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Take a tour of US $6.25M ex-hacienda listed in San Miguel de Allende

By
Sarah Bender
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Take a peek inside this one-of-a-kind property steps away from the main square in San Miguel de Allende. (CDR San Miguel)

From brand partner | CDR San Miguel | Forbes Global Properties

After savoring some delicious Mexican cuisine in San Miguel’s lively and colorful main square (known as El Jardín), take a leisurely stroll down the famous cobbled streets and there you will find Casa Palikao. Unassuming from the outside, you’re greeted by an inscription on the door – “Año de 1764” – which gives you a sense of what’s to come.

There are a few exceptional places that you walk into and you’re immediately transported to another era. Casa Palikao is one of these. It’s easy to imagine the grand parties and lavish celebrations once held in this historical ex-hacienda.

Entry to Casa Palikao, a house that takes you back in time. (CDR San Miguel)

The moment the wooden antique front door swings open, there’s an overwhelming feeling of being surrounded by history, grandeur, expanse, and tranquility. The scale of Casa Palikao could seem mind-boggling at first sight, but this is not the case at all. Due to the property’s well-planned design, it’s a joy to continuously discover another beautifully decorated bedroom, a hidden garden gem or a customized wood-furnished office tucked away for maximum privacy.

“We are very proud to represent this amazing legacy property in the heart of San Miguel. The scale of the rooms, the thickness of the walls, this hacienda takes you back in time. You feel the history the moment you walk through the front door,” says Ann Dolan, luxury real estate luxury at | CDR San Miguel | Forbes Global Properties and Casa Palikao’s listing agent. 

House highlights:

  • A unique hacienda just steps away from the vibrant center of San Miguel de Allende
  • Beautifully renovated by internationally renowned Paris-born designer Anne-Marie Midy and local craftsmen to preserve its 18th-century colonial architecture and soul
  • The 1157 sq meter construction area consists of a seven-bedroom, eight-bath luxury private residence spread over an expanse of 1362 sq meters of land, with two houses and two private entrances each with its own garage
  • Boasting 2 open-air courtyards with private gardens, a heated pool, endless patios, terraces and a rooftop botanical garden, this legacy property offers a lush oasis to relax or entertain in.

The main entrance invites you to luxuriate in the central landscaped courtyard with outdoor dining and pool area. Illuminated by tasteful star lanterns, a nod to San Miguel’s traditional handcrafts, they provide a warm light for those lazy summer evenings spent relaxing in the extra large deck chairs or entertaining with friends and family.

Each of the 7 spacious bedrooms exudes warmth and comfort, thanks to cozy antique-style cantera fireplaces, hand-painted ceilings, original wooden beams, bespoke wooden furniture, and distinctive ironwork. A stunning combination that displays the clients’ and designer’s exquisite taste and a testament to local craftsmanship in San Miguel. 

This home exemplifies indoor-outdoor living. (CDR San Miguel)

A large sky-lit living room, adorned with two fireplaces, is a perfect spot to snuggle up with a good book. Contrasting the soft hues of the living room is a dramatic dining room on the other side of the hall. With towering beamed ceilings, bougainvillea red walls, and an original chandelier, it’s an intoxicating mix of colonial Mexican times. Behind an elegant wooden door, lies a fully equipped kitchen with its own private back garden and stairs leading to a staff apartment. 

Botanical gardens and regional landscaped spaces, created by local landscape designer Timoteo Wachter, add a touch of serenity and tranquility to this opulent property. The intricate rooftop botanical garden was inspired by cacti and plants from every region of Mexico that the original owners visited. Adding an original touch, New York City-based artists and collaborators Ryan and Trevor Oakes spent a year creating the incredible mural on the roof terrace, which perfectly displays an extension of San Miguel’s downtown and its skyline. 

One of the most surprising features, found in the back garden, is an antique ruin that once served as a chapel. It’s been stabilized, but not restored and revived by a romantic fountain that opens out onto the rear courtyard. Flowering vines amplify the natural beauty of this ruin, which is said to have once had underground tunnels running into and around San Miguel. 

Rooftop garden and mural at Casa Palikao (CDR San Miguel)

Privacy is paramount to this Casa Palikao. With two private entrances and large garages, entry in and out of the property is seamless and a rarity for residences so centrally located. 

