The truck is lowered into the grave, left, followed by the coffin.
It took rather more than a six-foot grave to bury a Baja California Sur man this week: it had to be big enough to accommodate his pickup truck as well as his coffin.
Fisherman Adán Arana of San Carlos, located some 260 kilometers north of La Paz, died after suffering health problems during the last two months.
Those problems, according to local media reports, prevented him from enjoying the pickup truck recently given to him by his son.
So when he died, his son decided the best he could do was bury his father with his truck.
A large grave was excavated in a local cemetery and lined with concrete blocks before a crane was brought in to lift the truck and place it inside.
The final step before covering the grave was to lower the deceased’s coffin into the cargo bed of the truck.
Some observers applauded the gesture but others questioned its legality. Local authorities were unaware of the construction of the tomb, there having been no request for a permit.
But in the meantime Adán Arana rests in peace in his pickup.
Cold front No. 7 is expected to sweep through Mexico over the next few days, bringing low temperatures in 19 states.
The National Meteorological Service (SMN) said the front will move through the northeast, east and southeast regions, bringing rain and electrical storms in addition to cold to those areas while also affecting the center of the country.
Mountainous areas of Chihuahua and Durango can expect temperatures from -5 to 0° C and frost. Temperatures of 0 to 5° C and possible frost are forecast in mountainous zones of Baja California, Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala, México state and Mexico City.
The coast Veracruz can expect wind gusts up to 80 kilometers per hour, a phenomenon known as “El Norte,” with increased wind speeds extending down through the Gulf and Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
The cold front will also deliver heavy rain on Friday in Tabasco, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas.
Mexico has made its largest seizure ever of pure fentanyl and simultaneously arrested an important Sinaloa Cartel leader, the Ministry of Defense (Sedena) announced on Thursday.
The bust seized 118 kilograms of fentanyl worth nearly 1 billion pesos (US $50 million). It occurred October 28 in Culiacán, Sinaloa, but was not confirmed by the government until November 5. The army, National Guard and personnel from the federal Attorney General’s Office also arrested Armando “El Inge” Bátiz Camarena, a prominent leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, and four collaborators, all without firing a shot, the government said.
Fentanyl is a powerful opioid, 50 times stronger than heroin, and has been a leading cause of death by overdose in the United States opioid crisis.
In addition to the fentanyl, authorities seized four bags of fentanyl paste precursor; two kilograms of Inositol, a substance used to cut illegal drugs; five firearms and ammo; two vehicles; US $14,660; tens of thousands of pesos and a small amount of Venezuelan bolivars. The facility included five buildings, including a laboratory and a distribution center. Authorities estimated that the arrested individuals produced up to 70 million fentanyl pills a month.
The bust is the second blow to the Sinaloa Cartel in a matter of weeks: on October 23, Francisco “El Jaguar” Arvizu Márquez, another Sinaloa Cartel cell leader, was arrested in Madera, Chihuahua, after a shootout with the military.
Seizures of fentanyl have been on the rise in the past year, Sedena announced in October. From the beginning of the year to September 21, 2021, the government seized 1,225 kilograms, a 16.5% increase over the same period in 2020.
Ex-minister Urzúa, left, and Ambassador Salazar: criticisms and concerns over reform plan.
The Morena party and its allies in the lower house of Congress have agreed to postpone the vote on President López Obrador’s controversial electrical reform in the midst of a growing chorus of criticism.
But it doesn’t appear to be the critics who have delayed the vote but the lack of support for it among lawmakers.
The reform, which the government insists is necessary to guarantee low energy prices, requires a two-thirds majority vote in Congress because it means changing the constitution.
On Thursday, Morena, the Labor Party and the Green Party decided to wait until next April before proceeding with the reform initiative.
Among the critics this week were U.S. lawmakers and López Obrador’s first finance minister. In addition, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar stepped in with a Twitter post expressing concern.
“I had important meetings with the Mexican government to discuss the reform of the power sector. I want to learn more about the impetus for the proposed constitutional reform. I also expressed serious concerns for the United States. We committed to continuing our dialogue on these critical issues.”
