Sheet-pan dinners (and one dessert): a cinch to prepare

March 16, 2020

Sometimes it seems like cooking trends are really something common that’s been around for a while (or forever) with a new fancy name. “Sheet pan” dinners – i.e., roasting meats, fish and vegetables on an oiled cookie sheet in the oven at a fairly high temperature – might be one of the most recent.

That said, who doesn’t like an easy, delicious dinner, with minimal prep and cleanup, that doesn’t require unusual ingredients?

I often cook like this when I want a vegetarian night, using whatever veggies I have on hand. (It’s also a good way to add some glamour to the infamous “top shelf special.”) Roasting vegetables turns some of their natural starches into sugars, resulting in more hearty, in-depth flavors.

Beets, onions, tomatoes, turnips and carrots all transform wonderfully when roasted, and even high-sugar fruits, like pineapple, yield a richer, more complex sweetness. What I do is chop the veggies into more or less inch-size pieces, toss them around in an olive oil, soy sauce and Balsamic mixture, add some salt and pepper and maybe some other spices, and then throw the whole thing on a cookie sheet in my fancy-dancy toaster oven.

In about 30 minutes at 400 degrees they’re roasted to a state of caramelized decadence. Accompanied with some fluffy Basmati rice and maybe sprinkled with a little fresh Parmesan, it’s a lovely, simple and healthy dinner. And, if you line the pan with foil, clean-up is really a cinch.

Use these recipes as guidelines, and feel free to adjust them to your own tastes and what you have available. Different kinds of fish, cuts of chicken and most vegetables (other than leafy greens, although they can be roasted, too, just for less time, coated with a bit of olive or coconut oil) will all work fine.

Salmon & Broccoli with Chile-Caper Vinaigrette

Cauliflower would work well too.

1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
4 six-oz. skinless salmon fillets
1 red Fresno chile or jalapeño, seeds removed, thinly sliced into rings
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. drained capers

Preheat oven to 400°. Toss broccoli and 2 Tbsp. oil on a baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Roast, tossing occasionally, until browned and crisp-tender, 12–15 minutes. Remove from oven. Rub salmon with 1 Tbsp. oil; season with salt and pepper. Push broccoli to edges of baking sheet and place salmon in the center. Roast until salmon is opaque throughout, 10–15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine chile, vinegar and pinch of salt in small bowl and let sit about 10 minutes. Mix in capers, salt & pepper and remaining 1 Tbsp. oil. Drizzle fish and veggies with vinaigrette just before serving.

Chipotle-Lime Shrimp

1-½ pounds baby red potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
¾ tsp. sea salt, divided
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. ground chipotle pepper
½ lb. asparagus or broccoli, cut into small florets
1 lb. uncooked shrimp (16-20 per pound), peeled & deveined
2 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400°. Place potatoes on greased baking sheet; drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, squeeze 1/3 cup juice from limes, reserving fruit. Combine lime juice, melted butter, chipotle and remaining salt. Remove sheet pan from oven. Arrange asparagus or broccoli, shrimp and reserved limes on top of potatoes. Pour lime juice mixture over vegetables and shrimp. Bake until shrimp turn pink and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro. – TasteOfHome.com

Chicken with Potatoes & Kalamata Olives

1 bay leaf, crushed
1 tsp. fennel seeds
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1-½ lb. fingerling potatoes, halved
½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
Salt & pepper
4 chicken legs (thigh & drumstick; about 3 lb.)
½ cup fresh parsley or cilantro
1 tsp. lemon zest

Preheat oven to 450°. Pulse bay leaf, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes in spice mill until finely ground. Toss potatoes, olives, 2 Tbsp. oil, and half of spice mixture in a large bowl; add salt and pepper. Place chicken on a baking sheet; rub with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil. Season with salt and pepper and rub with remaining spice mixture. Arrange potatoes around chicken. Roast until potatoes are fork-tender, chicken is cooked through, and skin is crisp, 35–45 minutes. Serve topped with parsley and lemon zest.

