Grocery and department store chain Chedraui plans to open 33 new stores in Mexico and the United States in 2022.
The company will open five large Súper Chedraui stores, one Chedraui store and 25 smaller Supercito stores in Mexico. It will introduce two new stores in the U.S. under the Smart & Final brand it bought in May 2021.
The new additions will expand its sales floor in Mexico by 1.6% and by 0.6% in the U.S.
Chedraui said it was investing about 2.1% of its revenue in the new stores and that it projects a 4.5% growth in sales in Mexico, which would signal 12% sales growth in the country over two years.
The director of analysis at commodities trader Intercam Casa de Bolsa, Alejandra Marcos, said the future looked bright for the chain. “These numbers are positive, and they are aligned with our projections. Chedraui has been a vendor that has demonstrated a strong ability to integrate various acquisitions. It has a solid balance sheet and has benefited from the current environment,” she said.
Chedraui opened its first supermarket in 1971 in Xalapa, Veracruz, having been founded as a clothing store 44 years earlier by Lebanese immigrants. It operates more than 200 stores in central and southern Mexico and is the third largest retailer after Walmart and Soriana.
Citizens marched in Juárez, Chihuahua, on Monday night to commemorate the death of an artist and women’s rights activist killed two years earlier.
Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre, 26, was murdered on January 17, 2020 after heading home from a bar in downtown Juárez on her bicycle.
Citizens walked with candles and cycled on Monday to the place Cabanillas was killed to pay their respects.
The single mother was an active member of a women’s collective. She was followed by a car and shot in front of a government building, where the CCTV cameras were inactive, the news website Border Report said.
Cabanillas’ mother, Reyna de la Torre, said police still had no suspects or motives, and that she would continue holding memorials for her daughter. “I will remember my daughter as a happy person who was leaving a happy place … I will do this [the memorial] year after year as long as God wills,” she said.
De la Torre added that the problem of violence appeared to have deteriorated further. “I think violence has increased a lot. Especially against women, with more cruelty than ever.”
More than 500 women have been murdered in Juárez in the past three years, with 172 in 2021.
Police have said most of those killings were drug related. However, activists claim that police tend to dismiss homicides as drug related to avoid investigating them.
On January 16, police found the mutilated bodies of two women on a highway near Juárez. A total of 10 women have been murdered in the city in the first 18 days of 2022, according to Border Report.
Xcambó was built as a Mayan trading port around A.D. 350–550.
While many interested in the ancient Maya know about their complex religious life, their mathematical, scientific and architectural advances and their hierarchical social structures, perhaps a lesser-known side of these indigenous people is their capitalist side.
Those interested in a wider understanding of Maya prehistory might consider visiting the north coast of Yucatán, where one can easily access the ruins of Xcambó, an ancient port city situated off coastal highway 27, between Progreso and Telchac Puerto, Yucatán. The city is notable as an administrative center for the prehistoric Mayan salt trade during the Classic Period (A.D. 250–900)
The site, whose name is Mayan for “celestial crocodile” as well as “place of exchange” or “place where bartering takes place,” is less than an hour’s drive from Mérida.
Xcambó is smaller than other more famous Maya sites of Yucatán, but it has some interesting structures to explore. And since few tourists visit there, it’s a relaxing trip.
Near Xcambó are the Xtampú salt flats, which are still operational and whose water is sometimes bright pink, hence its name, the Pink Lagoon. You can also watch flamingos there. According to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), Xcambó’s main economic activity was salt production and Xcambó was the administrative center for the salt flats located on the north coast and to the northwest. The city’s occupation and its salt production are thought to date as far back as 100 B.C.
Architecture fans can observe multiple building design styles at Xcambó.
However, INAH says Xcambó was built as a commercial port around A.D. 350–550 and was the largest trading port on Yucatan’s northern coast in the Classic Period. The site is thought to have been abandoned around the late Classic Period. Following its abandonment, the site was used as a religious place during the Postclassic period (A.D. 900–1500), according to INAH.
The site had white raised roads thought to have connected it to other Maya sites. There is also an internal white road. INAH says that more than 600 burial sites, as well as hundreds of vessels, were discovered here. Areas that may have been for salt storage were also found.
Xcambó was built on a Petén — an area encircled by a wetland. Therefore, the natural surroundings, including the mangroves, make exploring the ancient city a pleasant experience, and a visit can be accomplished within a couple of hours at most.
There are three groups of buildings. Architecture fans can observe multiple building design styles here. The most notable section is the central plaza, which features 11 structures. Civic, administrative and religious activities took place there.
