Foreign Minister Bárcena discusses migration, security on US visit

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August 11, 2023

Alicia Bárcena and Antony Blinken — Alicia Bárcena made her first visit as Mexico's foreign affairs minister to the U.S. this week, meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right), among other top officials. (Antony Blinken/Twitter)

Migration, the fight against fentanyl and border affairs were among the issues Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena has discussed with top United States officials in Washington D.C. during the past two days.

Bárcena, who assumed the foreign minister position in early July after the resignation of Marcelo Ebrard, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, among other United States officials, during her first trip to the U.S. capital as Mexico’s top diplomat.

“I really believe we have an unprecedented relationship between Mexico and the United States,” she told a press conference on Thursday shorty after Blinken said he believed that the “partnership and collaboration” between the two countries was stronger now than at any other time in the past 30 years.

In her meetings with both Blinken and Mayorkas, Bárcena discussed the Texas government’s use of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing into the U.S.

“I reiterated that the removal of the buoys installed in Mexican territory in the Rio Grande is essential,” the foreign minister wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, after her meeting with Mayorkas on Wednesday.

“We are very much concerned about this topic and grateful that the Department of Justice of the United States has brought a suit against the government of Texas,” she said during her joint press conference with Blinken.

“This helps us tremendously because what we are talking about is a very delicate situation on the border, on the Rio Grande — Río Bravo, as we call it — but most of the buoys are on the Mexican side,” Bárcena said.

“… Let’s see what the federal court says and what can be done to address this and solve this matter in short order.”

With regard to the trafficking of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, Bárcena said that Mexico is “thoroughly committed” to shutting down supply chains. Mexican cartels use precursor chemicals shipped to Mexico from China to press fentanyl pills, which are the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States.

Bárcena said she outlined to Blinken Mexico’s intention to “digitally monitor” the entry of precursor chemicals to see where they go “because certainly some of those precursors go to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies, and some go to illicit drug production.”

Alicia Bárcena at meeting in US — Bárcena (left) also met with Hispanic organizations in the U.S. during her visit. (Alicia Bárcena/Twitter)

“… We’re fully aware of how this is a top priority for the United States and Canada because we’re losing our young people. This is a matter of public health. Without a doubt, this is an issue for which there needs to be global collaboration, not just collaboration between our countries,” she said.

On migration, Bárcena noted that the United States government has opened new legal channels for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the U.S.

She also noted that the Mexican government intends to establish in the southeast of the country “a place where, together with the UN,” it can assess migrants for eligibility to go to the United States.

“Once that review is done by the UN agencies, then they can be sent to [a U.S. consulate], or consular services can be sent to them to see which of them can come to the United States. And if they can’t come here, they can be integrated into Mexico,” Bárcena said, adding that they could find work on government infrastructure projects.

In her press conference remarks, the foreign minister also acknowledged the strength of the Mexico-United States trade relationship.

“Over the last six months, … trade between our two countries reached US $400 billion. So we’re talking about considerable growth and expansion, and Mexico has become the [top] trade partner of the United States. And for us, that’s, of course, important,” she said.

Blinken said that he and Bárcena spoke about “how we can strengthen and deepen even more the already significant collaboration that we have on narcotics in general and synthetic opioids in particular.”

Fentanyl pills — The U.S and Mexico are working jointly to disrupt illicit supply chains that allow Mexican cartels to make illegal opioids, which then end up in the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. (SEDENA/Cuartoscuro)

The United States and Mexico are “working together to disrupt illicit supply chains and curb the production and the distribution of … precursors, many of which are legal and then get diverted into illegal use,” he said.

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said in a statement that Bárcena also discussed “collaboration in the fight against synthetic drug trafficking and cross-border cooperation” with Mayorkas on Wednesday.

On her second day in Washington, the foreign minister discussed bilateral issues related to migration, security, geopolitics, international development cooperation and economic cooperation with Jake Sullivan, the SRE said.

According to a White House statement, the two officials “committed to continue addressing the root causes of migration and increase enforcement along our shared border.”

President López Obrador said Wednesday that “a plan to combat poverty” in “very poor countries” in the Americas is needed to reduce the need to migrate.

“Migration is not for pleasure, it’s a matter of necessity,” he said.

“So, countries that have more economic possibilities have the moral obligation to help poor countries and this … allows order to be be brought to the migration flow. … We have to address the causes [of migration] so that people can work and be happy where they were born, where there families and customs are, and this can be achieved if there is investment, if there are work opportunities,” López Obrador said.

The White House said that Bárcena and Sullivan also committed to “accelerate cooperation to prevent arms trafficking” from the United States to Mexico, where cartels commonly use U.S.-sourced weapons to commit violent crimes including homicides.

Trilateral fentanyl talks — Alicia Bárcena (center) with other Mexican cabinet members at the trilateral fentanyl meeting in July. (Alicia Bárcena/Twitter)

Mexican and U.S. officials have met on numerous occasions in recent times to discuss issues of common interest such as fentanyl trafficking and migration. The two countries entered into a new, wide-ranging partnership – The Mexico-U.S. Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities – in late 2021.

In January, López Obrador hosted U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Mexico City for the 10th North American Leaders’ Summit.

The day before the trilateral summit, López Obrador and Biden held bilateral talks during which the former called the latter “a humanistic and visionary leader,” but also called on the United States president to end U.S. “abandonment” and “disdain” toward other countries in the region.

