Mexico’s Olympic divers advance and its synchronized swimmers shine

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August 7, 2024

Mexican diver Osmar Olvera caught upside down in mid-air during a dive at the semifinals of the 2024 Olympics 3-meter springboard diving event — Mexico's Osmar Olvera will compete in the finals of the men's 3-meter springboard diving competition on Thursday.

Mexico’s medal haul at the Paris Games remains at two silvers and one bronze, but diver Osmar Olvera has given his country hope for its first gold in 2024 by qualifying for the 3-meter springboard finals.

The event will take place Thursday, starting at 7 a.m. Mexico City time.

Mexico's synchronized swimming Olympic team in a pool at the Paris Olympics in 2024, each holding a single hand up in the air as part of their routine. — Mexico’s synchronized swimming team fell short of a medal in artistic swimming, but the five-woman squad turned in an eye-catching acrobatic routine that rated them fifth among the 10 teams competing. (Mexico Olympic Committee)

Olvera, a 20-year-old diver from Mexico City who last week won a silver medal in the synchronized 3-meter springboard diving event, also fared well this week in the 3-meter springboard semifinals, finishing fourth among 25 competitors with a score of 463.75 points.

There will be 12 competitors in the finals, led by the top three finishers from the semifinals: Wang Zongyuan (537.85) of China, Xie Siyi (505.85) of China and Jack Laugher (467.05) of Great Britain.

Which means Olvera’s task won’t be easy: in this same event in the 2020 Tokyo Games, Siyi won the gold medal, Zongyuan was the silver medalist and Laugher took bronze.

Olvera competed alongside the trio in the Tokyo Games, but, at age 17, he was the youngest member of Mexico’s diving team and finished 14th in the 3-meter springboard semifinals, which failed to qualify him for the finals.

Mexico’s women Olympic divers keep progressing forward

Diving has been one of Mexico’s best sports at the 2024 Games. In the women’s 10-meter platform competition, both Gabriela Agúndez, 24, of La Paz, Baja California Sur, and Alejandra Orozco, 27, of Zapopan, Jalisco, made it to Tuesday’s final, finishing fifth and eighth, respectively.

On Wednesday, Aranza Vázquez and Alejandra Estudillo, each qualified for the women’s 3-meter springboard diving semifinals, to be held on Thursday. In the preliminaries, Vázquez, 21, from La Paz, finished third and Estudillo, 19 — born in Chiapas but raised in Nuevo León —was 17th, with the top 18 advancing to the semifinals.

Mexican diver Aranza Vázquez on a diving board at the Paris Olympics, preparing to take a dive — Diver Aranza Vázquez qualified for the 3-meter springboard semifinals, to be held Thursday. (Mexican Olympic Committee)

Through Wednesday, Mexico’s only medals this year have been a silver won by Olvera, a silver won by 25-year-old Juan Manuel Celaya from Monterrey, Nuevo León, in men’s synchronized 3-meter diving; a silver won by 28-year-old Prisca Awiti in women’s judo in the 63-kg category; and a bronze in the women’s archery team competition.

In the archery event, Mexico beat the Netherlands 6-2 in the bronze-medal match behind the strong shooting of Ángela Ruiz of Saltillo, Coahuila, who just turned 18 on July 29; 29-year-old Alejandra Valencia of Hermosillo, Sonora; and 23-year-old Ana Vázquez of Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila.

Despite the promising start, Mexico lost 5-3 to China in the semifinals.

At the end of competition on Wednesday, Mexico and Armenia were tied for 55th place in the Olympics medals table with two silvers and one bronze each.

Although Mexico didn’t gain a medal in artistic swimming, Mexico’s five-woman squad made a big splash on the final day of the team competition on Wednesday, turning in an acrobatic routine that rated fifth among the 10 teams competing.

Combined with their scores from previous days in technical routine and free routine, the Mexican team — which hadn’t qualified for the Olympics since the 1996 Games in Atlanta — wound up in seventh place behind China, the United States, Spain, France, Japan and Canada.

Their routine on Wednesday proved to be a real crowd-pleaser at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis: it featured pre-Hispanic music tinged with electronica and colorful pink and green outfits that got plenty of attention.

Last year, Mexico’s artistic swimming team clashed with Ana Gabriela Guevara, the head of the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (Conade), over funding issues.

With reports from El Universal, El Economista and El País

Finding your spiritual home in Mexico

By

Louisa Rogers

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August 7, 2024

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Spirituality in Mexico — Mexico is a deeply spiritual place, from religion to ruins. Here are five amazing ways to get in touch with your inner guide. (Guanajuato Capital)

Spirituality is embedded in Mexico, almost as if it was in the air. For many years, my husband and I were part of a meditation group that met from 8 until 9 on weekday mornings, in our adopted home of Guanajuato. Our teacher, an older Japanese Zen master named Akira, spoke very little Spanish, but that didn’t matter, because all he did was hold the space, set up the cushions, and ring the chimes at the start and close of the meditation.

During Covid, the group, like everything else, stopped, and it never really picked up again. Instead, every afternoon, Barry and I would sit in one of the five or six churches in Guanajuato that were open during the day – a practice we’ve continued ever since. This change turned out to be a blessing, because I began to experience a gentle, intimate kind of spirituality throughout Mexico that was different than anything I had ever known.

The quiet, reflective nature of spirituality in Mexico could be just what you’re looking for. (María Ruiz)

If you’re at all like us, you may yearn to practice some kind of spirituality, no matter how vague. The challenge is that the options you might be accustomed to are much fewer in Mexico.

