Feds insist cruise ships welcome despite having COVID cases aboard

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December 29, 2021

The Zuiderdam was permitted to berth in Sonora but Sinaloa authorities said they would not allow it to land.

Cruise ships that request to dock at Mexican ports will be allowed to do so even if people on board have COVID-19, the federal government said Tuesday.

The announcement came after Jalisco authorities recently blocked two ships from docking on that state’s coast.

“The ministries of Health and Tourism of the Mexican government reiterate their commitment to respect what is established in the International Health Regulations of the World Health Organization (WHO), and consequently cruise ships will be welcomed in the country’s maritime ports,” the ministries said in a joint statement.

They said that people with symptomatic COVID-19 or who have tested positive for the disease will be given medical care if required.

People who have tested positive but have mild or no symptoms will be required to remain in “preventative quarantine” while the ship on which they are traveling is docked, the ministries said, while those with serious symptoms will be taken to hospital.

Passengers without COVID can proceed with their onshore tourism activities as long as they follow virus mitigation protocols, the statement said.

“… Our country upholds its policy of solidarity and fraternity as well as the principle of non-discrimination toward all people,” the ministries said.

They said that a cruise ship that wasn’t allowed to dock in Puerto Vallarta would be welcomed in Guaymas, Sonora, “with the support of the government of that state.”

The ship, the MS Zuiderdam, docked in Guaymas on Tuesday. Sonora Health Minister José Luis Alomía said that 28 crew members and two passengers had COVID and were isolating in their cabins. About 400 passengers who disembarked were subjected to temperature checks and some were given rapid antigen tests.

Alomía said that no additional COVID cases were detected and the passengers who left the ship didn’t pose a risk to the community. The Zuiderdam, which left San Diego on December 23, had previously docked in Cabo San Lucas, La Paz and Loreto.

Meanwhile, Sinaloa Health Minister Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda said Tuesday that two cruise ships slated to dock on that state’s coast wouldn’t be allowed to do so because they were carrying people infected with the coronavirus. One of those ships is the Zuiderdam, which was scheduled to dock in Topolobampo on Wednesday.

The other is the Carnival Panorama, which was due to dock in Mazatlán on Tuesday but has at least 81 infected crew members and passengers on board. It was also previously prevented from docking in Puerto Vallarta.

Cuén said the decision to block the arrival of the ships came after Governor Rubén Rocha advised him to put residents’ health ahead of tourism and followed a virtual discussion with representatives of the cruise lines on Monday. He stressed that COVID-free ships are welcome to dock on the state’s coast.

The health minister also announced plans to conduct random COVID-19 tests on international air passengers arriving in Sinaloa airports.

“It’s very important to mention that the prevention protocol for this new variant omicron is exactly the same as that for the delta variant,” Cuén added.

“Using a face mask is very important whether you’re vaccinated or not because we have to remember that the vaccine doesn’t protect us 100%,” he said.

With reports from El País, El Universal, El Financiero and La Jornada

Port of Manzanillo to get US $30-million injection

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MND Staff

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December 29, 2021

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The port of Manzanillo in Colima is set to benefit from a US $30 million investment from one of its operators.

SSA México plans to invest in eight new cranes for its container shipping terminal.

The company said that both the ports of Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas, in the neighboring state of Michoacán, had a fruitful year.

It added that the traffic at its Manzanillo terminal had increased 10% in annual terms. It accounted for 30% of all traffic handled at Pacific ports in 2021.

SSA México also plans to invest in the cruise industry by making infrastructural improvements to the ports of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, and Puerto Progreso, Yucatán, the newspaper El Economista reported.

The port of Manzanillo is Mexico’s biggest, according to the shipping website icontainers. It acts as a point of entry on the Pacific Ocean for freight from the United States and Asia and its principal exports are beer, sugar, copper, steel pipes, coal and resins.

SSA México is owned by Carrix, which is headquartered in Seattle.

