DOJ charges 24 in Sinaloa Cartel money laundering conspiracy

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June 19, 2024

Department of Justice building — The Department of Justice said the arrests were the result of a five-year investigation into a symbiotic relationship that had developed between the Sinaloa Cartel and Chinese underground banking that provided Chinese nationals with ways to illegally convert yuan into US dollars. (Shutterstock)

The Justice Department in the United States has charged 24 people in connection with an alleged Sinaloa Cartel drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy involving Los Angeles-based associates of the Cartel and groups linked to underground banking in China.

A superseding indictment, returned on April 4 and unsealed on Monday, according to a DOJ press release, charged the defendants with a mutually beneficial money laundering conspiracy to “aid and abet the distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine.”

DEA head Anne Milgram at a press conference in 2022 — DEA head Anne Milgram told reporters Wednesday that “the Sinaloa Cartel “has entered into a new criminal partnership with Chinese nationals who launder money for the cartels.” (File photo/Shutterstock)

It also charged defendants with conspiracy to “launder monetary instruments” and a conspiracy to “operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.”

The indictment is the result of a multi-year, multi-agency investigation dubbed “Operation Fortune Runner,” during which US $5 million in drug proceeds, firearms and significant quantities of narcotics were seized.

Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram told a press conference on Tuesday that the investigation “shows that the Sinaloa Cartel has entered into a new criminal partnership with Chinese nationals who launder money for the cartels.”

During the conspiracy, “more than $50 million in drug proceeds flowed between the Sinaloa Cartel associates and Chinese underground money exchanges,” the DOJ said.

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said that at least 22 of the 24 defendants — some of whom face additional charges — have been arrested.

Twenty are expected to appear in court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks. If convicted on all charges, they face jail sentences ranging from a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of life.

The DOJ said that “Chinese and Mexican law enforcement informed United States authorities that those countries recently arrested fugitives named in the superseding indictment who fled the United States after they were initially charged last year.”

Truck bed with secret compartment opened revealing dozens of packets of methamphetamine — The partnership between Chinese money launderers and the Sinaloa Cartel came about, US officials said, because drugs sold by the cartel in the U.S. resulted in millions of US dollars that the Sinaloa Cartel needed to turn into pesos to send back to Mexico. The Sinaloa Cartel provided the Chinese money launderers with plenty of US dollars it needed to supply to Chinese nationals seeking to move yuan out of China. (CBP/X)

Mexico and China arrested one fugitive each, according to Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall.

Exchanging dollars for pesos and yuan for dollars

In its statement, the DOJ said that “the Sinaloa Cartel is largely responsible for the massive influx of fentanyl into the United States over the past approximately eight years,” and noted that its criminal activities “generate enormous sums of U.S. currency in the United States that belong to the cartel in Mexico.”

“Profits from the drug trade must be repatriated to Mexico for use by the cartel,” the department said.

It noted that the superseding indictment alleges that “a Sinaloa Cartel-linked money laundering network collected and, with help from a San Gabriel Valley, California-based money transmitting group with links to Chinese underground banking, processed large amounts of drug proceeds in U.S. currency in the Los Angeles area.”

“They then allegedly concealed their drug trafficking proceeds and made the proceeds generated in the United States accessible to cartel members in Mexico and elsewhere,” the DOJ added.

The statement also said that lead defendant Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes and others “allegedly used a variety of methods to hide the money’s source, including trade-based money laundering, ‘structuring’ assets to avoid federal financial reporting requirements, and the purchase of cryptocurrency.”

The DOJ said that Martinez-Reyes allegedly traveled to Mexico in January 2021 to meet with Sinaloa Cartel members “to strike a deal with money remitters with links to Chinese underground banking to launder drug trafficking proceeds in the United States.”

“After the deal was struck, the Sinaloa Cartel — through their connections and associates — distributed cocaine, methamphetamine and other narcotics, generating US dollars as drug proceeds,” the department said.

According to the press release, Martinez-Reyes and other conspirators allegedly then delivered the currency — “frequently in amounts of hundreds of thousands of US dollars in cash” — to other members of the Chinese underground money exchange and remitting organizations to be laundered for a fee that was lower than that charged by other launderers.

“The remitting organizations possessed large amounts of U.S. currency and could help wealthy Chinese nationals evade China’s currency controls,” the DOJ said.

Bank of China building sign in Beijing with its name in English and Mandarin — The Chinese underground banking system is used by Chinese nationals who wish to move hundreds of thousands of dollars out of China. Beijing only allows citizens to move US $50,000 per year out of the country. (Shutterstock)

In a “background” section of its press release, the DOJ said that Chinese underground money exchanges in the United States assist the Sinaloa Cartel and other criminal organizations to move their profits from the United States to Mexico “by providing a ready market for U.S. currency in the United States.”

“Many wealthy Chinese nationals who live, work, or invest in China wish to transfer assets to the United States for various reasons but are barred by the Chinese government’s capital flight restrictions from transferring the equivalent of more than $50,000 per year out of China,” the department said.

“These individuals seek informal alternatives to the conventional banking system to move their funds.”

The DOJ said that a China-based person who wishes to transfer money to the United States contacts an individual who is selling US dollars in the U.S. The currency vendor subsequently provides details for a bank account in China and instructs the China-based person to make a deposit in Chinese currency (renminbi). Once the owner of the account sees that the deposit has been made, an equivalent amount of US dollars is released to the buyer in the United States.

That money could be used to buy real estate in the United States or pay tuition, for example.

The DOJ noted that “the sellers of U.S. currency in the United States obtain dollars in a variety of ways,” including from drug traffickers.

Traffickers “increasingly have partnered with Chinese underground money exchanges to take advantage of the large demand for U.S. dollars from Chinese nationals,” it said.

“The funds that are transferred in China are then used to pay for goods purchased by businesses and organizations in Mexico or elsewhere, such as consumer goods or items needed to aid the drug trafficking organization to manufacture illegal drugs, such as precursor chemicals, including fentanyl,” the DOJ said.

Estrada, the U.S. attorney, described the situation as a “cycle of destruction.”

