Voting to elect delegates who will choose a new national leader of Mexico’s ruling party has been marred by violence for a second consecutive weekend.
Meetings of Morena party members in 17 districts in Hidalgo, Colima and México state were suspended on Sunday due to acts of violence.
In Huejutla, Hidalgo, a man who was demanding to be let into a meeting at which party members were voting fired a gunshot into the air before fleeing. He was later arrested. In Manzanillo, Colima, a man tried to steal a box of ballot papers, triggering a brawl between party members.
Meetings of 15 México state districts, including Ecatepec, Zumpango, Chalco, Nezahualcóyotl, Los Reyes and Coacalco, were canceled due to violence or the threat of it.
Party members came to blows in Nezahualcóyotl while armed persons were seen outside the meeting location in Coacalco, the newspaper La Jornada reported.
The violence in the three states came a week after similar incidents at Morena party meetings in Guerrero, Tlaxcala and Mexico City.
Four candidates are vying for the national leadership of Morena, a party founded by President López Obrador.
Incumbent Morena president Yeidckol Polevnsky is seeking re-election but faces challenges from the party’s leader in the lower house of Congress, Mario Delgado, former Morena National Council president Bertha Luján and Alejandro Rojas, a former secretary of tourism in Mexico City.
Polevnsky said last week that there were irregularities with the Morena party membership list and that the culling of names was necessary to ensure that only true members vote in the district ballots.
She said on Wednesday that those ballots would be suspended until the registry was reviewed but the party’s Honesty and Justice Commission said hours later that wasn’t the case. Polevnsky also claimed that one of her fellow candidates for the national presidency of the party was responsible for the irregularities and violence but didn’t disclose who.
All four candidates have criticized the irregularities and violence in local Morena party meetings.
Candidate Polevnsky claims a rival is behind irregularities in the party’s membership list.
Martha Singer, a professor of political science at the National Autonomous University, told the news agency EFE that the situation within the five-year-old party is “very complicated.”
“It’s a party with very little institutionalization and that has generated a lot of tension and even aggression within it,” she said.
The tension has been further heightened by the competition for the Morena party leadership.
Singer highlighted that whoever wins the November election will play a key role in determining the candidates for the 2021 mid-term elections and those for state governors.
The national leader will also have the capacity to influence the selection of the party’s candidate for the 2024 presidential election, she said.
Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and Morena’s leader in the Senate, Ricardo Monreal, have been touted as potential presidential candidates.
The rise of Morena has been meteoric. Apart from providing the president, the party leads a coalition with majorities in both houses of federal Congress and is also in power in Mexico City and several states.
“It’s a party with a lot of political power but with a lot of institutional weakness at the same time,” Singer said.
She contended that López Obrador’s decision to distance himself from Morena since he was sworn in as president last December in an attempt to avoid being tarnished by its internal politics has left the party without moral leadership and triggered a “power struggle” between competing factions.
The president claimed last week that he knew little about the problems in the party.
“They hardly . . . inform me about what’s happening in Morena. But when someone wants to address the issue, I immediately say that it’s nothing to do with me, that I don’t care, I’m not interested,” López Obrador said.
International mining companies have lost interest in investing in Mexico due to over-regulation and insecurity among other factors, says the CEO of Canada’s Torex Gold.
“Mining companies don’t feel comfortable in places where governments change the rules of the game,” Fred Stanford told the newspaper El Universal during the International Mining Conference in Acapulco, Guerrero.
He cited excessive regulation, difficulty to obtain permits, higher taxes, mine blockades, weak rule of law and insecurity problems due to the presence of organized crime as factors that have caused Mexico to lose its attraction as an investment destination.
Stanford said that Torex, which operates the Media Luna gold mine in Guerrero, has had to sell off some of its Mexico mining interests because investors want to reduce their exposure in the country.
He said the company is unlikely to open a new mine in Mexico any time soon but added that it “could return if the [business] environment is right.”
Total investment in blue; exploration investment in orange. Secretariat of Economy/El universal
The Toronto-based CEO said there are several countries that are currently more attractive for mining investment, citing Canada, the United States, Australia, Chile, Peru and certain African nations.
