Virus control measures estimated to have cost businesses 670bn pesos

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June 9, 2020

Empty streets and closed doors — Empty streets and closed stores: many won't reopen, business group warns.

The measures put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus have cost the commercial, services and tourism sectors at least 669.1 billion pesos (US $30.9 billion) since March 17, estimates a leading business group.

And with scant financial support on offer from the federal government, the outlook for many businesses is also dire.

The loss estimate comes from the Confederation of Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco), whose president said that 90% of businesses have seen their income decline or disappear as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic restrictions that were implemented to stop its spread.

José Manuel López Campos said that a lot of businesses, especially micro, small and medium-sized ones, won’t be able to maintain their workforces or even reopen unless they receive greater financial support from the government.

“It’s predicted that the Covid-19 pandemic will leave more than one million people without formal employment,” he said.

While business leaders and financial analysts have advocated for the government to increase spending to support the economy, President López Obrador instead announced more austerity measures in April.

The government is pouring money into welfare, Pemex and large infrastructure projects such as the Maya Train and the new Mexico City airport but is only providing very limited support to business in the form of modest loans.

Even though public debt levels are low, López Obrador has steadfastly refused to take on more to support the economy, and has ruled out cutting taxes for companies or allowing them to defer their tax obligations.

Amid the coronavirus-induced economic crisis, the Bahamas is the only country in the Americas that has provided less fiscal stimulus for the economy as a percentage of GDP than Mexico.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the Mexican government’s fiscal support amounts to just 0.7% of GDP whereas the United States and Canada have provided stimulus to the tune of 12% and 9.8% of GDP, respectively.

Mexico’s fiscal support for the economy is also dwarfed by that provided in the Latin American countries to its south, from Honduras to Argentina and Brazil to Chile.

Former finance minister Urzúa: ‘The president really has no clue about the storm that is coming.’

Valeria Moy, general director of the think tank México ¿cómo vamos?, said that even though López Obrador is refusing to take on additional public debt to increase stimulus measures, debt as a ratio of GDP will increase anyway due to the deep recession Mexico is predicted to suffer in 2020.

“The president will end up increasing this ratio more by not doing anything than by doing something,” she said. “If we don’t do anything in terms of fiscal support, … GDP will fall a lot and by falling a lot the [debt to GDP] ratio will increase.”

Carlos Urzúa, López Obrador’s former finance minister — who resigned last July citing “plentiful” discrepancies over economic matters, believes that the government is making a big mistake by not providing more support for business.

“The government should help the private sector as much as it can, otherwise our gross domestic product could drop as much as 10%, which would be a disaster,” he said.

“It can be done,” Urzúa said, citing the relatively low public debt levels. He charged that López Obrador is oblivious to the economic damage the coronavirus crisis will cause, asserting that the president “really has no clue about the storm that is coming.”

“Every day counts,” said Santiago Levy, an economist and former deputy finance minister. “A recession was inevitable, but the cost of not doing more is going to be a much longer and deeper recession.”

Business groups have repeatedly called on the government to change its economic response to the crisis, charging that its softly-softly approach will end up doing more harm than good.

“The country must take on greater public debt to reactivate the economy. … We all believe that we should take on debt in a responsible way,” Carlos Salazar, president of the Business Coordinating Council, said last month.

López Obrador characterized his remarks as a request for the government to bail out large companies struggling to weather the coronavirus storm.

“We’re not going to continue with more of the same. If a company goes bankrupt, the owner should assume responsibility, or the partners or shareholders, because the state has to protect everyone; it would be immoral to use the state to bail out companies or financial institutions that are bankrupt,” he said.

His obstinacy in the face of calls to change the government’s economic tack has been a hallmark of his conduct during the coronavirus pandemic.

The New York Times reported on Monday that business leaders sat down with López Obrador for the second time in a month in April to urge him to do more to support the economy.

President López Obrador heard another plea for support from business leaders but again, he had 'other information.' — President López Obrador heard another plea for support from business leaders but again, he had ‘other information.’

The federal government had only declared a health emergency on March 30 and consequently suspended all nonessential economic activities but tens of thousands of jobs had already been lost and businesses were running out of cash, the business leaders told the president, citing “irrefutable” data.

In response, according to two businesspeople who spoke to the Times, López Obrador uttered one of his most oft-repeated phrases: “I have other information.”

