Anger, panic, uncertainty after over a week without gas in Michoacán

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January 8, 2019

The gas shortage in Michoacán, which has affected all 320 gas stations in the state, has had a severe impact on public transportation, the economy and tourism, say government officials, one of whom warned yesterday that the situation could become violent.

Monday marked the end of more than a week in which gasoline was in short supply, during which time the state oil company has not given any explanation for the shortage or an estimate as to when the supply will be reestablished, the newspaper El Universal reported today.

José Trinidad Martínez Pasalagua, president of the Transportation Regulation Commission, indicated that 40% of the 6,000 public transportation vehicles in Morelia, the state capital, have had to cease operations and warned that if the shortage continues the transportation system would collapse by the end of the week.

The situation could lead to social unrest, Martínez said.

Economic Development Secretary Jesús Melgoza Velázquez said the cost could run into millions of pesos, especially in lost perishable goods. He added that tourism had also been hit hard.

The situation has generated anger, panic and uncertainty among businesses, public sector workers and motorists. The latter have faced long lineups at gas stations, where they have had to wait for hours.

The shortage began to be felt December 21 and worsened a week later when nine out of 10 gas stations had no fuel, which was still the case yesterday.

“We call upon the public to avoid panic buying and to stay informed about gas stations that are operating until service is reestablished,” Governor Silvano Aureoles Conejo wrote on Twitter.

Security Secretary Juan Bernardo Corona Martínez noted that his department has not yet been affected but said, “We hope that this does not become a theme, because in that case the (security) actions we carry out daily will be severely limited.”

In light of the shortage, the state government has appealed to Pemex to restore service as soon as possible to avoid prolonging negative effects to the citizenry and commerce.

Source: El Universal (sp), La Voz de Michoacán (sp)

México state completes restoration work on 32 cultural centers

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Tony Richards

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January 8, 2019

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The state of México has announced the completion of construction and restoration work on 32 cultural facilities.

Almost 174 million pesos (US $9 million) was invested in the project, which began with work on three museums located in Toluca — Bellas Artes, the Acuarela and the Numismática.

The three facilities required 12.5 million pesos in restoration work, the government said in a statement.

Work carried out on the 32 facilities included replacing floors and wooden doors, sheetrock walls, wiring, lighting, information panels in the exhibits, painting frames and walls and waterproofing furniture.

By next year the state Secretary of Public Works plans to complete work on the Conservatory of Music, the Cineteca Mexiquense, a reading room in the México State Cultural Center and a service area in the Historical Archives.

The government also plans to renovate the Cosmovitral Botanical Garden, four libraries, 16 museums and seven cultural centers.

Improvements to cultural spaces in the Toluca valley are intended to broaden cultural opportunities so that families in the state have access to spaces that encourage social harmony and promote creativity, the government said.

Source: Notimex (sp)

Turning off Mexico City’s water in November wasn’t necessary: new Conagua chief

By

MND Staff

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January 8, 2019

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The 'inverted K' during its installation in November.

The suspension of water service in Mexico City to carry out maintenance work in November wasn’t necessary, according to the new chief of the National Water Commission (Conagua).

Blanca Jiménez Cisneros told a press conference yesterday that placing a massive piece of pipe known as an “inverted K” into the Cutzamala system could have been done without cutting off the water to 13 boroughs in the capital and several México state municipalities in the greater metropolitan area.

The disruption lasted 156 hours – 84 more than scheduled – and millions of affected residents had to wait up to three more days until running water arrived in their homes.

“It was nothing more than [a matter of] considering [the use of] the valve system. The change could have been made without cutting off Mexico City’s water,” Jiménez said.

“It’s an issue that I had the opportunity to look at with a group of . . . engineers who were planning and designing and they said: ‘Look, [it could have been done] like this.’ That’s why it’s important to have technical people. We still have other work to do, we still have to increase the pumping capacity but there is a way to do it without affecting [water] service,” she added.

During its installation, the inverted K shifted out of position by four centimeters, a mishap that delayed the completion of the maintenance work.

The Conagua chief said that one of two companies contracted to put the piece in place, Canadian-Mexican firm Consultoría de Ingeniería para Soluciones Integradas (CISI), was fined 5 million pesos (US $258,000) by the previous government, which initiated an investigation into the bungled installation.

