Lucero López Maza, candidate for mayor of La Concordia, Chiapas, was killed in a shooting on Thursday after a campaign event. (Gaby Coutino/X)
A mayoral candidate was one of six people shot dead in the municipality of La Concordia, Chiapas, on Thursday, the second mass killing in the southern state this week.
Lucero López Maza, mayoral aspirant for the Partido Popular Chiapaneco in La Concordia, was killed along with one other woman, a girl and three men, according to the Chiapas Attorney General’s Office (FGE).
The FGE said in a statement that “a confrontation occurred between armed civilians during a campaign political event with the presence of the candidate … Lucero López Maza.”
However, several media reports said that the candidate was shot as she was traveling in a vehicle after a campaign event. It was unclear whether gunmen specifically targeted her. Video footage showed bodies on the ground and inside a car at a gas station in the municipality.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that the candidate’s sister was among those killed in La Concordia, a municipality in the south of Chiapas adjacent to Chicomuselo, where 11 people were killed in a massacre last Sunday.
Chiapas authorities open criminal investigation
The FGE said it had begun an “investigation against the person or persons responsible for the acts of violence in which six people lost their lives.”
The president said on Friday that the candidate’s sister was another victim of the mass shooting. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
The FGE said that it was alerted to the killings by a local 911 emergency center that reported “a confrontation between armed civilians at the crossroads in the Independencia neighborhood in the municipality of La Concordia.”
“Officers with the State Preventive Police, as first responders, confirmed the death of six people: three females, one of whom was a minor, and three males,” the FGE said, adding that two people received gunshot wounds.
La Concordia is part of a region of Chiapas where the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and their local affiliates have been involved in a turf war for some time. There was a gun battle between cartel operatives and the National Guard in the municipality last month in which around 25 civilians were killed, according to the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center.
López Maza speaks at a campaign event before her death. (Gaby Coutino/X)
Alleged connections to organized crime
The newspaper El Financiero reported that the slain candidate’s father, Ataulfo López Flores, is a rancher in La Concordia and that a criminal group set his ranch on fire a few weeks ago, torched vehicles and killed several workers. It also said that López Flores has been accused of “belonging to an organized crime group that’s fighting against another” group for control of local territory.
The Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG are competing to control routes along which narcotics, weapons and migrants are transported north after entering the country from Guatemala.
At least three other mayoral candidates have been targeted in gun attacks in Chiapas this year, but they all survived. Another attack earlier this month targeted Juan Gómez Morales, candidate for the Chiapas United Party in the municipality of Benemérito de las Américas. He survived, but the attack killed his son and a candidate vying to become a municipal councilor.
The think tank Laboratorio Electoral reported last Friday that 63 people “linked to the [current] electoral process” had been murdered.
Of that number, 32 were registered candidates or aspired to contest the June 2 elections at which Mexicans will elect some 20,000 municipal, state and federal representatives.
Voters will elect new governors in eight states on June 2. In part two of our guide to the governors' elections, we cover Puebla, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatán. (Joaquín Díaz Mena/X)
While the main focus of the upcoming elections is the presidential contest between Claudia Sheinbaum, Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez, Mexicans will in fact elect around 20,000 federal, state and municipal representatives on June 2.
In eight states, citizens will elect new governors to serve six-year terms that will conclude in 2030.
Two alliances are backing candidates in most of Mexico’s governors’ elections, while the Citizens Movement (MC) party is also fielding candidates.
One alliance is Sigamos Haciendo Historia (Let’s Keep Making History), made up of the Morena party, the Labor Party (PT) and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM).
The other is Fuerza y Corazón por México (Strength and Heart for Mexico), made up of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).
Of the eight states where citizens will elect new governors this year, Morena — the party founded by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — currently governs five, the PAN is in office in two and MC holds one.
Ballots arrive in Puebla, one of the eight states that will elect a new governor on June 2. (Cuartoscuro)
Here’s a guide to Mexico’s governors’ elections in four of the eight states where new governors will be elected on June 2.
Martha Érika Alonso was killed in a helicopter accident on Christmas Eve 2018 just 10 days after she was sworn in as governor. Her husband, former governor Rafael Moreno Valle, was also killed in the crash.
In 2023, Puebla was the 13th most violent state in Mexico in terms of total homicides with a total of 967 murders, according to federal government data. The theft of fuel from pipelines is a significant problem in the state.
Alejandro Armenta Mier (Morena-PT-PVEM)
Armenta, a former state and federal lawmaker and minister for social development in the Puebla government in the mid 2000s, was formerly affiliated with the PRI. He joined Morena in 2017 and went on to represent that party in the Senate.
Armenta is Morena’s candidate in the Puebla race, and currently leads in polls. (Alejandro Armenta/X)
A native of the city of Izucár de Matamoros, Armenta was Senate president for 12 months between September 2022 and August 2023. He has undergraduate and master’s degrees in public administration.
🌐📱(Social media monitor): In a recent post to his X account, Armenta declared that “supporting micro, small and medium-sized businesses” will be “fundamental” for a government he leads because “they provide 80% of the jobs in the country.”
In another post, he asserted that “without women nothing” is possible, while “with women everything” is.
“… It’s the time for women and the best example we have is Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, the next president of Mexico. We’re going to make the most of her experience to connect Puebla to the Interoceanic Train,” Armenta wrote, referring to the modernized railroad between the Pacific coast in Oaxaca and the Gulf coast in Veracruz.”
“We’re going to get on the train of transformation!” he added
Eduardo Rivera Pérez (PAN-PRI-PRD)
Rivera was mayor of Puebla until last December when he gave up that position to turn his attention to the June 2 gubernatorial election. The México state native also served as mayor of the state capital between 2011 and 2014. Before that he was a federal and state deputy.
