Mexico's first lady, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, a scholar and author, presented her new book, "Silent Feminism" to a supportive crowd Tuesday in Mexico City's main square, the Zócalo. (Daniel Augusto/ Cuartoscuro)
Mexico’s “first lady” Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller presented her new book, “Silent Feminism,” in front of a supportive crowd in the Zócalo on Tuesday, a crowd that included her husband, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
During the presentation, Gutiérrez declared, “As I entered the public eye, due to circumstances outside of my own doing, I will leave the scene silently,” insisting she’ll “live the rest of my life with characteristic prudence.”
Supporters of President López Obrador brought a banner of the president and the first lady to the Zócalo for Gutiérrez Müller’s presentation of her book, “Silent Feminism.” (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Journalist Pedro Miguel described the book, whose full title is “Feminismo silencioso: Reflexiones desde el yo, el nosotros, el aquí y el ahora” (“Silent feminism: Reflections about the I, the us, the here and now”), as “vexing and haunting.”
Miguel said the book seeks to resolve tensions that arose around Gutiérrez’s political and social status and her determination to not take advantage of her family connections or her husband’s office.
“She found herself in a situation of protagonism [i.e., unwanted limelight] that she did not seek,” Miguel said.
“Silent feminism is yours and mine,” Gutiérrez writes in the book. “We don’t need to have a larger discussion to know that we deserve equality, solidarity and opportunity.”
Gutiérrez’s book analyzes fundamental notions of feminism while also redefining three critical concepts of the term silent feminism: silence as a form of expression, the theory of transference (from psychoanalysis) and the notion of resistance.
Gutiérrez is a journalist and academic with a PhD in literary theory. Her published works have primarily focused on historical and philosophical themes.
The position of “first lady” is not formally recognized in the Mexican political system; presidential wives have typically been limited to serving as the titular head of the National System for Integral Family Development (DIF), a government-funded family welfare institution.
However, she’s occasionally gotten peripherally involved in political life, making news in 2021 after she posted a presumed warning on Facebook to Campeche Governor Layla Sansores about having appointed a new Cabinet member whose social media account in 2020 had made a post calling Gutiérrez and President López Obrador “imbeciles.”
Gutiérrez did offer some political advice during the presentation.
With President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum in attendance, along with designated members of her Cabinet and members of López Obrador’s Cabinet, Gutiérrez urged those listening to “never forget where you come from, and pay heed to the public.”
University of Oregon student Aedan Seaver examines the murky world of Mexican cockfighting. (Juan José Estrada Serafín/Cuartoscuro)
This article was written by Aedan Seaver, a journalism student at the University of Oregon program, as part of a study abroad program in Querétaro, Mexico. Our CEO recently met with the students and the MND editorial team reviewed and selected the top articles to publish.
An enormous, severed bull’s head loomed out of the semi-darkness, looking very much alive from its mount above Quique Bandin’s living room mantle. Posters of bullfighters filled the walls and chicken-shaped trophies sat proudly on the coffee table — reminders of a uniquely Mexican family history.
Bandin, whose father was a bullfighter and chicken breeder, has spent his life raising and selling gamecocks — fighting roosters — to be used in cockfights worldwide. Although banned in many countries, the ancient tradition of cockfighting persists both legally and illegally as entertainment and as a piece of cultural heritage.
Fighting cocks are still highly prized in many parts of Mexico. (María Ruiz)
A cockfight unfolds in an enclosed, circular arena, called a “palenque” in Latin America. After the roosters are weighed and the bets are placed, judges and spectators look on as the birds peck and claw each other, often assisted by metal spurs fastened to their legs. The duel ends when one rooster is killed, badly injured, or withdrawn by its handler.
According to Bandin, the Mexican tradition of cockfighting can be traced to the 16th century Spanish colonization of Latin America. Today, it is simply a social reality. “These chickens have been here fighting since the time of our ancestors,” Bandin said. “Through the years, the culture has naturally strengthened and grown intertwined with the music and festivity of the local fairs.”
A 2018 review of Mexican gallistics — cockfighting — led by anthropologist Lorena Luna Rodríguez outlines a link between “combat birds and the fighting spirit,” associating gamecocks with “the incitement in man of the need to fight until the last drop of blood is lost.”
