COVID vaccine registration for children 12 and up begins this week

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April 26, 2022

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said Tuesday that face masks are no longer essential.

Children aged 12 and over will be able to register for a COVID-19 vaccine shot starting this Thursday, the federal government announced Tuesday.

The government said earlier this month it would offer vaccines to children under 15 after previously asserting that inoculating younger adolescents and kids – with the exception of those aged 12 t0 14 with underlying health problems – was not necessary.

Speaking at President López Obrador’s Tuesday morning press conference, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell stressed that “all healthy and unhealthy children” aged 12 and over will now be eligible for a shot. Youths (or their parents) will be able to register their interest in getting vaccinated on the government’s vaccination website.

López-Gatell, who has led the government’s pandemic response, also said that 90% of adults and 87% of the eligible population have been vaccinated. “This allows us to have significant protection against serious cases,” he said.

All told, some 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Mexico, including over 45 million booster shots.

For his part, López Obrador said the the country’s coronavirus outbreak is “subsiding almost completely” and that the stage of the “serious pandemic that left us so much pain and suffering” has ended.

In other COVID-19 news:

• López-Gatell said that the use of face masks is no longer essential but qualified his remark by adding that that they can still be useful in enclosed spaces.

“We’re not going to declare an end to the obligatory use of face makes because we never said they were mandatory. But we can say that the use of face masks is not essential at this time,” he said.

• A mask mandate in Baja California no longer applies after Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda announced Sunday that the mandate would end Monday.

“The obligation of using one in public spaces, whether they are open or enclosed, will no longer exist,” she said.

Several other states have dropped mask mandates, but only for outdoor public areas.

• López-Gatell announced Tuesday that the federal government will not issue any new coronavirus stoplight maps given the reduced transmission risk. The one currently in force, on which all 32 states are low risk green, will expire on May 1.

The coronavirus czar noted that the stoplight map, which has been a feature of the government’s pandemic management since the middle of 2020, has been solid green for the past seven weeks. The risk level is not expected to increase in the coming months, he said.

Each stoplight color – maximum risk red, high risk orange, medium risk yellow and low risk green – was accompanied by recommended economic and social restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, but state governments have the power to devise and implement their own pandemic rules.

• Mexico’s official COVID-19 death toll rose to 324,134 on Monday with five additional fatalities reported. An additional 140 new cases were added to the accumulated case tally, which stands at 5.73 million. There are just over 4,000 estimated active cases, whereas at the peak of the omicron-fueled wave in January there were over 300,000.

With reports from Reforma, Milenio and El Financiero

Baja California winemaker was industry pioneer

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MND Staff

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April 26, 2022

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A pioneering winemaker in Baja California died on Friday aged 87.

Luis Cetto headed L.A. Cetto after taking over management of the company in 1983, representing the third generation of ownership. Cetto took the company’s wines to international markets and expanded their customer base in Mexico.

L.A. Cetto was started in 1928 by Angelo Cetto, an Italian who established the wine region now known as Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California.

Born on August 28, 1934 in Tijuana, Luis Cetto was the founder of the fruit juice company Jugos del Valle.

The national restaurant association Canirac posted on Twitter to pay tribute to Cetto. “At Canirac we lament the sad departure of Don Luis Cetto, a persevering man, visionary businessman and promoter of Mexican wine culture.”

“Mr. Cetto is a person that everyone loved. He and his family are very respected. He was a person who always supported restaurateurs a lot … and the people who are dedicated to wine,” the president of Canirac Tijuana, Juan José Plascencia Huerta, said.

The Mexican Wine Council (CMV) referred to Cetto as a pioneer of the wine industry who’d received international recognition.

The head of the Tijuana Tourism Committee Cotuco, José Arturo Gutiérrez, said wine production had helped the city promote tourism. “For the Tourism Committee [L.A. Cetto’s reputation] was a tool … to carry when we were going to present in exhibitions and congresses about Tijuana. The Cetto family supported us a lot in the promotion of the city,” he said.

L.A. Cetto received an award at the Vinalies Internationales 2022 wine competition in Paris alongside two other Mexican wineries, Casa Madero and Monte Xanic.

L.A. Cetto produces chardonnay, merlot, tempranillo, pinot noir and shiraz. Its wines are sold in Chile, Argentina, the United States, Canada, France, Italy and Spain.

