Gringo Gazette

Gringo Gazette

Gringo Gazette North is Baja’s English-language newspaper for the American community and anyone curious about life south of the border. We mix local news, events, and stories with a dash of humor — because life in Baja is too colorful for dry reporting. Our motto? No Bad News.
Articles, Calendar of Events, Rosarito

Rosarito Calendar Of Events

Every Monday through Thursday, 10 am – 1 pm; Pickleball at Castillos del Mar Hotel, k 29.5. Organized by Robert Canaan. Court fee $3; lessons available at extra cost. BYO paddle and ball. Maximum 8 players per day at this time. Facebook.com/ SuperFunBaja.

Every Sunday 4 pm. Cultural Sundays in the park. Local Mexican and American dancers and musicians.  At the IMAC in Abelardo L. Rodriguez park, west of Banamex. Facebook IMAC Rosarito. Free.

Every Sunday 2 – 4 pm at the IMAC Central Park (behind the Banamex on Juarez) Dancing for seniors. Salsa and merengue (among others) tunes designed to not throw out a hip. www.facebook.com/IMAC Rosarito

Second Sunday of every month, Pet sterilization by the Baja Spay and Neuter Foundation at the Centro de Diagnostico Clinico Vetrinario, ave. Queretaro #2331-3, Col Cacho, Tijuana. 200 pesos, 661-124-3619, or Robin at www.BajaSpayNeuter.org.

Last Sunday of every month, Jewish Chavurah. Gordon Kane – gordonmkane@gmail.com.

Every Monday, 10:45 am, duplicate bridge at Baja Gold Bridge Club, KM 42 at the Rosarito Beach Christian Church. bajagoldcoastbridgeclub@gmail.com.

Every Tuesday – Rotary Club meets at Rosarito Beach Hotel. 664-376-2620.

Every Tuesday 10am to 11am.  Chair Yoga – Rosarito Wellness, Healing, Living at IMAC Park, room 1 in Rosarito (behind Banamex). Improve Balance & Coordination.  Receive all the benefits of yoga in a gentle, Healing, Meditative yoga class where a chair is used for support and balance. Bring water, small towel and comfortable clothing. Instructor: Erendira Abel, Certified Holistic Health Specialist. $5 per class, paid at beginning of month. For registration and location:  (661) 614-6036 Mexico or (619) 632-2965 US. Email: wellnesshealingliving@gmail.com

Every Tuesday. 9:00 am. Board Meeting for Yo Amo Rosarito at Ortega’s Buffet. See what events are under consideration or volunteer to help plan and run upcoming events.

Every Wednesday, 7:30 – 9:00 am; Tai Chi classes with certified instructor Eugenio Encinas at Galeria Fausto Polanco Rosarito. 350 pesos per month. Alyce: 664-368-6733; Alberto: 661-125-9191.

Every Second Wednesday (except December). 10 am. Friends of the Library meeting at main library of IMAC building next to Abelardo Rodríguez Park. Promotes reading and literacy in Rosarito. www.friendsofthelibrary.com.mx. 661-612-3659.

Second and FourthWednesday, 1 pm; Cruz Roja Primo Tapia Bingo at El Pescador Restaurant. 6 games/ 2 cards for $5. Reduced price menu; Jamesphausmann@gmail.com; 1-623-217-9795.

Every Second Wednesday OR the Wednesday prior to the Second Saturday (except December); Flying Samaritan’s General Meeting at Rene’s Casino (k28) at 1:30. Come early and enjoy lunch! www.flyingsamaritansrosarito.org; Susan Smith @ susansmithz@hotmail.com; US: 1-858-240-2360; MX: 661-100-6066.

Every Third Wednesday, 10 am, Meeting of Rosarito Sister Cities at City Hall, Fojadores Room, 2nd floor. Information and RSVP: FRAO@Rosarito.gob.mx.

