Ukraine’s ambassador to Mexico has delivered a letter to Congress asking the federal government to send arms and ammunition to help repel the invading Russian forces.
Oksana Dramarétska delivered the letter Sunday to Ricardo Monreal, the ruling Morena party’s leader in the Senate.
“Russian troops are attacking peaceful Ukrainian cities from several directions. … This is an act of war, an attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, a grave violation of the Charter of the United Nations and of the fundamental norms and principles of international law,” says the letter, which was endorsed by 240 signatures.
“We ask the government of Mexico to break diplomatic relations with Russia, immediately adopt strong economic and financial sanctions against Russia, help the Ukrainian army with arms and ammunition and support the United Nations’ peace maintenance operation,” it says.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said late last week that Mexico intended to maintain diplomatic relations with Russia.
Protests against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the Russian Embassy in Mexico City.
Mexico has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate ceasefire but, unlike many countries, hasn’t announced any sanctions on Russia or the Russian government. Mexico officially follows a policy of nonintervention in the affairs of other countries, meaning that it would be highly unlikely to provide arms or ammunition to Ukraine.
Among the sanctions urged in the letter signed by Dramarétska was an embargo on gas and oil trade with Russia.
“We are representatives of different nationalities — Mexican, Ukrainian, Guatemalan and others. We demand help for the Ukrainian people,” the missive says.
“We’re asking that the governments of the world — including the Mexican one — help Ukraine with everything possible to stop the Russian aggression. Not just the very existence of the Ukrainian state but also the security of Europe and the future of the world order depend on our common response.”
Marta Koren, an organizer of the Ukrainian community’s protests against Russia in Mexico City, said it was regrettable that a Mexican Air Force flight that departed Sunday to pick up Mexicans who had fled Ukraine to Romania didn’t carry any humanitarian aid.
“We hope that in the future we can … help Ukraine in a humanitarian way,” she said.
Mexicans who fled Kyiv, Ukraine, to Romania. The first flights to Mexico left Romania on Sunday.
The company plans to open 15 new stores of its Suburbia brand and two new Liverpool department stores this year.
The big-box retailer Liverpool is set to invest 10 billion pesos (US $491 million) in Mexico this year, the company’s finance director Enrique Güijosa said.
The figure represents a 66.6% increase on the company’s investment in 2021 in real terms. Last year, it only invested 5.97 billion pesos ($294.6 million).
Güijosa said the company plans to open 15 new stores of its Suburbia brand and two new Liverpool department stores this year. Half the investment will go into logistics and technology.
In 2022, it projects growth of 5% to 5.5% for Liverpool and 8% to 8.5% for Suburbia.
Güijosa added that the challenges facing the chain were inflation, which soared to 7.2% in the first half of February, lack of economic growth and potential disruption to their supply chains.
However, he said the company could mitigate supply related challenges. “We have already seen some stock outages in various departments. We are confident that we will be able to follow the issue closely and anticipate it,” he said.
Liverpool reported earnings of 151.7 billion pesos in 2021, a 4.7% increase on sales in 2019 and a 30.8% hike on 2020.
The chain has 1.5 million square meters of floor space in 69 cities in Mexico. Its portfolio includes 122 Liverpool department stores, 169 Suburbia stores, 60 boutiques including Gap and Banana Republic and it partners with Spanish department store giant El Corte Inglés to run 50 Sfera boutique outlets.
It also owns 28 shopping malls.
Founded by Frenchman Jean Baptiste Ebrard in 1847, it was originally called The Cloth Case but changed the name to Liverpool because most of the merchandise it sold in the mid-19th century was imported from the English port city. Its headquarters are in Santa Fe in the west of Mexico City.
Video screenshots show the victims lined up in front of a house, before shooting started and they were engulfed in a cloud of dust.
As many as 17 people were killed in a massacre in Michoacán on Sunday afternoon. The victims were lined up along the facade of a house and shot dead after armed men forced them out of a wake they were attending in the town of San José de Gracia.
Authorities haven’t disclosed the number of fatalities, but unofficial reports put the number of victims between 10 and 17.
A video shot from an elevated point some distance away shows a group of people lined up in the street before a rapid series of gunshots rings out. The area where the victims were standing is engulfed in smoke after the firing squad-style execution.
The perpetrators, who haven’t been identified, removed the bodies and took them to an unknown location. It appears to be the worst massacre in recent years in Michoacán, one of Mexico’s most violent states.
A gunfight was reported near the scene of Sunday’s massacre, but there were no reports of additional victims.
San José de Gracia is the municipal seat of Marcos Castellanos, located in the northwestern corner of Michoacán on the border with Jalisco. The area is controlled by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the newspaper Reforma reported, adding that the victims are presumed to be members of Cárteles Unidos, which is engaged in a turf war with the CJNG.
