A data center malfunction left bank customers across Mexico
unable to make purchases and withdraw cash with their credit and debit cards for
several hours on Saturday.
Prosa, an electronic transaction services firm that processes card payments for several banks, said an electrical fault at its data center in Santa Fe, Mexico City, caused the widespread failure of payment terminals and ATMs.
Bank customers were also unable to make online purchases using credit and debit cards.
Prosa said its services were restored just before 11:00pm on Saturday.
Customers of Banorte, HSBC, Invex, Santander, Scotiabank and
Banjército
were among those affected by the widespread system failure.
BBVA Bancomer and Banamex, which have the most cards in circulation in Mexico, said that their systems were not affected and that customers were able to withdraw cash at ATMs.
However, the two banks’ cards were rejected at point-of-sale terminals.
Customers took to social media to express frustration at their inability to make payments and access cash, while chaotic scenes were reported at supermarkets, where many shoppers were forced to abandon carts filled with groceries.
Many businesses announced on social media that they could only accept cash payments.
Sources from Prosa told the newspaper El Financiero that it was the first time that a data center malfunction had caused a problem of the magnitude seen on Saturday.
The service outage raised questions about the reliability of Mexico’s electronic banking system a day after it was revealed that the federal government is considering a ban on the use of cash to purchase gasoline and pay tolls as a means to fight tax evasion and money laundering and to encourage more people to open bank accounts.
The wreckage after yesterday's accident in Veracruz.
Three people died and seven others were injured when a semi-truck crashed into motorcycles and washrooms at a toll plaza in Veracruz on Sunday afternoon.
The double-trailer semi traveling on the Veracruz-Xalapa highway in the municipality of Emiliano Zapata apparently lost its brakes and hit several vehicles before slamming into the washrooms, trapping several people.
A large number of people and vehicles had parked at the toll plaza as part of a gathering of members of a motorcycle club.
According to unofficial reports, the driver of the semi had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Police, Civil Protection, firefighters and ambulances attended the scene and closed the highway.
With the help of bystanders, authorities were able to rescue
a young woman around 7:50pm, who was taken to a hospital.
Emergency responders worked into the night, and were able to
find three bodies and rescue a total of seven people with injuries.
Corn-based delicacies from around Mexico will be offered in Tláhuac.
Saturday marks the beginning of the 26th edition of the annual Corn and Tortilla Culinary Exposition in Tláhuac, promising a host of uniquely Mexican gastronomic treats and traditions in the southeastern Mexico City borough.
From August 10-18, Tláhuac’s Plaza de la Igualdad will be the official meeting point for foodies hoping to sample a rich variety of corn-based specialties from around the country.
Regional variations on esquites — a boiled corn snack often accompanied by onions, chiles, epazote, mayonnaise and lime juice — are some of the fair’s most eagerly awaited offerings. Event organizer Isabel López said that rare esquites with sausage, as well as versions with with marrow and rabbit meat, are some of the most coveted variations.
Other popular treats expected to make an appearance at the exposition include chileatole (a thick cornmeal stew), quesadillas, tlacoyos, tamales, tacos, various corn-based deserts, and even beverages made with corn, like atole and agua de elote.
In between bites of corn delicacies, participants will also be able to enjoy a wide variety of concerts, including performances by the Iztapalapa Children’s Orchestra, the Mexico City Ballet and the Secretariat of Culture Symphony Orchestra, as well as theater and dance shows and other artistic presentations.
But federal lawmaker María Guadalupe Espinosa de los Monteros García said the exposition is about more than just delighting the senses with culinary treats and art.
“The exposition was born out of the need to commercialize the important production of corn in the region. That’s why in 1993 we held the first edition, and every year since then we have continued to offer gastronomic and artisanal corn products.”
She added that last year the event was attended by between 350,000 and 500,000 people, generating 3.5 million pesos (US $180,000). This year, organizers hope to generate as much as 6 million pesos, which will then be given to local farmers.
Ebrard, left, and Trump: drug problem is a regional one.
