Filmmaker backs campaign seeking to protect rights of domestic workers

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May 27, 2020

Bautista and Cuarón: 'Care for those who care for you.'

Famed Mexican film director Alfonso Cuarón is backing a campaign to support the rights of domestic workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cuarón joins Marcelina Bautista, head of the Center for Support and Training for Domestic Employees (CACEH), in an effort to raise awareness about the plight of domestic workers and advocating that they continue to be paid during the health crisis.

The campaign is called “Care for those who care for you,” and has the support of the United Nations.

“It is not a matter of charity, it is not a favor, it is a right that domestic workers deserve at this time, and we ask for this solidarity from employers so that they continue to pay them, and give them the right to quarantine with wages intact,” Bautista said.

Mexico has an estimated 2.4 million domestic workers; 98% of them do not have a contract and 96% do not receive social security benefits.

Cuarón has long been a supporter of the rights of such workers. His Academy Award-winning film Roma depicted the plight of a maid in Mexico City, and he has been associated with CACEH since late 2018, shortly after the film was released.

“It is our responsibility as employers to pay their wages in this time of uncertainty,” Cuarón said in a press release issued Tuesday. “The objective of this campaign is to remember how important it is to take care of those who care for us and the respect that the workers deserve.”

The Ministry of Health (IMSS) is launching a pilot program to encourage employers to register their domestic employees with IMSS, which allows them to enjoy health, retirement and childcare benefits.

IMSS director Zoé Robledo announced yesterday that through the program 22,300 domestic workers, 72% female and with an average monthly salary of 4,975 pesos (around US $223), have registered with the federal health ministry.

Source: El Universal (sp), El Sol de Mexico (sp), Infobae (sp), BBC (en)

Making crosses for graves is now full-time job for Mexico City metalworker

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Joseph Sorrentino

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May 27, 2020

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There are fewer people out and about in San Gregorio, where signs have gone up warning about areas of high contagion.

The small ironworking shop on the main street in San Gregorio Atlapulco is cluttered with tools, strips of metal, door and window frames.

Davíd Casteñada Aguilar, the owner, is bent over, soldering pieces on a cross that will soon be placed on a grave in the nearby cemetery.

“I usually make one, maybe two [crosses] a month,” he said. “I made seven last week and will make seven this week. I cannot make more than that because I lack the space and supplies.” His shop is crowded with unfinished projects.

“I cannot do other work now. Just crosses.” All of the crosses, he’s sure, are for the pueblo’s victims of Covid-19. “I know it is Covid,” he said, “because people act differently. Their expression is different; people look a little sadder, they wear masks and glasses, they do not shake hands.”

San Gregorio is a pueblo located in Xochimilco, one of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs. The most recent data from the municipal authorities in Xochimilco shows that the pueblo has had 90 cases of Covid-19 and four deaths. Those numbers are clearly a gross underestimate.

Casteñada at work on one of his crosses.

A month ago, I interviewed José Camacho, the owner of one of the three funeral homes in San Gregorio, and he said he’d already buried four people who had died of Covid-19. Two weeks later, a former mayordomo (a lay religious leader) told me that were three more confirmed deaths from the virus.

When told that the authorities are claiming that there have only been four Covid-19 deaths in the pueblo, Casteñada shook his head. “No, more,” he said. “They lie. There are more.” His work confirms that since he’s made 14 crosses for people who have almost certainly died from the virus in the last two weeks alone. That means a minimum of 21 deaths and that’s certainly a gross underestimate as well.

In early May, signs were placed in the pueblo’s market and in a couple of neighborhoods warning that the areas were sites of high contagion. The virus has surely settled in. But because San Gregorio has no mayor, no central authority, getting any kind of accurate information about the virus is virtually impossible.

Casteñada cuts pieces for a cross from a long narrow strip of metal and solders them together. Crosses can be simple but most are fairly elaborate. “It depends on what people want,” he said. “More elaborate ones take more time and cost more.”

A typical cross costs about 1,000 pesos (US $45). He added several flowers and other decorations to the one he was working on, painted it and, finally, added an inscription. It typically takes him about four hours to complete the work. “Usually, I would take three or four days to make a cross,” he said. “Now, they want the cross right away, the next day.”

He said most people don’t admit that the person died from Covid-19. “I think they are panicked,” he continued. “They are afraid. They lived with the person who died, maybe they were exposed.”