North of the plaza is a seven-level pyramid with a central stairway called the Temple of the Cross. A wooden cross was erected atop of this building, although on our last visit, we found that it had fallen. You can climb this pyramid for a beautiful view of the site.
In front of the Pyramid of the Cross structure is one of the small well-like water springs of the site. Next to the pyramid is the Temple of the Sacrifices with its two tiny, vaulted temples.
A must-see in the central plaza, however, is the Pyramid of the Masks, located to the south. On the third level are two stucco masks placed on either side of the central stairway. The masks’ placement indicates the path and direction taken by the planet Venus, which was thought to lead the sun from the underworld at sunrise and to accompany it at sunset, according to INAH.
An interesting structure located next to the Pyramid of the Masks is a building called the Steam Bath, which seems to be an ancient version of a steam room or spa. It features a place where the water was boiled. It was used by the city’s elite.
A tunnel-like structure to the west of the central plaza is interesting in that despite its appearance, the passage is closed at the end and does not lead anywhere.
Behind this structure is a small chapel called the Temple of the Virgin, showing the later influence of Catholicism on Xcambó. A newer addition to the site, it was built in the last century.
Inside, the church has an altar. The faithful believe a virgin appeared in Xcambó, and the chapel is visited for worship even today.
Other structures to see include residential buildings and stone tools that look like metates, perhaps used for grinding, including making salt into powder. The east plaza that you will pass after leaving the main site is also worth looking at.
Xcambó is smaller than other more famous Maya sites of Yucatán, but it has interesting structures.
After exploring the ruins and the surrounding area, including the pink lagoon, you can visit one of the nearby beaches. A town in the area worth exploring is Chicxulub Puerto, located in the center of the impact crater of the meteor that hit the earth around 65 million years ago.
Thilini Wijesinhe, a financial professional turned writer and entrepreneur, moved to Mexico in 2019 from Australia. She writes from Mérida, Yucatán. Her website can be found at https://momentsing.com/
With construction materials that included 10,000 plastic bottles and 2,000 cardboard cartons, residents of a municipality near Oaxaca city have helped build a new public library.
Residents of Zaachila collaborated with the organization Solidaridad Internacional Kanda (Sikanda), the community center in the Vicente Guerrero neighborhood and the Armonía music school to build the library, located on the east side of the municipality near a large dump.
The recycled materials for the construction of the so-called “green library” were provided by people who make a living from collecting garbage.
The building, which is designed to be resistant to both climate change and earthquakes, is on the verge of completion, after which it will be furnished and filled with purchased and donated books.
The public facility is intended to be a safe space where local children and adolescents can develop a love for reading, although residents of all ages will be welcomed.
The library is expected to have a collection of at least 300 books when it opens to the public in the near future, the newspaper El Universal reported.
It will be a welcome addition to the local community, located in a state where just over three-quarters of residents didn’t read a book in the past year and many schools don’t have libraries, according to Sikanda.
The Oaxaca-based organization, which also collaborates on green library projects at schools, collected data that shows that Oaxaca residents aged 15 and over only have 6.9 years of formal education on average whereas the national average is 8.6 years.
It believes that by cultivating a love of reading and learning at a young age, children are likely to stay in school longer.
Construction of the Zaachila library began last month as part of a project called “Una biblioteca para Navidad,” or “A library for Christmas.”
Anyone interested in donating to Sikanda, which has been collaborating on a range of projects in Oaxaca communities since 2009, can do so via the organization’s website.
Acapulco's beaches have been packed since the year began. Last weekend was no exception.
Mexico’s number of coronavirus cases is soaring, but the omicron-fueled fourth wave has not put a dampener on tourism activity in the coastal cities of Acapulco, Guerrero and La Paz, Baja California Sur.
Both cities were busy over the weekend as tourists and locals alike flocked to the waterfront, apparently undeterred by the ongoing surge in COVID cases, which have averaged almost 24,000 per day this month, according to official data.
Hotel occupancy in Acapulco was about 60%, the newspaper El Universal reported, adding that beaches were packed and the resort city’s coastal boulevard was busy.
The Arena Coliseo de Acapulco may have also been a fertile hunting ground for the virus as a lucha libre wrestling event was held at the venue on Saturday after being closed for two years due to the pandemic. Photos posted to social media showed an arena bursting at its seams.
