The husband of Public Administration Minister Irma Sandoval says that he will sue a journalist who revealed information about his and his wife’s real estate assets.
Journalist Carlos Loret de Mola claimed last week that Sandoval and her husband John Ackerman own six properties worth as much as 60 million pesos (US $2.7 million). He also charged that land on which one of the properties sits in Mexico City was gifted to Sandoval in 2007 by the Mexico City government.
The minister promptly rejected Loret’s estimation of the value of the properties and denied his claim that she received a parcel of land as a gift.
Now, Ackerman, a professor and researcher at the National Autonomous University (UNAM), has accused Loret of libel and invading his and his wife’s privacy.
In a document entitled “The lies of Loret,” he asserted that the journalist disseminated “false and confidential” information that places the safety of his whole family at risk.
Ackerman described Loret as a “professional mythomaniac,” or compulsive liar, and charged that his report hadn’t “discovered anything about anyone.”
The [assets] declaration of the public administration minister is in order “and she reports all … of our assets with complete precision,” he wrote.
“Loret’s report presents this information dishonestly (magically transforming apartments and a plot of land into ‘houses,’ for example), resorts to images that don’t at all correspond to reality and offers fanciful interpretations about the origin of the assets,” Ackerman said.
The UNAM academic claimed that Loret had illegal access to the private version of Sandoval’s assets declaration and as a result publicly disseminated “sensitive and confidential” information that includes the couple’s address and its “physical appearance.”
Such information is not included in the public version of officials’ assets declarations in order to protect their safety and that of their families, he said.
Asserting that a “serious” crime had been committed, Ackerman said that he would file criminal complaints in both Mexico and the United States so that the people responsible for both the leaking and dissemination “of our personal details” are investigated and punished.
Loret made his accusations in a YouTube program he makes for LatinUs, a news website that operates in both Mexico and the United States.
Ackerman also said he would hold Loret responsible for any aggression or extortion his family might suffer as a result of his “irresponsible and criminal report.”
He asserted that his family’s properties were purchased with “savings we were able to accumulate during decades of work” as well as a “generous prize” Sandoval won in a “prestigious” academic competition in 2009.
One of 200 mariachis in Plaza Garibaldi on Sunday.
The sound of mariachi music once again filled Mexico City’s Plaza Garibaldi Sunday morning when around 200 mariachi musicians returned to the iconic square after a three-month Covid-19 shutdown.
The musicians filled the square with music and receive badly needed donated care packages.
Dressed in their archetypal charro suits, the musicians also hoped their presence would publicize the dire economic situation of many mariachi musicians who, thanks to Covid-19 measures encouraging people to stay indoors and not congregate, have seen a devastating downturn in their usual sources of income: weddings, parties, and other large gatherings, as well as the tourists who would normally pass through the city’s public places.
“We want help, we want the people to know that the mariachis live on,” musician Marcos Montes told the newspaper El Universal. “We want to work and need the support of people — perhaps not with handouts but by coming to see us and by hiring us.”
The charity Agrega organized the event, making sure that those who showed up maintained a safe distance as they gathered and played classics like México Lindo y Querido. The musicians also wore masks at the request of the organization.
They represented both genders and all age groups, ranging from children to senior citizens. Jacinto Martínez, 71, said he has spent his entire life as a mariachi.
“I’m the son of a mariachi,” he said. “I was taught to play the violin since age 8, and I don’t know how to do anything else. Now my children are helping me to keep going.”
The distribution of care packages, which are meant to last six weeks, are part of a campaign Agrega calls “Al Pie de tu Ventana” (“Just Outside Your Window”), a reference to the common sight of mariachis hired to serenade people outside their window.
Agrega works with businesses and individuals to raise money and provide food to feed the hungry. It is currently raising money for supplies via the donadora.org fundraising website.
A vehicle burns after a clash between armed gangs in Sonora.
Municipal, state and federal forces continue to patrol the municipality of Carborca, Sonora, as authorities investigate a large firefight between two rival groups that began on the city outskirts around midnight on Friday and left 12 dead and several houses, cars, and a gas station on fire.
Authorities believe the 12 bodies recovered Saturday on the Caborca–Sonoyta interstate highway, all bearing gunshot wounds, are those of men who either confronted or were targeted by armed civilians.
