AMLO claims ulterior motive behind Federal Police protest against National Guard

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July 4, 2019

President López Obrador claimed yesterday there was a “dark hand” behind the protests by Federal Police officers against their incorporation into the National Guard, insinuating that they are being orchestrated by opponents of the government with the sole purpose of damaging his administration.

In a video posted to social media, the president said “there is no reason” for the protests, adding “it’s not a just cause, no Federal Police officer is being dismissed.”

“. . . It’s important for everyone to know the information, especially all those who act in good faith: there is a dark hand in this issue,” López Obrador said.

However, the president pledged that his government won’t “repress” the protesting police, asserting “we’re not the same” as previous administrations and that “the matter will be resolved because no injustice is being committed.”

Hundreds of Federal Police officers protested yesterday against plans to absorb them into the newly formed National Guard, arguing that their salaries will be cut and they will lose benefits.

They also claimed that if they refuse to join the new force, they will lose their jobs. Police are continuing to protest in Mexico City today and have maintained road blockades that were set up in different parts of the capital yesterday.

Despite the officers’ claims, the president has stressed that the process of transferring from one security force to the other is “voluntary” and that those who join the National Guard will have “the same salaries” and “the same benefits.”

In his video message, López Obrador said that 10,000 Federal Police officers have passed an entrance test and are being incorporated into the Guard.

Other agents won’t join the new security force because they didn’t pass the test, they don’t want to be evaluated by military personnel, they’re not in good physical condition or they have poor behavior records, he said.

“But they’re going to continue working in the Federal Police,” López Obrador added. “No one will be dismissed, no one will be forced to go into another [security] force.”

At his morning press conference today, the president said that cases of corruption have been detected in the Federal Police and reiterated his claim that there is no reason for the officers’ protests.

López Obrador explained that he made his “dark hand” claim “because those who are leading the protests don’t work at the Federal Police – they belong to organizations of another kind.”

Later this morning, officers rejected the president’s corruption and “dark hand” claims, asserting that no one outside the security force is involved in their protests.

However, at an 11:00am press conference, Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo elaborated on López Obrador’s assertion, claiming that there are people “linked to interest groups” behind the protests.

He said that Ignacio Benavente Torres, president of a human rights group who spent time in prison for kidnapping, is one of the protest leaders, and that the police officers asked former president Felipe Calderón to represent them.

“It’s not a coincidence that one of the representatives of the Federal Police asked ex-president Felipe Calderón to be their union representative,” Durazo said, adding that “critics of the government” are taking advantage of the officers’ protests to try to damage the López Obrador administration.

“We can’t fall into the little game of those who are trying to provoke us and say that we are the ones who abandoned the Federal Police,” he said.

However, the security secretary also said the Federal Police will be disbanded within 18 months and that its officers will enter the National Guard or, if they prefer, a range of other organizations such as the National Immigration Institute, Civil Protection services, customs or the National Anti-Kidnapping Commission.

Source: El Universal (sp), Notimex (sp), El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp), Radio Fórmula (sp), Publimetro (sp)

UNESCO declares vaquita marina habitat World Heritage in danger

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Simon Schatzberg

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July 4, 2019

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The vaquita is a seriously endangered species.

A group of islands and islets and coastal areas in the Gulf of California recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site have been designated World Heritage in danger because of threats to the nearly extinct vaquita marina.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, at its annual meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, asked Mexico to take action to prevent the extinction of the vaquita and stop the use of gillnets in its habitat. The committee also asked other countries to crack down on illegal trafficking of totoaba swim bladders.

Being included on the list of World Heritage sites in danger is regarded as an opportunity to call international attention to the issue and for a member state to work with UNESCO on a comprehensive conservation strategy, so that the site can eventually be removed from the list.

Mexico has already taken action to protect the vaquita, including the creation of a protected area for the remaining animals and promoting alternative fishing techniques to gillnets, in which the vaquita become bycatch. But critics charge that Mexico has not done enough to enforce a prohibition against fishing within the vaquita habitat.

