No money for Quintana Roo beach rehabilitation projects

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May 18, 2019

Quintana Roo projects would address beach erosion.

A two-year old plan to carry out four separate projects to rehabilitate eroded beaches in Quintana Roo can’t go ahead due to a lack of funding.

The projects, whose total cost is estimated to be 2.6 billion pesos (US $135.6 million), have been listed on the federal government’s online investment platform Mexico Projects Hub since 2017.

However, Quintana Roo Environment Secretary Alfredo Arellano Guillermo said that a coastal management trust created a year ago has failed to attract the funds required to complete work at four stretches of beach.

According to the Nature Conservancy, an environmental NGO, half of all beaches in Quintana Roo are in a poor state, many suffering from severe erosion.

One project would fill two chasms on a beach in north Cancún with 1.5 million cubic meters of sand. Construction of two concrete structures would help to maintain stability of the rehabilitated beach.

A second project in the same city would widen a beach using 2.5 million cubic meters of sand and erect a 125-meter seawall to prevent future erosion.

A third project calls for widening 750 meters of coastline on Cozumel, a small island located off the coast of Playa del Carmen. More than 270,000 cubic meters of sand would be required to extend the width of beaches to between 20 and 30 meters.

The fourth project at an unspecified location between Cancún and Playa del Carmen would dredge sand from the ocean in order to widen a five-kilometer stretch of beach.

The construction of shoreline stabilization structures is also proposed.

The four projects are currently awaiting evaluation by federal authorities to determine whether public money will fund their execution.

The Quintana Roo government has said that it will focus its efforts on carrying out small rehabilitation projects between kilometers 0 and 12 on the coastline of Cancún, where beach erosion is particularly bad.

Source: El Economista (sp)

Urban, tourism infrastructure improvements coming in Progreso, Yucatán

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Madison Koen

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May 18, 2019

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Infrastructure improvements are coming in Progreso. — Infrastructure improvements planned in Progreso.

The Yucatán government will spend 60 million pesos (US $3.1 million) on improvements in the port city of Progreso this year.

The infrastructure projects will include installing underground wiring, road repairs and improvements and the remodeling of Progreso’s House of Culture.

But that’s only the beginning.

At the inauguration of a sports event, Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal said President López Obrador had agreed to contribute between 300 million and 500 million pesos to infrastructure projects in Progreso next year.

“The most important thing is that it’s not just tourism infrastructure: it’s to improve roads, schools, potable water, distribution of electricity, and to be able to relocate many of those that live in makeshift housing near the swamp to more permanent housing made of concrete with stable roofs.”

The governor highlighted that these projects and more are also essential to increase tourism in the city, which currently receives 128 cruise ships and 440,000 tourists every year.

To that end, the state government will also direct some of the funds toward the construction of a tree-lined plaza with areas for recreation, the finishing of the city’s boardwalk and the construction of a pedestrian-only street to connect the boardwalk to Progreso’s commercial center.

The city will also use the money to install underground utility cables, improve water and drainage systems and plant trees to line roadways.

Source: SIPSE (sp), Diario de Yucatán (sp)

Jalisco search yields 20 mutilated bodies, three captives

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Simon Schatzberg

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May 18, 2019

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Military personnel have secured a safe house in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco, where they found the remains of about 20 people.

The soldiers also rescued three people who were being held captive.

The incident began when an army patrol spotted a man wearing handcuffs on the side of the road in San Sebastián el Grande. He told the soldiers he had escaped from a nearby property where he was being held captive.

When the patrol approached the property, armed civilians began firing at them. After a firefight, the soldiers took control of the property.

Three individuals fled the scene in a pickup truck toward Santa Anita, also in the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, and three others were arrested. There were no casualties in the operation.

[wpgmza id=”189″]

Soldiers found 18 plastic bags containing human remains on the farm where the safe house was located, as well as 200-liter drums containing mutilated limbs, from which they concluded that about 20 people could have been killed there.

But state Attorney General Gerardo Octavio Solís emphasized that the number of victims still cannot be conclusively stated.

“We can’t say with complete certainty the number of bodies that were found at this property,“ he said. “But we’re working with forensic scientists to figure out how many deceased people could be here.”