They do exist, though, and here are five to consider:

Attend services at English-language houses of worship. Many English-language Protestant denominations and Jewish groups in Mexico hold services in English. For example, in cities like San Miguel, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, and Lake Chapala, you can find Baha’i, Baptist, Unitarian, Episcopal, Charismatic, Christian Science, Mormon, Quaker, Jewish, Catholic, Sufi groups, and more.

Even cities with fewer expats have English-language services. Oaxaca, for example, has an Episcopal Church, and we sat with a Zen meditation group in Xalapa.

St. Paul’s Anglican Church in San Miguel de Allende offers English-language services. (St. Paul’s)

Visit Mexican churches outside of services. I love to sit among the statues and icons, soaking up the atmosphere and scribbling in my journal, while I watch the elderly women tirelessly sweeping the tile floors or changing the flowers. In the Guanajuato Basilica, a narrow internal balcony runs along the walls near the ceiling. Sometimes I look up and trace the line of the balcony to its end, imagining myself a little girl lying up there, unseen, peeking down through the fluted columns at the worshippers below.

If you decide to go to Mass even without understanding everything the sacerdote says, you can still absorb the “smells and bells.” And if you’re like me, not following the sermon can be an advantage, because otherwise I’d start going down cognitive paths and arguing in my mind. At times, the less I know, the better.

While they might seem foreign to outsiders, Mexican churches can be a perfect spot for quiet reflection. (María Ruiz)

Be resourceful and create your own ceremonies. Jewish expats in Guanajuato, for example, have a monthly Shabbat gathering held at rotating homes. One year, Barry and I went to a New Year’s service hosted by an expat and officiated by a visiting retired Episcopal minister.
Adapt Mexican rituals. Mexico is a culture so rich in ceremony and ritual that many expats adapt some of them, such as people who build altars in their homes during Día de Los Muertos.

Curanderos are traditional healers who use herbal remedies, spiritual cleansing, and prayer to treat physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds.

Many Mexicans who aren’t curanderos also employ rituals. When we were remodeling our home, for example, each morning at the start of the work day our albañiles would light a candle to excise evil spirits. You too can do this whenever you want to remodel, paint, or cleanse a room. It’s the Mexican version of the feng shui ritual of walking through a room you want to cleanse, burning sage. Whether you intellectually believe a ritual helps is beside the point because rituals have power, regardless of your belief system.

A curandera working in Mexico City — Curanderos are supported by the Mexican government, both as alternative medical practitioners and as keepers of traditional indigenous knowledge. (Government of Mexico)

Of course, as foreigners, we need to be careful not to practice cultural appropriation. Different people draw the line differently, but in my opinion, as long as we conduct a ritual in the privacy of our own home, it’s not disrespectful.

Find spirituality in ruins. I used to have no interest in ruins, but after years of living in Mexico, I’ve gradually become seduced. Mexico’s ancient sites offer a unique kind of enchantment, because they harmonize so beautifully with the surrounding landscape. Ruins feel as natural to me as trees and flowers.

One late afternoon, Barry and I were sitting on the grass behind Becán, a ruin in the Yucatán Peninsula. We were resting after clambering up and down the many steep steps like a pair of eight-year-olds. As I gazed at the enormous, multi-layered rock structure, backlit by the late afternoon sun, I wondered what stories lay embedded between those stones. I felt a sense of place greater than the sum of its crumbling, rocky parts. A dreamlike sense of timelessness came over me as I soaked in their beauty.

Ruins are for me what the Celts call a “thin place,” where the boundaries between worlds disappear and the gap between the spiritual and secular narrows. Especially today, in our hard, clashing era, they bring me a sense of comfort and hope. Despite the violent histories contained within them, Mexican ruins have endured for centuries — so maybe we will, too.

Mexican spirituality isn’t confined to churches. It infuses altars and bells, church balconies and alcoves, cemeteries and ruins — in other words, everywhere. And this immersive quality helps me feel my own fuzzy, undefined spirituality more deeply than ever before.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, https://authory.com/LouisaRogers

Opinion: Mexico needs improved highway security to support nearshoring

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Mexico Institute/Wilson Center

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August 7, 2024

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Aerial view of a highway in Mexico with trucks — Highway security has become an increasingly urgent issue in Mexico, and Mark Vickers argues that it's essential to improve it in order for the country to benefit fully from nearshoring. (Cuartoscuro)

Mexico’s economy is at a crossroads.

On June 2, Mexican voters elected a new president. Claudia Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City and a loyal ally of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will start her six-year term in office at a time of immense challenges and opportunities for Mexico’s economy.

Two of the biggest issues for Mexico’s economy are longstanding security problems and the rapidly evolving trend of foreign investment in nearshoring. Over the last few years, the most pressing security risk for foreign companies in Mexico has been the phenomenon of violent cargo truck hijacking on major highways.

To maximize Mexico’s economic potential via nearshoring, President-elect Sheinbaum will need to take steps to improve highway security and protect manufacturing companies from the risk of cargo truck hijacking. If she wants to fully leverage the benefits of cross-border commerce and investment, she should also advocate for an update to the country’s outdated regulations regarding cargo liability to better protect merchandise and bring local freight carriers’ obligations in line with U.S. standards.

The stakes are high. Yes, Mexico’s economy grew 3.2% in 2023.

Overall, however, Mexico’s economy grew by an average of just 0.8% during the first five years of López Obrador’s government. This is the worst growth Mexico has experienced during any presidential administration since Mexico opened its economy and entered the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. Mexico’s per capita GDP is actually 1.5% lower now than when Lopez Obrador first entered office.

