Quintana Roo’s sargassum problem is ‘not very serious:’ López Obrador

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June 24, 2019

The governor says a tonne of sargassum is being removed every day from the state's beaches.

President López Obrador today downplayed the gravity of sargassum landing on beaches in the Mexican Caribbean during a visit to Quintana Roo, emphasizing the actions his government is taking to address the problem.

“It’s not a delicate issue, and much less a serious issue,” he said at his daily press conference. “It has a solution, and we’re working on it.”

The president said that emergency declarations by the government of Quintana Roo were irresponsible attempts to make contracts with sargassum-collecting companies and discredit the federal government.

He also pointed out that the amount of sargassum collected on Quintana Roo beaches every day is less than 3% of the 13,000 tonnes of trash collected daily in Mexico City.

The figure, however, proved incorrect. After reporters called for clarification of the numbers, an aide approached the president with a note: the correct figure was given as 341 kilograms.

But Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquín González said on Sunday that a tonne of sargassum is being collected daily.

Navy Secretary Rafael Ojeda also spoke this morning, observing that the sargassum issue is being treated as a “state problem” for the first time, with a coordinated response from the three levels of government.

“They used to invest a lot of money, but just in contracts and half-measures,” he said.

López Obrador last month put the navy in charge of combating the sargassum problem.

Ojeda announced an investment of 52 million pesos (US $2.7 million) of federal money to install barriers to keep sargassum from reaching beaches and build a fleet of 10 to 12 sargassum-collecting vessels in navy shipyards. Each will take between one and two months to build.

The principal problem with sargassum, according to Ojeda, is not how to collect the macroalgae, but what to do with it once it has been collected.

In May, the federal government predicted a 30% drop in tourism in Quintana Roo because of sargassum washing up on 200 kilometers of the state’s beaches. According to the governor, who appeared with the president at Sunday’s press conference, sargassum has not seriously affected hotel occupancy, although it has had an impact on providers of beach activities, sports and restaurants.

“We need to prevent problems for the next vacation period with more efficient direct actions for collection and removal,” he said.

A Cancún hotel association has predicted the weed would cost the industry millions of dollars.

Source: La Jornada (sp), El Universal (sp), El Economista (sp)

For the next 19 years, passenger tax will pay off debt of abandoned airport

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MND Staff

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June 24, 2019

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London Heathrow leads with the highest passenger tax. el universal

Planning to use Mexico City International Airport (AICM) during the next two decades? Be prepared to help pay off government debt.

Over the next 19 years, taxes paid by passengers flying into or out of the airport will be used to pay back debt associated with the cancelation of the previous government’s signature infrastructure project, the new Mexico City airport.

It will be no mean feat. According to the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation, cancelation of the partially-built Texcoco project left a US $6-billion bond debt and a 30-billion-peso (US $1.56-billion) liability associated with the issuance of securities known as Fibra E shares.

In that context, the airport tax for both domestic and international passengers at the AICM rose on January 1.

The former now pay US $23.79 to use the airport, a 116% increase compared to 2014, while the latter pay $45.18, a 232% hike.

Tariffs paid by passengers at CDMX in comparison with other airports in Mexico — Tariffs paid by international passengers at CDMX in comparison with other airports in Mexico. el universal

The newspaper El Universal reported that the new international passenger rate makes the Mexico City airport the second most expensive in the world after Heathrow in London, England.

The use of an airport tax to repay debt is unconventional – resources raised by the duty are most commonly spent on airport maintenance and improvement projects.

“We’re facing an unusual situation in which this charge is being used for something that isn’t maintenance, improvement, refitting or the construction of more runways that can increase the number of planes per hour,” said Rafael Camacho, an aviation analyst for the financial company Ve Por Más.

Rogelio Rodríguez, an attorney who specializes in aviation law, agreed with Camacho’s assessment.

“Mexico is a unique case in the world because airport taxes are always paid to improve an airport . . . but we’re paying to finance the debt of a government decision that in a sense threw away all the investment [of the abandoned airport] and took on the debt,” he said.

Under the current arrangement, none of the airport tax funds can be used for either the construction of the Santa Lucía airport or for the upgrading of the AICM, Rogelio explained

Tariffs paid by domestic passengers at airports in Mexico. el universal

The lawyer said that those projects – including the construction of a third terminal and the installation of new technology at the existing airport – will have to be paid for out of the federal budget.