Source: El Financiero (sp), Animal Político (sp), La Jornada (sp)

US agrees to lift metal tariffs, opening the door to ratifying trade agreement

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MND Staff

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May 18, 2019

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Tariffs on steel and aluminum are to be withdrawn. — If Sheinbaum doesn't discuss on aluminum, steel and vehicles

The United States government agreed yesterday to lift its tariffs on Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum, removing a major obstacle for the ratification of the new North American trade deal.

In exchange, Mexico and Canada pledged to remove their retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. products.

“We’ve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and we’ll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs,” United States President Donald Trump said.

His administration imposed tariffs of 25% and 10% on Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum last June on national security grounds, angering its North American trade partners and complicating the trilateral negotiations to reach a trade pact to replace the quarter-century-old NAFTA.

As part of the tariff removal agreement, Mexico and Canada must adopt strict monitoring and enforcement measures to prevent subsidized Chinese steel entering the United States via their territory. In exchange, the United States said it would lift its tariffs in 48 hours.

No quotas will apply to Mexican and Canadian metal imports to the United States but if volumes significantly exceed historical levels, the U.S. reserves the right to impose new tariffs following consultation with the exporting country.

Trump said that the removal of tariffs paved the way for the U.S. Congress to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which despite a range of difficulties leaders of the three countries signed last November.

“That deal is going to be a fantastic deal for our country. Hopefully Congress will pass the USMCA quickly,” he said.

The Mexican government described the agreement reached with the United States as “beneficial for both parties” and said that its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products, including pork, apples, cheese and bourbon, will be lifted once the metal duties are formally eliminated.

Economy Secretary Graciela Márquez said in an interview that the deal will allow Mexico’s steel and aluminum industries to be competitive again, while foreign affairs undersecretary Jesús Seade wrote on Twitter that Congress could now proceed towards ratifying the trilateral trade deal.

“With great enthusiasm, we welcome the decision of the United States president and the U.S. trade representative [Robert Lighthizer] to eliminate the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada. This action opens the way to advance towards the ratification of the USMCA,” Seade said.

He also said difficulties in the relationship between the U.S. and China have helped Washington recognize the importance of a united North American trade bloc.

President López Obrador today credited his negotiators. “. . . it was a triumph for diplomacy and the negotiators of the government of Mexico and furthermore we even gave a little help to the government of Canada.”

Mexico’s steel exports to the U.S. did not suffer as a result of the tariffs. The U.S. Census Bureau said they were up 10% last year.

As part of the deal struck with their largest trading partner, Mexico and Canada both agreed to withdraw all complaints filed against the United States at the World Trade Organization.

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

Giant fans to relieve CDMX pollution? Old idea resurfaces but is rejected again

By

Simon Schatzberg

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May 18, 2019

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mexico city fans — This meme appeared a few years ago when the fans idea was revisited. But this is not exactly what the original proponent had in mind.

Could giant-sized fans blow away Mexico City’s contaminated air? Not likely, says the mayor.

Claudia Sheinbaum ruled out a proposal to install fans to disperse pollution in the city on Friday, saying the possibility had been seriously considered.

“It’s an option that has been studied a lot, and it’s not a viable option,” she said. “In reality, to reduce pollution, we need to address the sources of pollution, which in the case of the metropolitan area has to do with vehicles, industry, and recently, high temperatures and wildfires.”

The idea originated in the 1990s when it was proposed by Heberto Castillo, an accomplished engineer and left-wing activist.

Castillo, who was running for the Senate at the time, described his proposal in an article for El Universal on February 24, 1992. Admitting that it sounded absurd, Castillo described a system of three tunnels that would run under the mountains, connecting the Valley of México with the valleys of Toluca, Cuernavaca and Cuautla.

Castillo said that running fans in the tunnels for 60 hours straight and then for one hour a day would keep air pollution levels at under 100 Imeca points. The Environmental Commission of the Megalopolis declares an Environmental Contingency when pollution levels reach 150. In the early ‘90s, it was common for air pollution to rise above 300 points.

Castillo conceded that such a system would not address the root cause of air pollution, but defended it by saying that it also would not preclude other efforts to fight it.

“For example, when a kitchen fills up with smoke, using an exhaust fan doesn’t resolve the problem of the creation of smoke, but it does allow the housewife to breathe clean air,” he wrote.

He estimated that such a project would cost around US $100 million, only about 2.2% of the city government’s budget for the remainder of the term.

Heberto Castillo died five years later, in 1997. He is better remembered for being a founding member of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).

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

Kingpins: suspect judge suspended; ex-Nayarit governor defends his record

By

MND Staff

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May 18, 2019

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From left, the judge, CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and the ex-governor.

