Library in the clouds: retired aircraft put to use in Michoacán

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July 29, 2019

The repurposed airplane in Ciudad Hidalgo. 'library in the clouds.' — The repurposed airplane in Ciudad Hidalgo.

A Boeing 727 aircraft retired from service in 2008 has been repurposed as a 21st-century library in Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacán.

Called Biblioteca en las Nubes, or Library in the Clouds, the plane has been visited by countless students since it opened in April 2018, 10 years after it made its final landing at Mexico City airport.

The fuselage of the aircraft is equipped with the latest technology including high-speed internet and computers and tablets so that visiting students can conduct research. It also has a projector and screen to show educational films.

The rear of the plane serves as a reading lounge where visitors can sit back and enjoy a traditional paper book, while in the cockpit students can try their hand at flying the plane using a virtual reality flight simulator.

Library manager Yanet Martínez Sánchez told the newspaper El Universal that students from preschool right up to university have visited the plane free of charge to make use of its facilities and develop their research and reading skills.

Computer terminals line either side of the fuselage.

Norberto Antonio Martínez Soto, a former federal lawmaker and current state deputy, was responsible for getting the project off the ground.

After Aeroméxico withdrew the Boeing 727 from service, it was kept in a hangar at the Mexico City airport for almost a decade before it was transferred to Ciudad Hidalgo by road in three pieces in March 2017.

The reassembly and refitting of the plane was completed by the non-profit organization Suena México Suena (Dream Mexico Dream) and supported by the federal Secretariat of Culture.

Students from Ciudad Hidalgo’s 18 de Marzo primary school enjoyed all facets of their recent visit to the Library in the Clouds.

After using the flight simulator, 8-year-old Kathy Hayden Hernández said the experience was very realistic, explaining that she felt like she was really in control of the plane.

“The world looked very beautiful from above,” she added.

A young student flies the plane with a simulator.

In the reading lounge, students commented that the experience was a unique and relaxing one.

“I really liked coming into an airplane to read. Everything is very calm. I read the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and another about fish,” said one girl.

“It’s really cool, it’s relaxing because there’s not a lot of noise and [the experience] is very interesting,” said another.

Most of the students said they would like to return for a second visit.

Teacher Edith Silva Núñez said that the majority of her class hadn’t been on a plane before so the visit to the library wasn’t only academically enriching but also very exciting.

“The promotion of reading through technology is also very important; a lot of them don’t have the opportunity [to use] any kind of computer,” she added.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Robot looks for sinkhole danger areas beneath the streets of Ecatepec

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Madison Koen

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July 29, 2019

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Ecatepec's new robot is intended to prevent sinkholes in municipal roads.

In response to mounting concerns over sinkholes, municipal authorities in Ecatepec, México state, have sent a robot into the drainage system to patrol the city’s plumbing network.

The mechanical sentry is equipped with two video cameras to help authorities detect ruptures in pipes to repair them quickly before they can generate sinkholes.

The municipal government held a special demonstration of the robot’s performance and technologies, which in addition to the video cameras include a tracking device that will allow authorities to locate with precision ruptures in both drinking water and drainage lines. It also has ground-penetrating radar capable of taking ultrasound photos through up to 8 meters of subsoil.

Juan Herrera Moro, director of Ecatepec’s water, sewer and drainage system (Sapase), said the city has 750 kilometers of primary drainage pipes and 3,500 kilometers of a secondary system of pipes. He said the entire system is between 30 and 60 years old, meaning that nearly all the pipes are due to be replaced.

Mayor Fernando Vilchis Contreras predicted that the robot’s patrols will save the city considerable “time, money, effort, personnel and most importantly, accidents.”

Officials in Ecatepec demonstrate their new robot.

“Ecatepec deserves to be up to date and we are going to give its citizens the city they need and deserve. We are going to generate the conditions necessary to be able to buy two robot units; this is going to help us a lot. [Dealing with] the sinkholes is our top priority and it will no longer be necessary to rip up roads to prevent them.”

Sinkholes have become a constant fear for residents in recent months. The city, part of the Mexico City metropolitan area and also one of the country’s densest and most populous urban centers, is located directly on top of the unstable soils of the drained bed of Lake Texcoco.

As a result, Ecatepec has seen some 120 sinkholes form. One that appeared on July 12 in the Chamizal neighborhood was so big that it swallowed two vehicles.

Source: Milenio (sp), Excélsior (sp)

Fact-checking service steals name, fails to check AMLO’s facts

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Cristina Tardáguila

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July 29, 2019

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The logo of the government news agency's new fact-checking unit. The name "Verificado" actually belongs to someone else.

On June 28, the Mexican newswire service Notimex, a daily service run by the staff of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, launched its own fact-checking unit.

