Senate leader expects marijuana law to be passed in December

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October 2, 2020

Marijuana plants in a garden outside the Senate building.

Mexico is on the verge of legalizing the recreational use and commercialization of marijuana, a move that is expected to open up a new lucrative market for pot entrepreneurs both here and abroad.

The Supreme Court (SCJN), which ruled that laws forbidding the use of marijuana are unconstitutional, has given lawmakers until December 15 to draft new legislation for the recreational use of marijuana.

Ricardo Monreal, leader of the ruling Morena party in the Senate, told the news agency Reuters that he expected a law legalizing the recreational use of pot and allowing regulated private companies to sell it to be approved before December.

He predicted that Morena, which leads a coalition with a majority in both houses of Congress, is unlikely to have problems passing the law which he said would make it legal to carry a “certain amount” of marijuana.

Dutch-style cannabis cafes won’t be allowed, at least initially, but the sale of marijuana at private, strictly regulated “sales and distribution centers” will be, Monreal said.

The Senate is divided over whether to allow the industrial cultivation of hemp for products such as food, clothes and building materials, he said, because there is opposition from existing industries.

Miguel Ángel Navarro, also a Morena senator and president of the upper house’s health committee, acknowledged that lawmakers had no option but to legalize the recreational use of marijuana by December. The SCJN had set an April deadline for legalization but extended it due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Navarro told the newspaper Milenio that members of the Senate’s health, justice and legislative studies commissions will reconvene in the coming days to plot the path toward legalization.

Senators from several parties including Miguel Ángel Mancera of the Democratic Revolution Party and Jesusa Rodríguez of the Citizens Movement party have indicated in recent weeks that they support legalization of the recreational use and commercialization of marijuana, and some lawmakers have even visited a cannabis garden that was established outside the Senate building by pro-pot advocates.

Navarro said there are differences of opinions that need to be resolved with regard to issues such as how much marijuana a person can legally possess and grow for recreational purposes but expressed confidence that a consensus will be reached.

One person well positioned to cash in on legalization is Guillermo Nieto, a Guanajuato businessman who grew up smoking marijuana.

Marijuana legalization promoter Guillermo Nieto.

According to a report by Reuters, Nieto and several other Mexican businessmen have been preparing for the legalization of the cultivation of marijuana and its sale to recreational users for years.

In terms of population, Mexico will become the world’s biggest legal market once legislation is approved, meaning there will be plenty of opportunities for cannabis companies to cash in.

“We are expecting to create jobs and revenue for the government. We think it could really help our economy.”

Big players in the legal marijuana industry including Canada’s Canopy Growth and The Green Organic Dutchman and a division of California’s Medical Marijuana Inc. told Reuters that they were interested both the medical and recreational marijuana sectors. Medicinal marijuana was legalized in 2017 but rules for the sector weren’t outlined until July and have not yet taken effect although they are expected to come into force soon.

In addition to boosting the economy and public coffers, the legalization of marijuana will have a big social impact on Mexico, Nieto said.

“The first thing that will happen is that no Mexican will die or go to jail because of this plant,” he said. “With that, everyone wins.”

Dario Contreras Sanchez, who upon legalization plans to establish a business making products such as soap and pain-relieving oils with marijuana he would grow in Durango, said that farmers in that state – where the Sinaloa Cartel has dominated the drug trade for decades – would rather sell their plants legally than to narcos.

“Most of the people want to work legally,” said Contreras, whose sister married into the family of Amado Carillo Fuentes, a former drug lord known as El Señor de los Cielos (Lord of the Skies) because of the large fleet of aircraft he used to transport drugs.

While many Mexican entrepreneurs and foreign companies are excited about the imminent legalization of marijuana, some people are concerned that rules for both the medicinal and recreational sectors will favor big firms and not offer the opportunity for small-scale farmers to join the legal sector.

Pro-pot activists and parents of sick children who want to be able to access cannabis-based products that relieve pain say that the rules drawn up for the medicinal marijuana sector favors big business over patients.

The cultivation of medicinal marijuana for personal use is prohibited under the proposed regulations and farmers would have to partner with pharmaceutical companies that have the capacity to conduct product trials. Such partnerships are out of reach for most farmers, Reuters said.