Rivera is a former mayor of the city of Puebla and is now running for governor on the PAN-PRI-PRD ticket. (Eduardo Rivera/X)
The 52-year-old has a political science degree and a master’s in public management.
🌐📱: “In my government, with the creation of the Ministry for Water and the Environment, we will guarantee equitable access to water, end the waste [of water], promote the capture of rainwater, strengthen infrastructure and promote a culture of care for the environment,” Rivera said in a post to his X account of Tuesday.
In a post on Monday, he said that a government he leads would offer more than 6 billion pesos (US $356 million) in interest-free loans to people seeking to open a new business or grow an existing one.
Fernando Morales Martínez (Citizens Movement)
Morales is the son of former Puebla governor Melquíades Morales Flores, who governed the state for the PRI between 1999 and 2005.
The candidate was formerly affiliated with the same party, which he represented in the Puebla and federal Congresses. He switched his allegiance to MC in 2017 and went on to represent that party in the Puebla Congress.
Morales has a law degree and postgraduate qualifications in public administration and Latin American studies.
The Citizens Movement (MC) candidate for governor in Puebla, Fernando Morales is the son of a former governor. (Fernando Morales Mtz/X)
🌐📱: “Wellbeing, tranquility and peace will be a reality for every family in Puebla in my government,” the MC candidate wrote in a post to his X account on Monday.
In another recent post to X, Morales said that “families who have lost a loved one without knowing anything about him or her should have the complete support of the government in their search.”
Who’s going to win?
Armenta has a healthy lead over Rivera in the polls and barring a significant upset will win the June 2 election.
On June 2, voters in Puebla will also elect 41 state deputies and officials including mayors in all 217 municipalities.
Tabasco
Population: 2.4 million.
Capital: Villahermosa
Current governor: Carlos Manuel Merino Campos (Morena)
Tabasco, the Gulf coast state where President López Obrador was born in 1953, has been governed by Morena since Jan. 1, 2019 after Adán Augusto López Hernández won the 2018 gubernatorial election. López gave up the governorship in 2021 to become federal interior minister, handing the reins of Tabasco to Carlos Manuel Merino Campos.
Four candidates are competing to succeed Merino and become governor of Tabasco, a state that has received significant investment during López Obrador’s administration due to the construction of infrastructure projects including the Olmeca Refinery and the Maya Train railroad.
Javier May Rodríguez (Morena-PT-PVEM)
May served as welfare minister in the current federal government for around 16 months before taking up the position of director general of the National Tourism Promotion Fund, the agency that is managing the Maya Train project. He previously served as a federal senator and a deputy in Tabasco, the state where he was born in 1966.
Javier May is the Morena candidate for governor of Tabasco. (Javier May/X)
May has had a long affiliation with López Obrador, participating in the current president’s campaign when he ran for governor of Tabasco in 1994. Like AMLO, the candidate was formerly affiliated with the PRD. He joined Morena in 2015.
🌐📱: “We’re going to modernize Tabasco … with great projects that will change the history of our entity,” May said in a recent post to his X account in which he pledged to build 20,000 public housing dwellings and new port facilities in Frontera, a town on the coast of the municipality of Centla.
“We’re going to look after and continue the legacy the president leaves us,” the candidate said in another post, echoing Claudia Sheinbaum’s pitch to voters.
“The people will prevent the return of the bad PRI, PAN and PRD governments,” May added.
Lorena Beaurregard de los Santos (PAN-PRI)
Beaurregard served as a federal deputy in the early 2000s and a state deputy between 2010 and 2012. She was born in the same municipality as López Obrador – Macuspana – but nine years after the president. Beaurregard has long been affiliated with the PRI, and will represent that party and the PAN in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
🌐📱: “I’m the candidate who has risen the most in the polls,” the candidate declared in a post to her X account on Tuesday.
Beurregard has been a member of the PRI for many years and represents a PAN-PRI coalition in Tabasco. (Lorena Beaurregard/X)
“We’ve achieved it with the support of the parties of the Strength and Heart for Tabasco coalition, but also because of the affection of many citizens who are fed up with backwardness and poverty, unemployment and insecurity,” she wrote.
“I want to be your governor because I know we can change the course of #Tabasco!” Beaurregard said in another post.
Juan Manuel Fócil Pérez (PRD)
Fócil took leave as a federal senator to contest the gubernatorial election as the candidate for the PRD. Unlike in most other states, the PRD is fielding its own candidate in the gubernatorial contest in Tabasco, opting against joining forces with the PAN and the PRI. Fócil has previously served as a federal and state deputy. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Fócil is running on the PRD ticket. (FB)
🌐📱: In a post to his Facebook page this week, Fócil said that he believes that “a government must be permanently accountable” to citizens by constantly updating them on things such as how public money is being spent.
“I assure you that when I am governor I will keep you permanently informed about what the money of Tabasco residents is spent on,” he said after blasting the current state government for failing to build health care, highway and educational infrastructure.
María Inés de la Fuente Dagdug (Citizens Movement)
De la Fuente was head of the Tabasco Civil Registry for several years in the first decade of the 2000s and served as honorary president of the DIF family services agency in Huimanguillo between 2010 and 2012 when her husband was mayor of that municipality. She was previously affiliated with the PRI and represented that party at the 2018 mayoral election in Huimanguillo.
The MC candidate for governor of Tabasco (center), María Inés de la Fuente was previously a member of the PRI. (María Inés de la Fuente/FB)
The candidate has an undergraduate degree in law and a master’s in management and public policy.