They had arrived in the area around midnight Friday in 50 vehicles and drove around the city taking people from homes by force and setting fires. Authorities did not name the criminal groups involved.
Witnesses to the convoy’s arrival called 911 on Friday night to alert local authorities and also began warning residents on social media to stay indoors, claiming that they would find themselves in a “war zone.” Videos of hooded, well armed individuals firing weapons and setting fires in various locations were posted on line.
Sonora officials confirmed Saturday that they had moved various police units into the area to investigate the incident and protect residents. Police helicopters could be seen patrolling the area.
Officials also said that journalist Raymundo Quiroz Salas, owner of El Aduanal, a digital news site, had been briefly kidnapped while covering the conflict but returned 40 minutes later unharmed, with only his cell phone taken. They also called upon anyone who could provide information relevant to the investigation to call the emergency services number 089, where they could report anonymously.
According to the National Public Security System (SESNSP), the battle for dominance among rival organized crime groups that began in March and April has heightened not only in Sonora but in nine other states: Guanajuato, Michoacán, state of México, Chihuahua, Baja California, Jalisco, Mexico City, Guerrero, and Veracruz.
Sonora was also the site of one of Mexico’s most high-profile organized crime attacks in recent years, when three adults and six children belonging to the LeBaron clan, a large intergenerational family of expats with ties to the U.S., were shot dead in an attack attributed to drug cartels last November. Armed civilians opened fire on family members traveling in three vehicles near the town of La Mora.
As Mexico and the United States report thousands of new coronavirus cases every day, air travel options are increasing and cities throughout Mexico are welcoming visitors with open arms.
So we wondered: are you changing your travel plans?
The question was posed on the MND Poll June 8. With almost 1,500 responses, it showed that nearly twice as many folks are putting travel plans on hold until at least 2021 as are set to go this year.
But an informal poll in a popular expat Facebook group said exactly the opposite: many more are planning to return or travel to Mexico this year and have not changed their plans.
“A virus is not going to get the best of me,” wrote JC. “Come hell or high water, if I can travel in mid-August like I usually do, I’m gone!”
A quiet street in San Miguel de Allende.
Others were less adamant, but still calmly determined to return to Mexico in the coming months as usual.
“We’re looking forward to our trip to Mexico this year,” wrote another reader from the U.S. “Our area has flattened the curve. We’ve done our research and feel safe with the safety measures put in place for us … we’re basing our personal decisions on facts and research, not fear and opinions.”
For folks with homes in two countries, the decision is more complex. Many feel the pull of their Mexican communities, which are as much “home” as their residence north of the border.
“We’re hoping for a short trip in October or November to check on workers, the village and our house,” wrote Kevin and Chris. “Our town is still closed, and homeowners are raising funds for the needs of the population. We love our pueblo and our friends of Costa Brava, Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa.”
That sentiment was echoed many times over.
“Our second home is Mexico, and we plan to go this year as usual,” said Gillian. “If the community needs help, we’ll work to help them. We love our friends and neighbors and want to see them.”
Health considerations, age and available medical resources figured strongly in your decisions, and many of you said you were doing extensive research using information from all sides of the border. Those waiting till 2021 to travel are hopeful, but choosing to err on the side of caution despite the heartstring pull of life in Mexico.
“Our 20 years of a winter stay in San Miguel de Allende depends on a cure for the virus,” wrote Vic.
“As a Canadian,” shared Gregg. “I have no plans on traveling to Mexico (or anywhere out of the country) until there’s a vaccination/cure for Covid-19.”
Despite the Mexican government opening up tourist destinations like Puerto Vallarta and Cancún, some potential visitors are also feeling cautious.
Regretfully, wrote one reader, “We’ve pushed out our vacation in Playa until August 2021. This year is a complete wash-out; can’t plan or chance anything.”
David, who splits his time between Ajijic and Denver, said he had planned to visit Madrid and Portugal in May but put that trip off until next year. “A Mexican beach vacation sounds appealing now, but I think it will be months before I feel it’s safe to go,” he added.
Airports have been quiet but that may soon change.
Many who live full-time in Mexico are re-evaluating travel plans too.
