Officers desert Guanajuato state police for better pay in municipalities

By

-

September 30, 2019

Police in San Miguel are now among those receiving higher pay in Guanajuato.

Police officers in Guanajuato are deserting the state force to join municipal forces that offer higher salaries.

Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo acknowledged that the goal of having a state police force with more than 14,000 officers has not been met due to the desertions.

“We haven’t reached the goal because . . . a lot of [state] officers have deserted and gone to municipal police forces . . . A large group went to enlist in Irapuato,” he said.

“I’m glad that a lot of officers have deserted because they’ve gone to municipal police forces. I’ve always said that security is built from the local level and if we want strong municipal police forces, we need fewer soldiers and fewer state police,” Rodríguez added.

Authorities in Irapuato, Guanajuato, León, Pénjamo and San Miguel de Allende are now paying new recruits up to 18,000 pesos (US $910) a month, the governor said, adding that he was hopeful that all municipalities in the state will increase police salaries.

“It’s important for municipal police forces to restore officers’ spirits, to pay officers better,” Rodríguez said.

He lamented that in Celaya, where extortion of business owners is a significant problem, local authorities are only planning to increase police salaries to 13,000 pesos (US $660).

“They must pay police in Celaya better in order to have good quality officers . . .” Rodríguez said.

After advocating for higher salaries for officers, the governor touted the quality of training they receive.

Rodríguez explained that new state police recruits undergo seven months of intensive preparation while their municipal counterparts spend three months in training before they hit the streets.

That training was crucial in avoiding the loss of police officers’ lives in two separate clashes with criminals in Villagrán and Celaya on Friday, he said.

However, 35 police have been killed in the line of duty in Guanajuato this year, according to the non-governmental organization Causa en Común, a figure that is higher than that of any other state.

Guanajuato has also been the most violent state in Mexico this year, recording 1,790 homicides to the end of August.

Source: Periódico Correo (sp), Milenio (sp), La Silla Rota (sp)

Mexico City park purifies enough wastewater to fill a stadium each month

By

Cody Copeland

-

September 28, 2019

0

Ecoducto's artificial wetlands purify 30,000 liters of sewage daily.

In a city that’s no stranger to water shortages, one public park not only provides space for jogging and dog walking, it purifies thousands of liters of wastewater a day for reuse.

Mexico City’s Ecoducto is a linear green space where a system of artificial wetlands purifies 30,000 liters of sewage daily, enough to fill the city’s 87,000-seat Estadio Azteca soccer stadium each month.

The artificial wetlands were designed by Dr. Alejandro Alva, a hydrobiologist at the National Autonomous University (UNAM).

“One of the lasting lessons we wanted to leave with this project was to show the possibility of creating wetlands inside of cities, that we can rescue natural water systems in urban areas,” Alva said in an interview with CGTN America.

The Ecoducto park is located on the median of the Viaducto Río de la Piedad, one of Mexico City’s busiest thoroughfares, itself constructed atop a subterranean river. The river was channeled into an underground tunnel in 1942, and the highway was built above ground in the 1950s.

Since then, the river has flowed on, unseen and unconscionably filthy. The Ecoducto project aims to be an example for similarly polluted urban waterways both in Mexico and abroad.

And the idea is starting to catch on, according to urban planning architect María del Mar Tomás.

“More and more in modern developments, we are seeing that water recycling systems are being installed, because in the case of water crises, this type of infrastructure in your own building makes you less dependent on the main supply,” she said.

Tomás is an organizer of the Open House CDMX architecture festival, which showcased the Ecoducto park this year.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has presented an environmental plan to bring water service to every home in the city within six years, an ambitious goal that highlights the importance of projects like the Ecoducto to make every drop count.

Mexico News Daily

Baja California big winner at Mexico Selection wine competition

By

MND Staff

-

September 28, 2019

0

Wine-tasting at the Mexico Selection in Aguascalientes.

A record number of winemakers and distillers took part in this year’s edition of the Mexico Selection of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, held this year in Aguascalientes.

A total of 517 wines and spirits from 15 Mexican states were sampled by an international panel of judges invited to the event known colloquially as the United Nations of Fine Wines.

Baja California continued its reign as the nation’s premier wine-producing state, winning three of the six grand gold medals as well as 31 golds and 30 silvers.

