Lawmakers will meet with mining sector representatives this week before making changes to the federal Mining Law, the president of the Senate’s mining committee said.
A senator with president-elect López Obrador’s Morena party last week presented a bill that would require mining companies to obtain the consent of indigenous communities in order to be granted concessions.
Under the proposed changes, the Secretariat of the Economy (SE) would have authority to declare certain areas unviable for mining activities and to cancel concessions and permits that have already been granted if they had a negative social impact.
In an interview with the news agency Reuters, Senator Geovanna Bañuelos, whose Labor Party is a coalition partner of Morena’s, said the planned meeting with mining representatives is intended to allay concerns about the proposals and taking all perspectives into account.
“We want them to be calm. We will not [move forward] without listening to everyone,” the mining committee head said. “We are open to weighing all arguments.”
Grupo México, the country’s largest mining company, said it is analyzing the proposed bills, adding that much of their content is already covered by existing regulations.
“The content of the reforms is not innovative or disruptive,” said Jorge Lazalde, general counsel for Grupo México. “Many of the things in this series of initiatives are already in the law.”
Lazalde added that it was normal for industry representatives to work with lawmakers to analyze and improve bills.
“As a guild, as an industry, as a sector through the Mining Chamber, we will work closely with Congress and reconcile points of view,” he said.
Police used tear gas Saturday in Chiapas against members of the one caravan in Mexico whose destination is not the United States.
The caravan — made up of as many as 500 displaced indigenous people — had been marching from San Cristóbal de las Casas to the capital, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, arriving in time for the annual report to the state Congress by Governor Manuel Velasco Coello.
Police responded with tear gas when the marchers attempted to enter the building, which triggered a counterattack in which the latter threw rockets, stones and other projectiles at police.
The protesters also set fire to a truck and took down a section of the security fence set up around the Chiapas Congress.
Later, the Tzotzil people requested the intervention of the human rights commissions, alleging repression.
They weren’t the only ones with a beef against the government. Also on hand were health workers, teachers and teaching students who were demanding salaries and bonuses — and scholarships in the case of the students — that allegedly had not been paid.
Police disbanded the protest but several injuries were reported in the process.
Meanwhile, Governor Velasco gave his sixth and final report on the state of affairs in Chiapas while the protests continued outside.
He said he was leaving the state in healthy financial condition, with gains in tourism and security.
“Chiapas is no longer one of the 10 most indebted states in the country” and is also one of the safest, Velasco claimed.
However, it has not been especially safe for the marchers who arrived the same day from San Cristóbal. They were displaced from their homes in Chenalhó, Ocosingo and Zinacantán by attacks by armed civilians, and have been afraid to return.
Federal and state police implicated in Chihuahua extortion case.
Eight federal police were among nine officers arrested Friday in Chihuahua on suspicion of extortion.
The state Attorney General’s office (FGE) said an extortion victim filed a formal complaint that eight Federal Police and a state police officer had intimidated him and threatened him on the phone, demanding the payment of an undisclosed sum of money.
The victim works in a mall in Chihuahua city, which was where the police had arranged to collect the extortion money.
The state police was the first to be caught by FGE agents as he was leaving the mall. He was in possession of a firearm, while cocaine and methamphetamine were found in his vehicle.
The federal officers were arrested after they had contacted the victim to demand more money. Four had been involved in making the demands; the other four provided protection and surveillance.
Nearly one million people cast a ballot during the weekend consultation.
Voters gave resounding support to the Maya train project on the Yucatán peninsula and nine other proposals in a public consultation held over the past two days.
The organizers of the consultation, an initiative of incoming president López Obrador, told a press conference this morning that 89.9% of participants voted in favor of building the railroad that will link cities in five states in Mexico’s southeast.
Just under 950,000 people – around 1.1% of the electoral roll – cast votes in the two-day consultation that sought opinion on 10 “priority programs” of the López Obrador-led government that will take office this Saturday.
