PRI infighting gets nasty in row between ex-governor, ex-party chief

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September 24, 2018

Santos Reyes church in Metztitlán, an example of a religious tourism destination in Hidalgo.

Hidalgo has launched a tourism campaign that will focus on restoring and promoting the state’s most emblematic churches and monasteries.

While announcing the campaign yesterday, Interior Secretary Simón Vargas Aguilar explained that the focus on religion and history is a new stage of a broader tourism promotion program known as Magic Hidalgo.

Tourism Secretary Eduardo Baños Gómez spoke of the importance of religion-focused tourism in Hidalgo. “We have more than 10 municipalities with vast religious importance,” he said, with churches and monasteries built over 100 years ago.

He said the state welcomed almost 4 million visitors during the past Holy Week vacations, and a similar number is expected to attend the Xantolo festivities as the Day of the Dead is known in the Sierra and Huasteca regions of the state.

After the Magic Hidalgo program was launched last year, the state government reported it had received 8.5 million visitors who spent 2.5 billion pesos (US $132.6 million). Projections for this year anticipate an increase of about 10%.

The tourism program will promote places such as the Mapethé shrine and the Nicholas of Tolentino monastery and religious festivities such as the San Francisco and Our Lord of Miracles fairs. Top among these celebrations is the representation of the Stations of the Cross during Holy Week.

The restoration part of the tourism program entails an investment of 39.5 million pesos in 11 different buildings.

The interior secretary explained that the new campaign, as well as being the first of its kind in Mexico, will also be designed to boost economic development for families across Hidalgo, making the state “a pioneer at the national level.”

“It is important to promote the riches the state has in all of its corners,” he said.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Hotels prepare to fight massive electricity rate increases

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September 24, 2018

Some hotels have seen CFE rates increase as much as 300%. — Hotels association will seek injunctions.

Hotel owners are preparing to fight electricity tariff increases of as much as 300%.

The Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM) plans to seek injunctions against the new rates, which they say run counter to the objectives of energy reforms.

“We cannot remain indifferent in the face of this abuse on the part of the energy authorities,” AMHM president Rafael García González told a press conference.

He said his organization unsuccessfully sought an explanation from the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), the federal agency responsible for authorizing the tariffs.

Along with the injunctions, the hoteliers will also request compensation from CRE, alleging property damage caused by the new tariffs in several member hotels.

In Baja California Sur, the local chapter of the AMHM has obtained what its president called a suspension.

Paloma Palacios explained that member hotels in the state are paying only 40% of their electric bills after injunctions were obtained.

Over the past year, rates have gone up by 75% in Quintana Roo and Colima, 70% in Baja California Sur, 41% in Tabasco and 27% in Mexico City.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Holbox hotel project halted for lack of environmental permit

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September 24, 2018

Construction that was halted on Isla Holbox.

The federal environmental protection agency Profepa has temporarily halted the construction of a hotel in the Yum Balam natural protected area of Isla Holbox.

Profepa agents reported that the Cabañas Coconut hotel is being built on more than 2,000 square meters of a coastal dune ecosystem where mangroves and other vegetation are found.

During an inspection, the agents found 15 two-story cabins under construction among other wooden and metal structures. All vegetation in the construction area had been removed and the land leveled and compacted.

The temporary suspension of all construction work was ordered when the hotel could not produce evidence of environmental authorization.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Soccer fan seriously hurt during pre-game fight in Nuevo León

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September 24, 2018

Soccer fans brawl yesterday in Nuevo León.

A soccer fan is in hospital in serious but stable condition after being stabbed and attacked with stones in a violent confrontation before a match in Monterrey, Nuevo Léon, yesterday.

The young man, a supporter of the C.F. Tigres of the Nuevo León Autonomous University, suffered a seven-centimeter wound to his right side and head trauma in the brawl ahead of the Clásico Regio, a local tournament, against C.F. Monterrey.

Nuevo León Attorney General Gustavo Adolfo Guerrero said today that authorities have identified several people who participated in the clash, adding that warrants for their arrest are now being sought.

Those involved could face charges of assault causing serious injuries and receive prison sentences of up to four years in accordance with state laws governing violence at sporting events.

Guerrero added that the conduct of state police is also being investigated in the light of video evidence showing they were in the vicinity of the location where the clash occurred — several kilometers from the University Stadium — but did not intervene to stop it.

