Guadalajara church leader sentenced to 16 years for child sex abuse

June 17, 2022

by Mexico News Daily

The leader of a Guadalajara-based evangelical church was sentenced in a California court Wednesday to 16 years and eight months in prison for sexually abusing three girls between 2015 and 2018 in Los Angeles county.

Naasón Joaquín García, leader or “Apostle” of the La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) church, pleaded guilty last Friday to two acts of forcible oral sex with minors and performing a lewd act on a child. García, 53, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in 2019. In addition to his prison sentence, he will be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The church leader submitted a plea just days before he was scheduled to face trial on 23 charges of sex crimes against children, including multiple counts of rape and conspiracy to engage in human trafficking and child pornography. In exchange for admitting guilt, prosecutors dropped most of the charges he faced, including the most serious ones.

Two of three women accused of colluding with García to abuse minors have also reached plea deals with prosecutors.

Five accusers who appeared in court Wednesday said that García’s sentence was too lenient and complained about not being consulted on the plea deal he reached with the office of the California attorney general.

La Luz del Mundo said in a statement that “since his arrest in 2019, the Apostle has been subjected to a prosecution in which evidence was suppressed, withheld, doctored and altered.”

“After the defense finally obtained this evidence, the court ruled that the defense would not be permitted to use the materials at trial, preventing the defense from effectively cross-examining the complaining witnesses and challenging their allegations,” the church said. “Without a right to use the evidence, there is no right of defense. Without a right to use the evidence, there can be no fair trial.”

Consequently, “the Apostle of Jesus Christ has had no choice but to accept with much pain that the agreement presented is the best way forward to protect the church and his family,” La Luz del Mundo said. “… We publicly manifest our support for the Apostle of Jesus Christ; our confidence in him remains intact in the full knowledge of his integrity, his conduct and his work.”

García’s five accusers, who are now young women, presented victim-impact statements at Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, which was held at the Los Angeles County Superior Court. All five, each of whom was given the pseudonym Jane Doe, said they felt robbed of their chance to more fully confront García, according to a Reuters report.

“We looked up to you, you were our god, and you betrayed us. You are no more than a predator and an abuser,” said a visually emotional Jane Doe No. 3.

Dressed in orange prison attire, García sat with his back to his tearful accusers and didn’t make any statement to the court.

“Naasón and this church have ruined my life,” said Jane Doe No. 4, who introduced herself as García’s niece.

Another accuser asserted that García was avoiding accountability by claiming innocence through the church statement. “Your honor, this abuser thinks your courtroom is a joke. Even after he accepted the plea deal, he’s sending messages to the church that he’s innocent,” she said.

Judge Ronald Cohen, who imposed the almost 17-year sentence recommended by prosecutors, assured the victims – who also described García as “evil,” a “monster,” “disgusting human waste” and the “antichrist” – that “the world has heard you.”

Co-defendant Susana Medina Oaxaca pleaded guilty to a charge of assault likely to cause great bodily harm and was sentenced to probation for a period of one year and ordered to complete six months of psychiatric counseling. Alondra Ocampo, another co-defendant, pleaded guilty in 2020 to three counts of touching a minor in a sexual way and one count of forcible penetration. Ocampo, who had previously faced human trafficking and other criminal charges, has not yet been sentenced.

Azalea Rangel Melendez, another woman accused of colluding with García to abuse girls, has evaded arrest.

Founded in Guadalajara by García’s grandfather in 1926, La Luz del Mundo is Mexico’s largest evangelical church. It has a presence in 50 countries and some 5 million members. García has been credited with growing the church’s membership since succeeding his father as leader in 2014. He used social media to attract new members, and also to lure his victims, according to California prosecutors.

The church – which doesn’t celebrate Christmas or Easter, segregates sexes during services, prohibits alcohol and doesn’t allow women to hold leadership positions – has been the subject of controversy for decades and described by critics as a cult that preys on the poor.

Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, said after García’s 2019 arrest that the church was “too large to be considered a cult” but has been run as a “cult of personality.”

“García took on godlike roles, saying he couldn’t be judged, that he was like a king,” he said.

