Guerrero violence kills 7, closes schools in five municipalities

By

-

November 14, 2018

Armed gangsters invade Filo de Caballos on Sunday.

Public transportation services and schools have shut down in the mountains of Guerrero after a gang of armed civilians launched an attack in Leonardo Bravo in which seven people were killed.

Buses operating between the capital of Chilpancingo and several towns and municipalities in the mountains have suspended service and a number of schools have been closed since Monday.

[wpgmza id=”107″];

A state education representative said bus service that usually transports 270 teachers to their schools was suspended indefinitely.

“Unfortunately we had to suspend the school year once more in schools located in the sierra because violent conditions do not allow us to send our teachers. We will resume activities as soon as conditions allow it,” he said.

Sunday’s clash took place in Filo de Caballos, where 400 suspected gangsters invaded the towon to attack the rival Cártel del Sur in an attempt to take over territory in the opium poppy-growing region.

Seventeen people were injured and several houses were damaged by gunfire.

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

Cold front leaves winter wonderland in several states

By

César Hernández

-

November 14, 2018

0

Winter has arrived in higher regions of Chihuahua.

A few months ago thermometers around the country were edging close to the scorching 50 C mark. Conditions are much different today.

Meteorological authorities say cold front no. 10 is in full force, covering parts of several states in a white, snowy blanket.

Parts of Nuevo León located in the Sierra Madre woke up yesterday to temperatures as low as -7 C and a wintry landscape after snow and sleet fell.

The spectacle extended to the mountains around the city of Monterrey, including the nearby Chipinque ecological park and Mitras hill.

The National Water Commission (Conagua) forecast that temperatures will remain below freezing in several parts of the state.

In Chihuahua, the town of Majalca saw snowfall and reported a low temperature of -9 C.

Farther south, temperatures dropped to -3 C in Pinal de Amoles, Querétaro, early this morning and a snowfall affected power lines, leaving several towns without electricity.

In México state, sleet was reported on the Nevado de Toluca volcano, while authorities in Hidalgo suspended all school activities due to the severe cold weather.

Highways linking Mexico City to Toluca, Ajusco, Oaxtepec and Cuernavaca were affected by a thick cover of fog that impeded visibility.

It did not snow on the Gulf coast, but the cold front has caused heavy rainfall in Campeche and Tabasco.

In the former, trees fell during the storm, causing blackouts. The rain was so severe that schools were closed at all levels.

In Tabasco, close to 700 residents of El Alacrán, Cárdenas, were cut off from the rest of the state when a nearby lagoon overflowed. Residents had to use boats to leave town.

The National Meteorological Service (SMN) says the cold front and its intense mass of continental polar air will cause thermometers to continue dropping as the weather phenomenon moves south.

In a statement issued this morning, the SMN forecast temperatures of between 0 and -5 C in the mountainous regions of the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Durango, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Hidalgo, México, Tlaxcala, Puebla and Veracruz.

In the mountains of Baja California, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Mexico City, Morelos and Oaxaca, temperatures are expected to range between 0 and 5 C.

Snow and sleet will continue to fall in mountainous regions in Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí, and in regions located 1,200 meters above sea level in the states of Querétaro, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, México and Mexico City.

Rain and intense storms are forecast for southern Veracruz, eastern Oaxaca, northern Chiapas, southern Tabasco, central, southern and western Campeche and southern Quintana Roo.

Very strong storms are expected today in Yucatán, while Tamaulipas, Puebla, Michoacán and Guerrero also see stormy weather.

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

El Chapo’s lawyer claims cartel bribed presidents Peña Nieto, Calderón

By

MND Staff

-

November 14, 2018

0

Calderón, left, and Peña Nieto accepted bribes from cartel, lawyer alleges.

A lawyer for former drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán claimed yesterday that the Sinaloa Cartel paid huge bribes to the current Mexican president and his predecessor.

In his opening statement at the New York trial of the former capo, Jeffrey Lichtman said that the “real” Sinaloa Cartel leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, paid millions of dollars in bribes to President Peña Nieto and ex-president Felipe Calderón to avoid capture.