Margarita Garfias, who has a 16-year-old wheelchair-bound son with a range of disabilities, said the medicinal marijuana rules don’t help families who fear falling foul of the law by growing or buying marijuana for therapeutic use.

“The regulation doesn’t help with this, nor with social justice or human rights for patients,” she said, adding that her home-grown cannabis-derived medicine had helped to reduce her son’s epileptic fits and the time he spends in hospital.

Health sector regulator Cofepris said that the rules are designed to ensure that people using medicinal marijuana are not placed at risk. “Medicines must have quality, safety and efficacy,” it said.

Moneral told Reuters that no law is perfect but asserted that marijuana legalization will transform Mexico, explaining that recreational pot smokers will no longer be prosecuted and farmers will – contrary to some claims – be able to move away from supplying drug cartels and move into the legal sector.

“The most important thing for Mexico and its legislators is that they dare to knock down this decades-old taboo,” he said.

Source: Milenio (sp), Reuters (en)

82-year-old finishes primary school, learns to read

By

Susy Buchanan

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October 2, 2020

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An 82-year-old man has learned to read and graduated from elementary school in Oaxaca.

Timoteo Pacheco Rodríguez was awarded his diploma on Thursday by Miriam Liborio Hernández, state director of adult education. Pacheco’s grade point average was 9.1 out of 10.

“If God gives me life, I will continue with my studies and finish high school,” Pacheco said.

The new graduate is originally from Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, but has lived in the city of Oaxaca for several years. Pacheco sells coffee in the morning and devoted the afternoons to lessons, studying and homework. Learning at his age was not easy, he says, but his diligence and consistency paid off.

His family supported his effort, including his grandchildren who helped him study.

Liborio congratulated Pacheco for his efforts.

“It is never too late to learn and build dreams. It is an inspiration to many young men and women who have not been able to complete their studies,” he said.

Last year an 81-year-old woman from Chiapas also completed her primary school studies.

Likewise, in 2016 a 76-year-old grandmother graduated from high school in Hidalgo.

The National Institute for Adult Education (INEA) was created in 1981 to help adults and young people over the age of 15 complete their studies. In Mexico 3.6 million people do not know how to read and nearly half of those are adults over the age of 60.

In 2019 more than 411,000 Mexicans obtained a diploma or learned how to read through INEA programs. Of those, 215,817 finished high school, and 96,645 graduated from primary school.

Since its inception, more than 14 million people have benefited from INEA programs.

Source: Milenio (sp)

6 police officers killed, 7 wounded in Durango ambush

By

Susy Buchanan

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October 2, 2020

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A bullet-riddled police vehicle after the attack in Durango.

State police officers in Durango were killed in an ambush in broad daylight Thursday. Seven officers were wounded and two of the attackers also died in the shootout, authorities said.

The assault occurred as a squad of eight officers was returning to the capital city from their base in Huazamota, Mezquital, to take time off. They were attacked shortly before reaching San Antonio de Padua by a convoy of six vehicles waiting at a curve in the highway.

The officers managed to notify their colleagues in Huazamota, four kilometers away, of the attack and an additional 14 officers went to their defense.

The attackers eventually fled, leaving their vehicles abandoned at the scene with traces of blood inside, indicating that other gunmen may have been injured during the battle. Authorities are canvassing hospitals in the area where the wounded criminals may have been taken.

The injured police officers were airlifted to a Durango city hospital.

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In a press conference yesterday, authorities revealed few details about who may have been responsible. The gunmen were not wearing tactical gear and it is unknown to which cartel they belonged.

“I strongly condemn the unfortunate events that occurred in the Huazamota Mezquital region, where elements of the state police lost their lives,” Durango Governor José Rosas Aispuro tweeted yesterday. “No one can be above the law.”

Around 90 elements of the state police, the prosecutor’s office and the National Guard were dispatched to the area, and authorities alerted officials in Jalisco and Zacatecas that the attackers may have sought refuge there due to the states’ proximity.

Officials say the attack could be related to one that occurred on September 7, when a convoy of 10 vehicles descended upon nearby Canoas. Armed men entered a home and shot a 34-year-old woman to death, injuring her 12-year-old daughter. The handcuffed body of a 34-year-old man was also found at the scene.

