Pamela's location and forecast track as of 10 a.m. CDT. conagua
Hurricane Pamela is forecast to be near major hurricane strength before it makes landfall in Sinaloa on Wednesday morning.
A hurricane warning is in effect for Bahía Tempehuaya to Escuinapa, Sinaloa, and tropical storm warnings have been declared for Bahia Tempehuaya to Altata, Sinaloa, and Escuinapa to Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco, and the Islas Marías. In Baja California Sur, there is a tropical storm watch in effect from Los Barriles to Cabo San Lucas.
The center of the Category 1 hurricane was about 400 kilometers southwest of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, and 298 kilometers south-southeast off the southern tip of Baja California at 10:00 a.m. CDT according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory. Its maximum sustained winds were 130 kph and it was moving northwards at 20 kph.
“This general motion should continue this morning, followed by a faster northeastward motion by this afternoon or tonight … the center of Pamela will pass well south of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula through tonight, and make landfall in west-central Mexico within the hurricane warning area Wednesday morning,” the advisory said.
Winds with gusts of 80 to 100 kph and waves of three to five meters are expected off the coasts of Baja California Sur, Nayarit and Sinaloa Tuesday. Intense rainfall of 75 to 150 millimeters is predicted for Baja California Sur and Sinaloa.
Hurricane conditions are expected from Bahía Tempehuaya to Escuinapa late Tuesday or early Wednesday with tropical storm conditions arriving Tuesday evening. Tropical storm conditions could be seen in Baja California Sur Tuesday afternoon.
“Significant coastal flooding and large and destructive waves will affect areas near where the center of the hurricane makes landfall Wednesday. Sinaloa and western Durango will see about 100 to 200 mm of rainfall with isolated totals of 300 mm, which could trigger significant and life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.
Swells generated by Pamela will begin to affect portions of Baja California Sur, southwestern and west-central mainland Mexico Tuesday. They are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, the National Hurricane Center said.
Sinaloa Governor Quirino Ordaz Coppel met with Civil Protection officials Monday to prepare for Pamela’s arrival.
The state Civil Protection chief Juan Francisco Vega Meza confirmed there were 128 temporary shelters available with capacity for up to 64,000 people.
He added that the state government requested a declaration of emergency from federal Civil Protection authorities for the municipalities of Navolato, Culiacán, Elota, Cosalá, San Ignacio, Mazatlán, Concordia, Rosario and Escuinapa.
Hundreds of LP gas distributors blocked about 20 roads in the greater Mexico City area on Monday after the federal government refused their demand for gas prices to be raised by 1 peso per kilo.
The disgruntled distributors, whose earnings have fallen since the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) set maximum prices for LP gas just over two months ago, used their trucks to block major arteries including the Periférico ring road, the Viaducto crosstown freeway and highways that link the capital to municipalities in neighboring México state as well as Pachuca, Hidalgo.
The blockades caused traffic chaos in Mexico City, and some angry drivers hurled abuse at the protesting gaseros.
The protest came after distributors met with Energy Ministry (SENER) officials to demand that the CRE price ceiling – implemented to prevent price gouging – be raised by 1 peso per kilo. Distributors previously went on strike when the ceiling took effect in early August.
In a statement issued after the meeting, SENER said that current prices are based on international and domestic wholesale gas prices and already allow for “sufficient profit” for distributors.
Unhappy with the response, distributors said they would seek another meeting with authorities Tuesday and threatened to close gas retailers and intensify blockades if their demand for a higher price ceiling was not met.
Outside SENER’s Mexico City headquarters, where gas distributors were holding up cardboard signs with messages such as “You hug the narco and leave the gas man without anything to eat,” protesters clashed with police after the Energy Ministry made its position known.
Distributors also used their trucks to block Insurgentes Avenue, on which the SENER headquarters are located. Video footage posted to social media showed one distributor holding a hose and threatening to douse a police officer with gas. The man, who squirted gas onto the road near police, was subsequently arrested, the Mexico City government said.