Zambada has been left free because he “bribes the entire government of Mexico including up to the very top, the current president of Mexico and the former,” Lichtman said.

Presidential spokesman Eduardo Sánchez and Calderón, who left office in 2012, quickly rejected the claim.

“The government of Enrique Peña Nieto pursued, captured and extradited the criminal Joaquín Guzmán Loera. The assertions attributed to his lawyer are completely false and defamatory,” Sánchez wrote on Twitter.

Lichtman’s assertions “are absolutely false and reckless,” Calderón tweeted. “Not him [Zambada] nor the Sinaloa Cartel or any other person made payments to me.”

On the first day of Guzmán’s trial for drug smuggling, conspiracy, firearms offenses and money laundering in a Brooklyn federal court, Lichtman told the judge and jury that Zambada is the real mastermind of the cartel and that Guzmán is no more than a “scapegoat” — a “nobody” with a second-grade education.

“He’s blamed for being the leader while the real leaders are living freely and openly in Mexico. In truth, he controlled nothing. Mayo Zambada did,” he said.

“The world is focusing on this mythical El Chapo creature,” Lichtman continued. “The world is not focusing on Mayo Zambada . . . Mayo can get people arrested and get the Mexican army and police to kill who he wants.”

The lawyer said that since El Chapo’s extradition to the United States in January last year, “the flow of drugs [to the U.S.] hasn’t stopped.”

Prior to Lichtman’s opening remarks, federal attorney Adam Fels presented the United States government’s case, asserting that prosecutors would prove that Guzmán rose from a small-time marijuana trafficker in the 1970s to chief of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Guzmán, 61, established relationships with Colombian cartels that allowed him to move massive amounts of cocaine into the United States, bringing him billions of dollars in profits, Fels told jurors.

Cocaine shipments seized by authorities add up to “more than a line of cocaine for every single person in the United States,” he said.

Fels also told jurors that Guzmán was responsible for turning parts of Mexico into war zones as he fought against rival cartels to expand the Sinaloa Cartel’s influence and power.

The jury will hear about how Guzmán personally shot two members of a rival cartel and ordered that their bodies be thrown into holes and burned, he added.

“He was a hands-on leader,” Fels said, referring to Guzmán’s involvement in day-to-day cartel activities.

All told, Guzmán faces 17 criminal charges and, if convicted, a possible life sentence. He appeared in court yesterday dressed in a dark suit and remained calm as he listened to proceedings with the aid of a translator.

The notorious drug lord, who has been held in solitary confinement in a Manhattan prison for almost two years, appeared almost happy and blew a kiss to his 29-year-old wife, Emma Coronel, who was sitting in the public gallery.

Prosecutors’ witnesses are expected to include former Sinaloa Cartel members and Guzmán associates including Zambada’s brother, Jesús “El Rey” Zambada, and son Vicente Zambada.

The latter, known by the nickname El Vicentillo, last week pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in a United States federal court.

Vicente Zambada, a former logistics chief for the Sinaloa Cartel, said in a plea agreement that he will cooperate with prosecutors in the hope that in exchange he will receive a reduced sentence and protection for his family from cartel retribution.

Lichtman, an experienced criminal lawyer who previously defended New York mobster John A. Gotti, attacked the credibility of the potential witnesses.

“Why is the government going so far in this case using these gutter human beings as the evidence?” he asked.

“It’s because the conviction of Chapo Guzman is the biggest prize this prosecution could ever dream of.”

Lichtman also urged the jury “to keep an open mind” and consider that law enforcement authorities in both Mexico and the United States could be corrupt.

“They work together when it suits them, Mayo [Zambada] and the United States government,” he said.

Almost immediately after Lichtman’s opening remarks, Judge Brian M. Cogan excused the jury and cautioned the lawyer against making statements that might not be supported by evidence.

The trial is being held under extraordinarily tight security. Jurors are escorted to and from the court by armed federal marshals.

Guzmán, who twice escaped from prison in Mexico, has been accompanied by heavily armed federal officials and New York police on his journeys from his cell to the federal court.

The trial, which is expected to last between two and four months, continues today.