Mexico has responded to a threat from United States President Donald Trump to cut off financial aid if it doesn’t do more to stop drug trafficking by asserting that the production, transport and distribution of narcotics is a regional problem.
In a presidential memorandum released by the White House on Thursday night, Trump said the Mexican government needs to ramp up efforts to eradicate opium poppies, intercept illicit drugs and prosecute and seize the assets of traffickers.
“. . . Mexico needs to do more to stop the deadly flow of drugs entering our country,” he wrote, declaring that included the development of “a comprehensive drug control strategy.”
“. . . Mexico’s full cooperation is essential to reduce heroin production and confront illicit fentanyl production and every form of drug trafficking, including through United States ports of entry.”
If Trump is unable to certify that Mexico is doing more to combat the drug trade, the United States government could withhold financial assistance to Mexico and block international development bank loans.
In Thursday’s memorandum, the U.S. president made such a ruling for Bolivia and Venezuela, which he said had “failed demonstrably” during the past 12 months to uphold their anti-drug commitments.
“Without further progress over the coming year, I will consider determining that Mexico has failed demonstrably to uphold its international drug control commitments,” Trump wrote.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) responded to Trump’s memorandum in a statement published yesterday.
“The production, transport and distribution of narcotics . . . by transnational organized crime networks, as well as the associated violence, represent a regional problem, whose attention requires the collaboration and coordinated efforts of the governments in the region,” the SRE said.
The foreign ministry defended Mexico’s efforts to combat the drug trade, stating that the country “has made efforts to combat the production and trafficking of drugs in its territory, often with a very high cost in human and financial terms.”
The SRE charged that the trafficking of drugs and associated violence is fueled by the high levels of drug consumption.
“Drug use reduction goals are not always met by the countries in the region,” the SRE said, making a thinly veiled reference to the United States, the world’s largest market for narcotics.
“In our own case, the new federal administration of Mexico is promoting strong prevention campaigns aimed at dissuading [drug] use among the young population,” the statement said.
It said that the illegal drug trade is supported by millions of dollars that are laundered in “the financial systems of the countries in the region” and therefore “a comprehensive solution to the cancer of drug trafficking” also requires a joint effort to “prevent and penalize money laundering.”
The statement concluded by saying that Mexico remains committed to continuing cooperating with other countries in the region to combat the production and trafficking of narcotics.
Christopher Wilson, deputy director at the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, said the warning from Trump is “something that has to be taken seriously, but still it is truly unlikely that it would actually occur.”
He added that United States financial assistance to Mexico isn’t significant considering the size of the Mexican economy, asserting that what’s more important is bilateral cooperation on law enforcement issues.
“It is unclear if that is truly at risk, but that would be very negative to the interests of both United States and Mexico,” Wilson said.
Since Mexico agreed to increase enforcement against undocumented migrants as part of a deal with the United States that ended Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on all Mexican goods, the Mexican government has received almost no criticism from its United States counterpart and some praise.
Even as he threatened to cut of financial aid if Mexico doesn’t do more to combat the illicit drug trade, the U.S. president acknowledged that many Mexican military and law enforcement professionals are already “bravely meeting this challenge and confronting the transnational criminal organizations that threaten both of our countries.”
#LadyCensorship: Sosa and Rósete want a law against 'digital violence.'
A federal lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban social media public shaming with the use of “Lady” and “Lord” nicknames, a common practice in Mexico to denounce bad behavior.
But critics were quick to come up with a new hashtag for Deputy María de Jesús Rósete Sánchez — #LadyCensura, or Lady Censorship.
Written by fellow Deputy Olga Patricia Sosa, the bill would classify the use of such nicknames as “digital violence.”
“We’ve decided to present a bill to include the term ‘digital violence’ as a category of violence, defined as an action using information technology with the goal of causing psychological or emotional harm to a woman,” Rosete told the Permanent Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.
“A Mexico that prevents and punishes gender violence against women in cyberspace is possible.”