A judge accused of collusion with drug cartels has been suspended after he was placed on the United States Kingpin List, while a former governor also designated as corrupt by U.S. authorities has defended his record in office.

The United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions yesterday on Jalisco-based federal magistrate Isidro Avelar Gutiérrez and former Nayarit governor Roberto Sandoval Castañeda.

Both men have received bribes from drug trafficking organizations including the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the Treasury Department said.

Avelar is accused of releasing senior members of the CJNG in exchange for bribes. Mexican authorities froze his bank accounts earlier this week.

After yesterday’s designation by the United States, Mexico’s Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) announced in a statement that Avelar had been suspended without salary for six months.

The CJF explained that the decision was made because of indications that “he could be obtaining part of his wealth through operations with resources of illegal origin.”

Avelar’s frozen accounts held 50 million pesos (US $2.6 million) and according to federal lawmakers, he spent 18.7 million pesos on property between 2010 and 2016.

The CJF said it would carry out its own “exhaustive investigation” into Avelar’s conduct as a judge and stressed that it would do so “with strict adherence to due process, the presumption of innocence and in accordance with the constitution.”

Meanwhile, Sandoval – whose alleged corruption also included the misappropriation of state assets – has denied that he and his administration committed any wrongdoing while in office between 2011 and 2017.

“Every authority that has requested information from us about different matters has found truthful data that demonstrate with transparency . . . that I, as a civil servant, managed a government in adherence with the law,” he said on Twitter.

The former Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governor is currently under investigation for corruption by authorities in Nayarit, where properties he owns have been seized, and the federal Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF).

Sandoval asserted that the issues raised both by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the UIF “will be explained as we have always done with the peace of mind of having worked correctly.”

The ex-governor – whose wife and adult children were also designated by the U.S. for being complicit with Sandoval by holding his “ill-gotten assets” in their names – said he deeply regretted the “unfortunate moment we’re going through as a family.”

“But my faith in God and my determined patience to overcome obstacles reaffirm my conviction of who I am, what I did, and what I didn’t do.”

Source: Milenio (sp), Reforma (sp)

High-pressure system abates, Mexico City lifts Environmental Contingency

By

Simon Schatzberg

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May 18, 2019

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Environmental commission chief Páramo announces lifting of the Environmental Contingency. — Environmental commission chief Páramo announces lifting of the contingency.

The Environmental Commission of the Megalopolis (Came) lifted the Extraordinary Environmental Contingency on Friday because of falling levels of ozone and PM2.5 pollution.

At 9:00am Saturday, Imeca air quality index levels were at a maximum of 90 points in Mexico City, which is considered regular.

The commission had been operating without a director until this week, when the city appointed Víctor Hugo Páramo to the position.

At an event to mark the start of his new job, Páramo noted that weather conditions will be favorable for the dispersal of pollution over the weekend.

He said the high-pressure system that has been preventing the dispersal of pollution in central Mexico for several days has lost intensity and moved towards the south coast.

“We predict that on Saturday and Sunday, instead of having winds coming from the Guerrero coast, we’ll have winds from the north, which means the wind won’t be pushing smoke from the Guerrero coast,” he said. “It’s very likely that conditions will be more favorable and that we will be finished with this heavy pollution episode.”

“Hoy no Circula” will be applied normally starting Saturday, although 16 municipalities in the Valley of Toluca are still under an Environmental Contingency.

Mexico City has been suffering under high levels of PM2.5 pollution since last Saturday because of a series of forest fires and the high-pressure system. Came declared the Extraordinary Environmental Contingency on Tuesday.

During the four days of the contingency, 800,000 vehicles were taken off the road, representing 23% of the four million vehicles that circulate in the Valley of Mexico.

The Mexican Automotive Industry Association (AMIA) said in a press release that reducing the average age of vehicles used in Mexico City would help improve the air quality situation, because older vehicles contribute significantly to air pollution. The average age of vehicles used in the Mexico City area is 17 years.

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

Employment situation critical for 10 million, highest ever recorded

By

MND Staff

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May 17, 2019

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Critical employment conditions — Figures for the first quarter since 2015.

Unemployment rose to its highest level in two years in the first quarter of 2019, while more than 10 million Mexicans with jobs are in a precarious employment situation, according to the National Statistics Institute (Inegi).