🌐📱: In a post to her Facebook page this week, de la Fuente said that a government she leads would build three new industrial parks, “creating at least 5,000 jobs” and a “housing construction boom” in the areas of Tabasco where they will be located.
She also pledged to attract advanced manufacturers to the state and to work toward making Tabasco “a great logistics and distribution center.”
In the same post, the MC candidate promised to decrease levels of informal employment and increase the number of people in formal sector jobs in Tabasco.
Who’s going to win?
May has a decisive advantage in the polls, making him the heavy favorite to become the next governor of Tabasco.
On June 2, voters in Tabasco will also elect 35 state deputies and officials including mayors in all 17 municipalities.
Veracruz
Population: 8.1 million.
Capital: Xalapa
Current governor: Cuitláhuac García (Morena)
Veracruz is unique in Mexico insofar as it is the only state in the country that adjoins a northern border state (Tamaulipas) and a southern border state (two, in fact – Chiapas and Tabasco). The Gulf state was ruled by the PRI for decades before the PAN seized power in 2016 after the corruption-plagued term of former governor Javier Duarte. The Veracruz government changed again in 2018 after Cuitláhuac García won the gubernatorial election that year for Morena.
Three candidates are vying to become the next governor of the state, Mexico’s fourth most populous entity after México state, Mexico City and Jalisco.
Rocío Nahle García (Morena-PT-PVEM)
Nahle, a 60-year-old Zacatecas native, served as energy minister in the current federal government for almost five years before leaving that position to focus on the gubernatorial election. A chemical engineer by profession, the Morena candidate worked at Pemex early in her career, while she was a senator for a brief period before taking up the energy minister position. Nahle has also served as a federal deputy.
Rocío Nahle was previously Mexico’s energy minister during the López Obrador administration. (Cuartoscuro)
🌐📱: On her X account, the Morena candidate has pledged to provide ample support for Veracruz’s agricultural sector, including apiarists and coffee producers.
“Veracuz produces the best coffee in the world, and our countryside, as well as its producers will have THE COMPLETE SUPPORT OF MY GOVERNMENT,” Nahle said in a post this week.
In another post, she pledged to make Veracruz a “fashionable” tourism destination once again before asserting that previous government’s “destroyed” the state’s tourism industry.
Tourism is Veracruz’s “main vocation,” Nahle said, adding that the 4T, or fourth transformation – the nickname for the Morena party and its political project – will “trigger” economic growth in “every region” of the state.
José Francisco Yunes Zorrilla (PAN-PRI-PRD)
Yunes, a former federal deputy and senator, also contested the 2018 gubernatorial election in Veracruz, attracting 14% of the vote to finish third. At that election, he represented the PRI whereas in 2024 he will also have the support of the PAN and the PRD.
A native of the city Perote, Yunes served as mayor of that municipality between 1998 and 2000. The candidate has also served as a state deputy. He has an undergraduate degree in management and a master’s in public policy.
José Francisco Yunes is running for governor of Veracruz on the PRI-PAN-PRD ticket. (Cuartoscuro)
🌐📱: “The proposals we have for young people come from young people themselves,” Yunes said in a post to his X account this week.
“I understand their fears, listen to their ambitions and know about their concerns. I will use all my experience to change the course of Veracruz so that you can take advantage,” he added.
In another post, the PAN-PRI-PRD candidate pledged to create a “specialized” police unit to combat extortion, a major problem for business owners in various parts of Mexico.
Hipólito Deschamps (Citizens Movement)
Previously affiliated with the PAN, Deschamps served as a state deputy in Veracruz between 2016 and 2018. He also has experience as a councilor in the municipality of Boca del Río, where he served as the local government’s director of economic development for a period. Polo Deschamps, as he is commonly known, is 41 years old and has a law degree.
The MC candidate for governor, Hipólito Deschamps (left), was previously a member of the PAN party. (Polo Deschamps/X)
🌐📱: “Veracruz, you deserve a new quality of life,” the MC candidate said in a post to his X account on Thursday.
“As governor I will guarantee universal access to health care, support culture and invest in your education,” he added.
In another post, Deschamps pledged to provide 50,000-peso (US $3,000) loans to female entrepreneurs.
“Let’s go for the best Veracruz in history!” he added.
Who’s going to win?
Polls indicate that Nahle will be very hard to beat in Veracruz.
An El Financiero newspaper poll whose results were published in late April found that the former energy minister had 44% support, ahead of Yunes on 29% and Deschamps on 3%. Stripping out the 24% of undecided respondents, support for Nahle increased to 58%, putting her 20 points ahead of the PAN-PRI-PRD candidate.
Voters in Veracruz will also elect 50 state deputies on June 2.
Yucatán
Population: 2.3 million
Capital: Mérida
Current governor: Mauricio Vila (National Action Party) – currently on leave as he campaigns for a seat in the federal Senate.
The state was governed by the PRI for most of the 20th century, but it has had two PAN governors, and two PRI governors, this century.
Four candidates are competing to become the next governor of Yucatán, which during two periods in the 19th century was an independent republic.
Renán Barrera Concha (PAN-PRI)
Barrera is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Mauricio Vila by transitioning from the mayorship of Mérida to the governorship of Yucatán. The 45-year-old candidate was mayor of the state capital from 2018 until last November, when he stood down to focus on the upcoming gubernatorial contest. Barrera also served as Mérida mayor between 2012 and 2015 and was a state deputy from 2010 to 2012. He has a law degree and a postgraduate qualification in public administration.
