Oaxaca artisans complain their designs stolen by British store

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August 17, 2018

women and their huipiles. — Indigenous artisans and their huipiles.

Artisans from a small indigenous community in Oaxaca complain that a British clothing retailer is selling imitations of their designs, but they are unsure how to protect their traditional craft.

“Inject some color into your summer wardrobe with the Vita Kaftan. Designed with bold Mexican inspired embroidery in a riot of multi colors.”

That’s how Star Mela’s website advertises a garment which bears a design with a striking resemblance to that featured on the huipiles made by the Chinantec women from Rancho Grande, a town in the municipality of San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional.

The artisans were alerted to the imitation dress, which comes with a hefty price tag of 299 pounds (US $380), via a message on social media.

Despite laboring for long periods of time on a telar de cintura (a traditional backstrap loom) to make their huipiles, the Oaxacan artisans’ prices are much lower.

Paty Rodríguez, president of the artisans’ collective Bordados de Mil Colores, and Lucía Manuel Antonio, representative of Flor de la Chinantla, told the newspaper El Universal that they are unhappy about having their designs plagiarized but explained that they haven’t taken their complaint further because they don’t know where to take it.

In addition, they said they’re afraid that they won’t be listened or that they won’t be able to understand the bureaucratic processes involved.

Instead, they are placing their faith in senator-elect Susana Harp, a folk singer from Oaxaca who won a seat in the upper house as a candidate for the Andrés Manuel López Obrador-led Morena party.

Harp has pledged that she will fight to introduce legislation that protects traditional Mexican textiles.

According to the director of the Oaxaca Institute of Handicrafts (IOA), the only recourse currently available to artisans who have had their designs plagiarized for commercial use is to publicly denounce those who have stolen them.

Miriam Caraveo Cortés added that on the request of the state Congress the IOA has begun drawing up guidelines that could later become law.

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Similar cases of plagiarism involving indigenous Mexican artisans have occurred before.

Last year, Spanish multinational company Mango was accused of copying the unique embroidery designs of artisans from Hidalgo and consequently took the products in question off the market.

French designer Isabel Marant and Argentine label Rapsodia have also been accused of appropriating traditional Mexican designs.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Sex in public places: Guadalajara changes laws governing relations in public

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César Hernández

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August 17, 2018

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Making love without paying extortion is the theme of a new municipal law in Guadalajara that means public displays of affection, including having sex and committing acts of exhibitionism, will only be prosecuted if a formal complaint is filed before authorities.

Municipal council approved reforms that establish that “having sexual relations or [committing] acts of exhibitionism of a sexual nature” in public places, vacant lots, inside vehicles or in private locations in public view will be considered administrative offenses, “as long as a citizen requests” police intervention.

But rather than promoting what some might describe as a loose lifestyle, the new rule was created to prevent municipal police officers from acting upon such acts of their own volition.

Council member Guadalupe Morfín Otero presented the modification to the regulations, explaining that the new rule will keep police from committing extortion against people “giving each other love” in a consensual manner, especially young people.

Morfín, a member of the Citizen’s Movement (MC) party, referred to a survey of university students that showed that 90% of respondents had been victims of extortion by police under threat of overnight arrest for committing immoral or exhibitionist acts.

The cases never reached the justice system, she said, because the police took extortion money from the offenders, “and that’s all that rule was good for.”

Now, municipal police will have to show there was a citizen’s complaint and cases will be decided by a judge.

The measure faced opposition from members of the National Action (PAN) and Institutional Revolutionary (PRI) parties, who considered that the corruption of the police force should be addressed before approving such a modification.

Source: El Universal (sp)

UNICEF criticizes Mexico for separating migrants’ families

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César Hernández

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August 17, 2018

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A children’s advocacy organization has criticized Mexican authorities for separating migrant children older than 12 from their families and causing “toxic stress.”

UNICEF Mexico child protection specialist Dora Giusti urged that Mexico and the United States speed up the reunification of families, warning that “the impact of separation and detention generates a toxic stress that could have psychological repercussions for life.”

