The chief of police of Janos, Chihuahua, has been arrested in connection with the massacre of members of the LeBarón family in November.
Janos Mayor Sebastián Efraín Pineda confirmed the arrest of Fidel Alejandro Villegas Villegas, stating that he was taken to Mexico City after his detention. “It took us by surprise,” he said.
As of Thursday night, Mexican authorities had released no further details.
Villegas is the fourth person arrested in relation to the massacre that left three women and six children dead in the municipality of Bavispe, Sonora, on November 4. Preliminary investigations have linked Villegas with the La Línea criminal gang in Janos, authorities said.
Chihuahua Attorney General César Peniche announced the first arrest in the case on November 6 and federal Security Secretary Alfonzo Durazo announced two more on December 1 — brothers Héctor Mario and Luis Manuel Hernández.
Claiming the brothers’ innocence, residents of Janos have conducted protests in response to their arrests and accused the Mexican government of using them as scapegoats.
Authorities have said the attack was a result of a dispute between La Línea, linked to the Juárez Cartel, and Los Salazar, linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. The LeBarón family has rejected the claim.
Cold Dunk Cave was formed in volcanic rock by water dissolving soluble material.
Anyone in the city of Guadalajara with a hummingbird feeder, has probably noticed that any nectar left over at the end of the day inevitably vanishes in the course of the night. This is due to the nocturnal visits of thousands of tequila bats, so named by none other than Sir David Attenborough himself.
These are the bats that normally pollinate the blue agave and if it weren’t for them, the town of Tequila would probably be far more famous for its majestic volcano than for its liquor.
As cave explorers, my friends and I naturally asked ourselves where all those bats must sleep during the daytime and that question led us — years ago — to a very curious river cave located only 22 kilometers from the edge of the city.
It all began in the plaza of a charming pueblito. It was the middle of May, the hottest month of the year in these parts, and the square was already shimmering with heat, although it couldn’t have been earlier than 10:00am. We approached the stooped form of a man relaxing on the only shaded bench around. Tired eyes watched us from a face that sported a harvest of wrinkles, perhaps from years of toil in the burning sun.
“Good morning, caballero, we´ve come here looking for caves in this area. Could you help us?” This was my favorite technique — not very scientific, I’m afraid — for finding caves in Mexico.
Seven species of bats inhabit the cave, including a small number of vampire bats.
The ancient eyes grew puzzled. “¡Ay! If it’s caves you’re looking for, you shouldn’t come to me. Why don’t you ask one of the old men around here?”
Though we were unable to find anyone older than our venerable informant, our question had been overheard by a gentleman — young and friendly — who claimed there was a cave on the ranch that he managed. He was even kind enough to draw us a map to the place, which resulted in our standing knee deep in a muddy swamp about 45 minutes later, trying to find a river, which would lead us to a waterfall which was close to the cave.
While slogging through the muck, little did we suspect that our caving club, Grupo Zotz, was about to encounter one of its greatest challenges.
Eventually we reached the end of the swamp and what did we find but the very river our informant had told us about. So we began following it downstream and after a while came to the top of a quite good-looking waterfall. Impressed by the accuracy of the friendly rancher’s information, all we had to do was find the cave.
Well, that problem was resolved, in a sense, the moment we reached the very edge of the cascade, a strikingly beautiful one at that, with a special plus for cavers. Standing at this spot, vapors rising from the canyon some 20 meters below us reached our noses and we gasped because, in spite of the sunshine and open air, we couldn’t miss the unmistakable, pungent odor of bat guano!
“There really is a cave here,” we said. “All we have to do is find a way down to the base of the waterfall.”
A typical crawlway in Cold Dunk Cave.
As we had brought no rope, that job took several hours, following a circular route which brought us to the river at a point downstream. Then we had to wend our way through a bamboo jungle to get back to the waterfall. When we finally reached it, we could see a big black hole to the right of the falls and we discovered that our cave entrance was completely flooded. Naturally we made an attempt to “chimney” above the water level and naturally we fell into the drink and this is how Cold Dunk Cave (El Chapuzón) got its name.