Just under 1.9 million people were unemployed at the end of March, an increase of more than 170,000 compared to the same month a year earlier. The unemployment rate increased to 3.5%, Inegi said.

Héctor Magaña, a professor and researcher at the Tec. de Monterrey university in México state, said that government layoffs and adjustments in certain areas of the private sector contributed to the higher unemployment rate.

Tabasco had the highest jobless rate, with 7.6% of the population of working age people unemployed, followed by Mexico City, with a rate of 4.7%; Durango, 4.6%: México state, 4.3%; and Coahuila and Sonora, both 4.2%.

Guerrero, Morelos and Oaxaca had the lowest unemployment rates, with just 1.8% of people in each state unemployed. Yucatán, San Luis Potosí and Michoacán followed with rates of 1.9%, 2.1% and 2.3% respectively.

In addition to the unemployed, Inegi said that there are a record 10.3 million people – 19% of the total working population – who are either underemployed or work regular or long hours but earn very low to low salaries, making their employment situation critical.

The cohort includes people who work less than 35 hours a week even though they want to work more, full-time workers earning less than the minimum wage (around US $160 per month) and employees whose salaries are below the equivalent of two minimum wages despite working more than 48 hours a week.

The states with the highest percentage of workers enduring critical employment conditions are: Chiapas, 42%; Oaxaca, 28%; Tlaxcala, 27%; Veracruz, 26%; Guerrero, 26%; and Baja California, Tamaulipas and Campeche, 25%.

An additional 27.8 million employees, or just over half of all Mexican workers, earn between one and two monthly salaries. As they work regular hours, their employment situation is not considered precarious by Inegi.

The percentage of people earning between three and five minimum salaries – the latter is 15,400 pesos or about US $800 a month – declined by 30% in the first quarter of 2019, statistics show, meaning that 6.3 million employees, or 11.6% of the working population fall into that bracket.

José Luis de la Cruz, director of the Institute for Industrial Development and Economic Growth (IDIC), said that a slowing of the economy is limiting the possibility of people finding well-paid jobs and working as many hours as they would like.

He said that employment in the service sector rose in the first quarter but those jobs typically don’t pay well.

“Some workers live on tips because their salaries are [so] low . . .” de la Cruz said.

Others are forced to move into in Mexico’s gargantuan informal economy.

Statistics show that the informal sector grew by 2.7% in the first quarter and now employs 30.8 million people, or 56.9% of all Mexican workers.

At his morning press conference today, President López Obrador rejected the Inegi employment figures, asserting that they are incorrect because they don’t take into account jobs created by the government’s apprenticeship and agricultural schemes.

“I have information that there are currently more job opportunities . . . For example, there are 500,000 young people that are in the Youths Building the Future program and 200,000 planters,” he said.

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

Despite debt forgiveness, many in Tabasco will not pay electric bills

By

MND Staff

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May 17, 2019

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Conditions can be rough in Tabasco, where resistance to paying for electricity continues.

More than half a million residents of Tabasco were told this week that 11 billion pesos (US $573.5 million) they owe to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will be forgiven and that effective June 1 they will be charged the lowest rate in the country.

But the civil resistance movement that led to the accord is not over.

Announced Tuesday by Governor Adán Augusto López Hernández, forgiveness of the debt through an agreement between the state government and the CFE was supposed to represent a new beginning for Tabasco, where 520,000 people joined a resistance movement against the public utility that began in 1995.

But some Tabasco residents maintain that their resistance has not ended and say they will not pay future electricity bills. Others say they won’t pay them unless debt cancelation is extended to small businesses or until members of the government personally explain to them how the new electricity rate will work.

In Buena Vista, an indigenous Chontal town considered the birthplace of the resistance movement – where residents first clashed with the CFE over excessive price rises in 1990 and have even detained utility employees – residents offered reasons why they won’t pay to the newspaper El Universal.

“Take this information to [President] Andrés Manuel. He started the resistance here and we’re holding out . . . Tell him that Buena Vista and [the nearby community of] Tamulté de las Sabanas will continue to resist,” said Primitivo Hernández Hernández.

“There’s no work, where are we going to get money for food, for school for the children, where are we going to get money to pay for electricity, the people here won’t enter [into the new agreement],” he added.

Another resident, José Cruz Hernández, said: “[They have to] explain how this preferential rate deal is going to work. Until a government committee comes and explains . . . everything . . . we won’t enter into it.”

