Red Cross will have security after ambulance held up at gunpoint

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April 15, 2019

Red Cross volunteers face security risks in Guanajuato.

Nobody is immune from the wave of violence engulfing Salamanca, Guanajuato: Red Cross ambulances will now be accompanied by police on high-risk emergency calls after paramedics were threatened by armed men.

A Red Cross ambulance responded to a call for assistance late Saturday afternoon in the neighborhood of San Roque, where a man had been shot.

On its way to a hospital, the ambulance was halted by a group of men who forced the paramedics at gunpoint to hand over their patient. The whereabouts of the wounded man are unknown, the newspaper El Universal reported.

In light of the incident, the Salamanca Red Cross announced yesterday morning that it was suspending all of its medical services in the city and appealed for people’s understanding.

“All of us who are volunteers in this noble institution believe in its mission . . . but at this time we must take care of our safety. We are also parents, children and siblings,” the organization said in a message posted to social media.

However, after a meeting between the Red Cross and authorities yesterday afternoon, Salamanca Mayor María Beatriz Hernández Cruz announced that the organization would resume its ambulance services immediately and that its other medical services would recommence today.

In a statement, Guanajuato Public Security Secretary Alvar Cabeza de Vaca Appendini said that an agreement had been reached for police to “accompany Red Cross ambulances in high-risk and high-impact call-outs” in Salamanca.

The city is home to one of Mexico’s six oil refineries and borders Villagrán, the municipality where the powerful Santa Rosa de Lima fuel theft cartel is believed to be based.

The gang is believed to be responsible for leaving a vehicle containing explosive devices in front of the Salamanca refinery in January on the same day that a narco-banner was found warning President López Obrador to remove federal forces from Guanajuato or innocent people will die.

Last month, 16 people were killed in a night club in the same neighborhood where the man was shot Saturday. Members of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel were allegedly behind the attack.

Federal and state security forces carried out an operation last month aimed at capturing suspected cartel leader José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez Ortiz but although several arrests were made, the fuel theft capo remains at large.

Guanajuato recorded 3,290 homicides in 2018, a higher figure than any other state in the country.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Humpback whale freed from fishing gear from Oregon

By

César Hernández

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April 15, 2019

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The humpback whale and rescue workers off the Baja California Sur coast.

A humpback whale found tangled in fishing gear off the coast of Loreto, Baja California Sur, was rescued yesterday after its plight was reported on social media.

Staff from the environmental protection agency Profepa and Loreto bay national park freed the animal of fishing buoys and ropes off Nopoló beach.

They said the whale was noticeably lean and was suffering from injuries caused by the gear, which it appeared to have been dragging for some time.

The gear in which the whale became entangled.

It took two hours to untangle the mess and free the animal, park personnel said.

The gear contained a tag bearing the name of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Reports of the successful efforts were posted on the park’s social media page, earning the congratulations of locals and praise for those who reported the incident.

Source: BCS Noticias (sp)

Vanilla, another endangered species and the target of thieves

By

MND Staff

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April 15, 2019

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Vanilla is the world’s second most expensive spice after saffron and one of 16 Mexican products that enjoy denomination of origin protection, but its long-term survival in Mexico is at risk.

The product is increasingly being targeted by thieves, driving growers to abandon the crop and grow something else.

Vanilla orchids are grown in several Mexican states including Chiapas, Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí but the epicenter of production is Veracruz and in particular Papantla, a city that has been known as “the vanilla capital” and which once upon a time was dubbed “the city that perfumes the world.”

But the heyday of vanilla production in Papantla and the wider Totonacapan region in the north of Veracruz is over, according to Óscar Ramírez, a vanilla farmer and president of a growers’ association.

“. . . They’re just memories,” he said, referring to Papantla’s erstwhile nicknames. “Vanilla [in Mexico] is sadly in danger of extinction.”

A kilogram of vanilla can yield prices as high as US $700, making the crop an attractive target for thieves for whom there is little deterrent against committing the crime.

In Papantla, a decades-old municipal decree establishes a fine of just 20 pesos (US $1) for stealing it, a penalty Ramírez described as “ridiculous.”

“The law has to be updated,” he said, adding that new, specific laws that set harsher penalties for vanilla theft should be adopted nationwide.

In recent years, a huge number of vanilla growers in the north of Veracruz have given up on cultivating the plant after seeing their hard work come to nothing as a result of theft.

