yoga,” he said, adding that his wife was initially less comfortable than he was about being naked in the company of strangers.
However, Iliana shed her shyness soon enough, telling El Universal that nudism “is to recognize your body and be fine with it – being naked is to accept yourself.”
Nodding in agreement, Fabián said: “We’re used to being what we wear; the brand of the watch or the jewelry we use. Being naked, there’s none of that: this is what you are and there’s no judgment. . .”
The “clothing optional” dinner was one of several activities held at the fifth annual nudist festival at Zipolite, which is the only beach in Mexico where being in the buff is legal.
Other activities included nude yoga, volleyball and cycling, body painting, musical performances and a talent night. Approximately 6,000 people attended the festival that concluded Sunday, of whom around 30% were foreigners.
The CJNG announces its intentions to eliminate rivals in México state.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has announced its arrival in México state and San Luis Potosí in videos featuring heavily-armed men.
One video that circulated on social media shows seven self-described sicarios, or hitmen, wearing military-style uniforms, helmets and kerchiefs over their faces.
“The purge has started, gentlemen. We’ve come to remove from México state the whole damn scourge of the Familia Michoacana . . .” one gunman says to cheers from his fellow CJNG members who raise their weapons in a show of force.
In another video that was disseminated on social media last week, a man dressed in tactical gear and with his face covered appears seated at a table adorned with a map of San Luis Potosí.
Surrounded by some 30 heavily-armed men and with a banner emblazoned with the CJNG initials as a backdrop, the suspected cartel operative issues a warning to rival gangs that operate in San Luis Potosí.
‘We’re from the CJNG and we’re here to help:’ Jalisco cartel message in San Luis Potosí.
“Good morning citizens of San Luis Potosí. We are the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. We’re here to fight the [thieves], extortioners and kidnappers belonging to the Zetas, Northeast and Gulf cartels,” the man says in a distorted voice.
“Attention authorities, the fight is not against you,” he continues. “We’re coming to work for the well-being of the citizens, those who have been affected by extortion and countless abuses. . .”
The cartel member then claims that San Luis Potosí Police Chief José Guadalupe Castillo Celestino is in charge of the sale of drugs in the state capital.
“All those who support the Zetas, the Northeast Cartel, the Gulf Cartel and Guadalupe Castillo: refrain from participating in their ranks. We are the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and we’re here to stay,” the man says.
The cartel’s announcement of their arrival in the central state comes months after it began operations there, the news website Infobae said. The National Guard on Sunday seized more than 300 kilograms of marijuana as well as weapons, ammunition and bullet-proof vests with the CJNG initials that were hidden below a tarp near a dirt road in the San Luis Potosí municipality of Villa de Arriaga.
Infobae said that the advance of the Jalisco cartel across Mexico appears “unstoppable” despite the opposition it faces from other violent and powerful cartels.
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration said in its report National Drug Threat Assessment 2019 that the cartel led by Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes has a presence in at least 24 of Mexico’s 32 states.
In México state, the country’s third most violent entity in 2019 after Guanajuato and Baja California, the police chiefs of several municipalities have held meetings with members of the CJNG, according to a columnist for the newspaper El Universal.
Citing a México state government intelligence report, Héctor de Mauleón said that meetings were held across five regions of México state encompassing 27 municipalities including Amecameca, Tultitlán, Cuautitlán Izcalli, Ecatepec and Zumpango.
De Mauleón asserted that CJNG members asked the municipal police chiefs to not interfere in their drug trafficking activities in exchange for not attacking their officers.
The requested quid pro quo was expressed in the terms, “don’t touch us and we won’t touch you,” the columnist wrote.
The town council of Naucalpan, México state, has approved sanctions of fines and jail time for offenses such as catcalling women and selling pets in public.
Beginning February 5, those who direct catcalls, whistles or sexual comments to women or girls in public could receive a fine of up to 4,344 pesos (US $232) or 36 hours in jail.
The law aims to protect women from discrimination, degradation or exclusion in public spaces.
The same penalties will be imposed on those caught selling pets in public. The severity of the sanction will depend on such factors as the number of animals being traded, the treatment they receive and the conditions in which they’re found.
The sanctions will be independent from those found in federal and state penal codes and the México state Biodiversity Code.
The new municipal edict also prohibits the lighting of fireworks within the city limits and sets sanctions for the undue obstruction of ramps, building access points and parking spaces meant for people with disabilities.
Remittances sent home by Mexicans living abroad hit a record high of just over US $36 billion in 2019, the central bank reported.
The Bank of México (Banxico) said that Mexican families received US $36.04 billion from relatives abroad, most of whom work in the United States.
The amount is 7% higher than the US $33.67 billion sent to Mexico in 2018, in turn a figure that raised the bar over previous years.
Last year was the third consecutive year in which remittances totaled more than US $30 billion. The money was sent in 110 million separate transactions, Banxico said, a 5.6% increase over the 104 million completed in 2018.
The average remittance was US $326 compared to $322 in 2018. More than 98% of the funds were sent via electronic transfer, while the remainder arrived in Mexico in cash or via money orders.
Mexico is the third largest recipient of remittances after India and China, according to the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, an organization comprised of central banks across the region.
However, Mexico is the largest recipient of funds from the United States, where approximately 7.5 million Mexicans work.
National Guard troops were forced to retreat after angry residents of Apatzingán, Michoacán, pelted them with eggs and rocks on Sunday.
The troops had been responding to reports of road blockades and burned vehicles set up by the residents on the Apatzingán-Aguililla highway.
Videos posted to social media showed scenes of residents yelling in the soldiers’ faces and throwing eggs by the dozen at them and their vehicles.
