Opposition, business rally in support of former minister charged with corruption

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July 12, 2021

Guajardo, left, during trade talks — Guajardo, left, at the conclusion of trade talks with Canadian negotiator Chrystia Freeland and Robert Lighthizer of the US.

Opposition political parties and Mexico’s business community have rallied behind former economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo, whom federal authorities accuse of illicit enrichment.

The federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced Friday that a federal judge had ordered Guajardo, economy minister during the entirety of former president Enrique Peña Nieto’s 2012-2018 term, to stand trial.

The FGR said its anti-corruption unit determined that the ex-official “probably” acquired “an unjustified increase to his wealth” between 2014 and 2018, adding that he was unable to prove its legal origin.

The former cabinet minister, who was recently elected as a federal deputy for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and is due to take his seat in Congress on September 1, promptly denied the charge, asserting that the case against him amounted to “political persecution.”

The national leaders of the three main opposition parties all came to Guajardo’s defense, as did the president of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), an influential umbrella organization representing 12 business groups.

“The political persecution of the Morena government against opponents of its authoritarian regime is absolutely unacceptable,” National Action Party (PAN) national president Marko Cortés wrote on Twitter. “Now it’s Ildefenso Guajardo’s turn. In the opposition bloc we will not be intimidated.”
Jesús Zambrano, national president of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), called the accusations “groundless” and charged that the federal government’s aim was to “break the [PAN-PRI-PRD] legislative coalition because he could play an important role in criticizing this government.”

PRI national president Alejandro Moreno expressed confidence that a judge would absolve the former minister and advised the federal government and Morena to instead focus on prosecuting corruption within their own ranks.

“Instead of using institutions to try and intimidate the opposition, the Morena government should shed light on the evident corruption and electoral crime inside Morena and the federal government. My total support to Ildefonso Guajardo in the face of this new onslaught by the state,” he wrote on Twitter.

“I know Ildefonso Guajardo and we’ve worked together on a lot of issues for the benefit of Nuevo León and Mexico. I trust that he will soon prove to authorities that his honorability and prestige remain intact,” said CCE president Carlos Salazar.

Several other opposition political figures, including former president Vicente Fox and ex-tourism minister Enrique de la Madrid, also took to Twitter to offer their support to Guajardo, who personally responded to many of the messages.

Extraordinary and indefensible that the Mexican govt would decide to go after someone as respected as Ildefonso Guajardo – someone who did such an incredible job as Sec de Economía https://t.co/oIU19ToSr0

— Duncan Wood (@AztecDuncan) July 10, 2021

“Thanks for the support,” the former economy minister wrote in response to Fox’s tweet declaring “we’re with you!!”

“I trust that the [legal] process will be in accordance with the law and I will be allowed to prove with evidence that the accusation is unfair and without foundation. He who owes nothing, fears nothing,” wrote Guajardo, the former government’s chief negotiator in trade talks with the United States and Canada.

He also responded to a tweet by United States-based Mexico expert Duncan Wood, who wrote that it was “extraordinary and indefensible” that the Mexican government would go after someone as respected as Ildefonso Guajardo, “who did such an incredible job” as economy minister.

“Thank you Duncan for your kind words of support. I’ve worked hard during my more than 40 years of public service to comport myself honorably, ethically and always following the letter and spirit of the law. I’m confident of the outcome and I look forward to continuing to serve my country when I’m sworn in as … [a] federal congressman next month,” Guajardo wrote.

Meanwhile, the FGR rejected Guajardo’s claim in a written statement that the case against him “smells of political persecution.”

That claim is “completely false,” the FGR said in its own statement before rejecting an assertion that it has not allowed Guajardo and his lawyer to see the evidence it has gathered against the former.

The Attorney General’s Office said the Ministry of Public Administration (SFP) – the federal government’s internal corruption watchdog – filed a complaint against Guajardo last October and that its anti-corruption unit subsequently opened an investigation. Guajardo was notified of the case against him in March and granted access to all the evidence supplied by the SFP, the FGR said.

It added that it continued to keep the former economy minister abreast of additional evidence gathered against him up to the date of the court hearing at which he was ordered to stand trial.

“The main accusation” is that Guajardo has a foreign bank account with a balance of just under 8.17 million pesos (US $411,000), an amount the former official asserts came from the sale of a property he and his sister inherited, the FGR said.

However, documentation submitted by Guajardo shows that “his half doesn’t correspond in any way” to the amount he says he received, the FGR said.

