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Indigenous communities get no help against constant criminal threats

By
Henry Shuldiner
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indigenous protester in Zinantla, Guerrero
An indigenous protester in the La Montaña region of Guerrero calls for an end to violence in his community. His poster says, "Enough of the kidnappings."

The death of two indigenous leaders in Guerrero has again drawn attention to the government’s negligent protection of indigenous communities targeted by criminal groups throughout Mexico.

In a Facebook post, the Guerrero-Emiliano Zapata Indigenous and Popular Council (Cipog-EZ) announced that members Lorena Chantzin Paxacuasingo and Marcos Campos Ahuejote were found dead after they were reported missing on May 6. The Cipog-EZ blamed Los Ardillos, a local criminal group known for extorting and kidnapping leaders of the community.

Community members and activists sounded alarm bells about the Ardillos’ plans to expand into El Ocotito valley in October 2021, but authorities did little in response. Warnings about an attack came to fruition in January 2022, when a confrontation between the Unión de Pueblos y Organizaciones del Estado de Guerrero (UPOEG), an indigenous self-defense group, and Los Ardillos left four community members dead.

In response to the attacks and several disappearances of Nahua indigenous community members, Cipog-EZ organized a series of protests and roadblocks in March 2022, demanding that the government provide better security and protection for their communities, calling attention to the high levels of impunity for criminal groups in Guerrero.

Lorena Chantzin and Marcos Campos

Indigenous community leaders from Chilapa, Guerrero, Lorena Chantzin and Marcos Campos.The killings are only the most recent in a series of attacks on the state’s indigenous communities. In January 2020, the Ardillos murdered 10 indigenous musicians in Chilapa. A self-defense group from the Nahua community circulated videos of children armed with heavy-duty weapons in response to attacks, claiming them as the newest recruits in the battle against the Ardillos.

The video spread widely on social media and garnered international attention, triggering criticism from President López Obrador and state governor Héctor Antonio Astudillo Flores. Despite the reaction, the situation has barely changed nearly two and a half years later.

InSight Crime analysis

In more isolated parts of Mexico, indigenous communities have become targets of constant and systematic oppression by local criminal groups, as exemplified by the Ardillos’ targeting of the Nahua community.

While the Ardillos have been a constant criminal presence in the mountainous region of Guerrero for two decades, their business has shifted, and they have become increasingly reliant on local communities for income. The group once oversaw poppy cultivation and heroin trafficking, forcing members of local communities to work in the fields for them, according to complaints made by victims to police in 2019.

But since the decline in demand for heroin, the Ardillos have relied on extortion, kidnapping and illegal mining. Again, local community members have to pay up or be recruited to work for the groups.

There is little hope of this changing anytime soon. According to a 2020 report from the International Crisis Group, security forces seldom intervene in Guerrero, essentially allowing criminal organizations free rein to construct laboratories, cultivate drug plantations and extort community members and businesses.

And the Nahuas in Guerrero are not alone in this fate. In the Sierra Tarahumara, a mountain range crossing the northern state of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri indigenous community and several others have suffered at the hands of organized crime for years. Illegal timber harvesting, poppy cultivation, land seizures and illegal mining have all blighted the lives of Rarámuri members, displacing hundreds and killing dozens.

The war between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel has impacted indigenous communities across the northern states of Durango, Nayarit, Zacatecas and Jalisco, according to an April 2021 investigation by the newspaper El País.

Isidrio Baldegra

Chihuahua Rarámuri community leader Isidrio Baldenegro was one of several indigenous activists who fought illegal natural resource extraction by cartels and paid with their lives.Yet the government has not made this a security priority. In February 2021, the Interior Ministry’s Commissioner for Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples received a letter from the Huichol indigenous community in northern Mexico.

“Our communities have witnessed shootings, gunfights and battles … proving not only uncertainty but also affecting innocent people who call this area their home since before these groups arrived,” read the letter.

That same month, then-governor of Zacatecas Alejandro Tello called for help from López Obrador due to an “epidemic of violence” against indigenous communities.

