Doctor dismissed after turning away pregnant woman

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April 4, 2019

The doctor dismissed last week in Celaya. — The Guanajuato doctor who refused to provide treatment.

A doctor at a public maternity hospital in Celaya, Guanajuato, has been dismissed after refusing to treat a pregnant woman at risk of giving birth prematurely.

Obsetrician Adrián Villegas Cisneros told the woman’s husband that he would not perform the surgery that his wife required. The exchange was filmed and later posted to social media.

Villegas blamed the patient and her husband for not arriving at the hospital earlier and advised them to go to a private hospital.

“. . . Here, there is nothing [I can do] and your baby could die . . . Your baby has to be born,” Villegas said, explaining that he had detected hourglass membranes – a prolapse of the amniotic sac – via ultrasound.

The doctor explained that “several things” could be done to treat the condition, adding that “here I’m the only one that does them.”

However, Villegas said that he wouldn’t attend to the woman because he only performs such treatments at private hospitals or in his own office.

“There’s no space for your baby [here], that’s the reality, it’s as simple as that,” he said.

“The delay in [seeking medical] attention is not my fault, it’s hers,” Villegas said, pointing at the pregnant woman.

“I have to prioritize another patient who is at risk of dying, a patient who just arrived.”

The woman has now given birth and both she and her newborn son are in good health, the newspaper El Universal reported.

Villegas, who had worked at the maternity hospital for five years, was fired on March 30 after an investigation by Guanajuato health authorities.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Neighbors help themselves after beer truck accident

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César Hernández

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April 4, 2019

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An overturned beer truck was cause for celebration yesterday in Santa Cruz, Campeche.

About 100 people soon arrived at the scene of the accident on the Campeche-Mérida highway and carried away as much as they could. Some couldn’t wait to get home and cracked open some beers on the spot, including a woman who had to rest from the strenuous task by popping open a can and quenching her thirst.

The pillaging did not stop with the beer strewn on the roadside. Even the truck’s tires were stolen.

When state and municipal police arrived they cordoned off the area but did not intervene or attempt to stop the theft.

Questioned by reporters, residents declared that stealing the beer mattered little to the brewery because the cargo was covered by insurance.

No arrests were reported, nor was the cause of the accident and the truck driver’s condition is unknown.

It was the second accident involving a beer truck in just two days, and the second time that a truck’s cargo was looted.

Source: SDP Noticias (sp)

Woman attacked by 7 dogs but owner won’t take responsibility

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César Hernández

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April 4, 2019

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A dog owner in La Paz, Baja California Sur, has been accused of refusing to accept responsibility for an attack on a local woman.

The victim’s nephew posted the accusation on social media, charging that the woman’s seven dogs attacked his aunt his aunt on Tuesday while she was walking in the Cárdenas neighborhood.

“We already filed a formal complaint,” he wrote, adding that the local dog pound “isn’t doing anything,” and that his aunt “has very ugly injuries.”

He explained that the complaint is intended to force the woman to pay reparation.

This week’s attack is not the first in La Paz.

The news website BCS Noticias reported that a local woman was attacked by dogs last month.

The woman said she and her four-year-old daughter were walking in the Calafia neighborhood when two dogs tried to bite the girl. The animals were only able to tear the girl’s clothes, but they did bite the woman when she defended her daughter.

There were also attacks on the city’s malecón earlier this year, prompting Mayor Rubén Muñoz Álvarez to forbid dogs on the seaside promenade.

Social media users have expressed disagreement with the ruling, stating that “the dogs are not to blame, it is their owners who neglect to educate them.”

Source: BCS Noticias (sp)

Trump threatens auto tariffs; gives MX one year to halt drugs, immigration

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MND Staff

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April 4, 2019

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United States President Donald Trump threatened today to impose tariffs on Mexican auto imports and close the U.S. border if Mexico doesn’t stop drug and migration flows into the country within a year.

“We’re going to give them a one-year warning and if the drugs don’t stop or largely stop, we’re going to put tariffs on Mexico and products, in particular cars, the whole ball game is cars . . . and if that doesn’t stop the drugs, we close the border,” he told reporters.

Trump expressed confidence that his plan would work because auto tariffs would cost Mexico a “massive number of dollars.”

He stressed that “we love Mexico, we love the country of Mexico [but] we have two problems – we have the fact that they allow people to pour into our country . . . and the other problem is drugs . . . much of the drugs coming into our country come through the southern border.”

