Christmas in Guadalajara will bring another special theme park

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November 12, 2019

Dredging has begun on the canal in southern Quintana Roo.

The Quintana Roo government has begun dredging to extend the Zaragoza canal in order to spur marine tourism in the region.

The project will also boost trade by connecting the state capital Chetumal to the community of Xcalak.

Governor Carlos Joaquín González and military authorities inaugurated the project at the naval base located at the entrance to the canal. He said that opening a navigable route between the Caribbean and the bay of Chetumal is a strategic economic action.

“This project will allow new navigation routes that reinforce our commercial and tourism ties with Belize and all of Central America,” he said.

The canal will be extended 4.8 kilometers to connect the Caribbean Sea with the bay of Chetumal, bringing its total length to 6.3 kilometers. It will also be deepened to three meters.

On February 17, 2017, the state obtained the titles to the land on which the canal will be built, an area of approximately 339 hectares.

So far, 29 million pesos (US $1.5 million) have been provided for the canal project.

The state has requested another 400 million pesos (US $20.7 million) for the project for 2020.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Thieves blow up Guanajuato bank machine in latest of a string of thefts

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November 12, 2019

Thieves used explosives to grab the cash from this Banorte ATM. — Explosives were used to grab the cash from this Banorte ATM.

Thieves in Guanajuato have found a new income stream in bank machines although no one is saying how much cash they’re pulling in.

Since May, 14 ATM machines have been robbed in the wee hours of the morning in the municipalities of Celaya, Salvatierra, Irapuato and Guanajuato. In 11 of those cases, the thieves carried off the machines whole in pickup trucks.

At 3:37am on Monday, explosives were used to open a Banorte ATM outside a government workers’ (ISSSTE) hospital in Guanajuato.

The explosion caught the attention of private security guards at the hospital. But when they went to investigate, the thieves tied them up and stole their wallets and phones.

The incident was just the latest in a string of bank machine robberies.

On November 6, a group of armed thieves stole two ATMs — one from Santander and the other from BBVA — from inside a Bodega Aurrera supermarket in Celaya. Using vehicles to ram the metal security doors open, they also got away with televisions and cell phones.

On September 27, a Banorte ATM inside an ISSSTE clinic in Celaya was damaged when armed men attempted to open it and take it away using chains, but were unsuccessful. However, a robbery of two ATMs from a shopping center in Celaya was successful on September 6.

On August 26, thieves took four minutes to rob an HSBC bank machine in Celaya using chains and pickup trucks, without being confronted by police.

Thieves in Salvatierra used similar tactics to steal two machines from a Banorte bank in the city center on August 15, and two bank machines were stolen in Irapuato in May and June.

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

Karime López is first female Mexican chef to win Michelin star

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November 12, 2019

Michelin-winning chef López. — Michelin-winning chef Karime López.

Karime López has become Mexico’s first woman chef to be awarded a Michelin star.

Head chef at the restaurant Gucci Osteria in Florence, Italy, owned by famous Italian restaurateur Massimo Bottura, López was the only woman in the Italian entries to be awarded a star this year.

A post on the restaurant’s Instagram account to celebrate the achievement said López’s menu “challenges the traditional perception of Italian cuisine, creating playful takes on classic dishes.”

“I am so happy for the entire team at Gucci Osteria . . . this award is a tribute to them and we are thrilled that our passion and commitment have been recognized in this prestigious guide,” López was quoted in the post. “I will continue to challenge myself and to create new experiences for our guests and I am excited for what the next year will bring.”

With this prestigious recognition, the young chef joins the ranks of other illustrious Mexican chefs who have also been awarded a Michelin star, including Carlos Gaytán, Indra Carrillo, Paco Méndez, Cosme Aguilar and Roberto Ruíz.

A native of Querétaro, López has worked in the kitchens of world-famous chefs such as Enrique Olvera of Pujol in Mexico City; Virgilio Martínez of Central in Lima, Peru; René Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark; and Seiji Yamamoto of RyuGin in Tokyo.

She is married to the Japanese chef Takahiko Kondo, head chef at Bottura’s three-Michelin-star restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. The two met while working together at Central, in Lima.

Source: El Universal (sp)

CORRECTION: The Copenhagen restaurant where López worked was incorrectly identified in the previous version of the story.

Parents of the 43 missing students give AMLO 2 months to produce results

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November 12, 2019

Parents of the missing students outside the National Palace after meeting with the president. — Parents of the Ayotzinapa students outside the National Palace after meeting with the president.

The parents of the 43 students who disappeared in Guerrero in 2014 have given President López Obrador two months to produce results or they will increase the intensity of their protests.

After a meeting on Monday with the president and other federal officials, a lawyer for the parents said that a clear message was sent to the government: police involved in the students’ disappearance and former officials who botched the investigation must face justice.