With reports from El Economista

Netflix series exposes corruption within Mexico’s justice system

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MND Staff

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December 29, 2021

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Still from docuseries Reasonable Doubt — Publicity still from the Netflix docuseries Reasonable Doubt.

A new Netflix docuseries examining corruption in the Mexican justice system has exposed its entrenched use of torture and the negligence of authorities.

The four-part Reasonable Doubt: A Tale of Two Kidnappings, created, written and directed by Roberto Hernández, investigates a murky legal case in Tabasco that began in 2015.

Hernández’s research involved interviewing hundreds of prison inmates, most of whom claimed they had been beaten up, burned with cigarettes or tortured by waterboarding, suffocation or electric shock.

Confessions were long considered decisive evidence in the Mexican justice system, despite the reality of pretrial abuses and the absenteeism of judges, the streaming news website Decider reported.

The true story depicted in the series begins with a minor traffic accident that results in one man being accused of kidnapping.

Darwin Morales, Juan Luís López, Gonzalo García and Héctor Muñoz were convicted for crimes they did not commit.

Another three men, all strangers to each other, are arrested for the kidnapping. The four men — Hector Muñoz, Gonzalo García, Juan Luis López and Darwin Morales — are all sentenced to 50 years behind bars for crimes they claim they never committed.

Only Morales has been released from prison, but he has received no compensation for his time in detention.

The convicted men make claims of torture in the trailer for the series. “My stomach area was really bruised … they wanted us to take the blame,” one of the men said.

“Mexico has a clear and logical rule: the defense only needs to prove there is reasonable doubt. In spite of that, courts operate under the presumption of guilt,” a narrator says in the trailer.

“Our justice system, instead of dispensing justice, managed to transform a minor traffic incident into a 50-year prison sentence, and I think that is terrifying as a result,” Hernández says in the show’s opening.

“It is a case chosen at random, and it made me realize that there were a sea of cases like that of Héctor, Gonzalo, Darwin and Juan. When I entered the Macuspana [Tabasco] prison in 2016 … we noticed that a lot of atrocities had been committed with practically all the people we interviewed,” Hernández said in a recent interview.

Duda razonable | Tráiler oficial | Netflix

Watch this video on YouTube

The Spanish-language trailer to “Reasonable Doubt” on Netflix.

With reports from Decider and Sin Embargo

Despite its sunny reputation, some parts of Mexico do have cold winters

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Leigh Thelmadatter

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December 29, 2021

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cold front in Mexico — Terra News Service report from this month announcing Cold Front No. 15.

When it comes to the concept of “cold,” although Mexico overall cannot hold a candle to places further north, many parts of the country aren’t always a hot tropical paradise either.

Believe it or not, the record for cold in Mexico is -29 C (-20.2 F), recorded in Los Lamentos, Chihuahua in 1962.

Mexico does experience a definite change in weather starting in the fall. Changes in wind patterns cause the end of the rainy season by November, and most of the country notices a drop in temperature.

Depending on your latitude and altitude, you will get anywhere from a break from oppressive heat to weather that necessitates you putting on a sweater or jacket at night. In a few places, you have to bundle up pretty much like up north.

A couple of places in Mexico are tourist attractions for having north-like winter weather. The Bosques de Monterreal ski resort in Coahuila, called the “Switzerland of Mexico” is one. Temperatures here can dip to -10 C.

2017 snowstorm in Monclova, Coahuila — An Arctic blast brought a surprise snowstorm to Monclova, Coahuila.

Just west of Mexico City is the Nevado de Toluca mountain in México state. At 4,680 meters above sea level, winter snow is common at its peak. It’s not the only central Mexican mountain to get snow regularly, but this volcano’s high altitudes are accessible by car. It is not unusual in the city of Toluca to see cars showing off mini-snowmen on the roof or trunk as proof of the trip up.

With the exception of communities at the highest altitudes, uncomfortably cold temperatures are restricted to nighttime and the early morning, with daytime temperatures reaching comfortable levels. The coldest weather is restricted to a few weeks around late January.