Yet when questioned directly in January this year about a plan to help these communities, López Obrador dismissed the topic, instead praising indigenous groups for having “less violence” due to allegedly having less “disintegration of families” and preserving “values and customs.”

Reprinted from InSight Crime. Henry Shuldiner is a writer with InSight Crime, a foundation dedicated to the study of organized crime.

Fireworks ‘castle’ topples on crowd during state of México celebration

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MND Staff
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Fireworks accident, Santa Cruz Cuauhtenco fair
The accident occurred at the Santa Cruz Cuauhtenco fair near Toluca. Twitter

Five people, including two children, were injured Sunday night when part of a fireworks “castle” fell into the crowd during a fair near Toluca, México state.

A video posted to social media shows one of the castle’s “crowns” detaching and plummeting toward attendees of the Santa Cruz Cuauhtenco fair in Zinacantepec, which borders Toluca. It landed among screaming fairgoers who were watching “the burning of the castle.”

México state Civil Protection authorities said a 29-year-old man and two children aged five and seven were taken to a Toluca hospital for treatment for unspecified injuries. Two other people received medical attention at the site of the accident.

Castillos pirotécnicos, or fireworks castles, are popular attractions at fairs and other celebrations in Mexico and fireworks-related injuries and deaths are also relatively common.

The moment when the fireworks castle collapsed and was captured on video.

 

A castillo fell at a 2018 event in Zumpango, México state, injuring four people, while five people were killed the very next day when 11 kilograms of fireworks exploded in close vicinity to people attending a religious celebration in Tequisquiapan, Querétaro.

In even worse fireworks-related disasters, 42 people were killed in an explosion at a fireworks market in Tultepec, México state, in 2016, while at least 24 people died during or shortly after four blasts in the same municipality in 2018.

Located about 40 kilometers north of downtown Mexico City, Tultepec is considered Mexico’s fireworks capital due to the large number of fireworks that are made and sold there.

With reports from UnoTV and Milenio

Chief justice’s visit with inmates highlights the vices of preventative prison

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MND Staff
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Arturo Zaldivar at Santa Martha Acatitla
Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldivar during his visit to Santa Martha Acatitla women's prison last week in Mexico City.

Criminal suspects in Mexico can spend as long as 10 to 15 years in prison awaiting trial but it is not a practice that has the support of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. In fact, Arturo Zaldívar wants to see change.

Zaldívar has spoken out before against the frequency with which accused criminals are sent to prison for pretrial detention, where they often languish for years without being convicted of any crime.

“In Mexico, there is an abuse of preventative prison,” he said after a historic visit to a Mexico City women’s prison last week.

Zaldívar said pretrial detention should be the exception rather than the rule, used when the accused is a flight risk or there is a danger that evidence will be destroyed or witnesses’ safety will be placed at risk.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldivar
Zaldivar said that his visit to the prison could be the catalyst for a change in the way preventative prison is used.

His remarks came after he visited the Santa Martha Acatitla women’s prison in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa last Wednesday

Zaldívar, the first sitting Supreme Court chief justice to visit a prison, met with some 220 inmates, among whom was former cabinet minister Rosario Robles, who is accused of involvement in a government embezzlement scheme known as the “Master Fraud” but is yet to face trial almost three years after she was jailed.

The chief justice told a press conference that between 60% and 70% of prisoners at Santa Martha Acatitla haven’t been convicted of the crimes of which they are accused. “I confirmed the vices of the Mexican criminal system that I’ve been pointing out for a long time,” Zaldívar said of his visit.

The justice, who clashed with President López Obrador last year over a Supreme Court ruling against preventative custody for people accused of certain crimes, said the use of pretrial detention by judges needs to be reviewed. Clearer criteria must be established, he said, adding that lengthy legal processes that leave people in jail for 10 or 15 years without being sentenced must be eliminated.