Nestled in the heart of San Miguel, Casa Palikao not only exudes history but offers a level of convenience that’s unmatched. This is a unique legacy property that needs to be lived in and celebrated. A place where families can gather and enjoy its history, warmth and soul, while savoring every inch of its magic.

CDR San Miguel is an exclusive invitation-only member of Forbes Global Properties, a membership of elite brokerages selling the world’s most luxurious homes.

Every corner is designed thoughtfully and tastefully. (CDR San Miguel)

For a virtual tour, video and more photos please visit Casa Palikao. 

Nearshoring boosts appliance manufacturing in Mexico

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MND Staff
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A view of a kitchen with a refrigerator, microwave, stove and other appliances.
Mexico is a major producer of refrigerator-freezer units, washing machines, gas stoves and other common appliances. (Sidekix Media / Unsplash)

Industrial regions of Mexico, especially near northern border, are increasingly important manufacturing capitals for household appliances, thanks to nearshoring and the United States Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA), Forbes México reported this week.

“Mexico is taking advantage of its position within the nearshoring phenomenon, so in terms of production and investment, there will be growth of 8%,” the director of the Nuevo León Home Appliances Cluster (Clelac), Yoelle Rojas, told Forbes México.

The appliances produced in Mexico include washing machines, air conditioners, stoves, electric water heaters and vacuum cleaners. In 2022, manufacturers of refrigerators, washing machines and other household appliances invested more than US $1.15 billion in Mexico.

Altogether, the manufacturing industry in Mexico for these appliances is worth US $14.8 billion.

Last year, companies like Hisense, Whirlpool, Bosch and Danfoss announced openings in Mexico, Rojas said, and the sector expects that the appliance manufacturing industry will continue to grow during 2023.

The recent summit of North American leaders resulted in the creation of a specialized committee to establish relations with businesspeople and investors, who will seek to promote import substitution (the replacement of foreign imports with domestic production). The arrival of new technologies in the home appliance industry is another important opportunity to keep production up in the main assembly companies, Forbes México said. This also comes with a need for specialization on the part of the supply chain.

“Currently, the smart home appliance industry is worth US $31 billion globally (with figures up until the end of 2021),” Rojas said, while adding that this sector will record the highest growth in the near future “with an annual growth rate of 18% until 2026.”

“This comes as a good sign” Rojas told Forbes “since it implies new industry needs as well as new lines of production and development of the supply chain, which is very well-established in Mexico.”

“Mexico’s advantage is larger than other Latin American countries, but the private sector, as well as the government and academia, must ensure we continue to provide the conditions for this investment so that they are channeled to our country,” Rojas said.

Rojas’ organization Clelac is one of those efforts from the private sector. It is the only association of its kind in Latin America and in 2022 grew more than 10% in terms of appliance production.

Every year, Clelac holds an event called Encuentro de Negocios (business gathering) that includes conferences as well as face-to-face business appointments between buyers and potential suppliers. According to Rojas, the required investment to install new industrial plants or expand current manufacturing lines is based on the registered interest shown during the yearly business gathering.

So far, around 25 industrial parks are expected to open this year, expanding industrial space availability in Mexico. Household appliances manufacturers currently occupy around 12% of existing industrial areas.

With reports from Forbes México

Vibrant LGBTQ culture wins Guadalajara a spot on NY Times 2023 travel list

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MND Staff
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A outdoor crowd waving dozens of rainbow flags.
Guadalajara also hosts the second-largest annual Pride festival in Mexico. (Facebook / Gay Games 2023)

Guadalajara has it all: cuisine, art, history, natural beauty and even opportunities for outdoor adventure in the surrounding area. But the city earned a spot on The New York Times list “52 Places to Go in 2023” thanks to one specific facet of its culture: the thriving LGBTQ scene.

The Times highlights the diversity of queer culture in the Jalisco capital and upcoming events, including the 11th annual Gay Games, an international sport event co-hosted with Hong Kong, scheduled for Nov. 3-11. The games will host athletes from the LGBTQ community around the globe and with different levels of athletic experience. The Games involve competitions in 20 different sports, including diving, track and field, cheerleading, bowling, dance, softball, powerlifting and more.

