Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard celebrated Toyota’s investment, one of the first major announcements following the uncertainty of the U.S. presidential elections. (Omar Martínez/Cuartoscuro)
Anticipating a new sales record this year, Toyota demonstrated its confidence in Mexico by announcing a US $1.45 billion investment in factories in two Mexican states.
The Japanese carmaker will renovate its facilities in Tecate, Baja California, and in Apaseo el Grande, Guanajuato. The funds will help adapt manufacturing for Toyota’s new Tacoma pick-up truck and its hybrid model.
The Japanese carmaker will renovate this facility in Apaseo el Grande, Guanajuato, as well as another factory in Tecate, Baja California. (Cuartoscuro)
The new investments will also create 1,600 new jobs, Toyota México President Luis Lozano said on Thursday, after meeting with Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard.
Ebrard confirmed the news in a post on the social platform X, adding that Toyota “is one of the companies with which we are working closely, and it has a great future in our country.”
Ebrard celebrated Toyota’s news, highlighting the importance of creating certainty for investors in a challenging economic environment, the newspaper El Sol de Acapulco reported, especially as foreign direct investment plays such a crucial role in Mexico’s economy.
What will the Toyota investment bring to Mexico?
Toyota — which boasts 98 car dealerships in Mexico offering 18 vehicle models — said that not only will the investment increase production capacity at the two plants, but it will also incorporate new technologies that optimize use of resources and help reduce emissions.
After reporting a 22% increase in sales during the first half of the year, Toyota projected it would surpass 105,000 in combined sales — both internal combustion engine and hybrid electric vehicles — in 2024, according to El Financiero.
The company sold 58,081 vehicles — 27% of which were hybrid — during the first six months of the year, even after projecting sales of fewer than 100,000 cars in 2024. The initial forecast was influenced by supply problems — since resolved — involving semiconductors and other parts for hybrid vehicles.
Lozano said the latest investment announcement is in addition to those already made, and will bring Toyota’s total investment since arriving in Mexico 22 years ago to US $2 billion by the end of 2024.
En Toyota reafirmamos la confianza en México con una inversión de USD 1.45mil millones que ha creado 1,600 empleos al cierre de 2024 para producir Tacoma, sumando a los casi USD 2mil millones ya invertidos.
Last year, the carmaker invested US $328 million in its Guanajuato plant, as it first moved to convert production processes for the new Tacoma hybrid. Overall, Toyota has invested close to $1.2 billion in the state since operations began there in 2019.
Last year’s investment converted Guanajuato into a key player in Toyota’s electrification production strategy, the company said in a June 2023 statement.
The success of Guanajuato’s transition is reflected in a study carried out by the digital platform Directorio Automotriz earlier this year.
The report found that in terms of suppliers, Guanajuato is home to 16 of the 67 electromobility and electrification component suppliers in the country, and to 18 of the 52 raw material suppliers nationwide. Since the beginning of 2023, 13 new investments directly related to electromobility have been established in Guanajuato.
President Claudia Sheinbaum calls on a reporter during her Friday morning press conference. (Presidencia via Cuartoscuro)
Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente spoke about the upcoming G20 Summit at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press conference, or mañanera, on Friday.
Here is a summary of his remarks, as well as those made by the president in response to questions about her telephone conversation with Donald Trump and the “main challenge” of her six-year term in government.
“President Sheinbaum will be there the first day because she has decided … to return on the 19th to be here on the 20th for all the celebrations of the anniversary of the [Mexican] Revolution,” he said.
De la Fuente, formerly Mexico’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said that among the issues world leaders will discuss at the G20 meeting are the international economy, “the fight against hunger and poverty” and the energy transition.
He also said that various G20 countries have requested bilateral meetings with Mexico.
Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente said multiple G20 countries have requested bilateral meetings with Mexico’s new administration. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais/Cuartoscuro)
“I’m going to mention them in alphabetical order: Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom. Obviously it won’t be possible to meet with all of them, there won’t be enough time, so we’re in the process of trying to establish [which meetings will go ahead],” de la Fuente said.
The foreign minister also noted that Sheinbaum is the only female leader who has so far confirmed she will attend the meeting in Rio.
The president herself said that Mexico’s delegation, including de la Fuente and Energy Minister Luz Elena González, will fly on a commercial airline to Brazil.