“We make a strong call regarding this situation so that it never repeats anywhere, not in Mexico or in the United States or elsewhere,” she said.

Giusti was speaking on Wednesday during a presentation of the organization’s report, Uprooted in Central America and Mexico: Migrant and refugee children face a vicious cycle of hardship and danger.

The report explains that migrant children over 12 are usually kept in a separate area, even if accompanied by their families, while younger children stay with their mothers.

“Children in these detention centers are not allowed to leave for services or recreational purposes, even in cases where the process of determining migration or refugee status is long, and they often remain in detention for weeks or months,” said the document.

It explained that despite the implementation of the Southern Border Plan by the Mexican government in July 2014, “a large number of migrant children and families still use irregular routes through Mexico to reach the United States.”

From October 2017 to June 2018, at least 286,290 migrants were apprehended at the northwest Mexico border, including 37,450 unaccompanied children and 68,560 family units.

These unaccompanied children are at the highest risk of exploitation by criminal gangs, and in the case of girls, of sexual violence, as well as discrimination and rejection in the communities they travel through on their way north, said Giusti.

UNICEF estimates that almost 60,000 migrant children from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were held in migratory detention centers in 2016 and 2017, instead of being lodged in shelters, as mandated by law.

Giusti explained that UNICEF has detected cases of minors that have been kept up to three months in the centers, creating “a strong sense of desperation” among them. Many prefer to be sent back to their countries of origin and start their northbound odyssey anew instead of staying in the detention centers and seeking refugee status.

“If they are not sent to a shelter, they grow desperate and don’t want to request refugee status anymore. For them, Mexico becomes the migratory station, and they don’t want to live that way.”

Specialized child protection agencies “should perform a detailed analysis of the rights” of every minor, but that doesn’t happen in may cases, and many minors are deported quickly, Giusti said.

She explained that many unaccompanied minors are fleeing violence and are looking to meet with relatives in the United States, “but they would be eager to stay in Mexico” if an employment or education opportunity was offered.

UNICEF urged Mexico to end the practice of detention of children because of their migrant status, as well as to protect them from violence, keep their families together and to address the structural causes that force them to flee their countries of origin, such as the lack of economic development and violence in Central America.

Source: Excélsior (sp)

No more ‘edecanes:’ eye-candy models no longer allowed at Mexico City events

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MND Staff

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August 17, 2018

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Corona girls: the beer brand has used edecanes extensively in its marketing.

Attractive, sometimes scantily clad female models who are often employed at events to greet guests or simply to act as eye candy will no longer be allowed at government events in Mexico City.

The capital’s mayor, José Ramón Amieva, last week banned the employment of the attendants known in Mexico as edecanes at events sponsored by the local government, stating that “this job should not exist” because “it goes against policies of gender equality.”

The decision breaks new ground in a country where entrenched gender stereotypes often continue to relegate women to support roles in the workforce.

“Women have a potential equal to or greater than that of men,” Amieva said. “Any circumstance that may degrade or stereotype women must be eliminated.”

The mayor explained that women on the government payroll who had previously worked as edecanes will be given “more empowering” roles, adding that a defiance of the ban could result in fines.

Amieva, who will be replaced later this year by Mexico City’s first elected female mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, has also committed to ensuring that women are better represented on expert panels at government events.

A group of female politicians who held a forum about Mexico’s edecan industry in 2014 concluded that the job is sometimes a front for prostitution and that the models face precarious employment conditions.

While edecanes usually dress more conservatively at government and corporate events than when promoting products at trade fairs or sporting events, there have been some notable exceptions that have raised eyebrows and attracted criticism.

At the first presidential debate in the lead-up to the 2012 election, electoral authorities hired a Playboy model to hand out envelopes to the four candidates.

Julia Orayen appeared onstage in a tight, white dress with a cut-out front that revealed ample cleavage. Six years later, many have long forgotten the candidates’ pitches to voters but can clearly recall the edecan’s controversial appearance.

Politics and sexual allure mixed again in 2016 when the New Alliance Party held a campaign event in Mexico City featuring four semi-nude young women wearing nothing above the waist but body paint in the party’s trademark turquoise and white colors.