It takes three years on average for producers to get to the stage when the pods on their vanilla orchids are ready for harvest, whereas thieves can profit much more quickly.

“Just imagine, years of work is stolen in minutes,” said Juan Salazar, a vanilla grower in El Ojital, a community near Papantla.

The farmer said that vanilla theft usually occurs in October and November just before the harvest, explaining that higher prices for “gourmet” vanilla in recent years – the per-kilo price has tripled – have only encouraged would-be thieves.

Salazar, who grows vanilla on a three-hectare property for customers that include tequila and perfume makers, said that growers last year were forced to take drastic measures to protect their crops.

“To guarantee that they would be able to harvest what they worked for the entire year, they [the growers] stayed at their plots, they made fires and they slept 10 meters away because those who cut [the plants] enter in the early morning,” he said.

“A lot of farmers carry machetes but if a thief has a gun, one puts his life on the line,” Salazar added, explaining that there have been cases in which growers have been killed while defending their plants.

While many producers have decided to get out of the vanilla-growing business altogether, others agree to sell their yield to opportunistic buyers who prey on their fear, Salazar explained.

“They come to purchase the vanilla early, before it completes its nine months of ripening. They pay low prices and the producer sometimes prefers to sell . . . so that their crops aren’t stolen,” he said.

The grower explained that the prices the coyotes pay are sometimes less than half the product’s real value but added that farmers prefer to get “a few pesos” than nothing at all.

In light of the increasing number of thefts, vanilla growers have appealed to authorities to bolster security in the north of the state to protect their industry as well as others, such as tourism.

“Vanilla has to be protected, it’s in danger of extinction and like any other species or animal that is in danger of extinction and for which laws are to protect them, the same must urgently be done with vanilla,” said Ramírez, the growers’ association president.

In addition to theft, climate change, the loss of tropical forests and cheap synthetically-made vanilla imitations also represent a threat to Mexico’s vanilla industry.

While the problems faced by Mexican vanilla and those who continue a tradition of cultivation that dates back to pre-Hispanic times are serious, Ramírez said the situation is not all doom and gloom.

“What nobody has taken away yet is the denomination of origin – Papantla vanilla, the best quality in the world.”

Source: Milenio (sp)

Nearly all beaches are safe but some are nearing the limit

By

Madison Koen

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April 15, 2019

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Acapulco has Mexico's second and third dirtiest beaches, but all are deemed safe for swimming.

All of Mexico’s major swimming beaches but one made the grade in water quality testing but that does not mean they’re squeaky clean.

Although the beaches are technically safe, several approached dangerous levels of contamination, according to the health regulatory agency Cofepris.

Of 269 beaches tested in time for the Easter vacation, 268 were declared safe for recreational use, meaning that samples collected contained less than 200 fecal coliforms per 100 milliliters of water.

Sayalita beach in Nayarit was the only one that did not pass the test, but several others came close to failing.

Among them were Playa Suave and Playa Hornos in Acapulco, Guerrero; Puerto Angelito and Playa Principal in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca; and Playa Norte and Playa Centro on Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo. All six are highly visited tourist destinations, as well as major hotel and resort areas.

Here is the full list with test results given as the most probable number of fecal coliforms per 100 milliliters.

Playa Suave, Acapulco, Guerrero, 191
Playa Hornos, Acapulco, Guerrero, 183
Playa Puerto Angelito, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, 167
Playa Principal, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, 158
Playa Antón Lizardo, Veracruz, 157
Golfo de Santa Clara Machorro, San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, 137
Golfo de Santa Clara Pueblo Palopo, San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, 124
Playa Santiago, Armería, Colima, 100
Playa Norte, Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, 94
Playa Centro, Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, 89

The dirtiest beaches by state were:

Baja California Norte: Playa Rosarito, Rosarito, 66
Chiapas: Playa Escolleras, Tapachula, 78
Colima: Playa Santiago, Armería, 100
Guerrero: Playa Suave, Acapulco, 191
Jalisco: Playa Mismaloya, Puerto Vallarta, 51
Oaxaca: Playa Puerto Angelito, Puerto Escondido: 167
Quintana Roo: Playa Norte, Isla Mujeres, 94
Sinaloa: Playa Las Glorias I, Guasave, 69
Sonora: Golfo de Santa Clara Machorro, San Luis Río Colorado, 137
Veracruz: Playa Antón Lizardo, Veracruz, 157
Yucatán: Playa El Cuyo, Reserva de la Biosfera Ría Lagartos, 74

Mexico News Daily

Criticize President López Obrador and social media mobs come alive

By

MND Staff

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April 14, 2019

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Backed by other government officials, the president speaks at his daily session with the press.