Although legal in many Mexican states, Bandin said cockfighting tournaments and the associated gambling are heavily regulated. “You have to get permits from the government and meet various requirements but this means safe, secure events,” Bandin said.
Liek many blood sports, cockfighting attracts big money – and big danger along with it. (Diego Simón Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
Clandestine cockfights, according to Bandin, can be dangerous. “If you play by the rules, everyone has fun,” he said. “You go to other places and there are bad people — money launderers and drug dealers, gambling lots of money.” For this reason, Bandin said he’s a proponent of sanctioned, well-organized cockfights, and that he only sells the animals he raises to trusted, credentialed buyers.
The Humane Society of the United States considers cockfighting an unnecessarily violent sport and a breach of animal rights. They point out that “even the birds who aren’t killed during cockfights suffer terribly,” citing steroid injection, separation from other animals and poor living conditions.
Bandin pointed out the hypocrisy of such U.S.-oriented perspectives by comparing cockfighting to factory farming. “Nowadays, the chickens you eat are raised in five weeks and then they’re in the supermarket,” Bandin said, “without ever seeing a ray of sunshine, without ever climbing a tree or running around scratching for worms in the dirt.”
Bandin’s gamecocks, he said, enjoy relative freedom as they mature naturally. They aren’t sold for combat until they reach two to three years of age. According to Bandin, little training is necessary, as fighting breeds are naturally aggressive. “It’s not what you feed the cocks or how you bathe them or anything,” he said. “It’s in their blood – it comes with their race. Like a fighting bull.”
University of Oregon student Ellie Johnson takes a look at Mexico's shoemakers, often pillars of their local community. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
This article was written by Ellie Johnson, a journalism student at the University of Oregon program, as part of a study abroad program in Querétaro, Mexico. Our CEO recently met with the students and the MND editorial team reviewed and selected the top articles to publish.
Strolling along Calle 5 de Mayo in the Centro Historico of Querétaro, one will eventually come across Renovadora de Calzado Don Santiago. Inside the hole-in-the-wall shoe repair shop, the shelves are cluttered with shoes piled on top of each other, creating a chaotic yet organized display. To the left of the countertop lies the shop’s most striking item: an ancient shoe stretcher machine that looks like it could have been brought over by Emperor Maximillian in the 1800s.
Renovadora de Calzado Don Santiago had many loyal clients who would come when their soles needed to be restored or when they needed a good polishing. Santiago passed away nearly a year ago, but his colleagues continue to keep the store alive. Today, Daniel Caesar is working hard to keep Santiago’s legacy thriving.
The historic Calle 5 de Mayo, where Caesar’s workshop is located. (Turismo de Querétaro/X)
Caesar arrived at the storefront when he was 17 years old. He had previous experience working with shoes, but his craft improved once he started working with Santiago. He spent many years training under Santiago before becoming proficient. He spends most of his days in the storefront replacing worn-out soles, repairing stitching and conditioning leather.
The population of Querétaro has been growing steadily each year since 2020. The city’s urban development and loyal customers have left the shoe repair shop with too many clients. At any given time, three workers spend most of their day inside the stuffy workshop, working hard to meet their clients’ needs. “In the past, there were not so many people. There were not so many cars. We have too many clients,” Caesar said.
Nonetheless, Caesar is committed to the craft of shoe repair in the name of Don Santiago. Since Santiago passed away, many clients stop by just to chat about Santiago and the impact he had on the community. Continuing Santiago’s legacy makes the hard work worth it to Caesar. “The job isn’t easy. No job is easy. But the clients value the work and they are satisfied,” Caesar said.
It appears that shoe repair shops are far more common in Mexico than in the United States. In Querétaro, there are nearly 50 shoe repair shops. Today, the university town of Eugene, Oregon, has only three shoe repair shops. Mike Summers, the manager of Jim the Shoe Doctor in Eugene, says that nearly 40 years ago, there were over 25 shoe repair shops. The prevalence of shoe repair shops in Mexico demonstrates the value placed on sustaining products. In contrast, there are fewer and fewer in American cities. The only way crucial small businesses, such as shoe repair shops, can survive is if people realize the importance of repair over replacement.
Renovadora de Calzado Don Santiago, located in the heart of Calle 5 de Mayo, is a quintessential part of the Querétaro community. It has served as more than a shoe repair shop for the last 45 years: it has served as a gathering place for the community, where people stop to chat about their day. It’s a place where important connections are made and essential services are provided. Despite the struggles of running a small business, Caesar hopes to keep the store alive for many years to come. “That’s the idea,” he explains.