The population has been declining rapidly, and today there are only an estimated 10 remaining, compared to almost 300 in 2005.

The decline in the vaquita population is mostly the result of illegal fishing of totoaba, a large fish that is also endemic to the Gulf of California. Totoaba are prized for their swim bladders, which are considered a delicacy in Asia.

The Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California covers 244 islands, islets and coastal areas that have a high level of biodiversity, with 891 species of fish and 695 species of plants. The site is also home to 39% of all the marine mammal species in the world.

In March, the government announced new plans to protect the vaquita, which included promoting vaquita-safe fishing nets and marking vaquita habitats with buoys. But some environmentalists say the measures don’t go far enough, and what’s needed are floating barriers to keep fishing boats out of the vaquita habitat.

Mexico News Daily

Indigenous students win berth at Japan robotics competition

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Simon Schatzberg

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July 4, 2019

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The robotics students who will represent Mexico in Japan.

A team of two indigenous Nahua students from Guerrero came in first place at a national robotics contest held in Quintana Roo, winning them a berth to represent Mexico in an international competition in Japan next year.

The contest was organized by Conalep, a system of public high schools that offer technical education.

Victor Manuel Bautista Nieves and Próspero Romero Gerardo, both 18-year-old students at the Conalep school in Chilapa, Guerrero, won the contest by designing a robot able to locate and extinguish three randomly-placed candles on a determined field within three minutes.

Professor Luis Ángel Alonso, who worked with the students on the project, told the newspaper Milenio that the team was given only 15 days to complete the project.

“We needed to create a robot that was able to avoid obstacles and put out fires, without leaving determined lines,” he said. “We needed to use line follower sensors, grayscale sensors and flame sensors, as well as motors that do the work of putting out the flames.”

The firefighting robot created by two Guerrero students.

Romero is from the community of Ixcatla, about an hour away from Chilapa. The youngest of eight siblings, he is the first to go to high school. During the week, he stays with his godmother in Chilapa to be closer to the school, where he is studying nursing. On the weekends he goes home to Ixcatla to help his parents with their work on the farm.

Bautista, who lives in Zitlala, is studying electromechanics.

He hopes to pursue a degree in mechatronic engineering, a discipline he says is “focused on automating machines to benefit people, using physics, mechanics, electronics and programming.”

Since he won the contest, Bautista says his commute has taken much longer because people stop him on the street to congratulate him.

“They stop me, they give me a handshake, or sometimes a hug, and they say they want to go to Japan too,” he said.

Source: Milenio (sp)

US drug agency investigates ex-Pemex chief for money laundering

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MND Staff

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July 4, 2019

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The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is investigating former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya for money laundering, a federal court revealed yesterday.

An administrative court in Mexico City said the DEA sent an official letter to the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the Secretariat of Finance on April 30 to advise that it had initiated a probe into the onetime head of the state oil company, who is currently a fugitive from justice.

Based on the United States’ investigation, the court revoked a provisional suspension order issued on June 20 that allowed Lozoya to access his bank accounts. They had been frozen in late May shortly after a warrant for his arrest was issued in connection with the 2014 sale of a fertilizer plant to Pemex at a highly-inflated price by steelmaker Altos Hornos de México.

The court said the decision to refreeze Lozoya’s accounts was intended to “prevent the commission and/or continuation of the crime of operations with resources of illicit origin.”

The June 20 decision to temporarily unfreeze the accounts was justified on the basis that the UIF had violated the law by blocking access to the accounts because it didn’t have an order from a foreign government or international organization to do so.

Judge Gabriel Regis will decide tomorrow whether a definitive suspension order is granted to allow Lozoya to access his accounts. However, the possibility of that occurring now appears unlikely given the existence of the DEA investigation.

Lozoya managed the state oil company during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto, with whom he reportedly maintained a close relationship.