“They demanded the arrest of the people responsible,” said Vidulfo Rosales.

“There is . . . sufficient evidence to arrest several individuals, mainly former officials who participated in the events. We ask for the police officers who participated in the aggression [against the students] and the officials who carried out the investigation poorly to be arrested,” he said.

“The commitment of the government is that there will be results in January; we hope that’s the case. If not, the tone of the protests will be raised.”

Mario César González Contreras, father of one of the missing Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College students, expressed a similar sentiment, stating that if there are no arrests by January 2020, “things are going to get complicated.”

Human rights undersecretary Alejandro Encinas, who in September slammed the decision of a judge to release 21 municipal police officers detained in connection with the students’ disappearance, told reporters that the federal Attorney General’s Office is preparing to summon former officials who were involved in the Ayotzinapa investigation.

They include former attorney general Jesús Murillo Karam and former Criminal Investigation Agency chief Tomás Zerón, who Encinas said were among the officials who “crafted the poorly-named historical truth.”

The previous government’s “historical truth” – that the students were intercepted by corrupt municipal police and handed over to the Guerreros Unidos crime gang who killed them and burned their bodies – has been widely rejected.

Encinas said the special prosecutor’s office that was given the task of conducting a new investigation into the case will present a report in December with its first findings.

He expressed disappointment that the parents of the missing students have set such a tight deadline for the government to produce results and bemoaned the release of another suspect in the case, alleged Guerreros Unidos hitman Marco Antonio Ríos Berber.

Zerón, left, and Murillo: parents want to see them in jail.

Ríos, also known as “El Cuasi,” was one of the first four people arrested in connection with the students’ disappearance. He admitted to killing the students, burning their bodies and disposing of their remains.

Ríos also said that he purchased fuel that was used to douse the students’ bodies prior to their alleged cremation. In addition, authorities in Guerrero found more than 60 photos on his phone that showed people that had been beaten, tortured, murdered and buried in hidden graves.

However, a Tamaulipas judge freed Ríos in late 2014 due to insufficient evidence and he fled to the United States, violating the conditions of his release. He was recently deported from the United States and recaptured in Mexico but a Guerrero judge released him late last month on a bail of 10,000 pesos ($520).

Encinas said that 77 of 147 people arrested in connection with the Ayotzinapa case have now been released from prison.

He described the decision of judges to release suspects as “very regrettable” and said the government hopes that no other people accused of involvement in the students’ disappearance are set free.

“We hope that the Attorney General’s Office . . . strengthens the cases . . . against the people who are [still] detained,” Encinas said.

There has been speculation that the alleged masterminds of the crime, the former mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca Velázquez, and his wife, María de los Ángeles Pineda Villa, could be released from prison because they have been exonerated of all but one charge brought against them by prosecutors in the previous federal government.

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp), Publimetro (sp)

Suspects arrested in LeBarón massacre; FBI agents join investigation

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November 11, 2019

One of the three vehicles caught in the ambush.

Suspects have been arrested in connection with the massacre of nine members of the LeBarón family in Sonora last week, Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said on Monday, but declined to reveal the name of the criminal organization to which the alleged perpetrators belong.

Federal authorities said last week that they believed that La Línea, a gang with links to the Juárez Cartel, may have mistaken the vehicles in which the murdered women and children were traveling as those of a splinter cell of the Sinaloa Cartel known as Los Salazar. Family members rejected the hypothesis.

Durazo told reporters today that the case is being handled by the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and its counterpart in Sonora and that it wasn’t his place to provide additional information about the people who have been arrested.

He also said the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is in Mexico and working with Mexican investigators. The three women and six children killed were all United States citizens.

Speaking at the presidential press conference, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said that Mexico had invited the FBI to participate in the investigation.

“. . . The FGR is interested in the participation of the FBI because there are resources and weapons [involved] whose origin is the United States . . .” he said.

As United States citizens were killed in the attack, there is no reason not to allow the FBI to take part, Ebrard said, adding that Mexico has sought similar involvement in cases in the U.S. involving Mexican citizens, such as the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in August.

The foreign secretary stressed that the FBI would not replace the FGR at the head of the investigation and explained that the don’t have permission to be armed or to carry out inquiries without informing Mexican authorities.

Ebrard also said the government would stipulate how many FBI agents can come to Mexico to support the investigation and how long they can stay.

Alex LeBarón, a former federal lawmaker, said the participation of the United States in the investigation was necessary because Mexico is going through “a serious rule of law crisis.”

Members of the LeBarón family, part of a breakaway fundamentalist Mormon community that has lived in northern Mexico for more than a century, said last week that they would not be intimated into leaving the country.

But about 100 people from La Mora, the small Mormon community where most of the victims of the barbarous attack lived, and Colonia LeBarón in Chihuahua decided to leave and traveled to the United States in a convoy of 18 vehicles on Saturday.

