Site of the bust in Carboneras, 42 kilometers northeast of Culiacán. Riodoce
Federal security forces seized nearly six tonnes of methamphetamine from a property in Sinaloa on January 27 in what authorities are calling “the most important seizure made under the current government.”
The army, National Guard and agents from the Attorney General’s Office collaborated in confiscating 5,833 kilograms of the highly addictive illegal stimulant in Carboneras, Sinaloa, 42 kilometers northeast of Culiacán. The drug was found in both crystallized and liquid form.
The Defense Ministry (Sedena) said it was the biggest methamphetamine bust in Mexico since President López Obrador took office in December 2018.
Although there were no arrests made, the huge seizure is a big coup for federal forces, and figures high in international terms. In October, more than 55 million methamphetamine pills and just under 1.7 tonnes of methamphetamine were seized in Laos, in what the United Nations called the largest ever single seizure of illegal methamphetamine in Asia, the region where production of the drug is most prevalent.
In November, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced a massive almost eight-tonne bust at the U.S.-Mexico border at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego. A Mexican citizen was arrested on trafficking charges.
The drugs were found in a small building that authorities said was being used as a distribution center. Riodoce
The Defense Ministry said that confiscating the illegal substances would help protect the health of citizens. “This type of addictive substances is prevented from reaching Mexican young people and affecting their integral development … [the security forces] reaffirm their commitment to ensure and safeguard the well-being of citizens, helping the government guarantee the peace and security of Mexicans.”
General Venustiano Carranza, center front, with the delegation from Guanajuato at the Constituent Congress in Querétaro, formed to create the 1917 Constitution.
Even after 18 years in Mexico, I sometimes get caught off guard by Mexico’s holidays, finding out about it only because I went to a bank or government office and found it closed.
Just so you know, they will be closed on Monday, February 7 for Constitution Day.
One of only 10 federally recognized holidays in Mexico, Constitution Day celebrates the anniversary of Mexico’s latest and current foundational document, adopted on February 5, 1917.
Why the date discrepancy? In the 2000s, Mexico began shifting its holidays to the closest Monday in order to make three-day weekends, called puentes (bridges).
When he took office, President López Obrador tried to put them back to their exact dates, but the long weekends proved too popular.
The official copy of the 1917 Constitution at the national archives in Mexico City.
Mexico has had a number of constitutions since its independence from Spain, but the Constitution of 1917 would become important not only because it has set Mexico’s course for over a century but also because it became the model for the Weimar Constitution of 1919 in Germany and the Soviet Constitution of 1918.
This constitution has had important consequences for foreigners entering and living in the country as well.
The Constitution of 1917, born out of the Mexican Revolution, was drafted mostly by those who fought and saw the horrors of more than 10 years of civil war that followed the Revolution’s overthrow of the 30-year government of President Porfirio Díaz, with successor presidents coming to power and being overthrown in quick succession and various factions’ armies battling over who should run the country.
When Venustiano Carranza’s Constitutionalist faction finally gained the upper hand militarily, attention turned to legitimizing the war and the government to follow.
Originally, the idea was to amend the previous 1857 constitution, itself a radical document for its time. However, the Constitute Congress, the body formed to draft the new constitution, had many social and economic issues on their minds and did not want to leave them to normal political processes down the road.
It decided to set its agenda into the constitution proper. This allowed the new document to be written in a matter of months and to be more radical than it might have otherwise been.
The basic governmental structure of the 1857 constitution was preserved. The radical departure is found in many of the 136 articles that cover issues no other constitution had previously.
It is not possible to talk about all the articles here, but several concepts are important. For Mexicans, one is the guarantee of free, public and completely secular education for all citizens. It was an idea unheard of in Mexico previously. This provision and others were about completely breaking the social, economic and political power that the Catholic Church had in Mexico.
This process had been started in 1857, but 1917’s constitution went much further, including taking away many political rights from the clergy.
Enforcements of these anti-church provisions would lead to resentment and revolts against them collectively called the Cristero War (1926–1929), along with highly strained relations between Mexico City and the Vatican that would not be (mostly) resolved until constitutional reforms in 1992.
Another important section is Article 123, which guarantees many of the labor rights that Mexico’s formally employed enjoy today.
Article 27 is of importance to both Mexicans and foreigners. After the provisions regarding immigration and citizenship, it is the section of Mexico’s constitution that has the most direct impact on expats, focusing on Mexico’s sovereignty over its land and natural resources.
President Porfirio Díaz.
