Oaxaca buys medications after new federal policy fails to deliver

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May 8, 2019

The Oaxaca government has been forced to make emergency purchases of medications after a new federal buying policy failed to deliver, resulting in shortages throughout the state.

Oaxaca Health Secretary Donato Casas said the Oaxaca Health Services (SSO) spent 90 million pesos to guarantee the supply of medications in the state’s 50 hospitals and 300 clinics. He said that close to 50% of the state’s health centers had been affected by the shortages, although a health workers’ union placed the number closer to 70% or 80%.

Casas explained that the crisis followed plans by the federal government to assume responsibility for the purchase of medications beginning in March, a measure that is part of a process to federalize healthcare.

However, due to a lack of funds the federal health secretary informed the SSO that it will not actually cover the purchases until June.

The state health secretary said the government expects the emergency purchases will ensure an adequate supply of medications.

But a health union spokesman warned the state’s healthcare system could collapse within 10 to 15 days if there is not an immediate resolution to the supply problem.

In response, Casas said that the SSO is currently engaged in talks with the federal government to guarantee a full supply of medications to the state’s public hospitals.

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

AMLO’s chief of staff: first-quarter numbers ‘a little slap’ but his boss disagrees

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MND Staff

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May 8, 2019

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romo and amlo — Chief of staff Romo and his boss don't see eye to eye on the first quarter's economic performance.

An economic contraction of 0.2% in the first quarter of this year was nothing more than “a little slap” for the government, according to the president’s chief of staff, who rejected that Mexico is in recession.

Alfonso Romo told reporters yesterday that Mexico had “three complicated months” to start the year, specifically citing delays at the border with the United States in March that cost exporters millions of dollars.

However, he added that the government is “very optimistic” that the economy will pick up because the private sector is strong.

“So, this year, perhaps, we’re going to grow by between 1.6% and 1.7%, it’s very difficult to say now but we’re working on how to change the curve . . .” Romo said.

Asked whether Mexico was in recession as implied by the president of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), President López Obrador’s chief of staff responded: “I don’t see it, I honestly don’t see it in the numbers at all.”

Mexico dropped to No. 25 on the Kearney index.

Romo, a business tycoon and former Olympic equestrian, added: “What’s important is to look at the trend. This first quarter, we were given, what’s it called, a little slap. It’s like when you ride a horse, [if you fall] you get on again to jump better.”

At his morning press conference today, López Obrador said he didn’t agree with Romo’s “little slap” remark.

“I maintain that the economy is very good,” he said, declaring that rather than being slapped, the government is delivering its own backhanders to those involved in corruption.

“. . .We’ve given a slap to the corrupt, that’s right, with a white glove,” the president said.

López Obrador also rejected a new report by global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, which ranked Mexico 25th in its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index, a decline of eight places compared to last year.

“Where does this fall in foreign investment come from? How can it be that we fell eight places in five months?” he asked.

In its report, A.T. Kearney explained that even though Mexico lost eight places in its index – which ranks the markets likely to attract the most investment in the next three years – the country’s score actually rose, indicating that it remains attractive to investors.

“The decline, therefore, is more reflective of an increasingly competitive FDI environment rather than a souring of investment intentions for Mexico,” the company said.

However, it noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Secretariat of Finance (SHCP) have both recently downgraded Mexico’s growth outlooks for this year and next.

“These growth concerns dovetail with the rhetoric of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has challenged the privatization of key sectors of the Mexican economy, including the crucial energy sector,” A.T. Kearney said.

“Furthermore, in early 2019, the Mexican central bank warned that slowing investment and labor strikes, among other challenges, were weighing on its growth forecast.”

A.T. Kearney also noted that credit rating agencies are downgrading the country’s credit rating outlook.

“Contrary to these headwinds, however, the signing of the USMCA free trade agreement has given investors a sense of greater policy stability in the North America economy,” the company said.

“Mexico has made a concerted effort to expand its trading relationships . . . Such efforts indicate to investors that Mexico will remain open to the global economy and is actively seeking to diversify its trade and investment relationships.”