“We’ve been in San Miguel de Allende for 17 years and travel a lot in Mexico, the U.S. and internationally,” shared Patricia. “We canceled four trips and don’t plan on traveling until it’s safe.”
Connie, who finished building a house on Lake Chapala this past September, said she won’t return to Mexico until a vaccination “is available to the masses.”
“After living there, I decided the Covid-19 crisis was going to hit harder than I’d hoped, and being a pensioner gringa in a foreign country was not comfortable for me on many levels,” she wrote. Connie, who has taught and lived abroad for much of her life, said she knows countries are desperate for tourist dollars.
“But I can’t risk it,” she said. “So I donate to charities that support my communities abroad and hope we all survive.”
Puerto Vallarta resident Wendy is waiting until 2021 to travel anywhere. “I’ve only been to one friend’s house and the Costco parking lot since March 7 and don’t see things changing for the better any time soon.”
“We’re canceling all our plans to travel around Mexico until after it’s safe to do so,” shared Elaine. “We live here in Mexico and are self-isolating and social distancing at present, and will continue to do so for the next several months.”
Reader David shared what’s probably a common sentiment among full-time expat residents of Mexico. “I live here and ain’t going nowhere.”
Some say the choice is basically six of one, half dozen of the other. Mexico’s Covid-19 situation may be worrisome, but it’s the same in most parts of the U.S. without the added factors of the tumultuous politics, increasing police violence and turbulent protests. (Editor’s note: Yes, that’s all going on in Mexico as well but as foreigners we can’t get involved.)
“We own homes in Mexico and in the U.S.,” wrote Phil from Washington, D.C. “Have been stuck in the U.S. but are headed back to Mexico in 10 days. Absolutely cannot wait. Neither place is “more open” than the other but I’ll take Mexican air, food and culture over what we have here in D.C. all day long.”
Billy, who’s lived in Chapala with his family since last year, says they’re eager to return, hopefully next week. “All good, no worries!” he wrote, noting that Puerto Vallarta has opened “beaches, bars, everything. What could be a safer place than the beach with few people? We’re not afraid and use common sense when necessary.”
Many are waiting and watching to see what happens in the next few months before deciding to travel.
“I love Mexico and I’m looking forward to visit in 2021,” said Michelle. “I’m really hopeful that everything will be ‘better’ around that time. I can’t wait!”
Nancy, who’s hoping to make her annual visit to Mexico in January 2021, feels like there’s still time for “some of the problems” to be resolved.
“The reports are a bit daunting now,” she wrote. “Probably no vaccine by then but maybe treatment? I’m hoping for the best.”
The most philosophical (and maybe logical) outlook came from Diane in Veracruz.
“I live in paradise, so no need to travel until there’s a vaccine.”
One of the vehicles set on fire to create blockades in Guanajuato.
The mother of Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel boss José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez and 25 other cartel members, including his sister and cousin, were arrested in Celaya, Guanajuato, on Saturday.
The arrests triggered a dramatic response: vehicles were set on fire to create road blockades at 47 locations in 13 municipalities.
María Ortiz, allegedly a financial operator for the fuel theft and drug trafficking organization and the mother if its leader, was arrested by the army and state police shortly after 2:00 p.m. at a home in the community of San Isidro Elguera where authorities say wages were paid to cartel members and associates.
El Marro’s mother had more than 2 million pesos (US $89,500) on her when she was detained as well as approximately one kilogram of a substance believed to be methamphetamine.
Soldiers and police also detained two women identified as Juana “N,” Yépez’s sister, and Rosalba “N,” El Marro’s cousin.
A screenshot from one of El Marro’s videos.
In addition, the authorities took sicarios (hired assassins or hitmen), halcones (hawks or lookouts for crime gangs) and other alleged cartel associates into custody. All of those detained allegedly arrived at the Celaya address to collect their fortnightly wages.
The National Defense Ministry said it had obtained a warrant to search the home prior to the arrests.
The newspaper Milenio confirmed that at least four other people with links to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel were arrested after raids on properties near the border between Celaya and Villagrán, the municipality where the criminal organization has been based.
The arrests sparked a violent response from the cartel, whose turf war with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has made Guanajuato the most violent state in the country.
Yépez ordered vehicles to be set alight on several roads in and around Celaya in order to create fiery blockades to hinder efforts to arrest him. Blockades were established at at least 47 different points in 13 municipalities, Milenio reported.