Ex Mexican cabinet minister Rosario Robles
Rosario Robles, a cabinet minister under president Enrique Peña Nieto, has been held in preventative custody at Santa Martha Acatitla prison since 2019. File photo

According to Mexican laws, pretrial detention shouldn’t exceed two years, but it often lasts much longer due to the nation’s sluggish and overburdened justice system. According to government figures quoted by the NGO Human Rights Watch in 2018, there were 80,000 people in Mexican prisons awaiting trial, about 41% of the total prison population.

Zaldívar’s prison visit came after he received a letter from inmates asking for the opportunity to present their cases of injustice to him.

It also came after the stepdaughter of the federal attorney general’s brother was released from the Santa Martha Acatitla prison more than 500 days after she was jailed on charges of “homicide by omission” for allegedly failing to provide adequate medical care to her stepfather. The case of Alejandra Cuevas was one high-profile example of a person being kept in prison for an extended period of time despite a lack of evidence to prove his or her guilt.

Zaldívar acknowledged that some prisoners face charges for crimes that have been fabricated. “It’s something that is extremely painful — fabricated crimes, violations of due process, the failures of prosecutor’s offices, judges and police,” he said.

Family members of Santa Martha Acatitla inmate
Family members of an inmate at Santa Martha Acatitla protesting outside the prison.

The chief justice asserted that his visit could be the catalyst for a change in the way preventative prison is used.

“I told the women that there could be results from this visit,” Zaldívar said before calling on judges to be more sensitive and to consider the impact their rulings have on the people involved in the cases they hear.

The number of crimes that warrant preventative custody has increased in recent years as the government seeks to combat insecurity, which is a major problem in many parts of the country. Fuel theft, corruption and home burglaries are among the crimes that have been added to the list.

Paola Zavala, a lawyer and specialist in societal reintegration for former prisoners, told the newspaper El País that imprisonment is seen as an easy fix to crime – even though impunity in Mexico remains rife – but doesn’t reduce violence.

“In the face of social problems – prison,” she said. “The demand for justice in Mexico has been reduced to jail because it’s the easy way out for lawmakers, but it doesn’t solve violence.”

Zavala described Zaldívar’s prison visit as an important step toward the establishment of an improved justice system in which judges don’t rely so heavily on preventative prison.

“All the judges and all the lawmakers should go [to a prison] to see with their own eyes where they are sending people,” she said.

With reports from El País

Internal investigations by National Guard indicate extortion is a major problem

By
MND Staff
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national guard patrol
43% of National Guardsmen accused of wrongdoing were part of the force's highway patrol division.

Hundreds of National Guard (GN) members have been investigated internally for extortion since 2019, suggesting that the criminal practice is a significant problem in the security force created by the current federal government.

However, impunity appears to be rife, with the vast majority of investigations failing to end in punishment.

The GN’s internal affairs unit launched 988 probes into the allegedly improper or criminal conduct of 1,460 guardsmen and guardswomen between July 1, 2019 – the day after the GN was officially inaugurated – and February 28, 2022, according to official information obtained by the newspaper Milenio via freedom of information requests.

Just over half of those investigations – 495 or 50.1% of the total – were for extortion.

All told, the GN’s internal affairs unit initiated investigations into 44 different misdemeanors or crimes allegedly committed by members of the quasi-militarized security force, but only two of 421 concluded probes established guilt.

After extortion, the most commonly investigated offense was abuse of authority with 102 probes followed by theft of assets belonging to the GN with 73 investigations and general theft with 54 cases.

Among the other offenses investigated were failure to conduct oneself with dedication and discipline; engaging in conduct that harms the image of the GN; asking for gifts; links to organized crime; bribery; illicit enrichment; and petroleum theft.

The 988 investigations examined conduct by National Guard members who work in 17 different areas of the force.

The division responsible for guaranteeing security on the nation’s highways has the highest number of allegedly unscrupulous cops with 626 coming under investigation. That figure accounts for 43% of all GN members accused of wrongdoing in the 32-month period for which Milenio obtained information.

While 421 of the 988 investigations were concluded, only two were referred to the “relevant collegiate body” in order for punishment of the guilty GN members to be determined. The other 419 concluded probes – 99.5% of the total – were deemed to be based on unsubstantiated complaints.

