puebla. mueren alonso y moreno valle; se presume falla de ... · de cultivo de santa maría...

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MARTES 25 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2018 $15.00 -AÑO 19 - NÚMERO 6934 www.milenio.com DIARIO Periodismo con carácter NACIONAL Roberto Blancarte El peregrinaje espiritual del presidente López Obrador - P. 15 Valeria Moy Austeridad: las acciones tomadas por este gobierno - P. 25 Ricardo Monreal Lo bueno, lo malo y lo feo del año que está por terminar - P. 11 Mueren Alonso y Moreno Valle; se presume falla de helicóptero Puebla. El piloto, el copiloto y un asistente del senador también pierden la vida; Jesús Rodríguez Almeida queda a cargo del despacho en relevo de la gobernadora REDACCIÓN Y MILENIO PUEBLA, CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, PAG. 16 A 18 REDACCIÓN, CIUDAD DE MÉXICO El Presidente mostró be- neplácito por la aprobación del paquete económico 2019 y rei- teró su invitación a los partidos para que reduzcan a la mitad sus prerrogativas. También aseguró que analizará el tema de los des- pidos en el SAT para que no se co- metan injusticias. PAG. 6 Y 7 Es el primer Presupuesto sin moches y alcanzará para todo lo prometido: AMLO Blunt. Mary Poppins la confirma como la actriz más completa P. 30 La Afición. Los 15 deportistas del mundo más destacados en sus disciplinas P. 40 El gobierno federal informó que la aeronave era rentada y volaba hacia Ciudad de México; PGR atrae la investigación y pide no especular. IMELDA MEDINA/REUTERS

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MARTES 25 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2018$15.00 -AÑO 19 - NÚMERO 6934

www.milenio.com

DIARIOPeriodismo con carácter

NACIONAL

Roberto BlancarteEl peregrinaje

espiritual del presidente López Obrador - P. 15

Valeria MoyAusteridad: las

acciones tomadas por este gobierno - P. 25

Ricardo MonrealLo bueno, lo malo y lo

feo del año que está por terminar - P. 11

Mueren Alonso y Moreno Valle; se presume falla de helicóptero

Puebla. El piloto, el copiloto y un asistente del senador también pierden la vida; Jesús Rodríguez Almeida queda a cargo del despacho en relevo de la gobernadora REDACCIÓN Y MILENIO PUEBLA, CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, PAG. 16 A 18

REDACCIÓN, CIUDAD DE MÉXICO

El Presidente mostró be-neplácito por la aprobación del paquete económico 2019 y rei-teró su invitación a los partidos

para que reduzcan a la mitad sus prerrogativas. También aseguró que analizará el tema de los des-pidos en el SAT para que no se co-metan injusticias. PAG. 6 Y 7

Es el primer Presupuesto sin moches y alcanzará para todo lo prometido: AMLO

Blunt. Mary Poppins la confirma como la actriz más completa

P. 30

La Afición. Los 15 deportistas del mundo más destacados en sus disciplinas

P. 40

El gobierno federal informó que la aeronave era rentada y volaba hacia Ciudad de México; PGR atrae la investigación y pide no especular. IMELDA MEDINA/REUTERS

MUEREN GOBERNADORA Y MORENO VALLE

Se desploma helicóptero en el que viajaban hacia la CDMX; el secretario Rodríguez Almeida fungirá como encargado de despacho; vocero de

Puebla exige que indagatoria la haga una instancia internacional

POR FERNANDO PÉREZ Y JUAN PABLO REYES

La gobernadora de Puebla, Martha Erika Alonso, y el se-nador Rafael Moreno Valle fa-llecieron ayer luego de que el helicóptero en el que viajaban se desplomara en un campo de cultivo de Santa María Coro-nango. Con ellos iban tres per-sonas más; todos murieron.

En mensaje a medios, el se-cretario de Seguridad Pública, Alfonso Durazo, dijo que el ac-cidente ocurrió a las 14:40 ho-ras, a tres millas náuticas del aeropuerto de Puebla. Tenían 10 minutos de haber despega-do del helipuerto Triángulo de las Ánimas y se dirigían al he-lipuerto Capital, de la alcaldía Miguel Hidalgo, en la CDMX.