Nearshoring has been a bright spot for Mexico’s economy. Mexico logged a record US $36.1 billion in foreign direct investment in 2023. Most of this money is going into Mexico’s manufacturing sector. In 2024, companies including Wal-Mart, Amazon, Volkswagen, and DHL have all announced major new investment plans for Mexico. However, while longtime nearshoring companies are doubling down on their investments in Mexico, many first-time investors considering international expansion are still hesitant to invest in new operations south of the U.S. border. Trends of investment in Mexico are encouraging but are still below the game-changing levels that would be possible if Mexico could entice more first-time investors to make a move.

Sheinbaum will need to ensure that security problems do not dampen enthusiasm for nearshoring investment in Mexico. Over the last five years, Mexico recorded a historic level of violent crime. Foreign executives are taking note of the fact that Mexico is now considered to be the worst hotspot in the entire world for violent cargo truck hijacking.

During López Obrador’s first five years in office, Mexico recorded 84,963 cargo truck hijacking incidents. Mexico’s CONCAMIN business chamber estimates that cargo loss due to violent highway robbery costs businesses in Mexico more than US $415 million per year.

According to estimates from business chambers in Mexico, on average, fifty cargo trucks are hijacked every day in Mexico. On April 9, police in México state on the outskirts of Mexico City recovered a stolen cargo truck carrying a shipment of cigarettes worth over three-quarters of a million dollars. On April 16, police in the same area recovered another stolen truck and seized a scrambling device the hijackers used to prevent the truck’s driver from reporting the robbery or requesting assistance.

According to Reliance Partners’ Cargo Truck Hijacking Data Portal, which compiles official data published by Mexico’s federal government, Mexico recorded 7,862 hijackings in 2023, up 3% from 2022. Companies including Wal-Mart, Ford, Danone, Chevrolet, Apple, and Amazon have all experienced cargo truck hijacking incidents in Mexico.

One issue is that Mexico’s regulations regarding cargo insurance have lagged behind the benchmark set by the U.S., which holds carriers responsible for losses up to US $1 million for cargo lost or damaged during transit.

Companies shipping goods through Mexico, to or from the U.S., may be surprised to learn that Mexican carriers are only liable for around ten cents per pound of cargo that is lost, stolen, or damaged during shipment through Mexico. Especially for companies investing in Mexico’s electronics, automotive, and aerospace sectors, this level of liability leaves foreign companies dangerously exposed to the risk of cargo theft.

Foreign executives shepherding valuable cargo through Mexico can try to mitigate risk by hiring armed guards to accompany their trucks, coordinating passage through high-risk sections of the highway with caravans of trucks accompanied by National Guard patrols, by investing in GPS tracking devices, and by seeking out cross-border insurance solutions that protect cargo on both sides of the border.

Cargo risk and gaps in insurance coverage are a potential blind spot for many foreign executives considering investing in manufacturing facilities in Mexico. The current status quo in Mexico is like the Wild West. The low levels of liability cargo carriers are obligated to cover under current regulations leave foreign companies dangerously exposed to the risk of cargo loss. Given the current frequency of cargo truck hijacking in Mexico, this risk is a relevant, daily operational risk, not a theoretical “black swan” potential risk. Unfortunately, right now the overwhelming majority of foreign executives planning logistics routes in Mexico are not even aware of the gaps in insurance coverage that exist in Mexico until one of their trucks is hijacked.

Under Mexico’s outdated regulations, in many cases freight carriers are only responsible for paying out a sum of US $221 per ton of cargo lost. Under the existing rules, companies moving goods through Mexico are entitled to a payout of US $4,420 in compensation for a stolen 20-ton cargo load. Regulations regarding cargo liability insurance have not been updated since 1993 and have fallen out of sync with the volume and value of cargo moving on Mexico’s highways. The nominal value of Mexico’s exports has increased tenfold over the last three decades.

In 1993, Mexico exported just US $43 billion worth of goods to the U.S. In 2023, Mexico exported US $476 billion dollars of goods and services to the U.S. More than 20,000 trucks now cross the U.S. border from Mexico every day. In total, more than 7.5 million trucks crossed the U.S. border from Mexico in 2023, up from 1.8 million in 1993.

Too many U.S.-based cross-border shippers operating in Mexico advise that they offer “self-insurance.” But, in practice, this can mean that companies shipping goods are left with inadequate protection when a truck carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of goods goes missing.

Cross-border manufacturing and collaboration between the U.S. and Mexico has been one of the great success stories of the 21st century. If President-elect Sheinbaum wants to maximize the ongoing growth of nearshoring, she should follow through on her campaign trail promises to improve highway security and reduce the risk of cargo truck hijacking.

Sheinbaum should also consider spearheading an update to Mexico’s three-decade-old cargo liability regulations and bring Mexico’s cargo liability framework in line with U.S. standards.

Originally published by The Mexico Institute

Mark Vickers is the executive vice president and head of International Logistics.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.

US Border Patrol reports record drug seizures at Mexico border

By

MND Staff

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August 7, 2024

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Packages of a white powdery substance suspected to be illicit drugs sitting piled up in a CBP office — U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported finding 4 million fentanyl pills and 1,555 kilograms (3,430 pounds) of meth in two separate busts in Arizona and Texas last month. (CBP)

United States authorities have reported record drug seizures of fentanyl and methamphetamine in two separate busts at the Mexico-U.S. border.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the confiscations occurred exactly one month apart: CBP officers seized approximately 4 million blue fentanyl pills in Arizona on July 1, and 1,555 kilograms (3,430 pounds) of meth in Texas on Aug. 1.