The man, who was president of a parents’ association, had been missing for several days and it is thought his body was left at the scene after he was killed elsewhere.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Dining out? Consider these tips for doing so safely

By

Janet Blaser

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October 2, 2020

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restaurant staff face mask — If staff are not wearing face masks you might want to go elsewhere.

No evidence currently suggests Covid-19 is spread by handling or eating food. But it is important to limit close contact with people outside your home or “bubble,” and be sure those you’re eating with haven’t been exposed to the virus.

Assess your individual risk, that of your immediate family and friends and what’s happening in your community: what is the current spread and level of testing and tracing? Has there been a surge? Use that data to inform your decisions.

Be vigilant about being in a shared space. It’s easy to make a mistake because masks are off, like touching your face or coughing.

Eat at less-busy times. Choose a table as far apart from the others as possible.

Bring your own hand sanitizer and use it instead of going to the restroom to wash your hands. Use hand sanitizer and wash hands vigorously before going out to eat and after you get home.

Observe the restaurant staff and precautions. Are they masked and gloved? Are tables spaced two meters apart? Is there hand sanitizer available — and is it being used? Are tables disinfected after customers leave? What kind of menu and payment methods are being used? Is the restaurant over-capacity? Are frequently touched surfaces disinfected? If you don’t feel comfortable, don’t stay.

Avoid walking through the restaurant (like to the restroom) to minimize exposure to airflow from other diners who may not have their masks on.

Keep your mask on until it’s time to eat. When you do take it off, don’t set it on the table; that’s where respiratory droplets could end up too. Instead, place it in a purse or small paper bag. Fold it with the mouth-side in, and when you put it back on be sure the same side is over your mouth. Sanitize your hands every time before touching your mask.

Mexico News Daily

Do you feel safe eating at restaurants? Weighing the risks in the ‘new normal’

By

Janet Blaser

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October 2, 2020

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A face mask plus a shield can be a sign that the restaurant is taking Covid precautions seriously.

One of the wonderful things about living in Mexico is the fun (and affordability) of going out to eat.

But as the pandemic closed restaurants, cafes and street carts, we adjusted and stayed home; now, as food businesses across the country reopen, we’re trying to decide what to do.

When a Mexico News Daily online poll recently asked, “How safe do you feel about eating out now?” about 1,100 readers responded. More of you felt “somewhat safe” or “safe enough” going out to eat than “not safe at all.”

Mazatlán — with more than 800 restaurant members in its tourism association two years ago — has struggled, closing, opening and then partially closing restaurants and bars several times since March.

“In recent weeks, the city has returned to about 80% of its pre-pandemic nightly activity. This is in all respects, including eating out,” wrote Carlos, adding that most of the small hot dog and taco stands have reopened too. “I am heading out to eat regularly, but I assume the virus is everywhere, and exercise caution and restraint and cleanliness as well as I reasonably can.”

mnd poll — The September 14 poll revealed that 42% of readers didn’t feel at all safe about eating out.

Eating out “with caution” was echoed by many readers all over Mexico.

“I eat only at restaurants with outdoor patios or roof terraces now, since Covid,” shared Pat from San Miguel de Allende. “I meet friends and we wear masks, except when eating, and observe social distancing. I figure if the restaurant has been cleared by the city inspectors and if it’s outdoors with the opportunity for social distancing, I’ll chance it.”

Health experts say the coronavirus spreads easiest indoors, so dining out only at places with outside eating areas was mentioned over and over.

“Many restaurants are open-air where we live,” said Leslie, who lives in Chapala. “We also eat dinner in the early afternoons when there are fewer customers.”

That’s a strategy adopted by Linda in Mazatlán too.

“I usually eat at 5:30, and I’m usually the only one there,” she wrote. “On the rare occasion, if I feel it’s a little too crowded, I order to go. For the most part seating is outside, staff are masked, and temperature is taken when I arrive. So I feel safe eating out.”

San Miguel resident George explained the changes restaurants have made make him feel OK about going out to eat.

“So far, the town is taking Covid-19 very seriously. Restaurants that have reopened have to pass certifications and follow-up visits,” he wrote. “Face masks to enter and on the waitstaff. Tray of disinfectant at the entrance for bottoms of your shoes; temperature taken and a squirt of hand sanitizer. Tables are now well-spaced to provide distancing. No tablecloths and no place settings. The menu is on single-use paper. As you leave, someone immediately sanitizes the tabletop and seats that were occupied.”

“So, yeah, I feel safe. And these good folks really need the business,” added George. “Not sure how safe I’d feel in a restaurant I didn’t know.”

By and large, people feel comfortable eating out at familiar local places — and care about the folks running them.

“Once things started opening up in July, we were eager to start eating out again, not only as a way to get out of the house but mainly to give some business to local restaurateurs who were fighting to stay alive,” wrote Kinsey, who has lived throughout Mexico for 20 years. “With no exceptions, the dozen or so eateries we’ve visited during the past three months have bent over backwards to be as hygienic and conscious of social distancing protocols as humanly possible. We’ve never felt we were endangering our health by having someone else cook for us.”

Gillian and Karen said the same thing: “I feel safe at my favorite places. I know they’re very careful.” And from Mexico City, Shawn agreed he feels safe going out to eat — as long as it’s outside or an open area.

“I’m in my mid-40s and healthy, and I’ve understood this is going to go on for a very, very long time. Given that, I choose to find a way to continue to enjoy life even through the pandemic.”

Others are more cautious.

“We have to be convinced of the restaurant’s precautions and their consistency,” explained Sidmini in Ajijic, adding that they support local businesses by ordering in and “tipping freely.

“I know for myself how easy it is to forget. If the boss ‘overlooks’ stuff, we don’t go back.”

“The problem is not with the restaurants; the problem is when you’re eating, you can’t wear a mask. To be inside a restaurant without my N95 mask on, surrounded by others without masks, is a risk I’m not prepared to take,” wrote Sandra from San Luis Potosí. “Even outside at a street stand, if it’s a good one, there’s a crowd. I don’t want other people breathing on me.

While there may be city or state restrictions on how eating establishments can open, enforcement is another story.

Regular disinfection of tables is a good sign.

“Here no guidelines have been strictly enforced, and masks are just beginning to be seen more rather than less,” added Sandra. “We have thousands of active cases, and all private hospitals are full and turning away Covid patients, Although I feel sorry for all the restaurant owners and employees, I’m not about to put my life at risk.”

Many people wrote that careful observation and assessment of what’s happening in their communities helped guide their decisions whether or not to go out to eat.

“It seems like there are a lot of people who aren’t as careful as we are as far as distancing, so being in a restaurant setting is not something we’re doing right now,” wrote Marnie from Mazatlán.

In La Paz, Paul only does take-out from his favorite restaurants.

“There are too many people that just are not following proper protocol,” he wrote.

Opting for take-out and home delivery seems to be a good solution for many: you don’t have to cook, you’re supporting local businesses and you’re not around people whose health you know nothing about.

Elisabeth in Lake Chapala said she’s been amazed at the number of food businesses that have adapted to delivering both prepared foods and groceries.

“Looking at tables to calculate risk, dining out is very high-risk inside, moderate even outside,” she said. “We’re sticking with delivery and pick-up for the foreseeable future.”

Still on the fence? In Monterrey the choice has already been made for some.

“If you’re 65 and older, you cannot “dine in” at restaurants,” wrote Alejandro. “Plus they may ask for ID for proof of age.”

Ultimately, this is an individual choice, and there’s no one answer. The coronavirus has upended life for the foreseeable future and we’re all trying to create our “new normal.”

“I’m trying to go out more now — not that I feel any safer, but because I have recognized that this is the new normal for a fairly long time to come,” wrote Suzanne from Ajijic. “At 81, I do not intend to spend what may be the rest of life in isolation. I’m very careful and always wear a mask when I’m out. My life today is filled with risk assessment. Still, I’m happy that I’m in Mexico and not in the U.S.”

• Tips for dining out safely

Mexico News Daily

2 wounded as violence breaks out during occupation of toll plaza

By

MND Staff

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October 2, 2020

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The scene last night at the Mexico City-Pyramids toll booths. — The scene Thursday night at the Mexico City-Pyramids toll booths.

Two people were shot on Thursday night during a violent clash over control of a toll plaza in México state.

