Election spoilers are stealing, burning ballots — even printing them

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June 30, 2018

mexican currency — Some are unaccounted for.

The Federal Auditor’s Office (ASF) identified more than 6 billion pesos (US $301 million) in spending irregularities in the first installment of its 2017 public accounts report, which revealed that the state oil company Pemex was responsible for half the missing funds.

ASF chief David Colmenares presented the results of 344 individual audits to the lower house of Congress yesterday.

That number equates to just 22% of a total of 1,592 audits that are scheduled to take place to review the use of public funds last year, meaning that there is ample scope within which further irregularities may be detected.

The ASF said that it “had knowledge” that Pemex obtained just over 3.1 billion pesos (US $157 million) in funding but “it hasn’t been proven that said resources were allocated to improve the profitability of Pemex, as agreed to by its board of directors.”

A further seven federal agencies failed to report to the federal treasury how a combined 3.08 billion pesos (US $154.7 million) had been spent, the report said.

They were the Secretariat of Agriculture (Sagarpa) and two of its dependencies — Aserca and Senasica, the Secretariat of Agrarian Development and Urban Planning (Sedatu), the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT), the Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) and Indaabin, the agency in charge of building federal facilities.

Colmenares didn’t give details about each agency apart from saying that the SCT hadn’t declared what had happened to 104 million pesos (US $5.2 million) that was allocated to projects that didn’t go ahead.

Within its 344 individual audit reports, the ASF made a total of 724 recommendations and submitted 176 requests for clarification.

Colmenares also told members of Congress that the ASF had filed 17 criminal complaints related to the alleged embezzlement of more than 3 billion pesos in an illicit government contracting scheme known as la estafa maestra (the master fraud).

That amount was allegedly siphoned off to shell and illegal companies through universities between 2013 and 2014.

The agency will present its second round of 2017 audit reports in October and the third and final round in February 2019.

The ASF also said that its 2018 public accounts audits would focus on five main areas:

The financial management of social programs during this election year.
The use of public funds for government advertising.
The financial management of new railroad infrastructure.
Public contracts including those awarded for the construction of the new Mexico City International Airport.
The financial management and performance of authorities in the aftermath of last year’s earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Mexico moves up seven points in energy efficiency ranking

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June 30, 2018

Energy efficiency rankings by country. Dark green is best.

Mexico has moved up on an international energy efficiency ranking of 25 countries.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEEE, ranked Mexico in 12th place on its 2018 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard, up from 19th on the previous index in 2016.

The non-profit organization also reported that Mexico’s gain was the most of any country on the list.

In 2016, Mexico was awarded 37 points but this year obtained 54, ranking just behind its historic trade partners, the United States and Canada.

The implementation of the National Program for the Sustainable Use of Energy by the federal government was commended in the report in a section called National Efforts Best Practices.

The report said that Mexico having closed the gap with Canada and the U.S. suggested that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “provides these countries with an incentive to meet the same product standards and implement similar efficiency programs to ensure that free trade in the region is not impeded.”

Mexico improved most in the industry and national efforts categories, noted the report, adding that it had recently enacted mandates for periodic energy audits and on-site energy managers in large industrial facilities.

The document said Mexico was one of several developing countries that have continued to make steady progress in their scores and ranks over the years.

One area of opportunity for Mexico and other countries, the report said, is in the transportation sector. France ranked the highest in that category with a score of jus 17.5, while most countries, Mexico included, earned fewer than 10 points.

The Scorecard explained that many countries’ transportation systems focus heavily on roads and personal vehicles rather than on more energy-efficient and sustainable mobility options like public transit.

The report stated that Mexico has many opportunities to enhance its national efforts to continue advancing in the rankings. The country could benefit from an increase in energy efficiency programs and research and development expenditures.

“Moreover, Mexico can consider taking advantage of the tax code as a powerful tool to motivate investment in energy efficiency technologies,” said the report.

The index examines the efficiency policies and performance of 25 of the world’s top energy-consuming countries. It used 36 metrics to evaluate each country’s national commitment to saving energy as well as its efficiency policies and performance in the buildings, industry and transportation sectors.

In this, the fourth edition of the report, Germany tied with Italy for top spot with a score of 75.5 out of 100. The average score obtained by the 25 countries was 51 points, the same as in 2016.

