Tire clamps will be used on illegally parked vehicles in Metepec.
Starting July 1, the México state Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town) of Metepec will begin using tire clamps, also known as “boots,” on vehicles in violation of traffic rules such as having been illegally parked.
The clamp will be removable only after the offender pays the city a 435-peso fine, payable either in the city’s tax offices, via select businesses that have agreed to collect the payments or with transit officers who will be equipped with mobile electronic payment devices.
If the ticket is not paid within two hours of the clamp being placed on a tire, the vehicle will be towed to a storage facility until the motorist pays to retrieve it, city officials said.
The measure has ignited controversy, even among members of the municipal council, which says the new policy will improve traffic mobility and pedestrian safety and will help the environment by encouraging people not to use motor vehicles.
According to an article in La Jornada, Metepec has in recent years seen one of the highest increases in registered cars among Mexican municipalities. The article estimated that half a million cars are circulating daily in the city.
In Metepec’s commercial zones and frequently traveled thoroughfares, motorists are known to park illegally, sometimes double and triple-parking, obstructing the flow of traffic, a common practice in many Mexican cities.
Tire clamps are already used in other cities with traffic problems such as Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende and Valle de Bravo, México state. Officials in those cities say the measure has helped reduce traffic congestion and illegal parking.
Guerrero’s Attorney General’s Office has condemned a “cowardly” ambush by armed civilians of a state police convoy that left six officers dead and five wounded.
State officials said the attack happened shortly after noon Sunday on the Taxco–Amacuzac highway near the community of El Gavilán, part of the Taxco de Alarcón municipality. The attackers hid in trees alongside the highway and opened fire, they said.
The officers were traveling in two trucks headed for the community of San Gregorio in the municipality of Tetipac. After a shootout in which police returned fire, the attackers fled. Investigators later found dozens of spent AK-47 and AR-15 rifle shells at the scene, authorities said.
Local, state, and federal security forces have begun a search for the perpetrators, believed to have been led by a man they identified as Roberto Carlos “Z.”
Violent confrontations between criminal groups fighting for control of municipalities in the northern part of Guerrero have recently killed at least a dozen people, who have often been left on the interstate highway.
I can’t remember the first time I tried horchata, but I’m sure it was love at first taste. I do remember being told by the owner of the nearby Taquería Raymundo that it was made from rice, which at the time seemed odd, but hey, at that point many things in Mexico were new to me.
Making horchata is a fairly complex process that involves soaking rice overnight, traditionally with a cinnamon stick, then blending the rice and liquid, straining it and adding sweetener and any other flavorings you might want.
Served frosty-cold with lots of ice, horchata is a popular plant-based drink in Mexico that has increasingly started to appear on upscale menus in the U.S. as an exotic artisan beverage, spawning its own line of signature cocktails. (Mexican Russian, anyone?)
While it pairs well with rum, tequila, mezcal or vodka, it’s also a perfect accompaniment to spicy foods as it provides a bit of relief to the palate. Horchata tends to have a somewhat chalky mouth-feel from the blended rice (that I somehow find appealing) and needs to be stirred often, although there will always be some solids at the bottom of your glass or pitcher.
The history of horchata is quite surprising. It’s said to have originated in West Africa, where kunnu aya is made with tiger nuts rather than rice. The Muslim conquest brought the drink to Valencia in the 13th century, and from there it traveled across the ocean to the so-called New World. The Spanish horchata de chufa is also made with tiger nuts or “earth almonds,” which are not actually nuts but small round tubers that grow underground, like potatoes.
Making horchata is complicated and is a little time-consuming but the result is better than horchata made from a packaged mix.
In Mexico and Guatemala, horchata de arroz, or simply horchata, is made with soaked and blended rice, water, cinnamon and sometimes vanilla and almonds. Cebada is made in a similar fashion but with barley instead of rice.