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

Whistled at, taunted, touched and grabbed: a snarky lesson for cat callers

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Sarah DeVries

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May 8, 2019

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During my first 10 or so years in Mexico, I would be grabbed by a strange man, on average, once a year.

All seemed to be crimes of opportunity, and it didn’t really stop until I got a big, scary-looking dog, and men would cross the street to avoid me. (Cat calls and whistles are several times a week, forever, until you’re a skeleton, I guess).

A few times were downright scary, like when a man ran up to me and reached under my skirt while I was walking early in the morning to the bus stop to go to work. He stopped and stared at me for a few seconds even as I screamed and hit him as if he were deciding what to do next. No one was around.

Another time someone grabbed me in front of my apartment building after having asked for directions, and said, when I protested, “What, you don’t like it?” He genuinely seemed confused.

I was so paranoid about him knowing where I lived that I went inside and barricaded my door and carried my keys points-out for months.

Nowadays I live in a decidedly more chill area, my neighbors know me, and often see me with my husband and daughter (having a child with you seems to reduce one’s “fair game” rating by about 70%, but is still no guarantee).

Like every woman I know here, foreign and Mexican, I’ve been whistled at, taunted, touched, and grabbed by men. It sucks. But what sucks more is that so many men don’t seem to realize that it’s something they seriously shouldn’t do, and the contempt it shows for women in general chills my blood. This letter (admittedly snarky) is for them.

Hey there, Cat Callers!

Cute gringa here with your first official class on how to not be creepy toward women. Welcome! I know, this isn’t the best introduction to put you at ease, and surely there are some of you out there who feel you’re being sexy and daring, but much like you feel the need to get things off your chest immediately when you see a female of our species that you think you might like (to harass?), I feel it’s best to just jump right in. Shall we?

First, and this is very important: do not, I repeat, DO NOT touch strange women. Or known women, for that matter, if you aren’t sure how they’re going to take it, and especially if it hasn’t even occurred to you that they’d have any emotions about it at all.

I’m not talking about handshakes and greetings in social situations, and I know you know what I mean. I don’t know a single woman, foreign or national, who hasn’t been grabbed on the street by a strange man and had the living daylights scared out of her, and not an insignificant number of women have disappeared and even died after precisely that kind of initial contact.

So take it from me, fellas: unless your end goal is to commit an actual crime, just keep your hands to yourself! If your end goal is to commit a crime, well, tie yourself up somewhere. I don’t know.

Second rule: direct and constant eye contact is very creepy, and not charming at all. Judging from the number of men who do this, I think this one might not be quite as obvious. Haven’t you ever seen those National Geographic documentaries where giant cats crouch, fixated and unblinking, on their prey?

It’s not a nice feeling, thinking you’re about to get pounced on or are being stalked. And it’s definitely not sexy. If you like someone, do this instead: glance over, catch the person’s eye, smile a bit, then look away again. If she smiles back, maybe do it once or twice more (but don’t sustain the look for over two seconds), then walk over and introduce yourself like a normal human being. You can do it!

Third, just do not do that thing where you turn your head a second too early when a woman walks by so that she just knows that you are checking out her behind. It’s icky. It’s gross. And most of all, it’s unwelcome. When you do that, any hope that you might just see us as regular people dissipates, and makes us feel like, well, an object: something to be compared and examined, then bought or left to rot on a shelf; and if you truly love women, I don’t think this is how you want to make them feel.

Lastly, and oh-so-importantly: when women protest in the streets because they’re tired of being ridiculed, ignored, abused, kidnapped, raped and killed at numbers so high Mexico might as well be one giant war zone, march with them instead of criticizing their efforts as “not the right kind” or “too soon” or discrediting the entire movement because a couple of people spray-painted some graffiti (if there’s one thing we won’t abide, it’s graffiti, amiright?): march with them side by side.

Sexism and machismo hurt all of us, but true equality is sexy.

