Heavy equipment arrived on the site of the plant last year.
The company behind the construction of a US $5-billion fertilizer plant that was suspended by a federal judge this week says it has complied with all requirements established by authorities.
Gas y Petroquímica de Occidente (GPO) said in a statement that its “priority is to comply transparently” with all its obligations and commitments and that “all the specifications for the construction of our complex in Topolobampo, Sinaloa, have been submitted in a timely manner.”
The company charged that “from the beginning, our project has been built in accordance with the law,” adding that it will be “attentive to requests from federal, state and municipal authorities in order to continue with the development of the plant.”
The plant, which in its first stage of operations was expected to produce 770,000 tonnes of ammonia and 700,000 tonnes of urea per year for state and national markets, is an “important project not just for Sinaloa but for all of Mexico,” GPO said.
The definitive suspension order he issued was sought by representatives of the El Muellecito ejido (community land), who argued that the 202-hectare plant would cause irreparable damage to the ecosystem of the Santa María, Topolobampo and Ohuira lagoons.
In his ruling, the judge raised concerns about the impact on wildlife that the plant would have.
But GPO, a subsidiary of Swiss-German engineering, procurement and construction group Proman AG, rejected claims that the plant’s operation would damage the environment.
“With regard to the safety of the project, we assert that at GPO we work with the highest quality standards and state-of-the-art technology . . . In addition, we have various social and environmental programs to promote sustainable development in the area that will allow current environmental conditions to not just be preserved but even improve.
“At GPO, we understand that there are anxieties about a project of this magnitude and consequently we reiterate our policy of dialogue to inform and communicate the community about the development of the plant.”
Oaxaca actress Yalitzia Aparicio is not the only talent in her family. In fact, she owes her success on the silver screen to her sister: it was she who planned to attend the casting for Alfonso Cuarón’s award-winning film, Roma.
But Edith Aparicio couldn’t make it because she was pregnant at the time of the auditions. Instead, Edith encouraged Yalitza to attend in her stead, and the rest is history.
In an interview with the newspaper El Universal, Edith said her sister had never imagined becoming a movie star.
“Never, never! It’s actually funny for us because it’s been me who has expressed herself in that manner the most, what she liked the most . . . was reading, poetry, painting . . . she never said she wanted to be an actress.”
Edith Aparicio is the opposite: “I’ve sung and I’ve danced and I like it a lot. I’m getting a lot of work and I go wherever they invite me or pay me.”
Golpes de pecho (cover)Edith Aparicio. Felipe Jiménez
Her audience has grown since January when she created a YouTube channel, where she has posted eight videos featuring traditional songs accompanied by a mariachi band or by a guitar that she often plays herself.
The videos have earned over 255,000 views, receiving positive comments from users who have encouraged her to continue to pursue her dream.
Crews work to repair sewer system in Puerto Vallarta.
Authorities in Jalisco have issued a health alert and closed some beaches in Puerto Vallarta after a sewer line ruptured, contaminating seawater in and around the El Salado Estuary Natural Protected Area (ANP).
The Jalisco Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (Coprisjal) warned people to avoid contact with water in the ANP and “adjacent beaches” because of the high risk of enterococcal infection.
The contamination was caused by the collapse of a 48-inch sewer line on March 3, Coprisjal said.
In light of the situation, Puerto Vallarta Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña took the decision yesterday to close all beaches between the mouth of the Pitillal River and the 18th hole of the Marina Vallarta Golf Club. Beaches south of the marina in Vallarta’s hotel zone remain open.
Personnel from Seapal, Jalisco’s water utility, are currently working to repair the damaged sewer system and to clean up the wastewater spill that also affected streets in some Vallarta neighborhoods located near the ANP.
Earlier this week, Mayor Dávalos asked the media to “keep quiet” about the contamination because it could damage Puerto Vallarta’s image just before the spring break holiday season.
“. . . I want to ask all of you to help us look after the destination, let’s work together,” he said.
Meanwhile, local health authorities have been visiting homes in the neighborhoods to distribute oral rehydration solutions as a preventative measure.
No cases of illness or skin irritations related to the sewage spill had been reported as of last night.
The forgotten Río Verde is chocolate-colored in the rainy season.