With reports from Reuters, El Universal and Milenio

Instead of picking strawberries in US, former migrants cultivate them in Oaxaca

June 17, 2022

Gustavo Ortiz earns less in Mexico, but he’s working for himself and can be with his family

by the El Reportero‘s wire services

Picking strawberries in the United States gave one former Mexican migrant the wherewithal to start his own strawberry-producing business in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, and he’s happy to be home with his wife and kids.

Gustavo Ortiz Salvador is one of several farmers in San Martín Peras who picked strawberries and other produce in California and other parts of the U.S. for years, work that allowed them to send money home to their families and also learn about the strawberry-growing process.

But many have used that knowledge so they can stay home and cultivate strawberries and raspberries on their own land.

Twelve years ago, Ortiz decided to return to Oaxaca and put his agricultural knowledge to good use by using remittances his family had saved to establish his own strawberry fields in Peras, a municipality that borders Guerrero.

Now, Ortiz not only earns enough to support his family but also employs locals. He told the El Universal newspaper that he makes less than he did in the United States, but on the plus side, he’s working for himself and is not separated from his wife and three children. Ortiz’s family is one of the few in Peras that doesn’t depend on remittances to survive, El Universal said.

The strawberry grower said he brought his plants to Oaxaca from Zamora, Michoacán, a strawberry-growing hub. He and other local strawberry growers sell their produce to buyers from Mixtec-region cities such as Tlaxiaco and Huajuapan and to vendors at Oaxaca’s Santiago Juxtlahuaca market.

“They come here for the strawberries,” Ortiz said, referring to his main buyers. “They take the opportunity to buy other fruit such as blackberries from neighbors.”

In addition to strawberries, Ortiz can now offer chiles and flowers to buyers after he planted those crops for the first time this year. He stressed that he doesn’t receive any government support, explaining that some farmers benefit from programs such as the federal tree-planting scheme Sowing Life, “but we don’t receive anything.”

While Ortiz has been back in his native Peras for over a decade, many other people from the Mixtec municipality remain in the United States. According to a 2021 BBVA bank report on migration and remittances, there were more migrants from Peras in the United States between 2015 and 2020 than from any other municipality in Oaxaca.

With reports from El Universal

With inflation, California worries about progress on poverty

June 17, 2022

California lawmakers and activists are pressing Gov. Gavin Newsom to spend more to help the state’s poorest residents

by Alejandro Lazo

CalMatters

As the state’s Democratic leaders weigh how to spend a record $97.5 billion budget surplus, they also are grappling with how best to keep many vulnerable Californians out of poverty with federal stimulus dollars waning and high inflation devouring household budgets.

Some advocates say the revised budget Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled Friday won’t do enough. To address inflation, Newsom is proposing to devote $18.1 billion in state funds.

His lead proposal, estimated to cost about $11.5 billion, would refund $400 each to most of the state’s car owners, with the aim of easing the burden of high gas prices. Newsom also included $750 million to fund public transit for free for three months.

Activists said the car owner refund would not be targeted enough toward those needing the most help.

“At the end of the day, the state budget should be about ensuring every Californian can afford housing, food, child care, health care, and education opportunities,” said Chris Hoene, executive director of the California Budget & Policy Center.

Experts say low-income Californians are struggling the most with a volatile economic recovery marred by high housing costs and pricier basic necessities. And critics said the budget proposal doesn’t go far enough to help lower-income households weather high inflation.

Mayra Paniagua, a part-time tax preparer in Ventura County whose family of five lives frugally on a combined income of $44,000, said she would welcome any relief as she has seen expenses climb this year.

“It’s been hard,” Paniagua said. “We stretch our money, and try to save as much as possible, especially for what we need.”

But the California Democrats who control state government are at odds over how they should spend on the state’s poorest.

Some are advocating the state extend expiring federal stimulus programs. Others say the eligibility of programs should be expanded to include more people.

They have about a month to come to an agreement, as the legislature is constitutionally required to pass a budget by June 15. Then, Newsom has 15 days to act, before the new budget takes effect July 1.