On the former, Trump said “we need help from Mexico, if Mexico doesn’t give the help, that’s okay, we’re going to tariff their cars coming into the United States.”

The U.S. president claimed that authorities in Mexico have already heeded his threat to close the border if they didn’t make a better effort to stop the flow of migrants.

“For the last four days . . . Mexico has been capturing people and bringing them back to their countries at their southern border. They’ve been taking people under their very powerful laws . . . and they’re bringing them back to where they came from,” Trump said.

“If we don’t see people apprehended and brought back to their countries, if we see these massive caravans coming up to our country, coming right through Mexico . . . The only thing frankly better but less drastic than closing the border is to tariff the cars coming in and I will do it, you know I will do, I don’t play games, I’ll do it,” he continued.

Placing tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico or Canada would contravene the new North American free trade agreement but the United States could impose the duties on national security grounds under section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act as it did last year with steel and aluminum.

Fears have been steadily mounting on both sides of the border in recent days that Trump would follow through on his threat to close the border this week, a move whose impact could be catastrophic for both countries.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Teachers plan to renew Mexico City blockade Friday

By

Madison Koen

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April 4, 2019

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Teachers' camp last week in Mexico City.

Oaxaca teachers have announced that over 40,000 teachers and supporters will march Friday on the House of Deputies in Mexico City to press for the repeal of educational reform introduced by former President Peña Nieto’s administration.

CNTE union leader Eloy López Hernández warned that the teachers will not rest until the reform is abolished.

“We want to totally dispose of the law and see enactment of an educational reform that is not punitive in character.”

López said the union would not be placated with small favors or gestures from the federal government.

“We would like to clarify that the CNTE is not looking for [government] posts or control . . . Actually, the ones who have enjoyed those benefits are the SNTE [a rival teachers’ union].”

He called on teachers and education workers to join the fight and not lower their guard. However, he also said talks with the secretariats of the Interior and Education continue.

“We are still reviewing their proposals, but we have not seen any real advances or answers to our demands . . .”

López said the union will not allow lawmakers to pass a ruling without being able to review it.

Another CNTE spokesman demanded the abolishment of the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education — which the government has already promised — and a new one intended to replace it, because the union wants to ensure that evaluation does not remain as an administrative theme.

The CNTE has been bitterly opposed to the concept of evaluation since it was introduced with the education reforms.

Meetings between the CNTE and government officials this week concluded without reaching an accord. Congressman Mario Delgado said the federal government will continue working with the teachers’ union until all parties arrive at a satisfactory agreement.

An agreement to negotiate was reached last week, ending a blockade of the San Lázaro legislative precinct in the capital.

The CNTE represents an estimated 100,000 teachers in Mexico, about 10% of the total. Its rival, the SNTE, has had little to say about the new reforms, but welcomed the repeal of the previous ones — which it welcomed in 2013.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Agreement sets up tourism promotion training for embassy, consulate staff

By

MND Staff

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April 4, 2019

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Ebrard, left, and Torruco shake on new training agreement.

The secretariats of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and Tourism (Sectur) have signed a cooperation agreement that will train diplomatic staff in tourism promotion.

Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said that marketing the nation as a tourism destination will become a responsibility of all of Mexico’s embassies and consulates.

The announcement follows a decision by the federal government to disband the Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM) as part of its austerity policy.

The SRE-Sectur agreement will remain in force until the end of the government’s six-year term in 2024.

Diplomatic staff will undertake short tourism marketing courses that in most cases will be delivered online to avoid any detrimental effects on the day-day-day operations of overseas missions, Ebrard said.

Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco explained that in the initial phase of the agreement, training of embassy and consulate personnel will “focus on countries that are large sources of tourists to Mexico” including the United States and Canada as well as some South American, Central American, European and Asian nations.

Ebrard explained that people undergoing training at the SRE-affiliated Matías Romero Institute in Mexico City prior to an overseas diplomatic posting will also be required to complete tourism-related subjects.

“Promoting tourism is a professional task, it requires training and knowledge . . . The Matías Romero Institute is going to establish a program with the Secretariat of Tourism to adequately prepare us, from now on, in tourism promotion,” the foreign secretary said.

“How does the tourism market work? What’s [tourism] like around the world today? What are Mexico’s priority objectives? What should we be looking to do? . . . All these questions are now going to be explored at the Matías Romero Institute,” Ebrard added.