Houses generally are not insulated and heated like up north, so there really is no escape from outside temperatures inside the house. If you live in an apartment in Mexico City that does not receive direct sunlight, for example, your place can be quite chilly at all times of day.

It’s a far worse problem for poor communities that live at very high altitudes.

Like further north, much of Mexico’s winter weather is driven by the advances and retreats of Arctic high-pressure systems that come down through Canada and the United States. Mexico generally experiences cold fronts on the southern edge of these systems.

Mexico generally gets about 44 such fronts each winter, but 56 are predicted for this year.

The Bosques de Monterreal ski resort is about 45 kilometers from Saltillo, Coahuila.

The southern edge means that such fronts are much shorter and milder than what is experienced in the U.S., but they are tracked carefully by weather agencies and news organizations and even distinguished by numbers throughout the season. They cross into the country mostly in the northeast, where their effects are usually strongest, but central and even parts of southern Mexico are affected by air being pushed south.

Cold fronts usually cause cloud cover and a sudden drop in temperature and can cause snow, ice and freezing rain. Precipitation is more likely in areas closer to the Gulf of Mexico.

Such fronts help make Tabasco Mexico’s rainiest state, with an average of over 2,400 millimeters of rain each year, as cold air masses nearly take direct aim at this state in the crook between Veracruz and the Yucatán Peninsula.

The eastern part of the country is the most affected because these frigid air masses make their greatest advances south just east of the Rocky Mountains. Their north-south orientation here has led them and their common effects to be termed nortes (norths). This is a little confusing.

Mexican weather authorities use nortes to refer to a specific weather phenomenon associated with cold fronts that come between October and February. This phenomenon causes high winds and rough seas in the Gulf of Mexico that disrupt important shipping and oil drilling operations.

They are most common in Tamaulipas and Veracruz but can reach as far as Progreso, Yucatán. But for the average Gulf coast resident, the term has come to mean any drop in temperature and any cloudiness (regardless of wind or precipitation) they experience during this time of year.

Nortes weather pattern — Map showing the *norte* weather pattern. Orange areas indicate high wind speeds.

The instability of weather on most of Mexico’s eastern shoreline is one reason it has been all but ignored by international tourism and foreign residents. It’s not that there is nothing worth seeing on the Gulf coast, but visits here mean keeping an eye on the weather. Of Mexico’s five major resort areas, only one, Cancún, is not on the perpetually sunny Pacific coast, and that is because it is located far enough south to avoid most effects of the nortes.

Despite this, there has been some increase of foreign visitors and residents looking for something different, especially in northern Veracruz. Those not bothered by the changeable weather are rewarded by lush, green rainforests year-round and the ability to avoid throngs of other gringos.

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.

UNAM scientist warns of damage by industrial pollution to Veracruz reefs

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MND Staff

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December 29, 2021

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Veracruz coral reefs — The coral reef system is one of the most extensive ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Veracruz reef system could disappear by 2050 due to industrial pollution, a researcher from the National Autonomous University (UNAM) has warned.

Coral cover on the Veracruz coast has decreased 40% since 1966 due to pollution released into the Jamapa, Papaloapan, Actopan and La Antigua rivers that flow to the coast. Natural resources have been exploited in the area since pre-Hispanic times but the processes were always of lower impact, according to the newspaper Milenio.

The oil, agriculture, construction, fishing and tourism industries in Veracruz have created chemical debris, threatening the existence of the more than 50 reefs that form one of the most extensive ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico.

Guillermo Horta Puga pointed to the oil industry as the chief culprit. “There are areas of the reef that are highly impacted … there is a good possibility that by 2050, the reefs in Veracruz will disappear because an increase in the levels of baryte has been shown, which is a metal widely used in oil as a drilling fluid,” he said.

Horta Puga added that lead had been left from gasoline used over several years, as had barium and cadmium deposits released by ground movement due to changes in land use in the area. Also, copper and tin had come from paint on boats.