The Río Verde could be considered western Mexico’s “forgotten river,” principally because it runs along the bottom of a long canyon 300 to 500 meters deep, accessible only via a few steep, rough, dirt roads.
It is so forgotten that I couldn’t find its length anywhere, so I made my own measurements and, “according to Pint,” it is 173 kilometers long, starting deep in the Jalisco highlands and ending at Guadalajara.
Thanks to its isolation the river is relatively unpolluted, and all along its length are wonderful hot springs. Add these two factors to the astounding beauty of the steep canyon walls overhanging the river and you have a great outdoor site well worth a visit.
My first trip to the Green River was rather bizarre. I received a phone call from botanist Miguel Cházaro asking me if I wouldn’t like to visit “a hot waterfall called La Bolsa. It’s a natural shower, at perfect bathing temperature and it’s located at the edge of a huge orchard where ripe mangoes drop right into your hands and, by the way, just above the orchard there’s an archaeological site with a big pyramid and . . . .”
Of course, I was hooked and so were a lot of other hiker friends when I told them Cházaro’s story. The result was a big turnout for a hike to La Bolsa.
Frothing river in Tamara canyon.
“How far away is this place?” people asked me.
“Miguel says it’s just half an hour from town.”
“What should we bring?”
“I guess lunch and a swim suit is all you need.”
Well, the “half-hour trip” took two hours, which did not surprise me too much, but instead of arriving at the hot waterfall, we found ourselves on the edge of a tremendous canyon, at the bottom of which we could barely make out a narrow ribbon of brown: the Río Verde, normally green, but chocolate-colored during the rainy season.
“Just follow me,” said Miguel, and over the edge we went, slipping and sliding on muddy trails that zigzagged through thick maleza which slowly turned into a full-blown jungle as we descended. All of us figured the waterfall must be “a half-hour” down the hill, but it soon became clear we were heading for the very bottom of the canyon.
Yes, sometimes the Río Verde does look green!
One hour later, we came to a wide, flat, open area dominated by a conspicuous, high, lozenge-shaped mound where we learned about the history of the area.
“The Aztecs,” we were told, “arrived at Acatic in the year 1200 and almost decided to make it their capital because they saw an eagle land there. However, the eagle took off again and so did the Aztecs, wandering away to what is now Mexico City, where they finally saw the omen they were seeking: an eagle devouring a snake while perched on a nopal [prickly pear cactus].”
We continued down the hill and finally, four hours after leaving Guadalajara, we reached our long-awaited hot waterfall. Ah, but for most of the group it was quite a disappointment.
“The bathing spot looked great,” stated one exhausted hiker, “but to get to it you had to grab on to the branch of a tree overhanging the roaring, frothing Rio Verde. I was not quite prepared to do that.”
As a result, only three out of the crowd of 20 actually got a chance to stretch out under the marvelous hot waterfall they had striven so hard to reach. I was one of those lucky three and as I lay beneath the falls with jets of deliciously hot water pummeling my back in a soothing massage, I asked myself, “Was it worth it?”
For me, the reply was a resounding “Claro que sí!” but for those others, who now faced the prospect of climbing back up the canyon’s muddy trails in the pouring rain, the answer may have been quite the opposite, especially for one exhausted soul who looked up at the top of the canyon far above us, threw himself down on the ground, arms outstretched, and declared, “I’d rather just die right here, if you don’t mind!”
Canyon walls reflected in the clean, cool waters of Río Verde.
Fortunately, he and everyone else eventually made it to the top, although a few only reached it at sunset.
Some time later, a local historian told me about another way into the same canyon where I would be able to appreciate “three magnificent waterfalls, one of them 70 meters high.”
This place is known as La Leonera and I assumed it would present a daunting challenge equal to that of La Bolsa, but I was wrong.
We drove to La Leonera from the little down of Acatic and only a few steps from the parking spot parked we stood next to a mirador, or lookout point, offering us a truly magnificent and dramatic view of the Río Verde canyon. From here you walk along a wide, smooth path, again with a stupendous view.
We strolled along for an hour, finally coming to a little stream. Here we could just hear the purr of a waterfall in the distance. We walked upstream for 100 meters and gaped at la Cascada Velo de la Novia (Bridal Veil), a pretty and appropriately named waterfall about 60 meters high.