Business and tourism sector leaders have been highly critical of the government’s decision to disband the CPTM and are taking steps to create a private marketing agency.

Pablo Azcárraga, president of the National Tourism Business Council (CNET), said Tuesday that the Mexican tourism industry is in crisis due to a lack of marketing and insecurity.

He urged the government to take action to remedy the situation, which has included a decline in international arrivals to Cancún, Quintana Roo, and a downturn in hotel occupancy rates in that city as well as other destinations.

Despite the tourism sector’s criticism of the government, and Azcárraga’s absence at yesterday’s signing ceremony, Secretary Torruco denied there was friction between the two parties.

“There’s no distance” between us, he declared, highlighting the presence of other tourism sector representatives at yesterday’s event.

Source: 24 Horas (sp), El Economista (sp)

Thieves nab 20 million pesos in cash at Guanajuato airport

By

Madison Koen

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April 4, 2019

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Thieves entered the airport in a fake Aeroméxico vehicle.

A band of thieves made off with more than 20 million pesos (US $1 million) at the Guanajuato International Airport Wednesday night.

The bags of cash had arrived in a PanAmericano armored truck and placed aboard an airport service vehicle in preparation for loading on to a waiting plane.

But the delivery was intercepted by armed and masked men in a truck disguised with a fake Aeroméxico logo. They relieved the vehicle’s sole guard of the money and fled.

Other guards stayed inside the armored vehicle, where more cash — an estimated 120 million pesos — remained.

After seizing the loot, the thieves left the airport property by knocking over a fence.

They had entered the airport’s restricted area earlier in the evening, successfully passing through a military checkpoint, and waited for the money to arrive.

Later, a group of armed and masked men intercepted an Uber driver on the León-Lagos highway and made off with his vehicle, leaving the driver and his fare on the roadside.

Airport personnel said a cash delivery by armored truck takes place once a month.

Source: Milenio (sp), Reforma (sp)

At some crossings, wait times up to 12 hours, 15-kilometer truck lines

By

MND Staff

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April 4, 2019

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Cars and trucks continue to face long wait times at several border crossings between Mexico and the United States including those in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, where delays of up to 12 and 11 hours respectively have been reported.

Lines of trucks have been as long as 15 kilometers in both cities, according to the National Chamber of Trucking (Canacar), forcing drivers to endure torturously long waits.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this, in all the time I have worked here,” truck driver Juan Sandoval told the news agency Reuters in Ciudad Juárez this morning.

In Tijuana, Baja California, and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, respective wait times of eight and seven hours have been reported at border crossings and more than 1,000 trucks remain stranded in both cities.

The delays have been attributed to a decision by United States Customs and Border Protection to withdraw personnel from border crossings to help deal with an influx of migrants into the U.S. Some lanes at ports of entry have been closed as a result.

However, the newspaper El Economista reported today that the long delays are the result of more exhaustive inspections of trucks and cars and the people traveling in them.

Thousands of mainly Central American migrants have been stranded in northern border cities in recent months and some have tried to cross illegally into the United States to circumvent long waits for the opportunity to seek asylum.

Border agents appear intent on not allowing illegal entries to occur via legal ports of entry.

Over the past week, United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to close the border completely if Mexico and the U.S. Congress don’t do more to stem illegal immigration. But he backed down on that threat today, instead giving Mexico a “one-year warning” to halt illegal immigration into the U.S.

However, instead of closing the border he will first impose tariffs on cars. If that doesn’t stop the movement of drugs and illegal immigrants, “we close the border.”

Experts have warned of the dire economic consequences if that were to occur, but the current delays are already causing economic losses – and the frustration of travelers – to mount.

In Reynosa, 1,500 trucks are stranded at the different border crossings, Milenio reported.

The three international bridges in the northeastern city have been at maximum capacity for almost a week, increasing wait times for car and truck drivers as well as pedestrians.

Delays at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge have increased to as long as eight hours.

Tamaulipas Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca was critical of the decision to transfer border agents to deal with the migrant influx.

“It’s not the way to do it because it directly damages the economy,” he said, pointing out that Texas is Tamaulipas’ largest trade partner.

Jeff Moseley, president of the Texas Association of Business, said that an estimated 14,000 trucks a day cross the border between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo and that the lengthy delays are causing uncertainty.