The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office (FGE) said in a statement that it had opened an investigation into the crime. Spent bullet casings from firearms of four different gauges were found at the scene and a motorcycle and two cars in the same location were damaged by bullets, it said.
The FGE also said that the location where the massacre occurred had been “recently washed.”
“No victims were found. However, containers of cleaning products were found in a bag,” it said.
The army, National Guard and police responded to reports of the massacre but no arrests were reported. The Michoacán government called on San José de Gracia residents to report any information that could assist efforts to detain the perpetrators of the brutal multi-homicide.
Ejecutan a 17 personas quienes se encontraban en un velorio en San José de García , Michocán. ¡17 ejecutados! pic.twitter.com/xoDuCSr3ya
A video recorded on a cell phone showed how the aggressors lined up their victims then began shooting, kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured the scene.
At his Monday morning news conference, President López Obrador said that authorities were continuing to investigate the crime and that more details would emerge later in the day.
“There is evidence that there was a confrontation. There are bullet casings, some [human] remains, I believe, but no bodies,” he said.
López Obrador said there was talk on social media that 17 people were murdered, but expressed some doubt that the number of victims was so high.
“I wish with all my soul that it is not as they are announcing. … More will certainly be known today,” he said.
Asked whether the video of the massacre may have been manipulated, López Obrador responded: “Well, who knows? … Hopefully, … it won’t be as is being disseminated.”
The president subsequently criticized the media for reporting the high death toll “as a fact” when all the information about the crime is not known.
Zapotecs in Mexico City celebrating the Vela Muxe in 2019. Octavio Murillo Alvarez de la Cadena
Talk about “multiculturalism” in Mexico City and other urban areas and you do not mean the integration of peoples from outside of Mexico’s borders but rather those who have come from those within them.
However, it is not completely inaccurate to use the term since these migrants face many of the same processes and challenges that foreign migrants do.
Over much of Mexico’s history, its indigenous population has lived almost exclusively in rural areas. Cities became populated almost exclusively by those of European and mixed-race heritage. One reason is that in urban areas, most indigenous people mixed and became mestizo; in rural areas, indigenous residents were better able to conserve a distinct ethnic identity.
But that conservation came at a cost: poverty.
For better or worse, opportunities to move into Mexico’s cities started in the first half of the 20th century. As in other countries, industrialization enticed many rural poor to try their luck in growing urban centers. The case of Mexico City demonstrates this phenomenon best as it is the largest and oldest. But the same process occurred in Guadalajara and Monterrey and today continues in other urban centers.
Mural depicting the arrival and integration of the Triqui community in Mexico City outside their communal apartment complex in Colonia Doctores. Leigh Thelmadatter
Mexico City’s population tripled from 1930 to 1950 due to a rural influx, then again from 1950 to 1970. Into the 21st century, it again doubled. As of the 2020s, the metropolitan area has 22 million people. This growth has slowed down, not only due to a lack of space but also because the city has moved much of the industry, and its need for unskilled and semiskilled workers, out of the Valley of Mexico in the last 20 years.
At first, the indigenous men came, seasonal employees not intending to stay. By the 1960s, entire family units arrived. The first very visible migration of this type was that of the Mazahua and Otomi, who came from northwest of the capital.
Eking out a living in menial jobs and street vending, their numbers and distinctive dress caught the public and authorities’ attention. They inspired the television and movie comic figure of La India María as well as the famous María (Lele) doll. They are also fairly well-documented by academics, who began investigating them in the 1970s and now study later generations.
These migrants face the same problems that immigrants all over the world do but within their own country. The most obvious issue is discrimination, but others include a need to maintain a somewhat distinct identity, even for successive generations, and to keep a link with their communities of origin.
Maintaining language and traditions is important to these “new” city dwellers who try to adapt rituals and ways of life developed for farm life to an urban setting.
As for other immigrants, indigenous languages seem to be the most vulnerable, with city-born generations losing the ability to communicate in their ancestral tongues. How much they lose or keep such knowledge seems to depend on the family, especially on how much the mother insists on using the indigenous language at home, says Mexico City Triqui leader Moises Tello.
María dolls for sale on a Mexico City street near the historic center. Germán Torreblanca
The Mazahua and Otomi continue to come to Mexico City, but since the 1970s, they have been joined by many other ethnicities, including Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Triquis, Nahuas and others who have formed distinct communities. Most are found in the east and southeast of the city, at the far fringes of Mexico City proper, stretching into adjoining cities in México state. There are, however, notable exceptions, such as the Mazahua and Otomi of Colonia Roma and the Triquis of Colonia Doctores, both near the capital’s historic center.
