Police officers in Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa shot and killed a 16-year-old boy after mistaking him for a criminal Tuesday night Alexander Martínez Gómez left the house of relatives to buy soft drinks at the corner store with three friends when he was shot by police who mistook the group of teenagers for armed criminal suspects they were pursuing A 15-year-old boy was also injured during the incident and taken to a nearby hospital They have cut that short!” Martínez’s grieving mother shouted in a video making the rounds on social media She also says that nobody offered to provide first aid to her son after the shooting to try to save the young soccer player’s life Martínez’s dream was to become a professional soccer player He played with a Veracruz club and was registered with the Liga MX The state Attorney General’s Office is investigating the incident and one police officer has been detained in the shooting State human rights authorities say they received 344 complaints against police officers last year and 120 so far this year Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said that federal authorities are also planning on assisting in the investigation and members of the military and the National Guard were being dispatched to maintain order in the town located in the Papaloapan basin region of the state “They killed him but I won’t let myself fall I want everyone to stand with me and resist because if they did this to me and my son they can do it to anyone’s son!” Martinez’s mother lamented Source: Milenio (sp), El Universal (sp) ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC Native species like ojoche and mesquite have disappeared from most Mexicans’ daily diets but as the country confronts food insecurity and the effects of climate change scientists tout their nutritional and ecological benefits Guadalupe Anaya Miguel is known as la señora del ojoche This is where Anaya has collected 26 years’ worth of data as the ojoche is also known in Spanish — information that she disseminates among rural communities in her region is found in central and southern Mexico; across Central America; as far south as Colombia Peru and Venezuela; and in the Caribbean islands of Cuba Some researchers believe that ojoche — which tastes like potato or jícama when raw like chocolate when ground into flour or toasted and has the consistency and fragrance of chickpeas when boiled — was once a staple for Mayan people “The most typical thing: tamales,” the home cooks would usually respond we’re going to make some tamales with ojoche.” People had only ever heard of animals eating ojoche we’re going to make use of it — and you’re going to see the benefit it has for children.’” Anaya knew little of these benefits until she met Cecilia Sánchez Garduño a doctor of ecology and an expert on the nutritional benefits of ojoche Anaya was startled to learn that communities in southeastern Mexico had relied on the seed to survive war and famine less than 30% of the population has access to nutritious food so ojoche can be an important addition to the diet is available even as water sources dwindle and the climate becomes more erratic extreme weather and economic disturbances have intensified food insecurity across the world according to a 2022 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations there are increasing efforts to help communities reincorporate food alternatives into their regular diet — and to help Mexicans see the ojoche tree as far more than a source of timber and firewood people no longer remember the nutritious food their ancestors once ate He was inspired by the strategic vision of Sánchez and the Maya Nut Institute — an international nongovernmental organization that promotes the use of ojoche in local diets where Sánchez was previously Mexico country director — to investigate the food potential of mesquite a tree native to dry areas in the Americas once valued for the sweetness of its seedpods and the hardness of its wood He recalls an exchange with a professor in the United States that set him on this path all that potential for food,” the professor said of course I would know about it,” he thought “Because I grew up surrounded by mesquite trees.” He went home and began researching — and felt he was short-circuiting inside he stumbled across a packet of 300 grams of mesquite flour in an organic store in Mexico City — it had been produced in Peru branded in the United States and imported into Mexico with a price tag of 400 Mexican pesos ($21.72) his raison d’être became to return to Mexico “to promote this great ally that has fed the human populations of Mexico — and for thousands of years since the time when humans arrived in North America.” For the past four years Ruiz has organized the Festival Comunitario del Mezquite in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato Mesquite trees require little water or maintenance — and replenish the soil by restoring its nitrogen content The event highlights the species’s potential in combating food insecurity and desertification and invites people “to try recipes beverages … to rescue that pre-Hispanic indigenous gastronomic tradition that has almost completely been lost in Mexico.” Not everyone is quick to adopt mesquite as a source of food mesquite trees are more valued as a source of lumber or fuel they are typically regarded as a nuisance: stripped or chopped without people realizing these can be ground and used as flour Mauricio Mora Tello can relate to Ruiz’s challenges people only tend to eat locally recognized foods often rooted in tradition — but reject alternatives even if they are superfoods or are appreciated in other parts of the world processing and consumption of bamboo shoots — including native varieties people don’t recognize as bamboo — through an independent school in Ahuata where 50% of its 103,583 residents live in poverty Incorporating these varieties in local dishes has not been easy but local cooks have come up with innovative recipes: chunks of bamboo in corn tamales shoots pickled in an acidic marinade called escabeche or preserved in piloncillo or raw cane syrup Mora is also working with a private university to produce bamboo chips and cookies with bamboo fiber and flour Mora and other advocates of food alternatives have not only enlisted traditional cooks to incorporate them into local dishes they are also working with nutritionists to further assess their health benefits and environmentalists to expound upon their future benefits given that all three species are climate-resilient and help the soil retain water and nutrients mesquite or bamboo is a highly nutritious alternative that can substitute for the refined — and less healthy — varieties of flour on the market “We are currently dealing with a very fast-moving food transition that has had serious consequences for our health,” says Mahelet Lozada Aranda head of the Canastas Regionales del Bien Comer project at Mexico’s national commission for biodiversity knowledge and use daily caloric intake is far above the optimal amount as denoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization with an increasing reliance on animal protein and fats “Which is why it is important to value the local foods we have,” says Lozada whose project works to promote biodiverse agriculture and “the consumption of local foods produced or gathered by rural families.” what is most important is that more people know about the food alternatives growing around them and are