Missing persons total has risen to 37,435, up 40% in 4 years

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June 4, 2018

A demonstration by relatives displaying photos of missing family members.

There are now 37,435 missing persons in Mexico, according to the Interior Secretariat (Segob), 40% more than the number reported in 2014.

Investigations for the vast majority of cases (36,265) are considered the responsibility of state authorities and of that figure, just five states account for more than half of all disappearances.

Tamaulipas is the worst affected, with almost 6,000 unsolved missing persons cases, followed by the state of México with 3,890, Jalisco with 3,362, Sinaloa with 3,027 and Nuevo León 2,895.

The statistics were compiled by the National Public Security System (SNSP) — an administrative organ of Segob — and include cases still unresolved as of April 30.

The figure is just over 15,000 higher than the 22,322 missing persons that federal officials reported in August 2014 and almost 4,000 more than the number of cases reported in June last year.

At the end of 2017, the official National Register of Disappeared and Missing Persons indicated that the fate or whereabouts of 33,482 people remained unknown.

But an international human rights group suspects the numbers are in fact higher.

Amnesty International said in January that “the actual numbers are probably higher because the official figures exclude federal cases that occurred before 2014 and cases classified as other criminal offenses such as hostage-taking or human trafficking.”

It also said that “investigations into cases of missing persons continue to be flawed and authorities generally fail to immediately initiate searches for the victims.”

Cases under investigation by federal authorities have also risen during recent years to the current figure of 1,170, with just three states accounting for 60% of the total.

Guerrero has the highest number of unresolved investigations, with 325, including the 43 teaching students from Ayotzinapa who disappeared in the city of Iguala on September 26, 2014.

Veracruz has the second highest number of cases under investigation by the federal Attorney General’s office (PGR), with 207, followed by Tamaulipas, with 141.

Security forces operating in all three states have been suspected of perpetrating enforced disappearances.

An investigation by Amnesty International determined that police in Chilpancingo forcibly disappeared five young men in the last week of December.

Journalists, activists, international experts, victims’ relatives and members of the general public have also questioned the role of the army in the disappearance of the 43 students.

In Veracruz, the state government has formally accused four high-ranking former security officials and 15 police officers of the forced disappearances of 15 people during the administration of ex-governor Javier Duarte.

More recently, the United Nations (UN) said last month that there are “strong indications” that federal security forces were responsible for the disappearance of 23 people, including at least five minors, in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, between February and March this year.

Victims’ family members have claimed that the navy was involved. The day after the UN released its report, the PGR announced it would investigate the disappearances.

Of the total number of missing persons, statistics show that six out of every 10 disappeared persons are aged between 15 and 39.

The highest number of missing persons cases corresponds to the 15-19 age bracket, followed by 25-29 and 20-24. Together they account for 14,649 cases or 39% of the total.

There are also 530 missing children aged up to four years, just over 500 missing five to nine-year-olds and almost 2,000 disappeared persons aged between 10 and 14.

Around three-quarters of the missing persons are male and most cases correspond to Mexican nationals, but there are also 384 missing foreigners and a further 2,056 cases where the origin of the disappeared person is not specified.

The number of missing persons has continued to rise this year despite President Enrique Peña Nieto promulgating the General Law on Forced Disappearances in November.

The law was designed to better fund and improve search efforts for the thousands of people across Mexico who have been reported as missing or forcibly disappeared and was backed by an initial 500-million-peso budget (US $25 million at today’s exchange rate).

Source: Vanguardia (sp)

Oaxaca governor announces security operation after candidate killed

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César Hernández

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June 4, 2018

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Yesterday's funeral for Pamela Terán in Juchitán.

A new security force has started operating in Juchitán, Oaxaca, as a pilot program after the murder of an election candidate and two others on Saturday in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec city.

Governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa announced that the 500-member Special Security Force Oaxaca began operating yesterday in the isthmus region. It consists of personnel from the army, navy, Federal Police, the Center for Investigation and National Security, the Attorney General’s office and state officials from the Secretariat of Public Security, the Attorney General’s office and the Interior Secretariat.

The new force was created the day after Pamela Terán Pineda, a candidate for municipal council in Juchitán, was assassinated.

She died along with a photographer and her driver as they were leaving a bar in the city center.

Federal crime data has ranked the municipality as the ninth most violent in the country.

Murat said the Special Security Force Oaxaca is a single-command force that will start operating from Juchitán but be capable of traveling to other parts of the state “to recover the peace.”

The message is clear, he continued, explaining that there will be zero tolerance toward organized crime.

