Education Ministry lays out ground rules for schools to reopen August 30

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August 13, 2021

Schools in Mexico City briefly reopened in June, then closed again in the face of Covid outbreaks.

The Education Ministry (SEP) has set August 30 as the date for children to return to school for in-person classes.

President López Obrador has argued strongly for in-person education, saying that children should no longer be “subject to their nintendos.” On a number of occasions, he has said that Mexico is one of the countries that has kept its schools’ doors closed for longest — 17 months, second only to Bangladesh.

At the morning news conference Thursday, Education Minister Delfina Gómez also stressed the mental and physical importance of school for children, and set out a 10-point framework to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and ensure a safe learning environment.

The policies to be followed in schools nationwide are:

The formation of health committees including parents, teachers and other education authorities
The establishment of “health filters” at home and at school to detect symptoms of Covid-19
For children to clean their hands with water, soap and/or antibacterial gel
For everyone in the school to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth at all times
For everyone in the school to maintain a safe distance from one another
Increasing the use of outdoor spaces at school
The avoidance of assemblies or meetings
For anyone that sees signs of Covid-19 symptoms to make it known immediately
To register for the ministry’s online courses for social and emotional support at: climss.imss.gob.mx under “Retorno Seguro”
For children to take a formal letter to school with emergency contact numbers and an assurance that the child has no symptoms

However, the announcement has not been universally well received. The Education Ministry in Michoacán released a statement to say that children in the state would not be returning to classes on August 30, and would continue with long distance learning.

Before children can return, authorities have work to do. Alongside the announcement of the 10-point framework, Gómez said that 10,000 of the country’s 265,000 schools had been vandalized since the start of the pandemic.

With reports from Milenio and El Universal

Active coronavirus are cases up 4% nationally but down in Mexico City

By

Tony Richards

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August 13, 2021

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A healthcare worker prepares a Covid-19 vaccine shot.

Mexico City will remain high risk orange on the coronavirus stoplight map as hospitals continue to admit new patients, albeit at a somewhat reduced rate, city officials said Friday.

Another piece of good news was that the number of active cases fell — after 11 weeks of increases — to 34,365, down from a peak of 57,828 cases on July 27.

On the other hand, the number of active cases was up nationally to 153,081, an increase of 4% since Thursday.

There were 22,758 new cases reported by the federal Ministry of Health Friday afternoon, raising the accumulated total to 3.68 million.

Another 603 deaths were recorded, bringing that total to 247,414.

In other Covid news:

• Health authorities in San Luis Potosí warned Thursday of the imminent return to maximum risk red on the stoplight map after a record number of new cases was recorded. And although another new record was set in the previous 24 hours, officials said Friday morning that the state remained one point below the threshold for going red.

There were 813 new cases reported today and 745 yesterday.

The state’s point system tallied up 29 on Friday, one short of the 30 that would have triggered the maximum risk level. However, the minister of health warned that the situation in the Huasteca and Media regions, where hospitals are saturated, is such that they can be considered high risk red.

• Querétaro announced new measures as it downgraded its risk measurement system to Stage B from Stage A due to rising case numbers.

Commercial centers will close at 9:00 p.m., capacity is limited to 60% and only two members of a family may enter. Bars and casinos are restricted to 50% and they must close at midnight.

Gyms, dance schools and sports centers must limit their capacity to 30%.

With reports from Pulso SLP, Milenio

The popular “drowned sandwich” created in Guadalajara — by accident

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John Pint

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August 13, 2021

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Torta ahogada from “Los Güeros” street food establishment in Guadalajara — Guadalajara businessman Josh Wolf demonstrates the best way to eat this street food item invented in the Jalisco capital without making a mess.

While driving through the streets of Guadalajara, a friend remarked that we were about to pass the puesto (stand) that serves the very best tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwiches) in the city. I replied that I had never tried one even though I had been living here for 36 years.

My friend was shocked. “I’m going to stop. You have to try one right now!”

Now, the reason that I had never eaten this particular type of local cuisine was that it comes under the umbrella of “street food,” which, after several nauseating experiences I’d rather not go into, I had decided to give up for Lent — permanently.

“Oh, don’t worry, John. I’ve eaten here hundreds of times with lots of friends and never had a problem,” my friend assured me.