“… He has been asked to show the origin of this inconsistency but he hasn’t done so. In the face of such circumstances, the only option … was the judicial trying of this case,” it said.

With reports from Expansión Política and Animal Político

Narco control and brotherly love: the week at the mañaneras

By

MND Staff

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July 10, 2021

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Five cabinet ministers await their turn at the podium on Tuesday.

Set against the grandeur of the National Palace, the president’s morning conferences, or mañaneras as they are known, start in the early morning, and can last for three hours. They are an exercise in stamina: the 67-year-old president from Tabasco stands for the duration, offering a slow but precise delivery.

Here’s a rundown of the week’s conferences.

Monday

It was straight to business early on Monday: “Does the state really have control of the narcos, who seem to be growing in power in the country?”

Although AMLO, as the president is commonly known, managed to bat away the charge without too much trouble, it proved to be a warning shot.

Enter Jorge Ramos, a highly regarded Mexican U.S.-based journalist, who wasted no time in his questioning. “Outside of the bubble of the National Palace, the country is not in peace and tranquility, Mr. President. One hundred Mexicans are being killed every day … you are still blaming former presidents … do you think the strategy of ‘hugs not bullets’ has been an absolute failure?” he asked.

The president pointed to incremental improvement: a 3% decrease in homicides.

“This is the problem, you are presenting it as something positive and it isn’t positive,” the journalist contested.

Before closing, the pope got a special mention. “We have the enormous pleasure of governing in the time of Pope Francisco,” the president said.

lopez obrador — ‘Love your neighbor,’ the president told reporters this week.

Tuesday

A big announcement: the third wave of Covid-19 infections had arrived with a 22% spike in cases. However, vaccination had prevented deaths and hospitalizations from increasing in kind. In a related announcement, foreigners residing in Mexico without an identity number (CURP) were informed they could register for a temporary number to get vaccinated.

Questions took the room to Aguililla, Michoacán, the center of a territorial war between rival cartels. The president called for peace in religious terms: “The people, the peasants, the producers, the merchants, the religious, everyone … don’t take the path of violence … Put into practice the principle of love for your neighbor … No to violence, yes to peace, yes to dialogue,” he said.

“I am a pacifist. Even if they make fun of me … I will keep saying: ‘Hugs, not bullets,’” he added, before confirming a negotiations had started to find a resolution to the conflict.

Even criminals, AMLO said, deserved protection. “You could even say: it’s between them … as if they were not human beings … but we have an obligation as the state to protect everyone’s life.”

To drive the point home, the conference ended with a video in which an interviewer quoted former president Felipe Calderón calling for gang members to be murdered.

“I thought he was posh. But no, he’s really tough,” the politician from Tabasco taunted.

Wednesday

The fake news patrol kicked off Wednesday’s conference. A corruption story was confirmed as false: nothing, Ana Elizabeth García Vilchis said, was hidden in an application for funding for the Maya Train project.

Bias, rather than misinformation, was also included in the new weekly feature. Statistics collected by the National Electoral Institute on media coverage for the June 6 elections were recited, and data for each major media organization were revealed.

In the case of Grupo Imagen, the ruling party Morena had been mentioned in a negative light 1,599 times. “Three times more negative mentions than opposition parties,” García declared. True, if each of the National Action Party, the Democratic Revolution Party and the Institutional Revolutionary Party are taken individually. However, if treated as a bloc, which is how the three parties campaigned, then negative mentions were close to even.

Numbers were still on the president’s mind later in the mañanera. “I’m going to show off … a global survey of presidents’ approval ratings. Guess what? It’s the guy from Tepetitán [the president’s hometown], you know who: in first place,” he goaded.

More hot air rounded off the conference. The president announced a new company would be formed to make gas cheaper for consumers.

Thursday

The topic of child obesity switched to football early on Thursday. Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo got the thumbs-up from the president for his spontaneous protest in which he discarded bottles of Coca-Cola in a post-match press conference, and said “drink water.”

AMLO later gave some credence to the idea that there might be a security problem in the country. “We are talking about economic growth, from which jobs are being regenerated, there is well being, but if there is no peace and there is no tranquility, the national project isn’t viable,” he said. In citizen surveys, he added, there are always two principal interests: employment and security.

Later, water returned. Two towns in Oaxaca recently passed four years without water, a journalist said. A legal battle had prevented a resolution from being reached.

“I don’t want to use force, I want dialogue and compromise,” said the president.

The journalist accused him of standing up a straw man. “Why are you are acting as if I’m asking you to use force?” he said.