The announcement of the ban on the employment of edecanes has been welcomed by female activists, with some saying that they hoped the federal government would put the same prohibition in place.

Indra Rubio, coordinator of the gender justice program for Oxfam in Mexico, described it as “a small but very important step” for a country where macho attitudes continue to predominate in many sectors of society.

“We need to question as a society: why is a woman’s body seen as an object? This always places the woman at a disadvantage, if her participation in the workforce is subject to her physical appearance,” she said.

However, others take a different view.

Héctor García, a booking agent at a Mexico City modeling agency, described the work as “dignified” and said that escorts who called themselves edecanes have hurt the industry’s reputation.

He also said that Amieva’s characterization of the job “is morally harmful and stigmatizes edecanes all across Mexico.”

Model and edecan Mariel Guerrero Castaño agrees.

“He should not try to mix what other agencies or other groups . . . are calling edecanes or models when really they are escorts . . .” she said. “

“Then there are the legitimate agencies . . . that in truth are being stained by what these supposed agencies are doing.”

Source: Associated Press (sp)

Walmart to begin selling gasoline in four states

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César Hernández

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August 17, 2018

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United States-based retailer Walmart is expanding its presence in retail fuel sales: it began selling propane last month in some stores and is now getting ready to sell automotive fuel.

The company said the first of its gas stations will open in the coming weeks in six Sam’s Club, Walmart and Bodega Aurrerá outlets in Tabasco, Nuevo León and Veracruz and, somewhat later, México state.

“We complement our value offer by . . . giving our clients and members a comprehensive shopping experience,” said Walmart México’s deputy director for corporate communications, Gabriela Buenrostro.

“Now, in one stop, [clients] will be able to come to our clubs and stores to purchase the merchandise they want and to fill their gas tanks in a safe and reliable manner, and at competitive prices,” she added.

Walmart gas stations are built in compliance with the highest security and quality standards and with the elements required by regulatory agencies, said the firm.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) authorized the sale of propane in Walmart outlets last month, granting the firm a 30-year permit.

Walmart has begun selling propane in six México state municipalities.

Source: CNN Expansión (sp)

Bodies of two men hung from San Luis Potosí overpass

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August 17, 2018

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Bodies were left hanging from this overpass this morning in San Luis Potosí. — Bodies were found at this overpass at 1:30 today.

In a new wave of violence in San Luis Potosí two bodies were found hanging from a pedestrian overpass in the city this morning.

The two men, one aged between 40 and 45 and the other between 20 and 25, were hung from an overpass on the Río Santiago boulevard.

The nearly nude bodies were bound in tape and bore bullet wounds. A narco-sign had been left nearby but authorities have not revealed the contents of the message.

It was the second time this week and the third time this month that bodies have been left hanging from overpasses in the city. One was found August 13 and showed signs of torture. The other appeared August 8.

Such public demonstrations of violence have not been seen since September 2012 when four bodies were found hanging from an overpass.

Source: Pulso (sp), Sin Embargo (sp)

Business, government will build an economic power, double the growth rate

By

MND Staff

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August 17, 2018

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Ramírez, left, and López Obrador embrace after yesterday's meeting.

The incoming federal government and the business community will work together towards turning Mexico into an economic power, the president-elect said yesterday.

Speaking after a three-hour meeting with members of the powerful Mexican Business Council (CMN), Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared that Mexico has the capacity to double its rate of economic growth from 2% to 4%, adding that the private sector is committed to doing its part to achieve it.

“There is confidence, they are going to keep investing, they’re going to create jobs and we’re going to achieve the aim to make Mexico an economic power because we have the resources for that,” he said.

“We have a lot of natural resources, we have very hardworking people and business people who are going to invest. They’re going to have the support of the government so that they have the ability [to do it], so that they don’t have obstacles and so that economic growth is achieved,” López Obrador added.

CMN president Alejandro Ramírez described the meeting as “constructive” with frank and open dialogue with the president-elect.

He explained that the 50 companies that make up the CMN are excited to support the new government’s proposed economic initiatives such as the apprenticeship scheme for young people called “Youths building the future.”