Government secretary Martí Batres condemned the man’s actions, describing them as “irresponsible.” He said the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office will determine the charges the distributor will face.
Mexico’s coronavirus situation continues to improve with reported cases down 43% in the first 10 days of October compared to September, while reported COVID-19 deaths declined 24%.
The Health Ministry reported 59,012 new infections in the first 10 days of the month for a daily average of 5,901, down from 10,394 in September.
An additional 4,581 COVID-19 fatalities were registered in the same period for a daily average of 458, down from 606 in the previous month.
Mexico’s accumulated case tally stood at 3.72 million after 2,690 new cases were reported Sunday while the official death toll was 282,086. As of Sunday there were just over 40,000 estimated active cases across the country, a figure that has decreased markedly since peaking well above 100,000 in August.
Hospitalizations of COVID patients have also declined. Federal data shows that no state has an occupancy rate in general care COVID wards above 50% and just two – Baja California and Aguascalientes – have rates above 40%.
For beds with ventilators, two states – Morelos (59%) and Aguascalientes (50%) – have occupancy rates above 50% but no other state exceeds 40%.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said recently that more than 95% of hospitalized COVID patients are unvaccinated, a cohort that continues to shrink. The Health Ministry reported Sunday that 74% of the adult population has had at least one shot.
All told, more than 107.1 million doses have been administered since inoculation began last December. At 95%, Mexico City has the highest vaccination rate in the country followed by Querétaro (92%), Quintana Roo (88%) and Sinaloa (86%).
Ben Wein aboard the bus with migrants after his arrest in Chiapas.
I went to the south of Mexico to meet migrants and cover their struggles on their northward journeys, but I never envisioned I’d become one.
Traveling back from a town to Tapachula, Chiapas, on October 3, the minibus I was in was stopped by immigration officials at a checkpoint. I soon realized the highway was littered with such checkpoints, stationed with heavily armed soldiers.
An immigration official asked to see my passport. I didn’t have it, but offered a UK driving license. Insufficient.
I would be taken to the immigration office in Tapachula where my legal status in the country would be verified, the officials said.
Before long, myself and a Honduran migrant, Marlon, were loaded onto a bus with about 30 Haitian migrants. We arrived at the “21st Century” migrant detention center nervous and confused. What happened next offered no remedy.
Belts off, shoelaces off, was the order. That was the moment it dawned on me where I really was. Amid a heavy police presence our phones and money were confiscated.
We were led into a section full of what can only be described as inmates and told to pick up a mattress and find some space on the floor. A heavy metal door with a small barred window was locked behind us. Federal police officers guarded the door in case anyone thought of escaping.
Tensions were high: this wasn’t the kind of place where you wanted to be a newbie.
It had a strong smell of male sweat due to the presence of about 130 men who had bigger problems than personal hygiene. I was never told the maximum capacity of the hall, despite asking repeatedly, but would guess about 40.
There was barely space to move; the hallway was flooded with mattresses and defeated expressions. Our section of “21st Century” offered a mess hall, which we were told might be the best place to find a spot on the floor; showers; two televisions blasting out Mexican programming; non-flush toilets short of doors, and an exercise yard with a concrete football pitch and a police watchtower.
No food was available that night. I spoke with Marlon and two migrants from El Salvador before finding a safe looking space in the corner, and attempting sleep.
Migrants inside the Tapachula detention center. ben wein
I woke to discover the exercise yard and wandered out to see something unexpected. An Indian boy, legs crossed, hands clasped, praying to the Hindu god Shiva. He was one of five Indians inside who had traveled to South America and trekked across the Darien Gap, an inhospitable and dangerous area where Colombia’s border meets Central America.
Some Venezuelan and Colombian inmates had crossed it too. Other African detainees from Ghana, Burkino Faso and Senegal also knew the Darien Gap first hand. Many of that African contingent could be seen engaged in Islamic prayer throughout the course of the day.