Former finance minister Carlos Urzúa warned that the reform could prove to be the worst mistake of the López Obrador government, with effects in the short, medium and long term.
Speaking on Wednesday before the Citizens Movement bloc of lawmakers in the lower house of Congress, he said the plan underestimates what may happen as a result of the rejection of clean energy.
“It won’t only have a strong environmental impact but will also cause a long and costly legal process for the compensation they will have to pay, and all this to defend a state company that doesn’t have the resources or the efficiency to guarantee electricity supply throughout the country.”
It would also have a negative affect on the foreign investment that Mexico needs due to the coronavirus pandemic, said Urzúa, who left the federal cabinet after less than a year as finance minister due to differences of opinion with the president.
He described the reform as “the great challenge that Mexico faces” and called on opposition parties to fight it. If it passes he said, it will be “extremely dangerous” for the nation.
In the U.S., 40 Republican lawmakers called for pressuring Mexico over what they called discriminatory actions that hurt U.S. energy companies.
They said in a letter on Wednesday that Mexico’s plans violate the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, and called for “a timely and clear response” to policies and actions that they say violate and undermine the treaty.
The reform would give the Federal Electricity Commission 54% of the electricity market, and eliminate two independent energy regulators.
A draft study by the U.S. Department of Energy warned last month that the bill would bump emissions by up to 65% as more electricity would be generated by inefficient and dirty power plants operated by the Federal Electricity Commission. It also predicted higher electrical generation costs.
Tourists gather inside a Puerto Morelos hotel during Thursday's shooting incident.
A confrontation between presumed drug dealers left two people dead in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, while tourists and locals scrambled for cover.
The attackers arrived by boat on a beach in the Riviera Maya destination, then proceeded to execute two presumed low-level drug dealers. The incident occurred in Petempich Bay, causing many in the area to seek safe haven in the nearby hotels, including the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancún and Azul Beach Resort. In addition to the two deaths, a tourist received medical attention for a mild injury after being hit in the head with a firearm.
One witness to the chaos was NBC executive Mike Sington, who was at the Hyatt at the time.
“All guests and employees told to duck, and we’re all taken to hiding places at Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun Resort. Active shooter? Terrorist or kidnapping threat? They’re not telling us anything,” Sington said on Twitter, posting video showing how he and others followed staff instructions to hide in the depths of the hotel.
“Other guests told me they heard gunfire. Resort is secluded, was told gunman came up from the beach. Hotel employees hugging each other,” he wrote half an hour later.
Another hotel guest wrote, also on Twitter: “Active shooter in our hotel. We’re hiding in my room, a group of us. Praying all guests and hotel staff get through this. Men with machine guns came in from the beach.”
Still hiding in a dark room deep in the hotel. Other guests told me they heard gunfire. Resort is secluded, was told gunman came up from the beach. Hotel employees hugging each other. pic.twitter.com/7Vv16Y7Zts
Some 2 1/2 hours later, around 5 p.m., Hyatt staff told hotel guests that someone had been apprehended, but advised them to shelter in their rooms with the doors barricaded, Sington said. But state officials have not announced any arrests.
Rather, the Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office has only reported that the disturbance was a conflict between drug dealers, and that there were no serious injuries apart from the deaths of the alleged drug dealers.
The Mayakoba golf championship will be played at the El Camaleón Golf Club in Playa del Carmen.
With the Mexico Grand Prix, a major boxing match and a PGA Tour golf tournament in Quintana Roo all scheduled for this weekend, sports fans of all stripes are sure to be entertained.
First off, starting on Thursday and running through the entire weekend, is the Mayakoba Golf Classic, also known as the World Wide Technology Championship. The high profile event will bring various Majors-winning players from around the world, including Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed, to the El Camaleón Golf Club in Playa del Carmen.
Next up will be Saturday’s fight between Mexican boxer Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and American Caleb Plant. The super middleweight face-off brings together opponents who have come to blows outside of the ring in the past: the boxers previously had a personal conflict over a supposed insult to Álvarez’s mother.