“They want to be in the United States to feel safe,” said Julian LeBarón, a community leader and relative of the murder victims.

Some of the families were headed to Tucson and others to Phoenix, the Associated Press reported.

Bryce Langford, whose mother Dawna was killed in the attack, told The Arizona Daily Star that members of the communities had been considering moving even before last Monday’s ambush due to increasing violence in the area.

“The assets that they’ve acquired down there are tremendous,” he said. “And to have to up and leave from one day to the next and leave all that behind, there’s definitely a lot of sad people here.”

The exodus of the families came just hours after the funeral of Christina Langford, the last of the nine victims to be laid to rest. According to children who survived the attack, she got out of her vehicle and raised her hands to alert the attackers that they were firing at women and children. She was shot and killed anyway.

Members of the National Guard have been deployed to both La Mora and Colonia LeBarón, where the remaining members of the community are determined to fight for justice.

“When we face a tragic event like this, we don’t run,” Lienzo Widmar, a cousin of one of the murdered women, told CBS news. “We seek answers. We try to solve it.”

Source: Milenio (sp), Infobae (sp), CBS News (en), The Associated Press (en)

Revitalization planned for unique stained glass mural and botanical garden

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November 11, 2019

México state's Cosmovitral wants to see more millennials.

The second most popular tourist attraction in México state after the ancient city of Teotihuacán is seeking to boost visitor numbers by tapping into a segment of the market that is notoriously tricky to crack: millennials.

The Cosmovitral Botanical Garden in the historic center of Toluca features an elaborate stained-glass mural by deceased México state artist Leopoldo Flores that tells the story of man and his relationship with the universe. It is also home to 400 different species of plants.

More than 360,000 visitors have enjoyed the enclosed garden this year, including foreigners from countries such as Japan, Israel and Spain, but director Alejandra Abraham Jarquín would like to see more young people coming through the doors.

“. . . Generations like the famous millennials and other young people don’t know [the garden]. For that reason, I think that the time has come to freshen up its image in order to attract people aged 30 and below . . . It will be a little complicated but not impossible,” she said.

Abraham said that public interest in the Cosmovitral has waned since 2015, the year after former United States president Barack Obama, ex-prime minister of Canada Stephen Harper and former Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto visited during a leaders’ summit in the México state capital.

To stimulate new interest, the way in which the botanical garden/museum is marketed will be given a makeover, the director told the newspaper El Universal without offering further details.

Abraham also said that Cosmovitral management have asked the Toluca government for help to clean up the area that surrounds the garden.

The presence of street vendors has made it difficult to get into the attraction and more and more rubbish is accumulating in nearby fountains, which are also used as public bathrooms by people who come to Toluca’s downtown to participate in protests, she said.

“What we’re seeking to do is position the museum among the main sights for national and international tourists . . .” Abraham explained.

Anyone who visits the Cosmovitral can expect a memorable experience. Flores’ mural – which extends around the perimeter of the 3,500-square-meter structure and across its ceiling – is made up of 45 tonnes of stained glass divided into 500,000 separate fragments.

Among the themes explored in the work are the dualities of day and night, man and woman and good and evil.

Abraham said that 28 different colors of glass were used in the mural, 80% of which are shades that were developed abroad. If a section of glass breaks or is damaged, dyes often have to be imported to replace it, she explained.

The Cosmovitral opened in 1990 but construction of the art nouveau building began in 1909 as part of a range of projects to commemorate the centenary of Mexico’s independence from Spain.

It was inaugurated in 1933 and functioned as a market for 40 years before undergoing an extensive renovation in order to be converted into an indoor botanical garden and museum.

The building was renovated again in 2015 with a 31-million-peso (US $1.6 million at today’s exchange rate) investment.

New plant species were introduced and an additional Japanese-inspired space featuring a pond filled with koi was added.

The Cosmovitral is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:00am to 6:00pm. Entry is just 10 pesos for adults and 5 pesos for children.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Guinness confirms 102-meter taco is world’s largest

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November 11, 2019

The state of Querétaro earned the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest carnitas taco on Sunday.

Stretching an entire city block, the enormous taco measured 102 meters long and weighed in at 1,200 kilograms of tortillas and 1,507 kilograms of seasoned pork meat.

The organizer of the event, Alejandro Paredes Reséndiz, said it began in 2011 when he made a promise to his uncle — head of the Querétaro gastronomical council — that he would make the world’s largest carnitas taco.

He researched the most consumed food product in the state and found that it was carnitas.

“I recognize that there are other states in the country, like Michoacán, where they make delicious carnitas, but here in Querétaro there are seven different styles,” he said.

After it was measured, the taco was served to 15,000 spectators.

He said the Guinness organizing committee had declined five previous applications for the record, waiting until event organizers had fulfilled all the requirements necessary to qualify for a world record.