This large, diverse group of people looking to maintain a somewhat separate identity means that, at least in Mexico City, local and federal governments make efforts to accommodate them — although with programs and bureaucracies of dubious efficiency at best.
As of 2018, over 700,000 indigenous people were estimated to live in the capital, roughly 7% of the country’s total indigenous population, although counting is problematic. Most have origins in states like Puebla, Hidalgo, Guerrero, México state and Oaxaca, but representatives of all of the country’s 65 recognized indigenous groups can be found in Mexico City.
Most still have familial and other ties back in their original states and communities, although identity shifts occurring between the rural and urban branches of these communities do strain those relationships.
Most of these populations, even those with several generations here, are still considered marginalized outsiders by both the city at large and the indigenous communities themselves. They are generally not seen as cultural or economic contributors to the city.
Since the 1990s, indigenous migration within Mexico has become somewhat complicated. Many still come from impoverished rural areas to Mexico’s Big Three cities — Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey — but many now opt for other cities, especially those with agro-industrial and tourism opportunities. Some indigenous people who migrated to one city turn around and migrate to another. However, Mexico City now has by far the widest indigenous ethnic diversity. This has caused some academics to name it the largest indigenous city in the Americas.
Otomi street sellers in Mexico City.
What still does not seem to be happening with many communities here, however, is complete assimilation into Mexico City’s wider culture. Education levels are low, and many born in the capital continue to make a living the way their migrant parents and grandparents did.
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
Expats in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato's main square. News San Miguel
A good friend of mine lives in an area of Mexico whose modern iteration is basically a playground for tourists with U.S. dollars to spend (they’d moved there because of her husband’s non-tourism-related job). Having lived in both Xalapa and Mexico City previously, finding herself in that environment was a shock to the system.
It wasn’t simply that everyone automatically spoke to her in English without even trying to address her in Spanish, though that was indeed odd (as was the assumption when they went out that her Mexican husband was some kind of servant or guide to her).
Sticker shock was another one-two punch. As the mother of young children, she had hoped to find someone to help her at home at least a couple of days a week. Then she realized that most in-home helpers were insisting on more money — in dollars, no less — than she herself was able to earn with her online job that required a college degree to perform.
“Mexicans still make good-for-Mexico wages here, but how can they afford anything in this city when everything is priced for Americans?” she frequently asks.
That’s a question I have too.
The answer is, of course, that they live with less general financial stability as well as a lesser ability to enjoy some of the fancier amenities that one’s community has to offer. Sure, there are things that are always out of reach until you hit a certain income level. But what happens to a society when those things are out of reach by 100 meters instead of just 10?
What happens when people far richer than you can ever even hope to suddenly arrive in droves to make your place their own?
In Mexico, this usually plays out as foreigners arriving at a new “it” place, but of course, it’s not the only way that this happens. It’s simply a more complicated way, piling on cultural and linguistic issues atop regular economic ones.
It’s comparable to the phenomena we’re witnessing in the U.S., in which highly paid remote workers move to places like Spokane, Washington, thus rapidly increasing the cost of living in those places, including housing prices.
It’s what many of us have done here. I myself work for “U.S. wages” that would keep me under the poverty line and forever unstable in my home country, but they stretch well enough here that I can afford a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle in Mexico.
Still, the presence of foreigners with foreign currency and (often) the best intentions certainly shuffles things around in the local economy a bit once a certain number arrive.
Some well-off immigrants arrive to truly immerse themselves in the culture and language and live the way locals do; they consciously try to blend in and not make waves. Others come without much intention of integrating at all; they come to make their money stretch further, similar to a move someone might make from San Francisco to Oklahoma City.
Exploring Mexico and integrating themselves are priorities much further down the list.
Immigrants everywhere face this tension: to what extent do you try to simply blend in with your new environment and to what extent do you try to preserve (and perhaps impose) the things and values you’re used to?
Tensions regarding this question have been increasing for a while now — please take the Mexico News Daily poll if you haven’t yet! — many of them centering around the ethics of money and what responsibility we as generally rich immigrants have to our host communities.
I know some will recoil at the thought of being considered rich, but an income of US $2,700 a month or more puts you in the top 10% of earners in Mexico. Whether that allows you to live like a king or not depends on where you live.
Two recent fights in a local group that my tourist-city friend told me about were about pay for domestic help and tipping.
On one side were well-meaning foreigners who insisted that if one could afford to pay the same price as in the United States for comparable service and didn’t, it was stingy and criminal, even if that price was more than the going rate — end of story.
On the other side were other well-meaning foreigners, most of whom had integrated to some degree into their Mexican communities. Those who lived in touristy areas often pointed out that when such high payments came to be expected in a community, then the average citizen was priced out of accessing those services — kind of like my friend looking for domestic help.
The battles were fierce, and plenty of insults and ugly words were exchanged.