At least 1,000 people attended yesterday’s funeral procession for Terán, a doctor by profession, and a community activist who worked on behalf of the indigenous community and founded and directed two community organizations, Despierta Juchitán and Fundación Meraki.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Striking teachers march in capital, causing traffic chaos

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César Hernández

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June 4, 2018

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Teachers march in Mexico City this morning.

Teachers are now on strike in four states and many are marching today in Mexico City, creating traffic chaos in several locations.

The week-long teachers’ strike in Oaxaca has spread to Guerrero, Michoacán and Chiapas and will continue indefinitely to press for negotiations with the federal government to terminate the 2013 education reforms.

The dissident CNTE union anticipated that 12,000 teachers would arrive in Mexico City today where it has threatened to set up a camp in the streets around La Ciudadela park in the borough of Cuauhtémoc. The CNTE set up a camp there in 2016 and remained for three months.

The teachers had planned three marches for today in the capital, all of which will converge in front of the building housing the Secretariat of the Interior. Chaotic traffic conditions were being reported in various parts of the city.

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Among the teachers’ demands is the reinstatement of close to 600 of their number who were laid off when they refused to write evaluation tests. Teachers in Oaxaca have additional demands.

Wilbert Santiago Valdivieso of Oaxaca local Section 22 said that one is the release of the union’s bank accounts, which were frozen in 2015 and contained about 136 million pesos (US $8.6 million at the time).

The CNTE said 47 busloads of teachers left Oaxaca yesterday and were expected in the capital early this morning, along with others from Chiapas, Guerrero and Michoacán. But the Oaxaca caravan has been slowed by police action.

It was first halted by police last night in the city of Puebla and again early this morning in Mexico City, triggering accusations by the union that the federal government was determined to prevent the teachers’ demonstrations and strike action.

“Watch out, comrades! Total repudiation of the criminalization of protest!” Santiago said this morning on Twitter.

In Chiapas, a union spokesman said 20,000 schools were closed today by striking teachers while in Oaxaca last week’s blockades continued. Access to both the airport and the central bus station was blocked this morning.

The federal Education Secretariat warned today it would dock the pay of teachers who missed classes.

Source: El Universal (sp), El País (sp), El Sol de México (sp)

UNAM researchers develop tortilla to counter obesity

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César Hernández

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June 3, 2018

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Is it possible to fight obesity by eating more tortillas? Students and faculty at the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM) think so, as long as the tortillas are the healthy ones they have developed.

Their tortillas are made from dough loaded with proteins, calcium, fiber, folic acid, probiotics and prebiotics and, their inventors say, will not only help people who are overweight but those suffering from malnutrition as well.

They claim that eating a single one of their tortillas offers the same benefits as drinking a glass of milk.

The students and academics made use of several fermenting processes that rendered lactic bacteria and several organic acids that give the tortilla another desirable characteristic: a long shelf life.

It will last for up to two months at room temperature, sealed in its original packaging, or more than three months under refrigeration, making it an ideal product to distribute in remote communities where refrigeration is not common.

The double-fermenting process of the raw tortilla dough also renders it soft and elastic. The students found that once it is cooked in the shape of a tortilla and stored for a few months, it can recover its original consistency and texture if a few drops of water are sprinkled on it before reheating.

This tortilla is also a bit sweeter in taste than its conventional counterpart, making it a tasty complement for both sweet and savory meals.

UNAM researcher Raquel Gómez Pliego is at the helm of the fortified tortilla project. She asserted that the high content of probiotics and prebiotics can aid with the discomfort caused by conditions such as diabetes mellitus, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or cancer.

The process of preparing the new fortified tortilla is currently being patented by the Mexican government.

No date has been set for the product to reach store shelves, but sooner might be better. According to the National Institute of Public Health, 70% of Mexicans are overweight and the primary cause of death is diabetes.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Governor highlights infrastructure projects for Mazatlán

By

MND Staff

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June 3, 2018

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More infrastructure projects are on the way for Mazatlán, the governor of Sinaloa has announced.

Quirino Ordaz Coppel said this week that during the city’s recent travel trade show President Enrique Peña Nieto offered support to replace the seaside malecón’s more than 40-year-old pavement.

Speaking at a Mexican Chamber of the Construction Industry (CMIC) event, the governor explained that the 100-million-peso (US $5-million) plan would also include the repair of the esplanade’s drainage system along the entirety of its 21 kilometers.

“We have to cross our fingers and have trust and faith that this project can be completed, I’m almost certain that it will be. It’s already at the Secretariat of Finance and the president already gave his instructions . . .” Ordaz said.

