Tunnel, chamber discovered beneath Pyramid of the Moon

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October 25, 2018

Experts have discovered a tunnel leading to a chamber that was possibly used for funeral rituals beneath the Pyramid of the Moon at the Teotihuacán archeological site.

A team of researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) working in collaboration with the Institute of Geophysics at the National Autonomous University (UNAM) made the finds during an electrical resistivity study of the pyramid.

Verónica Ortega, director of the Plaza de la Luna Conservation Project, said it is possible that human remains and artifacts could be found in the 15-meter-diameter chamber.

She explained that archaeologists discovered skeletons with deformed skulls as well as a range of objects made out of green stone within the same pyramid in the 1980s.

“. . . Because of that it’s not hard to think that something similar could be found . . .” Ortega said.

She added that the investigation would help researchers to understand more about ancient rituals at Teotihuacán and the civilization’s relationship with other pre-Hispanic cultures.

“What’s found inside could help to unravel the relationships that this ancient metropolis had with other regions of Mesoamerica,” Ortega said.

At the start of this month, the INAH team carried out a new study that detected the location of the tunnel leading to the chamber.

“The tunnel is towards the south of the Plaza de la Luna [Plaza of the Moon] but it’s probable that there is another entrance [to the chamber] towards the eastern side. Consequently, getting a complete radiography is fundamental to finding out where it can be accessed from,” Ortega said.

The Pyramid of the Moon is the only structure at Teotihuacán that directly faces the Calzada de los Muertos, or Avenue of the Dead. It is believed to have been enlarged seven times since it was first built.

Last month, the same team of INAH archaeologists announced that they had uncovered evidence that Mayan elites lived in Teotihuacán, located northeast of Mexico City more than 1,000 kilometers from the center of their civilization.

INAH said in a statement that the remains of a Mayan-style mural and offering as well as fragments of Mayan ceramics and bones of thousands of sacrificed people were found in the Plaza of the Columns, which is positioned between the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon.

During its prime, between 100 BC and 750 AD, Teotihuacán is believed to have been the home of more than 100,000 people and possibly the most powerful city in North America. Today, it is a popular tourist destination because of its huge pyramids.

Mexico News Daily

Hurricane Willa affected 33,000 in two states

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MND Staff

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October 25, 2018

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Around 33,000 Sinaloa and Nayarit residents were affected by Hurricane Willa, a category 3 hurricane that struck the Pacific coast Tuesday night.

Authorities in both states reported flooded homes, overflowing rivers, damaged highways, power cuts, damage to crops and the death of livestock. However, there were no human casualties.

Escuinapa, the southern Sinaloa municipality where the powerful storm made landfall, and Rosario, to its immediate north, bore the brunt of the powerful storm.

The Baluarte River burst its banks, flooding homes in both municipalities where an estimated 20,000 people were affected.

Power went out in several areas of Sinaloa but the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) had restored service to 53% of affected areas by late yesterday.

Sinaloa Governor Quirino Ordaz visited affected areas of the state yesterday to assess damage.

He said that 4,000 people had evacuated to shelters set up by state and municipal authorities, many of whom arrived after their homes sustained damage in the hurricane.

In Nayarit, more than 13,000 people were affected by Willa, which brought winds of 195 kilometers per hour with gusts as strong as 240 kilometers per hour.

The strong wind damaged homes, toppled trees and utility poles and cut power in several municipalities.

Rivers in the state overflowed, livestock drowned and several vehicles were swept away by floodwaters.

Around 15,000 members of the military have been deployed to the Sinaloa-Nayarit border area to assist residents of affected communities.

The navy said in a statement yesterday that more than 3,800 marines, 163 vehicles, eight planes, six boats and three mobile kitchens were deployed as part of its response to Hurricane Willa.

Marines helped 178 people to evacuate yesterday from two Escuinapa communities that had been cut off due to heavy rain.

Willa, which strengthened to a category 5 hurricane earlier this week, weakened rapidly after landfall and was downgraded yesterday morning to a tropical depression.

The National Meteorological Service (SMN) is forecasting that its remnants will continue to bring rain to several states today including Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, Nuevo León and Coahuila.

