Legal, public pressure frees donkey jailed for 72 hours

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August 21, 2019

A donkey has been freed from jail in San Sebastián Río Dulce, Oaxaca, after 72 hours behind bars through the efforts of an animal rights organizations.

The animal was arrested over the weekend for its owners’ inability to pay local taxes.

Pascual Cruz and Alejandra Mejía, both in their 80s, did not have the means to pay the taxes, which other residents have denounced as abusively high.

After hearing that the couple had been refused the right to tkae the donkey food and water during its detention, animal rights activists in the state united to file an animal cruelty case with the state Attorney General’s Office.

Public pressure and the legal approach prompted the municipality of Zimatlán de Álvarez, in which Río Dulce is located, to demand the animal’s return to its owners without their having to pay the taxes.

Oaxaca animal rights group president Hilda Toledo said that activists had planned on going to Río Dulce to protest but the town is considered dangerous and outsiders must solicit authorization to enter, so they chose the legal route.

In Oaxaca, the mistreatment of animals can carry a punishment of three months to two years in prison, as well as fines up to 100,000 pesos (US $5,000).

Authorities in Río Dulce have been criticized for imposing inordinately high taxes for many community services, such as fees as high as 30,000 pesos for burials in the local cemetery.

In May 2017, municipal agent Carmelo López denied a family the right to bury an elderly relative for five days until they paid a fee of 20,000 pesos.

Toledo said she and other activists will keep an eye on the situation in the coming days.

Source: El Universal (sp)

He’s only 18 but this Chihuahua thief has been arrested 43 times

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Cody Copeland

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August 21, 2019

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robberies — 'The Nuisance,' a busy thief.

His nickname means “The Nuisance,” and for good reason. At just 18 years old, Juan Isaac “El Calilla” V. E., has been arrested 43 times, mostly for assault and robbery.

He was arrested again on Monday in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua.

Police were searching for him in connection with a violent robbery as well as a number of other offenses.

In 2017, members of La Línea, an armed wing of the Juárez Cartel, cut off Juan Isaac’s right hand to teach him a gruesome lesson and warn other house burglars in the area.

This did not deter “El Calilla,” who continued to steal and rack up a lengthy criminal record.

He was located in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood of Cuauhtémoc where he tried unsuccessfully to flee.

Violence has been on the rise in Cuauhtémoc. In June, it was one of 150 hot spots that received deployments of National Guardsmen to address crime.

It is the 17th most violent municipality based on homicide figures from February through July.

Sources: Milenio (sp), Televisa News (sp)

Homicide cases dip slightly in July; victims numbered 2,993

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MND Staff

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August 21, 2019

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Homicide cases fell slightly in July compared to June but Mexico remains on track to record its most violent year in recent history, statistics show.

There were 2,547 homicide cases last month, according to data published by the National Public Security System (SNSP), nine fewer than in June, which has been the most violent month of the year so far.

A total of 2,993 people were murdered in July. The figure is higher than the number of cases because there were two or more victims in some investigations.

The July homicide statistics show that the National Guard had scant impact in stemming the bloodshed. The new security force was formally inaugurated on June 30 and deployed to 150 regions across Mexico.

The most violent state in Mexico last month was Baja California, where there were 263 intentional homicide cases. México state was next with 215 cases, followed by Chihuahua, Guanajuato and Jalisco, where there were 202, 185 and 169 homicide investigations respectively.

In the first seven months of the year, 20,135 people were killed in 17,164 cases of intentional homicide, a 3% increase compared to the same period of 2018. Last year was the most violent since the SNSP began keeping comparable records in 1997.

The homicide rate increased in 18 of Mexico’s 32 states in the first seven months.

The biggest increase was recorded in Nuevo León, where the number of homicide investigations increased by 59% to 560 from 352 between January and July of 2018.

Homicide cases rose by 48% in Hidalgo, 41% in Sonora, 34% in Morelos, 21% in Jalisco, 19% in México state, 18% in both Tlaxcala and Chiapas and 14% in each of Tabasco and Mexico City.

The other states where homicides have increased this year are Michoacán, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Colima, Coahuila, Puebla and Zacatecas.

The biggest decline in violence was recorded in Baja California Sur, where the number of cases in the first seven months fell 59% compared to the same period last year.