These provisions are not only a reaction to concessions given in mining, oil and agricultural lands to foreign entities by the Porfirio Díaz regime but also a century of foreign incursions and the loss of massive amounts of Mexican territory in the north.
Consequently, foreigners wanting to buy land or other real estate in Mexico will run into regulations based on this article.
First, we are not permitted to directly buy land that is within 100 kilometers from Mexico’s borders or within 50 kilometers of any coast.
The fidecomiso, or bank trust, is a way to work around this restriction. Those with fidecomisos do not own the land directly; they own the “Mexican trust” that owns the land.
We can directly own land that is outside these restricted areas, but part of the process involves getting permission from the Foreign Affairs Ministry and declaring ourselves to be “Mexican citizens” in all matters related to said property. We cannot call upon our home governments if we have legal or other issues with it.
Foreigners and even naturalized citizens have fewer political rights than Mexicans by birth.
Article 9 states that only citizens can take part in political processes, which includes things like participating in protests, something allowed to foreigners in a number of other Western democracies.
Many political offices, military positions and jobs in aviation and shipping are closed even to naturalized citizens. In the case of the presidency, the candidate must be native-born and have at least one parent who is native-born.
I should note that when convenient, the Mexican government will turn a blind eye even to its constitution: from the 1930s onward, many foreigners took part in the Mexican muralism movement, including creating works with strong political messages. But as these messages generally supported the government and its aims, such artists were free to participate.
Labor rights under Article 123 are not dependent on citizenship, but Article 32 states that Mexicans have priority over foreigners for a job if all other considerations are equal.
Although the constitution addressed many issues, there are a few it ignored or left for later deliberation. The most important was women’s suffrage, which would not happen until 1953.
Bans on alcohol and bullfighting were also considered but not included. In 2011, Articles 4and 27 would be revised to include a guarantee to basic foodstuffs.
Mural in the city of Pachuca, Hidalgo, in honor of the 1917 constitution. This document is always depicted in a positive manner in such artwork. Jay Galvin/Creative Commons
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.
Beets are the affable life of the party, blending well with a wide variety of flavors.
While I’ve eaten beets for many years (including those I grew myself), it was only recently that I discovered how much more delicious they taste roasted instead of steamed.
A long, slow roasting deepens their natural sweetness, and in the method explained below, whole beets are cooked in a sealed foil packet, trapping their natural moistness — in essence, steaming them in their own juices.
From there, you can proceed with whatever recipe tickles your fancy, from a simple marinated salad to an earthy soup or a gorgeous purply-pink hummus. Beets can make their way into potato latkes and gnocchi, sandwiches and tacos, carpaccio and tartar. Like other root vegetables, they blend well with many flavors.
That decadent ruby red color belies their host of health benefits: beets boost immunity, fight inflammation, increase metabolism, cleanse the liver and help detox the body.
If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to find different varieties of beets, in a rainbow of colors: yellow-gold, orange, even white. Chioggia beets (pronounced kee-oh-gee-ah) have concentric circles of red and white throughout the bulb and are particularly eye-catching. Smaller, younger beets will be more tender and sweeter.
This sexy-looking cocktail is both delicious and full of health benefits.
You’ll notice oftentimes that beets are paired with ingredients that balance out their natural sweetness. That’s why you’ll often find citrus, mustards, goat, feta or other tangy cheeses, as well as vinegars and ginger usually included in recipes with beets.
The Hot Pink
Shrub syrup ingredients:
¾ cup celery, sliced into ¼-inch pieces
1 medium beet, peeled and grated
1 Tbsp. grated fresh horseradish
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Cocktail ingredients:
¾ oz. shrub syrup
2 oz. Tanqueray gin
3 oz. seltzer
To make the shrub syrup: Combine celery, beets, horseradish, sugar and salt in quart jar. Shake to combine. Refrigerate 72 hours, shaking once a day to help dissolve sugar. Strain through fine-mesh sieve, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Add vinegar. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To make the cocktail: Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add shrub syrup and gin. Shake about 20 seconds until well chilled. Strain into ice-filled highball glass, top with seltzer, stir to combine and serve.
Best Roast Beets
Remove stem and root ends of beets. Scrub under cold water. Keeping their skins on, toss your whole beets in olive oil, salt and pepper. Fold a 12 x 18-inch piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil into a square; crimp edges firmly so steam won’t escape. Leave one end open; place beets inside. Fold final edge and seal tightly.
Place on cookie sheet or pan and bake at 375 F (190 C) for about 1 hour till toothpick can be easily inserted into a beet through the foil. Slit open foil, spreading packet open; let rest 30 minutes.