Mexico News Daily

Govt supports releasing Israel Vallarta, held 17 years without trial

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Cat Rainsford

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August 11, 2023

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Mary Sainz, esposa de Israel Vallarta, acusado de secuestro, ofreció conferencia de prensa en el plantón que mantiene, con una llamada a Vallarta Sainz. — Earlier this month, Vallarta was offered a suspension that would have allowed him to conclude any further court proceedings at home, but a Mexico state district court ruled against the suspension today. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has spoken in favor of releasing alleged kidnapper Israel Vallarta, as a court deliberates whether to review the preventive detention measure that has kept him in prison for 17 years without trial.

In his Friday morning press conference, AMLO said that the federal security cabinet had discussed the case and agreed that Vallarta should be allowed to conclude his court process outside prison.

Israel Vallarta and then-partner Florence Cassez were arrested by the AFI for kidnapping in 2005, but only Cassez was formally convicted. Her conviction was later overturned, and she was released in 2013. Later investigations revealed that Vallarta confessed to committing the crime under torture. (Pedro Marrufo/Cuartoscuro.com)

“That was our opinion, fundamentally because it is proven that he was tortured,” AMLO said. “Not only that, but he has gone many years without a sentence, where is the quick and expeditious justice?”

Vallarta was arrested in December 2005 by agents of the defunct Federal Investigation Agency (AFI). He was accused of carrying out kidnappings in the capital as a member of the so-called ‘Los Zodiacos’ gang, alongside his French partner Florence Cassez.

Although Vallarta initially confessed to the crimes, he later recanted and claimed that he had been forced to confess under torture. Subsequent investigations supported this claim.

Cassez was convicted of kidnapping and spent seven years in a Mexican prison, but was released and returned to France in 2013 after an appeal found that she had been denied her basic human rights at the time of her arrest. The couple’s dramatic arrest was televised, but it was later revealed that it had been staged by the AFI (run at the time by convicted ex-security minister Genaro García Luna) after Vallarta and Cassez had already been detained and held by authorities the day before.

Vallarta has remained incarcerated in the Altiplano Prison west of Mexico City for over 17 years, despite never being formally convicted of a crime.

Mexican Supreme Court Justice Arturo Zaldivar — Supreme Court Justice Arturo Zaldívar has said that preventive detention has been abused in Mexico and that the practice should be the exception rather than the rule. He was instrumental in overturning Cassez’s conviction. (Galo Cañas Rodriguez/Cuartoscuro)

In his Friday press conference, AMLO explained that Vallarta cannot be amnestied as he was never sentenced, but that the federal government is monitoring the case and believes Vallarta should now be freed.

On Aug. 3, Vallarta filed a legal complaint regarding the authorities’ failure to periodically review his preventive detention. The complaint also highlighted Mexico’s lack of compliance with a ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in April that ordered Mexico to eliminate the measure entirely.

Preventive, or pretrial, detention can be mandatory in cases of people accused of specific crimes in Mexico, including kidnapping, though the measure was recently eliminated in 18 states, leaving the decision up to judges in each case.

In response, Abigail Ocampo Álvarez, a district judge in México state, agreed to grant Vallarta a provisional suspension of his preventive detention if Vallarta pays a guarantee of 10,000 pesos (US $590). Ocampo gave Mexico state’s Third District Court of Criminal Proceedings 48 hours to review Vallarta’s detention.

On Friday afternoon, the Third District Court ruled against Ocampo’s provisional suspension.

With reports from Milenio, La Jornada and El Universal

Guadalajara’s curious natural phenomenon: ‘The Great Wall of Pipes’

By

John Pint

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August 11, 2023

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Pipe park — The "Great Wall of Pipes" is a hidden geological phenomenon near Guadalajara's Parque Recreativo La Hiedra. (All photos by John Pint)

Many years ago, while hiking through the huge Primavera Forest immediately west of the city of Guadalajara, I stumbled upon a strange sight. I quickly found myself calling it “The Great Wall.”

The Great Wall of Pipes is about 70 meters long and 25 high and is located at the northwest corner of Jalisco’s Primavera Forest.

It was a cliff face about 70 meters (229.7 feet) long and 25 meters (82 feet) high. Protruding from this high wall I could see the tips of hundreds of cylinders of rock, piled one upon the other.

Many of these cylinders were perfectly round and about half a meter in diameter, but among them were others much fatter.

“What in the world is this?” I wondered.

The Great Wall was not easy to get to, and after a while, it faded from my memory. But very recently, I discovered an easier way to reach it — and something of an explanation as to what it is and how it came into existence.

The picturesque Salty River (El Río Salado) flowing into Parque la Hiedra.

That gigantic stack of stone cylinders turns out to be located only a 300-meter walk from a little park and campground hidden away deep inside the forest. The park is reachable via a better-than-average dirt road.

I couldn’t quite believe its name, but the place is seriously called Parque Recreativo La Hiedra, which means Poison Ivy Recreational Park. Believe it or not, I was told that I’d know I was going the right way to get there “if you pass a huge garbage dump along the way.”

Garbage and poison ivy? Those two things would keep people away from the Great Pyramid of Cheops!

Happily, I discovered that, despite the name, there is no poison ivy to be seen at Poison Ivy Park — and that the garbage dump is far enough away to cause no olfactory problems whatsoever.

A low dam across the Salty River creates a large swimming pool at Parque la Hiedra.

On the contrary, Parque la Hiedra is quite simpático.

It just happens to be located alongside El Río Salado, (the Salty River), the warm, downstream section of the Río Caliente (The Hot River), one of the Primavera Forest’s most famous landmarks.

On top of that, this little park’s owners have managed to build a low dam with a sluice gate, creating a pool deep enough for swimming.

To visit the Great Wall from here, just go to the west (downstream) end of the park, where you’ll find an iron gate. Climb over, under or through the gate and walk west 300 meters (about 985 feet), following an old path that parallels the river. You’ll reach another iron gate that you must also climb over or under.

