Regional Gulf Cartel leader captured in Nuevo León

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August 25, 2018

A suspected regional leader of the Gulf Cartel was arrested yesterday in a joint operation carried out by state and federal agents in Monterrey, Nuevo León.

Héctor Adrián “La Yegua” Lucio Benavides is believed to the head of the Ciclones gang, which works with the Gulf Cartel in the theft of fuel, extortion, kidnapping and trafficking migrants and drugs to the United States.

The Ciclones operate in Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, in the Huasteca region of San Luis Potosí and in northern Veracruz.

The arrest yesterday morning of Lucio and his right-hand man, Christian Aarón Hernández Cabrales, is the result of one year of collaborative investigation by the National Security Commission and local authorities.

Investigations have found that Hernández was in charge of the Ciclones’ kidnapping and drug smuggling logistics.

The two men were apprehended in the Cumbres Elite neighborhood of Monterrey without firing a single shot. The men were in possession of firearms, drugs, mobile phones and cash at the time of their arrest.

National Security Commissioner Renato Sales Heredia told a press conference that “Héctor Adrían is the organization’s main operator, and was considered a priority target by the federal government and by the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.”

Lucio had an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the federal government for homicide and kidnapping, and his accomplice was wanted for the same crimes.

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

10 dead after 4 attacks against police, military in Guerrero

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MND Staff

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August 25, 2018

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Site of a gun battle that left seven dead.

An army captain and six civilians were killed in one of four attacks against police and military forces in Guerrero this week that left a combined total of 10 fatalities.

Armed men attacked a military convoy at around 7:30am yesterday in El Naranjo, a community in the coastal municipality of La Unión, which borders Michoacán.

According to the police report, soldiers were conducting a routine patrol when they were shot at from inside a home.

The soldiers returned fire, leading to a gun battle that caused the seven deaths.

State security spokesman Roberto Álvarez Heredia said that six aggressors died at the scene of the incident while the army captain, identified only as Juan Manuel “N”, died en route to a hospital in Michoacán.

Armed civilians also attacked a group of state police officers yesterday on the Acapulco-Chilpancingo federal highway at a location around 10 kilometers south of the latter city near the community of Petaquilas.

Two civilians were killed and one police officer was wounded in the ensuing shootout and a self-defense group from Petaquilas blocked the highway for two hours after the incident.

Earlier in the week, two ministerial police officers were attacked Wednesday in the Acapulco neighborhood of Ciudad Renacimiento while investigating an extortion case.

According to a statement issued by the Guerrero Attorney General’s office, the incident occurred at around 1:00pm in the El Rinconcito restaurant.

The officers returned fire and one civilian was killed. Both officers were wounded and subsequently received medical attention.

Twelve spent bullet casings were found at the scene.

Also in Acapulco, armed civilians ambushed a contingent of state police officers Monday, wounding five including a policewoman. The officers were carrying out a patrol of La Venta neighborhood when the attack occurred.

In other incidents in the state’s most famous tourist draw, armed men set five cars on fire yesterday in a private parking lot and a man was shot on the city’s malecón, or seaside promenade.

Guerrero is one of Mexico’s most violent states and the nation’s largest opium poppy producer.

In a report published by the Washington Post last year, Acapulco was described as Mexico’s murder capital.

Source: El Universal (sp), Noticieros Televisa (sp)

Unions, officials that receive public funds will have to reveal their assets

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MND Staff

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August 25, 2018

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New law is part of anti-corruption efforts.

Union leaders, judges and all other officials who receive or manage public money will be required to publicly declare their assets under a new scheme proposed by the incoming federal government.

The aim of the so-called universal declaration system, put forward by president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is to avoid conflicts of interest and thus help stamp out corruption in the public sector.

Its implementation would require a reform to the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities.

According to López Obrador’s proposal, “all public officials, popularly elected representatives, judges, magistrates, members and officials of political parties and unions, members of civil associations and any other person who uses, collects, holds or manages [public] money or who assumes public duties of a pecuniary nature in the name of the government of the republic will participate, without any exceptions.”

The initiative also proposes the establishment of special criminal offenses for failing to disclose assets or providing false information on declarations, and aims to strengthen the punitive provisions for conflict of interest offenses as established in existing legislation.

“It would be necessary to complement this sophisticated regime of penalties with a new institutional design that allows them to be effective. The terrible institutional design for accountability has guaranteed total impunity for all public officials who offend in this respect,” the proposal states.

Anyone who occupies any public or judicial position would have to legally discharge himself or herself of any economic interests that could directly affect the exercise of their public responsibilities.

The proposal also stipulates that it would be “strictly prohibited for any public official or his or her family members . . . to use their public position to establish any kind of private business with national or international contractors, investors or business people.”