The United States Embassy issued a security alert warning its citizens to avoid highways in 10 Guanajuato municipalities.
Cartel boss El Marro in an emotional video released on the weekend.
“The embassy has received reports of ongoing unofficial roadblocks in the municipalities of Celaya, Juventino Rosas, Cortázar, Dolores Hidalgo, Apaseo el Alto, Apaseo el Grande, Salvatierra, Tarimoro, San Luis de la Paz, and San Jose Iturbide. Active gunfire is reported in San Luis de la Paz,” the alert said.
El Marro later appeared in two videos posted to social media. In one – recorded just before 7:00 p.m. Saturday, according to intelligence authorities – he thanked the people who set the vehicles on fire and pledged to support them.
Sources told Milenio that the blockades prevented authorities from quickly reaching the property where Yépez was located, and gave him time to flee.
El Marro became emotional at the end of the first video, holding back tears as he promised to keep up the fight against authorities “even if I’m left alone like a fucking dog.”
In a second video, Yépez confirmed the arrest of his mother and raised the possibility of entering into an alliance with other criminal groups, such as the Sinaloa Cartel.
He accused the authorities of supporting the CJNG, one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations, but pledged that his cartel will continue to operate despite Saturday’s arrests further weakening its structure. Authorities told Milenio that the video footage of El Marro is authentic.
Yépez has evaded capture for the past 15 months despite federal and state authorities launching an operation aimed specifically at his arrest. The authorities have said on several occasions that they were closing in on the criminal leader, and claimed almost a year ago that he had no resources to fund his criminal activities because his bank accounts had been frozen.
However, while they have arrested scores of Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel members and several of Yépez’s family – including his father, wife (later released) and niece – El Marro himself has remained elusive.
A media report in February said the fugitive criminal leader built infrastructure in the small town of Santa Rosa de Lima and the surrounding area that was specifically designed to aid and abet his criminal activities and help him avoid capture.
Reports have also said that Yépez’s cartel had a payroll that included politicians, municipal, state and federal police as well as state and federal prosecutors.
Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), said in March that although the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel is best-known for its illegal trafficking of petroleum products, it also sells other illicit goods, mainly cocaine.
He also said that Yépez is a big target for the DEA even though the gang he leads isn’t as large as other more notable criminal organizations.
A sign in Mexico City warns that the area is high-risk for the coronavirus.
The alarm bells started ringing in March. Coronavirus still felt like a distant phenomenon in Mexico, not something to cause the jet set to fret. But then three top businessmen went down with it after flying home from the U.S. ski resort of Vail by private jet, and the panic began.
The governor of the western province of Jalisco, home of tequila, quickly called for 400 people who had traveled to Vail and nearby Denver on two chartered airlines to self-isolate. Before long, the governor of the central state of Puebla was describing Covid-19 as a risk for the rich, saying “we poor are immune.”
Now, as even the most expensive private clinics have filled up, the realization has sunk in among the privileged that “there’s no money or influence that can get you a hospital bed,” as the head of one media group puts it, describing the anxious mood emanating from her phone chat groups. “They’re worried for their health,” she says. “Many [of Mexico’s millionaires] are no longer so young. They’ve locked down more than those without so much to lose.”
There are fears that the true death toll is higher than the thousands officially recorded — and many people are taking precautions. Among the rich it has been a “golden confinement” for many, says María Torres, editor in chief of society magazine Quién, as the wealthy retreated to their second or third homes in the countryside or by the sea.
“I’ve had a number of conversations from beach resorts,” said one consultant who has held Zoom meetings with Hawaiian-shirted executives to the sound of waves crashing in the background. After Vail “they’ve been extremely careful not to expose themselves,” he added. They could see from the example of Jaime Ruiz Sacristán, Mexico’s stock exchange president and the highest profile fatality to date, that money was no protection. He was one of the three who returned from skiing in March with the virus.
Mexican stock exchange president Sacristán was an early Covid victim.
Initially, many thought they could simply take refuge on their yachts, says Adolfo Nieto, commercial director of Aerolíneas Ejecutivos, which sells and leases luxury boats and private planes. But “that dream didn’t last long” as the authorities soon closed lakes and seas to recreational craft.