able to consume them in a sustainable way — and then sell any surplus product in a market with fair regulations they are proud of the small changes taking root in their communities especially in the face of increasing food insecurity “The fact that they could bring one more ingredient to the table NEW: The Effects of the US Foreign Aid Freeze on Freedom House The page you have requested is not available or requires you to 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Freedom in the World has been widely used by policymakers Donate today to help us ensure the future of this vital resource. The 16-year-old victim – identified only as Alexander – was killed on Tuesday night after he went out to buy soda Details of the shooting remain unclear. News agency Quadratín said Alexander was shot at from a patrol car in an attack that injured a friend The newspaper Reforma quoted a family member who said Alexander was riding on a motorcycle with a 15-year-old boy at around 10.50pm and was chased by police “They were in a petrol station buying a soda and because these 15- and 16-year-old boys were scared “They didn’t give them the option to stop or take off their face masks They simply started to shoot and they shot him in the head Alexander died instantly because the police didn’t want to give him first aid.” Prosecutors in Oaxaca have opened an investigation into the shooting in the town of Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa The municipal government expressed regret on its Facebook page “for the incident that occurred last night” and said it had turned over evidence to state investigators But it also tried to pass off the shooting as an accident saying it was not carried out “in bad faith or to harm the community” They also showed sly support for the police with the illegible hashtag: #Thehistoryofthe[police]forcespeaksforitself The municipality’s statement reflected a tendency for Mexican authorities to blame the victims of violence for the crimes and aggressions committed against them – including police brutality “They want to incriminate Alexander to justify the vileness of their actions,” tweeted Javier Valdivia Read moreLocal press reports said Alexander was staying with his grandparents in the town where he was shot Relatives say he was born in North Carolina to Mexican parents The killing comes just days after a wave of national indignation over the death of Giovanni López, a construction worker in western Jalisco state, who was forcibly detained by municipal police for not wearing a mask and found dead the next day by his family Subsequent protests against police violence were themselves met by further police violence. About 80 people were seized by plainclothes police officers on their way to a demonstration in the city of Guadalajara, and held for hours. The victims said they were beaten, threatened with death and eventually dumped in isolated areas Evidence collected by human rights groups suggested that security forces in Mexico are routinely responsible for abuse, torture and extrajudicial killings “It’s really a volatile mix of a lack of training, an inability to attract quality people and a lack of oversight,” said Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst with the International Crisis Group “There’s also an endemic culture of corruption and collusion.” Protests are planned after the death of 16-year-old US-born Alexander Martínez Gómez Sobbing down the telephone line from her home in rural Oaxaca state, Virginia Gómez remembered her 16-year-old son Alexander as a healthy youngster, who didn’t smoke, didn’t drink – and dreamed of playing football for Mexico. Read more“His only vice was playing football,” she said That dream was cut short this week, when Alexander Martínez Gómez, 16, was shot and killed by police in the village of Vicente Camalote Officers opened fire from a passing patrol car The death of the US-born semi-professional footballer has prompted outrage in Mexico Security forces in the country are routinely accused of violence and incompetence – but against a global backdrop of protest incidents of police brutality are coming under scrutiny as never before Demonstrations are planned for Saturday in Alexander’s home town of Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa locals described rampant police abuse and a climate of fear protests erupted in western Jalisco state after construction worker Giovanni López The state human rights commission concluded on Thursday that he was tortured beaten and then killed in an extrajudicial execution Eighty people heading for a demonstration over López’s murder were themselves abducted by plain-clothed investigative police, beaten, robbed of their money and mobiles and dumped on the outskirts of town “This sort of thing has always happened here – this aggression from the police toward young people killed others because they were wrongly blamed.” The exact details of Alexander’s death remain uncertain but family members say he went out with friends on Tuesday night to buy soda from a nearby gas station and was struck in the head with a bullet and died at the scene A 15-year-old friend was also wounded in the attack The local government described the killing as a regrettable mistake and one police officer involved has been taken in for questioning Alexander Photograph: CourtesyOaxaca state prosecutor Rubén Vasconcelos said: “A shot was fired directly at nine youths who were riding on motorcycles and since [Alexander] was at the front of the group of people other local officers have gone in to hiding had apologized for the “lies” they told in the immediate aftermath where the family had moved in search of better economic opportunities than those offered by the sugar-cane fields of northern Oaxaca the boys’ father Teodoro Martínez found work in landscaping and the family was able to build a small home painted yellow and shaded by trees back in Mexico and Virginia Gómez and the two boys moved back to Mexico in 2008 At the time Gómez thought that life in rural Mexico would be safer than in the US – but the security situation soon started to deteriorate Alexis eventually moved back to the United States “He wanted to stay in Mexico to follow his dream of being a football player and playing for Mexico,” his mother said “Everything was going well and his dream was coming true.” “Chander” – as he was called – received a scholarship to attend college in neighbouring Veracruz state where he played professionally with a third division club Rayados de Tierra Blanca #Oaxaca | #Cuenca 🎥 Compañeros de Alexander lo despiden, mete su último gol. pic.twitter.com/dJ9hY2DaTW he was buried after a funeral in the hamlet of Vicente Camalote on the pitch where he had honed his skills His teammates honoured their friend by allowing him to score a final goal A team-mate passed the ball toward Chander’s coffin – and it deflected into the net The team of teenagers then piled onto the coffin for a final embrace as the crowd cheered With reporting from José Luis González Hernández in Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa Alexander Martínez was laid to rest in a funeral that reflected his passion for football – friends brought his coffin to a local football pitch so that he could 'score' a final goal Martínez was shot in the head by police on Tuesday night and another teenager was also wounded in the incident and later died in hospital has sparked outrage in Mexico with protests planned in Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa