President López Obrador overruled his Health Ministry Tuesday by declaring Mexico City is not at maximum risk for Covid-19.
A difference of opinion surfaced last Saturday when Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum insisted that the capital would remain at the orange high risk level on the federal government’s coronavirus stoplight map. Federal health authorities announced Friday that the city would join five other states and regress from orange to red due to the growing number of cases.
At yesterday morning’s press conference, the president put an end to uncertainty by siding with the city and did so in front of the minister of health and his deputy, who is responsible for directing coronavirus strategy. But he stressed there was no “substantial difference” between the parties involved and that all had the public interest at heart.
“It has been decided,” he said, “because it’s the city’s responsibility, that the stoplight is orange and that is what’s happening.”
Since the stoplight system was introduced last year, allocating stoplight colors to the states has been the sole responsibility of federal health authorities, who have made their decisions based on data provided by the states.
The president played down the issue on Tuesday, saying that the important issue is that there aren’t many restrictions being placed on citizens “because the fact is that now is the time for us to look after ourselves.”
He then went off on a favorite tangent, attributing restrictions on people’s movement to “authoritarian zeal.”
The people are old enough to act on their own without being told what to do, López Obrador said.
The purpose of the stoplight system is to guide states in the implementation of restrictions based on nationwide standards. But many of the decisions have been questioned, particularly by state governors unhappy with the designations they have been given. There have also been questions about the degree of political involvement in the process.
On Saturday, Mayor Sheinbaum urged federal authorities to take into account the number of people who have been vaccinated against Covid in assigning stoplight risk levels.
More elaborate narco tombs feature many of the comforts of home: multiple rooms, air conditioning, full lighting and security alarm systems.
A couple of weeks ago, The Captured Woman (TCTW) and I were headed a few hours away to Costco in Culiacán to worship at the altar of perpetual consumption. On the way, we decided to take a side trip.
We have heard about it for years and felt it was finally time to visit the Jardines de Humaya, also known as “the narco cemetery.”
With 83% of the population Catholic, graveyards in Mexico are an important part of the culture. Mix in an ample dose of indigenous superstitions passed down through many generations and the legacy of dead family members takes on a life of its own.
Here in Mexico, the Day of the Dead is far more revered than Christmas — as more personal on many levels. From midnight of November 1 to midnight of November 2, many families will travel to where their loved one is interred or entombed, then break out the lawn chairs and have a picnic.
Sometimes they will even get a band to come in and make a great deal of noise at the party.
At times, the rows of mausoleums in Culiacan’s Jardines de Humaya cemetery can look more like a quiet upper-class suburban block.
With very few cremations happening among the pious population and a 500-year history of excessive bloodshed, cemeteries in Mexico are as numerous as Oxxo stores.
I have never turned down the opportunity to stroll through a cemetery and read the headstones or the bronzed plaques — the older the better. I have to admit that until now, my Mexican cemetery experience has been limited to villages and small towns.
The various ones I have visited have all had homemade mausoleums, mostly brick and mortar and all painted with bright colors. They look like tiny houses or churches for Lilliputians.
Culiacán is best known for being the home of the Sinaloa Cartel and, of course, the famed El Chapo. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Culiacán’s memorial park for the nefarious and seriously wealthy has taken this quaint custom of making personalized mausoleums at graveyards and aggrandized it significantly.
As TCTW and the friends with whom we undertook the trip followed along the path set out by Google Maps, we knew we were getting closer when we passed a taquería named El Cartel.
When we arrived at the cemetery, a security guard opened one of the two large ornamental iron gates to let us in. As we passed, he took a picture of our car and then our license plate. I was suddenly glad we have Sinaloa plates.
Sometimes, only the prominent religious displays betray these structures’ real purpose.
As we rolled down a slight incline, I found a place to park in the shade of a large huanacaxtle tree. The place had the appearance of a shady park surrounded by an upper-end Mexican neighborhood. Were we looking at mausoleums or mansions?
We started at the mid-level narco necropolis, where some of the graves were a simple concrete slab with a plaque. Others were enclosed two-story structures. Each plot was about 1 ¼ meters wide and about two meters long with a 30-centimeter space between each repository.
Many of these mausoleums occupied more than one plot.