The information obtained by Milenio didn’t say what punishment was handed down to the GN members involved in the two cases that were substantiated. There are 567 internal investigations that haven’t yet been finished.

Milenio also obtained information that showed that over 70% of guardsmen and guardswomen are not certified. Of 102,751 members of the security force, just 27,938, or 27% of the total, have certification known as the Certificado Único Policial (CUP).

National Guard publicity
National Guard publicity declares ‘zero corruption’ and ‘zero impunity’ but both appear to be problematic within the force itself.

It verifies that a GN member has completed all relevant training and passed confidence and control tests.

Ricardo Márquez Blas, a security specialist who was a high-ranking security official in the previous federal government, sees a correlation between the high number of uncertified Guard members and the high number of investigations into illegal acts allegedly committed by members of the security force.

He told Milenio that there is little clarity about what the process is for dealing with uncertified GN members, who “theoretically shouldn’t belong to any police force.”

Márquez also said that the performance of the GN is “far below the expectations of society, citizens and … the commitments made by the current government,” which has given the security force a central role in the fight against crime.

Insecurity remains a major problem in Mexico almost three years after the National Guard – which superseded the Federal Police – was established.

Márquez said that the operational efficiency of the GN – led by army general Luis Rodríguez Bucio – is below that of the nation’s police forces, many of which have their own problems with uncertified and untrustworthy officers.

“Data from 2020 shows the operational disaster that exists in the country’s police forces. A state police or municipal police officer makes one arrest a year,” he said, adding that there is only one arrest annually for every 13 GN members.

“While the state and municipal police have a very low operational level, the operational efficiency of the National Guard is much worse,” Márquez said.

With reports from Milenio

Dzibanché, a Maya city off the beaten path, has possible ties to Calakmul

By
Thilini Wijesinhe
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Dzibanché's Temple of the Owl.
Dzibanché's Temple of the Owl.

If you are keen to see archaeological sites off the beaten path, then Dzibanché — called Dzibanché-Kinichná — is for you.

Dzibanché and Kinichná are two nearby sites that were part of a settlement of four groups.

While their location — around 81 kilometers from Chetumal (off Highway 186) — is not the most convenient to visit, you will not regret seeing the beautiful structures here. The pyramid in Kinichná is a key highlight.

You can combine a visit to Dzibanché with a trip to several archaeological sites, including Kohunlich and Oxtankah. We visited the sites from Bacalar.

According to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), Dzibanché was discovered and named by Thomas Gann, a British military doctor and archaeology enthusiast who visited the site in 1927.

Reliefs on Dzibanché's Temple of the Comorants.
Reliefs on the Temple of the Cormorants.

Dzibanché is Mayan for “writing on wood,” referring to the wooden lintel with glyphs that was in one of the site’s temples. According to INAH, the settlement dates to around 300 B.C. and lasted until A.D. 1400–1550.

Only two of the settlement’s four groups — Dzibanché (also called the Main Group) and Kinichná — are open to visitors. Ancient Maya white roads (raised roads) connect these groups.

Notably, INAH says that Dzibanché is believed to have once been a capital of the powerful Kaan (Kaanu’l) dynasty, also called the Snake dynasty, who ruled in Calakmul.

Expect to spend a few hours exploring both sites. You can climb many structures, but there are steep steps, so take good care.

Once you enter the Dzibanché group, you will come across the Temple of the Lintels, a pyramid base with a temple on top. The wooden lintel that inspired the site’s name was found here.

The pyramid’s platform has characteristics resembling an architectural style from Teotihuacán in central Mexico.

Next, you can walk to Plaza Gann, named after the man who discovered the site.

West of the plaza is an interesting structure called the Temple of the Captives, which has a pyramid platform and a temple on top. You can observe the remains of a stucco mask on this structure.

Don’t forget to look out for the glyphs on this building’s stairway. INAH says the stairway records the war victories of a Kaan ruler, and that the glyphs include images of prisoners and related text.