Slip off the beet skins. Proceed with any recipe calling for roasted beets or simply quarter them, drizzle with olive oil and honey and sprinkle with parsley.
This Superbowl, forget regular old potato chips — these are as easy to whip up as they are irresistible.
Roasted Beets with Balsamic Maple Syrup Glaze
6 medium beets (about 3½ lbs.)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
Roast beets (see above recipe). Cut into 1½-inch chunks. Combine vinegar and maple syrup in small skillet. Cook over medium heat until liquid is reduced by about half (it should lightly coat the back of a metal spoon). Pay close attention and be sure not to over-reduce; it goes from sweet/syrupy to burnt/hard very quickly.
Toss glaze with the roasted beets; chill until serving.
Beet Carpaccio
12 (2-inch) beets, trimmed
1 cup crumbled goat cheese
2 Tbsp. minced shallot
1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
¼ cup olive oil
1½ tsp. sugar
Salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh chives
Roast the beets (see recipe above) and keep whole. Using a sharp knife or mandoline, slice beets very thinly. Place the slices, slightly overlapping, on serving dish. Sprinkle with cheese, shallots, salt and pepper. Whisk together vinegar, mint, oil and sugar. Add more salt or pepper as needed. Drizzle the liquid mixture over the beets.
Sprinkle with chives and serve at room temperature or chilled.
Beet & Ginger Soup
1 cup cooked beets (or one 15-oz. can, drained)
2 tsp. minced/grated ginger
1 cup hot vegetable broth
4 tsp. lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Roast (see above recipe) or steam beets. Chop roughly. In blender, process carefully with ginger, hot broth and lemon juice. Purée till smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature or heat.
Bring this eye-catching guaranteed conversation starter to your next party.
Beet Hummus
2 large beets, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained
Juice of 1 lemon or 3 limes
2 garlic cloves, minced)
2 Tbsp. tahini
½ tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. olive oil
Salt
Optional: ¼–½ tsp. sriracha
Steam beets until tender (or use roasted beets); cool and remove skins. In food processor, mix garbanzos, lemon/lime juice, garlic, tahini, paprika, sriracha (if using), olive oil and salt. Set aside. Add cooled beets and purée till smooth, adding more olive oil or more lemon/lime juice a few drops at a time if needed.
Roasted Beets with Citrus, Feta & Nuts
6 medium beets (about 1½ lbs.)
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 oranges, cut into segments
2 grapefruits, cut into segments
½ cup crumbled feta
½ cup chopped walnuts/pecans, toasted
3 scallions, finely sliced
Roast beets as directed in above recipe, then cool and cut into thin 1/8-inch slices with a mandoline or knife. In small bowl, whisk remaining 3 Tbsp. olive oil and red wine vinegar. Toss beets, citrus fruits and dressing together in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving platter and drizzle with juices from the bowl. Sprinkle with feta, nuts and scallions and serve.
Beet Chips
2 medium beets
1-2 tsp. olive oil
Salt
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Cut off stem and root ends and peel beets. Cut into slices 1/16-inch thick, using a mandoline or a knife (carefully!). In a large bowl, toss beets with olive oil and salt.
Arrange beets in a single layer on rimmed cookie sheet; stack another baking sheet on top. Bake about 20 minutes, until edges of beets begin to dry out. Uncover and rotate. Bake 10–20 minutes more, removing chips as they lighten in color.
Transfer to a wire rack; chips will crisp up as they cool. Sprinkle with more salt if desired.
President López Obrador at his Monday morning press conference. Presidencia de la República
President López Obrador has insisted that Mexico’s foreign policy should promote non-intervention and respect and has claimed that his country has positive relations with most of the world’s governments.
However, that hasn’t stopped AMLO being an opinionated leader. Those strong opinions on foreign affairs can’t always be repressed and tend to reveal themselves during the marathon public forums he holds each morning.
Monday
Elections for the Pemex union were upcoming, and the president announced that five candidates would give a presentation each day until the end of the week.
The head of the consumer protection agency Profeco, Ricardo Sheffield, gave his weekly update on national prices. Limes, he said, were finally getting cheaper but there was still significant pressure on international gas supplies.
In the video updates on national infrastructure projects, the new Felipe Ángeles airport was confirmed to be at 88% complete and 54 days from completion.