“Se perdió comunicación con la tripulación; se escuchó un golpe”. El funcionario fede-ral explicó que el helicóptero, propiedad de la empresa Ser-vicios Aéreos del Altiplano, S.A. de C.V., se precipitó por una fa-lla, sin especificar la avería.

Javier Jiménez Espriú, se-cretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes, pidió no especular sobre las causas del accidente.

En dicha reunión, en la que también estuvo presente Olga Sánchez, secretaria de Gober-nación, se dijo que la goberna-dora y el Presidente tenían una fecha pactada para reunirse.

De acuerdo con la Constitu-ción del estado, ante la ausen-cia de la gobernadora, quien apenas el 14 de diciembre asu-mió el cargo, Jesús Rodríguez Almeida, secretario de Gobier-no, fungirá como encargado de despacho, en tanto el Congreso local nombra a un gobernador interino que deberá convocar a nuevas elecciones en un perio-do de tres a cinco meses.

Maximiliano Cortázar, vo-cero del estado de Puebla, so-licitó que sea una instancia internacional la que indague el accidente. La PGR abrió una carpeta de investigación.

PRIMERA | PÁGINAS 6, 7 Y 9

TWITTER Pésame

Tras la confirmación de la muerte de la gobernadora y el exgobernador de Puebla, el Presidente escribió un mensaje en redes.

@LOPEZOBRADOR_Presidente

Foto: Karina Tejada

FALLA SIN ESPECIFICAR. La aeronave perdió comunicación con la torre de control y, posteriormente, se escuchó un golpe.

“REGALO DE NAVIDAD”. El presidente López Obrador agradeció a los legisladores la aprobación del Presupuesto.

PRIMERA | PÁGINA 15

PRIMERA | PÁGINA 2 Y 16

PIDEN INGRESO ORDENADO

RECURSOS INTOCABLES

POR ISABEL GONZÁLEZ

El gobierno de la República dará entrada de manera or-denada, pacífica y respetando sus leyes a todos los migrantes que hayan solicitado asilo en Estados Unidos, informó Olga Sánchez Cordero, secretaria de Gobernación.

De acuerdo con Sánchez

POR PAULO CANTILLO

El paquete económico 2019 establece que 82.4% del Pre-supuesto aprobado es into-cable y debe ser destinado a rubros que mandatan leyes y contratos.

Se trata de la proporción de gasto intocable más baja desde 2016, año en que la Secretaría de Hacienda ini-ció el cálculo de los gastos intocables.

De los 5.8 billones de pe-sos que se prevé ejercer, 4.8

Cordero, la decisión de Méxi-co privilegiará la protección y el respeto a los derechos hu-manos de los migrantes; al tiempo que estos deberán acatar las leyes mexicanas.

Destacó que lo que cambia en la actual administración fe-deral es que parará la represión y militarización en la frontera.

billones de pesos serán des-tinados a renglones como las transferencias a estados y municipios, con 35.5% del total ineludible; las pensio-nes y jubilaciones con 18.2% del total, el gasto regulariza-ble en sueldos y salarios con 17.1%, y el costo financiero de la deuda con 16.0% del total.

Con esto, el recurso que queda para reasignar dentro de los presupuestos de los siguientes años asciende a 1.2 billones de pesos.

Comprometidos 8 de cada 10 pesos del PEF

“RECORTE AL INE, IRRESPONSABLE”En entrevista, Lorenzo Córdova Vianello, presidente del Instituto Nacional Electoral, dijo que el recorte de 950 millones de pesos pone en riesgo la democracia.

PRIMERA | PÁGINA 4

Federico Reyes Heroles 10Lorena Rivera 11Félix Cortés Camarillo 12Martín Espinosa 14

México acepta que EU regrese a migrantes

GLOBAL

AQUÍ NACIÓ LA POLÍTICA DE LA CDMXConvertido en un museo que alberga toda la historia de gobierno de la Ciudad de México, el Antiguo Palacio del Ayuntamiento ofrece recorridos guiados.

