RLH investing US $260 million in hotels in Mandarina development

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January 3, 2019

Two sculptures at a newly-discovered temple. — Two sculptures at the newly-discovered temple. Melitón Tapia/INAH

Archaeologists have discovered for the first time a temple dedicated to an important pre-Hispanic deity known as the “flayed lord.”

A team of archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) uncovered the temple dedicated to Xipe Tótec – a god of fertility and regeneration – in the Ndachijan-Tehuacán archaeological zone in the state of Puebla.

The site features two sacrificial altars and three stone sculptures depicting the “flayed lord” among other architectural elements located at the base of a small pyramid. It is believed to have been in use between 1000 and 1260 AD.

Two of the sculptures represent flayed skulls, leading INAH archaeologist Noemí Castillo Tejero said, while the third is of a torso covered with the skin of a person who had been sacrificed and also features a loincloth made of feathers.

The torso “is sculpturally a very beautiful piece,” Castillo said.

“It measures approximately 80 centimeters and has a hole in the belly that was used . . . to place a green stone and ‘endow life’ for the ceremonies,” she added.

Archaeologist Castillo with one of the sculptures. Melitón Tapia/INAH

The torso has a left arm and parts of both legs, leading the INAH team to believe that they may find other detached parts of the “ritually fragmented” sculpture.

Castillo believes that each of the volcanic rock, 200-kilogram, 70-centimer-high skulls were made by different artisans due to contrasts in their features and slight variations in their size.

The rock, possibly rhyolite, is believed to have been transported to the site from elsewhere.

In pre-Hispanic Mexico, one of the most important celebrations for several cultures was known as Tlacaxipehualiztli, which means “to wear the skin of the flayed” in Nahuatl.

The festival took place on two circular sacrificial altars, such as those found at the newly-discovered Puebla site.

The temple to Xipe Tótec was found at the Ndachjian–Tehuacán site. Melitón Tapia/INAH

On one, captives were sacrificed in gladiatorial fights or by being slain with arrows while on the other, a ritual flaying of the victims occurred as a tribute to Xipe Tótec.

Priests would subsequently wear the skins of those sacrificed for a period after which they placed them in small holes in front of the altars.

Castillo said the two stone skulls the INAH team found were used to cover those holes.

All three sculptures will be subjected to in-depth study to determine their age, what kind of stone they are made of and how they were carved.

They are then expected to be placed in the archaeological site’s museum.

Castillo said it has not yet been decided whether the new discovery will be opened to the public or whether it will be covered again with earth once the INAH team has concluded its exploration.

Mexico News Daily

Paleontologist believes there is a wealth of fossils in Mexico

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January 3, 2019

One of the displays at the Monterrey dinosaur exhibition.

For paleontologists, Mexico is fertile ground that has yet to achieve its full potential.

But some of what has been achieved is on display at the Dinosaurs Made in Mexico exhibition at the Planetario Alfa museum in Monterrey, Nuevo Léon. It showcases some of the discoveries made over the years, especially in the northern reaches of the country.

Two people collaborated with the museum — paleontologist René Hernández Rivera and paleoartist Luis V. Rey — to bring the titans of old alive again, bridging the gap in time for the inhabitants of the same geographical region.

Hernández told the newspaper Milenio he is convinced that there exists a wealth of fossils in Mexico.

During his 40-year-career, Hernández has been involved in the main discoveries in his field, such as the 1988 expedition in Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila, that resulted in the assembly of the first Mexican dinosaur.

Since then, he has dedicated his career to spreading the word about the nine unique dinosaur species found in Mexico, and 20 others that, while discovered elsewhere, have close ties to the country.

Hernández believes there still is a lot of work to do in terms of research and public outreach, efforts that should be coupled with the fight against fossil poachers.

Luis V. Rey’s work is more interpretative than factual, because other than the fossilized bones artists like him have little more than some hints of scales, plumage, musculature and colors to imagine the true appearance of the dinosaurs.

Through collaboration with other specialists over the course of 20 years, he now offers a different picture of what dinosaurs might have looked like.