Today, his lawyer said he has filed for a judicial order requiring that Peña Nieto and former finance secretary Luis Videgaray be required to give evidence in the case of the fertilizer plant. Also named in the request are former energy secretary Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, former electricity commission chief Enrique Ochoa Reza and two other officials, Javier Coello Trejo said.

Lozoya has also been accused of receiving US $10 million in bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for the awarding of Pemex contracts.

Some of the money was allegedly paid before Lozoya became Pemex CEO and was funneled into Peña Nieto’s 2012 election campaign.

The former official has consistently denied any wrongdoing and his lawyer insisted on June 17 that his client is innocent of all charges against him.

His lawyer said that Lozoya was in Mexico City but claimed that he wouldn’t be arrested because authorities won’t be able to find him.

President López Obrador last week urged the federal Attorney General’s Office to apply itself to the task of arresting the former Pemex boss, declaring “there mustn’t be impunity for anyone.”

Source: Reforma (sp)

8 reefs discovered off coast of Veracruz

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Madison Koen

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July 4, 2019

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University of Veracruz researcher Ortiz.

Researchers from the University of Veracruz and the Boca del Río Institute of Technology, supported by environmentalists and local fishermen, have discovered eight reefs with over 100 previously unknown reef structures off the coast of Veracruz.

University researcher Leonardo Ortiz Lozano said the reefs cover a surface area of 1,100 hectares from the municipality of Tamiahua to the Tecolutla river, and from the municipality of Alvarado to the mouth of the Papaloapan river.

He added that the biggest, dubbed Corazones Reef by its discoverers, is close to five kilometers long and 700 meters wide, making it the longest and northernmost reef in Mexico discovered to date.

The Los Gallos Reef and the Camaronera Reef also stand out for their ecosystems, which contain marine sponges, algae and some invertebrates. The scientist said that of the eight reefs, six are coral while two others are non-coral, which for the most part are not as diverse as other reefs.

“We are talking about reefs that are 18, 30 and 40 meters deep, which means that they are not as diverse as the reefs we are familiar with, such as the Sacrificios Reef and the Isla Verde Reef, all of those. But at the same time, they have a lot of sediment. They have a low diversity of coral and fishing prevents them from having a larger diversity of commercially important fish.”

The discovery of the reefs could also have major implications for the area’s commercial development. Ortiz Lozano explained that since the newly-discovered reefs have not yet been recognized by Mexican authorities, they are not protected and are at risk of being destroyed by oil and gas drilling and related activities in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The southern Texas-Tuxpan pipeline passes right over the most important reef we discovered, which is the Corazones Reef.”

Ximena Ramos Pedrueza, Gulf area director of the environmental organization Cemda, said the organization is pushing for the reefs to be recognized by the Commission for Natural Protected Areas (Conanp) by including them on maps of protected areas, which would grant the reefs some protection from major industry.

Source: Milenio (sp), Al Calor Político.com (sp), La Jornada (sp)

Government plans tourism promotion fund of 50 million pesos

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MND Staff

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July 4, 2019

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Tourists on a beach in Mexico. Industry spokesman fear they will go elsewhere without sufficient marketing of the tourism product. — Tourists on a beach in Mexico. Industry spokesman fear they will go elsewhere without sufficient tourism marketing.

The Secretariat of Tourism is preparing to launch a 50-million-peso (US $2.6-million) tourism promotion fund, according to a hotel industry leader.

Tulum Hotel Association president David Ortiz told the newspaper El Financiero that Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco broke the news during a meeting last week in Chetumal, Quintana Roo.

“He told us they’re close to having a trust with its own funds of around 50 million pesos for promotion activities. It’s good news of which we approve,” Ortiz said. The amount is a very small fraction of what used to be spent on tourism marketing.

The hotel leader explained that he didn’t have any details about how the funds might be used.

Shortly after the new federal government took office last December, Torruco announced that the Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM) would be disbanded and its international offices closed.