A proposal to develop a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans received 90.9% support while the plan to build a new oil refinery on the Gulf of Mexico coast in Tabasco was backed by 91.6% of voters.
The seven other proposals on the ballot also all attracted more than 90% support.
They were to plant fruit and timber trees on one million hectares of land; double the pension of adults aged over 68; offer scholarships and work training to 2.6 million disadvantaged young people; grant scholarships to all public high school students; offer pensions to people with disabilities; guarantee medical care to all citizens; and provide free internet coverage in public places such as squares, medical centers and schools.
Jesús Ramírez, spokesman for the incoming government, said the consultation cost 2.4 million pesos (US $116,500) and was paid for by lawmakers from López Obrador’s Morena party.
The president-elect subsequently announced that the partially built US $14-billion project would be cancelled.
But despite warnings that holding more public consultations would create further economic uncertainty and affect both domestic and foreign investment in Mexico, delegating decision-making to the people appears set to be a feature of the new government.
López Obrador said last week that he will also put the question of creating a national guard to yet another public consultation that is slated to take place in March.
Work by art show organizer and artist Jason Schell.
When it comes to street art, Mexico City is up there on the world stage. Street artists from around the city, the country and the world descend on the streets of Mexico’s capital to make their mark on the landscape, bringing to life a variety of designs — from the politically motivated to the aesthetically pleasing — on the walls of city streets.
Mexico has long been home to muralists. Diego Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco, to name three of the most famous, have murals around the city and beyond that have stood the test of time. So it isn’t surprising that Mexico City makes such an appealing home for many modern-day street artists.
In many ways their work can be seen as a contemporary version of those murals, making a statement about Mexican society or about how they perceive the world. These muralists have also perhaps set the stage for an acceptance of public urban art in Mexico. Street art specialist Cynthia Arvide Sousa published her book about Mexican street art, entitled Muros Somos, in 2017, with the telling subtitle, Mexico’s new muralists, which speaks directly to this idea.
So rich is the scene that there are street art tours guiding visitors around the city to take in the colorful work and learn about the artists and the meaning behind their work. Street Art Chilango, for example, is known for its creations around the city and offers tours to anyone interested in exploring the scene further.
In some places, street art has also become corporate, with graphic artists being called upon to create designs that work in the place of billboards to advertise products. While street art is still in many ways a rebellious act, shrouded in illegality and secrets — who is the man behind the name Banksy? — and often ephemeral, a race against the clock before the art is painted over by the city, nowadays the art is also finding its way into galleries and into art lovers’ homes.
A piece of work by stencil artist Txoice.
And this is the very reason why artist and art collector Jason Schell decided to start the Urban Art Show in Mexico City. In its second year, the fourth incarnation of Urban Art Show opens on December 1 at Dlonngi Galeria de Arte in Condesa.
Being a mural artist himself, notably with murals in the Cuauhtémoc and Salto de Agua Metro stations in Mexico’s capital, Schell has come to know many of the street artists in the city and felt drawn to create a gallery exhibition that brings their work from the walls of the streets on to the walls of a gallery. The paintings will range in size and color, many instantly recognizable as the work of a well-known street artist.
Exposure is an important theme for Schell when it comes to art. For him, it is what makes an artist famous.
“It is not arrogant for a street artist to say, ‘a million people have seen my paintings.’ Other artworks you would say that about are pieces in museums,” he said highlighting the impact that street art can have.
In many ways, street art creates a level playing field that allows the general public to be the judge as opposed to art critics. The hierarchy of the art world — expensive art training and a few big-name critics who decide if your work has merit — can be bypassed when the city is your canvas.
An art teacher by day, Schell clearly thinks deeply about art and this show came out of a desire to bring the work of artists that he saw and loved around the city into a gallery and in turn into people’s homes.
An example of work by Noggami, who will be among the artists at the show.