According to Notimex’s inaugural tweet about the platform, the project is designed to debunk false news on social media as well as to fact-check dubious content published by traditional media outlets, such as newspapers, radios and TV channels.

Notimex decided to baptize its fact-checking unit “Verificado Notimex,” though its yellow and black logo places emphasis on the first of those two words.

For those familiar with previous fact-checking initiatives in Mexico, this might ring a bell: in 2018, over 60 fact-checking platforms and media outlets in the country formed a coalition to fight disinformation throughout that year’s presidential campaign. The nationally popular initiative, called “Verificado,” has since been awarded many times for its excellent work.

In addition to this, a regional fact-checking initiative in the northern state of Monterrey launched in July 2017 had registered “VerificadoMX” as its brand in 2018. According to founder Daniela Mendoza, the organization is now ready to go to court against the Mexican state to protect the name.

The logo of established fact-checker Verificado.

“We have the right to do something and there are some people offering us support to go forward,” said Mendoza in a WhatsApp conversation. “We are four journalists working in the north of Mexico with limited resources, but we want to go against the government even though we know our chances aren’t great.”

For several months, President López Obrador has spent two hours every morning talking to Mexicans live on social media. Every day, from 7:00am to 8:30am, he gives long speeches about his government and answers a handful of questions from selected journalists. VerificadoMX follows him closely and has concluded that about 50% of what he says in his Youtube appearances is false.

On July 2, López Obrador celebrated his first year in power with a long speech at a live morning event. Animal Político, one of the International Fact-Checking Network’s signatories in Mexico, published a detailed article pointing out six false claims he made throughout his speech.

Throughout the course of 90 minutes, the president had twisted information about employment, gas prices and foreign investments, to name a few. By comparing the president’s comments to official data, Animal Político was able to point out to Mexican audiences exactly where and how López Obrador had manipulated his facts.

“Verificado Notimex,” on the other hand, didn’t publish a word about that speech. On July 3, all it had to offer on its website were four recent debunks they had done with social media content — none of which was related to López Obrador and his first year in power.

“This is something predictable. Notimex’s director is chosen by the president and ratified by the Congress,” said Martin Vargas, editor-in-chief of Spondeo Media, another fact-checking initiative in Mexico. “But if Notimex really wants to enter the fact-checking world, it should be aware of the IFCN’s Code of Principles, for example, and have more editorial freedom to avoid conflict of interest.”

The debate about who owns the “Verificado” brand is getting bigger every day. On July 2, Sanjuana Martínez, head of Notimex, posted on her personal Twitter account a picture showing what she pledged to be a registered trademark document. Then she deleted it.

But the Verificado team kept a copy and, according to them, it showed a registration demand. Not a concession.

“We have our trademark. We reacted on social media and people started attacking us, accusing us of lying and of trying to keep a Spanish word for ourselves,” said Mendonza. “But it is our brand and it was assigned to us by the National Intellectual Property Institute last July.”

López Obrador isn’t the only politician taking advantage of the names of established fact-checking outlets.

In October 2017, in the Czech Republic, prime ministerial candidate Andrej Babiš created his own “fact verification” project named Můj Demagog, which translates to “My Demagog.” The IFCN’s verified member in the country is Demagog.cz and is based in Prague.

“As for today, the page is still active,” wrote Ivana Procházková, an expert from Demagog, in an email do the IFCN. “However since the launching of the website, soon before parliamentary elections in 2017, no new claims or any update appeared. So I guess the purpose was mostly to give the impression that he explained all the allegations made towards him in a complex, serious and reliable manner.”

Cristina Tardáguila is the founder and director of Agência Lupa, the first fact-checking newswire in Brazil. This piece first appeared on Poynter.org.

Seven dead after Isthmus of Tehuantepec massacre

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Simon Schatzberg

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July 29, 2019

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The grisly scene in Santo Domingo Petapa Sunday morning.

Seven people were killed in a drive-by shooting on the weekend in the Oaxaca municipality of Santo Domingo Petapa, located in the northern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Santo Domingo residents told the newspaper El Universal that they first heard volleys of shots around 11:00pm on Saturday night. About an hour and a half later, a group of masked men traveling on motorcycles and in pickup trucks started shooting at a group of young people who were having a party in the street.

At least four men and one woman died at the scene, while another man was transported to the hospital in Lagunas with injuries. After the shooting, the aggressors fled in their vehicles.

When municipal police arrived at the scene they secured a Jeep Cherokee with Veracruz plates and recovered several .45-caliber and 9-caliber shell casings.

The Oaxaca attorney general said there were a total of six victims but witnesses who spoke to El Universal said they had seen two bodies near the Calvario Chapel, bringing the death count to seven.

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Not all the victims have been identified. One man’s body was removed from the scene by his family before authorities arrived.