Four champion titles from leading boxing organizations will be at stake in this weekend’s fight, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas at 6 p.m. Pacific time and will be broadcast in the U.S. on Showtime as a pay-per-view event for a price of US $79.95. For the rest of the Americas, the fight will be broadcast on ESPN.
Finally, the Mexico Grand Prix will take place in Mexico City this weekend. Classification will start on Saturday and the main race is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.
The weekend’s lineup is a “pretty exciting” moment for Mexico, said Mexican professional golfer Abraham Ancer.
“It speaks well of how things are being done in Mexico. Obviously there are many things we can improve, little by little. Not just more tournaments but players, drivers, and boxers who will raise up the name of Mexico. Honestly, it makes me proud,” Ancer said.
Fellow golfer Carlos Ortiz added that it was an opportunity to motivate younger generations of athletes, and called on the federal government to do more to support sports in Mexico.
Center for Environmental Law president Gustavo Alanís said Mexico only signed the pact after pressure from environmental groups.
It was all over the news in Mexico on Tuesday: more than 100 countries had signed an international pact against deforestation, but Mexico was not on the official list.
A few hours later, however, a new list was released, this one signed by Mexico but apparently at the last minute and, according to some observers, only because of pressure by environmental groups.
Adding to the mystery of the affair was the fact that clarification of Mexico’s having signed the Glasgow Declaration at the COP26 climate change conference in Scotland came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, rather than the Ministry of Environment, whose minister was still in Mexico at the time.
At his morning press conference on Wednesday, President López Obrador questioned how Mexico could not possibly have signed an agreement which he claimed was inspired by his reforestation program Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life).
“Where do you think [the deforestation accord] came from? From Sembrando Vida; they said that Mexico didn’t sign onto the reforestation program … we proposed [it],” the president said, observing that it is “the most important reforestation program in the world,” adding, “There’s no other country in the world that is investing $1.3 billion a year in reforestation.”
López Obrador also thanked Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard for representing the country’s interests at COP26 — even though he wasn’t there. The president appears to have confused the climate conference with last weekend’s October G20 summit of world leaders in Rome, which the foreign minister did attend, where he pleaded for funds to help developing countries address climate change.
Environmentalists criticized both the nation’s tardy acceptance of the reforestation accord and the president’s Sembrando Vida project.
The president of the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA), Gustavo Alanís Ortega, called the president’s statements a “flight of fancy,” saying that Mexico did not sign the reforestation accord until pressure from the domestic and international environmental community forced them to.
“There’s a very strong contradiction in Mexico asking for those resources and building a refinery, promoting carbon-based electric plants and with the electricity reform it is promoting the use of fossil fuels,” Alanís said. “With the Maya Train they are deforesting, with the Dos Bocas refinery they illegally cut down at least 80 hectares of mangrove and with Sembrando Vida they have deforested 72,000 hectares, so they are not being consistent. We are simply talking about yet another flight of fancy of the president of the republic.”
In the Glasgow Declaration, more than 130 countries agreed to reverse current deforestation trends by 2030. Even “climate rebels” including Brazil, Russia and China agreed to the accord, which some environmentalists criticized for its lack of ambition. Greenpeace, for example, called the 2030 deadline for change a “green light for another decade of forest destruction.”
The armed civilians also forced the state police officers to appear in a video in which they made statements defending criminal activity.
Armed civilians ambushed and detained eight state police Tuesday in Huejuquilla El Alto, a municipality in northern Jalisco, taking their weapons and forcing them to record a video before releasing them.
The police, traveling in two vehicles, were on a routine patrol on the highway to Valparaíso, Zacatecas, when a group of more than 50 armed civilians emerged from the brush and attacked them.
The officers surrendered to the much larger group of attackers.
The latter took 16 weapons, eight bulletproof vests, ammunition and four radios, as well as the officers’ patrol cars, one of which was later found riddled with bullet holes.
The civilians then forced the police to record a cellphone video making statements in defense of criminal activity, state authorities said.
“We categorically reject these statements and emphasize that they were obtained under coercion and threats to the lives of our police,” the Jalisco Public Security Ministry said on Twitter.