Though I wasn’t part of it, it’s something that I think about a lot: what’s my responsibility to pay a little more if I can? I already do, I suppose, although not to the extremes promoted in that conversation.
Whether we want to affect a local economy or not isn’t the point; we simply do.
San Franciscans who move to a new, cheaper city aren’t trying to raise the cost of living of their new communities; it just happens when there’s more money to be spent.
So where does that leave us? Is there a way to be generous without drastically changing a local economy? One of us doesn’t make that much of a difference. But what happens when all our little drops become a wave that pushes other people further from accessing what we ourselves enjoy?
The possibilities for using this nutritious superfood are almost endless.
Like many other so-called superfoods we’re just “discovering,” amaranth has a long and storied history.
The Aztecs cultivated it thousands of years ago on the same scale as maize, and it was considered one of their prime sources of protein and energy as well as an integral part of spiritual and seasonal rituals. In fact, it was so important to their civilization and health that the Spanish outlawed the cultivation and consumption of it. (Tsss …)
Thankfully, once they were gone, amaranth popped up its pretty head again.
You’ve undoubtedly seen alegrías — bars of amaranth candy — in markets and candy shops throughout Mexico. This traditional sweet uses a simple syrup to bind the amaranth seeds and sometimes other nuts and seeds into a tasty energy bar, full of protein and, surprisingly, vitamin C. It’s been shown to lower cholesterol and is naturally gluten-free.
It’s also fun to eat and work with; could that be why the candy is called alegría, the Spanish word for happiness? And it’s laughably inexpensive: I bought a quarter-kilogram of amaranth to test some of the recipes for this story — about eight cups — for a whopping 20 pesos.
Add a satisfying, crunchy mouth-feel to seared tuna steaks with an amaranth crust.
The bushy, easy-to-grow plants have big, beautiful upright catkins of flowers that range from green to deep red and everything in between. (They’re beautiful in vases too!) It’s from those flowers that the tiny whitish-beige seeds are harvested. The leaves of some amaranth varieties are also edible and can be cooked like chard or spinach in soups and stews.
With more than 50 types of amaranth, the flowers come in a dazzling array of shapes and colors, and most likely, you’ve seen some of them like the tiny, purply globe amaranth, the deep red “love lies bleeding” variety or the trailing foxtail in flower stores and supermarket arrangements.
The possibilities for using amaranth — and reaping its benefits — are almost endless. Mix into any breading, for fish, chicken, veggies, burgers, whatever.
Add amaranth to granola, muffins, cookies and breads as well as tortillas, empanadas, salads and uncooked “energy bite”-style snacks. Flavor-wise, it’s almost invisible, but the distinctive pop and crunch announce its presence delightfully. Cooked in stock, as in the polenta recipe below, amaranth absorbs the flavor and provides a perfect base for other more flavorful ingredients.
Alegría (Amaranth Bars)
½ cup amaranth seeds
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. honey or molasses
Line a 9×9-inch pan with parchment; set aside. Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. amaranth to the hot pot; cover with lid and shake pot constantly as grains pop. (The pot is hot enough if the seeds begin popping within a few seconds. If it takes longer, it’s not hot enough and seeds will burn before popping.)
Once popping slows, remove lid and pour popped seeds into large bowl. Repeat popping process 1 Tbsp. at a time until you’ve popped all the amaranth. Add pumpkin seeds to popped amaranth.
Heat sugar in a deep pot over medium heat. As sugar slowly melts, add honey/molasses; stir to mix.
Remove from heat. Immediately add popped amaranth and pumpkin seeds. Mix well. Quickly transfer to prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Cool slightly, then cut in squares. Cool before serving.
Chocolate Alegría
½ cup amaranth
3 Tbsp. honey, heated so it’s pourable
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips
Line 9×9-inch pan with parchment. Pop amaranth as described in Alegría recipe above.
Stir honey, cocoa, salt and vanilla in a cup or small bowl until smooth; pour over popped amaranth. Add chocolate chips. Stir well until evenly coated. Scoop mixture into prepared pan, pressing evenly and firmly. Cut into squares. Remove from pan and store in airtight container.
Amaranth-Crusted Tuna
4 tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
¼ cup soy sauce
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
½ cup amaranth
1 Tbsp. black sesame seeds
3-4 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper
Mix soy sauce, rice vinegar and toasted sesame seeds; set aside. Combine amaranth and black sesame seeds on a plate.
Season tuna fillets with salt and pepper; then press both sides of each fillet into sesame/amaranth mixture. Heat oil till hot. Sear tuna 1–3 minutes on each sides. Bathe in sauce and serve.
Amaranth makes a seamless, protein-filled substitute for bulgar wheat in tabouli.