And for dessert, some roasted pineapple with honey and almonds.

Honey-Almond Roasted Pineapple

½ cup packed grated piloncillo or brown sugar
½ cup fresh orange juice
3 Tbsp. honey
1 medium ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges
¼ cup creme fraiche or plain yogurt
1/3 cup slivered almonds or natural unsalted pistachios, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves

Preheat oven to 400°. Line baking sheet with parchment or foil. Stir first 3 ingredients in a large bowl until sugar dissolves. Add pineapple; toss to coat. Let marinate, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Place pineapple, one flat side down, on prepared pan; reserve marinade. Bake 15 minutes, turn, brush with marinade, and bake until tender and caramelized, 10-15 minutes more. Drizzle with remaining marinade, let cool slightly. Garnish with crème fraiche, nuts and mint.

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.

Aeroméxico to scale down Europe service due to coronavirus

Cody Copeland

March 16, 2020

Aeroméxico has announced that it will reduce the frequency of its flights to Europe by 40% in the face of the pandemic of the coronavirus known as Covid-19.

In an internal letter to the company’s collaborators, director general Andrés Conesa said that it is one of the hardest moments in the company’s history.

“I can say without a doubt that this has been the most difficult thing I’ve ever experienced,” said Conesa.

He also announced that he would reduce his own salary by 20% during the crisis in order to free up more resources to get through the tough time.

The major routes that have been reduced are Madrid, from 17 to seven flights; Barcelona, from five to three; Paris, from 11 to seven; London, from seven to five; and Amsterdam, also from seven to five flights. The modified frequencies are scheduled from March 17 to April 30.

Some passengers have already had their flights changed, and Aeroméxico is asking them to contact customer service only if they are not happy with the change.

“If your flight was rescheduled and you’re OK with the new flight, be at the airport three hours before departure. In this case, it’s not necessary to contact us,” the company said in a message to passengers.

Its phone customer service is giving priority to those who have flights in the next 72 hours, so it is asking those whose flights are later to consult the website first.

Flights to and from China have seen a much steeper dropoff since the outbreak of the coronavirus. Only 835 passengers flew between the two countries in January, a drop of 89.6% from January 2019.

Only one airline — China Southern Airlines — provides service between Mexico and China. Aeroméxico formerly offered service but stopped last year when it cancelled its route to Shanghai.

In addition to the coronavirus scare, Aeroméxico and other airlines are also dealing with the financial hit of not being able to use the Boeing 737 Max plane after taking it out of service in March of last year.

Sources: El Economista (sp), El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp), El Heraldo (sp)

Mexicali brewery no threat to water supply: federal government

MND Staff

March 16, 2020

'Water is for producing food not beer,' reads the sticker.

The operation of the brewery under construction by the United States company Constellation Brands in Mexicali, Baja California, does not pose a threat to the water supply, the federal government says in an information leaflet being distributed in the lead-up to this weekend’s referendum on the controversial beverage plant.

Emblazoned with the logos of the ministries of the Interior and the Environment as well as the National Water Commission, the brochure acknowledges that there is community concern that the brewery will use excessive amounts of water and thus create a shortage in Mexicali and surrounding areas.

However, the government points out that there is annual water availability of 2.7 billion cubic meters in the Valley of Mexicali and that the state government has only authorized the use of 5.8 million cubic meters per year by the brewery.

The amount represents “just 0.2% of the total volume [of available water] in the region,” the leaflet says, adding that the brewery will not be permitted to increase the quantity of water it uses.

“The operation of the plant doesn’t represent a present or future risk to the supply or availability of water for the countryside and homes in the Valley of Mexicali, or to the human right to water.”

The government also offers a guarantee that the brewery – being built on 400 hectares of land – will not use more water than a farm of the same size. In addition, Constellation Brands will pay 68 centavos for each liter of water it uses whereas farmers pay only 14 centavos, the brochure says.