Before finishing, the president confirmed his weekend plans. This week it was a whistle stop tour through Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo to check progress on his hallmark project, the Maya Train.

Friday

First on Friday two presentations: one on the profit sharing law, and another on how the National Palace assists protesters that arrive to its doors.

It only delayed the inevitable. The first journalist called upon directed focus on AMLO’s brother Martín Jesús López Obrador, who had been caught on camera receiving a packet of cash from David León, a former advisor to the president and ex-chief of the federal Civil Protection agency.

“If there is proof, he must be reported [to authorities]. All citizens have the responsibility to act and the relevant authority has to rule whether there’s a crime or not,” the president said, adding that he hadn’t seen Martín for five years.

It was an attempt at slander, he affirmed. “… They make it seem that it’s campaign money, political money, money for me – something that’s not true, it’s as simple as that.”

The president later announced that Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez would be making her way to Aguililla, Michoacán, where conflict has raged between rival cartels.

Capping off the week, AMLO reminded the room of his weekend plans in the Yucatán Peninsula, and offered an affectionate touch. “Remember that I don’t travel by private plane … I love you all lots,” he said, briefly before striding away to attend to the nation.

Mexico News Daily

Mexico’s coronavirus toll also includes abandoned cats and dogs

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Leigh Thelmadatter

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July 9, 2021

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A rescue facility affiliated with the National Network for Assistance to Animal Shelters is overflowing with dogs for adoption.

Alarms started going off in the Mexican press as early as May 2020 noting the significant rise in cases of animal abuse, neglect and, in particular, abandonment as coronavirus isolation measures came into full force.

Dealing with the problem of unwanted animals, particularly dogs and cats, has never been easy in Mexico. For many, animals are a purely practical matter, not considered indispensable members of the family. If they are seen as a drain on resources, there is less hesitancy to get rid of them.

In addition, there are no nationwide organizations here dedicated to animal welfare such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Many shelters are very local — even personal — projects that rely often on networks for donations.

The pandemic has strained families economically and emotionally. This has meant a triple whammy for shelters: fewer donations, fewer volunteers because of quarantine and more animals finding themselves out on the street or abused.

This crisis is not unique to Mexico, but the levels of abandonment have hit record levels.

Adoptive family at Rescue Me Tijuana — A rarity during the pandemic: a family taking home Simon from Rescue Me Tijuana.

According to the Animal Protection Agency in Mexico City, there are an estimated 140,000 dogs and 49,000 cats living on the streets of the capital alone. Animal abandonment has increased by 15% nationwide since January 2020, with eight out of 10 calls to shelters and animal control authorities reporting an abandoned animal.

There are several Covid-related reasons why animals have become homeless. The first and foremost is economic: incomes have dropped, especially for poorer families. The second is due to the fact that for a time in 2020, it was believed that people could contract the virus from household pets — something that has been countered by official statements from the World Health Organization and Mexican authorities.

In yet other cases, animals have been abandoned because an owner died of the coronavirus and family members do not want to take responsibility for the pet, says Mundo Patitas, a private animal shelter in Huehuetoca, México state.

The resources of animal shelters, already woefully inadequate before the pandemic, are now facing even further strain.

“The economic situation of shelters is critical,” says Maya Pindter, a rescuer in Mexico City.

Firstly, donations are down because people are experiencing financial difficulties. Meanwhile, Rosalva Francisco — who has rescued animals at a home and pottery workshop in the Mexico City borough of Tláhuac for almost two decades — reports that there have been increases in the costs of food and medicines. The lack of necessities, plus overcrowding, are stressing the animals lucky enough to be sheltered, never mind those still on the street.

Ad from Mujeres de Tláhuac animal shelter in Mexico City — Ad for an adoptable dog from the Mujeres de Tláhuac private shelter in Mexico City.

There have been some efforts to address the situation: in April 2021, the Animal Attention Agency (Agatan) of Mexico City’s Environment Ministry (Sedema) partnered with the Mars México company’s Pedigree Adóptame program to deliver 69 tonnes of animal food to shelters, but it is nowhere near enough.

Shelters also lack manpower, losing volunteers as people are concerned about contact with animals and other humans. The National Network for Assistance to Animal Shelters has had to cut back on visits and other social interaction with the shelters they support in Mexico City, México state, Chiapas, Querétaro and Puebla.

Francisco says that municipalities have also cut back on their programs for free or low-cost pet sterilizations and rabies vaccinations, leading to more puppies and kittens and more problems with rabies.