However, as a result of the decision to direct airport tax funds to pay off debt at Texcoco, a trust associated with that project paid the operator of the existing airport almost 57 billion pesos (US $3 billion) in compensation in April 2018.

The previous government planned for the abandonment of the AICM in 2021, the year when the Texcoco airport was to begin operations.

But based on the results of a controversial and legally-questionable referendum, President López Obrador decided to cancel the new airport project and instead build a new one at the Santa Lucía Air Force Base in México state and upgrade existing facilities in the capital and Toluca.

The plan, however, is not currently running as smoothly as the government would like.

The Santa Lucía project is currently facing legal challenges from a collective opposed to government waste that believes that reviving the abandoned airport is “legally possible,” while earlier this month the Environment Secretariat suspended assessment of the environmental impact statement until it receives more information.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Mexico City offers businesses a four-level security program

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MND Staff

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June 22, 2019

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Mexico City authorities are offering a new security program that offers businesses in the capital’s historic center the option of choosing from four different levels of protection, but only one is free.

The free option gives business owners a mobile app that enables them to report crimes to police but the three more sophisticated levels of protection come at a cost.

Installation of a panic button costs 2,000 pesos (US $105), while two cameras connected to the C5 security command center come with a 7,000-peso price tag.

For shopping centers, there is a “Plaza Package” option, which includes 16 security cameras and a panic button for 60,000 pesos (US $3,100).

“The idea is to have a complete catalogue [of options] . . .in keeping with the purchasing power of businesses,” said C5 Command Center chief Juan Manuel García.

Presenting the new security initiative, García said the Mesones and Mixcalco shopping plazas in downtown Mexico City are already participating in a pilot program.

“We’re going to continue with the historic center in order to cover the greatest quantity of plazas in the shortest possible time. In those two places, the program is already operating and if they press the emergency button, the attention will be similar to what currently occurs with the [street] panic buttons . . .” he said.

If a business owner presses a panic button, both a strobe light and an alarm will be activated and security camera footage will be immediately relayed to the C5 Center, where security personnel will notify police.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum explained that the government will obtain the security equipment from a range of suppliers in order to avoid any claims of preferential treatment.

“We’re not orienting the program around just one brand of cameras or transmission equipment . . . We’re certifying different equipment so that the business owner can decide which to use . . .” she said.

The mayor said that together with other security schemes that her government has developed the business protection program “is going to create a much safer historic center.”

Ángel Mussi, a member of a historic center business association, praised the government’s initiative, describing it as a significant step forward for law enforcement.

It is unclear when the program might extend to businesses beyond the capital’s downtown area.

Robberies of businesses in Mexico City have soared since Sheinbaum took office last December.

There were 8,338 robberies between December and March, according to the National Public Security System, an increase of 54% compared to the same period a year earlier.

The capital has also been plagued this year by high levels of other crimes including homicides and kidnappings but Sheinbaum last week denied that there is a crisis of insecurity in the city.

Source: Milenio (sp)

National Guard deployment of 52,000 planned for June 30 to 150 hot spots

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MND Staff

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June 22, 2019

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The National Guard will be out in force starting June 30. — The Guard will be out in force starting June 30.

Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo announced that 52,000 National Guard troops will be deployed on June 30 to the country’s 150 most violent regions.

Speaking at a regional security meeting yesterday in Chihuahua, Durazo said that northern border states are included in the government’s deployment plans.

The secretary said that 1,800 troops will be sent to Ciudad Juárez, Urique, Parral and Cuauhtémoc in Chihuahua and that the same number will be deployed to Sonora, mainly in and around Ciudad Obregón, where there have been 48 homicides this month.

The troops to be deployed at the end of the month will be newly-trained National Guard members who previously belonged to the federal, military and naval police.

Their June 30 deployment will come immediately after their graduation from a 584-hour training course which includes education on the criminal justice system, the use of force and respect for human rights.

“These elements will be deployed immediately to the 150 regions in which we’ve divided the country to attend to the issue of security,” Durazo said.

The secretary had previously identified six states as insecurity hot spots – Puebla, Nuevo León, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Veracruz and Tamaulipas.

The new security force was first deployed to Minatitlán, Veracruz, in late April a week after 13 people were killed in an attack on a bar in the city.