“. . . The rule of law is predictable . . . They’re countries where there are no concerns about security and tax issues,” Stanford said.
In contrast, Mexico’s government has done nothing to put an end to blockades at Peñasquito – the country’s largest gold mine, raised taxes on mining companies and changed the rules of the game for the sector, he said, adding “it appears that there is no commitment to mining.”
Stanford said it was concerning that “everyone thinks the gold is theirs: communities, government, organized crime, the farmer . . .”
“They don’t care about how you extract it as long as you leave them something,” he said.
The CEO said that Torex will spend US $15 million this year to explore a site adjacent to Media Luna but asserted that if the company hadn’t committed to investing in the mine, it might not be in Mexico at all.
Torex CEO Stanford, left, speaks at a press conference last year.
Francisco Quiroga, undersecretary for mining at the Economy Secretariat, rejected Stanford’s assertion that Mexico is no longer attractive for mining investment, although he did acknowledge that the country has lost some competitiveness.
“Mexico continues to be attractive and has enormous mining potential,” he said.
“Torex itself has very significant investment programs and has invested in places with a high level of complexity such as Guerrero,” Quiroga added.
“We’re working to improve the competitive position,” the official said, asserting that every problem the mining industry faces is being dealt with by the government.
The recent violence in Culiacán, Sinaloa, has revealed that President López Obrador’s strategy to bolster social programs is inadequate to combat Mexico’s high crime levels, according to a former national security spokesman and interior secretary in the government of Felipe Calderón.
“The lesson to be learned [from Culiacán] is that maybe this idea of social programs — yes, they can help some at-risk populations — but they don’t really get at the criminal cells, the youths being captured and threatened by criminals,” said Alejandro Poiré in an interview with the newspaper El Financiero.
“It’s not enough; this strategy isn’t sufficiently focused, and we have to make a much bigger investment in reconstructing the rule of law, and this administration can do it because it has the majority in both houses of Congress,” said Poiré, now dean of the Monterrey Technological Institute’s School of Social Sciences and Government.
Mayor Jesús Estrada Ferreiro appealed to the public on Saturday to turn out and show solidarity at Sunday’s march.
“All citizens are called to the ‘Brave Culiacán’ march . . . let’s show that Culiacán is a city of peace, a city of order,” he said in a video posted on Facebook.
Violent clashes broke out in Culiacán on October 17 when government forces arrested Olvidio Guzmán, son of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaqíun “El Chapo” Guzmán. However, Guzmán the younger was released after the fighting began in order to safeguard citizens from further violence.
Seasoned cooks know without thinking that certain combinations just “work:” things like apples and cinnamon, say, or tomatoes, basil and delicate mozzarella cheese.
In Mexico, though, you’re likely to encounter lots of new veggies, fruits, grains, spices and herbs — and new ways of combining them with more familiar ingredients — that will stretch your culinary acumen in delightful ways.
Papaya is one of those things that have a very different personality in Mexico than we foreigners are used to. Who knew there were so many varieties, with such subtly different flavors and textures?
Papayas here are a far cry from the grown-for-commercial-shipping varieties you get up north. They’re kind of like tomatoes; those grown for export will never have the flavor or mouth-feel that a locally grown, sun-ripened papaya will. Trust me on this.
Some taste like a vanilla pear, but with a softer, almost melt-in-your-mouth pillowy feel; others are more firm, with more melon-like flavors.
Try a papaya salsa for something a little different.
Without going into the different names and seasons, you can explore the world of papayas by asking the vendor where they’re from, and by choosing fruits with different shapes (which vary wildly, from long and tuber-like to rounder, eggplant shaped and everything in between). Some will have seeds; others won’t.
Another important thing to know is that papayas must be ripe – very ripe — to show off their best flavor. How to tell? Local growers and housewives I’ve asked all say the same thing: papayas should look almost rotten on the outside to have the sweetest flavor. Sounds weird, I know, but try it and see.
The first recipe has become a stand-by for me during the summer months when it’s just too hot to cook but I still want a filling meal. Using some of the most popular ingredients in Mexican cuisine, this salad is cool and refreshing and the tangy-sweet flavors and textures are deeply satisfying.