The president had a cardiac catheter fitted on Saturday to monitor his heart. “[The doctors] gave me permission to apply myself thoroughly, to continue working with intensity,” he said. He added that he’d written a political will in case nature calls time on his presidency to “guarantee the continuation of the transformation process.”
The first five Pemex candidates were given the floor. One woman accused her opponents of treachery, while her rival revealed a Bible and promised to act “under the fear of God.”
Tuesday
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said the omicron variant had spread widely in Mexico, but that it wasn’t necessarily bad news. “It will eventually cause immunity in a large proportion of people, which could eventually contribute to the end of the epidemic, not only in Mexico, but in the world,” he said.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell gave a pandemic update on Tuesday. Presidencia de la República
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said that while femicide went down 7% in December in annual terms, rape had increased 30%.
A journalist who previously told the president that she feared for her life was killed in Tijuana on Sunday. The president said neoliberal politics was the culprit for the violence. “The regrettable murders of journalists and the murders of citizens … has to do with the model that they imposed for about 40 years called neoliberalism.”
The Tabascan extended his criticism of neoliberalism beyond Mexican borders: “Most countries are in crisis … protests everywhere, even in the great powers. We are living in times of great tension: the international problem of Russia, Ukraine and the intervention of the United States … What’s happening in Argentina, how the International Monetary Fund is trying to squeeze the people of Argentina who are living in a precarious situation,” he said.
Wednesday
The government’s media analyst, Elizabeth García Vilchis, took her usual place on Wednesday. She assured that 20,000 trees hadn’t been felled to build the Maya Train; rather, trees had been relocated. García added that coordination between business and media was behind a disinformation campaign against the energy reform and that a problem with a batch of Mexican made ventilators was a myth.
She also mentioned that her call to the public to denounce fake news had been answered. “Messages from conscious citizens who denounce false news [have arrived] … times are changing and now the government of Mexico governs with the people.”
García refuted that 20,000 trees had been felled to build the Maya Train. In fact, she said, the trees had been relocated. Presidencia de la República
The president renewed his claim to find a Mexican buyer for Banamex, but assured there was no prejudice at play. “… we do not want to close the country, we are not against foreigners, but it is not possible for profits not to be reinvested in Mexico,” he said.
Later in the conference, AMLO referred to his recommendation for the appointment of historian Pedro Salmerón as the Mexican ambassador to Panama, despite claims of sexual harassment. “If there’s a lawsuit, if there is evidence … how are we going to defend him, we wouldn’t. But [we are not going to change it] just for a media campaign, for a media lynching,” he said.
“How would the situation be with lithium? … The Economic Competition Commission has just authorized an operation to be carried out where a mine in Bacanora, Sonora, becomes the property of the Chinese government. Imagine that. We don’t want lithium to be handled by foreign powers, not from the United States, not from China, not from Russia. Lithium belongs to Mexicans,” he said.
He added that the mechanism for the protection of journalists was being reviewed after recent murders.
The president declared his continued support for the deputy health minister, who faces criminal action from families of victims of COVID-19. “It is certainly the product of rancor, hatred and politicking, with all due respect. I know that Dr. Hugo López-Gatell is a responsible professional,” he said.
The Tabascan recommended a film for its political commentary. In the 1990 film Havana, Robert Redford questions political ethics while playing cards. “The difference between you politicians and us poker players is that you always want to win and in poker you have to lose, and then win,” AMLO quoted.
Friday
Five more candidates to head the Pemex union would present at the end of the conference and the president offered the voters a lesson in democracy.
“They are going to vote on Monday. I recommend that they do not allow themselves to be manipulated and that they vote freely and secretly,” he said.
“Imagine … the president of the INE, [speaking at a] convention of the PAN, a political party, when it should be an impartial authority … they don’t realize it or they don’t care,” he said.
The president revealed that U.S. investigators were involved in a case in Quintana Roo, where there has been a string of murders. “We are not opposed to coordinated work against crime, but we cannot allow our sovereignty to be violated,” the Tabascan insisted, shortly before striding away to attend to the nation.
Not the dreary day-to-day tasks like doing dishes and laundry (though I honestly don’t mind them if I have the time) but the big, dramatic purges of stuff that’s been taking up entirely too much physical and, by extension, mental space.
It’s been a rough couple of years. And with so much time spent at home, chances are you’ve accumulated quite a bit of junk. Today, I’d like to make a proposal: get rid of it.
Getting rid of the stale objects taking up your physical space is really an act of hope: it’s making room for things to come; it’s daring to pick some of those anchors up off the seafloor and risk either floating around or hanging out somewhere else for a while.