Eduardo Seldner Ávila, a Conagua deputy director, explained how the amount of the fine was determined.

“The 5 million pesos is basically related to the cost of the installation of the piece . . . The piece cost a little more than 20 million pesos, the cost of installation, which is what failed, was 5 million. That’s what the economic sanction on the company was based on,” he said.

CISI, a Mexico City-based firm founded in 2010, was awarded 15 government contracts during the administrations of past presidents Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto, which collectively were worth just under 618 million pesos (US $31.9 million at today’s exchange rate).

Seven contracts were for work on the Cutzamala system, one of the largest water supply systems in the world, including the 500-million-peso (US $25.8 million) project to install the inverted K, which CISI worked on with the México state company Consultoría en Obras Estructurales de Tubería.

However, the president of CISI said in a radio interview yesterday that Conagua has not paid for the work.

“Until now, we haven’t been paid a single peso for the inverted K project,” Mario Hasbum said, adding that he was confident that the new government would act transparently to resolve the situation.

“The manufacture and installation of the piece corresponded to me . . . I complied with my part . . .” he declared.

Jiménez, who became the chief of Conagua last month, said that investigations into the inverted K project as well as other Conagua contracts awarded by the previous administration are ongoing.

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

Hotels bet big on tourism: majors plan 352 new properties in next 3 years

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MND Staff

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January 7, 2019

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Paradisus Playa Mujeres is one of the luxury hotels scheduled to open this year. — Paradisus Playa Mujeres is one of the new luxury hotels.

The principal hotel chains that operate in Mexico are planning to open 352 new properties between this year and 2022, according to an analysis by the real estate firm CBRE.

City Express Hotels, which mainly targets business travelers, will lead the way by opening 80 new properties over the next three years.

“We see a challenging economic outlook but we’re maintaining the positive idea of continuing to position ourselves in the center of cities . . .” the company’s director of innovation, José Luis Carrete, told the newspaper El Financiero.

AMResorts plans to open 66 new hotels in the same period while Grupo Posadas will open 48 with a 30-billion-peso (US $1.5-billion) investment.

Marriot, the NH Group, Hoteles Misión and the Intercontinental Hotels Groups have, in that order, the next most ambitious plans. The four chains will collectively open around 150 new hotels over the next three years.

The CBRE study was based on information publicly disclosed by the hotel chains but some analysts believe that plans could change due to the cancellation of the new Mexico City International Airport and the elimination of the Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM).

Nevertheless, the Mexican Hotel and Motel Association (AMHM) is forecasting that the number of luxury hotels in Mexico will increase by 5% in 2019, three points above the figure recorded in the past three years.

At least half of the new luxury hotels that open in Mexico this year will be time-share properties or vacation clubs, according to Juan Ignacio Rodríguez, the executive director in Latin America of timeshare vacation exchange network RCI.

Among the hotels that will open in 2019 are Paradisus Playa Mujeres and Now Natura Riviera Cancún in Quintana Roo, Nobu Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel, both in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, and Conrad Playa Mita in Nayarit.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

17-billion-peso diversion investigated at cancelled airport project

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MND Staff

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January 7, 2019

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Trucks deliver tezontle to the site of the airport.

Federal authorities are investigating the suspected diversion of 17.7 billion pesos (US $914 million) in funding allocated for construction of the cancelled Mexico City airport project.

Documents seen by the newspaper El Universal allege that the project’s former infrastructure director, Raúl González Apaolaza, and Carlos Noriega, the former chief of the Mexico City Airport Group (GACM) – the state-owned firm responsible for the project – were involved in the diversion of funds.

The conclusions of an investigation conducted late last year by the Federal Police have been submitted to the Internal Control Organ (OIC) of the GACM, the Secretariat of Public Administration (SFP) and the federal Attorney General’s office (PGR) for review and further investigation.

A Federal Police report says that materials including tezontle and basalt, two volcanic rocks widely used in construction in Mexico, were bought from companies and trade unions allegedly controlled by González although they didn’t have formal contracts with the GACM.

In total, the companies and trade unions received an estimated 17.7 billion pesos for supplying and transporting the materials to the airport site in Texcoco, México state.

However, the transportation costs paid were excessive, the investigation found, and trains, which could have delivered the construction materials for less and more quickly, were “deliberately not contracted.”

