Poll: 74% would vote for AMLO to finish mandate; performance rating at 69%

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August 29, 2019

The president's performance rating on a scale of one to 10 from August 2018 to August 2019. el universal

Almost three-quarters of respondents to a new poll said they would vote in favor of President López Obrador completing his six-year term, while just under seven in 10 approve of his performance.

If a revocation of mandate vote was held today – as the president has pledged to hold three years into his administration – 74.1% of those polled by the newspaper El Universal said that would support the continuation of López Obrador’s term, while 19.3% indicated they would not.

The other 6.6% of respondents said they didn’t know which way they would vote.

The president’s approval rating remains strong at 69% although it has declined almost four points compared to El Universal’s June poll and 10 points since March.

López Obrador’s performance rating on a scale of one to 10 also slipped to an average of 7.22 compared to 7.33 in June and 7.72 in March.

Nevertheless, only 9.5% of respondents to the August survey said that they “totally disapprove” of López Obrador’s performance.

Seven in 10 said the president has demonstrated the capacity to solve the country’s problems even though 54% asserted that Mexico’s troubles have exceeded the government’s capacity to deal with them.

Six in 10 said they are optimistic that Mexico will continue to improve under López Obrador’s leadership, while one in five said that things will stay the same and 13% said that the country will get worse.

Just under two-thirds of those polled said they didn’t regret voting for López Obrador in the 2018 election, while just 5.9% of respondents said they did rue their decision.

Just under 22% of respondents said they didn’t vote for López Obrador in the presidential election, while 6.5% said that they didn’t vote at all.

Those numbers indicate that just over 70% of poll respondents voted for the president last year, 17% higher than the 53% support he garnered among all voters on polling day.

The survey also shows that the president scores much better than state governors and mayors in terms of rapport with the citizens they represent.

Just under 47% of respondents said they believed that López Obrador would take their petitions and proposals into account were they to meet with him face to face, while just 23% and 27% respectively said the same about their governors and mayors.

The poll also indicates that people believe that quality of life has improved under the current government.

Asked for an evaluation on a scale of one to 10, in which one is “very unsatisfied” and 10 is “very satisfied,” the average was 7.74 compared to 7.48 in June and 7.38 in March.

More than four in 10 respondents said their quality of life was much better or better than in recent months whereas only 16.5% said it was worse.

However, almost three-quarters of those polled said their family’s income had not increased in recent months, while just over one-quarter said it had. López Obrador stresses regularly that providing income support payments and welfare programs to the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable is a priority for his government.

Asked to name the government’s greatest achievement in its almost nine months in office, 25% cited social programs, 16% mentioned the crackdown on fuel theft and 8% referred to the fight against corruption.

The government’s response to combating crime – Mexico is on track to record its most violent year on record – was cited by 13.6% of respondents as the government’s biggest mistake.

Almost 10% more cited either the response to violence, or to drug trafficking, as the López Obrador administration’s No. 1 error, meaning that almost a quarter of poll respondents are unhappy about how the government is dealing with the security situation.

Despite increasing violence and a slowing economy, almost 12% of those polled said that the government hasn’t put a foot wrong.

On a personal level, López Obrador was rated highly for his management of public education, his governance skills and his efforts to combat poverty and corruption.

In contrast, his response to protests, the migration issue and the security situation found the highest disapproval ratings among poll respondents.

Almost six in 10 people said they didn’t agree with the government allowing migrants without documents to enter the country and seek asylum. Six in 10 said the government should block their entry to Mexico.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Milwaukee Tool to build US $86-million plant in Coahuila

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Simon Schatzberg

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August 29, 2019

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milwaukee tools — Soon to be made in Coahuila.

The international power tool company Milwaukee Tool will build a factory in Torreón, Coahuila, that will bring 2,600 jobs to the city when it starts operating in April 2020.

At a ceremony on Wednesday, Governor Miguel Riquelme welcomed the company to Torreón and said that construction will start on the US $86-million factory in September.

“Today, the city receives a message that will give us strength,” he said. “The company is going to do well, they will have qualified workers. I’m very happy that they chose Torreón. Here they will find stable labor relations, safety and qualified workers. We’re going to make sure they stay here.”

Riquelme added that the new factory will have a technological innovation center that will elevate the quality of the tools produced there.

Torreón Mayor Jorge Zermeño Infante thanked the the state government for its efforts to attract investment.

“Investments don’t happen by chance, they happen when there’s certainty, when there are elements that allow a business to have what it needs to open up shop,” he said. “I see the work the state government is doing to bring investment to Coahuila.”

Zermeño added that the company visited 15 cities around Mexico and the world before deciding on Torreón.