He also said that people who live on one side of the border and work on the other have been unable to get to their jobs.

“. . . The Texas economy really depends on the ability to get workers and goods to market,” Moseley said.

At the western extreme of Mexico’s 3,145-kilometer-long border with the United States, cars and trucks are also facing long wait times.

Delays at the Otay Mesa port of entry between Tijuana and San Diego, California, have now swollen to two and a half hours for cars and up to seven hours for trucks. However, some of the latter have been stranded much longer.

More than 3,000 trucks have arrived at border crossings in the Tijuana area over the past three days but only about half that number have made it to the other side. Two of 10 commercial lanes at the Otay Mesa crossing have been closed.

Although there have been no reports of waits in Nogales, Sonora, a decision by Customs and Border Protection to close the port of entry to commercial traffic on Sundays will have a negative impact on the produce industry, a spokesman said.

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas said the closures will limit the availability of items from Sonora, including squash, grapes, watermelons, green beans and tomatoes. “It’s going to harm the companies involved,” said Lance Jungmeyer.

With multi-million-dollar losses already being incurred on a daily basis, truckers have called on the federal government to reach an urgent agreement with United States authorities to speed up the border crossing process.

Mexico sent exports worth more than US $295 billion across northern land borders last year, according to the United States Department of Transport, a figure that equates to US $808.8 million a day.

Canacar president Enrique González said that the current delays are causing “unprecedented” economic damage for both Mexico and the United States.

Some Mexican exporters are considering sending their goods to the United States by air.

Luis Aguirre Lang, president of the National Council of the Maquiladora Industry (Index Nacional), said that manufacturers of auto parts and medical equipment are among companies contemplating the move in order to avoid penalties for late deliveries to clients in the U.S.

President López Obrador, who has been accused of being timid in the face of President Trump’s threats, said yesterday that “the closure of borders is not in the interest of anyone” and pledged to continue to cooperate with the United States to stop large flows of migrants traveling through Mexico to the northern border.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Economista (sp), Reuters (sp), The Washington Post (en), KTAR News (en)

Man injured in Chihuahua after pet jaguar escapes

By

César Hernández

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April 4, 2019

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The jaguar that attacked a Chihuahua construction worker.

Seeing a jaguar prowling in the street is not so unusual for residents of the Las Misiones neighborhood in the city of Chihuahua: the same animal has escaped three times from the house where it is kept as a pet.

Yesterday, it escaped again and attacked a construction worker employed at the house next door.

The man suffered back and arm injuries, and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Chihuahua Mayor María Eugenia Campos demanded action by the federal environmental protection agency, Profepa, due to the jaguar’s repeated escapes.

Campos said that while the animal’s owner may have all the required permits to keep it in the home, the animal has not been properly contained.

Municipal authorities seized the jaguar and took it to a local zoo.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Plagued with political problems, Oaxaca community threatens armed uprising

By

MND Staff

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April 3, 2019

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San Dionisio residents raise machetes in protest in 2014.

Residents of a coastal municipality in Oaxaca are prepared to take up arms if the state government doesn’t intervene to adequately solve its political problems, a community leader warns.

Special elections in San Dionisio del Mar, a municipality in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of the southern state, were canceled in December due to violence after those scheduled for July were postponed.

Jorge Castellanos Pinos, president of an interim community council, said that San Dionisio residents are sick of being abandoned by the Oaxaca government.

An opposition group known as the Peoples’ Assembly of San Dionisio del Mar has “hijacked” the town, he claimed.

The community council appealed to the Oaxaca Electoral Tribunal for new municipal elections but the court ruled last week that organizing a second special election was not allowed under state law.

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Castellanos criticized the state’s plan to appoint Nahúm Ismael Cruz Hernández as the town’s political commissioner — or de facto mayor – charging that he has “a dark past” and doesn’t have knowledge of the problems San Dionisio is facing.

He warned that if the government goes ahead with the plan to send Cruz to San Dionisio, he could be taken hostage, a fate that befell the Oaxaca state police chief in Santa Catarina Juquila last month.

Castellanos said that there are local men and women capable of leading the community and residents don’t want someone from outside to be imposed on them.

He threatened to lead the uprising himself if the state government didn’t rethink its approach to solving the political problems.

“. . . Now is the time to defend ourselves, if two or three of us fall, we fall . . .”

There have been internal conflicts in the municipality for several years.

Source: El Imparcial (sp)