It’s best if you cook the beans yourself, but if that’s not possible, ask at your local tiendita for “frijoles de la olla” – home-cooked beans.
Bean, basil, papaya & rice salad
Salad
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
1-½ cups cooked Peruana or Mayacoba beans*, drained, liquid saved
3 cups cooked Basmati rice
2 large carrots, shredded
2 tomatoes, diced
¼-½ ripe papaya, cut into small cubes
Dressing
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
¼ tsp. each salt & pepper
2-3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Mix together all dressing ingredients. Toss onions, beans, rice, carrots, papaya and tomatoes together. Pour dressing over all, stir and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Makes lots, 6-8 servings.
* If these beans aren’t available any bean or mixture of beans will do.
Papaya salsa
1 medium papaya, seeded, peeled & chopped fine
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped fine
1 onion, chopped fine
6 Tbsp. lime juice (4-6 small limes)
¼ cup fresh pineapple juice
¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded, chopped fine (or to taste)
Optional: 1 cup cooked or canned black beans
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate until served; use within eight hours.
Janet Blaser has been a writer, editor and storyteller and 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 in paperback and as an ebook on Amazon.
President López Obrador claimed on Sunday that by working 16-hour days he will effectively serve two terms in office by the time his presidency ends in 2024.
Speaking to members of indigenous communities in Sonora, López Obrador said the long hours will enable his administration to make a real change to Mexico that will be “very difficult” for future governments to wind back.
“We work 16 hours and use eight to rest. If we do it that way we’ll have enough time [to change Mexico] and it won’t be necessary . . . to be re-elected. I’m a supporter of effective suffrage, no re-election,” López Obrador said using a slogan of revolutionary hero Francisco Madero.
“If the people want it, I’ll get to 24 [hours a day] but as we’re working 16 hours a day, it will be as if we did two six-year terms of government in one,” he declared.
AMLO and Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich.
López Obrador said that 16-hour days will allow his administration to satisfy people’s “hunger and thirst for justice.”
He also renewed his commitment to prioritize the nation’s poor and indigenous peoples.
“. . . The majority of Mexicans support giving preference to indigenous communities, an applause for the true solidarity of all Mexicans,” López Obrador said.
“A lot of progress” has been made since the government took office almost 11 months ago, the president added, emphasizing that nine of 10 indigenous households are receiving financial support.
He also said that he is committed to working with the Sonora government to complete projects to meet local infrastructure needs such as the widening of the Hermosillo-Bahía de Kino highway.
“The security cabinet took the right decision and I supported that decision because it was better to let an alleged criminal free than place the lives of many people at risk,” López Obrador said.
After Guzmán López was arrested in Culiacán, Sinaloa, on October 17, Sinaloa Cartel gunmen carried out a wave of attacks across the northern city that terrorized residents and left at least 13 people dead.
The chairman of the Senate Justice Committee, Julio Menchaca, told the newspaper El Financiero that the marijuana business “is a multibillion-peso industry.”
“. . . I spoke with Finance Secretary [Arturo Herrera] and he told me that his office calculates 18 billion pesos” is what legalization could mean in tax revenues in 2020, Menchaca said.
Such projections give lawmakers less worry about the budget for the creation of the Mexican Cannabis Institute, which is expected to be up and running by January 1, 2021.
Senator Menchaca said that a number of Senate committees have hastened efforts to get the bill passed on the Senate floor this week.
Meanwhile, Senate President Mónica Fernández is soliciting the Supreme Court for an extension of a few days to approve the recreational use of cannabis, the deadline for which was October 24.
Menchaca highlighted that the preliminary documentation of the law circulated last week establishes the legalization of the plant in three domains: recreational, industrial and medical research.
He also said that the process of granting licenses should give preference to rural Mexican farmers over foreign businesses. However, after reading the documentation, he said “it appears to be interpreted the other way around.”
The cannabis institute will be responsible for coordinating the plant’s transition from the informal economy into legality. To do so, it will create mechanisms by which the national market will be supplied with cannabis plants and seeds.