Rosete noted that many of the people who have been given “lord” or “lady” nicknames are people who were recorded in unfortunate situations that will be immortalized on the web.
“The problem is that these attitudes especially target women,” she said. “Although it’s important to mention that digital violence doesn’t only have sexual goals; it can be related to different issues like age, social condition, gender, sexual preference, nationality or ethnic origin.”
Deputies Rósete and Sosa are both members of the conservative Social Encounter Party.
There have been several notable incidents that produced popular hashtags.
One was #LadyProfeco, the daughter of the then-head of the consumer protection agency. She threw a tantrum at a Mexico City restaurant in 2013 when she couldn’t have the table she wanted. Andrea Benítez called her father, who shut down the restaurant. He was forced to resign soon after.
Another was #Lord Audi, who drove illegally in a bicycle lane in Mexico City in 2016 and struck a cyclist. He fled the scene after telling police they should call his father. “This is Mexico, dude, got it?”
Police and the navy have arrested 16 suspected members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who allegedly committed a series of homicides in Guanajuato.
State Attorney General Carlos Zamarripa told a press conference yesterday that 14 suspects, including two minors, were arrested during an operation Thursday afternoon in Silao and two more people were detained in a separate operation in Irapuato. All the suspects were traveling in vehicles that were stopped by the state and federal security forces.
Zamarripa said the suspects are accused of committing a number of homicides in the state’s industrial corridor in the municipalities of Irapuato, Salamanca and Silao.
Security forces seized more than 10 firearms, significant quantities of drugs, tactical equipment including bulletproof vests, armored cars and motorcycles during the two operations.
Zamarripa said that some of those arrested are believed to be the heavily-armed individuals who appeared in a video in which criminal leader Antonio “El Tony” Cervantes Hernández was shown semi-naked and bound to a chair.
His body was found hanging from a highway overpass in Villagrán last Sunday.
The attorney general said authorities believe that some of the suspects also appeared in a similar video featuring Adolfo “El Michoacano” Mendoza Valencia, a high-ranking member of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel whose body was also found hanging from a highway overpass.
“In a preliminary manner, I can tell you that we have a range of evidence that allows us to assert that several of [the suspects] are part of the group that appeared in these videos,” Zamarripa said.
He said that there was no evidence that those detained are linked to the murders of 19 people whose bodies were found Thursday in Uruapan, Michoacán. The CJNG claimed responsibility for the killings.
However, federal Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said that an investigation is underway to determine whether the alleged criminals arrested in Guanajuato had any involvement in the Michoacán murders.
The federal government is considering a ban on the use of cash to purchase gasoline and pay tolls as a means to fight tax evasion and money laundering, two people with direct knowledge of the plan told the news agency Bloomberg.
A report published today said the government has discussed the plan with the banking industry but it has not yet been approved.
The sources told Bloomberg that a final decision on whether the ban will go ahead won’t likely be made until after the Bank of México (Banxico) rolls out its digital payment platform known as CoDi next month.
CoDi, short for Cobro Digital (Digital Charge), is part of a wider government plan to push more people into the banking system and cut down on the use of cash, the sources said.
Cash is king in Mexico, partially because of the huge informal economy and the illicit drug trafficking trade.
World Bank data shows that only around 40% of Mexicans have bank accounts and Finance Secretary Arturo Herrera said in March that cash is used for between 80% and 90% of transactions.
The plan to ban cash at fuel pumps and toll booths could help to increase government revenue by widening the tax base at a time when the economy is slowing. Mexico collects less tax as a share of GDP than any other OECD country, according to the World Bank.
The two people who spoke to Bloomberg said the plan would also help to identify gas stations that are purchasing stolen fuel by tracking their electronic transactions.
While that would help the government in its crackdown on fuel theft, the inability to use cash for some transactions would likely be of even greater benefit to banks.
Banks’ client bases would likely grow significantly, providing them with greater opportunities to generate profits via cards, loans and mortgages.
One of the Bloomberg sources said that a ban on the use of cash for gas and tolls coupled with the introduction of Banxico’s CoDi system could increase digital payments tenfold.