This is the closest cave to Guadalajara and one of the most interesting — as well as unusual — caves I have ever been in. It took us a full year to discover that the cave has 623 meters of passages on two different levels, with a small underground river running through most of it. We also learned that Chapuzón Cave has seven entrances, most of them much easier — and drier — than the waterfall entrance.
In the course of mapping the cave, we followed the river to the edge of a small drop. Just below us was a kind of pit filled to the brim with a disgusting mixture of bat guano, bat urine and cave water, with a dead rat floating on top for good measure. Hugging the walls on either side of what we soon christened La Pila de la Pestilencia, we tried our very best to bypass this unsavory soup, but we could find no way to do it. “We’re just going to have to jump in and swim across,” we decided, “but we’ll come back with clothes fit for the occasion.”
The following week we returned wearing what would best be described as rags. We jumped into the murky black liquid and after a few seconds climbed out of the pool into a long narrow passage whose ceiling and walls were covered by thousands of Leptonycteris bats. Naturally, a population like that was producing great amounts of guano which had resulted in a gooey layer of muck on the floor, at least a foot thick, which sucked at our boots as we tried to walk through it.
To make matters worse, flitting around our head were little bugs we immediately nicknamed “eyeball biters.” These seemed dedicated to making it as difficult as possible to read the compass or take notes for our survey. But we now had a pretty good idea where Guadalajara’s tequila bats were hanging out.
The murciélagos in Cold Dunk Cave seemed to be doing very well for themselves, unlike many Mexican bats which which are literally under attack from all sides.
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Amazingly, the war against bats in this country is based on a case of mistaken identity. Rancheros watch their horses and cattle die a horrible death from paralytic rabies and swear revenge on the vampire bats responsible. When they eventually come upon a cave, they automatically assume that all those bats inside are vampires. Often — as is the case with La Cueva del Chapuzón — the cave is mainly populated by thousands of harmless bats which eat tons of mosquitoes or pollinate many plants whose flowers only open at night.
Among all these friendly bats there may be only a handful of blood-drinking vampires, but the local people typically start fires inside the cave, dynamite it, or seal the entrances with chicken wire, effectively killing off or driving away thousands of innocent and very beneficial creatures.
Fortunately, many people who feed hummingbirds are happy to let bats finish off the daily supply of nectar. If you are among them, be sure to remove the “anti-bee” inserts at night so the bats can reach the nectar during their split-second visits to one of the feeder’s “flowers.”
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.
Electricity commission wants to raise transmission costs to private sector.
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has developed plans to curb private participation in the Mexican electricity market as part of an effort by the government of President López Obrador to consolidate power generation in state hands.
The CFE has created a “pliego petitorio,” a document that speaks of many ways in which the government is seeking to improve the conditions of the national electricity provider.
The document was prepared by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and addressed to the Secretariat of Energy (Sener) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), identifying 80 specific issues, as well as 14 strategic issues for immediate attention, for strengthening the CFE.
The language in the document pleaded for the support of Sener, the CRE and the National Center for Energy Control (Cenace) to modify the regulation of manuals, resolutions and agreements as first implemented during the energy reform.
The most obvious adaptation is to increase transmission costs, which are the basis of investment projects of private companies, making a lot of private projects, above all in renewables, become economically unfeasible.
Transmission lines are key assets in the supply chain, taking the electricity from an area of production — potentially in rural areas where space is more freely available — to populated areas of high electricity demand.
In a similar fashion to what was discussed last week with fuels, the creation of more power is fruitless if the demand centers cannot access it. This could have even further ramifications for the development of the energy sector since across power, gas and fuels, the country is desperately short of production, a void that foreign investors are willing to fill. With such changes being implemented, contracts structured with private companies will also have to be reviewed given both the public and private arena must attain reciprocal value.
If approved, the legislation would have severely detrimental effects on the deregulated power markets, since the measures proposed by the CFE would harm companies that contribute around 12% of the country’s electricity supply, and above all to renewable energy generators. Mexico has made commitments to international climate change regulators and these changes will signify a regressive move for the country.