Well, I thought, no matter what happens, I can write about it.

“Los Güeros” street food establishment in Guadalajara — Pork meat being chopped up, with a stack of salted birotes (the name of the type of bread) in the background.

So a few minutes later, I was interviewing Carlos González, owner of this eatery called Tortas y Tacos “Los Güeros.”

What I saw before me was a street food stand alongside a good number of collapsible tables and chairs, all of them filled by very happy-looking customers, and the entire scene under the protection of a sturdy tarp.

The torta ahogada, I soon discovered, consists of a kind of bun called a birote, sliced the long way and typically filled with pork meat, on top of which a generous amount of salsa has been ladled. First, let me point out that the birote should not be called a bun as it is more properly a cousin of the French baguette. It measures only one-fourth of the baguette’s length — and happens to be another food invented in Guadalajara and duly described below.

The torta ahogada, it seems, was originally created by accident sometime in the 1930s by one Don Luis de la Torre. Attempting to hand a pork sandwich to a customer, Don Luis accidentally dropped it into a container of salsa.

“You drowned my sandwich,” said the customer, “but I want to try it like this. Give me a spoon.”

The man was delighted with his sopping wet sandwich, and the torta ahogada was born.

Owner of “Los Güeros” street food establishment in Guadalajara — “The secret of our popularity,” says Tortas y Tacos ‘Los Güeros’ owner Carlos González, “is in our salsa, and for that I thank my mother.”

Don Luis passed away, but his two helpers, Don Ignacio “El Güero” and Don José “Él de la Bici,” (He of the Bike) eventually opened their own puestos, and a kind of friendly competition began, with tapatíos (people from Guadalajara) staunchly defending what each considers to be the very best torta ahogada in the city.

González’s soggy sandwiches are served in a bowl along with a spoon. “You will see what the spoon is for when you get near the end of your torta,” explained my friend.

I must admit that my first torta ahogada was truly delicious. I also discovered that I could lift it and eat it like a normal sandwich as long as I was leaning over my bowl. Fortunately, each customer can splash more salsa on top of his or her sandwich anytime they wish. I did this so often that I eventually had a sort of soup in my bowl.

“The secret of our success,” commented González, “is our salsa. Like any other salsa, it is made of tomatoes, onion, cilantro and chile, but our particular chile is something special invented by my mother, and it’s so popular that we have been crowded with customers here every single day for 55 years.”

I found the salsa of Mamá González truly irresistible, and only slightly picante, but the salsas of competitors around town might be very hot indeed.

By the way, I am happy to report no untoward effects after eating my first torta ahogada … and, yes, I am ready to go back for another.

Tortas Ahogadas Don José street food vendor in Guadalajara — At Tortas Ahogadas “Don José,” you can still see the bicycle used by the owner when he began the business in 1960.

For an entertaining review of the top contenders for the best drowned sandwich in Guadalajara, see Ford Quarterman’s excellent video clip, “I tried tortas ahogadas in Guadalajara and this is what happened!”

The invention of the birote

This bread item is very similar to a French baguette, but it’s usually only 15 centimeters long. Like a baguette, it is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and should be eaten within a few hours of being baked.

It is said that around 1,200 bakeries produce birotes in greater Guadalajara, and because customers like to get them hot, many bakeries produce new lots every 20 minutes.

The word birote is a corruption of Pirotte, the surname of the man who invented this kind of bread in Guadalajara more than 150 years ago.

According to Flor de María Aguilar, Camille Pirotte was a Belgian baker who came to the city as a volunteer in the French army, which occupied Guadalajara on January 6, 1864.

Birotes — Named after its creator, Belgian baker Camille Pirotte, the birote remains one of the locally favorite kinds of bread available in Guadalajara.

Wherever they go, of course, the French love to spread what they call civilisation française, so in Guadalajara, the occupiers began to offer classes in music, furniture-making and baking.

Sergeant Pirotte was in charge of teaching bread-making, but it seemed no tapatíos wanted to venture into the barracks of the invader, lest they be considered traitors, so the classes were moved to a building on Avenida Vallarta, which was quickly filled with students.

The next problem Pirotte faced was procuring the proper yeast for his bread. Nothing, it seems, was available, so the baker allowed a certain quantity of his dough to spoil and, voilà, nature supplied the needed yeast.