As we moved further into this marbled home of the dead, the architecture became more elaborate and included full electricity, air conditioning, bathrooms, living rooms — or dead rooms in this case — and even a few satellite dishes. Many places had security bars across the doors and windows, and a few were without any form of security other than the family names: Guzmán, Beltrán, Fuentes, Leyva, and Félix were all represented in multiple locations.
Even the former leader of the Juárez Cartel chose to be buried in Sinaloa among many of his past compatriots. The three-story resting place of Amado Fuentes — known in his heyday as Lord of the Skies for his fleet of planes he used to transport drugs — has a chapel on the main floor that can hold 40 people. The purported price of this ostentatious pile of marble is over US $400,000.
Of course, ensconced in the most overwhelmingly extravagant tomb are the remains of Arturo Guzmán Loera (El Pollo), brother of the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo. Rumor has it that the cost of this final resting place was over US $1 million.
A few specialty builders construct these mausoleums with elaborate flourishes and architecture. Some are rumored to have cost US $1 million.
I have since learned that there are a couple of specialty builders in Culiacán who only do elaborate tombs. They are not cheap.
The single plots with only a simple structure often have a printed banner displaying a picture of the deceased and his favorite things. These are usually men in their middle 20s with new cars, four-wheelers and diamond-clad women surrounding their smiling visages.
These are young men who did not die of natural causes — unless acute and instantaneous lead poisoning could be considered natural.
Jardines de Humaya is the final resting place for many who have lived a short and violent life embroiled in one of the top three industries in México. Here, the term rest in peace takes on a meaning far more profound than your average Mexican marble orchard.
• For readers who would like to learn more about this dark side of Mexico, I recommend the book Narcoland by Anabel Hernández, along with Down by the River, by Charles Bowden.
The writer describes himself as a very middle-aged man who lives full-time in Mazatlán with a captured tourist woman and the ghost of a half-wild dog. He can be reached at [email protected].
The National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City, where a Covid victim found a bed after searching for three days.
The United States advised Mexico on Monday that it will send another 8.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine as the third wave of the virus continues to spread.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed the offer during Tuesday’s presidential press conference. It was made during a telephone conversation between President López Obrador and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, it remains unclear whether the vaccines — 3.5 million doses of Moderna and 5 million AstraZeneca — are a donation or if the U.S. expects payment.
In response to a reporter’s question, Ebrard said he understood they were a donation but was unsure. “… we shall have to see in the next few days what specific conditions there are.”
The U.S. has already given just over 4 million doses to Mexico. Should the new shipment prove to be donated, Mexico will become the top recipient of U.S.-donated vaccines.
The vaccination program itself continues. Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell told this morning’s press conference that nearly 73 million doses have been administered, leaving 57% of the adult population with at least one dose.
According to the New York Times‘ coronavirus vaccination tracker, 22% of the Mexican population is fully vaccinated.
As for case numbers, health authorities said Tuesday afternoon there was a slight increase in the number of estimated cases after declines had been registered for two days in a row following nine weeks of increases. Tuesday’s total was 129,468.
There were 19,555 new cases recorded Tuesday after the usual weekend lull: Saturday’s figure was 20,018 followed by 7,573 on Sunday and 6,513 on Monday. The total number of cases is now 2.99 million.
There were 786 deaths recorded on Tuesday, bringing the total to 245,476.
The occupancy of general care Covid hospital beds across the country was reported to be up 1% to 54% and for those with a respirator 45%.
Meanwhile, it’s becoming harder to find a Covid bed in Mexico City, according to the experience of a 38-year-old man who became infected three weeks after receiving his first dose.
Eder Guadalupe was able to find a bed at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) after spending three days looking for one in various parts of the city. A family member said Guadalupe was showing serious symptoms and had only 50% oxygen saturation.
The Pacífico brewery had its water supply cut off briefly last month over allegedly unpaid bills.
The Pacífico brewery in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, accused of owing 300 million pesos (almost US $15 million) to the city’s water authority, will hear the verdict of litigation proceedings on August 18.
State authorities cut off the water supply to the brewery on July 9 due to the payment dispute, but turned it on again soon after so as not to affect the 1,500 people the brewery employs.
The initial action was taken despite a district court ruling in Pacífico’s favor on May 14, which granted a provisional suspension order and stated that the brewery wasn’t required to pay the alleged debts.