Members of a group called Pacific Civil Resistance as well as students from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers college – the school attended by the 43 students abducted in Guerrero in 2014 – were illegally collecting tolls from motorists at the toll plaza on the Mexico City-Teotihuacán Pyramids highway when men arrived in pickup trucks and began attacking them with sticks and pipes.

The aggressors also damaged vehicles at the toll plaza including a bus in which the Ayotzinapa students traveled to México state from Guerrero.

According to police reports, several gunshots were heard shortly after the aggressors began their attack. The newspaper El Universal said that both the toll plaza occupiers and the men who arrived apparently opened fire.

One man fell to the road after he was shot but managed to get back on his feet and get into a vehicle that transported him to a local hospital, the newspaper Milenio reported. Another man was shot in the leg and received assistance from municipal police before being taken to the hospital.

The identity of the two wounded men wasn’t reported and it was unclear what side they were on. The identity of the aggressors and the group they belong to is also unknown. Both the toll plaza occupiers and the aggressors fled the toll plaza after the confrontation.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the number of people taking over toll plazas in the Valley of México metropolitan area and illegally collecting “voluntary contributions” from motorists has increased.

El Universal reported earlier this week that toll plazas in México state are regularly occupied by groups of unemployed people looking for a way to get by at a time when jobs are scarce due to the pandemic.

The hijacking of toll plazas, mainly by people protesting for different reasons, is also a problem in many other states. At least 18 toll plazas across the country were occupied on Monday just one day after the National Guard cleared eight in Nayarit.

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

Teachers commandeer police vehicle, trucks to block railway tracks

By

Susy Buchanan

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October 2, 2020

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A police vehicle blocks the tracks in Uruapan.

Protesters once again took control of the railway in Uruapan, Michoacán, this time by commandeering a police patrol vehicle, a Corona beer truck and a tractor-trailer loaded with groceries to block the tracks.

The move came after state police and the National Guard forcibly removed protesters from the tracks Wednesday in a clash that saw 14 police officers injured and seven protesters arrested.

The protesters are teachers and teaching students, known as normalistas, who have blocked the railway on and off for the past three weeks, demanding the payment of bonuses and scholarships and the automatic allocation of jobs to more than 2,000 recent graduates.

In Wednesday’s skirmish, normalistas lobbed Molotov cocktails, fireworks and rocks at authorities who fired back with flashbangs and tear gas, successfully removing the protesters and their blockades in Pátzcuaro and Caltzontzin.

Their victory was short-lived. Around 2 p.m. on Thursday, a large crowd of protesters marched back to the tracks in Caltzontzin, blocking them once again. Protesters were also present in Maravatío, Lázaro Cárdenas, Morelia and Múgica although they had not established a blockade in those locations.

In Caltzontzin, members of the indigenous Arantepacua community marched with the teachers yesterday and threatened that if the state uses force to remove the blockade, indigenous communities will mobilize in support of the normalistas and radicalize their protest actions.

The protesters, many affiliated with the CNTE teachers’ union, have interrupted the transportation of goods to and from the center of the country, causing economic losses estimated at 50 million pesos (US $2.27 million) per day.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Hundreds of families lose their possessions in Tabasco floods

By

Susy Buchanan

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October 2, 2020

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Hundreds of families have seen their belongings washed away due to torrential rains in Villahermosa, Tabasco.

Some neighborhoods of the capital city saw standing water up to one meter deep after four hours of heavy rain fell Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.

“We haven’t slept, all night [we] were trying to get our belongings out, but we couldn’t. The water beat us, and we lost everything,” lamented one resident. Her home is in the Tamulté de las Barrancas neighborhood, one of the most affected areas, where more than 221 millimeters of rain was recorded.

To make matters worse, the rainfall has filled the reservoir at the Peñitas dam in neighboring Chiapas and the National Water Commission (Conagua) has announced that it will open the floodgates. That will send more water to the Grijalva River and its tributaries, the Mezcalapa Samaria and Carrizal rivers, which flow through Tabasco.

Governor Adán López Hernández says water released from the dam will more than double, increasing from 600 to 1,350 cubic meters per second, and urged the Federal Electricity Commission, which is in charge of the dam, to “guarantee the safety of the person and property of the people of Tabasco. If they do not do so, they will be responsible for the material damages.”