“The drugs being sold here in the United States are then being used to fund precursor chemicals which will be used to make even more drugs that are sent into our country,” he said.

Estrada said that the superseding indictment and the United States’ “international actions” show that the U.S. “will be dogged in our pursuit of all those who facilitate destruction in our country and make sure they are held accountable for their actions.”

With reports from AP and AFP

How is an influx of Chinese commerce impacting Mexico City?

By

MND Staff

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June 19, 2024

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Chinatown area of Mexico City — Products on sale in Mexico City's "barrio chino" or Chinatown, ahead of Chinese New Year. (Cuartoscuro)

Chinese commerce is conquering the historic center of Mexico City, where huge Chinese-operated wholesale centers are filled to the brim with products made in the East Asian economic powerhouse and scores of buildings have been turned into warehouses to store the goods.

This week, the Reforma newspaper has published a series of articles on what it described as a “tsunami of Chinese commerce” in the capital’s downtown in the post-pandemic period.

Its reporting delves into the significant and very notable changes that have occurred in the centro histórico as a result of the proliferation of Chinese-operated establishments, and reveals that at least some Mexicans are far from happy about the situation.

Chinese shopping plazas and warehouses

Reforma reported that at least four Chinese-operated “macroplazas,” or large wholesale shopping complexes, have opened in a 1-square-kilometer area of Mexico City’s historic center.

The area, located just south of Mexico City’s main square, has turned into a kind of Chinatown replete with Chinese restaurants and supermarkets.

The macroplazas supply (mainly) cheap Chinese-made products of all types to both formal businesses and vendors who work in the informal economy, selling goods in the street or in the capital’s elaborate subway system, for example.

Mexico Mart facade in Mexico City — The Mexico City macroplaza known as Mexico Mart, or Plaza Izazaga 89, in 2014 (left), and in 2021 (right), after the mall building in the capital’s historic center became a mecca for goods produced in China. (Foursquare/Google)

The largest of these shopping plazas is a 16-story building on Izazaga Street that has some 40 wholesale stores per floor. In Spanish, it’s called Mexico Mart or Plaza Izazaga, but a sign in Mandarin identifies it as the International Trade City of Yiwu, China.

The building, which sustained some damage in a 2017 earthquake when it housed Mexico City government offices, “is a pioneer in the sale of thousands of products brought [to Mexico] from China,” Reforma reported.

The newspaper said that the managers of the stores in Mexico Mart and other Chinese macroplazas are Chinese while most of the rank-and-file employees are immigrants from Latin American countries such as Honduras and Venezuela. Those workers are paid in cash and don’t have contracts or access to benefits, Reforma said.

According to Reforma, the Chinese owners and managers of the wholesale stores have “armies of diableros,” or hand truck operators, who move goods around the historic center of Mexico City, including from warehouses to the shopping plazas.

A man carrying a load of boxes on a hand truck — The Chinese plazas employ hand truck operators to move merchandise around the city. (Cuartoscuro)

Jesús Rodríguez, president of the Mexico City Chamber of Commerce, told Reforma that the downtown has become a “bodegón” or large warehouse for Chinese products.

José Santiago, a long-term owner of a bridal wear store on Chile Street, said that at least 100 buildings in the historic center — some of which were recently restored with public money — have been partially or wholly converted into warehouses for Chinese products.

Many Mexican-owned businesses — and a significant number of residents — have been displaced as a result. Among the shops that have closed down are ones that sold bridal wear, handmade shoes, books, textiles, religious items and furniture.

Rents soar due to the influx of Chinese commerce

According to business owners, commercial spaces that were rented for 20,000 or 30,000 pesos (US $1,100 to $1,600) per month last year have been turned into warehouses and are now rented for 50,000–90,000 pesos (US $2,700 to $4,900) per month.

Reforma reported that people who introduce themselves as lawyers have approached the historic center property owners to inquire about rental prices and subsequently offered to pay double or triple in order to turn the spaces into warehouses for Chinese products. Existing tenants who are unable to match the offers have, in many cases, been asked to leave or evicted.

“I don’t blame those who rent the [spaces to Chinese businesses] … because we’re coming out of a pandemic, we’re coming out of years of an economy restricted to subsistence,” said Santiago, the bridal store owner.

A street vendor sells Hello Kitty merchandise on the sidewalk — Local retailers in the historic center say they have been pushed out by Chinese businesses that sell cheap products to street vendors. (Cuartoscuro)

However, he complained that local businesses have been displaced by commerce “that supplies street and Metro vendors.”

Santiago also said that he and other business owners have seen a significant decline in their sales because fewer people are coming to shop in the historic center, turned off by the reduction in the number of stores and the many diableros moving products through the streets.

They’re ‘destroying’ the streets of CDMX centro

Santiago asserted that the “armies” of hand truck operators — which have been a common sight in Mexico City for years — are “destroying what has just been built in the streets of the [historic] center.”

“They destroy the ground with such big loads, the bollards, the trees. And they get in the way. One day — a Sunday — the firefighters couldn’t get past,” he said.

“If you try to put a ladder [on the sidewalk] to clean your sign, the hand trucks knock you over,” he said, adding that motorbikes pulling trolleys laden with goods also cause problems by going down one-way streets in the wrong direction.

“I can’t understand how it’s possible that this is happening in the centro,” Santiago said.

“… Where’s the urban plan? Why did they allow the warehouses?”

Workers lose their jobs

The takeover of commercial spaces by warehouses inevitably led to a loss of jobs by people who were employed by the shuttered businesses.

One such person is former clothing store employee Mary Gudiño, who had worked at the same business for 36 years. Many other stores in the same area also closed when their owners were unable to match the high rents offered by Chinese businesses.

Wedding dresses on mannequins in a shop window in Mexico City — Mexican retailers in the historic center say they have been pushed out by the Chinese businesses, leaving shop employees without work. (Cuartoscuro)

“I’m sad, what’s happening is frustrating,” Gudiño told Reforma.

“The golden age [of commerce in the historic center] was 30 years ago; we couldn’t keep up with attending to people,” she said.