If water supply is low, the Constellation brewery, other factories and farmers will all have to reduce their use of the resource to ensure availability for human consumption, the government says.

The leaflet notes that Constellation has obtained all the environmental and other permits it requires to operate but stresses that “the people” will have the final word on whether the US $1.5-billion brewery is allowed to open. “This March 21 and 22, you decide!” it says.

Opponents of the brewery, such as the Mexicali Committee for the Defense of Water, said that the brochure is biased and accused the government of showing favoritism to Constellation Brands.

“It betrays the principles of Juárez,” said Armando Salinas, leader of the committee and another group opposed to the brewery project, referring to 19th-century president Benito Juárez.

He added that if the government has already made up its mind to allow the brewery to open, the consultation should be cancelled to save money. “It would be an unnecessary expense,” Salinas said.

President López Obrador announced at the start of the month that a vote to decide the fate of the brewery would be held in Mexicali and said last week it would take place March 21 and 22.

“We want the citizens to be those who decide, we want the public to decide,” he said last Monday, explaining that the vote is not called a consultation but rather a “participatory exercise.”

On March 3, López Obrador rejected any suggestion that holding a referendum on the brewery set a bad precedent.

“People say: ‘it will set a bad precedent if there’s a consultation, because it will impact investment.’ No, the bad precedent was already set when, without taking people into account, they gave out the permits,” he said.

Citizens will be able to cast their vote this Saturday and Sunday at 17 locations in Mexicali and a further 10 in agricultural areas.

Constellation, the largest importer of beer to the United States, has rejected the public consultation and said that it will consider other locations for a new brewery if Mexico becomes too problematic.

If the company decides to continue construction of the brewery in Mexicali – and its operation is given a green light at the government’s consultation – it is expected to open at the end of 2021.

Source: La Jornada (sp)

144 tonnes of narcotics seized at ports during AMLO’s tenure

MND Staff

March 16, 2020

Mazatlán has been a popular port for drug smugglers.

Federal security forces have seized almost 144 tonnes of drugs at Mexico’s 22 biggest ports since President López Obrador took office in December 2018.

According to information obtained by the newspaper Milenio via requests made to the National Institute for Transparency and Access to Information (INAI), the army, navy and National Guard confiscated 143.97 tonnes of drugs including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin during the first 15 months of the current federal administration.

The quantity of narcotics seized at ports accounted for 97% of all drugs confiscated since López Obrador became president.

Seizures at the port in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, accounted for 71% of all drugs confiscated and just under 80% of the total for marijuana.

The ports in Guaymas, Sonora; Huatulco, Oaxaca; Puerto Peñasco, Sonora; Puerto Chiapas, Chiapas; and Ensenada, Baja California saw the next biggest seizures but the amounts confiscated there were dwarfed by the 102.24 tonnes confiscated in Mazatlán.

Just over 124 tonnes of marijuana were seized at ports in the last 15 months, a figure that accounts for 86.2% of the total amount of drugs confiscated. The largest single seizure occurred at Mazatlán last month when the navy confiscated 99 tonnes of pot.

The second most commonly seized drug was crystal methamphetamine, with total confiscations of 11.11 tonnes. Almost 7.5 tonnes of the drug, or 67% of the total, were seized in Guaymas.

Cocaine followed with port seizures totaling 7.81 tonnes since December 2018. Just over 45% of that amount – 3.55 tonnes – was seized in Puerto Chiapas, a port town approximately 25 kilometers southwest of Tapachula.

The three federal security forces seized just under 837 kilograms of methamphetamine (other than crystal meth) since López Obrador took office, 22.3 kilograms of heroin and 43.3 kilograms of other drugs. Ensenada saw the largest confiscations in all three categories.

Data supplied by INAI also showed there were drug seizures in the past 15 months at the Tamaulipas ports of Altamira and Tampico, but these were negligible, with authorities confiscating just 0.01 tonnes in the former location and 0.03 tonnes in the latter.