Civil Protection warned that the municipalities of Nacajuca, Jalpa de Méndez and Cunduacán would begin to notice rising water levels beginning at noon Friday and asked residents to be vigilant. People who have livestock were asked to move their animals to the highlands.

Temporary shelters will be opened in Villahermosa, and two are already open in Teapa due to the flooding of the Pichucalco River.

The governor warned that rainfall is predicted to continue into the weekend. The Sierra and Chontalpa regions could be particularly affected, he said.

The amount of rain has some residents remembering the flooding that occurred in late October and early November 2007, when 80% of the state was under water and 20,000 people had to be evacuated.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Abolishing trusts will be historic blow to science and culture: critics

By

MND Staff

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October 2, 2020

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Scientific researchers and students protest in Mexico City Thursday.

Several academics have slammed a plan proposed by Mexico’s ruling party to abolish more than 100 public trusts, asserting that it represents a threat to current and future scientific research.

President López Obrador’s Morena party is proposing the elimination of 109 trusts, including about 30 that fund scientific research and others that provide resources for the arts and the media.

Fonden, the national disaster fund, and Fidecine, the cinema stimulus and investment fund, will also be among the trusts abolished if the plan is approved.

A committee of lawmakers approved a reform earlier this week that would allow the Interior Ministry (Segob) to control the funds of the 109 trusts, which this year had a combined budget of 68 billion pesos (US $3.1 billion). If the trusts are abolished and Segob takes control of the money, it could be redirected to other projects.

The government says the aim of the plan is to streamline funding and that funds in the trusts could go to spending on healthcare including the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

For López Obrador, the trusts represent opportunities for corruption. He said on Thursday that they are “out of control” and lacking in transparency. Abolishing them will prevent aviadores — people who collect a paycheck every two weeks without working — and avoid paying money to intermediaries.

Instead, the money will go directly to beneficiaries, the president said.

Lawmakers were scheduled to debate the proposal to abolish the trusts in the lower house of Congress on Thursday but discussion didn’t go ahead because an insufficient number of lawmakers was present.

Debate has been rescheduled for Tuesday and if the proposal is approved by the lower house it will be sent to the Senate. A Morena-led coalition has a majority in both houses of Congress.

A group of researchers and students protested outside the Congress building yesterday, holding up signs with messages such as “Without science there is no future” and “Science is development.”

According to the newspaper El Universal, a group of Morena party lawmakers emerged from the Congress and told the protesters that even with the abolition of the trusts, funding for science won’t be cut.

lopez obrador — The president says funding will go directly to beneficiaries, rather than through intermediaries.

But several academics have a different view.

Antonio Lazcano, a biology researcher and professor at the National Autonomous University (UNAM), said the dissolution of the trusts would amount to a government “seizure” of funds that are not theirs to take.

He asserted that the government is demonstrating a contempt for science that is reminiscent of the attacks former president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz made on universities and other tertiary education facilities in the late 1960s.

Lazcano said the gravest consequence would be the suspension of some 60 Covid-19 research projects at the National Polytechnic Institute’s Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav).

Brenda Valderrama, president of the Morelos Academy of Sciences, said the abolition of the trusts would constitute a big blow to science research.

She told El Universal that she has been a researcher for 25 years and in that time she has seen the construction of a funding framework that allows more equitable access to resources. Funding applications are less vulnerable to discretion and the poor management of resources, Valderrama said.

But now “what we’re seeing is that framework being broken,” she said. “It’s not that it can’t be built again but it will take us a long time. It was a job that took more than 20 years.”

José Antonio Aguilar, a researcher at the Center for Research in Teaching and Economics (CIDE), a Mexico City university, said the plan is another example of the government not listening to stakeholders.

“[The government] has flagrantly ignored … all the reasons, arguments and evidence that have been set out so that this madness is not committed. When power divorced from reason is exercised, it’s extremely grave for the life of the country,” he said.

The trust of CIDE and 25 other public research centers would be abolished under Morena’s proposal, a move Aguilar said would strip them of the money they need to operate.

“This is a kind of expropriation of money that the centers … [use] to provide for their needs,” he said. “This is a strategy to centralize and make the management of resources for science in Mexico discretionary.”