The trap-neuter-release strategy has never been a popular way to deal with feral cat and dog populations in Mexico, and the few organizations that do this sort of work are private, such as Escuchemos el Eco de su Voz in San Miguel de Allende. Jessica Carreon, who runs the organization, says that they cannot get out to do this work like before.

Animal shelters have always been overcrowded, but the situation now is worse. Mundo Patitas has reported a 70% rise in occupancy. Most of the animals that have come into their care since the pandemic began have not been taken from the street but rather surrendered by their humans.

In some cases, people adopt because they find that the animals alleviate the loneliness of quarantine, but for the most part, adoptions have all but stopped. The organization Peludos Desamparados (Defenseless Furry Ones) says that before the pandemic, it could find homes for up to 500 dogs per year. That number has since fallen to single digits.

Some have tried innovative methods to address the situation. In August 2020, Rescue Me Tijuana began “fast-track” adoptions to try to get more animals in new homes, according to organization president Fabiola Sandoval. They work with the local Petco stores in that city to this end. Amor con Garra (Love with Paws) in Mexico City began in April 2020 as an online store for pet supplies with the aim of raising funds for abandoned animals and added a platform to promote animals for adoption; this part of the site has been overwhelmed with about 10 new home requests per day.

Rosalva Francisco is particularly frustrated by one aspect of animal ownership in Mexico: despite the overwhelming problems of the pandemic and a recent law passed in Mexico City forbidding the practice, people are still selling dogs.

Personally, I cannot stress enough the importance of supporting local shelters one way or another. All need help in all areas, but the most urgent needs include donations for supplies, volunteers (think of all the dogs that need walking) and adoption, if you can. And some shelters welcome people willing to foster animals temporarily to relieve the pressure on precious space.

Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.

Peña Nieto’s economy minister faces charge of illicit enrichment

By

MND Staff

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July 9, 2021

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Former economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo, the previous government’s chief negotiator during talks with the United States and Canada that led to the signing of a new trade agreement, has been ordered to stand trial on corruption charges.

The federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) said Friday that a federal judge had ordered Guajardo, economy minister during the entirety of former president Enrique Peña Nieto’s 2012-2018 term, to stand trial due to his “probable responsibility in the crime of illicit enrichment.”

The FGR said its anti-corruption unit presented the case against Guajardo because he “probably” acquired “an unjustified increase to his wealth” between 2014 and 2018 and couldn’t “prove its legal origin.”

The case against the ex-cabinet minister is apparently related to his purchase of artworks and deposits to bank accounts in Mexico and overseas.

Guajardo was not remanded in custody but he will have to sign in with authorities on a periodic basis. He is prohibited from leaving the country without authorization, the FGR said, adding that it was granted a period of four months to conclude its investigation.

Guajardo, who was recently elected as a federal deputy for the Institutional Revolutionary Party and is due to take his seat in Congress on September 1, described the case against him as “political persecution” in a radio interview on Friday.

He said he had never been accused of any wrongdoing until today and expressed confidence that he would be found innocent.

“I have full confidence in the judiciary. I prefer that this [case] is in the hands of the judiciary than in the hands of the FGR,” he told W Radio.

Guajardo said the FGR is accusing him of illicit enrichment to the tune of 9 million pesos (US $453,000). He said that he has a bank account in the United States because he used to live there and noted that he has four months to prepare his defense before he stands trial.

“For me, the most important thing is my personal prestige and I will be totally applied to my defense,” said the Monterrey native.

One of Guajardo’s former cabinet colleagues, Rosario Robles, has been in custody awaiting trial on corruption charges for almost two years, while another, Luis Videgaray – a former finance and foreign affairs minister who was considered Peña Nieto’s right-hand man – has been accused of corruption but a judge last year blocked an FGR application for a warrant for his arrest.

With reports from El Universal and El Financiero

Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza goes virtual with live transmissions this year

By

Rose Egelhoff

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July 9, 2021

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Dancers at a previous edition of Oaxaca's famous festival.

For the second year in a row, Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza festival will not be held celebrated in-person. Rather, the ethnic heritage festival will be broadcast live on television and social media.

The festival celebrates the traditions of the indigenous people of Oaxaca, showcasing traditional garments, dances, music and food. The event normally draws tourists from around the world.

Last year, the event was broadcast in the form of edited highlights of previous events. This year will feature live transmissions for the first time, allowing participating delegations to present their dances without leaving their hometowns.

The festival programming, which runs throughout the month of July, also includes an exhibition of 50 Oaxacan paintings in an event called “Brushstrokes of Tradition.” One of the participating pieces will be selected as the official image of Guelaguetza 2021.