Milenio reported that almost 12.5 tonnes of drugs were seized in April 2019, making that month the second most successful for the federal government in terms of confiscations after February 2020. The least successful month was December 2019, with narcotics confiscations of just 18 kilograms.

Milenio also reported that homicide numbers were high in many of the ports that are used by criminal organizations, such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation, to transport drugs.

There have been 500 homicides with firearms in Mazatlán since President López Obrador took office, 261 in Guaymas and 93 in Huatulco, according to the National Public Security System.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Cruise ship arrivals cancelled for 5 weeks due to pandemic

Cody Copeland

March 16, 2020

Cruise ship arrivals in Mexico have been canceled for up to five weeks in response to the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading across the globe.

West coast coordinator of the Mexican Cruise Association, José Arturo Musi Ganem, said that the virus is having an unprecedented impact on the cruise industry. He said ships currently at sea will return to their ports of origin and not leave again until the crisis has passed.

He expects them all to be back at the ports of Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta within two weeks.

Musi said that cruise operators Disney, Princess, Norwegian, Holland America, Regent Seven Seas, Carnival, Celebrity, Amadeo and others have all cancelled upcoming arrivals in the country.

“It’s an unprecedented situation that we’ve never seen before, so the whole industry is worried about this,” he said.

He said that in addition to nautical tourism, the coronavirus affects other industries that also depend on the arrival of cruise ship passengers, such as tour operators, restaurants, bars and transportation.

“We don’t know how long this will go on. The cruise ship companies said a month, however they could be out of service as long as two months, depending on how things go, as there is news every day,” he said.

The service suspensions likewise affect cruise ship ports on the Yucatán peninsula. The director general of the Integral Port Administration of Quintana Roo (Apiqroo), Alicia Ricalde Magaña, announced the cancellation of arrivals to Cozumel, Puerta Maya and Punta Langosta for the next 30 days.

The 31 arrivals that were canceled to these destinations during the week of March 16-22 amount to a loss of 181,000 passengers disembarking and spending money in the port cities. Cozumel alone had 120 arrivals scheduled for the next month, with a total of 720,000 passengers.

The first cancellations came from Princess Cruises, which announced that it canceled five arrivals on Friday.

Ricalde said that Apiqroo is in close communication with cruise ship companies, attentive to the day they resume operations once the situation is under control.

Sources: Milenio (sp), El Economista (sp)

The quest to preserve Mexico’s richest legacy: its cuisine

Leigh Thelmadatter

March 16, 2020

Irad Santacruz and two cooks from the Guardianas de la Tierra de Maíz at El Mexicano Masaryk. leigh thelmadatter

When we think of amas de casa (housewives, literally ladies of the house) in rural Mexico, we picture older women in traditional dress, slaving over wood fires in adobe homes.

Scenes such as these certainly do play out in many parts of Mexico, but the creation and preservation of traditional cooking has taken on other dimensions. Aside from those who compile regional recipes in the form of cookbooks, several groups of devotees, recognizing the richness of this tradition, are working to preserve the creative legacy of generations in the kitchen.

Systematic documentation of traditional Mexican cooking began with the work of an Englishwoman by the name of Diana Kennedy, who fell in love with Mexican cuisine in the late 1950s and whose first book, The Cuisines of Mexico (1972), brought central and southern Mexican food to international attention.

In the decades since, Mexican gastronomy has become as important to the mammoth tourism industry as beaches, pyramids and handcrafts. Most of the focus has been on the restaurant industry. However, Kennedy’s work was with home cooks, traveling to their villages, documenting ingredients and techniques and “translating” them into workable recipes for modern cooks.

Decades later, there are new efforts to pick up where Kennedy left off. Not only have other foreign chefs “discovered” and worked to promote Mexican cuisine outside of Tex-Mex, Mexican public and private initiatives have sprung up to do much the same.