The steady increase in cases has prompted health experts in the country to urge the public to resume wearing masks. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Mexico is on several “top 5” lists nobody wants to be on.
On Tuesday, the WHO released its latest COVID-19 Epidemiological Update studying the 28-day period ending on July 21, 2024. Mexico is No. 5 in test positivity rate globally, No. 5 in new ICU admissions and it remains fifth in total number of COVID-related deaths.
Mexico saw new cases increase by more than 50% between June 24 and July 21. (WHO)
The steady increase in cases has prompted health experts in the country to urge the public to resume wearing masks.
The WHO’s report reveals that 31% of the 85 participating countries reported elevated SARS-CoV-2 activity. Elevated activity is defined as anything above a 10% test positivity rate.
Mexico is fifth on this list after seeing a 37% test positivity rate during the most recent 28-day period. This number trails only the Republic of Moldova (75%), Belgium (67%), Switzerland (40%) and Spain (39.3%).
Mexico was among eight Latin American countries that saw new cases increase by more than 50% during the latest reporting period.
The WHO also revealed that among the 40 countries consistently reporting new hospitalizations, 21 registered an increase of 20% or greater in hospitalizations during the past 28 days compared to the previous 28-day period. Mexico is eighth on this list as new hospitalizations rose from 243 to 606 patients.
Among the 28 countries consistently reporting new ICU admissions, seven countries showed an increase of 20% or greater in new ICU admissions. Mexico is fifth on that list, too, with an increase greater than 100% as ICU admissions rose from 11 during the May 27-June 23 period to 24 during June 24-July 21.
Mexico also reported 2,152 new COVID-19 cases during the most recent 28-day reporting period, the third-most in the Americas behind only Colombia (2,892) and Canada (2,191). The 2,152 new cases were significantly higher than the 653 new cases reported during the May 27-June 23 period.
Mexico also ranks fifth in the world in total number of COVID-related deaths with 334,958 victims. Only the United States (1,219,487), Brazil (711,380), India (533,570) and Russia (402,756) have seen more COVID-related deaths than Mexico.
Claudia Sheinbaum will give morning press conferences on weekdays starting at 7 a.m. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
There will be no sleeping in on weekdays for Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
The president-elect announced Monday that she will follow in the footsteps of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and hold 7 a.m. press conferences at the National Palace once she has assumed the nation’s top job.
Soon it will be Sheinbaum at the presidential podium. (Cuartoscuro)
“You’ll have to wake up early,” she told reporters at a presser that began at the decidedly friendlier time of midday.
Sheinbaum, who will be sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on Oct. 1, said that she will preside over security cabinet meetings at 6 a.m. before holding her mañaneras — as AMLO’s morning press conferences are colloquially known — at 7 a.m.
“I know that our adversaries are going to say that it’s the same [as López Obrador], but it organizes the day a lot,” she said.
“You start [the day] very early, have the [media] briefing, then devote yourself to meetings on the progress of the different projects,” said Sheinbaum, who won a comprehensive victory in the June 2 presidential election as the candidate for the ruling Morena party.
The president-elect said she was discussing with her husband whether they would live in the National Palace in the historic center of Mexico City, as López Obrador and his wife do.
Her announcement that she will hold weekday morning press conferences came after she revealed earlier this month that 33% of respondents to a survey she commissioned said they wanted her to face the media on a daily basis, making that frequency the most popular. Just over 45% of 1,200 people polled said they wanted to begin the pressers at 7 a.m.
On Monday, Sheinbaum also told reporters that she will travel to different parts of the country on weekends to “work with governors and inspect the actions, infrastructure projects and other things we’re going to carry out.”
In that respect, she will also emulate López Obrador, who has traveled widely within Mexico during his six-year term, but seldom left the country.
AMLO uses his daily mañaneras to wax lyrical about government projects and policies; attack political opponents, past presidents and the press; extol the wisdom of the majority of the Mexican people (read: his supporters); and provide Mexican history lessons, among other objectives.
He thus exerts considerable influence over the daily news cycle in Mexico.
Federal and state officials, including the occasional opposition politician, also speak at the pressers, usually before López Obrador engages directly with reporters.