It’s especially an act of hope now when we’re still being dragged through wave after wave of the pandemic.
Someday, things will be better. Someday, it will be safe to have people over again. I’m an optimist and think that day will come sooner rather than later. Now’s the time to get ready for it!
I know that some people have a lot of trouble letting go of physical objects that wind up in their homes. This is understandable: after all, one’s past is something that we know for sure existed. Even if the items represent things that weren’t that great, the past is, at the very least, familiar. The things from it can make us feel anchored and stable; they can tell us who we are.
The future — and even the present — is not familiar, so actively welcoming it in is something that makes quite a few people stop in their tracks, refusing to budge lest they end up in spooky territory.
If you’re an expat, you’re probably already well-versed in the art of doing away with what no longer serves you so that you can make room for new adventures. Especially in Mexico, where ample storage space is more of a luxury than a given, it can be extra important to make sure that one’s physical environment doesn’t suddenly turn into something resembling a dragon’s lair with mountains of “treasure” piled up all around.
If you aren’t an expat, or if you’re one who’s a little rusty at this skill, then I propose that now is the time! Adventures are coming.
So, without further ado, my spring cleaning tips – expat edition!
Divide and conquer
How you do this is up to you: you can do it Marie Kondo-style, in which you separate things into categories and only focus on those categories; I’m partial to this method for big projects.
You can have categories for things like clothes, books and papers or toiletries. Alternatively, you can go a bit smaller-scale and just focus on one room or area of your home at a time.
Whatever you do, remember that trying to clean up everything at once is a recipe for frustration and overwhelm: it’s staring at one of those 3-D posters with no idea of what’s what. Give yourself some grace, and stick to one category per day, with the scope depending on how much time you have.
If you’ve got time for your entire kitchen, reserve several hours and go for it. If you’ve only got an hour, focus on just one goal, like clearing out your refrigerator or the area where you keep your pots and pans.
If you’ve fully adapted to Mexican kitchen storage styles, haul out all the items stored in your oven — I know you know what I’m talking about — and see what you can throw out and/or rehome!
Divide your stuff into three piles: keep, donate, trash
First, of course, you’ve got to decide what you really want to keep. Marie Kondo’s advice is to hold each item in your hand and ask yourself if it “sparks joy.” This has always seemed a little hokey to me, and I’ve just never been able to bring myself to do it like that.
However, physical objects do carry an energy with them, so if something’s got obviously bad juju, err toward not keeping it in your space. Questions I find to be much more helpful than the “spark joy” one are:
Have I used or enjoyed this item in any way in the past year? If it’s a no, it’s a good candidate to go.
Does it have deep sentimental value to me? If you’re wondering really hard, then no, it doesn’t.
Could another person make good use of this item and/or be happy to have it? If the answer to this question is a “yes” and you don’t want it, then it goes in the donate pile; otherwise, it goes to the trash.
If you’re in Mexico, what to do with the “donate” pile can be a little tricky as there aren’t any Goodwill stores in every city where you can simply drop your stuff off. Whenever I want to donate things like clothes, shoes or toys, I put them (neatly and cleaned) into categorized plastic bags. The lady who helps me with my housework has grandchildren slightly younger than my daughter, so she usually hauls away those clothes and toys and distributes them to her kids.
Chances are you know someone personally who might like them; sometimes asking around is a good way to get them donated.
If you happen to live in a place where people sometimes come by your door asking for help — and you have the room to store stuff neatly out of the way for a while — then these bags can be saved for them. You can also research where in your city you might donate items. Lastly, you can hand them over with the rest of your trash with a note on the bag or box about what’s inside.
While the trash service in every Mexican municipality is different, the thing they have in common is that people go through it fairly quickly. Keeping those things you want to donate clean and separate will ensure someone receives them in a good state.
Make what’s left beautiful!
This is always my favorite stage of spring cleaning: tidying everything up and designating spaces for every item that is in your home because you want it to be in your home. Put your things where you will most enjoy them and where they will be of most service to you.
If you want to go really wild — and I do love to go really wild — try a new wall color or maybe some new throw pillows, plants and lamps. Having the junk out of your space will let your personal style shine through!
I enjoy minimalism when it comes to organization (I do not want useless stuff taking up my precious tiny space!), but I’m a maximalist when it comes to décor: I like most of my spaces to be artfully covered.
So let’s get on it, people. Things are about to get better — I can feel it — and you’ll want to be ready to have others in your home once again.
And if you do decide to try this, please indulge my nosiness: let me know in the comments what you’ll be starting with, or what you want the end product to look like!
