Sargassum a potential natural disaster for Caribbean beaches: researchers

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August 3, 2018

The mass arrival of sargassum on Mexico’s Caribbean coast beaches could cause a serious environmental disaster, researchers from the National Autonomous University (UNAM) have warned.

Brigitta Ine van Tussenbroek, a scientist at the university’s Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology, said that since 2015 the presence of the brown, smelly seaweed on beaches in Quintana Roo has doubled.

She explained that apart from being an annoyance for tourists, sargassum also affects oxygen levels in the water, brings contaminants and other microorganisms to the beach, changes the ecological balance of coral and causes beach erosion.

“There could be an ecological disaster in the short term and by extension also a socioeconomic disaster because all the industry here in Quintana Roo depends on tourism,” Ine van Tussenbroek said.

She said that climate change and pollution are possible causes of the growing quantities of sargassum washing up on beaches in the state, adding that changing ocean currents were also a factor.

Subtropical Storm Alberto left tonnes of sargassum on beaches in seven Quintana Roo municipalities in late May but since then the seaweed has continued to arrive on the state’s coastline, affecting popular tourist destinations such as Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

Martha García, also a UNAM researcher, said that no studies have been done about the effect of sargassum on human health but she explained that jellyfish sometimes hitch a ride with the seaweed and that they can inflict painful stings.

The sargassum also discolors the turquoise waters and white sand beaches that attract many tourists to Quintana Roo.

Both researchers agreed that academia, the private sector and government need to work together to address the problem.

“The sargassum problem that we’re experiencing at the moment in the state has already exceeded the individual response capacity of the municipalities or hotel owners. We need a coordinated effort to be able to mitigate it,” Ine van Tussenbroek said.

She added that studies completed by the Institute of Marine Sciences indicated that the owners of large hotels in Quintana Roo spend around 1 million pesos (US $54,000) per month to keep the beaches clean.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Landslide kills miners in Hidalgo

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Tony Richards

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August 2, 2018

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Rescue workers at the site of today's rockslide in Hidalgo.

At least five miners were killed today in a landslide at a marble mine in Francisco I. Madero, Hidalgo.

The slide occurred without warning at about 1:00pm in Dengantzha, when hundreds of tonnes of rocks fell, burying workers and heavy equipment beneath the rubble.

The cause has yet to be identified.

Rescue workers from three municipalities were having difficulty getting into the area due to the rough terrain.

Little information has been available due to poor communications in the area.

It remains unclear how many workers are trapped in the debris.

Source: Criterio Hidalgo (sp)

US airlines report slowdown in passenger growth to MX in first 6 months

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Tony Richards

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August 2, 2018

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A beach in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo: airlines report lower demand for beach destinations.

United States airlines are seeing a decline in the growth of passenger numbers for Mexican destinations, for which they blame travel warnings.

Numbers rose only 1.7% during the first six months, compared to double-digit growth in the same period last year. Three airlines — American, Frontier and United — actually recorded lower passenger numbers than last year.

The main reason is insecurity, said an airline spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The security warnings by the Department of State have had a negative influence.” Those warnings are in effect in at least 16 Mexican states.

United Airlines executive Andrew Nocella said flights to Mexico are suffering “a severe weakening in demand due to increased supply and travel warnings.”

On this side of the border, Aeroméxico general manager Andrés Conesa said the main reason for slower passenger growth was the presence of more airlines in the market following a 2014 bilateral treaty that brought deregulation.

The weakening demand is being seen chiefly in beach destinations, yet there are no travel warnings in effect for any of the popular ones.

Instead, there is more confusion than there are warnings.

A July 25 report by travel site Travel Market Report said there has been a disparity between what some news websites have reported (and what some social media posts have said) and the alerts by the State Department.

Those stories, which also appeared on several Mexican media sites as well, said security advisories had been updated for some tourist destinations. But in fact, the advisories have not been changed since January 10, a State Department official told Travel Market Report.