Two images: on the left, a vendor stand with a wide selection of pink and rainbow clothes, stickers and books with positive messages about sexuality. On the right, a vendor stand with red lighting, displaying black leather masks and harnesses.
A wide variety of vendors hawk their wares at the Prohibido festival’s Mercado Negro (Black Market). (Facebook / Prohibido)

Another major queer event coming to Guadalajara this year is the art and sexuality-focused Prohibido festival, an annual event that takes place in an abandoned theater transformed to host interactive experiences, live music and talks about polyamorous and nonbinary culture.

The city’s “shifts in traditional gender roles” aren’t limited to these events, according to The Times. Guadalajara is arguably the “drag capital” of Mexico, the newspaper reports, and it was the first Mexican city to have all-female mariachi bands starting in the 1950s. There are also local performances within charrería (equestrian Mexican sport) known as escaramuzas. The show consists of horseback-riding women wearing traditional Mexican outfits in synchronized maneuvers choreographed to music.

For those who want to go off the beaten track in Guadalajara, a group of tapatíos (the nickname  given to the city’s locals) developed an “antiturista” (anti-tourist) map that, according to the map itself, will take travelers “through the neighborhoods that will make you feel like a local.” One of them is the Colonia Americana neighborhood, named the world’s coolest neighborhood by Condé Nast last year. Another highlights queer-inclusive spaces across the city.

With reports from The New York Times

Vendors return to CDMX market 3 years after major fire

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MND Staff
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The tenants organized a mass and blessing for the re-opening of the market. (Alcaldía Cuauhtémoc Facebook)

More than three years after their stalls were damaged in a fire, over 180 vendors have returned to the San Cosme market in Mexico City.

A fire broke out in the inner-city market on Dec. 22, 2019, damaging some 1,000 square meters of the commercial facility.

Just over 37 months later, affected tenants have moved into new stalls, the newspaper Reforma reported Thursday.

The 2019 fire caused extensive damage to the inner-city market. (Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez Twitter)

“We’re happy because we’ve lived through a lot of adversity,” said Estanislao Choperena, leader of a tenants’ group.

“But finally today this refurbishment encourages us to move forward and embark on a new path.”

Tenants operated makeshift stands on the street outside the market while they waited for the refurbishment to finish. The project cost 43.1 million pesos (US $2.3 million), with 23 million pesos coming from an insurance company and the remainder from the Mexico City government.

The new stalls were ready in late October, but tenants didn’t move back into the market at the time due to an insurance issue that prevented them from modifying the stalls in any way.

There were also fires at Mexico City’s Merced and Abelardo Rodríguez markets in December 2019. Faulty electrical infrastructure was identified as the cause of all three blazes.

With reports from Reforma 

6 national banks join forces to offer commission-free ATMs

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MND Staff
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The Multired network, which will encompass more than 13.2 million customers, will incorporate 9,352 ATMs. (Photo: Bobex-73/Shutterstock)

You might find yourself shelling out fewer pesos in ATM withdrawal fees if you bank in Mexico with HSBC, Scotiabank, Inbursa, Banregio, Banca Mifel or Banco del Bajío — who announced the launch of an alliance to allow users from said banks to withdraw cash and check balances without charging commissions.

The Multired network, which will encompass more than 13.2 million customers, will incorporate 9,352 ATMs. That represents around 15.5% of the more than 60,000 ATMs in Mexico’s financial system, the financial publication Forbes reported.

In addition, users can now find ATM locations for all the member banks in their own financial institution’s app.

According to El Financiero, the alliance has existed since 2021. However, it was not until January that HSBC joined. 

Deputy General Director of Consumer Banking for HSBC Pablo Elek told the newspaper that on average, the commission for withdrawing cash or checking balances at ATMs from a different bank than the user’s credit or debit card, is between 27 and 30 pesos (US $1.92 – $1.60).

Demand for cash in Mexico keeps growing although the rate is lower than pre-pandemic times, the newspaper La Jornada Maya said. Many bank users still go to branches to check balances or withdraw cash, even when the bank’s system has shifted towards integrating digital technology, Elek said. 

HSBC is the latest bank to join the alliance. It became part of the Multired network just this month.

As many as 49% of bank users still go to ATMs between one and five times per month to withdraw cash, he said.

“Transactions at ATMs are a reality,” he said. “More than 85 percent of transactions under 500 pesos continue to be in cash. Cash continues to circulate.”

According to Bank of Mexico data, Mexicans carry out more than 153 million interbank operations with debit or credit cards worth 463 billion pesos (US $24.3 billion) each year.