Durazo explained that a second generation of new troops will graduate in September and a third in December.

At the end of the year, the National Guard – the centerpiece of the government’s security strategy – will have a total of 82,000 troops, he said.

Durazo said the use of the National Guard to control migration represents a fundamental change to the security force’s planned function but explained that it is necessary due to the massive arrival of migrants in the country.

Security Secretary Durazo, center, met with northern state governors to discuss security plans.

After yesterday’s meeting with northern state governors and security officials, the secretary told reporters that federal security forces and other authorities have ramped up efforts to shut down people smuggling operations.

“Collaborating with several agencies, joining forces, we’re making a very significant effort to . . . dismantle human trafficking networks that have unfortunately become stronger in the country,” he said.

Police stopped four semi-trailers transporting almost 800 undocumented migrants in Veracruz last Saturday and authorities have moved to block the bank accounts and seize the assets of those responsible for the people smuggling attempt.

As part of a migration agreement with the United States, Mexico also committed to sending 6,000 National Guard troops to the southern border to enforce stricter immigration policies.

Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said yesterday that the deployment has been completed and that 650 positions have been filled in the National Immigration Institute to improve security at border crossings.

A federal official who requested anonymity told the Associated Press that the National Guard troops have not been visible in large contingents because they are spread along the entirety of the 1,000-kilometer-long southern border as well as in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region.

The elements have been deployed to remote areas to target human smugglers, the official said.

As Mexico steps up enforcement against undocumented migrants, moves are also under way in the United States to bolster border security.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced yesterday that his government will deploy 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the United States-Mexico border to support federal security efforts.

“The crisis at our southern border is unlike anything we’ve witnessed before and has put an enormous strain on the existing resources we have in place,” he said.

Source: Milenio (sp), Excelsiór (sp), El Universal (sp), The Associated Press (en)

Video of interrogation reveals federal authorities’ torture tactics in Ayotzinapa probe

By

Madison Koen

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June 22, 2019

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Torture victim and Ayotzinapa suspect Carlos Canto.

The legitimacy of the federal government’s version of the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, was once again called into question yesterday when a video showing the torture of a suspect was published on YouTube.

It also cost the undersecretary of security in Michoacán his job — he is allegedly the interrogator in the video.

The torture victim, identified as Carlos Canto, is seated with his eyes blindfolded and his hands bound. Behind him, a man in a federal Attorney General’s Office uniform interrogates Canto, repeatedly asking him about the events that took place in Iguala the night the students disappeared.

Near the end of the video, the police officer behind Canto places a plastic bag over his head and pulls it tight, cutting off the man’s oxygen.

The video confirms a report published by the United Nations in March 2018 that found that 34 people were tortured in connection with the investigation of the students’ disappearance, including “beatings, kicks, electric shocks, blindfolding, attempted asphyxia, sexual assault and various forms of psychological torture.”

Revelan video de torturas a involucrado en caso Ayotzinapa

Watch this video on YouTube

Video of the investigation in which the suspect was tortured.

Based on the United Nations’ findings, a federal judge ruled last November that the statements upon which the findings were based were obtained illegally in violation of detainees’ human rights and must be dismissed. Following the ruling, three men who had previously been accused of being the actual perpetrators of the crime were released from custody.

From early in the investigation the government’s version has been widely questioned both within Mexico and internationally. Many believe that the army might also have been involved in the students’ disappearances.

Carlos Canto, the man in the video, is one of the 34 people mentioned in the report. He was detained by agents from the federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and navy marines on October 22, 2014 just one day after the federal government took over the investigation from widely criticized state authorities. They were under enormous pressure.

Canto was also beaten and given electric shocks during interrogations, according to evidence given by his sister.

The voice of the uniformed officer in the video has been identified as that of Carlos Gómez Arrieta, then-head of investigative police at the PGR. Today, the Michoacán government announced he had resigned his post in the Secretariat of Security.

The video could have serious consequences for the Ayotzinapa case. In addition to supporting the United Nations’ findings of institutional torture in the investigation that produced the federal government’s version of events, it could open new lines of investigation based on the heretofore uninvestigated locations mentioned by Carlos Canto during his interrogation.

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

Parishioners believe priest innocent of murder; victims’s brother says he was tortured

By

MND Staff

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June 22, 2019

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Supporters of jailed priest pray for his release.