In some cases, these formations resemble pipes much more than columns. Photo taken in Villa Felicidad near Tala, Jalisco.

Now cross the river (barefoot or using water shoes), and you’ll be standing directly in front of the wall of pipes.

I suggest you walk over to the very base of the cliff, a distance of 100 meters (328 feet) from the river. Up close, you’ll see that some of the cylinders do look more like pipes than solid rods.

To understand what happened here, geologist Gail Mahood tells us we must go back 95,000 years to Jalisco’s version of the Big Bang: a huge explosion — one included in the list of the world’s large volcanic eruptions — which shot 40 cubic kilometers of volcanic ash and pumice straight up into the air while simultaneously spreading thick pyroclastic flows (a mass of very hot ash, lava fragments and gases) around the perimeter of a great hole called a caldera.

These flows of incandescent ash and pumice, known as the Tala Tuff, smothered the area.

Fumarolic pipes are formed vertically and most often look like tree stumps made of stone.

Beneath this pyroclastic flow, there had been water in places, but it was instantly turned to steam. Bubbles of this water vapor then attempted to reach the surface, rising straight up through the hot ash, transforming the material it was passing through.

Eventually, when things cooled down, each pathway where bubbles had been rising solidified as an individual column or cylinder of rock, considerably harder than the surrounding ash.

Many centuries later, as the ash eroded away, the tips of these columns — technically called fumarolic pipes — protruded from the ground and became visible, resembling a forest of tree stumps.

In the case of the Great Wall, geological forces turned a large number of these columns sideways, which today gives it the look of a gigantic stack of horizontal pipes.It’s an impressive sight.

Measuring the diameter of one of the pipes.

Geologist J. V. Wright is one of the world’s few researchers who has studied fumarolic pipes and in particular those of the Tala Tuff. I asked him how many other large walls of pipes have been reported elsewhere in the world.

Wright shared with me photos of two sites, one in the Bishop Tuff at Crowley Lake, California, and the other in the Bandelier Tuffs of New Mexico. Each is interesting in its own way, but, concluded Wright, the complexity of The Great Wall in the Tala Tuff is unique, “and nothing like it has ever been described.”

After hiking out to the Great Wall of Pipes, you can return to poison-ivy-free Parque la Hiedra for a swim in the deliciously warm, mineral-rich waters of the Salty River. The park is a safe and comfortable place to camp, should you be inclined.

La Hiedra has a large, flat, grassy meadow alongside the river, well shaded by rare, beautiful pinos tristes (Pinus Lumholtzii). The park also has changing rooms, clean toilets and running cold water. You can get there by asking for Parque Recreativo La Hiedra on Google Maps. The coordinates of the Great Wall, for those who may be interested, are N20.69432 W103.65953.

For fees and other information, call the park at 331 860 6791 (WhatsApp).

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.

Number of Mexicans in poverty declined by 8.9M from 2020–2022

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MND Staff

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August 11, 2023

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Banco del Bienestar ATM in Mexico — President López Obrador's government has expanded the social safety net in Mexico through initiatives like the Bienestar (Well-Being) Program, which gives a wide variety of financial supports to low-income individuals. This appears to have improved poverty rates during his administration. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)

The number of Mexicans living in poverty declined by 8.9 million between 2020 and 2022, the federal government’s social development agency reported Thursday.

Data published by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval) shows that 46.8 million Mexicans were living in a “situation of poverty” last year, down from 55.7 million in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions caused the Mexican economy to contract by 8.5%. The number of people living in poverty in 2020 was 3.8 million higher than in 2018, largely due to the pandemic.

Coneval graphic on poverty — The distribution (in percentages) of the population who were considered, from left to right: poor, extremely poor, vulnerable due to lack of social services, vulnerable due to lack of income and not considered poor or vulnerable in 2022. The different colors of the graph bars represent years — see top right corner. (Coneval)

The percentage of the population living in poverty in 2022 was 36.3%, down from 43.9% two years earlier.

“In 2022, 36 of every 100 people in Mexico had at least one deprivation of their social rights and had a [monthly] income … that was insufficient to purchase a [basic] food basket and necessary goods and services,” Coneval said in a press release.

The “social deprivation indicators” assessed by Coneval are educational deficiency (19.4% of the population in 2022); absence of access to health services (39.1%); absence of access to social security (50.2%); housing deficiencies (9.1%); lack of access to basic services at home (17.8%); and lack of access to high-quality, nutritious food (18.2%).

The most notable change on those indicators was that the percentage of people without access to health care services increased from 16.2% in 2018 — the year the current government took office — to 28.2% in 2020 before reaching 39.1% last year. Experts identified changes to Mexico’s public health system as the main reason why access to health services decreased, leaving over 50 million people without that supposedly inalienable right last year.

Doctor sees a patient at an IMSS hospital. — One disturbing trend Coneval found was that access to healthcare decreased significantly from 2018–2022, from 6.2% in 2018 to 39.1% by 2022. Experts blame changes the current government made to the public health system for the increase. (IMSS/Cuartoscuro.com)

Of the 46.8 million people living in poverty last year, 37.7 million were in a situation of “moderate poverty” and 9.1 million were experiencing “extreme poverty,” according to Coneval. The number of people living in extreme poverty declined from 10.8 million in 2020, but is higher than the 8.7 million figure recorded in 2018.

An additional 37.9 million people, or 29.4% of the population, were considered “vulnerable” because they experienced at least one “social deprivation” in 2022, while 9.3 million Mexicans, or 7.2% of the population, were deemed “vulnerable” as a result of their income.

Fewer than 3 in 10 Mexicans — 27% or 34.9 million — were assessed as being “not poor” and “not vulnerable.”

Another Coneval measure showed that the percentage of the population with a salary below the income-based poverty line was 43.5% in 2022, down from 52.8% in 2020.

COneval chart on lack of access to 'social rights' due to poverty — An overview of the number and percentage of people in Mexico who were lacked access to what the government refers to their “social rights” due to poverty, including access to schooling, healthcare, social services, housing, water and basic utilities, and nutritious food. (Adapted from Coneval)

The agency said that monthly per-capita incomes less than 4,158 pesos (about US $245 at today’s exchange rate) in urban areas and 2,970 pesos in rural areas were considered below the poverty line.

José Nabor Cruz Marcelo, Coneval’s executive secretary, said that the increase to the minimum wage and the provision of social programs by all three levels of government were among the factors that allowed poverty rates to decline between 2020 and 2022. The recovery of the economy from the sharp coronavirus-induced downturn is likely another factor that aided the decline in poverty.

Coneval councilor John Scott said that the increase to the old-age pension helped poverty rates to decline among adults over the age of 65, while federal Welfare Minister Ariadna Montiel said that the increase in salaries, the transfer of remittances to Mexico from abroad — whose value has increased significantly in recent years — and the government’s welfare programs all contributed to the decline in poverty between 2020 and 2022.

President López Obrador on Friday expressed his satisfaction with the decline in poverty as shown in the Coneval data. The result is “extraordinary” considering that the effects of the pandemic are still being felt, he told reporters at his morning press conference.

Mexico's President Lopez Obrador — President López Obrador expressed satisfaction with the decline in poverty numbers, saying it was evidence that his antipoverty strategies are effective. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)

“It shows that our strategy has worked,” López Obrador said, explaining that his administration’s approach to combating poverty can be summarized by his oft-repeated phrase: “for the good of all, the poor come first.”

“There is less poverty and less inequality in our country. That’s a great achievement, the main objective of any government, I believe,” he said.

With reports from La Jornada, El Financiero and Aristegui Noticias

Framing Mexico: The tale of the Oaxaca fishermen

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Mirja Vogel and Gordon Cole-Schmidt

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August 11, 2023

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Two fishermen return to shore as dawn breaks on the Pacific coast of Mexico. (Mirja Vogel)

The “Framing Mexico” photo essay series for Mexico News Daily will capture the fascinating journeys, processes and personalities behind some of the most beloved elements of life in Mexico.

Towering palm trees brush against the salty night wind blowing inland from the Pacific in the secluded fishing village of Concepción Bamba, Oaxaca, which locals refer to as La Bamba.

A fisherman’s rowboat rests on the shoreline of the lagoon at La Bamba. (Mirja Vogel)

Flashes of light from firefly colonies shimmer around Sergio Vásquez Lara as he quietly unpegs two fishing nets from a clothesline suspended between two palms. It’s a little before 4 a.m., and the clear July sky shrouds his path to the sprawling lagoon in darkness.

Sergio has walked the same invisible path thousands of times since he was a young boy with his father, who taught him everything he knows about the lagoon. It has been the lifeblood of the town for generations.

Sergio’s father is famous in La Bamba. As a young man, he was one of only a handful of free divers who would venture into the lagoon and wild waters of the unpredictable Pacific to fish for oysters. His keen eyes, iron lungs and powerful strength also helped him catch species that roam in deeper waters, like sea bass, milkfish and blue crab.

“He’d take nothing more than his fins, his visor, thick gloves and his powerful lungs to free dive to depths of four or five meters,” Sergio tells us proudly.

Sergio’s father proudly displays his net as it hangs to dry after a busy morning. (Mirja Vogel)

In less than two months from now, shoals of exotic fish will migrate from the ocean to shallower waters in the lagoon. Today, however, it’s high season for shrimp. Sergio has returned with 11 pounds in under two hours. He takes a moment to catch his breath as his mother Juliana prepares to take center stage.

One by one, she carefully cleans the shrimps, which seem to shine in the dawn light.

Some mornings, her sons will catch up to 110 pounds of shrimps from the lagoon. With such a large quantity, the whole family will sit down together to clean them under Juliana’s guidance and watchful eye.

“Fishing is a vital part of our local economy here,” Juliana says. “As a family and as a community, we rely on the lagoon for fish and on our neighbors to help sell what the water gives to us.”

Juliana takes her seat at the head of the cleaning table. (Mirja Vogel)

Erlinda lives across the dirt road from the Vásquez Lara home. She’s cooked several kilos of shrimp and readied them for transport by 7 a.m. Depending on the catch, Erlinda will travel to sell to markets and restaurants in Salina Cruz or further inland. From time to time, she’ll barter with sellers in other villages to trade the prawns for coconuts, mangos or freshly baked bread.

A sense of pride, unspoken trust and appreciation of community all underpin this remote coastal fishing. Larger operations and motorized fishing cooperatives exist across Mexico’s nearly 5,800 mile coastline, yet many still favor traditional fishing techniques passed down over generations.

Water pollution and warmer waters pose a risk to the livelihoods of fishing communities, and the supply chain which sees some of the world’s freshest and most diverse seafood made available in cities and towns throughout Mexico.

Sparkling, multi-colored fish from the Pacific displayed on ice. (Mirja Vogel)

Today, the tale of the fishermen and their families is progressing well, even if the long-term futures of small fishing communities like Concepción Bamba, which rely on unpolluted oceans, stable water temperatures and thriving marine ecosystems, have yet to be written.

Mirja Vogel is a Oaxaca-based international photographer. Gordon Cole-Schmidt is a freelance journalist and editor.