An early photo of Mexican cuisine expert Diana Kennedy with a traditional cook.

Cookbooks have been a part of this of course. Where Kennedy’s work has been on an introductory level for foreigners, a number of Mexican cooks and chefs have produced works that go into depth on the cooking traditions they know best.

For example, in 2012 Carmen Titita of El Bajío restaurant in Mexico City published a cookbook dedicated solely to soups, rice and pasta dishes — the sopas that precede the main courses of Mexican meals. Celia Florián has worked with Oaxaca home cooks to produce books that have become authoritative works in Spanish on that regional cuisine.

Journalist Dulce Villaseña, who has worked with Florián, comments that “Without having written recipes, traditional cooks guard in their minds the culinary treasures that have been passed down from generation to generation. And this is how they typically cook daily for their families, as well as cook for major festivals in their communities when called upon. … It is wonderful to see how they measure portions with their hands. Everything is calculated perfectly with fists and pinches, using local products at hand, and with this they prepare incredible dishes.”

Perhaps even more important than the written word has been the rise of organizations of cooks dedicated to preserving traditional recipes, ingredients and cooking techniques. They organize and bring respect to the work of these cooks, 90% of whom are women.

These organizations exist on the local, state and regional levels, with one of the best known being the Asociación de las Cocineras Tradicionales of Oaxaca (Association of Traditional Cooks of Oaxaca), headed by Florián. Work done by several Michoacán-based cooking organizations led Mexican cuisine to be included as a World Intangible Heritage in 2010.

The work by such groups has caught the attention of public and private entities. On the federal level, one important ally has been the Mexican Biodiversity Commission (Conabio). The agency sees traditional cooking as a way to promote and preserve Mexico’s biodiversity, especially in edible plants, and regards the use of locally sourced food as a means of sustainable development.

Traditional kitchen at a tourist stop near the San Juan Parangaricutiro church in Michoacan. Alejandro Linares García

Their first major project was the digitalization in 2010 of Kennedy’s decades of handwritten notes created as she traveled the backroads of Mexico and interviewed everyday housewives.

A more recent project is Los quelites de México (in Spanish), a 2020 calendar that promotes the cooking and eating of Mexico’s native greens, known collectively as quelites. There are over 350 species of plants in this category, the best known of which are romeritos (seepweed or Suaeda Torreyana S. Watson), huaunzontle (Chenopodium nuttalliae), squash flowers and verdolaga (purslane or Portulaca oleracea). Most have fallen out of favor and are in danger of disappearing because of cultural changes, in particular population shifts into cities. However, such plants are highly nutritious, contain anti-oxidants and can even work to eliminate certain parasites and other digestive issues.

Such traditional cooking has caught the attention of fine diners as well. A number of well-known cooks have started successful restaurants, especially in Oaxaca, whose regional cuisine is now one of the best-known in Mexico. Others have collaborated with established restaurants to influence their menus.

One new restaurant in Mexico City is based on the idea of regular collaboration with traditional cooks. El Mexicano Masaryk opened in 2019 in a swank Polanco location.

Every six months the restaurant changes the menu to accommodate regional dishes that are taught to the chef and kitchen staff by traditional cooks. For the first six-month period, the menu featured items from the states of Oaxaca, Michoacán, Puebla and Quintana Roo, with the collaboration of such notable cooks as Benedicta Alejo of Michoacán and Ofelia Toledo of Oaxaca.

This does not mean that the resulting menu items are made exactly the way they’re done in rural settings. Wood fires are impossible in modern kitchens, and the dishes are adapted for a fine dining experience. But the cooks’ role is to make sure the dishes taste as close as possible to what they themselves make.

Currently one of the collaborating cooks/chefs is Irad Santacruz of Tlaxcala. Despite studying gastronomy in Spain, when asked about his state’s cooking, he found himself embarrassingly unaware. On returning to Mexico in 2006, he began researching and documenting.