The nearly-finished product ready for painting.

The mayordomo who told me about the three deaths mentioned that many people won’t admit that the deaths are caused by Covid. He wasn’t sure if it was denial or if people were afraid they’d be discriminated against if, as has happened in other places, word got out they’d been exposed.

Like everywhere in the world, the virus has changed life in San Gregorio in many ways. The large signs posted in the market inform people that they are entering an area of high contagion and that they should wear masks and clean their hands with disinfectant. There are fewer produce stalls and fewer people shopping.

The cemetery has been closed except for burials. Masses have been cancelled since late March, as were all Holy Week events in April. Normal social greetings — handshakes and hugs — are rarely seen now. Before, when clients came in to order a cross, “people would talk, we would shake hands,” said Casteñada. “Now, nothing.”

In San Gregorio, the tradition when a person dies is to have the body in the home for two days Burial is on the third day after they die and on the ninth day, a cross is placed on the grave. “Now,” said Casteñada, “it is immediately. People die, they are buried and that is it. Some people come in and ask if I already have a cross and if I do, they will buy that one.”

Despite having a big increase in orders for crosses, he’s thinking about closing his shop in a week or two, “because of the virus.”

Casteñada finished working on the cross and paused. “I do not like making these,” he said. “I do not like doing this type of work. It is not very agreeable. Really, it is like something ugly because in some cases, they are for people I know.”

Joseph Sorrentino is a freelance writer and photographer currently living in San Gregorio Atlapulco, which is part of Xochimilco.

Women’s network criticizes new campaign to combat domestic violence

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Susy Buchanan

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May 27, 2020

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One of the ads in the campaign against gender violence. — 'Don't despair: breathe and count to 10:' one of the ads in the campaign against gender violence.

Emergency calls due to domestic violence are way up in Mexico during the coronavirus pandemic, spiking to 400,000 911 calls in April alone.

And although President López Obrador argued that 90% of those calls were false earlier this month, his administration has come up with a controversial campaign to bring peace to Mexican homes by asking people in potentially violent situations to “count to 10.”

The campaign is a reboot of a 1998 effort with the same name to end family violence, and some activists find it simplistic, antiquated and offensive, especially coming on the heels of the president’s perceived dismissal of family violence as a rising problem.

“President Andrés Manuel López Obrador again reflects — with his statements on gender violence — that this government has a macho and patriarchal vision, which perpetuates impunity and violence against women, girls and boys,” said Wendy Figueroa Morales of the National Shelter Network (RNR), who says domestic violence calls have risen by 77%, and requests for shelter are up 50%.

The “Count to 10” campaign is stereotypical, Figueroa argues, and seems to suggest that victims of violence should not react to abuse. “We cannot give that message to a woman who is at risk with her attacker. It seems totally inappropriate to me,” she said.

Campaign videos show families in stressful situations that are resolved by counting to 10 and then waving a white flag and do not address criminal intent or actions on the part of the attacker.

“What we see is a campaign full of prejudices, which represents a middle-class family and makes us believe that violence only occurs there,” said lawyer and activist Patricia Olamendi.

“While we count to 10, there have already been 10 murders,” said fellow activist and founder of the Feminist Constituents, Yndira Sandoval, who joined Olamendi and others in calling for the “Count to 10” campaign to be repealed.

Source: El Universal (sp), La Silla Rota (sp), Pulso (sp), Reforma (sp)

Gang leader’s arrest triggers backlash in Chihuahua

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Cody Copeland

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May 27, 2020

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Ciudad Jiménez, where La Línea is in charge.

The arrest of a gang leader in Ciudad Jiménez, Chihuahua, on Monday sparked a series of violent confrontations between criminal elements and security forces in the region.

The arrest of Luis Alberto “El Mocho” M., presumed leader of the La Línea criminal organization, was followed by an attack on the state Attorney General’s Office (FGE) on Monday night in which one police officer was wounded. The suspected gang members stole vehicles during the attack and set them on fire to create roadblocks.

Authorities are on high alert in the city, expecting further aggression.

The region is criminally controlled by the La Línea organization, which has carried out attacks on security forces since May 20, when a commando besieged another office of the FGE in Ciudad Juárez. Three of the attackers were killed by security forces in the battle.

An attack on a state police barracks was reported later that day. The gang members burned and abandoned a vehicle during the fray.