Mexico says “no evidence” Sinaloa Cartel involved in Ecuador assassination

By

Cat Rainsford

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August 11, 2023

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Fernando_Villavicencio — Fernando Villavicencio, an Ecuadorean politician and former journalist, was assassinated on Wednesday, after a rally in support of his presidential campaign. (Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador/Wikimedia)

There is “no evidence” that Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel was involved in the Wednesday assassination of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said on Thursday.

Bárcena said that Mexico is “worried, distressed and afflicted” by Villavicencio’s killing and has offered Ecuador “all the support it requires,” but stressed that it is too early to know if the murder has any links to Mexican organized crime.

AMLO and Alicia Bárcena — President López Obrador with Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena. Both have made statements regarding the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio on Wednesday in Ecuador. (Alicia Bárcena/Twitter)

“We do know that candidate Villavicencio had made pronouncements [about criminals linked to the Sinaloa Cartel] in his campaign, but there is no proof,” she said at a press conference following a meeting in Washington, D.C. with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. She lamented that insecurity is a problem throughout “the entire region.”

In his Thursday morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also insisted that “there is no evidence” to suggest the Sinaloa Cartel was behind Villavicencio’s killing.

Villavicencio was shot as he left a campaign rally in the country’s capital, Quito, and nine other people were injured in the gunfire. In the weeks leading up to his assassination, he had denounced threats from an imprisoned criminal leader with alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.

The candidate, who was also a former journalist, first reported on July 31 that he was receiving threatening messages from José Adolfo “Fito” Macías Villamar, leader of Ecuadorean gang Los Choneros. This gang is considered a major transporter of cocaine through Ecuador and is believed to supply international trafficking routes managed by the Sinaloa Cartel.

Screen capture of video by gang — A group of masked, armed men claiming to be Los Lobos posted a video claiming responsibility for the murder. (Screen capture)

Hours after the killing, however, a group of hooded men claiming to belong to Los Choneros’ rival gang Los Lobos released a video claiming responsibility for the attack. Los Lobos are thought to be linked to Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), bitter rivals of Sinaloa. To confuse matters further, a group of unmasked men claiming to be true members of Los Lobos released another video on Thursday, rejecting the first video and denying the gang’s involvement.

The same day, an Ecuadorean judge ordered preventive detention for six men arrested for their alleged participation in the assassination. All six were Colombian nationals.

The extent of Mexican involvement in Ecuador’s spiraling drug violence is still unclear. Ecuador is one of the world’s key cocaine transit countries, distributing between 700 and 800 tons per year, mostly to the United States and Europe. While Mexican organized crime has been present in the country since the early 2000s, internal drug transport and the associated violence are managed by local criminal groups.

“Ecuador’s violence problem is endogenous,” Daniel Pontón, dean of the School of Security and Defense of the Institute of Higher National Studies of Ecuador, told El País newspaper. “Of course, it is largely financed by international organized crime. But I don’t know to what extent the Mexican cartels pull the strings of what happens here. The truth is that there is little information.”

Ecuador’s president Guillermo Lasso has declared a national state of emergency, but confirmed that elections will still be held as scheduled on Aug. 20.

With reports from Reuters, El Financiero, El País and Milenio

AMLO: alleged hiring fraud in Mexican baseball to be investigated

By

MND Staff

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August 10, 2023

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Diablos Rojos baseball — The Mexican Baseball League is at the center of allegations over ineligible player drafts for the postseason. (Diablos Rojos de México/Cuartoscuro)

The playoffs for the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) began this week, so it should be a joyous time. Instead, the 98-year-old professional league is embroiled in controversy surrounding the use of several foreign players who have allegedly false documents that identify them as Mexicans.

At his morning press conference Wednesday, President López Obrador requested that the Sports Appeals and Arbitration Commission (CAAD) investigate the irregularities that some LMB teams have presented — such as players with questionable birth certificates.

AMLO Baseball mañanera — President López Obrador said he had instructed the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (Conade) to look into the allegations of fraud by some teams in the Mexican Baseball League. (lopezobrador.org.mx)

“What’s going on?” the president, a huge baseball fan, asked after a 3,700-word exposé by five reporters appeared Tuesday in the newspaper Proceso, detailing how many non-Mexican ballplayers have acquired fraudulent documentation saying that they are. In one case, two non-Mexican players from different countries had presented birth certificates from the same small community.

“Some teams are cheating, hiring what in baseball circles are said to be cachirules. Suddenly it appears that they were born in a town in Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua,” AMLO continued. “They obtained their birth certificates, and then they violate what is in the regulations — that there should be only a [certain] number of foreigners per team.”

The term cachirules dates back to a controversy 35 years ago when Mexico used soccer players older than the age limit in the under-20 World Cup, leading to the country’s disqualification from 1990 World Cup qualifying matches — and giving Mexican soccer a huge black eye.

The term itself is a mashup of the Spanish word cachibaches (“odds and ends” or “junk”) and the English word “rules.”

Many Mexican newspapers used the term in their coverage this week, including the Proceso article, which was headlined, “Cachirules in baseball, the new scam in Mexican sports.”

AMLO said he will ask Ana Gabriela Guevara, head of the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (CONADE), to enact a CAAD investigation to determine the scope of the irregularities. But he also urged the franchise owners to correct the violations on their own.

“Yes, let [CAAD] do the research,” AMLO said, “but I also take this opportunity to make a very respectful appeal to the team owners so that if they made this mistake, they can rectify it. It is wise to change your mind.”

Proceso provided extensive details on how players had acquired false documentation. Onelki García, a 34-year-old Cuban-born pitcher for the Mérida-based Yucatán Lions, has a birth certificate from the hamlet of Concordia, Sinaloa. Allegedly his parents went there to register their son as a Mexican national, but his father told Proceso that he has never been to Mexico.