The report said there was “a concerted action between officials and trade unions that could be classified as organized crime which had the aim of creating a transportation monopoly of the materials at prices that they established and only through the use of their trucks.”

It also said that González had failed to disclose a conflict of interest by not declaring that he was a member of the Transport Workers Union and the SITRAM construction workers union, which controlled the sales and transport of construction materials for the US $13-billion airport.

The former infrastructure chief denies any wrongdoing and said that he has never been a member of the latter union.

The Federal Police said that the personal finances of González and Noriega must be subjected to audit, questioning the latter’s purchase of a property worth almost 5 million pesos (US $260,000) and the rental of two Mexico City offices for 500,000 pesos a month.

President López Obrador cancelled the airport project after a four-day public consultation in October. He has long said that the project is corrupt, too expensive, not needed and being built on land that was sinking.

Federal Communications and Transportation Secretary Javier Jiménez Espriú announced last week that construction work had officially concluded on the airport although GACM chief Gerardo Ferrando conceded that some minor work had not yet stopped.

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

Circumstances in Chapala are such that large developments should be paused

By

Bill Dahl

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January 7, 2019

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Ajijic and Lake Chapala. Neldahinojosa Wikimedia Commons

The Lakeside area has become a dreamscape for developers. Local governments tend to lack long-term vision to implement wise policies and strategies to manage inevitable urban sprawl, often bending the rules to cater to investors on the premise that economic benefits outweigh the downsides of unchecked growth.

So states a report by The Guadalajara Reporter, which has delivered some excellent reporting on the prospective, mind-bending scale of development planned for the Lake Chapala area.

A current resident of Ajijic says:

“AMLO [President Andres Manuel López Obrador] wants to turn this area into a tourist mecca but it is going to require massive investments in infrastructure. I live in Riberas and the power goes out for days on end. There is no sewage treatment plant here despite Riberas being the largest community in Lake Chapala. The water quality is questionable and the internet service is pathetic.

“From cleaning up the lake to improving the infrastructure it’s going to take a lot of money that the government doesn’t have. The municipal Lake Chapala government is broke. The electrical grid is a disaster. The north shore is beyond congested. The carretera is a disaster and there’s no way it can handle the existing traffic, let alone an increase in population.”

According to the Lake Chapala Reporter, the pensions institute of Jalisco (IPEJAL) intends to invest 390 million pesos (US $20 million) as a member of a group of investors who intend to build a city of 17,000 residents (more than the current population of Ajijic). It is to be located in the area of Santa Cruz de la Soledad and San Nicolás de Ibarra (which are under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Chapala).

A development company named Santa Cruz Immobiliaria de Chapala SA de CV has obtained title to 275 hectares (680 acres) out of the required 450 hectares (1,112 acres). The plan is to construct 3,066 single-family homes, 812 duplexes and 396 assisted living units. The plans also include a hotel, shopping center, medical clinics, a golf course and more.

Research by investigative journalist Manuel Jacobo revealed “the acquisition of land goes back to 2009, accomplished through political manipulation and intimidation of the ejido communal landowners in Santa Cruz.” These tactics were purportedly facilitated by former local government officials in Chapala, and a number of state agencies.

There is another residential housing development planned for the area above Las Brisas, across from the existing Chapala Haciendas development.

This development proposal, estimated at 30 hectares, has led to the formation of an opposition group based in Ajijic called Chimalli Axixic. This group is “comprised of Lakeside Mexicans and members of the expat community. It is our call “to shield” the hillside above Ajijic from further development,” according to a report by Inside Lakeside.

They are raising funds to retain legal counsel to fight the proposed development above Ajijic: “Chimalli Axixic is a non-profit, non-partisan social organization that promotes the care of the environment in the town of Ajijic and other towns along the Lake Chapala shore; It also aims to raise awareness among society and government entities at all levels to prioritize the promotion and care of natural areas.”

Local realtors have been reported to be attempting to sell some parcels. Needless to say, the current ecosystem will be indelibly transformed should the planned development emerge into a reality.

Incompetence, mismanagement and corruption inhabit the machinery of governance in Chapala. In January 2019, raw sewage is leaking on to the streets of San Antonio Tlayacapan, moving toward Lake Chapala. In December 2018, the Chapala municipal planning and urban development department identified 100 construction projects that have licenses without the requisite land use and technical permits.