Collaborating with families such as the five generations under Doña Nicolasa (98 years old) of Contla on the foothills of the Malinche volcano, he founded the restaurant Guardianas de la Tierra de Maíz (Guardians of the Land of Corn) in 2014 to preserve techniques and ingredients from local Tlaxcalan cooking.

Mexico News Daily

Known for stealing oil, Guanajuato cartel has moved into cocaine

Cody Copeland

March 16, 2020

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, a fuel theft and extortion gang from Guanajuato, has moved into cocaine trafficking and its leader, José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez Ortiz, is now wanted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Former DEA chief of international operations Mike Vigil said that although the cartel is well-known for its illegal trafficking of petroleum products, it also sells other illicit goods, “mainly cocaine.”

Vigil told the newspaper Milenio that El Marro is a big target for the DEA, even though the gang he leads isn’t as large as other more notable criminal organizations, and said he believed that the walls are closing in on the fugitive kingpin.

A number of family members close to El Marro have been arrested recently. His father was nabbed in Guanajuato in early March, and his niece was detained on weapons charges in February.

El Marro’s wife was arrested in January, although she was released soon afterward, and his sister was assassinated with her groom at their wedding in that same month.

With so much pressure on El Marro from both the Mexican government and the DEA, Vigil says it’s only a matter of time before he is brought in.

“I believe that El Marro is well-hidden because the government is on his trail,” said Vigil.

As for the violence that has erupted in Guanajuato and neighboring states in which the cartel operates, Vigil said there is only one explanation: money. He said that, like other leaders of criminal organizations, El Marro uses extreme violence to protect his earnings, which are in the millions.

“Narcotrafficking and violence are a glove on the same hand,” he said.

According to Vigil, recent blockades, car fires and shootouts in Celaya, Guanajuato, last Wednesday had the same effect as the shootouts with members of the Sinaloa Cartel in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in October. The chaos from the Culiacán confrontations led authorities to release Ovidio Guzmán López, whose arrest was the objective of the operation.

Last month, Milenio toured the community of Santa Rosa de Lima, Guanajuato, the gang’s base of operations, and found that El Marro had outfitted the town to lead the gang’s activities and evade capture.

He has escaped in the past thanks to a network of safe houses that allows him to move surreptitiously from one property to another in a matter of minutes and to escape to the nearby city of Celaya in just 20 minutes in a vehicle.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Peso continues to slide, falling over 3% against dollar

MND Staff

March 16, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic continues to take a heavy toll on the Mexican peso amid growing fears of a global recession.

The peso fell more than 4% to a record low of more than 23 to the United States dollar early Monday before recovering slightly.

In early international trading, the peso dropped to 23.07 to the U.S. dollar, a 4.1% slump compared to its closing on Friday. Just before 9:00 a.m., the currency had recovered to 22.74 to the dollar, a decline of 3.73% compared to Friday.

The fall in the value of the peso came after the United States Federal Reserve announced Sunday it would cut interest rates to 0% as part of measures to cushion the economic impact of the global spread of Covid-19, an infectious disease that originated in Wuhan, China, late last year and which has now spread to more than 140 countries including Mexico, where there were 53 confirmed cases as of Sunday.

“The United States definitely is expecting a very strong blow to the economy because of coronavirus. The signs are clear that a recession is getting closer,” Gabriela Siller, head of economic analysis at Mexican bank Banco Base, told the news agency Reuters.

The slump of the peso on Monday morning came after the currency lost 8.3% of its value against the U.S. dollar last week due to an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia and the World Health Organization’s declaration that coronavirus is a pandemic.

Financial data and media company Bloomberg reported that last week’s losses amounted to the “biggest rout” for the peso since November 2016.

Bank of México Governor Alejandro Díaz de León said Friday that policymakers could sell dollars into the spot market to cushion the impact on the peso but added that foreign-exchange hedge auctions are preferred because they don’t deplete Mexico’s international reserves.