Onelki García is one of the players at the center of the scandal. He has an allegedly falsified Mexican birth certificate from a small town in Sinaloa. (wikiwand)

The report detailed other similar cases, and a common trait was that many of these birth certificates were issued in small, remote towns, such as La Huacana, Michoacán, where — uncannily — both Venezuelan player Danry Vásquez and American Henry Gatewood were allegedly registered by their parents as Mexicans when they were newborns in the mid-1990s.

Horacio de la Vega, president of the LMB, said it’s up to the teams to make sure players’ documents are legal.

“I am not an authority to question the originality of a document,” he said. “If they come to me with a birth certificate or passport, I consider it legitimate.”

With reports from Proceso, La Jornada and Séptima Entrada

4 opposition candidate hopefuls move forward in selection process

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MND Staff

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August 10, 2023

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Broad Front candidates — The remaining four contenders vying to represent the Broad Front for Mexico coalition in 2024. From the left: Enrique de la Madrid, Beatriz Paredes, Xóchitl Gálvez and Santiago Creel.(Cuartoscuro)

And then there were four: just two women and two men remain in contention to secure the 2024 presidential election candidacy for the Broad Front for Mexico (FAM), the opposition alliance made up of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).

The FAM organizing committee announced Wednesday that Senator Xóchitl Gálvez, Deputy Santiago Creel, Senator Beatriz Paredes and former tourism minister Enrique de la Madrid met the requirements to reach the second stage of the opposition bloc’s candidate selection process.

Politicians of Frente Amplio por México — The opposition coalition, including the PAN, PRI and PRD, has formed the “broad front for Mexico”. (Daniel Augusto / Cuartoscuro.com)

The first two are representatives of the PAN, while the latter two are affiliated with the PRI.

Each of the four aspirants collected well over 150,000 signatures of support, the minimum threshold to remain in the contest to represent the PAN-PRI-PRD alliance at the June 2, 2024 election.

Gálvez, Creel, Paredes and de la Madrid collected at least 1,000 signatures of support in at least 17 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities and thus met another requirement to reach the second stage of the selection process, which will include a “great forum” Thursday night during which each aspirant will set out their vision for Mexico.

A polling process will follow to determine the three contenders with the greatest support. The “finalists” will progress to the third stage, during which five more forums will be held to give the would-be candidates additional opportunities to present their ideas and sell themselves to voters.

Party leaders at the registration of opposition coalition — Leaders of the PAN, PRI and PRD at the National Electoral Institute (INE) after registering the Broad Front for Mexico in July. (ANDREA MURCIA /CUARTOSCURO.COM)

According to the FAM selection process outlined in late June, new public opinion studies will be carried out to gauge support for the three aspirants and the results will be published on Sept. 3.

A “direct” vote in which registered citizens can participate will be held on the same date, with the results to be announced that night.

The results of the third stage public opinion studies and the vote will be given equal weighting to determine the “person responsible for the construction of the Broad Front for Mexico.” That person will become the FAM presidential candidate once the election period officially commences.

Xóchitl Gálvez

The PAN senator is currently the leading FAM aspirant, according to the results of an El Financiero newspaper poll published Tuesday, with 23% of respondents nominating her as their preferred opposition candidate.

Born in Tepatepec, Hidalgo, in 1963, Gálvez served as mayor of the Mexico City borough of Miguel Hidalgo between 2015 and 2018, and was general director of the federal agency in charge of indigenous affairs during the second half of the 2000-2006 government led by former president Vicente Fox.

The indigenous Otomí woman, a computer engineering graduate, has been a senator since 2018, but her profile has risen exponentially since she announced her intention to seek the presidency in a video posted to social media in late June.

President López Obrador claims that Gálvez has already been chosen as the FAM candidate, and has repeatedly made verbal attacks on the senator, prompting the National Electoral Institute (INE) to ban him from speaking about electoral issues in the lead-up to the 2024 elections.

Santiago Creel

The PAN deputy, who has previously served as a senator, attracted 14% support among respondents to the El Financiero poll.

Creel, a lawyer by profession, is best known for having served as interior minister – usually considered the second most powerful position in Mexican politics – during the government of Fox, who won the presidency for the PAN in 2000 after more than 70 years of uninterrupted PRI rule.

Before serving as interior minister, he represented the PAN at the 2000 Mexico City mayoral election, which was won by López Obrador.

Born in Mexico City in 1954, Creel sought to represent the PAN at the 2006 and 2012 presidential elections, but his quest to obtain the conservative party’s candidacy was unsuccessful on both occasions.

Beatriz Paredes

The PRI senator, governor of Tlaxcala between 1987 and 1992, is the preferred FAM candidate of 8% of those recently polled by El Financiero.

Born in Tlaxcala in 1953, Paredes served as Mexico’s ambassador to Brazil between 2012 and 2016. She was national president of the PRI between 2007 and 2011 and for a period also headed up the National Farmers Federation.

In addition, the sociology graduate has served as a federal deputy and contested the 2012 Mexico City mayoral election won by Miguel Ángel Mancera.

Enrique de la Madrid

The son of former president Miguel de la Madrid (1982-88), Enrique de la Madrid attracted 13% support among El Financiero poll respondents.

Born in Mexico City in 1962, the FAM presidential aspirant was tourism minister in the second half of the 2012-18 government led by former president Enrique Peña Nieto.

He was a federal deputy between 2000 and 2003 and later headed up two different state-owned development banks. De la Madrid studied law at the National Autonomous University and subsequently obtained a Masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Who failed to reach the second stage of the FAM selection process?