The president on Tuesday acknowledged Sheinbaum’s decision to continue with the 6 a.m. security meetings and 7 a.m. pressers he initiated, and declared he is “very proud of the president-elect and soon-to-be constitutional president.”
“It’s truly a historic event. We’re living a stellar moment in the history of Mexico, it’s something exceptional and we’re very happy,” López Obrador said.
Lydia Cacho, left, is an investigative journalist who exposed a Cancún child sex trafficking ring in her book, "The Demons of Eden." The book alleged the involvement in the ring of businessman Kamel Nacif Borge, an associate of ex-Puebla governor Mario Marin, right. Prosecutors believe Marin had Cacho tortured on Nacif's behalf. (Cuartoscuro)
Three and a half years after he was arrested in connection with the 2005 detention and torture of investigative journalist Lydia Cacho, former governor of Puebla Mario Marín was released from prison and allowed to go into house arrest pending trial.
A Cancún-based judge ruled on Saturday that the charges the 70-year-old ex-governor faces — torture and protection of a child-trafficking ring — don’t warrant his pretrial detention.
Marín will await his trial under house arrest in this modest-looking home in Puebla city, according to the conditions of his release. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
Marín, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governor of Puebla between 2005 and 2011, reportedly arrived at his home in Puebla City on Monday after his release from the “Altiplano” federal maximum security prison in México state.
Cacho’s arrest came after she wrote a book published in 2005 called “The Demons of Eden,” in which she exposed a pedophilia ring in Cancún that she alleged was run by businessman Jean Succar Kuri. He was later convicted of the crime and sentenced to more than 100 years in jail.
Cacho also implicated Kamel Nacif Borge, a businessman known as “El rey de la mezclilla” (the denim king) for his large textile empire, and he subsequently filed a defamation complaint against her that led to her arrest.
After Cacho was detained in Cancún, police drove her more than 20 hours to Puebla, during which time they taunted and tortured her, threatened her with rape, forced a gun into her mouth and debated drowning her in the Gulf of Mexico’s Campeche Bay. She was held in custody in Puebla for two days before being released on bail.
The case became a national scandal when a tape was leaked of a conversation between Nacif and Marín in which the former is heard thanking the latter for arresting Cacho.
🆘En este momento estamos en audiencia, la Jueza Angélica del Carmen Ortuño Suárez nos ha dicho que va a liberar a #MarioMarín que no amerita prisión preventiva por su delito de tortura y protección de redes de trata infantil. @NormaPinaH#Torturapic.twitter.com/pca5dkGZSl
Cacho’s post on Twitter decrying the court decision to free Marín from pretrial detention, which Marin has been serving since his 2021 arrest in Acapulco.
Cacho attended the court hearing in Cancún on Saturday via video link and announced on the X social media platform that Judge Angélica del Carmen Ortuño Suárez had decided to release Marín from preventive detention.
Cacho, a Mexico City native who fled Mexico in 2019 shortly after thieves broke into her home, accused the judge of “protecting the rights of torturers and violating mine” and “throwing overboard” efforts to capture the ex-governor during a period of 15 years.
“Mario Marín hasn’t been exonerated, but he is a dangerous prisoner for me, for my witnesses and my family,” she wrote on X.
“I hold the judge … responsible for anything that might happen to my legal team that was at the hearing today, or to any of us,” Cacho said.
“The judge … is imposing a fine of just 100,000 pesos (on a governor who has a chalet in Switzerland). She is releasing him right on the home stretch when we were expecting a tough sentence for torture. That is the power of the ex-governor of Puebla within the judicial power,” she added.
“… We’ve proven in international tribunals his links to networks … [involved in] the trafficking of girls. Criminal networks are pulling strings within the judicial power. This is the mafioso judicial power,” Cacho said in another post.
Araceli Andrade, a lawyer for Cacho, told reporters that Marín would be required to wear an ankle monitor and would be stripped of his passport, but she nevertheless expressed concern that the former governor could escape house arrest and go into hiding within Mexico.
“He has the money, the power and the influence to avoid justice,” she said.
Andrade said she would file an appeal against the judge’s decision this Wednesday.