However, those nationalities were in a minority. A large proportion of the migrants were from Haiti, many of whom only spoke French Creole. A handful spoke Spanish, having lived in Chile, and some others spoke Portuguese due to their years in Brazil.
Central Americans were the other major population, from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua. A smattering of Cubans and a lone Peruvian completed the list.
Wherever they were from, when I explained my story and my nationality I was met with a mixture of bemusement and hilarity from police included, who found the situation hugely amusing. Sympathy was understandably in short supply, my case seemed resolvable. Some others had been inside for more than three months.
At one point I battled my way to make a phone call and rang the owner of my hotel in Tapachula to plead that she deliver my passport to the detention center. I presumed once I could present my passport entry stamp and immigration form I would be released. That turned out to be false.
My documents, I was told, would have to be verified in a laboratory in Mexico City. It was now apparently a question of proving my innocence rather than my guilt, contrary to basic legal principles. However, there was actually no legal complaint against me. Like the other immigrants I was in a legal black hole. We hadn’t been arrested. In fact, according to immigration officials and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, we had been “rescued.” In reality, we had been taken hostage.
The destination for everyone inside, except for myself, was the United States. Many were applying for refugee status in Mexico through the refugee agency Comar as a means to that end. They were detained, wrongly they believed, even after making their application. Others were released and ordered to leave the country by the nearest border within 20 days.
It turned out, however, that the American Dream was a hard one to extinguish, and almost all of the migrants, whatever their legal situation, were determined to make it to the U.S.A.
Rumours abounded that the U.S. government was paying Mexico per head for every would-be migrant it detained. I wondered if that price were per migrant, or per migrant per night, and if we were being kept in for long spells as a money-making exercise.
Sleep was scarce and nutrition was poor. Amid poor hygiene and the sheer quantity of people inside, diseases were spreading. More people were coughing each day. Immigration officials denied that the COVID-19 pandemic could breach the walls of the detention center: “There is no COVID,” one official told me.
I would repeatedly beat on the metal door demanding immigration officials attend to the section, provoking the police on the other side, while being wary not to push them too far. My assumption was that immigration officials were legally bound to be in attendance 24 hours a day, but we once went for 20 hours without as much as a visit.
The writer’s passport was in his hotel room in Tapachula.
The days passed waiting for meal times, feeling enraged and hearing tales of migration. That said, there was fun to be had too. The boisterousness of 130 guys who had lost all respect for authority made for some pleasing Tom and Jerry style runarounds.
What might surprise people is how little violence there was at “21st Century,” odd scuffles aside. Although there were certainly violent criminals among us — some admitted as much — no one wanted to land themselves in hot water. The police remained calm as a generality, and ignored provocations. The immigration officials were masters of disinterest. It was negligence more than anything, astounding in its plenty, that put inmates at risk.
Eventually, at about 11:00 p.m. on October 7, my name was read from a list. By that time I’d got to know almost everyone inside, and had become well liked. I felt sad to leave behind those in more desperate situations than mine.
What I didn’t know is that someone had been fighting for my freedom from outside. By her own intuition she had managed to get in touch with the head of immigration in Chiapas, which seems to have prompted my release.
I waved and shouted “good luck” to the inmates who were lying down for another night on the floor.
As I was led out of the facility and tasted fresh air, for the first time in my life I knew the value of freedom. I celebrated it with a whisky in the first bar I found.
Investment in music education and other cultural activities for children can help bring peace to Guerrero, according to the founder of a cultural center in the state’s notoriously violent Tierra Caliente region.
Josafat Nava, a theater director and founder of the El Tecolote cultural center in Arcelia, told the newspaper Reforma he intends to lobby incoming governor Evelyn Salgado to build 25 new community centers across the state where children can learn to play an instrument, participate in theater workshops and attend art and dance classes.
“I’m sure that if the government of Guerrero invests in cultural matters, we will have a pacified state,” he said.
Nava said politicians in the southern state, including governors and mayors, have failed to adequately invest in cultural activities for children and for that reason orchestras such as that formed at his cultural center don’t exist elsewhere.