In the short term, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governor said the first lady and national president of the DIF family services agency, Angélica Rivera de Peña, will officially open a new federally-funded CREE rehabilitation center in three months.

The new Mazatlán General Hospital will also be completed by the start of next year, Ordaz said, and the wastewater treatment plant in the neighborhood of Urias will be expanded.

The latter project will allow the closure of the El Creston plant, which is located below the city’s famous lighthouse.

The governor added that the construction of a new baseball stadium in the city helped Mazatlán secure the 2020 Caribbean Series baseball tournament which will feature champion teams from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Mexico.

In addition, Ordaz said that 400 million pesos (US $20 million) are being spent to build the new aquarium at the city’s central park.

Finally, the governor said that construction work on the 600-million-peso Mazatlán aqueduct is continuing with a scheduled completion date of 2019. The project will guarantee the city’s water supply for the next 25 years, Ordaz said.

This year’s Tianguis Turístico was held in the Mazatlán International Center, an innovative and modern venue that was built in less than a year.

Source: Punto (sp)

Bus-truck collision kills 11, injures 12 in México state

By

Tony Richards

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June 3, 2018

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The wreckage of a bus and truck in the accident that killed 11 yesterday.

The “highway of death” in México state lived up to its name yesterday when 11 people died in a collision between a bus and a truck. Twelve people were injured.

The accident occurred about 9:45am on the Texcoco-Calpulalpan highway near Santa Inés, Tepetlaoxtoc.

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Local residents later seized four buses and used them to block the highway to demand that the bus company, Serutex, assume responsibility for the medical costs of yesterday’s victims and compensation for the families of the dead.

Residents say they warned federal transportation authorities in April that the stretch of road where yesterday’s collision occurred is dangerous and frequently the scene of accidents.

The situation has become worse in recent months, they say, because of an increase in truck traffic delivering construction materials to the site of Mexico City’s new airport.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Heat wave causes 3 deaths, economic boost, melting traffic lights

By

MND Staff

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June 2, 2018

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A traffic light in Torreón, Coahuila, melts in the heat.

Parts of Mexico continue to swelter in a record-breaking, prolonged heat wave that has caused at least three deaths, given a boost to the economy and even caused traffic lights to melt in two northern states.

Authorities in Chihuahua — where temperatures have been as high as 48 C — said an 18-year-old indigenous Tarahumara man and a 17-year-old male died due to heat-related illnesses.

A 33-year-old homeless man also died in Saltillo, Coahuila, due to heatstroke.

According to the National Meteorological Service (SMN), temperatures of up to 49 are expected to continue in the north of the country until next Tuesday, June 5.

“. . . What we’re observing is that as the heat wave progresses, the high [atmospheric] pressure is not decreasing, so it’s going to strengthen in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Léon, Durango and Zacatecas,” SMN general coordinator Alberto Hernández told a press conference.

He added that several states broke temperature records for the month of May, which in two cases go back more than 50 years.

Hidalgo exceeded its previous May record, set in 1964, Chihuahua broke its 1978 mark and Sinaloa beat the high recorded in 1961.

Zacatecas and Jalisco also topped their previous May highs, recorded in 2016 and 2013 respectively.

On May 30, Civil Protection authorities declared extraordinary emergency situations in 573 municipalities in 22 states due to the extreme conditions.

Mexico City also experienced high temperatures this week, although with maximums of around 32 it didn’t come close to matching the scorching conditions in other parts of the country.

That didn’t stop sales of cold beverages, ice creams, popsicles and other items popular during hot weather to spike to such an extent that one Mexico City business chamber estimated the economic spillover effect would be 260 million pesos (US $13 million).

Some record-breaking temperatures in the past.

In a statement, Canacope said the heat had led people to make unanticipated purchases that averaged 60 pesos (US $3) per person this week.

Energy consumption has also risen. It was up by an estimated 7% in the capital this week as people have switched on their fans and air conditioning systems.

While many people across the country might have felt like they were going to melt this week, traffic lights in the cities of Torreón, Coahuila, and nearby Gómez Palacio, Durango, did just that.

Temperatures that soared above 40 caused the plastic casing in which the traffic signals are set to warp, both in the downtown of the former city and on a main road in the latter, but the lights continued to function regardless.

More extreme weather could be on the way next week with the arrival of a tropical cyclone.

Civil Protection general director Ricardo de la Cruz Musalem warned that stronger hurricanes can be provoked by extended hot spells such as Mexico has experienced this week, and they may be more likely to impact Mexico’s coastlines.