Luis Alberto M., 35, has been identified by Chihuahua authorities as the leader of the La Línea drug cartel. He inherited the post after the arrest of Ricardo Arturo “El Piporro” C., who is currently incarcerated in the state prison in Aquiles de Serdán, Chihuahua.

“El Mocho” is believed to be connected to the murder of Guadalupe Ontiveros Dávila, who was killed in an attack on an auto repair shop in Ciudad Jiménez in 2011.

The Chihuahua FGE reports that “El Mocho” has been part of the organization for at least 10 years and has participated in several illegal acts alongside his brother Fernando and other criminals identified as “El Canguro” and “El Torres.”

His arrest also sparked attacks on police barracks in the municipalities of Juárez, Parral and Creel.

In Juárez, at least 20 officers were forced to defend a private hospital in which three of their colleagues were recovering from injuries from an attack by gang members.

Source: Infobae (sp)

Covid-19 deaths, new cases both set records on Tuesday; active cases at new high

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MND Staff

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May 27, 2020

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The number of active cases is the highest yet seen. milenio

Mexico recorded its biggest single-day increase in both Covid-19 deaths and cases on Tuesday while the number of active cases in the country is at its highest level yet.

The federal Health Ministry reported 501 additional fatalities at Tuesday night’s coronavirus press briefing, lifting the death toll to 8,134.

It also reported 3,455 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, increasing the accumulated case tally to 74,560.

The death toll reported yesterday was 4.6% higher than the previous daily high of 479 fatalities while the spike in cases was up 3.8% compared to the former single-day record of 3,329 cases.

Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said that that there are also 31,878 suspected cases of Covid-19 and that 235,129 people have now been tested.

The latest daily count of Covid-19 cases and deaths. milenio

The number of active cases increased by 698 between Monday and Tuesday to 14,718, the highest level since Covid-19 was first detected in Mexico at the end of February.

Mexico City has now recorded 20,999 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic of which 3,673 are active. México state ranks second for both accumulated and active cases, with 12,366 of the former and 1,749 of the latter.

Veracruz now has the third largest active coronavirus outbreak in the country, swapping places with Tabasco between Monday and Tuesday. The former now has 729 active cases – an increase of 129 compared to Monday – while the latter has 628.

Two other states have active outbreaks of more than 500 cases: Baja California, with 604 and Puebla, with 574.

The 501 additional coronavirus-related deaths pushed Mexico’s fatality rate up by 0.2 to 10.9 per 100 cases, well above the global rate of 6.3.

Mexico’s official death toll is the ninth highest in the world after those of the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Brazil, Belgium and Germany.

Just over one in four Covid-19 deaths here occurred in Mexico City, which has now recorded 2,166 fatalities, according to official data. México state has recorded 943 deaths; Baja California, 740; Sinaloa, 427; Tabasco, 424; and Veracruz, 416.

At the other end of the scale, seven states have recorded fewer than 50 deaths: Colima, Durango, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, San Luis Potosí and Nayarit.

Among the more than 8,000 people who have lost their lives to Covid-19 in Mexico have been six people aged over 100.

However, 11 other centenarians, including a 114-year-old Tamaulipas man and a 113-year-old Mexico City woman, defied the odds and overcame the disease.

National data presented at last night’s press briefing showed that 38% of general hospital beds set aside for the treatment of coronavirus patients in Mexico are now occupied while 34% of those with ventilators are in use.

Guerrero, Mexico City and México state have the highest occupancy levels for general care beds, with 77%, 67% and 56%, respectively, currently in use.

México state, Baja California and Guerrero have the lowest availability of critical care beds, with 62%, 61% and 56%, respectively, currently occupied.

Source: Milenio (sp)

How to be a better expat on social media during coronavirus

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Sam Murray

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May 26, 2020

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Isn’t it amazing how, even during a global catastrophe like coronavirus, there’s still time for Facebook?

Yes, the human race is imploding, but what are Tracy and Tim up to today?

Spoiler alert: Absolutely nothing, like everybody else.

I’ve personally found the time – in between sessions of sweet FA – to set up a coronavirus in Mexico group, which has more than 1,200 members. Pretty impressive, I know.

I’m proud as punch, obviously. When my grandchildren ask me: “Grandpa, what did you do for Mexico during the pandemic?” I can look them in the eyes and say: “Kids, I set up a Facebook group.”

