Los Zetas cartel finance chief gets 36 years

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August 7, 2018

Zamudio at the time of his arrest in 2013.

The man suspected of having managed the financial operations of the Zetas cartel was sentenced to 36 years in jail yesterday.

Alfonso Zamudio Quijada, also known as “El Samurai,” was convicted of organized crime, using funds derived from illegal sources and drugs and weapons offenses.

He was arrested in June 2013 in Monclova, Coahuila, by armed forces personnel, who found an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition and 500 plastic bags of cocaine in a suitcase Zamudio was carrying.

Federal officials said the gangster attempted unsuccessfully to bribe the arresting officers.

He was captured after officials received an anonymous tip.

Source: La Prensa de Monclova (sp)

López Obrador presents plans to engineers; has warm words for Carlos Slim

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MND Staff

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August 6, 2018

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President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that Mexico’s richest man is an example for the country while speaking at an engineers’ summit in Mexico City today, where he outlined a 25-point strategic development plan.

Despite a clash during the presidential campaign over the construction of the new Mexico City airport, López Obrador took time to recognize Carlos Slim.

“. . . With his effort, imagination and talent, he [Slim] is an example for Mexico and for the world because he is one of the most successful businessmen,” he said.

Slim is a staunch proponent of the airport project, in which his companies have an 8% investment interest, while López Obrador had threatened to scrap it, charging that it is corrupt, too expensive and not needed.

The president-elect has since softened his stance, saying that his administration will review the project while insisting that it will ultimately be up to the public to decide if it goes ahead.

An expert report on the project commissioned by the incoming government will be presented on August 15.

López Obrador today asked Mexico’s engineers to review the report and offer their point of view about the project.

The airport was one of 25 projects that the president-elect said will be prioritized after he is sworn in on December 1.

He said the initiatives are aimed at developing Mexico both socially and economically and that the next government will also finish infrastructure projects that are already under way, specifically citing 56 incomplete hospitals and the Toluca-Mexico City train project.

“We have to finish these projects in the six-year period. It’s not a commitment to finish them next year but we are going to plan to finish them in [my] six-year term,” López Obrador said.

He said they will generate employment thereby reducing migration and counteracting threats from the United States to build a wall between the two countries and militarize the border.

All 25 priority programs for the next Mexican government are listed here.

The Mexico City International Airport.
Development of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region.
Construction of the Cancún to Palenque train.
The pavement of rural roads.
Connecting the whole country to the internet.
Earthquake reconstruction.
Urban development for marginalized neighborhoods.
Increasing pensions for the elderly.
Offering pensions to disabled persons living in conditions of poverty.
Planting one million hectares with timber-yielding and fruit trees.
An apprenticeship scheme for young people.
Scholarships for all high school students.
Construction of 100 public universities.
Support for the cultivation of crops such as corn, rice and beans to avoid the need to purchase from abroad.
Revitalization of fertilizer companies.
Provision of a canasta básica [a basic selection of foodstuffs] to those living in food poverty.
Credits for ranchers.
Establishment of a duty-free zone in the northern border region.
Development of the mining sector.
Support for small and medium-sized businesses.
Increasing production of petroleum and gas.
Upgrading existing oil refineries.
Construction of a new refinery at Dos Bocas, Tabasco.
Development of alternative energy sources.
Improving medical services and access to free medication.

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

January-to-June exports to US rise 9% to reach record high

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MND Staff

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August 6, 2018

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mexico us trade balance — In blue, Mexican exports to the US; in red, the reverse. el financiero

Trade between Mexico and the United States reached record highs in both directions in the first six months of 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Mexico’s exports to the United States increased by 9.1% in the January to June period while it spent 10.2% more on American products in the same period than it did in the first half of last year.

In total, Mexican products worth just over US $169.3 billion crossed the border in the six-month period while almost US $131.3 billion worth of American products entered Mexico.

United States imports from China and Canada were also up — by 8.6% and 6.5% respectively — compared to the same period last year, the department said.

The news comes as uncertainty surrounding the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) still remains.

Nevertheless, Mexico’s participation in the import market of its northern neighbor has remained unchanged in the first half of each year from 2016 to 2018 at 13.7%.

Mexico’s main exports to the United States between January and June were vehicles, auto parts, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, agricultural products, fossil fuels, optical instruments and medical devices.

The data shows that the economic ties between the two countries have become stronger despite a straining in the broader relationship, largely due to the hardline attitude United States President Donald Trump has adopted towards Mexico on issues such as migration, border security — including his proposed wall — and trade.

The surplus of just over US $38 billion Mexico recorded with the United States in the first half of this year will likely serve to further irk Trump, who has railed against deficits, arguing that they are indicative of unfair trade although many economists argue that they are not the best way to gauge the health of a trade relationship.

The United States also recorded deficits of US $185.7 billion with China and US $8 billion with Canada in the same period.

Earlier today, Trump tweeted “fixing our terrible trade deals is a priority — and going very well” while yesterday he wrote “tariffs are working big time” without specifically stating which ones he was referring to.