The marketing agency’s annual budget of approximately 6 billion pesos (US $316 million) would be allocated to construction of the Maya Train, he said.

The Senate approved the dissolution of the CPTM last month.

The government’s decision was widely condemned by tourism sector representatives, many of whom warned that the move would only benefit destinations in the region that compete with Mexico for tourism revenue such as Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

The Mexican Employers Federation described the decision to concentrate tourism funding on the Maya Train project as “almost suicidal” and the “wrong bet.”

However, Ortiz noted that while the CPTM no longer exists, diplomatic staff are undergoing training in tourism marketing so that Mexico’s embassies and consulates have the capacity to promote the nation’s destinations.

Some tourism businesses and local governments have also joined forces to fill the vacuum left by the closure of the CPTM.

Two airport operators, airlines Aeroméxico and Volaris, tequila maker José Cuervo and restaurant chain Hard Rock are among the companies that have stepped up to invest in marketing.

Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, and the state of Quintana Roo will both benefit from privately-backed initiatives.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Critical natural gas shortage threatens to shut down manufacturers

By

MND Staff

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July 3, 2019

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Industry is waiting for natural gas to arrive through the new Texas-Tuxpan pipeline, but legal action has delayed the movement of gas. — Industry is waiting for natural gas to arrive through the new Texas-Tuxpan pipeline, but legal action has delayed its startup.

If natural gas supply doesn’t return to normal within the next two weeks, industrial production could grind to a halt and some factories may even be forced to shut down, two business leaders warn.

Francisco Cervantes, president of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin), and Enoch Castellanos, chief of the National Chamber or Industrial Transformation, described the gas shortage as “critical,” explaining that several companies are only operating at 30% capacity.

States in the north, west and southeast of the country are all affected, they said.

While the private sector has been raising the alarm about gas shortages for months, there is a “clear ignorance” of the situation on the part of federal authorities, Castellanos charged.

“For that reason, we’ll hold them responsible for [manufacturers’] stoppages and the unemployment that follows . . . .” he said.

The Business Coordinating Council, an influential private sector group, warned in February that natural gas shortages would force factories to close.

Mexico’s gas production has been on the wane for a decade, forcing the country to increasingly depend on imports, most of which come from the United States.

But while shortages are not a new phenomenon, they have recently worsened, said José Luis de la Cruz, director of the Concamin Economic Studies Center.

Nuevo León, Coahuila and Tamaulipas have been particularly hard hit, he said.

The Yucatán peninsula, which receives gas from northern states, has also suffered from the shortages and blackouts in cities including Mérida and Cancún have been blamed on an insufficient supply of fuel.

Guanajuato, Michoacán and Jalisco have also been affected by the gas shortages, de la Cruz said.

Like Castellanos, Cervantes also took aim at the federal government.

He said the previous administration made a “very big” effort to bring gas to the country through the construction of the submarine Texas-Tuxpan pipeline.

It was completed last month and has the capacity to move 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, but hasn’t been put into operation because the contract between the Federal Electricity Commission and the companies that built it is going to international arbitration.

“. . . For eight months we’ve been waiting for the service. At the middle of July we won’t be able to put up with the gas shortage anymore,” Castellanos said.

“If we produce with another input that isn’t natural gas, we’ll lose competitiveness.”

Source: El Economista (sp)

Federal Police protest against reduced pay, benefits at National Guard

By

MND Staff

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July 3, 2019

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Officers protest Wednesday morning at Federal Police headquarters.

Hundreds of Federal Police officers protested in Mexico City today to reject their incorporation into the National Guard, arguing that their salaries will be cut and they will lose benefits.

In a show of collective dissent, the officers gathered this morning outside police headquarters in the borough of Iztapalapa.

The officers are demanding that their current benefits be maintained – including an operational bonus of almost 10,000 pesos per month when deployed to dangerous states, that they be paid a minimum salary of 30,000 pesos per month (US $1,600) and that their levels of seniority, or ranks, be respected.