The central bank offered US $2 billion of foreign exchange hedges on Thursday, its first intervention since 2017.

However, Bloomberg reported on Monday that the Bank of México may need to do more to “calm markets and rein in excessive swings” in the value of the peso.

Source: El Financiero (sp) , Milenio (sp), Reuters (en), Bloomberg (en)

Coronavirus cases at 53, 2 in grave condition; schools to begin closing Tuesday

MND Staff

March 16, 2020

The president kisses a child in March, as the coronavirus outbreak was beginning. — The president kisses a child in March as the coronavirus outbreak was beginning.

The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus Covid-19 rose to 53 on Sunday after health authorities announced 12 new cases.

Mexico City has the highest number with 18, followed by Puebla and Querétaro, with six each, and Nuevo León, with five.

Ten other states, including Jalisco, México state and Yucatán, have recorded at least one confirmed case of Covid-19, which had sickened just over 153,500 people around the world as of Sunday and caused 5,735 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Of the 53 people in Mexico confirmed to have the infectious disease, 60% are men and 40% are women and their ages range between 19 and 73, said Ricardo Cortés Alcalá, general director of health promotion at the federal Health Ministry.

He told a press conference Sunday night that only 17% of the patients with Covid-19 have required hospitalization. The majority of patients only have mild symptoms and were recovering in isolation at their homes, Cortés said, adding that three people have already recovered completely.

Convive AMLO, en pandemia, como si nada

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López Obrador received a hero’s welcome in Guerrero.

The official said that 314 people had been identified as coming into contact with the 53 known cases of Covid-19 and that 16 have developed symptoms of the disease and are in isolation.

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For his part, Gustavo Reyes Terán, head of the commission that manages Mexico’s national health institutes and specialty hospitals, said that two patients are in “grave” condition.

There were reports Sunday night that 71-year-old businessman José Kuri had become the first person with Covid-19 to die in Mexico but health authorities said later that he had not passed away but was in critical condition.

President López Obrador confirmed at his regular news conference on Monday morning that Kuri – believed to have been infected with Covid-19 during a recent trip to the United States ski resort town of Vail, Colorado – had not died in the Mexico City hospital where he is receiving treatment.

While the number of people confirmed to be infected with Covid-19 in Mexico remains low in comparison with many other countries, the national caseload has risen quickly in recent days. Last Monday, there were just five confirmed coronavirus cases, meaning that the total number increased 960% in less than a week.

A widespread outbreak of the disease is seen as “inevitable” although there is still no evidence that Covid-19 is spreading via community transmission within Mexico.

Still, the Ministry of Public Education announced on Saturday that Easter holidays for the nation’s school students would start on March 20, two weeks earlier than scheduled, and run through April 20.

However, the governments of three states – Jalisco, Yucatán and Guanajuato – have since announced that they are bringing forward the commencement of the vacation period to Tuesday.

Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro said Sunday that waiting until the end of this week to suspend classes is the “wrong decision.”

“Classes have to be suspended now, it’s absurd to allow four more days [of classes],” he said, adding that starting holidays at the start rather the end of the week could have a “very important” impact “in terms of prevention.”

Alfaro said that his government would hold talks with the private sector to discuss how parents could be supported in relation to taking care of their children during the extended vacation period. He also said that the Jalisco Education Ministry will work with teachers to draw up a plan to compensate for the loss of classes.

Announcing the suspension of classes as of Tuesday in Guanajuato, Governor Diego Sinhue said that his government will not “skimp on preventative actions” in order to protect residents from exposure to Covid-19.

Coronavirus in Mexico: yellow indicates states with one to four confirmed or suspicious cases, orange five to nine and red 10 to 20.

For his part, Yucatán Governor Mauricio Vila said that in addition to the school closures from tomorrow, the archaeological sites of Chichén Itzá and Dzibilchaltún will not open later this week for planned equinox events that usually attract large crowds.

