Mayor claims they were left to fend for themselves against Jalisco cartel

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September 3, 2019

Frame from a video taken during the CJNG's attack on Friday.

The mayor of Tepalcatepec, Michoacán, where nine presumed hitmen of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) were killed in clashes on Friday, has accused state and federal authorities of leaving the municipality to fend for itself.

In an interview with the newspaper El Universal, Felipe Martínez Pérez called on the Michoacán and federal governments to send police and the armed forces to Tepalcatepec to reinforce security and prevent another incursion by the cartel.

He said that both residents and local authorities have already asked for assistance but the municipality has received no support. Asked about current security conditions, the mayor responded that the community is on high alert.

“Yesterday [Sunday], at about 10 at night, the red alert was activated again because armed groups were sighted in [the Tepalcatepec community of] Tepalcuatita. That put all of us on alert and fireworks were set off to warn residents . . . to go home . . .” Martínez said.

The mayor said the reaction of residents was one of fear, adding that although armed groups say they don’t target the general public “the first thing they do is attack the people.”

Two jornaleros, or day laborers, were also killed in the confrontations on Friday that reportedly occurred between CJNG operatives and municipal police.

“We’re asking for the presence of the army, for them to support us with a military operations base in [the neighboring municipality of] Jilotlán, [Jalisco] . . . in Cholula and another in La Estanzuela, which are the weak points we have, where armed groups can enter,” Martínez said.

“They’ve left us on our own,” the mayor responded when asked whether state and federal authorities have provided any support.

“It’s concerning for all of society because seeing the events [of Friday] and things as they are, as well as not having a response from authorities, is highly alarming . . .” Martínez added.

“. . . No authority has come and we’re worried. What’s going on with the state and federal governments for them to not turn their eyes to Tepalcatepec and see what’s happening?” he asked.

“. . . We have a situation of latent risk and at any moment [violence] could break out again. Don’t abandon us, be aware of the situation . . . The armed forces need to come and stay for a period of time, the time that’s necessary to protect the citizens . . .”

Mayor Martínez calls for support from state, federal authorities.

In a separate interview with Grupo Fórmula, Martínez denied that there is a criminal group based in Tepalcatepec that is engaged in a turf war with the CJNG.

On August 13, a video circulated on social media showing 18 masked men who identified themselves as CJNG hitmen and threatened to attack territory held by former ally Juan José “El Abuelo” Farías Álvarez in Tepalcatepec.

Farías, a former self-defense force leader who is now alleged to be a leader of bitter CJNG rival Los Viagras, is a businessman engaged in the buying and selling of cattle, Martínez said.

“. . . Farías doesn’t lead any criminal cell, it’s false what they [state authorities] are saying,” he said.

The mayor claimed that the ignorance of the Michoacán government with regard to the security situation had led to an assertion by Governor Silvano Aureoles that Friday’s clashes were between two cartels rather than the CJNG and local police who were previously self-defense force members.

Aureoles told a press conference on Monday that it is organized crime that operates and governs in the municipality by deciding who will be mayor.

But the latter denied the charge.

“Here there are no cartels but the state government is stubborn [in saying] that there is a cartel here. We’re under attack, we’re not criminals, we’re defending ourselves from the aggression of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel – the state government and the federal government don’t understand that,” he said.

However, it is questionable that a municipal police force would have the firepower to defeat the CJNG in an armed confrontation.

The cartel is considered the most powerful and dangerous in the country, and has published scores of videos in which its members appear wielding high-caliber weapons.

A more plausible explanation would be that Friday’s clashes were between the CJNG and Los Viagras, described by Governor Aureoles in 2017 as “the most bloodthirsty and dangerous” criminal group operating in Michoacán.

The newspaper Infobae reported that state police from Jalisco and Michoacán and municipal police from Tepacaltepec were patrolling the border between the two states. The CJNG hitmen who allegedly launched Friday’s attack were reported to have crossed into Michoacán from Jalisco.

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

Grapes have replaced poblano peppers at what was once a farm

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Cody Copeland

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September 3, 2019

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Where peppers once grew are now grapes at Cuna de Tierra.

