National Defense paid twice for Oaxaca wind farm

By

-

August 13, 2018

Wind farm project contested by National Defense. — Wind farm project at the center of legal action.

The Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) was forced to pay twice for the construction of a wind farm on an air force base in Oaxaca after a contractor failed to deliver the project, financial records show.

The department contracted with Grupo Tradeco to build the project, whose purpose was to make the Ixtepec base in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region energy self-sufficient.

But Sedena cancelled the contract in 2015, arguing that Tradeco had presented fabricated details about the project’s progress.

“In December 2012 and January 2013, Tradeco presented six assessments about the work at the wind farm that contained false information as no progress had been made on the project,” Sedena said.

Late last month, Sedena sought to initiate legal action against Tradeco to secure 595 million pesos (US $30.9 million) in compensation for failing to comply with the contract it signed and a 374-million-peso (US $19.4-million) payment because no energy was produced at the base between March 2014, when the project was supposed to be completed, and June 2018.

“The company didn’t deliver the construction for which it was contracted despite the fact that two amending agreements were signed in order for it to comply with the work [it committed to],” the lawsuit states.

However, a judge from a civil district court where the suit was filed refused to admit it based on the argument that because the contract involved public resources, the case must be resolved by the Federal Administrative Justice Tribunal (TFJA).

Sedena is also seeking the return of an additional 495 million pesos (US $25.7 million) that it paid to the company in 2012 when the contract was signed.

Due to Tradeco’s failure to deliver, Sedena had to pay 221 million pesos (US $11.5 million) to other companies to finish the wind farm, the newspaper Reforma reported today.

When its contract with Sedena was cancelled in 2015, Tradeco initiated its own legal action and, according to legal counsel Rafael Macedo Núñez, the TFJA ruled in February that the decision to annul the contract was illegal and ordered the defense department to reinstate it.

If the contract is not reinstated, Macedo said, Tradeco could seek its own compensation from the federal government.

Sedena requested a review of the ruling before a collegiate tribunal and the case has not yet been resolved.

Macedo also said that the company had no knowledge of the lawsuit Sedena is seeking to file against it.

During 2011 and 2012 — the final two years of former president Felipe Calderón’s six-year administration — the federal government awarded six contracts worth a combined 6.9 billion pesos (US $360 million at today’s exchange rate) to Tradeco.

However, several were cancelled due to breaches committed by the financially embattled company, which previously also faced legal action from a Sedena contractor for failing to comply with another contract.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Judge orders investigators reopen case of Tlatlaya massacre

By

César Hernández

-

August 13, 2018

0

Warehouse where the Tlatlaya shooting occurred.

A federal judge has ordered that the Attorney General’s office (PGR) reopen the case of the 2014 Tlatlaya massacre, ruling that the original investigation lacked due diligence.

According to a statement issued by the human rights advocacy group Centro Prodh, Judge Erik Zabalgoitia Novales ruled on May 25 that the investigation carried out by PGR was not exhaustive, adequate or effective, and ordered a series of actions to clarify the case and establish responsibilities.

It remains unclear why it took nearly three months for the order to be made public.

There was evidence from the start of a cover-up in the June 2014 shooting in which soldiers gunned down 22 civilians in a warehouse in the municipality of Tlatlaya, México state. It was initially described as a clash with a group of armed criminals who allegedly opened fire on an army patrol.

The details of what actually happened began to surface after the Associated Press found discrepancies at the crime scene. A witness later confirmed a reporter’s suspicion that the scene had been altered by army personnel.

The National Human rights Commission (CNDH) later determined that between 12 and 15 of the victims did not die in a gunfight, as officials had stated, but were arbitrarily executed.

“Due to this faulty investigation, to this date there is not a single person that has been held accountable, as [the PGR] did not present enough evidence to individually single out those responsible,” said the document issued by Centro Prodh.

“This lack of due diligence is one of the many forms taken by the unacceptable covering-up of serious human rights violations in Mexico,” concluded the statement.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Morena party protests against alleged election fraud in Puebla

By

César Hernández

-

August 13, 2018

0

Barbosa and Polevnsky lead yesterday's march.

The president-elect’s political party held a demonstration yesterday to protest alleged electoral fraud in the state of Puebla.