“A time came when he said, ‘there’s the issue of the border,’ that’s all he said. And I said to him, ‘yes, there’s the issue of the border, but there will be … [another time] to talk about it,” she said
Sheinbaum said that Trump also sent his best wishes to López Obrador, “with whom he said he had a very good relationship,” and invited her to his inauguration in January.
Sheinbaum described her call with the U.S. president-elect as “very cordial.” (Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 2.0)
“He said ‘see you soon,’ nos vemos pronto, in other words, and I said, ‘Yes, see you soon.'”
Sheinbaum subsequently said that having a good relationship with the United States is “one of the challenges” of her six-year term in government, albeit not the biggest.
The main challenge of Sheinbaum’s sexenio
Sheinbaum told reporters that the biggest challenge of her six-year term, or sexenio, and the one to which her government will dedicate the most time, is the construction of “well-being and peace in Mexico.”
The government will dedicate 24 hours a day to achieving that goal “if necessary,” she said.
Sheinbaum, like López Obrador, is dedicating huge amounts of money to social and welfare programs as she seeks to further reduce poverty and inequality in Mexico. She hopes that that focus will aid the government’s efforts to combat crime across the country.
President Sheinbaum has avoided using the phrase "hugs, not bullets," which defined her predecessor's approach to organized crime. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Is President Sheinbaum’s new federal government forsaking the “not bullets” component of the so-called “hugs, not bullets” security strategy pursued by the administration of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO)?
In a report published on Thursday, the Associated Press said that “a string of bloody confrontations” during the first month of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s six-year term “suggests the government is quietly abandoning the ‘no bullets’ part of that strategy and is much more willing to use the full force of the military and the militarized National Guard.”
Before we look at the alleged evidence that the Sheinbaum administration is moving away from the security strategy championed by AMLO, let’s first take a step back.
What is (or was) the ‘Hugs, not bullets’ strategy?
In a nutshell, the “hugs, not bullets,” or “abrazos, no balazos,” strategy is an approach to public security in which addressing the root causes of crime through government social programs is favored over combating criminal groups with force.
The previous government poured huge amounts of money into social programs, including employment schemes that aim to provide work opportunities to disadvantaged young people who might otherwise be tempted to join the ranks of criminal groups.
In support of the “no bullets” aspect of the strategy, López Obrador directed federal security forces to avoid violent confrontations with cartels whenever possible, although clashes still occurred.
López Obrador gave more power to the military, but directed it to avoid direct confrontations with cartels where possible. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
The Sheinbaum administration presented its national security strategy a month ago, and one of its four core tenets is attention to the root causes of crime, i.e. the “hugs” component of AMLO’s approach. The government is maintaining all existing social programs, and adding new ones, as part of its strategy to reduce crime.
What about the ‘not bullets’ part?
The “bloody confrontations” AP referred to in its report are the following:
Mexican soldiers killed 19 suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel after they were attacked by more than 30 gunmen near Culiacán on Oct. 22. No soldiers were killed or wounded. AP reported that the killing of the 19 drug cartel suspects in “a lopsided encounter” in which soldiers “suffered not a scratch themselves … awakened memories of past human rights abuses, like a 2014 incident in which soldiers killed about a dozen cartel suspects after they had surrendered.”
In late October in Guerrero, soldiers killed 17 cartel gunmen, most of whom were Guatemalan. No soldiers were killed in the confrontation, which occurred after the cartel gunmen killed two local police officers in the coastal municipality of Técpan de Galeana.
Does the use of force by federal security forces in the incidents outlined above provide evidence that the government is abandoning the “not bullets” part of AMLO’s security strategy?
“There are traces of a change in tone toward organized crime, but it’s too early to call,” Falko Ernst, a security analyst, told AP.
“It seems unlikely that the Sheinbaum administration would risk a politically inconvenient, steady stream of violent imagery by betting on wholesale balazos [bullets]-only strategy,” he said.
The new administration may be more willing to confront “the most overt” power displays by criminal organizations. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
However, Ernst added that the government may be more willing to confront “the most overt and brazen displays of power” by criminal organizations.
David Saucedo, another security analyst, has a different view.
“The hugs not bullets strategy ended some time ago,” he told AP.
The Associated Press reported that Saucedo pointed to “an increased number of high-level drug arrests and extraditions of suspects” to support his claim.
“The U.S. government pressured Andrés Manuel López Obrador to resume the capture of high-level drug lords,” Saucedo said.
