Supreme Court’s decision to review preventative prison ignites debate

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August 26, 2022

Pre-trial detention is currently mandatory in cases involving acusations of homicide, femicide, rape, kidnapping, home burglaries, firearm offenses and other crimes. DepositPhotos

A Supreme Court (SCJN) proposal to review and possibly abrogate a constitutional provision requiring that mandatory preventative prison must apply to accused perpetrators of certain crimes has been rejected by the federal government, which argues that the measure is essential to ensure that suspects don’t evade justice and continue committing offenses.

Two justices have put forward proposals to invalidate the stipulation for pre-trial detention, arguing that the article violates the principle of presumption of innocence and that preventative prison is a disproportionate measure. The SCJN will consider their proposals next month.

In a statement directed to “the people of Mexico” and the Supreme Court, the government said the existence of preventative prison is fundamental for certain crimes “to ensure that the alleged criminals detained for organized crime, serious crimes [such as homicide and rape] … or white-collar crimes don’t avoid … justice during the criminal process.”

The government said that its support for the constitutional provision allowing pre-trial detention takes into account the fact that detaining suspects often involves a “great effort of the state” in terms of “resources, intelligence and the deployment of forces.”

Preventative custody, the government added, prevents suspects from threatening and attacking victims and witnesses, continuing to commit crimes and “leading criminal activities that affect society.”

Signed by Interior Minister Adán Augusto López and presidential legal adviser María Estela Ríos González, the statement enumerated a long list of crimes to which mandatory preventative prison applies, including homicide, femicide, rape, sexual abuse of minors, organized crime offenses, kidnapping, human trafficking, home burglaries, illicit enrichment, fuel theft, firearm offenses and drug trafficking.

The constitution was modified in 2008 to allow mandatory preventative prison for certain crimes, but additional offenses have been added since then.

“Leaving the decision about whether to apply preventative prison in the hands of judges would generate additional pressure on those who impart justice, exposing them to corruption and violence due to the kinds of crimes to which this figure applies,” the government said.

Chief Justice Arturo Zaldívar presides over a session of the Supreme Court. SJCN

“We ask the country’s highest court … to consider the country’s public security, the victims of crimes, the fight against impunity and the enormous effort that criminal prosecution involves,” when considering whether to invalidate the pre-trial detention provision, it said.

Interior Minister López said Thursday that the court’s proposal to outlaw the provision posed a threat to the federal government’s security strategy, which somewhat paradoxically entails a commitment to end impunity while simultaneously avoiding confrontation with criminal groups.

“We believe that international conventions can’t be above our constitution,” he said. “If this proposal was declared viable, it would put an end to the country’s entire security strategy, and I don’t think that Mexicans deserve that.”

López expressed optimism that the SCJN would take the government’s view into account. “Surely, [the justices] will read our statement carefully and [then] take their decision,” he said.

For his part, Deputy Security Minister Ricardo Mejía highlighted the risk of corruption. Allowing judges to decide, on a case by case basis, whether pre-trial detention should apply could lead to multiple cases of corruption, he said, suggesting that wheeling and dealing between judges and lawyers would be common.

The absence of mandatory preventative prison “would also increase danger, … for judges, victims that dare to denounce crimes, [and] witnesses,” Mejía said. “Above all, it represents a threat to society because these individuals, on the loose, will continue carrying out their criminal activities.”

Olga Sánchez, a ruling party senator and President López Obrador’s former interior minister, was among several other people who weighed in on the preventative prison debate. She said the list of crimes for which pre-trial detention is mandatory is too broad.

“For example I think it’s absurd that home burglary and other minor crimes are subject to preventative prison,” she said. “I believe that there are some crimes that must be subject to preventative prison … but crimes were added indiscriminately to article 19: transport theft, burglaries, some other crimes.”

While administration officials like Interior Minister Adán Augusto López emphasized the risk of letting alleged criminals walk free, some activists warned against the opposite problem: that the accused may languish in prison for years without a trial. Presidencia de la República

One person in favor of pre-trial detention being scrapped is Saskia Niño de Rivera, president of Reinserta, a civil society organization that helps ex-prisoners reintegrate into society. In an online video message, she noted that some suspects remain in pre-trial detention for years without the opportunity to clear their name.

Niño de Rivera said she personally knew of people who have spent as long as 18 years in jail without facing trial. “In Mexico, [suspects] are guilty until the opposite is proven.”

She also said that people unable to afford legal defense are more likely to end up in preventative prison in cases in which judges have the discretion to decide whether to incarcerate suspects or not.

“Who are we putting in jail? … Those who have access to [legal] defense aren’t in jail. … The majority of people in [preventative detention] … are people who didn’t have access to justice,” she said.