Thanks to scientific study “we observed that it was quite possible that the dinosaurs had a relationship with the birds, as has been accepted today,” said the artist and illustrator.

“Dinosaurs were not monsters,” he continued, “they were living creatures. Movies nowadays have taken advantage of scientific progress to turn them into the monstrous icons the public expects them to be, but that has got to change.”

Dinosaurs Made in Mexico includes large-scale posters of Rey’s art, as well as animatronic dinosaurs and an area where children can join an excavation site and dig for fossils.

The exhibition is located in the museum’s third floor and entrance is included in the 120-peso (just over US $6) ticket. The museum is open Tuesdays to Fridays between 2:30 and 7:00pm, and between 10:30am and 7:00pm on weekends.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Strengthen noise regulations, says academic: ‘People have a right to silence’

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January 3, 2019

Measuring noise levels on Maduro street in Mexico City.

Sanctions imposed on businesses and individuals violating noise regulations in Mexico City should be strengthened, according to an academic who argues that people have a “right to silence.”

Jimena de Gortari, professor of architecture and urbanism at the Iberoamericana University, also called on the newly-installed Mexico City government to be stricter in the enforcement of the regulations.

Fines for exceeding noise regulations range from 806 to 3,224 pesos (US $41 to $164) but less than 2% of noise complaints result in sanctions being imposed.

De Gortari argued that city authorities should carry out more frequent inspections to ensure compliance with existing regulations and impose fines without exception where breaches are detected.

“The right to silence and the right to rest have to be incorporated [in the city’s constitution] as legitimate rights of any human being . . .” she said.

Miguel Ángel Cancino, Mexico City’s environmental prosecutor, said that authorities have failed to combat the city’s noise problems, explaining that offending businesses such as nightclubs are often only given warnings of which they take no notice.

One area of the city where noise frequently exceeds permitted levels is Madero street, a pedestrian thoroughfare in the historic center.

By using a sound level meter, the newspaper Reforma found that bars and nightclubs located on the busy street were exceeding the permitted decibel levels by as much as 61%.

Between 8:00pm and 6:00am, noise regulations allow for music to be played at a maximum of 62 decibels.

Noise generated by public works, aircraft, traffic and street vendors are also frequently complained about by residents of Mexico City.

De Gortari said that Mexico’s capital is the eighth noisiest city in the world and called on the government to develop a mobile app that residents can use to report violations of noise regulations.

Noise in Mexico is a hot-button issue that often provokes vigorous debate among both Mexicans and foreign residents.

Amid a long-running dispute over noise levels in the historic center of Mérida, Yucatán, last year, a local musician and union boss suggested that expatriate residents, some of whom complained about late-night noise emanating from cantinas and nightclubs, should go home if they are not happy with the situation.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Cannabis ‘gummies’ coming soon to the Mexican market

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January 3, 2019

CBD gummies are on the way to stores in Mexico.

Marijuana-based products will reach the Mexican market this year, with the first batch of CBD “gummies” arriving on shelves by the end of this month.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is one of at least 113 identified cannabinoids in hemp plants, accounting for up to 40% of the plant’s extract.

The company CBD Life will import the product from the United States and sell a pack for about 250 pesos (US $12.50), a price that is far cheaper than in the U.S., where it sells for $50.

CBD Life COO and founder Janko Ruíz de Chávez told the newspaper El Financiero that the CBD gummies, sold in fruit and berry mixes, will allow the Mexican public to get to know the benefits of CBD in a safe way.

The product “is a pleasant way to know the ingredient, and it is oriented toward minor ailments like anxiety, stress, pain, depression, all those imbalances of the nervous system . . . it’s not like a [tablet of Alprazolam] that can calm your nerves but is way more aggressive,” said Ruíz.

One of 10 Mexican firms approved by the Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (Cofepris) to import cannabis-based products, CBD Life also intends to sell Mariguanol, a CBD-based ointment.

The Mexico City-based firm currently has a portfolio of 21 products that it will sell in the San Pablo, Ahorro, Yza and Guadalajara drug stores, Nutrisa and online at Amazon México.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Michoacán hardest hit in critical gas shortage that has affected four states

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January 3, 2019

A gas shortage crisis is affecting four states, drawing the ire of motorists and business owners and causing long lines at service stations that haven’t run out.

