More than 15,000 celebrate 87th anniversary of Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza

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July 23, 2019

Actress Yalitza Aparicio, center, with Guelaguetza dancers in Oaxaca.

The 87^th edition of the Guelaguetza kicked off yesterday in Oaxaca city, where the annual celebration of the indigenous traditions of Oaxaca’s eight regions drew a record-breaking 15,000 visitors.

Yalitza Aparicio, the star of Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and the face of this year’s Guelaguetza, was in attendance, accompanied by Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat and federal Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco Marqués.

The delegation of Chinas Oaxaqueñas from the state’s Central Valleys region launched the festivities with a lively jarabe, balancing baskets of flowers on their heads as they whirled around the auditorium with giant paper-mâché figures, huge paper lanterns and decorative symbols.

They were followed by representatives from Chicapa de Castro in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, who delighted the audience with The Kidnapping and the Carrying of the Trunk, a representation of a traditional wedding in the region.

Delegations from Chalcatongo de Hidalgo, Sola de Vega, Huautla de Jiménez and Tlaxiaco also presented traditional dances from each of their regions, culminating in an emotional performance of Canción mixteca, a famous song by Oaxacan composer José López Alavez that evokes the loneliness and longing he felt while living far from his home state.

guelaguetza dancers — Dancers on stage yesterday at Latin America’s biggest ethnic festival.

The audience gave loud approval for the myriad colors and intricate choreography displayed in other spectacles, from the dancers of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec with their sones mixes, to a feather dance by representatives from Zaachila, and even The Taking of the Turkey by the delegation from Ocotlán de Morelos, among many others.

The celebration reached a climax when, during the presentation of the delegation from Putla Villa de Guerrero, the dancers invited the representatives from the other 22 delegations to join in the fun. Even Governor Murat could not contain himself from moving to the happy rhythms of the Mixtecan sones and chilenas.

The event closed with a fireworks display, kindling the celebration’s festive spirit in one of the largest crowds of spectators the Guelaguetza has ever seen.

A variety of other festivities will follow throughout the week until next Monday when the dancers will once again meet at the auditorium to continue with the second show, another vibrant spectacle of colors, dance and age-old traditions.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Mexico City corrects records after thousands of crimes went unreported

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MND Staff

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July 23, 2019

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Edmundo Garrido, former attorney general of Mexico City.

The Mexico City government has found that thousands of offenses committed in 2018 went unreported in official numbers.

The inclusion of the previously unreported crimes reveals that since the new government took office, the security situation in the capital has not deteriorated as much as was previously thought, and the incidence of some high-impact crimes has actually gone down.

Attorney General Ernestina Godoy accused the former Mexico City government in February of manipulating crime statistics “for political reasons.”

She claimed that the administration led by current Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera between 2012 and 2018 intended to show an apparent reduction in the incidence of crimes such as intentional homicides, kidnappings, vehicle theft and aggravated robbery.

The new government carried out a review of the 2018 data reported to the National Public Security System (SNSP) and requested that the records be corrected using the new statistics it supplied.

The SNSP said in a statement on Saturday that the “omissions and inconsistencies” detected by the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (PGJ) in crime records for the period from January to December 2018 have now been “rectified.”

An analysis of the updated statistics by the newspaper El Financiero revealed that the SNSP made more than 14,000 modifications to data for the first half of last year.

The result is that the upward trends for crimes such as kidnapping, robbery and homicide during the first five months of this year have taken a sharp downward turn.

SNSP data had showed that kidnappings increased 209% between January and May compared to the same period last year.

However, with the addition of 107 abductions that were not reported, data now shows that the crime actually decreased by 54% during the first five months.

With regard to robbery, the government informed the SNSP about 13,826 crimes that its predecessor failed to report.

The new data shows that street robberies declined 10% and did not increase by 127% as reported.

Robberies on public transit rose 28% rather than 185% and vehicle theft increased 11%, not 45%.

Homicides were reported to have risen 39% for the five-month period to the end of May but with the addition of unreported murders, the increase fell 14 points to 25%.