Guerrero Senator Félix Salgado Macedonio was also in a festive mood, hosting a party at his Acapulco home to celebrate his 65th birthday. The senator, an alleged rapist and father of Governor Evelyn Salgado, live-streamed some of the festivities at his crowded house on his Facebook account. The controversial politician has a history of flouting coronavirus rules and recommendations: he held a massive birthday party a year ago in violation of restrictions.
Screen captures of a 65th birthday party Guerrero Senator Felix Salgado, at left, hosted last weekend in Acapulco.
Not everyone in Acapulco was in the mood for partying last weekend — dozens of people descended on the Acapulco zócalo, or central square, to access a free COVID-19 test. Streams of residents have made their way to the square to get tested in recent days, El Universal said.
There are 1,125 active cases in Acapulco, the state Health Ministry reported Tuesday, a figure that accounts for one-third of the 3,390 active infections across Guerrero.
Some 2,000 kilometers to the northwest is La Paz, state capital of Baja California Sur (BCS), which is currently Mexico’s coronavirus epicenter with more than 900 active cases per 100,000 people.
Tourists and residents flocked to the city’s seaside promenade over the weekend to stroll, ride bikes and roller-blade, El Universal said. Mask usage was far from universal despite the risk of infection as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads quickly in BCS and beyond.
“People are more carefree than in previous waves,” said Javier Martínez, who was exercising on the La Paz malecón.
Many locals and tourists no longer follow the virus mitigation protocols, he told El Universal, explaining that they don’t distance themselves from others or wear face masks properly.
Acapulco residents also packed the Arena Coliseo this past weekend, which opened to lucha libre fighting for the first time in two years.
La Paz currently has almost 5,200 active cases, state data shows, or almost 70% of all current infections in BCS.
At the national level, there are 285,713 estimated active cases after the Health Ministry reported an additional 17,101 confirmed infections on Monday. The active case tally will likely rise above 300,000 today as reported case numbers typically increase on Tuesdays in comparison with those registered on Sundays and Mondays.
Mexico’s accumulated case tally currently stands at 4.38 million while the official COVID-19 death toll rose by 59 on Tuesday to 301,469. Just over 9% of all cases recorded throughout the pandemic were detected in the first 17 days of January.
In other COVID-19 news:
• The surge in coronavirus cases continues to cause high levels of absenteeism in workplaces. One city where workforces are depleted is Mérida, Yucatán.
Iván Rodríguez Gasque, president of the Mérida branch of the National Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged that there are large numbers of infected workers. He called on employers to strengthen measures to stop, or at least slow, the spread of the virus.
A man getting a free rapid COVID-19 test in Acapulco’s zócalo on Sunday.
While absenteeism levels are currently high, Rodríguez said that businesses in the Yucatán capital are coping and would not be forced to close. He also called on employers not to pressure employees to come to work if they have COVID symptoms.
Yucatán currently has almost 6,300 active cases, according to federal data. It has the 11th highest infection rate among Mexico’s 32 states with almost 300 active cases per 100,000 residents.
• The use of face masks in enclosed public places and public transit in the port city of Veracruz is now mandatory.
Mayor Patricia Lobeira de Yunes announced the rule Monday in a video message but didn’t specify the punishment for non-compliance. She also announced a range of other measures designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Among them: a reduction of maximum capacity levels for businesses to 75% and the suspension of large municipal events.
Veracruz city is currently at medium risk yellow on the state’s coronavirus stoplight map, whereas the Gulf coast state as a whole is low risk green on the federal government’s map. Veracruz ranks 31st, or second to last, for active cases among Mexico’s 32 states with about 50 per 100,000 residents, but Mayor Lobeira warned that infections are on the rise.
• The condition of a four-year-old boy who was intubated in a San Luis Potosí hospital after contracting COVID-19 and becoming seriously ill has improved.
State Health Minister Daniel Acosta Díaz de León said Tuesday that the child had been extubated and was in stable but delicate condition.
The boy who required mechanical ventilation suffers from Reye’s syndrome, a rare but serious condition that affects the brain and liver.
The minister said Monday that infections among children were on the rise in the state.
San Luis Potosí currently has the third highest number of active cases on a per capita basis with almost 500 per 100,000 people. Only Baja California Sur and Mexico City have higher per capita rates.
Punta Maldonado beach where effects of the Tonga volcano were seen.
The effects of a volcanic eruption on an island in the South Pacific Ocean have been seen about 9,000 kilometers northeast in Guerrero.
A very large eruption last Friday on Hunga Tonga, an uninhabited volcanic island of the Tongan archipelago, caused tsunamis on neighboring islands, including Tonga where at least three people died and many more went missing.