Republican lawmakers, who are so small a minority they have virtually no say over spending, blame inflation on the policies of the majority party. “Democrat-rule has made this state unaffordable,” James Gallagher, the Assembly Republican leader from Yuba City, said last week.

Gallagher and other Republicans have blamed the state’s gas tax, which Democrats raised in 2017 under Brown to repair roads and bridges and expand mass transit, as a contributor to higher prices at the pump. Gallagher also has blamed the state’s climate change agenda for driving up the cost of utilities.

The federal stimulus is credited with boosting the fortune of the state’s least well off.

The state’s poverty rate fell from 16.2 percent in 2019 to 12.3 percent in 2020, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

But experts caution that inflation and the expiration of federal programs could threaten that progress. Without the child tax credit, for instance, 1.7 million children are at risk of falling deeper into poverty, the Budget & Policy Center has said.

More than half of California’s residents with incomes below $50,000 were struggling to pay for food, housing, and medical costs in March and April. Black, Latino and other families of color were among those most likely to be struggling, the center reported.

“We’ve got a strong labor market,” said Sarah Kimberlin, a senior policy analyst with the center. “But even if you can find a job, that doesn’t mean that you can afford to pay the rent and get food on the table.”

The governor unveiled a variety of other measures he said were aimed at easing the inflation burden. Those proposals included $2.7 billion in rental assistance and $1.4 billion in past-due utility bill assistance. He also proposed a waiver of child care fees for low-income families estimated to cost $157 million.

ewsom also proposed $933 million be used to provide cash payments of $1,500 for hospital and nursing home workers, while reserving $304 million for health insurance premium assistance for families.

To offset freighting costs, the governor proposed a $439 million pause on the state’s diesel tax.

The governor also announced that the state’s minimum wage is set to increase to $15.50 an hour next year due to the inflation hike.

Some Democratic legislators and their allies are pushing Newsom to take a different approach.

Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, a Los Angeles Democrat, plans to promote a bill he authored that would enable the state to extend the expired federal child tax credit. Santiago’s bill, backed by United Ways of California, would provide a $2,000 payment per child to families that earn $30,000 a year or less.

“It is a chance for the Legislature to send a clear message of prioritization,” said Anna Hasselblad, director of public policy for United Ways of California.

Any form of relief would be welcome to Paniagua, a 38-year-old mother of three living with her husband in a two-bedroom apartment in the coastal Ventura County city of Port Hueneme.

In a phone interview, Paniagua said her family survived the pandemic only because her husband kept his job at a local nursery. He is undocumented, she said, and so would not have qualified for 2020 federal relief.

In 2021, her family benefited from state stimulus checks for the undocumented, she said, and from goods from a local food pantry and some CalFresh benefits available to her because her son was enrolled in school.

This year, she said, the high cost of living has stretched her family thin. With her rent increasing $200 in July to $2,100 a month, she has taken to using the Flipp phone app to search for deals on necessities such as milk, yogurt and baby formula for her 7-month-old baby girl.

Gone are any trips to the movies, or the occasional splurge on In-N-Out burgers, a favorite of her children, she said.

This article is part of the California Divide project, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California.

Letter to my Dad who is in Heaven on his day

June 17, 2022

Dear Dad, José Santos Ramírez Calero, highly ethical journalist that you were, that from you I learned the best values of journalism that is not for sale, and that it is a vocation and a labor of love.

I write you these last minute words when I have less than an hour to send this edition to the printer, since every week that I have to finish the newspaper I end up without being able to write an editorial, each time having to put a note that says: ” This article was published last week.” And it is a day after June 16, the day you left for the abode of the Lord.

It’s kind of embarrassing to hear people say to me on the street: “Marvin, your paper is excellent, but you never change the editorial…”

“I know,” I usually tell them, “but I just don’t have any help, and I’m always late to write it, especially when there’s a deadline to get it to the printer for printing.

But today, dad, I promised that I would do it at all costs, and I decided to write you this article-letter where I express what comes from my heart, as a tribute to you, my father, on this day that is celebrated here in earthly life, Father’s Day.