The other three grand gold medals, the competition’s top honor, went to wines produced by two different wineries in Coahuila and one in Aguascalientes. Gold medal winners came from Baja California, Coahuila, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí.

Mexican sommelier Laura Santander, part of the jury that included wine experts from Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Spain, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, said that a lot of winemakers have taken note of international trends to make wines that are “less woody and a bit fruitier.”

Bodegas Los Cedros in Coahuila, one of the grand gold winners.

She added that the varying standard of wines on offer at the competition can be partially attributed to the experience of the winemakers.

“Of course, there are producers who are evolving, which is completely natural when you have a new winery and you start to produce wine,” Santander said.

Natasha Hughes, a wine expert from the United Kingdom, said the best wines she tasted at the event were recent vintages.

“People here appear to think that if a red wine is aged for a long time . . . it’s good. The best wines I tried here weren’t those, they were the young ones. If you’ve put in the effort to produce good fruit to make a balanced and fresh wine, why detract from it through barrel aging?” she said.

Hughes added that Mexican winemakers should look to countries such as Australia and South Africa for inspiration rather than cold European countries and choose grape varieties that are well-suited to Mexico’s climate.

In the spirits category, judges awarded four grand gold medals, including two that went to Guanajuato mezcal maker Penca y Piedra. The other two went to a Oaxaca mezcal and a tequila from Jalisco.

Wine expert Natasha Hughes: recent vintages were the best.

Distilleries from Oaxaca took out six of the 10 gold medals that were awarded, while three Chihuahua makers of sotol, a liquor made from the desert spoon plant, also won gold medals. A tequila was the recipient of the 10th gold medal.

Chihuahua will host next year’s Mexico Selection contest.

The full list of this year’s grand gold medal winners, the states from which they come and the wineries or distilleries that made them appears below. Full results are available on the Mexico Selection website.

Wine:

Los Cedros Fusión / 2017 / Coahuila / Productos del Campo Vibe
Irana Malbec Rosé / 2018 / Aguascalientes / Vinicola Renacimiento
Capella Merlot / 2015 / Baja California / Hoteles y Viñedos del Valle de Guadalupe
Don Leo Gran Reserva / 2012 / Coahuila / Viñedos Don Leo
Don Luis Viognier / 2018 / Baja California / Vinicola L.A. Cetto
Elite Tannat / 2016 / Baja California / Altotinto

Spirits:

Salmiana / 2019 / Guanajuato / Penca y Piedra
Don Questo Añejo / Jalisco / Fabrica de Tequilas Finos
Espadín / 2019 / Guanajuato / Penca y Piedra
El Viejo Manuelón Mezcal Papalometl Joven / Oaxaca / Mezcal El Viejo Manuelón

Source: El Universal (sp)

Self-regenerating rubber pavement is Mexico winner of Dyson award

By

MND Staff

-

September 28, 2019

0

Rubber pavement that regenerates with rainwater is the national winner of the James Dyson Award, an international award that challenges students and recent graduates to design something that solves a problem.

Created by Israel Antonio Briseño Carmona, a student at the Coahuila Autonomous University in Torreón, the self-regenerating pavement is made out of discarded tires.

Regeneration of the pavement occurs through the absorption of rainwater, a process that prevents road damage such as potholes.

Briseño said that his inspiration for the idea was a question: why do potholes appear every time it rains?

“What happens is that when it rains, water filters down to the sub-base creating a fault and when a car goes over it, it collapses. That’s why I wanted to turn the main agent of deterioration [asphalt or concrete] into an agent of recovery [rubber]. With my project, water would be a [source of] maintenance for our roads,” he explained.

Briseño obtained a patent for his unique idea in April under the name Paflec. It has not yet been used to build a road but Briseño hopes that will change soon.

He explained that he has a three-phase plan to make his road-building idea a reality.

The first phase involves meeting with an engineer to “resolve doubts” about the project and then building a short section of road to ensure that it functions as envisaged. The second phase is to certify the construction system with the national building certification organization ONNCCE and the third phase is to gain approval from the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation.

“In the medium term, I would like to start my own construction company to be able to implement my invention,” Briseño said.

The James Dyson Foundation also announced two Mexican runners-up, which along with the self-generating pavement are in contention for the international James Dyson Award that comes with a cash prize of 730,000 pesos (US $37,000).