Below it was a pool of cold, clean water, a great place for a swim, but note that there is only water here during the rainy season.
At this point some may wish to head back to their car, but the more adventurous can continue along the trail to two more waterfalls.
Eventually I learned about yet another beautiful section of this canyon which is known as La Barranca de Tamara.
Here you can find a steep, but well-maintained road that actually lets you drive right down to the bank of the Río Verde where you can swim in delicious pools fed by cascades of hot water and, if you wish, spend the night there in a nice cabin.
Once again you go through the town of Acatic and follow a well-signposted dirt road to Rancho el Venado (Deer Ranch).
Upon paying the entrance fee, you get a waterproof paper bracelet on your wrist and then begins a twisting, but wonderfully scenic drive down to the very bottom of the canyon. Along the way you come to a fenced-in area containing the tiny deer which give the ranch its name.
The road leads ever downward through gently rolling hills and several dramatic waterfalls (in the rainy season) to two roomy wooden cabins, each of which has drinking and washing water, electricity, a kitchen, a fridge, a fireplace and two bedrooms, each with two double beds — plus a very lovable (and speedy) mouse, which raced back and forth across the ceiling and was far more entertaining than a TV could ever be.
[soliloquy id="73436"]
A five-minute walk from the cabin takes you to the south bank of the Green River, next to which two swimming pools have been built beneath a network of small, natural hot waterfalls whose temperature is 37 C (98.6 F, body temperature).
Soaking in one of these pools while gazing up at the towering red cliffs and watching the river flow is a unique experience and without a doubt from that moment on you, like me, will consider the Río Verde “one river I could never forget.”
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.
Internet lore has given birth to scary characters like Slender Man and Momo, and now there’s Al Ayowoki, said to be on the prowl in northern Mexico.
The spread on social media of what some people find a terrifying concept has led police in Baja California Sur and Sonora to issue statements assuring the public that El Ayuwoki is nothing more than a character invented by online culture for laughs and maybe a scare or two.
The Sonora Cyberpolice posted an infographic on Twitter to explain the origin of what it called “an urban legend.”
El Ayuwoki is but the latest creature to emerge from creepypastas, brief horror-related legends or images generated by users that have been copied and pasted around the internet. In order to scare readers, creepypastas include gruesome tales of murder, suicide and otherworldly occurrences.
Ayuwoki is a Spanish-language creepypasta, a creature that resembles Michael Jackson. The lore surrounding the character is that it will appear in one’s bedroom late at night and say, “Hee-hee,” Jackson’s signature vocal riff.
The creature’s name is an intentionally misspelled play on the lyric “Annie, are you okay?” from Jackson’s 1987 hit Smooth Criminal. If one says the last three words, “are you okay,” really fast and with a Spanish accent, it sounds like ayuwoki.
The image that accompanies the meme comes from My Ghoul Jackson, a video of an animatronic character modeled after Jackson’s likeness that was posted to YouTube in 2009.
The second mansion to be seized in Santa Rosa de Lima.
Authorities have seized a second luxury home believed to be linked to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel.
Located in the center of Santa Rosa de Lima, Guanajuato, the mansion is similar to the home that was seized earlier this week and which allegedly belongs to José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez Ortiz, the suspected leader of the fuel theft gang.
Four luxury vehicles were found inside the property, which is currently under the guard of marines and officers from the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC).
A local food stall owner told the newspaper El Universal that Santa Rosa de Lima residents believed that the house belonged to “a powerful man.”
The large home is protected by a high wall topped with broken glass, electric fencing and two security cameras.
The property’s large garden and paving are among the similarities with that believed to be owned by Yépez. The home is also painted in a similar shade of orange as the house seized on the outskirts of Santa Rosa de Lima.
Since early Monday morning, federal and state security forces have been carrying out an operation against the Santa Rosa Cartel, which is believed to be behind much of the violence that made Guanajuato Mexico’s most violent state last year.
At least seven people linked to the cartel have been arrested but Yépez remains at large. Federal Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said yesterday that authorities know where he is and that he will be arrested soon.
He also said a large number of the organization’s bank accounts have been frozen.