PAN-PRI candidate Renán Barrera was the mayor of Mérida until he stepped down in November to run for governor. (Renán Barrera/X)
🌐📱: After visiting a textiles factory in the municipality of Baca this week, Barrera said in a post to his X account that a government he leads will provide ample support for the textiles industry “because thousands of Yucatán families live from this important sector and we want them to do well, to have more security and a better quality of life.”
“In my government we will work very closely with the Yucatán Human Rights Commission to promote, respect and also guarantee … human rights in Yucatán,” he said in another post.
Joaquín Díaz Mena (Morena-PT-PVEM)
Known as “Huacho,” Díaz was the federal government’s “super-delegate” in Yucatán for almost five years, a position that gave him responsibility for the implementation of social and welfare programs in the state.
Morena candidate Joaquín “Huacho” Díaz also ran for governor in Yucatán in 2018. (Joaquín Díaz Mena/X)
He previously served as a federal and state deputy and was Morena’s gubernatorial candidate at the 2018 election in Yucatán. Díaz also contested the 2012 gubernatorial election in Yucatán, representing the PAN, with which he was previously affiliated.
A native of San Felipe on Yucatán’s Gulf coast, the Morena candidate was mayor of that municipality between 2001 and 2004.
🌐📱: “In Morena, our premise is clear: we create humanist governments, we govern with values that prioritize respect, inclusion and equality for all citizens,” Díaz said in a post to his X account this week.
“Yucatán is ready to transform itself,” he said in another post. “Hand in hand with Claudia Sheinbaum, we will boost investment and development in Yucatán so that wellbeing reaches all families and municipalities.”
Jasmín López Manrique (PRD)
Also known by the stage name Tina Tuyub, López has been an actress for some 50 years, appearing mainly in theatrical productions. She has previously represented the PRD at the 2018 mayoral election in Mérida and the 2006 federal lower house election. The Mérida native is 66 and and was married to well-known comedic actor Héctor Herrera Álvarez, who died in 2010.
Jasmín López, also known as Tina Tuyub (center), is the PRD candidate for governor of Yucatán. (X)
🌐📱: “Between the government and business owners, we’re going to create a new pact to boost the creation of new jobs and improve salaries,” López said in a recent post to her Instagram account.
Vida Gómez Herrera (Citizens Movement)
Formerly affiliated with the PRI, Gómez previously served as a deputy in the Yucatán state Congress and as head of the youth affairs department in the Mérida municipal government. The 36-year-old has a degree in political science and international relations. She is aiming to become the third female governor of Yucatán.
🌐📱: In a post to her X account this week, Gómez cited water, health care, transport, job creation and energy as among her priorities.
The Citizens Movement candidate for governer, Vida Gómez, says she will bring “More vida for Yucatán.” (Vida Gómez/X)
“The new Yucatán is built with the work of everyone,” she said in the same post.
The MC candidate frequently incorporates her first name — which means life — into her political messaging.
“Give vida to your vote. #VoteForVida #GovernorVida,” she wrote in one X post.
“More vida for Yucatán,” says a political ad posted to her X account.
Who’s going to win?
Polls suggest the election will be a tight contest between Barrera and Díaz.
One poll whose results were published this week shows that Díaz had a five-point lead over Barrera (46%-41%), but another shows the PAN-PRI candidate with an 11-point lead over his Morena rival (46%-35%).
The incumbency of the PAN in Yucatán and Barrera’s recent term as mayor in Mérida — the state’s largest city by far — would appear to give the PAN-PRI candidate the edge over Díaz. Barrera will most likely win on June 2.
* Another key contest on June 2 is the Mexico City mayoral election. Read about the candidates contesting that election here, and check out what the polls indicate here.
All of Mexico News Daily’s 2024 elections coverage, including numerous articles on the presidential election, can be found here.
Bringing Fido to Los Cabos? Make sure you read this guide. (Freepik)
Planning on traveling with your dog from Mexico to the United States? You aren’t alone. About 1 million dogs enter the United States from other countries every year.
If you are crossing the US border into Mexico with a dog — whether the dog is from Mexico or originally from the U.S. — you should be aware of the new dog import requirements established this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dogs traveling by land, sea or air will all have to comply with the new requirements. (Jimmy Conover/Unsplash)
The CDC says the new rules are to protect the health and safety of people and animals, and prevent the reintroduction of dog rabies to the United States.
The rabies virus — fatal to humans and animals — is very rare in the U.S., where canine rabies was eliminated in 2007.
The stricter rules have come about in response to an increasing number of incomplete or fraudulent rabies vaccination certificates. The CDC raised alarms after four rabid dogs were found to have entered the U.S. since 2015. And last year, Mexican public health authorities issued their own rabies alert, warning of an increase in human rabies cases.
What are the new CDC requirements for dogs entering the U.S.?
The new dog import rules require all dogs entering the United States to be at least six months old (at six months, puppies are old enough to receive vaccinations). All dogs must also have a microchip placed under their skin with a code that verifies rabies vaccination, plus a valid rabies vaccination certificate. A new electronic CDC import form must be filled out, too.
When do the requirements take effect?
The new rules become effective on Aug. 1. If you don’t follow the CDC rules, your dog won’t be allowed to enter the United States and, if you arrive by air, your dog will be sent back to the last country of departure at your expense.
Dog rescue advocates said that new rules were overly restrictive and could be an administrative burden for rescue organizations. (File photo)
What is different from previous requirements?
The CDC does not consider Mexico a high-risk country for rabies and the last verified dog-to-human transfer took place in 2006, so there has been little regulation regarding importing dogs from Mexico to the United States in recent years. Proof of rabies vaccination was occasionally required for air travel or when entering certain U.S. states by car.