Both people said that cash payments for public transport, school tuition, electricity and passports could also be outlawed at some time in the future.
The plan to move towards a less cash-dependent society fits with President López Obrador’s crusade against corruption and his desire to achieve greater financial inclusion of Mexico’s population, especially people who live in rural and remote areas.
However, poor mobile and internet coverage outside urban areas loom as significant challenges to overcome, while weaning people off cash might be even more difficult.
The highway then passes near Talpa with its celebrated maple forest, which has been around since the Pleistocene, through Mascota, renowned for its majestic casonas (mansions) with walls a meter thick, and on past San Sebastián del Oeste, the gorgeous mountain village “forgotten by time,” finally arriving at Puerto Vallarta, six hours distant.
There are so many picturesque towns along this route through western Jalisco that most travelers whiz right by a true jewel of natural beauty and surely the most bizarre little mountain I’ve seen anywhere in the world: La Campana (“the bell”).
The local people call it “The Bell” because that’s what it looks like when you glimpse it — for all of two seconds — as you zoom around one of a hundred curves on the ever-twisting highway approaching Mascota.
From the highway it looks like a bell.
This spot is a two-hour drive from Guadalajara and at this point your stomach is probably growling and you can almost smell the tantalizing aromas awaiting you at the excellent Navidad restaurant in Mascota. What could I ever say to convince you to pull off the highway onto a little dirt road barely visible among the tall pine trees?
Well, if you drive down that road only 20 meters, step out of your car and gaze upward, I know you’re going to be hooked. With only a bit of imagination you might swear you were looking at a very bizarre sculpture of a giant puma battling a gargantuan hammerhead shark.
“Well, well, that definitely does look interesting,” is the reaction I have heard from every soul I have coaxed into stopping here. No matter how loudly their stomachs were growling, they would inevitably ask, “How long do I have to walk to go see it?”
When I tell them it’s only five minutes to the base of La Campana, believe it or not, curiosity always wins out over hunger, and off we go to visit what I call “The Psychedelic Bell.”
After that short walk, you suddenly step out of the forest on bare volcanic rock. As you walk up the smooth, undulating surface, you come upon one after another strange, sweeping shapes you’d swear must have been sculpted by Antonio Gaudí or Salvador Dalí. Who else would put frozen waves of rock on top of a mountain? Of course, instead of breaking waves, you may see something quite different.
Whatever the case, please watch your step. There are no guard rails or rangers here to protect you and a false step could be fatal. It’s not a hike for small children unless you’re carrying them in your backpack.
Owner of La Campana, Tino López, is always ready to guide visitors up the mountain.
After soaking up this semi-psychedelic view, feast your eyes on the panorama below stretching into the distance. No matter how you felt when you started up the mountain, by the time you reach the top, you will surely be inundated with good vibrations! The length of this walk, by the way, is only 428 meters from your car to the peak of the hill.
I first stumbled upon La Campana some 30 years ago. Seeing so many smooth, clean, sweeping, baby-pink surfaces, I couldn’t help but wonder how long they would remain in that pristine state. But every time I have returned, including very recently, I have found the mountain free of trash and the wave-like formations entirely free of graffiti.
Credit for this must surely go to the local landowner, Tino López, whom we first met years ago when we stepped out of our cars and were hailed by a friendly voice — in English, mind you:
“Welcome! Do you want to visit La Campana?”
Don Tino then showed us the short and easy route to the base of the mountain, which we continue to use today. “My house is close by,” he reminded us before leaving. “Just tell people to shout my name when they arrive, and I’ll be glad to guide them.”
Another reason why La Campana is in such good condition — and the surrounding forest free of wildfires — is because the local headquarters of Conafor, the National Forestry Commission, is located only a few meters above the spot where you parked your car and the rangers are always vigilant.
[soliloquy id="86378"]
If you are interested in camping, there’s a nice flat area — no facilities of any kind — 500 meters east of the gate (at N20.37170 W104.59058). But a high-clearance vehicle may be needed to reach the spot. In the rainy season you’ll find a small brook next to your tent.