Sarah DeVries writes from her home in Xalapa, Veracruz.

In 7 years, 10,500 minors were murdered in Mexico: UNICEF report

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MND Staff

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May 8, 2019

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UNICEF México chief Christian Skoog. — UNICEF México chief Christian Skoog at yesterday's presentation.

More than 10,000 minors were murdered in Mexico between 2010 and 2017, according to a new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Just over three-quarters of the 10,547 homicide victims were male — boys and teenagers, UNICEF México said in its 2018 annual report.

Issued yesterday, the report said that violence against minors is on the rise.

“We had an average of three [murders of minors] per day until around five or six years ago. Now, we have about four homicides [per day], according to government statistics, and that is very concerning, it’s serious,” UNICEF said.

Minors aged between 12 and 17 are most vulnerable to deadly violence, the report revealed, accounting for 78% of all homicides in the seven-year period.

UNICEF also said that at the end of 2017 around 20% of missing persons were minors and that girls and teenaged females made up 60% of that figure.

UNICEF representative Christian Skoog told a press conference yesterday that criminal groups prey on children and expose them to risks which in some cases cost them their lives.

“Children are used in illicit activities because they don’t have the same culpability [as adults] . . . That’s why they’re subject to being victims and are attracted by organized crime, because they cannot have the same culpability and that’s dangerous,” he said.

Testimony from a minor included in a report about the prosecution of children published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) last month provided anecdotal evidence that cartels target children for the reason cited by the UNICEF official.

“They [criminal groups] recruit . . . minors because they get out [of juvenile detention centers] more quickly and they put them to work again,” said the minor, who was identified only as Hugo.

Judges cannot impose prison sentences on children younger than 14, the Inegi report said, and the maximum sentence for minors aged between 14 and 17 is five years’ imprisonment, even in the case of serious crimes such as armed robbery, rape and intentional homicide.

Hugo also said that cartels pay the legal fees for minors in trouble with the law and give money to their families, which acts as an incentive for them to stay within the ranks of organized crime.

Skoog urged authorities to “create opportunities” for vulnerable children – one in two Mexican children live in conditions of poverty, according to UNICEF – so that “they don’t have to join illicit activities and [succumb to] the influence of organized crime.”

However, he also noted that children are also increasingly becoming victims of violence in their own homes.

Statistics for 2019 show that children continue to lose their lives in large numbers as an epidemic of violence sweeps the country.

During the first quarter of this year, 285 minors were murdered, according to a report by the Network for Children’s Rights in Mexico (Redim).

Guanajuato recorded the highest number of homicides of minors, with 35, followed by Veracruz and Nuevo León, with 20 and 18 homicides respectively.

Redim said that for every 100 investigations into the murder of a minor, there is only one conviction.

It urged authorities to implement a strategy to combat violence against children that is supported by the full weight of the law and most importantly, sufficient funding.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Petroleum theft a ‘socialized’ problem for 45 Hidalgo communities

By

Madison Koen

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May 8, 2019

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Defense Secretary Sandoval in Pachuca this morning.

Seven criminal organizations engaged in fuel theft are active in 45 communities in the state of Hidalgo, where the practice has become “socialized” and involves residents in both stealing fuel and shielding criminal gangs, the defense secretary said today.

At a press conference this morning in the capital, Pachuca, Luis Crescencio Sandoval González said authorities have found 886 illegal fuel taps, which have since been sealed with concrete, a measure that has been successful in preventing repeat taps at the same site.

He said 3,142 personnel have been posted to key locations around the state to carry out surveillance and security protocols. Sandoval said 227,560 liters of petroleum have been recuperated thanks to security operations.

President López Obrador told the press conference that his administration will increase support to anti-petroleum theft efforts in Hidalgo, and celebrated the success of those efforts to date, having reduced theft in the state by 53%.

Nationwide, he said, the number of barrels of petroleum stolen daily has dropped from 80,000 in November of last year to 4,000.