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

8 dead after bus collides with vehicles in the wrong lane

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César Hernández

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October 25, 2018

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The bus that went off the road yesterday in Nayarit.

Eight people died and 40 were injured yesterday in Nayarit when a bus carrying tourists collided with three vehicles in the wrong lane on the Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta highway.

The bus was rounding a curve in the highway when it encountered three vehicles in its lane as they attempted to pass a semi-trailer. The bus went off the road and plunged into a ravine.

The accident occurred a few minutes after noon near Lo de Marcos.

Passersby in other vehicles stopped to help survivors out of the overturned bus before emergency services personnel arrived.

Six passengers were killed instantly while a seventh died while receiving emergency medical attention at the scene of the accident.

The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals due to the severity of their injuries. One died later in the day.

The bus was carrying visitors from Arandas, Jalisco, who had been vacationing on the beach in Puerto Vallarta.

Source: El Sol de México (sp), Milenio (sp)

Mexico, US collaborate on pilot project to install body scanners

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MND Staff

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October 25, 2018

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Scanners will check pedestrians as they cross the border at Ciudad Juárez.

Pedestrians crossing the Mexico-United States border between Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas, will soon be subjected to high-tech body searches.

Mexican authorities will collaborate with the United States government on a pilot program to install body scanners at three crossings between the two border cities.

In a document posted to a government procurement portal, the U.S. Department of State informed interested suppliers on October 10 that it plans to purchase 14 “compact detection units” that have the capacity to detect contraband hidden under clothing and even inside a person’s body.

Currently, only X-rays taken at a hospital can detect if a person has ingested contraband or otherwise placed it inside the body for the purpose of smuggling it across the border.

The newspaper Reforma reported today that one of the scanners sought by the Department of State is the Thru Vision TS4-C.

Thru Vision’s website says that the TS4-C is a “proven people-screening camera that sees any type of item — including metal, plastic, ceramic, gel, liquid, powder and paper — hidden under people’s clothing at distances of three to four meters.”

It also has the capacity to conduct “360° person screening at a rate of one person every 12 seconds” and relay information in real time, the company said.

According to the Department of State document, “the system must have the capacity for an effective flow of information of up to 100 people per hour in order to manage a high-traffic environment.”

To detect contraband inside the body, the State Department is seeking to purchase the RadPRO SecurPASS Full Body Security Screening System, made by Canon, or an equivalent system.

Canon’s website says that the system is “designed to handle certain high-level security needs of prisons, border crossings, jails, and government facilities,” adding “this low-dose X-ray screening system detects many types of illegal substances and weapons, both internally and on the body.”

With the acquisition of such a system, people suspected of carrying contraband such as drugs internally will not have to be taken to a hospital or clinic to be examined by X-ray, a process that is time-consuming and costly.

The RadPRO SecurPASS costs around US $200,000 per unit.

“The government will evaluate the utility and reliability of this new technology in an operational environment to determine if it provides the solution required,” the State Department said.

Source: Reforma (sp)

As voting set to begin, worries grow over future of Mexico City airport

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MND Staff

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October 24, 2018

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The existing airport would be reconditioned if voters reject the new one.

A day before the public consultation on the future of the new Mexico City International Airport (NAICM) begins, there are signs of growing concern over the negative economic impact a decision to cancel the project might have.

Mexico’s two largest banks, BBVA Bancomer and Citibanamex, agree that if the incoming government decides to scrap the US $15-billion airport, it will hurt private investment.

“From a fiscal point of view, cancellation of the NAICM shouldn’t, in itself, imply a lower credit rating. It all depends on the details of the cancellation or new agreement but [lower] confidence in upcoming investment projects could have a negative impact on local assets,” Bancomer said in a research document.

According to Citibanamex, canceling the project would impact negatively on investment because it would reinforce an already common view about the way the new government is likely to make decisions.

“The perception in the market that the AMLO [Andrés Manuel López Obrador] administration will take public decisions in a discretional and populist way will intensify,” the bank said in a note sent to customers.

“Into the future, private investment would face a more uncertain economic and legal environment.”