“The studies that have been carried out show that copper and tin are in the macroalgae that replace corals on reefs. With the construction of the city and the port of Veracruz and the latest expansion over five years, the impact has been greater, especially when added to the [impact of] agricultural and industrial activities … that dump waste into the basins and through the rivers that then reach the coastal area,” he said.

The United Nations has warned about the future of reefs. In 2019, it said that 90% of the “super ecosystems” that provide a habitat for 25% of marine species could be extinct by 2050.

With reports from Milenio

Small businesses complain of 20-45% increase in extortion costs

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MND Staff

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December 29, 2021

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Even fruit vendors in the street are targets for extortion. deposit photos

Small business owners, street vendors and others were forced to fork out considerably more in 2021 to meet the extortion demands of criminal groups.

So-called derecho de piso fees increased from 20% to 45% this year, according to business owners in 10 states who spoke with the newspaper Milenio.

The incidence of extortion also rose, according to official data, with reported cases up 11% in the first 11 months of the year compared to the same period of 2020.

Extortionists – members of large criminal organizations such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel in some cases – are demanding payments from individuals of up to 15,000 pesos (US $730) a month, Milenio reported.

Fresh chicken vendors, proprietors of tienditas (small grocery stores), ambulantes (street vendors), truck drivers and even prostitutes are among those subjected to extortion demands. Larger establishments such as restaurants, bars and casinos are also targeted by criminals, who pressure them to make even larger payments.

México state is the country’s extortion capital with 37% of cases occurring there between January and August. There were more than 2,100 reported cases in the period, an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year.

However, the real number of cases is almost certainly much higher as many victims keep quiet out of fear. State capital Toluca and municipalities in the greater Mexico City metropolitan have been identified as extortion hotspots in Mexico’s most populous entity.

The Sinaloa Cartel, the CJNG, the Gulf Cartel, the Familia Michoacana and a range of other smaller criminal organizations are all believed to be involved in the extortion racket in México state.

Extortion cases also increased this year in Mexico City, where more than 400 – undoubtedly a vast undercount – were reported between January and September.

The owner of a store selling chicken, who started his business less than three months ago, told Milenio that he received a written message demanding a weekly derecho de piso payment.

Ricardo said the note included a telephone number to which he sent a message to confirm he would pay. He chose to yield to the extortionists’ demand rather than suffer the inevitable consequences that non-compliance would bring.

The sign on a shuttered storefront reads, ‘Closed due to insecurity. They are extorting me.’

Several criminal organizations demand extortion payments from businesses in the capital, including La Unión de Tepito, the CJNG and the Familia Michoacana.

Another extortion hotspot is Puebla city, where cases spiked at least 20% this year, according to the Puebla Citizens Security and Justice Council, a non-governmental organization. One group of extortionists operating in the historic center of the capital is called Fuerza 2000, Milenio reported.

It charges small businesses 2,000 pesos (about US $100) a month for “security” and street vendors a “voluntary fee” of up to 500 pesos every fortnight, the newspaper said.

Sex workers have also been targeted: one group of Puebla prostitutes reported in October that a man known as “El Viejo Matus” threatened to abduct them, beat them and kill them if they didn’t hand over 300 pesos each every day.

Among the other criminal groups involved in extortion in Puebla city are Los Fedes, Los Rojos and Los Pelones.

Small business owners and street vendors in several other states including Jalisco and Tamaulipas also told Milenio that criminals are demanding higher derecho de piso fees.

In one central neighborhood of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, men who introduce themselves as CJNG members demand weekly payments and threaten violence if businesses don’t comply. One man who sells chopped fruit from a tricycle said he pays 1,000 pesos a week to avoid trouble.

Only about 300 extortion cases have been reported in Jalisco this year but, as is the case in other states, the vast majority go unreported. According to the national statistics agency INEGI, some 97% of extortion cases are not taken to authorities, mostly due to victims’ fear of repercussions.