Source: AFP (sp), Reuters (sp), El Financiero (sp)

Mexico’s police: ill paid, poorly trained — and overweight

By

MND Staff

-

November 13, 2018

0

It is widely known that Mexico’s police are ill-paid and often poorly-trained. But a new study shows that many are also carrying a lot of extra weight.

Eight of every 10 police officers in Mexico are overweight or obese, according to a report by the National Statistics Institute (Inegi).

The first National Survey of Professional Police Standards and Training, which was published yesterday, shows that 79.4% of officers exceed their recommended body mass index (BMI).

Nearly 52% of Federal Police officers were found to be overweight last year, while 50% and 47% of their state and municipal counterparts respectively were in the same category.

Inversely, the Inegi survey found that municipal police forces had the highest percentage of obese officers.

Just under 35% of municipal cops were deemed to be suffering from obesity compared to 27.7% and 26.5% of state and federal police with the same condition.

Police engaged in operational tasks had slightly higher overweight and obese rates than officers performing administrative duties.

The national survey also determined that 81.4% of police officers suffered from at least one chronic disease.

High blood pressure was the most common ailment followed by diabetes, chronic stress and heart and lung diseases.

Smaller numbers of officers were found to be suffering from anemia, liver disease, HIV and cancer.

Through responses to its survey, Inegi determined that just over 30% of officers joined police forces because they had always wanted to do so.

However, an even higher percentage of respondents – 36.5% – said they became police out of economic necessity.

Just over 5% of police said that they joined a police force because they wanted to help other people and 3.3% said that combating insecurity was their main motivation for becoming a cop.

The survey also found that Mexico City police were most likely to be offered a bribe by citizens, followed by those in Chihuahua, Michoacán and Coahuila.

On the contrary, Chiapas cops were least likely to be subjected to attempts to pay them off followed by police in Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa and Campeche.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Hold your breath: Mexico City air contains 172 toxic compounds

By

MND Staff

-

November 13, 2018

0

mexico city pollution — There's something in the air.

Mexico City residents and visitors beware: breathing in the capital is risky.

Residents of the megalopolis collectively inhale 50,000 tonnes of toxic contaminants a year, according to a study.

The 2016 Emission Inventory for the Valley of Mexico Metropolitan Area reported 172 different toxic compounds in the city’s air including large quantities of toluene, xylene and trichloroethene, which is commonly used as an industrial solvent.

More than 59,000 kilograms of toxic metals including barium, phosphorous, lead and aluminum were also detected in the atmosphere during 2016.

Breathing in the pollutants can cause a range of adverse health effects including respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, cancer, reproductive and neurological problems and premature death.

Solvents, pesticides, untreated wastewater and automotive products are the biggest sources of contaminants in Mexico City’s atmosphere, the study found.

Air in areas of the capital with high population densities and/or a high concentration of industry and commerce was found to be particularly polluted.

Factory emissions, particularly from the printing and chemical industries, were found to be significant contributors to poor air quality in the boroughs of Venustiano Carranza, Gustavo A. Madero and Iztapalapa.

Heavy traffic in the capital’s central areas as well as on the city proper’s fringe with México state also causes a notable concentration of toxic emissions, the report said.

Vehicles used for both private and public transport are the largest source of atmospheric particulate matter measuring 10 and 2.5 micrometers or less as well as nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide.

The number of vehicles in 12 densely populated México state municipalities that form part of the greater Mexico City metropolitan area has increased on average by 600% since the year 2000, statistics show.

In 2017, Mexico City’s air was only considered “clean” on 81 days, according to the capital’s Environment Secretariat.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Ex-president’s resignation seen as reflection of crisis within party

By

MND Staff

-

November 13, 2018

0

Zavala and Calderón will launch new political party next year.

Former president Felipe Calderón’s decision to quit the National Action Party (PAN) is indicative of a “deep crisis” within the party, according to an ex-PAN lawmaker.

Calderón, who governed Mexico for the conservative PAN between 2006 and 2012, announced Sunday that he was leaving the party.

In a two-page letter addressed to the party president, the ex-president outlined a range of reasons for his decision to quit.