With reports from Reforma and El Imparcial

Army deactivates 279 artisanal mines in Michoacán

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MND Staff

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April 26, 2022

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Soldiers searching for IEDs in Tierra Caliente region, Michoacan — Since late December, soldiers have been searching for improvised explosive devices left behind by the CJNG in the Tierra Caliente region. File photo

Soldiers have found and defused 279 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán since December, newly uncovered military documents reveal.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has used the land mines in its fight against the Cárteles Unidos – a criminal group led by Los Viagras – and official security forces.

National Defense Ministry (Sedena) documents obtained by the newspaper Milenio via freedom of information laws reveal that the army has deactivated IEDs found on agricultural land, ranches and dirt roads in the municipalities of Tepalcatepec, Aguililla, Coalcoman, Apatzingán and Buenavista.

The army first became aware of the CJNG’s use of the mines on December 18. Soldiers have painstakingly searched for IEDs hidden under dirt or camouflaged among weeds in Michoacán’s Tierra Caliente, a notoriously violent region.

An armored army vehicle drove over one mine in Tepalcatepec in late January, causing it to explode. Five soldiers were injured, Milenio reported Monday. It was previously reported that 10 soldiers were hurt in the incident.

Exploded IED in Michoacan — An armored army vehicle drove over a mine in Tepalcatepec in late January. The explosion injured five soldiers, documents show.

Tepalcatepec ranks first for the number of IEDs detected by the army followed by Aguililla, where CJNG leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes was born. Over a dozen mines have been found in Naranjo de Chila, the capo’s hometown.

A 78-year-old man was killed in Aguililla in February when he drove over an IED. His son was badly injured.

The mines used by the CJNG have been compared to those deployed by Iraqi insurgents and organizations such as Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in wars against the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past two decades, although they are not as powerful.

Security sources cited by Milenio earlier this year said the explosives consist of pipes filled with gunpowder, two-millimeter-thick pieces of metal, batteries, a detonator and other items.

Michoacán was the second most violent state in the first three months of the year with 756 homicides, according to official data.

The Tierra Caliente region has long been plagued by insecurity, but the army carried out an operation in February that, according to Sedena, succeeded in driving criminals out of 43 localities in the municipalities of Aguililla, Buenavista, Coalcomán and Tepalcatepec.

With reports from Milenio

Government seeks price controls on 25 basic products to control inflation

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MND Staff

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April 26, 2022

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The government wants to protect consumers against price increases of products in the basic food basket.

As inflation soars to almost 8%, the federal government is seeking an agreement with private companies to limit price increases on basic food items.

Jesús Ramírez, President López Obrador’s spokesman and communications coordinator, told the news agency Bloomberg that the pact would focus on the approximately 25 products that make up the canasta básica, a basic selection of foodstuffs including beans, rice, eggs and sugar.

He said in a phone interview that it hadn’t been decided exactly which products would be included in the agreement.

Two other Bloomberg sources said that government officials had met with representatives of leading companies to discuss the plan.

López Obrador said three weeks ago that the government was considering placing price controls on basic food items as part of efforts to control inflation. Consumer prices were up 7.72% annually in early April, a 20-year high well above the central bank’s target of 3% give or take a percentage point.

López Obrador indicated Monday that a government program to confront inflation would be presented next week.

“We’re doing well in tax collection, we’re doing well in job creation, the peso is resisting and we’re going to … start a program to confront inflation, we’re working on that,” the president said at his morning news conference.

López Obrador – whose government subsidizes gasoline and last year attempted to cap LP gas prices – said that electricity and fuel prices were only up 0.6%, but acknowledged that the government has to act on food prices by “seeking agreement with producers.”

“I’ll take the opportunity to tell farmers, small producers, that we’re already delivering support and we have to sow [new crops], we have to produce,” he said.

“No country can get ahead if it doesn’t produce and at this time it’s essential to sow corn, beans, rice. … Just as we must be self-sufficient in energy, we have to be self-sufficient in food, and that’s what we’re trying [to achieve] now,” López Obrador said.

He said his main current concern as president was to control inflation because of the impact it has on family budgets.