Despite the lack of an in-person festival, Oaxaca still expects many visitors this summer. Juan Carlos Rivera, state director of tourism, said that just in the period from August 9 to August 29, the state expects 325,000 tourists in its primary destinations. The visitors are expected to bring 1.4 billion pesos (US $70.4 million) in economic revenue.

Rivera also said that health safety measures will continue to be in effect, including social distancing and use of face masks.

“We want to reaffirm the greatness of life, to be present to celebrate Oaxaca and confront the pandemic with our heads held high,” Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said.

With reports from El Universal and Vive Oaxaca

‘We’re going to be governed by narcos,’ warns outspoken Guerrero bishop

By

MND Staff

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July 9, 2021

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Guerrero bishop Salvador Rangel — Salvador Rangel, bishop of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese, called on the federal government to do more to combat violence in the state.

A prominent Catholic bishop has warned that Guerrero is at risk of being governed by organized crime.

“I believe a time is coming in which we’re going to be governed not by politicians but by narcos,” Salvador Rangel, bishop of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese, said during a homily he delivered in Chilpancingo on Tuesday during a service attended by the family of a man kidnapped three weeks ago.

He called on the federal government to do more to combat violence in Guerrero, which was the 10th most violent state in Mexico in the first five months of 2020.

“It’s not fair, we have the right to peace and tranquility,” said Rangel, who is known for his willingness to engage with criminal organizations and revealed earlier this week that he is attempting to secure the release of five kidnapping victims.

“… It’s the obligation of the government to protect us, but I say to them in good conscience that there is a lot of corruption; there are a lot of tricks, and certain groups and certain interests are protected,” the bishop said.

Residents of San Miguel Totolapan, displaced by narcos, in shelter — Displaced residents of San Miguel Totolapan were sheltered in a local government sports building after violence forced them to leave their homes.

In Guerrero’s Tierra Caliente region, candidates backed by organized crime dominated the June 6 elections, which virtually ensures that incoming elected officials such as mayors will allow the crime groups that supported them to operate with high levels of impunity in the coming years.

There are also serious crime and violence problems in other parts of the state such as Acapulco, Chilpancingo, Iguala and Chilapa.

In a mountain region inland from the Pacific coast resort city of Zihuatanejo, residents of at least 10 communities have been forced to flee due to the incursion of a criminal group called Los Cornudos.

About 300 people belonging to some 70 families have left communities such as El Mamey, Arroyo Seco, La Vainilla and La Soledad over the past three months as members of the gang committed armed attacks, stole cattle and other farm animals, extorted residents and kidnapped women.

Displaced residents say they have asked for help from federal and state authorities but received no response.

“Now we’re living in the hills, under tarps tied to sticks,” one man told the newspaper El Universal, adding that Los Cornudos were demanding extortion payments of up to 15,000 pesos (US $750) a month per family.

Families near Zihuatanejo fleeing narco violence — Families that fled extortion and violence in an area inland from Zihuatanejo are living under tarps in an encampment, hiding from their aggressors.

“They even asked old people for money; the little they had, they took. … We had to leave, there is nobody in those towns now, they’re ghost towns; only the bullet holes are left,” he said.

Other displaced residents who spoke to the newspaper Milenio said they are sleeping in caves in the mountains.

“Our houses are empty; there are houses that were shot — they’ve stolen our animals,” they said.

Among the displaced are children, who are unable to continue with their studies. The residents are calling for a military base to be established in the Zihuatanejo Sierra area so that soldiers have a permanent presence there and the gang members are driven out.

Los Cornudos have been harassing residents of the Zihuatanejo Sierra region for some three years, but their presence in the area increased earlier this year.

The gang is made up of some 50 armed men led by Flavio Delgado Cruz and his son Marcos Delgado Hernández, according to displaced residents.

The group was initially involved in illegal logging in the Zihuatanejo Sierra region before moving into other criminal activities such as extortion and cattle theft.

With reports from Proceso, Milenio and El Universal

Pacific snook caught in Los Cabos could break 20-year world record

By

Rose Egelhoff

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July 9, 2021

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It was on June 28 at the end of a long day of fishing and daylight was fading quickly when Wesley Brough and a friend decided to cast one last time into the tumultuous surf of a Cabo San Lucas beach.

It was a lucky decision: that final cast landed Brough an enormous Pacific snook that might break the world record.