“Forty-seven percent of people in prison have been waiting for years for their culpability to be determined,” she wrote on Twitter.

In another Twitter post, Niño de Rivera indicated that she was puzzled by the interior minister’s remark about the threat to the government’s non-confrontational security strategy. “I’m so confused. ‘Hugs, not bullets’ is an ideology that goes against preventative prison,” she wrote.

In an opinion piece published by the Reforma newspaper, two National Autonomous University (UNAM) legal researchers also argued against pre-trial detention, asserting that it’s overused.

“This precautionary measure to incarcerate people without a sentence has been used disproportionately and indiscriminately under the false promise of providing security and combating impunity,” Juan Jesús Garza Onofre and Javier Martín Reyes wrote. “Today the jails are full of alleged culprits, individuals that don’t have a sentence but are deprived of their freedom.”

A meeting of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. IACHR

The UNAM researchers noted that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has made it clear that mandatory preventative custody is a violation of due process, the presumption of innocence and personal freedoms. If the SCJN invalidates the constitutional provision that allows it, thousands of prisoners could benefit, they wrote.

Garza and Reyes criticized López Obrador for “muddying” the debate about preventative prison through his “eagerness to defend the [growing] catalogue of ‘serious crimes.’”

“He misinforms citizens and allows simple rhetoric to substitute serious debate,” they wrote. “… Instead of promoting measures oriented toward the prevention of crime and the strengthening of police and prosecutor capacities, the López Obrador administration, refusing to accept its failed security strategy, resorts to the heavy-handed [approach] … and perpetuates the worst legacy of penal populism.”

The researchers criticized the government’s statement in support of pre-trial detention, asserting that it was a document “without a single legal argument, which crudely lies by saying that mandatory prison is ‘fundamental’ to avoid the flight of the accused and to protect victims, as if all this wasn’t possible with discretionary pre-trial detention.”

The latter is discretionally imposed by a judge in cases where the suspect is considered a flight risk and/or danger to the community, whereas mandatory pre-trial detention applies automatically to people accused of certain crimes.

In a Twitter post, Melissa Ayala, a lawyer, suggested the government has forgotten about the discretionary measure.

“Reminder that discretionary pre-trial detention exists,” she wrote. “Why don’t they want to let mandatory [pre-trial detention] go?”

With reports from El Universal

In this Jalisco town, families turn local clay into works of art

By

John Pint

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August 26, 2022

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Armando Barrera in his ceramics workshop in Jalisco — Armando Barrera shows off one of his kilns in his San Juan Evangelista workshop.

There must be something special in the waters of Little Lake Cajititlán because every community around this lake located 25 kilometers south of Guadalajara seems to be brimming with artists and artisans.

Here you can find furniture utilizing woven reeds, sculptures made of basalt, works of art created from horsehair, magnificent ropes handmade from agave fibers and beautiful items produced from locally sourced clay.

It’s the artisans who make them that I want to talk about today.

They all happen to live in the pueblito of San Juan Evangelista, on the south side of the lake. Next to the town’s church, you’ll find a small Plaza de Los Artesanos (Artisans’ Plaza) surrounded by workshops where lumps of clay are turned into works of art.

Jalisco ceramics artisan Martin Navarro — The late Martín Navarro showing the writer a burnished clay pot with an intricate fish motif.

In 2012, the first time I visited the Artisans’ Plaza, I walked into the workshop of one Martín Navarro, who was intently working on a beautiful figure of an owl. Several other unfinished pieces lay on his desk, each one demonstrating this master sculptor’s extraordinary imagination, skill and attention to detail.

When we asked him about the ceramics tradition in San Juan, Navarro told us that three generations had been developing their skills in this medium, all of them inspired by his great uncle, Don Sixto Ibarra (1928–2001), who became interested in ceramics when he found figurines in a shaft tomb nearby.

“My great uncle started out trying to duplicate the ancient pieces he had discovered but ended up founding a school of creative sculpting, especially in the medium of barro bruñido, burnished clay.”

Burnishing, Navarro explained, involves rubbing chosen parts of the pot’s outside with a hard (usually metal) tool that rearranges and compresses the surface particles of clay, resulting in a smooth, even texture that almost looks like a glaze. I was amazed to learn that one of the artisans’ favorite tools for doing this is a stainless steel valve taken from a car engine.

Jalisco artisan Sixto Ibarra — Sixto Ibarra is responsible, directly or indirectly, for the career of every ceramics artisan working today in San Juan Evangelista. Estudio Sixto/Facebook

Martín Navarro passed away a few years ago, but during his lifetime, he also inspired numerous neighbors to dedicate themselves to ceramics and pottery.