PRIMERA | PÁGINA 18

AGILIZAN RESCATE EN INDONESIAEquipos militares y de rescate se desplegaron en un tramo de la costa para buscar sobrevivientes tras el tsunami que, hasta el cierre de esta edición, había dejado al menos 373 muertos.

PRIMERA | PÁGINA 20

COMUNIDAD

OSUNA DA LO MEJOR DE SÍEl lanzador sinaloense sabe que podría dejar de ser el cerrador de los Astros, pero asegura que “no lucha por el puesto”.

ADRENALINA

AEROPUERTO

LUGAR DELACCIDENTE

SAN ANTONIOMIHUACÁN

CORONANGO

PUEBLA

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EXPRESIONES

PADURA HABLA SOBRE EL EXILIOEl escritor cubano detalla su nueva novela.

PRIMERA | PÁGINA 22

Tragedia en Puebla

Foto: Especial

Foto: Héctor López/Archivo

Martha Erika Alonso y Rafael Moreno Valle viajaban con rumbo a la Ciudad de México en un helicóptero particular.

MARTES25 de diciembrede 2018

Año CIITomo VI, No. 37,001Ciudad de México44 páginas$15.00

C M Y K Nxxx,2018-12-25,A,001,Bs-4C,E1

U(D54G1D)y+\!$!$!=!:

A 48-hour effort by the Trumpadministration to soothe jittery fi-nancial markets did little to re-verse the free fall in stocks onMonday, as the president’s re-newed attack on the Federal Re-serve and the specter of a pro-longed government shutdown fur-ther rattled investors alreadyworried about a global economicslowdown.

With a single tweet on Monday,President Trump undercut his topeconomic advisers’ efforts to re-assure the markets that he did notintend to fire Jerome H. Powell asFed chairman. But Mr. Trump,who blames the Fed’s recent inter-est rate increases for the marketgyrations, said “the only problemour economy has is the Fed,” anassertion that exacerbated theworst sell-off on Wall Street sincethe 2008 financial crisis.

Stocks continued marching to-ward their largest December de-clines since the 1930s, with theS&P 500 closing down 2.7 percenton Monday after a shortened trad-ing session ahead of the Christ-mas holiday.

The markets are trying to di-gest the confusing signals fromWashington. On Saturday, Treas-ury Secretary Steven Mnuchinposted what he said was a quotefrom Mr. Trump acknowledgingthat, while he did not agree withthe Fed’s recent interest rate in-creases, he did not have any plansto fire Mr. Powell. And Mick Mul-vaney, Mr. Trump’s incoming chiefof staff, said on ABC’s “This Week”that Mr. Trump now realized helacked authority to fire Mr. Powell,his handpicked chairman.

For the markets, the Fed is acomplicated player at the mo-ment. Investors have been disap-pointed by rising interest rates,concerned that they could sapgrowth. But the speculation aboutfiring Mr. Powell, a move thatcould turn the independent cen-tral bank into a political tool, hasundermined confidence in a piv-otal institution essential to eco-nomic policy.

Markets have already been onedge in recent weeks because ofuncertainty surrounding trade ne-gotiations between the UnitedStates and China, signs of slowingglobal growth, and the prospect ofa prolonged government shut-

White House Keeps JoltingMarkets on Fragile Footing

Trump Attacks Fedas Mnuchin Seeksto Halt Free Fall

By ALAN RAPPEPORT

Continued on Page A14

Sometime in the last couple ofmonths, predictions of a majoreconomic downturn or recessionin 2019 went from being a crankview to the conventional wisdom.

It is true that the global econ-omy is sputtering, and that thestock market is in its worst pull-back in a decade, with the Stand-ard & Poor’s 500 index downmore than 19 percent since Sept.20 as of Monday’s close. But thissense of gloom and pessimismhas gotten ahead of the facts onthe ground, especially concern-ing the United States economy.

The real risk is not that insur-mountable challenges knock theeconomy off course. It is thatpoor leadership converts moder-ate economic shocks into a crisis.