Michoacán has been hardest hit: 90% of the gas stations in the state capital, Morelia, have been forced to close.

Business owners and residents first reported a fuel shortage in the municipalities of Morelia, Álvaro Obregón, Charo and Tarímbaro on December 31. At least six other municipalities were also affected by petroleum shortages in the last week of 2018.

The state oil company hasn’t explained the cause of the shortage in Michoacán, while President López Obrador said yesterday that authorities are still investigating the source of the problem.

In a Twitter post on New Year’s Eve directed at Pemex and Energy Secretary Rocío Nahle, federal lawmaker Ana Lilia Guillén Quiroz wrote that “many gas stations are closed in the city of Morelia,” adding that “the few stations that have gasoline are swamped by desperate customers.”

The Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) politician, who represents the Michoacán state capital in the lower house of Congress, demanded that the federal government urgently turn its attention to remedying the situation.

A report by the newspaper El Universal yesterday said that tankers have only delivered fuel in in dribs and drabs to some of Michoacán’s 320 gas stations. However, owners of G500 gas stations in the state have reported that Pemex isn’t supplying them with any fuel.

At least eight municipalities in Querétaro, including the state capital, are also facing fuel shortages, which have caused some gas stations to close.

Enrique Arroyo, president of the state’s gas station association, described the situation as the “worst crisis” in the past decade, explaining that it was due to Pemex closing pipelines that run between refineries at Tula, Hidalgo, and Salamanca, Guanajuato, as part of the strategy to combat pipeline theft.

“We’re going through the worst [fuel] shortage crisis we’re had in Querétaro . . . There are now 30 stations that don’t have fuel but the situation is going to get worse tomorrow . . .” he said.

Speaking yesterday, Arroyo added that the number of gas stations forced to close could climb to 50 if fuel wasn’t delivered soon.

Not only Pemex gas stations are affected, he explained, but also those run by BP and Shell, among other companies, because they depend on the state oil company’s infrastructure.

Mobil, which has its own supply networks, has fuel but lacks capacity to make up for the shortfall, Arroyo said.

In México state, an LP gas shortage is affecting residents and businesses in Metepec, a municipality that adjoins the state capital, Toluca.

An employee of the company Vela Gas told the newspaper El Sol de Toluca that Pemex hadn’t supplied it with gas for almost two weeks.

“. . . We continued to work as normal with the reserves we had until the past few days . . . when we had to inform customers that we couldn’t supply them due to the shortage . . .” the unnamed worker said.

A Metepec tortilla shop employee said that he had tried to source LP gas from several companies but they had all run out, adding “if we’re left without gas, we simply can’t work.”

Guanajuato is also facing petroleum and LP gas shortages.

Residents of Uriangato, Moroleón and Yuriria have complained on social media that most gas stations in the municipalities have had no fuel since December 31, forcing them to fill up in other parts of the state.

In León, the state’s largest city, in addition to a lack of gasoline an LP gas shortage has affected residents in recent days, a state gas association chief told the newspaper Milenio.

“It has to be said, yes there is a gas shortage in León and for that reason gas companies are taking a series of measures in order to be able to provide gas in the largest possible area and that means supplying a maximum of [only] 200 or 300 pesos [US $10 to $15 worth of gas] to users,” Merced Ornelas said.

He explained that the shortage was caused mainly by a high demand for LP gas last month, which left companies with scarce quantities with which to supply those who didn’t stock up, but added that since January 1 more tankers have been arriving in the city.

“I imagine that in around 15 days, [normal] service should be restored . . .” Ornelas said.

Source: Reforma (sp), El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp), Diario de Querétaro (sp), El Sol de Toluca (sp), Excelsiór (sp)

Engines from helicopter in which governor died will be analyzed in Canada

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January 3, 2019

Moreno and Alonso, the political power couple killed in the Christmas Eve helicopter crash.