Ramírez, CEO of cinema chain Cinépolis, said the meeting also covered a range of other topics including the importance of small and medium-sized businesses to the economy, ways that the private sector can contribute to combating corruption and impunity and the insecurity problem.

In addition, they also touched on plans for the energy sector, the next government’s legislative agenda and the future of the new Mexico City International Airport, he said.

“Once again, confidence permeated between the business sector and the next president of Mexico,” Ramírez said.

“It was a very cordial meeting with open dialogue. We all left very optimistic.”

With regard to the airport project, López Obrador told a press conference today that his transition team will carry out a national public consultation in the last week of October to help determine its future.

“I call on the people of Mexico to help us . . . to resolve this difficult issue that we inherited but which we must confront in the best way possible,” he said.

Javier Jiménez Espriú, tapped to be the next secretary of communications and transportation, said that in accordance with an expert report on the project delivered to the incoming government today, there are two options that must be considered.

The first is to continue with the construction of the current project in Texcoco, México state, and the second is to build two new runways for commercial flights at the Santa Lucía Air Force Base in the same state, he explained.

“. . . The two options have points for and against, which is why I’ve decided to carry out a comprehensive consultation with specialists, members of the business sector, civil society and citizens in general,” Jiménez said.

The airport project is one of seven infrastructure projects that López Obrador has said his government will prioritize once in office.

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

Economy secretary urges flexibility from Mexico’s NAFTA partners

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MND Staff

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August 16, 2018

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The economy secretary was looking upbeat earlier today in Washington.

The economy secretary said today that the three NAFTA partners need to show flexibility to reach an updated trade pact, while U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed optimism that a breakthrough on a new deal was close.

Speaking to reporters this morning after a meeting with United States officials in Washington, Ildefonso Guajardo said it wasn’t possible to guarantee that the new North American Free Trade Agreement will be made before the end of the month.

He explained that after four weeks of consecutive talks with Lighthizer, the two countries still haven’t reached consensus on all outstanding issues, meaning that bringing Canada back into the talks is still premature.

“My view is that there are problems between Mexico and the United States that have to be resolved, then we can have a trilateral meeting,” Guajardo said.

Lighthizer, however, was more upbeat when questioned about the progress of the talks by United States President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House today.

“I’m hopeful that in the next several days we’ll have a breakthrough,” he said, although he added there are still some significant issues to deal with.

Trump himself said there was “no rush” to conclude the talks.

Trump’s comment contrasts with a letter he sent to president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador last month, in which he wrote that a successful renegotiation of NAFTA would lead to more jobs and higher wages in both the United States and Mexico “but only if it can go quickly.”

The U.S. president also repeated today his mantra that NAFTA had been a “disaster” for the United States.

“We have much better alternatives than that. So if you can’t make the right deal, don’t make it,” Trump told Lighthizer.

Referring to the same meeting, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told broadcaster NBC that Lighthizer was “getting close” to making a deal and described the official as “a little more optimistic than I’ve seen him in many moons.”

Following his comments, the Mexican peso immediately strengthened 0.8% against the dollar to 18.96.

Among the contentious issues that Mexico and the United States have been working to resolve over the past month are revamped rules for the automotive sector and a so-called sunset clause that would see the trilateral trade agreement automatically expire after five years if it is not renegotiated.

At the conclusion of talks today, Guajardo said they would continue tomorrow but the sunset provision would be among the “very last items” to be considered.

Today is the first anniversary of the start of the trilateral talks to update the 24-year-old agreement.

Trump’s repeated threats to terminate the deal, his suggestion that separate accords with Mexico and Canada could be pursued and the United States’ imposition of metal tariffs on both its neighbors have all complicated the renegotiation process.

Nevertheless, Mexico and Canada have consistently said they are committed to reaching a trilateral agreement that is beneficial to all countries.

Source: Reuters (sp), Milenio (sp), NBC News (en)

Crocodiles live the good life in Jalisco sanctuary, the biggest in Mexico

By

John Pint

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August 16, 2018

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Loved by the locals, these may be the world’s happiest crocs.