Gálvez, Creel, Paredes and de la Madrid were among 13 aspirants formally registered by the FAM alliance, meaning that the hopes of nine have now been dashed.

Former Michoacán governor Silvano Aureoles, ex-Tamaulipas governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, former Querétaro governor and current Deputy Ignacio Loyola, ex-Mexico City mayor and current Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera, former deputy and senator Jorge Luis Preciado and Deputy Gabriel Quadri will not take part in the second stage of the FAM selection process. Three “ordinary citizen” aspirants are also out of the contest.

PRD press conference — Jesús Zambrano, national leader of the PRD (center), flanked by Miguel Ángel Mancera (left) and Silvano Aureoles (right) at a press conference on Thursday. (PRD/Twitter)

Aureoles, Mancera and García Cabeza de Vaca all collected more than 150,000 signatures of support, but didn’t reach the second stage of the selection process as they either lacked the minimum level of support across 17 entities or some of the signatures they collected were deemed to be invalid. Aureoles and Mancera, both PRD representatives, questioned the fairness of their exclusion from the contest, while García Cabeza de Vaca said he would have liked the FAM to be a “little more flexible” with its rules on the collection of signatures.

What is the Broad Front for Mexico (Frente Amplio por México)?

The Broad Front is essentially the successor alliance to Va por México, an electorally convenient coalition formed by the PAN, the PRI and the PRD – generally considered Mexico’s three main opposition parties – in late 2020.

The Va por México coalition fielded joint candidates at elections in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

When that alliance unveiled the method it will use to select its 2024 presidential candidate, it announced the formation of the Broad Front for Mexico, which includes the PAN, the PRI and the PRD as well as allied citizens’ groups.

Political parties in Mexico commonly create new coalitions (or at least coalitions with new names) to support their candidates at federal elections.

In the 2018 presidential election, Andrés Manuel López Obrador represented the Juntos Haremos Historia (Together We Will Make History) alliance, Ricardo Anaya stood for the Por México al Frente (For Mexico in Front) coalition and José Antonio Meade represented the Todos por México (All for Mexico) bloc.

In an attempt to avoid falling foul of electoral laws, the person elected as the FAM candidate will initially be known as the “person responsible for the construction of the Broad Front.”

The PRD announced Thursday that it would “pause” its participation in the FAM organizing committee in consideration of the exclusion of Mancera and Aureoles from the candidate selection process.

“We’re not going to accept improper political exclusions of anybody,” said PRD national president Jesús Zambrano.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Va por México either. The electoral success of that coalition, whose constituent parties come from both the right and left of Mexican politics, was limited, and differences in opinion between the parties, as well as opposition to Alejandro Moreno’s leadership of the PRI, almost led to a split in the bloc last year.

The 2024 Elections

In addition to electing a new president, Mexicans on June 2, 2024 will also renew both houses of federal Congress – the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

Voters in eight states will elect new governors, while citizens in Mexico City will choose a new mayor. Many other state and municipal positions will also be up for grabs.

The Ruling Morena party

The alliance led by the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) is also conducting a primary-style process to select its 2024 presidential candidate. The leading aspirants in the six-person field are former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, ex-foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard and former interior minister Adán Augusto López.

The Morena-led alliance, which also includes the Labor Party and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico, will announce its new standard bearer on Sept. 6.

Morena candidates at council meeting — Claudia Sheinbaum (center) with other Morena aspirants for the nomination, from left to right, Marcelo Ebrard, Adán Augusto López and Ricardo Monreal. (CNM/Twitter)

The recent El Financiero poll found that Morena remains on track to retain the presidency at the 2024 election, but the popularity gap between Sheinbaum and Gálvez, and Ebrard and Gálvez, narrowed compared to the newspaper’s previous survey.

Morena founder López Obrador, who is banned by the constitution from seeking a second term in office, will hand over the presidential sash to his successor on Oct. 1, 2024.

With reports from Expansión, Animal Político, El Economista, El País and Milenio

23 pharmacies shut down in Quintana Roo for ‘irregular’ activities

By

MND Staff

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August 10, 2023

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Pharmcy shelves — Neolsym plans to expand production at plants in México state and Morelos that produce the raw materials needed to make a wide variety of medications. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico’s Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) announced this week that a number of pharmacies in the state of Quintana Roo have been shut down for irregularities, including selling medicines that were expired, possibly counterfeit, or that they didn’t have authorization to sell.

Irregularities were found at 23 of the 55 pharmacies in Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum visited during a four-day series of Cofepris raids dubbed “Operation Albatross” by the health protection agency and the Secretary of the Navy (Semar).

Federal officials said in a statement Tuesday that 21 products were seized, including a variety of drugs that will be tested for counterfeiting, adulteration and the presence of harmful drugs such as fentanyl.

Cofepris noted it has “suspended the activities of 23 pharmacies and/or points of sale … where controlled medicines were sold irregularly, which represents a high risk to people’s health.”

Irregularities found at the pharmacies, according to Cofepris, included operating without a proper health license, stocking controlled drugs without proper documentation from drug suppliers, selling prescription drugs without a doctor’s signature, selling expired medications (some for more than a year) and not having customer data.

Also cited was a lack of traceability in the management of controlled medications, through such media as sales receipts.

Cofepris HQ CDMX — Federal regulator Cofepris took measures to combat the illicit pharmacies after an investigation by the LA Times newspaper earlier this year found evidence of Mexican pharmacies selling medications improperly to foreigners. (Wikimedia)

The statement said “an operation of unprecedented dimensions” was undertaken “in response to various citizen complaints” in a part of Mexico “that receives millions of national and foreign tourists every year.”

None of the suspended pharmacies are connected to any major national chains.