The United States introduced steel and aluminum tariffs on both Mexico and Canada from June 1, further complicating the already strained NAFTA renegotiation process and triggering the imposition of retaliatory measures by both U.S. neighbors.

While Trump has floated the idea that the United States could seek separate trade deals with its two neighbors, Mexico and Canada have remained committed to maintaining the 24-year-old agreement as a thee-way pact.

Last week, Mexico publicly accepted for the first time the United States proposal to include set minimum wages for the automotive industry as part of a modernized NAFTA.

Mexican and Canadian officials also said that Mexico and the U.S. were getting closer to reaching a deal on rules of origin for the auto sector.

Source: El Economista (sp)

Wind and rain in six states due to tropical storm, hurricane off Pacific coast

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Tony Richards

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August 6, 2018

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Hurricane John's forecast path. accuweather

Some windy and wet weather is forecast for parts of six states due to a tropical storm and a hurricane in the eastern north Pacific Ocean. But neither is forecast to make landfall.

Most of the adverse weather will be caused by Tropical Storm Ileana, but the United States National Hurricane Center forecast today that it would likely dissipate by late Tuesday due to the influence of Hurricane John to its southwest.

As of 4:00pm CDT, Ileana was situated about 245 kilometers south-southeast of Manzanillo, Colima, and generating sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for Tecpan de Galeana, Guerrero, to Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco.

The National Meteorological System forecasts intense storms in areas of Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Puebla, Veracruz and Oaxaca. Winds will gust to 60 kilometers an hour in Guerrero and Oaxaca, where two to four-meter waves can be expected.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said there were no coastal watches or warnings in effect due to Hurricane John, but suggested that its progress should be monitored by residents of the southern portion of the Baja peninsula.

As of 4:00pm CDT, John was about 515 kilometers southwest of Manzanillo and 790 kilometers south-southeast of the southern tip of Baja.

Winds were 120 kilometers per hour and the storm was moving northwest at 13 kilometers an hour. The NHC said it will strengthen and should become a major hurricane by late tomorrow.

It will produce large swells that will affect the coasts of southwestern Mexico and the southern portion of the Baja peninsula.

Mexico News Daily

Attackers on motorcycles assassinate Guanajuato journalist

By

Tony Richards

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August 6, 2018

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García was killed yesterday in Valle de Santiago.

The body of a Guanajuato photojournalist was found yesterday in Valle de Santiago. He had been shot to death.

Rodolfo García González, 45, was shot several times after unsuccessfully attempting to flee four attackers riding on two motorcycles near a sports center in La Loma, police said.

García was also on a motorcycle, which was found parked near his body.

He was a photographer of social events and a correspondent for several regional newspapers.

He is the ninth journalist to be assassinated in Mexico this year.

Source: AM (sp)

López Obrador revisits Chiapas to refine tree-planting project

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MND Staff

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August 6, 2018

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López Obrador, in center at back, with staff at Agromod in Chiapas.

President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Saturday that 400,000 jobs will be generated during his six-year administration through a plan to plant trees on one million hectares of land.

In Tapachula, Chiapas, where he visited the laboratories of agri-food tech company Agromod, López Obrador predicted that trees would be planted on 500,000 hectares of land next year and on another 500,000 hectares of land in 2020.

“We will continue with the field work to begin, from December 1, the program to plant one million hectares of timber-yielding and fruit trees,” he said, explaining that the initiative will provide much-needed employment and thus reduce the need for rural residents to migrate out of economic necessity.

“This program to plant a million hectares [of trees] is going to give work to 400,000 rural people who are going to be able to work where they were born,” the president-elect said.

López Obrador visited the Lacandon jungle rainforest late last month where the reforestation project is slated to begin.

At the time, he said that 80,000 “permanent, not temporary, jobs” could be created and that the people of Chiapas will be able to “put down roots, work and be happy in the place they were born.”

The president-elect charged that during “this neoliberal period the countryside was abandoned” and pledged to place new emphasis on rural Mexico.

Mahogany, cedar, rubber and cacao trees are among the saplings expected to be planted.

López Obrador also posted a photo to his Twitter account Saturday in which he appears decked out in a lab coat and hair net alongside employees of Agromod, which is owned by his prospective chief of staff, Alfonso Romo.

The company is “the biggest papaya producer in Mexico and worldwide,” according to the Agromod website, with 900 acres of crops on the Chiapas coast and in Yucatán.

Agromod also produces millions of agave plants annually for use in the tequila industry and exports millions of ornamental plants to markets including Holland and the United States.

The incoming president did not say if Agromod would be a supplier of the millions of trees that will be required for his planting project, a move that would raise concerns over a potential conflict of interest.

Other potential suppliers are Conafor, the National Forestry Commission, and the Secretariat of National Defense, both of which have greenhouses producing trees for timber production and the cultivation of fruit, according to a report by Chiapas Paralelo.

Source: El Universal (sp), Chiapas Paralelo (sp)

5 houses on a hill in Tijuana deemed at risk of collapse

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César Hernández

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August 6, 2018

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house on hill tijuana — Living on the edge.

Five houses in Tijuana, Baja California, have been deemed unsafe after the ground at the foot of a hillside was destabilized, presumably by an excavation.