They included the PAN ceasing to be “an instrument of citizen participation for the construction of a better Mexico,” the abandonment of “the fundamental principles, basic ideas and proposals” of the party and the destruction of “internal democracy” by the party leadership.

“Mexico urgently needs an option for political participation . . . [with] new citizen voices, especially young people. Remaining in the PAN only implies a detour [from that course] and a net loss of time, resources and organizational capacity that must be dedicated to driving the [new] force forward . . .” Calderón wrote.

Roberto Gil, who has served as both a senator and deputy for the PAN, told the newspaper El Financiero that Calderón’s departure is “bad news for the party” and “reveals the deep crisis of our party [and] the crisis of our own ability to build spaces for internal dialogue and to maintain the unity of the organization.”

He also said that the ex-president’s letter made difficult reading because “it reveals what has been happening to us over the past few years.”

The PAN’s candidate for president in the July 1 election, Ricardo Anaya, finished runner-up to president-elect López Obrador but only received 22% of the popular vote.

Other panistas, as members and supporters of the party are known, also expressed disappointment that Calderón had decided to quit although they stressed that they don’t share his views.

Héctor Larios, who was elected as the party’s new secretary general the same day Calderón quit, said the former president was within his right to leave and that he respected his decision.

“I regret the resignation of any member of the party, more so when it’s someone who was president of the republic, but I don’t necessarily share his ideas,” he said.

“He has the right to try another option but what’s important is to strengthen the party that already exists and which has the greatest possibility of being a brake on what’s to come,” he added, referring to the new leftist government that will be led by López Obrador.

Larios will serve the party under new national president Marko Cortés, a 41-year-old former lawmaker who won 79% of the vote in the leadership ballot.

Cortés’ opponent for the party presidency – and Calderón’s preferred candidate – Manuel Gómez Morin garnered just 21% support.

Calderón said in an interview last week that the PAN had been “completely destroyed” and was incapable of confronting the new government.

However, he contended that the party could remedy the situation by choosing Gómez, a veteran politician, as its new president because it is currently controlled “by the group that destroyed it.”

Whether he goes ahead with the launch of a new party will be decided in large measure by the choice the PAN makes, Calderón said.

Within that context, Calderón’s wife Margarita Zavala announced yesterday that she and her husband would indeed create a new party.

She said in a radio interview that the new party would be launched in January and would be called Libertad (Freedom).

“The name will be Libertad, it’s a cardinal rule, it’s not the only [party] value but through this value we can fight for ourselves, for the truth, for justice and for public honesty but we have to wait for it to be approved by authorities,” Zavala said.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Athletes look to Tokyo after historic medal win in gymnastics

By

César Hernández

-

November 13, 2018

0

History-making medalists Navarro and Flores.

Female gymnasts continue to make history for Mexico.

Dafne Navarro Loza and Melissa Flores Garza won bronze medals in synchronized trampoline during the 2018 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships.

It was the first time Mexico has won a medal at the competition.

The competition took place last week in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the medals were “a reflection of many years of work,” Flores said, adding that communication with Navarro, her partner, was key during the training process.

“[It was important] to be in communication with my partner because we were able to achieve this synchronicity despite [each] training in different places. We’ve gone to four competitions together . . . and we only train together when we are the event we’re about to compete in,” she continued.

The rest of the time, the gymnasts rely on timing their routing and studying each other’s jumps on video. Navarro is based in Guadalajara, Jalisco , while Flores is in Monterrey, Nuevo Léon.

After some time off, Navarro and Flores will return to training with the goal of being the first Mexican gymnasts to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Six world cups are scheduled for 2019, all of which will give the gymnasts the opportunity to score more points and advance.

Navarro made history on her own in St. Petersburg when she became the first Mexican to qualify for the semifinals in singles trampoline in a world cup, ranking 16th overall.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Search continues for US citizen missing in Chihuahua

By

César Hernández

-

November 13, 2018

0

The search continues for Patrick Braxton-Andrew, the 34-year-old United States citizen who disappeared in southwestern Chihuahua on October 28.

A team of rappel climbers were out on the weekend, descending otherwise inaccessible 280-meter-deep ravines.