The report concluded that “all the countries we evaluated have clear opportunities to save more energy. Efficiency will also be key to meeting international climate commitments. Nations can learn from one another by emulating the best policies, practices, and performance featured in the Scorecard.”

Source: El Economista (sp)

Jalisco seeks 4,000 units of blood through donations this year

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June 30, 2018

The Jalisco Heath Secretariat is attempting to collect more than 4,000 units of blood through its year-long blood drive.

The blood donated by volunteers will help treat more than 12,000 patients as a single unit of blood can benefit up to three people, said the director of the state center for blood transfusion (CETS).

As the first half of the year draws to an end the goal is on track for being achieved. María Guadalupe Becerra Leyva explained that so far they have reached 60% of the total.

The blood drive has been promoted by the government and several businesses but Becerra believes that voluntary donors are behind the success of the blood donation campaign. She called the donors “true anonymous heroes.”

She said most have been young people, and that more men donate than women.

“It’s not that women don’t [donate]. It almost always has to do with our condition, we’re menstruating, or pregnant, or breastfeeding [so] we have low hemoglobin blood levels . . . they don’t have enough hemoglobin levels to donate safely,” Becerra said.

Blood donations can be made in Guadalajara at the blood banks located at the IMSS Medical Center, at the Civilian Hospitals and directly at the CETS offices, located next to the Western General Hospital (Hospital General de Occidente), in Zoquipan.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Houses that were built for hurricane victims are being destroyed in Guerrero

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June 30, 2018

An excavator demolishes one of the houses built for hurricane victims.

Thirty-two houses that were built for victims of twin 2013 Hurricanes Ingrid and Manuel are being demolished in Guerrero this week.

The homes, located in a residential estate on the outskirts of the state capital Chilpancingo, were only inhabitable for a single week, according to the newspaper Reforma, due to a range of problems.

They included a lack of basic services and structural problems such as cracks in the homes’ walls, floors and roofs.

In 2016, an expert report completed by a group of engineers and Civil Protection officials determined that the 32 houses were no longer fit to live in and ruled that they must be demolished.

A geological fault line that lies beneath the ground where the houses stand makes them especially susceptible to collapse.

In a report published last December, the newspaper Milenio described the concrete slabs that the 32 homes were built on as being like “ice rinks.”

Construction company Casaflex was awarded four contracts worth a total of 145.8 million pesos to build homes in the Nuevo Mirador estate that were paid out of a 20-billion-peso (US $1 billion at today’s exchange rate) federal reconstruction program called the New Guerrero Plan.

But beyond the 32 homes slated to be demolished, poor construction work has left many other Casaflex-built homes in similar predicaments with wide rifts and cracks in walls that place them in danger of collapse.

“We’re not animals, we’re humans, but here they put us in houses that are very bad,” Esperanza Remigio, who remains a resident of a house in the estate, told Reforma.

“You have to see what they gave us; houses with cracks, without water service, there’s no market, no health center, no schools,” another resident said.

When residents took possession of the homes in 2014, officials from the federal Secretariat of Agrarian Development and Urban Planning (Sedatu) forced them to sign waiver agreements that established that the department could not be held responsible for any defects or future damage in the new homes.

Before their construction, President Enrique Peña Nieto and officials in his administration pledged that the houses would be high-quality and provide an adequate standard of living for their occupants. But it wasn’t long before residents realized that wasn’t the case.

“They gave us hovels, they promised us a well-built home and all the services but we got none of that and we don’t even have a title deed,” Facunda García said.

Alma Jiménez Arias, head of the Sedatu Guerrero office, said that due to the construction irregularities, complaints against the responsible companies have been filed with the federal Attorney General’s office.

She charged that the bulk of responsibility lies with Casaflex but added that the complaint extends to Sedatu officials and if they are found guilty of wrongdoing, they must be punished.

Jiménez also said that the 32 homes destined to be demolished had never been assigned to any families.

In August last year, the Secretariat of Public Administration disqualified the former head of Sedatu in Guerrero, Héctor Vicario, from holding public office for a period of 10 years due to irregularities committed while he held the position.

Disgruntled residents blame him, Sedatu and President Peña Nieto and his administration more widely for the problems they face.

Hurricanes Ingrid and Manuel struck Guerrero within a 24-hour period in September 2013, bringing torrential rains and strong winds that affected more than 16,000 homes and damaged some beyond repair.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Petroleum thief’s brother, second in command arrested in Veracruz

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June 30, 2018

Saúl de los Santos, brother of 'El Bukanans.'