The statement provided a list of the pharmacies that received total suspensions or partial suspensions or that had products seized:

Drugstore Pharmacy
Farmacia Tulum Centro III
Farmacia Tulum Coba
Farmacia Tulum Europea in Tulum
Cancún Cristal Pharmacy
Cancún Tortugas Pharmacy
Cancún Forum Pharmacy
Cancún Coba Pharmacy
Simas Pharmacy
Drugstore Pharmacy in Cancún
2 branches of PDC Pharmacy in Playa del Carmen

PDC Pharmacu — Two branches of the PDC Pharmacy were closed in the city of Playa del Carmen. (Farmacias de Mexico)

Cofepris said that in many instances, the establishments sell the irregular medications only to foreigners, and that they hand out advertising cards highlighting the sale of prohibited medications without the customer needing to present a prescription.

Operation Albatross was conducted a month or so after a Los Angeles Times newspaper investigation revealed that pharmacies in some of Mexico’s tourist destinations were selling counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl and methamphetamine. Reporters identified at least six people who had overdosed or died after taking pills they bought from pharmacies in Mexico, noting that grieving families have long been trying to alert Congress and U.S. officials of the risk. The U.S. State Department, however, didn’t issue any type of official warning until March.

Reports on the Cofepris operation didn’t indicate whether anyone was criminally charged.

In its release, Cofepris invited people to make any additional health complaints via a government website.

With reports from La Jornada, Los Angeles Times and Cofepris

Don’t overlook these hidden treasures surrounding Holbox Island

By

Thilini Wijesinhe

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August 10, 2023

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Holbox Island view of sunset in Mexico — Thinking of a vacation to Holbox Island? Don't overlook these neighboring destinations. (Photos by Thilini Wijesinhe)

Holbox Island, located to the north of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Yum Balam nature reserve, is sure to charm with its beautiful beaches, seaside activities and biodiversity.

While its name might make it sound like it belongs somewhere in England, the word holbox (pronounced “ol-bosh”) is Mayan for “black hole,” probably a reference to the dark coloring of the lagoon water here.

Shallow waters surround Holbox and its neighboring islands.

You can easily take a ferry to Holbox from the town of Chiquilá, about a two-hour drive from Cancún. Visitors can also explore several spots around Holbox like Bird Island (Isla Pájaros), Passion Island (Isla Pasión) and the Yalahau freshwater pool. Look for “three islands” tours from Holbox that typically go to these places.

Bird Island is about a 30-minute boat ride from Holbox into the Yalahau Lagoon, the body of water that separates Holbox from the mainland. As the name suggests, you can observe many bird species there, including pelicans, frigate birds and ducks. From April to October is a good time to visit Bird island, when you typically see flamingos.

While visitors are not permitted to go ashore due to its protected status, the nearby lookout points offer magnificent views over the island and the lagoon, with many photography opportunities. Take a pair of binoculars if you want to observe birds closely.

If you have some time to linger, take a dip in the Yalahau cenote, a stunning natural pool among mangroves. You will not tire of swimming in its cool and clear water.

The Yalahau cenote, accessible by boat from Holbox.

The inhabitants of Holbox are believed to have used this natural pool for their freshwater needs since ancient times. According to folklore, an ancient Maya king had made this spring into a private pool for his wives and beautified its surroundings with gardens and other decorations. Another tale says that the water of the Yalahau cenote revitalizes visitors, making them feel younger. It’s therefore also known as a fountain of youth.

This area was once a sanctuary for pirates. According to one legend, the pirate Francisco de Molas, who lived there, had buried a treasure in the area with the help of an aide who was beheaded soon afterward. The aide’s head was supposedly buried with the treasure, and it is said that at night, the head appears where the fortune is buried.

After enjoying this natural pool, visit the observation deck for glorious views across the area — but take good care when climbing the wooden stairs. There are also various rest areas on site. Though we didn’t see any during our trip, you can sometimes spot crocodiles in the lagoon.

The final stop on our tour was Passion Island. With picturesque surroundings, shallow water and white sand, this island and its surroundings are breathtaking. It is a great spot to swim or just take in the tranquil atmosphere. The water is so shallow that you can easily wade about. Don’t forget to visit the lookout point for spectacular views.

Unlike Bird Island, visitors are usually allowed ashore onto Passion Island. This island is said to attract turtles during the breeding season, which starts in May and lasts until September.

Some tours may also stop at Punta Mosquito, a magnificent sandbank by Holbox Island. If you can’t find a tour that stops there, consider visiting it on your own; it’s worth it. You can rent bicycles or golf carts in Holbox to conveniently get around the island. About two and a half kilometers from the ferry dock toward the north of the island is the access point to a beach close to Punta Mosquito. You’ll need to park your bicycles or golf carts there and proceed by foot, as this is a protected area. From this beach, we waded through the water to the sandbank when the tide was low in the morning. You can also see different bird species at Punta Mosquito and perhaps even flamingoes from April to October.

While some visitors make day trips to Holbox, staying a few days on the island gives you time to indulge in different activities and have a relaxing break. Depending on your activities of interest, there are several different tours you can take that leave from Holbox, so you’re not limited. If you’re looking for a nighttime outing, check out the bioluminescence at certain beaches.

This natural — but oh so magical — display of light is due to certain bioluminescent marine organisms; it looks like tiny stars have fallen onto the sea.

And one last thing: remember to avoid disturbing the flora and fauna around you while enjoying everything Holbox Island offers, so it’ll all be there next time you — or someone else — goes back.

Thilini Wijesinhe, a financial professional turned writer and entrepreneur, moved to Mexico in 2019 from Australia. She writes from Mérida, Yucatán. Her website can be found at https://thilini.me/