The effects of the eruption were felt across the Pacific and reached Guerrero where sea levels on the 500 kilometer coastline were reported to have risen 30-50 centimeters on Saturday.
Guerrero Civil Protection director Roberto Arroyo Matus confirmed that there was no serious damage in the state but added that in Cuajinicuilapa, a town in the Costa Chica region near the Oaxaca border, some beach huts were taken out by powerful waves.
The mayor of Cuajinicuilapa, Edgar Paz Rojas, explained that the large waves destroyed about 30 beach huts in the nearby town of Punta Maldonado.
Small rises in sea levels were also observed on the coasts of Baja California and Colima.
The effects of the eruption were felt in New Zealand, Japan, the United States, the Russian Far East, Chile and Peru, where two people drowned after a two-meter wave struck the coast.
The newspaper said Zihuatanejo is a perfect destination for the environmentally conscious. stacyarturogi/Shutterstock
A beach destination in Guerrero made the top five on a New York Times list of places to visit in 2022.
Zihuatanejo, 200 kilometers northwest of Acapulco, occupied fifth place on the newspaper’s list of 52 global destinations where visiting could be especially positive for the local economy and environment, or as the Times put it, “where travelers can be part of the solution.”
The first four destinations are Chioggia, Italy; Chimanimami, Mozambique; the Queens borough of New York City; and Northumberland, England.
The newspaper said Zihuatanejo is a perfect destination for the environmentally conscious. “This laid-back beach town … and communities around it have spawned grassroots environmental projects that travelers can support.”
It highlighted the conservation charities Whales of Guerrero, which trains fishermen as whale-watching guides, and Campamento Tortuguero Ayotlcalli, where visitors can join turtle nest patrols and release hatchlings. It also mentioned vegan projects by the musical duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, including the restaurant La Raíz de la Tierra and the “solar-powered regenerative resort” Playa Viva, located 46 kilometers southeast of Zihuatanejo.
The Times spotlighted Zihuatanejo’s Campamento Tortuguero Ayotlcalli, which rescues sea turtles and educates the public about conservation. Campamento Tortuguero Ayotlcalli
Mayor Jorge Sánchez Allec said Zihuatanejo was in fashion and well prepared as a tourist destination. He added that it became one of Mexico’s principal destinations during the 2021–2022 tourist season, with visitors from Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.
Infrastructural improvements were made to the town while tourism was restricted for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic: the community renovated its 50-year-old pier at a cost of almost 90 million pesos (US $4.4 million), and a 20-kilometer cycling path was built to connect Zihuatanejo to the resort town of Ixtapa. Also, a 1-kilometer beach pathway with access to housing was laid for 20 million pesos (almost US $1 million).
Sánchez said major improvements to highways were under consideration to improve connectivity.
There are direct flights from Zihuatanejo to six cities in Canada and seven in the United States, as well as seven daily flights to Mexico City.
A chain of cannabis stores part owned by former president Vicente Fox is pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy: it intends to open 130 additional outlets by the end of the year.
Paradise, which sells products such as CBD (cannabidiol) oil, hemp oil, bongs, pipes, marijuana grinders and papers, currently has about 70 stores in 28 states, according to operations chief César Escalante.
He told the newspaper El Universal that the chain’s goal is to have 200 stores across all 32 states by the end of the year. One location where a new store is set to open soon is San Luis Potosí city.
Among the cities where Paradise already has stores are Monterrey – where the company was founded, Mexico City, Ciudad Juárez, Saltillo, Mazatlán, Culiacán, Aguascalientes, Pachuca, Tijuana, Guadalajara, Playa del Carmen and Querétaro.
Fox, president from 2000 to 2006 and an outspoken supporter of marijuana legalization, is not the only high-profile investor in Paradise. Actor Roberto Palazuelos, a telenovela (soap opera) star, is also a partner in the company founded by Fernando Carcamo, Fernando Espinobarros and Guillermo Palau.
In a video on the Paradise website, Fox extends an invitation to “bold and dynamic entrepreneurs” to consider opening a Paradise franchise.
“Paradise’s idea is to share the business with many of you throughout the Mexican republic, providing and granting franchises – franchises that you can have, that you can operate and in which you will have high returns for your investment,” said the former National Action Party president, who also sits on the board of a Canadian medical marijuana company that operates in Colombia.
The chain appears to be well-placed to sell marijuana buds once the recreational use of the drug is legalized, something which is expected to occur later this year.