“We’re working on that. I believe that we’ll present the plan in a week,” López Obrador said.“We’ve made a lot of progress, we’re speaking with businesspeople, with producers,” he said.

“… We’re going to produce, we’re going to plant now that it’s time … in order to have corn, to have beans, to have basic foods. [Production] helps a lot because there is a global imbalance that was produced or precipitated with the pandemic and then it worsened with the war [in Ukraine],” López Obrador said.

“An agreement has to be sought to guarantee peace and not affect the economy,” he added. … “We’re going to try to have low inflation compared to other countries, but it’s a global phenomenon.”

Experts have raised concerns about the possibility of food shortages if the government introduce price caps because lower prices could discourage production.

“In the medium and long term, you could create shortages and black markets,” said James Salazar, deputy director of economic analysis at CI Banco.

With reports from Bloomberg and El Universal

Taking selfie of approaching train sends woman to hospital

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MND Staff

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April 26, 2022

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woman hit by train in Bernal, Mexico — The woman, who suffered head injuries, was attended to by train station employees before paramedics arrived.

A woman was severely injured in Querétaro after being hit by a freight train while trying to take a selfie on Thursday.

The woman was struck in the head by the train at around 9 a.m. at the Bernal station near Tequisquiapan, 65 kilometers east of Querétaro city, and was taken to hospital. The state of her health has not been reported, but her injuries appear to have been life-threatening.

The woman is around 50 years old, from Tequisquiapan and known in the area as a keen runner and sportswoman.

According to witnesses, on hearing the train approach, the woman went close to the tracks to pose and take a photo without weighing the risk. The train whistled to warn her to move away, but she stayed close to the tracks.

After the collision, she fell to the ground and was bleeding severely.

Upon seeing the injured woman, the driver stopped the train. Station staff attended to her until municipal police and paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital in San Juan del Río.

With reports from El Sol de San Juan del Río and Noticias de Querétaro

Cartel clash kills 11 at Chihuahua horse race

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MND Staff

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April 26, 2022

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A clash between criminal groups at an illegal horse racing event in Chihuahua claimed the lives of 11 people on Sunday, authorities said.

The confrontation took place around 7:00 p.m. at a clandestine horse racing track in El Sauz, a community in the municipality of Chihuahua, which includes the state capital. At least one of the victims was a woman.

“We have a report that 11 people unfortunately lost their lives,” state Security Minister Gilberto Loya said Monday.

He said that five people died at the scene and the others lost their lives on their way to hospital.

Loya said there had been a confrontation between armed groups at “clandestine horse races” that hadn’t been authorized by any authority.

He said authorities were still investigating to establish the identity of those involved in the confrontation and those who lost their lives. The names of five of the victims were published later on Monday.

Authorities seized four vehicles and one firearm at the scene of the confrontation – a clandestine racetrack known as El Mezquite. Horse races and other events have been held there since 2019. El Heraldo de Chihuahua reported that Sunday’s race meet was promoted as a family event with no alcohol. However, attendees were drinking and some consumed illegal drugs, the newspaper said.

Chihuahua was the seventh most violent state in the first three months of the year with 411 homicides, according to data presented by federal Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez last week.

There have been several incidents of violence this year with multiple fatalities, among which were the massacre of 20 people at a clandestine cockfight in Michoacán last month and the firing-squad style execution of 17 people in the same state a month earlier.

However, homicides declined 12.6% in the first three months of the year compared to the same period of 2021, falling to 7,354 from 8,417.

With reports from El Universal and El Heraldo de Chihuahua

AMLO cancels Maya Train talks with project’s opponents; plays baseball instead

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MND Staff

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April 26, 2022

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Eugenio Derbez, Natalia Lafourcade and Kate del Castillo are among the artists who have criticized section 5 of the train project.

President López Obrador on Sunday canceled a scheduled meeting with opponents of the Quintana Roo section of the Maya Train project, angering those who were scheduled to meet him.

The president’s office said the meeting planned for Monday with members of the #SelvameDelTren collective had been suspended because several of the invitees publicly announced they wouldn’t attend.

The collective – whose name means “save the jungle from the train” or “save me and the jungle from the train” – rejected the claim, saying that only one of its supporters had pulled out of the meeting.

Among those slated to attend were actor Jero Medina, Café Tacvba frontman Rubén Albarrán, biologist and speleologist Roberto Rojo and ecologist Rodrigo Medellín.