It estimates that the number of recreational consumers of marijuana could reach 7.2 million, which would represent as much as US $5 billion in annual sales.
President López Obrador, or AMLO as he is commonly known, is approaching the completion of his first year in office.
To help readers gain a better understanding of the man and his administration — from an alphabetical standpoint, at least — Mexico News Daily has prepared a glossary of common key words and phrases of the president and his government during their first 10 ½ months in office.
Formerly the official residence of the president, it was converted into a cultural center open to the public after López Obrador decided not to move in to the opulent Mexico City mansion.
Los Pinos: from presidential home to cultural complex.
During the presidential campaign, AMLO claimed that Los Pinos “has bad vibes and is haunted” because of the corrupt past presidents who lived there. However, allowing common people to enter shortly after he took office cleansed it, he declared.
The presidential initially lived in his own home in southern Mexico City but more recently moved into an apartment within the National Palace, the seat of executive power.
M is for Morena:
The Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (National Regeneration Movement), or Morena, is the president’s leftist political party.
López Obrador founded Morena in 2011 as a non-profit organization but it wasn’t until 2014 that it was registered as a political party. Its rise has been meteoric.
Morena governors are now in power in five states, while federally the party leads a three-party coalition that has a majority in both houses of Congress, meaning that the government faces limited opposition to its legislative agenda.
The party’s slogan is La Esperanza de México (The Hope of Mexico).
N is for National Guard:
Officially inaugurated on June 30 and deployed nationally at the start of July, the National Guard is the centerpiece of the federal government’s national security plan.
The creation of the new security force was heavily criticized by human rights groups, which argued that its deployment would only perpetuate the failed militarized crimefighting strategy implemented by past president Felipe Calderón and continued by Enrique Peña Nieto.
The guard, which has a civilian command but a large number of former soldiers in its ranks, has been deployed to 150 regions across Mexico but has not made much of an impact in terms of reducing homicide numbers.
Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez said this month that she was confident that the Guard would achieve positive results in the fight against violence and security “very soon” but stressed that municipal and state police forces also must be strengthened in order to pacify the country.
National Guard, crimefighting security force.
O is for otros datos (other data):
Yo tengo otros datos (I have other data) is a phrase the president has used on repeated occasions when challenged with statistics or other information that is critical of him or his government.
Statistics show infrastructure spending is down? AMLO has otros datos. Unemployment is up . . . the president has otros datos. Economic growth is screeching to a halt? Guess what: López Obrador has “other data.”
P is for PRD:
López Obrador ran for president twice as the candidate for the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, losing to Felipe Calderón in 2006 and Enrique Peña Nieto in 2012.
He also represented the left-of-center party as Mexico City mayor between 2000 and 2005.
The split between AMLO and the PRD was said to be amicable but in 2014, the former accused the latter of treason because of its support for the Pact for Mexico, the multi-party agreement that was steered by the administration of President Peña Nieto.
In turn, the PRD hasn’t been shy of criticizing López Obrador now that he holds the most powerful position in the country.
The party said the president was undoing reforms implemented over the past 30 years that were designed to keep the power of the state in check.
Q is for quirky turns of phrase:
Prensa fifí (posh or elitist press): An umbrella term the president uses to describe media that is critical of him or his government. López Obrador often refers to Mexico City-based newspaper Reforma as prensa fifí and just last week clashed with one of its reporters when asked whether he would concede that the government’s security strategy is a failure.
AMLO and the prensa fifí.
Me canso ganso (I’m tired goose): Used by the president to indicate that he is as good as his word. The phrase was used by legendary Mexican actor Germán Valdés, or Tin Tan, in the 1947 film Niño Perdido.
Abrazos, no balazos (hugs, not bullets): An encapsulation of the government’s security strategy. AMLO uses the phrase to assert that the government is not like its predecessors and won’t be drawn into fighting “fire with fire.”
La Mafia del Poder (The mafia of power): A term used by the president to describe corrupt politicians and the nation’s self-serving business elite who he claims have colluded to the detriment of everyday Mexicans.
Limpiar las escaleras de arriba abajo (Clean the stairs from top to bottom): If you hear AMLO utter this phrase, he’s talking about eliminating corruption from all parts of the government.