However, Paradise’s main focus is currently on the growing market for CBD products. Escalante said the chain’s aim is for all Mexicans to be aware of their benefits.
According to a 2019 New York Times explainer, “CBD is advertised as providing relief for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder” and is also marketed to promote sleep.
The newspaper described CBD as “the lesser-known child of the cannabis sativaplant,” adding that “its more famous sibling, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the active ingredient in pot that catapults users’ ‘high.’”
Part of CBD’s popularity, the Times said, is that it “purports to be ‘nonpsychoactive,’ and that consumers can reap health benefits from the plant without the high (or the midnight pizza munchies).”
Photojournalist Margarito Martínez had recently been put under protection after receiving threats. Twitter
Two journalists have been killed in the space of a week in Veracruz and Baja California.
José Luis Gamboa died in hospital in Veracruz city on January 10 but wasn’t identified until January 14, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported. The journalist protection agency Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said he was stabbed to death in what may have been a robbery.
Gamboa was the director of the local news website InfoRegio in which he wrote about connections between organized crime and politicians. He wrote recently that “Mexico’s tragedy is the narco-trafficking to which municipalities are subject; instead of fighting it the entire governmental power structure is linked up with a considerable criminal association.”
Veracruz Attorney General Verónica Hernández said the murder was being investigated in relation to his work as a journalist.
Photojournalist Margarito Martínez was killed in front of his house in Tijuana, Baja California, on Monday. He had recently been put under protection after receiving threats from a former police officer, the newspaper El Universal reported.
Martínez worked for the Los Angeles Times and the BBC and a string of local publications.
José Luis Gamboa died in hospital in Veracruz city on January 10 but wasn’t identified until January 14. internet
The director of the local newspaper Zeta Tijuana, Adela Navarro, a former colleague, said the murder was tragic but unsurprising. “A terrible, painful, unjust event. It provokes anger, frustration and reflects the situation in Tijuana, where weapons abound,” she said.
Reporters Without Borders said the journalists’ lines of work had exposed them to danger. It called for thorough investigations.
“Both journalists were covering the corruption and organized crime that are rampant in their region. RSF calls for an exemplary investigation, at both local and federal level, to identify those responsible for these crimes,” the organization said.
Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world to practice journalism, according to RSF. Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that nine journalists had been killed since December 2021; 48 journalists have been killed in Mexico since December 2018.
Resolution for the murder of any journalist or activist in Mexico remains unlikely: impunity reigns in more than 90% of their murder cases, Deputy Human Rights Minister Alejandro Encinas said in December. In cases where the culprits were identified, almost half were local officials, he said.
Tire spikes are engaged at the Américas toll plaza in Ecatepec.
The evasion of tolls at a notoriously lawless toll plaza in México state looks set to become a thing of the past thanks to the installation of an automated traffic spike system.
After conducting a pilot program at the Las Américas toll plaza in Ecatepec, the operator of the Circuito Exterior Mexiquense (México state Outer Loop Road) determined that the only way to stop would-be scofflaws from passing through without paying the 62-peso (US $3) toll was to threaten to puncture their vehicles’ tires.
The automated dissuasion system – which consists of a retractable barrier of metal spikes – will be used on a permanent basis starting Tuesday. Signs on the loop road will warn motorists that the system is in operation.
If a motorist fails to pay the toll, an alarm is automatically activated and the traffic spike system is deployed. Once a vehicle’s tires have been punctured, authorities will remove it from the road and the driver will presumably face a sanction such as a fine.
“What we’re seeking to do is dissuade … drivers from committing an illegal act,” said Javier Castro, operations director of the Circuito Exterior Mexiquense. “In recent years and recent months the number of [highway] users evading the toll has increased.”
En el Circuito Exterior Mexiquense se pondrá un sistema de disuasión de evasión de peaje (Ponchallantas) en la caseta de cobro T-2 Las Américas, ubicada en el kilómetro 38 + 906, en Ecatepec. pic.twitter.com/Tn3OkQ3ZfK
Marco Frías, director of the Mexican Association of Highway Infrastructure Concessionaires, said last week that the non-payment of tolls is most prevalent on the eastern side of the Valley of México metropolitan area, which includes Mexico City and surrounding México state municipalities such as Ecatepec.
There are videos on websites such as Facebook and YouTube that teach motorists tricks to avoid paying tolls, while toll plaza takeovers by protesters, unemployed people and others also result in non-payment and a consequent reduction in concessionaires’ revenue.