Camille Pirotte acquired a sterling reputation in Guadalajara because he regularly gave away his leftover bread to the poor. In the end, he decided not to go back to Brussels and married a tapatía named García, whose family name he took as his own because he was worried he might be caught and deported.

Nevertheless, his name lives on (slightly distorted) as the birote, which is as much beloved today as it was in 1864.

Birotes, by the way, come in two styles, unsalted and salted, but only the latter is used for tortas ahogadas.

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for 31 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.

At “Los Güeros” street food establishment in Guadalajara — “In my opinion, these are the very best *tortas ahogadas* in all Guadalajara,” says biologist Rodrigo Orozco.

The next generation of criminal groups driving violence in Mexico

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Insight Crime

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August 13, 2021

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Mexico’s process of criminal fragmentation has been a slow burn. Many of the country’s mightiest criminal groups have been unable to stay united due to internal strife, incursions from rivals or the arrests and killings of key leaders.

But while some powerhouses like the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) remain intact, smaller, hyper-violent and localized groups have become real national security threats. Many are splinters of old cartel structures, maintaining previous allegiances, while others were once dedicated oil thieves or drug transporters who gradually leveled up.

What’s left is a volatile landscape where these groups can have an outsized influence. Below, InSight Crime profiles the most important newer criminal actors in Mexico.

La Línea

La Línea began life as an armed wing of the Juárez Cartel, intended to help the organization defend its border territories in and around Ciudad Juárez in the state of Chihuahua, right next to El Paso, Texas. The Juárez Cartel reportedly hired acting and former police to join La Línea, but the group has always had a strong degree of autonomy. InSight Crime has reported that this cell has operated independently since its inception, even taxing the Juárez and Sinaloa cartels to move their merchandise through the Juárez Valley.

La Línea has broadened its horizons, reportedly being involved in microtrafficking, synthetic drug trafficking, illegal logging and car theft in Chihuahua. The group has established an important presence in Ciudad Juárez, where it has access to routes to the U.S.-Mexico border.

In February 2021, various media outlets reported that the Attorney General’s Office was aware of a meeting between members of the CJNG and La Línea, presumably to discuss an alliance to combat the Sinaloa Cartel. However, Chihuahua prosecutor César Augusto Peniche denied evidence of any alliance.

The violence employed by La Línea affects the neighboring states of Chihuahua and Sonora, where the group has clashed with Sinaloa Cartel cells like Gente Nueva in Chihuahua and the Salazar in Sonora. In fact, La Línea was one of the groups believed to be responsible for the infamous November 2019 massacre. Nine members of an American Mormon family in northwestern Sonora were killed.

On July 9, 2021, authorities in Chihuahua arrested the alleged leader of the La Línea, alias “H7,” on charges of homicide and participation in organized crime. Following his arrest, armed men attacked the police station in the Carachí municipality.

The Salazar

The Salazar is a family-based criminal network with links to the Sinaloa Cartel. The group is primarily involved in marijuana and heroin production and transporting drugs into Arizona. It also violently defends Sonora and Chihuahua states on the cartel’s behalf. The Salazar is believed to have started in Sonora in the early 1990s by Adán Salazar Zamorano, a confidant of Joaquín Guzmán, alias “El Chapo.” However, it was not until 2005 that the violence perpetrated by the group gained significant attention from authorities.

The Salazar operate in Sonora and Chihuahua states, where the group’s main rival, La Línea, also appears to operate. However, more recently, the group has also reportedly been involved in clashes with a Sinaloa Cartel cell known as the Rusos in Baja California regarding control of the Mexicali corridor. This rivalry suggests that cells of the same umbrella organization still fight for territorial control.

The Salazar’s use of threats and violence has been directed at other criminal groups and toward journalists and public officials. Members of the Salazar are allegedly responsible for the 2017 murder of Miroslava Breach, a journalist who investigated the group, and the 2005 disappearance of journalist Alfredo Jiménez Mota. After the Salazar leader Del Villar Suárez was killed in August 2019, the group threatened the Sonora governor for not keeping her “promises” to the group, the details of which remain unclear.