The tiny town of La Manzanilla, Jalisco, is located on Mexico’s west coast, 56 kilometers northwest of the bustling port of Manzanillo, and is a place where people are used to living with crocodiles.

Cocodrilario Ejido La Manzanilla was declared an official Ramsar Wetland in 2008 after local people had been fighting for years to protect their mangroves from developers who had been systematically converting the marshland into real estate.

They were continually reducing the space supporting not only crocodiles, but a wide variety of birds, fish, mollusks, crustaceans and reptiles.

After paying a 25-peso entrance fee I stepped onto a narrow boardwalk suspended above the estuary waters. Below me, on both sides, were crocodiles of all sizes, some with names like “Pancho” who, I learned is nearly 50 years old, weighs 380 kilograms and is four meters long.

Visitors are allowed to feed the crocs here, many of which looked quite lively as they raced to gulp down a treat with a toothy grin. I had not taken more than 20 steps when I found myself face to face with a yellow-crowned night heron perched on the walkway railing.

I was amazed, as it was 1:00 in the afternoon, the very worst time imaginable for bird-watching.

The boardwalk takes you on a 650-meter circular route through the mangroves as well as through open waters, allowing you to quietly approach the natural inhabitants of the estuary. So I got to see, up close, not only crocs and iguanas, but a wide variety of water birds, including anhingas, tropical kingbirds and a white ibis.

Halfway around the route, there’s a lookout tower offering a great view of the estuary and at the end of the loop you come to a crocodile nursery where, of course, you can take a picture of yourself with a baby croc in your arms.

Here I learned that the sanctuary, which covers some 264 hectares, has a population of 400 to 500 American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) at the moment.

“People here in La Manzanilla are accustomed to living with crocodiles,” volunteer Gabriela Martínez told me. “Over the years, we got used to feeding the crocs just like norteamericanos might feed squirrels,” she said, and eventually just about every crocodile in the area ended up leading the good life in the little estuary or lagoon that has now become El Cocodrilario.

“Many years ago we formed an organization called Cipactli, which means crocodile in Nahuatl and after a number of years we were declared an Unidad de Manejo Ambiental, or UMA [environmental management unit] by the government.”

At that moment, I was distracted by loud shouting coming from one of several fenced-in enclosures. While the great majority of the crocs at the Cocodrilario are completely free to come or go, a few “trouble-makers” have been brought in from other areas and are kept locked up.

I went to check out the commotion and found out an egg rescue was in operation. “A female has just laid several eggs and the others are trying to eat them,” we were told.

The rescue required two people to “distract” the cannibalistic crocs while another fished out the eggs with a net at the end of very long pole. A group of wide-eyed children then carefully carried the eggs to a protected, sandy area where they were buried by other volunteers.

“These eggs will hatch in about 90 days,” I was told by Francisco Pérez Mendoza, one of the founders of Cipactli.

Near him there was a sign warning people not to let their dogs near the crocodiles. I had heard before that crocs are particularly fond of dogs (as a snack) and I asked Don Francisco if it was true.

He laughed. “It’s absolutely true,” he said with a sparkle in his eye, “and we even have a legend about this. You know that crocodiles have no tongues, right? Well, a long, long time ago, the legend says that the first crocodile did have a nice long tongue, while the first dog had a very short one.

“Then one day, Dog went up to Croc and told him that he wanted to borrow Croc’s long tongue for a while, so he could go to a certain far-away place to drink the delicious water there.

“‘No!’ said Croc, but Dog insisted and insisted again and again. Finally, Croc relented, ‘but only if you solemnly promise you’ll return my tongue to me afterward,’ said Croc. Well, Dog went off and really enjoyed lapping up the water with that nice, big, long, new tongue. And that was the last Croc ever saw of him. In fact, to this day, no crocodile has a tongue, but whenever they get a chance to gobble up a dog, they never hesitate.”

Afterwards I discovered that this story is very ancient and variations of it are part of the folk lore of many peoples, from the Guajiros of South America to the Buras of northeast Nigeria. I also learned that crocodiles do have tongues but they’re hard to see.