A former poblano pepper producer who replaced the crop with grapes now produces award-winning wines that have proven to be much more profitable.

Ricardo Vega made the decision a decade ago to turn his Guanajuato farm into a vineyard. Now Cuna de Tierra is one of the state’s most productive.

“The ranch was practically all poblano peppers, but the vegetable is really complicated to market if you don’t have control of the whole distribution channel. And the price of the chile hasn’t changed in the last 30 years,” said Vega.

“So we looked for a product that we could store, and wine has the advantage of increasing in quality over time; it’s also something we always liked.”

After celebrating the vineyard’s ninth grape harvest last weekend, Vega said they have been increasing production in recent years “but now we want to limit ourselves, because if we increase the volume too much, we could lose quality.”

Ricardo Vega of Cuna de Tierra winery in Guanajuato.

Cuna de Tierra, located in Dolores Hidalgo, has 30 hectares of vines in production, which this year will yield 120 tonnes of grapes from which 120,000 bottles of wine will be produced.

Vega remembers that in the beginning they barely produced two barrels, and now that number has risen to over 100. In the early harvests, they invited 300 guests to celebrate. This year they sold 1,400 tickets two months before the celebration.

He also points out they have won around 50 international prizes with a number of labels.

“This year we won seven awards at the Decanter World Wine Awards, including one gold. We’re really happy with the winery,” he said.

Cuna de Tierra’s sales, which in 2018 totaled around 20 million pesos (US $100,000), have grown at an annual rate of 20%, and Vega expects this year to be no different.

He plans to increase the production of white wine, which is currently in fashion.

The winery has 30 hectares of grapes in production.

“It’s the variety that is now seeing greater demand. There’s a trend toward whites and rosés,” he said.

The winery has made international inroads not only in competitions, but also in commerce. It currently produces 5,000 bottles for the United States market, but Vega is waiting for more demand for his wines to attempt to enter other international markets.

According to Vega, who is also president of Guanajuato’s Viniculturists Association, 30 wineries have dedicated over 300 hectares to growing grapes in the state, a dozen of which are open to the public. Together they produce around 350,000 liters of wine per year.

Cuna de Tierra is currently getting ready for its Live Vineyard Music Experience, a music and wine festival that will host disco singer Gloria Gaynor and other musicians on October 12.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

British ambassador announces new mining museum in Hidalgo

By

Cody Copeland

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September 3, 2019

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Ambassador Robertson and Tourism Secretary Torruco make pasties in Real de Monte.

A new museum in Hidalgo will pay tribute to the influence of the United Kingdom on mining in the state.

British Ambassador Corin Jean Stella Robertson announced the creation of the Museum of British Miners in Real de Monte during a trip to the state with federal Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco Marqués.

“It is very important to the British Embassy that here live the relatives, the descendants of the English miners who arrived in 1824,” said Robertson.

“Museums are very important for protecting the history of a town like Real del Monte and the links between countries,” she added.

The museum is part of a plan to boost British tourism to Hidalgo.

“With the ambassador’s visit we are strengthening ties with the United Kingdom, for which we will also create the mining museum, which will pay homage to the pioneers of mining here in Real de Monte,” said Torruco.

Nearly 600,000 British tourists visited Mexico in 2018, more than any other European nationality. The UK is the fourth largest source of tourists to Mexico worldwide, after the United States, Canada and Colombia.

It was also announced that the United Kingdom will be the special guest country at the Tianguis de Pueblos Mágicos, an annual tourism event that celebrates Mexico’s Magical Towns, to be held this year in Pachuca in October.

After the conference, the ambassador was invited to visit Real de Monte’s Cornish Pasty Museum, which tells the story of the snack’s growth in popularity in Mexico after it was imported by Cornish miners.

Robertson joined the tourism secretary and others in making some pasties to mark the event.

Sources: Milenio (sp), La Silla Rota (sp)

US ambassador creates a stir with criticism of Frida Kahlo for her politics

By

MND Staff

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September 3, 2019

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Ambassador Landau questioned Kahlo's political leanings.