Since that first time, I’ve had horchata in many forms, in many places. The easiest, of course, is to buy a pre-packaged mix at any grocery store, add water and sweetened condensed milk, chill and serve. (In taquerías, restaurants, etc. it can often be really, really sweet, so if you make it yourself you can modify the level of sweetness.)
I’ve also happily discovered cocohorchata, a mix of fresh coconut water and regular horchata. Oh my! Returning from a long and lovely beach day at Stone Island, south of Mazatlán, I was hot, sweaty and thirsty. On the spur of the moment I stopped at a combie on the side of the road whose big sign for “COCOHORCHATA BIEN FRÍA!” was irresistible. Refreshing and delicious, it hit the spot and was added to my list of favorite neighborhood venues.
Making horchata is more complicated than you’d think and is a little time-consuming, but the result is eons better than horchata made from a packaged mix. I tend not to write about traditional Mexican dishes that are so much easier to go out to eat than to make at home, but have made an exception in this case. If you want to avoid the overly sweetened and processed horchata-from-a-bag, this is the way to go. Play around with different milks and gentle spicing.
Some recipes call for rice flour, but I’ll warn you away from those; the finished product will not be what you want. If you’re gonna make it, then make it right!
Traditional Mexican Horchata
1 cup uncooked white long-grain rice
5 cups water
½ cup regular milk, almond milk or coconut milk/water
½ Tbsp. vanilla
½ Tbsp. cinnamon or two 5” whole cinnamon sticks
1/3 cup sugar
Optional: 1 tsp. pumpkin spice mix / ½ cup slivered almonds
Pour the rice, water and almonds, if using, into a blender; blend until the rice just begins to break up, about 1 minute. If using cinnamon sticks, add them to rice/water mixture. Let mixture stand at room temperature for a minimum of three hours or as long as overnight. Strain the rice water into a pitcher and discard the rice and cinnamon sticks, if used. Stir in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. Chill and stir before serving over ice.
Dirty Horchata (Coffee Horchata or Cochata)
2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbsp. ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
½ gallon whole milk
2 cups cold brew concentrate or espresso, for serving
Add the rice and 2½ cups water to a large container and cover. Soak at room temperature for a minimum of eight hours. Pour rice and soaking liquid into a blender, and blend or pulse until all the rice is finely ground, 2 to 3 minutes. Add condensed milk, nutmeg and cinnamon; blend until combined. Pour mixture into a large pitcher or bowl. Add the whole milk and whisk until incorporated. To serve, divide horchata among ice-filled glasses and top with cold brew concentrate, to taste, about 2-3 Tbsp. cold brew for each cup of horchata. –Cooking.nytimes.com
Janet Blaser has been a writer, editor and storyteller her entire life and feels fortunate to be able to write about great food, amazing places, fascinating people and unique events. Her first book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, is available on Amazon. Contact Janet or read her blog at whyweleftamerica.com.
AMLO: those who evaded payment of taxes will be given opportunity to pay.
President López Obrador said Monday the government will reveal the details of a “monumental” tax fraud scheme this week.
Speaking at his regular news conference, López Obrador said that so-called empresas factureras, or invoicing companies, created a parallel tax collection system that took in an estimated 300 billion pesos (US $13.4 billion at today’s exchange rate) over a period of more than 10 years.
He said that criminal complaints against those responsible for the fraudulent scheme are being prepared and that details of how 50 billion pesos was stolen will be disclosed later this week.
“A kind of parallel Federal Tax Administration [SAT] was created …” López Obrador said.
The president said that small, medium-sized and large businesses as well as individual taxpayers were lured into the fraudulent scheme.
“The majority got involved in this operation innocently and ended up avoiding the payment of [their] taxes,” López Obrador said.
“It’s fraud of the nation. We’re going to announce how it operated, who those responsible are and how many people were victims,” he said.
López Obrador said that the parallel tax system siphoned off up to 30% of the total tax revenue the government should have received. “We’re talking about a monumental fraud,” he said.