Two weeks ago, I revisited San Juan. This time, I walked into the workshop of Don Armando Barrera, who had learned pottery skills from his uncle — who had learned them at the knee of the celebrated Sixto Ibarra.

“I was 14 then,” Barrera told me, “but I was already producing my first pieces. Later I began to work independently. People would come along and ask me for something completely new. And me, I would never say no to them. ‘Claro que sí,’ I’d say. ‘Sure I can make that for you.’ I would say this even if I had no idea how to do it, and then I would have to put my mind to it, to actually make it happen. So I had to use my imagination.

For example, a local church asked him to make “clay paintings” showing Biblical scenes in circles one meter in diameter. “I had no idea you could paint with clay on a flat surface. But I learned to do it, and today my ceramic paintings are hanging right behind the altar of the church in [the town of] Cuexcomatitlán, at the west end of the lake.”

Ceramic "painting" by Jalisco artist Armando Barrera — One of four “clay paintings” by Armando Barrera, each a meter in width, of Biblical scenes. Turismo Tlajomulco

Similarly, Barrera had learned how to fire big, flat circles after teaching himself how to fire tabletops and chairs for clients who wanted ceramic furniture.

Over the years, he has worked out new techniques to achieve the effect of burnishing a pot since he sometimes has clients that want 100–200 pieces at a time.

“I add the shine after firing by applying water-based high-gloss sealer, the kind used for stone surfaces,” he said. “To get the same effect by burnishing with stainless steel or pyrite would take a day and a half for just one pot. But with this new technique, we can do 10 pots in the same amount of time. And on top of everything else, the sealer protects the piece in case it gets wet.”

I asked Barrera if he gets his clay from a place south of town that Navarro had shown me 10 years earlier.

Jalisco ceramics artisan Armando Barrera — The effect of applying sealer (left pot) is very similar to the effect of burnishing, says Barrera.

“Yes, from the very same place,” he said. “I call this ‘virgin clay,’ and it’s what we use for really important things. It’s far better than anything I’ve ever seen anywhere else.”

What makes it so much better? “It’s not affected by humidity, and it’s not contaminated with lime, sand or volcanic rock like the clay they use in Guadalajara,” Barrera said. “It was Don Sixto Ibarra who found that deposit, but ‘mining’ it takes a lot of time and hard work.”

I can personally verify that last statement because when I visited the deposit in 2012, Navarro invited my wife and me to assist him in collecting a bit of that clay.

To get to the place, we walked for 2 kilometers along a dry mud track, our feet producing a loud crunching sound until we found ourselves in a silent wood. “There are still plenty of wild animals out here,” Navarro told us. “Right there, you can see coyote droppings, and we have mountain lions, deer, possum, badgers, rabbits … you name it.”

Jalisco ceramics artisan Don Lino — Potter Don Lino shows off his representations of pre-Hispanic dogs at Casa de Barro in San Juan Evangelista. México Desconocido

We soon arrived at a shady spot under the branches of a large tree. Just next to the shade tree was an embankment. Here, Navarro began to swing his pick, chipping away at the hard clay wall. I took my turn and soon we had produced a heap of thin, clay wedges.

“Now we have to break up the pieces,” he announced, “and the easiest way to do it is to dance on top of them.”

We enthusiastically took turns rhythmically stomping until no big clumps were left, at which point we began pulverizing the clay with a small sledgehammer. As we did this, Navarro told us about good and bad clay.

“What we have here is called barro canelo (cinnamon-color clay), and it’s ideal for pottery with good elasticity. My great uncle looked all over the place before he found this spot. Other kinds of clay were too sandy or had no consistency or would break after being baked.”

clay from Jalisco town of San Juan Evangelista in granular form — Having been chopped, danced upon, pulverized and sifted, this fine clay is ready to be taken to the potter’s studio.

Having crushed the clay to the best of our ability, we sifted it through a fine mesh screen into a sturdy bag. The result was a very fine powder that Navarro said was perfect.

“At home, I will add water to a little of this powder to make a ball, and then I work it like dough, adding more and more powder until I get just the right consistency.”

That was in 2012. Today, Barrera told me, the artisans in the area have a serious problem: people want to build on that property.

“Once they do, we will never have access to our virgin clay again. And even if we did, the property could be resold over and over. Our local authorities are arguing that this is an archaeological site. Right now, we really need help to preserve this place!”

Ceramic background by Jalisco artisan Armando Barrera — The ceramic background by Barrera resides at a church in Cuexcomatitlán, Jalisco. Turismo Tlajomulco

There are five families of potters in San Juan Evangelista, and they all seem to be named Ibarra, Navarro or Barrera, each of them with their own specialization. Some do pre-Hispanic-style dogs. Others make giant polychromatic jars. Of course, there are all kinds of vírgenes.