For Schell, it makes little sense that someone “would spend $10,000 on a phone that might last a couple of years and not spend the same amount on a piece of artwork that lasts for a lifetime.”
With pieces in the Urban Art Show that will range in price from about 3,000 to 30,000 pesos, buyers might be investing in a piece of work that will rise dramatically in value as the artist becomes more well known.
Some of the artists who have exhibited with Urban Art Show have traveled globally with their work, creating murals everywhere from Time Square to the West Bank. These are artists with international acclaim in the new global world of street art.
For Schell and many art lovers, however, buying art isn’t just about the investment.
“There is this cool feeling of passing this artist’s work on the street and also having their work in your house,” Schell explained as we sat in his apartment sipping coffee, surrounded by his personal collection of work from some of the country’s best-known graphic artists.
This year’s show, which will run for two weeks, boasts the work of over 20 different urban artists from around Mexico. Names include Jenaro and Franc Mun of Street Art Chilango, Yescka, Txoice, Luisa Estrada and Noggami among many others. Schell will also have two pieces in the show.
A piece by street artist Jeavi Mental.
Speaking about the line-up, Schell expresses excitement about having Franc Mun participating again. “He keeps creating piece after piece of beautiful street art [the bulldog on Álvaro Obregón in Mexico City’s Colonia Roma comes to mind] and was just selected for the Tamayo biennial. He’s such a holistic artist . . . a guy that creates great murals, well-executed graffiti pieces, as well as high-quality gallery work.”
Street Art Chilango, in turn, described the show as “a unique rendezvous that gathers the talent and presence of devoted street artists,” indicating that the show also has a collaborative essence.
To this end, Txoice described how the collective nature of the exhibition “gives you the chance to connect with great and experienced artists.”
For Schell, “adding Txoice to our group hasn’t only led to getting great artwork but also to some fantastic experiences. I have a lot of respect for his stencils . . . . He’s a guy who is truly altruistic as an artist, inviting myself and other people to paint in all sorts of corners of the city.”
Another artist to watch is Noggami, who creates illustrations with what Schell describes as a “whimsical, feminine nature and slick technique.” She has been involved with Urban Art Show for a year and “watching her translate drawings smaller than an average sheet of paper into work for large walls has been just awesome,” Schell enthused.
Lovers of street art or art lovers in general should mark their calendars for what is sure to be an incredible show full of some of Mexico’s most well-known street artists and some rising stars. The inauguration is open to the general public and will be a chance to meet some of the artists behind the works that you see creating the backdrop to Mexico City every day.
• For more information check out the Urban Art Show page here.
Susannah Rigg is a freelance writer and Mexico specialist based in Mexico City. Her work has been published by BBC Travel, Condé Nast Traveler, CNN Travel and The Independent UK among others. Find out more about Susannah on her website.
United States border agents fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Central American migrants yesterday to thwart an attempt to illegally cross the Mexico-U.S. border.
The United States Customs and Border Protection agency also closed the border between Tijuana and San Diego in both directions for several hours following the attempted breach, and U.S. President Trump warned today that it could be shut permanently.
The Mexican government said in a statement issued by the Interior Secretariat (Segob) that it will “immediately deport” those who “in a violent manner tried to cross Mexico’s border with the United States.”
At 10:00am Sunday, a group of about 500 migrants gathered outside the Benito Juárez Sports Complex, where they and thousands more Central Americans have been staying since arriving in Tijuana over the past two weeks.
From there, they began a peaceful march towards the El Chapparal border crossing bridge, where they planned to stage a protest to appeal to United States authorities to speed up the processing of asylum requests from thousands of Central Americans currently stranded in the northern border city.
Some held signs with messages such as “not having papers is not a crime and doesn’t take away our human rights” and “Trump, we hate you,” the newspaper Milenio reported.
Waving flags of their countries of origin – Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala – the group chanted: “we’re not criminals, we’re international workers!”
At the entrance to the El Chapparal bridge, the migrants were halted by a contingent of Federal Police in riot gear.