The National Water Commission (Conagua) is predicting 32 tropical cyclones will affect Mexico this hurricane season, four more than the average recorded in recent years.

Source: Sipse (sp), Noticias 24 (sp), Vanguardia (sp), López-Dóriga (sp)

3 weeks later, Chiapas official released along with development funds

By

César Hernández

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June 2, 2018

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The prisoner González yesterday, anxiously awaiting his release.

The Chiapas municipal official — or the husband of one, it’s not clear which — was finally released today three weeks after he was detained by residents of the northern municipality of El Bosque in a dispute over government funding.

An agreement was signed Wednesday that was supposed to give Ramiro González Patishtán his freedom after he was apprehended May 13 in the indigenous Tzotzil community of Los Plátanos.

But a a video surfaced yesterday in which González once again issued a plea to the state government to intervene and speed up the release of the withheld funds.

“I continue to suffer here in Los Plátanos, I am still tied up,” said González in the short clip.

Relief finally came this morning when the municipal development funds, reported to be in the neighborhood of 15 million pesos (US $750,000), were released.

A video earlier this week showed González tied to a stake with a pile of kindling at the bottom. He said his captors had threatened to burn him alive.

State Interior Secretary Mario Carlos Culebro Velasco said on Wednesday that an agreement had been reached and the prisoner was to be released on Friday when the municipality delivered the allocated funds.

But González was forced to wait a few more hours to be freed.

Source: Reforma (sp)

‘Queen of the South,’ alleged fuel thief and narco, captured in Puebla

By

César Hernández

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June 2, 2018

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The Queen of the South, suspected leader of a gang of pipeline thieves, drug dealers and murderers, was captured this week in Puebla.

Liliana Hernández Carlos has been linked to the gruesome discovery last week of human remains that had been eaten by dogs and the executions of a man and of a 12-year-old girl in the city of Puebla. The girl had been shot five times.

In the case of the first murder, a message was left at the scene: “This is so you learn not to interfere with the Queen of the South.”

Four men who were with Hernández were also arrested.

Hernández’s star rose last year after the death of Jesús Martín “Kalimba” Mirón López in October.

Mirón was wanted by security forces but was killed in an internal Jalisco New Generation Cartel quarrel. At the time of his assassination in Puebla he was recovering from surgery that had altered his face and removed his fingerprints.

The power vacuum was soon filled by Hernández who allegedly took over fuel theft in the municipality of Santa María Xonacatepec.

State authorities said she controlled retail drug sales in the southern part of the city of Puebla, which supposedly led to her adopting her nickname, a reference to the principal character in a book and television crime drama series of the same name.

Source: Sipse (sp), Infobae (sp)

Gunmen kill six traffic police officers in Guanajuato

By

MND Staff

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June 2, 2018

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Gunmen killed six unarmed traffic police in Guanajuato yesterday, the state’s Attorney General’s office said.

The attack occurred just after 11:00am in the Salamanca neighborhood of La Gloria, located near a military base where Guanajuato Governor Miguel Márquez was attending a meeting to discuss ways to improve security in the state.

Five officers died at the scene of the crime, while the sixth passed away as he received medical attention.

The police were carrying out routine checks at a roadblock when, according to witnesses, five assailants arrived in a pickup truck and opened fire on the defenseless officers.

Federal Police, local security forces and the army all attended the scene. The motive for the crime is unclear.

The state’s Interior Secretary Gustavo Rodríguez Junquera said that authorities would bolster security in Salamanca following the attack and that “this crime will not go unpunished.”

The newspaper Reforma reported that 34 police officers have now been killed in Guanajuato in 2018.

The latest incident continues a trend of escalating violence in the central Mexican state, where 59 homicides were recorded in just five days last week and an average of more than 11 murders per day were reported in the first quarter of 2018.

The Guanajuato Attorney General said that 85% of last week’s homicides were related “in one way or another” to petroleum pipeline theft.

State oil company Pemex has a refinery in Salamanca, which has also recently been the focus of a federal investigation into alleged fuel theft by company employees.

Beyond Guanajuato, violence also affected several other states yesterday.

A state police officer was shot and killed in Ensenada, Baja California, another officer was killed in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and a municipal inspector was shot dead at a restaurant in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

In Guerrero, a group of armed men killed five people in the municipality of Leonardo Bravo, including a seven-year-old boy.

State security spokesman Roberto Álvarez Heredia said that the attack occurred when the victims — three men, one woman and the minor who are believed to be from the same family — were traveling on a state highway between Filo de Caballos and Puentecillas.

Homicides were also reported in Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí.

Source: Milenio (sp), Animal Político (sp)