You’ll find most of these families around the Plaza de los Artesanos, but Don Armando’s place is at Calle Juárez 30. Since his workshop is also his home, you can visit just about any day of the week. Just give the family a call at 333 753 0104 or 331 066 4955 (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.

Enrique Alfaro at tribute to artisan Sixto Ibarra in Jalisco — Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro attended a tribute to Sixto Ibarra’s work in 2011 when he was mayor of nearby Tlajomulco de Zúñiga. Here he greets Ibarra’s widow. Flickr

Jalisco ceramics artisan Martín Navarro — Artisan Martín Navarro about to mine ‘virgin clay’ deposits just outside of town.

Workshop of Jalisco ceramics artisan Armando Barrera — Marcela Ortíz demonstrates the traditional approach to burnishing at Barrera’s workshop, using a stainless-steel darning needle.

ceramic works by Jalisco artisan Armando Barrera — Barrera’s ceramic works hanging at his workshop.

Ceramic table and chairs by Armando Barrera. — Ceramic table and chairs by Barrera.

monument by Armando Barrera in San Juan Evangelista, Jalisco — One of several monuments by Barrera adorning the Plaza de los Artesanos.

Michoacán mayor’s daughter arrested at border with $250,000 and firearms

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MND Staff

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August 26, 2022

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smuggling — Yeishi Moriya after her arrest at the border. Webb County Sheriff's Office

A 28-year-old woman whose father is the mayor of a municipality in Michoacán was detained in Texas Monday as she attempted to cross into Mexico with almost US $250,000 in cash and two firearms.

Yeishi Moriya Villaseñor, daughter of Tacámbaro Mayor Artemio Moriya Sánchez, was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at a crossing between Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.

The officers “intercepted over $248,000 in unreported currency and two weapons in one outbound enforcement action at the Juárez-Lincoln Bridge,” CBP said in a statement.

“… The seizure occurred … when a CBP officer referred a 2022 Volkswagen Jetta bound for Mexico for a secondary inspection. Upon further physical examination of the vehicle and a canine examination, CBP officers discovered a total of $248,531 in unreported currency, a Colt 1911 .45-caliber handgun and a Glock 9mm handgun within the vehicle,” the statement said.

“The currency and weapons were seized. A 28-year-old female Mexican citizen vehicle passenger was turned over to Webb County Sheriff’s Office deputies for arrest on state currency and weapons charges.”

Moriya told authorities that she had been instructed to pick up the cash in Dallas and take it back to Michoacán. While traveling to Dallas with her boyfriend and two children, she received further instructions to go to an address in Dallas, where she left the car to get something to eat.

She said she was given $3,000 for transporting the money.

Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said on Facebook that the woman was transported to the Webb County Jail in lieu of a $5,000 bond.

People carrying currency in excess of US $10,000 into or out of the U.S. are required to report the money to CBP.

The newspaper Reforma reported that Moriya had received instructions to pick up some cash in Dallas and take it back to Michoacán, a notoriously violent state where several criminal organizations operate.

Mayor Moriya, who represents the Morena party, hasn’t commented publicly on his daughter’s predicament. Tacámbaro, the municipality he governs, is located about 85 kilometers southwest of Morelia.

With reports from Reforma and LMTOnline

Rollovers mean free beer in Oaxaca and Sonora

By

Tony Richards

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August 26, 2022

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Local residents make the most of a beer truck accident near Pochutla, Oaxaca.

There was free beer in Sonora and Oaxaca Thursday after two tractor-trailer rollovers left spilled cargo to the delight of local residents, who helped themselves.

The first accident took place on Highway 200 between Pochutla and Huatulco after a truck hauling beer collided with an El Sur bus. Locals soon arrived to carry away the beer. Local media reported that the truck was attempting to pass the bus but lost control. There were no casualties reported.

The second accident occurred near Guaymas, Sonora, after the driver reportedly dozed off at the wheel, losing control. There was extensive damage to the truck and its cargo, but area residents were still able to recover some undamaged bottles of beer that survived the incident as National Guardsmen looked on.

Photos and videos uploaded to social media drew reaction from hundreds of users, some criticizing residents for stealing the beer, others defending them, arguing that the cargo was insured and therefore there was no monetary loss to the beer company.

The driver was reported to have dozed off, causing this accident in Tamaulipas.

At yet another rollover the same day, residents of Padilla, Tamaulipas, were deterred from breaking into a trailer carrying a load of avocados and persuaded to help transfer the product — for a price — to another vehicle.

That truck rolled over on the Ciudad Victoria-Matamoros highway.