After retreating instead to their holiday homes, some almost seem to be enjoying it. The consultant says: “They’d have no problem staying locked up for six months.” With live-in staff “it reminds me of colonial times — there’s absolutely no need to go out.”
While the 1% may be in isolation, they are not idle. Carlos Slim, the phone magnate and Mexico’s richest man, whose cousin contracted Covid-19 in Vail, sealed a contract to build part of the Maya Train that President López Obrador says will help develop the country’s poor southeast. He also donated 1 billion pesos (US $42 million) to buy ventilators and medical equipment.
But as Latin America’s second-biggest economy reels — more than half a million jobs were lost in April alone and analysts expect gross domestic product to contract this year by about 8% — Mexico’s rich have also felt the pain personally. The fortunes of Mexico’s top 1% of earners account for an estimated quarter of total incomes.
According to Forbes, no one in Mexico has been hit more than Slim, who had lost $12 billion by late May. Once the world’s richest man, he now ranks 17th with a net worth of $51.5 billion. But that is more than Mexico’s other billionaires put together and Slim’s losses this year are more than the fortune of Mexico’s next richest, Ricardo Salinas.
Many top Mexican businesses have turned their attention to repurposing factories to produce hand sanitizer, as Corona brewer Grupo Modelo has done, or to charitable efforts like Slim and Germán Larrea, head of a mining and rail conglomerate, who has donated a hospital.
Carlos Slim: no one has been hit harder financially.
But not all have let the crisis change their plans. Salinas, a media, banking and retail magnate, has argued vocally for business as usual — especially because the informal sector is half of Mexico’s economy and does not have the luxury of a safety net in locking down. He appealed in vain for the country not to grind to a halt. He kept open his Elektra shops, which sell white goods in lower-class areas, saying that with economic paralysis “we’re not going to die of coronavirus but of hunger.”
But as the new normal takes hold, many of the wealthy are thinking of staying in their second homes for good — magazine editor Torres says enrollments at a private school in the lakeside retreat of Valle de Bravo near Mexico City have rocketed. The rich are starting to enjoy the fruits of their fortunes.
“We see high net worth individuals who previously hadn’t considered private jets, despite having the means, now seeing them not as luxury but as the only option,” says boats and planes vendor Nieto. In the 2008-09 recession “the first thing they sold were their toys;” now jets are “a tool they won’t get rid of.”
As one major citrus producer, who has been flying by private jet to meetings across the country and the U.S., puts it: “With coronavirus, it’s just safer.”
Construction workers were allowed to return to work June 1 in Mexico City.
The Health Ministry reported more than 1,000 additional Covid-19 deaths on Sunday while Mexico’s tally of confirmed cases rose by more than 5,000. It was only the second time that reported deaths have exceeded 1,000 in a single day.
Director of Epidemiology Jose Luis Alomía reported 1,044 additional fatalities, increasing the death toll to 21,825, and 5,343 new cases, lifting the case tally to 180,545.
Both the number of deaths and cases reported were the second highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
Alomía reiterated that not all of the deaths occurred in the previous 24 hours, presenting a graph that showed that many of the fatalities registered on Sunday occurred in May and the first half of June.
In addition to the 21,825 confirmed Covid-19 deaths, 1,892 fatalities are suspected of having been caused by the disease.
Active cases of coronavirus as of Sunday. milenio
Of the more than 180,000 confirmed cases, 24,225 are considered active. There are also 56,590 suspected cases, while 479,528 people have now been tested.
Mexico City leads the country for accumulated coronavirus cases, active cases and deaths, while México state ranks second in all three categories.
The capital has recorded almost 42,500 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, of which 4,284 are currently active. Mexico City’s official death toll is 5,451 but the real number of people who have died from Covid-19 is widely believed to be much higher.
México state has recorded just over 28,500 confirmed cases, of which 2,423 are currently active. It has also recorded 3,092 Covid-19 deaths. The most affected México state municipalities are located in the Valley of México metropolitan area, the country’s coronavirus epicenter.
Tabasco, Veracruz and Baja California rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, for accumulated cases. The first two states have recorded more than 8,000 cases while Baja California’s tally is just below 7,800.