Secondly, the National Center for Energy Control (Cenace) has formally cancelled the medium-term electric auction.
In an official notice published last Friday, Cenace finally cancelled the already suspended auction from late March. Cenace should convene a medium-term auction every year to meet the basic electricity supply in the country, but since March 28 the Secretariat of Energy has warned of its intention not to continue with the auctions.
While this may not be a surprise to consumers or the wholesale electricity market, the failure to commit to auctions and the governing Morena party’s pessimistic approach to bid pricing provides another dent to the power sector and its desire to see a previously promised competitive market.
In response to claims from opposition parties and pro-energy reformists, López Obrador denied claims that he is trying to monopolize the power sector and return it to its former self. Instead, he claimed he was seeking to bring about changes as a strategic move to protect the people of Mexico and the nation itself. He continued in a similar tone to his dialogue on Pemex, indicating that it would indeed be possible for the CFE to restructure its debt and be profitable in economic terms for the benefit of the country.
He also assured the public that he is committed to the idea that the price of electricity does not increase in real terms during his sexennial, a task at which he has failed with aplomb in relation to fuel prices since his presidency began.
AMLO made it clear that he wants to assure the Federal Electricity Commission will continue to be the major distributor of electricity in the country and that the ratio of 56% public to 44% private will be maintained for the duration of his presidency, protecting the CFE from losing market share.
But he also indicated that the CFE will compete with the private market on “equal terms,” which implies that outwardly he still wants to show the private sector that he is a believer in an open market where a variety of options are still available to the end consumer.
The writer is the founder of Indimex Group, a Mexico City company focused on the procurement, marketing, trading and optimizing of refined petroleum products as well as investing in and operating physical assets for the movement of fuels in Mexico and the United States. His bulletin about developments in the Mexican energy industry appears weekly on Mexico News Daily.
I have a friend whose daughter is in an abusive relationship. The daughter, a mother of three young children, is cloistered in her cramped home with little permission to go out without her partner — almost every aspect of her life is controlled, partially by him, partially by her lack of a job and time to work.
Her partner is currently in training to become a police officer.
Another friend of mine used to work as a psychological evaluator for potential police recruits. He was constantly surprised to hear confessions of (and sometimes bragging about) rape and abuse, only to see them hired as police officers anyway against his recommendations.
To be fair, abusers can be in any profession, and I don’t have the data to claim that they’re predominantly concentrated in certain jobs. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt; I want to believe that all those who become police officers are good people, interested in justice and fairness, who take their duty to protect citizens seriously.
With homicides at an all time high in Mexico, we need them more than ever. And as imperfect as our institutions are, they’re still a preferable buffer between citizens simply trying to live their lives and total lawlessness — and yet.
In a recent Mexico News Daily article about police pay and certification, it was revealed that large swaths of police forces around the country are poorly paid (no surprise there) and that “only 12 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities had police forces in which more than half of the officers were certified.
Certification is conferred on officers who have passed confidence tests, completed initial training and are performing to their expected level.”
I’m sorry, what?
Who, exactly, is pinning badges on people who are not prepared for doing the job?
Police are tricky. We need them, especially now, but how can we make sure they’re not themselves infiltrated with “bad guys,” especially when we’re desperate to beef up our thinned-out forces?
When probable impunity is part of the fabric of society itself, how can we ensure that they’re on the side of law-abiding citizens, and willing to stay there despite unprecedented danger and lukewarm pay?
In the absence of well-trained, well-paid police forces throughout the country, several groups, including this one in Veracruz, have taken it upon themselves to form their own security forces.
Well, it’s better than nothing. But their presence shows a shocking loss of faith and confidence in government to protect its citizens at a profound level. After all, who decides on the standards, rules and regulations for these defense forces? Is there any uniform set of laws or standards (or — yikes — morals?) that they’ll decide to enforce?
Is there anything that could convince these ordinary citizens to become legitimate, badge-carrying police officers?