The combination of erraticbehavior from the president anda thinly staffed government inthe United States; the potentialcrises facing other major econo-mies; and the lack of trust amidallies and major trade partnerscould make routine economicchallenges turn into somethingworse.

Surveys show rising pes-simism among top corporateexecutives. And over the week-end Treasury Secretary SteveMnuchin called bank C.E.O.s toseek assurance that their institu-tions were sufficiently liquid tokeep lending to consumers andbusinesses, according to a Treas-ury announcement.

It was the kind of disclosurethat risked causing more damagethan it was intended to prevent.If a top health official announcedthat he had convened conversa-tions with top pharmaceuticalC.E.O.s and was pleased to learnthere were no drug shortages,your first response would not berelief but to ask, “Wait, we needto worry about drug shortages?”

Then there are the president’srepeated attacks on a FederalReserve led by his own appoint-ees. Just in the last three days,that has included reports thatPresident Trump has discussedthe legally dubious move oftrying to fire the Fed chairmanJerome Powell, efforts by admin-istration officials to play downthat possibility, and a renewedpresidential Twitter attack Mon-day morning.

How Modest ShocksCan Lead to Crisis

NEWS ANALYSIS

By NEIL IRWIN

Continued on Page A14

JEENAH MOON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The tree in Rockefeller Center was the center of a universe of tourists and other visitors getting into the spirit on Christmas Eve.Lights! Cameras! Christmas!

Parenthood in the United Stateshas become much more demand-ing than it used to be.

Over just a couple of genera-tions, parents have greatly in-creased the amount of time, atten-tion and money they put into rais-ing children. Mothers who workoutside the home spend just asmuch time tending their childrenas stay-at-home mothers did inthe 1970s.

The amount of money parentsspend on children, which used topeak when they were in highschool, is now highest when they

are under 6 and over 18.Renée Sentilles enrolled her

son, Isaac, in lessons beginningwhen he was an infant. Even nowthat he’s 12, she rarely has him outof sight when he is home.

“I read all the child-care books,”said Ms. Sentilles, a professor inCleveland Heights, Ohio. “I en-rolled him in piano at 5. I took himto soccer practices at 4. We triedtrack; we did all the swimming

lessons, martial arts. I did every-thing. Of course I did.”

While this kind of intensive par-enting — constantly teaching andmonitoring children — has beenthe norm for upper-middle-classparents since the 1990s, new re-search shows that people acrossclass divides now consider it thebest way to raise children, even ifthey don’t have the resources toenact it.

There are signs of a backlash,led by so-called free-range par-ents, but social scientists say therelentlessness of modern-day par-enting has a powerful motivation:

Stress, Exhaustion and Guilt: Modern ParentingBy CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

Continued on Page A13

A Relentless Focus onFuture Prosperity

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Alife on the run was not one any ofthese Nicaraguans ever intended.

But many people in this desper-ately poor Central American na-tion now live in a bleak new reality.They have exchanged their rou-tine lives as lawyers, engineeringmajors, radio broadcasters andmerchants for one of ever-chang-ing safe houses, encrypted mes-saging apps and pseudonyms.

Eight months after a sponta-neous popular uprising left 322people dead and 565 others in jail,Nicaraguans from cities acrossthe country have gone under-ground.

They are hiding from an in-creasingly authoritarian statethat is methodically trackingdown those who participated inthe large-scale and often violentprotests against the governmentof President Daniel Ortega and hiswife, Vice President Rosario Mu-rillo.

“They are hunting us like deer,”said Roberto Carlos MembreñoBriceño, 31, a former legal clerkfor a Nicaraguan Supreme Court

In Nicaragua,Protests LeadTo Life on Run

By FRANCES ROBLES

Continued on Page A9

KEMAL JUFRI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Tsunami damage in Indonesia. Volcanic activity could bring more big waves, officials said. Page A6.Reeling, Indonesia Faces New Tsunami Risk

REVENTADOR, Ecuador —The dam sits under the glare of anactive volcano, with columns ofash spewing toward the sky.

Officials had warned againstthe dam for decades. Geologistssaid an earthquake could wipe itaway.

