In Mexico City, another Grito minus a crowd in the zócalo

09/16/2021

Source: Mexico News Daily

Celebrations of “El Grito,” a symbol of the struggle for independence, will be heavily toned down on Wednesday in Mexico City due to COVID-19 restrictions despite this year being the two-century anniversary of the beginning of liberation from Spanish rule. The event was also heavily diluted in 2020 due to health considerations.

Traditionally, a large crowd congregates outside the National Palace and calls back to the president as he calls the names of the heroes of the independence movement, culminating in three cries of “Viva México!” or “Long live Mexico.”

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Search in Mexico hill collapse slowed by fears of landslides

09/13/2021

Source: ABC News

Fears of new landslides slowed the search Saturday for more victims from the collapse of a hillside that brought tons of boulders down on a neighborhood outside Mexico City, killing at least one person.

Authorities in Tlalnepantla, the municipality in Mexico state where the disaster took place Friday, reduced the number of missing people from 10 to three Saturday after seven of the missing were located, said Ricardo de la Cruz, undersecretary general of Mexico state.

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Powerful earthquake strikes southwest Mexico

09/08/2021

Source: CNN

A powerful earthquake struck the southwest of Mexico late Tuesday, causing widespread shaking as far away as Mexico City and killing at least one person.

The United States Geological Survey said the 7.0 magnitude quake struck 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) east-northeast of Los Órganos de San Agustín, about eight miles from the Pacific Coast beach resort city of Acapulco. It was measured at an initial depth of 7.8 miles (12.6 kilometers). At least 92 aftershocks were recorded, including one with a magnitude of 5.2, the Mexican State Civil Protection Secretariat said.

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5,000 phony license plates seized in Mexico City

09/07/2021

Source: Mexico News Daily

Five thousand black market phony license plates made for states across the country were seized during four simultaneous raids in Mexico City on Friday.

In one case, plates were found in a small two-story building in Coyoacán where five members of a crime gang printed the plates, which were then sold for 3,000-6,500 pesos (about US $150-$327).

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Should travelers avoid Mexico as delta surges? For locals who need them, it’s complicated.

09/01/2021

Source: The Washington Post

With many of the world’s borders closed or heavily restricted, Mexico has remained one of the most popular destinations for Americans throughout the pandemic thanks to its low barrier of entry. Flights are often affordable, and coronavirus protocols have been manageable.

Destinations such as Cancún, San Jose del Cabo and Mexico City are routinely the most booked international trips for U.S. travelers, and Cancún International Airport reported it exceeded pre-pandemic aerial traffic this summer.

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Government’s LP gas company begins operations in Mexico City

09/01/2021

Source: Mexico Daily News

The new state-owned LP gas distribution company began operations in Mexico City on Tuesday.

Pemex CEO Octavio Romero announced that Gas Bienestar (Well-being Gas) would begin delivering 20 and 30-kilogram cylinders of gas in Iztapalapa, a sprawling, working class borough in the capital’s east.

“Mr. President, … on July 7 you announced the commencement of operations of the company Gas Bienestar in a period no longer than 90 days. Today, 55 days since your order, we’re officially beginning the company’s work,” he said at President López Obrador’s morning news conference.

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Mexico City taps solar energy to clean up historic Aztec-era canals

08/24/2021

MEXICO CITY, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Mexican scientists have developed a unique “nanobubble” system using solar energy to improve water quality in the canals of Mexico City’s Xochimilco ecological zone, a popular tourist attraction.

Officials in Mexico City have been focused on cleaning up the long-polluted waters of Xochimilco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the few areas of the capital that still boasts canal networks dating back to Aztec times.

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Mexico City marks fall of Aztec capital 500 years ago

08/13/2021

Source: Associated Press

Walking for hours through the gritty streets in the center of Mexico City, you can hear the daily urban soundtrack: Car engines, the call of the man who buys scrap metal and the handbells that announce the passing of a garbage truck.

It’s hard to imagine that some of these streets trace the outline of what was, five centuries ago, Tenochtitlan, a sophisticated city on an island in a bridge-studded lake where a great civilization flourished.

The Aztec emperors who ruled much of the land that became Mexico were defeated by a Spanish-led force that seized the city on August 13, 1521.

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Covid case numbers soar 44% to 92,000 in one week; 15,000 new cases Wednesday

07/22/2021

Source: Mexico News Daily

Active coronavirus cases increased 44% over the past week, according to federal Health Ministry estimates, while on Wednesday Mexico recorded its highest single day case tally since January.

There are currently 92,738 estimated active cases, the Health Ministry reported Wednesday as it announced 15,198 new infections, the highest daily tally since January 30, when Mexico was amid the second – and worst – wave of the pandemic.

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8 weeks after Metro tragedy, Mexico City replaces head of transit system

07/01/2021

Source: Mexico News Daily

Exactly eight weeks after the Mexico City Metro disaster that claimed the lives of 26 people, the chief of the subway system was replaced on Monday.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Florencia Serranía, who became general director of Metro operator STC in 2018, had been replaced by Guillermo Calderón Aguilera, a veteran transport official.

The announcement came a week after Sheinbaum met with President López Obrador and businessman Carlos Slim to discuss plans to repair Line 12, an elevated section of which collapsed on May 3, causing two train carriages to plunge toward a busy road below. Slim’s company Carso Infrastructure and Construction partially built the line, the newest of the 52-year-old Metro system.

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