“I am thankful to the businesses who have been involved in this,” he said. “It is good for the Laguna region and good for Coahuila.”

Carlos Braña Muñoz, the president of a Torreón chamber of commerce, said the plans for the new plant are the result of an investment tour organized by the state government in China.

Founded in 1924, Milwaukee Tool became a subsidiary of the Hong Kong company Techtronic Industries in 2005.

Source: El Economista (sp), Milenio (sp)

One of México state’s most-wanted captured doing a drug deal

By

Simon Schatzberg

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August 29, 2019

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'El Bucanas' Molino was wanted for murder.

One of the most-wanted criminals in México state was caught red-handed doing a low-level drug deal in Mexico City on Tuesday.

According to the city’s Public Security Secretariat (SSC), Israel “El Bucanas” Molina Monroy was spotted by police while exchanging drugs for cash with another man in the borough of Miguel Hidalgo.

“. . . two men were observed leaning against a blue Nissan Sentra that was the object of an investigation exchanging several bags . . . with green vegetable material inside for cash,” said the SSC in a statement.

When the officers approached the men and identified themselves they attempted unsuccessfully to flee in the vehicle.

The seller, who was found to be in possession of 39 plastic bags of what police suspect to be marijuana, was later identified as 39-year-old Molina, a former police officer in the México state municipality of Tultitlán.

He was wanted for the April 2018 murders of state homicide chief José Luis Mendoza Espinoza and his partner Orlando López Arrendondo. He was also wanted in connection with an incident where a body was abandoned near the Barrientos Jail in Tlanepantla last Thursday, with a message signed by the organized crime group La Unión de Tepito.

In December, the state attorney general published a most-wanted list of 47 people, which included Molina, offering a reward of 300,000 pesos (US $15,000) for information leading to his arrest.

His nickname is more than likely derived from a fondness for Buchanan’s whisky, but lost a couple of letters in translation.

Molina is not to be confused with Roberto de los Santos de Jesús, a suspected gangster in Puebla who shares the same nickname.

Source: Infobae (sp), El Universal (sp)

Oaxaca Congress approves same-sex marriage by 25-10

By

Cody Copeland

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August 29, 2019

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Supporters of the bill celebrate in Oaxaca yesterday.

The Oaxaca Congress approved same-sex marriage after a heated debate on Wednesday.

The final vote was 25 in favor and 10 against, which came amid protests for and against by the LGBT community and evangelical Christians.

The bill removes the definition of marriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman from the state’s Civil Code.

“Marriage is a civil contract celebrated between two people who unite in order to celebrate a life in common, and to provide each other with respect, equality and mutual help,” the Civil Code now reads.

Evangelical pastors and like-minded citizens gathered Wednesday morning to protest the amendment, showing their support for the “original design” of the family, composed of a man and a woman.

Opponents of same-sex marriage demonstrate in the Oaxaca capital.

The Brotherhood of Evangelical Pastors of the State of Oaxaca (Copaceo) accused the Chamber of Deputies of imposition for promoting and authorizing a law that was not put to public vote, in spite of the fact that they had requested such a vote as early as April 2.

Members of the LGBT community condemned the protest, considering it a type of hate speech. When the law was approved, however, they were jubilant, celebrating in the esplanade of the legislature in San Raymundo Jalpan, south of Oaxaca City.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Second terminal, new runway to go ahead despite compensation dispute

By

MND Staff

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August 29, 2019

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The Guadalajara airport has a new expansion plan.

A long-running dispute over compensation for expropriated land will not prevent expansion at Guadalajara International Airport, the facility’s operator said, announcing that a second terminal and a new runway will go ahead.

Both will be built on land for which the airport operator already has a concession, circumventing the need to purchase it from community landowners engaged in the compensation dispute.

The Pacific Airport Group (GAP) presented a plan for the project to the federal Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) and pending approval, construction will begin in January. The project will be completed by 2025 at the latest.

Airport director Martín Pablo Zazueta Chávez said that the terminal and runway will be built on land included in a concession acquired by GAP 20 years ago.

“. . . We’re going to maximize the use of our lands and our concession,” he said.

“[The terminal] will have all the elements of modernity and cutting-edge technology. It will be a very functional building and will have the capacity to serve both national and international passengers,” Zazueta told the newspaper El Economista.

He explained that the second terminal will be accessed via a new, separate entrance. Having two terminals and a second runway will enable the airport to meet passenger demand for the next 25 years, Zazueta said.

He said construction will take place while the airport continues to operate but stressed that the builders and airport management will aim to minimize the impact of the work on passengers. However, Zazueta conceded that there are “complicated years” ahead.

