The Naucalpan notary in an altercation with his wife.
As emergency calls related to domestic violence surge, two high-profile cases have been reported in México state.
Horacio Enrique Jiménez López, a former state deputy and senior official with the city of Naucalpan de Juárez, was arrested for allegedly beating his wife and kidnapping her on Thursday.
Jiménez, 58, was arrested after a call was placed to police about a man beating a woman inside an SUV.
Also yesterday, and also in Naucalpan, after a video of notary public Horacio Aguilar Álvarez de Alba mistreating his wife went viral, Aguilar issued a public apology on his Twitter account, pleading for forgiveness from his wife, the governor and society in general.
Aguilar is an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church and had been previously accused of attempted rape by 10 alleged victims.
The video shows Aguilar and his wife fighting outside their home as the man struggles to force his wife to give up a set of keys.
“I am not going to give them to you: it is my house and you cannot throw me out,” the woman says. Later he pulls on the waistband of her pants. “You’re hurting me,” she yells as a man films the incident on his cell phone.
“I take this opportunity to offer a sincere apology to the wronged person, both personally and as a member of the Mexican army,” Aguilar wrote in his apology. “If the facts are put to the consideration of the competent authorities, I will submit to any fair resolutions that they may issue.”
Emergency calls due to domestic violence are way up in Mexico during the coronavirus pandemic, spiking to 400,000 911 calls in April alone.
Wearing shirts bearing the message, 'Where are they?' Sinaloa searchers look for bodies.
A collective of mothers searching for their disappeared children had its drone shot out of the sky while using it to examine a rugged area of Sinaloa on Wednesday.
Deeming their work an essential activity, the Sabuesos Guerreras (Warrior Sleuths) have continued to look for their loved ones during the quarantine period.
The group denounced the action in a Facebook post on Thursday morning, saying “at least they didn’t shoot at us.”
“It wasn’t too high, about the height of a house, and they shot it down. We just kept exploring the area to continue our search, without caring if we bothered anyone,” said the group.
They also said they would not file an official report of the incident as they haven’t received any help from police during any of their search efforts so far.
“What for? If they won’t do anything, we’ll buy another one,” concluded the post.
The women have already started on that, organizing !Dronatón!, a donation campaign to help raise funds for a new unmanned aircraft.
They are requesting direct donations be deposited into the Bancomer account of María Isabel Cruz Bernal, with the account number 4152 3135 1589 0114. More information can be obtained (Spanish preferable) by writing to the Juan Panadero printshop collective.
Wednesday’s incident was not the first time the group has been attacked. Their “Sabuesomóvil,” a vehicle used to carry out searches, was stolen, and many members report having been threatened in attempts to intimidate them into giving up their efforts.
The search brigade is one of many across the country engaged in looking for hidden graves in the hopes of locating missing loved ones.
Tijuana's Rev. Echegollén adapts to the coronavirus pandemic.
With churches closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, one Catholic priest in Tijuana, Baja California, is still managing to spread the gospel.
Using a pickup truck and Facebook Live, Rev. Jorge Echegollén of the Parish of San Miguel Arcángel travels to the city’s hospitals to provide spiritual comfort to medical personnel and families of the afflicted.
“To all the sick, doctors, security guards and all the relatives, God bless you, in the name of the father,” Echegollén preaches.
Echegollén is one of about 20 priests dispatched by the Archdiocese of Tijuana to deliver drive-in blessings, communions and funeral services to the faithful which he also broadcasts online to a following of more than 6,000 viewers. The archdiocese also offers online confessions and counseling.
“I know that we are not going to change history if we do or do not give the blessing, but we trust in God’s mercy, especially for those most in need who are sick with Covid-19,” Echegollén says.
Before leaving on his motorized tour, Echegollén broadcasts a daily mass on YouTube from his church, taping photos of faithful parishioners to the empty pews. And although cyber-preaching serves an important need, the priest will welcome a full house when the time is right.