R is for revocation of mandate:
The Senate approved a change to the constitution this month that allows López Obrador to hold a revocation of mandate vote three years into his presidency. That means that Mexicans will have the opportunity to vote AMLO out of office halfway through his term.
When López Obrador first floated the idea of subjecting his rule to a vote after three years, opposition lawmakers claimed that the proposal was a part of a ploy to enable him to perpetuate his power.
To quell doubts, he signed a written undertaking in March that he will not seek re-election at the end of his term in 2024, declaring that six years is enough time to “eradicate corruption and impunity.”
S is for social media:
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube: AMLO is on all of them.
The president has a combined total of 15 million followers, friends and subscribers across the four popular social media platforms and uses them frequently to communicate with citizens and cultivate his political persona.
The president’s morning press conferences, or mañaneras, are broadcast live on YouTube and López Obrador often posts photos and videos to social media of himself at work, addressing rallies, traveling around the country and speaking to ordinary Mexicans.
Millions watch the morning press conference on AMLO’s YouTube channel.
One recent video showed the president chatting to a father and son filling potholes on a rural road in Puebla. In another, he appears seaside in Ensenada and in the space of eight minutes, talks up his agenda to transform Mexico, criticizes past “neoliberal” governments and professes his “love for the people.”
The president also has an army of supporters – and bots – who carry out a hate-filled social media campaign against reporters who dare to criticize or question him or who are deemed to be out of step with the Fourth Transformation.
T is for Tabasco:
The president’s home state. López Obrador was born in Macuspana, a municipality southeast of the state capital, Villahermosa, in 1953.
AMLO can thank Tabasco for his second most common nickname, ElPeje. The pejelagarto, a kind of garfish, is common in the state.
The president cut his political teeth in Tabasco with the Institutional Revolutionary Party, working as a state delegate to the National Indigenous Institute and a campaign director for a gubernatorial candidate, among other roles.
Opposition lawmakers accused the president of giving preferential treatment to his home state after Tabasco Governor Adán Augusto López Hernández announced in May that his government had reached an agreement with the Federal Electricity Commission to cancel 11 billion pesos in debt owed by more than 520,000 people. The president played an integral role in the deal, he said.
U is for the United States:
Mexico’s relationship with the United States, the country’s largest trading partner, hit close to rock bottom during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto, mainly as a result of U.S. President Trump’s plan to build a border wall and his characterization of Mexican migrants as undesirables.
Despite their political polarization, López Obrador and Trump have maintained a largely cordial relationship although they have never met in person. However, the bilateral relationship hasn’t been all smooth sailing since AMLO took office.
Trump threatened to slap blanket tariffs on all Mexican imports earlier this year if Mexico didn’t do more to stop illegal immigration to the northern border. AMLO agreed to deploy the National Guard to step up enforcement against migrants and to accept the return of asylum seekers as they await the outcome of their claims in the United States.
Some observers concluded that the government’s concessions to the U.S. had turned Mexico into Trump’s long-promised wall.
Trump’s wall?
V is for violence:
The foremost challenge facing the López Obrador administration is to combat the record high levels of violence plaguing the country. Mexico is currently on track to record more homicides this year than in 2018, which with more than 33,000 murders was the most violent year on record.
The president came under fire this week from opposition lawmakers for failing to keep a promise made in April to improve the security situation in six months. Despite the statistical evidence to the contrary, AMLO claims that his security strategy is working “very well.”
W is for welfare:
“For the good of all, the poor come first.”
Presenting his annual report in September, López Obrador said that his government is providing financial support to half of all households and nine out of 10 indigenous families. He also said that the elderly, the disabled, students and farmers are receiving greater financial support than before.
The Secretariat of Welfare is the successor to the Secretariat of Social Development, which was embroiled in corruption scandals during the previous government.
Not just one man but two. Claudio X. González Laporte, chairman of Kimberly-Clark México and a member of the influential Mexican Business Council, and his son, Claudio X. González Guajardo, a businessman and president of the anti-graft group Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI), are outspoken critics of López Obrador.