President López Obrador’s weekday press conferences are one of the most popular actions implemented by the federal government, according to a recent poll published by the newspaper El Financiero.

At 7:00am daily, the president steps up to a waiting media throng at the National Palace in Mexico City to answer questions and in the process try to set the day’s political agenda.

But questions challenging the president are not well received, either by López Obrador himself or by many of those who watch, fueling a polarization that some observers find worrying.

Despite the event’s early start, as many as 50,000 people watch the presser on López Obrador’s official YouTube channel, which has almost a million subscribers.

For those watching at home, the journalists who ask the questions are a constant target, especially if they dare to challenge the president.

In the YouTube comments section and elsewhere online, they are accused of being disrespectful, receiving bribes and worse, while female reporters are subjected to gender-based criticism such as being called a “bitch” or a “slut” or shamed for not wearing make-up.

A report by the news agency Bloomberg looked at the case of a female reporter who asked López Obrador whether he was investigating nepotism in his government.

The social media backlash was swift and harsh: within minutes, posts on platforms such as Twitter labeled her a cow, a member of the Gestapo and a “lazy pig” because she didn’t stand up when she addressed the president.

The hate-filled campaign against reporters who are deemed to be out of step with the “fourth transformation” – as the president calls the change he is bringing to Mexico – appears to be widely driven by bots, Bloomberg said.

López Obrador has denied that his administration has anything to do with automated social media accounts that defend him staunchly and shoot down anyone who criticizes the government or expresses a contrarian view.

It is clear, however, that the president doesn’t enjoy being challenged by reporters, even though he frequently holds up freedom of speech and “the right to dissent” as hallmarks of his government.

While United States President Donald Trump speaks of “fake news,” López Obrador dismisses reports with which he doesn’t agree by declaring that they come from the prensa fifi (snobbish, elitist press).

The president has also called journalists and news outlets “puppets,” “hypocrites” and “two-faced.”

This week, he clashed with high-profile United States journalist Jorge Ramos, who questioned him about the government’s homicide statistics and declared that Mexico was on track to record its “bloodiest year” in “modern history.”

López Obrador rejected the claim, stating “we have controlled the situation, according to our data,” although he didn’t cite his source.

Later, security analyst Alejandro Hope wrote on Twitter that “if the president believes in the numbers he presented . . . he is deceiving himself . . . If he does not believe in them, he is trying to deceive us.”

The government’s performance on combatting crime and corruption, the decision to cancel the Mexico City airport project and a wide range of other issues have provoked fierce debate between supporters of López Obrador and those who oppose him, both on social media and beyond.

Rossana Reguillo, a social scientist at ITESO, a university in Guadalajara, said the profound split between the opposing forces is concerning.

“It’s important to see the impact of polarization on the country. It’s making it hard to have a real debate,” she said.

There are also deep concerns about antagonism towards the press – including López Obrador’s – given the very real dangers of working as a journalist in Mexico. At least three reporters have been murdered this year and Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in the world.

“Unfortunately, what we’re seeing today is that the president is constantly stigmatizing the press,” said Ana Cristina Ruelas, regional director of Article 19, a freedom-of-information advocacy group. “The moment that you stigmatize the press, violence against them could be justified.”

A study by ITESO found that social media attacks on journalists have increased since López Obrador was sworn in in December, and that Twitter accounts run by bots spread his anti-media messages, ensuring that they reach a wide audience.

Asked about the ITESO study at a recent press conference, the president said, “it’s not true that there is a group encouraged by us to defend us against those who question and criticize us” before adding “we do not have bots.”

But whether aggressive online language towards the media – including threats – is endorsed by the government or not, it is still extremely concerning for journalists.

Daniel Blancas, a reporter for La Crónica who was abducted and assaulted after writing about fuel theft, said that he is now more cautious about the online threats and insults he receives, especially after asking a difficult question at a presidential press conference.

He also said that López Obrador should take more care with the language that he uses to criticize the press.

