Here in the state of Oaxaca, 1216 cases of dengue have been confirmed so far this year, that’s three times as many cases as were confirmed in all of last year, according to statistics published late last week by federal health authorities. But the number of people suspected of having dengue in Oaxaca is more than 14,000 so far this year, those same officials reported. That’s a fourfold increase in suspected cases over last year.
Not every case of dengue produces serious illness, however, and so far this year only 6 deaths in the state have officially been attributed to dengue. State epidemiologist Mayliz Esparza told Milenio this weekend that the people most at risk are pregnant women and anyone with a chronic health condition like diabetes or hypertension. She listed several areas hardest-hit by dengue — among them important tourism destinations such the capital city and the surrounding Central Valleys region as well as the beach town of Huatulco.
Support for today’s Oaxaca Newscast comes from Ndavaa Artisanal Shoe Design. A collective of Zapotec women providing more than 100 sustainable jobs, Ndavaa makes and sells contemporary shoes and sandals using traditional indiengous textiles. Visit their shoe boutique in Oaxaca’s Centro Histórico at Cinco de Mayo number 210, near the corner of Murguía. Open every day from 8am to 5pm.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that Mexico’s Inter-Ocean passenger rail line will open on December 22nd. The rail line crosses Mexico at its thinnest point, from Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, on the Pacific side, to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, on the Gulf Side in just six and a half hours. A video AMLO released on his social media accounts this weekend emphasizes the passenger train service, but at one point he talks about the rail line’s most economically significant purpose:
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“Imagine what this project means,” says Lopez Obrador, “now that our brothers in Panama are having some difficulty because of water shortages in the canal.”
Both the English-language Yucatan Times and the English-language Mexico News Daily have excellent analysis of how the goal is to offer an intermodal container-transport alternative to the Panama Canal. A shortage of water in the Panama Canal has caused ships to be backed up there for weeks. The “intermodal” cargo system would involve ships arriving at the port of Salina Cruz, unloading the cargo containers onto trains, sending them to the Gulf Coast in under 7 hours, where they would then be loaded onto another ship.
Normally a ship crossing the Panama Canal has to wait days or weeks. According to the Wall Street Journal, a typical crossing costs 400,000 US dollars, but Business Insider Mexico reports that some companies pay nearly US$2.5 million to jump ahead in the queue.
The 43rd annual Oaxaca International Book Fair opened this weekend in the capital city’s convention center and will run through October 22nd. According to the book fair’s official Twitter feed, free buses are available from several points in the city to the convention center. Outside the book fair, dissident writers and independent publishers held a protest event they called the “People’s Autonomous Literary Market.” El Universal reported that the protesters were upset over what they described as the high cost of renting stands at the book fair despite government subsidies for the event and the perceived sidelining of indie publishers.
In Winter League baseball, Oaxaca’s Guerreros beat Mexico City’s Diablos Rojos on Sunday 14 to 10 thanks to an incredible 10-run explosion in the fifth inning. This despite the Diablos’ Yousamot Cota hitting a dramatic grand slam earlier in the game. On Saturday, the Diablos defeated the Guerreros 9 to 8.
In football, no home stadium advantage for the Alebrijes this weekend. They lost out to Cancun FC 5 to 2. The big star of the show nonetheless — at least on social media, was Max, the former street dog who ran onto the field to steal the ball and win the hearts of fans. Max is now an official member of the team with his own jersey and, if the comments on Instagram are any indication, a pretty big fan base around the world.
In weather, mostly cloudy skies in the capital city today, highs of around 23ºC (74ºF) and lows of about 14ºC (57ºF). On the coast, expect a high temperature of 32ºC (90ºF) in Huatulco with a 30% chance of light rain in the afternoon and evening, lows of 23ºC (73ºF). In Puerto Escondido mostly cloudy, temperatures just one or two degrees cooler.