Every Third Wednesday (except December) 1:00 – 4:00 pm, Flying Samaritan’s Outrageous Bingo at Popotla Jr. Restaurant (across from El Nino), Food and Drink specials; free parking behind restaurant; Six games, 4 cards for $10; Karen: kajomc@yahoo.coojm; (US) 1-818-515-0067l (MX) 664-609-3419.

Every Last Wednesday, 11:30 am, Wellness Wednesday Workshop “Intentionally Aging Gracefully” with Erendira Abel at IMAC a Abelard Rodriguez Park (behind Banamex). $6, and pre-registration is required. Info: wellnesshealingliving@gmail.com; (US) 1-619-737-2453, (MX) 661-614-6036.

Every Thursday. 8:30 am. Local Board of Realtors (APIR) meets at Oceana Grill. Good place for buyers or sellers to find a Realtor

Every Thursday, 10:30 am, Learn Spanish “Naturally” with Erendira Abel at Rosarito Beach Christian Church. $5, and pre-registration is required. Info: wellnesshealingliving@gmail.com; (US) 1-619-737-2453, (MX) 661-614-6036.

Every Second Thursday. 10 am. Cruz Roja Volunteers, Rosarito Chapter General Meeting at Popotla Restaurant. www.cruzrojarosarito.org.mx; President: Mary Moreno, miqueridomx@yahoo.com.

Every Third Thursday. 10 am. General Meeting for FRAO, Foreign Residents Assistance Office. Open to the public. Calafia Hotel.  Speaker’s presentation. FRAO@Rosarito.gob.mx.

Every Fourth Thursday of the month, 12 pm, Baja Babes, the Rosarito Chapter of the Red Hat Society for ladies over 50 monthly luncheon. Each month a different restaurant. margit@prodigy.net.mx.

Every Friday. 4pm.  Spanish class main library, by IMAC, in Abelardo Rodriguez park behind BanaMex. Free but donation appreciated.

Every Saturday, 10:00 am at IMAC Central park. Chess for all ages. www.facebook.com/IMAC Rosarito.

 Every First Saturday. 10 am. United Society of Baja California (USBC) general meeting at Casa Blanca Restaurant, Rosarito Beach Hotel. Good info for the English speaking community of charitable, community service and social organizations. www.unitedsocietyofbaja.org. 661-614-1113.

Every First Saturday. Noon-sundown. Open Studio Art Walk, a free tour of galleries in Rosarito Beach Hotel commercial center. Meet artists at work in their studios. pacothepainter@hotmail.com

Every Third Saturday. 1pm. USBC, United Society of Baja California, monthly potluck dinner, at La Maroma sports bar, across from Burger King. Different theme every month. Usually live entertainment. Free. Membership $20 per year.

Every day but one day at a time AA Grupo Gringo meets daily #16 Mar Meditteraneo (two blocks behind Del Mar Beach Club). Saturday, 3:00; Sunday, Monday, Thursday: 10:00 am; Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 6:00 pm.  Additional meetings in Cantamar (just south of the footbridge) Tuesday and Friday, 10:00 am.  661-614-1678.

October 1, Monday, 7:30 pm; Alma Berumen and Jazz Quartet performance at CEART Rosarito. Free. www.icbc.gob.mx; Facebook/ CEART Playas de Rosarito; 661-100-6271.

October 4, Thursday, 5:30 – 8 pm; Cocktails with the (Mariachi) Stars at the Rosarito Beach Hotel, Quixote Room. $25, includes appetizers, wine, and photo with the stars. All proceeds to benefit Rosarito Boys & Girls Club. Rosymtorres@hotmail.com; www.clubrosarito.org; 661-850-1773.

October 4, Thursday, 7 pm; Pascal Gutman Trio Concert at CEART Rosarito. Free. www.icbc.gob.mx; Facebook/ CEART Playas de Rosarito; 661-100-6271.