“… Today there is no control over rents, … a lot of stores closed and now, the truth is, [customers] don’t come,” said Gudiño, who found another retail job but fears that her new employer will be forced to shut down as well.

She also expressed concern about the conditions faced by the diableros, who often transport extremely heavy loads, placing themselves at risk of accident or injury.

“I would ask the government to have more awareness, … to not allow the country to be sold. It can’t be possible that [Chinese businesses] put all these things [in warehouses] and our companies with Mexican people are closing,” Gudiño said.

Chinese entrepreneurs make handsome profits

According to Reforma, Chinese products sold in the Mexico City macroplazas mainly enter the country at the Mexico City International Airport, and at the port in Lazáro Cárdenas on the Pacific coast of Michoacán, where illicit goods such as the chemicals used to make fentanyl also come into Mexico from China.

One of the Chinese entrepreneurs that sells Chinese-made goods in the historic center is known by his employees as “Jin Lan” — the name of a brand of bathroom products — because they don’t know how to pronounce his real name, Reforma said.

The newspaper reported that the entrepreneur — like many other Chinese business owners in Mexico City — comes from Zhejiang, a province on the East China Sea below Shanghai.

“Jin Lan” started with one store in Mexico Mart but now has at least seven shops in different macroplazas in the historic center of Mexico City. Reforma said he “has seen his income grow like foam” — i.e. very rapidly.

The businessman doesn’t speak Spanish but manages to communicate with his employees by “shouting and waving his hands about,” according to one worker.

The unnamed employee told Reforma that workers — many of whom are migrants to Mexico — are paid just 1,200 pesos (US $65) per week in cash, excluding sales commissions.

He acknowledged that the pay is not much but said he is learning about the business and that his goal is to one day import his own 22-tonne shipping container of Chinese products and compete against the East Asian entrepreneurs.

Lázaro Cárdenas port — The port of Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán is the entry point not only for most Chinese merchandise, but also precursor chemicals for illicit drug production. (Cuartoscuro)

The goods made in China — colloquially known as “the world’s factory — are purchased for mere “centavos” and sold in Mexico for “pesos,” said the employee, a situation that allows businessmen such as “Jin Lan” to make very healthy profits.

“It’s a great business,” the worker added, explaining that vendors who buy goods at the macroplazas to resell them can also mark up the products significantly. “It’s a resellers’ paradise here,” he said.

Everything from shower curtains to scooters to speakers — and virtually any other product you can think of — is available at reasonable prices at the Chinese-run stores in the wholesale centers.

The majority of the products don’t come with a guarantee, Reforma noted.

Huge losses for longtime businesses and tax authorities

Reforma reported that the “massive” influx of Asian goods — mainly Chinese, but also Korean products — and “the growth of macroplazas to sell and distribute them” comes at a huge cost to long-established businesses, as well as to tax collection.

The newspaper said that established businesses have missed out on sales totaling 65 billion pesos (US $3.5 billion) as a result of the new competition they face. They have consequently paid 38 billion pesos less in taxes to Mexico’s tax agency, the SAT, Reforma said, citing information from the Mexico City Chamber of Commerce.

In addition, tax avoidance by Chinese-owned businesses generates additional losses for the SAT.

In many cases, such businesses avoid tax by paying workers in cash and only accepting payments for goods in cash. According to Reforma’s reporting, they also take advantage of loopholes that allow them to avoid paying the value-added tax on products they import from China.

Authorities shut down Mexico Mart, but only for 1 day

In March, Mexico City authorities shut down the 16-story wholesale center on Izazaga Street due to alleged irregularities related to the importation of products, Reforma reported.

Police truck in Chinatown Mexico City — There have been various police operations in recent years in the area (pictured one in 2021), including a temporary closure of Mexico Mart in March. (Cuartoscuro)

Authorities carried out an investigation aimed at determining whether contraband was being sold at the macroplaza and whether tax evasion was occurring. Most transactions at the stores that operate in the Chinese-run wholesale centers are conducted in cash.

Authorities in the capital spoke about an operation of “great impact” and announced that 3 tonnes of merchandise were seized.

However, the suspension of operations at Mexico Mart lasted only one day, according to Reforma.

Chinese business owners subsequently hired halcones — hawks or lookouts — to give them advance warning of any possible police raids, Reforma said. A warning allows them to close their stores before an operation commences, a former hand truck operator told the newspaper.

Chinese immigration on the rise

Given the influx of Chinese-owned businesses in the historic center of Mexico City – and increased interest from Chinese companies in investing in Mexico more broadly – it is perhaps not surprising that the number of Chinese people living here has increased.

Reforma reported Tuesday that 5,018 temporary resident visas were issued to Chinese nationals last year, a number that exceeds the figure for 2022 and 2021 combined.

It said that an additional 1,879 temporary resident visas were granted to Chinese citizens in the first four months of this year. Chinese nationals have become the third largest recipients of such permits, after citizens of the United States and Colombia, Reforma said.

Of the temporary resident visas received by Chinese nationals last year, 41% were issued in Mexico City, while 11% were issued in Nuevo León, where a lot of Chinese investment is concentrated.

With reports from Reforma

Prehistoric human skeleton ‘Yotzin’ could be oldest from Valley of Mexico

By

MND Staff

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June 19, 2024

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The skull fossil known as Chimalhuacan Man It's black with some filled-in holes in the skull with an orange substance that may be plastic or clay. — An INAH reproduction of Chimalhuacán Man, a prehistoric skull from the Holocene Era discovered in the Valley of Mexico in 1984. Until recently, it was the only human remains from the era found in the Valley of Mexico. (INAH)

In 1984, archeologists found the 10,500-year-old skull of a prehistoric human skull in Chimalhuacán, México state, which for the next 40 years became the first and only pre-ceramic human remains found in the Valley of Mexico — that is until the recent discovery of “Yotzin,” a prehistoric human skeleton of a hunter-gatherer male that INAH estimated Tuesday is at least 10,000 years old.