Scotiabank’s Deputy General Director of Consumer Banking Fuad Juan Fernández said that the group is open to more banks joining the initiative.

 With reports from La Jornada Maya and El Financiero

CORRECTION: The original version of this article contained a calculation error regarding the value of 463 billion pesos in U.S. dollars at the time of publication. The correct value should have been US $24.3 billion.  

Senator to present medical hallucinogens legalization bill

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MND Staff
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Forum in Mexican senate on medical use of natural hallucinogens
Senator Alejandra Lagunes, third from left, said that hallucinogens have a proven track record in treating mental health diseases like anxiety and depression. (Alejandra Lagunes/Twitter)

A senator with the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) has committed to presenting a bill to legalize and regulate natural hallucinogenic substances such as psilocybin for the treatment of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

Senator Alejandra Lagunes made the pledge at the Intercultural Forum on Entheogenic Medicine, which was held Wednesday in the federal Senate.

“It’s scientifically proven that psilocybin from psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline from peyote, DMT from ayahuasca and the Colorado River toad are not drugs. They have a high therapeutic potential, low toxicity and don’t create physical dependence or abuse,” she said.

Wixárika man collecting peyote in San Luis Potosi, Mexico
An indigenous member of the Wixárika people in rural San Luis Potosí collects peyote. Natural hallucinogens are still part of the rites and traditions of daily life in some of Mexico’s indigenous communities. (Iván Stephens/Cuartoscuro)

Lagunes said that substances such as psilocybin have been shown to be effective in treating mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder as well as addiction to tobacco and alcohol.

The PVEM senator told forum attendees — among whom were indigenous leaders, traditional healers and scientists — that in Mexico’s indigenous towns, there is “infinite wisdom and knowledge about psilocybin mushrooms and what they can do for people’s mental health.”

However, Mexico’s medical and scientific community are not carrying out research about the medical use of psilocybin, and lawmakers haven’t yet proposed its legalization and regulation, Lagunes bemoaned.

There has been a “prohibitionist policy” on natural hallucinogens since the 1960s, and the General Health Law considers such substances as “psychotropic with no therapeutic value” and a “problem for public health,” she added.

The senator said that several countries have decriminalized substances such as psilocybin to treat mental health disorders and it’s “urgent” for Mexico to do the same.

Oregon this month became the first state in the United States to allow adults to access “psilocybin services” for mental health treatment, while magic mushrooms are legalized or decriminalized in some other countries and territories.

Ayahuasca — a plant-based psychedelic in the form of a brewed drink — is legal in some countries, including Brazil and Peru, where it has been used for therapeutic and ritualistic purposes for centuries.

An indigenous shaman performs a traditional rite on Senator Lagunes. 

 

Lagunes said that legalization and regulation of natural hallucinogens in Mexico would allow clarity with regard to who can cultivate and sell them and who can provide therapies with them.

“[We need to] find out how we can incorporate ancestral knowledge with … biomedicine, find out what are the public policies that respond best to the needs of the majority [of people] … and guarantee access to [substances such as psilocybin],” she said.

Medicinal marijuana is legal in Mexico, but the federal Congress has not yet complied with a Supreme Court directive to legalize the recreational use of the plant.

With reports from EFE

Defense Ministry to open 6 hotels in southern Mexico

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MND Staff
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Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval
Head of the Defense Ministry (Sedena), Luis Cresencio Sandoval at a January press conference. (Cuartoscuro)

The Ministry of Defense (Sedena) has widened its functions to incorporate the construction and administration of six hotels near the Maya Train route in the southern states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Chiapas.

These types of projects wouldn’t be the first ones to be owned by Sedena: the military already owns a hotel next to the Felipe Ángeles airport.

Although Sedena’s original functions were to organize, manage, and prepare the Mexican Army and Air Force to defend Mexico’s integrity and sovereignty, it expanded its functions starting in 2021 when President López Obrador revealed that the government would hand over to Sedena parts of the construction of the Maya Train, Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), the Tulum airport and the Chetumal airport.

The Holiday Inn hotel owned by Sedena at Felipe Ángeles International Airport.

In October 2022, López Obrador also announced plans for Sedena to operate a state-owned commercial airline.