And, of course, they’ll beam with pride. Much like I did when my own granddad spoke about risking his life to defeat Nazism.

But yet, as one of Mexico’s social media influencers, I think there’s probably more I can do to help.

Perhaps, if I could be so bold, you wouldn’t mind me imparting some wisdom on how to be a better expat on social media at this time?

Because on my own Facebook group (yes, I’ll shut up about it soon) I’ve seen the best and the worst of the expat population.

The best post messages are like “keep in there, guys!” or “let’s have a round of applause for the first responders!”

The worst, however, are the ones that need addressing. Urgently.

For instance, I regularly receive posts with the sole intention of shaming others for the (not-yet-criminalized) offence of being outside.

Yes, the advice is to stay indoors. But, as Sarah DeVries points out on Mexico News Daily, that’s simply not an option for many Mexicans. And let me stress that point. Some people can’t stay indoors. Some people need to work. Some people need to find food. Hell, some people literally don’t have an indoors to be in.

To give you an idea of how bad it can get, I saw one expat rant about seeing a woman rummaging through trash, and I quote, “without gloves on.”

“Don’t you know how dangerous that is? You know coronavirus stays on objects for a long time?” she told the woman, completely unsympathetic to the fact that the lady was literally elbow-deep in other people’s waste.

So, with that person in mind, here is my first piece of social media advice.

Next time you find yourself about to criticize someone on a post, stop. Take a deep breath. That’s it, one big inhale. Then smash that backspace button until there are no words left. That’s it, smash it hard. Then smash it a bit more. Just in case.

The last thing Mexico (or the world) needs is a privileged expat telling everyone how to go about their day. We’ve got the world’s governments doing that. And they’re doing it with enthusiasm.

With that sorted, it’s time to move on to my second recommendation: stop reading and sharing advice from untrustworthy sources.

I know that as an expat, especially if you don’t speak Spanish, it can be difficult to know which outlets to trust. So, to help, here’s an example of someone doing it right.

To help promote my coronavirus group, I shared it across social media.

And for the most part, it worked, and people joined.

One man, however, posted a response which really irritated me: “Haha, I will not be taking advice from a travel writer.”

Ouch. That hurt. A direct shot to the ego.

But, of course, as much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. We shouldn’t be taking coronavirus advice from a travel writer. Or a meme. Or even your best friend of 20 years who you love and adore and trust to the moon and back. The only advice we should be taking and sharing is that of the authorities.

We all know what to do now anyway. It’s the same thing the World Health Organization has been telling us for weeks. And I trust them much more than your best mate.

So next time you’re about to share some advice on social media, take a look at where it’s coming from. If it’s coming from a website ending in .gov (.gob in Spanish-speaking countries), it’ll probably be good. If it’s from a news site, question where they’re getting their information before sharing it.

And if it comes from some random, self-important travel writer popping up on your Facebook feed, give it a gigantic, huge, mega-wide berth. They’re not a trustworthy source.

Which, rather neatly, brings me on to my final piece of wisdom: use your social media to support Mexico’s local businesses and charities.

If a charity puts out a call for donations, share it. If a restaurant posts its delivery menu, send it to your friends.

Obviously, there are more meaningful ways to help. For the most part, expats are a privileged bunch and sharing the wealth is better than retweeting a pizza menu.

But, if you don’t have the disposable income right now, supporting local enterprises on social media is a noble alternative.

It doesn’t take much to click the share button. And it could genuinely save someone’s livelihood. Or provide enough cash to feed their family for a day. Or maybe it will just put a smile on their face. Which is more than enough at this difficult time.

In the end, it’s not hard to be a better expat on social media. You can be a force for good. You could even save people’s lives.

But you need to make better use of your Facebook energy. Stop criticizing others. And learn which sources to trust. Finally, and most importantly, use your posts positively. Support expats. Support Mexicans. Support businesses. Support charities.

That way, we can get through this horrible, crazy mess together. Trust me, I’m a travel writer.

Sam Murray is currently a resident of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.

Government to award 8,000 healthcare workers for efforts against virus

By

MND Staff

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May 26, 2020

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Health sector workers will be honored with awards and cash prizes.

The federal government will award Mexico’s highest honor to more than 8,000 healthcare workers in recognition of their efforts to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Doctors, nurses, laboratory workers and hospital administrative staff will be among the 8,058 medical personnel who will receive the Condecoración Miguel Hidalgo, a highly prestigious award named after independence leader and Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.