With reports from Milenio

More tourists means COVID surge; ‘door wide open’ for 4th wave in Mexico

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MND Staff

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December 29, 2021

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The Mexico City airport has been busy this week with holiday travelers.

Baja California Sur – home to tourism mecca Los Cabos – is now Mexico’s coronavirus epicenter, with approximately 14 times more active cases than the national per capita rate.

The rest of the country will see an increase in case numbers in the near future as end-of-year gatherings and tourism fuel the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, experts warn.

According to the latest Health Ministry data, there are 1,888 active cases in Baja California Sur (BCS) for a rate of about 230 infections per 100,000 residents. The national rate is 16.5 active cases per 100,000 people.

The infection rate in BCS is more than four times higher than that in Mexico City, the only other state with more than 50 active cases per 100,000 people. Baja California, Quintana Roo and Aguascalientes rank third to fifth, respectively, for active cases on a per capita basis.

About half of BCS’s active cases are in the municipality of Los Cabos, located on the state’s southern tip, while most of the others are in La Paz, the state capital.

Governor Víctor Castro attributed the spike in case numbers – the largest since the summer – to the influx of tourists, many of whom are from the United States, where the highly mutated omicron variant is spreading widely.

“The hotels in Los Cabos are full and there are more infections,” Castro said this week while summing up the situation.

Mexico doesn’t require incoming travelers to present negative COVID-19 test results or go into mandatory quarantine, a laissez-faire approach that has been good for tourism but which has been blamed for large coronavirus outbreaks in tourism hotspots both this year and last.

The lack of restrictions is risky because “we’re leaving the door open to the virus,” said Alejandro Sánchez, a researcher at the National Autonomous University (UNAM) Institute of Biotechnology.

Authorities in Mexico have only confirmed about 50 cases of omicron but the low number is likely due to scant genomic sequencing of the virus. Sánchez predicted that the variant will become the dominant strain in the country by the end of next month, with case numbers set to increase in early January due to gatherings over the Christmas-New Year period.

Other experts agree that Mexico is on the verge of a fourth wave.

Laurie Ann Ximénez-Fyvie, director of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at UNAM, said in a radio interview that “international databases and information” indicate that 28% of current coronavirus infections in Mexico are caused by the omicron variant.

It’s proven that the strain is as contagious as measles, she said, noting that it has caused record high case numbers in Europe. The United States has also seen infections soar as omicron takes hold, while Mexico recorded its highest single-day case tally since late October on Tuesday, with 4,426 new cases reported.

Rodrigo Jácome Ramírez, a scientist and academic at UNAM, told the newspaper La Razón there is a high probability that omicron is already spreading across Mexico.

“We’re probably going to have a lot of cases,” he said, referring to the new strain, which early evidence indicates causes milder disease than other variants but is adept at evading vaccine-stimulated immunity.

“But if they’re not reporting [all the cases] we’re going to continue with this misleading idea that things are much better than they really are,” Ramírez said. “… These 53 reported cases [of omicron] are the tip of the iceberg …,” he said.

“We’re recording far fewer omicron cases than there really are because there isn’t a robust registration system in Mexico,” said Malaquías López, a public health professor at UNAM.

Four states are yellow on the new coronavirus map.

Andreu Comas, a virologist and researcher at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí, told La Razón that family gatherings in December and the entry of travelers who weren’t required to show a negative test result will inevitably lead to an increase in COVID cases.

“All these crowds of people that are going to be in the airport these [vacation] days will develop symptoms in a few days and continue the chain of transmission. If instead of staying home they’re at tourist destinations we’re going to have large outbreaks … and in a few days when they return home they will spread the virus and it will be very concerning,” he said.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell acknowledged Tuesday that Mexico could see a large number of coronavirus cases due to the spread of omicron, but expressed optimism that hospitalizations and deaths won’t spike significantly, “mainly due to … vaccination.”