The proposal is critical of the fact that government departments that have the power to penalize public officials, such as the Secretariat of Public Administration (SFP) and the federal Attorney General’s office (PGR), are not independent from the Mexican president.

In addition, bodies that are independent — such as the Federal Auditor’s Office (ASF) and the federal Congress — have limited powers to investigate and punish officials, the document charges.

By eliminating conflicts of interest, the incoming administration estimates that it can save more than 764 million pesos (US $40.3 million) of public money.

The measures have received a positive reaction from union leaders.

Marco Antonio García Ayala, head of the National Syndicate of Health Secretariat Workers, said the system would help to avoid corruption.

“Without a doubt, it will be a measure to strengthen transparency and accountability in the management and use of public resources, which must be looked after. We’re in favor of the initiative in the terms proposed,” he said.

Fernando Salgado, political action secretary of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), also threw his support behind the proposal.

“The use of public resources must be transparent because when a union organization receives a donation, an allocation of funds or a subsidy . . . it must be used for the purposes for which it was intended, not go into someone’s pocket or bank account.”

Source: El Universal (sp)

Ex-Federal Police officer, ex-mayor sent to jail for organized crime

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August 25, 2018

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An ex-cop and an ex-mayor got lengthy prison sentences this week for their links to organized crime.

In Mexico City, former Federal Police officer Germán Posadas Rico was sent to jail for 30 years for protecting cocaine shipments as they passed through the Mexico City airport, where he was stationed.

The drugs were being shipped from Colombia to Reynosa, Tamaulipas, before they were sent on to the United States.

Posadas was arrested in December 2014.

In Michoacán, the former mayor of Aguililla was sentenced to 15 years for engaging in organized crime.

Jesús Cruz Valencia was one of three mayors removed from office by self-defense forces in 2013 on suspicion of links to the Knights Templar cartel, or Caballeros Templarios. After he was expelled as mayor, he disappeared from the municipality.

When he showed up a year later at municipal headquarters, he was arrested by Federal Police.

Authorities say Cruz is a cousin of the Knights Templar’s ex-plaza chief in Aguililla, Tepacaltepec, Buenavista Tomatlán, Apaztingán and La Ruana.

Source: Milenio (sp)

López Obrador thanks Trump for refraining from ‘offensive comments’

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August 25, 2018

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Mexico’s incoming president expressed his appreciation yesterday to United States President Donald Trump for refraining from making “offensive comments” about Mexicans.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador remarked that Trump had been “very prudent” for some time in his references to Mexicans, which he felt ought to be acknowledged. “Up until now things are going well. There has been respect.”

He also said that talks to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “are on the right track.”

But the winner of the July 1 presidential election, who has had baseball on his mind this week, paraphrased the legendary baseball player Yogi Berra with the caution: “It’s ain’t over till it’s over.”

Trump himself had a comment this week about López Obrador: “I think he’s going to be terrific.”

He also expressed optimism about the NAFTA talks with a tweet this morning that a deal was imminent.

“Our relationship with Mexico is getting closer by the hour. Some really good people within both the new and old government, and all working closely together,” Trump wrote. “A big Trade Agreement with Mexico could be happening soon!”

Source: El Financiero (sp), Reuters (en)

Police are not functioning properly at state or municipal level: López Obrador

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MND Staff

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August 24, 2018

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federal police — They're not ready to replace the military.

Neither state nor municipal police are functioning properly in the fight against violence and crime in Mexico was the blunt assessment offered today by president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“In my travels around the country, there is an almost generalized opinion that the state and municipal police forces are not working, to say it diplomatically, they’re not fulfilling their responsibility. There are honorable exceptions but that’s the bitter truth,” he told a press conference.

López Obrador also said that military forces will continue to carry out public security duties on the nation’s streets for the foreseeable future because the Federal Police are not ready to replace them.

“In the current circumstances, we couldn’t stop using the army and the navy to respond to the problem of insecurity and violence. The Federal Police are not prepared to replace what soldiers and marines currently do. Being realistic, it hasn’t been possible to strengthen the Federal Police, no progress was made,” he said.

The president-elect’s remarks follow meetings he attended with National Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos Wednesday and Navy Secretary Vidal Soberón today.

“The situation of the Federal Police is regrettable, they don’t even have barracks. They send them to the states without support. They have to camp, live in hotels . . . really regrettable situations. The [right] conditions were not created . . . In the face of organized crime, you can’t work with a disorganized government,” López Obrador said.

Alfonso Durazo, López Obrador’s nominee for secretary of public security, said last month that the incoming government would gradually withdraw the military from public security duties, suggesting that “training police [and] improving their socio-economic conditions” is a better path towards peace.

Statistics show that the federal government deployed 52,807 soldiers to fight Mexico’s notorious drug cartels last year, the highest number in the 12-year war on drugs.

Yet, with more than 31,000 homicides, 2017 was the most the most violent year in at least two decades.