– José Santos Ramírez Calero –

Let the people who will read this letter know that you and God are always with me talking about my daily life, when I need a guide from the Supreme Power and from you, to be able to cope with this burden that life puts on us to be alive.

My life has been dedicated to this journalistic work for a little more than 32 years publishing, plus the years I spent studying to obtain my degree in the field.

Your joy reflected in your face I never forget, when I came down from the graduation stage with that cardboard that told me that I was already a journalist, and you told me: “you graduated.”

When you came to help me correct the cardboard where the pages that came out of the printer were pasted in the office in the first years of the birth of El Reportero, it was a great pride for me that my corrector was a tall journalist with a long career, as was you.

To the general public, know that when you pick up an edition of El Reportero, you are reading a work of work that has been done with all the love and dedication, so that you enjoy and add to your knowledge the information that is published – and that is generally different from that of the other media.

My sisters Juana A. Ramírez, Jazmina del Carmen Ramírez Torres, your grandchildren: Rudy Marvin, Darling, Karen, Juanita, Felix Alemán and your new great-grandson, Brandon, send you greetings to you where you are.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO EVERYONE!

Mayor in Chiapas apologizes after saying feminism, sexual diversity “not normal”

June 10, 2022

“Moral values are being lost with feminism and factors of sexuality”, said mayor of Ocozocoautla

by Mexico News Daily

The mayor of a municipality in Chiapas has apologized after stating that feminism and homosexuality are not normal.

In a press conference held Monday in advance of a music and cultural festival in Ocozocoautla de Espinosa this week, Mayor Javier Maza Cruz commented on feminism and homosexuality by saying, “All those things, they can be seen as normal, but they are not.”

Local media picked up on the comments and broadcast the portion of his speech in which he also recommended that young people should engage in reading, painting and creating with their hands so “they will be more involved in artistic activities than in trivial things — things that are not going to fill the spirit.”

“Read so that homosexuality or feminism are removed,” he was quoted as saying. “Moral values are being lost with feminism and factors of sexuality.”

Hours later, through his social networks, Maza apologized and assured that his administration will always be inclusive of the LGBTTTIQ+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transvestite, transsexual, intersex and queer). By that time, video of the press conference had been removed from official channels.

Ocozocoautla, known more informally as Coita, is a town and municipality of 97,000 about 15 miles west of the Chiapas capital city of Tuxla-Gutiérrez.

The Festival Emergente (Emerging Festival) is set for June 9 and 10 in a large park near the zoo. It includes musical acts of many different styles (including ska, hip-hop, rap and surf music), break-dancing, stargazing led by an astronomical club, vendors and creative workshops. In that light, Maza lauded festival organizers for an event that focuses on young audiences interested in urban culture and emerging expressions.

He also said that many young people are engaged in nonproductive activities, and that for society to improve, there is a need to instill in them arts, culture and education. “We are very concerned about these generations that are coming now,” he said, adding that society’s “moral values are being lost” because of the media and misinformation.

“The truth is that we have a post-pandemic generation that was already [addicted] to smartphones,” he said. “Through culture, arts and education we will be able to have a better society.”

In regard to the mayor’s comments about homosexuality and feminism, which came during the month in which gay pride is celebrated, groups such as the feminist collective 50+1 Chiapas issued condemnations on their social networks.

“[We] express our outrage and strongly condemn the statements … [that] feminists and people of sexual diversity are not normal,” 50+1 Chiapas posted in a four-paragraph statement on its Facebook page. “We all have the right to be treated with the same dignity, which is why intolerance, discrimination and gender-based violence are reprehensible. We demand a public apology!”

Maza did just that. “My most sincere apologies to the entire LGBT community and feminist groups for my comment issued today,” he said in a 52-second video message posted to his Facebook account. “To clarify, both this public servant and the government that I represent are respectful of all citizens without any distinction.”

Tourist flees Puerto Vallarta after monkeypox diagnosis

June 10, 2022

The Texas man caught a flight home after doctors advised him to isolate

by Mexico News Daily

A U.S. tourist who tested positive for monkeypox first fled the Puerto Vallarta hospital where he was instructed to isolate and undergo more tests, and then quickly hurried out of the country, according to reports.