El Tecolote boasts an orchestra made up of 45 children who play traditional music with a range of instruments, including violin, double bass and guitar.
“… A child with a violin is a sicario [cartel hitman] disarmed,” Nava said, suggesting that an interest in music can lead young people away from crime.
He said he founded El Tecolote on his teacher’s salary in 1994 because he believed that music is a vaccine against violence.
Children from Arcelia and other nearby municipalities attend the cultural center and are not charged a single peso to participate in cultural activities, Nava said.
Some attendees have gone on to study art, music and dance at renowned colleges, including four who won scholarships to study in Barcelona, he said.
Journalist Jason Stanford, author of the nonfiction book "Forget the Alamo," will be interviewed about the 1836 battle with co-author Chris Tomlinson. Courtesy of Jason Stanford
The Battle of the Alamo, between the armies of separatist Texas and of Mexico during the Texas Revolution, is considered by some a nearly sacred event in the state’s history and American history, emblematic of Texas grit. A new nonfiction book is issuing what some say is a long-overdue challenge to the mythology surrounding the battle, in which General Antonio López de Santa Anna retook control of San Antonio’s Alamo Mission for Mexico in 1836.
Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford lays out an unsettling and myth-busting picture of the historical event, one full of backstabbing and skullduggery.
On October 17, the San Miguel Literary Sala will interview two of these authors about the Alamo in an online event open to the public as part of its Distinguished Speakers Series.
The live, interactive interview at 6 p.m. CDT will take place on Zoom, meaning that viewers will be able to interact with the guests during a question-and-answer period. Tickets are on a pay-what-you-wish scale — ranging from US $5–$50.
Brad Rockwell, an environmental attorney and the author of The Life and Times of Alberto G. Garcia: Physician, Mexican Revolutionary, Texas Journalist, Yogi, will interview Tomlinson and Stanford about the popular Alamo narrative and what really happened. Among other topics, they’ll discuss how John Wayne’s passion-project movie The Alamo (1960) and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas both played key roles during the 20th century to influence people in the United States’ beliefs about the historical event.
Author Chris Tomlinson has reported from nine wars for the Associated Press and is currently a columnist for the Houston Chronicle. Shalini Ramanathan
While some in the U.S. today see Texas’s fight to separate from Mexico as having been about freedom and democracy, in reality, say the book’s authors, money and the hope of making Texas a slave state were important factors in why people like Davy Crockett, James Bowie and William B. Travis fought. Others who died at the Alamo were mostly adventurers and criminals.
Tomlinson, who has reported from more than 30 countries and nine wars for the Associated Press, is currently a columnist for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Tomlinson Hill, about his family’s history of slave ownership in Texas.
Stanford has written for the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC.com and Texas Monthly. A former communications director for the mayor of Austin, Steve Adler, he previously worked as a political consultant and now publishes a weekly newsletter called The Experiment.
Heavy equipment clears land in Ensenada in preparation for concert. por un valle de verdad
The clearing of land to install a concert venue in Mexico’s premier wine-producing region triggered a protest Saturday, while federal environmental authorities shut down the project.
Concert Promoter APM Producciones cleared native semi-desert vegetation from a hillside property in the Valle de Guadalupe, located in the municipality of Ensenada, Baja California.
The company intended to install a stage and hold two concerts featuring singer-songwriter Christian Nodal at the venue last weekend but was forced to cancel Saturday’s event and relocate Sunday’s after the environmental protection agency Profepa and the federal Environment Ministry (Semarnat) shut down its project and seized heavy machinery used to clear the land.
Semarnat said in a statement that APM didn’t have authorization to alter the use of the land on the property, located in the community of Porvenir.
The ministry said Profepa officials visited the site last Friday after receiving numerous complaints from members of the public. During the visit, officials observed the recent removal of vegetation and the presence of heavy machinery, Semarnat said Saturday. “It was also determined that the property is located on forested land,” it said.
