Palenque was one site that saw an increase in visitors.
The number of foreign visitors to archaeological sites managed by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has dropped for the first time in four years.
INAH reported that numbers were down 5% in the first two months of the year, in contrast to previous years’ figures showing double-digit growth.
Chichén Itzá in Yucatán — one of the new Seven Wonders of the World and the most visited archaeological site in Mexico — saw international visitor numbers decline nearly 15%. Tulum, in Quintana Roo, saw a similar drop.
The decreases are significant considering that about half the total number of visitors are foreigners.
The federal Tourism Secretariat reported that at least eight of the country’s top 20 archaeological sites have reported a similar downward trend, with Mitla, Oaxaca; San Gervasio, Quintana Roo; and Cempoala, Veracruz, being the worst hit with decreases of 31%, 30% and 22% in the number of foreign visitors respectively.
But foreign visitors continue to be drawn to some archaeological areas, which saw major spikes in their numbers. El Tepozteco, Morelos; Malinalco, México state; and Palenque, Chiapas, saw their numbers shoot up by 181%, 60% and 49%.
Of the top three sites in the country — Chichén Itzá, Teotihuacán and Tulum — only the second saw growth during the first two months of the year.
The mayor of Nahuatzen, Michoacán, was abducted and killed this morning, state authorities said.
The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office (FGE) said in a statement that David Eduardo Otlica Avilés was kidnapped in San Isidro, Nahuatzen, in the early hours of this morning and that his body was later found at a place known as Cortijo Viejo in the municipality of Coeneo.
The FGE said it has opened an investigation into the crime and pledged that “there will be no impunity.”
People close to the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) mayor said he met yesterday with community landowners from Sevina, Nahuatzen.
After the meeting concluded at approximately 2:00am, municipal government personnel accompanied Otlica to his home, from where he had been working because the Indigenous Citizens’ Council has blocked access to the municipal palace to protest against what it says were fraudulent local government elections last July.
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Minutes later, several men broke into the house and forcibly removed the mayor, the newspaper El Financiero reported. Family members alerted municipal and state authorities, who launched a search.
Michoacán Governor Silvano Aureoles condemned the murder in a Twitter post and said the state government will provide its full support to apprehend those responsible for the crime.
Nahuatzen, a largely indigenous municipality around 100 kilometers west of the state capital Morelia, has seen several incidents of violence in recent years.
Attorney General Winckler, under pressure, and 'La Becky,' Minatitlán bar owner.
The massacre of 14 people at a bar in Minatitlán, Veracruz, on Friday night could have been a revenge attack or the result of the failure to make an extortion payment, the state attorney general said yesterday.
“We have two lines of investigation,” Jorge Winckler Ortiz told the television program La Nota Dura.
“One of them is revenge due to the possibility of conflict over the sale of drugs. One person who was killed . . . had two businesses where she sold one criminal group’s illegal products and shortly after she sold the competition’s products,” he said.
“The other line of investigation we have is that the cobro de piso [extortion payment] wasn’t made.”
The attorney general explained that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Los Zetas are involved in a turf war in Veracruz, which has contributed to the current insecurity in the state.
The deceased person to whom Winckler was referring was a trans woman known as “La Becky” who owned two bars in Minatitlán, including La Potra, where Friday’s attack occurred.
The attorney general told a press conference earlier yesterday that authorities had received statements indicating that “La Becky,” whose real name was Julio César González Reyna, was the target of the attack.
As he leads the investigation into the case, Winckler is under pressure to resign as a result of accusations of corruption and collusion with former state governor Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares.
President López Obrador said yesterday that “relevant authorities will investigate the attorney general’s conduct,” charging that “the fact that the previous governor [Yunes] left him there, and that he’s acting to protect the old regime, really stands out.”
He added: “What must be made very clear is that we won’t act as cover, if there’s a [criminal] complaint against anyone, it will run its course because we’re not going to be protecting anybody. Corruption is going to end, we have to clean up the corruption in Veracruz.”
The president admitted that he doesn’t know Winckler personally before adding: “but I do know he who was governor and if he’s linked to the past governor, we have to look at things carefully because Veracruz had a problem with crime being supported by the government.”
López Obrador and Governor García.
He also said Winckler “is not highly recommended.”
Cuitláhuac García, who was sworn in as governor for López Obrador’s Morena party on December 1, announced last week that Winckler would not attend yesterday’s security meeting with federal authorities due to the corruption allegations he faces, which include protecting corrupt regional prosecutors and manipulating statistics for crimes including kidnappings and femicides.