Citibanamex economist Sergio Luna told the newspaper El Financiero that scrapping the airport project could lead rating agencies to downgrade Mexico’s credit rating — not because of doubt surrounding its capacity to pay “but rather the will.”

“The first thing the rating agencies would do would be to place a negative outlook on the country’s rating,” Luna said.

“Decision-making would be seen as more discretional and that would be taken into account once the new government takes office,” he added.

Consultancy Miranda Partners sees the decision as a test of the new administration. “This is a test of how sensible this incoming government is and if they cancel they’re failing it,” director Damian Fraser said.

Benito Barber, chief economist in Latin America for French investment bank Natixis, said that cancellation of the airport would generate “an increase in risk premiums for short-term [government] bonds and credit default swaps.”

He added that “there would also be an impact on the budget depending on how much would have to be paid for the cancellation.”

Incoming transportation secretary Javier Jiménez Espriú said last week that canceling the project would result in a loss of 100 billion pesos (US $5.1 billion).

Today, he said that both continuing with the NAICM and the alternative — adapting México state’s Santa Lucía Air Force Base for commercial aviation — are viable. But the president of BIVA, Mexico’s new stock exchange, believes that from an economic standpoint, the best choice is clear.

“If Santa Lucía wins, it would be a game-changer that the economy would find a little bit difficult to assimilate. It would be something that I would prefer not to imagine . . .” Santiago Urquiza said.

Gustavo de Hoyos, president of the Mexican Employers Federation (Coparmex), said that a decision to cancel the project has the potential to impact on both the domestic and the international private sector’s confidence in the Mexican economy.

The future of other large infrastructure projects that the new government plans to undertake could be placed at risk.

“What’s at stake is much more than the airport, the rationality of political management in this country is at stake,” he said.

De Hoyos also said that he was concerned about whether the result of the consultation, which will take the form of a referendum, will truly be representative of the will of the people.

The vote will be held in 538 municipalities across Mexico between October 25 and 28 and citizens will be presented with a ballot asking the question: “Given the saturation at the Mexico City International Airport which option do you think is better for the country? (a) recondition the existing airport and that in Toluca and build two runways at the Santa Lucía Air Force Base; (b) continue with the construction of the new airport in Texcoco and discontinue using the existing Mexico City International Airport.”

According to a poll by El Financiero, the ballot’s wording might have an effect on the outcome. Conducted October 18-20, the poll found that 55% favored continuing with building the airport in Texcoco.

But when the survey asked the question using the same wording as the ballot, the results were reversed.

The first option, which would cancel Texcoco, was the more popular with 53% in favor.

Another factor that might influence the outcome is the selection of polling stations. They will be concentrated in regions where the soon-to-be ruling Morena party has newly-won strongholds, an analysis of the incoming government’s consultation plan showed.

López Obrador has said that the result will be binding, although legally speaking the incoming government will not be bound by it.

American economist Robert Shiller, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics, said during a visit to Mexico yesterday that before making any decision on the airport’s future, the López Obrador-led government should carefully consider the importance of Mexico being seen as a safe country in which to invest.

“. . . I don’t know whether he is right or not but I hope that his decision isn’t an impetuous one like some of those of [U.S. President] Donald Trump . . . It’s important that the new president encourages investors so that they feel that [Mexico] is a safe environment [in which to invest],” he said.

Source: El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp), Financial Times (en)

24 hours in Mexico City’s Colonia Juárez: its former glory is coming back

By

Lydia Carey

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October 24, 2018

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Attractive architecture is a feature of Mexico City's Colonia Juárez.

It’s impossible not to be charmed by the French architecture and dilapidated decadence of Mexico City’s Colonia Juárez.

Built as an enclave for the wealthy elite in the 19^th century, this rhombus-shaped sliver between Paseo de Reforma and Avenida Chapultepec in the borough of Cuauhtémoc has been loved, reviled and loved again many times over. The 1960s brought a bohemian renaissance to the neighborhood and it has been the center of Mexico City’s young gay scene for years.

But post-1985 earthquake damage and a rent freeze that lasted into the 1990s kept much of the development of the hood at bay and many of its buildings (and streets) abandoned for the last several decades.