Cars waiting at the Lukeville, Arizona, point of entry. — The Lukeville, Arizona, Port of Entry bust on July 1 surpassed a previous CBP record for a single fentanyl seizure fourfold. (CBP/Twitter)

CBP said in a statement last Thursday that the fentanyl seizure occurred at the Lukeville Port of Entry, located on the border between Arizona and Sonora. The pills weighed more than 453 kg (1,000 pounds), a quantity almost four times the CBP’s previous record for a single fentanyl seizure, which was 115 kilograms (254 pounds).

“This is the largest fentanyl seizure in CBP’s history and reflects our unwavering determination to protect our nation and to disrupt the criminal activities of ruthless drug cartels,” said Troy Miller, CBP’s acting commissioner.

CBP said that a 20-year-old U.S. citizen from Arizona arrived at the Lukeville Port of Entry in a pickup truck that was hauling a sport recreational vehicle on a utility trailer.

“While conducting a thorough inspection of the pick-up truck, trailer, and sport utility vehicle, CBP officers noticed anomalies throughout the frame of the trailer. With the assistance of a CBP canine team, officers discovered 234 packages of drugs concealed within the frame of a trailer,” CBP said.

“The packages contained approximately 4 million blue fentanyl pills, which is the largest fentanyl seizure in CBP history,” the agency said.

CBP said that the fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid largely responsible for the drug overdose crisis in the United States — and 123 kg (272 pounds) of methamphetamine and 2 kg (5 pounds) of cocaine seized at the same port of entry on July 12 had a combined estimated street value of more than US $12.6 million.

Methamphetamine packages hidden in heads of lettuce sitting in wheelbarrows in a CBP warehouse — At the International Bridge in Pharr, Texas, CBP agents seized a whopping 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine hidden in a lettuce shipment.

In a separate statement issued on Monday, CBP said that the largest methamphetamine “seizure ever in port history” was made Aug. 1 at the Pharr International Bridge, which links Pharr, Texas, to Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

CBP officers “encountered a tractor-trailer making entry from Mexico” and during an inspection “extracted 1,488 packages of alleged methamphetamine” weighing more than 1.5 tonnes, according to the statement.

The meth was concealed within a shipment of lettuce, CBP said.

“This seizure … is the largest methamphetamine encounter in the history of the Hidalgo Port of Entry and has a street value of over $48 million,” the agency said.

CBP … seized the narcotics and vehicle. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents initiated a criminal investigation,” it added.

CBP didn’t disclose the nationality of the tractor-trailer driver.

Insight Crime: fentanyl seizure suggests production is ‘thriving’ in Mexico

Think tank and media organization Insight Crime said that the seizure of around 4 million fentanyl pills in Arizona on July 1 “suggests that fentanyl production is thriving in Mexico, despite a ban by certain criminal groups under significant U.S. pressure.”

It was referring to a ban on fentanyl production and trafficking that the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel claimed to have enacted.

Insight Crime said that Los Chapitos — the four sons of Joaquín “El Chapo Guzmán – demanded a halt to all fentanyl production in Culiacán, Sinaloa, around 1 1/2 years ago.

Two of the Chapitos, Ovidio and Joaquín, are now in U.S. custody.

CBP Commissioner Troy Miller at a podium addressing a press conference about new drug trafficking enforcement initiatives at the US-Mexico border — Last month, CBP Commissioner Troy Miller announced the launch of Apollo X, a new initiative along the U.S.’s southwest border to step up pressure on transnational criminal organizations. (CPB)

Insight Crime said that “though there may have been a temporary ban on fentanyl production in Culiacán,” the size of the seizure at the Lukeville Port of Entry “suggests that fentanyl continues to be produced in other areas of Mexico.”

“Given the time since the ban and the sheer quantity of the drugs seized, it is unlikely that these pills were left over from production before the ban began,” it added.

Insight Crime also said that fentanyl labs may have relocated from Sinaloa to other parts of Mexico, particularly the northern border states of Sonora and Baja California.

It also said that the seizure “suggests that fentanyl production has moved away from the major cartels,” and noted that “less powerful fentanyl traffickers, with fewer resources, may try to smuggle large quantities in one go.”

Fentanyl seizures made by CBP at the Mexico-U.S. border last year averaged just 10.4 kg, Insight Crime said, meaning that the July 1 seizure was almost 150 times larger than the 2023 average.

Large quantities of fentanyl have been seized on both sides of the border during the presidencies of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Joe Biden, and Mexico and the United States have ramped up collaboration in the fight against the powerful opioid.

After a meeting with Xi Jinping last November, Biden said that the Chinese president had agreed to take steps to curtail the supply of chemicals being used to make fentanyl, including by criminal organizations in Mexico.

But illicit fentanyl is still widely available in the United States, and drug overdose deaths in the U.S. remained very high in 2023 at 107,543, a decline of just 3% compared to the previous year.

Mexico News Daily

How to create your own cloud forest: Meet the team bringing water back to Mexico

By

John Pint

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August 7, 2024

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5----sm-Planted-who-knws-what-plant — The team at Revive Your Spring are creating fresh water by reforesting the land around them. (All photos by John Pint)

In 2000, a cloud forest was unexpectedly discovered at around 1600 meters (5250 ft) altitude in the remote mountains of western Jalisco. The discovery has spurred conservationists into beginning the long work of reforestation in Mexico.

The forest is filled with maple trees, which have been growing alongside giant ferns continuously for the last two million years. Today, it is known as the Bosque de Maple de Talpa. Walking through this luxuriant, steamy, hidden jungle is a truly unforgettable experience.

With machines like these, one worker can dig around 1700 holes in a day. (Revivemx)

Could it be possible to turn a parcel of land degraded by logging and agave planting into a vibrant cloud forest like the Bosque de Maple?