Now, Sedena will oversee and manage six hotels on properties located at the Edzná and Calakmul archaeological sites in Campeche, which are along sections 1 and 2 of the Maya Train; at the Nuevo Uxmal National Park and at the archaeological site of Chichén Itzá, both in Yucatán along section 3; at the archaeological site of Tulum in Quintana Roo, along sections 5 through 7; and at the ancient city of Palenque in Chiapas, along section 1.

These developments will be part of Grupo Aeroportuario, Ferroviario y de Servicios Auxiliares Olmeca-Maya-México S.A. de C.V. (GOMM) a majority state-owned company administered by Sedena.

“The Maya Train hotels will enrich travel experiences on the train and will offer unique stays in the world due to their proximity to the archaeological sites. In section 2, one of these hotels is planned to be right in the Edzná area,” National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur) Director Javier May said.

May said that all works are being carried out with environmental responsibility, citing Campeche as an example.

“In section 2, reforestation in Campeche will occur with 50 million trees, and important work [will be done] in areas destined for conservation,” he said.

So far, Sedena has only shared updates on construction progress of hotels in Palenque, Chiapas, and Edzná, Campeche.

Starting with Edzná, the hotel will be one kilometer from the archaeological site bearing the same name. According to Sedena, an estimated investment of 1.04 billion pesos (US $55.2 million) will be required to build the 160-room hotel that will stretch across 12.5 hectares.

The hotel will have two towers, Sedena said. “Tower 1” will have three levels with 64 master rooms, a gym, a bar, administrative offices and a restaurant. “Tower 2” will include two buildings of three stories each. It will have 96 master rooms as well as a drop off area, swimming pools, a snack area, restrooms and service areas including an infirmary and a laundry room. Its parking lot will have the capacity for 424 vehicles.

The military authorities estimate the hotel will be finished by Nov. 30, a few days before the Maya Train begins operations.

For the Palenque hotel, Sedena estimates an investment of 960 million pesos (US $50.9 million) to build a hotel that will occupy 6.5 hectares of land. It would be located 1.6 kilometers from Palenque, the most important archaeological site in southern Mexico according to Forbes.

Edzna archaeological site, Mexico
The hotels will be located within a kilometer from each archaeological site, including the ancient Maya city of Edzná in Campeche. (Photo: soft_light/Shutterstock)

This hotel will have two towers of three stories each with 160 master bedroom-style rooms and a parking lot for 212 vehicles. Its opening date is also scheduled for Nov. 30.

According to documents found in the Sedena emails by the “Guacamaya” hackers (who leaked millions of emails and documents from Mexico’s military in October 2022) the government plans for the creation of a majority state-owned company to assume control of hotels, parks and museum’s projects.

The company would be named Servicios Turísticos Itzamná S.A. de C.V., Forbes reported, and would be a subsidiary of GOMM. Its creation is already underway and will require an investment close to a million pesos (US $53,000).

With reports from Forbes

Which Mexican tourist attractions are expected to open in 2023?

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MND Staff
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Maya Train rendering
The Maya Train speeds through the jungle, in an illustrative rendering by federal authorities. (Fonatur)

Maya Train

The Maya Train, a flagship project of the federal government, is scheduled to open in December of this year according to President López Obrador.

Despite numerous amparos (a legal resource used to protect against rights violations) that have repeatedly paused construction and a ballooning budget, the project continues to progress and officials say testing will start in July.

In December, the Washington Post described the Maya Train as “one of the largest and most controversial infrastructure projects in the country’s history.” The 1,500 km train track will traverse five states, with stops at 21 stations, and is designed to be used by residents and tourists alike in the Yucatán peninsula. 

Heavy machinery clears a section of jungle to make way for the Maya Train.
Heavy machinery clears a section of jungle to make way for the Maya Train. Greenpeace / Paola Chiomante

Some of the archaeological discoveries made along the train’s route will be exhibited at various museums in Yucatán, including the recently restored historic athenaeum in Mérida, which will become a museum and cultural center.

According to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) the archaeological investigation carried out on the Maya Train route is the most extensive that has ever been carried out in the region. Early in January, INAH director Diego Prieto reported that to date, 31,306 sites had been discovered along with 1,541 objects, 463 bones, 1,040 natural features  such as caves and cenotes, 708,428 ceramic fragments and 576 vessels.