With every state police force in the country severely lacking in numbers and many municipal forces dwindling as well, it’s important for us to ask what we can do to recruit good, qualified officers. What can we offer people in order to become professionals who, in some areas, might as well have targets pinned to their uniforms?
With such a tall order, it’s hard to be picky, yet we must be. And one way to do that is through pay. Pay is not everything, of course. But pay directly correlates to how important we feel people’s jobs are to society. So what does it say when we’re asking people to protect citizens with their lives, if necessary, for 10,000 pesos a month?
Most police officers make between 10,000 and 20,000 pesos a month, with salaries for municipal police set by the municipality itself. Currently Guanajuato state police are set to be the highest-paid in the country, with a monthly take-home pay of just over 20,000 pesos.
They’re not terrible salaries for many places in Mexico, but it’s certainly not a high enough amount for which most people I know would accept risking their lives.
Asking people to protect citizens in a country uncomfortably close to being completely lawless in many areas is one of the biggest requests that can be made.
We’re essentially asking them to put their communities above themselves, and perhaps even above their families. What is that worth? And if, say, we doubled, tripled or quadrupled the amount, could we be more selective in terms of whom we hired for these jobs?
Justice and fairness, like everything else in life, is multi-dimensional and sticky. Let’s at least start with fair pay.
Sarah DeVries writes from her home in Xalapa, Veracruz.
Nativity figures in the Fomento Cultural Banamex exhibition.
Although Christmas trees have become more and more popular, the nativity scene remains the center of the Christmas season. Placed in prominent locations in homes, these scenes play a role from before Christmas Day to Candlemas.
Usually, they are found on a table which may be set up for this purpose. However, it is not unusual to see scenes placed under Christmas trees, essentially incorporating this relatively new element as part of the scene.
About a week or so before Christmas, the scenes have something important missing — the baby Jesus himself. This is because before Christmas Eve, he has not yet been “born” so he is placed there sometime during the night.
While Christmas is an important family holiday, the observance does not stop there. The next important date related to the nativity is January 6, Epiphany, or Three Kings Day (day of the Reyes Magos). This is the date on which Mexican children traditionally receive gifts.
The last date related to the nativity is February 2, Candelmas, celebrating Jesus’s presentation to the temple. This idea here is to take an image of the baby Jesus to Mass. However, since most nativity scenes are the size of a dollhouse, the figures of Jesus associated with them are quite small. So life-size images of Jesus are dressed up and taken to church.
Since Mexico is still a very Catholic country, at least culturally, there aren’t the qualms about public nativities that exist in other countries. They are common in just about every city and town with some, like the city of Oaxaca, having notable ones in their main square. There have even been nativity scenes large enough to fill football stadiums.
Most scenes sold in markets and stores today are mass-produced. But Mexico has a long tradition of making them from just about any material imaginable, such as stone, clay, glass, corn husks and cloth. They may be simple or elaborate.
Exhibitions of and about nativity scenes are common in December and January as well. The Fomento Cultural Banamex currently has exhibitions from its vast folk art collection on display in Mexico City, at its main museum at the Palacio de Iturbide and the Foro Valparaíso, both in the historic center.
For 18 years, an individual family in León, Guanajuato, has had a tradition of exhibiting its own collection of 110 nativity scenes from 40 different countries including Israel, Norway, France and Spain. It is the only exhibition of its kind in Mexico and attracts over 50,000 visitors each year. The collection includes scenes so small that they are placed in eggshells and matchboxes.
A Hidalgo mayor is calling for the re-categorization of a national park in order to legalize mining activity within its borders.
Located in the northwest of Hidalgo, Los Mármoles (The Marbles) National Park covers 23,000 hectares in the municipalities of Zimapán, Jacala, Pacula and Nicolás Flores and is home to a number of endangered animals including black bears, jaguars, pumas and ocelots.
Former president Lázaro Cárdenas signed a decree to establish the national park in 1936 and since then all mining activity has been illegal.
But Zimapán Mayor Érick Marte told the newspaper Milenio that a large number of people continue to live from the extraction of marble in the park.