Presenting the government’s new security strategy last month, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said the neutralization of “generators of violence and criminal networks” was an objective, but he didn’t say security forces were prepared to use a heavier hand to achieve it.
Instead, he emphasized the importance of other crime-fighting tools, such as intelligence.
What has Sheinbaum said about her government’s security strategy?
Although her government is perpetuating virtually all of AMLO’s policies as it seeks to build the “second story” of the so-called “fourth transformation” of Mexico, Sheinbaum “has studiously avoided using the ‘hugs, not bullets’ slogan popularized by her predecessor and mentor,” AP reported.
However, she has said on repeated occasions that her government won’t pursue the kind of militarized “war” against drug cartels that former president Felipe Calderón launched shortly after he took office in December 2006.
Those remarks appear to indicate that she doesn’t have any great appetite for increasing the use of force against criminal groups.
Sheinbaum spoke of the risks of using “firepower” to quell cartel infighting in Culiacán, though more than 1000 troops have been sent to the region in recent months. (Cuartoscuro)
After García outlined the national security strategy on Oct. 8, Sheinbaum declared that her government wasn’t seeking to carry out “extrajudicial executions,” and would use “prevention, intelligence and presence” of security forces to combat crime.
While she avoids using the “hugs, not bullets” slogan, it would appear unlikely that the president and commander in chief of Mexico’s armed forces would agree with claims that her government, in its first month in office, has shown it is prepared to use more force than its predecessor to combat the country’s notorious cartels.
A fuller picture of the government’s security strategy, and the extent to which it is prepared to use military and National Guard firepower to respond to Mexico’s many and varied security challenges, will only truly emerge in the months and years ahead.
Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard hopes to speak with Elon Musk about the future of the Tesla factory planned for Nuevo León. (Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro)
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday that he will seek a meeting with Elon Musk to discuss Tesla’s plans for an electric vehicle plant in Mexico.
Asked in a radio interview whether he believed Tesla’s proposed gigafactory project near Monterrey, Nuevo León, wouldn’t go ahead due to Donald Trump’s victory in the United States presidential election, Ebrard said that Musk, Tesla’s CEO, “hasn’t told us anything.”
“… I’m going to arrange a meeting with him soon so that he tells me exactly what he’s thinking,” he said.
Ebrard said that the government will see what it can do to ensure that the multi-billion-dollar project goes ahead.
However, he added that it was “clear” that Tesla’s plans don’t “depend on the decisions we’re taking in Mexico, but rather the general situation of the company, which now has very strong competition from Chinese companies.”
However, he said in July that the project was “paused” because of the possibility that Trump would impose tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico if he won the presidential election in the United States.
That possibility remains live, although it is conceivable that Musk — a massive donor to Trump’s campaign — could negotiate an exemption from any tariffs that a second Trump administration imposes on vehicles made in Mexico.
A decision by Tesla to forge ahead with its planned factory in Nuevo León would be a shot in the arm for the new federal government, which is seeking to capitalize on Mexico’s nearshoring opportunity.
In separate remarks on Thursday, Ebrard said he was “optimistic” about the outcome of the USMCA review scheduled for 2026.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy because nothing is easy, but the relationship with President Trump and his government is going to be very good,” he told reporters in Mexico City after attending a retail industry meeting.
Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign minister during most of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency, said that his confidence that the Mexican government will have a good relationship with the second Trump administration came from the fact that Mexico is the United States’ largest trade partner and that millions of jobs in the U.S. depend on exports to Mexico.
Ebrard expressed confidence that Mexico’s relationship with the second Trump administration would be positive. (Fabián Medina/X)
Ebrard stressed the importance of Mexico, the United States and Canada working together in order to compete with other regions of the world, such as Asia. He said last month that Mexico would “mobilize all legitimate interests in favor of North America” amid the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, which could escalate during Trump’s second term as U.S. president.
The economy minister said Thursday that tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States would only increase costs for U.S. consumers.
Ebrard looks set to play a key role in Mexico’s relationship with the United States during the second Trump presidency, which will commence Jan. 20. As foreign minister in the López Obrador administration, he dealt directly with Trump, including when Mexico was attempting to stave off a tariff threat in 2019.
Citing analysts, Reuters reported on Wednesday that Sheinbaum’s appointment of Ebrard as economy minister “was seen as a powerful signal that Mexico is readying itself with its best political firepower for the USMCA review.”