Businessman Jean Succar Kuri in 2010 being brought to a jail in Cancún. Succar was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for running the child-trafficking ring Cacho exposed. (Amaranta Prieto/Cuartoscuro)
“Mario Marín is now sleeping at his home, while Lydia Cacho hasn’t set foot in Mexico for years. … The sense of justice no longer makes sense,” she said Monday.
AMLO and Sheinbaum criticize decision to release Marín
At his morning press conference on Monday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador described the decision to release the former governor as “another sabadazo.”
Sabadazo is a colloquial Mexican term used to refer to a decision made on a Saturday (sábado), perhaps in an attempt to avoid or lessen scrutiny and media coverage.
López Obrador — a frequent critic of Mexico’s judiciary — accused opposition parties and judges of “protecting” Marín, who was arrested during his presidency.
“And do you know why they protected him? Because Mr. Marín helped them with the electoral fraud in 2006,” he said, referring to his claim that his narrow loss to Felipe Calderón in the presidential election held that year was illegitimate.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum echoed the words of her political mentor by also calling the decision to allow the former governor to await trial at home a “sabadazo.”
Both President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the decision to grant Marín house arrest, saying it was an example of why it was necessary to support a controversial judicial reform bill first proposed by current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
The decision, she added, provides another reason to “change the judicial power.”
Sheinbaum supports a controversial judicial reform proposal López Obrador sent to Congress in February. If it is approved, citizens will be able to directly elect Supreme Court justices and other judges from candidates put forth by the president of the day.
The value of Mexico’s food exports grew by 4.2% in 2023, sending it from ninth place to seventh on the list of the world's top food exporters. (SADER/Twitter)
Mexico is now the seventh largest food exporter in the world, with sales abroad — most of which go to the United States — exceeding US $50 billion in 2023.
The value of Mexico’s food exports grew by 4.2% last year, allowing the country to leap-frog Argentina and India — both of whom suffered from drought and fell out of the top 10.
According to Mexico’s National Fish and Agriculture Council, the nation’s fish and agriculture sector produces more revenues than Mexico’s petroleum industry. According to Agriculture Secretary Victor Villalobos, agri-food production will surpass 300 million tonnes in 2024. (Mexican government)
Between 2022 and 2023, Mexico climbed from ninth place to seventh.
Juan Cortina Gallardo, president of Mexico’s National Fish and Agriculture Council, said that the country’s fish and agriculture sector produces Mexico’s third highest revenues, behind only tourism and foreign direct investment but ahead of the petroleum industry.
“We are now the No. 3 producer of food in Latin America and No. 11 in agricultural production in the world,” Cortina said at Mexico’s 2nd Congress on Health and Agri-Food Safety last week.
At the same event, Agriculture Secretary Víctor Villalobos Arámbula said that Mexico’s agri-food production increased from 285 million tonnes in 2017 to 298 million tonnes last year.
“We will certainly surpass 300 million tonnes of production this year,” he said.
Villalobos added that Mexico’s agri-food trade numbers have risen from US $63 billion to US $96 billion in that same time frame.
Most of Mexico’s food exports are sold to the United States. (Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock)
“Our country has become a production and export power in healthy and reliable foodstuffs,” he said.
Villalobos credited the work done by Senasica, the government agency that protects agricultural, aquacultural and livestock resources from pests and diseases, and its collaboration with producers and experts.
“Mexico is now free of roughly 1,000 of the more than 1,200 pests and diseases, placing us among the top eight countries in the world with regard to zoosanitary standards,” he said.
What does Mexico export?
Mexico’s top agri-food export is beer, with suds sales surpassing US $5.8 billion in 2023.
Beer is followed by tequila and other alcoholic spirits (US $4.3 billion), breads (US $2.6 billion), water, soft drinks and other nonalcoholic beverages except for juices (US $1.1 billion)
Mexico also annually exports fruits and nuts, to the tune of US $820 million, as well as fruit juices (US $590 million) and prepared foods (US $540 million).
Mexican-British national Manuel Guerrero spent six months in detention in Qatar.
Manuel Guerrero Aviña, a 44-year-old Mexican-British national, has left Qatar permanently after a harrowing six-month detention that highlighted the severe challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in the Gulf nation.
Guerrero, who had lived in Doha for seven years while working for Qatar Airways, was arrested on Feb. 4 in what his family described as a “honey trap” operation involving dating app Grindr.