After a standoff during which the Central Americans sang their respective national anthems, members of the group realized that the route towards the border at the side of the bridge was unguarded.
Many then ran across the dried-up Tijuana River, evading attempts by the police to stop them.
The group splintered off in different directions, with some of them breaking down or scaling metal barriers and crossing railroad tracks as they moved closer to the physical border separating Mexico from the United States.
As U.S. Border Patrol helicopters hovered overhead, agents on the ground fired tear gas and later rubber bullets at the migrants, forcing them to retreat.
Women and children were among those affected by the gas.
“. . . There were many children who fainted . . . my daughter also got gassed and there were pregnant women and many men who also fainted . . .” one female migrant said.
Another, 23-year-old Honduran Ana Zuñiga who was accompanied by her three-year-old daughter, told the Associated Press “we ran, but when you run the gas asphyxiates you more.”
According to Rodney Scott, chief patrol agent of the San Diego Sector Border Patrol, around 42 migrants managed to cross the border but were arrested.
“Only eight of those were females, and there were only a few children involved,” he said. “The vast majority of the people we’re dealing with are adult males.”
Scott said that agents only deployed tear gas after they were attacked by the migrants and claimed that the group pushed women and children to the front.
“The group immediately started throwing rocks and debris at our agents, taunting our agents,” he said.
“Once our agents were assaulted, the numbers started growing. We had two or three agents at a time initially facing hundreds of people at a time. They deployed tear gas to protect themselves and to protect the border . . . We try to target specifically the instigators . . . but . . . once that chemical is released it does go through the air.”
In response to yesterday’s events, Trump took to Twitter today to urge Mexican authorities to deport the migrants, while renewing his claim that some of them are criminals.
“Mexico should move the flag-waving migrants, many of whom are stone-cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!” he wrote.
National Immigration Institute (INM) commissioner Gerardo García Benavente said this morning that 98 migrants who tried to illegally cross the border yesterday have already been deported.
Those sent home, he said, were identified as having flagrantly violated the law.
Last week, media reports said the Trump administration was preparing sweeping new measures that would force Central Americans who arrive at the border to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are processed.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that the incoming federal government had agreed to the United States plan known as “Remain in Mexico” but president-elect López Obrador’s future interior secretary denied the claim.
“No agreement of any kind exists between Mexico’s future federal government and the United States of America,” the office of Olga Sánchez Cordero said in a statement.
“The future government is not considering in its plans that Mexico assumes the role of ‘safe third country’ for Central American migrants or [migrants] from other countries, who find themselves in Mexican territory.”
More than 7,000 migrants are already in Tijuana or other parts of Baja California, according to Mexican authorities, and thousands more are farther south in the country.
With a large backlog of migrants already waiting for an opportunity to request asylum in the United States, recent arrivals could face waits of several months to plead their case.
The mayor of Tijuana last week declared a humanitarian crisis due to the massive number of migrants who have swamped the city and called on the federal government and international organizations to intervene.
Mexico City’s new government is planning to repopulate the capital’s historic center by building as many as 7,000 new social housing units.
Dunia Ludlow, who will head up the city government’s Historic Center Authority (ACH), told the newspaper El Universal that in its first year in office the government will conduct an investigation to determine the ownership of land and vacant properties in the area.
Construction of the new dwellings could follow on 100 lots, she said, explaining that the ACH has discussed the plan with the city government’s Institute of Housing (Invi).
Ludlow explained that in 1950, around 400,000 people lived in Mexico City’s downtown but the population is now just under half that number at 198,000.
The biggest exodus was from the area known as Perimeter A, which surrounds the zócalo, Mexico City’s large central square.
Relocation of the National Autonomous University (UNAM) around the middle of the last century and the devastating 1985 earthquake both played a role in the depopulation of the city center.
In a less central zone of the downtown known as Perimeter B, Ludlow said, deteriorating infrastructure caused the population to decrease which in turn led to an increase in crime and insecurity.