The president “should understand that the press isn’t there to hold his hand and march with him,” Blancas said. “The press is there to stand watch.”

Source: Bloomberg (sp)

Out of 269 beaches analyzed, just one failed the grade

By

Madison Koen

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April 13, 2019

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Sayulita beach, Nayarit, where a new treatment plant is being installed.

Testing of 269 beaches for water quality in readiness for the Easter vacation found only one that didn’t make the grade.

The health regulatory agency Cofepris reported that 268 beaches were safe for recreational use.

The only beach that did not pass the commission’s review was Sayulita beach in Nayarit, which is under a permanent sanitation watch by the agency.

A project to upgrade the town’s treatment plant is currently under way, including the installation of an outfall that will carry treated wastewater offshore.

Cofepris said its testing took more than 1,600 samples of sea water from beaches in 17 different coastal states — including the country’s most popular destinations.

To pass the test the water must contain less than 200 fecal coliforms per 100 milliliters of water.

The commission highlighted the importance of clean beaches for the national economy and local development, and recognized that some beaches have received the internationally recognized Blue Flag designation in recognition of their status as sustainable destinations.

Source: Reforma (sp), Publimetro (sp)

Another 24 regions in 16 states added to the high-crime priority list

By

MND Staff

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April 13, 2019

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The number of regions considered security priorities for the federal government due to their high levels of violent crime has been increased to 45.

The Security Secretariat (SSPC) yesterday added 24 locations in 16 different states to the list of those considered the most violent in the country.

Among the newly-designated regions are Cuernavaca, Morelos; Morelia, Uruapan and Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán; Oaxaca city; Hermosillo, Sonora; Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, México state; Querétaro city; San Luis Potosí city; La Paz, Baja California Sur; Fresnillo, Zacatecas; Tlaxcala city; Puebla city; and Villahermosa, Tabasco.

However, security in the 24 regions will not be bolstered immediately.

Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo estimated that it will be towards the end of the year before additional federal security personnel, including members of the National Guard, can be deployed in the different areas.

high-crime regions — New areas added to the list are in red. Shaded areas indicate regions previously added. el universal

“. . . At the moment, we don’t have the necessary security personnel to cover them in the way in which we are already responding to the [other] 21 priority regions,” he said.

Among the cities that have already received additional deployments are Tijuana, Baja California; Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; Guadalajara, Jalisco; Acapulco, Guerrero; Manzanillo, Colima; and Culiacán, Sinaloa.

Security will also be bolstered in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, to combat high levels of violence generated by the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas.

Durazo said the number of priority regions could increase to as high as 70, stressing that the creation of the National Guard is urgent so that “bit by bit” security can be bolstered in “each one of these regions.”

The security chief asserted that an increased federal security presence in the previously-established priority regions is already yielding positive results.

Durazo cited Tijuana as an example, stating that the number of homicides in the northern border city has fallen from 21 per day to between two and six.

“. . . Of course, six murders are a lot but compared to 21, it’s good progress,” he said.

Durazo added that homicide figures have also fallen in Guadalajara, explaining that “the only priority region where we haven’t yet contained crime rates is Ciudad Juárez.”

However, the secretary said that authorities are studying the security situation in the city and pledged that violence there would also fall.

Durazo rejected statistics from the National Public Security System (SNSP) that show that the number of homicides has continued to rise since President López Obrador took office in December, presenting graphs that demonstrate that the government is beginning to control violence.

The security chief said the current administration inherited a country “in ruins” and like López Obrador, acknowledged that ending insecurity will not happen as quickly as they would like.

“This situation of insecurity wasn’t created from one day to the next and it would be irresponsible to expect to solve it from one day to the next,” Durazo said.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Firefighters battle another wildfire in Jalisco’s Primavera Forest

By

César Hernández

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April 13, 2019

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primavera forest fire — A firefighter at the third fire this week in the forest.

A wildfire in the Primavera forest in western Guadalajara, Jalisco, was brought under control today after more than 400 people fought the blaze for 18 hours.

The fire was reported yesterday at 3:00pm after grassland burning got out of control in the Los Asadores section of the forest, according to the state Environment Secretariat. The blaze soon expanded in the natural protected area.

It was the third fire in the forest in the past week.

Ashfall was reported in the downtown, Providencia and Fortín districts of the state capital and several neighborhoods were at risk, but there were no evacuations.