Now, only two years after open-ing, thousands of cracks are splin-tering the dam’s machinery. Its

reservoir is clogged with silt, sandand trees. And the only time engi-neers tried to throttle up the facili-ty completely, it shook violentlyand shorted out the national elec-tricity grid.

This giant dam in the jungle, fi-nanced and built by China, wassupposed to christen Ecuador’svast ambitions, solve its energyneeds and help lift the small SouthAmerican country out of poverty.

Instead, it has become part of anational scandal engulfing thecountry in corruption, perilous

amounts of debt — and a futuretethered to China.

Nearly every top Ecuadoreanofficial involved in the dam’s con-struction is either imprisoned orsentenced on bribery charges.That includes a former vice presi-dent, a former electricity ministerand even the former anti-corrup-tion official monitoring theproject, who was caught on tapetalking about Chinese bribes.

Then there is the price tag:around $19 billion in Chinese

Continued on Page A10

The Costly Dam That Tethers Ecuador to ChinaBy NICHOLAS CASEY

and CLIFFORD KRAUSS

SWOON CONTINUES Wall Street added to losses that have 2018 shapingup as the worst year for stocks since the financial crisis. PAGE A14

One woman was late to work.Another was rushing to class. Aman who just moved to New Yorkhad trouble swiping his Metro-Card.

All of them broke the law: Theysneaked into the subway withoutpaying.

While there have always beenriders who try to avoid paying, thepractice has become so wide-spread in New York that it is cost-ing the Metropolitan Transporta-tion Authority about $215 millionin lost revenue this year, prompt-ing subway officials to announce acrackdown.

Fare evasion has nearly dou-bled — from 1.8 percent of riders in

recent years to 3.2 percent thisyear, contributing to the agency’sworsening finances, which couldlead to fare increases or servicecuts.

But it has not been clear exactlywhy fare evasion is up. New York-ers, it turns out, have many rea-

sons for not paying.“I don’t feel like going all the

way there to put money on mycard,” Aicha Makanera, 18, ofBrooklyn, said one recent morn-ing as she walked in through anopen emergency exit gate at the

About 208,000 people ride the subway each day without paying.CHANG W. LEE/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A19

Caught in Act,Evaders of Fare‘Don’t Feel Bad’By EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS

and EDGAR SANDOVAL

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,facing possible bribery charges, hopesto bolster support for his continuedleadership with a spring vote. PAGE A11

INTERNATIONAL A4-11

Israel Plans for Early Elections

In Lebanon, women in hijabs take selfieswith Christmas trees, and children of allsects give Secret Santa gifts. PAGE A4

Coexistence at Christmastime

Several states have tapped their treas-uries to keep national parks open andmaintained during the federal govern-ment shutdown. PAGE A12

NATIONAL A12-17

States Keep U.S. Parks OpenThe actress is almost unrecognizablewielding a submachine gun in “Destroy-er.” But she does force you to really lookat her, Manohla Dargis says. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-12

Nicole Kidman, Bad Cop

The Rev. Donald G. Timone was thesubject of two settlements over allega-tions he abused teenage boys. PAGE A18

NEW YORK A18-19

New York Priest Is Suspended

An officer chasing a robbery suspect ona crowded Bronx street fired 27 shots,wounding two bystanders. PAGE A18

Police Fusillade Is Questioned

Scandals and wrongdoing in techrightly get a lot of attention, but KevinRoose highlights the good — yes, really— happening elsewhere. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-4

The 2018 Good Tech Awards

The actor Kevin Spacey will be ar-raigned on a charge of indecent assaultand battery, a prosecutor said. PAGE A16

Spacey Faces Misconduct Case

In time for Christmas (and RickeyHenderson’s birthday), our 50-questiontrivia quiz will test ardent fans fromNew York to Oakland. PAGE B8

SPORTSTUESDAY B6-9

Think You Know Baseball?

It’s intermission at CERN’s Large Had-ron Collider in Switzerland, givingphysicists a chance to make sense ofthe discoveries made so far. PAGE D1

SCIENCE TIMES D1-6

A Pause for Particle Smashers

David Brooks PAGE A21

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A20-21

TODAY IS CHRISTMAS! REMEMBER THE NEEDIEST!