López Obrador has pledged to “attend to the root causes of violence” and his government could adopt a security strategy that includes an amnesty law for low-level criminals and the legalization of some drugs.

Today, the president-elect said there will be 248 territorial coordination groups that will act jointly with the federal government “to guarantee peace and tranquility” and stressed that he would personally analyze the security situation on a daily basis.

López Obrador also said that he will nominate the next chiefs of the army and navy “well before” he is sworn in on December 1, explaining that the new military leaders would be chosen from among the generals and admirals already in active service.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

NAFTA talks continue with sticking points, old and new

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MND Staff

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August 24, 2018

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Talks between Mexico and the United States aimed at reaching agreement on contentious issues to pave the way for a new NAFTA deal are set to continue next week, with old and new sticking points still to be resolved.

“We’re on a path that can take us into the weekend and next week,” Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters on his way into talks yesterday afternoon with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

“. . . The negotiations are highly complex, we’re trying to have all the solutions that are required. We are well advanced [but] not there yet . . .” he said.

Officials from Mexico and the U.S. have been meeting in Washington D.C. for the past five weeks to try to craft new auto industry rules, especially those relating to the amount of regional content a vehicle must have in order to be given tariff-free status.

The United States has barely moved from the demand for a vehicle to have 75% regional content in order to be exempt from duties, according to auto industry officials.

Mexican and U.S. negotiators have also focused on resolving differences over United States President Donald Trump’s complaint that NAFTA has benefited Mexico to the detriment of U.S workers and that country’s manufacturing industry.

Trump has also repeatedly railed against the United States’ large trade deficit with Mexico, blaming the 24-year-old agreement for the perceived inequity and describing the pact as “the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere.”

On several occasions, he has threatened to withdraw the United States from the deal and more recently has said that the U.S. could seek separate deals with its two North American neighbors.

Auto industry sources say the Trump administration wants to be able to impose national security tariffs on future Mexican output from new auto assembly and parts plants.

One anonymous source told the news agency Reuters that the demand has been a source of friction in recent talks.

The United States has also been pushing for 40% of the content of cars and 45% of the content of pickup trucks to be made by workers who are paid at least US $16 per hour. Mexico publicly accepted the proposal for the first time late last month.

Today, Guajardo said that Mexico has come “very far” in working through the outstanding issues with the United States.

However, he qualified his remark by saying that “unfortunately, even if you are extremely engaged there’s always a last-moment thing that can come between you and your goals.”

Asked whether any progress had been made on the so-called sunset clause that would see the trilateral trade pact automatically expire if it is not renegotiated every five years, Guajardo said that the issue would be dealt with once Canada rejoins the talks.

“There are trilateral issues that have to be solved in a trilateral context,” he said.

However, president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s nominee to be his chief trade representative believes that the proposal, pushed by the United States, will be discarded.

Jesús Seade, who has accompanied Guajardo and Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgaray during some of the discussions in Washington, said he hadn’t personally been part of talks about the sunset clause but was adamant that “it’s going out.”

Guajardo didn’t comment on Seade’s remarks but a senior Canadian official told the news agency AFP yesterday that there had been “no indication of flexibility from the U.S. on the issue.”

Today, Bloomberg reported that according to two people familiar with the negotiations the incoming federal government’s split with the current administration over private and foreign investment in the energy sector is “emerging as a key hurdle for a bilateral agreement over NAFTA.”

Bloomberg’s sources said that Seade has asked the Trump administration to address concerns that language proposed by the United States in a new deal would place too many restrictions on how Mexico can treat foreign companies seeking to explore and drill for oil in national waters.

Lighthizer has pushed back against the request and Seade has traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Mexican capitals to “try to smooth out the issues,” the sources said.

“It’s not about touching the energy reform, but it’s touching it in the right way,” Seade told reporters in Mexico City last night.

“The U.S. has had this drafted up to the last comma for some time, so if you change a single comma, then it needs to be discussed. But we’re discussing it, and this is going to come out OK.”

Guajardo declined to comment on energy sector negotiations when asked about the issue this morning.

Mexican negotiators are aiming to reach a deal before President Enrique Peña Nieto leaves office at the end of November but any new deal will also need López Obrador’s support because it will have to pass a Senate that from September 1 will be controlled by the coalition of parties he represented in the July 1 elections.

Both Mexican and United States officials say they will push for a deal that will allow Canada to return to the talks.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters yesterday that “Canada clearly has an interest in how [auto] rules are updated and we clearly will need to look at and agree to any final conclusion.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later said that Ottawa had maintained regular contact with its NAFTA partners and that he was encouraged by the optimism that has been expressed.

“We’re working to achieve a good deal, not just any deal,” he said.