The decision to bestow the honor on the medical workers came after the Ministry of Health and the Mexican Social Security Institute submitted an official request to the Interior Ministry, which was promptly approved by Interior Minister Olga Sánchez Cordero.

“Health workers have been looking after the patients of the pandemic night and day,” Sánchez said. “I believe that their actions are truly valuable for our country.”

In addition to the Miguel Hidalgo award, the health workers will receive cash prizes funded by revenue the government has obtained by auctioning off assets seized from criminals.

To that end, the director of the grandiloquently named Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People handed over a 250-million-peso check to Interior Minister Sánchez at Tuesday morning’s presidential press conference.

Fifty-eight doctors and nurses will receive 100,000-peso (US $4,500) prizes along with the highest order of the Condecoración Miguel Hidalgo. The recipients will be selected from a pool of candidates nominated by recovered Covid-19 patients.

An additional 500 health workers will receive the second highest order of the award along with a 50,000-peso cash prize. The recipients will be chosen from candidates nominated by staff at designated Covid-19 hospitals.

The third highest order will be bestowed upon 1,000 medical personnel, who will also receive 30,000-peso prizes while fourth order accolades will be conferred upon the members of hundreds of medical teams who have worked together to save the lives of Covid-19 patients. Prizes of 25,000 pesos will complement the fourth tier Miguel Hidalgo awards.

Medical personnel risking their own health to save the lives of Covid-19 patients have already been honored in less official ways in Mexico, such as a series of murals commissioned by the municipal government in Acapulco, Guerrero.

Source: La Jornada (sp), El Financiero (sp)

Court revokes suspension of Maya Train construction in Chiapas

By

MND Staff

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May 26, 2020

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An artist's rendition of section four of the Maya Train, where it will run adjacent to the highway between Cancún and Izamal.

A federal court has revoked a provisional suspension order that stopped construction of the Maya Train project in Chiapas due to coronavirus concerns.

Judges of a Tuxtla Gutiérrez-based administrative court unanimously agreed to annul the suspension order granted earlier this month to a group of Maya Ch’ol people from the municipalities of Palenque, Ocosingo and Salto de Agua.

The indigenous residents argued that construction of the rail project during the coronavirus crisis would violate their constitutional right to health protection because it could increase their risk of being exposed to Covid-19.

But the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur), which is managing the 1,500-kilometer Maya Train project, launched a challenge against the suspension order, arguing that construction could not be stopped because it has been declared an essential activity.

The federal court upheld the challenge, noting that construction as well as mining and the manufacture of transportation equipment were officially declared essential activities on May 13.

The judges said that there was no imminent risk that local residents’ exposure to Covid-19 will increase, stating that large groups of construction workers are unlikely to be sent to Chiapas because the rail project will largely make use of existing tracks.

Despite the court’s revocation, there is still a glimmer of hope for the indigenous plaintiffs because a hearing is yet to be held to determine whether a definitive suspension order will be granted against the US $8-billion project, one of the government’s signature infrastructure projects.

Fonatur has already awarded contracts to build three sections of the railroad, including one to a consortium controlled by billionaire businessman Carlos Slim.

President López Obador says that the project will act as a trigger for social and economic development in Mexico’s southeast, where poverty levels are higher than central and northern states.

That claim has now been supported by UN Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlement Program.

It conducted an analysis of the project and predicted that it will create almost one million jobs over the next 10 years.

“Thanks to the Maya Train, UN Habitat estimates that between now and the year 2030, 715,000 jobs will be created in the 16 municipalities with a train station, 150,000 jobs will be created in the rural economy associated with the train and 80,000 jobs will be created through the construction work on the first five sections [of the railroad] in 2020,” it said.

Almost half of the new jobs in the five states through which the train will run – Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas – will go to indigenous people, UN Habitat predicted.

It also predicted that the rail project will trigger a near doubling of economic growth in the areas through which it will pass.

“If the train didn’t exist,” local economies would grow by 0.84%, or 1.5 billion pesos, UN Habitat said without specifying the period to which it was referring. With the train, the growth will be 1.59%, or 2.1 billion pesos, the report said.

UN Habitat added that the Maya Train will help to lift 1.1 million people out of poverty.