Most of the victims lived and worked in Santo Domingo Petapa and were aged between 17 and 30.

The attack is the third mass shooting in the Isthmus region in recent weeks. On July 15, three people were killed in a Juchitán bar, while later that day four people were shot in a workshop in Salina Cruz.

So far this year there have been 144 murders in the Isthmus, of which 28 took place in July.

Source: El Universal (sp), NVI Noticias (sp)

Family of slain couple reveals further details of Guerrero murder

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MND Staff

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July 29, 2019

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Paul Nielsen was trying to elude capture when gunmen opened fire. — Paul Nielsen was trying to elude capture when gunmen began shooting.

The family of a man from the United States who was killed in Guerrero earlier this month has released a statement that reveals new details about the death of their father and his Mexican wife.

Paul Nielsen of Utah and Janet Vázquez of Puebla were shot in the early hours of July 18 while traveling from Acapulco to Zihuatanejo with their 12-year-old son. Reports published last week said that community police allegedly committed the crime.

A statement from Nielsen’s children from his first – and still current – marriage, which cites the boy’s account of events, said that three vehicles began chasing the car in which their father was traveling.

Vázquez shouted that they were going to be attacked after which Nielsen accelerated and the people pursuing their car opened fire, the statement said.

Nielsen lost control of his vehicle and crashed on the side of the road. The aggressors pulled him, his wife and stepson out of the car, robbed them and placed them in another vehicle, the statement said.

The family said it was unclear at what point Nielsen and Vázquez were killed but explained that they were driven to another location where their bodies were dumped on the side of the road.

Kevin Rojas Vázquez was abandoned with his deceased mother and stepfather and tried to flag down passing motorists “but no one paid attention until the state police arrived.”

Earlier reports said that he too had been shot but Nielsen’s family said that wasn’t the case. Kevin is now living with relatives, they said.

The statement said that the boy is “very traumatized” and hasn’t been able to provide all the details about what happened.

The family said they didn’t know very much about the status of the investigation but added that they had been told that both Mexican and United States authorities “are working to find the killers.”

Nielsen’s body was returned to Utah on Thursday and a funeral service will be held this week.

“Our family is absolutely devastated over the loss of our dad. We were very close to him. His family was his world, and he wasn’t just our father, he was one of our best friends,” the statement said.

The family described Nielsen’s death as “the most difficult moment of our lives,” adding that “it’s very important to us that we warn other people so that they don’t have to go through the same thing.”

“. . . The State Department has an active travel advisory for certain areas of Mexico, including the state our dad was planning on driving through. Though he was usually a careful person, he must not have seen that advisory, and that ignorance had tragic results that will affect all of us for the rest of our lives.”

Nielsen’s daughter, Priscilla Nielsen, told CNN that her father and Vázquez were in a faith-based marriage rather than a legally recognized one.

“Questions have also been asked about the nature of our relationship with Janet and Kevin. Our dad married Janet as a second wife about three years ago, and Kevin became his stepson. Immigration was not a reasonable option so our dad split his time between Mexico and Utah,” the family’s statement said.

Source: CNN (en), ABC 4 (en)

Protesting San Miguel police call for dismissal of senior officers

By

Simon Schatzberg

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July 29, 2019

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The funeral for the two police officers killed last week in San Miguel.

Municipal police in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, are demanding that Mayor Luis Alberto Villarreal fire the department’s leadership.

On Sunday, officers protested outside police headquarters to demand the dismissal of their bosses as well as the implementation of a new security strategy that guarantees their safety.

The protests started after two officers were killed in a shooting last week. Dissident police say the deaths were the result of a policing strategy that sends only one or two officers out to respond to calls, exposing them to greater risk.

“We need security guarantees for ourselves to be able to guarantee security to citizens,” one officer told the newspaper El Universal.

The rally was attended by transit police and 911 emergency number workers, as well as citizens who showed their support to the officers and provided food.

At least five officers have resigned because of the shooting, and many others are reported to be considering leaving the force.

Protesters said the mayor has been avoiding addressing their concerns, and that their superiors in the department have refused to meet with them. They said late last night that they had not received a response.

Source: El Universal (sp)

At 10 million pesos, jewelry auction nets half what was expected

By

Simon Schatzberg

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July 29, 2019

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This 3-million-peso Piaget watch remained unsold.

A government auction of confiscated jewelry on Sunday failed to meet its fundraising goal when some of the most expensive lots didn’t sell.

The auction was the third held by the System of Administrative Allocation of Assets (SAE) and raised 10.3 million pesos (US $540,000), far short of the 21 million-peso minimum goal set by SAE head Ricardo Rodríguez. Of the 148 lots that were up for auction, 38 stayed on the block as bidders opted not to offer the minimum price set by the SAE.