El Financiero reported that the modifications to crime statistics didn’t have an impact on trends for crimes such as home robberies, domestic violence, looting and drug dealing, whose incidence has increased on Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum’s watch.

The city attorney general has filed a criminal complaint with the federal Attorney General’s Office against those responsible for the manipulation of crime statistics during the previous city government.

“. . . For some crimes, there was a simulation or manipulation of up to 75%,” Mexico City Security Secretary Jesús Orta told a press conference yesterday.

“[A complaint] was filed with the federal Attorney General’s Office because it’s a federal crime . . .”

City officials said today that they are investigating former attorney general Edmundo Garrido Osorio and 106 others in connection with the altered statistics.

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

Gunmen shoot and kill Zihuatanejo hotelier, Red Cross director

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Madison Koen

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July 23, 2019

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The president of the Zihuatanejo Hoteliers’ Association was shot and killed Monday night in an attack by two people on a motorcycle.

Luciano Pineda Quiroz, 42, was the owner of the Hotel Real Monrey and served on the board of directors of the local Red Cross.

According to authorities, the shooting occurred around 9:00pm as Pineda Quiroz and his wife were traveling in a vehicle through downtown Zihuatanejo when armed men aboard a motorcycle pulled up next to them and opened fire.

Pineda was already dead when paramedics arrived but his wife was wounded. She was rushed to a hospital where she was last reported in critical condition.

Zihuatanejo, located in Guerrero’s Costa Grande region, is a popular destination for national and international tourists but has been seen a dramatic surge in violent crime since 2017.

In February, the Red Cross temporarily suspended its activities in the city after its local manager was killed. Authorities discovered a handwritten message at the scene of the crime threatening the same fate for Zihuatanejo’s remaining Red Cross workers, prompting many of its volunteers to flee.

Although the mayor said in April that security had improved, statistics show the municipality was 16th on the list of Mexico’s most violent municipalities in the first six months of the year with a homicide rate of 84 per 100,000 people.

Source: El Sol de Acapulco (sp)

AMLO clings to his 2% growth forecast as monetary fund predicts 0.9%

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MND Staff

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July 23, 2019

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López Obrador and IMF head Christine Lagarde were chummy in May.

President López Obrador reiterated today that he expects the Mexican economy to grow by 2% this year even as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth forecast to 0.9% from 1.6%.

Speaking at his morning press conference, López Obrador said that his outlook for 2019 GDP growth was unchanged and that he didn’t trust organizations such as the IMF.

“Yes, I’m still the same. Look, I don’t have a lot of confidence in those organizations, with all respect. Those organizations were the ones that imposed the neoliberal economic policy that caused a lot of disasters in Mexico,” he said, arguing that they owed the country an apology.

The president charged that policies supported by the IMF and other international financial organizations, such as the previous government’s structural reforms, triggered an increase in insecurity and violence.

“So, how can they give an opinion? What moral authority do they have?” López Obrador asked.

“We’re not going to give up [membership of] these organizations. We’re part of the global financial system but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know what their policies have meant.”

The president was also critical of the use of GDP growth as a sole yardstick for development, stating that his government will also focus on improving salaries, the distribution of wealth and access to health and education services.

In its World Economic Outlook report published today, the IMF said that investment in the Mexican economy remains weak and private consumption has slowed.

The situation reflects “policy uncertainty, weakening confidence and rising borrowing costs, which could climb further following the recent sovereign rating downgrade,” the IMF said.

The prediction of 0.9% growth is less than half the 2.1% economic expansion the IMF forecast in January and a 0.7% cut on its April outlook. The IMF maintained its growth outlook for Mexico in 2020 at 1.9%

If the organization’s forecast for this year proves correct, growth will be the weakest in nine years.

The IMF also cut its forecast for global growth for this year and next, citing United States-China tariffs and the possibility of a disorderly exit for the United Kingdom from the European Union, among other factors.

It predicts 3.2% global growth this year and 3.5% in 2020, a 0.1% cut for both years compared to the April outlook.