More than 80% of Mexican adults are vaccinated against COVID-19, and the government has begun offering booster shots to those aged 60 and over. COVID-19 deaths in the first half of 2021 – when most adults had not yet been fully vaccinated – were much higher than in the second half of the year, even though case numbers spiked due to a delta variant surge. Official data shows there were 107,240 fatalities between January and June, while 65,897 deaths were recorded between July 1 and December 28, a 39% decline.

Mexico’s official death toll currently stands at 298,944, while the confirmed case tally is 3.95 million. Both figures are considered vast undercounts. Estimated active case numbers currently number just under 23,000, including more than 5,000 in Mexico City and close to 2,000 in each of Baja California and BCS.

Estimated active cases rose above 100,000 amid the Delta-fueled third wave in August – the worst month of the pandemic for new cases.

An updated version of the federal government’s coronavirus stoplight map took effect on Monday and shows four states are ranked at medium-risk yellow — one fewer than the previous map — while the rest remain green.

Durango switched from yellow to green; Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua and Aguascalientes remain yellow.

The map is in effect until January 9.

It remains to be seen whether the spread of omicron will push Mexico to new peaks in terms of case numbers, but as evidence suggests the new strain causes less severe disease it is inevitable that, in a country where testing is not a forte, many cases of the variant will go undetected and thus unreported in official data.

Nevertheless, as Tuesday’s case numbers indicate and experts warn, the coronavirus is set to cause a lot more sickness in Mexico – a country hit harder than most by a pandemic now in its third devastating year.

With reports from El País, La Razón, MVS Noticias and El Financiero

Cochinita pibil tops list of world’s best traditional dishes

By

MND Staff

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December 29, 2021

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A dish typical to Yucatán has topped a list of the world’s 100 best, compiled by the international traditional food website TasteAtlas.

The cochinita pibil — a marinated, shredded-pork dish typically red in color — has a 4.7 rating on the TasteAtlas Awards 2021, putting it in first place.

It is followed by dishes from Brazil, Poland, Thailand and Italy.

To prepare cochinita pibil, pork is marinated in a combination of annatto paste, bitter orange juice and garlic and then slowly baked, shredded and served on tortillas, tacos, or on its own with shallots, pickled onions, salsa and various roasted vegetables.

The food guide speculated on the origins of the dish.

Taqueria El Turix restaurant in Mexico City — TasteAtlas recommended Mexico City’s Taquería El Turix as one of the best places in the world to dine on *cochinita pibil*.

“Since cochinita means ‘baby pig,’ and pibil means ‘buried’ or ‘underground,’ it acts as a proof that the original recipe used a whole suckling pig that was buried in a pit for roasting.”

It recommended Taquería El Turix in the Mexico City borough of Polanco and La Chaya Maya in Mérida, Yucatán, as two of the best places to sample cochinita pibil.

However, it wasn’t the only Mexican dish to be featured in the world’s top 100. Enmoladas — essentially enchiladas covered in mole sauce — was in 27th place; pozole — a corn stew — was in 58th place and alambre — finely chopped meat and vegetables with tortillas — was in 93rd place.

“Undoubtedly, Mexican gastronomy is magical and surprises us every day, so the place of cochinita pibil as the best food in the world is more than deserved,” the website said.

TasteAtlas is an online encyclopedia of 10,000 foods and drinks, presented as a world map, where users can browse local cuisines and restaurants. It also offers extensive recipes.

With reports from El Universal

Pemex predicts end of crude exports by 2023 in quest for energy self-sufficiency

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MND Staff

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December 29, 2021

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The state oil company Pemex intends to slash crude oil exports in 2022 and end them in 2023 as it increases its refining capacity and the federal government pursues a policy of self-sufficiency for fuel.

Pemex exported just over 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in November but CEO Octavio Romero said Tuesday that it will only sell 435,000 bpd abroad next year.

He told President López Obrador’s regular press conference that crude exports will be phased out in 2023.