The brother and right-hand man of the prominent Puebla petroleum thief known by his nickname “El Bukanans” has been arrested in Veracruz.

Saúl de los Santos de Jesús is suspected of a July 2017 attack on marines in Vicente Guerrero, Puebla, where four gangsters and a marine were killed. At the time, the Secretariat of the Navy said de los Santos was one of the dead. He is also a suspect in the kidnapping of three anti-kidnapping agents in Atzitzintla, Puebla, in March last year.

His brother is Roberto de los Santos de Jesús, leader of the Sangre Nueva Zeta gang, which controls illegal pipeline tapping and fuel theft in the Red Triangle zone of Puebla, and has also been tied to freight train and truck theft, kidnapping and extortion in an area that encompasses parts of the states of Puebla and Veracruz.

Last month, the government of Veracruz raised the reward for any information leading directly to the arrest of Roberto de los Santos to 5 million pesos (just over US $250,000).

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

Probe begins into 17 cases of embezzlement involving 3 billion pesos

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June 30, 2018

The federal auditor presented a report to Congress yesterday. — The federal auditor presented the first report for 2017 to Congress yesterday.

The federal Attorney General’s office (PGR) is initiating investigations into 17 cases of alleged embezzlement involving more than 3 billion pesos in stolen funds after receiving criminal complaints from the Federal Auditor’s Office (ASF).

The ASF filed the complaints after detecting an illicit government contracting scheme that siphoned public money to shell and illegal companies through public universities.

The scheme known as la estafa maestra (the master fraud) first came to public attention last September when a joint investigation by digital newspaper Animal Político and the organization Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) was published.

The investigation revealed details of the scheme’s modus operandi, named 11 federal agencies that allegedly participated in the swindle and charged that the Secretariat of Social Development (Sedesol), the development bank Banobras and state oil company Pemex were the worst offenders.

Presenting the first installment of the ASF 2017 public accounts report to the lower house of Congress yesterday, chief auditor David Colmenares revealed that 17 complaints had been filed and said that he was committed to ensuring that the PGR follows through with its investigations.

They are currently in the integration stage, which means that the PGR is directing the activities of investigative police and experts in order to conduct a preliminary investigation.

In total, the ASF detected the diversion of 3.037 billion pesos (US $152 million at today’s exchange rate), while the Animal Político / MCCI investigation said the final destination of over 3.4 billion pesos was unknown.

Colmenares told Congress members that the ASF will file more corruption-related criminal complaints “in the future” in order to ensure that “those who committed irregularities are held accountable.”

He also said that as a result of public accounts audits between 2013 and 2016, irregularities totaling 1.088 billion pesos (US $54.6 million at today’s exchange rate) had been detected and that that 72 people were allegedly responsible.

Of that number, 63 are either current of former Sedesol officials or worked at the Autonomous University of México state or the Autonomous University of the state of Morelos, Colmenares said.

The chief auditor also told Congress that the ASF will review the use of more than 14 billion pesos (US $702 million) that were allocated to nine states for reconstruction after last September’s earthquakes as well as a further 6.9 billion pesos (US $346 million) that were allotted for repair and recovery efforts following other natural disasters.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Vaquita protection measure could cost thousands of jobs: fishing industry

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June 29, 2018

Becerra: warns of losses should fishing ban proceed.

As many as 820,000 jobs could be lost if a fishing ban goes into force in the Gulf of California to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise, the president of a fishing group warned this week.

Humberto Becerra Batista, head of the National Fishing Industry Chamber (Canainpesca), told the newspaper El Universal that the 820,000-figure relates to direct and indirect jobs supported by the fishing industry in the upper Gulf of California.

His ominous prediction comes in response to an initiative that environmental and civil society organizations have presented to authorities that advocates for a total ban on fishing in the Gulf of California and for the area to be protected as a natural reserve.

A permanent ban on gillnet fishing went into effect on June 30 last year as a measure to protect the species, of which only an estimated 30 remain, because they often become entangled in the tightly-woven nets and die.

Closed seasons for certain species have also been implemented and small vessels are banned between 9:00pm and 5:00am.