Sea of Cortéz aquarium in Mazatlán

The Sea of Cortéz is home to a wealth of marine biodiversity. (Depositphotos)

Mazatlán’s new aquarium is a long-awaited project, which was originally scheduled to open in April 2021. After almost two years of delays, it is now supposed to open in March. In 2021, Forbes reported that once finished, the aquarium would be the largest in Latin America and one of the top 10 largest aquariums in the world, with capacity to hold up to 10,00 visitors during the high season.

The aquarium will be focused on species from the nearby Gulf of California and will have a room dedicated to Jacques Cousteau, renowned French oceanographer who called the Sea of Cortéz “the world’s aquarium.”

The facility will be located on Bahía Street facing the sea, with infrastructure that will support the Mazatlán Central Park project.

This development was the first public-private project in Mexico in the tourism sector, with investment from Kingu Mexicana as well as government funding.

Transportation projects

In addition to these new tourist attractions, various airports across the country will be expanded or renovated, including the airports in Tepic, Nayarit; Tamuin, San Luis Potosí; and Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. New airports are set to open this year in Tulum, Quintana Roo and in Barrancas del Cobre, Chihuahua.

Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum visits the site of CDMX-Toluca train in April 2022. (Gobierno de la Ciudad de México / Cuartoscuro.com)

Other strategic projects like the highway connecting the city of Oaxaca with the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the Mexico-Toluca commuter Train (originally scheduled to open in 2017) and infrastructure to improve connectivity from downtown Mexico City to the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) are all slated for completion this year.

Anfibium: axolotl museum in Mexico City

A new museum dedicated to the axolotl, an endangered Mexican salamander, opened in Chapultepec Park last weekend with Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurating the event. The museum, which seeks to strengthen, promote and develop the conservation of axolotls, hosts a conservation center and has four laboratories with artificial wetlands to support the reproduction of the species. 


In addition to housing different types of these amphibians, it will also protect more than 30 species including frogs, turtles, salamanders, toads, newts, crayfish and fish.

The museum is an interactive, immersive and educational space free of charge and opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm. 

With reports from Expansión, MxCity, The Washington Post

Military not required to inform police of arrests, Supreme Court rules

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MND Staff
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A soldier in uniform looks at the camera, while dozens of army vehicles carrying soldiers line the highway in the background.
Soldiers arrive at Acapulco, Guerrero, to shore up public security on Wednesday. (Carlos Alberto Carbajal / Cuaroscuro.com)

The Supreme Court (SCJN) has ruled that the military doesn’t need to report arrests it makes to civilian security authorities.

The court’s ruling on Tuesday came in response to a claim of unconstitutionality filed by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) against part of the National Law on the Registration of Arrests.

The CNDH challenged the law on the basis that it excused the military of the responsibility to report the arrest of presumed criminals. The commission argued that the right to legal certainty, among other rights, and the principle of legality could be violated by the absence of that responsibility.

However, the SCJN ruled that under the National Law on the Registration of Arrests, the military itself is obliged to immediately register the detentions they complete in the relevant database. Therefore, the armed forces must be given access to the arrest registry, the court said in a statement.

It ruled that the military — which has been authorized to carry out public security tasks until 2028 — “is not obliged to give notice of an arrest to a police authority so that said authority creates the registration.”

Independent Senator Emilio Álvarez Icaza slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling in a Twitter post.

“The @SCJN established today that the armed forces … [carrying out] security tasks are not obliged to inform a police authority of the arrest of a person. And it leaves the registration [of an arrest] up to the goodwill of the military. Military opacity to violate human rights now has legal endorsement. Grave,” he wrote.

The non-government organization Human Rights Watch recently warned that the federal government’s militarized security policy risks facilitating abuses by security forces while failing to reduce violent crime.

However, a poll conducted late last year indicated that almost three-quarters of Mexicans agree with the government’s plan to continue using the armed forces for public security tasks until 2028.

With reports from El Universal, El Financiero and Infobae 

Oscar nominations 2023 include films by renowned Mexican trio

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MND Staff
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Mexican directors and longtime friends Alejandro Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro at a special event hosted by Netflix
Mexican directors and longtime friends Alejandro Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro at a special event hosted by Netflix on January 6 in Los Angeles. (Photo: Netflix)

The nominations for the 2023 Academy Awards that were announced Tuesday included films by three storied Mexican filmmakers.

“Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” which was written and directed by five-time Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu, was nominated in the category of best cinematography. “Bardo” had its Latin America premiere at the Morelia International Film Festival in October and currently can be seen on Netflix.