The national leader of the Morena party, Yeidckol Polevnsky Gurwitz, led a march in the city of Puebla, accompanied by her party’s gubernatorial candidate, Miguel Barbosa Huerta, who lost the election by 122,000 votes.

As many as 5,000 party members and supporters joined the march to the city’s zócalo to declare that Barbosa was the legitimate winner of the July 1 election.

Polevnsky stated that the party’s priority is to sue and avert electoral fraud, and that president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador has instructed his party to not let its guard down.

“The most important thing for him is this fight, this defense. Andrés Manuel’s full support is in favor of Miguel Barbosa for the governorship of Puebla,” said the Morena leader.

Barbosa declared that he would not be intimidated and that he would continue with the legal battle to overthrow the electoral results that gave National Action Party (PAN) candidate Martha Erika Alonso Hidalgo the governor’s seat.

He said the election was plagued with flaws, while party official Horacio Duarte said there were sufficient legal elements to confirm that fraud had taken place. Duarte, who represents Morena on the National Electoral Institute, has previously accused PAN Governor José Antonio Gali Fayad of interfering in the electoral process.

Barbosa added that he has “the best lawyers” and that he will prove that electoral fraud took place, ensuring his supporters that a new election will be organized in January or February.

Alonso was declared the winner with 1,153,079 votes, or 38% of the total. Barbosa polled 1,031,043 votes, or 34%.

The elections for state Congress saw a different outcome. There, Morena won 33% of the vote and the PAN 20.5%

Source: El Universal (sp)

Traffickers captured with 161 migrants in Nuevo León

By

César Hernández

-

August 13, 2018

0

The migrants found yesterday in Nuevo León.

Two human traffickers were arrested yesterday in Nuevo León when police found 161 Central American migrants crammed into a semi-trailer.

Police were conducting a routine inspection of the truck in Aramberri when they encountered the human cargo en route to the United States border.

One of the two smugglers attempted to flee the scene but injured both hands after jumping from the trailer. He was admitted to the municipal general hospital where he remains under guard.

The state Public Security Secretariat said it had identified 39 families from El Salvador, six from Guatemala and 21 from Honduras.

Authorities said six minors, whose nationality was not revealed, were traveling unaccompanied.

All 161 were reported in good health.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Scientists assess sargassum invasion, warn it could trigger health crisis

By

MND Staff

-

August 13, 2018

0

Swimming with sargassum in Quintana Roo.

As sargassum continues to wash up on Mexico’s Caribbean coast beaches, scientists warn there is a risk that the huge masses of seaweed could cause a health crisis.

Once sargassum leaves the ocean it emits sulfuric acid and arsenic, which not only threatens thousands of species of marine creatures but could also seep into Quintana Roo’s freshwater sources.

The warning comes from a group of 28 scientists from three universities who met last Thursday in the state capital of Chetumal, where they discussed strategies to control the seaweed’s environmental impact.

Large quantities of sargassum have been arriving on beaches in Quintana Roo since May and, at least in the short term, the smelly, brown seaweed looks set to continue showing up en masse.

A councilor from Solidaridad, the municipality where the resort city of Playa del Carmen is located, said the risk sargassum poses continues to increase.

“Satellite images obtained by the National Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Services this weekend showed offshore sargassum formations heading to the coast of Quintana Roo that are up to 10 times larger than those recorded until now,” Gustavo Maldonado said.

He added that according to scientists the seaweed does not come from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean as originally thought but rather from the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil.

Scientists say that global warming, ocean pollution and changing sea currents are all factors that contribute to the growing quantities of sargassum on Mexican beaches.

Marta García, a biologist and postdoctoral researcher at the National Autonomous University of México, added that it has also been discovered that formations of sargassum can double their biomass in less than 18 days, which she said “explains its rapid growth in coastal waters.”

Further complicating the problem is a new, more aggressive variety of sargassum developing off South America’s Atlantic coast due to the use of chemical products in agriculture in Brazil. Those products enter the ocean via the Amazon River.

In addition to the health and environmental risks the seaweed poses, the mass arrival of sargassum is affecting Quintana Roo’s tourism industry.

The state’s most famous and popular beaches in destinations including Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel and Holbox have been invaded by the seaweed, whose stench worsens in the heat and rain.

Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquín González has asked the federal government to declare the state an emergency zone.

Brigitta Ine van Tussenbroek, a scientist at UNAM’s Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology, said that dealing with the problem requires the creation of contingency plans that “reduce the impact on the natural ecosystem and tourist activities.”