“Do you want us to disarm you, you swine? Are you going to arrest the whole town?” one resident shouted at the soldiers.
In order to de-escalate the situation, the National Guard troops were ordered to stand down and return to their base. Their vehicles can be seen in the videos reversing away from the scene while eggs splatter on the hoods and windshields.
The National Guard issued a statement Sunday night which stated that “residents of the Cenobio Moreno community [in Apatzingán] assaulted our officers with rocks and eggs.”
“We opted to de-escalate the confrontation, distancing the officers from the aggressors, whose actions in no way put the integrity of our personnel at risk,” it said, adding that it would only use force as a last recourse.
Sunday’s events were not the first time that Michoacán citizens have taken aggressive actions against federal forces.
A group of citizens claiming to be a self-defense force disarmed and detained 14 soldiers in La Huacana in May of last year. The soldiers were released later that day in a deal with the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) to exchange them for weapons that had been confiscated.
National Defense Secretary Luis Crescencio Sandoval González justified the restraint of force and said that it was better to turn over the weapons than attack the citizens.
The Cancún hotel zone doesn’t have the capacity to support new developments, according to the head of the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).
Rogelio Jiménez Pons said that Fonatur has offered land to developers of two hotels in an attempt to persuade them to move their projects to other destinations because the Caribbean coast resort city is unable to provide the services that new rooms would require, such as water and drainage.
The two projects the tourism fund is trying to stop are the US $1-billion, 3,000-room Grand Island mega-hotel and the 500-room, US $95-million Riu Riviera Cancún, whose construction was halted in 2016 due to environmental concerns but subsequently got the green light to proceed.
However, Jiménez said that Fonatur has now offered land to the developers of the Grand Island and the Riviera Cancún in other destinations “where new hotel investment really is needed,” such as Huatulco, Oaxaca, and other resort cities that were developed by the tourism fund as planned projects.
They also include Ixtapa, Guerrero; Loreto, Baja California Sur; and Playa Espíritu, Sinaloa, which is currently under development.
Jiménez stressed that Fonatur doesn’t want to “frighten away” investment but explained that the fund is opposed to the “overexploitation” of destinations that are already “overburdened.”
“What could be considered today as a gain for the region in terms of investment will be a loss in the long run due to the strain on the environment,” he said.
The Fonatur chief also said that a letter will be sent to the government of Benito Juárez (the municipality where Cancún is located) to request that no new developments be approved in the hotel zone because it’s not possible to keep building the new urban infrastructure required to support them.
More than 6,000 rooms, including those planned at the Grand Island and the Riviera Cancún, are already in the pipeline for the Cancún hotel zone, which currently has more than 37,000 rooms.
Jiménez claimed that corruption has been a factor in the granting of many construction permits in Cancún that allowed the hotel zone to exceed its density by double or triple the original established limit.
“. . .we’re going to proceed with a lot of tact, consulting with the greatest number of authorities. . . the [federal] Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources and city councils. We’re going to try to provide solid arguments; the main thing is for original density [limits] to be respected,” he said.
The reason for limiting construction of new projects is simple, Jiménez added. “There is no longer capacity to provide these new complexes with the basic services. . . of drainage, potable water and roads.”
Four minors aged 12-17 were among nine people shot to death in a drug-related assault on a business in Uruapan, Michoacán, on Monday.
The state Attorney General’s Office said the attack occurred around 3:00pm when four armed men entered a videogame arcade and opened fire on the customers after asking for known gang members.
The killers reportedly used military-grade weapons to carry out the attack. Experts found 65 9mm shells at the site.
Authorities believe the attack was related to a dispute between rival drug trafficking groups.
Eyewitness testimonies state that the attackers entered the business and asked for three people identified as “El Ruso,” “El Pelón” and a brother of the latter, all believed to be members of the Los Viagras drug cartel.
A known drug trafficker and car thief, “El Ruso” has been targeted by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), believed to be responsible for the attack.
Authorities seized the machines and closed the business. Security forces from the three levels of government have been deployed to the area to conduct an operation to find those responsible for the attack.
An American artist’s mural in Mexico City was defaced with graffiti less than a week after it was painted.
Cartoonist Sarah Andersen painted a mural featuring the main character from her comic strip Sarah’s Scribbles in the capital’s hip Roma neighborhood on January 29.
“I painted a mural in Mexico City! The mural is designed … in the hopes that people will try to pose alongside the character. I would love to see your photos next to the mural!” she tweeted upon completing it.
The mural is part of graphic design studio Pictoline’s Internet Walls public art project, sponsored by Samsung and the social media app Tik Tok.
But it didn’t last long before being damaged by graffiti on Monday. Social media users called out the vandalism as suppressing the expression of a woman.
Others claimed it was an act of hate directed specifically at Andersen herself, whose art often mocks macho culture, while others said it was directed at the corporatization of art.
Some claimed to know the identity of the graffiti artist by connecting the design to other walls around the city tagged with the graffitero’s moniker, Zombra.
“The graffitero ‘Zombra’ ruined Sarah Andersen’s mural,” said one Twitter user.
Rather than simply post outrage online, some concerned Mexico City residents went to the corner of the streets of Tabasco and Mérida to clean the graffiti off of the mural, scrubbing almost half of it away by Monday evening.
Aside from satirizing toxic masculinity, Andersen’s Sarah’s Scribbles also deals with themes of existentialism, adult responsibility and the behavior of cats.
“My comics are semi-autobiographical and follow the adventures of myself, my friends and my beloved pets,” she said on her website.
She is also an illustrator. She graduated from the Maryland Institute of Art in 2014 and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