APM Producciones rejected the claim that it didn’t have authorization to clear the land. It said that four hectares of land were “cleaned without affecting any plants” to make way for a 1.5-hectare concert space and a 2.5-hectare car park.
“The project includes the construction of villas and the planting of trees and grape vines in accordance with current regulations. We have all the necessary permits both for the project mentioned and … the concert,” it said in a statement Friday.
Meanwhile, protesters from a group called Por un Valle de Verdad (For a True Valley) demonstrated on Saturday against unfettered development they say poses a threat to the Valle de Guadalupe environment.
The group, which protested near the property in question under the slogan “more grapevines, less plunder,” said in a statement that APM caused “devastation of flora and fauna on more than 20 hectares,” an area five times larger than that the company said it cleared.
“This is a project which shows not the least consideration for the environment,” it added. Paula Piojan, a native vegetation expert, described the clearing of the vegetation as a “tragedy.”
“Cleared land takes more than 100 years to recover,” she said, adding that the lack of vegetation on the property will affect its capacity to retain water when it rains.
For his part, Nodal told his 7.8 million Instagram followers that he’s a “great defender of the environment” and would never allow “his image, music and art” to be associated with those who damage it.
His Sunday concert was relocated to Rancho Chichihuas, located just outside the Valle de Guadalupe.
Taco stands are not only great for trying out unfamiliar Mexican foods cheaply, they also make prime people-watching spots.
Unfettered by complex rules and regulations, Mexico’s street food scene is an integral part of the culinary culture and flourishes in every corner of the country. Whether it’s a busy metropolis or a tiny pueblo, a mélange of carts and tables, benches and umbrellas will inevitably offer curbside dining and snacking morning, noon and night.
It can take some sleuthing to find the best ones, though, and the tried-and-true method is to look for crowds of locals and exceptional longevity; it’s not unusual for a successful taco stand to set up on the same corner through multiple generations, for 10, 20, 45 years. That’s what you’re looking for.
It would be impossible to write about everything you can eat on the street, so consider this my list of basic favorites. Each of the various regions of Mexico will have specialties not found elsewhere, and I encourage you to go forth with courage and curiosity and see what you can find.
Camotes
The long toot of the rolling steam oven — like a little train whistle — announces the Thursday evening arrival of my local camotero, selling perfectly baked camotes (sweet potatoes) and platanos (plantains). Locals eat them as a sweet treat, drowned in lechera (sweetened condensed milk), but I prefer to bring them home unadorned, where I slather ’em with real butter and a pinch of salt. Sometimes I make Thai curries or black bean chili and then add the roasted sweet potatoes to the finished dish. It’s such a wonderful convenience, and it’s easy to get spoiled.
Upgrade your snow cone experience with a Mexican raspado, topped with a sweet syrup made of fresh fruit.
Raspados
Said to originate in the tiny mountain town of Concordia (but who knows), these are an icy treat in many countries around the world. While elsewhere “shave ice,” or snow cones, are simply shaved ice drizzled with sweet, colorful fruit syrup, here in Mexico they go one step further and add lechera for an even more decadent treat. Tip: ask locals who has the best ones, made with real fruit syrup as opposed to just colored flavored sugar syrup.
Papas Locas
Somehow, potatoes grilled in an open fire taste better — and when they’re smothered with salsa Mexicana, guacamole, butter and crema, it’s kind of heaven on a plate. Use a fork if you must, but I prefer to scoop up the steaming hot mush with tortillas doradas (crispy dry-fried corn tortillas) for a truly sensual and oh-so-delicious experience.
Cocos Fríos
How lucky we are to live in a place where coconuts are so plentiful and where cold, fresh coconut water is not exotic or expensive! For under US $2, I can enjoy an ice-cold coco frío, a coconut freshly whacked open by the machete-wielding vendor at the beach near my house. When I’ve drunk all the sweet, refreshing coconut water, he’ll cut out the meat with a special tool and return it to me piled in the half-shell.
Locals like to add hot sauce, chamoy sauce and other condiments; I prefer it plain with a little fresh lime juice. Also worth mentioning is cocohorchata: horchata made with fresh coconut water. Yum!