“That’s just what I’m hoping for,” says Mexican herbal medicine entrepreneur Leónides Guadarrama, who put his 9.2-hectare tract of land called El Zapotal in Teocelo, Veracruz, into the hands of an organization called Revive Biodiversity Nursery Network in 2020.

Anatomy of a sick forest

Having studied forest regeneration techniques for years — both in Mexico and around the world — the Revive team made a diagnosis of El Zapotal.

“We looked upon this land as a doctor looks at a patient,” Revive Director Aníbal Ramírez told me.

“El Zapotal was in poor shape, nearly treeless, and badly eroded. We began by studying its topography, its orientation, the sunlight it receives, its plants and soil, and, of course, its water flow: Where is water captured? Where are the springs? Sadly, we learned that the output of those springs had dropped 90 to 95 per cent.”

Pottiputki is an ergonomic planter designed in Finland that allows a great number of seedlings to be planted in a short time.

Based on these studies, the team created what they call “key lines” on the slopes of El Zapotal.

Planting trees, Miyawaki style

“These look a bit like the contour lines on a topographical map,” said Ramírez. “Along these lines, we alternate rows of bamboo and low walls of waste material to slow the water as it flows down hillsides and to prevent the soil from washing away…and between the key lines we plant trees, lots of trees, because we are using what is called the Miyawaki method.”

This reforestation approach, developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, requires planting up to 15,000 trees of mixed species per hectare, creating the conditions for a dense natural forest to arise within decades rather than the centuries it would usually take.

This labor intensive process requires well-organized specialists. “Our teams,” Ramírez said, “consist mostly of country folk, members of the local community. We currently have about 100 members, highly trained and certified to use the machines needed. After three years, they have learned a lot about the species of plants we use, how to read maps, the whole process. It’s a pleasure to work with people like these who have a well-developed sense of intuition.”

Aerial view of key lines used to slow down water flow. Note the hundreds of trees planted between the lines. (Revivemx)

Ramírez told me that most of his team’s members are women.

Women digging holes

“Mexico has some mistaken ideas about this,” said the reforestation expert. “For example, it’s claimed that women can’t operate machines. Well, we are breaking these myths. We train our teams to use machines to dig holes and using [this equipment], some of our compañeras can dig 1,600 or 1,800 holes in a day! Just contrast that with what you can do with a shovel: maybe 120 holes at the very best. So, we are combining technology with traditional wisdom. We think traditions are important, but machines are also marvelous, allowing us to do the work faster and more safely. In fact, in El Zapotal we were able to plant around 57,000 trees within a period of only three months.”

Ramírez and his team call their system Revive Your Spring. Their aim is to recuperate dried up springs and even generate springs in places where there were none before.

Forests that create water

“When you consider that the most important resource we have in this world is water,” explained Ramírez, “it’s surprising how little interest there is in financing the recuperation of water. There is financing for sequestering carbon, for building dams and aquifers, but not for producing water. Here in Mexico there is little recognition of the fact that other countries like France, Canada, the USA and Great Britain began to protect their forests 200 years ago. They said, ‘Okay, we have areas for agriculture and urban development, but areas designated as forests we are not going to touch because forests produce water. These areas will remain forests forever.’

A happy hiker cools off in a natural spring inside Jalisco’s Primavera Forest.

“A natural forest starts producing more water than it needs after maybe 20 years, and then we get the benefit, but here in Mexico, unfortunately, we were thinking of our forests merely as tree plantations. We planted lots of pine trees, for example, but they never produce water because the trees are cut down after 10 years. The water — all of it — goes into the trees! We are, in fact, exchanging water for carbon, for wood. This is what’s happening in Mexico. We have dams and aquifers, but water production itself is in serious trouble.”

Revive Your Spring leads reforestation in Mexico

The Revive Your Spring program hopes to change all this by turning degraded land into cloud forests.

“When we find landowners who accept our proposal,” says Ramírez, “we make it clear to them that once we finish, that land is going to remain a forest forever. So this will not be a source of lumber or other products: just water.”

One such landowner is Leonides Guadarrama who is delighted with the transformation of El Zapotal. He sums up his feelings about Revive’s reforestation projects in one sentence:

“We simply have to give back to nature what we are taking away from her.”

Want to watch a rain forest grow up outside your window? Call Revive!

John Pint has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.

Contecon Manzanillo announces US $300M expansion in Mexico’s largest port

By

MND Staff

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August 7, 2024

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aerial view of a container ship entering the port of Manzanillo, Colima — Upgrades to the TEC II container terminal in the port of Manzanillo will be ready by 2025, Contecon Manzanillo announced in a statement. (Shutterstock)

Port services company Contecon Manzanillo has announced plans to invest US $300 million by 2025 to expand its operations at the port of Manzanillo, Colima, on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

“We are excited about our expansion project, which will strengthen our operations and contribute to the state’s economic growth,” head of the company José Antonio Contreras said in a statement.

Hundreds of shipping containers stacked up on the docks at the Port of Manzanillo in Colima, Mexico — The announced expansion comes as the high season brings up to 25% more traffic to the Manzanillo container terminal. (International Container Terminal Services)

Contecon Manzanillo develops and operates the Container Terminal Specialized II (TEC II) in the port’s northern zone. It is a subsidiary of the Philippine company International Container Terminal Services, Inc., founded in 1987.

With a handling capacity of 1.4 million containers per year, TEC II carries out around 910 monthly services. The new upgrades will allow Contecon Manzanillo to increase the number of annual containers to over 2 million.

“Years of experience in the port industry in Mexico, together with the commitment of our team, have made this important achievement possible,” Contreras said.