The president admitted that the government has had only limited success in persuading residents not to collaborate with petroleum thieves, but urged citizens from other parts of the state not to stigmatize people whose towns are plagued by the crime.

Source: Quadratín Hidalgo (sp), La Jornada San Luís (sp)

Lawmaker proposes sterilizing women who have a second abortion

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MND Staff

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May 7, 2019

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A lawmaker in Quintana Roo has come under fire after proposing the sterilization of women who abort a child for a second time.

On March 13, independent Deputy Sonia López Cardiel proposed a reform to the criminal code that would force women who want to have a second abortion to sign a document giving their consent to having a permanent contraception procedure.

Pregnancy termination in Quintana Roo is only legal in cases of rape, genetic disorders and health risks to the mother.

López argued that her proposal would be beneficial to women’s health because abortion is “exhausting for physical and mental health.”

The lawmaker also contended that preventing third abortions would reduce the number of children who are homeless, illiterate and live in situations of extreme poverty.

The proposal was referred to a parliamentary committee and will eventually be put to a congressional vote, although no date for that to occur has been set.

The Quintana Roo Human Rights Commission (CEDHQROO) and a range of other groups slammed López’s plan, describing it as discriminatory because women’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies would be limited.

“It’s a punitive and discriminatory measure that reflects gender stereotypes and prejudices as it would punish a woman for having an abortion . . .” CEDHQROO said.

The Quintana Roo Sexual and Reproductive Rights Network, an umbrella organization of 14 separate groups, said yesterday the proposal “fosters hate toward women by criminalizing them for their condition of unwanted pregnancy.”

It also said that enforced sterilization is a crime against in humanity as specified in Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Mexico City is the only state in the country that allows abortions in all cases regardless of a woman’s motive, although a pregnancy must be terminated during the first 12 weeks.

In the 12 years that abortion has been legal in the capital, more than 209,000 pregnancies have been terminated, according to Mexico City health authorities.

In March, women’s rights activists rejected a suggestion from President López Obrador that the legalization of abortion could be put to a public vote.

“Rights are not up for consultation,” they shouted while the president spoke at an event to mark International Women’s Day.

Source: Infobae (sp)

Veracruz files criminal complaint against its attorney general

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MND Staff

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May 7, 2019

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Attorney General Winckler faces criminal charges.

The government of Veracruz today filed a criminal complaint with federal authorities against the state attorney general for probable involvement in crimes that effectively amount to collusion and the obstruction of justice.

State Interior Secretary Erick Patrocinio Cisneros Burgos said Jorge Winckler Ortiz had concealed more than 150 arrest warrants over a period of two years, including some issued against suspects believed to have committed high-impact offenses such as homicide.

“In these two years, those high-impact criminals enjoyed total impunity in Veracruz and the country,” Cisneros said.

“This cannot be, the law says that once an arrest warrant is issued, it has to be uploaded to the Plataforma México [criminal database] within 24 hours so that it’s visible to state and federal authorities.”

However, Winckler took up to eight days to publish the warrants, Cisneros said.

The interior secretary asserted that the government has all the proof necessary for federal authorities to pursue the case against the attorney general.

Winckler was appointed to his current role during the administration of former governor Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares and has continued to serve in the government of Morena party Governor Cuitláhuac García, who took office in December.

The attorney general has recently been under pressure to resign as a result of accusations of corruption and collusion with organized crime and the former governor. Winckler is also accused of manipulating crime statistics.

President López Obrador said last month that “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.”

He also said that Winckler “is not highly recommended.”

After the criminal complaint was filed today at a branch of the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) in Veracruz, state Public Security Secretary Hugo Gutiérrez Maldonado charged that Winckler is in cahoots with organized crime.

He contended that it will be difficult to fix the security situation in Veracruz if Winckler remains attorney general, charging that the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) arrests criminals and turns them over to the state Attorney General’s Office (FGE), which instead of prosecuting them, sets them free.

“We can’t put up with so much impunity in Veracruz. It’s double the work but it doesn’t matter. If we have to arrest them five times, we’ll do it,” Gutiérrez said.