The airport chief didn’t reveal how much the new terminal will cost, explaining that the price tag will be disclosed once the SCT gives the green light.

Construction of the new airport infrastructure was planned for a 137-hectare parcel of land owned by the community landowners of the El Zapote ejido (cooperative).

However, the landowners have refused to sell the land until they are paid compensation for 307 hectares of land that the federal government expropriated for the airport in 1951.

Their refusal to cede the land has held up plans to expand the airport in Mexico’s second largest city, where demand for airline services has more than tripled over the past two decades.

Zazueta said that when GAP began operating the airport 20 years ago, it handled about 4.3 million passengers annually.

Last year, 14.35 million people used the airport while in 2019 the number of passengers is expected to exceed 15 million for the first time.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Economista (sp)

Visit México platform relaunched after private sector agrees to provide funding

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MND Staff

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August 28, 2019

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The relaunched Visit Mexico website. — The relaunched Visit México website.

The Visit México tourism promotion platform has been relaunched with private sector funding.

Over the next five years, business will invest an estimated 1.8 billion pesos (US $90 million) in the website, which was previously administered by the now-defunct Tourism Promotion Council.

Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco told a relaunch event yesterday that “not a peso” of public money will go to the site thanks to an agreement struck with the private sector.

The platform’s managers will seek additional investment from tourism service providers and a range of national and international partners, he said.

Google, Discovery Channel and hotel company Grupo Posadas have already committed to investing in the website, while the government’s Tourism Diplomacy Council will collaborate with the private sector on the digital marketing strategy for Mexico’s tourism sector.

Tourism Secretary Torruco announces new funding plan.

The strategy will be led by businessman Marcos Achar, who is the new chief of the platform.

In May, Achar and his business partners acquired the digital marketing company Braintivity, which previously had a contract with the Secretariat of Tourism (Sectur).

The updated Visit México site features pages for each of Mexico’s 31 states and the capital. Each page contains information about local destinations and attractions. Tourism companies will be able to offer their products and services to potential visitors.

Among the articles that are currently on the state-based pages are: Try the Lobster Tacos and other Rosarito Delights (Baja California); Breathe in the Fresh Air of the Chapultepec Forest (Mexico City); and Rejuvenate Yourself in the Ruins of Mitla (Oaxaca).

Information is available in 10 languages: Spanish, English, Russian, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

Sectur said on Twitter that the new site has three main aims: digitalization and modernization of the tourism industry, promotion based on data and the attraction of more tourists through the provision of better information and more content.

Speaking at yesterday’s event, Achar stressed that the Visit México brand remains the property of the government but added that tourism companies, states and municipalities will now be able to make greater use of it.

He predicted that Mexico’s tourism industry will go from strength to strength as a result.

A record 41.4 million international tourists came to Mexico last year, 5.5% more than in 2017, but the increase wasn’t enough to prevent Mexico’s descent from sixth place to seventh on the World Tourism Organization’s (WTO) ranking of most-visited countries in 2018.

The tourism sector currently contributes about 9% of national GDP but to grow that figure, Achar contended that Mexico has to attract and receive visitors with offerings beyond tequila and mariachi.

Source: El Economista (sp)

Mexico avoids vaquita sanctions with pledge of 6-month reports

By

Cody Copeland

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August 28, 2019

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Mexico managed to avoid international sanctions for not taking more significant action to protect the vaquita marina porpoise in the northern Gulf of California.

In March, the federal government announced a new strategy to protect the vaquita after scientists announced that only 10 remained. But as critics feared, the strategy seems to have fallen short.

However, after negotiations with the United States, China and Liberia in Geneva, Switzerland, the Mexican government was able to ease the measures of an ultimatum set by the secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Head of the federal environmental protection agency (Profepa), Blanca Mendoza Vera, promised the 183 member countries that her office would turn in reports every six months detailing the efforts taken to protect the vaquita and the totoaba, which is also endangered.

In exchange, the document was modified to exclude the warning that the export of Mexican species on the CITES list will be suspended if it continues uncontrolled poaching in the vaquita’s habitat. Such products include shark fins, bighorn sheep hunting trophies and mahogany wood.

The change in the text, however, does not mean that Mexico no longer runs the risk of commercial sanctions from the international community. It will have to show improvement in its efforts by next year’s meeting.

Mendoza had previously offered the assembly a report of Mexico’s actions in the region which were primarily the results of actions carried out by the previous government.

Mendoza also lamented the difficulties in prosecuting totoaba poachers. She noted that from January until July, 249 people had been brought before the federal prosecutor’s office for poaching, but only 33 were punished.