She said the new administration is inheriting a historic center with problems such as high levels of informal commerce and rising insecurity. But she expressed confidence that things would change for the better because soon-to-be president López Obrador plans to live in the National Palace, located opposite the zócalo.
“. . . Local public security problems will become national security problems,” Ludlow said.
Ludlow also said the government could collaborate with the owners of largely vacant buildings in order to rent as many as 3,000 living spaces to low-income residents.
She explained that there are many buildings where businesses occupy the ground floor but the higher floors are completely empty or used only as storage space.
Ludlow added that in Perimeter B, there is also a lot of interest from the private sector to invest in the renovation of empty buildings.
She added that the new administration, which will be led by Morena party mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, will carry out repair work to improve the city center’s public plazas, sidewalks, and streets.
Mexico City’s historic center is home to many of the capital’s most famous tourist attractions including the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Templo Mayor archaeological site.
Spending irregularities in Veracruz during the administration of former governor Javier Duarte were “atrocious,” according to Mexico’s chief auditor, but just as bad is that no one has really paid the price.
Speaking at a government forum yesterday, the head of the Federal Auditor’s Office (ASF), David Colmenares, contended that the punishment imposed on the ex-governor was inadequate.
He was also critical of the process for selecting state auditors, claiming that criminal charges never follow state audits.
Duarte, who was in office between 2010 and 2016, was sentenced in September to nine years in prison for money laundering and criminal association but will be eligible to seek parole in just over three years.
He is estimated to have embezzled billions of pesos during his term but a federal judge imposed a fine of just 58,890 pesos (US $2,875), although he also ordered the seizure of 41 properties.
“Veracruz, evidently, was an atrocious case but the astonishing thing is that the penalties really didn’t materialize in the way we wanted,” Colmenares said.
The chief auditor argued that the work of the ASF is useless if those responsible for embezzlement and other spending irregularities are not held accountable.
Nevertheless, Colmenares said that in collaboration with the federal Attorney General’s office (PGR), auditors would continue to investigate Veracruz’s public accounts and anticipated that new criminal charges could follow in the coming months.
“We’ve already established a working group with the PGR to start looking at the matters that are still outstanding . . . we’re not going to give up. We really have no fear, the level of the people we’re looking at doesn’t matter, we’ll continue with the criminal complaints,” he said.
The ASF chief was also critical of auditors’ offices at the state level, charging that their officials never report irregularities that result in state government personnel being charged with embezzlement.
“State auditors do their work but never, never have they produced a result that brought a criminal complaint . . .” Colmenares said.
That, he said, is because auditors are appointed by the government of the day in the state in which they operate.
“. . . The affiliation is very clear and that has happened with [political parties] of all stripes,” Colmenares said.
“I haven’t seen a single case in which a state auditor’s office makes a strong case against a state government,” he added, pointing out that municipal governments are not afforded the same protection.
Emilio Barriga Delgado, a federal expenditure auditor who appeared alongside Colmenares yesterday, urged federal and state lawmakers to ensure that auditors’ offices – which in theory are independent of government – are able to conduct their work without political interference.
“. . . If we don’t have autonomy . . . what’s the point of being independent. . .” he asked.
There were two cases of races against trains yesterday in Nuevo León, one of which ended in the death of a driver.
In the first instance, Juan Cruz Pérez, 68, made an attempt to cross an intersection before a freight train in San Nicolás de los Garza. But although his semi-trailer was carrying no cargo, he didn’t quite make it.
The train struck the vehicle and left Cruz trapped inside. Emergency personnel freed the driver and transferred him to a nearby hospital where his condition was reported to be poor.
Later in the day, a man driving a pickup truck in an industrial neighborhood of Santa Catarina was not so lucky when he made a dash across a level crossing.
His vehicle was struck on the driver’s side by a three-engine freight train and pushed along the tracks for about 300 meters.