Kickboxer Melissa Martínez Aceves, left, and racquetball player Paola Longoria López have both been nominated as The World Games Athlete of the Year.
Two Mexican women are among 24 contenders for a prestigious sporting accolade. Racquetball player Paola Longoria López and kickboxer Melissa Martínez Aceves have been nominated to become The World Games Athlete of the Year 2021.
The World Games are an international multi-sport event held every four years. The 2022 event, at which both Longoria and Martínez will compete, will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, in July.
The competition’s Athlete of the Year is determined via an online poll.
Longoria, a San Luis Potosí native ranked No. 1 in the world in racquetball, currently has just over 9,000 votes, while Martínez, a Mexico City-based kickboxer who is the world champion in the 52-kilogram division, has more than 15,000.
Indian hockey player P.R. Sreejesh currently leads the competition with over 122,000 votes. Voting ends on Monday.
The Athlete of the Year competition is held every year to celebrate the achievements of outstanding World Games athletes, International World Games Association president José Perurena said in a statement.
“This time we’re not just looking at the successes of the past, we’re also looking forward to our event in Birmingham, Alabama. The majority of our candidates on the short list will compete in The World Games from July 7 to 17,” he said.
Among the sports to be contested at this year’s event are 10-pin bowling, flying disc, lacrosse, power lifting, sport climbing, sumo and tug of war.
Deputy Minister Hugo López-Gatell said Mexico only has so many COVID vaccine doses and must prioritize them for adults.
Amid what President López Obrador described as a “disinformation campaign,” the federal government on Friday defended its decision not to offer COVID-19 vaccines to most children aged under 15.
The government has only offered vaccines to minors below that age if they have an existing health condition that makes them vulnerable to serious illness.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell told López Obrador’s regular news conference that the probability of a healthy child getting seriously ill or dying from COVID is “very, very low.”
He cited World Health Organization recommendations that indicate that healthy children and adolescents are a low-priority cohort when it comes to vaccinating against COVID-19.
The coronavirus point man presented data showing that the COVID death rate for children aged 12, 13 and 14 is below 1 per 100,000 people.
The decision to put young children at the bottom of the vaccine priority list is in line with WHO guidelines, López-Gatell said.
“Every child is very important, there’s no doubt, and childhood is a stage of life that deserves great protection. However, the probability of a child having a complication due to COVID and dying due to COVID … if they’re healthy … is very, very low — approximately 274 times lower than … adults,” López-Gatell said.
“Our perception of risk, of danger due to COVID, is completely legitimate because it’s based on an epidemic that has caused great damage,” he said, referring to an official death toll above 300,000.
However, the majority of people who have died were adults, especially older Mexicans, the deputy minister said.
He acknowledged that there have been hundreds of COVD-related deaths among children and described each fatality as a tragedy.
“However, in terms of optimizing the use of the vaccine, we [must] first recognize that these people had comorbidities and that’s why they were prioritized [for vaccination] from the beginning,” López-Gatell said, although shots weren’t offered to children aged 12 to 17 with underlying health conditions until September.
“Healthy people of these ages have an extremely low probability … of having a complication and dying due to COVID. This is the reason [we’re not vaccinating children under 15],” he said.
Earlier in the press conference, the president acknowledged that the government’s decision has been controversial.
“And our adversaries, the conservatives, take advantage of this situation, like others, to say that we don’t care about children and we’re villains,” he said.
López Obrador charged that government opponents have spread rumors about the vaccination program and that the nation needed to be set straight.
“We have to remind [people] about the strategy we’ve followed, which has given us very good results, so [that] … this tendentious, bad faith campaign doesn’t prosper and people have sufficient information,” López Obrador said.
More than 164.8 million vaccine doses have been administered in Mexico, according to the latest data. López-Gatell said that the vaccination rate among the target population is 89%. He also said that 78% of hospitalized COVID patients are unvaccinated.
“They haven’t been vaccinated for various reasons, in no case due to a lack of access. The majority [was] because they didn’t want to be vaccinated, they feared getting vaccinated [or] they were told it would harm them. That’s why the infodemic is so dangerous.”
A small pool captures the water from a thermal spring alongside the Ferrería River.
Here, at last, is a place in western Mexico that offers you a chance to commune with Mother Nature yet is not located at the end of a suspension-destroying, washboard brecha (dirt road).
On the contrary, on this journey, you can park your car — no matter its clearance — at the side of a nicely asphalted road and — in just five minutes — cool your feet in the clean and picturesque Ferrería River, located 80 kilometers southwest of Guadalajara and on the way to the little town of Chiquilistlán, Jalisco.