The latter has been critical of AMLO from the first day of his presidency, asserting that his inauguration speech presented “a “retrograde, statist, interventionist [and] obsolete [economic] vision” that would have “very bad” consequences.
The president blasted the MCCI last month, claiming that it was carrying out a campaign of “sabotage” against his administration. The group is part of the #NoMásDerroches (No More Waste) collective that launched legal action against the Santa Lucía airport.
González, father and son, are outspoken critics.
Both González and the MCCI are pro-corruption and conservatives, López Obrador said.
López Obrador has accused González Laporte of participating in what he calls “the electoral fraud of 2006” when he narrowly lost the presidency to Felipe Calderón.
The Yucatán peninsula will be home to one of the government’s largest infrastructure projects, the Maya Train. López Obrador says that its construction and operation will provide a major economic boost for the southeast of Mexico.
But experts have warned that that construction of the railway poses environmental risks to the region’s underground water networks and the long-term survival of the jaguar.
Yucatán peninsula indigenous groups have rejected the project, claiming that it will bring no benefits to them. They also challenged the name of the train, declaring that “there’s nothing Mayan about it.”
The president said this week that he could hold another event in the zócalo on December 1 to celebrate the end of his first year in power and provide an update on the progress of the government.
“It would be a ceremony, a report but there’ll be no shortage of musicians,” López Obrador said.
“Why wouldn’t we have music? It will be a report but there could be bands . . . and the party animals that want to come won’t be lacking.”
Rarámuri activist Carrillo, one of 12 environmentalists murdered this year.
Mexico has grown increasingly more dangerous for environmental activists in recent years, according to the organizations Amnesty International and Global Witness.
The latter says the spike began in 2017 when the number of murdered activists rose to 15 from three the year before. In 2018, the organization documented 14 murdered environmentalists.
In the first nine months of 2019, Amnesty International has documented at least 12 murders of people working to protect the environment in Mexico.
Amnesty International’s Americas director Erika Guevara-Rosas said “the brave defenders of the land, territory and environment face constant danger in Mexico.”
She called for President López Obrador to publicly recognize activists for “their invaluable contribution to the protection of natural resources,” and insisted that the government take forceful action to guarantee them safe working conditions.
On the anniversary of the murder of Rarámuri activist Julián Carrillo, the organization made an official statement to the government pleading for action.
“One year after the death of indigenous Rarámuri leader Julián Carrillo, the Mexican authorities should carry out an exhaustive investigation to determine who is responsible for his death and in all cases of attacks against [environmental activists],” it said in a press release.
Carrillo was murdered on October 24, 2018 in his hometown of Coloradas de la Virgen, Chihuahua. He had previously been threatened and harassed for defending ancestral land in the Sierra Tarahumara, and at least five of his family members had been murdered in previous years.
“After a year, the Mexican authorities still haven’t tried those responsible for Carrillo’s death. As of now, two people have been detained and are being investigated, but they still haven’t determined responsibility,” said Amnesty International.
The organization’s executive director in Mexico, Tania Reneaum, said Carrillo was murdered despite being ostensibly protected by a Mexican government program that offers protection to human rights workers and journalists. She said the situation is serious and that the mechanism needs reviewing.
“The fight for the rights of the land and against indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources, carried out by defenders of land and territory, deserves all of our solidarity and support, given our fundamental obligation to leave a healthy environment for future generations,” she said.
This is the kind of display you can expect to see at the 'Altar of altars' exhibition in Mexico City's zócalo.
With Day of the Dead celebrations coming up next week, preparations are well under way in Mexico City, including the planning of two distinct parades and the creation of altars, or ofrendas.
Here are five of the latter that might be well worth a visit.
The Emilio “El Indio” Fernández House Museum in Coyoacán
The house of the legendary actor and director from Mexico’s golden age of cinema, close to downtown Coyoacán, will be the site of a huge altar in honor of Mexican film directors.
The ofrenda will be inaugurated on October 31 at 5:00pm, and will be open to visitors for the first three weekends in November, from noon to 8:00pm. Admission costs 80 pesos (US $4).