With reports from Infobae and Milenio

Mexican racquetball champ wins another world title

By

MND Staff

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August 26, 2022

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Racquetball champion Paola Longoria. Conade

Paola Longoria of Mexico has done it again. The 33-year-old native of San Luis Potosí won her fifth world racquetball title this week, solidifying her ranking as the No. 1 female player on the planet.

Longoria came out on top in the World Racquetball Championships, which in past years have been held in an array of countries, including South Korea, Colombia and Ireland, but this year happened to be in her hometown of San Luis Potosí.

In the women’s singles title match, she posted a tidy 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 win over Gabriela Martínez of Guatemala, the world’s No. 2 player.

Longoria, who has been a top-echelon player since winning her first Pan American Championship in 2006, has now won International Racquetball Federation world singles titles in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021 and 2022. No one has more singles titles than her; two Americans are next in line with three apiece.

Paola Longoria celebrates her fifth International Racquetball Federation world title in her home state of San Luis Potosí this week. IRF

And that’s not all. She and Samantha Salas also won the women’s doubles world title, beating the Argentinian duo of Valeria Centellas and Natalia Mendez in a thrilling final. The match went a full five sets, with Longoria and Salas prevailing 11-6, 15-17, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10.

Longoria and Salas, a 35-year-old native of León, Guanajuato, entered the tournament as the No. 1 women’s doubles team in the world and have now won five straight IRF world doubles titles.

The tournament was held at the Loma Sports Center in San Luis Potosí, and much of the action was streamed live online. Archived versions of this year’s women’s singles final and women’s doubles final are available on the IRF’s YouTube channel, and the announcing is in English.

Longoria entered this week’s tournament fresh off a gold medal in mid-July at the 2022 World Games, a competition for sports that are not included in the Olympics. In that final in Birmingham, Alabama, as well as in the final this week, her victim was Martínez — two satisfying results since it was the Guatemalan who, in 2018, ended Longoria’s run of three straight world titles.

Fourteen years ago, Longoria became the first Mexican woman to reach No. 1 in the world professional rankings. According to Wikipedia, she uses a “semi-western grip,” a style that not only is “rarely used in racquetball,” but she is “the only active professional player to employ it.”

According to the newspaper El Universal, Longoria, Salas and other Mexican players who competed this week did not receive any financial support from the Mexican Racquetball Federation or Conade (the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport). A few weeks ago, some Mexican players took up a collection to help defray their costs.

“It is sad to see that racquetball is not supported,” Longoria said. “It is a sport that has given great satisfaction to Mexico.” She acknowledged that it’s not an Olympic sport, but added that it’s a sport at which Mexico is quite good. “We are the sport that won all the medals in the Pan American Games,” she said.

For their part, Conade pinned the lack of funding on some erroneous expense reports submitted by the players and the 2021 dissolution of Mexico’s High Performance Sports Fund (Fodepar).

Longoria also criticized the management of Ana Gabriela Guevara, general director of Conade and a former world-class runner in the 400 and 800 meters. “As an athlete I admire her, but she lived the reality, so it surprises me that she does not understand” what we are going through.

“I am an athlete who does not like gossip or drama … but it is time to raise my voice,” Longoria concluded.

With reports from Reforma and El Universal

New plan for Coahuila miners’ rescue could take at least 11 months

By

MND Staff

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August 26, 2022

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Rescue workers outside El Pinabete mine, propping up a water pipe with logs, while a government Sinaproc official looks on. — Rescues initially hoped to reach the trapped miners after pumping water out of the flooded mine, but water continues to enter the mine faster than it is being pumped out. Twitter @CNPC_MX

The families of 10 miners who have been trapped in a Coahuila coal mine since August 3 have rejected a rescue plan that could take 11 months or even longer to execute.

Relatives said Thursday that Civil Protection chief Laura Velázquez informed them that the best option is to build a slanted tunnel into the El Pinabete mine, located in the municipality of Sabinas.

The project, which involves the excavation of an open pit where the tunnel would begin, is slated to take between six and 11 months to complete.

“We don’t want the [open] pit option, we want them to look at other options,” Juani Tijerina, sister of one of the trapped miners, told the newspaper El Universal.

Mario Alberto Cabriales Uresti, José Rogelio Moreno Leija, José Rogelio Moreno Morales and Hugo Tijerina Amaya (from left to right) are four of the miners who were trapped in the August 3 accident. Social media/courtesy

She said that the trapped miners’ families informed the authorities that they don’t support the proposed rescue plan because they want their loved ones to be returned to them without delay. However, Tijerina said they were told that there is no other option to rescue the miners, or – as is more likely – recover their bodies.

Sergio Martínez Valdez, brother of a trapped miner, also told El Universal that the families rejected the proposed rescue plan. He called for foreign mining experts to travel to the mine to offer their opinion.