One of the affected homeowners saw saw his backyard fall away and tumble down on to a street below in the Los Altos neighborhood on Saturday.

The word among neighbors is that the purchaser of a piece of land at the foot of the hill used a backhoe to remove some material in order to build a garage. The land above has started to give way.

The local Civil Protection office has ordered the evacuation of 33 people — including 12 minors — due to the risk presented by the unstable soil.

Five houses are at significant risk, and will probably be condemned.

Civil Protection chief José Rito Portugal said the landslide has only caused cracks in some houses, but there is a “very high probability” the the entire hillside will collapse due to the weight of the dwellings built on it.

One resident of Los Altos told the newspaper El Universal that “the earth will one day swallow Tijuana,” and he might not be far from the truth.

Saturday’s was the sixth such incident since December 2016, and according to the Civil Protection office, 300 houses have collapsed, affecting almost 750 people.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Michoacán blockades triggered by security operation against gang

By

MND Staff

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August 6, 2018

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A vehicle burns at a Michoacán blockade. — A vehicle burns on a Michoacán highway.

Groups of armed civilians blocked highways and burned vehicles in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán yesterday in an attempt to obstruct a joint state and federal security operation.

Nevertheless, at least 40 presumed criminals were arrested and an undisclosed quantity of drugs seized, including 35 grams of a substance suspected to be methamphetamine.

Blockades were reported in the municipalities of Apatzingán, Mujica and Buenavista, all of which are known for the presence of organized crime. A bus was among at least three vehicles set on fire.

Cells of the Los Viagra criminal gang are believed to be behind the current wave of violence and instability plaguing the Tierra Caliente region.

In response to the blockades, state police carried out flyovers and increased patrols of the region to break them up, search for criminal targets and provide security to residents.

State and federal security forces — including the army, navy and Federal Police — also arrested suspected gang members in the municipalities of Villa Jiménez, Sixto Verduzco, Zacapu, La Piedad, Puruándiro, Lázaro Cárdenas, Arteaga, Uruapan, Apatzingán and Zitácuaro.

The arrests were made as part of the security mission known as Operación Limpieza (Operation Clean-up).

The state’s Secretariat of Public Security said the operation will continue in Lázaro Cárdenas, Apatzingán and Zamora in order to deter crime and maintain order.

Michoacán Governor Silvano Aureoles Conejo said in a Twitter post that the government “won’t drop its guard” in the face of the resistance criminal groups are putting up against the security operation.

“With coordinated and strong actions against crime, we will continue cleansing the Tierra Caliente region [of organized crime] within the framework of Operación Limpieza,” he wrote.

In addition to the arrests, yesterday’s deployment of more than 1,000 security officials also seized seven vehicles that had been reported stolen.

A further 89 people were given infringement notices for public disturbance offenses.

The Tierra Caliente, which is also made up of municipalities in Guerrero and México state, is notorious for violent crime, drug trafficking and lawlessness.

In March this year, the army sent in more than 1,200 troops to Michoacán’s Tierra Caliente area in response to violence unleashed by the Los Viagra gang.

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

6-year-old’s arm amputated after reattachment rejected

By

César Hernández

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August 6, 2018

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The Monterrey hospital where the operation took place.

The six-year-old boy whose left arm was reattached just over a week ago in Monterrey, Nuevo León, had to undergo surgery again late last week to remove the limb after his body rejected it.

He remains in intensive care.

The boy lost his arm on July 29 after putting it inside an operating washing machine.

Fast action by his mother, a nurse, to contain the bleeding along with quick response by Red Cross paramedics have been credited with saving the boy’s life.

After a 10-hour procedure, doctors at the Hospital of Traumatology and Orthopedics No. 21 successfully reattached the amputated limb, which had been placed in ice immediately after the accident.

Five days after the reattachment surgery, the youngster contracted a fever and his arm began to turn purple. Physicians decided to amputate the limb in order to avoid further health complications.

A source close to the case told the newspaper El Universal that the boy’s arm was severely injured after getting caught in the washing machine, and that getting the arteries and tendons to bond was a complicated task.

Source: El Universal (sp)

10 bodies uncovered so far in Guadalajara hidden grave

By

César Hernández

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August 6, 2018

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Investigators outside the house where bodies were buried.

Ten bodies have been recovered from a clandestine grave in a house in Guadalajara since Friday after the owner alerted authorities of foul odors.

The bodies were discovered just a few streets from the city’s historic center in the Santa Elena de la Cruz neighborhood.

The owner was renovating the house in preparation for selling it when the fetid odors were detected from a patio area. On Friday, municipal police located one body at ground level and after some digging came across three more, all in an advanced state of decomposition.

Excavation with heavy machinery continued on Saturday, unearthing four more corpses. Sources close to the investigation told the newspaper El Universal that two more bodies were exhumed yesterday on the same property.

Autopsies are being carried out at the Guadalajara Forensic Medical Service (Semefo).

Until a week ago the house was rented to a man who one neighbor suspected of selling drugs.

Eighteen bodies were found in hidden graves at three different locations in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara during July. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is suspected of being responsible.

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