“People are very much missed. The noise of the children is the joy of the parish,” Echegollén says.
Jorge Armenta, the most recent victim of violence against journalists.
International journalism organizations have denounced President López Obrador’s attacks on journalists and the media as an “incitement to violence.”
The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), a non-profit organization of over 1,300 publications based in Miami, Florida, issued a statement decrying the president’s attacks on news media, particularly those directed at El Universal and Reforma.
IAPA president Christopher Barnes said that the “authoritarian, ideological and derogatory bias with which López Obrador attacks the media can motivate those individuals who only need an excuse to incite violence and physically attack journalists and the media.”
Barnes added that “in a country with high rates of violence, the presidential attitude is like throwing gasoline on the fire.”
The president of the IAPA committee on freedom of the press and information, Roberto Rock, said that “López Obrador’s systematic smear campaigns have also targeted international media such as The Financial Times, The Washington Post and El País,” among others.
On May 13, the newspaper Reforma received threats that its headquarters would be bombed if its criticisms against López Obrador persisted.
Jan Albert Hootsen of the Committee to Protect Journalists also weighed in after journalist Jorge Miguel Armenta Avalos was murdered in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, earlier this month.
“I believe that the Mexican federal government has a fairly complex relationship with the media at the national and local levels. The most extreme case is the complex relationship of rhetorical attacks, of open hostility between the federal government and the media, which could lead to serious threats.”
“Anyone who publishes a story that he does not like becomes a kind of enemy,” says José Miguel Vivanco, director of the Human Rights Watch Americas division, who claims the Mexican president uses his daily press briefings to discredit the media.
Hundreds of dolphins were sighted in several locations off the coast of Oaxaca on multiple occasions this week.
It is believed that the pods of dolphins have decided to splash around near popular tourist destinations like Huatulco and Puerto Escondido due to the lack of tourists and other people in or on the water thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fishermen from the Manialtepec Lagoon first reported seeing dolphins on Tuesday, and subsequent reports popped up in neighboring Puerto Escondido, and even as far east as Cacaluta and other bays in Huatulco, informally billed as the “Cancún of Oaxaca.”
The phenomenon has captured the attention of inhabitants of the region and internet users alike. The latter have enjoyed videos posted to social media showing large pods of the splashing mammals.
Most viewers agree that the majority of the animals appear to be spinner dolphins, which perform their acrobatic namesake when they leap from the surface.
Captan a cientos de delfines paseándose en la Costa de Oaxaca
Dolphins aren’t the only members of the animal kingdom to start nosing their way back into territory left behind by humans during the pandemic.
Just a few weeks into the quarantine, crocodiles that normally hide out from humans in the waters of Oaxaca’s La Ventanilla Lagoon were spotted roaming the beach like they owned the place.
And in April residents in Acapulco observed bioluminescent plankton painting the waves of the city’s main bay electric blue at night.
Oaxaca is Mexico’s most biodiverse state and an important nesting destination for all but one of the world’s sea turtle species. Researchers have identified over 8,400 varieties of plants and 1,431 species of vertebrates.
The current status of Covid-19 risk levels indicates all states at the maximum level apart from Zacatecas, which was designated high risk.
Every state except Zacatecas has been allocated a “red light” on the federal government’s stoplight system to determine which coronavirus restrictions can be lifted and where, meaning that nonessential activities will not recommence on Monday in the vast majority of the country.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell presented a map at Friday morning’s presidential press conference that showed that the risk of Covid-19 infection has been deemed to be at the maximum level in 31 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities.
Zacatecas, which currently has 59 active Covid-19 cases, is considered a high risk “orange light” state.
“This evaluation was made on May 28, it’s the most up-to-date and it is what will enter into force on Monday, June 1,” López-Gatell said.
“At the end of the national social distancing initiative, this is how the country is. But, and we’ve said it before, the health safety measures don’t end,” he said, explaining that it will now be the responsibility of state governments to implement restrictions in accordance with the color they are allocated on the stoplight system.