October 5, Friday, 5 – 10 pm; Rosarito South Mixer at Castillos del Mar Hotel. Information on Facebook/ Rosarito South Mixer.

October 6, Saturday, 6 – 11 pm; Mariachi Grand Concert at Rosarito Beach Hotel Gardens. Tickets: VIP Reserved: $100; Diamond: $65; General: $25.All net proceeds to benefit Rosarito Boys & Girls Club. Rosymtorres@hotmail.com; www.clubrosarito.org; 661-850-1773.

October 7, Sunday, 2 pm; “Love Letters” by A R Gurney fundraiser for La Mision Children’s Fund at the home of Kathleen Dwyer in Playa La Mision. $35 includes the play, appetizers and wine.

October 10, Wednesday, 12 pm; The Bella Prize Award Ceremony presented by the Rosarito Friends of the Library at IMAC Central Library in Abelard Rodriquez Park, following the Board Meeting. Money to be used to purchase books for Rosarito schools and libraries. All are invited. Free. www.friendsofthelibrary.com.mx.

October 11, Thursday, 1 – 5 pm; 1st Annual Flying Samaritan’s Oktoberfest at Real del Mar  Club House featuring live African Safari auction, silent auctions, beer, wine, food, music and entertainment. (Call bids for safari auction will be accepted).Tickets: $45. www.flyingsamaritansrosarito.org; 664-631-3207 or 1-619-400-3773. SusanSmithz@hotmail.com.www.flyingsamaritansrosarito.org.

October 13, Saturday, 1 – 5 pm; 3rd Annual Cruz Roja Primo Tapia Oktoberfest, at Mision Viejo Club House (K 50), benefits Cruz Roja Primo Tapia ambulance service. Food, beer, wine, and Fun! Entertainment by Hola Soy Lola. Costume contest, yodeling contest, German food, plenty of beer and wine. Raffle. Tickets: $10 (advance, at the CR PT Thrift Store), $15 (at event). www.cruzrojaprimotapia.com.

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 Columns, Ensenada, Rosarito

Que Pasa In Baja?

Rosarito desalination plant update. Congressman Miguel Osuna sent a formal request for information regarding the new Rosarito desalt plant that was supposed to be under construction but isn’t yet, to which the state government responded by saying that the construction plan will be reanalyzed since a lot has changed since its start.

The state government said that they were mostly reviewing the finances of the project, which if concluded, will be the largest desalination plant in Latin America.

“The project has been delayed because of all the bureaucratic procedures that a project of this size requires, the amount of money being invested is considerable and that it has to be analyzed. Of course, the changes coming in the federal government are another factor”, said Ricardo Cisneros, head of the state water commission.

Pest beetles attack Baja. Ensenada municipal government announced that a plague of insects called “Ambrosia Beetles” have been found in Doña Petra Canyon and in Revolución Park.

The plague is known to affect crops so measures to cut down affected trees are being taken in an effort to contain the insects.

About 60 trees are going to be cut down in the Canyon and one more in the municipal park, stated Gabriela Sampedro, from the ecology office in Ensenada.

The beetle is originally from Asia and until recently it was only found in the USA and Israel outside of its habitat.

In 2015 it was detected in Tijuana, and just last year Rosarito and Ensenada where also affected by it.

The Rosarito Tourism and Conventions Commitee (COTUCO) has launched a new campaign to prevent car break-ins from downtown Rosarito all the way to Popotla.

Don’t leave the laptop in the car! Car break-ins have been a problem for years all along the free road, with most of the victims being tourists that forget that it’s not safe to leave your valuable belongings in sight inside your car.

Edgar Orozco, head of COTUCO, said that the campaign consists of several signs that are being installed along the Benito Juarez and Popotla Boulevards, informing people to double check their cars before leaving them unattended.

The tourism police said they would pitch in by doing more patrolling around the area. Incredibly enough, the chief of tourism police stated that “It’s important for business owners to remind their patrons to not leave their valuable stuff in their cars because opportunity makes the thief”.