As exports decline, Mexico’s refining capacity will increase, Romero said. Mexico’s six existing refineries will ramp up production next year and together with Deer Park – the refinery near Houston of which Pemex will soon become the sole owner – will refine 1.5 million barrels of crude per day, he said.

That’s more than double the current output, which was 714,000 bpd in November.

The new refinery under construction in Tabasco.

Production is predicted to increase to 2 million bpd in 2023 due to the commencement of operations of the new Dos Bocas refinery on the Tabasco coast and the use of the Cangrejera petrochemical plant in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, to refine crude.

“In that way practically 100% of Mexican crude will be refined in our country to guarantee the supply of fuel,” Romero said.

Deer Park, currently a joint venture with Shell Oil Company, is considered part of Mexico’s national refining system (SNR) despite being located in the United States.

López Obrador has pledged that Mexico will become self-sufficient for fuel in 2023 as a result of his government’s investments to increase refining capacity. Energy Minister Rocío Nahle predicted Tuesday that the SNR will operate at 86% capacity by 2024, up from below 50% currently.

Due to limited refining capacity, Mexico currently depends on imports to meet demand, with most gasoline and diesel coming from the United States.

If Pemex keeps its word and halts crude exports in 2023 – an eventuality seen as unlikely by some – it will mark the exit from international oil markets of one of its most prominent players of the past decades, the news agency Bloomberg reported.

Mexico’s exports peaked at almost 1.9 million bpd in 2004 and the country has participated in meetings of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, as an observer. Among the countries to which it exports crude are Japan, India and the United States.

“Asian refineries, which buy more than one-fourth of Mexican crude shipments, are expected to bear the brunt of any export curbs. South Korean and Indian customers would be hit hardest but American and European refiners also would be impacted …,” Bloomberg said.

However, there is skepticism that Pemex will be capable of refining all of its own crude given its poor operating and safety record. The plan to halt crude exports has also been criticized as they provide significant revenue for Mexico and Pemex bondholders.

Rosanety Barrios, an Energy Ministry official during the 2012-18 government led by former president Enrique Peña Nieto, told Bloomberg that the pledge to end exports “seems impossible to me because the refineries are not capable of operating at 80%.”

John Padilla, managing director at energy consultancy IPD Latin America, expressed a similar view – even though the government has invested heavily to upgrade Pemex’s six existing refineries.

“They don’t have the refining capacity in place, they’ve not been able to increase their refining throughput, and the number of accidents has increased tremendously,” he told Bloomberg.

“You aren’t turning off exports unless you significantly reduce production of crude oil, and that would have major consequences for Pemex bondholders. Mexico would need to absorb massive amounts of Pemex debt,” Padilla said.

With reports from Bloomberg

Follow these few dining rules to stay well in Mexico

By

Maria Fermin

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December 28, 2021

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food from Puebla — It's natural to want to sample all the intriguing foods here, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It’s a common, often controversial, warning for foreign travelers to Mexico: watch out what you eat and drink here.

Traveler’s diarrhea is by far the most common travel-related illness, with more than 10 million annual reported cases worldwide. Although you can get sick anywhere in the world, if you spend enough time in a developing country, the chances are pretty high that you will experience a mild stomach problem at some point.

Ironically, the prevalence of such symptoms often leads foreigners living here full-time to dismiss such concerns, reasonably noting that healthy adults will usually recover from their illness within three to 10 days.

However, adults older than 65, children younger than five and anyone who has a chronic inflammatory condition or a weakened immune system belong to a high-risk population that might not fare so well. If that is the case for you, be aware that 3% of people who experience traveler’s diarrhea develop serious long-term consequences, including ascending paralysis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), reactive arthritis and even kidney damage.

The decision to enjoy a cozy, homestyle meal in one of the country’s many inexpensive small restaurants known as fondas, or to venture into sampling Mexico’s world-famous street food, should take into account your personal sensitivities and where you fall in terms of your general health.

taco vendors in Leon, Guanajuato — To stay safe, always watch how your food is being handled. Are employees washing and disinfecting their hands? Tomas Castelazo/Creative Commons

Although bacteria, parasites and viral infection can all be potential sources of traveler’s diarrhea, the Spanish medical journal Annals of the Health System of Navarra states that E. coli bacteria is the culprit in more than 70% of all diarrheal cases in Mexico.