The federal government asked a United States company and a German firm for advice about how to go about rescuing the miners, but they concluded that Mexican authorities’ approach – which to date has mainly involved pumping water out of the flooded mine – was “the right one,” according to President López Obrador.

Velázquez on Wednesday announced that the authorities involved in the rescue mission were considering the construction of a slanted tunnel into the galerías, or passages, of the mine, which is flooded due to inflows of water from abandoned adjacent mines.

An aerial view of the entrance to El Pinabete mine. Arturo Salazar

However, the Civil Protection chief said the authorities didn’t want to begin a new rescue strategy without the consent of the families.

For his part, the director of the Center for Research in Applied Geosciences at the Autonomous University of Coahuila said the excavation of an open pit and construction of a sloping tunnel to rescue the miners is a complex project, but a viable one.

Luis Fernando Camacho Ortegón said that a range of studies would be required prior to the commencement of the project, including topographical and electrical tomography ones.

“Pits in that area could be susceptible to problems … because you’d have to break the aquifer, and the aquifer could flood the pit,” he said.

Camacho said the project could take longer than 11 months due to its complexity, the amount of work and the prior planning required, which could take three or four months.

Idalia Morales, another family member, also expressed opposition to the plan to get the miners out of the mine via a tunnel exiting into the open pit. “We don’t know how they are now, let alone [how they’ll be] in six to 11 months,” she said.

Martínez criticized the authorities for achieving nothing in the three weeks since the miners became trapped, while Tijerina noted that family members have already been offered compensation. However, the families won’t accept any money until the miners have been returned to them, she said.

Relatives have also criticized the authorities for removing portable toilets and other amenities from the mine site, where they have camped out since the miners became trapped. Despite that, “we’re not going to leave,” Morales declared.

“We’re going to stay here. What we want is justice and we’re not going to leave them [trapped in the mine],” she said.

With reports from El Universal

Ocean turns from turquoise to black at celebrated Balandra beach

By

Lydia Carey

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August 26, 2022

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Balandra beach covered in soot, with oil floating on the water. — The accident spilled fuel and spread soot and debris from the boat around Balandra bay. Facebook / Subsecretaría de Protección Civil BCS

A cleanup brigade of officials and more than 50 volunteers have cleared 10 tonnes of waste — including oil, diesel fuel, ash and soot — from a beach that has been described as the most beautiful in Mexico after a yacht sank nearby last Sunday.

The garbage removed from Balandra beach, located near La Paz, Baja California Sur, also included wreckage of the yacht Fortius, which caught fire and sank. On Monday, the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas (Conamp) declared an “environmental contingency” and closed the beach.

Twelve people were rescued from the 24-meter-long yacht Sunday evening, with no injuries reported. The boat went down within the Balandra Natural Protected Area, which is off-limits to motorized vessels.

On Thursday, officials reported that diesel fuel was still leaking from the boat. How much fuel might have been spilled has not been revealed but a spokesman for the navy described the quantity as “considerable.”

State Civil Protection officials shared the news of the accident early Sunday morning on Facebook.

Activists and some politicians have called for fines to be meted out to the owners of the boat but Governor Víctor Castro Cosío took a more conciliatory stance.

“This is the kind of thing that can’t be anticipated, it was a fire on a boat. I think the whole community understands that it was an accident. This could happen with a car in the city and a gas spill. The owners, poor people, experienced losses as well,” Castro said.

An environmentalist with the international organization Oceana was among those urging fines.

“Admonitory fines should be imposed on the owners to cover the cost of repairing the damage and to deter this kind of situation in the future,” said Miguel Rivas.

Reports from Expansión Política and BBC

Artist revives a lost craft from Aguascalientes’ past

By

Leigh Thelmadatter

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August 25, 2022

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Iván Pugga designing tiles for a restoration project. — Iván Pugga at work designing tiles for a restoration project. Photos courtesy of Iván Pugga

I had the fortune of meeting Iván Pugga González on a trip to Aguascalientes in 2018. At the time, my focus was finishing up loose ends on my book, Mexican Cartonería, but his work was highly recommended, and I decided to check it out. What I saw was the beginning of a revival of ceramic production in the state.

Aguascalientes straddles north and central Mexico geographically and culturally. It is not known for pottery, but it does have an important history here.

The Spanish brought glazed ceramic techniques and designs here as they did to Mesoamerica to the south. There are definite similarities between the traditional work of Aguascalientes and the better-known majolica traditions to the south and east, but it is somewhat simpler, with fewer of the later influences seen in areas such as Puebla and Guanajuato.

Like these, Aguascalientes majolica favors color combinations such as blue, cherry red, orange, brown, black, yellow and green, but the background color tends to be more yellowish because of local minerals.