The ministry also reported that the eight officers are safe and will cooperate with official investigations into the incident.
Ajijic and Lake Chapala have been attracting gringos since the 1940s. deposit photos
I live lakeside in Chapala, Jalisco. In all of Mexico, it’s the most picturesque, comfortable and enlightening place any Mexico-seeking expat could ever hope to find. It’s also quite common (when you’re living in paradise) to get drawn into like-minded social spaces, both digital and spatial.
On digital forums, I try to steer clear of the comment sections. But a recent conversation that erupted on an Ajijic chat site was just too juicy to swipe past.
On the surface, it was about a seemingly humdrum matter: poop in the lake.
The protagonist was an innocent expat wanting to “do something” about Lake Chapala and the surrounding area’s rainy season raw sewer overflows. This is a common yearly experience across Mexico (and parts of the United States).
This topic became one of the forum’s most talked-about crises. For an online community that traffics in selling toaster ovens and queries like, “Can anyone help me fix my remote control?” the comments veered to unexpectedly extreme expressions of angst. I took to distilling this vitriolic sewage–in-the-lake commentary, hoping to find the fault line of when and where we expats turn complaints into activism.
Earlier this month, Ajijic’s rains caused more problems than usual, but even in mild years, the rainy season can overwhelm the area’s sewer systems. Government of Chapala
While I found no evidence of anyone with a latent desire for more poop in the lake, it’s clear that the expat community is nowhere near to being on common ground regarding what to do about the issue. We seem to be caught in a swirl of doubt: being “sensitive” versus “don’t waste your time.” The result: with some exceptions, expat residents sit self-sidelined on issue after issue.
As a resident of one of the longest-standing colonies of Americans living anywhere outside the U.S. (American expats have been living here since the 1940s), I expected more multicultural activism. Perhaps a presidente municipal (mayor) whose grandfather was from Wisconsin? It would seem plausible, given the generations of lakeside living by Americans and snowbird Canadians.
However, we expats are still in another orbit from our Mexican neighbors. As shown by this particular social media uproar, when a community issue arises, we too often run for our respective ideological mother ships.
Most of us expats are here for the right reasons and will donate to causes in a generous fashion (giving both time and money). But too often we are susceptible to all this sunshine and the well-stocked shelves of the Super Lake market causing our ideologies to run amok.
It can take something like poop in the lake to reveal our true colors.
For those on one side (liberals?), it’s an abandonment of the credo “think global, act local.” In the doo-doo diatribe about Lake Chapala sewage, this group once again shoots themselves in the proverbial huarache (sandal).
Sometimes it takes a problem like poop in the lake to bring out an expat community’s vastly differing perspectives.
Being “sensitive” (and choosing to do nothing), these folks plop (so to speak) right into the “it’s not our country, be respectful” cushion of hypocrisy. I do appreciate one kind soul’s solution, however: that we all switch to compost toilets.
Bless the 1960s.
In the other corner (social conservatives?) are those who bring their First World problems and material hang-ups to their new Jalisco lakeside home. Mexico is a mere coincidental backdrop for living behind a wall, with better weather and Costco. This group harps about Mexico’s corruption and how nothing is ever going to change.
“Why bother?” becomes their answer to addressing local issues.
In between are those who worry that any form of public expression about local issues is illegal. (It’s not.) Others have come to realize that many Mexicans disdain confrontation, debate and public conflict resolution.
Put this together, and many of us just sit it out.
If they choose to, expats in Ajijic and other gringo communities can live behind walls and not truly acknowledge that they’re living in Mexico,
It’s not that we invaders only want to save the world by rescuing one stray dog at a time or by opening yet another bazaar for dead people’s belongings. We are a damn talented bunch. If you doubt this, spend an hour at Ajijic’s Open Circle get-together/lecture some Sunday morning: you’ll meet social crusaders, engineers, architects, scientists, teachers, writers, esteemed diplomats and true global citizens.
Ninety-five percent of us are gringos, starved (as is our lot) for information and insight. We are a great 60-and-over generation of listeners and learners.