E. coli is primarily transmitted through the ingestion of food that has been contaminated or exposed to infected animal or human fecal matter. The source of this matter could be contaminated soil or water or unclean hands.

These guidelines will help minimize the risk of ingesting E. coli while in Mexico:

Tap water: always double-check that your water and ice come from purified sources before taking a sip. Also, be mindful of accidental tap water exposure in restaurants by drying off any utensils, plates and glasses.

Trust your nose: our olfactory senses communicate with our limbic system and rapidly trigger responses. If anything smells spoiled or makes you feel uneasy, trust your instincts and do not taste it. Simply find another place to eat.

Watch how food is being handled: unfortunately, glove use is not widespread, so it’s extra important to pay attention to how the food is being handled: are employees washing and disinfecting their hands when moving from raw to prepared ingredients? Are their fingernails clean and trimmed? If you see artificial nails, keep walking: they pose a much higher risk for trapping harmful bacteria and make thorough handwashing more difficult.

Antibacterial gel: note whether it is readily available for employees and customers. Pandemic or not, basic hygiene is the first line of defense against foodborne illness.

Dirty clothing on staff: pride in personal appearance is a trait woven into the cultural fabric of Mexico, so seeing restaurant staff in dirty uniforms is a definite red flag and indicates that they probably aren’t taking proper precautions in other areas of food safety either.

Foods served hot should always be kept hot and cooked through the center: foods that are served hot should be cooked through the center. Keeping in mind that E. coli and salmonella die at temperatures of 160 F (70 C), rare burgers should be a thing of the past. The same in reverse holds true for foods that are meant to be served cold. Make sure they’re as cold as they’re supposed to be.

Seafood in particular needs to be refrigerated — period. Raw seafood like ceviche or aguachiles has a much higher chance of being contaminated (either by contact with unpurified water or with the preparer’s hands).

Watch out for mayonnaise: commercial mayonnaise is made with pasteurized eggs and can be left out at room temperature. However, to prevent the introduction of bacteria into the mayonnaise jar, make sure that the utensil the vendor is using is only being used for the mayonnaise.

Places with no running water: think street taco stands. If the purveyor’s food preparation area has no access to running water, then reusable serving plates should be covered with a new plastic bag that hasn’t been used for any other purpose. Some vendors use slips of paper instead, but these are permeable and typically only cover the middle of the plate.

If you’re going to cook your own food while visiting Mexico, get to know Microdyn, available at every supermarket and neighborhood market. Twitter

Be wary of street juice stands: juices sold on the street are all-natural and freshly squeezed in front of you, but the safest bet is to look for jugerías (juice sellers) with a more permanent location. These locations can afford rent because they have repeat customers who are obviously not getting sick. While you’re there, don’t pass up the opportunity to treat yourself to an escamocha (diced fruit served in yogurt or orange juice with granola).

If you plan on spending more time in Mexico, it’s worth finding a local marketplace where you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables at great prices. Wash your produce with Microdyn, an antibacterial rinse that can be purchased from any supermarket or neighborhood market.

While these guidelines will help minimize potential sources of infection, remember that there are other worldwide factors over which you have no control: soil contaminated through fertilizer or contaminated water used for irrigation, for example, can be sources of cholera. Campylobacter is the number-one cause of bacterial diarrheal illness in the United States.

In conclusion, while you should not deny yourself world-class Mexican cuisine prepared in its country of origin, proceed with the amount of caution appropriate to your specific health situation. Not everyone can afford to take the same risks.

With an extensive background in advocacy, Maria Fermin is a resource for everyone seeking to live their healthiest, happiest lives. She is currently pursuing her health coach board certification and holds degrees in medicine and psychology.

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