Security analyst Alejandro Hope said in a column published in El Universal today that the capture of Yépez “would be a good blow for the new federal administration in its campaign against fuel theft.”
The security analyst contended that the capture of a fuel theft capo would “probably” generate the same situation as that seen when drug lords have been arrested: succession disputes between gang members, a power vacuum that other criminal organizations seek to take advantage of and a short-term spike in the number of homicides.
But Hope wrote that López Obrador has “probably realized that there are good reasons to go after capos.”
One reason is “ethical: a person like Yépez deserves punishment” and another is “strategic: if criminals sense that by reaching a certain level of prominence they are immune from prosecution because their disappearance from the scene would generate destabilizing effects, everyone’s going to want to go beyond that threshold.”
That situation, he added, “could generate much more violence in the long term than that which would be prevented by not decapitating criminal gangs.”
Hope also said that “institutions tend to do what they know how to do,” pointing out that over the past decade, the military and the Federal Police have honed their capacity to cut off the heads of criminal organizations.
In the context of high rates of violence and insecurity, the government “is probably also starting to need quick victories,” he added.
“The capture of a person like El Marro falls into that category.”
Mexico is planning to impose new tariffs on United States imports in April in order to pressure U.S. lawmakers to remove duties on Mexican steel and aluminum.
Foreign trade undersecretary Luz María de la Mora told the Senate this week that the Secretariat of Economy (SE) is preparing a new list of products to which tariffs of between 7% and 25% will apply.
“We’re carrying out an evaluation of the products that we believe should be on the retaliation list and yes, we believe that we can adjust some products to respond to some of the new representatives who are in the United States Congress,” de la Mora said.
Mexico struck back swiftly after the United States announced last May that it was introducing tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum as of June 1 on national security grounds.
Reciprocal duties targeted a range of U.S. products including steel flats, pork, apples, some cheeses and bourbon.
Many of the goods subjected to Mexican tariffs were chosen because they are produced in large quantities in U.S. states that were politically important to President Donald Trump in last November’s midterm elections.
Despite the imposition of tit-for-tat tariffs and the resultant trade tensions, Mexico, the United States and Canada signed a new trilateral trade agreement on November 30 after contentious negotiations that lasted more than a year.
Once ratified by the legislatures of the respective countries, the pact will replace the 25-year-old NAFTA.
The day after the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was signed, Andrés Manuel López Obrador was sworn in as president and members of his administration almost immediately began advocating for a tougher response to the United States Section 232 metal tariffs.
“We should have pushed harder. Now that we have entered [government] we have to push very hard on this matter and I hope that will happen in the first weeks of the new regime . . .”
De la Mora told senators Wednesday that before the USMCA can be considered for ratification by Mexico’s Congress, the metal tariffs “must be eliminated” because they are “contrary to the productive integration” of the North American market.
The statement reiterated earlier statements by de la Mora and other trade officials that the deal won’t be ratified unless the United States withdraws the metal tariffs.
Under the terms of the USMCA, Mexico is required to make changes to its labor laws to improve the rights and conditions of workers.
High-wage zones where automotive sector workers earn at least US $16 per hour will also have to be established in order to comply with stricter rules of origin.
De la Mora said in an interview that the government wants to have a labor reform package approved by Congress by the end of April “so we can reflect the commitments we have made under the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement in domestic legislation.”
However, she stressed that the government would have moved to improve workers’ rights even if the new trade pact didn’t demand it.
“With the agreement or without the agreement, this is something central to President López Obrador – strengthening workers’ rights and strengthening trade deals in Mexico,” de la Mora said.
She indicated that while Mexico agreed to the terms of the USMCA, the government isn’t desperate for it to take effect.
“We hope to have this new agreement in place. But in the absence of the new agreement, we know that NAFTA is good enough,” de la Mora said.
Two ruling party senators expressed similar sentiments earlier this week.
“We are going to approve it, but right now our government is trying to deal with this [the metal tariffs],” said Antares Guadalupe on the sidelines of a conference in Ottawa, Canada.
“We’re not in a rush. Trade right now, it’s working. We have many things to do but we want to take it slowly because it is very important to have it in a very good way for Mexico.”