Amaranth Tabouli
1 cup cooked or popped* amaranth, cooled
1 cup minced curly parsley
½ cup diced red onion
1 tomato, diced
Salt to taste
1 lemon or 2 limes, juiced
¼ cup olive oil
*See Alegría recipe for popping directions
In large bowl, mix all ingredients. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to blend flavors.
Amaranth Porridge
1 cup amaranth
2 cups water
Pinch salt
Boil water; stir in amaranth and salt. Turn heat to low, cover and cook 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. When water is absorbed, remove from heat.
Serve like any hot cereal with fruit, nuts, etc.
Popped Amaranth Cereal
3 Tbsp. amaranth
Pop amaranth as directed in Alegría recipe above. Eat with milk, fruit, nuts, etc. like any other cold cereal.
Amaranth Polenta
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup amaranth
4 Tbsp. butter
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley
In saucepan, bring stock to boil. Whisk in amaranth, reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and amaranth is tender.
Remove from heat, stir in butter and cheese; season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with additional cheese and parsley.
Energy Bites
½ cup uncooked oats
¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
¼ cup natural peanut butter
2 Tbsp. chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. honey
½ Tbsp. chia seeds
¼ tsp. vanilla
1 cup amaranth
Pour amaranth onto a shallow plate. Combine remaining ingredients; roll into small balls, wetting hands with warm water if needed. Roll in amaranth to coat. Refrigerate one hour to set.
This protein-filled energy bar is a snap to make!
Tuna, Avocado & Amaranth Ceviche
½ cup popped amaranth (see Alegría recipe above)
1 tomato, chopped
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped mint
½ red onion, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 avocado, halved
1 tuna filet, cubed
Salt and pepper to taste
In large bowl, mix 3 Tbsp. amaranth, parsley, mint, onion, tomatoes and tuna. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Pour remaining amaranth onto a plate; coat back sides of avocado halves. Stuff avocados with tuna mixture; sprinkle with amaranth.
President López Obrador speaks at his Friday morning press conference in Colima. Presidencia de la República
Itchy feet AMLO, known more formally as President López Obrador, was in four states in as many days on a long weekend tour. He presented the morning press conferences from Baja California and Chihuahua on Thursday and Friday before heading to Coahuila for Armed Forces Day on Saturday and then down to a notoriously violent part of Guerrero on Sunday. He awoke to the splendor of Mexico City’s National Palace on Monday.
Monday
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez was in place for the monthly security update. She said federal crimes were down more than 41% in January compared to when the administration started, the lowest they had been in seven years.
She added that January recorded the lowest number of homicides for any month in five years, 14.4% lower in annual terms.
Her deputy, Ricardo Mejía Berdeja, listed some recent high profile catches. Among them were Don Carlos in Jalisco, El Pitufo (The Smurf) in Querétaro, El Johnny in Mexico City, El Tartas (Cakes) in Zacatecas and last but not least, a human trafficker known as the Mujer Maravilla (Wonder Woman).
Later in the conference, a journalist informed the president of the investigation into his son, José Ramón López Beltrán, who is living a not entirely austere lifestyle in Texas.
AMLO took the news lightly. “I have no information … but in the event that the investigation is opened, there’s no problem. We all have to be subject to authority. He who owes nothing, fears nothing,” he said.
Tuesday
The Deputy Health Minister, Hugo López-Gatell, reported on the COVID pandemic.
“Fortunately we have two consecutive weeks of reduction in deaths … 32 states with a drastic reduction of the epidemic, it’s practically finished,” López-Gatell said.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell painted a rosy picture of the pandemic’s course on Tuesday. Presidencia de la República
On the press, the president said the lack of uproar about Julian Assange, the jailed investigative journalist, was a sign of the failings of the fourth estate.
“All those journalists, none demand the freedom of Assange from WikiLeaks, who’s imprisoned. None, because strictly speaking they are not journalists, they do not confront oppressive power, they do not confront those who fight against oppression,” AMLO said.
On his living arrangements, he assured viewers that his setup was relatively austere, in presidential terms: “Yes, it is a palace, but I live in an apartment that [former presidents] Calderón and Peña kept for leisure.”
To prove it, he invited journalists to tour the modest abode.
Wednesday
AMLO remembered Francisco I. Madero on Wednesday. The revolutionary and former president was assassinated on February 23, 109 years previously. Mexico’s current president blamed the elites of the day: “They showed joy for those abominable acts,” he said.
After a short warning about dangerous cancer drugs, Elizabeth García Vilchis whizzed through the fake news. She said a concession hadn’t been paid near the Maya Train project, the president’s son was clean and the government’s figures on airport construction costs were correct.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had expressed concern about the killings of journalists. AMLO was swift in response: “I think he doesn’t know, he’s not well informed about this situation because there are no state crimes anymore,” he said.