The deputy minister said that the stoplight map will be updated on a weekly basis and that federal authorities will subsequently announce the color that corresponds to each state and which activities can resume in each one.
States will be allocated a red, orange, yellow or green light depending on the number of active and new coronavirus cases they have, their hospital admission trends and their hospital occupancy levels.
Other sectors will be permitted to resume operations once the stoplight switches to orange but with a reduced capacity and/or workforce and with restrictions in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19. People considered to be particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 due to their age or existing health conditions will be permitted to return to work albeit with special protocols in place.
Public spaces will also be reopened during the orange light phase but at a reduced capacity.
Businesses will be able to increase their workforces and capacity once their state has been allocated a yellow light and there will be fewer restrictions in open-air public spaces. However, stricter restrictions will remain in force in indoor spaces such as restaurants, cinemas and theaters.
Once a state is given a green light, students will return to school and other educational institutions and all remaining restrictions on economic and everyday activities will be lifted.
López-Gatell said that Cancún, and the entire state of Quintana Roo, is close to being allocated a yellow light, which corresponds to the “medium risk” level.
“Cancún … is one of the cities that is closest to becoming a medium risk area … and it’s very probable that in the next few days, maybe a week, we will be able to announce that [its risk level] has been lowered,” he said.
That would pave the way for the reopening of Quintana Roo’s tourism sector, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
The World Travel and Tourism Council announced this week that the Mexican Caribbean will be the first destination in the Americas to receive a newly created “Safe Travels” global safety and hygiene certification, backed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and more than 200 CEOs in the tourism sector.
A health worker ready to attend Covid-19 patients.
Mexico’s coronavirus case tally rose above 80,000 on Thursday and deaths passed 9,000 as researchers from the National Autonomous University (UNAM) warned that the pandemic is far from being under control.
The federal Health Ministry reported 3,377 new Covid-19 cases at a press briefing Thursday night, increasing the total number of accumulated cases since the start of the pandemic to 81,400.
It also reported 447 additional coronavirus-related deaths, lifting the official death toll to 9,044. Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said that an additional 783 fatalities are suspected of having been caused by Covid-19 but have not yet been confirmed.
He said that 254,794 people have now been tested for the disease and that there are currently 36,131 suspected cases across the country.
Of the total number of confirmed cases, 16,315 are considered active, an increase of 723 compared to Wednesday.
Just under a quarter of the active cases – 3,972 – are in Mexico City while México state has the second largest active outbreak, with 2,202 cases.
The next biggest active outbreaks are in Baja California, Tabasco, Veracruz, Puebla and Sinaloa. All five states have more than 500 active cases.
Only three states – Colima, Zacatecas and Baja California Sur – currently have less than 100 active cases.
Mexico City also has the highest Covid-19 death toll in the country, with an additional 114 fatalities reported on Thursday, increasing the capital’s total to 2,427.
México state is the only other state with a four-figure death toll, having now recorded 1,046 fatalities.
More than 800 people have lost their lives to Covid-19 in Baja California while three states – Tabasco, Veracruz and Sinaloa – have death tolls in excess of 400.
The daily tally of Covid-19 cases and deaths. The latter is not necessarily the number of deaths that occurred each day, but the number confirmed. milenio
Based on confirmed cases and deaths, Mexico’s fatality rate is currently 11.1, well above the global rate of 6.2.
Mexico’s low testing rate means that the official case tally only represents a fraction of the real size of the pandemic while it is widely believed that Covid-19 deaths are being underreported, especially in Mexico City.
Hospitals in some cities, such as Mexico City, Tijuana and Acapulco, have come under intense pressure due to the large influx of coronavirus patients but data presented by the Health Ministry on Thursday night showed that the the health system still has significant capacity at a national level to accept new admissions.
Only 40% of general care beds set aside for the treatment of patients with serious respiratory symptoms are currently occupied while 35% of those with ventilators are in use.