Meanwhile, President López Obrador said Sunday that he has “a lot of faith” that the Covid-19 pandemic will not have an adverse impact on Mexico.

“The misfortunes, pandemics are not going to do anything to us,” he said during a tour of the Costa Chica region of Guerrero.

“[Mexican] culture always saves us from earthquakes, floods, epidemics, bad governments, corruption; we can confront all these calamities.”

López Obrador also suggested on the weekend that people should read the Gabriel García Márquez novel Love in the Time of Cholera, describing the book as “a balm to calm us.”

On the weekend, the president followed through with his pledge to continue to greet citizens with hugs and kisses despite the advice of his deputy health minister to avoid such salutations.

López Obrador posted five videos to his social media accounts on Sunday that show him kissing and hugging his supporters on the Guerrero coast and freely giving handshakes.

His decision not to observe the practice of “social distancing” recommended by the World Health Organization and other health authorities triggered strong criticism on social media.

“Hopefully [Deputy Health Minister] Hugo López-Gatell sits President López Obrador down and explains to him that these are not times of rallies, kisses and hugs but of responsible leadership,” political scientist and columnist Denise Dresser wrote on Twitter.

There was also widespread criticism that the Vive Latino musical festival, attended by tens of thousands of fans, was allowed to go ahead in Mexico City on Saturday and Sunday.

The journalist Monica Garza took aim at Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, claiming that her decision not to cancel the event headlined by United States hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, among other acts, was irresponsible.

The organizers of the event checked each person’s temperature as they entered the venue and a strong smell of antibacterial gel permeated the air, the Associated Press reported, while noting that attendees still crowded together to watch the performances.

One fan told AP that he believed that many people are overreacting to the potential danger of being infected with Covid-19 at large gatherings.

“I consider it is more a collective hysteria than any other thing. In Mexico we have a culture of a little bit more of hygiene that helps us to limit this kind of transmission,” Alan Miranda said.

Source: Reforma (sp), Milenio (sp)

Update:

The Health Ministry announced Monday evening that there were 24 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 82. Most presented mild symptoms and did not require hospitalization. Of the remainder, only two were reported in serious condition.

Piñata maker takes a swing at globally feared virus

Cody Copeland

March 16, 2020

A piñata-maker in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, has used his art form to inject a little humor into a global news story that has caused more anxiety than laughter.

For 600 pesos, party organizers in the busy border town can purchase a piñata in the shape of the coronavirus that causes the disease known as Covid-19. Health officials have said that a widespread outbreak of the coronavirus in Mexico is inevitable within the next few weeks.

The big green ball features the crown-like spikes that give the virus its name, as well as an actual crown, a caricature of a Chinese face and several bats to identify it as the microbe that has become a global pandemic.

“We have been following the news of this disease that is going around the world,” said Dalton Ávalos Ramírez, the artisan who created the piñata. “When we learned that it arrived in Mexico, we wanted to give it our own personal humorous touch, and the response from the people has been good.”

Ávalos said that he put the piñata up for sale earlier this week and has so far sold five of them, mostly for children’s parties. He had promoted the design on social media, and it went — suitably enough — viral within minutes.

“What we tried to do is represent this virus. We chose a face with slanted eyes, the bats because we heard that it came from that animal. … We aren’t trying to offend anyone. It’s just funny a way of looking at current problems.”

The store has also treated other current events with its papier-mache stylings, though the piñata of President López Obrador holding a model of the presidential plane hasn’t sold so well.

The current feminist movement in Mexico, which has led to a number of marches and protests, did not escape the humor of Ávalos. He has designed a piñata of a topless female protester painted with the phrases “My body, my choice” and “Down with the patriarchy.”

Although he priced them around 1,200 pesos (US $53), Ávalos said those two aren’t up for sale due to some negative comments they have elicited from customers.

“We didn’t want to sell them because many people have gotten offended. That’s not our intention. As artists, we just want to express what’s happening in the country,” he said.

Source: El Mañana (sp)

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