In the same month, it was revealed that the land use designation was changed in March 2018 for the Tepalo Hills above Ajijic — from protected to residential. December 2018 continued to rain bad news for Chapala when the municipality faced seizure of its assets by virtue of an unpaid 4-million-peso debt to an auto parts supplier.

The contractor for garbage collection has removed two trucks from service as part of an effort to exert pressure on Chapala to pay up on a past due debt of 6 million pesos. The deluge continued for Chapala with the revelation that the comptroller’s office notified 28 people from the previous administration of “irregularities.”

In Chapala’s public works department these maladies total in excess of 5 million pesos in missing funds without verifiable receipts for expenditures on projects. This figure did not include the value of seven vehicles missing during the transition between administrations – including several garbage trucks.

October and November 2018 weren’t any prettier for the municipality. A report by the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education noted that Lake Chapala’s water contains high levels of fecal coliforms and levels of arsenic at levels above World Health Organization safety standards.

The Latin American Water Tribunal held a hearing regarding Lake Chapala and rendered a stunning, negative verdict. Later in October, lack of a water treatment facility in Riberas del Pilar (and heavy rains) led to septic tank overflows contaminating groundwater for residents and animals. In November, it was reported that the municipality of Chapala had not paid for wastewater treatment in three years and owes the state water commission (CEA) 6 million pesos. It is also seeking a loan of 14 million pesos to pay the back wages of municipal workers.

Around Thanksgiving 2018, overflows of dirty water in Ajijic and Chapala became apparent. Due to the pressure exerted by the high lake water levels, the drainage systems in both cities suffered damage. The drainage system in Chapala must be completely replaced.

With the clearly established inability to manage the current permitting processes for development and construction and municipal governance in a remotely effective manner, the future for this area appears tangibly and legitimately perilous and perplexing.

The current infrastructure of the existing area requires replacement and monumental investments. This includes water supply, water quality, water distribution and wastewater treatment, storm run-off systems, digital connectivity enhancements, the power grid and garbage collection and disposal – and we haven’t even got to traffic and roads yet.

Oh, I’m sorry; did I fail to mention the urgent need to intervene comprehensively to clean up the scientifically established, public health and environmental hazards that currently inhabit the Lake Chapala basin? (The Lerma and Santiago rivers are duly noted).

Current residents of Ajijic have reverted to admonishing prospective residents to “move on,” as the existing area cannot accommodate ongoing growth. We need to hear these voices and seriously consider the meaning they are attempting to convey. These voices recognize “what was isn’t anymore.” Growth groans. You can see it, hear it and smell it everywhere around Lakeside.

One observer concludes in a report by The Guadalajara Reporter: “Considering the impact on the area’s flora, fauna and natural resources, not to mention quality of life for people, it all paints a grim picture for the future of an area once prized for its quiet, rural setting.”

When building a subdivision, region, country or home, a fundamental consideration is a stable foundation, and the infrastructure it stands on. Before you build on to an existing structure, it’s best to examine the structural integrity of what you are attaching your planned expansion to.

In the rush for the wealthy to deploy capital and build expansive new developments for outsiders to enjoy, the challenge at present in the Lakeside/Chapala area is to hit the pause button. The existing infrastructure needs replacement, substantive upgrades, and a likely nine-figure Mexican federal government investment – overseen by a newly designated federal authority where the responsibility and accountability for producing the desired results resides.

The “way it was” is now a memory for the current residents of Lakeside. There’s no going back. Yet, the way ahead must be tangibly influenced by those whose voices speak for the voiceless; flora, fauna, natural resource preservation and restoration, and the victims of manipulation and corruption.

Bill Dahl is a United States-based investigative journalist who recently completed four weeks in the Guadalajara/Chapala region of central Mexico examining the current challenges in the area.

Mexico City’s new security strategy: 3 to 4-minute response times

By

Tony Richards

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January 7, 2019

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Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and police chief Jesús Orta Martínez today announced a new security strategy that is intended to reduce emergency response times to three or four minutes.

However, the strategy is not entirely new. It is the same model employed in 2000 by the mayor at the time, President López Obrador.

The scheme, which also calls for a significant increase in police patrols, divides the city into 847 security quadrants of approximately 10 city blocks, each of which has been cataloged as high, medium or low risk according to the number of emergencies, businesses and incidence of crime in each.