North of the Gann Plaza is the Temple of the Toucans. It has a platform with a central stairway thought to have been used as seats to watch ceremonies in the plaza. You can see remains of stone blocks on this building that once had stucco masks.

A notable building in this area is the Temple of the Cormorants, the tallest on the site. It has a pyramidal base with a temple on top.

Multiple chambers were found within the platform, and one contained remains of what was called the “Lord of Dzibanché” with a rich offering, according to INAH. Make time to see the remains of reliefs on this building.

Dzibanché Building of the Captives, mexico
The remainders of a stucco mask can still be seen on the Temple of the Captives.

From here, you can climb up to the adjoining plaza on a higher level called Plaza Xibalbá. According to ancient Maya beliefs, Xibalbá was the underworld.

While the Temple of the Cormorants borders the west of the Plaza Xibalbá, toward the east is a building called the Temple of the Owl. INAH says that a woman with a notable offering was found buried here.

North and south of the plaza are palace structures built on platforms that are also worth seeing. There are other structures, including unexcavated mounds to see in the Dzibanché group.

Next, visit the Kinichná group, around two kilometers away.

Kinichná is Mayan for “House of the Sun.” The site has a gigantic pyramid called the Acropolis, which resembles an ancient version of a modern skyscraper. You can only see part of the pyramid from its base, but you can climb it to explore the different levels.

The first level above the pyramid’s base, called Level B, has two structures on each side with temples on top. The second level, called Level C, also has two temples on each side, and in the center are steps that lead to an upper temple.

This building once had stucco decorations and a figure of the Maya sun god, Kinich Ahau. Burials with offerings were discovered in this temple, which had included some of the best jade items found in the region, says INAH. You will not tire of the breathtaking views from this magnificent pyramid’s summit.

Kinichná has other unexcavated mounds. While exploring Dzibanché and Kinichná, keep an eye out for monkeys and different varieties of birds. The natural surroundings make the visit less tiring despite the region’s hot climate.

If you still have time after exploring, visit the Maya site of Kohunlich, around a 45- minute drive away.

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/

Teachers earning less than 20,000 pesos get 7.5% pay hike

By
MND Staff
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Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, President López Obrador and Education Minister Delfina Gómez at a Teachers' Day event Sunday.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, President López Obrador and Education Minister Delfina Gómez at a Teachers' Day event Sunday.

Low earning teachers are set for a 7.5% pay hike, the education minister confirmed on Sunday at an event to mark Teachers’ Day.

The raise will affect teachers who earn less than 20,000 pesos (almost US $1,000) per month.

Delfina Gómez said that 25 billion pesos (almost US $1.25 billion) would be spent on the wage increase to bring the average monthly salary up to 14,300 pesos (US $715).

Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O told the president’s morning news conference on Monday that there were 957,000 teachers in the low wage bracket who would receive a raise, 49,000 of whom earn less than 12,000 pesos.

At Sunday’s event the president also promised to revise teachers’ pensions after the leader of the SNTE public school teachers’ union complained that educators’ pension plans were unrewarding compared to workers with pensions from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). The president also said the government would continue to provide scholarships for students from low-income households.

López Obrador added that he wanted education to be focused on ethics. “We do not want inventors of atomic bombs, we want creators of fraternity. Teachers who teach students to be good citizens … who will practice the love of their neighbor,” he said.

The president said that information in textbooks should be subject to humanistic principles. “In all the books, even if they are natural sciences, there should be a common stem dedicated to humanism, to the social sciences. First we must form ourselves as good human beings, as good citizens and then as good scientists … and not abandon our humanism,” he said.

With reports from El Universal

Firefighters attempt to beat record and climb 53 stories in 11 minutes

By
MND Staff
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Firefighters begin their race at the Torre Reforma on Saturday.
Firefighters begin their race at the Torre Reforma on Saturday.

Climbing over 1,400 stairs as fast as possible was the goal for some 250 firefighters who participated in a tower running race in Mexico City’s second highest skyscraper on Saturday.