Asked what would happen if the USMCA is not ratified, the president of the Senate’s foreign affairs committee laughed.
“Life goes on, I assure you,” Héctor Vasconcelos said. “[NAFTA is] good enough and we will try to get it better. That’s what we are going to do. We have to discuss a lot in Mexico.”
At least 25 Central American migrants were killed and 30 were seriously injured when the truck in which they were riding went off the road yesterday in central Chiapas.
About 80 people were traveling in the three-tonne cargo truck on a highway near the town of Francisco Sarabia when the vehicle left the road and rolled over, according to local Red Cross director Isidro Hernández.
State police and the military secured the scene of the accident to look for injured migrants who might have fled the area to avoid being caught by authorities. Hernández said it was very likely that many others who had not been hurt in the crash had also escaped.
The attorney general’s office said the migrants, mostly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, crossed into Mexico from Guatemala near La Mesilla, Chiapas.
From there, they traveled via truck on a route seldom used by migrants to central Chiapas.
Officials said that they had gathered information about the victims in order to contact their families and begin the process of returning their remains to their loved ones.
Though many Central American migrants have been traveling across Mexico in large caravans for safety, many others hire traffickers and are transported in crowded and unsanitary conditions in cargo trucks on their journey north.
The federal government has filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office (FGR) against its predecessor’s purchase of a disused fertilizer plant in Veracruz, President López Obrador said today.
The president said that the previous federal government paid US $500 million for the Coatzacoalcos plant when its value is estimated to be just one-tenth that amount.
López Obrador added that his government won’t take possession of the plant until the FGR has conducted an investigation.
After the probe, public opinion will be sought to determine whether the plant will be rehabilitated or sold, the president said.
“What are we going to do with the plant? . . . There are those who tell me, people who know about these things, that even if you keep putting money into it, it’s not going to work . . . Others tell me that we have to finish it because we can use it to produce fertilizers and because we’re buying the fertilizer we use,” López Obrador said.
Former President Peña Nieto declared in 2014 that his government’s fertilizer strategy would produce enough to replace 70% of what Mexico imports. But Pemex Fertilizers, a subsidiary of the state company that operated the plant, reported only losses and national fertilizer production actually declined.
The Federal Auditor’s Office revealed that the government — through Pemex — had paid $93 million too much, and the facility was little more than scrap metal.
López Obrador claimed that the purchase of the plant is another example of the corruption of past governments.
The president also took aim at the government of Felipe Calderón, who narrowly beat López Obrador in the 2006 presidential election.
During the National Action Party (PAN) administration, López Obrador said, the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur) purchased a ranch in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, from a former state governor for US $120 million. However, nothing was ever done with the land.
“. . . It turns out that it’s practically abandoned . . . It doesn’t have much viability for tourism development but they didn’t care about that, what they cared about was buying the land because if [their aim] was to boost tourism, they would have developed the Mazatlán airport and Nuevo Mazatlán, which is what we’re thinking could be done if we manage to recover resources from this abandoned plot of land they bought,” he said.
Accusing past governments of corruption has become a popular pastime for the president, especially at his daily morning press conferences.
Pumping stations in Acapulco have been idled by a power cut.
For the second time this year the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) cut electricity service to the Acapulco water and sewer system, a move described by the water utility as “terrorism.”
The electricity was cut off yesterday leaving 600,000 residents without water, according to the municipal water utility, known as Capama.
Officials said cutting off the electricity was a measure intended to put pressure on the agency to pay money it owes but finance director Raúl Isidro Juárez Ponce said the agency had been making daily payments.
Capama chief Leonel Galindo González called the cuts “terrorism” and said the CFE had not considered the basic needs of residents and tourists.
“They cut our lights yesterday without prior notice, when that same day we had already deposited 800,000 pesos, and today we deposited 146,000 pesos. That shows that we’re trying to pay.”
Galindo said that in October the agency’s debt with the CFE soared to 70 million pesos (US $3.5 million), an amount it cannot pay because of what he called illegal and corrupt spending by the previous administration.
He called on the CFE to restore electricity service as soon as possible in order to reestablish water and sewer service and minimize the impact on the public.
The electricity cut follows a previous attempt in January to put pressure on the agency to pay its debt to the CFE.