Late Edition

VOL. CLXVIII . . . . No. 58,187 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

Today, sunshine with clouds, high42. Tonight, clear to partly cloudy,low 31. Tomorrow, mostly sunny,light winds, seasonable, high 43.Weather map appears on Page A17.

$3.00

$2.75 DESIGNATED AREAS HIGHER © 2018 WSCE latimes.comTUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

WASHINGTON — An at-

tempt by Treasury Secre-

tary Steven T. Mnuchin to

calm plunging financial

markets backfired Monday,

further rattling investors

with new fears about

whether major U.S. banks

have enough cash on top of

worries about interest rates,

political instability in Wash-

ington and a slowing global

economy.

Mnuchin’s comments

preceded the worst Christ-

mas Eve performance on

record for the Standard &

Poor’s 500 index and the

Dow Jones industrial aver-

age, according to data com-

piled by Bloomberg and

FactSet.

The S&P 500 fell 2.7% in

shortened, preholiday trad-

ing Monday, digging itself

deeper into the red. Last

week, the index had its big-

gest weekly drop since the

2008 financial crisis, and it’s

down nearly 20% from its

September peak. The Dow

fell 653.17 points Monday, or

2.9%, to 21,792.20.

Adding to the volatile mix

was a fresh attack on the

Federal Reserve by Presi-

dent Trump, who declared

that the central bank was

the U.S. economy’s “only

problem” and that it didn’t

“have a feel for the market.”

“The Fed is like a power-

ful golfer who can’t score be-

cause he has no touch — he

can’t putt!” Trump said on

Twitter.

“It seems like the govern-

ment and [Trump’s] advis-

ors can’t get out of their own

way,” said Jack Ablin, chief

investment officer at Cres-

set Wealth Advisors in Chi-

cago. “Already there’s a fair

amount of uncertainty or

lack of confidence in their

ability to lead, and

Mnuchin’s move just re-

inforced that concern.”

As a partial federal gov-

ernment shutdown entered

its third day, two top Demo-

crats blamed Trump for

“plunging the country into

chaos.”

“The stock market is

tanking and the president is

waging a personal war on

the Federal Reserve — after

he just fired the Secretary of

Defense,” said a joint state-

ment from House Demo-

cratic leader Nancy Pelosi

and Senate Democratic

leader Charles E. Schumer.

One of the triggers for

last week’s sell-off was the

decision by Fed officials to

inch up the central bank’s

key interest rate Wednesday.

It was the fourth small hike

this year, bringing the short-

term federal funds rate —

EFFORT

TO HALT

MARKET

PLUNGE

FALTERSMnuchin’s attempts tocalm volatility createmore worries insteadas Trump again slamsFed. Dow falls 2.9%.

By Jim Puzzanghera

[SeeMarkets,A8]

PARADISE, Calif. — Rain was

falling as evacuees returned to

their beloved town in the Sierra

Nevada foothills. Traffic slowed as

drivers beheld the devastation.

Five weeks earlier, an inferno

swept through these wooded

neighborhoods, exacting a ter-

rible toll. Of the 86 people killed in

the Camp fire, most lived here. Of

the nearly 14,000 homes de-

stroyed, 12,000 were here. Ninety

percent of the town was lost, offi-

cials say.

Block after block, homes sit

crumbled atop foundations and

footings, ashy-white landmarks in

a landscape of charred trees and

soot-blackened soil.

CHARLES AND Kathy Tyler draw support from their friends as they recover lost belongings after the Camp fire in Paradise, Calif.Residents and business owners say they will return and start over — Paradise Strong — but are uncertain what their lives will look like.

Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times

Land of unanswered questionsParadise rebuildsbut finds it hardto see its future

By Thomas Curwen

[See Paradise,A10]

MEXICO CITY — Six years ago, Hec-

tor Sampson was taking his daily walk in

Mexico City’s Chapultepec park when he

heard a trace of classical music drifting

from the trees.

He followed the sound, down a dense

corridor of shrubs and bushes, until he

found himself in a verdant, sonic paradi-

se.

Lush foliage surrounded brightly col-

ored benches — blue, red, orange, yellow

— on which people peacefully reclined

while listening to music that played from

a ring of speakers.

Sampson had discovered one of the

city’s best-kept secrets: the Audiorama.

Far removed from the crowds and cha-

os that dominate the rest of Mexico’s ex-

pansive capital city, the Audiorama offers

a rare refuge for reflection.

For decades, people have been coming

to the free, city-run space to detach for a

moment from the rest of the world — to

meditate, pray, read, sit quietly with

lovers, even grieve. There’s just one rule,

spelled out on several small signs: “No

talking.”

Another small, hand-lettered sign

reads “Be happy.”

“It’s an oasis,” said Sampson, a writer

and radio personality whose esoteric in-

terests include quantum physics and re-

search into alien

GERALDINA ROME, 29, meditates in Mexico City’s Chapultepec parkinside the Audiorama, a tranquil garden amid the din of urban sprawl.

Marcus Yam Los Angeles Times

Where mum’s the wordMexico City’s lush and leafy oasis is a small sliceof heaven that follows only one rule: No talking

By Kate Linthicum

[SeeAudiorama,A4]

WASHINGTON — Ma-

rooned in the White House

on a gray Christmas Eve, un-

able to fly off to his beach re-

sort in Florida to play golf,

President Trump unleashed

a morose tweet Monday be-

moaning his fate in the

world’s most famous gilded

prison.

“I am all alone (poor me)

in the White House waiting

for the Democrats to come

back and make a deal on

desperately needed Border

Security,” he began.

It was the tweet that

launched a thousand

memes — including a rap-

idly unearthed cameo by

Trump in the 1992 film

“Home Alone 2,” in which

the real estate mogul briefly

encounters Macaulay Cul-

kin’s character, Kevin Mc-

Callister, at the Plaza Hotel

in New York City.

Other online responses

traded on Charles Dickens’

“A Christmas Carol,” espe-

cially when the uncaring mi-

ser Ebenezer Scrooge is

shown the error of his ways.

More than a few commenta-

tors suggested that if Trump

were feeling lonely, he could

visit U.S. troops in a war

zone, a trip he has yet to

make.

The president won’t be

alone on Christmas Day.

The first lady flew back to

Washington from Mar-a-

Lago, the Florida beach-

front resort where Trump

had planned to spend a 16-

day holiday.

In the meantime, in a

dozen tweets, he praised the

autocratic regime in Saudi

Arabia, lashed out at his out-

going Pentagon chief, said

he hoped to meet North

Korean leader Kim Jong Un

again, slammed the Federal

Reserve as “the only prob-

lem” in the U.S. economy

and blamed Democrats for

the partial government

shutdown that he last week

Amid shutdown,Trump is deridedfor ‘poor me’ tweet

As federal workers gowithout pay, presidentis scorned for self-pity,then goes on attack.

By Laura King

SOME SUGGESTEDthat if President Trumpwere lonely, he could visitU.S. troops in war zones.

Evan Vucci Associated Press

[SeeTrump,A8]

Netanyahucalls earlyelectionsIsraeli prime minister,facing collapse of hiscoalition and possiblecorruption charges,dissolves the nation’sparliament. WORLD, A3

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WeatherWind and showers.L.A. Basin: 65/45. B6

CHICO, Calif. — Everywhere

Chris Persson goes, people are

still talking about the Camp fire.

While shopping for groceries,

the Chico resident was told the

store had hired fire survivors from

Paradise. At lunch, she overheard

a fire evacuee say she was given a

free tank of gas to run errands.

“You can’t go anywhere with-

out meeting somebody with a

story,” said Persson, who has lived

in Chico since 1988.

In the wake of the Camp fire,

which ignited more than a month

ago, residents of Chico say they

are settling into a “new normal” —

increased traffic, homes crowded

with multiple families, and a fleet SAPHIRA VERNON SWISHER, 6, a Camp fire survivor fromParadise, brushes her hair at a church shelter in Chico, Calif.

Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times

Chico strains to accommodate‘city within a city’

By Nicole Santa Cruz

[See Chico,A11]