The bodies of 11 vendors from a small mountain town were found on the outskirts of Guerrero's capital on Wednesday night. (Dassaev Téllez Adame/Cuartoscuro)
Ongoing turf wars between crime groups in the state of Guerrero have produced waves of violence this year, and the conflicts claimed 11 more victims this week in the state capital of Chilpancingo.
The bodies were found in an abandoned pick-up truck that had been set ablaze on the outskirts of the capital on Wednesday night.
The Guerrero Attorney General’s Office offered a million pesos for information that leading to the rescue of Chautipan residents who disappeared in late October. (FGE Guerrero)
Family members identified five of the victims — including three minors — on Thursday, and the local authorities confirmed they were part of a group of 17 who went missing last month. All were residents of Chautipan, a small town in the mountains of Guerrero.
On Nov. 6, the Defense Ministry (Sedena) announced that the criminal organization known as “Los Ardillos” had kidnapped the victims.
This pronouncement came a day after the Army said it was undertaking an all-out search to find the kidnapping victims and two days after one of the missing — a 14-year-old boy — “confessed” under obvious duress that the missing group was acting as look-outs for a rival crime gang.
Crime organizations diversify beyond drug trafficking
Guerrero is one of Mexico’s most violent states, partly due to its location on Pacific coast smuggling routes.
Last year, 1,890 homicides were reported in the state, according to the newspaper El País, while more than 500 murders occurred during just the first three months of 2024. The killings accelerated in October, according to El Sol de México, with 117 recorded in a 30-day period.
Long a focal point of marijuana and poppy cultivation, Guerrero serves as a key transit point for drug shipments traveling north to the United States, and criminal organizations use the port of Acapulco to receive shipments of cocaine from South America.
Chilpancingo, a city of about 280,000 people, has long been the scene of turf battles between two drug gangs, “Los Ardillos” and “Los Tlacos”, according to Insight Crime, a publication specializing in organized crime in Latin America. The intrusion of the “La Familia Michoacana” gang has heightened tensions, producing the latest round of killings in the state.
While Chilpancingo businesses face pressure from extortion, vendors from outside the city have also been affected. (Gobierno de Chilpancingo)
Insight Crime wrote in February that “extortion rackets now extend across a variety of public sectors in Guerrero, from transportation, to local businesses, tour guides, religious events, mining companies, and even small stores selling everyday items.”
Those who refuse to pay up or follow rules sometimes find themselves the targets of violence.
Since the start of 2024, Guerrero has seen an outbreak of murders, which initially targeted taxi and bus drivers — eight of the former and one bus driver were gunned down during the first two months of the year. In October, four more taxi drivers were killed in Acapulco.
The state has also seen a spike in political violence. At least six candidates for public office were killed in Guerrero during the run-up to the national elections on June 2, according to the BBC. And last month, the mayor of Chilpancingo was murdered only a week after being sworn in.
Caught in the crossfire
The latest incident dates back to Oct. 21-22, when 11 Chautipan residents traveled to the municipality of Chilapa to sell dinnerware. When family members lost contact with them, they contacted authorities. Several others went in search of the missing group, but they also failed to return.
When help was not forthcoming, residents of Chautipan staged a protest in front of the state Attorney General’s office (FGE) that lasted six days.
On Nov. 4, Barrera — the 14-year-old boy — was seen bound and injured, appearing to recite a message admitting that the members of his group were involved in drug trafficking.
State authorities immediately offered a 1 million peso reward for information that led to the safe return of the victims. On Tuesday, the Army announced it was sending 400 troops and three military helicopters to carry out a search and rescue operation.
Early on Wednesday morning, authorities found four bodies in an abandoned car in Acapulco, but the FGE has yet to release information regarding their identity.
Later that day, Chilpancingo authorities were alerted to the abandoned Silverado pick-up truck in which the 11 bodies were found.
While the FGE has publicly blamed “Los Ardillos” for the murders, one attorney cited by the newspaper Reforma accused authorities of ensuring impunity for the culprits.
Investigators did not isolate the crime scene and towed the vehicle to FGE headquarters before forensic scientists arrived.
Such failure to follow due process prevents effective prosecution and fuels allegations that some officials are on the payroll of the cartels. The magazine Proceso — citing data from the national statistics institute, INEGI — reported that more than half of Guerrero’s FGE officials failed background checks.
The Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo passenger train line will give residents of Monterrey a direct land route to the U.S. border. (Javier Rentería/Pexels)
Residents of Nuevo León live longer than Mexicans in any other state, and their life expectancy is getting better every year.
According to official figures, life expectancy for the state’s residents was 77.7 as of 2023. The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) found that women’s life expectancy was 80.9, while men’s was 74.8. Life expectancy in the northern border state has increased steadily since 2020 (when average lifespan decreased across the country due to the pandemic).
Nuevo León Health Minister Alma Rosa Marroquín Escamilla said this milestone is a result of a health care model, followed by public and private institutions, that prioritizes quality and safety.
“We’re working all across Nuevo León to develop innovative strategies and new models of care that prioritize community and humane treatment,” Marroquín said Wednesday at the Sixth Symposium on Ethics, Quality and Safety in Health organized by the state government in collaboration with the private health network Auna México.
Currently, the state Health Department serves 1.2 million people through a program called “New Route: Take Care of Your Health,”, Marroquín explained. It guarantees universal access to medical services, including private hospitals and public clinics like the National Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) and the State Workers’ Social Security Institute (ISSSTE). In Mexico, only people with formal jobs can be enrolled in the IMSS or ISSSTE.
When Marroquín took office three years ago, over 1 million people lacked social security benefits including access to public health services, she said. At a national level, nearly 30% of Mexicans lack access to health services, a number that has nearly doubled since 2016. Similarly, nearly half the population is not enrolled in social security, which provides access to public hospitals.
Marroquín said this milestone is a result of a health care model, followed by public and private institutions, that prioritizes quality and safety. (Iván Guzmán/Pexels)
“This symposium, in collaboration with the government of Nuevo León, is a key opportunity to reinforce the importance of focusing our efforts on people, and thus, promote initiatives that generate a real change in health in Mexico,” said Carlos Aguilar Ojeda, General Manager of Auna México.
As part of their collaboration, the public and private health sectors exchange data, opinions and research through several committees created by the Nuevo León Council, a government advisory agency. Still, the minister acknowledged it is a challenge to integrate everyone’s criteria to support the government’s decision-making process.
Life expectancy in Mexico
Wealth might also play a part in Nuevo León residents’ long life expectancy. Along with Mexico City, the northern state consistently ranks as one of Mexico’s wealthiest entities. Numerous studies have shown that being wealthy is linked to longer life expectancy.
Overall, life expectancy in Mexico is at 76 years — 78.4 for women and 72.1 for men. Following Nuevo León, these are the entities with the highest life expectancy in the country:
Baja California Sur (77.2)
Coahuila (77.1)
Aguascalientes Sonora and Mexico City (76.8)
Chihuahua and Baja California (76.6)
Querétaro (76.3)
Colima (76.2)
Sinaloa (76.1)
Jalisco and Quintana Roo (76)
In contrast, Chiapas (73.1), Guerrero (73.2) and Oaxaca (73.4) show the lowest life expectancy. Unsurprisingly, these are Mexico’s poorest states.
Cacao pods on display at the 2022 Festival del Chocolate. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
The southern state of Tabasco is set to host the 13th edition of the Festival del Chocolate, a massive event celebrating chocolate through cultural and culinary activities for both children and adults.
Happening from Nov. 14 to 17, the event will take place at the Parque Tabasco in the capital city of Villahermosa. Last year, the festival attracted more than 100,000 visitors, according to government estimates.
“This festival will showcase the best of our land, our cocoa and our gastronomy,” Katia Ornelas Gil, head of the Economic Development and Competitiveness Ministry of Tabasco said in a press conference.
The event’s guest of honor will be the Organización del Mundo Maya (Maya World Organization), made up of countries with Maya heritage including Honduras, Guatemala and the Mexican states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas. These countries and states will showcase their tourist destinations, cocoa products and culinary traditions. Representatives of these regions will also participate as judges in cultural competitions, and as conference speakers.
Overall, the event will host some 400 exhibitors and 200 cocoa producers, including chocolatiers, cocoa growers, traditional cooks and representatives of artisanal gastronomy, which will offer tastings, workshops, musical performances and pairings related to cocoa.
The festival will also gather chef celebrities like José Ramón Castillo, regarded as Mexico’s best chocolatier, Alana Literas, winner of Mexican cooking series like MasterChef Junior and Top Chef VIP, and Mariano Sandoval, chef of Televisa’s morning program “Hoy,” among others.