Winds spread the blaze to higher ground and away from inhabited areas.

The fire triggered an environmental alert in four municipalities.

The state government said 447 people — including emergency responders from neighboring Nayarit and Colima — have been working to extinguish the fire with the aid of 96 vehicles and seven aircraft.

The latter had made over 100 flights, dropping more than 130,000 liters of water.

Poor air quality in Guadalajara triggered an environmental alert in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Zapopan, Guadalajara and Tlaquepaque.

Source: Debate (sp), W Radio (sp), Heraldo de México (sp)

For a variety of grievances, protesters take over 13 toll plazas

By

César Hernández

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April 13, 2019

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The Tlalpan toll plaza was occupied yesterday and again today.

People with an axe to grind took over highway toll booths at 13 locations in eight states yesterday, in most cases charging motorists to pass through in exchange for financial support for their various causes.

At one location, the protest continued today.

At the Tlalpan plaza on the Mexico City-Cuernavaca highway yesterday workers from the Autonomous Metropolitan University, who have been on strike for 71 days, asked motorists for a 50-peso contribution to their cause.

They returned early this morning but were forced to retire soon after by a group of people on motorcycles who charged drivers 20 to 50 pesos and expressed the demand that Mexico City not violate the rights of motorcyclists.

In Tabasco, some 250 farmers took over the Magallanes toll plaza on the federal highway No. 180 demanding government aid.

Motorists were not charged in Sonora where there is opposition to toll plazas in general.

The Chalco toll booth on the Mexico City-Puebla highway was occupied by unidentified protesters collecting monetary contributions, though it wasn’t clear what the money was for.

Farther east on the same highway another group took over the Amozoc toll plaza where motorists’ “contributions” were not voluntary — each vehicle was charged 50 pesos to get through.

A similar report came from the San Marcos toll plaza.

Farmers took over the Acayucan toll booths between the Veracruz cities of Córdoba and Minatitlán, where they asked motorists for financial cooperation because they were short of funds to buy diesel.

The day would not have been complete were it not for a teacher protest against education reform.

Teachers affiliated with the Guerrero-based CETEG union took over the La Venta toll plaza between Chilpancingo and Acapulco to demand the full repeal of the 2013 reforms.

In Sonora, where plazas have been closed previously by organizations opposed in principle to charging motorists to use highways, three were occupied on federal highway No. 15 at Hermosillo, Guaymas and Fundición, where vehicles were allowed to proceed without paying.

The protests were timed to coincide with the first day of the Easter holiday period, when many more people were on the road than usual.

The states affected were Baja California, Guerrero, México, Mexico City, Puebla, Sonora, Tabasco and Veracruz.

Source: Reforma (sp)

UN refugee agency helps provide sports facilities for locals and migrants

By

Madison Koen

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April 13, 2019

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A new gymnasium is opened in Palenque with support from UN. unhcr

Migrants in southern Mexico will be able to get their exercise thanks to new and renovated sports facilities.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) inaugurated several facilities for local residents, migrants and refugees in Tabasco and Chiapas to promote “peaceful coexistence and inclusion.”

According to the United Nations news agency, the project was a collaboration between the refugee agency and the Olympic Refuge Foundation, a social initiative of the International Olympic Committee, and local authorities.

The partnership put some of its greater efforts into the Pakal-Na community gymnasium in Palenque, Chiapas. UNHCR representative Mark Manly said the new facility served the double purpose of not only providing a space that contributes to the users’ physical health, but one that also builds community.

“The Pakal-Na community gymnasium allows people to recover public space and use it to strengthen local social bonds through sports. It is an example of how these types of spaces equally benefit refugees, migrants and the local community.”

UNHCR workers hope that the facility will serve as a feasible, safe alternative for recreation for migrants, asylum seekers and residents, in an area with insecurity problems and limited access to such services.

The refugee agency had previously installed a playground and solar-powered street lighting next to the area’s train tracks, which are routes frequently used by migrants on their journey north.

In Tenosique, Tabasco, the UNHCR renovated soccer pitches and a basketball court, adding artificial grass, fencing, new paint, bleachers, lights and water dispensers.

In all, the UNHCR and its collaborators inaugurated or renovated sports facilities in Palenque and Tapachula, Chiapas; Tenosique, Tabasco; Oluta, Veracruz; and Mexico City.

Mexico News Daily