The number of officers in the streets will increase from 16,586 to 23,000, while each quadrant can count on having at least one patrol vehicle and one motorcycle.

Jesús Orta said that 60% of the police command at local and regional levels has been assessed and reassigned where necessary, and that the quadrant commanders, of whom some had previously held command posts and others who were promoted, were selected based on their qualifications and experience.

The chief said that each commander will go “door to door” to introduce themselves to residents and distribute flyers with relevant security information and the boundaries of each security sector.

Sheinbaum stressed the importance of cooperation between police and residents, saying that “. . . [police] presence will help to reduce insecurity.”

The mayor said the strategy has already been implemented in the Cuautepec neighborhood in the borough of Gustavo A. Madero, which saw a subsequent decrease in crime. She was confident that the city’s crime rates will be brought down.

She explained that during the previous administration the police force lost 6,000 personnel due to retirement and the city’s failure to increase pay and bonuses. She also told reporters that the 75 police stations constructed during the previous administration are not currently functional, and that police will be reassigned to their original sectors until the stations can be readied for use.

The mayor said she will offer further details of the security plan at daily conferences this week.

Source: El Financiero (sp), MVS Noticias (sp)

Environmentalists call on new government to clean Hidalgo river

By

Tony Richards

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January 7, 2019

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The Tula river: 'a channel for wastewater.'

For more than 50 years the Tula river has received wastewater from the Valley of México, but some residents say they have had enough and are demanding that President López Obrador do something about the problem.

René Romero, president of an environmental group, told reporters that residents “. . . demand that the new government deliver justice to the people of Tula for the pollution it has suffered for decades, that it respect environmental regulations, international agreements, the right to health and the right to a healthy environment.

“We believe that the river can be cleaned and restored. If the river’s ecosystem is destroyed, the possibility of restoring the river is also destroyed, and we will be forever condemned to simply maintaining a channel of wastewater.”

But residents probably face a tough battle.

The 62-kilometer Eastern Emission Tunnel, begun by ex-president Felipe Calderón and now six years behind schedule, will dump 150,000 liters of wastewater per second into the Tula river once complete.

There are other environmental concerns as well. Between August and November of 2017, the National Water Commission (Conagua) began lining the river with concrete, which required the removal of 1,500 trees.

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“The aim of the project is to widen the river along 19.5 kilometers. This was only the first phase of the project, but the National Water Commission cut down thousands of trees, many of them centenarians,” Romero said.

“Local governments in México state and Mexico City must assume responsibility; they have a historic debt to the people of this region,” Romero said.

Wastewater is transported through underground pipes to the Tula river, where it is then carried through open air to the Endhó dam. The water is used without being treated to irrigate more than 80,000 hectares of agricultural land.

According to the Pan American Health Organization, incidents of gastroenteritis, influenza and amoebic dysentery are much higher in the region than the national average, as are incidents of birth defects and cancer.

“There is a lot of illness, and we know that cancer has a high incidence in this region. The smell is unbearable, but for many years we have had to bear it. Depending on the pollutants contained in the wastewater at any given moment, we are susceptible to respiratory, intestinal and even kidney diseases,” said Saúl Basurto Guerrero, also a member of Romero’s organization.

Carlos Gómez Alfaro, director of another Hidalgo environmental organization, told reporters that both groups have proposed sending the wastewater through the Requena canal for treatment, which was also proposed by López Obrador’s team during the federal transition process.

“We are tired of receiving Mexico City’s wastewater. We want to clean the Tula river,” he insisted.

Source: Milenio (sp)

In at least six states, gas shortage crisis has become worse and will continue

By

MND Staff

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January 7, 2019

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A lineup at a Mobil station this morning in the city of Guanajuato.

The gasoline shortage has worsened in at least six states and will persist in the coming days, a situation which President López Obrador reiterated today is due to logistics rather than a lack of supply.

Shortages in Michoacán, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, México state and Jalisco were first reported on December 31, meaning that motorists in those states are now entering a second week without any certainty that they will be able to fill up.

López Obrador told a press conference Friday that the state oil company is making greater use of tanker trucks to transport fuel rather than pipelines as part of the strategy to combat fuel theft, explaining that was the cause of the gas shortages.

In Michoacán, the shortage has affected 320 gas stations, especially those located in the state capital, Morelia.