“We were getting ready to go when we saw mullet flying out of the water and decided on a last cast,” said Brough, owner of Cabo Surfcaster, a fishing guide service. “I figured it was another roosterfish. Knowing that there was not enough light for a good picture, I decided to horse him in and get him released. The fish was on the beach in about six minutes and it was definitely not a rooster. To our surprise it was a monster snook like neither of us had ever seen before.”

The 50-inch-long fish weighed 51 pounds, 4.8 ounces according to a certified scale in Cabo San Lucas. The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) world record currently stands at 47 pounds, 8 ounces for a snook caught in 2001, also in Cabo San Lucas.

Snook are rare in the area, and that day Brough and his friend Matt Stehle were looking for roosterfish in the surf generated by Hurricane Enrique. They planned to take pictures then release their catches. The fishing was going well: the pair landed a 50-pound roosterfish, a 45-pound roosterfish and a 25-pound crevalle before Brough reeled in the giant snook. Brough said he would have released the snook as well, but the hook was embedded deep in its throat and it would not have survived.

Brough said he brought in the snook in accordance with IGFA rules and has submitted a world record application. A determination from the association is expected in several weeks.

With reports from EZ Anime and For the Win

Another video, another brother of AMLO’s: 150,000 pesos in cash exchanged

By

MND Staff

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July 9, 2021

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A frame from the latest video showing one of the president's brothers receiving cash from a former official.

A video has surfaced showing one of President López Obrador’s brothers receiving a large amount of cash from a man who served in the current federal government.

News outlet Latinus published a video on Thursday that shows Martín Jesús López Obrador receiving 150,000 pesos (US $7,550 at today’s exchange rate) from David León, a former advisor to the president and ex-chief of the federal Civil Protection agency.

It’s the second time in less than a year that footage has emerged showing a brother of the president, commonly known as AMLO, receiving cash from León.

Latinus published two videos in August 2020 showing Pío López Obrador receiving a total of 1.4 million pesos.

León gave Martín Jesús the cash at his home in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, in 2015, according to Latinus, the same year he gave the money to Pío.

David León, seen counting cash in the video, was head of Civil Protection between 2018 and 2020.

The exchanges, filmed by León on hidden cameras, reportedly occurred in the lead-up to the 2015 federal elections, the first elections contested by Morena, Mexico’s ruling party, which was founded by AMLO.

Latinus said that both Martín Jesús and Pío received “previously agreed amounts that are repeatedly monthly and which they say are for Andrés Manuel, which reveals a modus operandi.”

Martín Jesús says in the new video that the money was for his brother, but didn’t specify which one.

None of the money received by the two brothers was reported by Morena to the National Electoral Institute, Latinus said, adding that the failure to disclose the apparent political funding “qualifies as an electoral crime.”

León was an advisor to the Chiapas government and a close associate of then governor Manuel Velasco when he gave the money to the López Obrador brothers. He resigned from the federal government last year after the first two videos emerged and just before he was due to take on a new role at the helm of a state-owned medical supplies distribution company.

He said on Twitter late Thursday that the money he gave to Martín Jesús came from his personal savings and was a loan. He didn’t say what the loan was for.

The president, who has made combatting corruption the central goal of his administration, said Friday that he doesn’t cover up for anyone and that if his brother committed a crime he should be punished.

“If there is proof, he must be reported [to authorities]. All citizens have the responsibility to act and the relevant authority has to rule whether there’s a crime or not,” he said at his morning news conference.

Nevertheless, AMLO claimed that the publication of the latest video is part of a smear campaign against him and asserted that the exchange between Martín Jesús and David León was of a personal nature.

“It’s the perennial black campaign of my adversaries. We’re used to this. But we have always emerged unscathed from slander,” he said.

“… They make it seem that it’s campaign money, political money, money for me – something that’s not true, it’s as simple as that,” the president said.

He added that he has a calm conscience and that the smear campaign is a reaction to the transformation his government is carrying out in Mexico. “When they’re no longer attacking me, I’ll be worried,” AMLO said.

National Action Party senators said on their joint Twitter account that “the López Obrador family is full of corrupt people who should be seated in front of a judge, but they enjoy impunity granted to them by the president.”

Opposition lawmakers have also questioned the legality of a 1.77-million-peso government loan received by José Ramiro López Obrador, another of AMLO’s brothers, while a company owned by the president’s cousin, Felipa Guadalupe Obrador Olán, won four lucrative Pemex contracts in 2019 even though the state oil company ordered her to abstain from participating in its tendering processes.