In light of the cancellation of the meeting, the president’s office invited the #SelvameDelTrain members to visit Quintana Roo and speak with residents of the indigenous communities located along the Cancún-Tulum section of the 1,500-kilometer railroad.

“In that way you will find out that the people were informed and consulted,” the office said in a statement.

“Along the entire route of the Maya Train, people know about the project and every community has been consulted. … The environment and archaeological assets are being protected while its construction is being carried out and cenotes [natural sinkholes], subterranean rivers and caves won’t be affected,” it said.

The #SelvameDelTrain activists and others argue that the construction and operation of section 5 of the US $10 billion railroad will have an irreversible adverse impact on the environment. Swathes of jungle have already been cleared to make way for the route, which was moved inland after the Playa del Carmen business community complained about the construction of the railroad through the center of that city.

Activists have also denounced the commencement of work before the completion of environmental studies. A judge recently issued a provisional suspension order against section 5 due to to environmental concerns and the absence of environmental permits. A ruling on a definitive suspension order is set to be made next month.

On its official social media accounts, the #SelvameDelTrain collective republished the government’s statement with annotated rebuttals. Only actor Eugenio Derbez – who wasn’t on a list of proposed guests – announced he wouldn’t attend the meeting with López Obrador, it said, adding that “the rest of us are here.”

In response to the invitation to visit Quintana Roo, the collective said that the “vast majority” of its members are from that part of the country or have already been there.

“And we assure you that not everybody was consulted … and there is a vast majority who don’t agree [with the project],” it said.

“We made the invitation to you to walk in the jungle with us, see the devastation and understand why the vast majority doesn’t agree,” the collective told López Obrador.

It also said that construction of section 5 would “devastate” subterranean rivers and that operation of the train would generate “urbanization and an unsustainable environmental impact, … altering one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet.”

“… It’s a shame that the president has rejected the dialogue he offered us. This shows that they don’t have the environmental impact studies that the law demands and that we’re right in our concern about the damage that will be caused to the jungle and the Mayan aquifer.”

Arturo Islas, a television host, actor and environmentalist who was one of those scheduled to meet with López Obrador, criticized the cancellation of the meeting on his Twitter account.

“It’s not OK to continue evading and manipulating information, regrettable attitude” he wrote after rejecting the claim that several #SelvameDelTrain activists had pulled out of the meeting.

Roberto Rojo, the biologist and speleologist, was about to board a flight to Mexico City from Cancún when he found out the meeting had been canceled. He said the justification for the cancellation was “a ridiculous excuse to avoid the meeting because they don’t want to confront the truth.”

“The president planned to speak only with the artists, who don’t have the scientific foundations we have,” Rojo told reporters outside the National Palace on Monday. “When he realized that the people coming weren’t just from the artistic union, the decision was taken to cancel the meeting,” he said.

López Obrador has labeled those opposed to the ambitious railroad project as “pseudo-environmentalists.”

Rojo countered that claim by saying, “the only way in which … [the government] could have resolved the doubts about us is with a face to face meeting.”

The president renewed his criticism Tuesday morning by accusing artists in the #SelvameDelTrain collective of not having a “social dimension or love for the people.”

“They are concerned about being successful but they turn their back on the humble, the poor,” he said before repeating the accusation that the train’s opponents are conservatives opposed to his government’s transformation of Mexico.

In lieu of Monday’s meeting, members of the collective protested outside the National Palace on Monday, while López Obrador – who has consistently denied that the railroad project will damage the environment and touted the economic benefits it will bring – took advantage of the opening up of his schedule by taking leave from the seat of executive power to participate in a game of baseball, his favorite sport.

With reports from El Universal and El País

Mazatlán Motorcycle Week turns bloody with accident, assassination

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Rose Egelhoff

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April 25, 2022

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Mazatlan Motorcycle Week — On Friday, gunmen killed a 45-year-old man from Tijuana who was in town with family members for Motorcycle Week.

Motorcycle Week in Mazatlán, Sinaloa turned deadly on Friday, when an alleged Sinaloa Cartel financial operator was run over and, in a separate incident, armed men shot a rider visiting from Tijuana.