Medical assistance by first responders was not required: the driver was dead by the time they arrived.
A battle is brewing between the incoming federal government and state governors over super-delegates, the powerful federal officials who will be responsible for coordinating and implementing government programs and plans at the state level.
The Senate, where a coalition led by president-elect López Obrador’s Morena party has a majority, this week approved amendments to the Organic Law of Federal Public Administration, which formally established the role of the so-called super-delegates.
But the move triggered a backlash from opposition lawmakers and governors, who argue that it is intended to subordinate state governments to federal authority.
Senators from the opposition National Action Party (PAN) and Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) said they would pursue legal action in the Supreme Court against the legislative reform, arguing that the super-delegate system is unconstitutional, an attack on federalism and seeks to turn governors into nothing more than figureheads.
“We don’t want a centralized government and a retrograde presidential system,” said PAN Senator Mauricio Kuri.
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Senator and former interior secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong also added his voice to the criticism, insinuating that the incoming government’s motivation was political rather than practical.
“The super-delegate idea gives the impression of really being a factory for pre-candidates,” he said.
However, López Obrador and his team argue that the super-delegate system will simplify the relationship between the federal government and the states because it will significantly reduce the number of people charged with conducting it.
There are currently 2,300 delegations, sub-delegations and offices of various federal departments that function as a link between federal and state authorities.
But in a letter directed to López Obrador, 12 PAN governors argued that their role would be reduced to one of “mere guests” under a super-delegate system, particularly with regard to public security.
Chihuahua Governor Javier Corral said he wouldn’t accept the imposition of the new system nor would he allow state security forces to be subordinated to the national guard that López Obrador has proposed creating.
Governors are responsible for public security in their states, he said, asserting that the soon-to-be president can expect staunch opposition if he changes that.
“We’re not going to let them walk all over us in this way,” Corral said.
Querétaro Governor Francisco Domínguez also played hardball, saying the super-delegate assigned to the state he leads will not be invited to form part of the government’s security team.
Amid the criticism came a warning from a Morena party senator that the Senate could strip powers from states that don’t respect the new government’s plans and policy agenda. But that only served to further fan the flames of discontent.
“No governor of any state will be able to oppose the constitutional mandate,” Félix Salgado Macedonio said.
“. . . It’s necessary to remind the [state] leaders that here, in the Senate, is where the viability of laws is discussed and analyzed and that we are the guarantors of compliance with them. Any governor who doesn’t agree to the constitutional guidelines could lose their powers,” he added.
Salgado contended that governors’ opposition to the super-delegate plan is based on the fact that their practice of putting friends and relatives into state-based federal agencies will end.
Miguel Ángel Mancera, PRD leader in the Senate and former Mexico City mayor, urged Salgado not to fall into “the temptation to abuse power,” adding that “these types of threats,” especially as a new administration prepares to take office, are not helpful.
PAN lawmakers said bluntly that “threats” of the kind made by Salgado are “unacceptable.”
Seeking to placate the López Obrador government’s political opponents, future interior secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero pledged that the rule of law would be respected and that state powers would not be undermined.
“I believe that if someone is going to be respectful of the rule of law, of sovereignty and legality, it’s going to be López Obrador. In no way is he going to compromise autonomy, the sovereignty of the states, municipalities or public powers – in no way – and I say that to you categorically,” she said.
“I would like to speak to the governors to explain to them that . . . the national guard is not going to be subordinated to the delegates, they are not going to manage it, they’ll be there [in the states] for social programs,” Sánchez added.
After casting a vote in today’s public consultation on the Maya train, López Obrador said he would speak to the governors about the super-delegate system but warned that he would not be pressured into caving in to their demands.
“There is going to be dialogue [with the governors] but I’m not going to be anyone’s hostage. I’m not going to allow myself to be blackmailed by anyone. I only have one master and one mandate, the [master is the] people and the mandate is to end corruption.”