What are vets and pet owners saying?
The newspaper The San Diego Reader reported that the CDC did not directly notify veterinarians in the U.S. of the pending rules change, although the CDC’s rule-making process was public and a draft version of the updated regulations was available last year. So, those caught off guard see the new regulations as staggering.
Veterinary Practice News published a report on May 13 that linked to the new CDC rules, but one San Diego vet interviewed by the Reader thought frustrations will grow since glitches are evident and the rule change takes effect in just two months. The CDC’s electronic form won’t be available until July 15, and the recommended timeline suggests beginning the form 2-10 days before crossing the US border with your dog, leaving a narrow window for border-crossers who may not be familiar with the new process. Meeting other pet-importation requirements may take up to 60 days, according to the guidelines. A full list of requirements is available on the CDC website, along with a clunky but useful “DogBot” that can tell you which instructions apply in your case based on a brief questionnaire.
Rescue operations, which abound on both sides of the border, are also bracing for the additional administrative hurdle. One animal rescue employee said that while a rule change was necessary (existing regulations were last updated in 1956), the changes are “overreaching, unnecessary (punitive even), and will place a sizable burden on our small organizations.”
Presidential opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez waves a Mexican flag at a rally in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, last week. (Xóchitl Gálvez/X)
Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez will be one of anticipated tens of thousands of people to descend on Mexico City’s central square this Sunday for a rally organized by civil society groups that support or are affiliated with Mexico’s main opposition parties.
So-called Marea Rosa (Pink Tide) demonstrations will be held in more than 90 Mexican and foreign cities on Sunday, but the largest gathering will take place in Mexico City’s Zócalo.
The opposition movement is known as the Marea Rosa because its supporters typically wear pink to demonstrate their support for the National Electoral Institute (INE), which uses pink in its logo. It is not to be confused with the same term as used to describe a shift toward leftist governments across Latin America this century.
In Mexico, many Marea Rosa supporters claim that the INE is under attack by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who sought to overhaul the electoral authority with a sweeping electoral reform package that was struck down by the Supreme Court last year. The most recent Marea Rosa demonstration — the so-called “March for our Democracy” — was held in February. Gálvez didn’t attend that rally.
However, at this Sunday’s event in the Zócalo, the candidate for a three-party alliance made up of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) will be the most prominent speaker. The event, unlike previous Marea Rosa rallies, will thus be more about showing support for Gálvez than the INE.
Max Cortázar, a member of the candidate’s campaign team, said that the rally will be Gálvez’s final campaign event in Mexico City ahead of the June 2 presidential election. He said she will hold other “campaign closure” events in other parts of the country before the official campaign period ends on May 29.
The pink-clad protesters of the ‘Pink Tide’ have showed up across the country in recent years to express support for a robust National Electoral Institute (INE), Mexico’s autonomous electoral oversight body. (Fernando Carranza García/Cuartoscuro)
In a post to social media on Thursday, Gálvez urged people planning to attend Marea Rosa rallies in Mexico City and other parts of the country to take a Mexican flag with them.
“The flag is ours, it belongs to us. Also take your favorite ‘Xochilover’ sign. See you on Sunday,” she said.
The attendees won’t arrive to an empty Zócalo on Sunday morning as teachers affiliated with the CNTE union are camping out there as they seek a larger pay rise than the 10% hike announced by López Obrador on Wednesday.
Guadalupe Acosta, a member of the National Civic Front and one of the organizers of the Marea Rosa rally, told the El Universal newspaper that she didn’t anticipate any problems.
The CNTE members “haven’t made any statement against us,” Acosta said, adding that the Zócalo is “huge” and therefore there is enough space for everyone.
“We’ll have a friendly conversation,” he said.
“… The Marea Rosa demonstration is the event at which we want to explain why we’re not neutral and decided to support Xóchitl and [Mexico City mayoral candidate Santiago] Taboada,” Acosta added.
The Mexican flag frequently flies over Mexico City’s Zócalo. (Wikimedia Commons)
A fuss over the flag
Gálvez — who is currently well behind Morena candidate Claudia Sheinbaum in the polls — revealed on Wednesday that she had written to López Obrador to ask that the Mexican flag be raised in the Zócalo on Sunday. The president said earlier in the week it wouldn’t go up due to the rally.
“This Sunday there will be a massive civic concentration in the Mexico City Zócalo. Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans will exercise their right to free expression of ideas and political preferences,” Gálvez wrote.
“… At previous civic concentrations, the order has been given to not put up the national flag in Constitution Square. May I remind you that the Zócalo is a public square and our national flag is the most important symbol of national unity. The flag can’t be the patrimony of one person or political movement. For that exact reason, I ask you to put up the national flag in the Zócalo, like every Sunday, for the civic concentration on May 19,” the PAN-PRI-PRD candidate said.
On Thursday, López Obrador said that the flag would be raised on Sunday, but added that protective barriers around the National Palace — located opposite the Zócalo — would not be removed.
“The flag will be there on Sunday. There are no bad intentions. There is no bad faith. The flag belongs to all Mexicans,” he said.
Barriers will remain in place “to avoid provocations” and “protect the National Palace, the Cathedral and all the historic buildings,” López Obrador said three days after students attacked the National Palace with firecrackers and injured 26 police officers.
Sheinbaum takes aim at the Marea Rosa
During a campaign visit to Veracruz last week, the Morena candidate asserted that the Marea Rosa supporters wear pink “because they are embarrassed to say they’re from the PRI and the PAN.”