The new upgrades, combined with the company’s latest acquisitions, will increase the port’s operational capacity, Contecon Manzanillo said. With a total investment of US $230 million, Contecon Manzanillo recently acquired two ship-to-shore gantry cranes (STS), the largest on the American continent, and five rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs).

In his statement, Contreras said the company is “a fundamental pillar in foreign trade and a benchmark in the port sector.” In Q1, the company saw a 29% increase in cargo handling, with a total movement of 466,000 containers compared to 360,000 the previous year. Likewise, it reported that export merchandise grew by 39%, from 136,268 in 2023 to 189,188 this year.

“We are proud of our achievements and look to the future with optimism and determination, being part of the engine of development and progress,” Contreras added.

A ship-to-shore gantry crane at the Port of Manzanillo — A ship-to-shore gantry crane at the Manzanillo port like the two Contecon recently bought to accommodate a 29% increase in cargo handling. (Contecon)

Contecon Manzanillo has operated in Mexico since 2010. The main shipping companies that arrive at Contecon’s terminal include CSL, MSC and CMA.

Manzanillo is Mexico’s largest port. Its managers came under fire recently after Mexican customs authorities had to close the port to tractor-trailers for over 24 hours between August 1 and 2, causing a 63-kilomter traffic jam around the port. One truck driver died as a result of the delays when he suffered a heart attack at the wheel of his vehicle and could not access medical attention.

The city is also the state of Colima’s main tourist destination, with a high concentration of swordfish, making it a popular destination for deep-sea sport fishing.

Delta recently announced it will operate weekly flights to Manzanillo from Los Ángeles starting on Dec. 21, and a nonstop service from Atlanta starting on Nov. 2.

Aeroméxico will also operate flights from Manzanillo to Los Angeles from Dec. 21 through April 25, 2025.

With reports from Milenio

Chichén Itzá continues to attract more visitors than any other archaeological site in Mexico

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MND Staff

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August 7, 2024

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Chichén Itzá saw a 26.4% increase in international tourists and a 19% decrease in domestic tourists. (INAH)

Chichén Itzá continues to be Mexico’s most popular archaeological site.

According to data from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), entries to the ancient pyramid complex increased by 8.6% annually in the first half of the year to 1.18 million.

Foreign tourists enjoy Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, Mexico — Entries to Chichén Itzá increased by 8.6% in the first half of 2024. (Martin Zetina/Cuartoscuro)

Differentiating international and domestic travelers, Chichén Itzá saw a 26.4% increase in international tourists and a 19% decrease in domestic tourists.

Meanwhile, Teotihuacán and Tulum, Mexico’s most visited archaeological sites after Chichén Itzá, saw fewer visitors in the first half of the year.

According to the INAH, Teotihuacán, near Mexico City, saw entries fall by 9.6% — from 939,842 visitors to 807,074. In Quintana Roo, 585,078 tourists visited Tulum, down 23.6% from 765,510 the previous year.

The next most popular sites are Monte Albán in Oaxaca, which saw its entries slump by 20%, and Tajín in Veracruz, which saw 6.8% fewer visitors in the first half of the year. These sites, along with Palenque in Chiapas, received fewer than half a million visitors each last year.

The new Chichén Itzá station of the Maya Train helps more visitors access the iconic archaeological site. (Tren Maya/X)

Chichén Itzá was also Mexico’s top archaeological site in 2023, with 2.33 million tourists, followed by Teotihuacán with 1.78 million visitors and Tulum with 1.30 million.

New attractions highlight the cultural history of Chichén Itzá

New attractions in and around Chichén Itzá have improved tourists’ experience in the area.

In February, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurated the Gran Museo Maya de Chichén Itzá (The Great Maya Museum of Chichén Itzá), which houses 1,000 artifacts pertaining to the Maya world. In the museum, visitors can see pieces that were uncovered during the construction of the Maya Train, as well as elaborate models of the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá and of “El Castillo,” the majestic Temple of Kukulcán in the site’s main plaza.

The museum is accessible from the Chichén Itzá station of the Maya Train. Other sites accessible from this station include the town Pisté de Chichén Itzá and the archaeological site of Chichén Itzá itself.

Additional novelties in the area include the visitors center in Chichén Itzá, which is 60% complete according to the INAH’s latest report, and which will provide tourist, archaeological and cultural information to travelers arriving on the Maya Train.

With reports from La Jornada Maya, Por Esto, Forbes

Automotive manufacturing in Mexico has its best July in 7 years

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MND Staff

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August 7, 2024

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A red Chevy Silverado pickup truck in a productin line inside a factory — Mexico's auto exports to the U.S. have surged over the past decade. (Guanajuato Puerto Interior)

More than 300,000 light vehicles were manufactured in Mexico last month, the highest total for July in seven years, according to official data.

The national statistics agency INEGI reported Tuesday that 302,309 cars and light trucks (including SUVs and pickups) rolled off production lines in July, a 2.7% increase compared to the same month of 2023.

It was just the third time ever that light vehicle exports exceeded 270,000 units in the month of July. (Cuartoscuro)

General Motors produced the most vehicles in Mexico last month, followed by Nissan, Volkswagen and Stellantis.

While production increased on an annual basis in July, light vehicle exports decreased 1.56%, according to INEGI. A total of 271,469 units were shipped abroad, down from 275,765 in July 2023.

Odracir Barquera, general director of the Mexican Automotive Industry Association, attributed the small decline in exports to a downturn in the automotive market in the United States.

On a positive note, it was just the third time ever that light vehicle exports exceeded 270,000 units in the month of July.