“President López Obrador can no longer continue saying that his plumage is like those of birds crossing the swamp without getting stained,” Jesús Zambrano, national president of the Democratic Revolution Party – AMLO’s old party – said on Twitter.

“His plumage is already very stained by his own family. Why doesn’t he ask the Financial Intelligence Unit and the prosecutor’s offices to investigate his brother Martín López Obrador?”

With reports from Latinus and Milenio

Citizens dig up army’s Aguililla heliport, cutting off its source of supplies

By

MND Staff

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July 9, 2021

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Two backhoes go to work on the heliport.

A week after preventing an army helicopter from landing by launching firecrackers and throwing stones at it, residents of Aguililla, Michoacán, dug up the city’s makeshift military heliport in an attempt to cut off supplies to soldiers.

Residents of the Tierra Caliente municipality are angry because they’ve been unable to buy basic goods themselves as access to Aguililla has been intermittently cut off by criminal organizations for months.

Many residents say that the soldiers deployed to Aguililla have failed in their mission to combat the warring criminal groups that operate in the municipality – the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Cárteles Unidos – and have consequently turned against them.

A video posted to social media on Thursday shows two backhoes digging up the military’s heliport, located on a hill near the city. One person is seen with a slingshot pointed in the direction of a military base, which sits below the hill.

The person filming the video zooms in on the base, where numerous soldiers are seen standing outside but make no attempts to climb the hill and put an end to the destruction of the heliport.

The army committed this week to ensuring that the Aguililla-Apatzingán highway remains open during daylight hours, but residents say that hasn’t yet occurred.

However, local priest Gilberto Sepúlveda said Thursday evening that the army had begun work to clear the highway and that the situation in Aguililla was calmer than before.

“I believe there have been various advances and there are things that provide hope. General Montealegre told me this morning that there is already an operation in the places where there are blockades and soldiers will be permanently deployed there,” Sepúlveda said in a radio interview.

Despite citizens’ actions against the army – its barracks have also been attacked with stones – Aguililla residents are not seeking conflict with authorities, the priest said, adding that they just want the rule of law to be applied.

“Those of us from here are not the baddies, we’re people caught in the middle of a war and that puts us at risk. … A lot of the protests [against the army] are because [the people] want to be protected,” Sepúlveda said.

President López Obrador on Wednesday called on Aguililla residents – and criminal groups – not to act violently toward authorities and “not do damage” to property.

“There are always ways out [of difficult situations] … and coexistence is being achieved. There should be dialogue and everyone should act responsibly. …. We don’t want anyone to suffer, … we say no to violence,” he said.

The president on Tuesday said he wasn’t like his predecessors and wouldn’t order criminals operating in Aguililla to be exterminated by military force.

“I’m not [Enrique] Peña [Nieto], I’m not Felipe Calderón, I’m not in favor of killing them in cold blood, I’m not in favor of torture, I’m not in favor of the criminal association that there was between organized crime and authorities. We’re different,” López Obrador said.

He added that the army will continue to have a presence in Aguililla, despite residents’ complaints against the military.

With reports from Latinus, Infobae and Milenio

Meat mogul’s low-cost medical testing labs fill gap for Mexico’s uninsured

By

John Pint

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July 9, 2021

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Salud Digna clinic in Guadalajara — Salud Digna’s facilities are clean and modern and offer affordable diagnostic and clinical services to 6.5 million people per year.

For years, I had heard rumors of a place in Guadalajara called Salud Digna, where people of scarce economic means could get an eye examination and a good pair of glasses for a price they could actually afford — and for years, I had wondered about the story behind it.

As I happened to need a new pair of glasses, I looked up the Salud Digna website and discovered that they offered a lot more than eye examinations. A test to determine my blood type would cost me only 55 pesos, and an X-ray of my elbow would run me no more than 180.

Such services required an appointment, which I could easily set up via WhatsApp, but an eye examination — which is free, by the way — required no appointment of any kind.

A few days later, my friend Rodrigo, who also happened to need new glasses, drove me to one of Salud Digna’s four centers in Greater Guadalajara.

I must confess I imagined this clinic would look a bit like a soup kitchen with a long line of weary down-and-outers patiently waiting outside. In reality, there were no lines, neither outside nor inside, thanks to an efficient reception system that quickly had us heading for the optometry area.

Woman receiving eye exam Salud Digna Guadalajara — A woman receives a free routine eye exam at a Salud Digna clinic.

Everything we could see was clean, sparkling and modern … as were the doctors, nurses and patients — the latter a mix of people who looked to me as if they came from all levels of society.