Morena presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum framed Marea Rosa supporters as just a new iteration of defenders of the PRI and PAN political parties. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
Sheinabum criticized those two parties, saying that they governed Mexico for years but never kept their promises to the people of Mexico.
“Now they say that they agree with the [current government’s welfare and social] programs. No. They voted against [them] in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate and every year they vote against the budget, in which [spending on] the social programs is outlined,” she said at an event in the city of Cosamaloapan.
Gálvez has repeated throughout her campaign that she intends to maintain the current government’s welfare and social programs — including the Youths Building the Future apprenticeship scheme and Sowing Life reforestation/employment initiative — if she wins the presidency.
The boat where the Navy found the supposed cocaine also carried three people and 18 drums of a petroleum product. (SEMAR/X)
The Mexican Navy’s narcotics interdiction exercises continue to bear fruit: On Tuesday, the Navy Ministry (SEMAR) announced a drug bust involving more than 3 tonnes of white powder believed to be cocaine, from a boat in waters off the coast of the state of Quintana Roo.
A SEMAR press bulletin indicated that personnel from the Ninth Naval Region and 17th Naval Zone stationed at the Caribbean bases of Isla Mujeres and Chetumal, respectively, were carrying out patrols when they sighted a suspicious vessel.
With Navy aircraft providing support, Navy personnel boarded the suspicious craft and searched its contents. A total of 153 rectangular packages of white powder — weighing in excess of 3 tonnes — was discovered.
In addition, the inspection netted an unspecified amount of a material identified as hydrocarbon hidden in 18 drums. Oil and gas theft — known in Mexico as huachicoleo — is a frequent crime in Mexico.
Three suspects were apprehended and processed in preparation for turning them over to federal authorities for prosecution.
This latest bust follows an April 24 SEMAR announcement that its personnel had confiscated 3 tonnes of presumed cocaine off the Pacific Coast near the port city of Manzanillo, Colima. On April 10, the Mexican Navy shared news of two separate operations in which a total of 2 tonnes of white powder was seized off the Pacific Coast.
Navy personnel spotted the small vessel during a night patrol off the coast of Quintana Roo. (SEMAR/X)
SEMAR set a new record for drug seizures last year, with historic amounts of several different types of illegal drugs reported seized. The Navy also dismantled 15 floating storage platforms used by cartels to move their narcotics north through the Pacific Ocean.
A December 2023 report by the news site Infobae identified the Caribbean as a key corridor for South American cocaine suppliers sending shipments to Mexican distributors.
In addition to shipping the cocaine to hidden ports along the Mexican coast, traffickers fly the product onto the mainland via clandestine air strips in Quintana Roo. SEMAR and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) identified at least three popular air routes utilized by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) to fly cocaine from Colombia.
The investment will create 94 new jobs at the Silao plant, which already employs 600 people. (Gobierno de Silao)
Nestlé Purina this week announced a US $225 million investment to expand its pet food manufacturing plant in the state of Guanajuato.
The Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate has picked Mexico as a key partner of its growth strategy in Latin America. The new investment is intended to significantly enhance the company’s production in Mexico, according to the news site Reporte Índigo.
In the past 10 years, Nestlé has invested more than US $770 million in its Silao facility. The new investment will make the plant in Guanajuato the biggest of its kind in Latin America. (LinkedIn)
Mexico is the No. 1 Latin American market for Nestlé; its two facilities in Mexico (one in Silao, Guanajuato, the other in Cuautitlán, México state) produce over 200,000 tons of dog and cat food annually.
This makes Nestlé Purina the top supplier of pet food in Mexico, but the two plants have reached maximum operating capacity, necessitating imports from the United States to meet local demand, according to the trade magazine PetFoodIndustry.com.
The announced expansion of the existing plant in Silao, Guanajuato is aimed at reducing its reliance on intracompany imports so as to more efficiently serve the Mexican market, which comprises 45% of Nestlé sales in Latin America. Mexico is also the company’s fourth-largest market in the world.
Last year, Nestlé’s global sales of pet food exceeded US $20.8 billion. Its pet food sales are its second-biggest product category, only behind beverages and powdered drinks.
Nestlé revealed in a press release that the renovation in Guanajuato will allow for a third line of production for wet food and a fourth line of production for dry food. The expansion is expected to increase production capacity of dry food and wet food by 25% and 40%, respectively.
The investment will also result in the creation of 94 new jobs at the Silao plant which already employs 600 people. It is also a positive sign for the Mexican pet food market, which continues to grow, driven by rising pet ownership and increased demand for high-quality pet food products, according to PetFoodIndustry.com.
In the past 10 years, Nestlé has invested more than US $770 million in its Silao facility and the new investment will make the plant in Guanajuato the biggest of its kind in Latin America.
Tacos are "Mexican-style sandwiches" according to an Indiana court ruling. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
The Famous Taco restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana will be allowed to open a second location thanks to a judge’s ruling this week that “tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches.”
Mexico native Martín Quintana, 53, has been trying to open a new The Famous Taco for about three years, but the shopping plaza he wanted to move into had a written commitment with local officials limiting what types of restaurants could open there.
The Famous Taco can now move forward with its plans to open a second location in a “sandwiches-only” strip mall. (Google Maps)
It could only be “a sandwich bar-style restaurant whose primary business is to sell ‘made-to-order’ or ‘Subway-style’ sandwiches,” and could not have a drive-thru, outdoor seating or alcoholic beverages.
After the nearby Covington Creek Association told Quintana that his proposal ran afoul of the stipulations — that exclude fast-food chains like Arby’s, McDonald’s and Wendy’s — a legal battle began that finally ended with Allen Superior Court Judge Craig Bobay’s ruling on Monday.