The site observed that the confusion is what U.S. authorities had hoped to avoid when it launched its new travel advisory ranking system earlier this year.

The Mexican government reported a sharp decline in U.S. visitors in April. Numbers arriving by air dropped 6.8% from the previous year to 845,000.

Source: Expansión (sp), Travel Market Report (en)

Italian oil company plans US $1.8-billion investment in oil fields

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MND Staff

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August 2, 2018

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An FPSO operated by Eni in the Barents Sea.

Italian oil and gas company Eni expects to invest almost US $1.8 billion in three Gulf of Mexico oil fields by 2040, according to a development plan approved by Mexico’s oil regulator this week.

The Amoca, Mizton and Tecoalli shallow water fields in Campeche Bay were discovered by state-oil company Pemex but put up for auction following the implementation of the 2013 energy reform, which opened the sector to foreign and private investment.

Mexico has now awarded more than 100 oil and gas contracts but Eni’s plan is only the second so far to get the green light from the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH).

The Italian giant, which is one of the world’s largest industrial companies, forecasts initial crude oil production of 8,000 barrels per day (bpd) in early 2019 from the Amoca and Mizton fields, a figure that will increase to 90,000 bpd by the end of 2020.

Production at the Tecoalli field is expected to start in 2024.

Eni’s development plan forecasts 32 wells, four platforms, a gas pipeline connecting to the coast of Tabasco and the acquisition of a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

The vessel will be used to separate and store oil and gas and eventually fill up tankers with crude. It will be based in the Mizton field.

Pemex will market the project’s crude output until the end of 2020 when Eni will have the option to sell crude directly from its FPSO vessel.

The company plans to invest US $232 million in the project through to the end of this year while its total value is estimated at around US $7.3 billion.

The CNH has estimated that the three-field project holds Mexico’s fifth-largest concentration of proven and probable reserves.

It is anticipated that the Mexican government will receive US $12.7 billion in taxes and royalty payments over the lifetime of Eni’s 25-year-contract, or about 92% of the estimated value of the oil and gas that will be produced.

Mexico has held a series of oil and gas auctions since the federal government ended a 75-year state monopoly in the energy sector five years ago. One in February this year attracted almost US $100 billion in potential investment.

President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said that his administration will review all oil contracts that have been awarded but incoming finance secretary Carlos Urzúa said last month that the contracts will be respected if no irregularities are found.

Source: Reuters (en)

12-year-old will begin studying biomedical physics at UNAM next week

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MND Staff

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August 2, 2018

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Carlos, 12, budding scientist. — UNAM student Carlos: 'My parents have done more than me . . . I just study and pass the exams.'

A 12-year-old boy from Cuernavaca, Morelos, will become the youngest ever degree-level student at the prestigious National Autonomous University (UNAM) after being admitted to the faculty of sciences.

Carlos Santamaría Díaz will begin a biomedical physics degree next week, UNAM said in a statement, after achieving a score of 105 out of 120 on his entrance examination.

The university said that Carlos “is a student of high cognitive ability” who “has defied time and administrative conventions.”

The budding scientist already has a diploma in biochemistry and molecular biology from the same university, which he completed at the age of nine.

Asked how he prepared to achieve his goal of entering university at such a young age, Carlos said that he always adopts a can-do attitude.

“I also studied on the internet, that’s how I’ve learned biology and calculus but you also need the support of your whole family, [that’s the] most important thing. My parents have done more than me, they’ve prepared everything and I just study and pass the exams. I put in the last little bit to move on to the next thing,” he explained.

“I just want to study. If they close the doors, I’ll go in through the windows,” Carlos said.

Biomedical physics graduates usually go on to careers in the medical research sector where they may focus on areas such as the early detection of diseases or the development of new medical treatments.

Carlos already has his university ID card and said he is looking forward to starting a new stage in his life but added, “I don’t want to have expectations because it’s almost always different.”

While he is well beyond his years in terms of education, Carlos still enjoys a pursuit common among many others his age: video games.