Parishioners of the Mexico City church whose priest was arrested on homicide charges this week prayed yesterday for his release, while the brother of the victim revealed that his sibling was tortured before he was murdered.

A congregation of the Cristo Salvador church gathered to pray for Francisco Javier Bautista Ávalos, who was arrested in connection with the June 11 murder of Leonardo Avendaño, a 29-year-old deacon at the same church.

“Holy Father, you know the priest as we know him, help us to move hearts . . . listen to us so that the father is protected wherever he is, so that he soon leaves that place,” said a woman leading the prayers.

The parishioners, who also prayed for Avendaño, called for authorities to carry out an exhaustive investigation into the crime because they believe the priest is innocent.

Earlier yesterday, supporters of the priest protested outside the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office to demand his release.

Leonardo Avendaño was last seen with the priest from his church.

More than 6,000 people have signed an online petition directed to Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum that expresses support for Bautista, who led the funeral service for his alleged victim, and expressed hope that the murderer would be caught.

Meanwhile, Josué Vicente Avendaño told the newspaper El Universal that his brother was beaten and tortured before he was killed.

He rejected a version of events that suggested that his brother was accidentally strangled to death during a sex game.

“My brother was tortured, [his injuries] weren’t from a game or anything like that. It was something that was planned in advance, my brother was tortured and then after that, the cause [of death] was asphyxiation . . .” Avendaño said.

He said that his brother’s body was badly bruised, his nose was broken, his face swollen and some of his teeth were missing.

“In the autopsy [report], ‘blows and severe bruising’ appeared, there’s another term that I don’t remember but in the autopsy it said that he was tortured,” Avendaño said.

He also said that Bautista was someone who his brother trusted completely, and that the priest had called him when Avendaño was missing. During the conversation, the victim’s brother said he detected the tone of a “worried person” in Bautista’s voice.

“At the moment I suspect everyone. . . Who could it be? I don’t have the authority to say yes [it was the priest] or who might be guilty, I’ll leave that to justice. . .”

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

Sahara dust forecast this weekend for Yucatán peninsula

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Madison Koen

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June 22, 2019

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Colorful sunrises and sunsets might be seen from the Yucatán peninsula this weekend due to Sahara dust. — Colorful sunrises and sunsets might be seen from the Yucatán peninsula.

A massive dust cloud from the Sahara Desert in northern Africa is forecast to arrive in areas of the Yucatán peninsula and northern Mexico on Saturday and Sunday.

According to meteorologist Juan Antonio Palma, the distinctive yellow dust is picked up by storms that form in the far west of the world’s largest desert, where it is then carried by eastern trade winds across the desert, countries and the ocean.

Over 100 million tonnes of dust is blown from Africa to North and South America every year, affecting air quality across the continents. Some of the dust reaches as far as the Amazon basin, where it plays a key role in restoring minerals to depleted rainforest soils.

Research suggests that the dust may also play a role in the suppression of hurricanes and be harmful to coral reefs.

However, the meteorologist said the dust’s arrival was no cause for alarm and will likely provide for spectacular orange and red sunrises and sunsets across the Yucatán peninsula.

“It’s normal for the dust to reach the Yucatán peninsula, and in fact it arrives every year in varying intensity.”

He added that the dust does not present any public health risk, but that it might affect regular patterns of precipitation.

However, health professionals warn it can aggravate breathing problems, and trigger asthma.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Mexico wins gold and silver at Central American-Caribbean math olympiad

By

César Hernández

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June 22, 2019

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The math olympiad winners in the Dominican Republic.

Two teams of young Mexican mathematicians rose to the top of the Central American-Caribbean Math Olympiad (OMCC), winning gold and silver medals at the event hosted by the Dominican Republic.

First place was won by the team of Karla Rebeca Mungía from Sinaloa and Daniel Ochoa Quintero from Tamaulipas, while their peers Jacob from Yucatán and Luis Eduardo Martínez from Nuevo León placed second.

Mexican teams have consistently ranked at the top among their regional peers, bringing home gold medals for the past 11 years, the organizers of the Mexican Math Olympiad (OMM) said.

The president of OMM’s organizing committee, Rogelio Valdez Delgado, commended the sponsorship of the disposable consumer product firm Bic, which paid for the youths’ transportation, lodging and travel expenses. He also thanked the support given by the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt).