The federal government’s national social distancing initiative will officially conclude on Saturday just over two months after it began but the risk of infection remains high, according to a map presented by López-Gatell on Friday morning.
He presented a map at the president’s regular press conference that showed that every state in the country except Zacatecas is currently considered to be at the maximum “red light” risk of infection. Zacatecas, which currently has 59 active cases, is considered a high risk “orange light” state.
“This evaluation was made on May 28, it’s the most up-to-date and it is what will enter into force on Monday, June 1,” López-Gatell said.
Consequently, Zacatecas will be the only state permitted to ease restrictions on Monday in accordance with the government’s color coded stoplight system.
As Mexico prepares to shift to coronavirus mitigation restrictions on a state by state rather than national basis, UNAM researchers warned that the first wave of infections in the pandemic is far from under control.
A report published by the Faculty of Medicine’s department of public health said the situation in Mexico is comparable to that in the United States, Brazil and Russia, which have the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world.
The report said that the pandemic is still in a growth phase and that Mexico should be implementing stricter measures to slow it.
Researcher Abril Violeta Muñoz Torres said the Mexican population is particularly susceptible to Covid-19 because of the high rates of diabetes and obesity.
She also said that studies have found that the fatality rate is higher among Covid-19 patients who were admitted to IMSS, ISSSTE and state-run public hospitals than those who received treatment at private health facilities as well as those operated by the army, navy, national health institutes and the state oil company.
Two environmental groups have initiated legal action against federal measures that seek to limit the participation of private renewable energy companies in the electricity market.
The Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda) and Greenpeace filed complaints against measures announced by the National Energy Control Center (Cenace) that suspended national grid trials for wind and solar projects.
Renewable energy companies are required to complete the trials before they can sell power to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
According to federal judiciary records, injunction requests filed by Cemda and Greenpeace also challenge a new energy policy published by the federal Energy Ministry (Sener) on May 15. The policy imposes restrictive measures for the renewable energy sector that could effectively prevent its expansion in Mexico and consolidate control of electrical power in the state-owned CFE.
Several private energy companies have already successfully challenged the Cenace measures, winning more than a dozen suspension orders against them, but none have yet taken legal action against the Sener policy.
Cemda and Greenpeace argue that Sener does not have the legal authority to enforce a policy related to regulations and reliability of the national electricity system. They say that the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) may have improperly delegated the responsibility to the Energy Ministry.
An administrative court judge said today that she was unable to make a ruling on the requests and referred them to a court that specializes in economic competition matters.
Earlier this week, a federal court judge granted 13 definitive suspension orders against the Cenace measures to an equal number of companies.
In his rulings, Judge Rodrigo de la Peza López Figueroa said that delaying or preventing the entry into operation of renewable energy projects would have a serious adverse effect on society. He said that the Cenace measures alter the functioning of the electricity market, pushing it more towards a monopoly than one in which there is free competition.
That could cause electricity rates to go up and make the system less efficient, de la Peza said.
As things now stand, the companies that successfully challenged the measures – among which are Kenergreen, FV Mexsolar XI y Dolores Wind – will be able to carry out pre-operational national grid trials.
However, Cenace said last week that it would challenge all of the suspension orders granted against its measures, which also include ramping up energy generation at old CFE plants using surplus fuel oil produced by Pemex in order “to improve the reliability of the electricity system” during the coronavirus crisis.
Cenace on Monday filed its first challenge against one provisional suspension order that was issued last week but a federal court said it wouldn’t consider it because it didn’t receive it before the established deadline.
The legal battles between Cenace and renewable energy companies, and between the environmental groups and the federal government more broadly, are likely to last for months.
Manuel Bartlett said the CFE has filed complaints against renewable energy firms with the CRE because they don’t pay for using the state-owned company’s transmission lines and backup power and have entered into “simulated” partnerships with other private companies.
In response to his remarks, the Confederation of Industrial Chambers denied that private energy companies are getting a free ride.