The president said the names of businesses that evaded the payment of their taxes won’t be revealed but they will be notified of their debts to the SAT and given the opportunity to settle them.
The husband of Public Administration Minister Irma Sandoval says that he will sue a journalist who revealed information about his and his wife’s real estate assets.
Journalist Carlos Loret de Mola claimed last week that Sandoval and her husband John Ackerman own six properties worth as much as 60 million pesos (US $2.7 million). He also charged that land on which one of the properties sits in Mexico City was gifted to Sandoval in 2007 by the Mexico City government.
The minister promptly rejected Loret’s estimation of the value of the properties and denied his claim that she received a parcel of land as a gift.
Now, Ackerman, a professor and researcher at the National Autonomous University (UNAM), has accused Loret of libel and invading his and his wife’s privacy.
In a document entitled “The lies of Loret,” he asserted that the journalist disseminated “false and confidential” information that places the safety of his whole family at risk.
Ackerman described Loret as a “professional mythomaniac,” or compulsive liar, and charged that his report hadn’t “discovered anything about anyone.”
The [assets] declaration of the public administration minister is in order “and she reports all … of our assets with complete precision,” he wrote.
“Loret’s report presents this information dishonestly (magically transforming apartments and a plot of land into ‘houses,’ for example), resorts to images that don’t at all correspond to reality and offers fanciful interpretations about the origin of the assets,” Ackerman said.
The UNAM academic claimed that Loret had illegal access to the private version of Sandoval’s assets declaration and as a result publicly disseminated “sensitive and confidential” information that includes the couple’s address and its “physical appearance.”
Such information is not included in the public version of officials’ assets declarations in order to protect their safety and that of their families, he said.
Asserting that a “serious” crime had been committed, Ackerman said that he would file criminal complaints in both Mexico and the United States so that the people responsible for both the leaking and dissemination “of our personal details” are investigated and punished.
Loret made his accusations in a YouTube program he makes for LatinUs, a news website that operates in both Mexico and the United States.
Ackerman also said he would hold Loret responsible for any aggression or extortion his family might suffer as a result of his “irresponsible and criminal report.”
He asserted that his family’s properties were purchased with “savings we were able to accumulate during decades of work” as well as a “generous prize” Sandoval won in a “prestigious” academic competition in 2009.
One of 200 mariachis in Plaza Garibaldi on Sunday.
The sound of mariachi music once again filled Mexico City’s Plaza Garibaldi Sunday morning when around 200 mariachi musicians returned to the iconic square after a three-month Covid-19 shutdown.
The musicians filled the square with music and receive badly needed donated care packages.
Dressed in their archetypal charro suits, the musicians also hoped their presence would publicize the dire economic situation of many mariachi musicians who, thanks to Covid-19 measures encouraging people to stay indoors and not congregate, have seen a devastating downturn in their usual sources of income: weddings, parties, and other large gatherings, as well as the tourists who would normally pass through the city’s public places.
“We want help, we want the people to know that the mariachis live on,” musician Marcos Montes told the newspaper El Universal. “We want to work and need the support of people — perhaps not with handouts but by coming to see us and by hiring us.”
The charity Agrega organized the event, making sure that those who showed up maintained a safe distance as they gathered and played classics like México Lindo y Querido. The musicians also wore masks at the request of the organization.
They represented both genders and all age groups, ranging from children to senior citizens. Jacinto Martínez, 71, said he has spent his entire life as a mariachi.
“I’m the son of a mariachi,” he said. “I was taught to play the violin since age 8, and I don’t know how to do anything else. Now my children are helping me to keep going.”
The distribution of care packages, which are meant to last six weeks, are part of a campaign Agrega calls “Al Pie de tu Ventana” (“Just Outside Your Window”), a reference to the common sight of mariachis hired to serenade people outside their window.
Agrega works with businesses and individuals to raise money and provide food to feed the hungry. It is currently raising money for supplies via the donadora.org fundraising website.