Three of the four students belong to the group of 12 math whizzes that will be traveling to South Africa in early August to participate in an international olympiad.

The team of primary and secondary school students were in the news last month when it was revealed they would be unable to send a full complement to the match because of budget cuts at Conacyt.

But Guadalajara filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and beer maker Grupo Modelo came forward to help out. The former will pay for the students’ flights while the latter has offered to pay for the team’s accommodation.

Source: El Sol de México (sp)

Four coordinated attacks against Jalisco police leave five dead

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Simon Schatzberg

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June 22, 2019

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Police take aim during a shooting yesterday Jalisco. — Police take aim during a gunfight yesterday in Tlajomulco, Jalisco.

Five people were killed on Friday in four coordinated attacks against Jalisco state police in the municipalities of Tlajomulco and Zapopan. Two of the dead were police officers.

The first attack happened at 7:00am, when a civilian with an assault rifle shot at a police commander as she was driving in her pickup truck. The commander was unhurt but her husband, who was in the passenger’s seat, was seriously injured.

Two hours later, detective Jesús Adán Martín del Campo was killed as he left his house in Tlajomulco. His nine-year-old son was wounded with a bullet to the leg.

After the Tlajomulco attack, police began patrolling the area and were hit with grenades and rifle fire from a residence near where Martín was killed. The grenades did not detonate, but 300 police officers and soldiers fought for an hour and a half to take control of the property in the Jardines de Edén residential area.

Six officers were injured and two alleged criminals were killed, and three people inside the house were taken into custody. It is not known whether those arrested were suspects or people being held against their will in the house. Police also secured 20 rifles, 20 handguns and two grenades from the house.

Shortly after the battle, another off-duty officer from a homicide unit was killed in a nearby housing development. His body was found naked, in the street in front of his residence.

“The officer from homicide, when he realized that people were coming into his house, tried to escape,” said Jalisco Attorney General Gerardo Solís Gómez at a press conference. “They probably caught him when he was taking a shower, which explains how they found him.”

Another person, who police say they are fairly certain was involved in the killing of the homicide agent, was found dead nearby, apparently having been hit by a car and killed as he left the scene on a bicycle.

Solís assured reporters that the attacks took place because state authorities “are damaging the interests of organized crime.”

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

More research into ancient city of Ichkabal planned prior to its opening to public

By

MND Staff

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June 21, 2019

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Ichkabal in Quintana Roo: more research to be done before it can open.

Deeper research into the ancient Mayan city of Ichkabal will be carried out before it is opened to the public, said the Quintana Roo chief of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), providing a better experience for visitors when it does open.

Margarito Molina told the newspaper El Economista that obtaining resources to carry out the additional research is a priority for INAH.

Researchers’ conclusions about the geopolitical organization of the city and the lives of its erstwhile Mayan inhabitants will enable visitors to have a more educational and informative experience at the southern Quintana Roo site, he said.

“The site is very old, it dates from the early pre-classic period. The important thing is to keep carrying out research for its opening in order to be able to present to the public the interpretation, the results of the research and an understanding about the culture,” Molina said.

“A visitor can’t [just] see the structures and understand the daily life of the settlement. That’s the work of archaeologists, historians and also linguists,” he added.

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Beyond the additional research, INAH director Diego Prieto said that before the site can open a range of infrastructure needs to be built at the site including a formal entrance, an interpretation center and public washrooms.

Another factor that is holding up the opening of Ichkabal is the absence of an agreement between INAH and the communal owners of the land on which the site sits.

Luis Chimal Balam, head of the Bacalar ejido, said earlier this year that INAH has proposed paying 400,000 pesos (US $21,000) for each of the 121 hectares covered by Ichkabal and the surrounding area that needs to be developed to access the site.

But the 165 ejidatarios decided that they don’t want to give up ownership of the land. Instead, they wish to be partners in the development of the archaeological site and direct beneficiaries of the tourism it attracts.

Located around 60 kilometers west of Laguna de Bacalar in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco, Ichkabal is one of the most important Mayan cities of the pre-classical era.

It was inhabited by kings of the Kaan dynasty and some of its structures are taller than the pyramids at Chichén Itzá in Yucatán.

The Quintana Roo government has said that the recovery and opening of Ichkabal could attract investment in hotels and real estate to the tune of US $1 billion over the next 15 years.

Source: El Economista (sp)

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