Tijuana New Generation Cartel

The Tijuana New Generation Cartel (CTNG) is a Baja California-based criminal group that traffics heroin, cocaine, marijuana and synthetic drugs into the United States over the border crossing in Tijuana. The group emerged out of an alliance between the CJNG and remnants of the Tijuana Cartel, also known as the Arellano Félix Organization, to push back against the Sinaloa Cartel.

The CTNG was founded as the Tijuana Cartel and was becoming weaker as the CJNG was expanding. Today, it appears that the CTNG belongs to the CJNG as a local enforcement wing and drug trafficking logistics provider for the CJNG’s operations in Baja California. InSight Crime reported in 2016 that the CTNG was responsible for kidnapping, torturing and murdering rivals on the Baja Peninsula.

Tijuana’s strategic location adjacent to the California border has contributed to significant turnover and the emergence of new alliances, armed wings and cartel sub-groups. The city is also home to one of Mexico’s newest criminal groups, the Cabos, a newer armed group within the CJNG that was spun off from the CTNG.

Grupo Sombra

Formed sometime around 2017, the Gulf Cartel splinter group known as the Grupo Sombra Special Forces (FEGS) is an important criminal actor in the northern part of Veracruz but also has a presence in the central states of Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí. Grupo Sombra is purportedly dedicated to microtrafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, murders for hire, kidnapping, extortion, and oil theft in these places.

The organization’s members employ extremely violent tactics, often disseminating their actions via video or leaving the bodies of their victims on public roads. The group’s main rivals appear to be the Old School Zetas and CJNG, with the latter rapidly gaining ground in Veracruz. In fact, according to press reports, the group formed an alliance with the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in 2019 as part of an effort to stop the CJNG’s expansion in the central part of the country.

Grupo Sombra has sought the support of the local population by providing social aid. For example, the group was one of the various criminal actors that distributed goods during the first few months of the Covid-19 lockdowns and organized Children’s Day and Mother’s Day celebrations in municipalities in the Huasteca region.

In August 2020, federal forces in Veracruz detained the director of the Álamo de Temapache municipal police and six other officials for allegedly colluding with Grupo Sombra.

Old School Zetas

A combination of the violent war that started in 2010 between the Zetas and Gulf Cartel led to the arrests and murders of leaders of both groups, and pressure by the state provoked the fragmentation of the two groups. Several splinter groups have emerged from the Zetas’ divisions, including the Northeast Cartel, New Zeta Blood Cartel and the Old School Zetas.

The Old School Zetas were allegedly formed by José Guizar Valencia, alias “Z-43,” and other dissidents. The group took the name “Old School” because they would stay true to the Zetas “original business” of drug trafficking, refraining from other predatory criminal activities, such as kidnapping, extortion and oil theft.

The Old School Zetas are currently concentrated in northern Veracruz with a sporadic presence in other states in the northern and eastern parts of the country, such as Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Quintana Roo. However, its main focus is on the northeastern border with the United States. It has participated in violent clashes against former allies, including the Northeast Cartel, Grupo Sombra and CJNG.

Z-43 was arrested in February 2018 in Mexico City. According to the news outlet Milenio, the group currently appears to be under the leadership of Antonio Salas Perea, alias “Chihuas,” who has allegedly formed alliances with Gulf Cartel splinter groups like the Ciclones.

The Talibanes

The Talibanes is an armed group from Tamaulipas, created by Iván Velázquez Caballero, alias “El Talibán” or “Z-50.” The former Zetas operator broke away from the organization in 2012 to challenge the leadership of brothers Miguel Ángel and Omar Treviño – also known as “Z-40” and “Z-42.”

The organization primarily operates in the states of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí, where Velázquez Caballero earned his nickname “El Talibán” in reference to his habit of using a machete to decapitate his enemies and extortion victims who didn’t pay their quotas.

He was apprehended in 2012 and extradited to the United States the following year. Nevertheless, his organization continues to engage in microtrafficking, extortion, human trafficking and kidnapping, allegedly under the command of his son, Raúl, alias “El Talibancito.”

In March 2021, InSight Crime reported that the Talibanes were among the protagonists of the rising violence in Zacatecas state, caused by a fallout between groups looking to control this strategic territory. At the moment, the Talibanes are reportedly allied with the Sinaloa Cartel in Zacatecas, battling the CJNG for control of drug routes there.