The Grupo Modelo-owned brewery has rejected the claim, which was first detailed in a letter from the same authorities on April 20, advising it that it had an outstanding connection fee owed to the Sinaloa government. That letter didn’t specify the amount owed.
Mazatlán Mayor Luis Guillermo Benítez Torres originally stated the alleged debt was around 100 million pesos, but later revised the figure upward to 300 million pesos.
Benítez said the brewery’s owners had agreed to pay the alleged debt, if the judge finds against them. “There is a commitment on the part of the chairman of the board of Grupo Modelo at the national level, that as soon as a judge clarifies the situation they will pay immediately,” he said.
He added that negotiation with the company was possible, as they had argued that they hadn’t been aware of the situation since the brewery was acquired. It is unclear which acquisition Benítez was referring to.
The Pacífico brewery has operated at its current location in Mazatlán for the past 39 years. Grupo Modelo, now owned by multinational beverage company Anheuser-Busch InBev, acquired the brewery in 1954.
Shipping companies are steering cargo toward the United States and away from Mexico’s Pacific ports due to rail blockades that are making the country an unfavorable destination to transport goods, says railway operator Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM).
The CNTE teachers union has repeatedly blocked railways near the interior city of Uruapan, Michoacán, since July 18, demanding a fortnight of their salary which they say has not been paid by state authorities. Protesters have obstructed the main route from Lázaro Cárdenas port to the rest of the country.
The first blockade affected 11 trains in 48 hours then an indefinite blockade began on July 31. So far this year, KCS has counted 14 blockades lasting a total of 30 days in the state.
KCSM president Óscar del Cueto said blockades have damaged the country’s image for shippers. “Much of the commerce that arrived at Lázaro Cárdenas is being diverted to other ports, ports that are not in our country. There is a bad image. The message that these blockades sends does not favor investment or job creation,” he said.
Del Cueto added that much of the cargo had been diverted to ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles. The company’s investment plans have also been affected.
The KCSM president announced that only a small portion of the US $118 million destined to be inverted in Mexico will go to Michoacán, and that new projects in the state would be canceled. “The image and perception for new investments has been damaged … For growth projects we have nothing for Michoacán this year,” del Cueto said.
By Saturday, the most recent blockade had affected 16 trains and 95,554 tonnes of cargo were stranded near Uruapan.
The economic impact of the halted railways is estimated at 50 million pesos (about US $2.5 million) according to data from a state industrial group. However, del Cueto said the knock-on effects to industrial centers around the country could make the economic effects two to three times worse.
The blockades have obstructed the movement of goods such as steel, grain, auto parts and vehicles, goods for basic consumption, and fuel, directly affecting the state energy company Pemex.
However, del Cueto announced the company would continue to invest in other parts of the country. “There is growth in several sectors and other states such as San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, where our network has greater demand.”
Although particularly acute in Michoacán, the problem is felt nationwide: in 2020, there were blockades on railroad tracks in some parts of the country for 200 days, mainly in Chihuahua, Sonora and Michoacán.
Traditional design is to get additional protection from plagiarism under new strategy.
The Ministry of Culture announced an initiative on Monday to step up its protection of indigenous artisans from plagiarism.
Called the Original, the initiative’s first event will provide a forum for around 3,000 artisans and national and international businesses to exhibit and potentially commercialize their work and traditional designs by forming business relationships.
A fashion show runway will allow indigenous models to display creations by master artisans.
The event, scheduled for November 18-21 at the Los Pinos Cultural Center in Mexico City, will also feature conferences and debates on topics including cultural appropriation, collective rights and preservation of cultural heritage. Commercial spaces will remain at the center until December 12.
International fashion houses have a controversial history in Mexico. The federal government and other authorities have accused them of plagiarizing indigenous designs and “improper cultural appropriation” in recent years. Among the implicated designers are Zara, Anthropologie, Patowl, Zimmerman, Isabel Marant, Carolina Herrera, Mango and Pippa Holt.
Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, who announced the initiative, said it was important for there to be direct contact between artisans and businesses. “You can speak to the world head-on … as creators from Mexico or from their communities; or as designers to those creators … not with romanticism, not with paternalism. But with respect, with ethics and with the opportunity for mutual creation,” she said.