Homicide investigations declined by 58% in Nayarit, 40% in Yucatán, 30% in Guerrero and 29% in Tamaulipas.

The other states where homicide numbers have declined in 2019 are Sinaloa, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Chiapas, Veracruz, Baja California, Campeche, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo.

With just 18 intentional homicide cases between January and July, Yucatán has seen the least deadly violence of any state this year.

There were fewer than 50 cases in both Campeche and Baja California Sur, while the number of homicide investigations in each of Aguascalientes, Durango, Tlaxcala and Nayarit was under 100.

Along with homicides, the number of femicides – women and girls who were killed on account of their gender – also rose.

There were 540 femicide investigations between January and July, a 9% increase compared to the 494 cases in the same period last year.

Veracruz recorded the highest number of cases, with 114, followed by México state with 53, Puebla with 36, Nuevo León with 32 and Mexico City with 26.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Laboratory prototype produces biogas from sargassum

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MND Staff

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August 20, 2019

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Scientists in Yucatán have developed a laboratory prototype of a system that converts sargassum into a biogas that could be used in the home or to generate clean energy.

Raúl Tapia Tussell, head researcher in the renewable energy unit at the Yucatán Scientific Research Center (CICY) in Mérida, told the newspaper El Economista that work on the project began in 2017 after large quantities of sargassum began washing up on the Yucatán coast.

“The problem wasn’t as big then as it is now but from that time . . . we started to work with the seaweed that arrived at the port of Progreso,” he said.

Tapia explained that once the sargassum is cleaned and dried, it is mixed with a fungus that breaks down the lignin in the seaweed and generates methane.

The biogas could be used as a fuel source for stoves and heaters or to generate electricity using a process that is less contaminating than that powered by fossil fuels.

The CICY researchers are applying for a patent for their prototype system from the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property.

The next challenge, Tapia said, will be to develop the infrastructure needed to generate the sargassum biogas outside the laboratory, and to store and distribute it.

“That is one of the most complex parts of the project because it requires economic resources . . .” he said.

“It’s methane gas and it could even be used for motor vehicles but . . . its use . . . depends . . . on having the molecular transformations systems and storage [capacity] . . .” Tapia explained.

The researcher said that other benefits of using sargassum to generate biogas are that it is free and it arrives on the coastline naturally. Tapia also said that the use of a seaweed as a fuel source would get it out of the sea and off the beach, where it can cause environmental problems and discourage tourism.

The massive arrivals of sargassum on the Caribbean coast of Mexico have led to the development of a variety of uses for the macroalgae such as making shoes, paper, a Mother’s Day message and even houses.

The masses of sargassum on the beaches of Tulum also inspired an impromptu nude photoshoot last year by renowned New York photographer Spencer Tunick.

Source: El Economista (sp)

National Security System sees new ‘super police’ role for municipal forces

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MND Staff

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August 20, 2019

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The federal government has a new plan for municipal police forces that will take them into completely new territory.

The so-called “super” police will have more to do than just carry out patrols and chasing criminals caught in the act of committing an offense.

They are to be security forces with the capacity to prevent crimes, carry out investigations, analyze evidence and receive criminal complaints. The new model calls for the creation of investigative teams within municipal police departments that will include criminologists, psychologists and legal professionals.

In addition to investigating crimes, the teams will be responsible for identifying criminal patterns and analyzing offenders’ aims and motivations.

“[It’s] urgent that [municipal] police assume a proactive and much more strategic role in order to contain, prevent and reduce security problems . . .” states a document that explains the plan, part of a new National Police Model designed by the National Public Security System (SNSP) and approved last month by the National Security Council.

The SNSP – a division of the Interior Secretariat – proposes the construction or adaptation of municipal police stations so that officers are able to offer personalized attention to victims of crime in an environment that generates trust.

“At the very least, these spaces must include areas for medical, legal and psychological attention as well as a [children’s] play center,” the document says.

In addition to having the capacity to file criminal complaints at police stations, municipal officers should also be able to do so remotely, the SNSP said.

Such a system is already in effect in Querétaro, where both municipal and state police use tablet computers to file robbery reports at the scene of a crime.

The police model document says that if municipal officers have the capacity to receive criminal reports, the quality and quantity of information they have about security problems will increase.