Not so these days. Along with Colonias Condesa and Roma the Juárez is being swept along a gentrifying hipster wave that despite the possible downsides for longtime residents has brought badly needed investment into a neighborhood whose former glory is hidden just below a layer of dust.

Around 2013, with the opening of an outpost of the Rosetta bakery, a nascent but powerful culinary movement started to sprout in the crumbling mansions. This was part of the draw for many newer residents moving into the city and training their eyes on the next neighborhood hot spot. What followed were several gourmet restaurants, tiny boutique shops, yoga studios and a handful of speakeasies that were added to the list of cool hangouts.

That’s not to say that the raunchy, clubby ambiance of the Zona Rosa (the part of the neighborhood west of Insurgentes) has gone away, or that the restaurants of Mexico City’s Little Korea have disappeared, or that there are no more street vendors plying you with incredible huaraches and gorditas.

The neighborhood is in that golden in-between moment right now. The Zona Rosa is still a hectic, bustling scene throughout the day, but there is also noticeably more pedestrian traffic to the east of Insurgentes, day and night. Plus, the options for eating, drinking and shopping in Juárez continue to get better every month. If you want to explore the changing face of the colonia, here are our suggestions for 24 hours in Mexico City’s most up-and-coming neighborhood.

The Juárez has lots of mid-range, uninteresting hotels in it, but there are a few exceptions. Stara Hamburgo is a sleek eco-friendly boutique hotel inside a colonial shell and the Hotel Geneve is a real piece of history, complete with a mini-museum in the lobby. Airbnb is also a great option in this area and gives you an opportunity to get behind some of those gorgeous facades.

Prep for your evening by making a reservation at one of the neighborhood’s speakeasies: Hanky Panky, Parker and Lenox or the Backroom. All require pre-warning before you walk in off the street. Parker and Lenox is the most laid back and least exclusive, with live bands that play blues and jazz almost every night of the week. Hanky Panky has an over-the-top 1920s vibe that’s quite lovable (those waiters and their bow ties!) and the Backroom, inside an Italian restaurant, is the most mafia-like.

Once you’re ready it’s time to head out into the city.

The essence to a good day is starting with a great cup of coffee in a charming location. You will find both at Coco’s Lovely Food, a vintage café set inside one of the colonia’s monster mansions. The owner, Abril, is a great source of history of the neighborhood — and the French toast with mascarpone cheese is heaven.

Coco’s is right around the corner from the Chocolate Museum, which is obligatory for a day wandering the Juárez. It not only tells the story of cacao in Mexico but they have a chocolate “library” in the downstairs café with special chocolate varieties from around the country.

For a laugh you can hit up the nearby Museo de Cera (wax museum) and snap some selfies with Pope Francis, Salvador Dali or Luis Miguel.

For a mid-morning pick-me-up we like the hip and tiny Blom coffeehouse, but prefer to take it out and to go to Amapola bakery, which has divine sweets. Lunch in Mexico City is an afternoon affair so at two or three head over to Cicatriz for a kale salad and a peanut butter cookie. If you want something a little more down-home, go to Tortas Don Carlos for a massive Mexican sandwich overflowing with ingredients and cholesterol.

Shopping in the Juárez is pick your pleasure. The Zona Rosa is packed with lingerie and sex shops for the adults-only crowd, but there are also a few less risqué options spread throughout the hood. Casa Fusión is home to around 25 different independent designers and artisans that fill the rooms of the collective’s house on Londres street with shoes, jewelry, clothing and knickknacks. On weekends they have outdoor fairs in the courtyard selling everything from organic soap to homemade doggie beds.

The Utilitario Mexicano is set up like a neon-lit, wide-open hardware store and while most of the items are no-assembly-required (colanders, notebooks, kitchenware and ceramics) you will walk in and instantly want to build something.

Loose Blues has a mash-up of vintage houseware, quirky art, boho chic clothing and old vinyls. They have a surprisingly ample selection of men’s clothing and if you are tired of Mexican fare, a rad Asian fusion restaurant on their upstairs level. On Saturdays, one of the city’s best antique flea markets sets up in the Plaza San Ángel, great for treasure hunting.