Even after the sargassum is removed from beaches, sediments of the seaweed that remain on the sand and in shallow waters can continue to kill plants, marine creatures and other organisms that come into contact with them.

In response to the problem, the government of Quintana Roo is installing a system of containment booms to keep sargassum off the beaches.

The federal Environment Secretariat (Semarnat) has also acquired special machinery to remove the seaweed in the Caribbean Sea, but it won’t be delivered until November.

Earlier this month, Ine van Tussenbroek warned that the large quantities of sargassum that are arriving could trigger a serious environmental disaster, explaining that the seaweed affects oxygen levels in the water, brings contaminants to the coastline, changes the ecological balance of coral and causes beach erosion.

José Luis Godínez Ortega, a seaweed specialist and the director of UNAM’s phycology laboratory, said that it is possible to exploit sargassum economically because it can be added to flour and other products.

However, he added that due to the large quantities of the seaweed that are washing up on the Caribbean Sea coastline, it is impossible to process it all before it begins to decompose.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Mexico’s largest wind farm to be inaugurated Monday

By

MND Staff

-

August 11, 2018

0

Reynosa I, Mexico's biggest wind farm. — Reynosa I wind farm in Tamaulipas.

A new wind farm that will be Mexico’s largest and one of the biggest in Latin America will be inaugurated Monday in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

The US $600-million Reynosa I project will have the capacity to produce 424 megawatts (MW) of energy annually and supply electricity to 900,000 people.

Located on the Charco Escondido ejido (community lands) to the south of the northern border city, the 8,000-hectare wind farm was built by the Spanish firm Acciona Energy for the Mexican company Zuma Energía and has 123 turbines, each reaching 120 meters into the sky.

It will prevent the emission of 739,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.

The project is the result of Mexico’s second long-term energy auction, which was conducted by the Secretariat of Energy (Sener) and the National Energy Control Center (Cenace) in September 2016.

Zuma bid successfully for contracts to produce 725 MW of renewable energy.

The company will eventually operate four other wind farms: Reynosa II, III and IV at the same site and Reynosa V at a different location 14 kilometers away.

There are currently five wind farms in operation in Tamaulipas while another seven are being built.

The US $126-million El Porvenir wind farm, a project developed by Grupo Ecos in Reynosa, generates 156.4 MW of energy and a second construction phase will soon add a further 72 MW.

French company Engie operates a US $80-million wind farm in the municipality of Llera that generates 200.2 MW annually, while Mexican firm Gemex has two wind farms in Güémez, which generate power that is supplied to 311 Soriana supermarkets.

Among the projects under construction in the northern border state are a US $119-million project built by Engie that is expected to start operations in 2020 and a 100 MW wind farm built by Italian multinational Enel Green Power that is slated to enter into service in June 2019.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

School hazing ceremony suspected in death of Durango student

By

Tony Richards

-

August 11, 2018

0

A 19-year-old student died early this morning in Durango after a suspected hazing at a rural teacher training college.

Ronaldo Mujica Morales was admitted to hospital on Monday in the state capital and remained in serious condition until his death.

One report said the induction ceremony at the Guadalupe J. Aguilera normal school entailed eating whole eggs including the shell, drinking alcoholic beverages, doing extreme exercises and eating spicy foods over the course of seven days. Students were also deprived of sleep during that time.

The director of the school, located in Canatlán, has been suspended while the incident is under investigation.

The director of a local hospital told a reporter that eight aspiring teachers had been admitted to the hospital over a five-day period with injuries incurred during the week-long hazing.

It is the second hazing incident in three weeks at a teacher training college.

One student died and two others were left with kidney damage after a hazing at the Mactumactzá college in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, July 21.

The director of the school is in custody on homicide charges.

Source: La Crónica (sp), La Prensa (sp)

Mobile shower unit will serve Tijuana’s homeless population

By

MND Staff

-

August 11, 2018

0

People living on the streets of Tijuana will soon have a new option for bathing, thanks to an initiative to be launched by a church group in the border city in Baja California.

On August 25, members of the city’s Iglesia Ancla (Anchor Church) will inaugurate a mobile shower unit to serve Tijuana’s homeless community.

Bethsabe Sandoval, the church’s director of missions, told the newspaper El Universal that the idea for the project came from a community of people with a desire to do more to help others.