According to the Crocodilian Biology Database, the back of the tongue has been modified into a palatal valve which closes when the reptile is underwater. This means crocodiles can bite all they want while immersed, but must surface in order to swallow their food.

Still curious as to why the local people had gone to so much trouble to protect and feed crocodiles, I approached another old-timer minding a table covered with knickknacks.

“It’s not just the crocodiles we’re trying to protect,” commented Don José García. “You see, some years ago we noticed a dramatic increase in wild birds and animals like possums, pumas, raccoons and badgers in this lagoon and we wondered why this was happening, why so many usually reclusive animals were now coming here.”

García and others discovered that land development projects were uprooting the local mangroves and reclaiming the swamp land. “Millionaires were buying up the land and destroying the natural habitats of these birds and animals and the more we looked, the more construction projects of this sort we discovered.

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“We came to the conclusion that this estuary of ours may end up being the last refuge for all kinds of creatures that no longer have any place to go. That’s what was on our mind and today, gracias a Diós, we are a Ramsar site and we’re getting a lot of help and support from biologists and conservationists.”

The sanctuary is open daily from 9:00am to 7:00pm, telephone 315 351 5296, and is on Facebook. It can be reached by toll road from Guadalajara in about four hours and Google Maps lists it as Cocodrilario La Manzanilla, Jalisco.

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.

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Maya Train seen as great news if it doesn’t use tourism marketing funds

By

MND Staff

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August 16, 2018

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In blue is the first route that was announced. Red indicates the addition made this week

The Cancún-Palenque train project is great news but only if funds currently allocated to tourism marketing are not used to build it, say two tourism industry officials.

“Yes, it’s justified because it would bring a lot of tourists to Mexico. The thing about the Maya route is that it’s a cultural and archaeological tourism product, which needs to be exploited more because to date we depend [too much] on sun and beach,” said Jorge Hernández, president of the Mexican Federation of Tourism Associations (Fematur).

“What worries us is that we want there to be more clarity about the origin of the public financing resources. Up to now, what’s been announced is that [tourism] promotion resources are going to be taken away and we are worried because if Mexico isn’t promoted, the tourists won’t arrive,” he added.

President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Monday that the original 830-kilometer route has been extended to 1,500 kilometers and will include new stops in Mérida and Valladolid in Yucatán and three more in Campeche.

López Obrador said he intends to have the project ready to go to tender on December 1, the day he takes office, and that a public-private partnership will be pursued to fund it.

The contribution of the former will come from tourism taxation revenues, which he said generate 7 billion pesos (US $368.5 million) a year, money that is currently used mainly to promote tourism.

The total cost of the project, expected to be completed in four years or less, is estimated to be between 120 billion and 150 billion pesos (US $6.3 to $7.9 billion).

The government would contribute 28 billion pesos over four years and the private sector would provide the rest.

“I think it will be a success. I see it as a very good trigger [for the economy] in the southeast of the country,” said Rafael García, president of the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM).

“From a tourism point of view, it’s excellent but also from a business point of view . . .” he added before echoing Hernández’s concern about the origin of the public money.

“He [López Obrador] never spoke clearly about the DNR [tourist tax] . . . What we’re hoping is that the tourism [promotion] budget will be increased not cut,” he said.

“From our point of view, the promotion resources are untouchable. We would be left without this activity and having more complete tourism infrastructure would be of no use if tourism isn’t promoted,” Hernández reiterated.

More upbeat about the funding arrangement is Edmundo Gamas, director of the Mexican Institute of Infrastructure Development (Imexdi).

He said the project, dubbed the Maya Train, provides an excellent opportunity to show that a large-scale public-private rail project can be completed successfully in Mexico.

Gamas added that it is not a “preposterous” idea that the train will eventually pay for itself through the collection of passenger fares because, he charged, the train is aimed at well-off domestic and international tourists.

“Hopefully the project will be carried out with good planning, execution and transparency because if it can be done well it opens the door for other future projects of the same kind that are also needed in the country,” he said.

Source: El Economista (sp)