Source: Reuters (en), El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp), Bloomberg (en), AFP (en)

Slow internet? Here’s how cities rank for 4G speeds

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César Hernández

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August 24, 2018

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Wireless speeds in 10 Mexican cities. opensignal

The worst-ranked cities in Mexico for wireless broadband are getting download speeds of about 19 megabits per second (Mbps), while the top-ranked cities see speeds as high as nearly 28.

Wireless coverage mapping specialist OpenSignal tested 17 large cities that are also popular tourist destinations to determine where the best 4G LTE mobile coverage is readily available for tourists.

The company looked at average 4G download and upload speeds and the extent of 4G coverage in each of the cities over a 90-day period between May and July.

Mexico City was one of those near the bottom of the list.

“While the capital’s speeds are not slow, they definitely seem to fall behind other large cities, which might seem odd considering the level of 4G investment in the country’s economic and political center,” said the study.

Mexico City has powerful LTE networks, it said, but it also has a huge number of users all vying for capacity on those networks, which could cause slower speeds.

The capital had an average download speed of 19.9 Mbps and ranked as the fifth worst destination. Also at the bottom were Cancún (which tied with Mexico City) and Toluca, Aguascalientes and Puebla, with speeds ranging from 19.2 Mbps down to 18.8.

Fastest download speeds were recorded in Chihuahua, which scored 27.8. Monterrey and Guadalajara were second and third with 23.3 and 23.2 respectively.

OpenSignal also scored 4G availability, in which Mexicali emerged at the top with 86.5%. Querétaro was a close second with 85.9% followed by Hermosillo and Chihuahua.

In contrast, Mexico City dropped to the bottom of the list with 80.8%, just below the beach resorts of Cancún and Acapulco.

The firm remarked that “all 17 cities we analyzed had 4G availability scores above 80%, indicative of excellent LTE reach in metro areas nationwide.”

Mexico News Daily

Downtime for the president-elect means a bit of baseball

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César Hernández

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August 24, 2018

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AMLO up to bat: president-elect López Obrador slips away for some baseball.

The president-elect may be “under severe pressure” but that doesn’t mean he can’t take some time off to practice his favorite sport.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador shared a short clip on Twitter yesterday where he wrote: “I escaped, for a little while, to practice baseball.”

He told his followers that “I may be under severe pressure, but I take time for myself and come here to bat, to practice baseball. It relaxes me.”

López Obrador might have been away from his desk, but government policy was still on his mind. He explained that his administration will promote sports and recreational activities.

He described his plan to create baseball schools in all the regions of the country where students can train to be professional players, and perhaps some will go on to play in Major League Baseball in the United States.

The curriculum will also include a formal education in physical education “for those that don’t make the cut.”

He said that despite his predilection for baseball, all sports will be promoted by his administration.

The president-elect’s plan for all things sports will be spearheaded by retired track and field athlete and Senator Ana Gabriela Guevara Espinoza, who will head the National Sports Commission, Conade.

Sporting a St. Louis Cardinals baseball hat in the video, López Obrador commended the team for its recent victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as Major League Baseball’s recent decision to stage three games in Monterrey, Nuevo León.

These events, he said, are important to promote the sport in Mexico.

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

30,000 turtle eggs seized but conservationist says thefts are down

By

César Hernández

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August 24, 2018

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There was a massive seizure of turtle eggs in Oaxaca on Sunday but a conservation group says poaching the eggs has actually declined.

Federal agents arrested five men after a routine inspection on the Huatulco-Salina Cruz highway revealed they were carrying 30,000 olive ridley sea turtle eggs.

The men said they were on their way to the port city of Salina Cruz, where they hoped to sell their illegal cargo.

The olive ridley turtle, known in Mexico as tortuga golfina, is a protected species that arrives in the thousands every year to lay eggs on the beaches of the Pacific coast.

Although poachers steal the eggs from the nests every year, conservation and anti-poaching efforts have been successful in the eyes of a member of the Escobilla sea turtle sanctuary cooperative.

Pedro Ramírez told Dolores Barrientos Alemán, Mexico representative of the United Nations Environment Program, that there are fewer buyers of the eggs in local markets.

“Before, a single buyer could go and sell 700,000 eggs but not now,” said Ramírez. As demand for the illegal delicacy has dropped, he explained, poachers take only 1,000 or 2,000 eggs when the turtles begin to arrive.

Poaching is often suspended after the first night because they still have eggs at home that they were unable to sell.

Ramírez also told the UN representative that he has seen an increase in the numbers of turtles arriving to lay their eggs.

He claimed that Escobilla beach had become the most important spawning area in the world, receiving up to 100,000 specimens of ridley, green and leatherback sea turtles per night.

“It is the No. 1 beach. Before it was in Costa Rica, but this beach has gone up over the last six years.”

Source: Azteca Noticias (sp), Noticias de Oaxaca (sp)