The first runner-up is an automatic hygiene system designed by a team of students from the Emiliano Zapata Technological University in Morelos.

VIDEO: Cardboard crutches were second runner-up in the competition.

Called HA-WA (short for hand wash), the system makes use of infrared sensors to trigger the release of water and soap for washing the hands. It both reduces the amount of water that is used when the everyday action is performed and allows the water to be recycled for other domestic purposes such as the flushing of a toilet.

The second runner-up is an invention by Mexico City industrial designer Rafael Riego: crutches made out of recyclable cardboard.

The young entrepreneur said the aim of his idea is to make crutches available at a low cost to everyone who needs them.

“I downhill skateboard and have practiced martial arts my whole life, sports where ankle and knee injuries are prevalent . . . Having to use crutches many times I started paying attention to people with the same type of injuries. Not everyone has access to medical grade orthopedics and have to resort to homemade, unsafe methods,” Riego said.

“I’ve designed a low-cost method that is easy to manufacture to get everyone back on their feet safely.”

The international finalists, each of whom will win 120,000 pesos, will be announced October 17. The grand-prize winner will be announced November 14.

Source: Expansión (sp)

Approval of corn law urged for protection against free trade accord

By

MND Staff

-

September 28, 2019

0

Law needed to protect native corn, federal agricultural official warns.

A high-ranking agriculture official has urged the approval of a law to protect native corn before the new North American trade agreement takes effect.

Víctor Suárez Carrera, undersecretary for food self-sufficiency at the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that approval of the law is crucial because the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement stipulates that Mexico must allow the registration of patents on a variety of foodstuffs, including corn.

“We need to have protection of our native corn . . .” he said.

“Producers of hybrid corn will be able to continue producing it. The law establishes that the only prohibition is on genetically modified corn. The legal reform seeks to prohibit the registration of patents related to the grain, with the purpose of protecting corn from the attempts of biotech companies to sell and market it,” Suárez added.

The undersecretary said that the law, a draft of which was approved by the Senate this week, will also protect people’s right to have a clean environment and healthy diet and to enjoy Mexico’s wide diversity of corn. Sixty-four different types of corn are grown in the country.

“[The law] is about maintaining the diverse production systems that have been passed on through hundreds of years . . . and which represent heritage of the nation and humanity,” Suárez said.

He said he was confident that a final version of the law will be passed soon. However, the proposal faces opposition from the National Agriculture Council (CNA).

In contrast to the claim made by Suárez, CNA president Bosco de la Vega said the proposed law in its current form poses a risk to farmers’ right to use hybrid corn seeds. The use of such seeds, he said, makes the production of high-quality and affordable tortillas possible and allows growers to make a decent living.

If their use is outlawed, production of corn in Mexico could significantly decline, de la Vega said.

“With concern, we watched the Mexican Senate pass a bill on Tuesday which, although it has the laudable objective of protecting native Mexican corn, has significant risks for the commercial production of the main crop we have in the country,” he said.

He expressed regret that the law was approved “without frank and open dialogue to ensure that the objective of preserving traditions and biodiversity is achieved” without risking national food security.

Source: Notimex (sp), Reforma (sp)

One month later no arrests in Veracruz bar massacre

By

MND Staff

-

September 28, 2019

0

One month after a massacre in a bar in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, that left 31 people dead, there have been no confirmed arrests in connection with the case.

The August 27 attack on the Caballo Blanco (White Horse) bar, the single worst act of violence since President López Obrador took office last December, is under investigation by the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR).

But officials there have provided no information about the progress of the probe.

According to media reports, four armed men entered the bar in downtown Coatzacoalcos and began shooting. The attackers then threw fuel inside the building followed by molotov cocktails before blocking the sole exit, leaving patrons and employees trapped inside as a fire took hold.

Among the victims were 13 women who worked as table dancers.

Veracruz Governor Cuitláhuac García Jiménez said on September 9 that the FGR had identified the perpetrators of the crime and arrested an undisclosed number of them but added that it was not up to him to provide details.

“I’m going to be respectful of the investigation process . . . The federal Attorney General’s Office will provide the information,” he said.