Mexico on track to have a record year for vehicle production

In the first seven months of 2024, light vehicle production increased 4.9% to 2.29 million, according to INEGI. If production continues at the same pace in the final five months of the year, close to 4 million light vehicles will be manufactured in Mexico in 2024. That would be a record high.

Just over three-quarters of all light vehicles made in Mexico between January and July were light trucks, while just under one-quarter were cars.

Cars to be exported — Exports of light vehicles increased 8.44% in the first seven months of 2024 to reach 1.98 million units. (Shutterstock)

Exports up more than 8% this year

Despite the slight decrease in July, exports of light vehicles increased 8.44% in the first seven months of 2024 to reach 1.98 million units.

Almost 80% of those vehicles were shipped to the United States. The next biggest export markets for Mexican-made vehicles were Canada, Germany and Brazil.

GM is the top auto producer and exporter in Mexico

Production

Detroit-based General Motors made more than 503,000 light vehicles in Mexico in the first seven months of the year, a 22.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

The company has plants in Toluca, México state; Silao, Guanajuato; Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila; and San Luis Potosí city.

The next biggest manufacturers of light vehicles in Mexico between January and July were:

Nissan: almost 383,000 units, a 9% annual increase.
Stellantis: more than 248,000 units, an 8.8% annual decline.
Volkswagen: more than 232,000 units, a 24.1% annual increase.
Ford: more than 227,000 units, a 4.7% increase.

Honda recorded the largest year-over-year production increase. The Japanese company’s Mexico output increased 24.8% to more than 117,000 units between January and July.

Toyota recorded the largest annual decrease in production. It made just over 123,000 vehicles in the first seven months of the year, a 23.5% decline compared to the same period of 2023.

Exports

GM exported more than 458,000 Mexican-made vehicles in the first seven months of the year, a 17.5% annual increase.

The next biggest exporters of Mexican-made vehicles were:

Nissan: more than 266,000 units, a 25.6% annual increase.
Ford: almost 230,000 units, an 11.9% increase.
Stellantis: more than 215,000 units, a 13.7% annual decrease.
Volkswagen: more than 188,000 units, a 29.4% increase.

Honda recorded the largest year-over-year increase in exports. It shipped more than 129,000 units abroad between January and July, a 72.3% increase compared to the same period of last year.

General Motors' Silao' manufacturing plant, where workers secured a 10% pay increase — General Motors saw a 17.5% annual increase in its auto exports from Mexico. (General Motors)

Audi recorded the biggest annual decline in exports. The German company, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, shipped just over 80,000 light vehicles out of Mexico, a 26.4% decline compared to the first seven months of 2023.

Vehicle sales in Mexico up 12% this year

INEGI reported that 833,411 light vehicles were sold in Mexico between January and July, a 12.03% increase compared to the same period of 2023.

Nissan was the most popular brand among Mexican consumers, followed by General Motors, Volkwagen, Toyota and KIA.

A total of 73,466 vehicles made by Chinese companies — Chirey, MG, Great Wall Motor, JAC and Motornation — were sold in Mexico in the first seven months of the year. Chinese vehicles thus accounted for 8.8% of total light vehicle sales in Mexico between January and July.

JAC is the only Chinese company that currently makes vehicles in Mexico, but some others, including major electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, have announced plans to open plants here.

Green vehicle sales surge 80%

According to Guillermo Rosales, president of the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors, 65,232 hybrid and electric vehicles were sold in Mexico in the first seven months of the year, an 80.2% increase compared to the same period of 2023.

Electric vehicles accounted for 23% of all green vehicle sales, while hybrids and plug-in hybrids accounted for 70.7% and 6.1%, respectively.

With reports from El Economista and El Financiero

Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada to stand trial in NYC courthouse

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MND Staff

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August 7, 2024

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The Brooklyn courthouse where "El Mayo" Zambada will stand trial. (Wikimedia Commons)

Alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García will soon be sent to New York to stand trial in the same Brooklyn courthouse where Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera was convicted in 2019, according to The New York Times.

Zambada, 76, is currently in El Paso, Texas, where he pleaded not guilty to crimes including drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder.

He was arrested on July 25 after flying into an airport near El Paso with Joaquín Guzmán López, one of El Chapo’s sons. Guzmán López, who was also detained, pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges during an appearance in federal court in Chicago last week.

Citing “four people familiar with the situation,” The New York Times reported Tuesday that the U.S. Justice Department decided to transfer Zambada to Brooklyn to stand trial.

Therefore, the Times said, he will face trial in the same federal courthouse where Guzmán Loera was convicted on drug trafficking charges in February 2019. El Chapo, who founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Zambada and others, was sentenced to life in prison in July 2019 and subsequently transferred to the Florence Supermax facility in Colorado.

The Times said that federal prosecutors in El Paso “vehemently sought” to keep the case against Zambada in Texas. Still, the Justice Department opted to send the suspect to Brooklyn “because they felt the case there was strong and they were concerned about the security issues involved in pursuing charges against a major Mexican drug lord so close to the border.”

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez with photos of El Mayo and López Guzmán in the background — Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez asked the U.S. government to provide an official report on what it knew about the arrest. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

The newspaper said its sources also noted that some of the prosecutors involved in Guzmán Loera’s trial have agreed to prosecute Zambada’s case. In addition, the presiding judge in El Chapo’s trial, Brian Cogan, is “well versed in the issues surrounding the prosecution,” The Times said.

The newspaper said it was unclear when Zambada would be transferred to Brooklyn.

Citing three unnamed sources, The Times also reported that Zambada was “lured” from a mountaintop hide-out to the Sinaloa capital of Culiacán, where he “believed he was going to help one of El Chapo’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López, mediate a dispute between two local politicians.”