In Tamulté de las Sabanas, a small town around 40 kilometers from the state capital Villahermosa, Ramiro Hernández Valencia said it was unfair that small businesses were excluded from the deal struck between the governor and the CFE.

“. . . I’m not happy, I’m not convinced, resistance will continue here if they don’t give a clean slate and a [cheaper] electricity rate to everyone,” he said.

Local official Saturnino Hernández Hernández said that people are waiting anxiously for the new electricity rate to take effect, adding that López Obrador should visit Tabasco to meet with residents and explain to them exactly how it will work.

People currently receive bimonthly electricity bills of as much as 2,000 pesos (US $104) but many residents, most of whom earn their living from farming or fishing, can’t afford to pay them, he said.

López Obrador arrived in Tabasco today, where he called on residents to be “good citizens” and pay their
CFE bills. The utility, he said, belongs to the people and needs resources to continue providing service.

“. . . it’s not like before when the governors robbed all the money, now there is no corruption . . . [whereas] before those at the top helped themselves with the big spoon, dedicating themselves only to obtaining privileges of all kinds, they didn’t even pay taxes.”

Electricity charges should be seen as “contributions” to the development of the country, he said, rather than “taxes.”

Source: El Universal (sp)

Ex-Nayarit governor, sitting judge sanctioned by US for corruption, cartel links

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MND Staff

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May 17, 2019

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The United States government imposed sanctions today on 11 Mexicans, including a sitting federal judge and a former governor, for their alleged involvement in corruption and links to drug trafficking.

The Department of Treasury said in a statement that Judge Isidro Avelar Gutiérrez was designated under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Act because he received bribes from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Los Cuinis drug trafficking gang in exchange for providing favorable judicial rulings to their senior members.

It is the first time that a member of Mexico’s federal judiciary has been placed on the kingpin list. Avelar’s access to any financial assets he holds in the United States will be blocked.

Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) announced earlier this week that they had frozen the Jalisco-based judge’s bank accounts and filed a criminal complaint against him with the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR).

Treasury said that former Nayarit governor Roberto Sandoval Castañeda was also designated for having engaged in an array of corruption activities such as the misappropriation of state assets and the receipt of bribes from Mexican drug traffickers, including the CJNG.

Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Department of Treasury, said that United States authorities coordinated with their Mexican counterparts to make the new designations.

“Officials such as Isidro Avelar Gutiérrez and Roberto Sandoval Castañeda callously enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens,” she said.

“Whether they are receiving bribes from narcotics trafficking organizations or engaging in a variety of other illicit activities, these and other corrupt officials will face serious consequences including being cut off from the U.S. financial system.”

Treasury said that six other Mexican individuals and six Mexican entities linked to the CJNG or Los Cuinis were designated under the Kingpin Act, while three of Sandoval’s family members and four entities with links to the ex-governor were also named.

Among those designated was Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, a senior CJNG member and boss of the Puerto Vallarta plaza who is known as “El Sapo” (The Toad). Treasury said he and his subordinates are responsible for kidnappings and numerous killings.

Mendoza’s wife, Liliana Rosas Camba, was also designated because she “manages business activities and launders drug proceeds on behalf of her husband and CJNG.”

Édgar Veytia was attorney general under Sandoval. He is now in a US prison on drug trafficking charges.

The six designated entities with cartel links are all located in the Guadalajara area. They include three architecture and real estate firms, an organic products company, a women’s clothing store and a restaurant management company.

The wife, adult son and adult daughter of Sandoval, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governor of Nayarit between 2011 and 2017, were also designated, Treasury said.

“Sandoval Castañeda and his family members continue to enjoy the illicit benefits from his corruption schemes,” the statement said.

Édgar Veytia, attorney general of Nayarit during Sandoval’s administration, is in prison in the United States after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges in January.

The four entities that were designated because they are owned or controlled by Sandoval or a family member were a butcher business, a clothing store, a real estate company and a land-holding foundation.

Treasury said that the access of all designated individuals and entities to any financial assets and property they own in the United States will be blocked.

The designations are not criminal charges but rather administrative actions and don’t guarantee that authorities will seek to prosecute those named.

Sandoval denied today that he had any connection with the Jalisco cartel and said he was innocent of the accusations.

Mexican soccer star Rafael Márquez and singer Julión Álvarez were placed on the United States kingpin list in 2017 but neither faced charges in Mexico.

Source: Reforma (sp), Reuters (en)