Are we in or are we out? After much speculation about Ensenada being left out of the newly defined border zone that will cut taxes in half, the new Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) stated that he will review the situation.

Jorge Cortes, head of the coordinated businesses council in Ensenada (CCEE), Mario Zepeda, president of the Baja California Citizens Council and federal congressman Armando Reyes, talked at different times with AMLO regarding placing Ensenada into the tax-reduced zone and they all agreed that he was open about the idea but said that he had to review the matter thoroughly.

Although this seems like a win for Ensenada, who wants to be part of the tax-reduced area, no commitment was made by AMLO to include Ensenada in the border zone, which is comprised of every city that is within 19 miles from the border.

One of them did say that AMLO was analyzing the possibility of including Ensenada in the Border Zone in a second stage of the process.

Jorge Cortes, from CCEE, said that he delivered a letter signed by all the business councils in Ensenada that will be directly affected by the change if it goes through on December 1st, the day he starts his term.

Jacobo Zepeda stated that he delivered another letter to AMLO and about 4,000 signatures of concerned citizens.

Rosarito, on the other hand, has already secured a place in the new border zone, granting them the tax cuts for next year.

Hell in the sky. That’s what passengers from Volaris flight 423 travelling from Guadalajara to Tijuana experienced last week after suffering major “turbulence”, scaring the bejesus out of the 165 passengers and 5 crew members in there.

Sandra Sanchez, one of the passengers in the flight stated: “This definitely felt more than regular turbulence, it felt more like an impact that lasted for around 2 seconds. After that we still had to fly for more than an hour to get to Tijuana. I’m definitely thankful that we’re alive”.

Volaris stated that the plane “Experimented a clear air turbulence during it’s flight”.

Clear air turbulence (CAT) is dangerous as it happens in clear skies and cannot be detected with conventional radar equipment, although it can cause severe damage to the aircraft and injuries to passengers and crew.

Many videos of the aftermath are circulating online, in one of them a passenger is seen laying on the corridor while others shout for a doctor on board.

Several people were hurt, with 12 of them requiring medical attention in Tijuana hospitals.

At the time of writing 2 crew members were still recovering from their injuries, while the other passengers where all discharged from local hospitals.

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 Breaking News, Tijuana

12 People Injured In Volaris Flight To Tijuana

Flight 423 from Volaris travelling from Guadalajara to Tijuana this Wednesday, suffered major “turbulence” scaring the bejesus out of the 165 passengers and 5 crew members in there.

Sandra Sanchez, one of the passengers in the flight stated: “This definitely felt more than regular turbulence, it felt more like an impact that lasted for around 2 seconds. After that we still had to fly for more than an hour to get to Tijuana. I’m definitely thankful that we’re alive”.

Volaris stated that the plane “Experimented a clear air turbulence during it’s flight”.

Clear air turbulence (CAT) are dangerous as they happen in clear skies and cannot be detected with conventional radar equipment, although they can cause severe damage to the aircraft and injuries to passengers and crew.

Many videos of the aftermath are circulating online, in one of them a passenger is seen laying on the corridor while others shout for a doctor on board.

Several people were hurt, with 12 of them requiring medical attention in Tijuana hospitals.

At the time of writing 2 crew members were still recovering from their injuries, while the other passengers where all discharged from local hospitals.

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 Breaking News

Help Adam Come Back Home

An amateur surfer, Adam Francis D’Esposito, was reported missing by his sister. He was last seen September 8, walking on the road in the Baja Malibu area, wet and without shoes.

He is diagnosed with bipolarity, although his sister stated that he was under control when he crossed from San Diego to Baja.

If you have seen him or have any information, please call US phone 760-805-5520, or 409-565-1050.

 

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 Breaking News

Tropical Storm Rosa On It’s Way To Baja

Tropical Storm “Rosa” is expected to become a hurricane and hit Baja on October 2 and 3. It’s expected to hit Bahia de los Angeles, El Rosario and San Quintin.