“A soup kitchen, this is not,” I commented to my compañero.

We waited for our names to be called in front of a big display announcing that Salud Digna now had over 70 centers like this one, all across Mexico and even in the United States, and that they care for 6.5 million people per year.

A friendly optometrist checked my eyes, using what seemed to me very modern equipment. In no time, I was picking out frames for my new bifocals, which cost a total of 480 pesos and would be ready in a week.

Rodrigo was able to pick up his uncomplicated glasses on the spot. He had also taken advantage of their standard offer of a second pair of glasses for half price. “So,” said Rodrigo,” I got an eye examination and two pair of glasses for 290 pesos. Not bad!”

Salud Digna (Health with Dignity) is a nonprofit organization, the brainchild of Mexican meat czar Jesús Vizcarra Calderón, who heads up SuKarne, the biggest exporter of beef, pork and chicken in Mexico. SuKarne slaughters about 1.7 million cattle per year and generates around US $2.8 billion in annual revenue.

Jesús Vizcarra Calderón, founder of Salud Digna — Mexican meat czar Jesús Vizcarra made the cover of Fortune for his contributions to the health sector.

“When I was 27 years old, one of my sons suffered a brain hemorrhage,” Vizcarra told the newspaper Milenio‘s Juan Pablo Becerra-Acosta in a long interview in 2015, “and I was impacted by the fact that great numbers of people in Mexico can’t afford health care of any sort.”

The future multimillionaire, it seems, got his start in the business world by selling lemons and guavas as a boy.

“My grandpa had trees filled with them,” he said. “They would have gone to waste, but I would fill a bucket with them and go around selling them with a couple of my friends. My next business venture was canicas (marbles). Playing marbles was the only thing on the mind of boys my age, so I decided to sell them marbles — not just any marbles, but the best quality marbles: las más bonitas [the most beautiful marbles]! So, after a while, everyone called me El Niño de las Canicas [Marble Boy].”

Not so many years later, Vizcarra applied his entrepreneurial skills to his parents’ cattle-fattening business and turned it into a leading company in the international meat industry. After that, he got interested in politics and was elected a senator in Sinaloa.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Salud Digna got its start as a backroom operation in Jesus Vizcarra’s office. The mobile health clinics, which he organized throughout his territory, were warmly received. The demand for these services grew to such an extent that he decided, in 2003, to create a fixed site offering diagnostic services.

Soon, Salud Digna centers were popping up in other parts of Sinaloa, and then all over Mexico. In spite of the fact that they charge less than a third of what private clinics get, they reached financial self-sufficiency in 2007, a fact that caught the attention of Harvard Business School, which offered Salud Digna as a case study to their students, citing one of Jesús Viscarra’s favorite sayings: “Don’t tell me why it can’t be done — tell me how it can.”

Salud Digna Guadalajara customer — One hour after getting his eye exam, Rodrigo Orozco had his new glasses in hand.

Most people I’ve spoken to who went to Salud Digna have found their services at least satisfactory, and several actually rated them excellent. Nevertheless, I found a number of complaints about them on the internet:

“They prescribed glasses for me,” said one man, “but I couldn’t see well with them.”

He went back to Salud Digna and they repeated his eye examination, concluding that their prescription was correct and that he should be able to see through his glasses, but he couldn’t.

I bring up this case because I think it highlights a weak point in the Salud Digna business model. While it works well for most people, it may fail miserably when a special case comes along. Salud Digna could be considered a fast-food-style laboratory, offering what most people need but no more.

So, if an unusual case comes along, Salud Digna cannot provide a specialist who, after many hours and much digging, might get to the bottom of the client’s complaint. After all, if you go to McDonald’s, they’ll fill your belly, but they are not going to cook you your grandma’s favorite recipe.

Some say Salud Digna is a laundering service for cartel money but, counters Vizcarra, “None of my business or social organizations have a financial relationship or dependency on any criminal organization. I always operate within the margins of the law.”

Digna Salud, Los Angeles — In 2011, Salud Digna expanded to the Latino neighborhoods of South Los Angeles. Graciela Castañeda, right, receives a checkup after years without medical attention.

To end on a positive note, I should mention that in 2016, Salud Digna won Mexico’s National Quality Award for nonprofit organizations that have improved Mexicans’ quality of life. One such Mexican is Rosalía, a satisfied Salud Digna customer.

“People have no idea how much good this organization is doing,” she said. “Amoooo a Salud Digna [I loooove Salud Digna]. Thank God it exists.”

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.