The Talibanes were reportedly behind a failed assassination attempt against San Luis Potosí congressman Pedro Carrizales, several decapitated bodies left in front of municipal offices in Zacatecas and threats to several mayors and police officers in the state, according to Óscar Balderas, a journalist and expert on organized crime in Mexico.

The Viagras

The Viagras emerged after the fragmentation of the two largest criminal groups in the southern state of Michoacán, La Familia Michoacana and Knights Templar. Today, the group is part of the Cárteles Unidos, a criminal alliance in the crucial Tierra Caliente region, which seeks to stop the CJNG’s incursion in the area.

Having operated as an independent cell from its inception, the Viagras are now one of the most dominant criminal factions in Michoacán’s highlands. Even in its early years, it operated as an independent cell.

The group was allegedly founded in Huetamo, Michoacán, by seven brothers of the Sierra Santana family. But several of them have now been killed or arrested. According to press reports, the organization’s current leader is Nicolás Sierra Santana, alias “El Gordo.”

According to a press release issued in 2014 by the former leader of the organization, Servando Gómez, alias “La Tuta,” the Viagras acted as the armed wing of the Knights Templar to combat the Guerreros Unidos over the last decade. Today, the Viagras’ activities are primarily concentrated on methamphetamine trafficking and extortion, with its most important rival being the CJNG.

The war between the Viagras and CJNG in Michoacán is one of the most intense in the country. The two organizations often face off in shootouts, establishing roadblocks to prevent the entry of the rival group or authorities in their territories – leaving the villagers captive. They flaunt their firepower by parading around the streets of Tierra Caliente with high-caliber weapons and armored vehicles. Over the course of this conflict, the Viagras have even attacked state security forces. In March, purported members of the organization fired on an army helicopter after the arrest of El Gordo’s son.

As part of the agglomeration Carteles Unidos, the Viagras have joined forces with former self-defense groups like the Cartel del Abuelo and other Michoacán Family splinter groups.

One of the Viagras’ main advantages in Tierra Caliente is the strong roots they have with the local population, beginning with the Sierra Santana family. The Viagras have regularly given out gifts and essential items in villages, claiming to be “protecting the population” from the CJNG. However, civilian self-defense groups have emerged in the area to oppose the Viagras.

The Rojos

The fragmentation of the Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) gave rise to the Rojos, an important cell in the central and southeastern part of Mexico, especially the state of Guerrero.

Although several of its leaders were arrested between 2019 and 2020, the organization has continued to survive and was recently listed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as an active heroin trafficking group with links in the United States.

The organization’s purported founder was Jesús Nava Romero, alias “El Rojo,” a BLO lieutenant that operated the drug trafficking routes from Guerrero to Morelos. Authorities killed El Rojo in 2009, and the organization’s leadership was inherited by his nephew, Zenén Nava, and Santiago Mazari. Both men were arrested between July and August 2019. It remains unclear who assumed leadership in their absence.

The Rojos currently have an influence in the states of Morelos, Puebla, México state and in the highlands of Guerrero – where opium gum is produced for heroin. The group has been accused of extortion, homicides, kidnappings, human trafficking and forced disappearances.

Their main rivals are other BLO splinter groups, particularly the Guerreros Unidos. Both groups have been linked to the disappearances of 43 student students in Ayotzinapa and high levels of violence in Guerrero and Morelos. A recent DEA report stated that the Guerreros Unidos are in an alliance with the CJNG.

The Rojos are also embroiled in a long-term feud with a local group, the Ardillos, which has controlled drug trafficking through parts of Guerrero for 20 years.

Reprinted from InSight Crime, a foundation dedicated to the study of organized crime, and written by Victoria Dittmar, Paige Bowman and Santiago Previde.

Sinkhole in Cajeme, Sonora, claims vehicle during heavy rain

By

Rose Egelhoff

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August 13, 2021

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A large sinkhole swallowed a vehicle whole in Cajeme, Sonora, after heavy rains on Wednesday.

Gorgonio Barraza Díaz, 40, had driven to drop off a friend in his Dodge Durango. When he returned the way he came, driving slowly in the heavy rain, he felt a sudden impact. The airbags exploded and everything went dark.

Barraza’s first thought was that he had driven into a ditch on the side of the road, or collided with something. But when he exited the vehicle, he found himself in a large hole. He climbed up to the pavement but seeing that the car was sinking, quickly went back to grab his cellphone and possessions, before climbing to safety.