Allen County includes the county seat of Fort Wayne, a city about 190 kilometers northeast of Indianapolis with about 270,000 residents, making it Indiana’s second-most populous city.
“The Court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches, and the original written commitment does not restrict potential restaurants to only American cuisine-style sandwiches,” Bobay wrote.
“The original written commitment [of 2019] would also permit a restaurant that serves made-to-order Greek gyros, Indian naan wraps or Vietnamese banh mi if these restaurants complied with the other enumerated conditions,” the judge added.
Quintana sued the Fort Wayne Plan Commission in December 2022 after it denied his proposed amendment that would specifically allow his restaurant to offer made-to-order tacos, burritos and other Mexican specialties.
“It kind of became an argument of … is a taco a sandwich or not,” a representative of Quintana said when the suit was filed.
“I’m glad this thing is over,” Quintana said Monday. “We are happy. When you have a decision like this, the only thing you can be is happy.”
Quintana said he came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1988, working first as a farm worker in California picking grapes, olives and kiwis before entering the restaurant business in Michigan, then moving to Chicago and finally Fort Wayne in 2001. He opened The Famous Taco nearly seven years ago.
At the new location, which Quintana expects to open in two or three months, customers will choose their favorite toppings for tacos, burritos or tortas assembled by the staff.
“You know, that’s a sandwich,” Quintana said of tortas. “That’s bread. That’s a sandwich. We go through a lot of those.”
The boxer backed the candidate and wished the former Mexico City mayor luck in the upcoming election. (Prensa Claudia Sheinbaum/Cuartoscuro)
Without specifying whether he anticipates a points decision or a knockout, boxing champion Sául “Canelo” Álvarez has predicted that Claudia Sheinbaum will win the June 2 presidential election.
The 33-year-old Guadalajara native met with the Morena party frontrunner on Thursday, making his support for her clear.
Tuve una gran visita que me dio muchos consejos y me compartió su buena vibra, nada más y nada menos que El Canelo. pic.twitter.com/fXR2Ufa4WF
— Dra. Claudia Sheinbaum (@Claudiashein) May 16, 2024
In a one-minute video Sheinbaum posted to her social media accounts, Canelo wishes the former Mexico City mayor luck in the upcoming election and says he is “available” to support her.
“I wish you the best and I know you’re going to win,” said the world’s undisputed super middleweight champion.
Canelo also told Sheinbaum that he liked her plan to “invest in Mexico and businesses in Mexico.”
“First things first. First things first,” he added.
At the start of the clip, Sheinbaum asks Álvarez about his meditation schedule.
“Always when I get up. In the morning and at night before I go to sleep,” responded the boxer.
“From now on I’m going to get out of bed, get into an ice bath and I’m going to meditate,” joked Sheinbaum. “Tips from Canelo!” she added.
After sharing a warm embrace with the presidential frontrunner, Canelo and Andrés Sulaimán — who also attended the meeting — hold up Sheinbaum’s arms as if she had just won a boxing match.
Sulaimán is the grandson of José Sulaimán, a Mexican boxing official who served as the president of the World Boxing Council for almost 40 years.
Next time you find yourself in a social situation with strangers, try these phrases to get the conversation going. (Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash)
Have you ever found yourself in a social setting, wanting to strike up a conversation but not quite sure how to begin? Perhaps you’re at a networking event, a party, or even waiting in line for your morning coffee!
In these situations, the right question can be the key to breaking the ice. A few words can be the start of an extraordinary conversation and the beginning of a lasting relationship. So, don’t let fear and nerves paralyze you and deprive you of communication.
(Serge Esteve/Unsplash)
One way to avoid getting too confused is by being at the wheel of the conversation. Talk about the topics you are most familiar with. Ultimately, the primary goal of a language is to achieve communication, and in this case, we want to achieve it through conversation.
Speech is one of the bridges to achieve that connection – so here are some questions you can ask to start a conversation and enhance your speaking ability.
How to start a conversation in Spanish
Imagine you’re at a crowded bar on a sweltering summer evening. You turn to the person next to you and exclaim,
“¡Qué calor, ¿no?!”It’s so hot, isn’t it?
This simple remark about the weather serves as a universal conversation starter.
Suddenly, you’re engaged in a discussion about summer vacations or your favorite cooling drinks. You can also go:
“¿Qué tomas?”What are you drinking?
Now, picture yourself at a business conference, surrounded by professionals from various industries. You strike up a conversation with someone new and ask:
“¿A qué te dedicas?”What do you do?
This question not only demonstrates your interest in the other person but also provides an opportunity for them to showcase their expertise and accomplishments. As they share their professional background, you find common ground and explore potential areas of mutual interest.
In a different scenario, you’re waiting for a friend at a café. A stranger sitting nearby catches your eye, and you decide to break the silence with a friendly inquiry:
“¿Qué esperas?” What are you waiting for?
This question may seem straightforward, but it can lead to unexpected conversations about plans for the day, favorite coffee shops in the area, or shared experiences of waiting in line.
These examples illustrate how seemingly mundane questions can serve as powerful tools for initiating conversation and building connections. So the next time you find yourself in a situation where you’re unsure how to break the ice, don’t hesitate to ask a question. You never know where it might lead.
More starter questions
¿Vienes mucho aquí, o es la primera vez que vienes?Do you come here often, or is it the first time you’re here?
¿Vives cerca?Do you live close by?
¿Qué tal tu comida?How’s your food?
Obviously, it always depends on the context you find yourself in, but with the right question, you can turn a chance encounter into a meaningful connection.