The police also voiced opposition to being evaluated by military personnel and having to live in military barracks while serving in the National Guard, a new security force that formally began operations this week.

In addition, they are demanding the elimination of polygraph tests and that working hours as stipulated under the Federal Labor Law be respected.

Senior National Guard official Trujillo caught in the crush at Federal Police headquarters.

“We’re tired of so much abuse. They want to send us to Chiapas or send us to other places and they don’t want to respect seniority . . . If they want to dismiss us, dismiss us . . .” said officer Julio Conrado.

During the protest, the National Guard’s operations coordinator arrived at police headquarters where she was surrounded by the protesting officers.

Patricia Trujillo – who the officers labeled a “traitor” – tried to appease the police by offering them the opportunity to meet with Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo.

Speaking at his morning press conference today, President López Obrador rejected claims that Federal Police officers who refuse to join the National Guard will be dismissed.

“. . . No one is going to be dismissed, they’re going to have the same salaries, the same benefits, no one is going to be forced to go into another [security] force,” he said.

“The process that is taking place, in which Federal Police officers can go into the National Guard, is voluntary . . . If they meet the requirements they can belong to the National Guard, if they don’t meet them . . . they’re not going to be dismissed because there are other tasks that are going to continue to be carried out,” López Obrador added.

This afternoon, Secretary Durazo offered dialogue to the disgruntled police officers, explaining that he has already ordered the establishment of a government commission whose members will meet with them to discuss their concerns and resolve “the requests and anxieties.”

Durazo stressed that officers’ salaries and benefits will be respected and reiterated that joining the National Guard is voluntary.

“There should be no concern . . . We’re a government concerned with social well-being and we have to concern ourselves with those who provide service to society such as Federal Police officers, we’re not going to hurt anyone . . .”

Source: Milenio (sp), Reforma (sp)

Black Saturdays at the Punk Market: Tianguis Cultural del Chopo

By

Andy Hume

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July 3, 2019

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Modern pop, like Gorillaz, mixes with darker favorites, like Burzum at El Chopo.

Every Saturday morning, just outside the Buenavista subway station, darkness converges on the semi-rough streets of near-north Mexico City.

The overwhelming blackness – in hair, jeans, t-shirts and general attitude – gathers for Tianguis Cultural del Chopo: “The Punk Market,” “The Metal Market” or “The Goth Market,” depending on your distinct, specified affiliation.

“El Chopo” is a weekly flea market dedicated to the somewhat fringe arts often associated with the general lack of color: books on Satanism and black magic; underground films; bondage-inspired fashion; and records and t-shirts from classic rock to severely piercing heavy metal.

El Chopo originally sprung up in 1980 just outside the Museo Universitario del Chopo, with a small group of hippie-leaning artists, poets and musicians, as a place to trade books and LPs that were often hard to find in Mexico.

As is the case with many of Mexico City’s weekly tianguis, demand grew beyond available space, and the market moved to Calle Juan Aldama, where it now runs alongside the beautiful Vasconcelos Library.

rockers at el chopo — The kids’ mom declined to be in the photo saying, “I’m not a rocker like they are.”

Throughout the 90s and 2000s, the market began to bend more toward goth, punk and metal, while these scenes gained momentum as the more outwardly countercultural movements of the time. Until today, when young kids opening their eyes to the darkness for the first time mix with semi-practiced teens and old-timers in their 40s and 50s who’ve been committed to the scene for years.

El Chopo is the spot in Mexico City to show off your best gear – leathers and chains, stylized eye makeup and decades-old t-shirts from obscure bands that have long since disbanded. If you can “pass” at Chopo, your legitimacy is beyond question.

The biggest draws at the market these days are the screen-printed knock-off t-shirts, almost always in black, from mainstays like Metallica and The Ramones, to lesser-known Japanese metal bands, and anarchist punk and ska bands from around the world.

As this is Mexico, the skull is king and the logo from American horror punk favorites, The Misfits, is always in heavy supply.