Weighed down with protective gear and equipment weighing 25 kilograms, firefighters from the capital, several states and even the United States participated in the carrera vertical, or vertical race, held at Torre Reforma, a 246-meter-high skyscraper on Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s most emblematic boulevard.

To complete the course, firefighters had to ascend 53 floors by climbing an exhausting total of 1,421 stairs.

Some impressive times were recorded but no one was able to break the existing record of 11 minutes, the newspaper El Universal reported.

The women’s champion for a second consecutive year was Citlalli Ramírez, who finished in 18 minutes and 42 seconds. “In an emergency, our real work starts after going up the 53 floors, that’s when the hard part starts,” she said.

The men’s champion was Agustín Herrera, who completed the course in 13 minutes and five seconds, meaning that he climbed an average of 1.8 stairs per second.

Another competitor was Diego Méndez, the sole participant from México state. After completing the ascent in 15 minutes, he told El Universal he didn’t feel tired as he had been training for months.

“In the course of the race I felt good, calm,” Méndez said. “… It was a very good race.”

Édgar Ramírez, who crossed the finish line in 18 minutes, described the race as an “unforgettable experience” that really got his adrenaline pumping.

“You want to give everything,” he said, adding that his training included running and doing weights.

Juan Manuel Pérez, director of the Heroico Cuerpo de Bomberos, as the Mexico City fire department is called, described firefighters as high-performance athletes who are accustomed to going up stairs at a rapid pace. “The everyday life of a firefighter is to climb,” he said.

With reports from El Universal, Reforma, Noticieros Televisa, Excélsior and UnoTV

Like his predecessor, new Guerrero bishops seeks dialogue with the narcos

By
MND Staff
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welcoming Jose de Jesus Gonzalez as bishop in Guerrero
The new bishop got a warm welcome in Chilapa last month.

Salvador Rangel, former bishop of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese in the southern state of Guerrero, was well known for his willingness to engage with criminal organizations.

Now, José de Jesús González, who took over from Rangel last month, is determined to carry on the tradition.

In an interview with the newspaper Milenio, he said he hoped to cultivate a friendship with criminal groups and indicated that he would be prepared to give his life while mediating between feuding narcos.

González – who was previously a suffragan (assistant) bishop in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara – said he hasn’t yet met with organized crime operatives in the troubled state, but he plans to travel to the mountainous region of his diocese with a view to initiating dialogue.

Chilapa Bishop Salvador Rangel
González’s predecessor is Salvador Rangel, who was seen as an expert on Guerrero’s cartels and someone accepted by them as a mediator.

“I believe they’re looking at me to see if I have … [the right] profile” to liaise with them, he told Milenio.

“I’m going to go and do my work [in the diocese] and if they also want to become my friends they’ll come out to meet me,” González said.

The bishop said he hoped to go to the “sierra” next week, although he conceded he didn’t know whether he would find any narcos there.

“I don’t know if they’re there. One thinks they’re there but they’re everywhere! I’m just going to go and see, I’m going to visit the communities, the priests there, the religious and the faithful,” González said.

“If … [the narcos] believe it’s advisable to find me – they rule the land, not me – … we’ll talk,” he said.

González said he would advise gang members that he has replaced Rangel as bishop and ask them to allow him to do his work and not confuse him for an antagonist, such as a rival criminal.

“They hunt you, like deer hunters, but I’m not a deer, I’m a person,” he said.

“[I’ll] introduce myself, tell them ‘I’m going to be driving this kind of truck, … getting in and out,’” González said.

Bishop Jose de Jesus Gonzalez
“… A good shepherd doesn’t flee, he gives his life for his sheep,” González said.

“… Let’s see if they accept me, … they already had a previous [Catholic Church] friend [in Rangel], now [let’s see if they want] to make a friend of me,” he said.

The bishop admitted he’s afraid of what lies ahead, telling Milenio that firearms make him nervous.