Antonio Rosquillas, head of the state civil protection office, stated that the community should be on the lookout for warnings from authorities and take the necessary precautions if you live in those areas.

“Authorities should already be cleaning deeply, river beds and storm drains”, he said.

Except from Baja, the storm is likely to stay far offshore, but it’s winds are already reaching outward up to 60 mph.

Jaime Nieto, head of the civil protection office in Ensenada, stated that although Rosa is not expected to make landfall in the city of Ensenada, more than 1,500 notifications have been sent to people living in risk areas because of the expected torrential rains from “El Niño” this season.

UPDATE: As of 9/26/2018 9:22 AM Rosa has been already classified as a Hurricane.

With information from El Vigia   |   Images from Aviso de Huracanes Xmendez

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 Breaking News, Rosarito

Rosarito Business Leaders Support The Citizens Council For Public Security in Baja

Just last week, prominent business leaders from Rosarito met with Juan Manual Hernandez, president of the Citizens Council For Public Security in Baja (CCSPBC), a citizens led association focused on overseeing authorities in charge of public security.

HUgo Torres Chabert (center), president of the Tourism Developers Association and owner of the Rosarito Beach Hotel with Juan Manuel Hernández Niebla (right), president of the Citizens Council for Public Security in Baja California.

During the meeting, Juan Hernandez shared data for crimes committed this year, which amounts to 1,987 from January to August, and although the number has been going down steadily, he noted that it is still a very high crime rate.

Hernandez stated that they had procured funding from the state public security office in order to poll citizens regarding the official complaints made in government office, so they can compare it with official data.

He also said that now, with social media being so popular, violence is very perceptive. With almost every crime getting a lot of exposure when it’s shared constantly.

Regarding the C5i (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Collaboration, and Intelligence) center, he said that they were still against it as it’s a project that will indebt the state highly without any certainty that it will work.

The C5i for Baja project has been highly controversial, as several citizens groups have said that investment should be done in other parts of public security before investing in this. A better. More efficient court system, better trained police or more equipment for them should be prioritized over the C5i, they have said, as it’s common problem that criminals go free as soon as they are captured for procedural “mistakes”.

The project will cost the state around 43 million USD, to be paid in 10 years, to a private company, which infuriated citizens even more as it is now seemed as another one of the governor’s “businesses”.

Genaro de la Torre, president of the citizens council for public security for Tijuana, stated last year that going ahead with the C5i would be like “giving a baby a bike, first he needs to learn to crawl”.

 

With information from UniRadioInforma.com

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 Breaking News, Ensenada

There Is Hope For Ensenada

After much speculation about Ensenada being left out of the newly defined border zone that will cut taxes to half, the new Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) stated that he will review the situation.

Jorge Cortes, head of the coordinated businesses council in Ensenada (CCEE), Mario Zepeda, president of the Baja California Citizens Council and federal congressman Armando Reyes, talked at different times with AMLO regarding placing Ensenada into the tax-reduced zone and they all agreed that he was open about the idea but said that he had to review the matter thoroughly.

Although this seems like a win for Ensenada, who wants to be part of the tax-reduced area, no commitment was made by AMLO to include Ensenada in the border zone, which is comprised of every city that is within 19 miles from the border.

One of them did say that AMLO was analyzing the possibility of including Ensenada in the Border Zone  in a second stage of the process.

Jorge Cortes, from CCEE, said that he delivered a letter signed by all the business councils in Ensenada that will be directly affected by the change if it goes through on December 1st, the day he gets starts his term.

Jacobo Zepeda stated that he delivered another letter to AMLO and about 4,000 signatures of concerned citizens.

 

With information from elvigia.net

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 Breaking News, Ensenada

24 Beaches Being Cleaned This Weekend, And You Can Help!

More than 50 non-profits, schools, businesses & authorities from the state and city levels are working together to clean 24 local beaches as part of the International Coastal Cleanup Movement started by Ocean Conservancy more than 30 years ago.