That, the SNSP argues, will enable municipal police to develop more effective anti-crime strategies and thus reduce the incidence of offenses in the communities in which they work.

Municipal police are generally considered the weakest link in the chain of Mexico’s security forces, and have been implicated in countless cases of corruption and collusion with organized crime.

They are also short on numbers: President López Obrador said last week that more than 100,000 additional municipal and state officers are needed across the nation in order to meet international standards for per-capita police numbers.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Historic rulings allow 2 individuals to possess cocaine for personal use

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MND Staff

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August 20, 2019

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Two historic court rulings that allow the possession of cocaine for recreational and personal use could hasten the debate over decriminalizing drugs.

Víctor Octavio Luna Escobedo, an administrative court judge in Mexico City, made the decisions in response to injunction requests filed on behalf of the applicants by Mexico United Against Crime (MUCD), an organization that opposes the prohibition of drugs.

“Our objective with this and other cases has been to foster public discussion about drugs and force the reorientation of security policy. We want to promote different strategies through innovative means and up to now we’ve been successful,” said director Lisa María Sánchez Ortega.

The judge attached a range of conditions to his “authorization” for the two people to use cocaine.

Consumption is limited to 500 milligrams per day and the users must not drive vehicles, operate machinery or engage in employment while under the influence of the drug. They are also prohibited from using cocaine in public places or in the presence of minors and must not attempt to induce others to consume the drug.

Justifying his rulings, the judge said that cocaine can be used for a variety of reasons including “tension relief, the intensification of perceptions and the desire [to have] new personal and spiritual experiences.”

The injunction requests argued that prohibition of cocaine violates the constitutional right to “free development of personality.”

Luna’s rulings are backed by a report from the National Commission Against Addictions that says that cocaine consumption doesn’t pose a “significant risk to health, except in the case that it is used chronically and excessively.”

But the judge’s decisions could be overturned.

At the request of the health regulatory agency Cofepris, Luna’s rulings are to be reviewed by three collegiate court judges.

If the judges ratify the rulings, the decisions will stand. If they don’t, there is no legal recourse for the applicants. Another possibility is that the collegiate court will refer the matters to the Supreme Court.

But regardless of which court hands down the rulings, they will be definitive and not open to appeal, said MUCD lawyer Víctor Daniel Gutiérrez Muñoz.

Sánchez said that Mexico United Against Crime is not seeking a court declaration that the prohibition of cocaine is unconstitutional, as occurred with marijuana in February.

“We’re not pursuing massive injunctive relief and there won’t be a campaign similar to #CannabisConPermiso [Cannabis with permission] . . . This is the first time that, in the first instance, [an injunction request] has been resolved in the affirmative and what that tells us is that there is a different way to deal with the issue of drugs from the judiciary,” she said.

Sánchez explained that if more judges grant authorization to use cocaine, MUCD could consider calling on lawmakers to legalize it.

“Drug policy reform doesn’t start and end with cannabis, the rest of the markets should also be regulated,” she said.

“[The cocaine rulings] are a step to generate debate. We want to foster discussion about an issue that continues to be taboo and we have to work with [different] sectors of society. . . Current drug policy is a failure in all respects,” Sánchez said, charging that there is too much emphasis on prosecuting drug users rather than traffickers.

Before she was sworn in as interior secretary, Olga Sánchez Cordero said that then president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador had given her a “blank check” to explore the possibility of legalizing drugs as well as any other measures that could help restore peace to the country.

However, Congress hasn’t legalized any narcotics since the new government took office in December and violence has increased.

But the MUCD director said she has met with lawmakers of all political persuasions including representatives of the ruling Morena party and expressed confidence that debate about the impact of drugs on society – and court rulings – could ultimately lead to their decriminalization.

“The first rulings related to cannabis in other countries are 20 years old. However, there are no precedents of similar judicial decisions with other drugs. Mexico and its judicial rulings are setting important precedents for other courts,” Sánchez said.

According to the 2016-17 national drug and alcohol survey, 3.5% of Mexican adults have used cocaine, while 9.9% of respondents admitted to having used an illegal substance at least once.