Paulina Gerez is a translator-interpreter, content creator, and founder of Crack The Code, a series of online courses focused on languages. Through her social media, she helps people see learning a language from another perspective through her fun experiences. Instagram: paulinagerezm / Tiktok: paugerez3 / YT: paulina gerez
Is Mexican corrido sensation Peso Pluma an entertainer or public menace? The debate has been raging in Mexico for some time. (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro)
Unless you’re living under a giant rock, you’ve heard a classic corrido. You know — the soulful Mexican ballads that gradually take over the barbeque when a little too much tequila has been poured. The karaoke tune of choice for after work happy hours at the local cantina. The melody that guides the traditional father-daughter dance at your neighbor’s quinceñera.
The most generalized definition we can muster is that a corrido is a narrative ballad. Not very specific, as Whitney Houston and Taylor Swift are also both categorized as ballad singers, but it’s a start. A Mexican corrido is something different. It’s something very particular. A Mexican corrido is an eloquent form of story-telling, an oral history told from the perspective of the rural and working classes.
A brief history of corridos
Mexican culture is inextricably linked to the corrido, with singers like Antonio Aguilar playing a central part in recounting classic tales of Mexican folk heroes. (Victoria Gertz/Cuartoscuro)
Corrido music emerged on the US-Mexico border in the late 1800s and exploded during the Mexican Revolution. It served as a form of media for the general public — lyrics detailed the exploits of outlaws, battles lost and won, the lives of revolutionaries, even love and heartbreak.
Some highlighted a specific person — César Chávez in “Corrido de César Chávez”, composed by Lalo Guerrero in 1968. Others pertained to particular events — like the death of Pancho Villa of which there are dozens. Other sing the plights of romance, like “El Rey de Corazones” by Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes Del Rancho.
The traditional structure of a corrido
Corridos initially followed a very specific structure that consisted of the following actions:
The singer greets the audience.
Introduces location, time, and the main character.
Explains the character’s role in the story.
Explains the story.
Bids farewell to the main character.
Bids farewell to the audience.
While the formal structure has not stood the test of time, corridos are still used today as a means of expression modernized through narcocorrido music. Maybe a more accurate moniker would be ‘corrido tumbado’, a blend of Mexican regional melodies (think Ranchera, Norteño, Mariachi) with trap and hip hop. If you like hip hop beats and you like trumpets, the mix might sound appealing.
The lyrics stay somewhat true to the basic elements of corrido — stories told from an underserved, often impoverished class of society. The themes have drifted from that of border conflicts and broken hearts to the realities of living within the confines of Mexico’s drug war. Rebels are still glorified, though songs focus less on the likes of Pancho Villa and more on individuals like El Chapo.
Who is Peso Pluma?
Guadalajara native Peso Pluma has catapulted the narcocorrido to the top of the charts in Mexico and the United States. (@LaDobleP / Instagram)
And that’s where Peso Pluma enters the scene.
The 24-year-old Mexican star and Billboard Latin Music Awards’ Artist of the Year was born in Jalisco and is regularly embroiled in controversy. He keeps his personal life under wraps, but on stage he’s unreserved. The artist has been accused of openly inhaling drugs during a performance in Argentina. He smashed a TV monitor and threw it off stage in Ecuador. He canceled a concert in Tijuana after receiving death threats from Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación.
Peso Pluma has been denounced by AMLO and Juan Antonio Coloma, president of the Chilean Senate. Leaders point to his “normalizing narcoculture” in songs like “Gavilán II” and “PRC” in which he references drugs, sex and murder with laudable undertones. Or perhaps, overtones. In “Siempre Pendientes” he goes so far as to praise El Chapo, founder of the Sinaloa cartel. Some suggest this is hinting at a possible relationship with the notorious syndicate.
For this and other reasons, Chilean officials tried to ban him from this year’s Viña del Mar festival to no avail, with Coloma stating that Pluma’s participation would result in “a normalization of narcoculture in our country and it is unacceptable.”
Not everyone believes his music to be threatening. Besides arguments citing freedom of speech and the need to appeal to a younger audience, many supporters believe that narcocorridos unveil government neglect and violence spurred by former President Felipe Calderón’s “war on drugs” initiated in 2006. There are varying reports of the catastrophic results of the campaign, with related death counts ranging from 40,000 to more than 400,000. Some have claimed these statistics are largely ignored by those in power and music is the best way to tell the tale.
What’s the fuss?
Is there a significant difference between the outcry over narcocorridos and the outcry over rap that took place in the 1990s? (biography.com)
From the point of view of this American writer, nothing Peso Pluma, Los Tigres del Norte, and Movimiento Alterado sing about seems any different from the rap songs I’ve been listening to since the early 90’s. This begs the bigger and more obvious question of the repercussions of celebrating such lifestyles through music, but that is a debate for which I am not informationally equipped.
As a thorough writer should, I engaged in multiple avenues of research while crafting this article. Naturally, this included listening to Peso Pluma and the other artists mentioned above. Only a handful of Peso Pluma’s songs struck me as distinctly Mexican. That said, I did find myself jamming to Movimiento Alterado’s heavy use of traditional regional instruments. I can say with confidence that despite the lyrics, I have no desire to buy drugs (though another pan dulce would be nice and as far as I can tell, sugar is the worst drug out there) or objectify the women surrounding me in this cafe.
But I’m an adult. Therein lies the difference.
If you are a Peso Pluma aficionado, he will be kicking off his North America “Exodo Tour” in Chicago on May 25, 2024. Tickets start at US$35 and are available on Ticketmaster.
Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.