“Mario Bros is still a classic, the base for everything. I’d like to make a video game, I’ve worked on one, I had to stop for a while but I’ve been working on one about biochemistry . . .”

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

Water service restored after residents block Guerrero highway

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César Hernández

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August 2, 2018

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Yesterday's highway blockade between Acapulco and Zihuatanejo.

Residents of three neighborhoods in Atoyac de Álvarez, Guerrero, had gone without running water for almost two months. Yesterday, the service was reestablished but not until the angry citizens shut down traffic on the highway that connects the resort destinations of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo.

About 100 protesters set up an intermittent roadblock on federal highway 200 and demanded a meeting with Mayor Dámaso Pérez Organes.

A spokesman told reporters that water service had been cut off almost two months ago but the municipal water utility, Capasma, continued to charge for it.

Simón Ríos Suárez explained that the municipality was in arrears with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), which in response had shut down the distribution system.

Protesters met with the mayor at noon and later participated in negotiations between the mayor and CFE representatives.

The roadblock was lifted about 4:00pm after the municipality reached a settlement with the electricity commission.

Source: Síntesis de Guerrero (sp)

Pemex shale gas contract in doubt after López Obrador says no to fracking

By

César Hernández

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August 2, 2018

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The future of a US $617-million contract for the exploration and extraction of a shale gas deposit in Coahuila may be up in the air after president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador voiced his opposition this week to hydraulic fracturing.

State oil company Pemex announced four months ago it had signed a contract with Texas-based Lewis Energy to extract natural gas in the Olmos field in Hidalgo, Coahuila, part of the Burgos Basin, which is an extension of the Eagle Ford deposit north of the border.

It is expected to produce 117 million cubic feet of gas daily by 2021.

But when López Obrador was asked this week by reporters about the extraction process, commonly known as fracking, he had a blunt response: “We will not use that method to extract petroleum.”

Reyes Flores Hurtado, who will be the federal government’s general coordinator in Coahuila, stated that the environmental impact of fracking will be a priority item on the new administration’s agenda.

“No business, however profitable it may be, justifies putting sustainability at risk.”

He said the Energy Secretariat will have to analyze the contracts and obligations made to determine whether they can be halted.

A researcher at the University of Texas at San Antonio pronounced López Obrador’s declaration as mostly symbolic. Thomas Tunstall told the climate science-focused website DeSmogBlog that he thinks fracking is years away from getting off the ground in Mexico.

“Best estimates are that any unconventional oil and gas production activity in Mexico is at least five to 10 years away, no matter what government policy is.”

He said a ban on hydraulic fracturing would have no economic impact in the short term. Most of the petroleum industry’s focus is on untapped conventional oil and gas reserves, which Tunstall described as substantial.

Source: Vanguardia (sp)

6 arrested in Jalisco linked to 2015 helicopter attack

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César Hernández

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August 2, 2018

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A taxi burns during cartel violence in Jalisco in 2015.

Six men have been arrested in Jalisco for their alleged involvement in at least two violent attacks against security forces in 2015.

National Security Commissioner Renato Sales Heredia said the men were apprehended by Federal Police on Tuesday without firing a single shot on a ranch in San Martín de Zula in the municipality of Ocotlán.

The ranch had been identified as a center of operations of a group of alleged murderers and drug smugglers tied to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

“This group could well be part of the inner circle of the cartel’s leader,” said Sales of the six arrested men.

One of them used to be a municipal police officer in Zapotlanejo and had an outstanding arrest warrant for homicide.

Authorities suspect that the six were involved in several violent events in Jalisco state, including the March 2015 ambush of a Gendarmerie deployment in Ocotlán, in which five police were killed.

Two months after, the men were allegedly involved in the shooting down of an army helicopter that killed six soldiers and a Federal Police officer.

Source: Milenio (sp), Informador (sp)

New electricity commission chief will review tariffs, introduce ‘social’ rates

By

MND Staff

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August 2, 2018

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Manuel Bartlett is the new government's choice for head of the CFE.