After all that shopping consider cooling down for a cone at recently opened Joe Gelato. Owner José Luis Cervantes is whipping up inspired gelato creations like hoja santa with lime or blue corn. Take the time to stroll down Abraham González street and see the massive 1912 tenement house built by Mexican industrialist Ernesto Pugibet and then head to dinner at one of the neighborhood’s casual gourmet restaurants.

Everything you need for a French feast is available at chef Lalo Garcia’s French bistro, Havre 77 – escargot, duck confit and crème brulee. Or check out the ever-shifting menu at Amaya, brainchild of Merotoro chef Jair Tellez.

Try Farmacia Internacional for a quick pre-party coffee or Mexican craft beer, and if you want to continue down the craft beer road, Hop: The Beer Experience has about 20 different kinds on draft, many made right here within the city limits. If you are ready to go straight to the speakeasy glamour, hit up wherever you made your reservation in the morning.

Feeling a little toastier as you stumble out of the speakeasy darkness, it’s time to face the mayhem and sing your ass off at one of the Zona Rosa’s karaoke clubs. The scene is rollicking and wild with young LGBTQ tourists embracing all the city has to offer. For an alternative vibe, you could try the late-night electronica dance party in the basement of the Gente de Mezcal bar or Fifty Mils in the Four Seasons hotel for a nightcap with class.

Early-morning bleary-eyed travelers often find themselves in the neighborhood’s VIPS on Hamburgo street, open 24 hours. This VIPS has a lot of history, including being the prime gay cruising spot in the 1970s and 80s. It’s also the perfect stop for drowning a growing hangover with chilaquiles or pancakes.

If you are still awake at dawn enjoy the sun’s first rays glimmering off Mexico’s City’s golden Ángel de Independencia and take a walk down Reforma avenue to watch the city slowly come alive for another day in Mexico’s capital.

Lydia Carey is a freelance writer based in Mexico City.

Captured cartel boss believed behind Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí violence

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MND Staff

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October 24, 2018

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El Gafe, presumed leader of the Northeast Cartel.

The suspected leader of the Northeast Cartel, one of 15 criminal groups identified as being behind the wave of violence sweeping across Mexico, was arrested yesterday in Nuevo León.

The Tamaulipas Attorney General’s office (PGJE) said in a statement that investigative police executed an arrest warrant against Juan Alfonso N. during an operation conducted with federal agents.

In a separate statement, the federal Attorney General’s office (PGR) said the suspect was apprehended in the municipality of Guadalupe, part of the Monterrey metropolitan area.

The suspected capo, also known as “Gafe” and “Chucho,” is accused of extortion and criminal association.

Police seized the car Juan Alfonso was traveling in and authorities have also opened an investigation into a probable violation of the Federal Firearms Law.

The suspect is believed to be behind a lot of the violent crime in the states of Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí.

The PGJE was offering a reward of 2 million pesos (US $102,000) for information leading to Juan Alfonso’s arrest.

He is the sixth person on the Tamaulipas government’s most-wanted list who has been captured this year.

The PGJE said that Juan Alonso would face a control judge in Tamaulipas who “will define his legal situation.”

The Northeast Cartel he allegedly headed is a splinter cell of the Zetas drug cartel, according to InSight Crime, a foundation dedicated to the study of organized crime in Latin America.

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

Colorful carpets adorn the streets of Tlapa, Guerrero, for annual procession

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César Hernández

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October 24, 2018

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Daily life in the streets of Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero, came to a standstill yesterday but not because of another wave of violence.

It was time for a yearly celebration dedicated to an image of Jesus Christ that mixes pre-Hispanic traditions with modern acts of faith.

Early in the morning on October 23 the main streets of the eastern Guerrero city are closed off to traffic and entire families begin working on what will become colorful and ephemeral sawdust carpets.

Each carpet will vary in design and intricacy, but all are dedicated as an offering to el Señor del Nicho.

Traditions in pre-Hispanic times called for the paths followed by dignitaries and other prominent citizens were to be adorned with intricate carpets made out of flowers and petals.

The custom has remained alive over the centuries. Guadalupe Oliveros Cantú told the newspaper Milenio that “my grandparents said one must throw flowers on the road every time a saint passed by in procession. We now make sawdust carpets because using flowers is a bit more complicated.”