A vehicle burns after a clash between armed gangs in Sonora.
Municipal, state and federal forces continue to patrol the municipality of Carborca, Sonora, as authorities investigate a large firefight between two rival groups that began on the city outskirts around midnight on Friday and left 12 dead and several houses, cars, and a gas station on fire.
Authorities believe the 12 bodies recovered Saturday on the Caborca–Sonoyta interstate highway, all bearing gunshot wounds, are those of men who either confronted or were targeted by armed civilians.
They had arrived in the area around midnight Friday in 50 vehicles and drove around the city taking people from homes by force and setting fires. Authorities did not name the criminal groups involved.
Witnesses to the convoy’s arrival called 911 on Friday night to alert local authorities and also began warning residents on social media to stay indoors, claiming that they would find themselves in a “war zone.” Videos of hooded, well armed individuals firing weapons and setting fires in various locations were posted on line.
Sonora officials confirmed Saturday that they had moved various police units into the area to investigate the incident and protect residents. Police helicopters could be seen patrolling the area.
Officials also said that journalist Raymundo Quiroz Salas, owner of El Aduanal, a digital news site, had been briefly kidnapped while covering the conflict but returned 40 minutes later unharmed, with only his cell phone taken. They also called upon anyone who could provide information relevant to the investigation to call the emergency services number 089, where they could report anonymously.
According to the National Public Security System (SESNSP), the battle for dominance among rival organized crime groups that began in March and April has heightened not only in Sonora but in nine other states: Guanajuato, Michoacán, state of México, Chihuahua, Baja California, Jalisco, Mexico City, Guerrero, and Veracruz.
Sonora was also the site of one of Mexico’s most high-profile organized crime attacks in recent years, when three adults and six children belonging to the LeBaron clan, a large intergenerational family of expats with ties to the U.S., were shot dead in an attack attributed to drug cartels last November. Armed civilians opened fire on family members traveling in three vehicles near the town of La Mora.
As Mexico and the United States report thousands of new coronavirus cases every day, air travel options are increasing and cities throughout Mexico are welcoming visitors with open arms.
So we wondered: are you changing your travel plans?
The question was posed on the MND Poll June 8. With almost 1,500 responses, it showed that nearly twice as many folks are putting travel plans on hold until at least 2021 as are set to go this year.
But an informal poll in a popular expat Facebook group said exactly the opposite: many more are planning to return or travel to Mexico this year and have not changed their plans.
“A virus is not going to get the best of me,” wrote JC. “Come hell or high water, if I can travel in mid-August like I usually do, I’m gone!”
A quiet street in San Miguel de Allende.
Others were less adamant, but still calmly determined to return to Mexico in the coming months as usual.
“We’re looking forward to our trip to Mexico this year,” wrote another reader from the U.S. “Our area has flattened the curve. We’ve done our research and feel safe with the safety measures put in place for us … we’re basing our personal decisions on facts and research, not fear and opinions.”
For folks with homes in two countries, the decision is more complex. Many feel the pull of their Mexican communities, which are as much “home” as their residence north of the border.
“We’re hoping for a short trip in October or November to check on workers, the village and our house,” wrote Kevin and Chris. “Our town is still closed, and homeowners are raising funds for the needs of the population. We love our pueblo and our friends of Costa Brava, Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa.”
That sentiment was echoed many times over.
“Our second home is Mexico, and we plan to go this year as usual,” said Gillian. “If the community needs help, we’ll work to help them. We love our friends and neighbors and want to see them.”
Health considerations, age and available medical resources figured strongly in your decisions, and many of you said you were doing extensive research using information from all sides of the border. Those waiting till 2021 to travel are hopeful, but choosing to err on the side of caution despite the heartstring pull of life in Mexico.
“Our 20 years of a winter stay in San Miguel de Allende depends on a cure for the virus,” wrote Vic.
“As a Canadian,” shared Gregg. “I have no plans on traveling to Mexico (or anywhere out of the country) until there’s a vaccination/cure for Covid-19.”