Some stations operated by private companies, such as G500, have closed completely while many of those operated by Pemex have imposed 10-liter limits on gas purchases or are only operating a few hours a day.

At least 90 gas stations in Querétaro have been affected by the shortages while over the past week, Guanajuato has only received enough fuel to meet one-third of demand.

Long lines of cars were seen waiting at gas stations over the weekend in the latter state, the news website Noticieros Televisa reported. Lineups in many cases were over a kilometer long, according to another report. Some motorists even slept in their cars to ensure that they would be able to fill up.

Among the municipalities affected are Guanajuato, León, Silao, Irapuato, Salamanca, Celaya, Apaseo El Alto, Apaseo El Grande, Comonfort and Yuriria.

In Hidalgo, Pachuca and the Mezquital Valley area are the hardest hit by the shortage, with many gas stations only able to offer premium fuel.

Almost 200 gas stations in 14 México state municipalities now have no gas while 80% of all gas stations in Guadalajara, Jalisco, are in the same situation.

Jalisco has received just 10% of the fuel it requires over the past week and many gas stations are imposing limits on the amount of fuel they will sell.

Pemex said in a statement that the fuel shortages in the six aforementioned states will continue, adding that while there have been distribution delays “there is enough product to cover demand.”

At a press conference this morning, López Obrador again stressed that the lack of gas in some states was due to the government’s decision to close some petroleum pipelines and instead transport fuel by tanker truck.

“I can say . . . to all Mexicans that we have enough gasoline, there is no shortage problem, what we’re paying attention to is its distribution. We’re not opening the pipelines so that there are no leaks [via illegal taps] . . .” he said.

However, one pipeline was reopened yesterday. Guanajuato Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez said the Salamanca-León pipeline was put back into service to supply gas stations in the state.

López Obrador said the government was committed to resolving the shortage problem but declined to say how long it would take.

“We’re going to confront it and resolve it. How long is it going to take us? It will depend on who tires first [between] those who steal fuel and us . . . I’m persistent, we know that it’s not going to be easy but we’re not going to waver,” he said.

The president also said that an additional 900 soldiers would be deployed today to strengthen surveillance of Pemex infrastructure.

“Today, the surveillance plan using elements of the army is going to be strengthened and we’re going to continue to strengthen it but the supply [of gas] is going to return to normal and at the same time we’re going to guarantee that fuel isn’t stolen,” López Obrador said.

He said that the government’s anti-fuel theft strategy is “progressing well,” claiming that while theft hasn’t stopped completely it has “declined a lot.”

López Obrador urged fuel thieves known as huachicoleros to give up their lives of crime.

“. . . Now there are alternatives in the legal, formal economy . . . Young people can sign up as apprentices and he who wants to open a business has access to cheap credit,” he said.

“I call on all people to not fall into criminality. An illegal act is never justified and even less so when there are [other] options.”

Source: El Economista (sp), Noticieros Televisa (sp), Reforma (sp), Milenio (sp)

Two-kilometer-long rosca de reyes, or Kings’ Day bread, wins a Guinness

By

César Hernández

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January 7, 2019

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The world's longest rosca de reyes runs up one side of the boulevard and down the other.

At 2,065 meters long, the Kings’ Day bread baked in Saltillo, Coahuila, last week broke a Guinness World Record.

The rosca de reyes, the traditional pastry served on January 6 during the celebration of Kings’ Day, was prepared by the Vizcaya university with support from the municipality of Saltillo.

More than two tonnes of flour, 10,000 eggs, 350 kilograms of margarine, 16 liters of vanilla, 18 liters of orange blossom water, 25 kilos of baker’s yeast, 150 kilos of lard and 700 kilos of sugar went into the very long loaf.

Another key ingredient is a plastic figurine of the baby Jesus. Saltillo’s bread contained 7,000 mixed in the batter.

The recipe was created by two Vizcaya students and 140 people participated in the baking process, which began January 2.

Assembling the long line of bread started yesterday at 5:00 am on Venustiano Carranza boulevard where more than 400 people took part and had everything ready for the official measuring time at 10:00am.

Thousands of people of all ages gathered to witness the event and enjoy pieces of rosca and a cup of hot chocolate.

The former holder of the record was the city of Châtel-St-Denis, Switzerland. On October 23, 2011, a bakery prepared a brioche-like bun that measured 973 meters long.

Source: El Universal (sp)