The engines from the helicopter that crashed and killed Puebla Governor Martha Érika Alonso will be shipped to Canada for further analysis by experts investigating the cause of the accident.

The newly-elected governor, her ex-governor husband Senator Rafael Moreno Valle, a political assistant and two crew members died when the aircraft went down near Puebla city on December 24.

The Mexican government called on independent investigators from the United States, Canada and Europe to help determine the cause of the crash.

“The Canadians finished yesterday and went back to their country . . . to continue their investigation and analysis of the engines,” said Transportation Secretariat spokesman Carlos Morán Moguel.

They will be shipped to Canada following an inspection by other participants in the probe.

He said all the helicopter’s parts have been retrieved from the crash site.

Morán said two Italian technicians arrived in Mexico this morning to join the investigation.

The helicopter was an Italian-made Agusta A109.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Oaxaca girl dies from stray bullet; Sinaloa cops probed for loaning gun to reveler

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January 3, 2019

Party time in Sinaloa with a cop's rifle.

Despite information campaigns and laws against the practice, New Year’s revelers continue the tradition of firing guns at the stroke of midnight. And if you don’t have a gun, police in Sinaloa will lend you one.

The practice proved fatal for a seven-year-old girl in Oaxaca on Monday night after she was struck by a stray New Year’s bullet. Vivian Michelle of Santa María Coyotepec died this morning in a Oaxaca hospital.

She and her family had traveled from their home outside Oaxaca city to spend the Christmas vacation in Santa María Petapa in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Vivian and her family were seated outdoors and preparing to enjoy a New Year’s Eve dinner when she appeared to faint.

Her father discovered a small wound in the child’s head and she was taken to a hospital in Matías Romero and later airlifted to Mexico City, but doctors were unable to save her.

At about the same time that Vivian was hit, two municipal police officers in Culiacán, Sinaloa, allegedly loaned an automatic rifle to a New Year’s reveler so he could join the fun and fire shots into the air.

The two are under investigation after a video of the incident surfaced.

In an effort to put an end to New Year’s shooting, the state government had launched an ad campaign to inform the public of the dangers of using firearms for celebratory purposes but it appears the two officers did not see it.

After the video appeared they were relieved of their weapons and put under investigation.

Depending on the results, the two could be subject to a formal investigation by the state Attorney General’s office.

Police chief Óscar Guinto Marmolejo said that the two officers have over 10 years’ experience and “should know what’s right and what’s wrong.”

The identity of the civilian who fired the rifle is unknown.

At least three people were injured by stray bullets during the New Year’s celebrations last year.

Source: Infobae (sp), NVI Noticias (sp)

645 Chiapas bodyguards reassigned ‘to serve citizens’ rather than officials

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January 3, 2019

López Obrador and Chiapas Governor Escandón.

The government of Chiapas has reassigned 645 bodyguards and 95 vehicles that were at the service of former and current public officials.

Newly-installed Governor Rutilio Escandón Cadenas said in a statement issued yesterday that the decision to reassign the state-paid security personnel is not only part of the government’s austerity program but also responds to “the social demand to return police to the streets so that they are truly at the service of citizens.”

The move, approved by the state Congress on December 31, will generate savings of 6 million pesos (US $306,000) a month.

The Chiapas legislature repealed two decrees approved by past governments including one passed in July 2017 that stipulated that former governor Manuel Velasco and his attorney general, Raciel López Salazar, were entitled to a personal security detail for 15 years in recognition of “services rendered to the state.”

President López Obrador, who largely eschews personal security, said last month that the arrangement was “an excess that shouldn’t be allowed.”

Escandón, who was sworn in as governor for the president’s leftist Morena party on December 8, has pledged that his administration will implement austerity measures while governing with efficiency, transparency and accountability.

During a meeting with his cabinet secretaries yesterday, the governor insisted on the responsible management of funds allocated in the budget in order to immediately address social inequality in the state and to work towards improving the quality of life of Chiapas residents.

The southern state has a large indigenous population and is the poorest in Mexico, according to a 2017 report by the social development agency Coneval.

Source: El Universal (sp)

All vehicles must now have insurance to travel on federal highways

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January 2, 2019