But the soil layer in which Yotzin was found could place it as older, even possibly the oldest human remains ever to be found in the Valley of Mexico.

Skull fossil of Yotzin, featuring several cracks in the forehead and crown and two missing front teeth — The skull of “Yotzin,” a prehistoric human skeleton found in México state during the construction of Felipe Ángeles International Airport. (Mauricio Murat/INAH)

Yotzin, found during the construction of Felipe Ángeles International Airport, will undoubtedly provide archaeologists with important information about human evolution in the region. But he also could turn out to be the oldest human remains found in the Valley of Mexico.

INAH announced Tuesday that while it has yet to carbon date the remains, it’s currently estimating the skeleton, based on its physical features, to be around 10,000 years old, from between the late Pleistocene Era and the early Holocene Era.

INAH physical anthropologist Arturo Talavera González said that Yotzin has an elongated skull and wide jaws, suggesting that he belonged to late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer groups, before the first known settler civilizations in the area.

Marks found on Yotzin’s bones, along with its “poorly flattened femurs and transverse flattening of the tibia,” indicate intense physical activity, such as long walks and the use of teeth to wear down various materials, Talavera said. These features, which tended to decrease with the arrival of agriculture and a more sedentary lifestyle, are characteristic of primitive hunter-gatherer peoples.

“If an individual shows signs of wear and tear on their teeth but no cavities, it could indicate a pre-ceramic diet,” he said.

If INAH’s current estimates are correct, Yotzin would be about the same age as Chimalhuacán Man, which INAH dates at 10,500 years old. The soil in which Yotzin was discovered, however, could indicate that the prehistoric skeleton is significantly older.

The layer of soil in which Yotzin was found appears to correspond to an interglacial warming period that occurred between 13,000 and 20,000 years ago, according to INAH biologist Lauro González Quintero.

INAH’s preliminary report states that scientists need to confirm Yotzin’s exact age and validate his place in the chronology of the Valley of Mexico’s first settlers. Researchers also hope to soon conduct the next phase of research on the site in which Yotzin was found, known as Santa Lucia M3, in the town of San Mateo Xóloc.

Mexico News Daily

Mexico welcomes new Biden immigration executive order to ‘keep families together’

By

MND Staff

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June 19, 2024

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U.S. President Joe Biden at a press conference — U.S. President Joe Biden announced the new immigration policy on Tuesday at a press conference. (The White House/X)

Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans could benefit from new immigration rules in the United States that will allow certain undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens to apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.

United States President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would take action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.

“The steps I’m taking today are overwhelmingly supported by the American people, no matter what the other team says,” he said at an event at the White House.

“In fact, polls show that over 70% of Americans support this effort to keep families together,” Biden said.

To qualify for the program, undocumented adult noncitizens must have lived in the United States for 10 years or more as of June 17, and must be legally married to a U.S. citizen, “while satisfying all applicable legal requirements,” according to a White House Fact Sheet.

They wouldn’t be eligible if they have a disqualifying criminal record or are considered a public security threat.

Hand holding a U.S. Permanent Resident card — The new policy will allow for noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens an easier path to permanent residency and will mostly benefit Mexicans living in the United States. (Shutterstock)

Undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens are already eligible for lawful permanent residence in the United States, but they must apply from outside the country. That often entails leaving their jobs and families to exit the United States indefinitely without any certainty they will be authorized to re-enter.

Under the new rules, “those who are approved after DHS’s case-by-case assessment of their application will be afforded a three-year period to apply for permanent residency,” the White House said.

“They will be allowed to remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. This will apply to all married couples who are eligible,” it added.

The White House said that Biden’s executive action will protect around half a million spouses of U.S. citizens and “approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.”

Alejandro Mayorkas MNSBC interview screen capture — Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spoke to MSNBC about the new executive action. (Screen capture)

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the program “will achieve family unity, one of our immigration system’s fundamental goals.”

“It will also boost our economy, advance our labor interests, strengthen our foreign relations with key partners in the region, further our public safety interests, and more,” he added.

The announcement of the new immigration policy came two weeks after Biden issued an executive order that prevents migrants from making asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border at times when crossings between legal ports of entry surge.

The U.S. president acknowledged that the majority of likely beneficiaries of the spouse program would be Mexicans.

The program — which is set to commence in the coming months — is the largest to benefit undocumented migrants in the United States since the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy implemented by the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Reuters described Biden’s new policy as “an election-year move that contrasts sharply with Republican rival Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations.”

CNN said “the action is aimed at appealing to key Latino constituencies in battleground states, including Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, that will be crucial for Biden’s chances to claim a second term.”

Trump could revoke the policy if he succeeds in winning a second term as U.S. president, while the program “will almost certainly face legal challenges,” Reuters said.

Mexico welcomes Biden’s announcement

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that Biden’s decision to implement a program that will benefit undocumented Mexicans is “worthy of recognition.”

López Obrador at his morning press conference — President López Obrador said that the Biden policy is “worthy of recognition.” (Lopezobrador.org.mx)

“We’ve been insisting on the regularization of Mexicans who have been working honorably in the United States for years,” he said.

López Obrador acknowledged that many undocumented Mexicans in the United States won’t benefit from the new rules, but described the program for the spouses and children of U.S. citizens as a “step forward.”

“I’m pleased that President Biden is doing it,” he said.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) noted in a statement that some 500,000 spouses and 50,000 children of U.S. citizens could benefit from the new scheme, and highlighted that “the vast majority” of that number are “Mexican or Mexican-American.”

Roberto Velasco, head of the SRE’s North America department, said that as many as 400,000 Mexicans could obtain permanent residency in the U.S. through the program and eventually become American citizens.

The SRE said that the new “protections” would “prevent the separation of families and contribute greater stability and certainty to their future.”

Roberto Velasco video screen capture — Roberto Velasco from the Foreign Affairs Ministry said this action could potentially benefit up to 400,000 Mexicans who live in the United States. (SRE/X)

“Mexico has repeatedly stated that one of its highest priorities in the bilateral relationship is the protection and regularization of our nationals in the United States,” the ministry said.

“We view the measures announced today in a positive light and are certain that strengthening our relationship under a policy of good neighborliness, respecting the sovereignties of our peoples and promoting economic cooperation is the right path for ensuring safe, orderly, regular and humane migration,” the SRE said.

The ministry also acknowledged a U.S. government announcement on Tuesday that will benefit DACA recipients known as Dreamers.

The Biden administration said it was “easing the visa process for U.S. college graduates, including Dreamers.”

“Today’s announcement will allow individuals, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education in the United States, and who have received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree, to more quickly receive work visas,” the White House said.

With reports from CNN, AP, Reuters and Milenio

Mexico City’s water supply from Cutzamala system to be shut off for repair

By

MND Staff

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June 19, 2024

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A faucet with water coming out — Water supply to the metropolitan area will be shut down for six hours on Wednesday night, affecting 12 of Mexico City's 16 boroughs. (Cuartoscuro)

Water supply to the Mexico City metropolitan area from the Cutzamala reservoir system will be suspended for six hours Wednesday night, as water authorities repair a “sudden” leak in one of the control valves of the system.

To reduce the impact on residents, repair works will commence at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday and finish at 2:00 a.m. on Thursday, the National Water Commission (Conagua) said in a statement. The Cutzamala system supplies about 28% of the capital’s water, but the shutdown will affect 12 of the city’s 16 boroughs, and 16 municipalities in the State of México.

Water levels at the reservoir in Valle de Bravo are at just 28% capacity. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)

“Works to repair the damaged part and restore operation require a total shutdown of the system for approximately six hours. In that period of time, the water supply to the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico will be completely suspended,” Conagua said.

The repair works will be carried out on one of the control valves of the Number 4 pump at Plant 5 of the Cutzamala system.

For its part, the Water Basin Organization of the Valley of Mexico (OCAVM) has urged the population to use water more efficiently as the city faces scarcity and temporary supply reductions as a result of the upcoming infrastructure repairs.

What is the Cutzamala system?

The Cutzamala System is one of the largest water supply sources in the country. It is a complex network of reservoirs built between the late 1970s and 1994, supplying water from the Cutzamala River to the Mexico City and Valley of Toluca metropolitan areas.

The system relies on seven reservoirs, six pumping plants, 322 kilometers of canals and tunnels, and a large water treatment plant. Carrying water from the Cutzamala basin up more than 1,100 meters in elevation, the system provides nearly 15 cubic meters of water per second to the Valley of Mexico’s sprawling population.

While it is considered an impressive feat of engineering in Mexico, the four-decade old system has been affected by the effects of time and earthquakes, which have caused damage to the pipes. Studies show that more than 40% of the system’s water is lost through leaks. Moreover, the system’s reservoirs are at low capacity due to extreme heat and low rainfall.

In March, the system’s largest reservoir Valle de Bravo (which has a capacity of 394.4 million cubic meters) was at its lowest level since 2016, at merely 28% full.

The storage levels of Valle de Bravo and the rest of the system’s reservoirs are expected to slowly increase as the rainy season begins.

With reports from Excélsior

Who are the traditional vendors that soundtrack Mexico’s streets?

By

Montserrat Castro

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June 19, 2024

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Knife sharpener on his bike — The distinctive whistle of the "afila cuchillos" is a part of every day city life - but one that is increasingly in danger. (Isaac Esquivel/Cuartoscuro)

If you’ve ever spent time in one of Mexico’s bustling cities, you’ve likely heard the distinct sound of a knife sharpener passing through the street. A shrill, piping sound that announces the arrival of an artisan ready to make your knives and other industrial instruments useful once again. Knife sharpeners are part of a group of specific jobs that not only provide valuable services but also contribute in a significant way to Mexico’s street and neighborhood culture.

Knife sharpening, like many other traditional jobs, forms a part of Mexico’s informal economy. These professions are often heralded by specific tunes, making it easy for residents to identify them from inside their homes or high up in apartment buildings. As the world modernizes, these jobs are unfortunately increasingly obsolete and slowly disappearing. Sounds that once filled the air multiple times a day are now heard perhaps only once a week.

Knife sharpener at Mexico City, wearing glasses to protect his eyes. — Once an essential part of everyday life, traveling knife sharpeners are now an endangered species. (Isaac Esquivel/Cuartoscuro)

Quintessential to this disappearing trade, knife sharpeners go through the city atop a bicycle, which serves not only as their mode of transportation but also as an indispensable part of their toolkit. Different from other bicycles, those used by knife sharpeners are equipped with a metallic structure that elevates the back tire off the ground, keeping the bike stationary. The back wheel, when elevated and pedalled in place, powers a grinding wheel of stone or metal that sharpens knives, scissors, and other tools. This results in a portable and effective setup that enables knife sharpeners to travel across whole cities on the same day.

The accompanying sound to these artisans’ presence emanates from an instrument known in Mexico as a “caramillo.” This flute-like instrument dates back to medieval times, is also known in other Spanish-speaking countries as chifre, chiflo, or flauta de pan.

Originally made from wood or cane, the caramillo is now often crafted from plastic. The sound that comes out of it is more than just a call to customers; it is a cultural marker and one of the many distinctive sounds of the Mexico City streets. For many, it is also a comforting reminder of the enduring presence of traditional trades amidst the rapid pace of modern life.

It’s very simple to use a knife sharpener’s services and renew some of your commonplace kitchen and household items. Once you hear a caramillo, all you need to do is walk outside into the street with whatever item needs sharpening. Price is set by each artisan and varies, of course.

@mayaenbici Ciclistas que siempre nos harán sentir orgullo 🚲⚔️ #afiladordecuchillos #afilador #ciclistas ♬ sonido original – LA TELE DE AYER

The profession has survived so far, but knife sharpeners are facing significant challenges. The easy availability and disposability of goods, as well as the existence of cheap and mass-produced knives considerably reduce the need and demand for sharpening services. More and more, it seems like the convenience of buying new items often outweighs the “inconvenience” of waiting for a traveling sharpener.