However, the FGR has remained silent, which would appear to indicate that there have been no arrests. Federal authorities usually make a public announcement after the perpetrators of high profile crimes have been detained.

While the investigation is shrouded in secrecy, the news website e-consulta reported that there are two main lines of inquiry: that the attack was part of a turf war between rival crime gangs or came after the owners of the bar refused to comply with extortion demands.

The Zetas cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) have been fighting for control of Coatzacoalcos since the beginning of the year. A similar attack on a bar in nearby Minatitlán in April that left 13 people dead is believed to have been linked to the dispute between the two groups.

Governor García claimed the day after last month’s attack that one of those responsible was Ricardo “La Loca” N., who is presumed to be a low-level hitman for the CJNG.

The governor – and President López Obrador – also claimed that the suspect had previously been arrested and released by the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office while headed by Jorge Winckler.

Winckler, who has been accused of collusion with organized crime, denied the charge, claiming that the Veracruz delegation of the FGR, not state authorities, released Ricardo N., who was a suspect in several arson attacks.

While the FGR has kept quiet about its investigation into the massacre that left at least 20 orphans, the National Human Rights Commission has been vocal about the case, demanding that authorities conduct an “effective and exhaustive” probe to locate and arrest those responsible and hold them to account.

The commission also urged the Veracruz government to provide protection to 12 family members of victims as well as two survivors who say they have received death threats in the aftermath of the August 27 atrocity.

Source: e-consulta (sp)

Apple opens its high-profile flagship store in Mexico City

By

Simon Schatzberg

-

September 28, 2019

0

A crowd gathered Friday for the opening of Apple's new store.

The global technology company Apple opened its first flagship store in Mexico on Friday in the Antara shopping center in the Mexico City neighborhood of Polanco.

Apple retail and personnel vice president Deirdre O’Brien said at the store’s inauguration that it represents an important step for Apple’s global expansion.

“At Apple, we’ve always seen Mexico as a priority market,” she said. “In our expansion plans, it was a natural step for our first Latin American flagship store to open in a city and a country where our users have a great passion for our products and our innovation.”

The Antara store is the second Apple store in Mexico — the other is in the city’s Santa Fe district — but the first high-profile flagship store in Latin America. The only other flagship stores are in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and China.

“We’ve always emphasized inclusion in our stores, we always have opportunities for people who are enthusiastic about technology, design, innovation, people who live for and pass on the passion they have for Apple,” said O’Brien.

The store features seven-meter-tall glass doors similar to the doors in Apple’s flagship store in Union Square, San Francisco, which O’Brien said are a symbol of a welcoming atmosphere. Inside, around 150 products are displayed on 10 long wooden tables.

Apple hopes that the store will become a meeting space for people who want to learn how to use Apple products in new creative ways. The company’s hiring process makes sure there are creative people such as musicians, photographers and poets among the store’s sales team.

The store will also offer free workshops on photography, music, painting and other subjects.

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

Veracruz river clean-up yields 100 tonnes of garbage

By

Simon Schatzberg

-

September 28, 2019

0

Some of the garbage retrieved from the river.

Teams of residents and fishermen have removed more than 100 tonnes of garbage from the Río Blanco in Veracruz in the municipalities of Ignacio de la Llave and Tlalixcoyan.

Authorities had previously estimated that about 60 tonnes of garbage were floating along a six-kilometer stretch of the river. But the amount of trash that had washed into the river turned out to be a lot more.

Veracruz environmental authorities traced the source of the garbage to eight illegal garbage dumps, mostly in the municipalities of Cuichapa and Omealca. There are at least 300 tonnes of garbage in the landfills, which have been closed by authorities.

According to Sergio Rodríguez, head of the state environmental protection agency, a large amount of garbage was left on a bank of the Río Blanco in a dump in Cuichapa. The garbage was then carried away by the river when the water level rose.

The trash has been contained in a lagoon to prevent it from reaching the main Alvarado lagoon system, which is home to the biggest population of manatees in Veracruz.

Fernando García, a fisherman who works in the lagoon system, told Televisa that the situation is threatening his source of livelihood.

“The river flows into the sea, and that’s bad because there’s a lot of pollution,” he said. “If it gets to us, at the mouth of the river, that will make it hard for us to work.”

The garbage that was removed from the river is being taken to a landfill in the municipality of Medellín.