This search focused on ravines located in the municipality of Urique, but there was no sign of the missing man, who was last seen in the town of the same name.

Checkpoints were set up on roads going in and out of Bahuichivo, looking for suspicious looking individuals.

The search also extended to the town of Mesa de Arturo, where investigators checked several cabins where the missing U.S. citizen might have sought shelter. But again there was sign of Braxton-Andrew.

However, blood was found in one of the cabins and it will be checked against the DNA of family members of the missing man.

Spent assault rifle cartridges were also found at the scene.

State prosecutors said the region, located within Copper Canyon National Park, is under the control of a crime gang leader known as “El Chueco.”

Source: Vivir en Parral (sp), El Nuevo Día (sp)

Central American migrants are now traveling in at least 12 states

By

MND Staff

-

November 13, 2018

0

All aboard: migrants wait to climb into truck on their journey north.

Central American migrants are now traveling through at least 12 Mexican states en route to the United States, according to authorities.

Members of the first migrant caravan began to split into smaller groups after leaving Mexico City over the weekend as they travel towards the Mexico-United States border at Tijuana.

One group, made up of around 80 women, children and members of the LGBT community, arrived in Tijuana yesterday, according to José García, who works at a migrant shelter in the northern border city.

Nine buses carrying about 350 more migrants reached Tijuana early today. A Honduran flag was seen fluttering outside a bus window.

Other members of the caravan have splintered off in different directions to reach other northern cities including Hermosillo, Sonora; Escuinapa, Sinaloa; and Monterrey, Nuevo León.

Authorities in Nayarit are continuing to provide buses to transport migrants to the state’s border with Sinaloa.

That leg of the journey is likely to come today or tomorrow for the largest contingent of the first caravan, located farther south in the country.

Most members of the group arrived in Guadalajara, Jalisco, yesterday and stayed last night in an auditorium in the neighboring municipality of Zapopan.

However, some migrants stayed in the city of La Piedad, Michoacán, around 160 kilometers southeast of Guadalajara.

Early yesterday morning, a huge contingent of migrants arrived at the entry to the Irapuato-Guadalajara highway to try to hitch rides to the Jalisco capital.

Two hours after their 5:00am arrival, some 500 migrants had managed to clamber on to passing trucks but a much larger number was still waiting for rides, the newspaper Milenio reported.

One 65-year-old man identified only as Luis Enrique climbed onto a tank truck only to be ordered by Federal Police to get off.

“I know it’s dangerous to travel this way but when one is poor there is no other choice,” he told Milenio as he waited for another ride.

A 32-year-old Guatemalan man who suffered first-degree burns to his face and chest while juggling fire torches to earn money at traffic lights in Irapuato was also among the migrants traveling towards Guadalajara yesterday.

One truck driver said that it was impossible to stop the migrants from boarding.

“. . . They climb on themselves, there’s no way of telling them no and getting them off . . .” he said.

Those who reached Guadalajara yesterday endured a five-hour journey exposed to the sun, strong wind and the constant risk of falling from the fast-moving and often-overcrowded trailers.

Members of the second caravan, made up of more than 1,000 migrants, began arriving in Mexico City yesterday from Puebla.

The third caravan, made up of around 450 Salvadoran migrants who entered Mexico legally, remain in Tapachula, Chiapas, awaiting immigration documents.

Meanwhile, a fourth caravan that crossed the southern border earlier this month is currently traveling through Veracruz en route to Puebla and Mexico City.

The Federal Interior Secretariat (Segob) announced yesterday that it has agreed to a proposal by the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) to offer employment opportunities to Central American migrants in several Mexican states on the condition that they formally register with immigration authorities.

President Peña Nieto announced a program last month called “Estás en tu Casa” (You are at home), offering shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to the migrants on the condition that they formally apply for refugee status with the National Immigration Institute (INM) and remain in Chiapas or Oaxaca.

However, most migrants rejected the offer and remain determined to reach the United States’ southern border, where they intend to apply for asylum.

In Tijuana, where most members of the first caravan are headed, migrant advocates warned that shelters in the city are already 75% full.