Despite the Mexican government opening up tourist destinations like Puerto Vallarta and Cancún, some potential visitors are also feeling cautious.
Regretfully, wrote one reader, “We’ve pushed out our vacation in Playa until August 2021. This year is a complete wash-out; can’t plan or chance anything.”
David, who splits his time between Ajijic and Denver, said he had planned to visit Madrid and Portugal in May but put that trip off until next year. “A Mexican beach vacation sounds appealing now, but I think it will be months before I feel it’s safe to go,” he added.
Airports have been quiet but that may soon change.
Many who live full-time in Mexico are re-evaluating travel plans too.
“We’ve been in San Miguel de Allende for 17 years and travel a lot in Mexico, the U.S. and internationally,” shared Patricia. “We canceled four trips and don’t plan on traveling until it’s safe.”
Connie, who finished building a house on Lake Chapala this past September, said she won’t return to Mexico until a vaccination “is available to the masses.”
“After living there, I decided the Covid-19 crisis was going to hit harder than I’d hoped, and being a pensioner gringa in a foreign country was not comfortable for me on many levels,” she wrote. Connie, who has taught and lived abroad for much of her life, said she knows countries are desperate for tourist dollars.
“But I can’t risk it,” she said. “So I donate to charities that support my communities abroad and hope we all survive.”
Puerto Vallarta resident Wendy is waiting until 2021 to travel anywhere. “I’ve only been to one friend’s house and the Costco parking lot since March 7 and don’t see things changing for the better any time soon.”
“We’re canceling all our plans to travel around Mexico until after it’s safe to do so,” shared Elaine. “We live here in Mexico and are self-isolating and social distancing at present, and will continue to do so for the next several months.”
Reader David shared what’s probably a common sentiment among full-time expat residents of Mexico. “I live here and ain’t going nowhere.”
Some say the choice is basically six of one, half dozen of the other. Mexico’s Covid-19 situation may be worrisome, but it’s the same in most parts of the U.S. without the added factors of the tumultuous politics, increasing police violence and turbulent protests. (Editor’s note: Yes, that’s all going on in Mexico as well but as foreigners we can’t get involved.)
“We own homes in Mexico and in the U.S.,” wrote Phil from Washington, D.C. “Have been stuck in the U.S. but are headed back to Mexico in 10 days. Absolutely cannot wait. Neither place is “more open” than the other but I’ll take Mexican air, food and culture over what we have here in D.C. all day long.”
Billy, who’s lived in Chapala with his family since last year, says they’re eager to return, hopefully next week. “All good, no worries!” he wrote, noting that Puerto Vallarta has opened “beaches, bars, everything. What could be a safer place than the beach with few people? We’re not afraid and use common sense when necessary.”
Many are waiting and watching to see what happens in the next few months before deciding to travel.
“I love Mexico and I’m looking forward to visit in 2021,” said Michelle. “I’m really hopeful that everything will be ‘better’ around that time. I can’t wait!”
Nancy, who’s hoping to make her annual visit to Mexico in January 2021, feels like there’s still time for “some of the problems” to be resolved.
“The reports are a bit daunting now,” she wrote. “Probably no vaccine by then but maybe treatment? I’m hoping for the best.”
The most philosophical (and maybe logical) outlook came from Diane in Veracruz.
“I live in paradise, so no need to travel until there’s a vaccine.”
One of the vehicles set on fire to create blockades in Guanajuato.
The mother of Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel boss José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez and 25 other cartel members, including his sister and cousin, were arrested in Celaya, Guanajuato, on Saturday.
The arrests triggered a dramatic response: vehicles were set on fire to create road blockades at 47 locations in 13 municipalities.
María Ortiz, allegedly a financial operator for the fuel theft and drug trafficking organization and the mother if its leader, was arrested by the army and state police shortly after 2:00 p.m. at a home in the community of San Isidro Elguera where authorities say wages were paid to cartel members and associates.