The government expected between 250 and 350 people to take part but only 70 signed up to participate.

The most expensive piece, a white gold Piaget watch encrusted with diamonds with a starting bid of almost 3 million pesos, was one of the pieces that failed to sell. The most expensive piece that did sell was an 18-karat white gold Patek Philippe watch, which went for a little over a million pesos.

The cheapest lot sold was a collection of various 14-karat gold necklaces and earrings, selling for 12,500 pesos. SAE sourcOKes told the newspaper El Universal that such pieces, which don’t have much value, are often purchased to be melted down.

The auction’s proceeds will be used roadwork near the border between Michoacán and Colima, according to Rodríguez.

He added that later this week he will announce the details of the next auction, which will sell off properties allegedly confiscated from human trafficking activist Rosi Orozco and accused drug trafficker Xen Li Yegon.

The former, head of the United Against Human Trafficking Commission, was accused of benefiting personally from a government contract that gave the organization the use of confiscated real estate. The commission denied the accusation.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Weather gives Quintana Roo relief from sargassum; hopes high for tourism

By

MND Staff

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July 29, 2019

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A sargassum-free beach in the Riviera Maya.

Weather conditions have brought some relief from sargassum for the Quintana Roo coastline, which has seen massive amounts of the seaweed in recent months.

Tropical waves 21 and 22 and the approach of cold front No. 62 have caused sargassum to drift away from the beaches of the Caribbean coast state.

In the north of Quintana Roo, just seven locations were affected by excessive amounts of the weed yesterday, according to the Cancún sargassum monitoring network.

The affected beaches were Punta Piedra, Tulum Ruinas, Tankah, Royalton Riviera, Moon Palace, Riviera Cancún and Playa Coral.

Most of the east coast of Cozumel was also still affected by excessive amounts of sargassum.

The sargassum monitoring network's map as of Sunday morning. — The sargassum monitoring network’s map as of Sunday morning.

However, the total number of locations given a red light under the monitoring network’s four-tier “traffic light” system – 14 – was less than half last week’s peak of 33.

Network chief Esteban Amaro predicted that cold front No. 62 will continue to hinder the arrival of large quantities of sargassum until at least the end of the week.

Despite the seasonal phenomenon, the Quintana Roo Secretariat of Tourism is still predicting that 3.8 million tourists will visit the state during the summer holiday period.

Almost 1.47 million people are forecast to vacation in Cancún, which would represent a 1.4% increase on 2018 numbers, while 1.67 tourists are expected in the Riviera Maya, which would be 2.7% more than last year.

Tourism is expected to bring more than US $3.2 billion into the state during the summer holiday season, which would be 3.4% higher than the same period last year.

Tourism Secretary Marisol Vanegas Pérez said the government is confident that the forecasts will be accurate because airlines have confirmed that flights to Cancún will be full throughout the summer.

The Riviera Maya Hotels Association reported last week an average occupancy rate of 82% during the first six months of 2019, which president Conrad Bergwerf described as “positive.”

Apart from sargassum, insecurity in Quintana Roo and the absence of international promotion because of the disbanding of the Tourism Promotion Council are causes for concern among hotel owners and other tourism sector stakeholders.

Source: El Economista (sp)

National Guard to protect Manzanillo mayor after attack by gunmen

By

Madison Koen

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July 27, 2019

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The mayor of Manzanillo, Colima, survived an attempt on her life on Friday but two of her bodyguards were left wounded.

Griselda Martínez was riding in a vehicle in an outlying neighborhood of the city when armed men intercepted them and opened fire.

According to local media sources, some of the bullets intended for the mayor struck a city bus that was traveling along the same route.

Colima Governor José Ignacio Peralta said the mayor survived the attack unharmed and had been transferred to the city’s naval base for her protection.

In response, the National Guard and Federal Police committed personnel to reinforce her personal security detail.

No arrests have been made but the governor said he had ordered the Attorney General’s Office to conduct a full investigation into the incident.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Woman dies from burns after hot stones massage goes wrong

By

Madison Koen

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July 27, 2019

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A woman has died from burns caused by a heating device that burst into flames during a hot stones massage at a spa in Monterrey, Nuevo León, earlier this week.

Diana Ortiz, 33, sustained burns to 90% of her body after the device used to heat the stones exploded in flames, igniting the bandages that covered her body.

The incident took place at Norella Boutique and Spa in Ciudad Guadalupe, part of the greater Monterrey metropolitan area.

The woman was admitted to the University Hospital at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, but doctors were unable to save her.

According to the state Attorney General’s Office, the spa did not have the sanitation license necessary to operate a health treatment center. Investigators determined that the heating device had indeed caused the fire and seized it as evidence.

Source: El Universal (sp)