The new United States ambassador to Mexico has triggered a heated debate on Twitter after criticizing painter and cultural icon Frida Kahlo for her support of communism.

In a post featuring a photo of himself at the Frida Kahlo Museum in the Mexico City borough of Coyoacán, Christopher Landau wrote on Twitter on Sunday that he admired the “free and bohemian spirit” of the artist, adding that “she rightly became an icon of Mexico around the whole world.”

However, the ambassador stirred controversy with the second half of his tweet.

“What I do not understand is her obvious passion for Marxism / Leninism / Stalinism. Didn’t she know about the horrors committed in the name of that ideology?” Landau wrote in Spanish.

Kahlo, a 20th-century artist best known for her vibrant self-portraits, and her husband, acclaimed muralist Diego Rivera, were strong supporters of Marxism and supported Soviet leader Joseph Stalin after initially backing his rival, the revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

Stalin is held responsible for deaths of millions of people in the Soviet Union, many of whom perished in the Gulag network of labor camps.

During his exile in Mexico, Trotsky initially lived with Kahlo and Rivera at their Coyoacán home, which is now a museum commonly known as La Casa Azul (The Blue House). Kahlo, who attained international fame after her death in 1954, had an affair with the revolutionary, who was assassinated in Mexico City in August 1940.

Landau’s tweet, which now has some 1,900 comments, attracted a mixed response.

Some Twitter users pointed out that the United States has a long history of intervention in the affairs of Latin American nations and other countries around the world, often to counter the rise of socialist governments.

“In the name of fighting that ideology, the U.S. killed children in Vietnam by bombing entire villages and supported dictatorships throughout Latin America,” wrote user @Quetzalcoatl1.

The Mexican Communist Party (PCM) responded to the ambassador by saying that “Comrade Frida was consistent with humanism, the search for democracy and freedom of Mexico’s workers and people, and therefore she was a Marxist-Leninist, and of course Stalin’s admirer.

“Don’t show your ignorance anymore, imitating [U.S. President Donald] Trump,” the PCM advised Landau.

Other Twitter users expressed support for the ambassador’s comments, and some even accused the Mexican government itself of being an adherent of Marxist ideology.

Landau, who arrived in Mexico in the middle of August to take up the ambassadorial role, has posted several photos of himself visiting Mexico City attractions such as the Basilica of Guadalupe, the Museum of Popular Art and the neighborhood of Roma.

But the ambassador was unhappy with the size of the audience he was reaching and consequently – just hours before he fulminated against Frida – appealed to the Mexican Twitter community to follow his account.

“Dear Mexican Twitter friends: This is an outrage! Greece has a population of 10 million, while Mexico has 130 million. But the United States ambassador in Greece . . . has almost 150,000 followers but I [have] barely 40,000. How are we going to change it? Mexico has to be #1! #challenge,” he wrote.

The tweet seemingly worked – as of 12:00pm on Tuesday, the ambassador had almost doubled his follower numbers to 78,600.

However, like his jab at Frida Kahlo, the post triggered a mixed response.

Well-known photographer Santiago Arau retorted that “the only outrage here is that your president wants to build a wall on our border,” while Twitter user @_VicenteSerrano told Landau that if he asked President Donald Trump to “offer papers to our undocumented brothers” in the United States, he would have a guaranteed one million followers in 24 hours.

Source: Reuters (en), Expansión Política (sp)

Holbox hotels, restaurants see big savings through conservation program

By

Simon Schatzberg

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September 3, 2019

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A Holbox conservation program has produced savings on water, gas and plastic consumption. — A Holbox conservation program has produced savings on water, energy and plastic consumption.

Hotels and restaurants on a popular holiday island destination in Quintana Roo achieved big savings for the environment in the first year of a conservation program.

The 12 hotels and two restaurants that are members of a hotels association on Isla Holbox decided to take action in March 2018 in response to sanitation problems on the island that were threatening to interfere with tourism.