The 48-year-old Texas man presented symptoms such as cough, chills, muscle pain and pustule-like lesions on his face, neck and trunk.

“He went to a private hospital in Puerto Vallarta and upon suspicion of this disease, he was instructed to take samples and isolate himself, which he refused and left (he actually fled) the unit,” according to a Jalisco Ministry of Health press release. Attempts to communicate with him went for naught, the agency added.

“According to information from the place where the couple was staying, it was reported that they were seen leaving with suitcases on June 4; however, since the patient had a scheduled flight from Puerto Vallarta to Dallas on June 6, [health officials] informed the National Immigration Institute and the airlines about the patient’s situation so that he would not be allowed to enter or board the aircraft,” the agency added.

In Jalisco, we have strengthened surveillance to detect monkeypox cases on time and help provide timely attention. For further information please contact our Call Center at 33-3823-3220 pic.twitter.com/RucSSQKc1M

— Secretaría de Salud Jalisco (@saludjalisco) June 8, 2022

It has now been determined, with assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, that the patient and his partner flew to the United States on June 4, El Universal reported. On June 7, the Ministry of Health’s National Liaison Center reported that the man’s test for monkeypox turned out to be positive, and the only thing the agency was awaiting at that point was confirmation from the CDC. His case was the first to be confirmed in Jalisco, according to reports.

During his stay in Puerto Vallarta, the patient reportedly was present at various parties and gatherings, some of them held in a hotel. In a tweet, the Jalisco Ministry of Health put out a call to people who attended parties at the Mantamar Beach Club in the period from May 27 to June 4, 2022, and present symptoms such as headache, high fever at 38.5 C, swollen glands, generalized muscle pain, visible skin eruptions in various parts of the body such as pustules. Anyone exhibiting such symptoms was urged to seek immediate medical attention.

According to several news reports, the infected individual was in Berlin, Germany, from May 12 to 16 before traveling to Puerto Vallarta.

With reports from El Universal and Reforma.

Moringa, a superfood with 46 antioxidants that helps if you have allergies

June 10, 2022

by El Reportero

If you are wondering what moringa is, it is because we are becoming more aware and involved in establishing good physical and mental health. It is no longer just doing sports several times a week and opting for healthy and balanced food, but rather we look for ways to achieve maximum well-being. We include natural superfoods in our day to day life to give our body more vitamins, minerals and benefits and thus lead a healthier life. With infusions, capsules, or powders we make sure to maximize our physical and mental well-being and strengthen our immune system.

Moringa, whose scientific name is Moringa oleifera, is a superfood with 46 antioxidants. In addition, it helps reduce respiratory allergies by deflating the mucous membranes of the respiratory system. On the other hand, it helps to lower blood cholesterol. Another of its qualities is that it acts on the kidney due to its diuretic effect, enhancing the purifying function of this organ and favoring the elimination of toxins through the urine. This makes it an herb with depurative properties”.

The moringa tree is native to northern India, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Sudan, however, in recent years it has been cultivated in states of Mexico with a tropical climate such as Veracruz and Guerrero.

According to Mara Nandi, director of the Nutritex company in Mexico, moringa is a good supplier of minerals such as iron, carotenoids, vitamin C, polyphenols and quercetin. These nutrients make moringa oleifera work as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. The natural superfood not only supports better overall health, but can also increase physical and mental resilience in stressful situations.

Moringa is a medicinal tree with great benefits for our body. The plant has 90 nutrients, 46 antioxidants and essential amino acids. Moringa has antihypertensive and diuretic properties and is ideal for lowering cholesterol. It is antispasmodic, antidepressant, antiulcer, protects the liver and contains antibacterial properties. “It is also a great anti-inflammatory, so it can be ingested in case of muscle pain, joint pain, even inflammation at the digestive level,” she said.

Mayor in Chiapas apologizes after saying feminism, sexual diversity not normal

June 10, 2022

‘Moral values are being lost with feminism and factors of sexuality,’ said mayor of Ocozocoautla