Apart from Mexico City and México state, six states currently have more than 1,000 active cases: Puebla, Guanajuato, Tabasco, Veracruz, Nuevo León and Jalisco.
Covid-19 deaths reported as of Sunday evening. milenio
Baja California has the third highest Covid-19 death toll in the country, with 1,741 confirmed fatalities. With more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths each, Veracruz and Sinaloa rank fourth and fifth, respectively.
Based on confirmed cases and deaths, Mexico’s coronavirus fatality rate is 12 per 100 cases, a figure well above the global rate of 5.2.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said that 65% of those who have died were men aged over 50.
“It’s probable that a significant proportion of them were fathers who were unable to be with their families [on Father’s Day] this year,” he said.
“Losing a father, like losing a mother or any family member is something that is extremely dramatic and, of course, … it’s painful. I understand this perfectly because I lost my father 21 years ago on Father’s Day. That’s why I want to express my condolences to all the families that have lost a father during … the pandemic,” López-Gatell said.
The festival will be held September 18-27 in Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende and Irapuato.
The Guanajuato International Film Festival (GIFF) is braving the post-Covid future with a throwback to the past — drive-in theaters.
“We’re really open to new technologies and new ways of telling stories, as well as new stories and new storytellers,” says Sarah Hoch, founding director. “This year, we’re about new ways of doing the film festival.”
From September 18–27, the festival moves forward with a nostalgic blast from the past. Its 300+ short films, world premieres and documentaries will be shown at drive-ins and picnic grounds across Guanajuato state so that attendees can keep a healthy social distance from each other. In a year when many massive public events have been canceled altogether, the GIFF remains committed to keeping its doors open – for the fans, the local economy, and for the love of cinema.
You could say that the pandemic has made this local film festival think outside the box, but that would only be true if they had been inside the box to begin with. The GIFF began 23 years ago in the midst of a moment of crisis for the Mexican film industry: only a handful of films were being made by national directors and even fewer were seen by the public. There was a need for more support, both financially and socially and spaces for new talent to show off their work.
Guanajuato’s was the first film festival in Mexico to support alternative formats to 35mm. They were one of the first film festivals to make inclusion (especially of the LGBTQ community) a priority. And the GIFF was vital to the rebirth of the short film genre in Mexico – which had been slowly disappearing since the 1950s.
Coming to Guanajuato.
“There was such a need for a festival like ours, we weren’t institutionalized, but a non-profit. We were kind of mavericks, we broke all the rules, we attacked all the institutions, we made a lot of enemies but we’ve made a lot of breakthroughs,” laughs Hoch.
Breaking the rules included setting up screenings in some uncommon places – the outdoor steps of the Guanajuato University, graveyards, tunnels, plazas, gardens.
“If you can name it, we can set it up,” Hoch says, insisting that the GIFF team isn’t intimidated by the logistics of outfitting 22 screening sites as drive-ins or outdoor picnics. These sites will be set up in three cities hosting the festival this year – San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and for the first time in the festival’s history, Irapuato.
The addition of this third city was a logical fit – the GIFF’s production arm has spent years working with Irapuato filmmakers and the city is wooing the festival by setting up a high-end drive-in of its own.
For each of these locations, the festival will apply the santitary restrictions that have been set for both restaurants and movie theaters by Mexican health officials. Folks will be on hand to clean bathrooms after each use, wipe down surfaces, ensure that staff and visitors are wearing masks and using hand sanitizer as well as keeping a safe distance from one another – picnic areas 2 meters apart and passageways between cars will make it possible to maintain healthy distances even on the way to the concession stand.
Each location will offer a menu of gourmet snacks or full meals and maybe even a few junk food options harkening back to the days of drive-in corn dogs and slurpees. LED screens and surround sound will ensure that movies can be shown all day without reduced visibility or sound quality.
The majority of the festival’s locations won’t be announced until August but there are rumors that theRosewood Hotel in San Miguel de Allende is planning its very own vintage car drive-in with space (there may even be old-school clip-on car trays) and several other parking lots and outdoor spaces are already starting their transformation for the festival’s new format. Drive-ins and outdoor screenings will have space for 200 to 500 cars or individual groups. Additionally there will be showings in two traditional movie theaters, with the same hygiene standards in place.