With planning help from the environmental nonprofit Casa Wayuu and funding from the Mesoamerican Reef Fund, the businesses made a plan to reduce energy consumption and move away from single-use plastics.

In the program’s first year, the businesses cut liquid petroleum consumption by 65,187 liters, equivalent to the annual consumption of 220 households. They also cut electricity consumption by 830,130 kilowatt-hours, enough energy to supply 79 houses for a year, and water consumption by 41,939 cubic meters, equivalent to the water used by 114 people in a year.

The businesses also eliminated the use of PET plastic, and achieved a reduction in the consumption of other plastics by working with providers to find reusable food containers that can be returned after use. These actions prevented the generation of 8,973 kilograms of PET, equivalent to almost 300,000 half-liter bottles.

Bárbara Hernández, the head of the hotel association, said the program has also been a success in making a cultural change among hotels on the island.

She noted that staff at the Las Nubes de Holbox Hotel have started voluntarily cleaning up trash at the Yum Balam nature reserve near Holbox once a month.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Walmart ups the ante: 3-hour delivery on selected online products

By

Cody Copeland

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September 3, 2019

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Walmart México is now offering three-hour delivery on certain products purchased online in an effort to compete with Amazon.

In addition to perishables and other food items, the store is now ready to provide same-day delivery for over 12,000 home and electronics products, such as cell phones, laptops, televisions and other appliances.

“At Walmart of Mexico and Central America we will continue to reinvent the rules of retail, since we are convinced that by combining the best of the digital world with physical stores, we will generate great benefits for our clients,” said Gabriela Buenrostro, the company’s assistant director of corporate communications.

The company announced an investment of over 20 billion pesos (US $1 billion) in Mexico and Central America this year, 13% of which will be dedicated to improving e-commerce operations. It also opened two e-commerce distribution centers, one in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and the other in Monterrey, Nuevo León.

Walmart’s main competition, Amazon, launched its Mexico division in 2015. It offers same-day delivery on select items, but only in Mexico City.

Sources: Entrepreneur (sp), Yahoo! Finance (en)

Technical failure causes power outage in Baja California

By

Simon Schatzberg

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September 3, 2019

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Four municipalities in Baja California had no electricity for several hours on Monday after a technical problem forced the temporary suspension of service.

The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) said the National Energy Control Center (CENACE) ordered the suspension because of a technical failure in two generators at a Mexicali power plant belonging to the company InterGen. The failures led to a shortage of 20.24 megawatts.

CENACE decided to suspend energy distribution to maintain stability in the national electrical system.

“This measure affected 22% of consumers in the state of Baja California,” said the CFE. “That included consumers in the municipalities of Rosarito, Ensenada, Tijuana and Tecate.”

Some 31,500 electrical customers were affected.

Consumers began reporting losing power at 3:00pm on Monday. At first the blackouts were attributed to high demand and heat.

According to Ensenada Civil Protection head Jaime Nieto de María y Campos, most service was reestablished within two to six hours.

CFE personnel were working with the CENACE to reestablish service.

Tijuana was hit hardest, with as much as 80% of the city losing power. No power for traffic signals caused traffic chaos, and at least three people are reported to have been trapped in elevators.

According to Tijuana fire chief José Jiménez, half of the people affected by the blackout had service again by 6:00pm.

Source: Infobae (sp), Milenio (sp)

Cleaning up Sonora’s municipal police forces is just the beginning: Durazo

By

MND Staff

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September 3, 2019

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Durazo, Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich and López Obrador listen while the chief of the army speaks at Monday's press conference. — Durazo, Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich and President López Obrador listen while the chief of the army speaks at Monday's press conference.

The federal government plans to initiate a nationwide campaign to identify and dismiss municipal police officers with links to organized crime.

Speaking in Hermosillo, Sonora, on Monday after an announcement that five municipal forces in that state will be purged of corrupt officers, Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said the government has already identified the municipalities where intervention is required.

He described the cleaning up of police forces in Sonora as a “pilot program” that will be evaluated after three months before it is implemented in other states.

“Intelligence work indicates that there is complicity, links, penetration of organized crime in some security forces . . .” the secretary said.