Source: Animal Político (sp)

Oaxaca student accepted not only at UNAM but 4 other universities

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Cody Copeland

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August 20, 2019

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Oaxaca student Eliud Pizarro had a backup plan when he applied for admission at his dream university, the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM), but he needn’t have worried.

Not only was Eliud accepted by UNAM but also by the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico (IPN), the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) and the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP) after applying to them all to hedge his bet.

In addition, the Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca (UABJO) in his hometown of Oaxaca offered him a spot in its medical school.

“I trusted that if I studied hard, I could accomplish it,” he told the newspaper El Universal, “but I also wanted to have a safety option and chose those five schools.”

Throughout his public education, Eliud never considered himself exceptionally diligent, but his enthusiasm for mathematical physics allowed him to get good grades.

The son of teachers and motivated by his brother’s engineering degree at IPN, Eliud is one of the 15,499 students accepted by UNAM this year. A total of 153,000 applied.

He is also one of an average 500 Oaxacan students who leave their home state each year to further their studies in Mexico City, according to the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions (ANUIES).

“I decided to apply for the economics program because it is a subject that has interested me for many years. I want to develop a career in the private sector, but I’d also be interested in public office,” said Eliud.

“In the case of the medical degree, that field had always appealed to me,” he added.

Four of the five universities that accepted Eliud are the most sought-after schools in the country, according to national rankings. Only 30% of prospective students pass the entrance exams.

Now a couple of weeks into his first semester, Eliud is happy and enjoying his new life.

“I’m very excited about my future.”

Source: El Universal (sp)

16th-century plan for Mexico City cathedral to be auctioned

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Cody Copeland

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August 20, 2019

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The original plan for the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, dated and signed in 1569, will be sold at auction.

The document is attributed to architect Claudio de Arciniega, who drew up the plan after the building’s construction was mandated by King Philip II of Spain.

Morton Auctions documents specialist Antonio Villa said the 450-year-old plan belongs to a private collector.

“Because of its importance, it has been shown in two exhibitions: one titled Medieval Spain and the Legacy of the West in 2005 in the National Museum of History, in Chapultepec Castle; and the other was the 2015 Michaelangelo exhibition in the Palace of Fine Arts titled An Artist Between Two Worlds,” he said.

Drawn on paper in sepia and grey ink, the historical plan bears the legend: “This is the drawing of the church cathedral that by order of his majesty will be built in this city.”

Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral, whose original architectural plan will be auctioned. — Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral, whose original architectural plan will be auctioned.

Villa noted that “there are a few flaws, scratches, and folds that mark the document, as well as light humidity stains in the margins, for which it was restored in order to be shown in the exhibitions of 2005 and 2015.”

Morton Auctions said that given its documentary and historical importance, the architectural plan will have an opening price of 1.5 million to 2 million pesos (US $76,000-$101,000).

In the upper left hand corner of the 57 by 42-centimeter piece of paper is the signature of Secretary of the Inquisition of Mexico Pedro de los Ríos, and on the reverse, the signature of scribe and notary Sebastián Vázquez.

Villa noted that there were various attempts to build the cathedral, but the one that stands today was based on the plan that will be auctioned.

“The plan was modified in 1622, as it was originally designed to have four towers and they ended up only building two,” he said. “They wanted to build a lavish cathedral like the one in Seville, with seven naves, but the high cost and the muddy ground wouldn’t allow for it, so they ended up erecting a smaller church with five naves.”

The plan is one lot in an auction of travelers’ and explorers’ books and maps and other items to be sold by Morton Auctions in Mexico City on August 29.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Zapatistas to extend their control with 11 more autonomous zones in Chiapas

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MND Staff

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August 20, 2019

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The Zapatistas are on the move in Chiapas, extending their control into another 11 areas of the state.

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) announced in a statement on the weekend it will create 11 new caracoles, or autonomous zones, in the southern state.

Zapatista leader Subcomandante Moisés described the extension as “exponential growth that allows us to break the blockade again,” referring to the Zapatistas’ claim that they have been fenced in by the federal government.

The EZLN already has five caracoles in Chiapas as well as 27 rebel Zapatista autonomous municipalities. The Zapatista army generally doesn’t allow state security forces or government inspectors to enter their communities and children attend schools with their own educational system.

The expansion will give the army 43 rebel areas.