The two clubs involved in yesterday’s match, which ended in a 0-0 draw, today issued a joint statement to say that they had started meetings early this morning “with the objective of finding solutions and compromises to confront the problem that damages our support and our society.”

Both clubs, the statement added, “declare their intention to cooperate with state authorities, fans, media and the [Mexican football] league in the quest to eradicate violence from soccer.”

According to the newspaper El Economista, there are three to four violent incidents every month outside soccer stadiums in Mexico in the lead-up to first and second division matches.

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

Five dead, nine missing after heavy rains in Michoacán

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September 24, 2018

Heavy rains that struck Sinaloa, Sonora and Chihuahua last week moved into western Michoacán yesterday, killing five and causing flooding in two neighborhoods.

[wpgmza id=”82″]

The Cutio River and the Parástico reservoir overflowed their banks about 5:00pm yesterday, creating a river of mud and water that flooded 20 homes in the municipality of Peribán.

The floodwaters also swept away vehicles in the neighborhoods of Tirinditas and Río Negro.

Authorities said nine people are missing.

The municipal auditorium was opened as a shelter for those affected by the flash flood and the military enacted its DN-III disaster and victim relief program.

Searchers continue to look for the missing along an eight-kilometer stretch of the Cutio today.

Peribán is located 171 kilometers to the west of the capital of Michoacán, Morelia.

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

Un auto es arrastrado por la fuerza del agua en Peribán de Ramos, Michoacán tras la tromba de este domingo. pic.twitter.com/IyJeDdqfF5

— El Heraldo de México (@elheraldo_mx) September 24, 2018

Chona Challenge brings some humor to Sinaloa emergency

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September 24, 2018

The Chona Challenge is a dance routine normally performed next to a moving passenger vehicle (or even a plane) that was big in Mexico during the summer.

Yesterday, it made a comeback in Sinaloa, where a young man made do with a boat.

An emergency has been declared in 11 municipalities in the state due to severe flooding and many people have resorted to using boats to navigate flooded streets.

And so was born the Chona Challenge Sinaloa style.

The young man hopped out of a small boat and did the dance in waist-deep water, urged on by his friends aboard the vessel, putting a brave face on a situation in which up to 300,000 homes have been affected by flooding.

The army said today it has deployed 1,596 personnel to both Sinaloa and Sonora. In the latter state the number of flood victims has been estimated at 170,000.

Farmers too may be among the victims. They are waiting for floodwaters to drop before they can estimate the damage to some 20,000 hectares of crops.

Transportation officials say 870 kilometers of roads have been damaged in Sinaloa, including the highway between Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, where potholes are being repaired on a 70-kilometer stretch.

The heavy rains fell last week during tropical storm 19-E.

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

Chona challenge estilo Sinaloa pic.twitter.com/dsJzA2fMDE

— Shawty (@bb_shawty) September 23, 2018

Investment promotional agency ProMéxico looks set to get the axe

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September 24, 2018

ProMéxico has been active in the promotion in China of products such as avocados. — ProMéxico has been active in China, promoting products such as avocados.

International trade and investment agency ProMéxico could be axed by the incoming federal government as part of its austerity push.

All 46 offices of the organization, located in international financial centers including New York, London and Tokyo, are on the chopping block with president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team taking the view that they generate significant expenses yet do nothing that can’t be achieved through traditional diplomacy.

Under the new government, which will be sworn in on December 1, Mexico’s ambassadors and consuls will be in charge of trade and investment promotion in key business capitals around the world, where trade representatives already work in the country’s diplomatic missions.

At least 10 ProMéxico offices are located within Mexican embassies and a further 10 are in consulates, while the remainder operate out of their own separate premises.

According to the newspaper Milenio, the incoming administration is close to defining the strategy it will adopt to attract new foreign investment including guidelines that will be given to Mexico’s diplomatic representatives.

ProMéxico functions as a trust fund of the federal government and is a subdivision of the Secretariat of Economy (SE).

It was created by decree in 2007 by then-president Felipe Calderón with the aim of coordinating and implementing actions to promote foreign trade and attract foreign direct investment (FDI). It was also intended to provide advice about the benefits in international trade treaties and help Mexican companies export to and establish themselves in foreign markets.

ProMéxico has supported the automotive, aerospace, chemical, food, electronics and metallurgy sectors among other industries.