El Marro’s mother had more than 2 million pesos (US $89,500) on her when she was detained as well as approximately one kilogram of a substance believed to be methamphetamine.
Soldiers and police also detained two women identified as Juana “N,” Yépez’s sister, and Rosalba “N,” El Marro’s cousin.
A screenshot from one of El Marro’s videos.
In addition, the authorities took sicarios (hired assassins or hitmen), halcones (hawks or lookouts for crime gangs) and other alleged cartel associates into custody. All of those detained allegedly arrived at the Celaya address to collect their fortnightly wages.
The National Defense Ministry said it had obtained a warrant to search the home prior to the arrests.
The newspaper Milenio confirmed that at least four other people with links to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel were arrested after raids on properties near the border between Celaya and Villagrán, the municipality where the criminal organization has been based.
The arrests sparked a violent response from the cartel, whose turf war with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has made Guanajuato the most violent state in the country.
Yépez ordered vehicles to be set alight on several roads in and around Celaya in order to create fiery blockades to hinder efforts to arrest him. Blockades were established at at least 47 different points in 13 municipalities, Milenio reported.
The United States Embassy issued a security alert warning its citizens to avoid highways in 10 Guanajuato municipalities.
Cartel boss El Marro in an emotional video released on the weekend.
“The embassy has received reports of ongoing unofficial roadblocks in the municipalities of Celaya, Juventino Rosas, Cortázar, Dolores Hidalgo, Apaseo el Alto, Apaseo el Grande, Salvatierra, Tarimoro, San Luis de la Paz, and San Jose Iturbide. Active gunfire is reported in San Luis de la Paz,” the alert said.
El Marro later appeared in two videos posted to social media. In one – recorded just before 7:00 p.m. Saturday, according to intelligence authorities – he thanked the people who set the vehicles on fire and pledged to support them.
Sources told Milenio that the blockades prevented authorities from quickly reaching the property where Yépez was located, and gave him time to flee.
El Marro became emotional at the end of the first video, holding back tears as he promised to keep up the fight against authorities “even if I’m left alone like a fucking dog.”
In a second video, Yépez confirmed the arrest of his mother and raised the possibility of entering into an alliance with other criminal groups, such as the Sinaloa Cartel.
He accused the authorities of supporting the CJNG, one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations, but pledged that his cartel will continue to operate despite Saturday’s arrests further weakening its structure. Authorities told Milenio that the video footage of El Marro is authentic.
Yépez has evaded capture for the past 15 months despite federal and state authorities launching an operation aimed specifically at his arrest. The authorities have said on several occasions that they were closing in on the criminal leader, and claimed almost a year ago that he had no resources to fund his criminal activities because his bank accounts had been frozen.
However, while they have arrested scores of Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel members and several of Yépez’s family – including his father, wife (later released) and niece – El Marro himself has remained elusive.
A media report in February said the fugitive criminal leader built infrastructure in the small town of Santa Rosa de Lima and the surrounding area that was specifically designed to aid and abet his criminal activities and help him avoid capture.
Reports have also said that Yépez’s cartel had a payroll that included politicians, municipal, state and federal police as well as state and federal prosecutors.
Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), said in March that although the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel is best-known for its illegal trafficking of petroleum products, it also sells other illicit goods, mainly cocaine.
He also said that Yépez is a big target for the DEA even though the gang he leads isn’t as large as other more notable criminal organizations.
A sign in Mexico City warns that the area is high-risk for the coronavirus.
The alarm bells started ringing in March. Coronavirus still felt like a distant phenomenon in Mexico, not something to cause the jet set to fret. But then three top businessmen went down with it after flying home from the U.S. ski resort of Vail by private jet, and the panic began.
The governor of the western province of Jalisco, home of tequila, quickly called for 400 people who had traveled to Vail and nearby Denver on two chartered airlines to self-isolate. Before long, the governor of the central state of Puebla was describing Covid-19 as a risk for the rich, saying “we poor are immune.”