One advantage of camping is that you could visit La Campana both early and late in the day, when the light gives it very different looks. And don’t be surprised if you scare up a deer or two as you hike from the campsite to the peak.
If you’d like to visit “The Psychedelic Bell,” ask Google Maps to take you to “La Campana, Atenguillo, Jalisco.” Upon arriving, you will see a sign saying Puerto La Campana. Continue past the sign and make a very sharp right turn onto an easy-to-miss dirt road.
A few meters from the highway you can park in front of an iron gate. Just a few meters past the gate, look for the start of a trail on your right. Walk east uphill and you will soon be on an ever-more-obvious path that takes you directly to the base of the little mountain.
If you go up there with children, be sure to keep them tightly in hand because a strong gust of wind could blow a child right over the edge.
Enjoy the good vibrations!
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.
Mexico City's massive drainage tunnel is now ready to operate.
Eleven years after construction began, Mexico City’s massive new drainage tunnel is finished, the head of the National Water Commission (Conagua) announced.
Speaking at yesterday’s presidential press conference, Blanca Jiménez Cisneros said that the Eastern Emission Tunnel (TEO) was in fact completed six weeks ago but hasn’t yet been put into operation.
“With the rain there has been [this year], its operation hasn’t yet been needed,” she said, explaining that existing drainage has been able to cope on its own so far this rainy season.
However, Jiménez predicted that the tunnel will function for the first time before the end of this week.
The Conagua chief said the companies that built the tunnel will be fined because they failed to complete the project on time.
Jiménez added that the total cost of the TEO, designed to help to reduce flooding in Mexico City, increased to 30 billion pesos (US $1.5 billion) from an original estimate of 15 billion pesos due to a lack of planning.
“It cost a lot more than the initial estimate. It started without an appropriate plan, without a complete plan . . .” she said.
Jiménez said the project faced delays because the tunneling machine, which she described as an “enormous seven-meter-diameter drill,” had to be repaired on occasions after sustaining damage due to encounters with rocks.
On one occasion, the machine was stuck underground for six months and had to be removed in pieces, she said.
The 62-kilometer-long mega-tunnel runs from the Remedios river in the northeast of the Mexico City metropolitan area to the Atotonilco water treatment plant in the state of Hidalgo.
It has been described as the world’s largest sewer project and was designed to significantly increase the capital’s capacity to drain storm and wastewater.
Jiménez said she offered to take President López Obrador on a tour of the tunnel but he declined.
“It would be a really cool visit; the only thing is the president hasn’t wanted to go.”
Video cameras in 40 grocery stores were to be connected today to Mexico City’s C5 security and surveillance system to combat robberies and other criminal activity.
Walmart and Bodega Aurrerá, the company’s chain of small grocery stores, were the first to sign up for the new centralized security measure. Sheinbaum said that businesses that choose to connect to the government’s surveillance system will also receive a panic button which will open an immediate distress call to police, trigger an alarm and signal the C5 to record the incident.
“Why so many cameras in the city? Because they allow us to work toward a safer city. We need more, better-prepared and better-equipped police officers, like the police patrols we have begun, but video surveillance is a form of innovation and a way to use technology to improve living conditions for citizens.”
C5 director Juan Manuel García said the measure will not require public funds; rather, private businesses that decide to sign up for it will bear the costs of purchasing video cameras as well as hooking them up to the C5 system, starting at 20,000 pesos (US $1,030).
Police Chief Jesús Orta Martínez said such measures have been proven to reduce crime.
“When robbers know that these measures are in place, they don’t come near, and that’s what we want: to dissuade, to prevent the crime from happening.”
Alberto Sepúlveda, Walmart vice president for Mexico and Central America, said talks with the city government began after the retail giant was forced to close one of its stores in Mexico City because of the high incidence of crime. He added that the first 40 stores connected to the C5 security system will be those most at risk of being targeted by criminals.