“Instead, he was ambushed, muscled onto a plane and flown across the border to a small regional airport near El Paso, where agents from the F.B.I. and Homeland Security Investigations were waiting for him,” The Times said.

Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez, said in late July that Guzmán López “forcibly kidnapped” his client, “forced” him onto a plane and took him to the United States “against his will.”

The United States government hasn’t made any public statement clarifying how Zambada and Guzmán López came to be arrested on July 25.

Mexico’s Federal Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said Tuesday that the Mexican government expected to receive “a complete report” on the arrests of the two men by the end of this week.

The lawyers for both Zambada and Guzmán López have said that their clients didn’t enter into any kind of agreement with U.S. authorities prior to their arrest.

However, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that Guzmán López — an alleged member of the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel — had been negotiating with the U.S. government and “apparently” reached a deal.

With reports from The New York Times

Sinaloa Cartel’s Joaquín Guzmán López made surrender agreement with brother Ovidio

By

MND Staff

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August 6, 2024

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Rosa Icela Rodriguez standing at a podium behind a large display screen that says "fortalecimiento de la justicia" — Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodíiguez, who told reporters about the agreement between the sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Tuesday, said that Mexico still doesn't have enough details about the arrest from United States authorities (lopezobrador.org)

Accused drug trafficker Joaquín Guzmán López turned himself in to United States authorities after reaching an agreement with his imprisoned brother Ovidio Guzmán López to surrender, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said Tuesday.

Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, and alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García were arrested in the United States on July 25 after arriving at an airport near El Paso, Texas.

Landed, open small private plane in background with U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents approaching it — Wanted Sinaloa Cartel leaders Joaquín Guzmán López and Ismael Zambada were arrested apparently without incident after landing at a private El Paso, Texas, airport on July 25, which has fueled speculation as to whether one or both of them made a deal to surrender to U.S. authorities. (Department of Homeland Security)

Rodríguez told President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference “there was an agreement between the people who are in prison and the people who are free” before Guzmán López arrived in the United States.

“There was an agreement between them for … [their] respective surrender,” she said.

When asked whether she was referring to Joaquín and Ovidio Guzmán, she said she was without making any mention of Zambada or any other person.

Ovidio Guzmán was captured in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in January 2023 and extradited last September to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking charges.

Rodríguez said last week that the United States government had provided a report to the Mexican government in which it said it was informed on several occasions that Joaquín Guzmán López was considering handing himself in to U.S. authorities. However, Guzmán “had never concretized said intention,” Rodríguez said, indicating that there was no deal between the suspect and the United States.

Close-up photo of Joaquin Guzman Lopez in a office with several U.S. flags positioned in various places — Joaquín Guzmán López, seen here in this photo taken by US authorities sometime after his arrest, pleaded not guilty in U.S. court to drug trafficking and other charges. it is not clear how his surrender would benefit either him or his brother Ovidio. (Internet)

How Joaquín and Ovidio could benefit from an agreement with each other but without the involvement of United States authorities is unclear. López Obrador’s morning press conference ended as reporters sought to extract more information from Rodríguez.

Earlier in the presser, López Obrador said that “the United States government itself has acknowledged that it carried out a negotiation with at least one of the two people.”

He confirmed he was referring to Joaquín Guzmán rather than Zambada.

“That is what they informed us and there hasn’t been more information. We’re waiting for them to tell us [more]. What we’re sure about is that the armed forces of Mexico didn’t intervene,” López Obrador said.

“… Apparently there was an agreement between the authorities of the United States government and these people,” he said without clarifying whether he was referring to Joaquín and Ovidio Guzmán, or Joaquín Guzmán and Zambada.

That remark is at odds with the United States statement to Mexico — as revealed by Rodríguez last week — that Joaquín Guzmán “never concretized” his intention to surrender to U.S. authorities.

Ovidio Guzmán on his way to the US — Joaquín Guzmán López’s brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, also a major figure in the Sinaloa Cartel, in January 2023, when he was extradited to the U.S. (Cuartoscuro)

It is also contrary to a declaration by Guzmán López’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, that his client does not have a deal with United States authorities.

“We’ve got no agreement with the government. There has never been an agreement with the government with Joaquín Guzmán López. Period,” Lichtman said after Guzmán López pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges during an appearance in federal court in Chicago last week.

Zambada, who is said to have founded the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo and others in the 1980s, also pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces in the United States, among which are counts of drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping and money laundering.

His lawyer, Frank Perez, alleged that Guzmán López “forcibly kidnapped” Zambada before he was put on a plane bound for the United States.

He also said his client “neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government.”

The circumstances that led to Zambada’s arrest remain murky, but U.S. officials who spoke to The New York Times supported the version of events put forward by Perez.

#FBI Director Wray highlights how today’s arrest of two alleged cartel leaders by the FBI and DEA is made possible through the strength of our partnerships and shared mission of keeping Americans safe. pic.twitter.com/zHasG6wP25

— FBI (@FBI) July 26, 2024

The FBI and DEA took credit for Guzmán López’s arrest in a July 25 post. Guzmán López’s lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman has said that there was no deal between Guzmán López and the U.S. government in exchange for his surrender.

Rodríguez said Tuesday that the Mexican government expects to receive “a complete report” on the arrests of Guzmán López and Zambada by the end of this week.

“We’ve been working well in collaboration with them. And we don’t want so much information either,” she said, noting that the Mexican government is only seeking details about “the arrival of the flight” in the United States and the subsequent “surrender or capture” of the two alleged cartel operatives.

“That is what we want,” Rodríguez said.

Mexico News Daily