The first incident occurred Friday afternoon. Martín Humberto Ponce Félix, 57, an alleged financial operator associated with Juan José “El Azul” Esparragoza Moreno, a former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was visiting Mazatlán from his home in the state capital of Culiacán for the port city’s Motorcycle Week, an annual event that draws thousands of domestic and international visitors.

His plans were cut short: as he rode his motorcycle through the high-rise hotels of Mazatlán’s “Golden Zone,” a gray Jeep took an illegal U-turn, sending Ponce flying. Paramedics determined at the scene that Ponce had suffered severe head injuries and he was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Local reports do not mention what happened to the Jeep or its driver.

Ponce had been blacklisted by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) since 2012 for his connections to a number of gas stations accused of laundering money for Sinaloa Cartel leader “El Azul.” “El Azul” was widely reported to have died in 2014 at the age of 65, but authorities were unable to verify his death.

Martín Humberto Ponce Félix lost his life after a truck did an abrupt illegal U-turn and crashed into Ponce’s motorcycle.

Later the same day, armed gunmen killed another man along Mazatlán’s beachfront, near the Fisherman’s Monument. The victim, Francisco “N” of Tijuana, age 45, was in town along with family members to participate in Motorcycle Week.

Francisco was seated on his motorcycle outside a restaurant at the time of the attack, early Friday evening. Witnesses said that at least two armed men on motorcycles shot him at close range. Before police arrived, the attackers escaped into the crowd, where hundreds of motorcycles and pedestrians had gathered.

According to Civil Protection, at least 18,000 people attended Mazatlán Motorcycle Week this year.

On the same day farther south, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) lost a financial operative of its own. Saúl “N,” alias “El Chopa,” was killed in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, after a firefight with the federal forces.

The National Guard was carrying out “preventative intelligence” operations in the upscale neighborhood of Marina Vallarta when they were attacked, the Department of Defense (Sedena) said in a statement. The National Guard returned fire, injuring El Chopa. He and his bodyguard were arrested and El Chopa was taken to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries and died shortly after.

He was allegedly the top financial manager for the CJNG. His responsibilities included supplying arms and tactical equipment to CJNG cells, and he was linked to the murder of Jalisco ex-governor Aristóteles Sandoval, Sedena said.

Mazatlan Motorcycle Week attendee 2022 — This biker from Nayarit was one of an estimated 18,000 attendees of Motorcycle Week from all over Mexico and beyond.

Back north in Sonora, another Sinaloa Cartel-related incident occurred in the town of Pitiquito on Thursday, when a group known as Los Cazadores (“the Hunters”) tore down several houses belonging to their rivals. Los Cazadores are an armed cell controled by Los Chapitos, the four sons of notorious drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and part of the current Sinaloa Cartel leadership.

With reports from El Sol de Mazatlán, El Debate and Infobae

El Chapo’s kids blamed for destroying rivals’ homes in Sonora

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MND Staff

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April 25, 2022

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Two homes in Pitiquito were attacked with backhoes while presumed cartel members filmed, taunting their enemies.

The protégé children of jailed former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán have been blamed for destroying two homes of rival cartel leaders in Sonora on Thursday.

The brothers, known as Los Chapitos, are accused of sending members of Los Cazadores (“The Hunters”) cartel with a backhoe to wreck the homes in Pitiquito, Sonora. There was no response from authorities, despite the homes’ vicinity to a National Guard base.

Parts of the two homes, allegedly belonging to leaders of the rival Caborca Cartel, were demolished in broad daylight, but the state Attorney General’s Office said it received no reports about the events, which were filmed by cartel members.

Authorities knew that the homes were a target, after they were sprayed with bullets in a previous incident.

“There’s your house, Yuyo… you’re not going to have a house anymore, fool!” a person can be heard saying off camera, presumably addressing one of the Caborca Cartel’s leaders.

Los Cazadores filmed themselves attacking their rivals’ homes with heavy machinery.

The cartel members can be heard celebrating as the backhoe smashes through parts of the building.

Los Chapitos are Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, Ovidio Guzmán López and Joaquín Guzmán López, all in their 30s. They are in a battle with the Caborca Cartel and other affiliated cartels for the control of the Caborca desert, which is a crucial trafficking route through Sonora to the U.S. border.