Artisan Teresa Lino said the initiative helps her feel proud of her indigenous identity. “It is a great opportunity to publicize the work we do … now I am proud; I am an indigenous woman who fights to maintain my cultural identity and I am not ashamed,” she said.
Artisan Ignacio Netzahualcóyotl considered the announcement to be of historic importance. “Textiles, crafts, everything from native peoples is the art that we learned as children, from our ancestors. Today it is a truly unique, historical event, where the native peoples are embraced, where we no longer feel less,” he said.
Cultural promotor Luz Valdez said she was optimistic the initiative would change the standing of artisans. “This project has been like a ray of light for everyone. I always said, one day we’re all going to go to the spaces that we were told we couldn’t, and I think this is the beginning of that,” she said.
The Culture Ministry also announced that it would propose a legal instrument to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to afford better protection for designs of indigenous communities.
With marijuana plants in hand, Morelos farmers made their case for a license to grow the crop in Tetecala.
Carrying marijuana plants and smoking joints, farmers and pro-legalization activists gathered at the office of the state Health Ministry in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Monday to request a license for the cultivation of marijuana. Their ultimate goal: make Tetecala, located in the western part of the state, the first “marijuana town” in the country.
Farmers in the municipality have traditionally produced sugar cane but they believe marijuana could be more profitable for use in medicine, for recreational use, for fabrics and clothing and to attract tourism.
A Tetecala-based association of farmers and communal landowners delivered a letter to Health Minister Marco Antonio Cantú Cuevas and the head of the State Commission for Health Risks (Coprisem) to request a license for cultivation, but soon learned they were knocking on the wrong doors.
State authorities said granting the licenses comes under the remit of federal authorities.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the association, Alejandro Vello Arellano, explained the benefits of Tetecala being a marijuana town. “We submitted the license application to plant marijuana legally. What we are looking for is to change the direction of our town, to attract trade … but also to attract tourism … [and] benefit more than 20,000 inhabitants,” the sugar cane producer said.
One of the people at the gathering in the Morelos capital tokes up in support of their campaign.
“We are looking for the planting license because it is what we know how to do … there shouldn’t be any middle men. The trade should be directly with the people who process it, sell it, and even export it,” he said.
“Marijuana is being legalized in many parts of the world, and in localities in the United States, which is the main producer … We either adapt to international rules or we fall behind,” he added.
The Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing the recreational use of marijuana on June 28. It had previously declared the prohibition of cannabis unconstitutional in 2018. The use of medicinal marijuana has been legal since 2017.
The June decision stated that to legally obtain marijuana, citizens had to apply for a permit from the Federal Commission for Health Risks (Cofepris), allowing them to hold 28 grams. It also stated that Cofepris permits were required for the cultivation and harvesting of plants.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) directly threatened a prominent journalist and media outlets in a video released Monday morning.
In a video in which a man reads from a script in the name of cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” the cartel took direct aim at Milenio Televisión anchor Azucena Uresti over news coverage of Michoacán.
Surrounded by six heavily armed men with their faces covered, the speaker said, “Azucena Uresti, wherever you are, I’ll get you, and I will make you eat your words, even if they accuse me of femicide, because you do not know me: Rubén Oseguera Cervantes. I am not a debt collector or extortionist, nor am I a kidnapper,” the speaker said.
“As a representative of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation, I address this message directly to Milenio. I am not against freedom of expression, but I am against whoever attacks me directly,” he added, and also pointed threats to news outlets Televisa and El Universal.
The video also accuses rival cartel leaders of being kidnappers and debt collectors and of disguising themselves as self-defense groups. It also alleged that those groups are giving money to the media.
Has de cuenta una mañanera.
El Mencho (el mero Kks del Cartel de Jalisco), dice que no está en contra de la libertad de expresión, sino de quién le tira directamente.
Y amenaza a Azucena Uresti, “aunque lo acusen de femenicido”. @azucenaupic.twitter.com/cG40h3a6Gx
In reaction to the threats, the president’s spokesperson, Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, wrote on Twitter to guarantee protection for journalists. “In the face of threats to the media by the CJNG, the @GobiernoMX will take appropriate measures to protect threatened journalists and media outlets. Democratic freedoms are guaranteed along with the right to information for citizens,” the Tweet read.
The U.S. government names the CJNG as one of the most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world. The cartel, originally from Jalisco and Michoacán, is currently engaged in a territorial battle in Aguililla, Michoacán, the birthplace of Oseguera.