The next director of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) plans to review power prices but will not seek to dismantle the 2013 energy reforms.

“We’re going to respect the law as it is; what we’re going to seek is for the commission to really compete, if they don’t let it compete, [electricity] rates go up. If it buys electricity and doesn’t generate [power], how is it going to compete?” Manuel Bartlett told reporters yesterday.

He explained that the Andrés Manuel López Obrador-led government would also seek to introduce “social rates” that could see people on low incomes obtain government subsidies to offset their electricity costs.

Bartlett said that lower rates would also be extended to the industrial sector and that a price review would focus particularly on states with hotter climates where people complain most about high electricity prices and, in some cases, refuse to pay.

“The market doesn’t pay much attention to that but we will,” he said.

López Obrador said earlier this week that his government will cancel debts owed to the CFE by people in “civil resistance” against the public utility.

In an interview with the newspaper El Universal, Bartlett responded to criticism about his appointment to head the CFE, which has included a plea from the Mexican Employers Federation (Coparmex) to the president-elect to reconsider his choice and a comment from López Obrador’s campaign manager, Tatiana Clouthier, that there were better people for the job.

“They say that I don’t have the [right] profile, that [the head of the CFE] should be an electrician, a technician, but if you look at who the directors of big companies are, it’s the other way around,” he said.

“The heads of big electric companies are not electricians . . . private businessmen lead them.”

He added that he didn’t appoint himself but was appointed by López Obrador, who has emphasized that Bartlett has been defending the national electrical industry for more than 15 years.

Asked whether he would consider relinquishing the appointment, the 82-year-old former governor of Puebla and federal interior secretary said that such a move would only serve to satisfy Coparmex and his other critics before deriding the idea as illogical.

Bartlett said the first thing to do at the CFE — Mexico’s second most powerful state-owned company after Pemex — will be to establish “why it lost 40 billion pesos (US $2.1 billion) in six months, why it has a growing debt, why it doesn’t generate electricity . . . and why it’s raising rates instead of lowering them.”

He also said that identifying corruption within the company, for which he charged the federal government has awarded it a “gold medal,” will be a priority, adding that all current contracts the CFE has signed will be reviewed.

Bartlett has been an outspoken critic of the energy reform introduced by the current federal government. It opened up the sector to private and foreign companies, ending a 75-year-long state monopoly.

He told El Universal that he saw himself as a “nationalist,” adding “obviously I’m not a neoliberal.”

However, he rejected that he was a dinosaur, a disparaging term in Mexican politics used to describe old-fashioned leaders from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which long dominated the political landscape but suffered a crushing defeat at the July 1 elections.

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

Police capture 10 suspected narcos in Morelos

By

Tony Richards

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August 2, 2018

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Farmworkers leader Ixpango: killed after calling for formation of self-defense forces.

Police in Morelos have arrested 10 suspected crime gang members connected with drug trafficking and homicides, including that of a farmworkers’ leader involved in the creation of community self-defense forces.

Security Commissioner Alberto Capella told a press conference today that the suspects have been linked to the crime gang leader known as El Ray, who is believed to be connected to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The gang is suspected of killing Romualdo Ixpango Merino after he announced the formation of self-defense groups in Ayala and Cuautla to protect communities against organized crime. His partially-burned body was found on Tuesday in Cuautla. He had disappeared on Saturday.

“It is believed that these subjects took the life of the farmworkers’ leader after he called on the municipalities of Ayala and Cuautla to rise up in arms against organized crime,” Capella said, because they saw him as a threat.

The 10 arrests were made in two operations, one in Chinameca, Ayala, and the other in Año de Juárez in Cuautla.

Capella said the primary objective of security forces is to arrest the gang leader known as El Ray.

Rising crime in Morelos, particularly extortion, has triggered the formation of self-defense forces in at least nine municipalities.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Sol de Cuernavaca (sp)