In addition to screenings, there will be conferences, panel discussions, kids’ activities, and other events for regular Joes to mix and mingle with the people in the industry. Filmmakers from all over the country and beyond are gearing up to land this fall.
“Everyone we told we were doing drive-ins was like, ‘I’m Coming,’” says Hoch, “A lot of their films were accepted at major film festivals that then got canceled. They were opening films for film festivals that never happened, and they so want an audience … They are super psyched about these spaces. The response from the filmmakers has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Still not convinced about leaving your house to mingle with other movie-goers? In the tradition of innovation the GIFF has announced a virtual campus that will allow people to participate from the comfort of their own homes. This video-game-like experience will provide access to all the events, talks, conferences and classes offered by the GIFF 2020.
As one of the first international film festivals to have a large amount of their content online and with Covid making more and more of our social interactions virtual ones, a virtual campus seemed like the logical next step in expanding their reach.
But if you love movies and the experience of watching them in a crowd, the question must be asked: is this the new normal for film festivals?
Director Sarah Hoch: ‘This year, we’re about new ways of doing the film festival.’
“There was this big thing about putting your films online before Netflix really took off,” says Hoch, “but now with everybody stuck in their house, everything’s online. I think when producers were finally putting things online, some of these older, slow-moving festivals were like, OK, we’ll put something online.”
In fact, many of the GIFF’s filmmakers refused to give the festival the digital versions of their work at the beginning of the year, insisting they would wait for the fall festivals to reopen. But as the crisis dragged on, producers and filmmakers changed their minds, equipping the festival with a healthy online catalogue of this year’s films.
“Producers are changing the way they are releasing their films and they are changing the way people are going to see them. Festivals will become an important part of how people hear about these films because billion-dollar investments with toys at McDonald’s and huge billboards are going to be a thing of the past. It will make festivals even more important, especially festivals with strong social media and a strong presence online and who are comfortable with new technologies,” says Hoch.
“I think that for those of us that have been working in technology for a long time, we’re going to take a lot of things we learned this year and continue it. Our festival will have 40 to 50% of its content online as well and 100% of our competition will be online,” she says.
Keeping the festival alive also helps local businesses like hotels and restaurants that have been the bedrock of the festival.
“Our biggest sponsors are restaurants and hotels and the tourism industry in both cities. They have been with us for 23 years. They needed something to jumpstart tourism again and we wanted to be that event – that was super creative, and super fun, but safe,” says Hoch.
For movie-goers ready to venture out, the GIFF’s new format is a way to experience the festival while still maintaining safe distance and health standards. For some it will even be a nostalgic trip to simpler pre-Covid times when worldwide pandemics were only on the big screen, watched from the safety of your own front seat.
The dust cloud currently making its way across the Atlantic.
A massive dust cloud from northern Africa’s Sahara Desert is on its way to Mexico and is expected to reach the Yucatán Peninsula next week.
Large amounts of yellow-colored Sahara dust arrive annually in Mexico, carried by eastern trade winds across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. Satellite images show that the huge dust cloud, considerably larger than those seen in recent years, is currently making its way across the ocean.
More than 100 million tonnes of desert dust are picked up by storms in Africa and blown across the Atlantic every June.
Researchers have found that the dust – made up of particles of iron, silicon, mercury and phosphorus, among other chemical elements – has an impact on air pressure above the Atlantic Ocean and can help to suppress the intensity of hurricanes.
The dust also act as a natural fertilizer and has been found to play a key role in restoring minerals to depleted rainforest soils in South America’s Amazon basin.
However, research also shows that it may be harmful to coral reefs if it descends into the ocean before reaching land. One study found that the dust can trigger toxic algae blooms, also known as red tides, that have the capacity to kill large numbers of fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds.
As it reaches the Yucatán Peninsula, the dust is likely to create spectacular, brightly-hued sunrises and sunsets. Meteorologists say its arrival could be accompanied by torrential rain.
The dust is not considered particularly harmful to human health but can cause irritation in the eyes and throat, trigger allergies and aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma.
Yucatán Peninsula residents are advised to limit outdoor activities while it is present in the region’s air.