If you happen to be wearing an old pair of tennis shoes or a new pair of Teva sandals, you can wade to the other side of the river — which is less than a foot deep — and follow the trail straight to a rustic, man-made pool filled with the water of a warm spring. If it’s a hot day in May, jump into the deep part of the river for a swim.
Quite possibly, you will find that you have the whole place to yourself.
Continue upstream a bit further and on the riverbank and you’ll see a curious waterfall, which is doubly delightful: it’s great both for drinking and for showering. And if you like the taste of Eau Minérale Perrier, you are in for a treat.
Before COVID, Mexican cavers wore masks to guard against Histoplasma fungus.
This sparkling water, which I call “Agua Mineral Ferrier,” is not only naturally carbonated but also has a subtle flavor that might just remind you of the Mexican coconut.
Since this river runs all year round, it’s home to all sorts of insects, birds and all sorts of other animals. You can see deer, brightly colored butterflies, kingfishers and hawks, all while enjoying the flute-like song of the melodious clarín, the bird known in English as the Townsend’s solitaire.
Mosquitoes, however, we did not encounter, but do bring your repellent because there are a few pesky jejenes (gnats) in these parts. Also, watch out for poison ivy here and there.
As you walk alongside the Río Ferrería, you will notice occasional holes in the rock wall that look suspiciously like cave entrances. While most of them go back only a few meters, some do open up into genuine caverns deep and complex enough to get you lost.
The reason you find so many holes around here is that the rock through which the Ferrería flows is karst, a kind of limestone especially suitable for cave formation. Put a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid on a rock in these parts and it will immediately fizz and bubble.
Since ordinary rainwater is just a little bit acidic, it can over thousands of years eat away limestone deep beneath the surface, creating a big empty space, perhaps with a river running through it.
Don’t pass up tasting the sparkling water!
This is how many caves are formed, including two big caves along this stretch of the Ferrería.
One of these is La Cueva de Los Bandoleros, supposedly named after the legendary bandit Don Benito Canales and his gang.
With a name like this, people automatically assume the cave must be full of gold coins and bars of silver, but when we mapped it in 1994, the only treasure we found was bat guano — but not nearly as much of it as fills another cave alongside the Ferrería River.
This one is known as La Cueva de Paso Real and La Cueva de Chiquilistlán, but I prefer to call it La Cueva que no Debes Entrar (the cave you should stay out of) because local people say that more than 30 men died after trying to mine the tons of bat guano found inside it.
While shoveling the bat droppings into bags, they breathed in spores released by a fungus that grows on this guano — and on the guano found in almost every cave in western Mexico.
The spores settle in your lungs, and your immune system reacts to these foreign bodies by encapsulating them, leaving you feverish and coughing — or in some cases dead. This is why I recommend you stick to the river and stay out of the caves.
Susy Pint rappels into la Cueva de los Bandoleros.
While the Ferrería is very shallow in most places, there is a stretch where it’s deep enough for swimming and especially refreshing during the hot months of the dry season. In the rainy season, however, the river — whose source is a dam 20 kilometers away — can present serious problems, as I discovered one fine summer day when I took two geologist friends for a dip in the thermal pool.
The sky was blue, without a cloud to be seen, as we lowered ourselves into the agua caliente. Five minutes later, I noticed that the river had risen.
It was, in fact, rising so fast that the three of us barely had time to get out of the pool, grab our clothes and run up the side of the riverbank. A few seconds later, the warm pool simply disappeared, completely covered by the now swollen river.
Obviously, it was raining hard somewhere upstream, far, far away.
Fortunately, that was as high as the water got, and after an hour, it began to recede. We then made our way downstream back to the point where we had originally crossed the river. Although the water level had dropped, it was still a raging torrent that looked very capable of sweeping us away.
If we wanted to get back to our car, we would have to cross those frothing, chocolate-colored waters.
Rock climbers come to the Paso Real cave to test their skills on its angled ceiling.
“I have a 15-meter length of nylon webbing in my backpack,” I told my companions, whom I will call Mario and María. “Can either of you swim?”
The look of surprise — and perhaps a glimmer of terror — in their eyes told me the answer.
“Okay, I’m going to tie the webbing around my waist. Mario, you hold the other end tight, please. I’m going to walk out to that big rock in the middle of the river, and then you, María, holding onto the rope for dear life, will come over to join me.”