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” was nominated for best animated feature film. Two-time Oscar winner del Toro co-wrote the screenplay and was the co-director with Mark Gustafson. It, too, can be seen on Netflix.

A scene from “Bardo”, nominated for best cinematography. (@BardoMovie Twitter)

 “Le pupille” (“The Pupil”) was nominated for best live action short film. The 37-minute Italian film, available on Disney Plus, was produced by Alfonso Cuarón, the Oscar-winning director of “Roma” in 2018.

The 95th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and hosted by TV personality Jimmy Kimmel, who also emceed the 89th and 90th editions. The nominations were announced by actors Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams.

Iñárritu, 59, was born in Mexico City, the youngest of seven children. Del Toro, 58, was born in Guadalajara, where his father ran a successful car dealership. Cuarón, 61, was born in Mexico City to a doctor and biochemist. 

The three filmmakers — often dubbed “The Three Amigos” based on their longtime friendship, similar ages and high-level successes in recent years — participated in an event in Los Angeles earlier this month celebrating them and their new films. The 90-minute conversation, hosted by Netflix, was held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Jan. 6 and can be seen in full in YouTube.

An article about the event by Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted that the three men “have amassed multiple Oscars between them and forged a golden age of Mexican filmmaking.”

It also indicated that they don’t necessarily take their Hollywood nickname too seriously. “Amigo one calling amigo two,” del Toro joked at one point while nudging Cuarón.

The men discussed how they have frequently traded notes on projects, and have even helped to re-edit each other’s works. “Honestly, I think it has been crucial,” Iñárritu said. “To not be walking alone in this job is a beautiful gift for us.”

Iñárritu won Academy Awards for best picture, best director and best original screenplay for “Birdman” in 2015, and the following year he won best director for “The Revenant” — joining Joseph L. Mankiewicz and John Ford and as the only directors to win back-to-back best director Oscars.

“Bardo” was Iñárritu’s most Mexican film, and his first to be shot entirely in Mexico, since “Amores Perros” in 2000. The sprawling, dreamlike, 159-minute epic follows a celebrated Mexican filmmaker as he explores the fuzzy lines between reality and memory, life and death, and the United States and Mexico.

“Bardo” was chosen as Mexico’s entry for best international feature, but it wasn’t one of the five selected. Those nominations were “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany), “EO” (Poland), “Argentina, 1985” (Argentina), “Close” (Belgium) and “The Quiet Girl” (Ireland).

It was nominated in the category of best cinematography, with Iranian-Frenchman Darius Khondji listed as cinematographer, where its competitors are “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Elvis,” “Empire of Light” and “Tár.”

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” was a joint effort between Netflix and del Toro, who directed the Oscar-winning fantasy films “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006) and “The Shape of Water” (2017); the latter garnered Academy Awards for best director and best picture.

A still from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” which has received numerous awards already. (@pinocchiomovie Twitter)

His reimagined “Pinocchio,” is a dark, animated take on the 1883 Italian novel about a wooden puppet that comes to life, in this case set against a backdrop of rising fascism in Mussolini’s Italy. Many of the stop-motion sequences were shot by Mexican animators in Guadalajara, and, like “Bardo,” it had its Latin American premiere at the Morelia International Film Festival in October.

Other films nominated for best animated feature are “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” “The Sea Beast” and “Turning Red.”

Cuarón, listed as one of three producers of “Le pupille,” became the first Mexican to win an Academy Award for best director when he won in 2014 for “Gravity,” which also earned him the statuette for best editing. The intimate black-and-white “Roma” in 2018 won for best director, best cinematography and best foreign language film.

Alfonso Cuarón is a producer of the live action short film “Le Pupille” (Disney Plus)

Cuarón is returning to the Oscars with “Le Pupille,” a short, coming-of-age drama written and directed by Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher about an orphan at Christmastime at a strict religious girls’ boarding school in the 1940s.

The other nominees for best live action short are “An Irish Goodbye,” “Ivalu,” “Night Ride” and “The Red Suitcase.” 

For overall nominations, the mind-bending “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was the leader 11 (including best picture), followed by “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” with nine each and “Elvis” with eight. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which features several Mexican actors (including star Tenoch Huerta) and incorporates a lot of Mexican folklore and Mayan themes, received six nominations.

With reports from Excelsior and L.A. Times

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