Mexico was the most dangerous country in the world to be a journalist in 2020, according to Statista.
On July 12, the federal Interior Ministry said a total of 43 journalists and 68 human rights defenders had been killed since December 1, 2018, the day on which López Obrador was sworn in as president.
Just hours after mayors in the coastal region of Oaxaca announced strict new health measures, other government officials appeared to walk back on the restrictions.
Last Friday, mayors from a number of Oaxaca communities agreed to close beaches and suspend all tourist activities, hoping to slow the wave of coronavirus infections currently hitting the area. They also prohibited the sale of alcohol, banned large group gatherings and limited hotels and restaurants to operating at 35% capacity. The mayors represented the communities of Pochutla, Tonameca, Huatulco, Colotepec, San Miguel del Puerto, Pluma Hidalgo and Tututepec.
But some state and municipal authorities were not happy with the restrictions. After the announcement, they faced push-back from the state tourism board and the Huatulco municipal council announced that beaches would not, in fact, be completely closed. Rather, they would be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., while nightclubs and bars would be shuttered. Hotels and restaurants serving tourists would be limited to 30% capacity.
The state government confirmed there would not be a total closure of the beaches, telling the newspaper El Universal that while it respected the decision of municipal authorities, Friday’s announcement by the mayors had been misinterpreted.
The beaches where access will be limited include those in Puerto Escondido, Zipolite, Puerto Ángel and Salina Cruz, where visitors will be allowed at 35% capacity, and use of face masks will be mandatory. In some areas, mayors have approved fines and even jail time for those found not using face masks in public.
Furthermore, a minivan service between Puerto Escondido and Pochutla will be halted after the region entered the red (maximum alert) rating on the coronavirus risk map on Monday.
According to Oaxaca Health Services, the coast region has 4,021 confirmed Covid cases and 345 people have died since the pandemic began.
Synchronized diving medal winners Alejandra Orozco and Gaby Agúndez.
The Mexican Olympic team brought home four bronze medals and seven fourth-place finishes from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which wrapped up on the weekend.
Medals came in men’s soccer; mixed archery for Alejandra Valencia and Luis Álvarez; the women’s synchronized 10-meter diving for Alejandra Orozco and Gaby Agúndez; and in the women’s weightlifting for Aremi Fuentes.
The tally fell short of the 12 medals predicted by Sport Commission (Conade) head and Athens 1994 Olympic silver medalist Ana Guevara. Expectations were also heightened by the country’s outstanding performance at the 2019 Pan American Games, where it won 136 medals, 37 of them gold.
One hundred and sixty-three athletes participated at the Games, the most in 50 years, with first time appearances in events like softball, where the team came fourth, gymnastics trampoline, rhythmic gymnastics and women’s wrestling. The performance was far from the country’s worst: in Paris 1900, Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964 and Atlanta 1996 it only claimed one bronze medal.
Swimming bronze medalist at the 1968 Mexico City Games, María Teresa Ramírez, said the Covid-19 pandemic had made preparation difficult for athletes. “It wasn’t easy for Mexico. The pandemic made everything difficult. When an athlete prepares for a world-class event there are many years at stake. Everything is planned. I talked to a lot of athletes and they tried to maintain a good attitude despite the circumstances. They trained wherever they could … On an emotional level they were affected. I was told there were athletes who felt alone, they trained alone,” she said.
“That’s the way sports are — if you’re not on the podium it looks like you didn’t do the work … it’s cruel,” she added.
The results have also been attributed to organizational issues and a lack of funding. In Mexico there is no ministry of sports unlike in sporting superpowers such as China or the United Kingdom. Instead, Conade reports to the Ministry of Education. The budget changes each year, and varies depending on the administration.
The budget has decreased 51% in the last 10 years in real terms, according to the magazine Expansión. Conade received 2.67 billion pesos this year, equivalent to 0.056% of the national budget. In 2011, it was allocated significantly more at 0.21% of the budget.
The 2012 London Olympic Games saw Mexico’s best performance in history, and it was also the year that Conade was given the highest level of funding.
Wrestling silver medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Daniel Aceves, put the responsibility squarely at the door of government authorities. “It has to be a decision of the executive and legislative branches to attribute greater importance to sports through the national budget,” he said.