Municipal police arrived to cordon off the sinkhole, which may have been caused by the recent rains.

Barraza, a baker and the father of five children, said he hopes to receive compensation for his lost vehicle from the local government.

“I very much need my car for my business, I’m a baker. I deliver bread to the business that order it,” he said.

With reports from El Universal

Youth rescues woman after vehicle swept away by floodwaters

By

Rose Egelhoff

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August 13, 2021

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The vehicle from which a woman escaped in a flooded arroyo.

A young man rescued a woman who was in danger of being swept away by floodwaters in a swollen river in Baja California Sur on Thursday.

After the woman’s car was swept away by floodwaters, she managed to escape the vehicle only to be dragged away by the current, eventually grabbing onto a small tree.

Video posted to social media shows how a young man waded into the rushing water and pulled the woman to safety, as her vehicle sank into the churning river at the San Pedro bridge south of La Paz.

Authorities in Baja California Sur had to rescue at least five other people swept away by floods after torrential rains hit the area on Thursday. And to the north of La Paz, Civil Protection said that a family of four was carried away by the flooding.

Tropical Storm Kevin stayed far offshore but nonetheless led to heavy rains in Baja, especially in the Los Cabos area, where flash floods have been reported and some roads have been affected.

Captan rescate de mujer atrapada en desbordamiento de arroyo en BCS

Watch this video on YouTube

With reports from El Universal

Divided central bank votes to raise interest rate a quarter point

By

MND Staff

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August 13, 2021

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The Bank of México raised its interest rate by 0.25%, marking the second consecutive 3-2 split-decision in favor a quarter-point increase by the central bank’s board of governors.

The hike to 4.5%, returning the rate to September 2020 levels, points to the bank’s concerns about inflation, which was 5.81% in July, far from the 3% target for the fifth consecutive month.

Banxico expects the year to close with inflation at 5.7%, up from a prior projection of 4.8%. However, prices did decrease in July: inflation was the lowest since March; in April the rate had peaked at 6.08%.

The institution hopes to hit the 3% inflation target in in the first quarter of 2023, later than its previous prediction of mid-2022, and expects economic growth to continue despite a third wave of Covid-19 infections.

It attributed inflation to the knock-on effect of the pandemic on supply chains and production. The price of LP gas was 35% higher in annual terms in July and pork was up 18%, according to the federal statistics agency Inegi.

Nikhil Sanghani, an economist at Capital Economics, called the decision “dovish,” a term usually reserved for the lowering of the rate.

He argued that the incremental hike was conservative, and forecast 25 basis point bumps at each of the bank’s next four monetary policy meetings, which would take the rate to 5.5% by the first quarter of 2022.

The previous increase on June 24 was the first since the beginning of 2019, when the economy contracted even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite gross domestic product plummeting by 8.5% in 2020, Banxico has raised growth expectations for this year, from 4.8% to 6%.

Banxico Governor Alejandro Díaz de León and board members Irene Espinosa and Jonathan Heath voted in favor of the rate increase, while members Galia Borja and Gerardo Esquivel were in favor of keeping the rate unchanged at 4.25%.

With reports from El País and Reuters

3,000 flee narco violence in Coalcomán, Michoacán; military refuses to intervene

By

Rose Egelhoff

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August 13, 2021

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Refugees from Coalcomán — Refugees on the road in Michoacán.

Hundreds of families — and counting — in the Michoacán community of Coalcomán have been displaced by narco violence in the past week as cartels continue fighting for territory in the Tierra Caliente region.

Local and religious authorities say the number of refugees has grown exponentially in recent days, and social media posts have shown entire families leaving their homes on foot with nothing but a few suitcases.

Authorities estimate that around 600 families, or 3,000 people, have been displaced from rural areas of the municipality in recent days. About 120 are currently lodged in the municipal capital in a small auditorium that has been converted to a shelter.

Local officials fear that the density of people will lead to violence or Covid outbreaks, but see no other option for housing the displaced. Other refugees have found shelter with family members and still others are on the street. The local government asked state authorities to allow them to use certain buildings as shelters, but were denied.