Yet, they persist. Some of these artisans follow the family trade and learn the skills and techniques from family members, keeping the tradition alive from previous generations. One of the most important reasons why they continue, apart from cultural significance, is the environmental benefit of knife sharpening. Renewing and re-sharpening your knives contributes to reducing waste and promoting sustainability. In an era of increasing environmental consciousness, the wait for the sound of a caramillo passing through your street instead of a trip to a hardware store could just well be worth it.

If you look closely, knife sharpeners are much more than their trade, their bicycle or their caramillo. Upon further examination, they can tell you much about Mexico, its people, and its culture. They are a representation of a culture whose necessity is quickly transformed into resourcefulness and adaptability in a way that is valued highly enough to stave off modernity.

Whether you have a sharpening need or not, next time you hear a sharpener passing by, take a moment to appreciate the cultural significance of this craft. Think about how they connect neighborhoods, and how, as they continue to navigate the streets and sharpen the streets of Mexico, they preserve a slice of history — reminding mexicans and the rest of the world the value of tradition in an ever-changing world.

Montserrat Castro Gómez is a freelance writer and translator from Querétaro, México.

Volaris announces new Tijuana-Las Vegas flight

By

MND Staff

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June 19, 2024

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Mexican budget airline Volaris will offer direct flights between Tijuana, Baja California and Las Vegas, Nevada, starting Oct. 29. The flights will be operated three days a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, according to Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda.

“At Volaris, we are constantly looking to increase travel options and provide unparalleled flight experiences to meet high potential markets like Las Vegas,” said Holger Blankenstein, executive vice president of Volaris.

Flights to Las Vegas will begin on October 29, the airline announced. (Airbus)

The state of Nevada is the third largest market for U.S. visitors to Baja California, after California and Arizona, according to Miguel Aguiñiga Rodríguez, the Baja California tourism minister.

“This new route will be a direct bridge between these two important economic destinations, which will also allow us to continue strengthening cultural ties between both nations,” he said.

The Tijuana-Las Vegas route is part of Volaris’ expansion strategy in Mexico, the U.S. and Latin America. Other new routes Volaris has announced this year include El Salvador to Miami; San José, Costa Rica to Guadalajara; and Cancún to McAllen, Texas. Volaris is Mexico’s biggest airline, flying 24.3 million passengers in 2023.

In February, American Airlines launched a non-stop route between Phoenix, Arizona and Tijuana, marking the city’s first direct flight to the U.S. in seven years, after the closure of the Volaris Tijuana-Oakland route.

The addition of new direct flights between Tijuana and cities in the U.S. arrives at a time when Tijuana is seeing a drop in tourism. According to the head of the city’s Tourism and Conventions Committee, since the start of the year, medical tourism is down by 50% while restaurants are seeing 45% fewer U.S. visitors, resulting in a 30% drop in profits.

In an interview with CBS, Karim Chalita Rodríguez blamed low tourism numbers on security concerns among U.S. citizens, a weak dollar versus the Mexican peso and bad weather.

With reports from T21, A21 and El Universal

Is Mexico City about to experience ‘Day Zero’?

By

MND Staff

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June 19, 2024

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Pipas in CDMX — Will Mexico City's wells run dry by the end of the month? (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)

In February, media outlets started blaring warnings about an impending “Day Zero” when Mexico City would run out of water. Lingering drought and extreme heat are conspiring to threaten the most populous city in North America with a disaster of epic proportions.

The ominous reports even provided a date on which more than 20 million people would be left without water: June 26. A crisis, yes, but Mexico City is not on the verge of a parched, gasping apocalypse… yet.

Low level at Valle de Bravo dam — While the Mexican capital may be starved of precious water, the situation is not as dire as some news might suggest. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)

It’s true that the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (ZMVM) is desperate for water. Years of low rainfall have pushed an already strained delivery system to its limit. Record setting temperatures have worsened the situation.

Lost in most headlines, however, was the fact that Day Zero refers specifically to the Cutzamala system, which supplies about 28% of Mexico City’s water. To be clear, that system is facing a very real threat of becoming inoperable if action is not taken, or if a generous rainy season doesn’t blow into the valley.

While solutions are being formulated, this doesn’t mean the ZMVM is free and clear. Sixty percent of Mexico City’s water comes from an overexploited aquifer that is being depleted at twice its recharge rate and could run dry in 40 years. But the subject of Day Zero fears is the aging hydraulic system that pumps water vast distances uphill to 12 of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs and 16 neighboring municipalities.

What is the Cutzamala system?

The Valley of Mexico is a highland plateau surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. Present-day Mexico City sits in this basin, once home to five interconnected lakes when the Spanish arrived in 1519, eventually conquering Tenochtitlán in 1521.

Valley of Tenochtitlan, as seen by Cortez in the early days of the Spanish conquest. (Noticonquista UNAM)

For four centuries, the lakes were drained for flood control, while wells and aquifers were used for drinking water. Early last century, scientists observed that the extraction was contributing to the city’s sinking up to 40 centimeters a year into the old lakebed of Lake Texcoco. The exploitation of aquifers within the city was banned and new wells were excavated on the city’s outskirts, but that was insufficient to quench the thirst of the rapidly growing metropolis.

In the 1940s, a system of aqueducts was built to bring water from the nearby Lerma River basin northwest of the capital, but problems arose when area residents protested the extraction of what they saw as their water. By the 1960s, the more distant Cutzamala River basin was seen as a solution and in 1976, the pipes, pumping stations and reservoirs of an existing México state hydroelectric system were turned over to the Cutzamala project, converting the works from energy generator to water provider.

The result was a complex inter-basin transfer relying on 11 dams, seven reservoirs, six pumping plants and 322 kilometers of canals, tunnels and pipelines that carry water from the Cutzamala basin up more than 1,100 meters in elevation difference through Michoacán, México state and Mexico City: the Cutzamala system we know today. Considered one of the most significant engineering works in all of Mexico, it provided nearly 15 cubic meters of water per second to meet the needs of the massive population in the Valley of Mexico.