Jar by Mexican artisan Ivan Pugga — This jar is based on Pugga’s childhood experiences with nature, but it almost has a Japanese feel.

Aguascalientes ceramics reached its peak in the early 19th century, both in terms of quantity and quality of production. Tiles on older buildings in the state capital bear witness to the industry, and the state was a major producer of utilitarian dishes in Mexico.

With Mexico’s industrial revolution, ceramics production managed to keep up to some extent. Large workshops such as Casa Terán and San Carlos became semi-industrialized by the 20th century, but eventually, Aguascalientes pottery went into decline. By the 1970s, the last of the workshops had closed, seemingly for good.

It would be 50 years before Pugga would take up the challenge of researching and reviving the craft. He is an artist by training, and he currently teaches art at the Cultural Institute of Aguascalientes.

After learning basic ceramic work in 2010, the state’s tiles and dishes inspired him to research and experiment. He scoured libraries for texts as far as Mexico City and Guadalajara and sought out the few still-living craftsmen from the old industry. In his workshop, he worked out with his hands what the books and his trained eye told him.

Traditional plate from Aguascalientes by Ivan Pugga — An example of a traditional plate design from Aguascalientes revived by Pugga.

He has managed to recreate authentic processes, using authentic materials in molding, glazing, decoration and firing, with one exception. The glazes are modern both because of economics and to make the wares lead-free.

When I first saw Pugga and his work, his progress had been sufficient to create traditional wares, plus some new designs based on motifs from Aguascalientes culture. There were even some purely artistic pieces. Sales had already begun through word of mouth, mostly to foreign tourists through the state’s Casa de Artesanias and to restaurants, hotels and galleries.

Five years later, I saw Pugga and his work again at an event sponsored by the Culture Ministry. His work was good before, but the strides he had made were impressive.

His traditional designs have become more refined, and there is now some play in them. Some of his more innovative wares have natural curves and an almost Japanese look to them. Perhaps some of the most impressive work are the tiny tiles, with even tinier painted details that grace the necklaces, earrings and more of his jewelry collection.

Earrings by Mexican artisan Ivan Pugga — Earrings based on traditional tile designs from Pugga’s unique jewelry collection.

All his pieces/sets are unique, signed and numbered by the artist.

He was in Mexico City because of the quality of this work and the fact that he has become the ceramicist of Aguascalientes. He is the only true producer still, working along with some help from family.

His training as an artist influences his craft, and now his craft influences his art. He believes that the two are strongly interconnected as both require the full dedication of the creator. As satisfying as the craft element of his work is, his favorite works are still artistic.

These can be artistic variations on utilitarian items, such as pots, decorative items or sculptures. They often reflect his experiences with nature.

The traditional craft work remains an important part of his business as appreciation for what was lost continues to grow.

In 2019, the city of Aguascalientes commissioned him to create majolica plaques for a program called Finca Patrimonio, which highlights historic buildings and places to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Royal Inland Road (aka Silver Route) as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

These plaques can be found in the city at locations such as the Municipal Palace, the Hotel París and the La Saturnina restaurant.

By the end of the 2010s, Pugga and his work began receiving local and state media coverage. He has received recognition from local, state and federal cultural institutions, receiving awards and grants for restoration projects. His is a story of what can be possible with time and determination.

Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.

Coffee, aguardiente producers are focus of Veracruz tourism plan

By

Lydia Carey

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August 25, 2022

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Hikers take a break in a coffee field in Cosautlán as they follow one of the proposed routes, which is currently a narrow, overgrown footpath. — Hikers take a break in a Cosautlán coffee field as they follow one of the proposed routes, which is currently a narrow, overgrown footpath. Cultura y Turismo Cosautlán 2022-2025

Miguel Galán, the municipal tourism director in Cosautlán de Carvajal, Veracruz, said this week that his office is focused on two of the area’s industries to bring tourist to the municipality — coffee and aguardiente, a category of strong, artisanal liquors.

A little over an hour from Xalapa, the Cosautlán de Carvajal municipality is located in a mountainous area of the state near its border with Puebla. Historically, the region has produced coffee and aguardiente, with several producers gaining national recognition in recent years and expanding their businesses beyond small-scale production. The municipality’s current tourism plan, according to Galán, includes creating hiking routes that incorporate visits to local producers of both products that will hopefully attract new tourists from Veracruz and beyond.

According to Galán, the tourism office is working with the agriculture development office to help local distilleries that make different types of the liquor, usually with a base of cane sugar alcohol, have their production evaluated and receive official recognition as masters of their trade from the state Tourism Ministry.

“We have 11 to 15 [producers] that have joined, and from there we are inviting more because there are some that make the product but don’t have their own brand … what I want to do with the directors and my coworkers is … that more keep joining the group of aguardiente producers,” Galán said.