People are fleeing not just because of the armed confrontations between cartels, but also due to the scarcity that the violence has caused. Electricity, water, phone and internet services have all been compromised and food is running short, since armed groups have blocked the roads into and out of the area.

Coalcomán, a new hot spot in Michoacán violence.

Some residents have been directly threatened and told to leave.

“The armed men threw family members out of their homes and ranches and now have also taken their livestock and their land, so they don’t have anything left,” said one Coalcomán resident who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Residents of nearby municipalities like Tepalcatepec, Apatzingán and Chinicuila have gathered donations to provide food and clothing to the displaced people, even as they themselves are caught in the crossfire of cartel violence.

Local Catholic priest Jorge Luis Martínez Chávez said Coalcomán was formerly a calm, prosperous area. The population of roughly 12,000 people worked in agriculture, ranching, forestry and business. But now, he said, “they have stolen our peace.”

“We have been dragged into the war between cartels; we live in a situation similar to that of Aguililla. The people live with the uncertainty of violence … burned cars, blocked highways, assassinations everywhere, forced exile, the destruction of the road … the destruction of telephone lines, little internet access and surrounded by armed people who defend their own interests,” Martínez said.

Residents have gone to the local military base for help, but were told that the armed forces could do nothing without orders from above, Martínez said, describing the refusal to help as “incredible.” As for the state police, they declined to interfere in a federal matter.

“We beg that the authorities help us… we do not want the luck of Aguililla, but we’re close to that point,” Martínez said.

With reports from El Universal

New Covid cases hit nearly 25,000 in one day, setting record for two days straight

By

Tony Richards

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August 12, 2021

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A Covid patient is wheeled into a hospital.

A new record was set Thursday for new coronavirus cases for the second time in two days.

Federal health authorities reported 24,975 new cases in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 3.45 million. On Wednesday, they reported 22,711 new cases.

Another 608 deaths were reported, bring the accumulated death toll to 246,811.

After a brief lull in which there was a slight decline, estimated Covid cases are up 4% to 146,525.

Healthcare workers administered 1.03 million doses of coronavirus vaccine Wednesday, bringing the total number of doses given to nearly 75 million people. Fifty-nine percent of the adult population has received at least one shot.

In other Covid news:

• New case numbers set a record in Veracruz with 941 registered in the previous 24 hours, the state’s health minister said Thursday morning. It was the second time in a week that the record was broken after 941 new cases were reported Saturday. The state also reported 5,089 active cases.

Twelve hospitals were reported full and 14 others with occupancy over 52%. Hospitals with the highest occupany rates are in the municipalities of Veracruz, Xalapa, Poza Rica, Tuxpan, Coatzacoalcos, Minatitlán and Boca del Río.

• Oaxaca’s minister of health confirmed Wednesday afternoon that 24 hospitals were full for the third day in a row. Occupancy of Covid care beds was at 74%, leaving only 121 beds available in the state.

The number of active cases was estimated at 2,392, up from just 543 at the beginning of July.

With reports from Milenio

Tulum’s ruins offer glimpses of ancient Mayan religious life

By

Thilini Wijesinhe

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August 12, 2021

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Tulum ruins - El Castillo — The tallest building in the archaeological site of Tulum, the three-level El Castillo (the Castle), greets the dawn. soft_light/Shutterstock

The ancient Maya city of Tulum, with glorious ocean views, was an important trading port in the commercial route from central Mexico to Honduras. The site, around 130 kilometers from Cancún, south of Playa del Carmen via Federal Highway 307, is close to the archaeological zone of Cobá.

The name Tulum is Mayan for wall or palisade. It’s believed to refer to the ruins’ surrounding wall. The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) says 16th-century sources call the site Zamá, Mayan for morning or dawn.

Located on a cliff, the city may have been first noticed by the Spanish conqueror Juan de Grijalva in 1518 as he was sailing from Cuba to Mexico. Juan Díaz, a chaplain and chronicler of the expedition, wrote that he had seen a city “as big as Seville,” which may have been Tulum, according to INAH.

Explorers John Stephens and Frederick Catherwood famously visited the site in the early 1840s. During the Caste War of Yucatán (1847–1901), a revolt by the native Maya on the Yucatán Peninsula against the resident Hispanic white and mestizo populations, Tulum was part of the area under rebel control.