The cemetery at San Andrés Mixquic comes alive for Day of the Dead.
Zócalo
Mexico City’s central plaza will host the “Altar of altars” exhibition, designed by set director Vladimir Maislin Topete. The exhibition brings together four ofrendas: one traditional to the Yaqui people of northwestern Mexico, one of the Maya people, another from the Huasteca region and a fourth from the state of Michoacán.
There will also be a light and sound show that will celebrate the diverse Day of the Dead traditions that exist in different parts of the country. The exhibition will open on October 27, will be inaugurated on November 1, and will be open until November 11. Entrance is free.
Anahuacalli Museum
This museum of pre-Hispanic art designed by Diego Rivera will be site of the 10th annual Cacao For Everyone Festival. Between November 1 and 3, there will be workshops, lectures, exhibitions and samples of cacao and cacao products. Entrance to the festival is free, but if you want to make a visit to the museum, admission is 70 pesos. The museum is located at Museo 150, Colonia San Pablo Tepetlapa, Alcaldía Coyoacán 04620.
Dolores Olmedo Museum
This museum is located on the property of art collector Dolores Olmedo, a contemporary of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, in the borough of Xochimilco. It is hosting an ofrenda honoring the work of the architects, engineers and construction workers who built Mexico City. The altar was inaugurated on October 5 and will remain standing until December 29.
On November 2, visitors can participate in a catrina costume contest, with costumes that should relate to the theme of the ofrenda. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00am to 6:00pm, and admission costs 50 pesos. The museum is located at Avenida México 5843, Colonia La Noria, Alcaldía Xochimilco 16030.
San Andrés Míxquic
When you visit this small town in the Tláhuac borough of Mexico City you won’t believe that you’re still in the capital. The Day of the Dead celebration in San Andrés Míxquic is one of the most traditional in the entire city. Starting at dusk on November 1, the tradition begins with the lighting of candles and performances by mariachis, and culminates on the evening of November 2 when all the candles of the pantheon are lit at the same time to illuminate the path of the dead.
While you’re in Míxquic, you can see the 18th-century church and the ruins of a pr-Hispanic temple. Entrance is free, and the events will take place at Plaza Juárez, Alcaldía Tláhuac 13640.
The Mexican carrier Volaris is now the leading domestic airline, having carried the greatest number of passengers in the first eight months of the year.
The Federal Aviation Agency reports that from January to August, over 11.76 million domestic air travelers flew Volaris, accounting for 30% of all domestic air traffic and putting the airline No. 1 among the country’s nine airlines.
Analysts attribute the airline’s rise to its ability to take advantage of the “turbulence” experienced by its primary competitors, Interjet and Aeroméxico, the latter of which posted a decline in the number of passengers flown.
“It can be considered to be the result of external factors, derived from the cancellation of Interjet flights due to the lack of personnel for certain routes,” said Brian Rodríguez, an airline industry analyst at Monex Financial Group. “And from the decreased availability of Aeroméxico seats as a result of the suspension . . . of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes.”
Volaris recorded a 21.2% increase in the number of domestic passengers served in the first eight months while Viva Aerobus and Interjet reported gains of 20% and 4.4% respectively. Aeroméxico reported a 6.4% decrease.
The double-digit growth of the airline founded and run by Enrique Beltranena can also be explained by a strong strategy to expand its domestic routes. In the first half of the year alone, Volaris began flying to 43 new destinations.
The airline also incorporated three new planes into its fleet.
Another wise move on the part of Volaris, according to Rodríguez, is the airline’s business model of “point-to-point” flights rather than “hub and spoke.” The former, he said, is more efficient.
Another factor cited was that Volaris’s fares are 14-34% cheaper than those of its competitors. For example, a flight from Mexico City to Mérida can cost anywhere from 2,446-3,155 pesos (US $128-$166) on a Viva Aerobus, Interjet or Aeroméxico flight. Volaris charges 2,098 pesos (US $ 110) for the route.
“Volaris has capitalized on the reduction of Aeroméxico’s capacity, particularly in the area of domestic passengers, and it has increased its market participation significantly,” said Marco Montañez, an analyst with Vector Financial Group.