“You do whatever you think you need to do, and I’ll do what I need to do,” the president told the meeting, according to the businesspeople with direct knowledge of the conversation.

While business leaders, analysts and opposition lawmakers have called for greater fiscal support and charged that Mexico has the capacity to take on more debt, Economy Minister Graciela Márquez takes a different view.

She said the cost would be prohibitive so taking on more debt would be more problematic than beneficial in the long run. Nevertheless, the government has not completely ruled out the possibility, Márquez said.

“If at a certain point we need to raise more debt, we will. It’s not a closed-off road,” she said.

Yet-to-be-released economic data could provide the government with the impetus to pump more public money into the economy.

Data published by the national statistics agency Inegi at the end of April showed that the economy shrank 2.4% in the first quarter of the year, the worst quarterly contraction since 2009 but nevertheless better than anticipated.

However, the federal government’s social distancing initiative didn’t start until March 23 and nonessential businesses were allowed to remain open until the end of that month, meaning that the main economic impact of the pandemic will not be reflected in official data until second-quarter figures are released.

A double-digit contraction in the second quarter, as some analysts and financial institutions are predicting, could provide López Obrador and his administration with what government critics would likely describe as a much-needed wake-up call.

Source: El Financiero (sp), The New York Times (en)

Los Cabos is second Mexican destination to get Safe Travels stamp

By

Susy Buchanan

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June 9, 2020

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The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has given Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, its stamp of approval for hygiene and sanitary measures the popular tourist destination has adopted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the municipality, home to San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, remains under coronavirus restrictions. Beaches, ports, hotels, restaurants and all non-essential businesses remain closed.

The region is the second destination in Mexico to receive the WTTC’s Safe Travels stamp, which is designed to boost travelers’ confidence in hotels, restaurants, airports and recreational facilities.

Gloria Guevara Manzo, president and CEO of the WTTC, said the Safe Travels seal and hygiene protocols are based on international standards and have the support of the United Nations World Tourism Organization and some 200 CEOs in the travel business.

Baja California Sur Governor Carlos Mendoza Davis said “it is an honor to include our state in the list of destinations with the [travel seal]. We strongly support protocols for the health care of travelers, it is our main commitment.”

In 2019, the state welcomed more than 4 million tourists.

The protocols were developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Air Transport Association, the Airport Council International and the Cruise Lines International Association.

Cancún and the Mexican Caribbean was the first destination in the Americas to receive the stamp. Cities in Turkey, Bulgaria, Jamaica, Mauritius, Canada, Portugal and Saudi Arabia have also adopted the WTTC’s protocols, and industry experts are hopeful that tourism can rebound in the second half of 2020.

Source: El Economista (sp)

Beer maker’s new light brews are part of a new market segment

By

Susy Buchanan

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June 9, 2020

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Victoria Chingones, a low-alcohol pandemic beer.

The Grupo Modelo beer company, which makes 17 brands of beer including Pacífico, Modelo and Corona, has added two new brands to its portfolio, versions of Corona and Victoria containing just 1.8% alcohol.

“At Grupo Modelo we are always looking to transform ourselves in order to give our consumers a wide variety of products for different consumption occasions,” said president Cassiano de Stefano on Monday. “Today a unique segment is born in Mexico that is characterized by its low alcohol content and that represents a historical event for two of the most important brands in the country.”

It’s not a coincidence that the two new brands were released during the coronavirus pandemic. Beer with less than 2% alcohol content is not considered an alcoholic beverage by the federal government and is thus marketable in municipalities that have enacted dry laws due to the coronavirus.

Victoria Chingones was also designed to help support more than 4,000 farmers affected by the halt to beer production after it was deemed a nonessential business, Grupo Modelo said.

Between 2013 and 2018, the total amount of beer consumed in Mexico, regardless of alcohol content, grew 56.2% with constant annual growth of 9.3%, a trend which is expected to continue in the future.

Source: Forbes (sp), Entrepreneur (en)

Quintana Roo welcomes first tourists in two months

By

Susy Buchanan

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June 9, 2020

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Beaches are closed but 41 hotels are open in Quintana Roo.

With great fanfare, 41 hotels in Cancún, Isla Mujeres and Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, reopened on Monday and welcomed their first guests.

The Grand at Moon Palace hotel greeted a mother and her son by having her flip a giant light switch from “off” to “on” accompanied by mariachis and fireworks as the hotel’s staff applauded their arrival.