“We came to file this complaint and we’re going to follow it up. We’re sure that when we have an attorney general who is impartial to all residents of Veracruz, a lot of justice issues will significantly improve.”

Source: El Democrata (sp), La Jornada (sp), Al Calor Político (sp)

Spanish firm to invest US $1.3 billion in five electrical plants

By

César Hernández

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May 7, 2019

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Two wind farms are part of Iberdrola investment.

The Spanish electric utility company Iberdrola is planning to invest US $1.3 billion in five new power generation plants that will market electricity to private enterprise.

Iberdrola México CEO Enrique Alba explained that the new facilities — two combined heat and power plants, two wind farms and a combined-cycle power plant — will be built this year and the next, and will meet the growing demands of the country’s manufacturing and industrial sector.

The investment is part of Iberdrola’s plan to invest a total of $5 billion in Mexico over the next six years.

“Mexico is a growing market, we see an important potential,” said Alba during the signing of an agreement with the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin).

The confederation’s chairman said that deals like the one reached with Iberdrola are aimed at resolving the blackouts that have been affecting parts of the country, like those on the Yucatán peninsula.

“We are doing our part to propel the growth of Mexico . . . ” said Francisco Cervantes, adding that agreements like this allow the industry to be more participatory.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Navy will head up strategy to combat sargassum invasion

By

MND Staff

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May 7, 2019

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One estimate says a million tonnes of sargassum can be expected this year.

The Mexican navy will lead efforts to combat the expected arrival of as much as one million tonnes of sargassum this year, President López Obrador announced today.

Speaking at his morning press conference, the president said there was no need to contract with a private company that specializes in the removal of the unsightly and smelly seaweed because the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) has its own “very good” experts and equipment.

He said the strategy would avoid additional costs and more efficient.

López Obrador pointed out that the navy also has low-flying planes that are used to detect the transportation of drug shipments at sea and “first-class technical vessels,” assets which would be useful to spot and remove sargassum before it washes up on the white-sand beaches of Quintana Roo.

He also said that there are naval bases in the area and that the navy “knows the whole region very well.”

“We’re asking the Secretariat of the Navy to help us, they have the equipment, they have experience and this problem is going to be solved,” López Obrador declared.

The president explained that the government’s anti-sargassum plan will be presented next week and that he would ask the Secretariat of Finance (SHCP) to draw up an economic plan to fund the removal efforts.

The secretariats of the Environment (Semarnat) and Tourism (Sectur) as well as the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur), state and municipal authorities and the private sector will contribute to the overall strategy to keep Quintana Roo’s beaches clean.

The Cancún-Puerto Morelos hotels association has estimated that cleaning the beaches of sargassum will cost at least 700 million pesos (US $36.7 million) this year.

Large amounts of the weed have been forecast to arrive on much of the Quintana Roo coast this week.

Source: El Financiero (sp), El Economista (sp)

Best Buy plans to open eight new stores, expand to 15 states

By

César Hernández

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May 7, 2019

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The electronics retailer Best Buy will extend its reach this year.

The big-box consumer electronics retailer Best Buy has announced it will add eight new stores in Mexico this year, bringing the total number to 42.

Best Buy México CEO Fernando Silva told the newspaper Milenio that the firm “is very committed to Mexico, we have grown a lot in the 10 years we have been in the country, we are going to have over 40 stores.”

He said online sales have also been on the rise.

Five of the new stores will open in five cities that will be new for the retailer, which will extend its presence to 15 states. The goal of reaching all 32 states, Silva said, is still a distant one.

Best Buy intends to invest heavily in distribution centers and electronic control systems.

Speaking of online sales, Silva said that the arrival in Mexico of e-commerce giant Amazon “was very good for Mexican consumers,” who not only have more options but are becoming accustomed to shopping online.

“Our [business] model is very different,” he continued, as its physical and online retail sales “are so integrated it’s hard to separate them; that is an advantage we have in the market.”

Source: Milenio (sp)