Durazo explained that officers who fail to pass control and confidence tests will be dismissed and replaced temporarily with armed forces personnel so that municipalities are not left without an adequate local police force.

“. . . Personnel that do meet the requirements will be trained or re-trained. In other words, [it’s a matter of] getting them to adequate standards of professionalization in order to be able to provide security services,” the security secretary said.

Durazo said that while the purging process is taking place, municipal forces will be placed under military command.

“Why a navy command, a military command? Because if we’re going to purge [officers], we need complete confidence in the people in charge of the security forces. Once they are professionalized, the security forces will return to local command,” he said.

Durazo said that criminal gangs across the country attempt to infiltrate police forces.

“All the organized crime groups make an effort to get into security forces but the president has made it very clear that there will be a very clear line that separates organized crime from the uniformed forces. There will be no uniformed crime, we’ll purge the security forces . . .”

In Sonora, where homicides increased by more than 50% in the first seven months of the year, state Security Secretary David Anaya Cooley said the presence of federal security forces is needed to “weaken” organized crime groups.

Official statistics show that there were 679 victims of intentional homicide in Sonora between January and July, a figure that includes 17 police officers.

“The deaths of these police officers are still under investigation,” Anaya said before asserting that some of the slayings were “without a doubt” linked to police complicity with organized crime.

Source: Milenio (sp), Excélsior (sp), Reforma (sp)

US Embassy employee loses $8,000 Rolex in Mexico City mugging

By

Simon Schatzberg

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September 3, 2019

0

A 61-year-old employee of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City lost a gold Rolex watch valued at US $8,000 in a mugging at a store in Polanco on Sunday.

According to witnesses, the woman was inside a store at 513 Horacio street when a young man pushed her to the ground, threatened her with a gun and removed her watch.

The aggressor is described as being well-dressed and thin, 1.65 meters tall and appearing to be about 25 years of age, with brown skin, dark hair, a straight nose, oval face, with no facial hair or tattoos.

Witnesses said the robber escaped in a red Audi whose plate number was MUJ-5335.

Police reviewed security camera footage from the business where the theft took place as well as other businesses, and were able to track the thief’s escape route. One of the cameras may have even captured his face.

The watch is described as silver with a pink face and a metal band. Mexico City police have the watch’s serial number, and are working with embassy staff to capture the robber.

Muggings have risen 28% in Mexico City in the first six months of the current administration’s term.

This is not the first time that an employee of the U.S. Embassy has been robbed in Mexico City.

The embassy is considering the possibility of limiting its employees’ movement on the streets, reported the newspaper El Universal, or even taking the more extreme measure of issuing a travel warning for Mexico City, a measure that has been taken in places like Ciudad Juárez, Tijuana, Michoacán and Acapulco.

Source: El Universal (sp)

The nun Sister Juana was featured on banknotes for 41 years

By

Simon Schatzberg

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September 2, 2019

0

Independence heroes are featured on one side of the new bill.

The 17^th-century poet and writer Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz has been featured on Mexican banknotes for 41 years. Today it was time to say farewell.

Sister Juana first appeared on the brown 1,000-peso banknote in 1978. The other side of the bill showed a landscape of the Santo Domingo Plaza in Mexico City.

After Mexico’s currency was reorganized in 1993, Sister Juana moved to the 200-peso note, where she has remained until today.

The note shows the baroque poet’s face with a fragment of her famous poem You Foolish Men. The opposite side shows a landscape of the Panoayan Hacienda in Amecameca, México state, where Sister Juana lived as a child.

On Monday, Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) began circulating the new 200-peso notes which will gradually replace the Sister Juana bills.

El Pinacate biosphere reserve in Sonora is featured on the reverse side of the new banknote.

The new notes show the faces of independence heroes Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos on one side and the Pinacate biosphere reserve in Sonora on the other.

But Sister Juana’s face may linger for several years.

According to Banxico, there were 887 million 200-peso notes in circulation in July, and the notes circulate for an average of 52 months.

Source: El Universal (sp)

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