Aguas Frescas
From ruby-red jamaica to coral-colored melón to milky-white horchata, nothing says Mexico like an oversized, ice-filled cup of agua fresca. These sweet, usually fruit-based drinks are perfect for quenching your thirst any time of year but especially appreciated in the hot and humid summer months when sufficient hydration is essential. Sometimes you’ll find them with herbs (mint, basil, lavender) added or chia seeds, making the drink kind of like bubble tea. While it’s easy to stick with a favorite (mine might be pineapple), trying other flavors is fun and rewarding.
Churros
There’s nothing as decadently delicious as a churro calientito, still warm from deep-frying, sticky with cinnamon sugar and steamy-hot inside. Consider yourself warned: They’re kind of irresistible. (Why these aren’t on more menus for dessert, I don’t understand.) Whether piped in long fluted tubes or swirled in spiraled circles, churros are Mexico’s version of sweet fried dough, a “different kind of donut” that’s always eaten fresh, never packaged. Sometimes they’re stuffed (relleno) with chocolate or Nutella that turns into a scrumptious, gooey mess when cooked; the classic churros are simply rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Churros are Mexico’s delicious take on sweet fried dough. Done well, they melt in your mouth.
Tacos
Definitely Mexico’s most iconic street food, tacos — in all their forms — are what most of us are looking for out there in the street. From carne asada and quesobirria to barbacoa and al pastor to camarón capeado and carnitas, you can find a different delicious experience every time. Fillings, salsas and toppings are specific to the particular vendor and region; tortillas will be corn (yellow, white or blue) or flour, again depending on where in Mexico you are.
To be sure, you can also order tacos in more formal sit-down eating establishments, but the experience won’t be the same. (Nor will the cost!) You can make them at home, but really, why even try? It’s almost impossible to create the various marinades and array of salsas, what to speak of making all those corn tortillas from scratch. And who among us has the skill of the taquero in charge of the grill?
When you’re in Mexico, what are your favorite street foods? How did you discover them?
Lozoya, left, dining at Hunan restaurant in Mexico City Saturday. lourdes mendoza
Opposition lawmakers and journalists have lambasted federal authorities for their alleged preferential treatment of former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya after the suspect of high-level corruption was seen dining at a high-end Mexico City restaurant on Saturday.
Lozoya, accused of receiving multimillion-dollar bribes while head of the state oil company during the previous federal government, was photographed by journalist Lourdes Mendoza while eating dinner with four companions at the Chinese restaurant Hunan, located in the capital’s affluent Lomas district.
Mendoza asserted on Twitter that her photos serve as evidence of an “impunity pact” between the ex-Pemex chief and the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR).
“[The FGR] accuses innocent people while he enjoys the high life to which he is accustomed. The height of shamelessness,” she wrote.
Some journalists, opposition lawmakers and others questioned why Lozoya – who has been given protected witness status in exchange for cooperating with authorities on a probe into a corruption case involving Brazilian company Odebrecht and Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de México – has not been remanded in preventative custody while he awaits trial.
(Despite fleeing to Spain, where he was arrested in early 2020, and being accused of criminal association and money laundering in addition to receiving bribes, the former Pemex chief is living a relatively free life in Mexico City, although he is required to wear a tracking bracelet and check in periodically with authorities.)
“[While] Emilio Lozoya eats his chicken with chestnuts and cashews, we take authorized food to prison for my mom who didn’t commit a crime,” said journalist Alonso Castillo Cuevas, whose mother is accused of murdering the brother of Attorney General Alejandro Gertz.
“… The emperor Gertz lets criminals go free and [puts] innocent people in [jail] cells,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Today’s menu for Emilio Lozoya in Hunan in Las Lomas: corruption as a starter, impunity for the main course and shamelessness for dessert,” tweeted National Action Party (PAN) Senator Xóchitl Gálvez.
Kenia López Rabadán, another PAN senator, took aim at the federal government on the same social media platform.