One example of its work is the promotion of Mexican avocados in China, where sales of the product have skyrocketed this year.

During current President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration, 40% of US $193 billion of FDI that has come into Mexico is thanks to the work of ProMéxico, according to Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo.

Between 2007 and 2017, the agency attracted 1,126 projects backed by foreign investment, creating 411,000 jobs, including 300,000 over the past six years, SE data shows.

Guajardo said there is not a single developed or OECD member country in the world that doesn’t have a trade and foreign investment agency.

But for the incoming administration, which has already announced a range of austerity measures and appears intent on living within its means, the costs of running ProMéxico are seen as an unnecessary burden.

The agency was allocated a budget of almost 1.1 billion pesos (US $58.3 million) this year of which over 48.2 million pesos (US $2.55 million) went to paying just 20 high-level officials, all of whom received salaries higher than the 108,000 pesos (US $5,725) per month López Obrador has said he will take home as president.

The agency’s chief, Paulo Carreño King, is paid over 277,000 pesos (US $14,700) per month, or two and a half times the president-elect’s proposed salary, which will also serve as a limit for high-ranking officials and lawmakers.

The other ProMéxico offices set to close under the new government’s plan are located in Beijing, Dubai, Shanghai, Madrid and Moscow as well as the most important capitals of South America and the Caribbean and 15 cities in the United States, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Energy regulator proposes new entity to develop gas production

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September 22, 2018

More natural gas is flowing south from the US.

Mexico’s energy regulator has recommended the creation of a new state-owned entity to focus exclusively on gas production.

The National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) said in a technical document made public Thursday that the move would help to recover Mexico’s natural gas production.

CNH chief Héctor Moreira said the new upstream company would take control of all non-associated gas areas that are currently managed by the state oil company Pemex.

Speaking at a release event for the technical document, he said gas gathering infrastructure and gas processing facilities would also be controlled by the new entity.

“The oil and gas businesses are very different. If Pemex is told it has to focus on profitability, it is going to invest its resources on higher-profit oil projects rather than gas areas,” Moreira said.

However, a new company dedicated solely to gas would only be judged on its capacity to produce natural gas.

“It must be a different company with a different culture than Pemex. We are going to preserve the state component but with two companies,” Moreira said.

The CNH chief cited the success BP has had after creating a gas-only subsidiary as an example for the Mexican government to follow, but neither he nor the technical document spoke about how the new entity would be funded.

However, the CNH has in recent months advocated for Pemex to create and list subsidiaries in equity markets in order to raise capital from private investors.

Such a move would follow in the footsteps of major state-owned oil companies such as China’s CNOOC and Brazil’s Petrobras.

The position president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador will take on the CNH recommendation remains to be seen.

He has opposed privatization in the energy sector and said that all contracts awarded by the current government to foreign and private companies for oil and gas exploration will be subject to review.

However, future finance secretary Carlos Urzúa said that if no irregularities are detected, the contracts will be honored. The incoming administration has also recognized that the private sector must play an important role in growing the economy.

Javier Jiménez Espriú, López Obrador’s nominee for secretary of communications and transportation, said last month that he will seek a 20-peso contribution from the private sector for every peso that the new government allocates to new infrastructure projects.

Mexico’s gas production has decreased drastically over the past decade from 6.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2009 to 3.9 Bcf/d this year.

The lower production is related to a cut in Pemex’s investment budget for gas projects, financial information company S & P Global said.

This year, Pemex’s board of directors only approved an investment budget of US $9.1 million for the company’s Burgos unit —Mexico’s largest non-associated gas-producing asset — compared to US $1.2 billion in 2009.

The decrease in domestic output has significantly increased Mexico’s reliance on United States gas, with imports averaging 5.1 Bcf/d this year.

“We are in a paradox where we are an importing nation when we have the potential to be a major gas producer,” Moreira said.

“By having a gas-focused state company, Mexico could better evaluate and develop its gas reserves and potential resources,” he added.

Under an optimal scenario including the implementation of structural changes to boost gas production, investment of US $32.2 billion annually will be needed to produce 16.2 Bcf/d by 2030, which would allow Mexico to be self-sufficient, Moreira said.

Source: S & P Global (en)

Border communities serve as bridges between two nations: San Antonio mayor

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September 22, 2018