He argued that the national park designation should be lifted so that mining activity can be regulated. There is a lot of interest: 70 applications for mining concessions have already been made, Marte said.
“. . . That doesn’t mean that [all] 70 would be in a position to work [but] there are at least five gold, copper and zinc mines that would be . . . once [the park] has a new designation. What we’re asking is for it to be categorized differently from a national park,” he said.
“Production would at least double in Zimapán, which is recognized as the mining capital of Mexico,” the mayor said, adding that legalizing mining in Los Mármoles is a good idea because the local economy would benefit and more resources would be injected into the federal government’s mining fund.
Gloria Tavera Alonso, an official with the Natural Protected Areas Commission, acknowledged that mining activity has been going on in the Zimapán area since 1700 and that some local communities have been calling for a change to Los Mármoles’ national park designation for at least 12 years.
“This proposal comes out of the communities, but not all of them; opinion is divided . . .” she said, explaining that most of the pressure to strip Los Mármoles of its national park designation has come from residents of Zimapán.
Tavera said the federal government will be “very responsible” in the granting of any concessions, adding that President López Obrador has made it clear that new mines will only be authorized if they will benefit communities equitably and not harm the environment.
Federal, state and municipal authorities are currently working with local communities to develop a management plan for Los Mármoles, she said, noting that the fact that the park is an important habitat for large mammals has been “placed on the table.”
The president of the Los Mármoles Advisory Council, Oldid Vargas, said that a better idea would be to focus on developing and promoting ecotourism in the park.
Zacatecas is one of the world’s top New Year’s Eve destinations this year according to searches for accommodation on the booking platform Airnbnb.
The central Mexican city saw a 118% increase in reservations by Mexican and international users over the same period last year, putting it in 12th place on the list of the most popular places to celebrate the new year.
Although not known as a party city, Zacatecas is celebrated for its colonial architecture and historic center, named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
One attraction for New Year’s revellers might be the city’s traditional callejonadas, musician-led romps through the streets, events that are filled with laughter laughter and lots of mezcal.
For the culture-seeking reveller there is the Zacatecas cathedral, which is built of pink limestone and stands out for the quality of its Churrigueresque — late Spanish baroque — facade and other architectural features.
Zacatecas also has world-class museums, such as the Museo Pedro Coronel and the Museo Manuel Felguérez.
New Year’s visitors to Zacatecas will be able to enjoy the city’s Christmas Festival, which hosts concerts, circus acts and other family activities until January 6.
Zacatecas wasn’t the only surprising New Year’s destination on the Airbnb list. The top three were Accra, Ghana; Louisville, Kentucky; and Haymarket, Australia; reflecting an interesting trend in people’s choices.
“. . . 95% of Airbnb guests are staying outside of the 10 biggest travel destinations this New Year’s,” said the site in a press release.
Among Mexican users of the app, only one other destination in the country was more popular than Zacatecas. Brisas de Zicatela, in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, was the most popular destination at the national level with a 128% increase in bookings over last year.
Zacatecas saw a 115% increase in bookings by Mexican citizens, followed by Ixtapa-Zihuatanjeo, Guerrero (111%), Mazamitla, Jalisco (107%) and Puebla (106%).
The mining company Grupo México has rejected the government’s claim that a spill at the Buenavista copper mine in Sonora caused environmental and health damages.
The spill of over 40,000 cubic meters of copper sulfate acid solution occurred in 2014.
Environment and health officials carried out studies to determine the effects of the spill, but Grupo México refutes their findings.
“There is no scientific proof that links the spill to effects on natural resources or health in the area,” it said in a press release.
“Water quality measurements of the Sonora river after the accident have even been lower than those during the 10 or more years before it happened.”
The company added that it has carried out a monitoring program in local wells with the National Water Commission (Conagua) over the last five years.
“We contributed 2 billion pesos (US $105 million) initially planned for the recovery. There is no noncompliance on the part of Grupo México,” it said.
The company defended itself by adding that its operations function under the highest international standards and said it was in favor of sustainable economic and social development.