On the eve of #IDAHOBIT2024, we rallied at the @FCDOGovUK to show our support for Manuel Guerrero, the British citizen living with HIV arrested in #Qatar.
— National AIDS Trust (@NAT_AIDS_Trust) May 17, 2024
Guerrero’s arrest by Qatari authorities prompted criticism and protests by Amnesty International and various human rights groups. In May, Guerrero’s brother Enrique Guerrero spoke at a rally to support Guerrero held outside London government offices.
Arrested by Qatar plainclothes security forces after arranging to meet a man via Grindr, the former Mexico City resident was eventually accused of drug possession and other drug-related charges.
His family insisted that the drugs were planted on him by Qatari authorities who had targeted his LGBTQ+ orientation.
Amnesty International, along with other human rights organizations, condemned the proceedings as grossly unfair, noting that Guerrero was held for weeks without charge, denied legal representation and coerced into signing — without the aid of a translator — a confession written in Arabic — a language he does not understand.
His family said he was threatened with physical abuse if he did not sign and that he was placed in solitary confinement and forced to beg for food.
He was also denied essential HIV medication for at least a month, putting his health at significant risk, his family said.
According to his family, while in custody, Guerrero was tortured, humiliated and pressured to name other LGBTQ+ individuals that he knew of in Qatar. (Gofundme.com)
“Qatar has used this case to stigmatize and criminalize LGBTQ individuals, and Manuel’s treatment in custody was utterly horrific,” he added.
Human Rights Watch documented six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in Qatar of individuals who were in police custody between 2019 and 2022 solely based on the individuals’ gender expression.
During his detention, Guerrero’s family in Mexico, along with the Manuel Guerrero Committee, worked tirelessly to secure his freedom, rallying support from both Mexican and British diplomatic channels.
Mexican diplomatic staff in Doha visited Guerrero to provide him with a translator, to facilitate his access to medication and to connect him with a lawyer. He also met with his family in Qatar on Feb. 11 and twice again in March.
On March 5, a demonstration seeking Guerrero’s freedom was held at the British Embassy in Mexico City.
From 1998 to 2011, Guerrero worked in Mexico City for American Express, Lufthansa, American Airlines and Aeroméxico before becoming a flight attendant for British Airways, according to his LinkedIn page. He had worked for Qatar Airways at their headquarters in Doha since early 2017.
Mexican and British diplomatic personnel helped him complete the formalities of his release, after which he met with Ambassador Guillermo Ordorica Robles at the Mexican Embassy in Doha.
According to the SRE, Guerrero “expressed his appreciation to the Government of Mexico for the various efforts made during his legal process.”
On Aug. 1, a Qatari judge upheld Guerrero’s six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 10,000 Qatari riyals (52,170 Mexican pesos, or US $2,750) and ordered Guerrero’s deportation.
He had received a sentence in June that gave him the possibility of leaving Qatar after paying a fine.
Guanajuato Governor Diego Sinhue marks the commencement of a US $150-million Sinoboom plant in Silao. (Ramon Alfaro/X)
Mexico continues to attract investors, though slightly behind the pace it set in 2023.
On Monday, the Economy Ministry (SE) reported US $48.3 billion in announced investments from foreign and domestic companies through July. Though significant, this figure represents a slowdown after companies made 52 investment announcements totaling US $25.84 billion between Jan. 1 and Feb. 29.
Heavy vehicle manufacturer Foton is among the companies that have announced investments in Mexico during 2024. (Magazzine de Transporte/X)
Still, when added to the US $110.7 billion in announced investment last year, Mexico is on pace to exceed US $190 billion in expected investment for the 2023 and 2024 calendar years.
The 166 investment announcements through July are expected to generate more than 75,000 jobs, according to the SE.
Approximately 53% of total announced investments (US $25.4 billion) are destined for the manufacturing sector, particularly the production of drinks (41%), automobiles (15%), auto parts (15%), iron and steel (10%) and electric components (2%).
Latest investment announcements in Mexico
On Monday, Artistic Milliners (AM) announced it would be investing 700 million pesos (US $36.7 million) to build a factory in the state of Coahuila.
This comes just one week after AM — established in Pakistan in 1949 and now one of the top denim manufacturers in the world — acquired a 10-acre, two-building complex from Dickies in Parras, Coahuila. The twin investments will allow AM to rapidly build out its Mexico operations over the next six months.