Festival activities include guided “multisensory” tours of a cacao farm. (Festival del Chocolate/Facebook)
Beyond chocolate, attendees will see presentations of wines and craft beers that enhance the sensory experience of cocoa.
The event will also host three self-service stores and 15 buyers and producers of cocoa to boost chocolate commercialization.
The National System for the Comprehensive Development of Families (DIF) will organize activities for children to promote knowledge of cocoa. These include painting competitions using chocolate, photography events and a painting exhibition.
For the first time, this year’s edition will host a race at the fairgrounds.
Chocolate is deeply rooted in Mexico’s culture. From the Mayan Nahuatl “xocolatl” or “chicolatl,” pre-Columbian civilizations revered chocolate as a gift from the gods. They consumed it as a hot or cold beverage, used cacao beans as currency and considered it an aphrodisiac.
But despite being the birthplace of cacao, Mexico is not amongst the world’s top producers. According to official figures, Mexico produced over 28,000 tonnes of cacao in 2022, coming in as the 14th largest producer worldwide.
Tabasco, Guerrero and Chiapas are Mexico’s top producers of cacao.
The towering sculptures and murals of Atlixco make the Puebla town a must-see destination for Day of the Dead. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
Day of the Dead is arguably the most dynamic, unique and spectacular showcase of Mexican culture. I’ve spent the last several years enjoying the colorful celebration in Mexico City and, while lovely, it just doesn’t quite capture the family element I’ve been looking for. I decided in September that this would be the year that I’d hit the road in search of golder pastures, heading to a place that represented both sides of the coin: artistic creation and authentic reverence. So I made my way to Puebla, one of Mexico’s most culturally rich states and home to Atlixco, the City of Flowers.
Absolutely dripping in marigolds and Day of the Dead decor, this Pueblo Mágico regularly draws tourists for its year-round warm and humid climate. It’s about a 30-minute drive from Puebla city and boasts magnificent views of the surrounding mountains, including the beloved Popocatépetl volcano. Late October is a particularly attractive time of year to visit, as Atlixcans truly go all out for the holiday.
Also present was Porfirio Díaz, who ruled Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries leading up to the Mexican Revolution.
Cuauhtémoc, the last king of the Mexica Empire, was also represented.
Revolutionary leader Pancho Villa was also represented, with a very literal homage to his nickname, the Centaur of the North.
As is the custom, many shops, hotels and restaurants showcased not just catrinas, but also elaborate altars for visitors to enjoy.
Atlixco’s popularity as a wedding destination led locals to create “La novia de Atlixco,” or the bride of Atlixco.
This classic, stylish catrina greets visitors at the entrance of Casa de la Audiencia, a 16th-century building that now serves as an upscale hotel.
Through social media, visitors uncovered a hidden altar at Xolo Mezcalería.
Artist Omar Rangel’s monumental altar at Molino de San Mateo wasn’t just a creative masterpiece – it included an interactive screen for visitors to project photos of their loved ones.
Rangel also constructed a 5-meter-tall altar made solely of bread.
Just a 40-minute ride away is the charming town of Huaquechula, renowned for its majestic altars. Starting in the town’s main square, visitors can follow the journey of a soul from death to the afterlife.
Start in the graveyard, where “causes of death” are written on simple grave markers. This poor soul seems to have suffered dire consequences after some WhatsApp messages came to light.
Souls make their way along the river Apanohuaia on small, brightly-painted boats, dodging potential dangers with the help of the small but mighty Xolo dog. This is just one of nine harrowing stages the dead must pass in order to reach the afterlife.
A golden path of flowers insinuates that the afterlife has successfully been reached.
Some homes were open for the public to enter and pay their respects.
Upon return to Atlixco, I couldn’t leave without climbing Mirador de Cristal on Cerro de San Miguel. I left my hotel on the outskirts of the Zócalo and made my way uphill. The walk was, by all standards, very pleasant.
Parroquia de Santa María de la Natividad is a few blocks away from Atlixco’s main square and looks like an elaborately-decorated cake.
The arts and crafts market takes over a small alley just off the Zocalo.
Avenida Hidalgo, also known as flower street, is full of shops and eating establishments, all which were decorated to the nines for the holiday.
Atlixco is quite lovely to stroll before 9:00 a.m. It’s a sleepy town, with few cafes opening earlier than that.
There are street murals everywhere, many created by local artist Juan Manuel Martínez Caltenco.