But how do the “why bother” and the “let’s be sensitive” viewpoints come together? Do we “respect” Mexico and Mexicans when we withdraw to the do-nothing comfort zone? Do we exacerbate the problem when writing off expat activism as futile in the face of bad government, weak institutions and corruption?
I propose it’s time for a communal coming of age for Mexico expats. Learn some Spanish, get your residente permanente visa, vary your dining and drinking routine, make Mexican friends, volunteer, mentor kids and find a cause. Maybe then we act arm-in-arm with our neighbors in resolving shared afflictions.
Mexicans would cheer our taking notice of public nuisances. Even more would appreciate us working toward solutions.
Greg Custer has worked in Mexico tourism for over 40 years. He helps foreigners find their village in the sun at www.mexicoforretirement.com.
Mexico's National Autonomous University has gone right wing, according to the president.
The sprawling campus of Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) was creeping back to life last week after COVID-19 lockdowns. Students in face masks ambled between faculties, others played Frisbee, while son jarocho fusion music from band practice filled the air.
At first glance, you wouldn’t know that the country’s largest university is caught in a political firestorm. Yet President López Obrador, one of its most famous alumni, has accused the institution of lurching to the right and becoming a defender of “neoliberalism,” an insult he levels at many of his opponents.
The attack was surprising. University graduates and students voted in large numbers for López Obrador when he took power in 2018. Many of his cabinet studied at UNAM — a public institution of the kind the president usually favours in a country where, he says, former governments tried to privatize education.
Some fear his outburst was an attempt to silence critics. The rhetoric also serves to bolster his image as a man of the people against intellectual elites. “It’s not about being neoliberal or not . . . everything in the last three years is about AMLO and the way he wants to be portrayed,” said UNAM linguistics professor Sabine Pfleger. “The only aim is to show he is a hero surrounded by enemies and he’s fighting them on every possible level.”
López Obrador’s offensive came weeks after Mexico’s attorney general sought the arrest of 31 academics, members of a government-funded advisory board, several of whom are UNAM alumni. They were accused of funneling public money into a private entity to buy property and vehicles and pay salaries.
Had a judge not denied the warrants, citing a lack of evidence, the group of physicists, economists and others would have been thrown into a maximum-security prison reserved for those who commit the most serious crimes, including drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who escaped via a tunnel in 2015.
UNAM rector Enrique Graue called the charges against the academics “an absurdity.” As for the president’s accusations against UNAM, the university said it had always respected different points of view and was committed to turning out socially-minded citizens.
The request for arrests prompted international outcry, with scholars from the U.S. and across Latin America writing in support of the group. One of those targeted, economics professor Gabriela Dutrénit, said the board’s spending was audited internally and externally, and described the case as “irrational” but still an ordeal. Still, prosecutors have vowed to try again.
The president’s diatribes against UNAM, delivered at his daily morning press conferences, and the heavy-handed tactics of the attorney general, appear to some to be a sign of a growing squeeze on dissent. Ana Alegría, an 18-year-old business administration student at UNAM, feared that the president “wants to take away the autonomy of our university.” She added: “It would be difficult, but even so it’s alarming that he has that idea.”
Supporters of the president, who swept to power on an anti-corruption platform, insist his goal is to make society more equal and help the more than 40% who live in poverty. It isn’t hard to find people who sympathize with his rhetoric — he has an approval rating of 64%. He says he respects UNAM’S autonomy.
Since coming to power López Obrador has axed several projects and institutions, claiming they were tainted by corruption. Yet critics say the real targets are often those who challenge the president’s policies, and that as a result anyone who puts their heads above the parapet feels at risk. A regional director at the publicly funded Center for Research and Teaching in Economics lost his job last month after publicly supporting beneficiaries of an academic program that is under threat from the government.
Despite backing from colleagues, Dutrénit said that academia is as polarized as the rest of society; split between those who support the president’s policies and those who don’t. Some academics feared repercussions if they spoke about the subject to the Financial Times on the record. Maybe that’s sign enough of the times.