The infrastructure has not aged well, and studies show that more than 40% of the water is lost through leaks. The system’s reservoirs are losing water due to extreme heat and drought is shrinking the rivers that feed it.

Cutzamal dam, Valle de Bravo — The Cutzamala damn system, which is subject to the “Day Zero” furore.. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)

Fears of an impending Day Zero were fueled by reports that less than half of Mexico City residents were getting reliable water service, 30% were getting their water delivered by truck and the remaining 25% were stuck with a water-rationing system known as “tandeo” whereby the water taps only work during certain hours of the day.

Then came headlines about dwindling water supplies in the reservoirs. The Valle de Bravo and Villa Victoria reservoirs — the two biggest in the Cutzamala system — had shrunk to their lowest levels in 25 years and extraction was reduced by half. The entire Cutzamala system lost 6.22 million cubic meters of water in early April and was at a historically low 30% of capacity, within range of the limit at which the pumps would grind to a halt.

Taking steps to remedy the situation

Deeper wells are being dug and more residents are seeing water rationed. The system’s flow rate has been lowered and water pipe maintenance is being carried out, despite the inconvenience of shutting off water to neighborhoods for days on end.

Polymer tubing is being inserted into the existing water pipes to reduce leakage and a new aquifer discovered about 135 kilometers (84 miles) north of the Valley is being studied.

Additionally, researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) presented a far-reaching proposal to address Mexico City’s water crisis. The project includes intensive water capture and artificially recharging the aquifer by injecting surface water directly into the ground. It encourages the use of treated residual waters in agriculture, as only 75% of irrigated lands in the Valley use treated water and less than 12% of that water is reused. The project is estimated to cost 97 billion pesos.

While these are positive steps, increased water rationing is inevitable in the foreseeable future and additional strategies must be found to avoid a real Day Zero scare. Either that or consider renewing sacrifices to Tlaloc, the Mexica god of rain.

Tom Buckley writes for Mexico News Daily.

Polls on Morena’s judicial reform show the majority of Mexicans support it

By

MND Staff

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June 18, 2024

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Claudia Sheinbaum at a meeting with legislators — President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum shared the judicial reform poll results on Monday, and met with Morena lawmakers on Tuesday, who will have majorities in both houses of Congress in September. (Cuartoscuro)

A large majority of Mexicans are in favor of the controversial judicial reform proposal submitted to Congress by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, according to the results of three polls commissioned by the ruling Morena party.

President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced the results of the polls at a press conference on Monday.

Claudia Sheinbaum at a press conference showing the judicial reform polls — Sheinbaum announced the poll results at a press conference on Monday. (Cuartoscuro)

The judicial reform proposal — which seeks to allow citizens to directly elect Supreme Court justices and other judges, among other objectives — was sent to Congress in February as part of a large package of proposed constitutional changes.

Since Morena’s comprehensive victory in the June 2 elections, concerns over the likelihood of the approval of the reform proposals — particularly the judicial one — have caused the Mexican peso to depreciate around 8% against the US dollar.

Critics say that some of the proposals, including one to disband a number of autonomous government agencies, will reduce checks and balances on executive power in Mexico.

Sheinbaum supports the proposals, but pledged last week that there would be “broad consultation” before they are considered by the new Congress, which will be sworn in Sept. 1.

The surveys — conducted by the polling companies De las Heras and Enkoll, and Morena’s Polling Commission, at homes across the country — are part of the consultation process.

A total of more than 3,800 people responded to the three surveys, which were conducted between June 14 and 16.

The margin of error was between +/- 2.57% and +/- 2.9%, while the confidence level was 95%, according to the two polling companies and Morena’s Polling Commission.

4 in 5 respondents believe the judicial reform is necessary

Over 80% of respondents to the Enkoll (83%) and Morena (81%) polls said they believed that carrying out the judicial reform is necessary, while 77% of those polled by De las Heras said the same.

Results of Morena poll infographic — The ruling party posted the poll results to social media. This graphic shows the results from respondents answering the question “Do you think it’s necessary to reform the judiciary or not?” (Morena/X)

The percentage of respondents who said the reform wasn’t necessary ranged from 12%-14%, while the remainder of those polled didn’t respond or didn’t have an opinion one way or the other.

Of note is that around half of those polled — 54%, 51% and 49%, according to the different polls — hadn’t heard of the proposed reform before they were asked about in the survey.

However, the majority of those people were evidently not dissuaded from expressing support for the proposed reform, despite their lack of knowledge about it.

López Obrador argues that Mexico’s judiciary is at the service of the nation’s elite rather than ordinary people, and that it needs renewal. Sheinbaum agrees.

A key aim of the proposal is to allow citizens to elect Supreme Court justices from candidates nominated by the sitting president, the Congress and sitting Supreme Court justices themselves.

Among its other objectives are to reduce the number of Supreme Court justices from 11 to nine, to shorten their terms from 15 years to 12, and to cap their maximum permitted salary at the same level as that earned by the president.

Referring to the survey results, Sheinbaum said Monday that “a very high percentage of the population believes that it is necessary” to overhaul the judiciary.

She noted that the percentage of poll respondents who are in favor of the reform is even higher than the 59.75% support she attracted in the presidential election on June 2.

Around 7 in 10 respondents believe citizens should elect Supreme Court justices and other judges

Respondents to the three polls were specifically asked how Supreme Court (SCJN) justices should be chosen, and how other judges and magistrates should be selected.

A woman salutes in a congressional hall with a crowd seated behind her — The president appointed Lenia Batres to the Supreme Court, after the Senate failed to approve any of his nominees. (Senator Ana Lilia Rivera/X)

Exactly three-quarters of respondents to both the Enkoll and Morena polls said that the Mexican people should elect SCJN justices, while 68% of those polled by De las Heras said the same.

Between 18% and 25% of the respondents said that the Senate should elect the justices, as is currently the case. A short list of three candidates are submitted to the Senate by the sitting president when a position for a justice becomes available.

However, late last year, López Obrador directly appointed Lenia Batres Guadarrama as a SCJN justice after the Senate on two occasions failed to endorse any of the candidates he put forward. It was the first time in Mexican history that a president made a direct appointment.