Now, as even the most expensive private clinics have filled up, the realization has sunk in among the privileged that “there’s no money or influence that can get you a hospital bed,” as the head of one media group puts it, describing the anxious mood emanating from her phone chat groups. “They’re worried for their health,” she says. “Many [of Mexico’s millionaires] are no longer so young. They’ve locked down more than those without so much to lose.”
There are fears that the true death toll is higher than the thousands officially recorded — and many people are taking precautions. Among the rich it has been a “golden confinement” for many, says María Torres, editor in chief of society magazine Quién, as the wealthy retreated to their second or third homes in the countryside or by the sea.
“I’ve had a number of conversations from beach resorts,” said one consultant who has held Zoom meetings with Hawaiian-shirted executives to the sound of waves crashing in the background. After Vail “they’ve been extremely careful not to expose themselves,” he added. They could see from the example of Jaime Ruiz Sacristán, Mexico’s stock exchange president and the highest profile fatality to date, that money was no protection. He was one of the three who returned from skiing in March with the virus.
Mexican stock exchange president Sacristán was an early Covid victim.
Initially, many thought they could simply take refuge on their yachts, says Adolfo Nieto, commercial director of Aerolíneas Ejecutivos, which sells and leases luxury boats and private planes. But “that dream didn’t last long” as the authorities soon closed lakes and seas to recreational craft.
After retreating instead to their holiday homes, some almost seem to be enjoying it. The consultant says: “They’d have no problem staying locked up for six months.” With live-in staff “it reminds me of colonial times — there’s absolutely no need to go out.”
While the 1% may be in isolation, they are not idle. Carlos Slim, the phone magnate and Mexico’s richest man, whose cousin contracted Covid-19 in Vail, sealed a contract to build part of the Maya Train that President López Obrador says will help develop the country’s poor southeast. He also donated 1 billion pesos (US $42 million) to buy ventilators and medical equipment.
But as Latin America’s second-biggest economy reels — more than half a million jobs were lost in April alone and analysts expect gross domestic product to contract this year by about 8% — Mexico’s rich have also felt the pain personally. The fortunes of Mexico’s top 1% of earners account for an estimated quarter of total incomes.
According to Forbes, no one in Mexico has been hit more than Slim, who had lost $12 billion by late May. Once the world’s richest man, he now ranks 17th with a net worth of $51.5 billion. But that is more than Mexico’s other billionaires put together and Slim’s losses this year are more than the fortune of Mexico’s next richest, Ricardo Salinas.
Many top Mexican businesses have turned their attention to repurposing factories to produce hand sanitizer, as Corona brewer Grupo Modelo has done, or to charitable efforts like Slim and Germán Larrea, head of a mining and rail conglomerate, who has donated a hospital.
Carlos Slim: no one has been hit harder financially.
But not all have let the crisis change their plans. Salinas, a media, banking and retail magnate, has argued vocally for business as usual — especially because the informal sector is half of Mexico’s economy and does not have the luxury of a safety net in locking down. He appealed in vain for the country not to grind to a halt. He kept open his Elektra shops, which sell white goods in lower-class areas, saying that with economic paralysis “we’re not going to die of coronavirus but of hunger.”
But as the new normal takes hold, many of the wealthy are thinking of staying in their second homes for good — magazine editor Torres says enrollments at a private school in the lakeside retreat of Valle de Bravo near Mexico City have rocketed. The rich are starting to enjoy the fruits of their fortunes.
“We see high net worth individuals who previously hadn’t considered private jets, despite having the means, now seeing them not as luxury but as the only option,” says boats and planes vendor Nieto. In the 2008-09 recession “the first thing they sold were their toys;” now jets are “a tool they won’t get rid of.”
As one major citrus producer, who has been flying by private jet to meetings across the country and the U.S., puts it: “With coronavirus, it’s just safer.”