Despite the possibility that he will be investigated, Winckler said he hadn’t considered quitting.
“Resigning hasn’t been on my mind. I was democratically elected by five different parties, by the state Congress, and I believe that the results of my work are there for everybody to see,” he said.
López Obrador nevertheless defended García, claiming that the current insecurity is the result of lingering corruption in state authorities despite the change of government.
However, he asserted that with “the support of the people of Veracruz” and “the support of the federal government,” things will change in the state.
“. . . Don’t forget we’re very perseverant, we’re very stubborn, so corruption is going to end in Veracruz . . .”
Pemex CEO Romero addresses a press conference this morning.
The state oil company has confirmed that although the number of illegal pipeline taps has increased since December, the volume of stolen fuel has declined significantly in the same period.
Pemex CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza explained that the average amount of fuel stolen between December 1 and 20 was 74,200 barrels a day. But the federal government’s anti-fuel theft strategy brought the average daily volume down to 11,200 barrels between December 21 and April 21, he said.
The strategy has included the deployment of military personnel to safeguard Pemex facilities and pipelines.
The next step will be protecting pipelines by pouring a layer of concrete layer over them. Pemex has begun that project on 15 kilometers of the Tuxpan-Azcapotzalco and Tuxpan-Tula pipelines, and will carry on with the pipelines most susceptible to theft.
Romero also reported on the progress of the government’s purchase of tanker trucks, which was initiated after severe gasoline shortages that followed the temporary closing of pipelines earlier this year. That too was part of the strategy to combat petroleum theft.
The Pemex chief said 428 of the 612 new trucks are now operating and the remainder will be on the road by the end of the month.
The federal government said in January it had signed deals worth US $92 million to purchase 671 trucks. It wasn’t explained what happened to the missing 59.
Romero also said fuel supplies are at normal levels.
The growth of Airbnb and similar digital accommodation platforms is cause for concern among hoteliers in the Riviera Nayarit, where a local tourism official says there are 16,000 hotel rooms and a similar number of Airbnb properties.
“. . . we calculate that there are just as many. In other words, the same supply in different conditions, without regulation. Yes, hoteliers are worried,” said Richard Zarkin, public relations manager at the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“A lot of people are renting houses and apartments. It has to be regulated, the government is already working on the issue,” he added.
Zarkin said that there is an uneven playing field for hotels and properties listed on accommodation sites because the former pay commercial rates for electricity and water while the latter are charged residential prices, which are lower.
“We think that it’s unfair competition. Airbnb is a platform that benefits from [tourism] promotion whose budget comes from the accommodation tax. There should be responsibility. Airbnb should pay the relevant taxes,” he said.
Seven Mexican states including Guerrero and Mexico City charge Airbnb hosts booking taxes of 2% to 3% but federal Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco is now proposing the introduction of a nationwide regulatory framework for online hospitality services, an initiative that is supported by Riviera Nayarit hoteliers.
Located between the historic port of San Blas and Banderas bay in Nuevo Vallarta, the Riviera Nayarit is one of Mexico’s fastest growing tourism destinations.
Average hotel occupancy rates were 65% last year and tourism generated an estimated economic spillover of US $1.6 billion in the region.
Fires are devouring the Chimalapas jungle of Oaxaca.
As 14 forest fires burn out of control in Oaxaca — one has burned through 1,000 hectares of pine forest in the Chimalapas jungle — Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat has called on the federal government to declare an emergency.
In a press conference on Monday, Murat said the state government has reached the limit of its ability to fight the fires and asked the federal government for additional equipment and resources to limit the damage being caused.
He said Oaxaca has seen 172 forest fires destroy 9,196 hectares so far this year. Last year, the state was ravaged by 129 fires that burned 19,600 hectares.
State Forestry Commission director Aarón Juárez said the fires are being fought along five major fronts at Cerro La Fortuna, Cerro Azul, Monte Ricos, San Miguel Chimalapa near the Oaxaca-Chiapas border and near El Mirador.
Serious fires have also been reported near San Pedro El Alto, Zimatlán, La Carbonera, San Pedro Tezocoalco, San Pedro Tenango, San Pedro Quiatoni and San Pedro Teituila. The director added that the areas that have been most affected are the Mixteca region, the central valleys and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Juárez said 100 state and federal firefighters are working to control the 14 wildfires, but the intensity of the fires, bolstered by hot weather, have made it hard for such a small force to be effective. As well, high winds have limited the state’s ability to use helicopters against the fires.