The three-part hipil, a variation found on the Yucatán Peninsula. gildardo sánchez
After the Conquest the Spanish imposed many of their cultural norms on the people of what is now Mexico, not in the least related to dress. As a result, many of the traditional indigenous garments seen today show European influence and even origin.
But some truly indigenous garments still survive.
Among them are wrap belts, wrap skirts, quexquemitls — a poncho-like garment, and huarache sandals.
The most important of these, however, is likely the huipil, a garment seen from central Mexico into Central America, indicating the extension of Mesoamerica. In Mexico, its use distinguishes the indigenous peoples of central and southern Mexico from those in the north. Evidence of the garment’s use goes back as far as 900 B.C., but its history is probably older.
The basic concept is simple. A long rectangular piece of cloth is folded over lengthwise to form a tunic-like garment. An opening is made for the head, with the sides sewn most of the way leaving space for the arms to come through.
A huipil bearing the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is the work of Rosa Elvia Leyva Antonio of Rancho Grande, Oaxaca. Image is from the book Rosas y Revelaciones.
It is shapeless in the sense that it not cut to follow the contours of the human body. This is not because Mesoamerican cultures never figured out how to cut cloth. Rather, it is because such cloth was all woven by hand, and therefore very precious, similar to the rationale of the clothing worn by the ancient Greeks.
Perhaps because they are not seen as often by foreign tourists they are relatively unknown, especially compared to the blouse/skirt combination worn by mestizo women and many indigenous as well.
Despite their simple shape, a true huipil is neither quick to make nor cheap. The best are still hand woven on backstrap looms in complicated brocades and embroidered, meaning months of work. Such are not everyday garments, but rather for special occasions or they are made to earn money for the family.
Huipils can be long or short. The long ones are worn like dresses, and the short ones like blouses, with a wrap or European-style skirt. How they are designed and worn is dictated by community and tradition. This means that the community and the status of the woman wearing the garment can be discerned by it.
Although embroidery can and is done on all kinds of garments in Mexico, huipils provide a rather large canvas for large and/or repeating designs. Anthropologist Marta Turok states that “Huipils are part of a living legacy with profound cultural meaning. Most of the woven-in designs are sacred symbols and they represent the vast diversity of over 60 ethnic groups in Mexico.” Her groundbreaking work in the 1970s brought this symbology to light.
Huipils can be made from a single piece of cloth, but the longer ones are commonly made with three lengths of narrow cloth that have been decoratively stitched together. This is because the backstrap loom limits the width of the cloth that can be made.
A huipil from San Andrés Duraznal, Chiapas. Alejandro Linares García
There are some garments that may not be true huipils but are related to or derived from them. One is the Tehuana woman’s headdress, made famous by Frida Kahlo’s painting of herself wearing one. On the Yucatán Peninsula, the traditional dress is called the hipil (a variation of the word “huipil”) or the terno.
It is worn by mestizo women, not indigenous, and has three parts. The jubon is a free-falling yoke. This is attached to the “huipil” which hangs from the shoulders to the knees. The last is the fustan, a half-slip worn underneath that hangs lower than the huipil. All three are heavily embroidered and usually decorated with lace as well.
In the former Purépecha empire (today’s Michoacán), there is a garment called a huanengo or guanengo. There is some debate as to whether it should be classified as a variation of the huipil. It is always worn as a blouse but some variations look very much like huipils, some even having three sections. Others show strong influence from European yoked blouses, with simple sleeves.
For foreigners who visit huipil-wearing areas, the shorter blouse versions are the most popular, as these can easily be worn with jeans. Handcraft aficionados tend to buy and wear the longer versions as well. There have been recent controversies related to the copying of Mexican traditional garments by designers for foreign markets.
Such objections do not seem to indicate that there is a problem with “cultural appropriation” when foreigners buy and wear traditional clothing made in Mexico. Octavio Murrillo Álvarez of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) says that in his personal interactions he has not come across objections from Mexico’s native peoples in relation to non-indigenous wearing huipils or other similar items.
One obvious benefit is that it allows textile artisans to earn money for their work. Another may be that it helps make the wearing of such garments less stigmatized for the indigenous themselves, which unfortunately it is in much of Mexico.
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 17 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture. She publishes a blog called Creative Hands of Mexicoand her first book, Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta, was published last year. Her culture blog appears weekly on Mexico News Daily.