The IMF raised its 2019 outlook for the economy of the United States, Mexico’s largest trading partner, to 2.6% from 2.3% in April but maintained a 1.9% growth forecast for 2020.

It cut growth expectations for Latin America from 1.4% in April to just 0.6% but predicted growth would recover to 2.3% in 2020.

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

Pemex union boss, family members investigated for corruption

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Simon Schatzberg

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July 23, 2019

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A Mexican union leader whose name has been synonymous with corruption for years but has never been charged is now facing prosecution.

The Treasury Secretariat’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has presented at least two criminal complaints against the head of the Pemex workers’ union, Carlos Romero Deschamps, and members of his family for money laundering and illegal enrichment.

Authorities say the UIF detected transactions with checks and wire transfers between members of Romero’s family that could not be justified.

The reports have led the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) to open a criminal investigation into Romero, his wife Blanca Rosa Durán, children Paulina, Alejandro and Juan Carlos Romero Durán and daughter-in-law María Fernanda Ocejo.

Suspicions of corruption have been fueled over the years by opulent displays of wealth. Earlier this year, a group of dissident members of the Pemex union accused Romero of illegally selling off union property for personal gain.

In 2017, his daughter Paulina was observed wearing seven Cartier bracelets valued at 1.9 million pesos (US $100,000) at her wedding, while his son Juan Carlos has been seen driving a US $2-million Enzo Ferrari.

Romero’s union is currently negotiating its 2019-2021 contract, and changes are in the air.

President López Obrador said today that in the past the state oil company has given money directly to union leaders but the practice will be discontinued.

“The collective contract for Pemex is being revised with the union, and the orders I’ve given to the CEO of Pemex is that everything be made legal, that there be no privileges for union leaders, and that everything be done with austerity and justice,” he said.

“There are contracts that need to be respected, everything that the workers are required to receive by law, but there are not going to be any more illegal contracts under the table.”

According to the newspaper Reforma, five months before President Enrique Peña Nieto left office Romero negotiated a new “support” payment of 353 million pesos (US $18.5 million) a year.

Source: Reforma (sp), Forbes (en)

In the Bajío, authorities focus on Jalisco cartel: 533 bank accounts frozen

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MND Staff

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July 22, 2019

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Federal authorities have frozen 533 bank accounts linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Mexico’s most powerful criminal organization and the principal instigator of violence in the Bajío region.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) told the newspaper Milenio that there is no criminal organization with more accounts blocked than the CJNG.

Of the 533 frozen accounts, 125 with large balances contain a total of 109 million pesos (US $5.7 million), the UIF said.

Both federal and Guanajuato authorities have increased their focus on the CJNG as a result of the weakening of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, a fuel theft gang.

At least 10 high-ranking members of the former criminal group have recently been arrested in the Bajío region or killed in confrontations with authorities, Milenio said.

But the cartel’s suspected leader and Mexico’s most wanted criminal, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, Cervantes remains at large.

The CJNG is engaged in a turf war with the Santa Rosa cartel in Guanajuato but after a sustained attack by authorities on the latter, the Jalisco cartel’s criminal structure in the state is much stronger than that of its rival.

Like Oseguera, Santa Rosa cartel leader José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez is still on the run but he has no resources to fund his criminal activities, according to federal and Guanajuato authorities.

More than 60 people involved with the cartel have been arrested since authorities began an operation against it in March and several key members of the gang have deserted, leaving Yépez isolated and vulnerable.

Some Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel members have abandoned the fuel theft racket and now collect extortion payments in San Miguel de Allende, according to local business owners.

Despite authorities’ attacks on the finances and manpower of criminal groups operating in Guanajuato, and a significant reduction in fuel theft there, the state remains plagued by violence.

Authorities opened 1,383 homicide cases in Guanajuato in the first six months of 2019, more than any other state.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Mexico City exchange market a win-win for consumers, environment

By

Jeremy Shepherd

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July 22, 2019

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A market stall sells fresh Mexico City produce in exchange for recycled goods.