Asked how lower-ranking justices and magistrates should be chosen, around seven in 10 respondents again responded that citizens should elect them. Between 19%-24% of those polled said that the judicial power itself should choose the judges that preside over Mexico’s courts.

A majority of respondents believe all or most judges are corrupt

One in five of those polled by De las Heras said they believed that all justices, judges and magistrates are corrupt, while 17% of respondents to the Enkoll survey and 15% of those who spoke with Morena pollsters said the same.

Much larger numbers of people said that “the majority” of judges are corrupt: 44% (Enkoll); 40% (Morena) and 38% (De las Heras).

President López Obrador is a harsh and persistent critic of the judiciary. Here he shows a Supreme Court justice receiving a recognition from former President Calderón. (Cuartoscuro)

Thus 55%-61% of those polled either said that all or most judges are corrupt, sharing an opinion that López Obrador and other government officials have voiced on countless occasions.

Around three in 10 respondents (26%-34%) said that only a few judges are corrupt, while only 2%-5% of those polled said that no judges are corrupt. The remainder declined to share an opinion.

Almost 9 in 10 respondents support the creation of an independent judicial watchdog

The pollsters also asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with the creation of an independent body to oversee the judicial system, investigate alleged misdeeds and sanction judges where appropriate.

Between 85%-89% of respondents said they agreed with the idea, while only 7%-9% disagreed.

As the proposed judicial reform would change Mexico’s constitution, it requires support from two-thirds of lawmakers to pass Congress.

Morena and its allies won a supermajority in the lower house on June 2, but fell just short in the Senate, meaning that they will have to gain the support of a few opposition senators in order to approve constitutional reform proposals put forward by López Obrador and Sheinbaum, who will be sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on Oct. 1.

With reports from El Economista, Reforma and El Financiero

US pauses Michoacán avocado inspections, citing agent safety issues

By

MND Staff

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June 18, 2024

5

Employees in an avocado processing plant in Michoacan move around large carts of avocados — The USDA’s red light on inspections means that importation into the U.S. of Michoacán's avocadoes will be limited to items already inspected or that are currently in transit. (Cuartoscuro) (Juan José Estrada/Cuartoscuro)

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is pausing avocado inspections in Michoacán following what it called an unsafe incident in a rural part of the state involving two American inspectors.

Michoacán is Mexico’s No. 1 avocado producer and exporter.

Michoacan Gov. Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla standing at a podium — Michoacán Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla downplayed the incident cited by the U.S. government, in its decision to pause avocado inspections, saying that the two inspectors were caught up in a civil demonstration and were never in real danger. (Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla/Twitter)

The pause in Michoacán avocado inspections also applies to mangoes grown in the state. Michoacán is Mexico’s second largest exporter state of mangoes to the U.S., according to the Mexican Association of Mango Producers and Exporters (EMEX). Michoacán was responsible for 19% of the 65.3 million cases of mangoes exported to the United States in 2023.

In conjunction with the announcement about the pause in avocado inspections, the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert stating, “Due to recent security incidents in Aranza, Michoacán, the U.S. government reminds U.S. citizens not to travel to the state.”

It restated that its current travel advisory for Michoacán is “Level 4 — Do Not Travel due to crime and kidnapping.”

The USDA’s red light on inspections in the state means the import into the United States of Michoacán’s “green gold” — as avocados from the state are often referred to — will be limited to items that have already undergone inspection or are currently in transit.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that a “sane solution is being sought … but it takes time.”

In a post on the X social media platform on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar confirmed that the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) had suspended inspections in Michoacán “until these safety issues have been resolved.”

US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar gesturing with one hand to Mexico's President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, United States Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and others, — US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, seen here (second from right) on June 11 with Mexico’s President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, United States Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and others, said on Twitter on Tuesday that he’ll be in Michoacan next week to address security and other issues in the state. (Ken Salazar/Twitter)

“This pause does not affect other Mexican states, where APHIS inspections continue,” Salazar added. “This action does not block all exports of avocados or mangoes to the United States, nor does it stop products currently in transit.”

Salazar wrote that two APHIS employees “were recently attacked and detained while carrying out their work in the state of Michoacán inspecting avocados,” adding, “They are no longer in captivity.”

The incident reportedly occurred Friday during a blockade by community members in Aranza, a town in the municipality of Paracho. However, Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla disagreed with Salazar’s version and other published accounts of the incident.

Ramirez told the Ciro Gómez Leyva news radio program that the “two agents were never at any risk.” However, the newspaper El País wrote that Aranza community members “detained and beat” the two inspectors.

Bedolla agreed that some private vehicles were stopped during a “social demonstration,” including the one in which the inspectors were traveling. However, he said it was not due to their role as inspectors and that they were not physically harmed or harassed.

He did concede that the inspectors might have “felt attacked,” as might anyone when their car is “detained.”

Bedolla also expressed confidence Tuesday morning that the conflict over avocado inspections could be resolved within the next 48 hours — a stance that was seemingly contradicted by Ambassador Salazar’s post on X shortly thereafter.

“Next week, I will travel to Michoacán to meet with [Bedolla] and the Association of Producers and Export Packers of Mexico (APEAN) to address, among other important issues, security,” Salazar wrote.

Of the U.S. decision to pause Michoacán inspections, President López Obrador said, “Well, those are their policies. Fortunately, we have good relations [with the U.S., and] we are convincing them to act differently, but it takes time.”

According to El País, the U.S. imported 1.4 million tonnes of avocados from Mexico last year, a 17% increase over 2022. More than 80% of the avocados produced in Mexico are exported to the U.S. Overall avocado production in Mexico this year is predicted to be 2.7 million tonnes, with 73% of that total coming from Michoacán.

The United States also halted Michoacán avocado inspections twice in 2022, also for safety concerns.

The first suspension occurred after a Uruapan-based inspector received a threatening call to his official cell phone; the second was implemented due to violence in Michoacán, one of six Mexican states categorized as “do not travel to” by the U.S. State Department.

With reports from Infobae, El País, Forbes and New York Times