With few security cameras operating, authorities flying blind in Minatitlán

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April 24, 2019

Yesterday's march for peace in Minatitlán.

In the Veracruz city where 14 people were massacred in a bar Friday night, authorities are flying blind: most of Minatitlán’s security cameras don’t work.

Just 19 of 202 security cameras are operational, meaning authorities have no images to assist in the investigation into the crime and had no real-time footage that could have allowed them to respond quickly to it.

Mayor Nicolás Reyes said state authorities are largely to blame because they are responsible for the maintenance of 172 of the 202 cameras, of which only 10 are in working order.

He also said that even if a security camera had captured images of the perpetrators of Friday’s attack, municipal authorities wouldn’t have had access to the footage.

“All the municipal cameras are [monitored] in the C4 [security control center], which the state government is in charge of. We don’t manage them, we don’t have any [cameras]. Nothing. It’s completely managed there,” Reyes said.

The funeral for two of the victims — a man and his infant son.

The mayor added that the attack, which is believed to have been carried out by Los Zetas or the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), caught local authorities by surprise.

“The truth is that . . . we had no idea that this was going to happen on the night of Good Friday . . . It surprised us enormously . . . We couldn’t predict this. [Such a large massacre] had never happened in Minatitlán or in Veracruz,” Reyes said.

The mayor said municipal authorities are now seeking at least 1.5 million pesos (US $79,000) in funding to ensure that the 30 cameras for which they have responsibility are maintained in working order.

Reyes also said the municipal government has reached an agreement with federal authorities for the army to carry out patrols of Minatitlán, a city which is home to one of Mexico’s six state-owned oil refineries.

Statistics from the National Public Security System (SNSP) show that there have already been more murders in Minatitlán this year than during all of 2018.

Between January and April 19 – the day of the massacre – there were 27 homicides committed with firearms compared to 25 last year.

Yesterday afternoon, family members of the victims and local residents marched through city streets to protest against the high levels of violence and to demand immediate action by authorities.

They said that extortion, home invasions and armed robberies are also on the rise in the city.

President López Obrador, whose administration is faced with combating record-breaking homicide numbers, said yesterday that he will visit Minatitlán this Friday and reiterated that he is “working every day to guarantee peace and tranquility in the country.”

Source: Milenio (sp)

In three months, an unprecedented 300,000 migrants have entered Mexico

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MND Staff

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April 24, 2019

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Immigration agents detain a migrant in Chiapas.

Around 300,000 migrants traveled through Mexico en route to the United States in the first three months of this year, according to the federal interior secretary.

Olga Sánchez Cordero described the migration flow as “unprecedented and “unusual” but acknowledged that a “mother of all caravans” did not appear as she warned last month.

However, “six caravanas madrecitas” (little mother caravans) of around 2,000 people each reached Mexico in recent months, she said.

Sánchez told a press conference that the highest number of migrants have come from Honduras with smaller numbers from Guatemala, El Salvador and Cuba as well as African and Asian nations.

The interior secretary said that Mexico is facing a migration situation unlike any in the past but rejected that the government has changed tack in dealing with migrants.

Sánchez, Ebrard and Encinas at yesterday's press conference. — Sánchez, Ebrard and Encinas at yesterday’s press conference.

“We’re doing everything that is in the hands of the federal government to attend to these migrants and provide them with humanitarian attention. What we ask for is that they contribute with two basic forms of conducts: firstly, respect our laws and our authorities and secondly, accept registration as a pre-condition in order to decide their migratory situation in our country,” Sánchez said.

The detention of 371 migrants including women and children in Mapastepec, Chiapas, on Monday occurred because people had acted aggressively towards National Immigration Institute (INM) personnel, she explained.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard rejected that Mexican authorities are detaining migrants in response to pressure from United States President Donald Trump to stop flows of people to that country.

Mexico’s migration policy “hasn’t changed and won’t change,” he said.

Ebrard added that he will travel to Washington D.C. next month to discuss bilateral issues including migration.