“By the year 2030, [the number of] people in situations of poverty will have decreased by 15% thanks to the economic impact of the Maya Train in the southeast region. The population will increase from 12.1 million currently to 17.3 million people. Of that number, 6.1 million will be in situations of poverty. If the Maya Train didn’t exist, the figure would increase to 7.2 million.”

The train is scheduled to start running in 2023.

Source: Milenio (sp)

U.S. government donation boosts Legion’s effort to feed needy

By

Cody Copeland

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May 26, 2020

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The Legion bar's kitchen has been churning out packages of food for the needy.

Unable to observe its usual Memorial Day celebrations, the U.S. Department of Defense chose to donate some of its resources to the American Legion bar’s effort to feed those hit the hardest by the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bar, located in the upscale La Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, has dedicated its kitchen to cooking meals for local street vendors, couriers and homeless people since the beginning of the quarantine period.

“The donation made a big difference in how much we’re able to cook today,” said bar co-owner Luis Cerón while his staff buzzed busily through the kitchen. “Normally we’ve been making around 40 meals per day. Today we’ve got over 140.”

The donation has also helped them reach a milestone in the project. The bar announced on its Instagram account on Monday that the Memorial Day effort pushed the total number of meals donated to over 1,000.

Bar employees normally load up trays and walk to nearby Parque México to distribute the meals to the small crowd of destitute people who have made the park their temporary home.

Meals from the Legion bar are handed out in Mexico City.

But the extra meals meant they were able to extend their reach to the broad medians of Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, where Nestor sells snacks and cigarettes at a stoplight near the Angel of Independence monument.

“This is a great help, thank you,” Nestor said as he opened the box to see a juicy American-style hamburger paired with bright yellow potato salad.

Reforma’s lanes are usually crammed with hurried, stressed-out motorists who could use a snack or a smoke to make it through their long commutes, but cars only lined up two or three-deep in each lane while he spoke.

“My sales are basically nothing these days,” said Nestor before taking a bite of the burger.

As for the owners and employees of the American Legion bar, they are grateful for the opportunity to continue providing a much needed service in the community while the business is unable to function normally.

“We really appreciate the donation and what it allowed us to do today,” said Cerón, who will happily accept more in-kind or monetary donations via the American Legion bar website.

Ambassador Landau, center, at Monday's small Memorial Day ceremony. — Ambassador Landau, center, at Monday’s small Memorial Day ceremony.

The U.S. Department of Defense usually celebrates Memorial Day by honoring the country’s fallen military personnel at the Mexico City National Cemetery, managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

In April, the commission announced that it would hold a small, intimate ceremony there for Memorial Day in light of the coronavirus emergency. That ceremony took place on Monday, attended by Ambassador Christopher Landau and members of the Defense Attache Office and American Legion Post 2.

Mexico News Daily

CORRECTION: The earlier version of this story stated that the Memorial Day service was cancelled. In fact, a ceremony went ahead on Monday, scaled down to a smaller event due to the coronavirus emergency.

Restaurant’s coronaburger helps combat slump in sales

By

Susy Buchanan

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May 26, 2020

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Necessity has been called the mother of invention, and that was the case for René Saucedo, owner and operator of a gourmet hot dog and hamburger stand in Torreón, Coahuila, who saw his sales slump due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Forced to lay off one of his two employees and facing the possibility of closing down for good, Saucedo came up with a gimmick suited to the current health crisis and invented the “coronaburger.”

“We had to get something good out of this very difficult situation we are experiencing,” Saucedo says.

The owner and operator of Zhunckos, a business he opened three years ago after abandoning his former career as a security guard, designed a brioche bun replete with wart-like peaks representing the virus and painted it with green food coloring.

Inside he stuffs the burger with gouda, cheddar and manchego cheeses, bacon, pickles, red onion, bourbon sauce, spinach and guacamole. He says it took him a week to come up with the design for the bun and find the right combination of ingredients.

The Torreon restaurant's new creation. — The Torreon restaurant’s new creation.

The coronaburger has proven popular, especially with doctors who order it out of curiosity, and has meant Saucedo can still provide a living for his wife and two children.

“People like it, they think it is funny,” Saucedo says. He worried at first that customers might be offended, and realizes that the novelty will soon wear off, but for now, the coronaburger is helping him get through the health and economic crisis, one green bun at a time.

Source: El Universal (sp)