José Franco, a UNAM astrophysicist, said that lawmakers’ promises that funding for science will continue despite the abolition of the public trusts cannot be trusted.

“The word of the legislative power is not worth anything because there will be elections next year and there will be other legislators. It’s impossible to know how they will react and what those who follow them will do. They say now that there will be support [but] it’s … a false promise,” he said.

Lazcano and Gerardo Herrera Corral, a Cinvestav physicist, both said that the next generations of scientists will suffer the consequences of Morena’s proposal.

The latter said that more experienced researchers who are well-established in their careers have greater possibilities of accessing overseas funding whereas young people working on their doctorates or other projects find it more difficult to obtain foreign grants.

Lazcano said political leaders are demonstrating a lack of vision. The resources the trusts provide “guarantee the continuity and maintenance of [scientific] infrastructure and the continuity of research projects,” he said.

“The training of young scientists is being thrown overboard with complete blindness,” Lazcano said. “It’s evident that the president has no idea of the importance of science, he doesn’t have the slightest interest in understanding what is happening.”

Mexicans involved in the arts, including actor Gael García Bernal, have rejected the plan, saying that funding for science, media, the arts and human rights will be subject to the whims of political cycles.

Madrazo and other people who spoke with the Reuters news agency said that the planned abolition of the trusts is part of government efforts to more closely control public resources, including those that go to critics of President López Obrador.

Source: El Universal (sp), Reuters (en)

Supreme Court approves referendum on presidential trials

By

Jude Webber

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October 1, 2020

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The Supreme Court voted 6-5 on the controversial proposal. — The court voted 6-5 on the controversial proposal.

President López Obrador has secured Supreme Court approval for a controversial referendum on whether five of his predecessors should face trial for corruption, prompting critics to slam the ruling as a dangerous erosion of constitutional checks and balances.

Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, government spokesman, called the 6-5 vote “a transcendental step towards the construction of a true democracy” and the fruit of “a decades-long fight” for the people to be heard.

Any referendum should by law happen in August but lawyers said López Obrador could now push for the question to be on the ballot in next June’s midterm vote.

The decision sparked a tide of concern that López Obrador had now co-opted one of Mexico’s last autonomous institutions. He is the country’s most powerful president in a generation and has been waging a bitter campaign against media critics that they say undermines freedom of speech.

Since taking office nearly two years ago, López Obrador has concentrated decision-making and acknowledged that he demands “blind loyalty to the project of transformation” that he considers his mission.

Diego Valadés, a constitutional expert, called the ruling “astonishing” and several Supreme Court justices said it trampled human rights including the presumption of innocence.

“Justice is not up for consultation,” said Justice Javier Laynez Potisek. Another, Norma Piña Hernández, said it was her duty “not to yield to more pressures” than those that came with being a constitutional judge.

But Arturo Zaldívar, court president, said it was not the institution’s job “to be a closed door but a bridge allowing people to intervene in major decisions.”

Jesús Silva Herzog, a prominent political commentator, said Zaldívar was proposing “the court’s suicide” and tweeted: “The president’s intimidation worked.”

Hours before the ruling, López Obrador said during his daily news conference that it would be “lamentable” if the court did not back his bid to allow the people to decide whether presidents from 1988 to 2018 should be tried for corruption, social inequality, violence “and many other calamities.”

He had earlier this week vowed to seek to change the constitution if the Supreme Court voted against him.

Images shared on social media showed a crowd of government supporters gathered near the court chanting: “We did it.”

José Miguel Vivanco, executive director for the Americas at advocacy group Human Rights Watch, called it a “constitutional delirium in Mexico.”

“If they have evidence against ex-presidents, they should be investigated. Otherwise, there’s nothing to investigate. They cannot turn the country into a Roman Circus,” he tweeted.

John Ackerman, a law professor at the National Autonomous University and prominent supporter of the president, who is also married to the minister in charge of eradicating corruption from Mexico’s public administration, said López Obrador’s “openness to citizen participation … is not ‘institutional erosion’ but precisely the contrary, it empowers democracy and … helps break with the old entrenched, corrupt practices.”

The poll proposal will go to Congress, where the president has a majority in both houses.

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