“They have weapons, if they see a strange movement they have to shoot, … they’re in a situation of anxiety day and night,” he said. “… These people are indoctrinated to distrust everyone and perhaps to do evil if they’re obliged.”

Despite the dangers, González said he wants to be a mediator between criminal groups in Guerrero, Mexico’s ninth most violent state in 2021 with over 1,350 homicides. His predecessor said in December that such groups have diversified their activities well beyond the trafficking of narcotics and now have interests in mining, logging and even the distribution of beer and soft drinks.

“The pope says it’s better to be a mediator and not an intermediary. Do you know the difference? An intermediary receives a payment and is happy with his payment. A mediator has both sides in his heart and doesn’t want disputes,” González said, adding that the latter would give his life in exchange for enemies extending their hands to each other.

“… A good shepherd doesn’t flee, he gives his life for his sheep. If we also want to be good, [we also have to] give our lives for our sheep and … [narcos] are also sheep,” he said, making a remark similar to that made last week by President López Obrador, who declared that the government looks after criminals because they’re people too.

Asked whether he would be prepared to give his own life while advocating peace through mediation between criminal groups, the bishop responded:

“Maybe yes. Maybe it is what is needed. Martyrs! Although we already have several, another wouldn’t be bad for the church, but only God grants that [designation]. If the Lord grants it, it would be great!”

With reports from Milenio

174 temporary shelters installed as BCS prepares for hurricane season

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MND Staff
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palm tree in the wind
Above-average hurricane activity is predicted this year for both the Pacific and the Atlantic.

One hundred and seventy-four temporary shelters have been installed in Baja California Sur in preparation for the hurricane season.

At least 65,000 people live in areas classified as vulnerable and susceptible to flooding in the state’s five municipalities, according to state authorities.

Baja California Sur Civil Protection has classified at-risk areas into high, medium and low risk.

Deputy Civil Protection Minister Benjamín García Meza said that according to the historic average of hurricanes in the region, there could be up to 13 this year, but he added that an official prediction would be released on May 17 at the National Civil Protection Conference.

“This [hurricane] season is expected to see normal to slightly above-normal cyclonic activity,” García said, before adding that Baja California Sur has one of the highest rates of hurricane activity due to its geographical situation, and that the tourist destinations of La Paz and Los Cabos are usually the most affected.

García added that areas with stream beds face a heightened risk in the rainy season (June-October) and that 18,000 tonnes of debris had been cleared from them to help keep water levels down.

García instructed people in Baja California Sur to stay informed and to follow official guidance in case of a hurricane. Most of the 174 shelters are located in schools.

The Pacific hurricane season runs from mid-May to November 30. Last September almost 200,000 electricity customers lost power due to Hurricane Olaf, while Hurricane Nora killed at least one person in Jalisco in August and Hurricane Enrique killed at least two in Guerrero in June.

The Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1, is also predicted to bring above-average hurricane activity this year.

With reports from El Universal

Lunar eclipse: Yucatán tradition saves moon from ‘being eaten’

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MND Staff
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lunar eclipse
Beating on pots and pans Sunday saved the moon.

In many cultures there exists a myth that the moon is made of cheese.

People from those cultures had some of the citizens of Yucatán to thank on Sunday who, according to their own local legend, saved the moon from being devoured by an aggressive celestial creature.

Repeating an age-old tradition, children from the southeastern state steeped in Mayan culture took the lids from kitchen pots to bang them together during an eclipse. The story goes that the noisy performance helps the moon, considered a deity in pre-Hispanic times, free itself from a sinister creature that would otherwise make it disappear.

The tradition has become less common, but some families still encourage their children to continue it. It is unclear when the practice began to involve household kitchenware.

“Louder, louder, so the moon doesn’t get eaten!” one father can be heard saying to his daughter in a video, who bangs two pot lids together with measured enthusiasm.

The lunar eclipse last night included the rare sighting of a super blood moon, where for several minutes Earth was positioned directly between the sun and the moon. In that time the moon fell completely into Earth’s shadow, temporarily making it appear dark orange.

With reports from Por Esto and BBC

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