The totoaba is highly prized in China for its swim bladder, making it pound-for-pound more expensive than cocaine.

Source: Excélsior (sp)

Award-winning Baja home proves accessibility can be beautiful

By

Lydia Carey

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August 28, 2019

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Casa Cabo Pulmo, a universally-designed home in Baja California Sur.

A house in Baja California Sur that incorporates accessibility without sacrificing aesthetics is an award winner in a competition for universal design.

As part of an initiative called “Accessibility is Beautiful,” the U.S.-based Cerebral Palsy Foundation, in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects New York chapter, put out a call in 2018 for universally designed homes.

From a series of entries, a steering committee looked for homes that would highlight how accessibility can be both functional and fashionable, and then created a Lookbook and mini-YouTube series to promote the selected designs to the public.

One of those entries was Casa Cabo Pulmo by Cathi and Steven House of San Francisco-based House + House architects, a home that incorporates universal design and accessibility in the far reaches of the Baja Peninsula — where land meets sea, and soulful meets utilitarian.

The Casa Cabo Pulmo story stretches back several years to San Francisco where fellow Californians Patricia Wright and Debra Zeyen had often admired the home of a friend designed by House + House. When they came across another House + House-designed home in Mexico, it felt like destiny.

Plenty of room for wheelchairs at Casa Cabo Pulmo.

The two asked the husband and wife team to build their dream home near Baja California’s most southern tip, but with a caveat — they wanted it 100% accessible.

Cathi and Steven House opened their architectural firm in San Francisco in 1982 and added an office in San Miguel de Allende 25 years ago. They have since designed more than 250 homes in four countries.

The two spend several months of the year traveling in Mexico and beyond investigating, in their own words, “what people build when there are no architects around.” Prioritizing indigenous architecture and local building materials gives House + House structures a sense of place that is integrated into their very fiber.

“Underneath all of our work is a very organic beginning,” says Cathi House. “We work very hard to make sure that everything we do comes from a complete understanding of the sun, the moon, stars, the breezes, the views, the shadows, and everything about a particular spot on Earth that could contribute in a positive or negative way to whatever you might design there.”

Casa Cabo Pulmo, with its bold desert hues, expansive cactus garden and sections of palapa roof, invokes that connection to the land. But the house is also deeply connected to the very real needs of its occupants.

Patricia Wright is a disability-rights activist who was instrumental in the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Wright herself is visually impaired and both she and Zeyen could foresee a day when they might have mobility or other serious disabilities.

So they wanted a 100% accessible house so they could, in Wright’s words, “age in place.”

House + House has been incorporating accessibility into its designs for decades. Casa Cabo Pulmo was a challenge the firm welcomed.

“Dividing people into those who are mobile and those who are not — or people who have abilities and others who have disabilities — that kind of division is part of what I think is wrong with our culture as a whole,” says Cathi House, “We’re not holistic enough to think about humanity and all of the needs of the people that might come in to this house or any house”

Plus, she adds, universal design isn’t just for the permanently disabled.

“Something can always happen in your life. You break a leg, you start to develop vision or hearing problems. It can even be as simple as . . . taking a shower and you’re all soapy and you hear a crash and a scream in the other room. You try to get through the door, but you have a round doorknob and can’t get a grip. So are you really disabled at that point? Well, yes, because of poor design.”

The Cabo Pulmo house has some logical elements one might expect in a universally-designed home — a 50-meter ramp leading to the second floor that sweeps up one side of the property, providing incredible ocean views as well an extension of the house’s gardens, kitchen spaces and hallways wide enough for a wheelchair, and lifts for getting in and out of the shower and bed.

Casa Cabo Pulmo is solar-powered and has a rainwater catchment system.

But there are also smaller, intimate details that, unless you have lived with a disability, you might not have considered – sinks are lower with space underneath for a wheelchair, light switches are lower, outlets are higher, doors have zero thresholds and toilets have 180-degree access.

And, in Casa Cabo Pulmo, each of these elements is incorporated so as not to detract from the natural flow of the living spaces.

The design doesn’t only consider the future of the owners, but also owners of the future. The house is completely off the grid with 12 solar panels and battery back-up as well as a rainwater catchment system, convection skylights, and a layout that moderates the extreme temperature highs and lows of the Mexican desert.

“Buildings will be around for a few hundred years,” says Cathi House. “You want to make sure what you create is worthy, not just for the clients of the moment, but for anyone who might ever come to be in these buildings.”

As U.S. baby-boomers arrive at an age when accessibility is vital for continued independence, the demand for universal design is slowly growing, and yet it often remains an afterthought in the design of public and private spaces.