Tulum also became a key center of the Maya insurgent religious phenomenon known as the Cult of the Talking Crosses — which involved various miraculous incidents over several years said to have taken place during the Caste War.

Tulum's city wall — One of the entrances through the wall around the ancient city.

According to believers, various divine crosses said to have spoken to the Maya rebels in their native tongue appeared in different rebel locations at different times during the war, providing the Maya encouragement to persevere in their insurgency. The cross in Tulum was said to have appeared in the 1860s.

The buildings at the Tulum site date from A.D. 1250–1550, but features from former periods were also discovered there, including a stela dating to A.D. 564. Therefore, INAH says that the city may have been formed earlier, perhaps as a dependent territory of the nearby Tankah ruin.

Tulum is thought to have been dedicated to Venus. Some building facades have figures of a descending god depicted upside down, who is associated with the sunset and considered connected to the planet. The entrances to structures with descending god figures are said to face the direction where Venus sets.

The Maya of Tulum are thought to have relied mostly on the ocean for food, as well as for material to make different tools and objects. Other supplies were sourced from the jungle. Also, the houses are believed to have had small gardens providing homegrown fresh produce.

The site is surrounded by a wall from the north, south and west, while it borders the ocean to the east. The wall has five entrances and two watchtowers to the north and south.

These watchtowers are also temples, each with an altar inside. Climbing the buildings is not allowed.

Tulum ruins - The Palace of the Great Lord — The Palace of the Great Lord, where Tulum’s ruler — called the halach uinic — and family would live.

Northeast of the site is the three-room House of the Cenote, built over one of the area’s many water-filled caves. A tomb was discovered in this building. To the east is the Kukulcán Group of buildings. Situated by the sea, to the northeast of this section, is the Temple of the Wind God — a square temple on a round base.

The most important section of the Kukulcán Group is the Indoor Enclosure. With 12 buildings, including temples and shrines, it was separated from the other buildings by a low wall. The most important and tallest building of the site, the three-level temple called El Castillo (the Castle), is located here.

The Castle is sometimes speculated to have been a lighthouse. The ground level has two small temples on either side of the wide stairway and altars inside, but the important religious ceremonies took place in the upper temple.

The two columns on the upper temple’s facade are serpent-shaped. The descending god is depicted on this facade, and in the corners are remains of stucco masks of animal forms.

To the north of the Indoor Enclosure is a beautiful single-room structure on a platform called the Temple of the Descending God. It features a figure of the descending god above the entrance. This temple was decorated with mural paintings.

The Temple of the Initial Series within the enclosure is worth seeing. There is an altar inside, and a stela from A.D. 564 was discovered here. The facade has a stucco relief and the remains of a sculpture of a seated human figure.

Tulum ruins - Temple of the Frescoes — The Temple of the Frescoes, which has a temple within a temple, as well as painted murals.

The Central Group buildings are also interesting. A must-see in this section is the two-level Temple of the Frescoes.

The ground level has two temples – one inside another. The inner temple’s facade has mural paintings of gods, but unfortunately, you can’t enter to see them.

The outer temple’s facade has stucco reliefs that contain sculptures — including ones of the descending god — and masks in the corners. The upper temple has red handprints, considered decorative.

To the north, you’ll find the House of Columns, a palace on an L-shaped platform with several rooms. Further north within the Central Group is also the Palace of the Great Lord, called Casa del Halach Uinic. This was where the ruler – called the halach uinic – and his family lived.

The inside of this building is said to have a figure of the descending god as well. The benches along the walls are considered seats but may have also been beds. To the rear of the building is a section where the family living here carried out religious ceremonies.

The Chultún House, close to the west entrance and with an altar inside, is also worth seeing. The building is named after an underground water-storage cavity, called a chultún in the Mayan language.

There are other structures to see on the site. The mini buildings are called Miniature Temples, speculated to have been altars due to their size. Or you can envision the activities of the ancient trading port from the lookouts on the site in addition to enjoying the spectacular views across the ocean.

For a refreshing swim in the Caribbean Sea after exploring the ruins, take the stairs by the cliff to the beach.

Thilini Wijesinhe, a financial professional turned writer and entrepreneur, moved to Mexico in 2019 from Australia. She writes from Mérida, Yucatán. Her website can be found at https://momentsing.com/