In December, the U.S. State Department announced rewards of up to US $5 million each for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Los Chapitos. The State Department said the four men are high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel and subject to federal indictments in the U.S. for their involvement in the illicit drug trade.

It’s not only El Chapo’s sons that are involved in the drug trade: his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, was handed a three-year jail sentence in November in a United States court after she requested leniency from the judge.

In October, 2019, the armed forces undertook an operation to capture Ovidio Guzmán. Culiacán, Sinaloa, was briefly turned into a battlefield with blocked avenues, burning vehicles, convoys of armed vehicles and heavily armed men. Amid the threat of civilian turmoil, Ovidio was released.

Two of the leaders of Los Cazadores were arrested in April and June last year.

The Sinaloa Cartel and other cartels have shifted their concentration from naturally grown drugs such as marijuana and opium to the manufacture and distribution of more powerful synthetic drugs. Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said in March that 127 synthetic drug labs had been busted by the current administration, mostly in Sinaloa.

With reports from Infobae

AMLO’s former legal counsel files accusations against attorney general

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MND Staff

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April 25, 2022

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President López Obrador’s former legal counsel has accused Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero and four other high-ranking law enforcement officials of influence peddling, criminal association and collusion.

Julio Scherer Ibarra, who left his advisory position last year, filed a criminal complaint late last week against Gertz and four of his colleagues at the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR).

In his complaint, which he filed with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Scherer said he was obliged to report the officials because they had committed acts that “probably” constituted crimes. He accused Gertz and the other officials of making “factious use” of the FGR for “perverse personal interests,” claiming that they have opened investigations against companies and individuals to take revenge against “enemies” of the attorney general.

The lawyer said he has also been a victim of their allegedly improper conduct. The FGR initiated an investigation after he was accused of extortion, money laundering, criminal association and influence peddling by Juan Collado, a lawyer for former president Enrique Peña Nieto who is currently in prison on money laundering and organized crime charges.

The president’s former legal counsel, described by López Obrador as “like his brother”, claimed in March that former interior minister Olga Sánchez and Gertz put together a “perverse trap” to implicate him in an extortion scheme. He also claimed that both were “traitors” to the 4T, or Fourth Transformation – the federal government’ self-anointed nickname.

Julio Scherer Ibarra, former presidential legal counsel (left) and Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero (right) sit together at a 2019 government event. — Julio Scherer Ibarra, former presidential legal counsel, left, and Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero, right, sit together at a 2019 government event.

Scherer partially supported his criminal complaint by citing the imprisonment of Alejandra Cuevas, the daughter of the wife of Gertz’s deceased brother. Cuevas was held in preventative custody for over 500 days on charges of “homicide by omission” for allegedly failing to provide adequate medical care to the attorney general’s brother, who died in 2015 at the age of 82.

The Supreme Court ordered her release late last month and also dropped the case against her nonagenarian mother, Laura Morán, who was accused of the same crime. Leaked recordings of telephone conversations Gertz had with his colleague Juan Ramos López – one of the four other FGR officials accused by Scherer – appeared to reveal the attorney general had interfered in the case.

Scherer also raised questions about the FGR’s investigations against Santiago Nieto, the former chief of the federal government’s Financial Intelligence Unit, who was accused of illicit enrichment, and 31 scientists and researchers, who were accused of corruption.

“Today the enemies of the head of the federal Attorney General’s Office are the sole targets of justice – his justice,” his complaint said.

“Proof of that are the various investigations (fabrications), prosecutions and inquiries that he has initiated against his in-laws, scientists, people related to the Puebla University of the Americas, women, companies, businesspeople and other people unconnected to his vision or interests.”

In addition, Scherer accused Gertz of using his position to help his “old client and partner” Gabriel Alarcón Velázquez, who was accused of defrauding his own family, and giving preferential treatment to former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya, who has been in prison on corruption charges since November.

“The conduct of … Gertz Manero is not new: he has remained in the public memory and in the memories of witnesses and victims as a conveniently biased, eminently vengeful and poisonous man,” he said.

“The territory of the federal Attorney General’s Office is today swampy. Discredited and exposed, the head of the agency, assisted by officials servile to the interests of their boss, decided to betray his historic role as the republic’s first autonomous attorney general,” the complaint said.

With reports from El Economista and Reforma