President López Obrador, who has a strained history with the rebel group best known for staging an uprising on January 1, 1994 – the day NAFTA took effect, said on Monday the expansion was “welcome.”

“Go ahead, because that means working to benefit the villages and the people,” he said. “The only thing we don’t want is violence.”

The 11 new autonomous zones, with names including “Esperanza de la Humanidad” (Hope of Humanity), “Floreciendo la semilla rebelde” (The rebellious seed blooms) and “Ernesto Che Guevara,” are located in the municipalities of Ocosingo, Chicomuselo, Motozintla, Amatenango del Valle, Tila, Chilón and San Cristóbal de las Casas.

Despite López Obrador’s reaction to the EZLN announcement, some of the new autonomous zones are likely to be controversial, the Associated Press reported.

One of the new caracoles is to be located in Nuevo Jerusalén, a town amid the ecologically sensitive Lacandon jungle.

Zapatistas have said in the past that nature and farming can co-exist in and around their communities.

However, experts say that slash-and-burn agriculture, the rearing of cattle and thin jungle soil make human settlement and environmental conservation incompatible.

The Zapatistas’ expansion will bring to 43 the number of rebel areas they hold.

The Zapatistas’ announcement came just days after former EZLN leader Subcomandante Galeano (formerly Subcomandante Marcos) said in another statement that a music festival is being planned to protest against the government’s infrastructure projects for the south of the country, which include the Maya Train, the Dos Bocas oil refinery and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec trade corridor.

The rebel army threw down the gauntlet last New Year’s Eve at a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the its 1994 uprising, when Subcomandante Moisés outlined the Zapatistas’ commitment to opposing the government.

“We are going to fight. We are going to confront [them]; we are not going to allow [López Obrador] to come through here with his destructive projects,” he said.

In the statement issued on the weekend, Moisés said the “neoliberal mega-projects” will wipe out entire towns, destroy nature and turn the heritage of indigenous peoples into fat profits for investors.

Although the president expressed his respect for the Zapatistas during a visit to Chiapas last month that respect wasn’t reciprocated.

Moisés called the president “the new overseer” and charged that persecution and bloodshed are continuing under his rule.

Since the new government took office on December 1, a dozen members of the National Indigenous Congress and Indigenous Government Council have been murdered, the EZLN leader said.

Source: Chiapas Paralelo (sp), Associated Press (en)

Foreign direct investment rose 1.5% in first half of year

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MND Staff

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August 20, 2019

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Manufacturing was the main recipient of foreign investment.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico rose 1.5% in the first half of the year to US $18.1 billion, preliminary figures show.

The Secretariat of the Economy (SE) said in a statement that investment of US $24.06 billion flowed into the country between January and June, while FDI worth US $5.96 billion was lost.

The net FDI result is $258 million higher than the preliminary investment figure reported for the first six months of 2018, which was $17.84 billion.

The SE said that both reinvestments and new investments contributed to the increase. It stressed that the figures are preliminary and could be subject to adjustments.

The ministry said that the FDI recorded in the first half of the year came from 3,104 companies, 1,558 trust agreements and 18 private foreign investors. Just over three-quarters of the total came from reinvestment and just under one-quarter was new investment.

The United States was the largest FDI source country, contributing 37.9%.

Canada, Spain, Germany and Belgium were the next biggest investors, providing 15.4%, 11.1%, 6.5% and 4.1% respectively. The remaining 25% came from other countries, the SE said.

The manufacturing sector was the largest recipient of foreign investment, attracting 42.8% of the total, or around US $7.75 billion.

The commercial sector attracted 12.9%; the financial and insurance industry got 9.9%; mining drew in 5.9%; the electrical energy, water and gas sector received 5.5%; and the media industry took in 5.4%.

A government official said in March that Mexico needs to attract $35 billion to $40 billion annually to stimulate growth.

The release of the FDI data came four days after the Bank of México cut interest rates for the first time in five years, citing slowing economic growth and lower inflation.

The bank said in a statement that it is important to “promote the adoption of measures that foster an environment of confidence and certainty for investment.”

The Mexican economy narrowly avoided entering into a technical recession after recording growth of just 0.1% in the second quarter of 2019. The economy contracted 0.2% in the first quarter.

Source: El Economista (sp)