“We used certified workers with history in Querétaro,” said Reséndiz. “We complied with all the regulations of the Guinness contract. All of the carnitas were made today, everyone had the proper equipment and, most importantly, we shared the food with all who attended.”

The event took eight months of planning, utilized local carnitas producers and gathered 15,000 people to witness the spectacle and then eat the results.

Guinness World Records does not award prize money, but Reséndiz said any money earned as a result of the record will be donated.

“If we earn even one peso, it will be donated to the DIF family services center, because Querétaro should be the best state in Latin America,” he said.

For Reséndiz, the achievement was not only a world record, but also a personal best.

“I broke my own record because the last taco I made was 75 meters long. It was registered, but not certified. I hope that all 15,000 people can eat. We began at six in the morning and we won’t go home until the volunteers feed the visitors until the taco is gone,” he said.

Carnitas are made by cooking the different parts of the pig in giant copper or stainless steel pots. The meat is traditionally seasoned with a mineral salt called tequesquite, but there are many different regional variations.

Source: Infobae (sp)

Always keep a bowl of limes at hand to use in all kinds of dishes

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Janet Blaser

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November 11, 2019

Limes have become such a standard part of my regular diet that I forget how “exotic” they are. Here in Mexico, they’re cheap and plentiful and used in every kind of dish imaginable.

I can go to the Sunday tianguis (flea market) and get a kilo bag for 10 pesos, and while they’ll cost a bit more in a regular grocery store, they’re still cheap. For me, they’ve replaced lemons in, well, everything, and when sometimes I buy an actual limon amarillo it kind of tastes strange now.

Just to be clear, I’m talking about the little round bright-green limes found here, which are Persian limes, a cross between a regular lemon and a key lime, which has a thinner, yellower skin. Also called Tahiti limes, they’re actually the most commonly grown lime in the world.

So why do they cost so much in the United States and Canada? Don’t get me started.

How do I use them? Let’s see — squeezed over fish or shrimp or any kind of taco, in guacamole, salsas and marinades, in limeade (the ubiquitous limonada), with mineral water for fizz or plain agua for a less festive drink, in ceviches, in cooked fruit desserts, in cocktails, micheladas and ice-cold cervezas.

The list goes on and on. I always have a bowl of them in my fridge, ready to use with whatever. I’ve even been known to squeeze a little fresh lime juice on cuts or scrapes (ouch!) to speed healing.

One word of caution: Don’t substitute packaged lime juice, no matter how cute that little plastic green container is. It won’t taste or act the same as fresh lime juice.

Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp

Perfect for entertaining or when you want a special dinner – or just because shrimp are so plentiful in Mexico! Do use the best quality honey you can afford to be sure you’re getting the real thing and not some sort of corn-syrup-with-honey-added product.

1 cup high-quality honey
½ cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
¼ cup lime juice (about 4 small limes)
1 lb. peeled shrimp
¼ cup butter (I prefer President or Lur-Pak brands)
1 head broccoli
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, minced

Whisk together honey, soy sauce, garlic, and lime juice. Place shrimp and ⅓-½ cup of honey mixture in a zip-top bag (enough to coat shrimp well). Remove air from bag, seal and marinate for 30-40 minutes in refrigerator. Cut broccoli into bite-sized pieces and steam until tender but still firm. Set aside.

Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp makes a special dinner.

Melt butter in a skillet, add remaining honey mixture and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce thickens. Discard marinade, add shrimp to pan and cook till shrimp starts to turn pink, about 1½ minutes. Add broccoli and cook a few minutes more till broccoli is hot and shrimp is cooked. Add cilantro. Garnish with lime wedges and serve over rice. Makes 3-4 servings.

Fresh Lime Cake

This light, fluffy cake is delicious plain, but feel free to add a simple vanilla frosting.

1½ cups sugar
2 Tbsp. lime zest
2 cups flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
¾ cup vegetable oil
⅔ cup fresh lime juice
¾ cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 176°C (350°F). Grease and flour one 9″x13″ pan or two 8″ cake pans.

Combine sugar, lime zest, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mixing well. Add eggs, vanilla, vegetable oil and lime juice and beat well. Stir in sour cream. Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake for 22-28 minutes, until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Citrus Cooler

Lemonade with a twist – of lime, orange and grapefruit – makes for a super refreshing drink that’s easy to make. I sometimes add minced fresh basil or mint for a different taste.

10 limes, juiced
2 oranges, juiced
1-2 pink grapefruits, juiced
7 cups water
1/3-½ cup sugar
Optional: mineral water (agua mineral)

Combine all ingredients in large pitcher and stir well to dissolve sugar. Chill and serve. If using mineral water, decrease regular water by half, fill glass with ice and citrus mixture, and add mineral water to fill.

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.

Nuevo León prison opens its doors to reveal 76 years of history

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November 11, 2019