“The [senior officials’] visit to Sonora should be an impulse for dialogue [and] understanding and collaboration between governments, civil society, the academic community and private industry, but not for conflict or the proliferation of unfounded or inexact versions,” it said.
Environment Secretary Victor Manuel Toledo said the company had 15 days to answer a government subpoena concerning its alleged failure to comply with those commitments.
“Grupo México is the cause of this environmental and health crisis in the Sonora River region,” he said, adding that the company earned 100 billion pesos (US $5.2 billion) in 2018, a “detail that is important in the moment of negotiation.”
Grupo México said it was “deceptive” to relate profit generation to the quality of the operation and stated its commitment to transparency as a public company.
Archaeologists have discovered a large palace at Kulubá, an ancient Mayan city set amid jungle in the eastern Yucatán municipality of Tizimín.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said in a statement that the palace is situated to the east of the main plaza in the area of structures known as Group C.
Archaeologists and restoration specialists made the discovery while carrying out conservation work funded by the Yucatán government.
Archaeologist Alfredo Barrera Rubio said the structure is approximately 55 meters long, 15 meters wide and six meters high. Stone columns adorn a corridor in the upper part of the palace, which is accessible via staircases.
The palace was likely used by the elite of Kulubá, INAH said, adding that relics found in and near the structure suggest that it was occupied between the years 600 and 1050 BC. The 450-year period concludes at the end of the terminal classic period when many Mayan cities were abandoned.
Barrera said that during the terminal classic period – 850 to 1050 BC – the city of Chichén Itzá extended its influence over smaller Mayan cities including Kulubá.
“From data . . . and the Chichén-like ceramic materials and obsidian [found at Kulubá] . . . we can infer that it became an enclave [under the control] of Chichén Itzá,” he said.
Archaeologists are currently exploring four other structures in Group C – an altar, two dilapidated residential buildings and a round structure believed to be an oven – while experts are carrying out restoration work on buildings in Groups A and B.
Residents of nearby communities and builders from the municipality of Oxkutzcab who have extensive experience in the restoration of archaeological sites are assisting the INAH team.
Natalia Hernández Tangarife, a co-coordinator of the restoration project, said that certain parts of Kulubá are being reforested in order to protect structures from sunlight and wind. Experts are also mapping the site and tests will be carried out to determine the sex, age and other characteristics of several individuals whose remains were found in a Kulubá grave.
The site’s name is believed to come from the Mayan word K’ulu’ – a wild dog-like animal that inhabited the area.
Boasting some of the last swathes of jungle in Tizimín and inhabited by a range of native animals including spider monkeys, Kulubá will open to the public in the medium term, INAH said.
Restoration work began in 2018 to prepare the site for opening to the public.
Two people are dead and over 700 stands completely destroyed after a fire tore through Mexico City’s La Merced market on Christmas Eve.
Authorities have determined that the fire, which started around 8:00pm Tuesday, was not intentionally lit.
“It couldn’t have been started [intentionally], there are no signs of activities other than those of the vendors,” said Economic Development Secretary Fadlala Akabani Hneide. “It was an accident, overheating in the electrical network.”
Akabani estimated that the repairs will take about a year to complete but will be carried out without removing the vendors elsewhere, as long as there is no structural damage.
“If there are no structural damages we’ll be able to do the repairs in stages, without removing [vendors] from the market, beginning where the fire started and later extending out to other areas,” he said.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum visited the market on Wednesday to assess the damage. She and other city authorities don’t expect to find any structural damage and plan on beginning the gradual restoration process soon.
Akabani said the 1,240 vendors affected by fire damage will receive monthly unemployment benefits of 2,500 pesos (US $132), as well as interest-free loans up to 25,000 pesos (US $1,318) to get their businesses going again.
“The tenants have behaved well, responding with solidarity. They participated in fighting the fire and we have agreed on the formation of work groups,” he said.
After this and another fire in the city’s San Cosme market the day before, also believed to have been caused by faulty electrical infrastructure, the Mexico City government has announced that it will inspect the electrical installations in all of the city’s 329 markets.