But if a total fishing ban were enforced, annual economic losses of up to 24 billion pesos (US $1.2 billion) would follow, Becerra warned.

He also defended the legal fishing industry, claiming it isn’t to blame for the dwindling number of the endemic porpoises, charging instead that groups of people who illegally traffic totoaba are responsible.

Gillnets are used to catch the fish, whose swim bladders are considered a delicacy in China and fetch high prices on the black market.

“. . . There are no resources to combat illegal fishing and Semarnat [the Secretariat of the Environment] doesn’t have the capacity to patrol the protected areas. They blame us for the extinction of the vaquita marina, but they’re putting the country’s food security at risk,” Becerra said.

The Gulf of California yields 900,000 tonnes of seafood annually, representing 60% of national production.

Between 2015 and 2017, the federal government invested more than 2 billion pesos (US $100 million at today’s exchange rate) to implement programs and measures aimed at conserving vaquita numbers but illegal fishing has continued.

Semarnat and the federal Agriculture Secretariat (Sagarpa) also bolstered the strategy to protect the porpoise in February by increasing patrols aimed at stamping out illegal fishing and the use of gillnets, while additional funds were also provided to fishermen to develop less harmful nets.

Nevertheless, four vaquitas have been found dead this year and they showed signs of having been caught up in prohibited nets.

A director of the conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife charged that federal authorities such as the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca) haven’t done enough to save the vaquita marina.

“Authorities have been incapable of stopping illegal fishing in the upper Gulf of California [and] . . . Conapesca hasn’t promoted new, less harmful [fishing] methods,” Juan Carlos Cantú said.

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

Travel alerts, insecurity among factors blamed for sharp decline in US tourism

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June 29, 2018

Travel to Mexico by United States citizens declined sharply in April, a result of factors such as U.S. travel alerts and deteriorating security, according to two tourism industry experts.

Data from the immigration unit of the Interior Secretariat (Segob) shows that 845,000 United States visitors arrived in Mexico by plane in April, 6.8% less than the 906,000 who flew into the country in the same month last year.

More concerning for Mexico, however, is that it was the first time that visitor numbers from the United States have gone backwards for a single month from one year to the next since October 2014.

In addition, it was the biggest monthly year-on-year decline since July 2011, when U.S. tourist numbers fell by 6.9% compared to the same month of the previous year.

Overall, international tourism has been trending upwards in recent years, with a record 39.3 million foreign visitors coming to Mexico last year.

One reason behind the decline in U.S. tourist numbers in April was something that Mexico had no control over: Holy Week fell in March this year.

Francisco Madrid, director of the faculty of tourism and gastronomy at Anáhuac University, highlighted that factor but also said that tourism growth among United States visitors had slowed during the entire first four months of the year.

The deceleration between January and April is related to advisories issued by the United States Department of State, Madrid told the newspaper El Universal.

Armando Bojórquez, president of the travel agency franchise network Viajes Bojórquez, told El Universal that he didn’t believe that Holy Week falling in March had impacted too much on the April downturn because U.S. tourists don’t tend to travel as much during vacation periods as those from other countries.

United States travel alerts, news of violent crime and insecurity in Mexico and statements by U.S. President Donald Trump had a bigger impact on the reduction of tourists in April, he charged, adding that the downturn is worrying.

A travel alert issued last August cited increased criminal activity in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Quintana Roo and Veracruz, while a new warning in January coincided with the introduction of a four-tier alert system and advised U.S. travelers not to travel to five states: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.

However, the same alert eased restrictions on tourism destinations including Cancún and Los Cabos, which was seized upon by the federal Tourism Secretariat.

According to Tourism Secretary Enrique de la Madrid, the weakening of the peso compared to the US dollar could help stimulate greater arrivals from the United States. The US dollar is now trading at close to 20 pesos.

Visitors from Mexico’s northern neighbor have long made up six out of every 10 international tourists to Mexico but de la Madrid has set a goal of reaching a point in the future when no more than half of all foreign tourists come from the United States.

Increasing tourism promotion in other markets such as the rest of Latin America, Europe and Asia will be key.

De la Madrid said in February that Mexico could hit 50 million international visitors annually by 2021 and earlier this month he said that the country is now the sixth most visited in the world. The upsurge in violent crime had not had an impact on visitor numbers, he said.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Teachers’ union takes possession of art collection bought by ex-boss

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June 29, 2018