This is the first time that an alliance is formed with different organizations in order to cover more beaches and pickup the biggest amount of trash possible and create awareness in the community about keeping our beaches and oceans clean.

Each organization will be in charge of cleaning squads that will start the cleanup on Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23 in several beaches around Ensenada and all the way to Baja Sur.

All the trash collected from the cleanup will be organized by type (Ex. cigarette butts, plastic bottles, cans, etc), weight and all the information will be put in a database which will allow authorities and non-profits to know what kind of trash is more often found in particular places. With this information campaigns can be made to address specific trash problems in certain areas.

The results from the ocean cleanups all around the world will be published in Ocean Conservancy’s website www.oceanconservancy.org and will also be available at the next Expo Environment, organized by the local Environmental Protection Office, in a booth that will show visitors the quantity of trash collected and exhibit the most weird objects found in the beach.

You can help by attending any of these cleanups, they start at 8:00AM and end at 1:00PM. Volunteers should bring a hat, comfortable closed shoes, sunscreen, water (in a reusable container), fruit and gloves. They are stressing out to not bring any water in disposable plastic bottles.

The locations available are:

Saturday, September 22, 2018- Ensenada and Baja Sur

  1. San Miguel
  2. Stacks
  3. Tres Emes
  4. El Mosquito
  5. Playa Hermosa
  6. Conalep
  7. Pacifica
  8. La Mision
  9. Villa Jesus Maria
  10. Bahia de Los Angeles
  11. Isla de Cedros
  12. Guerrero Negro
  13. Laguna San Ignacio

Sunday, September 23, 2018 – San Quintin

  1. Arroyo Santo Domingo
  2. Playa San Ramón
  3. Laguna Figueroa
  4. Chapala
  5. Playa Santa María
  6. La Chorera
  7. Humedal El Arco
  8. Punta Azufre
  9. Punta Mazo and Monte Ceniza Natural Reserves

We have no news of organized efforts being made in Rosarito and Tijuana but you can always show up at your local beach and do your part to help out, better yet take some friends over and help even more!

Fore more information visit the Facebook event “Limpieza Internacional Costera“.

 

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 Columns

What’s Going On In This Country?

BY SANTIAGO VERDUGO

You can’t make this stuff up. Three people were struck and killed by a runaway truck whose brakes failed while they were helping themselves to the cargo aboard another truck, whose brakes had also failed. This all went down on a big highway on the mainland.

Passersby saw an opportunity after the first truck was stuck on a runaway truck ramp on a section of the highway in Veracruz. They broke into the trailer and began stealing its cargo of cleaning supplies. But minutes later a second truck barreled down the ramp, (Doesn’t anyone in Mexico maintain their brakes? Has anyone even seen a runaway truck using those sand pits?) The second runaway truck knocked over three of the looters like they were bowling pins.

But that didn’t stop fellow looters, who kept right on snatching these coveted cleaning supplies. (Maybe there are some good deals on cleaning supplies on Craig’s List in Veracruz?)

Meanwhile, others started whumping on the driver of the second truck, presumably in retaliation for hitting their fellow looters. The driver of that truck was hospitalized but is expected to recover.

Fake News. Four people were killed in a fake hysteria whipped up on social media. A fake message circulating on Facebook and Twitter and the messaging service WhatsApp, alerted people in several states that a wave of kidnappings was taking place. The gist of many messages was “don’t leave your kids alone, there’s a band of child snatchers within our midst.”

Some messages claimed that children are being abducted by organ-trafficking rings while others called for vigilante justice for anyone believed guilty of the crime. And that’s exactly what happened in two towns on consecutive days last week.