While considering the main needs of homeless people, Sandoval said, she couldn’t think of anything better than to offer a shower to those who have limited or no access to clean water.

The church group then got to work raising money for the project and studying similar projects in Costa Rica and Los Angeles, California.

Nine months later, La Regadera (The Shower) is on the verge of dispensing free showers.

The converted cargo van features three bathrooms, each with a shower, toilet, washbasin and mirror. Volunteers will provide users with a towel, soap, shampoo, a change of clothes — and a smile.

People wishing to use the facilities will be given a 15-minute allotment after which they will be offered a food package and, if they wish, counseling.

Sandoval said the mobile unit will go twice a week to parts of the city with the highest concentrations of homeless people.

One person who stands to benefit from the new program is long-term homeless man Fernando, who told El Universal that he currently washes himself in the fetid waters of the Tijuana canal.

“I haven’t had a proper shower for 14 years,” he said.

Fernando, whose arms and legs are covered with both open wounds and scars, explained that he stripped off every day between 9:00am and 10:00am “when everyone else is occupied” to go into the canal waters near Puente Negro, where a large homeless community lives.

“This water full of shit is better than nothing . . . for us there is nothing else,” he said.

A younger homeless man who also lives at Puente Negro expressed disbelief upon hearing of the church’s initiative, but added that it was something that is much needed.

“Will I really be able to take a shower?” he asked.

“If it’s true, it would help us. I almost faint with this heat because I can’t even refresh myself but imagine . . . [with a shower] maybe I’ll get a job or even a girlfriend.”

Source: El Universal (sp)

MIT student loses scholarship over missing electronic signature

By

César Hernández

-

August 11, 2018

0

The student from a small village in Oaxaca who overcame inequality and racism and went on to obtain a doctorate in chemistry at MIT is at risk of losing his dream due to a mistake on a form.

Ricardo Pablo Pedro earned his doctorate earlier this year from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was counting on a scholarship from the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt) to cover the tuition of a post-doctorate courseat MIT for which he is already enrolled.

But after he forgot to add his electronic signature to the scholarship application, Conacyt rejected it.

Pablo has now set up a GoFundMe account to seek donations. “Unfortunately, I have not found the financial resources to continue with this important project during my post-doctorate and for that reason I see the need to ask for your support to reach the amount of US $42,000 and to continue with the project at MIT.”

The 27-year-old Zapotec scientist, originally from Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, has been engaged in researching nanomaterials such as silicon and other polymers, “which are very useful in the semiconductor industry.”

Now he wants to focus on thermoelectric properties “that can be used in our daily lives.”

“A thermoelectric material is a material that can use heat to convert it into energy and vice versa. The objective is to find a material that is a good thermoelectric at room temperature. This would radically change different forms of transportation, among other things,” Pablo wrote on GoFundMe.

If he wants to start school in the fall, Pablo must pay the $42,000 by September 11.

Source: Noticias de Oaxaca (sp)

Selfie with a tiger turns up man wanted for homicide

By

César Hernández

-

August 11, 2018

0

Taking a selfie with a Bengal tiger proved to be costly in more ways than one for a casino owner in Yucatán.

Roberto Gabriel Lozano Támez, owner of a casino in Mérida, was attacked by one of two tigers he keeps on a ranch when his son entered the cage in order to take a photograph of himself with the animals.

When his father attempted to get the 150-kilogram tiger off his 15-year-old son, he too was attacked.

Lozano was last reported as being brain dead in a private hospital, but his son was recovering after surgery.

Lozano is not only under care in hospital, but under guard. A background check by police revealed he is wanted in Nuevo León for murder and theft.

In 2005, Lozano killed Juan Ramón Treviño Garza over an unpaid debt of 50,000 pesos (US $5,400 at the time) and stole 7,000 pesos in cash and jewelry.

Lozano was subsequently convicted of the crime and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but in 2010 a judge ordered his release on the grounds that there were errors by the prosecution and Lozano relocated to Mérida.

In the intervening years, however, the justice system of Nuevo León reversed the 2010 ruling and ordered that the original sentence stood.

Lozano is to be transported to Nuevo León if and when he recovers from his injuries. One report quoted medical sources saying his chances of recovery were slim.

Source: Milenio (sp), La Policiaca (sp), Diario de Yucatán (sp)