The president added that Austria were firmly in his bad books for not returning a historical artifact. The president’s wife had a reportedly “very unpleasant” meeting with Austrian authorities about the headdress of Moctezuma, the last Aztec emperor.
As promised, the president finished with a tour of the National Palace, accompanied by journalists.
A group of Ukrainian citizens protested outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City on Thursday.
“In terms of foreign policy we are going to continue to … promote dialogue. No use of force, no invasion. We are not in favor of any war. Mexico is a country that has always spoken out for peace and for the peaceful settlement of disputes,” he said.
He added that the government and the peso were prepared for volatile fuel markets due to the conflict.
A journalist from Sonora mentioned a statement by the head of the Supreme Court, Arturo Zaldívar, who claimed there was a cover-up when a fire killed 49 children at a kindergarten in Hermosillo in 2009.
“I believe him, because he is a righteous person. I consider him a person of integrity,” the president said.
AMLO then pointed directly to the two last presidents, accusing them of complicity in reaction to tragedies.
“What moral authority can a president have who orders that such regrettable events … be hidden? … There’s no way that president Calderón gave the order to burn the nursery, or that president Peña gave the order to disappear the young people [in Ayotzinapa] … But at the same time, if they didn’t order those inhuman acts … then why cover them up?”
Friday
The president was on volcanic ground on Friday in Colima city.
Governor Indira Vizcaíno, who interrupted more than 70 years of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) power in June’s elections, thanked the president for his visit on some 10 occasions.
Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval confirmed the worst: the state was number one for property theft and homicides. He added that 200 million pesos (US $9.8 million) was going to be spent on the Colima prison that recently saw a riot that killed at least eight inmates.
On the situation in Ukraine, the president reiterated his opposition to invasions. But for AMLO, it was personal: “The military invasions that we have suffered. The Spaniards invaded us and imposed a colonial system that dominated us for three centuries … the French invaded us twice … then, the Americans invaded us. First, they promoted the separation of Texas and then they invaded us … and took away half of our territory. Then the French invaded us again,” the Tabascan lamented, shortly before striding away to attend to the nation.
With a little hop, a pelican takes flight over Lake Chapala.
“Antes de petatearte, hay que ir a Petatán,” I was once told by an inhabitant of that small town tucked away at Lake Chapala’s eastern end in Michoacán.
This means “Before they roll you up in a petate, you must visit Petatán,” referring to the pre-Hispanic custom of rolling up a cadaver for burial in a thin sleeping mat (petate) made of reeds that grow along the shores of most Mexican lakes.
The arrival of the monarch butterflies in Michoacán is something marvelous, but the sight and sound of 10,000 huge, white birds rising into the air all at once here is truly a unique spectacle.
Ana Manso, the mayor of nearby Cojumatlán de Régules, says, “Everyone knows the phenomenon of the monarch butterfly, but the pelicans are a bit forgotten.”
A pelican in Petatán, Michoacán, prepares to land.
Mayor Manso is reminding the world that March is your last month to see what she and all the local people refer to as los pelícanos borregones, “the flying white sheep.”
They have this moniker not only because of their habit of doing everything together but also because Pelecanus erythrorhynchos is really big — the largest flying bird in Mexico.
American white pelicans live and breed at several Canadian lakes. Every year, they make a nearly 4,000-kilometer journey south to their favorite haunts in the United States, Mexico and Central America, and for decades, Lake Chapala has been among their favorite places to winter.
Why? No doubt because of the huge quantities of fish scraps dumped into the lake at the end of every workday by several filleting maquiladoras (factories) that process fish imported from Guanajuato and México state.
Several hours before feeding time, the pelicans begin to make their way toward Petatán from all over Lake Chapala. They appear in the distance like white, black-fringed ribbons in the sky.
Despite their weight (up to seven kilos), their flight is utterly graceful and they love soaring inches above the water for long distances. Not quite so graceful is their landing technique, which involves sticking their feet out straight in front of them as they hit the water: a braking maneuver as comical as it is effective.
Local workers fillet great quantities of fish, and the pelicans get the scraps.
The workers of Petatán and Cojumatlán de Régules shovel truckloads of stripped fish into the water every day, and thousands of pelicans show up for the feast. One might expect the result to be an absolute madhouse of squabbling birds and flying feathers. Instead, they patiently wait their turn in line like Englishmen in a bus queue.
This sounds unbelievable, but as I observed the feeding procedure, I saw that each bird eats two fish — neither more nor less — and then instantly turns around and leaves. This process makes for maximum buffet-style efficiency except for the occasional interruption when a motorboat appears.
The flying sheep then become a flying carpet that instantly rises straight into the air with an audible whoosh, filling the sky with thousands of birds. It’s a sound and sight you’ll never forget!