The uphill walk to the Mirador Cristal is lined with scenic views and beautiful flowers.
How to reach Atlixco from Mexico City
Take the E-Bus to Paseo Destino, Puebla, which takes between two to three hours. From here, you can Uber about 30 minutes to the center of Atlixco. Alternatively, you can take the ADO bus line from TAPO to CAPU, Puebla’s central station. From CAPU, take the ORO bus to Atlixco’s city center, about 30 minutes.
Upcoming festivals in Atlixco
Christmas Lights Festival (Brilla Fest): Nov. 15 – Dec. 30 Holy Week (Semana Santa): April 14 – 25
Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.
Yo❤️Animalitos SMA founder Crystal Calderoni and Hannah Hoch, one of the organization’s current leaders, provide loving care and save as many lives as possible at San Miguel de Allende’s Control Canino. (All photos courtesy of Yo❤️Animalitos SMA)
A dedicated group of volunteers has committed to providing loving care and wholesome food to all the dogs that end up in San Miguel de Allende’s municipal pound, Control Canino. The volunteers’ efforts have dramatically increased the percentage of dogs that get adopted from the pound from nearly none to an impressive 42% this year to date. This plucky nonprofit organization, Yo Amo Animalitos SMA (or Yo❤️Animalitos SMA), was founded by Crystal Calderoni in 2022 and is currently run by Hannah Hoch and Michellene Kandert.
Teams of volunteers work three-hour shifts four days per week at Control Canino, providing food, medications and supplies for all the animals, bathing and exercising them, and seeking private veterinary care when needed. They also undertake vigorous outreach efforts to place as many of the animals as possible in loving homes before they must be put down 10 days after their arrival at the pound.
The team works to save abandoned dogs in San Miguel de Allende.
These volunteers’ efforts are especially significant because there has historically been a fraught relationship between San Miguel’s Control Canino and previous volunteers, with some volunteers finding themselves banned from the facility for questioning the welfare of the animals. The municipal government and Yo❤️Animalitos SMA are working to improve that relationship for the good of the dogs — and the few cats — in their care.
Yo❤️Animalitos SMA continues to lobby for a higher standard of care, including the regular provision of food, veterinary care and exercise on the days volunteers are not at the facility and for humane euthanasia methods for those animals who sadly are not adopted before the 10-day limit is up. A liaison officer, Yanis Romero, from the office of the Director of Public Services, Laura Flores, now regularly joins the volunteers at the facility to troubleshoot problems.
“We’re moving in the right direction, due to the strength, passion and heroic efforts of our volunteers,” noted organizer Michellene Kandert.
To the best of the nonprofit’s knowledge, 514 dogs landed at Control Canino from January through October 2024. Of those, the group managed to rescue 212. The majority of the rescued dogs have been adopted, while some are now living in foster care awaiting permanent adoption. Also, 17 dogs (4% of the total) were returned to their owners.
San Miguel de Allende Mayor Mauricio Trejo shakes hands with Naomi Lawler and Crystal Calderoni upon reaching an agreement to provide access for Yo❤️Animalitos SMA volunteers to San Miguel’s Control Canino. Others pictured, from left to right: officials Alejandro Castro, Sofia Álvarez and José Luis Pérez.
Yo❤️Animalitos SMA has achieved this huge increase in adoptions through a concerted social media campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and through other outreach efforts. To learn more about the animals currently available for adoption, visit the group’s Facebook page,Yo❤️Animalitos SMA SMA – Los Voluntarios de Control Canino.
Yo❤️Animalitos SMA has invested approximately US $17,000 in improving the facilities at Control Canino on land generously donated by Arno K. Naumann, an expat who also founded the nonprofit organizationAmigos de Animales de San Miguel de Allende to address the overpopulation of dogs and cats in the area through spay and neuter campaigns. Naumann was a tireless advocate of animal welfare until his death in 2021. Amigos de Animales recently began providing partial reimbursement to Yo❤️Animalitos SMA to defray the expense of sterilizing each animal adopted from Control Canino.
“We hope that someday the government will utilize the building on this land that was intended to become a spay and neuter clinic,” noted Yo❤️Animalitos SMA founder Crystal Calderoni, “because making sterilization a municipal priority is the only effective way to mitigate the need for a kill shelter.”
Yo❤️Animalitos SMA also works with various local groups and individuals such as Lucky Dog and Jessica Princess Pea. By combining their efforts, they find more homes for more dogs.