On the second Sunday of every month, Mexico City residents can barter their recyclables for fresh produce grown by local farmers.

The Mercado de Trueque (exchange or barter market) began in 2012, and its location rotates around the city. The most recent took place on July 14 in Macroplaza Iztapalapa, and the next will be held on August 11 in Bosque de Chapultepec.

The recycle-for-fresh-produce market concept is uncommon, but not unique to Mexico City. The Brazilian city of Jundiaí has had a similar program for 15 years.

Upon entering the market, visitors go first to the sorting area where government employees help sort and weigh materials they have brought. Recyclers receive a printed ticket with points that can be exchanged for puntos verdes (green points) to spend in the market.

Recyclable materials include aluminum, glass bottles, metal cans, paper, cardboard and electronics. For plastics, PET (#1), HDPE (#2) and Tetra Paks are accepted. Many other plastics cannot be recycled. Consumers should look for the numbers 1 or 2 on their plastic containers. Any other numbers are not recyclable. Materials like PET that are easier to recycle are worth more points in the market.

A prospective buyer looks at plants for sale.

Each person may bring up to 10 kilograms of recyclable material, and the minimum is one kilogram. Containers such as glass bottles and cans must be rinsed.

Thus far this year, over 5,000 kilos of recyclables have been collected.

Waste vegetable oil is also collected by Biodiesel Biofuels de Mexico at every market. Mexico does not create its own biodiesel, but rather collects waste vegetable oil to send to Europe to be processed for use in automobiles and machinery.

The produce in Mercado de Trueque is all locally grown, coming from the boroughs of Xochimilco, Tláhuac, Milpa Alta, Tlalpan and Magdalena Contreras. These boroughs in the south of the city still have agricultural communities.

It can be difficult for these farmers to subsist on the prices offered on the open market. Sedema buys their produce at a fair price, then exchanges it at the mercado.

Depending on the season, one can buy vegetables such as spinach, tomatoes, radishes, verdolagas (purslane), quelites (wild greens), chard, squash, pumpkin flowers, mushrooms, cactus, parsley, cilantro, lettuce and corn. There are also moles, cheeses, traditional candies and house plants.

Said a volunteer, “I volunteer here because it encourages recycling, and it gives people healthy food. It’s all food from here in the city. That’s why we don’t have much fruit, because they grow fruit in the states and more vegetables here.”

She was working in one of the puestos (kiosks), offering red and green tomatoes for 30 green points per kilo.

She hopes more people will take advantage of the market to recycle their household residuals safely and to support local farming.

“It’s a really cool initiative. It was started in the last presidential term, but it continued after the change of government. We don’t always see that.”

Clearly, Mercado de Trueque offers Mexico City residents and area farmers a win-win.

The writer lives and works in Mexico City.

El Chapo’s lawyer appeals ex-drug lord’s prison sentence

By

MND Staff

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July 22, 2019

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A lawyer for convicted drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán filed an appeal against his client’s life sentence the day after it was handed down, court documents published today show.

Federal Judge Brian Cogan sentenced the 62-year-old former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel last Wednesday to a term of life plus 30 years.

Guzmán has already been transferred to the “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, the United States’ most secure penitentiary. He was convicted on trafficking charges in February.

Guzmán’s new lawyer, Marc Fernich, filed an appeal on Thursday.

Fernich told the news agency AFP via email that “Guzmán has strong issues for appeal,” adding “we’ll fight to overturn his conviction and are confident we’ll prevail.”

A decision by an appeals judge could take up to a year, AFP said.

Another lawyer for Guzmán said last week that up to five jurors violated the judge’s orders by following the case in the media during the trial.

“All we had asked for is a fair trial. I’m not here to tell you that Joaquín Guzmán is a saint . . . Whatever you think of Joaquín Guzmán, he still deserves a fair trial, everybody does in America . . .” Jeffrey Lichtman said.

Guzmán himself also claimed that there was “no justice” in his case and described his incarceration in the United States as “psychological, emotional, mental torture 24 hours a day.”