Do the architects believe universal design is part of the architectural lexicon these days? The couple hosts groups of architecture students from around the world each year at their school in San Miguel de Allende — The Center for Architecture Sustainability + Art (CASA) — where universal design is part of the curriculum

“I don’t think it’s being taught in universities the way it should be; I don’t think it’s even a conversation that they’re having at any significant level,” says Cathi House.

“But we certainly talk to our students about it,” says Steven House. “The younger they are when they start thinking about it, the more hope we have for the future, that it will just become natural and integrated into everyone’s thought process.”

In the meantime, programs like the Accessibility is Beautiful initiative are shining a spotlight on integrated design that proves accessibility doesn’t have to mean giving up on aesthetics.

Casa Cabo Pulmo is a standing example of how a beautiful space in a stunning environment can be welcoming to any guest, regardless of ability.

The writer is a Mexico City freelancer and regular contributor to Mexico News Daily.

Mexico City to pay cops 10,000-peso bonus to get their weight down

By

Simon Schatzberg

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August 28, 2019

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overweight police officer — Here's a candidate.

Mexico City’s overweight cops — and more than half are classified as such — will be able to earn a cash bonus if they shed some kilos.

Through the Healthy Police program, the Mexico City Citizen Security Secretariat (SSC) will offer economic incentives to officers who improve their physical health in different ways, including weight loss.

Over the past five weeks, 1,820 officers who were candidates for the program went through a series of physical and medical tests to see if they qualify for the bonus of 10,000 pesos (US $500). Once the beneficiaries are chosen, the bonuses will be paid out over five months.

Alejandra Ramírez, subdirector of police research and development for the SSC, said that being in top physical shape is important for police to be able to do their jobs.

“On the street, police officers face a lot of stress, which pushes them towards having bad dietary habits,” she told the newspaper El Universal. “Sometimes it’s easier to buy a quesadilla or a torta than to find a place where you can eat a sit-down meal.”

The program has funding to cover 1,200 officers, and it is likely that applications will be reopened in the future.

Of Mexico City’s 4,279 police officers, 2,453 are overweight and 1,826 are obese.

Ramírez said the goal of the program is to encourage officers to develop healthy habits over the period during which they receive the bonus, and to help them improve their diets with the extra money.

She added that many of the officers who signed up for the program believed that they were overweight, but after going through medical tests were found to have a healthy body weight and were removed from eligibility.

“Psychological health is also fundamental,” said Ramírez. “It has a lot to do with the state they’re in, what kind of stress they’re in, whether or not they’ll be able to start another diet. It might be complicated, but we’ll be holding their hands through the process.”

Source: El Universal (sp)

Pension fund commission reduction will give retirees 10% more

By

MND Staff

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August 28, 2019

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Finance Secretary Herrera announces new commission.

The federal government has reached an agreement with Mexico’s 10 pension funds that will reduce commissions and give a person entering the workforce today 10% more upon retirement.

The deal will see the commissions that workers pay reduced to 0.7% of their pension balance by the end of the government’s six-year term, Finance Secretary Arturo Herrera told reporters at the president’s Wednesday press conference.

“During the present administration, around 100 billion pesos [US $5 billion] will no longer remain with the pension funds but will go to workers’ accounts. This means that if a worker joins the workforce today, his pension will be 10% greater,” he said.

Herrera said that in 2008, pension funds were charging average commissions of 1.89% but that figure declined gradually over 10 years to 1.01% in 2018.

This year, during the administration of the new government, average commissions dipped below the 1% barrier for the first time to 0.98%, the finance secretary said.

“This decline of three basis points seems very little but it means almost 10 billion extra pesos in workers’ savings . . .” Herrera said.

He predicted that commissions could go as low as 0.63% in the coming years, which would be below the international standard of 0.7%.

Bernardo González, president of the Mexican Association of Pension Funds (Amafore), said that commissions have gone down by more than 90% since 1997, and that the funds have generated average annual returns for workers of 11% in nominal terms and 5% in real terms.

He said that the association supports the proposal to improve workers’ pensions.

“The pension funds join [the efforts] to achieve a pension system with international standards that benefits Mexican workers,” González said.

He added that Amafore is in favor of the implementation of a pension system reform to ensure that workers retire with pensions equivalent to 70% of their final salary.

According to data from the National Commission for the Pension System, the fund with the lowest commission rate in 2019 is the government-run Pensionissste, which charges state workers 0.82%.

Inbursa charges the next lowest commission rate – 0.95% – followed by Citibanamex and Banorte, both of which charge 0.96%. Azteca, Coppel, Invercap and Principal charge the joint highest commission rate of 1.04%.

Source: El Economista (sp)