This mass pelican feed takes place between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Amazingly, they don’t show up on Sundays, when the maquiladoras are closed.
“How do they know it’s Sunday?” I asked one of the men shoveling fish into the lake.
“No tengo ni idea,” was the reply, but when I put the same question to naturalist-photographer Jesús Moreno, he gave me an odd look.
Like Englishmen in a queue, the pelicans wait their turn, take fish and move aside.
“Why do you suppose they can’t count?” he asked. “They have a better sense of the passage of time, of the sequence of days and nights, than you do.”
So you now have an even more compelling reason to go see the real snowbirds in Petatán: not only are they beautiful, they are smart as well.
The American white pelican’s wingspan, which can reach as long as three meters (9.8 feet) is the second largest of any North American bird after the California condor, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. These huge creatures can measure up to 1.75 meters (5.7 feet) in length. When no fish filleters are around to give them a free lunch, they work cooperatively to find food.
Unlike their brown cousins who employ kamikaze-like dives to catch fish, white pelicans coordinate their swimming to drive schooling fish toward the shallows. Once the fish are corralled, the pelicans easily scoop them up in their massive beaks.
Says Tony Burton, who wrote a must-have guide to the state of Jalisco: “It is great fun watching them fan out into a semicircle and then slowly close in on lunch, dipping their cavernous beaks into the water at the same time in perfect synchronicity. There is a clear lesson here for us: working together is far more efficient than working independently.”
Another curious thing about these pelicans: they have no call or song but instead have developed complex gestures to communicate.
Feeding time’s over.
As chicks, however, they squawk inside the egg, expressing discomfort if conditions are too hot or cold. After hatching, they crawl within two weeks and walk by three. The moment they hit the water they can swim.
As for flying, they start out running about while flapping their wings, and then, at around 10 weeks, they take to the air.
From Guadalajara, the most restful and picturesque road to Petatán is Highway 15, a drive of little more than two hours.
Since the pelicans eat between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., you might end up driving home in the dark, so I suggest instead you spend the night at Igloo Kokolo, located just a half hour from Petatán.
You might find sleeping in their super-adobe “igloo” almost as unique as encountering 10,000 pelicans. And with its near-perfect Airbnb rating of 4.97 stars, you can expect a great night’s sleep.
If you’d rather not drive at all, owner Salvador “Chava” Montaño assures me that he can arrange for transportation not only to and from Petatán but also between Guadalajara and Igloo Kokolo, given a bit of lead time. Call him from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 376-690-0915 or message him at 331-835-8026 or 331-903-8629 — and, yes, he speaks English!
Igloo Kokolo, an Airbnb and showcase for ecological solutions 30 minutes from Petatán, makes for a unique overnight stay.
Don’t wait too long! The pelicans leave around the beginning of April, but it could be a lot sooner. Contrary to what you would expect, say Petatán residents, the pelicans eat little the day before their departure.
Early the next morning at sunrise, after a winter of fun in the sun and free meals, they spiral up into the air in long, orderly queues of 500 or so and start their 3,876-kilometer journey back to British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba.
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.
Pelicans know that humans in Petatán are happy to feed them.
A boat’s arrival sends the pelicans into the sky.
Pelicans make good partners in contemplation.
And into the air they go…
If you want to feed the pelicans, you must bring your own bag.
This many birds in one place should make quite a racket, but American white pelicans use gestures to communicate.
Mexican citizens board a bus in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, on Friday, bound for Siret, Romania. Twitter @m_ebrard
The Mexican Air Force will fly to Romania to pick up Mexicans who have fled Ukraine and wish to return to Mexico, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced Friday.
He said on Twitter that President López Obrador had ordered a special flight to transport families who are being evacuated from Ukraine and wish to be repatriated.
A group of 22 Mexicans left the western Ukraine city of Ivano-Frankivsk on Friday to travel 190 kilometers south to the Romanian city of Siret.
“Guillermo Ordorica, our ambassador in Romania, tells me he’s already in Siret, on the border with Ukraine, to wait for and support the first 22 Mexicans who will arrive with the support of the protection protocol organized in conjunction with Olga García Guillén, [Mexican] ambassador in Ukraine,” Ebrard said on Twitter late Friday morning.
El Embajador Guillermo Ordorica agradece al Primer Ministro de Rumania, Nicolae Ciuca, su apoyo a las gestiones y presencia de la embajada de México en la frontera con Ucrania.Estamos a la espera de las primeras familias mexicanas que arribarán a ese punto. pic.twitter.com/G4L1zcjLaR
The foreign minister later posted a video showing Odorica thanking Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă for his support.
Romania’s ambassador to Mexico said on Twitter that Mexicans will always be welcome in Romania.