AM says it will hire 700 employees once the factories are operational, and expects to hire 1,500 people within a year while projecting that 3,000 jobs could eventually be created.
Coahuila Governor Manolo Jiménez Salinas reminded reporters that the textile industry has had a foothold in Parras for more than 100 years. “It is guaranteed that the products made here will be the best quality,” he said, adding that new investment announcements would be forthcoming.
Last week in the state of Guanajuato, Sinoboom formally launched its new US $150 million manufacturing project with a groundbreaking ceremony in the city of Silao.
Sinoboom — based in Changsha, China — makes a wide variety of boom lifts and heavy construction machinery. The company anticipates hiring 700 employees once production starts in the middle of 2025.
The Silao facility will produce slab and rough-terrain scissor lifts, articulating and telescopic boom lifts, as well as other products from the Sinoboom range. It is estimated that by 2028 the annual output will reach 20,000 units.
Chinese automakers Chirey, BYD, MG and Great Wall Motors have all announced plans to build plants in Mexico — but none have started construction. (Chirey Río San Joaquin)
Chinese automaker reiterates plans to manufacture in Mexico
Auto manufacturer Chirey is one of four Chinese car manufacturers to announce plans to manufacture automobiles in Mexico, doing so in July 2022. On Sunday, the newspaper El Economista reported that company executives continue to visit potential sites for the plant, though a decision is unlikely before January 2025.
Stiff competition and U.S. threats to prevent Chinese-made vehicles from entering its market have not deterred Chinese manufacturers from making promises in Mexico.
Expansión magazine has pointed out that MG Motor, BYD, Great Wall Motors and Chirey have each announced plans to manufacture cars in Mexico, but have yet to build any plants.
When questioned by El Economista this week, Chirey officials declared they remain 100% committed to building a factory in Mexico.
The limestone mural contains 123 hieroglyphics arranged in quadrants that shed new light on ancient Maya history and culture on the Yucatán Peninsula. (INAH)
Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have unearthed a newly discovered Maya stela in the Cobá archaeological zone in Quintana Roo bearing extensive hieroglyphics describing the founding of a Maya city.
The finding is one of the most “remarkable discoveries” the institute has made during the construction work of the Maya Train, head of the INAH Diego Prieto Hernández told reporters on Tuesday during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference.
The Mayan hieroglyphics were found near the Nohoch Mul pyramid, one of the Yucatán Peninsula’s tallest pyramids, and one of the most popular with visitors. (INAH)
Located near the popular Nohoch Mul, one of the tallest pyramids on the Yucatán Peninsula, the stela is over 11 meters long and contains 123 carved hieroglyphics arranged in quadrants. According to INAH’s preliminary analysis, the hieroglyphics appear to describe the founding of the Mayan settlement of Keh Witz Nal (Deer Mountain) on May 12, A.D. 569.
The inscriptions also reveal the name of a previously unknown ruler, K’awiil Ch’ak Chéen, filling a gap in archaeologists’ knowledge about the dynastic sequence of Cobá.
Cobá is an ancient Maya city in Quintana Roo that contains many engraved and sculpted stelae that document ceremonial life and important events of the Late Classic Period (AD 600–900) of the Mayan civilization.
According to Prieto, the newly discovered stela sheds more light on the ancient Maya’s worldview and ritual practices.It confirmed, for instance, that many of the region’s rulers adopted the name of the god K’awiil, believing it conferred upon them the attributes of the protective deity that the Maya associated with meteorological phenomena and abundant harvests.
To restore and protect the artifact—which was found covered with salt, weeds and soil—archeologists have injected lime mortar into it to reinforce the stela’s interior, which had developed external holes due to stagnant water collecting on it during rainy seasons. Researchers also have made a high-precision record of the hieroglyphics to create 3-D models of the artifact that will aid in further investigation.
El hallazgo de estela en Cobá es “uno de los más notables” en la ruta del Tren Maya: INAH
See INAH researchers working at the site of the stela’s discovery at the Cobá archeological zone.
In recent years, construction work on the government’s Maya Train — the tourist train that runs through the southern states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo — has uncovered several ancient Maya artifacts, which Prieto called “the greatest archaeological treasure” of the last few decades.
Many of the discoveries made along the train route are now exhibited in the new Gran Museo Maya de Chichén Itzá(Chichén Itzá Maya Museum).