There are also 40 regional coffee producers, from simple set-ups where farmers are drying coffee on the outdoor patios of their houses, to award-winning coffee producers that are creating new local brands. According to Galán, there is already a coffee route where local guides take visitors to visit producers and the tourism office is looking to expanded and formalize that trail.

The tourism office is planning for these routes to be established by the end of 2023 and connect 33 communities within the municipality.

With reports from Diario de Xalapa

As another journalist is killed, attacks on media continue to rise: report

By

MND Staff

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August 25, 2022

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Flowers and a photograph of Guerrero journalist Fredid Román, at his wake in Acapulco. (File photo)

A journalist was killed in Guerrero on Monday, becoming the 15th media worker to be murdered this year.

Fredid Román, a columnist and former newspaper director who had an online news program called “The Reality of Guerrero,” was shot dead in Chilpancingo, the state capital. His murder came seven weeks after his son, Vladimir Román, was gunned down in the same city.

According to a report by the news magazine Proceso, one lead under consideration by the Guerrero Attorney General’s Office (FGE) is that Fredid Román’s murder is related to a conflict between two criminal groups – Los Tlacos and Los Ardillos – over the production and sale of chicken in Chilpancingo.

The July 1 murder of Vladimir Román, who was a chicken distributor, came just weeks after eight people with connections to the poultry industry were killed in the state capital.

Police stand guard at the site of Fredid Román's murder in Chilpancingo. — Police stand guard at the site of Fredid Román’s murder in Chilpancingo.

Proceso said it had access to official reports that indicated that it’s possible that the murders of both Fredid Román and his son were ordered by Jose David Barrientos Salazar, the leader of a citizens’ security force believed to be the armed wing of Los Ardillos.

Ramón Celaya Gamboa, a senior official with the FGE, said Tuesday that authorities were committed to holding those responsible for the latest murder to account. “The commitment of the Attorney General’s Office is to ensure that this crime doesn’t go unpunished,” he said.

“… The criminals that operate in the El Ocotito valley [in the municipality of Chilpancingo] should know that we have you perfectly identified. We know that there are criminal groups and that there are different interests. … We’re facing up to them and you won’t intimidate us,” Celaya said.

The prosecutor also said that “all possible theories have to be worked on” to determine the motive for the journalist’s murder. “We still have to rule out that it wasn’t related to his work,” Celaya said.

Román’s murder came just days after press freedom advocacy organization Article 19 published a new report on violence against the press in Mexico.

The report, titled Impunity and Denial in the face of Extreme Violence against the Press Persists, said that there were 331 verbal, online and physical attacks against journalists and the media in the first six months of 2022. Article 19 highlighted that the figure is 51.8% higher than in the first half of 2016, when former president Enrique Peña Nieto was in his fourth year in office, as President López Obrador is now.

The report noted that the five most common kinds of aggression were intimidation and harassment, with 101 cases; threats, with 66 cases; illegitimate use of public power, with 45 cases; physical attacks, with 29 cases; and the blocking or alteration of content, with 28 cases.

Just under one-third of the attacks – 105 of 331 – occurred online. Twelve journalists were murdered in Mexico between January and June, Article 19 said, adding that there was evidence that nine of those were killed due to their journalistic work.

The report said that various levels of government have justified against the press by calling the media in question "conservative, sold or adversarial." — The report said that various levels of government have justified against the press by calling the media in question “conservative, sold or adversarial.” Pictured: presidential spokesperson Elizabeth García Vilchis. Presidencia de la República

The organization said that in the first half of the year it “documented the persistence of stigmatizing discourses against journalists and the media, which seek to turn the messenger into the message, detracting from the investigations or original reports of the press.”

It said that López Obrador is responsible for a “cascade effect,” which has caused authorities at all levels of government to “deny their responsibilities and even justify violence against the press by classifying it as conservative, sold or adversarial, among other [descriptors].”

The report identified “the Mexican state” as the foremost perpetrator of aggression against journalists and the media, with 61 attacks committed by state governments, 44 by municipal governments and 23 by the federal government. Among the other attackers are private citizens, criminal groups, political parties, police and the armed forces.

Article 19 said that Mexico City recorded the highest number of attacks in the first half of the year with 49. Yucatán and Michoacán ranked equal second with 30, followed by Tamaulipas with 21 and Chiapas with 20.

“The fact that the press was attacked every 14 hours in the first half of 2022 shows that violence against journalists and the media has not been curbed. On the contrary, the increase in lethal violence speaks of a worsening of the conditions of vulnerability under which the press exercises its work,” Article 19 said.

With reports from Proceso and AP