Yo❤️Animalitos SMA volunteers at San Miguel de Allende’s Control Canino. Leaders Michellene Kandert and Hannah Hoch (with dog) at front center.
The organization has developed strong adoption protocols, accompanying new owners on initial required veterinary visits — and paying for the veterinary services if the adopter is of limited means.
Another important improvement that Yo❤️Animalitos SMA is currently pushing the government to adopt is the use of red biohazard bags for euthanized dogs (since they are not cremated due to lack of a cremation facility). The corpses are currently disposed of in standard black garbage bags which creates a potential biohazard for trash pickers at the municipal dump who scavenge for valuables in the garbage.
How readers can help
Yo❤️Animalitos SMA eagerly welcomes volunteers, who can be helpful in a variety of ways, from directly caring for the animals at Control Canino to hosting fundraisers for the organization. The annual budget required is a minimum of US $25,000 for food, veterinary care, equipment, and some of the transport costs for dogs who are adopted by people living in the U.S. and Canada.
Readers can also support the organization’s efforts with in-kind donations of dog and cat food, collars, leashes, blankets, treats, sweaters for the winter, flea + tick shampoo, and cleaning supplies, and through PayPal donations. Two of the volunteers also host a monthly yoga class in San Miguel de Allende as a fundraiser. To donate, volunteer, and attend or host a fundraiser, contact the organizers throughYo❤️Animalitos SMA SMA – Los Voluntarios de Control Canino.
Based in San Miguel de Allende, Ann Marie Jackson is a writer and NGO leader who previously worked for the U.S. Department of State. Her award-winning novel “The Broken Hummingbird,” which is set in San Miguel de Allende, came out in October 2023. Ann Marie can be reached through her website, annmariejacksonauthor.com.
While she didn't give details, Sheinbaum promised that Mexico's 2025 federal budget will keep social programs but still find significant savings to fund her infrastructure investment plans. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
Foreign investment opportunities, efforts to clean up three highly-contaminated rivers and the 2025 federal budget were among the issues President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her morning press conference on Thursday.
Here is a brief recap of her latest mañanera.
At her press conference Thursday, Sheinbaum told reporters about her meeting with Blackrock CEO Larry Fink. (Presidencia)
Larry Fink ‘agrees that it’s a good time for Mexico’
“There are opportunities for investment, international funds have a place in our country,” she said.
“… We agreed on many issues. For example, we spoke about the development of ports and highways, and about mixed [public-private] investment schemes that were developed with President López Obrador,” Sheinbaum said.
“All that was part of the conversation, and he agrees that it’s a good time for Mexico,” Sheinbaum said, referring to the country’s nearshoring opportunity.
Asked whether Fink made any commitment to invest a certain amount of money in Mexico, Sheinbaum said that they didn’t speak in particular about “figures.”
In 2023, flooding in Tula, Hidalgo, in September 2023 required the federal government to repair the Tula River in Tula, Hidalgo. The Mexico City metropolitan area sends its wastewater to this part of the river. (Francisco Villeda/Cuartoscuro)
Conagua working to clean up 3 rivers
Sheinbaum said that the National Water Commission (Conagua) has begun projects to clean up Mexico’s “most contaminated” rivers: the Tula River in Hidalgo; the Atoyac River in Puebla; and the Lerma-Santiago River in Jalisco.
The commission is working to determine all the causes of contamination, she said.
“There are industrial sources of contamination,” Sheinbaum said, adding that companies that are breaching regulations are being forced to comply.
“Companies that discharge [contaminants] to drains or to a river or to any body of water have to comply with a norm, and that norm requires them to have treatment plants,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that some municipal authorities are also contaminating rivers with untreated wastewater.
Cleaning up contaminated rivers is “very important work and there obviously has to be resources to be able to do all the projects,” she said.
“But it is fundamental because … we have to have healthy rivers,” Sheinbaum said.
2025 budget is ‘practically ready’
Sheinbaum noted that the government’s proposed 2025 budget has to be sent to Congress by Nov. 15.
“Obviously the social programs are maintained, there are resources for new programs, for education, for health care,” she said.
“There are savings in some areas, very significant ones too, that allow us to direct investment to trains, highways and water [projects],” Sheinbaum said.
“The [budget] package is practically ready. We’ve been working on it since before we came into government,” she said.