President López Obrador said Thursday that his government will seek to seize the former drug lord’s assets, while Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said today that a binational working group needs to be created to determine the extent of Guzmán’s wealth in Mexico and the United States.

“There is information about assets in the financial system or in other areas that the United States will have to share with Mexico and we’ll also have to share information with respect [to Guzmán’s wealth] in Mexico,” Ebrard said.

The foreign secretary said he discussed the creation of a binational group with United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday, and that he was receptive to the idea.

“. . . I have to wait for the official response [but] I wouldn’t expect a negative one,” Ebrard said.

Handing down his sentence last week, Cogan also ordered Guzmán to forfeit US $12.6 billion, an amount that represents the total amount of illegal drugs the jury determined he smuggled into the United States.

Some U.S. politicians have suggested that the money should be used to fund President Donald Trump’s border wall.

Source: Milenio (sp), Reforma (sp), AFP (en)

San Andrés Cholula to promote its artisanal products, welcome new hotels

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Madison Koen

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July 22, 2019

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Three new boutique hotels will be built in San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, an announcement that ties in with the government’s intention to seek a special designation for its local artisans and their products to attract more tourism.

Investment in the hotels, whose construction will begin this year, will total some 20 million pesos (US $1 million).

Economic and Social Development Secretary Hernán Felipe Reyes Hernández said the municipality’s designation as a Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town) has brought considerable economic benefit to San Andrés and that the local government believes the town to have additional potential as a tourist destination because of its proximity to the Cholula pyramid.

Tourism recently surpassed agriculture and commerce as the municipality’s principal economic generator. To take advantage of an expected increase in tourism, some residents have sold land to hotel investors, while others have renovated rooms in their homes to accommodate backpackers.

Reyes said current infrastructure is not enough to receive the number of visitors anticipated by the government in the future, so an investment in new hotels is crucial.

A zoning law prohibits construction higher than three stories to preserve the town’s colonial charm, so hostels and boutique hotels dominate the town’s lodging options. Reyes said that each of the three new hotels will have between 15 and 20 rooms.

Meanwhile, the local government is seeking a special designation for the town’s artisanal products and the processes that go into making them to distinguish them from cheaper goods brought in from elsewhere and then passed off as local.

“With this designation, we hope to promote locally-produced goods and in the not-so-distant future create an artisanal market and then promote our artisanal products at local and international fairs.”

Source: El Economista (sp)

Hidalgo reservoir contamination called ‘environmental emergency’

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Simon Schatzberg

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July 22, 2019

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Wastewater from the Mexico City metropolitan area and local industry have led to high levels of pollution in the Endhó reservoir in the state of Hidalgo, amounting to an “environmental emergency” for the inhabitants of nearby communities.

The Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) said it will ask President López Obrador to declare the reservoir an ecological restoration area.

According to a Semarnat report, communities in the municipalities of Tula and Tepetitlán are at risk because they rely on the reservoir for potable water.

It receives wastewater from Mexico City’s central drainage system as well as from nearby industry, including the Atitalaquia Industrial Park.

“We are facing an emergency situation: of the 11 potable water wells, three have higher than recommended levels of barium and phenols, eight exceed lead levels and four exceed those for arsenic,” the Semarnat report says.

A study by the National Water Commission also found that the reservoir has above-regulation levels of arsenic, mercury and magnesium. Fecal coliform levels are 24 times higher than the recommended limit.

Federal Environment Secretary Víctor Toledo blamed the problem on the “neoliberal model,” which he promised to end when he took office.

“The Tula region faces problems related to the presence of several industries related to the Pemex refinery, but also to four cement plants and three lime plants,” he said. “The reservoir receives wastewater from Mexico City, and it’s in a deplorable situation. There are 175,000 people who live in the region, of whom 5,000 are indigenous.”

Semarnat has not decided how much money will be spent on the restoration program, nor what criteria would be used to determine that the reservoir has been restored, because the design of the program is just starting. Toledo added that Semarnat will convene a meeting of everyone responsible for the environmental damage to determine a plan of action.

Source: Reforma (sp)