The shirts are generally well-made and can run from about 50 to 250 pesos, the price rising with the intricacy of the design. Classic band logos are interspersed with homemade Chopo originals, like a soft Renaissance nude above the sharp-edged logo of Norwegian black metal pillars, Burzum.

Toward the back of the tianguis is the Radio Chopo stage, appropriately situated directly in front of an electrical substation, the veritable pulse of modern Mexican metal, punk and heavy electronic music. Up to five bands and DJs perform weekly – giving viewers a chance to see renowned bands for free, and smaller bands a chance for exposure to a pre-made audience.

The CD and LP swap at El Chopo offers an opportunity to try some rare Mexican rock music for a good price.

The shows usually begin at around 11:00am, which can make for an interesting sight of sweaty longhairs headbanging to death metal in the blazing early afternoon sun.

Directly in front of the stage are the roving LP, CD and cassette tape swappers, carrying crates and bags overflowing with American and British rock classics and harder-to-find underground Latin American punk and ska.

These guys (yeah, almost all guys) are in it for the love and offer the chance to dive into some rare Mexican psychedelic gems like Zig Zag, Grupo Nahuatl and Peace & Love for as little as 100 pesos.

Some of the vendors have been collecting records since long before El Chopo began and trading since its inception, so it can be a great opportunity to hear stories from the 60s and 70s, when they were true outcasts.

They were shunned in the streets and their concerts regularly shut down, when the “normal” citizenry found it just fine that the police should beat the hell out of the freaks: the good ol’ days.

• Tianguis Cultural El Chopo runs every Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm on Calle Juan Aldama, between Mosqueta and Luna, in Colonia Buenavista, Mexico City.

This is the 17th in a series on the bazaars, flea markets and markets of Mexico City:

Traffic tickets: pay the cop or pay at the station?

By

Simon Schatzberg

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July 3, 2019

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In Sonoyta it doesn't really matter where you pay your traffic ticket.

When pulled over by police for traffic violations, motorists in Mexico often face a dilemma: to demand a written citation that can be paid at a police station, which will likely draw out the ordeal, or pay a fine directly to the officer, which will get it over with quickly but will possibly contribute to corruption.

But a column by Mike Bibb in the Eastern Arizona Courier questions the conventional wisdom that says motorists should ask to pay fines at the police station.

Bibb, who lives in Arizona, has been visiting Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, for over 30 years, and has never had any negative interactions with the police and a trip he took in June with his wife Eilene seemed no different.

But on their way home to Arizona they had to drive through the border town of Sonoyta, where the speed limit quickly drops from highway speeds to 40 kilometers per hour. Bibb was not able to slow down fast enough, and a police officer pulled him over, having clocked him at nine km/h above the limit.

After taking Bibb’s license and registration, the officer disappeared for a few minutes, during which Bibb assumed he was writing a citation. But when the officer came back, there was no physical ticket, only a verbal notification that Bibb owed a fine to the city of Sonoyta, which could be paid directly to the officer, or in town at the police station.

Following his belief that paying fines directly to officers encourages police corruption, Bibb asked to be allowed to pay the fine at the station. As the officer instructed, Bibb followed the squad car to the police station. But when they got there, the officer disappeared into the building as Bibb was looking for parking.

When Bibb finally made it into the police station lobby, he ended up facing another officer, behind a glass barrier, who was in possession of his driver’s license. Bibb was informed that his debt to the city of Sonoyta was US $93, payable in cash.

Anxious to get his license back Bibb quickly handed over five $20 bills. But since the police station was unable to make change, and Bibb didn’t have any smaller bills, the officer decided to lower the fine to $80, and gave Bibb his license back with one of the bills.

Bibb asked for a receipt but the officer told him he couldn’t have one.

Bibb now questions what he achieved by demanding to pay at the station, wondering whether it would have been easier to just pony up and pay the cop directly.

Source: Eastern Arizona Courier (en)