Roberto Cintrón Gómez, president of the region’s hotel association, announced that direct flights from several cities in the United States are arriving at the Cancún International Airport, and hotels are seeing a number of reservations for the second half of June.

However, it’s not business as usual just yet. Hotel occupancy will remain at around 15% for the rest of the month but is projected to approach 30% by August.

As of yesterday, hotels in Cancún reported 11.9% occupancy, with 13.8% in Isla Mujeres and 8.2% in Puerto Morelos.

In Cancún 800 restaurants have reopened at 30% of their capacity as per state health guidelines after staff were trained in sanitary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Nightclubs, casinos and beaches remain closed.

Despite the fact that the federal government has painted the entire country red, signifying that every state is at maximum risk due to the pandemic, the state governor and the health ministry have adopted a regional alternative to the federal “stoplight” system that allows for the easing of coronavirus restrictions in the northern part of the state where tourism has been designated an essential sector of the economy.

The move to reopen hotels has drawn criticism from some who call the decision irresponsible, claiming that the tourist destinations are where the majority of the state’s coronavirus cases have been located and that the government is caving in to economic pressure from the hotel sector rather than taking into consideration the health of its citizens.

As of June 8, Quintana Roo had 2,197 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and had recorded 422 deaths.

Source: El Universal (sp), El Economista (sp), Reportur (sp)

Covid hotspots: numbers up sharply in Durango, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Coahuila

By

MND Staff

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June 9, 2020

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Workers remove a park bench from the Plaza de Armas in Lerdo, Durango. It was one of at least 70 that were removed to discourage citizens from using the park to reduce coronavrius infection.

New coronavirus hotspots are emerging as Mexico’s Covid-19 case tally and death toll continue to show steady growth.

Active case numbers increased by 297% in Durango in the last two weeks while those in Jalisco, Guanajuato and Coahuila more than doubled, according to data presented by the federal Health Ministry on Monday night.

Durango currently has 278 active cases, a figure that accounts for more than 40% of the total number of cases the northern state has recorded since the start of the pandemic.

Active case numbers in Jalisco increased by 190% in the past two weeks compared to the fortnight prior. With 1,102 active cases, the state currently has the third largest outbreak in the country behind only Mexico City and México state.

Active case numbers rose 132% in Guanajuato between May 26 and June 8 to 859 while those in Coahuila increased 113% to 323.

Active Covid-19 cases as of Monday evening. milenio

Aguascalientes, Nayarit and Tabasco recorded the next highest increases, with spikes of 98%, 71% and 65%, respectively.

In contrast, active case numbers decreased in five states. Guerrero and Yucatán recorded the biggest declines, with reductions of 41% and 23%, respectively. The former state currently has 195 active cases while the latter has 302.

The size of the active outbreaks in Querétaro, Hidalgo and Sonora shrank by 7%, 4% and 1%, respectively, over the past two weeks, while Morelos’ outbreak neither grew nor waned.

Active cases in Baja California, a state that has recorded the third highest number of cases since the start of the pandemic, increased by only 1% over the past two weeks while those in Mexico City, the country’s coronavirus epicenter, rose by 9%.

The only other states where active case numbers increased by less than 20% were Veracruz, Chihuahua, Quintana Roo, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Colima and Tlaxcala.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell reiterated on Monday night that the pandemic will affect different parts of the country at different times due to the large size of Mexico’s territory.

Coronavirus deaths as reported Monday by the Ministry of Health. milenio

Earlier in the press briefing, Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía reported that Mexico’s coronavirus case tally had increased to 120,102 with 2,999 new cases registered on Monday.

The Covid-19 death toll increased to 14,053 with 354 additional fatalities registered. Alomía said that an additional 1,284 deaths are suspected to have been caused by Covid-19 but have not yet been confirmed.

Based on confirmed cases and deaths, Mexico’s fatality rate is currently 11.7, well above the global rate of 5.7.

Alomía said that 18,416 of the confirmed cases are considered active and that there are 46,398 suspected cases across the country. More than 344,000 people have now been tested for Covid-19.

Mexico City leads the country for accumulated coronavirus cases, active cases and deaths, while México state ranks second in all three categories.

The capital has recorded 3,804 Covid-19 fatalities while the death toll in neighboring México state is 1,621. Baja California is the only other state that has recorded more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths.

Across Mexico, two-thirds of those who have lost their lives to Covid-19 have been men, while the average age of deceased coronavirus patients was 61.

The most common existing health problems among those who died were hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

Source: Milenio (sp), Reforma (sp)

Anti-corruption efforts slipping in Mexico: international index

By

MND Staff

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June 8, 2020

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Corruption has slightly worsened in Mexico over the past year despite President López Obrador’s promise to end the scourge, a new study found.

Mexico ranks eighth of 15 Latin American countries on the Capacity to Combat Corruption (CCC) Index, which assessed countries capacity to detect, punish and prevent corruption amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mexico’s overall score on the 2020 index is 4.55 out of 10, a decline of 0.1 compared to last year.

Developed by the the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA) and the global risk and strategic consulting firm Control Risks, the index looks at 14 key variables, including the independence of judicial institutions, the strength of investigative journalism and the level of resources available for combating white-collar crime

The CCC Index’s goal, the organizations said, “is not to shame or single out countries, but to foster a policy-driven discussion, helping governments, civil society and the private sector identify – through data and a robust methodology – areas of success and deficiencies to be addressed.”

In three sub-categories – legal capacity; democracy and political institutions; and civil society, media and the private sector – Mexico achieved scores of 4.15, 4.55 and 6.24, respectively.

In the first sub-category, Mexico fared best in “access to public information and overall government transparency” and worst in “independence and resources for the chief prosecutor’s office and investigators.”

In the second sub-category, Mexico’s best result was in “overall quality of democracy” and its worst was in “lawmaking and ruling processes.”

In the third sub-category, Mexico’s highest score was in “civil society mobilization against corruption” and its lowest was in “digital communications and social media.”

The index report (opens as a PDF) noted that President López Obrador came to power at the end of 2018 with a promise to end corruption. It said that the goal has remained at the top of the federal government’s agenda yet the 2020 index “shows that, in practice, not much has changed for Mexico.”

“In fact, the country has stagnated and maintains a poor ability to detect, punish and prevent corruption. Mexico’s overall score, as well as the scores for all three sub-categories, remained notably similar to last year’s,” the report said.

The report’s authors – Roberto Simon, senior director of policy at AS/COA, and Geert Aalbers, partner at Control Risks – said there are several reasons behind Mexico’s stagnation “but one of the most important is the lack of progress in long-term institutional reforms.”

AMLO, as the president is best known, “has mostly cast his anti-corruption campaign around his personal ability to eradicate the problem,” the report said.

“Meanwhile, the president has practically ignored the National Anti-corruption System, increased the use of discretionary spending on public contracts, and disregarded controls to improve governance, among other worrisome trends.”

The report noted that the government’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has expanded its activities and consequently uncovered alleged cases of corruption involving members of opposition parties, the Supreme Court and others.

“However, observers have raised questions about the extent of AMLO’s control over the UIF. Accordingly, Mexico’s score for the independence and efficiency of anti-corruption agencies went down,” the report said.

It said that in some of the variables in the “legal capacity” sub-category, such as “the independence and efficiency of the judicial system,” Mexico ranks significantly below countries like Brazil, Colombia or Peru, and closer to others like Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

Although organizations such as Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity are working to expose corruption – it recently uncovered several problems with the federal government’s tree-planting employment program – the civil society campaign against corruption has lost some of its steam over the past two years, the report said.

“This is likely due to two main factors: AMLO’s success in appropriating the anti-corruption cause and his rhetorical attacks against NGOs and other independent groups.”

Under the sub-heading “Critical Issues to Monitor,” the report said that the federal government has removed controls and increased discretion for government contracts, while pushing forward major infrastructure projects (the Maya Train and the Santa Lucía airport are two examples) and increasing healthcare spending due to Covid-19.

“This combination will further increase corruption risks,” the report said.

Uruguay took top spot on the CCC Index followed by Chile and Costa Rica, while the worst rated countries were Venezuela, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic.

Mexico was sandwiched between Colombia and Ecuador, which achieved overall scores of 5.18 and 4.19, respectively.

The publication of the index comes just two weeks after the release of a study by the federal statistics agency Inegi that found that the federal government’s anti-corruption agenda has succeeded in reducing people’s perceptions of the scourge but has not actually curtailed it.

Mexico News Daily

Zihuatanejo educational organization turns to coronavirus aid

By

Elisabeth Ashe

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June 8, 2020

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A car load of supplies for distribution in Zihuatanejo.

Por Los Niños has been widely regarded as the premier, all-volunteer educational organization in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero.

It began in 2001 (becoming a registered charity in 2005) with the idea of building one classroom. Since then the foundation has expanded to include the construction of 131 classrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and playgrounds, including 14 new schools and wells which provide water to two schools.

Their nutrition program feeds 30,000-plus breakfasts and lunches a year to students and has helped provide hundreds of scholarships.

With the advent of Covid-19 and the subsequent closing of schools, a concerned volunteer alerted Por Los Niños administrator Carol Romain to the fact that the children of one of the organizations they are associated with, Casa Para Niños Pacífico, would no longer be fed through their rice and beans program.

As well, 65 of the 85 families would need help due to unemployment and other hardships caused by the pandemic.

Volunteers prepare to deliver food hampers to the needy.

To start off a campaign to help, the volunteer offered a matching donation of up to US $10,000 which Romain said was reached just days after putting it out on social media. Since then several other donors have come forward offering matching donations of $5,000, all of which have been reached in a matter of days, and primarily by the expat community.

Following this success and seeing even greater need, Por Los Niños decided to expand their help into other colonias. They approached trusted people they knew with whom they had either worked before or who volunteered for the organization to help deliver care packages to the families who needed them.

Each recipient is screened thoroughly and identified according to need, Romain said. Their names and their colonia is entered into a database along with photo ID and the date they received their package.

So far the number of times people have tried to take advantage of the program have been few as most people seem to have been honest about their situation.

Says Romain: “Our original goal was to support 600 families but how can you say no to a young mother who doesn’t have anything to feed her family because she lost her job through no fault of her own? Now we are getting requests from beach and street vendors, waiters, housekeepers, clerks in the stores and even some owners.”

Each food hamper provides the basics for two weeks and includes rice, beans, tuna, pasta, soap, oil, tortilla flour, sugar and other items. The amount each family receives is dependant on the number of persons in the household.

Although there are others, including the municipality, the Rotary club, private citizens and business owners, who are dispensing care packages of their own, to date Por Los Niños has distributed 1,600 packages which Romain estimates has benefited 5,000 people.

Attempts to work with other organizations have been hit and miss and Romain says there has been some overlap. But regardless of the problems, “the main thing is that there are many people who are receiving some sort of relief, no matter who it comes from.”

Asked how long Por Los Niños plans to continue, Romain says “until the money runs out or people start to go back to work.” Even then, she does not believe it will be anytime soon.

“Although some things are beginning to open, I don’t expect a lot of relief until at least July. Even then the concern is that recovery will be slow as people hesitate to travel and spend money. I think this will go on for a long time.”

As of Friday, the municipality of Zihuatanejo had recorded 20 cases of Covid-19, two of which were active, and one death.

More information about Por Los Niños is available on its website.

The writer is a Canadian who has lived and worked in Mexico for many years.

Cabbage is good for more than just cole slaw or salad

By

Janet Blaser

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June 8, 2020

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Grilled cabbage with bacon is simple but delicious.

One word of advice this week regarding mangos, the topic of the May 25th column. Enjoy them while they’re here because the season will soon be over. The wise ones among us will also be freezing chunks and purée to have in the fall and winter months when mangos are few and far between and not locally grown.

Now we can move on to something else that’s plentiful right now but not quite as popular: cabbage. I’ve been one of those people who use cabbage for cole slaw, salads and sometimes add it to soups, but rarely have I done much more with it.

But why not sauté it with a spicy sausage or chorizo for a breakfast scramble, venture into fermentation with a Salvadorean relish or bake it slowly with rich cheeses till it’s a decadent caramelized goo?

Cabbage, in all its forms, has been cultivated and eaten for thousands of years all over the world, and also valued for its medicinal qualities. High in vitamin C, sauerkraut was eaten by Scandinavian and German sailors to prevent scurvy on long voyages; European folk medicine touts cabbage as treatment for rheumatism, poisoning by mushrooms and as a laxative.

And here’s a tip for modern times from ancient Egypt: eating cooked cabbage at the start of a meal reduces the intoxicating effects of wine.

Choose a cabbage that’s firm, smells sweet and is fairly heavy. Raw cabbage is 92% water, so if it’s cut it should be crisp and somewhat juicy in a cabbage-way. Don’t worry if the outer green leaves have some holes in them; unless there’s moth damage to the head itself, those are leaves you won’t be eating anyway.

I love that in the mercado you can ask for half or even a quarter of a cabbage, and they’ll cut it for you on the spot. So if you want to make a basic cole slaw with half green and half purple cabbage, there’s no problem buying exactly how much you need. Cabbage is often unfairly criticized as having an unpleasant taste and odor when cooked, but in reality this only happens when it’s overcooked. That’s when it develops hydrogen sulfide gas, the cause of those disagreeable aspects.

The biggest cabbage ever grown? According to Guinness World Records one Scott A. Robb – already a record-holder for nine other gigantic vegetables – grew a 138.25 lb. green cabbage that he presented at the Alaska State Fair in 2012. To date, no one has broken that record.

Nancy’s Cole Slaw Especial

½ medium cabbage (about 1½ lbs.)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped or grated
Chopped onion to taste
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
½ cup dried cranberries

Dressing:

¾-1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. celery seeds (if available)
Salt and pepper to taste

Core cabbage, remove outer leaves and chop or shred. Mix first 5 ingredients together, male dressing and mix. Refrigerate for at least an hour to blend flavors.

Cheesy Cabbage Gratin

This rich, flavorful dish will change your opinion of cabbage!

1 medium head of green cabbage (about 3½ lb. total), cut through core into 8 wedges
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 shallots or 1 small yellow onion
4-6 garlic cloves
2 cups heavy cream
Thyme or chives, fresh or dried
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 oz. Gruyère, grated (about 1½ cups)
½ oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about ½ cup)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1½ tsp. salt, plus more

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place cabbage on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Roast until tender and edges are golden, 40-45 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring shallots, garlic, cream, 1 Tbsp. thyme, 1½ tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots and garlic are soft, 15–20 minutes. Let cool. Blend until smooth with food processor or blender.

This cheesy cabbage gratin will change your opinion of the vegetable.

Grease a 3-qt. shallow baking dish with butter. Arrange cabbage in dish so wedges are lying on a cut side; pour cream mixture over. Bake, uncovered, until cream thickens, 30–40 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes. Heat broiler. Sprinkle with Gruyère and Parmesan. Broil until cheese is bubbling and gratin is deeply browned, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with thyme or chives. – bonapetit.com

Grilled Cabbage with Bacon

Simple but delicious.

½ small shallot or onion, minced
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. honey
6 slices bacon, cooked, 1 Tbsp. fat reserved
¼ cup olive oil, plus more
Salt and pepper
1 head green cabbage, cut into quarters
Croutons (for serving)

Whisk together shallot, vinegar, mustard and honey; gradually whisk in bacon fat and ¼ cup oil. Crumble in bacon; season with salt and pepper, set aside. Drizzle cabbage with oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat or broil, turning occasionally, until tender and lightly charred, 15–18 minutes. Serve topped with vinaigrette and croutons.

Curtido (Salvadoran Cabbage Relish)

Consider this like a spicy, Latin American sauerkraut. Each day it ferments the flavors develop more and the better it tastes. Serve with chicken, on any kind of tacos or as a dip.

½ large head of red cabbage, thinly sliced
3 medium carrots, shredded
½ large white onion, thinly sliced
2 serrano chiles, seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
5 tsp. (or more) kosher salt
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup (or more) apple cider vinegar

Toss cabbage, carrots, onion, chiles, garlic, oregano and salt in large bowl. Let sit 30 minutes to wilt cabbage. Transfer to an airtight container and press down firmly to release juices; liquid should be at or above level of vegetables. Seal and let sit at room temperature at least 24 hours.

If serving after 24 hours, toss with oil and vinegar and season with salt, if needed. If serving after 48 hours, curtido will be tangy and may not need vinegar; toss with oil, then taste and season with salt and vinegar, if needed.

Janet Blaser of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, has been a writer, editor and storyteller her entire life and feels fortunate to write about great food, amazing places, fascinating people and unique events. Her work has appeared in numerous travel and expat publications as well as newspapers and magazines. 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.

Tax authority recovers 28 billion pesos from corporate tax evaders

By

MND Staff

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June 8, 2020

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Tax revenues (in billions of pesos) in first four months. el universal

Federal tax authorities have recovered 27.83 billion pesos (US $1.3 billion) from corporate tax evaders this year.

Among the companies that have paid debts to the Federal Tax Administration (SAT) are América Móvil, a telecommunications corporation owned by billionaire businessman Carlos Slim, Walmart, IBM and Femsa, the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottler and the operator of the OXXO convenience store chain.

América Movil paid 8.29 billion pesos in tax debt racked up between 2016 and 2019, while Walmart coughed up 8.08 billion pesos it owed in relation to the sale of restaurant chain Vips.

Femsa settled a tax bill for 8.79 billion pesos while IBM reached an agreement with the SAT to pay back 669 million pesos.

Another 2 billion flowed into government coffers from smaller, lesser known companies that are not listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. As part of the agreements they reached with federal authorities, the companies were required to announce publicly that they were guilty of tax evasion, the newspaper El Universal reported.

Simec Inernational, a steelmaker, admitted its guilt in a notice published at the start of the year in a national newspaper. It also urged other companies to comply with their tax obligations and to approach authorities to clear up any doubts they might have.

Among the other companies that did the same are the steelmakers Orege and Siderúrgicos Noroeste and the manufacturing firm Sigosa.

President López Obrador last week claimed credit for recouping tax debts owed by large companies.

“The [economic] model we’re applying is yielding results and is for the benefit of all people,” he said.

Data from the Finance Ministry shows that the government’s tax income was above 2019 levels in January, February and March.

However, it dipped below 2019 takings in April, the first full month of federally mandated social distancing to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Source: El Universal (sp)

López Obrador vows self-sufficiency in gasoline by 2023

By

MND Staff

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June 8, 2020

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The president speaks Saturday in Minatitlán, Veracruz.

President López Obrador has pledged that Mexico will be self-sufficient in gasoline by 2023 through the rehabilitation of Mexico’s six existing refineries and the construction of a new one on the Tabasco coast.

“We will be self-sufficient in the production of gasoline and we won’t sell crude oil anymore,” he said Saturday while speaking at the Pemex refinery in Minatitlán, Veracruz. “All the raw materials will be processed in our country; that’s why [we have] this plan to rehabilitate the six existing refineries.”

López Obrador said that a total of 25 billion pesos (US $1.2 billion) will have been invested by the end of the year to boost the capacity of the refineries at Minatitlán, Veracruz; Salina Cruz, Oaxaca; Tula, Hidalgo; Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas; Cadereyta, Nuevo León; and Salamanca, Guanajuato. The new refinery on the Gulf of México coast is expected to cost around US $8 billion.

“The plan is to process an average of 1.2 million barrels per day in the six refineries … and 340,000 additional barrels per day in the new Dos Bocas refinery. All this, I repeat, by 2023,” López Obrador said.

An Energy Ministry document reveals an even more ambitious goal: processing 1.2 million barrels of crude per day not by 2023 but by December this year. To achieve that, gasoline production in December will have to be double the average in 2019 when 592,000 barrels of crude were refined per day at the six Pemex refineries.

In the longer term, the government is also planning to build new refining infrastructure at La Cangrejera – a petrochemical plant in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz – to help achieve López Obrador’s goal of gasoline self-sufficiency. Energy Minister Rocío Nahle said Saturday that high-octane gasoline will be produced at the plant.

The idea of building new infrastructure at La Cangrejera to increase refining capacity has been around for more than a decade but the state oil company concluded that the project would be too complex and costly, and that there wouldn’t be enough crude to supply it.

However, López Obrador appears intent on achieving gasoline self-sufficiency whatever the cost. The president has repeatedly pledged to “rescue” Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission from the years of abuse he says that suffered during past governments.

Energy sector analysts have criticized the government’s plan to pour money into rehabilitating the existing refineries and building a new one, arguing that it will divert funds from Pemex’s more profitable exploration business.

But López Obrador on Saturday once again rejected the claim that Mexico is better off sending crude abroad when it has to purchase gasoline, mainly from the United States, to meet domestic demand.

“There are still fools that say that it’s better to sell crude oil even though we have to buy gasoline. They forget that if we process our own raw materials jobs are created here,” he said.

López Obrador also said that people who are in favor of selling crude abroad rather than refining it in Mexico fail to take into account the transportation costs of getting the oil to foreign refineries.

Source: El Norte (sp), Expansión (sp), Forbes México (sp)