Although María was a tough geologist accustomed to beating her way through the bush with the best of them, this prospect terrified her. “No! no! I can’t do it!” she told me.
“Yes, you can; I know you can,” I replied as I stepped into the churning waters.
And I was right. Once all three of us were at the big rock in the middle of the river, we repeated the procedure. Soon, we were back in the car, changing into dry clothes … and there still was not a raincloud to be seen over the limestone hills above the ever-fascinating Río Ferrería.
Be prepared for wet shoes: you’ll need to cross the river several times.
To visit the Ferrería River, ask Google Maps to take you to 535R+46M Cítala, Jalisco, where you will find an abandoned house alongside the highway to Chiquilistlán. Next to a locked gate you will see a trail that will take you 150 meters down to the river crossing spot.
On the other side of the river, you will find a trail that leads to the warm pool 300 meters upstream — and 175 meters beyond that, the natural shower. Driving time from Guadalajara: about 90 minutes.
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.
Paso Real Cave is filled with bat guano, which, in turn, is impregnated with a fungus that causes histoplasmosis.
It’s difficult to find a tree that’s not filled with bromeliads here.
A short stretch of the river is deep enough for swimming.
The Ferrería is shallow and peaceful, but flash floods are possible during the rainy season.
After the shooting, state police secured the perimeter. Twitter
Seven people were killed and three others were wounded in an armed attack in Zamora, Michoacán, on Thursday night.
Gunmen opened fire at a clandestine cantina known locally as “La Casa Azul” (The Blue House).
Four women and three men were killed, according to the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office. The ages of the victims ranged from 22 to 72. Two other men and one woman were wounded and taken to hospital for treatment.
Municipal and state police as well as members of the National Guard attended the scene of the crime but no arrests were reported.
The gunmen reportedly intended to abduct one man but began shooting when the people inside the property put up a fight.
According to a report by the news agency EFE, the illicit drinking hole also functions as a brothel and drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana are sold there.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana are among the criminal groups that operate in Zamora, located about 180 kilometers northwest of Morelia.
On a per capita basis, the municipality was the third most violent in the country last year with 187 homicides per 100,000 people, according to data compiled by crime monitoring website elcri.men.
Michoacán was the third most violent state for total homicides in 2021 with more than 2,700. It has recorded more murders this year than any other state with over 200 victims in the first 27 days of January.
National Electoral Institute president Lorenzo Córdova speaks to a meeting of National Action Party lawmakers on Thursday. Lorenzo Cordova/Twitter
National Electoral Institute (INE) president Lorenzo Córdova has warned National Action Party (PAN) lawmakers to be wary of any efforts by the government to exert pressure on the country’s electoral authorities.
Córdova attended a meeting of PAN deputies on Thursday and spoke of the possibility that the ruling Morena party will present an electoral reform during the upcoming sitting period of Congress.
A reform could be a good thing, but it must be aimed at improving Mexico’s party system and strengthening electoral institutions, legislatures and political institutes, he told the deputies, according to a statement issued by the INE.
“Be careful with a reform that, under the pretext of rescuing the autonomy of electoral authorities, includes greater political controls, given that via these controls pressure could be exerted on [state and federal] electoral authorities,” Córdova said.
The INE chief — who claims that the INE is already under attack by the ruling government — also said there is a possibility that the government will seek to change funding rules for the nation’s electoral authorities under the pretext of austerity but with the real aim of generating “conditions of submission.”
Córdova raised concerns that the ruling government could try to change electoral funding rules under the pretext of austerity. INE
“It’s not a good idea for electoral authorities to have to ask for money from executive powers [the president or state governors], given that the budget is a mechanism of control. … When you depend in a budgetary sense on the generosity of a government, the autonomy of electoral bodies is placed at grave risk,” Córdova said.
He noted that previous electoral reforms have occurred in the lead-up to midterm elections rather than presidential elections.
Implementing a wide-ranging electoral form in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election — Mexico’s midterms were held last year — would be a risk, Córdova said.
He said last June that it was “unbelievable” that President López Obrador was proposing an electoral reform just three weeks after “impeccable” elections were held.
The INE chief on Thursday called on PAN lawmakers to be guided by the logic of “improving what we have but not reinventing the electoral system.”
López Obrador on Friday was critical of Córdova’s participation in the PAN meeting, asserting that it was inappropriate for him to attend, given that the INE is supposed to be an “impartial authority.”
The conservative National Action Party is currently the main opposition party in terms of the number of seats it holds in Congress. Morena and its allies have a majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