According to a report in the newspaper Reforma, there are 2,800 migrants — including Central Americans, Africans and Mexicans — who have been in Tijuana for up to a month waiting for the opportunity to lodge requests for asylum in the United States.

Baja California Interior Secretary Francisco Rueda said that state authorities are requesting 80 million pesos (US $3.9 million) from the federal government to pay for shelter, food, health care and humanitarian assistance while caravan members are in Tijuana.

While migrants have stayed in other Mexican cities for short periods, they could be in Tijuana for weeks or even months as they await the opportunity to request asylum.

“Other cities have welcomed them for two or three days, but one can foresee that a good number of them will stay in Tijuana for a long period . . .” the city’s Catholic archdiocese said in a statement Friday.

Some migrants are likely to be transferred to the state capital of Mexicali, located about 200 kilometers east of Tijuana, where shelters have capacity for 500 caravan members.

Rueda said that state and municipal authorities want the federal government to petition United States authorities to speed up the process to seek asylum.

However, United States President Trump is seeking to make it more difficult for caravan members to enter the country.

Trump has described the first caravan as an “invasion” and said that as many as 15,000 troops could be deployed to the U.S. southern border to meet the migrants.

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp), Reforma (sp), Expansión (sp), The San Diego Union Tribune (en)

Mexico-Pachuca highway reopened after 20-hour blockade

By

MND Staff

-

November 13, 2018

0

Tires burn during yesterday's highway blockade.

The Mexico City-Pachuca highway reopened last night after a 20-hour blockade by México state residents protesting against the excessive use of force by police.

The highway was blocked in both directions at San Juan Ixhuatepec, a neighborhood in the municipality of Tlalnepantla, which borders the capital.

According to Mexico City police chief Raymundo Collins, a conflict between officers and citizens started Sunday night after a gas station employee in the northern Mexico City borough of Gustavo A. Madero reported a robbery.

The man accused of committing the crime fled in a vehicle to San Juan Ixhuatepec and was pursued by Mexico City police.

The suspected criminal was detained after which, according to Collins, “taxi drivers from the state of México and civilians” attacked police in an attempt to free him.

The police chief told a press conference that several officers were injured, including a commander who suffered a fractured jaw.

Residents of San Juan Ixhuatepec accused the police of acting violently during the operation to arrest the man.

Videos circulating on social media show police punching and kicking people on the street and forcibly entering homes. They allegedly broke windows of houses and businesses in the neighborhood and damaged cars as well.

In response to the aggression, San Juan Ixhuatepec residents set alight wood, tires and three police cars on the Mexico City-Pachuca highway starting in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The blockade, in which the newspaper El Universal reported that around 1,000 angry residents participated, was maintained throughout the day.

Two trailers that were prevented from passing were also used to block traffic.

Truck drivers alleged that they were ordered out of their vehicles by protesters, who threatened to beat them and burn their vehicles if they didn’t cooperate.

A group of hooded men also reportedly looted a supermarket and a convenience store in the area. Several businesses closed amid the chaos.

At around 6:30pm, a contingent of Mexico City and Federal Police started an operation to put an end to the blockade.

When the police approached the blocked section of the highway, protesters threw molotov cocktails, rocks and sticks at the officers but were repelled with the use of tear gas.

Police cleared the highway and reopened it to traffic at about 8:00pm. They remained in the area to ensure that residents didn’t attempt to set up a new blockade.

In response to residents’ allegations, Collins wrote on Twitter yesterday that “we will not allow police excesses but nor will we allow the impunity of criminals . . . It is not permissible for civilians to want to free those involved in crimes.”

In turn, San Juan Ixhuatepec residents are demanding that the police chief be dismissed, and questioned why Mexico City police had entered México state.

Mexico City Mayor José Ramón Amieva said on Twitter that the actions of police will be investigated and that sanctions will be imposed.

He also pledged that any victims of police violence would be compensated and guaranteed that a similar incident would not occur again.

Some San Juan Ixhuatepec have filed criminal complaints with México state authorities alleging brutality and excessive use of force on the part of Mexico City police.

Source: El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp), El Universal (sp), Reporte Indigo (sp), Notimex (sp)