First, an uncle and his nephew were killed by an angry mob, then a man and a woman were killed in the same way the next day. Both were burned alive. In both cases, the prosecutor’s offices said there was no evidence that the victims had committed any crime. Authorities also issued statements declaring that child abduction rings were operating in each state are false and urged citizens not to spread such information.

Authorities in other states where the same fake news has flourished — Yucatán, Durango, Jalisco and Sinaloa — have issued similar statements of their own.

The mother of 21-year-old Ricardo Flores Rodríguez, who was a farmworker and a law student at a university in Veracruz, blamed the mayor of Acatlán de Osorio, because the two men were taken by force from municipal police before they were tied up, doused with gasoline and set on fire.

“I want the head of the mayor because he is responsible for the death of my son and my brother-in-law,” Rosario Rodríguez said. “Why did they kill them? Why did they [local authorities] let them?”

The mother condemned the acts of mob justice, but also recognized shortcomings in Mexico’s justice and legal systems that result in high levels of impunity. “We reproach and condemn [the serving of] justice by one’s own hands, [but we cannot] prosecute presumably illegal behavior by seeking to serve justice with our own hands. We have to recognize that there is an institutional weakness in the procurement of justice, but that must not be substituted by [serving]  justice by one’s own hands,” she said.

Commission chief Pérez warned that as long as the state does not provide  minimal security there will be distrust of institutions and desperation among citizens to see justice served. The commission said there have been 25 deaths like this so far this year.

Dark Times. These are dark times for the town of Motul, on the Yucatán, particularly at city hall. The new mayor was sworn in Saturday, but the ceremony would have been conducted in the dark were it not for rented portable generators: the electricity was cut off due to an overdue account. Incoming mayor Roger Aguilar Arroyo claimed during the swearing-in ceremony that his predecessor had left the municipality in arrears with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

The PRI mayor said the PAN  party’s mayor left an outstanding debt of US $156,000, most of which is owed to  CFE. The new mayor pledged to negotiate a payment plan with the federal utility to have the administration’s power reconnected.

The electricity was cut off four times during the previous mayor’s three-year term. He has blamed his own predecessor for the unpaid debt. This is pretty standard in an administration change.

Same shit, different government. The fine imposed on the incoming Morena party has been rescinded. The fine was for money going missing from an earthquake relief fund on its watch.

The 10.3 million dollar fine was reversed because there was not enough evidence that it was Morena’s hands in the cookie jar. The cookie jar, which was filled with about $4.1 million through donations, was for the September 17th earthquake last year. 3.37 million dollars in cash was taken out of the trust and allocated to members of the party, according to the initial charge.

When the fine was announced in mid-July, President-Elect López Obrador, assured that this was “a vile revenge,” presumedly for winning the election.

We’re going to stop now, because we’re pretty much finished with dispensing bad news.

Wait. Here’s some semi good news. We’ll call it less bad news, as nobody is dead. Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) doesn’t take office until December, but he’s already got a multi-billion dollar dilemma on his hands: what to do with the country’s largest infrastructure project, already in a morass of scandals and corruption, which, if completed, will become one of the world’s most corrupt and most costly airports? Last month AMLO announced that his government would either finish it or expand a military base north of the Mexico City, depending on the results of a a review by engineering experts and a public referendum due in October.

An engineering association threw their support behind the completion of the $13 billion airport, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t also on the take. The already white elephant is in its fourth year of construction, only 30% completed, and $4 billion USD over budget.

Three big contracts, worth $5 billion, are in the hands of a consortia led by Grupo Carso, or other firms owned by Carlos Slim and his family. Slim is one of the richest men in the world, (Warren Buffet and Bill Gates keep trading places with him). Forbes says he’s worth $75 billion. Just how much money does one man need? What is he going to do with more billions? Maybe stealing is just habit with him. An addiction that could be helped with rehab. Slim is the owner of América Movil, formerly Teléfonos de Mexico, or Telmex. Telmex was the old telephone monopoly in the country, akin to America’s AT&T Inc. He was there to catch it when it was privatized.

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