“The Romanian government is working to welcome people of all nationalities who are fleeing this unjust and immoral war,” Mariuz Lazurca wrote.
In another Twitter post, Ebrard said that Ambassador García had informed him that she and other diplomatic staff were unable to enter the Mexican Embassy in Kyiv because there was an explosion in an adjoining building.
He said she was working from her residence and acknowledged her “extraordinary courage” in continuing to provide assistance to Mexicans in the country.
A 36-year-old Tamaulipas man who lives in Kyiv with his wife told the newspaper El País they were having trouble getting out of the Ukrainian capital.
Ivette Rossano, left, and Alex Ricalday, right, are two of more than 200 Mexicans in Ukraine who had to weigh whether to stay or go in light of the Russian invasion.
“We’ve been trying to leave Kyiv for days, my wife is six months pregnant,” Alex Ricalday said Wednesday. “… [But] there are no train tickets, we can’t find flights on any airline. … We thought we would have more time,” he said.
Ricalday said he finally managed to reserve a rental car and planned to drive to Lviv before crossing the border to Poland.
A 41-year-old Chihuahua woman told El País that she was hunkering down in Kyiv with her husband and nine-year-old step-son, who don’t have travel documents to leave the country.
“For me this is something completely new,” Ivette Rossano said. “I’m Mexican and although we have some conflicts with the cartels I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid.”
More than 200 Mexicans who live in Ukraine registered their details with the Mexican Embassy, and at least 50 requested assistance to leave the country.
In addition to Romania and Poland, people fleeing Ukraine are also heading to Hungary and Slovakia. All four countries belong to the North American Treaty Organization, or NATO, and their security is thus guaranteed by the other member nations.
Marines on duty at the Mexico City International Airport. SEMAR
The navy has taken over responsibility for security at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM), assuming the work previously carried out by the National Guard.
The takeover is the start of a new trend: President López Obrador announced Friday that the military will assume responsibility for security at all airports across Mexico.
The Navy Ministry (SEMAR) announced in a statement Tuesday that 1,500 marines would collaborate with tax, customs and immigration authorities to carry out “surveillance, inspection, support and control” operations in the airport to counteract the illegal trafficking of weapons, drugs, cash, illicit merchandise and people as well as theft of luggage and other belongings.
It said that López Obrador ordered the navy to cooperate with other authorities to guarantee security at the airport, Mexico’s busiest.
SEMAR also said that the National Immigration Institute and the Federal Civil Aviation Agency had trained 69 marines to act as airport commanders and immigration officials.
The president announced the military’s new airport security responsibilities at his Friday morning press conference in Colima. Presidencia de la República
The navy is now responsible for security in all areas of the AICM, including both terminals and outside areas. SEMAR said that 23 vehicles and 16 dogs would support the marines’ security work.
“We have to cover the whole airport, … we can’t leave any space without personnel. We even have to check the bathrooms,” a navy captain told his subordinates in Terminal 1 earlier this week, according to Reforma.
One woman who works as an airport security guard for a private security company told the newspaper that the marines were watching over them.
“They stand behind you, they’re scary; sometimes they come with a trained dog, … they watch our inspection process and sometimes suggest that we check a bag or suitcase; they’re very arrogant,” she said.
“They don’t talk much. They arrived, placed themselves over there at the doors and just watch us. It’s uncomfortable,” a customs agent said.
A navy commander told Reforma that the navy was deployed to the AICM because airport employees as well as Mexico City and federal officials are under investigation for smuggling drugs, weapons and cash through the airport.
A marine supervises airport staff at a screening area. SEMAR
Reforma reported that failures in security operations at the airport while it was under the control of the National Guard were also a factor in the decision to put the navy in charge. For instance, two men were shot outside Terminal 2 last October.
Asked about the deployment at his regular news conference on Friday, López Obrador told reporters that security will be the responsibility of either the navy or the army at all airports in Mexico.
The navy will be deployed to some airports and the army will be dispatched to others “to guarantee there’s no corruption in customs and that passengers are treated well,” he said.
The National Guard was slated to oversee the security work of 1,610 military police at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, which will open north of Mexico City next month, but the president’s remarks appear to place that plan in doubt.
The deployment of the military to the nation’s airports will add to López Obrador’s already heavy reliance on the armed forces.
Even though he pledged to remove soldiers and marines from the streets, López Obrador has perpetuated the militarization of public security, assigning the construction of major infrastructure projects, including the new Mexico City airport, to the army and putting the military in charge of the nation’s ports and customs offices.
In addition, the military has played a role in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, nurtured saplings for the government’s tree-planting employment program and delivered textbooks, among other nontraditional tasks.
López Obrador has defended his reliance on the armed forces, casting the military as an honest institution and an essential ally in the fight against corruption.