“This country deserves another government! While [former PAN president and 2018 presidential candidate] Ricardo Anaya is a politically persecuted person … the corrupt Emilio Lozoya, who did receive millions of dollars, dines in total luxury. Where’s the justice AMLO?” she wrote, referring to President López Obrador by his nickname.
Buenos días, aquí les dejo ooootra evidencia más de q @EmilioLozoyaAus estaba ayer cenando en la grande en el Hunan. Es el live de la foto. Ojo, el 10 Septiembre debió comparecer por la demanda por daño moral que le interpuse y no lo hizo argumentado “arraigo domiciliario” pic.twitter.com/JnxpwjUy06
Independent Senator Emilio Álvarez questioned why federal authorities aren’t going after Lozoya with the same rigor with which they are pursuing Anaya – who appears to be positioning himself for another run at the presidency in 2024 – scientists and others.
In addition to avoiding preventative custody, apparently because he is in poor health, the 46-year-old former official has managed to postpone his trial on five occasions on the grounds that his legal team is still collecting evidence for his defense.
Some people Lozoya has implicated in the Odebrecht/Altos Hornos de México corruption case have not been as fortunate as Lozoya.
One such person is former PAN senator Jorge Luis Lavalle, who has been in prison for months despite facing the same charges as the ex-Pemex chief.
Lavalle is one of several PAN lawmakers, including Anaya and current Tamaulipas Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, whom Lozoya has accused of receiving bribes from the former federal government in exchange for supporting its 2013-14 structural reforms.
The former state oil company boss has accused former president Enrique Peña Nieto and ex-cabinet minister Luis Videgaray of leading the bribery scheme and asserted that the money came from Odebrecht. He has admitted to arranging for bribes to be paid to lawmakers but claimed that he was coerced by the ex-president and former minister in testimony in which he effectively depicted himself as a victim of their corruption.
The FGR appears to have accepted his claims, alleging in a document obtained by the newspaper Reforma late last year that Peña Nieto, in office from 2012 to 2018, used Videgaray and Lozoya as pawns in the criminal scheme he headed up.
The former Pemex chief is currently seeking acquittal in exchange for his cooperation with authorities, according to the newspaper Milenio, but he hasn’t yet obtained what he wants.
López Obrador frequently asserts that his government is committed to ending impunity and won’t provide protection for anyone but there is a growing view that Lozoya may well evade justice.
“The image of ex-director of Pemex, Emilio Lozoya, dining relaxed and free from shame in a restaurant in Lomas de Chapultepec is the graphic representation of two truths and one big lie,” columnist Salvador García Soto wrote in El Universal.
“The two truths that the photograph reveals are the impunity that still reigns in Mexico for powerful and influential politicians and the complete failure of the first autonomous prosecutor’s office [the FGR], which has turned out to be just as ineffective as it is politically compromised. And the big lie is that which the president repeats every morning like a street vendor from the National Palace: ‘There is no longer corruption and impunity has ended.’”
Free Fire is described as the ultimate, survival shooter game.
Five youths in Oaxaca were rescued Saturday after they were recruited through a shooter videogame to go and work for the Tamaulipas-based Northeast Cartel. On a WhatsApp group related to the game Free Fire they were offered lucrative work with the cartel due to their evident interest in guns.
The 12 to 15-year-olds were kidnapped and forced into a vehicle in Tlacolula de Matamoros, about 30 kilometers from Oaxaca city.
The parents filed complaints with the state Attorney General’s Office after the youths disappeared and uploaded their photos on social media to call for help. One of the boys left a letter to his parents telling them not to worry because he had gone to work in Monterrey, Nuevo León, and would send lots of money.
Security officials tracked the youths’ movements through their cell phone locations. Their path led them to a house in the east side of the city.
When security personnel arrived at the property they were told that there was a children’s party going on inside. When they entered the property they discovered that the youths were being held hostage and that their captors planned to take them from Oaxaca.
One woman was arrested and the five youths have been reunited with their families.