Source: Milenio (sp), e-consulta (sp)

7 Michoacán cops arrested for forced disappearance

By

Simon Schatzberg

-

September 28, 2019

0

State police take over in Ziracuaretiro, Michoacán.

A police force in Michoacán is the latest to investigate officers for criminal behavior.

Michoacán Attorney General Adrián López Solís announced that seven municipal police in Ziracuaretiro were arrested on Thursday in connection with the forced disappearance of two workers on an avocado farm.

López said an investigation established that the seven officers arrested the manager and two employees of the El Papayo farm on September 10 and stole their telephones and documents related to the property.

After beating and handcuffing the men, the police released one of the employees and left with the other two people in a Ziracuaretiro police car. They have not been seen since.

On Friday, 56 Michoacán state police officers assumed responsibility for law enforcement in the municipality. The state also designated a new police chief.

The incident is the latest in Ziracuaretiro and other Michoacán municipalities to indicate that organized crime continues its efforts to capture a piece of the lucrative avocado industry.

United States agricultural inspectors have been the targets of theft and harassment twice since mid-August, triggering a warning that a program that certifies avocados for export to the U.S. could be suspended.

Source: Mi Morelia (sp), El Financiero (sp)

Governor says Jalisco facing dengue epidemic; blames climate change

By

MND Staff

-

September 27, 2019

0

Jalisco is facing “a dengue epidemic,” Governor Enrique Alfaro said on Thursday, explaining that the metropolitan area of Guadalajara is the worst affected area of the state.

There were 4,290 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne tropical disease in Jalisco to September 15 and 25,000 probable cases. Only Veracruz has reported a higher number of confirmed cases.

The state Secretariat of Health confirmed this week that two people have died of dengue in Jalisco this year, while 22 other deaths are being investigated to determine whether the disease was the cause.

In a video posted to social media, Alfaro said that dengue is not only affecting Jalisco but most of Mexico and the greater region.

He rejected the claim that his government is to blame for the high number of cases in the state this year, explaining that 116 million pesos (US $5.9 million) has been spent on anti-dengue measures such as mosquito spraying.

The figure is 45 million pesos higher than the amount spent on spraying and other preventative measures in 2018, Alfaro said.

“There’s no shortage of material [pesticides], personnel or equipment to fumigate,” he said.

At the start of the video, the governor took aim at opponents of his government as well as media outlets who he claimed have been spreading misinformation about the dengue outbreak.

“There has been a lot of speculation about this issue and as always there are those who are trying to spread fear and take a political advantage with something that is more dangerous than the disease itself: lies,” Alfaro said.

“The same people as always have tried to generate the perception that the government is responsible . . . that it has been negligent and hasn’t acted on time. They’ve tried to make the public believe that it’s an issue of a lack of medicines when in fact there isn’t even a vaccine against dengue,” he added.

“. . . We’re up against a systematic attempt by our adversaries and some manipulative media to land a blow against our government.”

Alfaro said that climate change was to blame for the high number of dengue cases in Jalisco, pointing to higher temperatures and heavier rain this year.

He also said that a new strain of dengue, serotype-2, has reached Mexico from South and Central America, explaining that people are more susceptible to it because there is no immunity among the population.

“This is a serious and complex problem that hasn’t been created by government actions or negligence,” Alfaro said.

There were more than 16,000 confirmed cases of dengue fever in 16 states during the first eight and a half months of the year, more than triple the number reported in the same period of 2018. Forty-three deaths have been reported across the country.

It came to light earlier this month that federal health authorities didn’t spend a single peso on insecticides until early August despite a higher than user number of dengue cases.

However, the director of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control Programs, Dr. Ruy López Ridaura, explained that states allocated their own funds to purchase pesticides and asserted that mosquito spraying has occurred throughout the year in all areas susceptible to dengue outbreaks.

On September 5, Health Secretariat undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell accused insecticide vendors of conducting a disinformation campaign that links this year’s outbreak of dengue fever to the federal government’s later than usual purchase of the product.

Two-thirds of insecticides for the control of dengue are purchased by state governments, he said, explaining that federal authorities buy the product later in the year because they only assist spraying efforts when the states’ own capacity to combat mosquitoes is exceeded.

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

Create a free account, or log in.

Upgrade your subscription