A previous edition of Talent Land, which is on this week in Guadalajara.
More than 30,000 people are expected to attend a wide range of activities at this year’s edition of technology expo Talent Land, which started yesterday in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
Pablo Antón, cofounder of Jalisco Talent Network, said Talent Land offers something of interest for all tech lovers and that technology companies will be on the lookout for young talent to join their ranks.
More than 2,000 links between companies and potential employees were established at the 2018 event and the goal this year is to exceed that number, Antón said.
As in past editions, there are seven sections: Agro Land, Business Land, Blockchain Land, Creative Land, Developer Land, Gamer Land and Iron Land.
Agro Land, a joint initiative between event organizers and the Jalisco government, makes its debut at Talent Land 2019. Its goal is to educate attendees about the current use and potential of technology in agriculture.
In other sections, there is ample opportunity for attendees to not only watch, listen and learn about a broad range of technology topics but also participate in a variety of competitions.
Robot-sumo fights, drone competitions, video game tournaments and a massive hackathon are among the hands-on activities on offer. An attempt will also be made to break the record for the world’s largest mathematics class.
The roster of speakers includes Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media; chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov; Mexican scientist and astronaut Rodolfo Neri Vela; inventor Manuel Gutiérrez Novelo; eccentric television scientist Beakman; and the science and mathematics educator known as Julioprofe.
There is also a stage called Talent Woman where female tech leaders will share their stories about working in the industry and offer advice to the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.
Talent Land is one of Mexico’s premier technology events while host city Guadalajara is often described as the country’s Silicon Valley because of its large number of high-tech companies.
The event is being held at Expo Guadalajara, a huge convention center west of the Jalisco capital’s downtown. The five-day event concludes Friday.
The development of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec could be significant for Mexico's growth. (Archive)
The notion that a rail project across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, can compete with the Panama Canal is a “pipe dream,” according to the president of the Mexican Shipping Agents Association (AMANAC).
Cristian Bennett Lira said that at least 200 trains a day would have to run between the two port cities in order for it to be able to compete with the 105-year-old United States-built feat of engineering that connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans across the Isthmus of Panama.
“. . . The idea of using a trans-isthmus service to compete with the Panama Canal, as has been mentioned on multiple occasions during the past 40 years, is a pipe dream,” he said.
Establishing a trade corridor that spans the shortest distance between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico is a priority for the federal government, and 1.1 billion pesos (US $58.4 million) was allocated in the 2019 budget to the modernization of the rail line between the two ports.
“We’re going to reactivate the multimodal interoceanic corridor that has been on hold since the opening of the Panama Canal. In the times of [former president] Porfirio Díaz, there was a lot of activity crossing goods but since the opening of the canal, [the route] lost importance and it was left to one side,” said Rafael Marín Mollinedo, government chief of the trade corridor project.
He added that the government of Singapore has signed a contract to collaborate on the project and that more details will be announced in the coming days.
Bennett acknowledged that the trade corridor will stimulate regional development but added “from my point of view, it’s not a priority project.”
He pointed out that trucks can already cross the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in three hours, adding that the necessity of unloading cargo from a ship at one port and putting it on to a different ship at another port will drive up costs for shipping companies and make the project less competitive.
Rafael Mercado, an assistant vice-president at the Kansas City Southern Railway Company, also said it was unlikely that the trans-isthmus project could compete with the Panama Canal, pointing out that in order to attract ships to Salina Cruz and Coatzacoalcos, billions of dollars worth of improvements will be needed at both ports.
The federal government has said the project will be completed in two years’ time and President López Obrador has argued that the project will be a trigger for economic and social development in the Isthmus region.
AMLO, left: 'conservatives are hypocrites;' Romero: 'enough division.
President López Obrador has lashed out at those who questioned the constitutionality of his instructions to suspend the education reforms, triggering a backlash from opposition lawmakers, past presidents and others.
“They [opposition lawmakers] kept as quiet as mummies when they looted [the public purse] and trampled on human rights and now they shout like town criers that it’s unconstitutional to deliver justice and banish corruption,” the president wrote on social media on Saturday.
“There is no doubt that the only doctrine of conservatives is hypocrisy. Sorry but you are like whitewashed tombs,” he added.
Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, leader of the National Action Party (PAN) in the lower house of Congress and an outspoken critic of a memorandum López Obrador sent last week directing three secretariats to ignore the education reforms, called on the president to stop dividing the nation.
“President López Obrador, I invite you to a reconciliation with all Mexicans. Enough dividing already! The country deserves to move towards a rule of law in order to attend to the times of violence and impunity we’re living through. Let’s build together,” he wrote on Twitter.
Other lawmakers as well as two past presidents, a security analyst and a prominent journalist criticized the president for playing politics during the Easter break, and just hours after 14 people were killed at a bar in Minatitlán, Veracruz.
“These days [are] for retreat and reflection, love and peace, Mr. President,” PAN Deputy Laura Rojas said.
Citizens’ Movement deputy Martha Tagle described López Obrador’s words as a “self-portrait of authoritarianism,” stating that “while the country is shaken by the massacre at Minatitlán, he is lashing out at his critics.”
Former President Vicente Fox took aim at López Obrador in a series of Twitter posts while his successor Felipe Calderón also took a stand against the president.
“What a disgrace that you even use tragedies as a springboard for aggression. Not everything is about you AMLO. Speaking about the people is not governing, attending [to their needs] is,” Fox wrote on Twitter.
Calderón retweeted several posts that were critical of López Obrador including one written by journalist León Krauze, which said: “24 hours haven’t passed since the Minatitlán tragedy and the president of Mexico picks up his phone to write a message against his . . . political adversaries . . . Regrettable.”
Security analyst Alejandro Hope responded to López Obrador’s post by writing, “Mr. President, with all respect, today is not a good day to attack your adversaries or to speak of tombs.”
President López Obrador has denied that a decision to return assets seized from former teachers’ union boss Elba Esther Gordillo is the result of a “shady deal” between her and the government as claimed by opposition parties.
The newspaper Reforma revealed yesterday that the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) had returned three properties, three cars, books and art to the former SNTE union chief.
Gordillo’s access to seven bank accounts that were frozen when she was arrested on corruption charges in 2013 was also reinstated.
The ex-union leader commonly known as “La Maestra” (The Teacher) spent almost five years in custody awaiting trial but was released from house arrest in August last year when a federal court absolved her of corruption charges, stating that there weren’t sufficient grounds to proceed with the case.
In response to the news that Gordillo had got her assets back, political figures claimed that the president had entered into a politically convenient pact with the former union boss and that he is not as committed to combatting corruption as he claims to be.
“With this decision, it is confirmed that there is a political pact between Elba Esther and López Obrador. The [president’s] supposed fight against corruption . . . in reality, is not true,” said Fernando Rodríguez Doval, a secretary on the national executive committee of the National Action Party (PAN).
He suggested that the “alliance” was related to Gordillo’s “project” to form a new political party “linked to the López Obrador movement.”
Rodríguez also contended that the decision to return Gordillo’s assets is evidence that the FGR is under the president’s control, adding that “the fact that the Attorney General’s Office has decided not to continue with the investigations tells us that there is no commitment to the fight against corruption contrary to what he [López Obrador] has been saying.”
Ángel Ávila Romero, national president of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), said that “we’re once again seeing the political use of law enforcement institutions,” charging that the return of assets to Gordillo is evidence that the Morena party and the president “are obliged to their political and electoral allies.”
He added: “Elba Esther’s assets don’t correspond to her salary as a teacher or national [union] leader . . . This return of assets is an affront to citizens who are asking for corruption, impunity and the looting of public coffers to be punished.”
Ávila also claimed that a memorandum issued by López Obrador last week directing three secretariats to ignore the education reforms implemented by the past federal government was motivated by the former union leader’s criticism of the laws.
“. . . Elba Esther Gordillo made a complaint about the education reform and two days later López Obrador released a memorandum to wind back the education reform. It’s clear to me that the relationship between López Obrador and Elba is of the very highest order and that it extends across the union sphere, the legislative sphere – that’s the extent of the conspiracy between them,” he said.
Speaking at his daily press conference this morning, the president rejected the claims, telling reporters in Veracruz that his government acts transparently and ethically.
“We act on principles, we have ideals, we have moral authority because we know in that way we can have political authority. We’re not like the conservatives and their spokespeople, we’re different. We don’t do deals in the dark, we didn’t lend ourselves to any shady deal, we’re not at the service of any vested interest group,” López Obrador said.
“This is a new government that arose from the people and whose purpose is to put an end to corruption, impunity, influence and all the scourges of politics . . .”