The Cenace measures and Sener policy are part of President López Obrador’s broader plan to “rescue” the CFE and the state oil company, Pemex, by increasing the participation of the state in the energy sector and limiting that of private and foreign companies that were allowed in as a result of the former government’s 2014 energy reform.
De la Vega showed the highest level of master this year.
Nuevo León pianist Eduardo de la Vega has cause for celebration after being accepted into New York’s prestigious Juilliard School of Music to earn his master’s degree.
“Thank God for my family, teachers and friends who supported and encouraged me to achieve this dream,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
De la Vega is the second Latin American to be accepted by the school and awarded the coveted Kovner Fellowship which provides enhanced programmatic content and full financial support for exceptional students.
Lydia Brown, chair of the Juilliard piano department, said de la Vega’s audition showed the highest level of mastery this year.
The Juilliard, founded in 1905, is highly competitive, accepting only around 7% of applicants, or about 850 students.
De la Vega, 24, who has been winning national piano competitions in Mexico since 2017, first applied to The Juilliard School five years ago but was rejected.
“The best thing that happened to me was having received that refusal because it allowed me to continue searching and doing many things,” said de La Vega, who financed his second audition trip through private music classes.
His teachers were overjoyed for his new opportunity. Tere Treviño calls him “a great student and an excellent musician. I wish you much more success.”
A majority of those polled said stay-at-home measures should continue.
More than half of Mexicans believe that the coronavirus situation is out of control and nearly two-thirds want lockdown measures to continue, a new poll reveals.
Conducted by the newspaper El Financiero on May 22 and 23, the poll found that 52% of 410 adult Mexicans believe that the coronavirus situation has not been controlled, as President López Obrador claimed a month ago and repeated Thursday morning.
In contrast, 44% of respondents said that the government has the situation under control.
The percentage of respondents who believe that it is out of control is up 13% compared to a poll conducted by El Financiero in mid-April while the percentage of those who think it is under control is down 12%.
In the period between the dates when the two polls were conducted, Mexico recorded almost 60,000 Covid-19 cases and more than 6,500 deaths.
Asked to offer an opinion on the government’s coronavirus mitigation measures, 64% of poll respondents said that more restrictions should be enforced and stay-at-home orders/recommendations should be extended, while 35% said that it’s time to lift restrictions and attempt to live life normally in order to limit damage to the economy.
Six in 10 poll respondents said that they mostly believe the information provided by the government about the number of coronavirus cases in Mexico while four in 10 said they don’t.
Thirty-eight percent of those polled believe that the pandemic is in a growth phase, down from 43% on May 9, while 41% think that Mexico is currently at the peak of the outbreak, 6% higher than the previous poll.
Just under one in five respondents – 18% – believe that the pandemic is on the wane.
The percentage of respondents who said that they personally know someone who has been infected with coronavirus increased to 25% in the latest poll compared to just 12% in the survey conducted two weeks earlier.
Two-thirds of those polled said that they are very worried about coronavirus, up from 60%.
Just under seven in 10 respondents said they expected new outbreaks of Covid-19 to occur once restrictions on the economy are lifted while 27% took the opposite view.
Asked to offer their opinion on how six different countries including Mexico have responded to the coronavirus crisis, poll respondents rated China most highly.
Sixty-one percent of respondents said the East Asian country has done a very good or good job in fighting the virus, while 58% said the same about Germany.
Spain responded well to the crisis, according to 46% of those polled, while 41% said that the United States has done a good job in combating Covid-19.
However, 42% said that the U.S. – the global epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak – has performed badly or very badly in its response to Covid-19.
Mexico rated fifth among the six countries, with 36% saying that the response has been good or very good. A third of respondents said that Mexico has done a bad or very bad job in fighting the coronavirus while 27% said that the response has been neither good nor bad.
The only country to rank below Mexico in terms of its response to the pandemic was Brazil, which has recorded the second highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world, according to statistics compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.