He acknowledged that the two countries’ “points of view” and “policies” on a range of matters are “different” but explained that one of the main reasons for his trip is to “improve the bilateral relationship.”

Ebrard also said that the Comprehensive Development Plan for Central America, which is designed to address the root causes of migration, is almost complete and will be publicly presented next month.

Also present at yesterday’s press conference was INM chief Tonatiuh Guillén, who revealed that 11,800 migrants were deported from Mexico in the first three weeks of April and 15,000 in March. In April last year, 9,650 migrants were deported.

A large number of migrants remain in the country, in Chiapas and several northern border cities, where most would-be asylum seekers face long waits to file their claims with United States authorities.

Human rights undersecretary Alejandro Encinas said the government is looking at creating a special fund to deal with the historically high levels of migration to Mexico.

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

Due to a 6.7-billion-peso hill, new airport records its first cost overrun

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MND Staff

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April 23, 2019

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Site of the new airport at Santa Lucía Air Force Base.

The projected cost of the federal government’s airport project in México state has shot up by more than 8 billion pesos mainly due to the presence of a pesky hill less than 10 kilometers from the construction site.

The master plan to convert the Santa Lucía Air Force Base into a commercial airport was presented in August last year, one month after Andrés Manuel López Obrador – who canceled the previous government’s new Mexico City airport project – won the presidential election.

However, the plan has had to be modified due to the close proximity of the 2,625-meter-high Cerro de Paula, according to a Secretariat of Defense (Sedena) report seen by the newspaper El Economista.

The position of the two commercial runways has been changed as a result, which means that several military facilities will have to be relocated. The cost of the changes is estimated to be more than 6.7 billion pesos (US $354.3 million).

The new master plan is being drawn up by French airport operator Aéroports de Paris and is expected to be presented in the second half of the year.

Higher than expected costs to purchase land that will serve as a sound buffer around the airport and to carry out a range of studies have also contributed to the projected cost rising from 70.34 billion pesos (US $3.7 billion) to 78.55 billion pesos (US $4.15 billion), an 11.5% increase.

The federal government has pledged that the new Santa Lucía airport will begin operations in 2021.

It is expected to operate simultaneously with the existing Mexico City airport and that in Toluca – both of which will be upgraded – although some aviation experts have questioned whether that will be viable given their close proximity to each other.

Located in the México state municipality of Zumpango, the Santa Lucía site is 50 kilometers north of Benito Juárez International Airport in the capital and around 100 kilometers northeast of the Toluca International Airport. A new 11.9-billion-peso highway is planned to link the first two airports.

The first stage at Santa Lucía, which will be built by Sedena, includes construction of two runways, a terminal building, a parking lot with space for 4,000 cars, a control tower, a maintenance hangar and a freight terminal, among other facilities.

The airport is planned to eventually have four different passenger terminals and an annual capacity of 100 million passengers.

However, in its first year of operations, it is expected that around 18 million passengers will use the new facility.

Source: Obras (sp)

Public servants’ health service is bankrupt, director warns

By

Madison Koen

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April 23, 2019

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The state health plan for public servants is bankrupt and will run out of cash this summer if it doesn’t get a bail-out, its administration and finance director said yesterday.

Mario Zenteno Santaella of the ISSSTE warned that the agency would need a cash injection by July to continue functioning.

He told the Senate Health Commission there was a 128% increase in ISSSTE’s liabilities last year to 18.9 billion pesos (US $1 billion), compared with 8.3 billion pesos (US $439 million) in 2017.

Zenteno blamed the problem on previous “neoliberal” governments, accusing them of abandoning and dismantling the health service. He said liabilities totaled an average of 6 billion pesos each year from 2012 until 2017, before skyrocketing last year to nearly 19 billion pesos.

He hinted that the huge increase was related to the fact that 2018 was a presidential election year.

“There are parties responsible [for this situation], and we will reveal them in due time.”

The director went on to paint a general picture of widespread corruption, which he admitted might not yet be entirely stamped out. He revealed that under previous governments, the directors’ positions at the institute were used as a pay-off to losing gubernatorial and mayoral candidates.