Motifs of daily life and worship are captured in the carpets, such as farming activities on the hilly landscape of Tlapa or the traditional huipiles or tunics — intricate and colorful themselves — worn by local women. It’s all about “happiness, party, religion, faith and thanksgiving,” explained Oliveros.

Preparations for the Señor del Nicho, or Lord of the Niche, festivities start days before with the coloring of the sawdust. On October 23, the streets are swept and cleaned before the basic design is traced with a white chalk. The arduous task of filling in the design with sawdust then follows.

This year some of the designs depicted current events, such as demanding a stop to a wave of femicides and a call for justice in the case of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa.

Later in the day, the colorful carpets line the route of a procession in which a three-meter-tall black crucified Christ figure is carried through the streets of Tlapa.

The people lie on the carpets they worked on all day, awaiting the arrival of the procession and hoping to be blessed.

Not so blessed is the city. Like many others in Guerrero, it suffers from waves of violence produced by feuding criminal gangs.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Paper from sargassum? Quintana Roo student develops a process

By

MND Staff

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October 24, 2018

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Victoria Curiel and her sargassum-paper notebooks.

A 17-year-old high school student from Cozumel, Quintana Roo, has come up with an innovative use for sargassum: she’s making paper out of it.

Victoria Curiel Morfil told the newspaper El Financiero that she came up with the idea to use the smelly brown seaweed as part of a paper-making process while walking her dog and seeing discarded notebooks in the sargassum on the beach.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, Curiel did some online research and realized that she needed to mix cellulose from the nopal or maguey plant with the sargassum in order for it to be turned into paper.

The process she has now perfected involves collecting the seaweed and letting it dry in order to get rid of any microorganisms it is carrying.

The sargassum is then hydrated again using a water solution containing salt and other additives which eliminate its offensive smell.

The next step is to turn the seaweed into a paste into which recycled paper from the discarded notebooks is mixed.

Finally, Curiel turns the mixture into paper, which she uses to create new notebooks featuring her own designs. She is now selling them at local artisans’ markets for between 10 and 80 pesos.

“Here on the island I live with my mom but my mom has a back injury that prevents her from working so I had been very worried about our economic situation and my future university studies,” she said.

“I want to keep growing [my business] and helping the planet and why not create my own notebook and paper production company worldwide,” she added.

Curiel is now planning on using another unlikely material to produce paper: cigarette butts.

Sargassum has washed up on the coast of Quintana Roo en masse this year, leading a state businessman to develop an innovative project using the seaweed.

By mixing it with adobe, Omar Vázquez Sánchez discovered that sargassum can be used to build earthquake and hurricane-resistant homes.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Banxico issues red alert after cyberattack against AXA insurance

By

MND Staff

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October 24, 2018

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AXA insurance was a cyberattack target yesterday.

The Bank of México (Banxico) raised the security alert level in its payment system to red yesterday after multinational insurance company AXA reported a cyberattack.

The central bank said in a statement issued at 10:00pm that all security protocols had been activated to minimize potential risks.

In light of the “inconsistencies” reported by AXA, Banxico said that as a precautionary measure some non-banking users of its electronic interbank payment system, known as the SPEI, “will operate through an alternative mechanism.”

AXA said in a separate statement last night that it had detected a cyberattack on its connection to the SPEI but declared that no funds were lost and no client data was compromised.

“From the first moment we detected this incident with the SPEI, we notified the Bank of México and implemented different actions to further strengthen and guarantee our security processes,” the company said.

It added that its personnel are working with authorities to quickly solve the issue.

Mario Di Costanzo, head of the financial consumer protection agency Condusef, said that no other organizations have reported being targeted, adding that the payment systems of entities transferred to the alternative payment system are being monitored.

Banxico governor Alejandro Díaz de León said in May that a cyberattack in April that tapped into payment system connections cost five financial institutions 300 million pesos (US $15.3 million).

The “unauthorized transfers originated in the system that connects the institutions to the [Banxico] payment system” rather than in the SPEI itself, the former head of the Bank of México’s payment system explained.

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