Zenteno said another enormous drain on the institute’s finances was a 13.4-billion-peso annual contract signed with the medical distribution provider SILODISA, which provides expensive services that the ISSTE could be capable of carrying out internally.

He also mentioned irregularities in the prices the institute pays for supplies because of widespread collusion in the privatization and decentralization of services. For example, an anti-fungal antibiotic costs 640 pesos in the 20 de Noviembre hospital, but it can actually be purchased for 208 pesos.

Zenteno also said the ISSTE owes money to employees.

“I hope that when we see each other again in October we can very clearly show you how we’ve advanced, but I reiterate that the institute is bankrupt — and we’re not magicians.”

Asked about the situation at this morning’s presidential press conference, President López Obrador said the problems were not insurmountable.

“There is no crisis that cannot be dealt with.”

He said “we’re going to make progress because [now] there is discipline in the management of the budget, there is no corruption, there are no superfluous expenditures, there are no luxuries in the government. We are taking in more than last year.”

The president also managed a dig at one of his successors, blaming former president Vicente Fox for tax amnesties that cost “billions of pesos.”

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

Power outage on Yucatán peninsula is third in two months

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MND Staff

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April 23, 2019

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The Yucatán peninsula suffered its third power outage in less than two months yesterday, although the lights didn’t stay off for long.

The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) said that around 500,000 customers in Yucatán and Quintana Roo lost power for 11 minutes in the former state and 18 minutes in the latter.

Two 400-kilovolt transmission lines that went offline were to blame for the blackout, the CFE said.

The state-owned company added that it will investigate the causes of the power line failures in conjunction with the National Energy Control Center (Cenace).

Electricity customers in Yucatán and Quintana Roo were previously affected by an outage on March 8 and another on April 5, which also left parts of Campeche without power.

Both blackouts were blamed on fires beneath transmission lines but energy expert Edgar Ocampo Telléz said that a lack of gas to generate power was the real reason.

However, CFE chief Manuel Bartlett denied that was the case on April 11, stating that there is sufficient natural gas to generate the power needed for the peninsula.

He also ruled out future interruptions to electricity supply but it took just 11 days for him to be proved wrong.

In contrast, Ocampo warned that the Yucatán peninsula would suffer periodic blackouts, especially as the weather gets warmer and the demand for electricity increases.

The CFE also announced on April 11 that it is investing 2 billion pesos (US $105.8 million) to strengthen the electricity-carrying capacity of transmission lines between Ticul, Yucatán, and Escárcega, Campeche.

Noé Peña, director general of the CFE transmission division, said the project will be undertaken in two stages. The first, which is already under way, will be completed in May next year and the second will finish a year later.

The aim is to “double the capacity . . . of that route. We’re working on a double [transmission] line . . .” he said.

Source: Notimex (sp)

Archaeological sites see visitor numbers decline for first time in four years

By

César Hernández

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April 23, 2019

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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.

Source: El Sol de México (sp)

Mayor of Nahuatzen, Michoacán, kidnapped and killed

By

MND Staff

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April 23, 2019

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Murder victim Otlica, mayor of Nahuatzen.

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.

They include a clash between police and armed civilians in February that left one man dead, another confrontation with police in which four people were killed in 2017 and the burning of ballots before elections on July 1, 2018.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Zetas, Jalisco cartel believed to have been behind Minatitlán massacre

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MND Staff

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April 23, 2019

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Attorney General Winckler, under pressure; and 'La Becky,' Minatitlán bar owner. — 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.”

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.

However, there has been an increase in violent crime in Veracruz since the new government took office, including a CJNG offensive that has claimed the lives of four police officers.

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 . . .”

Source: El Financiero (sp), E-Consulta (sp)

Pipeline taps up, but volume of stolen fuel is down, says Pemex

By

César Hernández

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April 23, 2019

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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.

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

Airbnb properties now rival hotel rooms in number, worrying hoteliers

By

MND Staff

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April 23, 2019

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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.

Source: El Financiero (sp)